The nebulous 90th percentile

As a writer, most of career has been made up of discrete projects with fixed deadlines. Even when managing a lot of projects at once, I have to set deadlines and allot a set amount of time to each one ... or else i. will. go. mad!

But as another deadline flies by, I noticed something about project-work (at least writing project-work). When I have written a "pretty much done" piece, and I'd be just about happy showing it around internally, I've usually invested about half the hours I ultimately do. In other words, when I'm 90 per cent finished, I've done 50 per cent of the work.

There are a lot of good explanations for this. Writing, like programming, has bugs. If you call concepts by different names through your document, you have to streamline that before submitting the work. Streamlining can ruin your flow, because maybe a sentence required that three-syllable word, or a certain rhyme or rhythm to sound great, and now that sentence has to be re-written. Sometimes paragraphs repeat themselves, or worse, almost repeat themselves. Again, these must be re-written. And when they are re-written, you've likely fudged your segues.

Every first draft has at least two motifs, one of which must be killed. Which one? How will it flow when the dropped ones are replaced?

I can't say I've ever thought all this through before, but I know shit writing from good writing, and trying to never submit the former, I think I follow a process much like this; a process that means a 90 per cent finished work is half way there.

Network effect

I used to call this the "fax machine effect" ... then I googled it. (you could also call it the inverted hockey stick __________] ... there's a long tail before explosive growth.)

It explains a lot in business and economics. The effect drives the growth of the Internet, many consumer electronics, stock markets, English ...

Bumper Twitters

Bumper stickers are personal expressions made to those in your vicinity -- really just retro versions of twittering.

So, will people affix little screens to their bumpers to convey to commuters all that is inessential to them? It could go too far very very quickly.

Politics as chess

Obama knows he will raise more funds than McCain, and he's allowed to spend much more -- multiples more.

Article.

So Obama's strategy is not to destroy McCain in liberal states, or try to beat him in states Obama cannot win, but to drain McCain's bank account through an "arms race" of TV-ad spending in states that McCain has to win and should win, but could possibly lose.

Awesome. And yet, totally unrelated to democracy!

G8 comes to good 'ol Huntsville

This is hard to believe. World leaders cruising down Highway 60 in a train of black suburbans ... past my uncle's Macintosh shop, past grandpa's retirement home, past where that restaurant burned down a few years ago.

Good 'ol Claude Doughty -- he's doing a hell of a job!

But still, until the mid-80's, Huntsville was pretty much a backwoods. A pretty plastics factory and two marinas with a fine selection of outboard motor oils. Blackburns landing -- which is now the gentrified centre of the downtown waterfront -- used to be the third marina! Locals still drink at a place called The Moose, because that's what you call a place that serves beer in Canada.

Sure, Huntsville is evolving. There's a great new theatre, a thriving art scene, great golf, and the plastics plant is even prettier. But it's just astounding that the leaders of the seven largest economies on Earth, plus a guy who speaks Russian, are com'n to "Touch the past ... embrace the future."

I wonder if Obama waterskiis?

Close, but no cigar.

Finally, Clinton appears set to let Obama begin running for President.

Attonement -- 3-second movie review.

Decent children of English aristrocrats walk around a large house until one does one indecent thing.