Tech

So, I broke down and took one of the online courses offered at my work on Project Management basics. I kept hearing domain language from managers, former project managers, and true project managers from our other (non-software) function. I wanted some info on their thoughts and methodology. So, during that, I had a light-bulb moment: Agile software has no project managers. Seriously. Back-up and read that sentence. They don’t exist, and if that gives you the heebie-jeebies, keep reading. If you have agile and project managers, then you’re doing it wrong, at least as nearly as I can tell. ...

Have an test requiring me to fast at 3pm today, so no eating for me. CRANKY! It occurred to me today to add-up all the time I’ve spent in the last 2 years trying to define processes. Then I realized if I did, I’d probably become violently ill or just violent. My last attempt. Seems like it should be this simple: Have a list of crap for people to do. Whoever populates that list is THE BOSS, whether his/her title says so or not. If bad stuff gets on that list and causes you to fail, that person accepts responsibility. Make sure someone [competent] covers each item. In the world of fairy farts and gooseberries, he’ll choose from that list altruistically. In the real world, someone takes a bite out of the crap sandwich and gets assigned work. When people don’t get their crap done, they feel consequences. If they can’t ever get their crap done satisfactorily, you fire them. When people do get their crap done, regularly, you promote them. When they stop getting their crap done, you demote them and promote someone else. (Take THAT, Peter Principle.) I think with the above 4 points, I’ve violated every single methodology in practice today. ...

So, since the first of the year, I’ve been a happy LastPass user, using the browser integrations in Chrome and Firefox. It’s great: I never need to type a password –> Especially handy if you’re projecting on screen. I never reuse a password across sites –> Even salted, hashed password files can get compromised. The ‘Generate Password’ feature lets me generate an arbitrary length password of arbitrary complexity–> Not vulnerable to dictionary attacks. You can use a neat 2-factor authentication system. I’ve also enabled 2-factor auth wherever I can (Google Profile, Twitter, etc.). ...

Ah, so, Google Reader. It’s going away in July 2013. Yes, this is another rant decrying the shutdown of Google Reader. However, it’s my process for working through losing the app I’ve used every day since it was announced. I mean that. Every. Day. I’ve used Google Reader so long, I don’t remember what I used before it to read RSS feeds; I vaguely recall using NetNewsWire or some other installed application, but those never felt right. Just as with email, the concept of sync’ing internet content to my PC never felt right. ...

I hear this today as a planted sales question: “Why shouldn’t I just use an Open Source solution instead of [my company’s dooflotchy]?” So help me, this is what I recall as being what the speaker wanted the salesperson to respond. Well, first of all, you get what you pay for. Would you really want to trust your sensitive data to a piece of Open Source? We will support and stand behind our solution, and you have every opportunity to influence the product roadmap if you go with us. ...

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-programmer/ Engineers are hired to create business value, not to program things: Businesses do things for irrational and political reasons all the time (see below), but in the main they converge on doing things which increase revenue or reduce costs. Status in well-run businesses generally is awarded to people who successfully take credit for doing one of these things. (That can, but does not necessarily, entail actually doing them.) The person who has decided to bring on one more engineer is not doing it because they love having a geek around the room, they are doing it because adding the geek allows them to complete a project (or projects) which will add revenue or decrease costs. Producing beautiful software is not a goal. Solving complex technical problems is not a goal. Writing bug-free code is not a goal. Using sexy programming languages is not a goal. Add revenue. Reduce costs. Those are your only goals. ...

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/07/ff_stevejobs I work in technology. I’m writing this on a second generation Macbook Air. My family owns or has owned: 2 ipod classics, 3 ipod nano’s, 1 Intel iMac, 3 iPhones (1 3G, 1 iphone 4, 1 4s). I’m not a fanboi, but I’m in the neighborhood. That disclosed, let me be very clear in my position: Fuck Steve Jobs. Not because of what he did–he did great things (Apple, NeXT, Pixar, Apple…again), nor for his tyrannical management. I raise the cyber middle finger to Jobs because people conflate the two. They conclude that to do great things, you must be a tyrant, and that’s just wrong. In fact, the collateral damage of Jobs may take more than a decade to undo, just because people misunderstand who he was. ...

So, Buzz Out Loud ended this past week, which sucks considering I only discovered it last month when I started using Doggcatcher as my go-to podcast reader (I’m aware of the term ‘podcatcher’ and its symmetry with ‘podcaster,’ I just think it’s a terrible word.) So, I had to go in and remove BoL from my subscription list. While I was in there, I the following subscriptions for the following reasons: Mintcast – This is actually a really good Linux podcast; they do news around new Linux distros, the latest in the Gnome/Cinnamon schism from the Linux Mint team, and general sys-admin-y stuff. Nothing wrong with the cast itself, other than it’s middle age sys-admin guys talking about linux Linux Outlaws – This one hurt. I’ve listened to Linux Outlaws for almost a year now–started right after I got my Atrix. The issue I have is the main creative force behind the show–Fabian Scherchel–has moved on. He’s acting like he hasn’t, but he’s really been phoning-in the podcasts lately. His co-host, Dan Lynch, is the ever-present straight-man and I still subscribe to his RatholeRadio podcast, but LO is don’t for me. NPR Culturtopia – Once I discovered that Pop Culture Happy Hour had its own podcast link, random stories from Netta Ulabe (sp?) became superfluous. PCHH is my favorite podcast–bar none–and it’s a welcome change from my normal diet of tech, tech, programming, nerd, tech stuff. Current subscriptions remaining: ...

