The importance of being yourself

I reciently realized the importance of being yourself. There was a time in my life when I would customize my resume based on the job I was seeking. I’m a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy, and was always expecting employers to want an empolyee they could eaisly put a label on. I’ve come to realize that while that’s true of many companies, it’s not true of the ones that I fit into.

Reguardless of the company and it’s philosophy, I’ve found it critical to be honest about your strengths and weeknesses. If your a good worker, the right company will find a place for you. If they can’t benefit from your unique skills, then it’s simply not a good fit. Shake hands, and know you’ve at least made one more good contact, that knows you’re a no bull shit kind if guy. Your reputation follows you everywhere you go.

The first step in doing this is being honest with yourself. The career that fate/genetics has chosen for you might make it a little harder to find work, but when you do, it will be a job, that will be a career, that you can be happy with. And work won’t seem so much like work.

Don’t be afraid you won’t get the job, if your not right for it, brave the cold and find the one you are right for.

Dan

Metcalfe’s law

How many web developers aren’t aware of Metcalfe’s law? My guess is that most know it very well, but many never knew it had been formalized.

Digg is my quintessential example of this theory in action. I was one of the first users of digg 2.0, hearing about it on their podcast Diggnation. The traffic was sparse at begin with, but it seemed to explode at a some point. I remember the debates about adding non-technology digg categories. Many of the the old-school guys didn’t want their culture to be tainted by the “normies”. It’s crazy to try and limit your potential, especially once the ball gets rolling.

The utility of a network increases exponentially as the users of the network increases. This applies beautifully to social web sites, but does not apply to utility or productivity sites, we shouldn’t think that by simply creating a web site, we’ll get exponential traffic. Sites like salesforce.com and basecamp.com have no use of Metcalfe’s law, they may try to wedge social features into the site, but it ends up looking out of place. To truly take advantage, you need to create real value from the social aspect of your product.

How to open an EPS document in GIMP

The first way I found to do this was by adding the GS_PROG environment variable (add the path to the .exe file), but I’ve got the portable version of GIMP and it seemed to not be checking the environment variables. After much internet searching I found this.

The solution was to copy the executable files from C:\Program Files\gs\gs8.54\bin into GIMPPortable\App\gimp\bin

Some day google will index this page, and I hope others find this as easily as I should have been able to the first time.

Dan

Identifying risk by integration points

In software development there exist things called integration points. This is when any point in the process your working on makes contact with an independent system. You must also include the systems that that system depends on, so the count can quickly balloon. If you’re sleeping with X, you’re also sleeping with all the systems X has slept with.

Every time your dependent on a independent system, the risk of success of your project is reduced. Does your project depend upon a web service? A .dll file? A folder/file on the server? Network permissions to the folder? Each of these integration points can cause a failure in your project, none of which are in the scope of the changes to implement the feature set. Most integration points are unavoidable, but if you’re considering a particular architecture and are considering a web service (for example), think again. If you need to access the service from multiple systems, across networks, or on a heterogeneous architecture it may be the best option. But don’t do it without thoughtful consideration to the risk that you’re adding to all the future projects that require that service to be running, and running bug free.

It’s not the only way to identify risk for a project, but should be considered as a factor.

My New Flip Camera

I got a new Flip video camcorder, it’s not very fancy, but it’s a lot of fun. Even my wife can use it

So, technically it’s a Pure Digital Flip Ultra Series F260 Camcorder. I got it from woot for $90 (woot’s the bomb!). The “Flip” in it’s name is due to the flip-up USB connector which makes it very easy to connect to your computer. This connection also allows you install the software directly from the camera itself, so you don’t have to worry about being at Uncle Bob’s and not being able to get to your videos, although it’s nice to never need to worry about my batteries dieing and not having a charger.

It can record 60 minutes at 640×480, and uses a DivX compression format. Not exactly sure what the bit rate is, but it looks good, even in the YouTube video the rocks show up nice and clear, with little artifacting. The functionality is painfully simple, the giant red button in the back records. That’s about it, you can also playback and delete videos if can’t get back to a computer before you fill it. The zoom is so lame it might as well not be there, but it might as well not be there anyway. That kind of functionally is not what this camera is intended for, I don’t see me ever using it. Another interesting feature is that it takes 2 AA batteries, I’m hoping it won’t burn through them too fast.

I’ve got a Canon PowerShot SD500, which I love, and it takes great video. There’s just something about this flip camera that makes you want to use it. Plus, with the flip I don’t need to find an SD card to USB converter.

I’ve also included a link to the original video, for those of you that have the DivX codecs, and care.
Flip Video Test

What was my life like before Call of Duty 4?

