A common misconception, I assume popularized by Hollywood, is that as you
get closer to shipping software, activity becomes frenetic as everybody
scrambles to finish all the things that need to be done in time for the
deadline. In the typical crappy movie, there's a mad rush of typing in a
room full of cool alterna-dressed programmers with found-object earrings and
jeans jackets. Somebody stands up and shouts to the room in general "I need
the Jiff subroutine! Somebody give me the Jiff subroutine!" A good looking
young woman in Vivienne Tam urbanwear throws a floppy disk at him. "Thanks!"
As the second hand swoops towards the :00, the whole team waits
breathlessly around Ryan Phillipe's computer and watches the "copy" progress
indicator as the final bits are put onto a floppy disk with less than a second
to spare before the VC cuts off funding.
...
On good teams, the days before shipping just get quieter and quieter as
programmers literally run out of things to do one at a time. (Yesterday I
took the day off to explore New York City with my wee niece and nephews.)
Joel Spolsky, "Working on CityDesk, Part One"
get closer to shipping software, activity becomes frenetic as everybody
scrambles to finish all the things that need to be done in time for the
deadline. In the typical crappy movie, there's a mad rush of typing in a
room full of cool alterna-dressed programmers with found-object earrings and
jeans jackets. Somebody stands up and shouts to the room in general "I need
the Jiff subroutine! Somebody give me the Jiff subroutine!" A good looking
young woman in Vivienne Tam urbanwear throws a floppy disk at him. "Thanks!"
As the second hand swoops towards the :00, the whole team waits
breathlessly around Ryan Phillipe's computer and watches the "copy" progress
indicator as the final bits are put onto a floppy disk with less than a second
to spare before the VC cuts off funding.
...
On good teams, the days before shipping just get quieter and quieter as
programmers literally run out of things to do one at a time. (Yesterday I
took the day off to explore New York City with my wee niece and nephews.)
Joel Spolsky, "Working on CityDesk, Part One"
Related:
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[WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N
random broken people.
Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told... - Back with the focus group...
Man: How many of you kids would like Itchy & Scratchy to deal with
real-life problems,
like the ones you face every day? Kids: [clamoring]... - George: [typing] And since I'd achieved all my goals as President in one
term,
there was no need for a second. The end. Hmm... - talk mode n.
A feature supported by Unix, ITS, and some
other OSes that allows two or more logged-in users to set up a
real-time on-line conversation.
It combines the immediacy of talking with all the... - I went to the beach a couple of times in New York City.
Tough summer out there, but I was pretty excited.... - stack n.
The set of things a person has to do in the
future.
One speaks of the next project to be attacked as having... - Barbara: George, it's time to get dressed.
George:
N'uh huh. Not going outside today, not with those... - Grimes: Oh, I, I can't stand it any longer. This whole plant is
insane.
Insane, I tell you! [snaps mentally] Daahh! Aaah...
