Matt's Texas Tales

OXO and design failures.

2005-10-31T08:27:00.000-06:00

"We're not afraid of a slow build," says Levy. "We're designing products to last a long time."

OXO seems to have a very agile approach to product development. They go through iterations of products because a lot of things just aren't apparent until you see them in real life. For instance, they made a bagel slicer which makes slicing bagels a lest dangerous activity. When they demoed it in Chicago it was somewhat of a failure in that they hadn't designed for Chicago sized bagels (much smaller than their New York counterparts).

The cool thing is that they learned from this mistake. When they made a mango splitter they made sure to test against many varieties of mangos; not just one type. The same thing can be done in software development. When starting a new project most seasoned developers make sure to have source control available, for instance.

I know it's been a while

2005-10-21T09:14:00.000-05:00

But this is how I've been feeling for a while.

The Cato Institute's view

2004-10-31T22:48:00.000-06:00

An interesting opinion in that it says both the Republican and Democrat candidates are wrong when it comes to Iraq. I don't agree with the article's conclusion, but at least it's somewhat fresh.

The Fall Season

2004-10-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

We've been trying out a few of the new fall shows to give Tivo something to do in place of Angel and 24 (which officially sucks as of season 3). There are three shows that seem quite promising: Lost (NBC), CSI-NY(CBS) and Veronica Mars(UPN). Lost is kind of a first season 24/Survivor mix with surprising good suspense. CSI-NY is darker more disturbing brother of the original CSI. Much better than CSI-Miami because David Caruso is a chode in contrast to an enjoyable Gary Sinese. Veronica Mars is a non-supernatural Buffy (a high compliment in my book).

In other news the Bahama Breeze restaurant on Stonelake Blvd is being replaced with a Baby Alcapulco's. I already forsee a few nights of Purple maragarita debauchery.

I didn't inhale.

2004-09-27T22:20:00.000-05:00

My continuing obsession with The Daily Show.

Wireless Replays

2004-09-23T22:19:00.000-05:00

I'd love this feature on a small handheld at the races we go to. BTW, there will be road courses next year.

More from Italy

2004-09-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

We got back from Italy last week and I'm happy to be back. It was my first foray outside of North America and definitely my first extended trip in a country where I don't at least speak a little bit of the language. Without question it was a great time and it was made all the more fun to be able to share it with Laura. She's quite a bit more well traveled than I am so she was able to smooth the way a bit in the more stressful situations like driving around in swarms of Vespas and clearing customs on the way back.

People keep asking me my favorite part of Italy and what things stuck out most as being different than the states. And both have pretty much the same answer: the extensive history. Everywhere you went, it was readily apparent that humans had called this place home for a long time. Certainly people have been in the US for a long time, but native Americans didn't leave as much Western type signs that they were here. Or at the very least, those signs have not been integrated so tightly into the prevailing culture as they have been in Italy.

Laura and I really enjoyed Florence. Although this is an over simplification, the difference between Austin and Houston is about the same difference between Florence and Rome. Rome is huge, has lots of culture and definitely feels like a large metropolitan city. Florence is a quite a bit smaller and feels more like a place where people live. These perceptions are probably more related to where we visited and how the tourist areas are laid out.

We had no problems finding good inexpensive food in Florence. Much like Ed suggested, we would walk down the street, see a busy place and get in line. We had some GREAT fresh pasta and Florentine steak that I will never forget.

Tuscany reminded me a lot of the wine country in California; which I guess isn't a huge surprise. Quite pretty and very laid back.

But finally, we got ready to go home. I was really looking forward to ESPN, the Simpsons in English and most importantly, Tivo. Well I guess Tivo and my friends and family, but you get the point. At the Rome airport it was interesting to note that the check-in counter for our flight back to Chicago was off to the side and you had to go through a security checkpoint to get there. The security was a few uniformed military looking people with fully-automatic weapons. There was also a couple of guys with guns walking the cat-walk up top. All of the flights had one of two things in common: they were headed for the States or they were headed for Israel.

Democracy Inaction

2004-09-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

I just got this book from Amazon today. I've only read 2 pages of it and it's already made me laugh out loud at least 6 times.

Mid Afternoon

2004-09-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

For JP:

Early afternoon - 12-2pm.
Mid afternoon - 2-3pm.
Late afternoon 3-5pm.

Italy, days 2 and 3, update from Laura.

2004-09-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

Laura just read my last post and wanted to add the following:

St. Peter's is just about the most impressive building around.
St. Peter is burried in the basement there.
The climb up Michelango's dome was long 320+ steps but well worth the view.
The climb down from the dome makes you dizzy.
You can't find Pepsi anywhere.

Oh and Robert, current picture count is 212.

Italy, days 2 and 3

2004-09-02T13:58:00.000-05:00

Days 2 and 3 were devoted to sight seeing. We went to the Galleria Borghese and the Vatican. We enjoyed both immensely. The Sistine Chapel is as impressive as you have been lead to believe. You can literally spend hours just staring at the ceiling if your neck would hold out.

