[LEAPSECS] How good could civil timekeeping be?

[Rob Seaman]

> It's pretty short -- it won't take longer than reading (not to mention

> writing) one of these emails.


Interesting historical take.  A lot has happened in software design  
since the referenced technologies.  I don't reject the essence of the  
story, however.


> The relevant Cambridge here is the one containing MIT.


Ah, yes - which leads us right to the MIT seal.  See:

	http://web.mit.edu/graphicidentity/symbols/seal.html, but also

	http://www.freewebs.com/origamipatterns/origami-mit-logo-video.jpg,  
for instance.

I was interpreting Cambridge vs NJ more along the lines of mens et  
manus.  Maybe NJ is manus et mens?


> I don't think ZAMM quite fits here.  This isn't classic vs. romantic

> beauty, but two schools of thought on what classic beauty actually is.


Indeed.  The "right" answer is alluded to in the essay.  What survives  
the evolutionary process is by definition well designed.  A risk  
analysis is a way to grease the skids of evolution whether systems are  
designed one way or the other (mind first or hand first)


> I'm not familiar enough with the other two to comment usefully, except

> that Burning Man sounds like far too dangerous a place for me -- too

> many unfamiliar deaths lurking just around the corner.


I recommend Stewart Brand's "How Building's Learn" for a discussion of  
two similar design trends in architecture.  In general, software  
architecture philosophy is rather too self-referential and could do  
with seeking design paradigms from outside the community.  In  
particular, timekeeping is more than just a question of software.

I think we all share a common interest in keeping death unfamiliar.

Rob Seaman
NOAO