Keeping it digital » Uncategorized Category

I really started using FriendFeed when I figured out that it will notify you via instant message just like Twitter. Now that I am running GTalk on my BlackBerry constantly, there is no reason not to switch to FriendFeed.

Dear Remember the Milk,

I am moving my todo list back to the notebook in my drawer. It isn’t anything you did or didn’t do. It’s just me.

Carl

Be comfortable being uncomfortable.

I have forgotten that gem. It is good to remember from time to time.

It is spelled grok. There is no c in grok. I have seen it spelled with a c twice in two days and it is driving me bonkers. Grok?!

What does basketball and code have to do with each other? Not much. But I love this Coach K quote:

The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions.

I can’t tell you the number of rules my client has just to keep people from making intelligent decisions. The problem is that it has been proven that most people can’t. We set up formalized review boards to ensure that developers don’t bring in code that could cause problems. It has gotten to the point where they want to review JavaScript libraries for approval. If the boards were actually keeping track of what people were bringing in and saying “here is the stack that you have to use to solve that particular problem” then it would make sense to have this type of structure, unfortunately they just let everything in as long as you have a valid reason. The leaders are passing on the perfect opportunity to create standards in the organization.

I wish they would either set us free to make our own decisions or provide value to the review boards. Either way something needs to change.

Coach K’s quote is something all managers should strive to achieve. Empowerment is a valuable asset.

Jamis Buck shows us this little jewel for shortcutting the find method with []. This is why Rails’ ActiveRecord is the best persistence layer around. I am going a little nutty at work because I have to use Java with Hibernate. I have seen what real development can be like. I have tasted the fruit of productivity. If it wasn’t for the awesome people that I work with and the kickass problem we are trying to solve… I would be looking for a Rails gig elsewhere.

Here is the list of gems that I have installed:

actionmailer (1.3.2, 1.2.5)
actionpack (1.13.2, 1.12.5)
actionwebservice (1.2.2, 1.1.6)
activerecord (1.15.2, 1.14.4)
activesupport (1.4.1, 1.3.1)
capistrano (1.2.0)
cheat (1.2.1, 1.0.2)
fastri (0.3.0.1, 0.2.1.1, 0.2.0.1, 0.1.1.1)
fxri (0.3.5, 0.3.3)
fxruby (1.6.4, 1.6.3, 1.6.1, 1.2.6)
gem_plugin (0.2.1)
hoe (1.1.6, 1.1.3, 1.1.2)
log4r (1.0.5)
mongrel (0.3.13.3)
needle (1.3.0)
net-sftp (1.1.0)
net-ssh (1.0.10)
piston (1.2.1)
rails (1.2.2, 1.1.6)
rake (0.7.1)
rcov (0.7.0.1)
RedCloth (3.0.4)
RMagick-win32 (1.9.2)
rubyforge (0.3.2, 0.3.1)
RubyInline (3.6.0)
sources (0.0.1)
sqlite-ruby (2.2.3)
sqlite3-ruby (1.1.0.1, 1.1.0)
tzinfo (0.3.3, 0.3.2)
win32-clipboard (0.4.1, 0.4.0)
win32-dir (0.3.0)
win32-eventlog (0.4.1)
win32-file (0.5.2)
win32-file-stat (1.2.2)
win32-process (0.5.0, 0.4.2)
win32-sapi (0.1.3)
win32-service (0.5.2, 0.5.0)
win32-sound (0.4.0)
windows-pr (0.6.0, 0.5.5, 0.5.1)
ZenTest (3.4.3, 3.4.2, 3.4.1)

Only need two words to follow up my post from yesterday: Code Smaller

There was a conversation in an online forum at work this week that disturbed me. Some bumbling neophyte was asserting that the inaccuracies of Wikipedia could be fixed by limiting the editors to registered authors. That is when all hell broke loose. Many tried to come to the aid of the poor fellow and explain why the current mode of operation is best. But being a closed minded twit, I don’t think he ever gained the understanding.

As a side note, the real discussion is whether Microsoft is right or wrong for paying someone to update Wikipedia. I assert that if Bill Gates or any of his other highly paid Microsoft employees are spending their time updating Wikipedia, they are most certainly getting paid while they are doing it thus someone would still be paid to update the site. I personally don’t see anything wrong with hiring a contractor to ensure that the content on Wikipedia is accurate. There is almost a ‘goodness’ in hiring someone outside the organization to make the updates in an attempt to ensure that it does not fill up with internally created marketroid babble. As long as the contractor is adding factual data, I don’t see anything wrong with the situation. At Wikipedia, factual data is all I care about, the source only aids in my assessment of the reliability of the information.

While the conversation was brewing, my mind was trying to come up with words to describe why Wikipedia works, but the only thing my brain would latch onto is that Wikipedia is open, Linux is open, so it must be a ‘Good Thing’. Open government lead to this great country. An open market lead to our world class economy. Open source created a terrific operating system as well as bolstered an entire industry. And last, obviously, open editing created the best source for information.

Each example I have given above either currently has blemishes or has had them in the past. But all of them have survived through the ups and downs and almost always have come out better because of the bumps and bruises. One of the few things that they have in common is that they are all proclaimed to be ‘open’. I believe that there is value in the number of eyes that have access to a ’system’ whether it is government, market or source code. I would argue that openness has created more good than any other concept.

I find Mark Cuban to be a breath of fresh air. Whether it is his insight on the stock market, current technology trends or the NBA, he always has a fresh perspective that is usually unconventional. His thoughts on customers is yet another example:

And a word of advice to take or leave as you see fit. Its always a mistake to listen to your customers. The goal of any organization should be to give their customers or constituents what they will want, not what they did want. Its not the job of the customer to know their future consumption habits. Its your job.

This quote was taken from his latest blog post about delivering content via the internet. The quote is directed at cable/satellite/telcos delivering content to viewers, but I would like to say that is universal.

If you start delivering what your customers are asking for, then you have fallen behind. Google is a good example of this. Gmail was a complete surprise and everyone loved Google for it. Google Maps was a complete surprise, and everyone loved Google for it. Google calendar is something the masses have been screaming for, and it is a bit of a let down. I think the only company that has done this right for an extended amount of time is iD Software (makers of Doom, Quake, etc…). Their mantra is “We will release it when it is done.” And their titles are always good.

As a consumer I have started to put blinders on when announcements of “upcoming features” are broadcast. I don’t care if it is a television show, movie, new processor from Intel, iPod, albums, whatever… I don’t want to know to many details because I want to be pleasantly surprised.

My problem is, how do you convince your customers that this is the best way to go about business when your customers sit next to you? How do you say, “I hear what you want, but that isn’t what you are going to get this time.” without offending them? How do you convince them that you know what their needs are better than they do?

A friend and I were walking down this path earlier this month discussing how all of the applications that we have written over the years were successful if the user’s did not have that much input. This totally goes against the grain of Agile methodologies. So, as with all things “good”, there is a balance that must be found. You have to have some input from the customer, but the customer also needs to accept “No, that is a bad idea.” This requires a trusting relationship… and we all know how easily those are created.