We encountered Charle's guy. Well not Charle's exact guy, but a very similar speech. Somehow, the two American looking people were supposed to help this guy find the Train Station. After I pointed out on the map where it is and where we were, he went on to ask where we were from. Austin, Texas. USA. "Oh, I have cousin in LA. Do you know Versacè?" Well sure, we had heard of it. "Would you like free samples?" No. After the first no, he raced off immediately in his car. Obviously on to better customers.

Lunch and dinner were again not that impressive. I did, however, make it a point to stop by the US embassy. I was quite unimpressed. Sure it was big, with large gates and everything but there was not one Marine on guard; at least not prominently. If I had needed to make a mad dash to the door, passport on display and yelling "I'm an American!" I doubt anybody would have noticed.

Things learned today:

The two buttons on my toilet are for different flush sizes. The big one gives you a big flush, the smaller button a smaller flush.
Some subways have buttons next to their doors as well. Push them to get on or off.
Stuff in Rome is expensive.
Acqua, no gas.
Security people at the Vatican do NOT want their pictures taken.
The Roman Catholic church has kick ass facilities in Rome.
Most of the tourist spots do NOT take credit cards. And, they want exact change.
It's a pain to get change anywhere except for the little convenience stores and snack shops.
When buying sun screen, make sure it is not tinted brown. Especially if you have fish belly white skin like me.
No matter how bad the road signs are in the US, they are nowhere near as obfuscated or incomprehensible as the road signs in Italy.
Vespas suck.

That's about all from days 2 and 3. I really liked our hotel room at the Hotel Splendide Royal. Very quiet and comfortable.

Italy day 1

2004-09-01T14:50:00.000-05:00

For those of you who didn't know, Laura and I are in Italy for a quick visit. Currently I'm sitting in my room in Florence which has a computer and an internet connection built in. Free! So, since the opportunity is right, I'm finally making a post.

Day 1: We arrived in Rome at 7:30 in the morning after about 14 hours of travel. Immigration consisted of brief pause at a station where some guy quickly stamped our passports and waived us through. I never said a word to him and vice versa. Bags came quickly and the airport as the airport was next to empty. We hopped on the Leonardo Express. Steps to get on train (matt style):

Buy ticket.
Get on train.
Read ticket, note that it needs to be "validated."
Leave Laura alone on the train with 3 bags
Run back to yellow validating machines, validate ticket.
Run back to train.
Jump on train 45 seconds before it leaves.
Get severe look from Laura.

We made it to the train station at Termini and grabbed a cab to our hotel. Since we were very early, they weren't quite ready for us. We dumped our bags and headed to the closest metro station to catch a metro to the coliseum. There are only two lines in Rome, A and B. You can get a tourist pass for 11 Euro which is good for unlimited rides for a week, busses too.

I won't bore you too much with the details of the coliseum but to sum up: lots of trinkets and tours for sale surrounding one big ass piece of rock. By the end of our moseying around, we were both a bit exhausted from the travel and walking so we went back to the hotel for a long nap. Later we had dinner at some roof top restaurant that was pretty good, but not outstanding. It was nice for the view of the Pantheon, but not much else. Then back to the hotel for more sleep.

Things learned on day 1:

You must validate your train ticket.
Rome is full of doors with buttons next to them. Those buttons open the door. Pushing very hard on the doors over and over again does not seem to open them.
The door close button in the elevators are actually hooked up to the door.
Pack light.
Everybody knows I'm an American, just by looking at me. The UT hat probably didn't help.

City of Austin Police Retirement vs ITT?

2004-08-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

According to the complaint, 12 former ITT employees have already been interviewed and provided detailed information on illegal actions by ITT executives, ranging from inflating enrollment figures by counting nonenrolled students as enrolled and double-counting other students to falsifying student grades and post-graduation employment figures.

Gmail

2004-08-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

Anybody want a gmail account? I have two invites to send out.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Lego-Spiderman

2004-07-08T09:07:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Martha.

Winery Stop - Napa - Sterling Vineyards

2004-06-24T22:02:00.000-05:00

Laura and I went to this vineyard last summer on a suggestion from a guidebook. The biggest draw: a spectacular tram ride up the side of a "mountain" whose final destination is the winery at the top of the hill. It's $10 per person, but that includes a free tasting and self guided tour at the top. The free vintages we tried weren't outstanding but decent. Because of the construction that was going on at the time, we were offered one of the higher quality wines. The wine was a little better, but not worth the price.

The Tour: Self guided and not all that exciting. The building is quite pretty though and, as I said earlier, they've done some remodeling.

The Wine: Pretty average fair though we only tried one of the higher end vintages. Not that great of a value. The Chardonnay was good.

The Grounds: Almost as pretty as Benzinger; better in some places. Again, camera worthy.

Unique: The tram ride, of course! You and your friend will be treated to some very pretty views during your slow ascent and descent. (There's a 2/1 coupon for the reserve room tasting.)

Winery Stop - Sonoma - Benziger

2004-06-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

My Mom told me about this winery a few years ago. The place is gorgeous; and the wine ain't bad neither. If you're into 100% biodynamic growing, fruity wines and a tractor powered tour this is the place to go.