I can’t remember, I’m not even sure I was actually “alive” then anyway.

Ok, ok, maybe that’s a bit of an overreaction, but this is an undeniably fun game.  I haven’t spent too much time with it yet, but I’m planning on it.  When you play this game you need to be sure you’ve got the sound turned up.  It’s a visceral experience for all you senses.  From the night missions using the night-vision goggles in the middle of a urban firefight, to the 50 cal on the side of a C-130 (or whatever the fuck that plane is).  It’s heart pounding all the way through.

From what I’ve heard the story line is a little short, but I’ve put about 6 hours into it, and haven’t seen the end yet.  I’ve also heard the multi player is outstanding, I’ve only played one game, but had lots of fun.  One other suggestion, start on the easy level.  I started on the medium level and have to replay several of the scenarios several times.

Rent it, buy it, live it, love it.

10 on, 2 off

I’ve discovered Merlin Manns (10+2)*5 formula and I’m loving it.  I’m finding I’m more focus, and more motivated.

So here’s the breakdown of the idea for every 12 minutes, you spend 10 working and 2 as a break, I’m not one right now.  You don’t get stuck down rabbit holes of non-productivity, i.e. You Tube videos.

And you don’t get down about some miserable project you’re working on, because you can check when your next break is.  It’s a “OK, I can work on this for another 2 minutes, unitl my break” thing, otherwise you can find yourself dreading the task.  It breaks up the task into doable portions.

Using your calendar for repeating ticklers

My current GTD application (http://www.gtdageenda.com) does not have repeating appointments, which has vexed me for some time, as I’m in love with the rest of the application, and I’m not willing to switch just yet.

The solution came to me in a flash of light!  And the answer is contained withing the GTD system itself.  I now use a repeating appotiment on my calendar (Google calendar) to remind me to put the action on my next actions list.  This results in a little double entry, but gives me the ability to have soft deadlines, where I don’t have to constantly check what I didn’t get complete in my calendar.  As well as my calendar not having the ability to mark things as complete.  It’s a great system to make sure monthly bills get paid, among other things.

Learning vs. Practicing

I enjoy learning new things.  It’s just part of my character.  I’m not a big fan of practicing.  So to drill the same thing over and over again, does not hold my interest.

The unfortunate fact of life is that you can never be great without practice, and lots of it.  With talent alone you can be good, but to truly excel at anything you’ve got to practice.

Repetition grinds action into long term memory.  These long term memories serve as domain knowlege in order to give you perspective on other learning experiences.  Without practice the knowledge will not be stored in long term memory.

Martial arts provides a good example.  If I practice a jab for an extended period of time, I will have a great deal of domain knowledge about jabs, more so then someone that practices a variety of techniques.  I will also be able to evaluate other techniques against that knowledge.  There is a balance to this and identifying your goal is important.  If your goal is to be the the guru of jabbing, you’ve got to practice techniques within that domain.

It’s the same with martial art styles in general, if you want to be an expert in a given system you have to practice that system, the more you practice within that domain, the more expert you become.  When you practice in different systems you gain perspective at a different level, your expertise becomes more general.  The brain handles narrow domain knowledge better then broad, the factors become too many to effectively evaluate a particular technique.  Your knowledge becomes more general.

Thus, you can never be at the top of a domain unless you relentlessly practice.  If the domain is to broad, you’ll never be able to process all the experience to reach a level that you would have if you stuck with something more specific.

Seeking the angle

I’ve noticed that the vast majority of single techniques practiced with a partner are done with excessive overcommitment on the part of the uki.  The problem with “here’s all the shit I’m gonna to when I get to the side of you” is that “all the shit I’m gonna do” is the easy part.  Getting the angle is the tough part.

If I manage to get the angle on someone, I’m gonna fuck them up.  Kick, punch, knee, elbow, whatever…  When your opponent is not facing you, and you are facing them, you have a distinct and clear advantage.  How many options do you really need once you get there.

In Wing Chun we call this angle the outside gate, if you put your arms straight out, anything on the outside of that is considered the outside gate.  Figuring out what to do once you get this advantage is never a problem.  It’s ever so painful to get there.  Trying to get the angle on your opponent is challenging, to say the least.  And in my opinion not practiced enough.

Sparing (standing or ground), and Chi Sao are two great ways to practice seeking the angle.  The key is a non compliant opponent.  I’m not saying that the techniques and drills that focus on the “ass kicking” after getting the angle shouldn’t be done.  Having the muscle memory is important, you wouldn’t what to find yourself in the situation and not know instinctively how to follow through.

What I am saying is there’s a danger in feeling overconfident that your techniques will win the day, and when faced with an opponent be unable to execute.