Definition: Dutch Disease After reading Alan Greenspan’s book last year, one concept that’s remained with me is Dutch Disease, which I (over-)simplify to mean: When you have one huge cash cow industry/revenue stream, then all your other industries suffer. Combine that with this article on tech crunch. I see a similarity there, in that tech companies that were formerly innovative latch onto a current upper-bound revenue source (Let’s say MS Office) and short-change other opportunities, or (worse yet) view them in terms of the current technology. ...

I attended the Central Ohio Software Symposium in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend. What follows are my reviews of the event overall and the individual sessions I attended. Overview Most conferences suck, frankly. They’re usually put on by a single company, and are a combination of too much marketing pitch, too little content & reality. As it’s name would suggest, a No Fluff/Just Stuff conference is none of that. No vendors. No showy crap. Just industry-leading experts presenting what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. ...

Linky Need to send somebody an svn link to the code you’re working on? svn info . | grep URL | clip Then, just Ctrl-C and paste it into your email.

So, you live in an organization for 10 years, and you acquire a certain rep. A reputation as a maverick, a guy who’s not too wrapped-up in procedure, kowtow’ing, and career. You’ve said some things in meetings that were career-limiting, but damn it, they were the RIGHT THINGS. Sure, you broke into someones computer once to get their hard drive so you could deliver the code she REFUSED TO CHECK IN before going on vacation. Sure, you telnet’d in to a running test server to see if your hack worked and could save everyone working the weekend (it didn’t, you hosed the test run, and you worked round the clock that weekend). Sure, you’ve slapped your head at stupidity (both in others and your own), and welcome anyone who’ll do the same. ...

I totally understand it all. Susan - Jan 5, 2009 I totally understand it all. I totally understand that blog.

Linky In hindsight, certain things look foolish: Jewel-encrusted buggywhips, Pets.com, and GM’s interest in Hummer. I’m sure after enough time, this Web 2.0 foolishness will look just as silly. I loved some of the apps that resulted: RescueTime, Mint.com, etc. They’re neat. Still, eventually, you’ve got to have a business model. Something that doesn’t begin and end in “ad-supported”. Something people will pay for, that they NEED, and that has some complexity and barrier-to-entry. Government protection or an outright monopoly wouldn’t hurt, either. ...

What follows is a little tinfoil-hat, I admit… Okay, so the other night, I had a dream about working at the NSA or some other government agency where “We’re smarter than you can imagine…” No doubt, this came from two things: I just read Dan Brown’s turdly book Digital Fortress I had a really great discussion about my industry with my #1 consultant–my wife. Whitney observed that programmers are paid an obscene amount of money, and that I should expect a downward trend. Pointedly, I said at the time–well yeah, I didn’t exactly graduate from M I T ...

Ah December, the time to give, receive, and splurge on a really neat wireless plan. For the last 3 years, in true Dave Ramsey fashion, Whitney and I have been prepaid Virgin Mobile users. I’d say subscribers, but there’s no subscription–you pay-as-you-go, and pay only for the calls and text messages (“TXTs”) you use. On the whole, it wasn’t a bad system. The phones were chintzy and low-tech, but they worked reliably for voice and text. Between the two of us, we were averaging $42 / month. Thing was, Whitney wouldn’t carry her phone–she didn’t like it, and wouldn’t have it around for emergencies. ...

yeah we’ve totally fallen off the Dave wagon….bu… Whitney - Dec 2, 2008 yeah we’ve totally fallen off the Dave wagon….but I have a cool new phone! lol. I REALLY like Harold’s orange phone. If mine came in orange I would SO be there! His has actual keys and they are backlit which is awesome! The ONLY thing I really hate about the iphone is how I have to, to quote CR, “keep eyes glued to the screen” as it’s all a touch screen - including the keyboard. I prefer the QWERTY boards on the blackberry curve and samsung blackjack…..and wish the iPhone took video like the blackjack. but other than that it is INCREDIBLY cool. ...

Notes writeup: -——————– “Top Performing Mobile Applications” Panel: - Allesandro Pace - Darren Osadchuck - Dale Rankin -> Moket - Scott Janousek Alessandro (BORING) Keep UI simple Keep memory below 70% Use name/value pairs in lieu of XML where possible XMLSocket where possible Daren (very low-key and monotone but obviously competent): Optimize loops Prefer the deprecated function calls ( in lieu of Math.* ) functions Remap your keypad Record Keystrokes on CS4 using Device Central’s device set Scott (seemed nervous): ...

8:47am – Moscone center, West Well, public WiFi seems to be a pipedream. I sit here on the 3rd floor…it’s wall-to-wall people, seems like a mix of folks–guys in french blue business shirts, Bohemian guys with messenger bags, and lots of fat guys with ponytails. Male to female ratio: 5:1. Better than I expected, but we’ll see how things turn out in my sessions. Somehow my Adobe Login got hosed, and I can’t log-in to my account on Adobe.com to change it (again, no WiFi out here) ...

WTF? Thought: Me have logistic/organizatio… Whitney - Nov 2, 2008 WTF? Thought: Me have logistic/organizational charts in head all times overlapping flowing haiku much Charlotte have nonsensical bullet point ammunition Dad Christmas Adobe house Adobe MAX = whacked house in skeletal Maria California sunny PEETS Snow here, ice go boom boom floor Maria word verification pitcher CHARLOTTE GO HOME! Wow, your summary hurts my head. I’m definitely too old to survive one of those! ...