The Tour: I remember the tour cost around $7-$10 per person which included about a half-hour tour of the grounds powered by a tractor. The family dog might come a long for part of the ride. Really, the tour is more for the pleasant ride through this beautiful place than it is about learning about wine. At the end, you get to try one or two vintages.

The Wine: Very good for the price. Be sure to try a Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Laura and I did the $20 "upscale" tasting after the normal free (I think it's free, could be $5) tasting and were pretty happy though I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Remember, most places don't mind if two people share a tasting.

The Grounds: Did I mention how pretty this pace is? Be sure to bring a camera. After you go there, you'll wonder why anybody would want to live anywhere else.

Unique: They have their own insectory where they grow "good" insects that eat the "bad" insects which means they don't need to use pesticides. Be sure to check out the flora from different parts of the nation.

Travel to Tuscany

2004-06-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

JP told me about this place a couple of weeks ago. Laura and I went there on Saturday for lunch and loved the place. They make fresh made-to-order Italian style pizzas, sandwiches, salads, coffees and many side dishes. They also have a wine tasting bar in the back. Basically, pay a buck or two for a taste of wine; their delivery system is ingenuous. It's a little out of the way, but I highly recommend it as a great stop before a picnic; a nice place lunch and a very convenient place to do some high-falutin wine tasting.

German Spam

2004-06-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

I got this bit o' spam at work as well. Unfortunately, the babelfish.altavista.com translation didn't do it justice. Something about wailing women and poop videos.

Wine Country Reviews

2004-06-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

For all of those planning trips to the California wine country this summer, I wanted to put together a quick series of posts highlighting some of my and Laura's favorite wineries.

Some quick pre-requisites:

1. You'll need a car. There is really no other way to see the wine country aside from getting a driver. Convertibles are nice and there are some great roads around like Oakville Grade/Dry Creek Rd which connects, rather circuitously, Napa and Sonoma.
2. You'll need some patience. Traffic in the summer can be pretty bad on the small roads and some of the out of way wineries aren't the easiest to find without a good map.
3. You'll need some money. Though many wineries offer free tastings, every year I visit more and more are charging small tasting fees; especially true when sampling the higher end vintages. Also, tours usually have a small charge.
4. You'll need some sun block. And water. And shades. It's sunny and dry but thankfully, no where near as hot and muggy as Austin.
5. You'll need some preparation. Many of the wineries close on Mondays or Tuesdays completely and on Sunday early. Make sure that you find out when your favorite winery is open and if you need reservations for tours. Most wineries now have websites so check them out.
6. You'll need a camera and something to write with. One for the beautiful scenery, the other to help record the wines that you truly enjoy.

Once you have most of the above you're ready to enjoy the wine country.

Keep checking back for some tips on tasting, buying, shipping, eating and where to visit.

Lightning Bolt!

2004-06-07T10:32:00.001-05:00

I like the applause at the end. Thanks to Scott-D! for the link.

Amazon, delivered today.

2004-06-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

I agree, Amazon just gets it. They offer the best of both worlds for delivery now. If you're willing to wait, you can get most items delivered for free. Though most times I only wait a few business days even for that. But now, they're testing same day delivery of orders; that's just sweet.

Moris

2004-05-28T09:46:00.000-05:00


Martin: I am the wondrous wizard of Latin!  I am a dervish of declension

        and a conjurer of conjugation, with a million hit points and

        maximum charisma.

         [spots a blackboard with verbs written all over it]

        Aha!  "Morire": to die.  "Morit": he, she, or it dies.

         [Willy morphs out of the blackboard; Martin gasps]

 Willy: "Moris": _you_ die.

Martin: Aah!  [runs off]

 Willy: [laughs] You've mastered a dead tongue, but can you handle a

        live one?

         [his tongue shoots out of his mouth, wraps around Martin, and

        squeezes him]

         [in class, Martin twists and screams, then collapses on the

        floor]

Nelson: Ha ha!

Mozilla Bloglines Plugin

2004-05-11T07:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't tried it out yet. Pluck seems to be kind of nice, but I don't like how intrusive it is on Windows. Maybe this will be more behind the scenes.

Barbecue

2004-05-05T17:56:00.000-05:00

My good friend Jean-Pierre has organized a group of meat eaters in the Central Texas area. Our first outing is this Saturday at 10am. We're going to Coopers in LLano. Anybody else want to go? All meat fiends are invited.

3 Ads from Gmail!

2004-04-23T09:05:00.000-05:00

This was damn disappointing. No ads at all in my gmail account for
your previous email. Let's try this:

What would you think about a free money making opportunity involving
male erectile dysfunction (ED) and low mortgage rates? Perhaps you
would be interested in low cost term life insurance? I also have a
time saving application server with SOAP and other fun web
technologies.

Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior or are you
merely shopping for a quality used car? Please let us know if you
want to take advantage of this never before seen credit card with 1
million airline miles and free siding from Sears (charge it on your
new Discover card!). Please don't forget that when Girls goes Wild,
they mean it, so perhaps DVDs from EBay will do the trick for you. Or
maybe, your voyeuristic tendencies would be better served by a
wireless camera from X10?

Your pal,

Matt

(This resulted in ads for a Visa card, IEEE Financial Advantage Program, and CompuCredit. What ads can you make Gmail publish?)

