Food for thought: cars, particularly the high performance kind, tend to rely on orthogonal technology and philosophy of design. Sometimes, quite literally, you'll come across suspension components that do highly dedicated tasks and are at close to 90 degrees to one another. On the flip side, motorcycle design philosophy is full of "dirty" tricks, where due to their light weight and their power transfer and cornering dynamics, they use very few components that do lots of different things, almost always as a compromise across the board. Cars are more easily measured. Bikes can be measured too, but most of the difference is made in experience and feel of the rider and/or engineers -- change one setting and you have to change almost everything else. It made me think of similar approaches to technology in software, such as the ever popular discussions about the merits and drawbacks of strongly typed vs "dynamic" languages (I know, I know, it's not a simple dichotomy). What I found curious is that in software, I definitely prefer strong typing and static analysis, whereas in motorsports I absolutely, hands down, find bikes more enjoyable and understandable than I do cars.
Alexey ________________________________ From: Ryan Waterer <aguitadel...@gmail.com> To: javaposse@googlegroups.com Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 2:04:43 PM Subject: [The Java Posse] Re: Joe, you should write a book.... I, as well, would love to read a book by Joe (and a few others in here). I believe there was an older thread discussing that same issue, and Joe indicated he'd love to at least write a couple of chapters. I think Joe's love for cars could actually be a big bonus. From my understanding, a lot of those high-end machines are very functional, and yet, are also very elegant. I think that those of us in software development could probably use some of the same lessons that the car designers have learned from over time. --Ryan On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 9:06 AM, Robert Casto <casto.rob...@gmail.com> wrote: >Actually, it could make for much more interesting reading than from someone >who does coding and nothing else. Perhaps start with some shorts and put them >on Amazon. If those do well, then you know a book should do well. > > > >On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 10:17 AM, Alexey Zinger <inline_f...@yahoo.com> wrote: > >I don't think it's such a problem. Seems, for a lot of people, the problem is >a lack of meaningful things to write about. Look at Yukio Mishima, he was a >writer, producer, model, traveler, paramilitary and more. And at the >deliberate end of his life he wrote that he felt like he had done nothing. >Don't be afraid to wander off in different directions, in writing, same as you >do in life. At the end, it's your method to the madness that will make it a >worth while read. And there most definitely are parallels between all the >things you've mentioned, so if you do it right, it doesn't have to be an >amalgamation of unrelated ideas. >> >> Alexey >>2001 Honda CBR600F4i (CCS) >>1992 Kawasaki EX500 >>http://azinger.blogspot.com >>http://bsheet.sourceforge.net >>http://wcollage.sourceforge.net >> >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________ From: Joe Nuxoll (Java Posse) <jnux...@gmail.com> >>To: The Java Posse <javaposse@googlegroups.com> >>Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:28:06 PM >>Subject: [The Java Posse] Re: Joe, you should write a book.... >> >> >> >>Well thank you Thomas >> for the vote of confidence... :-) >> >>I have toyed with the idea of writing a book, but the main problem for >>me is simply that I'd undoubtedly wander off into the topics that I am >>truly deeply interested in - like racing, photography, religion, >>>> >> >>science, art, comedy, nature, music, and yes of course design. I'd >>actually like to write about 6 books. From what I hear, it is an >>incredibly long and arduous process that breaks people. >> >>I might be able to start recording my thoughts in audio - then try to >>>> >> >>get a good voice interpreter to transcribe so I have a base to work >>with. >> >>Again, thanks for the encouragement. Its something I will hopefully >>start doing someday. >> >>- Joe >> >>On Jun 11, 12:28 pm, TBT <thomasbta...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >> >>> the title would be something along the lines >> of: >>> >>> Practical Website and GUI Design Techniques for Developers >>> >>> Think of Dick Wall and his admitted lack of front end design skills. >>> I think he is typical for most of us. Target the developer crowd. >>>> >> >>> >>> Then, spell out the basic design principles that you were able to >>> apply that made good UI and Web design. Also the common pitfalls we >>> developer always do that get us into trouble. Screen shots of >>>> >> >>> JFlubber. >>> >>> We have heard you say your main tool is Photoshop now. You can go >>> into all of the tricks that you use. Go into all of the gory details >>> of how you take a picture of something, of a texture or pattern for >>>> >> >>> instance, and make it a background of a website, etc. HTML, CSS, >>> image manipulation in Photoshop. How a developer can manipulate >>> layers of photoshop files with code? Screen >> shots and code snippets >>> will fill 3/4 of the book. >>> >>> We all know how to develop the back end stuff, so you dont have to >>> cover that part. Speak to the developer about what the user sees and >>>> >> >>> how to improve. >>> >>> With your experience from Apple Store, Borland and Navagenics you >>> could come up with things that work >>> >>> I would buy it. >>> >>> -Thomas >> >> >> > > >-- > >Robert Casto >www.robertcasto.com > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javaposse@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
