April 2011
schrödinbug
A schrödinbug is a bug that manifests only after someone reading source code or using the program in an unusual way notices that it never should have worked in the first place, at which point the program promptly stops working for everybody until fixed. The Jargon File adds: “Though… this sounds impossible, it happens; some programs have harbored latent schrödinbugs for years.”
The name schrödinbug was introduced in the version 2.9.9 of the Jargon file, published in April 1992. It is derived from the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment. A well-written program executing in a reliable computing environment is expected to follow the principle of determinism, and that being so the quantum questions of observability (i.e., breaking the program by reading the source code) posited by Schrödinger (i.e., killing the cat by opening the box) affecting the operation of a program is unexpected.
(via)
Local Ground →
localground.org
The way we see it, computer devices are great for a lot of things, but being forced to use technology to document everything can sometimes get in the way of creativity, sharing, and collaboration. Local Ground combines the best of paper and pixels by enabling you to document your observations, memories, or feelings about the places around you using paper, markers, and stickers, while still making you hand-drawn map annotations available online.
Pruned: Scotland #24 →
pruned.blogspot.com
one hundred and fifty-six Scotlands which currently do not exist anywhere. At a time when functional independence seems to be a real possibility for Scotland—and yet no one is quite sure what that means—a delirium of visions, realistic and absurd, is necessary.