Email Best Practices

2004-04-23T09:02:00.000-05:00

Oh and don't open zip files from people with subject lines on the email like "Check this out!" or "Wow, this is cool!" like several people here at work did.

My Toilet

2004-04-23T08:35:00.000-05:00

New technologies in toilets; and you thought they couldn't get any better. Laura and I remodeled our bathroom several months ago and got one of them new fangled low water consumption toilets. We bought one of the Kohlers the article speaks of with HyperFlush or other such named technology. I still haven't pooped in it yet, because of my uncanny ability to clog up any toilet known to man. Maybe I could have a career in testing flush capacities of toilets. Of course, that would eventually be outsourced to some other country where pooping is cheaper.

BTW, I'll be happy when my toilet can tell me why it always looks like I've had corn for lunch.

Received in my new Gmail account

2004-04-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

From Michael Cote':

porn

porn

porn

xml

xml

xml

Damn! No ads at all!

Your 401k, in 70 words or less.

2004-04-22T08:20:00.000-05:00

I just want to know, when is it going to make me a millionaire. I mean, I've been saving at least a few years now.

NASCAR and Potholes

2004-04-19T22:44:00.000-05:00

Klobe told me about this. How do you miss a pothole on a racetrack? Very alert safety people working for the NASCAR circuit.

Toyota Trucks Rule

2004-04-19T22:40:00.000-05:00

I'm a proud Toyota truck owner. They freakin last forever. My Mom's husband had a Toyota with 300k miles on it and he only ever changed the brakes, oil, tires and other rubber things that wear out after 15 years. I'm sure it's still running somewhere.

The other interesting tidbit in the article: Texans buy 15% of the full sized trucks in the US market. Unfortunately only about .01% of those buyers actually know how to park their behemoths.

Dillon a Patriot

2004-04-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

Making a great team even better. I think Corey will be a good fit there as his is the style of running that seems to compliment their running game. When they have a big guy rolling, their offense does very well.

Spilling The Beans

2004-04-19T10:01:00.000-05:00

Guess at the etymology of "spilling the beans" (not quite as cool as Gleaming The Cube):

"A popular folk etymology for spill the beans claims that in ancient Greece, applicants for membership in secret societies were voted upon by having the existing members drop beans into an opaque pottery jar. Those who approved of the potential new member would signal an affirmative vote by stealthily adding a white bean to the jar. A black bean indicated a negative vote. The story goes that on occasion, when the jar was accidentally knocked over, the beans poured out and the vote was revealed prematurely. Somebody had spilled the beans. It's an engaging tale, and beans were in fact once used as ballots, but since the phrase is American and was not seen until 1919, neither the story nor the jar holds water."

More from Rothman

2004-04-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

(VIA www.jrothman.com)

"Make sure your automated smoke tests are automated and small. If you don't have automated smoke tests, write some. (Smoke tests verify a build is usable -- that's it.) If your smoke tests require human intervention, they're not automated. The ability to release at any time depends on your ability to know if the build is usable by others and good enough for more system-level testing. Passing the smoke tests tells you if it's worth assigning the testers to test the build. "

Bob the Blogger

2004-04-15T16:15:00.000-05:00

You should only read .this blog if you're a Disney fan

Dude

2004-04-15T16:14:00.000-05:00

Walter Sobchak: Donny was a good bowler, and a good man. He was one of us. He was a man who loved the outdoors... and bowling, and as a surfer he explored the beaches of Southern California, from La Jolla to Leo Carrillo and... up to... Pizmo. He died, like so many young men of his generation, he died before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many bright flowering young men at Khe Sanh, at Langdok, at Hill 364. These young men gave their lives. And so would Donny. Donny, who loved bowling. And so, Theodore Donald Karabozov, in accordance with what we think your dying wishes might well have been, we commit your final mortal remains to the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, which you loved so well. Good night, sweet prince.

To Tell The Truth

2004-04-13T09:02:00.000-05:00

(VIA FastCompany)

"We lie all the time, and it wears us out," he says. "We manage our companies through a series of delusional clichés: 'The customer is always right'; 'I'm not angry'; 'We're proceeding according to plan.' But we all know better than that. Lying takes a huge toll in terms of stress, anxiety, and depression."

More fuel for the XML fire.

2004-04-11T01:09:00.000-05:00

"If I knew then what I know now, I would have tried using a real scripting language, such as JavaScript via the Rhino component or Python via JPython, with bindings to Java objects which implemented the functionality expressed in today's tasks. Then, there would be a first class way to express logic and we wouldn't be stuck with XML as a format that is too bulky for the way that people really want to use the tool. "

I get tired of maintaining xml files; especially build.xml. It's interesting to see that the creator of ant is tired of it too.

The Ladykillers

2004-04-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

Laura and I went to see this tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse Village. The first five minutes alone should win a Best Actress Oscar for Irma Hall. The movie would have been so/so without her; but with her it is quite enjoyable. Hanks is somewhat forgettable. Oh and this is the first movie featuring a Wayans brother that I actually liked.

