William Blake, The marraige of Heaven and Hell:

…, but I found myself sitting on a pleasant bank beside a river by moonlight, hearing a harper who sung to the harp; & his theme was: ‘The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, & breeds reptiles of the mind.’

Jason Fried posts on the 37 Signals blog:

Technology is making it easier and easier to interrupt people — both virtually and physically. Well, they used “collaborate,” I’m using “interrupt”.

I was put under pressure at a recent gig for not being interruptible by phone or IM. Interruptions were an endemic problem at the place; people often complained that they could not make progress with work during normal hours. I chose to opt for core periods of productivity.

I did worry about how my actions sat with the Agile principles of communication, but concluded that I had to balance staying in flow with constantly having to chat with and answer non-urgent queries from remote colleagues. Ultimately, it’s all about getting things done.

Ok, so Cedric thinks TDD evangelists don’t just get it; it’s not practical on a large project. I don’t really care.

I’ve tried various sizes of project both ways: now my projects are Test Driven. If others aren’t then that’s a bonus: mine get a competitive advantage.

(Via Uncle Bob, via Clarke.)

There’s something horribly fascinating about following our UK’s National Programme for IT in the NHS: it’s a bit like watching a train crash in slow motion. This week’s File On Four surveys the current situation. The programme is available as mp3/podcast until Tuesday June 4 2006, from here.

Is is just me thinking that DHH is just too good looking to be a serious geek? I can’t help thinking that he must really be a robot, controlled by some fat hippy with an unkempt beard.