I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other read more

I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours.

The idea is in my head to put it down is nothing.

The idea is in my head to put it down is nothing.

Science has made us gods even before we are worthy of being men.

Science has made us gods even before we are worthy of being men.

Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating read more

Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity.

By the time (the Leaning Tower of Pisa) was 10% built, everyone knew it would be a total disaster. But read more

By the time (the Leaning Tower of Pisa) was 10% built, everyone knew it would be a total disaster. But the investment was so big they felt compelled to go on. Since its completion, it cost a fortune to maintain and is still in danger of collapsing. There are no plans to replace it, since it was never needed in the first place. I expect every installation has its own pet software which is analogous to the above.

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify read more

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But this garbage, having passed through a very read more

If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But this garbage, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow ennobled and none dare criticize it.

One has to be able to count if only so that at fifty one doesn't marry a girl of twenty. read more

One has to be able to count if only so that at fifty one doesn't marry a girl of twenty. - The Zykovs, 1914.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that read more

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.