I had some of the house sangria at the theatre; quite good and fruity. Never, ever drink sangria unless it's made fresh at the drinking establishment. It's just a waste of time.

Hey! Look Out Behind You!

2004-04-01T09:06:00.000-06:00

Those wacky NASCAR drivers. Hey, what's that in your rear view mirror? Psyche!

Saturday Night Booty Call

2004-03-31T17:34:00.000-06:00

Heard on my voice mail (obviously? a wrong number):

"Hey what's up Christy it's me Tom!
I'm over here on the south side partying with some friends of mine.
Actually it's just me and my home-boy Jimbo. heh-heh
It's just me and him sitting here chillin.
Just wondering if you wanted to come chill and get on it with me.
You know I kind of need some company especially, you know, with your fine ass.
It's always good to have company like you around.
Sorry I haven't gotten a hold of you in a while but give me a call back..Allright?
Please hit me up, I'll make it worth you while."

Classic!

IRL in Phoenix

2004-03-23T08:42:00.000-06:00

Laura and I attended the IRL race in Phoenix over the weekend. In short, it was fun but not the same as a race at the IMS or TMS. Phoenix was surprisingly easy to get around. Saturday night, Laura and I enjoyed a few beers at Jackson's on Third, a really cool sports bar. Any place where while using the John you can watch the Horns beat up on the Tar Heels is cool by me.

Context Switching is Expensive

2004-03-23T08:36:00.000-06:00

People pay a context-switching cost when they switch from one project to another. Even if they try to assign half of their time to one project and half to the other, they can’t. People need time to stop thinking about one project and start thinking about the other —particularly the details of where they left off. Multiprojecting doesn’t create more time in the day; it wastes time.

It's true of computer processors and me at work. I'm much more effective at completing a task in a timely manner if I concentrate on it solely. This is also why it's disruptive to have too many meetings in a day about disparate subjects. It causes too much context switching.

The Soft Pack makes me Cough

2004-03-19T09:40:00.000-06:00

Does anybody know if the soft-pack cigarettes really have more tar/nicotine?

Peggy! You know the soft packs make me cough!

Shocked about the Yogurt

2004-03-15T08:37:00.000-06:00

(Via Coté)

TCBY = The Country's Best Yogurt.

The Simpons have made reference to that little Casablanca scene. One of the episodes: The Springfield Connection (which may be more coincidence than allusion.)


 Marge: [gasps] Illegal gambling in my house?

    Moe: _Your_ house?  _Your_ house?  Gee, it's so glamorously decorated

           I thought I was in Vegas!  Hey, you guys lied to me: you said it

           was Vegas!

Back from Boston

2004-03-12T12:07:00.000-06:00

It was a good trip. I visited my friend Chad who is attending Harvard Divinity, saw the campus, drank a couple of beers at Cheers and got some work done. The clam chowder at Legal Seafoods is excellent. Boston is filled with history, culture, freakin roundabouts and 5 point intersections. Everybody should try to visit.

The Google of Email

2004-03-10T07:45:00.000-06:00

Brandon has talked about something like this for a while.

Tonya, back in skates.

2004-03-09T07:54:00.000-06:00

I especially like the title of the article.

Do this, but not this.

2004-03-09T07:48:00.000-06:00

(Via FastCompany)

"It's much harder to process a 'do not' instruction than a 'do' instruction, because the 'do not' means you have to locate a behavior, inhibit it, figure out what to replace it with, and then replace it. The 'do' instruction means something more direct: 'Do this.' You're offering a new vision, a different tool.

Does this mean "Love thy neighbor" is more effective than "Thou shall not kill?" I usually find that I like to see an anti-pattern to help explain why a pattern is effective. You can't have good without evil, as it were. Certainly, however, the anti-pattern by itself is not effective in conveying an idea.

Integrity, you dirty apes!

2004-03-09T07:38:00.000-06:00

(Via Rothman)

Yes, yes and yes. For the love of God, yes. I had a manager at FundsXpress who did nothing but lie and misdirect. There is no way on earth I can respect somebody who lies as a way of life, especially to those they wield life-changing power over.

Enabling and Disabling (I'll disable you!)

2004-03-09T07:30:00.000-06:00

(Via Martin Fowler)

In the "What kind of X are you", I deem myself a Disabler, but in a good sense. When working with groups of 5 or more, it's good to have "rules" and "restrictions" like type-safety, checked exceptions, and other items which force a developer to think about what they're doing. It'd be nice if we could all play nice in a c++ world where pointers run free and memory is unbounded but try enabling that society with a group of 10 newbie programmers.

It's Snowing

2004-03-09T07:23:00.000-06:00

Well, not in Austin of course. I flew into Boston yesterday for a business trip and seem to have instigated some sort of snow system. Note to self: use gloves when removing ice/snow from windshield. Further note to self: hats are good. My friend Chad will be showing me the sights tonight. I hope to have some chow-dah. I'll also finally get to see what this whole Harvard thing is about.

On Vegetarians

2004-03-05T08:52:00.000-06:00

(Via: Ted, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy)

They smell like garlic and fart all of the time.

