12 Letters That Didn’t Make the Alphabet - Mental Floss
Am I a nerd to find this interesting? LOL
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Instagram's new privacy policy - Scary!
I don't use Instagram myself... but I am on Facebook, which owns Instagram.
I'm not terribly surprised by this announcement, but what is surprising is the lack of groundswell so far, along with threats of lawsuits, boycotts and so on.
They would almost have to be kidding, right? Read the details-- they can use your Instagram pictures in ads and sell them to others without your consent. They can use and re-post pictures of minors. They can sell your posted content. To top it off, there is no opt out option or decline button for this new policy either, which takes effect this month. Well, there is only one way out- cancel your account.
I wonder how many people are going to be voting with their feet...
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/what-instagrams-new-terms-of-service-mean-for-you/
I'm not terribly surprised by this announcement, but what is surprising is the lack of groundswell so far, along with threats of lawsuits, boycotts and so on.
They would almost have to be kidding, right? Read the details-- they can use your Instagram pictures in ads and sell them to others without your consent. They can use and re-post pictures of minors. They can sell your posted content. To top it off, there is no opt out option or decline button for this new policy either, which takes effect this month. Well, there is only one way out- cancel your account.
I wonder how many people are going to be voting with their feet...
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/what-instagrams-new-terms-of-service-mean-for-you/
10 skills for developers to focus on in 2013
OK, this article is about developers, so not all of it applies to BA's or others of us who don't live in the techie world.
However... as a BA it is always important for us to know what's happening on the development side and what the trends are. Interesting to note that they list User Experience as a top, growing trend. Personally I had always thought it was a key skill needed (since the creation of the Interweb at least), so it's past due seeing it actually listed as a top 10 trend.
Tech Republic: Top 10 Skills for 2013
However... as a BA it is always important for us to know what's happening on the development side and what the trends are. Interesting to note that they list User Experience as a top, growing trend. Personally I had always thought it was a key skill needed (since the creation of the Interweb at least), so it's past due seeing it actually listed as a top 10 trend.
Tech Republic: Top 10 Skills for 2013
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Planning Poker - The Easy Way
I love this post (and along the way, have found another resource I plan on following). Our team has finally tried diving back into practicing poker after a long hiatus, and I have relearned why so many teams have issue with this.
How to 'split' votes, gain consensus, etc... always harder than it seems, and in real life is always more of a challenge than they teach in course, or sometimes allude to in articles or books.
This short read points out how planning poker doesn't need to be hard... especially when you break it down to the basics and build up from there as the team matures.
http://scrumology.com/planning-poker-the-power-of-two/
http://scrumology.com/planning-poker-the-power-of-two/
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Agile: One size doesn't fit all...
A short read, and I really wish Nancy had expanded more. But in a few short paragraphs she reinforces the point that not all projects are "Agile", and that there is no one set standard on what "Agile" is across different companies.
Any time I fine someone to chime in on this, I can't help making note, LOL.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Now that's real money!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR’s highest-paid driver at $28 million, SI list shows - NASCAR - Sporting News (via http://ble.ac/teamstream-) http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2012-07-23/dale-earnhardt-jr-28-million-earnings-salary-endorsements-tony-stewart-jeff-goro
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Hmmm.... are hybrid cars so quiet that they're...deadly?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57437717-71/do-hybrid-cars-kill-you-with-silence/?tag=nl.e497
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57437717-71/do-hybrid-cars-kill-you-with-silence/?tag=nl.e497
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Happy St. Urho's Day to all!
Ode to Saint Urho
by Gene McCavic and Richard MattsonVirginia, Minnesota
Ooksi kooksi coolama vee
Santia Urho is ta poy for me!
He sase out ta hoppers as pig as pirds.
Neffer peefor haff I hurd tose words!
Santia Urho is ta poy for me!
He sase out ta hoppers as pig as pirds.
Neffer peefor haff I hurd tose words!
He reely tolt tose pugs of kreen
Braffest Finn I effer seen
Some celebrate for St. Pat unt hiss nakes
Putt Urho poyka kot what it takes.
Braffest Finn I effer seen
Some celebrate for St. Pat unt hiss nakes
Putt Urho poyka kot what it takes.
He kot tall and trong from feelia sour
Unt ate kala moyakka effery hour.
Tat's why tat kuy could sase toes peetles
What krew as thick as chack bine neetles.
Unt ate kala moyakka effery hour.
Tat's why tat kuy could sase toes peetles
What krew as thick as chack bine neetles.
So let's give a cheer in hower pest vay
On Sixteenth of March, St. Urho's Tay.
On Sixteenth of March, St. Urho's Tay.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Tweeting @ 200 miles an hour
If you haven't heard the story yet, but at the Daytona 500 this year, one of the drivers-- Brad Keselowski (#2) actually tweeted during the race and sent photos of the track taken from inside his car.
If you haven't heard the story yet, but at the Daytona 500 this year, one of the drivers-- Brad Keselowski (#2) actually tweeted during the race and sent photos of the track taken from inside his car.
