“The easier a piece of software is to write, the worse it’s implemented in practice. Why? Easy software projects can be done by almost any random person, so they are.

“We have to get better at helping people learn on the job. The idea that you can decide whether someone is a good or bad fit for your organization at point zero is going to have to be thrown out the window. You’re going to have to create internal structures that will help people grow into positions; that’s where the real opportunity is going to be.

“George Will claims that a Supreme Court decision overruling Roe v. Wade would restore “moral federalism,” a system under which each state could adopt its own preferred policy on abortion. Thus, prochoice voters living in states with prochoice majorities have nothing to worry about, at least so far as their own states are concerned.

Under the Supreme Court’s recent federalism jurisprudence that simply isn’t true. The Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Gonzales v. Raich held that Congress can regulate any activity with even the slightest, extremely tenuous connection to ‘commerce’.

“The move to greater engagement in the blogosphere (Disqus, Intense Debate, SezWho) is a good one. However, each such service is only as good as the blogs they sign up. With each of the services being mutually exclusive, there are only so many strong blog communities to compete over.

“Do not learn anything about this subject of mine - the French Revolution. Learn instead what I think that Enicharmon thought Urizen thought Gutch thought Ho-Yung thought Chi-Bo-Sing thought Lafcadio Hearn thought Carlyle thought Mirabeau said about the French Revolution. Through the medium of these ten great minds, the blood that was shed at Paris and the windows that were broken at Versailles will be clarified to an idea which you may employ most profitably in your daily lives. But be sure that the intermediates are many and varied, for in history one authority exists to counteract another.

“The central idea of the XML family of standards is to separate code from data. The central idea of Lisp is that code and data are the same and should be represented the same. The Lisp community’s idea of “Schema” would likely be “Lisp program”. The Lisp community’s idea of “addressing language” would likely be “Lisp program.” The Lisp community’s idea of “query language” would likely be “Lisp program.” Unfortunately this response ignores the Principle of Least Power.

“Business and life are built upon successful mediocrity.

I would rather have a man who was born frail, and has overcome his frailty by careful living, than take one whose natural strength has never known its limits. The athlete, like the genius, frequently disappoints; while the man who has had to fight for his health knows how to value and preserve it.

“The reason you love something is greater than the thing itself. Introspect and you’ll find the underlying reason you love what you do. And that insight will give you directions to push the envelope on what you do.

“Restraint is not the only component of good, but it is the component that improves most with experience.

“Make all visual distinctions as subtle as possible, but still clear and effective.