Let the Product Sell Itself

2004-03-04T08:38:00.000-06:00

(Via FastCompany)

"People have forgotten that the best tool for selling a product is the product itself," says CP+B president Jeff Hicks. By his thinking, the experience is the message: The most intimate, most efficient conversation you can have with your customer happens when that person is buying or using your wares.

How many ads do you see for TiVo on TV or the radio? I've never seen one. I've seen a few ads in magazines and of course the weekly circular for Best Buy or Circuit City. Why did I get TiVo? Because a few of my friends have it, I got to play with it, and I got hooked. The thing really does sell itself. CP+B is championing the idea that if a consumer has a hold of your product, especially products that require "rebuying" (travel, drinks, food, etc), you have a perfect opportunity to persuade them to buy the product again.

Good Lord 2!

2004-03-03T20:00:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry to see Kearse go as he plays for my beloved Titans. Jeff Fisher seems to be able to recharge the defense year after year, but it's always hard to find a new "Freak." The Titans supposedly have (or had) the biggest payroll right now so they had to let some expensive players go. Hopefully, they'll fair well in the draft and free agency like they have in the past.

I have a Fan

2004-03-03T17:24:00.000-06:00

(Via Klobe)

Sung to the Pirates of Penzance

You are the very model of a modern major general,
You know your Java code - concrete, abstract, and implementable.
You're quite adept at funny gags, comedic theory you have read:
From stupid jokes to wicked puns to when Bart Simpson bumps his head.
You're very well acquainted, too, with internet technologies;
You understand web servers, both IIS and Apache.
On XML you do subscribe to your own special point of view:
For some things it is fine, although for others it is stinky-poo.

You watch with relish Sam Hornish and Helio Castroneves
As they take curves and make pit stops and make money for Team Penske.
You work long hours every day and on all projects you are key
Which is why you need Tivo to see what's on DirectTV.

Your football knowledge is quite keen but limited to just fantasy,
Collegiate information is unknown for the last century.
But still in matters technical (like when to use Comparable)
You are the very model of a modern major general!

Business, not Just for Profit Anymore

2004-03-03T08:44:00.000-06:00

(Via FastCompany)

We tend to categorize value as economic or social. You either work for a nonprofit that creates social value or you work for a for-profit that creates economic value. But in fact, for-profits generate social value: They create jobs, they contribute taxes that help build local communities, and their products can improve people's lives. And nonprofits create economic value: They represent 7% of the national GDP, they create jobs, and they consume goods and services

An interesting take on how we should learn to value everything a given business provides; not just its bottom line.

Good Lord!

2004-03-02T13:44:00.000-06:00

I could make this kind of money, I just don't want to.

Portis a Redskin, no ?

2004-03-02T08:51:00.000-06:00

As discussed earlier. Now Shanahan gets to prove it's the system and not the back.

Great Feedback Goes a Long Way

2004-03-02T08:44:00.000-06:00

(Via Fastcompany)

The first rule of great feedback is this: No one cares about your opinion. I don't want to know how you feel, nor do I care if you would buy it, recommend it, or use it. You are not my market. You are not my focus group. What I want instead of your opinion is your analysis.

Laura subscribes to this magazine and it usually contains some interesting tidbits of info and advice. I wholeheartedly agree with the majority of the content of this article. I add this: If you really want to bolster your position in a group it is imperative that you keep abreast of the general happenings of the group. One of the best ways to do this is to give good feedback; if you do, people will come to you with new things they are working on for further feedback. You get to hear about what's going on and help direct the progess.

Now featuring, Brandon

2004-03-02T08:23:00.000-06:00

Will there be no stop to the blogging madness?

Dillweed Predicts The Oscars

2004-02-29T17:49:00.000-06:00

He's usually been pretty close, in the three years I've known him. I agree with him, Bill Murray deserves an Oscar for Lost in Translation, Rushmore and Ground Hog Day.

Hornish Wins Again

2004-02-29T17:30:00.000-06:00

(VIA ESPN)

Sam Hornish, Jr. is good. He's really good. Laura got me hooked on the Indy Racing League (IRL) a couple of years ago. Being new to the whole scene, I chose to pull for Helio Catroneves based on his record, but mainly for his personality. Helio has a hard time beating Sam so I expect to see a few more of these 1-2 finishes with Sam in the lead.

Sam recently left Panther racing for Penske racing replacing Helio's old teammate, Gil De Ferran. I think Sam went for one big reason: he wants to win a 500. Penske has won more 500s than any other owner. I'm predicting Sam will win it this year; Helio will show up in 2nd place.

Those Stupid Quiznos Things

2004-02-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

(Via Eric at Work)

I hate these things. I have a friend who is "boycotting" Quiznos because of their wolf boy add they had a while back and I'm sure these new singing monkey/rat things aren't helping matters.

2004-02-25T07:59:00.000-06:00

Portis a Redskin? (via ESPN)

The Denver Broncos have been in need of a dominating CB in the secondary for as long as I can recall and they're trying to get one by trading Portis for Champ Bailey and second round pick. Obviously, they've had no problems with their running game which since their recent Super Bowl victories: T Davis, M Anderson, O Gary and C Portis. Coach Shanahan feels that Portis is a product of the system which history has shown is probably true. If I recall correctly, 3 of the 4 backs on the list were 3rd-7th round picks. But the Broncos have to play Kansas City and the Raiders a lot and the Colts in the playoffs which means you need a good secondary. It's hard to give up a 1600 yard rusher but I don't think the Broncos have too much to worry about as they have proven time and time again that they can line up most nfl caliber running backs in their backfield and make them a star.

