Notices by Rusty Swarf (rustyswarf@refactorcamp.org), page 6

@saamdaamdandbhed Personal growth requires alternation between the two.

I'd almost say most useful action is done in autopilot. When people are doing difficult, critical things, you don't want them to be pushing their limits.

@kureshii oops, I think "terminal" was the word I was looking for.

@Pen_and_Screen Dude, you really need to read The Elements Of Style.

@mchapiro Sounds like your question is beyond anything I know about innovation theory. What does "statistical mechanics of technology" mean?

@mchapiro There's plenty of business literature on this. Specific technologies advance when one company makes a profitable breakthrough and then others compete to catch up.

The breakthroughs happen when when previously-unrelated technologies are combined in a newly useful way.

@mchapiro What kind of tech do you aspire to advance?

A big part of expertise is being aware of the full range of "Things we might as well try because they won't do catastrophic damage."

The boldness of experts appears shocking from the outside.

Thread of examples?

Simple mechanical example: adjusting idle screws on a carbureted engine. If you know what they are, then it's a simple change that is easily un-doable.

But if you open a car's hood without understanding which screw does what, you'll notice maybe a hundred screws that each might do anything. Screwing or unscrewing any particular one could mess up your whole engine block.

This is the fear I feel about using the Kernel.

@strangeattractor There's no way of knowing, as with any complex system. You follow best practices and avoid the mistakes you've seen already.

You're paying for the judgement of plumber who has seen a lot of failures.

@strangeattractor If you have a bad vibe from a saleperson, I'd trust that.

Sorry if I got a bit worked up, I'm just sayin ...

People who practice their trades day in and day out usually design things well even when they can't explain exactly why or how.

@strangeattractor

WTF kind of PHD chemist do you expect to be doing plumbing for you? Nobody even knows for certain how long PEX lasts, but it's modern industry standard. You want copper ion sensors in your faucet hooked up to to online telemetry? Get a grip, man!

@strangeattractor Heh, I have no skin in the game, so here goes.

First, this is probably a miscommunication issue. A quote is not a document that shows reasoning behind design decisions.

Second, it is entirely normal and appropriate for contractors to mark up raw materials by those rates.

@strangeattractor So you're asking him to guarantee the old pipes in your walls that he didn't install?

@strangeattractor Types of possibly legitimate bullshit answers:

1. Brief but vague: "We'll get it done right."

2. Half true: "We'll do it this way, which is good because_____." (Don't offer the client a decision he isn't qualified to make.)

3. Canned universal diagnosis: "Well what you've got here is a ____ problem. We can fix that the same way we do every time."

Over-explaining options to clients can cause a lot of worry and nitpicking that may hurt the finished product.