We can be lifelong learners

From the Exploration chapter of Brain Rules:

Researchers have shown that some regions of the adult brain stay as malleable as a baby's brain, so we can grow new connections, strengthen existing connections, and even create new neurons, allowing all of us to be lifelong learners.

I'm so glad this is true; I want to be a lifelong learner. According to Brain Rules, the way to do this is to continue exploring, being curious, asking questions, taking an interest in the world and how it works.

Making decisions

Seth Godin's recent post entitled Make a decision reminded me of a quote from Psycho-Cybernetics that I wrote about a little while ago.

I think he's reading my blog. :)

But if he's not, at least you are.

Determining which versions of the iPhone SDK are installed

Yesterday I was trying to determine which version(s) of the iPhone SDK I had installed so I could decide whether to download the newest version of the SDK. No sense in downloading it if I already had it, especially since it's a 2.4G download.

Here's how to do it:

ls /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/

[Update: I asked this question on Stack Overflow, and this answer gives a good explanation of how "SDK" is used in the iPhone community.]

Twitter is a waste of time

Neal Ford says Twitter Matters. I disagree.

The problem with Twitter is that it's not censored in any way, so you get a lot of noise. In order to find anything useful, you have to sort through all the useless things people say. It's not worth it. If you want to keep in touch with your weak links, talk to them directly, rather than reading their noisy babble on Twitter.

The Duct Tape Programmer

From this post on Joel Spolsky's blog:

Zawinski didn't do many unit tests. They "sound great in principle. Given a leisurely development pace, that's certainly the way to go. But when you're looking at, 'We've got to go from zero to done in six weeks,' well, I can't do that unless I cut something out. And what I'm going to cut out is the stuff that's not absolutely critical. And unit tests are not critical. If there's no unit test the customer isn't going to complain about that."

I disagree - unit tests are critical. I do agree that the customer isn't going to complain if there are no unit tests. The customer will complain, however, if some functionality is broken in the new release. And without unit tests, how are you going to verify that?

[Update: I just read Uncle Bob's response to Joel's post, and it's excellent. Read it.]

Who needs a mock framework?

"In Groovy, you can create mocks & stubs using native language features, so you can forget about learning a mock framework."

From Who needs a mock framework?, my latest post on Inside the Machine.

Brain Rules - Exercise boosts brain power

I recently started reading Brain Rules, and one thing I've learned is that exercise boosts brain power in addition to a host of other things. Here's what it does for you:

• stimulates the protein that keeps neurons connecting
• increases cognitive performance
• makes your muscles and bones stronger
• improves your strength and balance
• helps regulate your appetite
• changes your blood lipid profile
• reduces your risk for more than a dozen types of cancer
• improves the immune system
• buffers against the toxic effects of stress
• decreases your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes
• halves your risk of dementia
• cuts your risk of Alzheimer's by 60%

All you need is 30 minutes of aerobic exercise two or three times a week.

This inspired me to exercise more regularly. Since it's easier for me to exercise when I have a goal to work towards, I'm training for the Columbus 1/2 marathon.