2004-02-25T07:40:00.000-06:00

What Managers Do : (via Johanna Rothman)

I'm editing a chapter in my hiring book, and the original sentence reads, "...managers amplify the work of other people ...,"

The editors have suggested that amplify is the wrong word, and suggested "facilitate." I'm still thinking about this. Managers do facilitate the work of other people. They also make their staff more effective. They provide leverage to their staff. They remove obstacles. To me, facilitate is too small a word for all these things. But I'm stuck and have no other words right now.

As in most things in life, it all depends on the two people involved in the manager/employee relationship. Some managers do amplify the work of other people. At the risk of sounding like a kiss ass: I have a manager who is very strong technically. This has been a big benefit to me during coding and actually "amplifies" the quality of my work. But just as easily I could have accidentally knocked his computer off his desk my first day of work and laid the foundation for a bad manager/employee relationship. A change in how we relate on a personal level could severely affect the "amplify" and change it to a "degrade."

I actually like the choice of "amplify" but would append "or degrade."

2004-02-20T22:35:00.000-06:00

Arrested Development

If anybody needs more television to watch (and really, who doesn't?), I highly recommend this show. It's probably the best thing on TV right now. An equally good show that passed before it's time along with one of my favorite comedic actors is back on TV finally! TiVo has been diligently searching for reruns of NewsRadio and it looks like it's starting again on the Biography channel, March 1st. Good boy, TiVo. Everybody should be on the lookout for the Suggestion Box episode.

2004-02-20T15:41:00.000-06:00

Inch Pebbles (via Managing Product Development )

Account for interdependencies. Most of us work with other people in teams. We are dependent on them for information at the very least and sometimes for pieces of the product. In Drake's case, he was waiting for his reviewers to become available for a review. He had done everything else, short of checking the code into the public configuration management system. Until the other people became available, he could not finish his task.

This happens to us all the time here at work. And we kick ourselves every time we make a time estimate without including this general headache.

2004-02-19T18:39:00.000-06:00

Designing a Better Remote (via Brandon)

...damn you nytimes and your registration!...

The TiVo remote has many fans. One TiVo aficionado, Pat Hughes, a software engineer in San Jose, Calif., dressed up his two-month-old daughter as the remote for Halloween in 2002. The costume, which took a week to make, was a painstakingly exact replica, complete with battery compartment in the back. "That's where she went in," he said.

I was converted into a TiVo fan a little over a year ago and have since converted several more myself here at work, Brandon being one of them. I love the machine for the little things like the remote. They just seem to do everything right. I even find myself asking Laura to fast forward in TiVo beeps, if she has the remote. This is very sad, but I can't help it. Boo-Bup (ff, almost like a question), ( Bup-boo)( play again, the answer to the question). And then there is the dreaded (BONG!) when you've caught up with live tv.

2004-02-18T07:36:00.000-06:00

Prototyping success

Another Intel decision involved putting its Hillsboro researchers next to a full chip-development factory and encouraging them to test new ideas quickly in clean-room production. "I don't want people to argue about equations. I want them to build prototypes and find out what really works," says Marcyk. "We call that a 'gross reality check.' A prototype probably won't work perfectly the first time. But you'll be able to tell if you're getting at least a squiggle. If you are, maybe a big window of opportunity will be there. If you're getting nothing, maybe it's time to move on."

I've always enjoyed prototyping to a certain extent in the technical, mainly software, world. When I prototype, it's usually to see how a new technology will fit in to a current product and figure out some best practices for using it. This seems to be similar to what the guys at Intel did here.

The danger I see is when the prototype goes too far and begins to dictate design in the real deal. The pieces of code you spent a few hours hacking at will most likely not be a good model for how they should be done in a full scale, high load production system. Or, more precisely, a prototype with little design != good A&D.

2004-02-16T08:52:00.000-06:00

UPS and horizontal design.

And that's just what makes the business so attractive to UPS. Its industrial engineers who design solutions for companies look at the entire life cycle of a product. "We've been talking all along about looking at this from a holistic point of view," says SCS president Bob Stoffel, "not just here's your warehouse group, your planning group, your distribution group, and your technology group." To SCS, those groups are linked--part of a chain.
...
The idea is to make the chain shorter and simpler, not longer, so that companies can operate quickly and efficiently. The best way to do that is to have raw materials, finished products, and repair technicians close to the people who need them. Or, if that's not feasible because the customers are spread out, then close to the next best thing: the end of the runway.

I think this is pretty clever. Leverage your omnipresent like presence across the world to provide a one stop shop for your corporate infrastructure. I read a long time ago that Coke has (or had) the largest shipping fleet in the world. You would think that their infrastructure would lend itself to this strategy as well.

