Luiz Lopes

"If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage, hang a banana on a string from..."

Sat, 26 May 2012 05:48:18 -0600

“

If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage, hang a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result … all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away.

Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new one.

The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment…with enthusiasm.

Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by the fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he is attacked.

Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs.

Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water.

Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana.
Why, you ask? Because in their minds…that is the way it has always been!
This, my friends, is how Congress operates… and this is why, from time to time:
ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME.

”

Video

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:32:00 -0600

The Naive Optimist: We work a 4-day week and just raised $4.75m

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:27:09 -0600

The Naive Optimist: We work a 4-day week and just raised $4.75m:

ryanleecarson:

I think there’s something messed up about the startup culture in the USA. The belief is that you have to work 6-7 days a week and spend all your mental cycles on your company. Nothing but pledging your soul to your startup yields success, right?

Not in my experience.

We work a 4-day week at …

If the multiplicity and mutability of laws prove a want of...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:04:03 -0600

If the multiplicity and mutability of laws prove a want of wisdom, their injustice betrays a defect still more alarming: more alarming not merely because it is a greater evil in itself, but because it brings more into question the fundamental principle of republican Government, that the majority who rule in such Governments, are the safest Guardians both of public Good and of private rights.

- James Madison

Planned Economy or Planned Destruction?

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:35:46 -0600

Planned Economy or Planned Destruction?

"When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing..."

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:23:42 -0600

“When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.”

- Frédéric Bastiat

"Sucesso é um acidente de percurso."

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:12:26 -0600

“Sucesso é um acidente de percurso.”

- Chico Anysio

Rasmus Lerdorf - The Future of PHP 2012

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:39:00 -0600

Rasmus Lerdorf - The Future of PHP 2012:

I’ve recently watched Rasmus Lerdorf’s presentation at Etsy, and I highly encourage you to watch it if you are a PHP Developer and want to know where the language is going.

There were many take aways for me. The biggest was the list of gotchas, Rasmus has noticed while working with different start-ups over the years. Another great part is his explanations of PHP 5.4, including traits, closures, and stuff that is no longer supported. He does a very good job at explaining the intricacies of those new features.

It is a pretty long video, but worth it. Make sure to stick around for the QA as well.

Speak the truth, get the can.

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:04:38 -0700

Speak the truth, get the can.

"Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be..."

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:38:51 -0700

“Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.”

- Thomas Jefferson - First Inaugural Address (1801)

Use VoteSmart before you make your decision. Figure out where...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:42:15 -0700

Use VoteSmart before you make your decision. Figure out where your elected officials stand on issues that you care about.

"The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation..."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:03:33 -0700

“The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations…
Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

- George Washington

Proof Mitt Romney Is No Better Than Obama

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:06 -0700

Proof Mitt Romney Is No Better Than Obama:

John Kurtz from Free Radical Radio has put together a nice post, outlining how Mitt Romney has no respect for the Bill of Rights and therefore is no better than Obama when it comes to running this republic.

A Shiny New Me: A CoffeeScript Revealing Module

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:24:55 -0700

A Shiny New Me: A CoffeeScript Revealing Module:

I am happy to see others had the same realisation I had after watching Brandon Satrom’s presentation.

burkeholland:

This past week I had the pleasure - and it was a pleasure - to visit the fine city of Sandusky, Ohio. Now up until this point, all I’ve known about Sandusky is this…

We were at the Kalahari Resort for CodeMash. This is a fabulous place by the way. Not only is it a fantastic indoor water…

This is a clear example of how much Congress should stay out of...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:56:07 -0700

This is a clear example of how much Congress should stay out of the Internet.

"But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names..."

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:14:34 -0700

“But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all [Republicans], we are all [Democrats]. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world’s best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.”

- Thomas Jefferson

Remember when a conservative preaching humble foreign policy...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:45:12 -0700

Remember when a conservative preaching humble foreign policy wasn’t misconstrued as “radically isolationist” by his own party? - ebsm93

Here you have proof, the White House Administration will not...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:07:41 -0700

Here you have proof, the White House Administration will not veto the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as the MSM has been saying he would. If this doesn’t show you that we are no longer being represented in Washington D.C. I don’t know what will.

I Work For The Internet

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:41:00 -0700

I Work For The Internet:

A snapshot of all the people who make the Internet a great place. Al Gore can Suck it!

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for..."

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:37:00 -0700

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

- Henry Ford