Subj : Re: [OT] Jerry Rice To : comp.programming,comp.lang.lisp From : Pascal Bourguignon Date : Thu Sep 08 2005 09:31 am rem642b@Yahoo.Com (Robert Maas, see http://tinyurl.com/uh3t) writes: >> From: Kenny Tilton >> Well, even Jerry Rice* could not overcome old age... >> * retiring after twenty years as the greatest (American) football >> receiver ever. > > He played a game, while people watched. He was very good at his one > role (catching passes) in playing that game (American scrimmage > football), but that's not anything useful. Did he ever do anything > significantly useful in his whole life so-far? If so, what? Did he ever > solve a previously unsolved math problem, or devise a new algorithm for > solving a practical problem by use of computer, or devise a utility > that make some kind of useful work more efficient, or discover a new > kind of plant or fungus with medicinal properties, or capture a > terrorist responsible for the 9/11 attack on NYC, or jury-rig some > onboard equipment to save three astronauts after an explosion onboard > the return-from-moon capsule, or talk a 13-yr-old out of committing > suicide, or hold up a beam to prevent roof collapse after a coal-mine > explosion so that others could escape, or port Lisp or Java to a new > platform, or anything else majorly useful?? Let's be a little cynic; he did something very useful: he captived the attention of a mob of millions who didn't think of coming to your house and rape and steal you, thus leaving you time and peace of spirit to do your job. -- __Pascal Bourguignon__ http://www.informatimago.com/ Until real software engineering is developed, the next best practice is to develop with a dynamic system that has extreme late binding in all aspects. The first system to really do this in an important way is Lisp. -- Alan Kay .