2004-02-16T00:29:00.000-06:00

Cost to fix a defect. (via Johanna Rothman)

It always costs more to fix a defect the later in the development game you are. The previous link provides some rules of thumb for calculating cost. What would be even more interesting would be to graph the cost to fix a defect versus realized monetary gain to hitting a market window of opportunity. It might help in that ever muddy world of project time estimations.

2004-02-14T20:30:00.000-06:00

Last summer, Laura and I visited the wine country of California. By far, the best wine we had there was from Frank Family Vineyards. If you visit the winery, you start off in the front room of a non descript tasting room. They serve you various champagnes which I'm sure are good, I'm just not a big fan. Oh and yes I know champagne, to be called such, has to be from France. The Frank Family rep at the counter said that they could call their sparking wine whatever they wanted; with a half-wink of course.

If you're patient and ask nicely about their various wines, they'll take you into another room where they'll serve you their wines. We ended up buying a little over a case of wine; each one we tasted seemed better than the last.

Tonight over a nice home cooked tenderloin and shrimp, we opened one of the nice bottles we bought. It's as good as we remembered it.

1998 Rutherford: Winston Hill (Frank Family) : Cabernet Sauvingnon : St. Helena, CA.

> $90

If there is a flavor you like, you can taste it in this wine. Probably the best cab sav I've ever had. Smooth and chock full of complicated flavors highlighted with chocolate and blackberry. The label has a picture of a dog (Winston was the family's English Springer Spaniel) and paw prints on the cork cover.

2004-02-11T19:34:00.000-06:00

Reading articles like this always make me wonder who we have in training to be the next Greenspan.

"He is the kind of person who knows how many thousands of flat-headed bolts were used in a Chevrolet and what it would do to the national economy if you took out three of them." -Former Rep. Frank Ikard, D-Texas

At times, I think his unofficial title of "The 2nd Most Powerful Man in the World" should be upgraded to 1st.

2004-02-10T13:55:00.000-06:00

My boss guy Klobe showed me this. It would be interesting to figure out who would play the different major characters in the Simpsons if they were to do a live action movie. Here are my picks:

Homer: James Gandolfini (suggested by Klobe)
Marge: Frances McDormand
Bart: A young Seann William Scott (Stiffler)
Lisa: A young Yeardley Smith. :)
Maggie: Whatever baby is around the set.
Moe: William H. Macy
Apu: M. Night Shyamalan
Principal Skinner: Al Gore
Chief Wiggum: Dom Deluise

2004-02-10T11:35:00.000-06:00

I could have done this, I just don't want to.

Thanks to Matt Ray.

2004-02-10T10:03:00.000-06:00

Laura just called me up and asked me if I had ever heard of JAD. Nope.

After a little googling, I found this.

Joint Application Development (JAD) is a technique for engaging a group or team of software developers, testers, customers, and prospective end-users in a collaborative requirements elicitation and prototyping effort (Wood and Silver 1995). JAD is quintessentially a technique for facilitating group interaction and collaboration.

Lookout RUP!

2004-02-09T21:25:00.000-06:00

From the Feb 9th, 2004 Sports Illustrated article by Michael Silver: Bolting into the clear, the nearly nude knucklehead was slammed to the turf by linebacker Matt Chatham, a member of the Patriots' return unit. "I wanted to knock him down, but not wrap up. ... Was I surprised? Hell no. I play for Bill Belichick. You don't think we watched film on that guy all week? I'd seen everything there is to see."

The guy was quite a dancer and, I guess not surprisingly, had an ad for an online casino accross his back. Matt's joke of the day: "I said, 'hit me', not 'tackle me'."

2004-02-09T17:11:00.000-06:00

envision: to picture to oneself.

envisage: to have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization.

Gotta love French etymology.

2004-02-09T08:50:00.000-06:00

Testing out the OpenWiki install we have at work. It looks like it supports syndication.

2004-02-08T21:17:00.000-06:00

2000 : Luis Felipe Edwards : Cabernet Sauvingnon : Gran Reserva : Colchagua, Chile

< $20

***

Simple, smokey black cherry taste, but not fruity. Definitely let it breathe a little.

2004-02-08T20:53:00.000-06:00

As would be expected of a football fan, I watched the Super Bowl last Sunday. My friend has a High Definition Plasma TV, so we watched at his place. Normally my friends and I watch everything buffered through TiVo. No longer must we watch commercials for ED treatments and Dr. Shoals like common trolls. But in the case of the Super Bowl, whose commercials are a part of the show, we made an exception and watched live TV in HD. This information is important pretext in explaining why we watched the half time show.

One of the AB (After Boob) discussions between some fellow TiVo owners and I predicted exactly this. I think they figured out the "favorite" commercial as well. During the first commercial break AB, we quickly switched over to our TiVo recording and verified that, yes indeed, we saw what we thought we saw.

BTW, DirecTV is coming out with a HD Tivo in March of 2004. If the planets align just right, I might just get me one of them fancy HDTVs.

2004-02-08T20:44:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I wanted a nice place to write down wines that I like, programming tips I pick up and other tidbits of knowledge I'd like to refer to later. So here goes.

Who am I? A 30ish programming guy living in Austin.