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    <title>cmdln.net_2007-08-08</title>
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    <outline text="Intro" Offset="00:17"/>
    <outline text="Listener Feedback" Offset="01:15">
      <outline text="From Chris">
        <outline text="The Facebook group"/>
        <outline text="Interest in deep, technical explanations"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="From Matt">
        <outline text="Suggested iconoclast to replace curmudgeon"/>
        <outline text="Invited me to Penguicon, next year"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Word of the Week: yak shaving" Offset="08:37">
      <outline text="http://catb.org/jargon/html/Y/yak-shaving.html"/>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Feature: yak shaving" Offset="09&quot;23">
      <outline text="Procrastination is one of the hacker's worst enemies">
        <outline text="In addition to simple procrastination, several similar but productive activities"/>
        <outline text="Makes it harder to know when what you are doing is productive"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Yak shaving"/>
      <outline text="I'm going to write a string parser for an existing project">
        <outline text="My IO library is out of date"/>
        <outline text="Update the library and realize it needs a newer compiler"/>
        <outline text="After installing a new compiler, former warnings are now errors"/>
        <outline text="Start fixing all the errors"/>
        <outline text="None of this seems to have anything to do with a string parser"/>
        <outline text="All of this has to be accomplished to add a string parser"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Even though it is not procrastination, take care">
        <outline text="You can re-factor or re-write some code to work better"/>
        <outline text="Do you really need to?"/>
        <outline text="Probably not"/>
        <outline text="Stick to the minimum needed to get back to the main task"/>
        <outline text="Leave comments, TODOs, to return to"/>
        <outline text="Code refinement deserves its own, separate focus"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Axe sharpening"/>
      <outline text="Fable of Abe and George">
        <outline text="http://www.hacknot.info/hacknot/action/showEntry?eid=96"/>
        <outline text="George rushes head long in"/>
        <outline text="Abe takes his time and prepares so that his actual effort is most efficiently sent"/>
        <outline text="George may even think better of his work but wastes too much time rushing"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="A little bit easier than yak shaving">
        <outline text="Many traditional activities, like the hacknot article mentions, are axe sharpening"/>
        <outline text="Agile's criticism has some validity, though"/>
        <outline text="How much is just enough?"/>
        <outline text="Coding is a form of discovery"/>
        <outline text="When you cannot answer any more questions through non-coding, start coding"/>
        <outline text="Stop when new questions arise and axe sharpen again"/>
        <outline text="Repeat until project is complete"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Not Invented here deserves a mention">
        <outline text="Re-writing code you didn't write"/>
        <outline text="Better to fix, improve documentation that re-write working code"/>
        <outline text="Develop style callouses"/>
        <outline text="If code is not to your style but is clear, works, leave it alone"/>
        <outline text="Be skeptical of yourself, give others the benefit"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Be self conscious">
        <outline text="Take time to think about what you are doing and why"/>
        <outline text="Nothing wrong with talking a walk, zoning out to ruminate"/>
        <outline text="Find others who talk about, examine practice"/>
        <outline text="Better to know what you are doing than not and fall into a pit"/>
        <outline text="No deadline justifies making a mistake because your rushed"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Outro" Offset="27:43">
      <outline text="Contact me">
        <outline text="Email to feedback@thecommandline.net"/>
        <outline text="Web site at http://thecommandline.net/"/>
        <outline text="IM to command.line@skype"/>
        <outline text="Listener comment line is 360-252-7284"/>
        <outline text="del.icio.us tag is &quot;for:cmdln&quot;"/>
        <outline text="http://twitter.com/cmdln"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="I'd like to thank libsyn.com for AAC hosting and Wouter de Bie for MP3 hosting"/>
      <outline text="These notes and the show audio and music are covered by a Creative Commons license">
        <outline text="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/"/>
        <outline text="Attribution, non-commercial, share alike"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
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