He was quick to point out that he doesn't actually tweet while driving (which would be a scary thought considering at Daytona the cars reach speeds of over 200 mph while racing inches away from other cars); but he did sent out updates during red flags and other breaks in the action.
Although this was rather ground breaking news in itself, probably the more amazing detail is that he picked up 160,000 followers during the race!
For those of you who don't follow NASCAR racing, one of the biggest differences from other sports is the heavy reliance of the drivers on corporate sponsors which the drivers always do their best to acknowledge any time they can in interviews, post-race photo ops and so on ("well, the Post Toastiesâ, Red Roosterâ, Days Innâ, Coronaâ, Days of our Livesâ car she ran real good all day but...").
Now combine those last two statements and think of the enormous impact social media can have in how companies advertise. Imagine 160,000 brand new, loyal followers receiving frequent tweets that drop small mentions of a sponsor ("just finished the race. now i'm off to drink some..."). Or mentions of special events and promotions by the sponsor. What makes this advertising even more potent is that it's directed to interested listeners and ones who trust and are willing to listen to the promoter (their favorite driver). Plus it's timely-- a real time commercial. Lastly but not least-- it's free!
I know a lot has been written in the past couple of years regarding the role social media is starting to play in how companies advertise; often though this is focused on how companies are learning to follow social media to monitor and protect their presence. Many are using Facebook and now Google+ to advertise or at least leave a footprint. I think NASCAR's experiment (or at least that of some of their drivers) is going to provide even more creative ways we learn to advertise.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-hilariously-unexpected-feuds-between-fringe-groups/ - Check out this awesome article on Cracked.com
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Agile or Waterfall?
One thing that strikes me as I've followed many of the posts and discussions on LinkedIn lately are the many threads asking things like "What does Agile do for me" or "Why should I follow Agile if what I'm doing now works?"
And instead of promoting ideas on how to work faster or more efficiently most of the discussion I follow seems to promote things like why it's critical for each project to have a fully formed logical data model, or how no project is ready to start unless there is a specified set of artifacts that are formally approved and meet the standards mentioned in the IIBA BABOK.
I ask myself though-- how many times has one of my customers come to me after a project and told me how glad they are that all of the project artifacts had signatures? Or how many have users told me "boy, this project never would have happened if you hadn't written such a complete and accurate BRD!"
No, what the customer really wants is working software that does what it needs to do... and have it delivered to them as timely as possible. They don't care how the project team gets there or what it takes to get it done.
Anyone with me so far?
OK, now that we have that out of the way, does that mean every team needs to follow one of the Agile processes to be efficient, and will this ensure software is going to be developed and delivered faster and more bug free?
In a word, nope.
This might sound confusing, but it's not. What really helps teams improve is something else entirely: continual process improvement. Not applying the same tool and same process to each project. Not relying on the same checklist of artifacts or documents to each team. In a word... "being" agile.
This is what many waterfall based teams don't fully understand when they hear others promote an Agile environment-- assuming this new process requires some new mysterious set of steps and processes to follow, or throws everything out entirely. But it's also what many Agile teams don't seem to fully get either-- the Scrum discussions I follow are littered with questions like "how many days are required to be in a sprint" or "how many points should be in a story"? Good questions perhaps, but I can't help thinking most of these questions always have the same answer-- it depends.
You can see by these types of questions that many people are looking for the same thing when they go Agile: "what's the correct formula?". Meaning, they won't be-- because at it's heart Agile isn't a formula, it's a mindset. A mindset of continual change, course correction and improvement.
And instead of promoting ideas on how to work faster or more efficiently most of the discussion I follow seems to promote things like why it's critical for each project to have a fully formed logical data model, or how no project is ready to start unless there is a specified set of artifacts that are formally approved and meet the standards mentioned in the IIBA BABOK.
I ask myself though-- how many times has one of my customers come to me after a project and told me how glad they are that all of the project artifacts had signatures? Or how many have users told me "boy, this project never would have happened if you hadn't written such a complete and accurate BRD!"
No, what the customer really wants is working software that does what it needs to do... and have it delivered to them as timely as possible. They don't care how the project team gets there or what it takes to get it done.
Anyone with me so far?
OK, now that we have that out of the way, does that mean every team needs to follow one of the Agile processes to be efficient, and will this ensure software is going to be developed and delivered faster and more bug free?
In a word, nope.
This might sound confusing, but it's not. What really helps teams improve is something else entirely: continual process improvement. Not applying the same tool and same process to each project. Not relying on the same checklist of artifacts or documents to each team. In a word... "being" agile.
This is what many waterfall based teams don't fully understand when they hear others promote an Agile environment-- assuming this new process requires some new mysterious set of steps and processes to follow, or throws everything out entirely. But it's also what many Agile teams don't seem to fully get either-- the Scrum discussions I follow are littered with questions like "how many days are required to be in a sprint" or "how many points should be in a story"? Good questions perhaps, but I can't help thinking most of these questions always have the same answer-- it depends.
You can see by these types of questions that many people are looking for the same thing when they go Agile: "what's the correct formula?". Meaning, they won't be-- because at it's heart Agile isn't a formula, it's a mindset. A mindset of continual change, course correction and improvement.
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