Scott McNulty, Philly blogger, food blogger, Apple tech blogger, longtime (now former) organizer of the Philly Blogger meetup, longtime contributor to Philly Future, and good friend, has had a book published on WordPress and blogging best practices.
Buy it here at Amazon.com.
Howard Hall, likewise a long time contributor to Philly Future, friend, writer and poet, had a book of poetry published.
Get it here at Amazon.com.
(I feel like building a widget to highlight Howard Hall haikus – hmmmm… )
It’s a long story, but I’ve decided it’s time for me to head back to school for something other than a certificate.
I had begun this journey back in 2004, but got hit with … life .. that pulled my priorities elsewhere: Emma, the Norgs Un-conference, the breaking up of my band, my mom’s illness and passing, the terrible back and leg pain I was experiencing (long story – there is great progress here), and the rebuilding of Comcast.net, of which I as a major part in developing its architecture.
Now, passing beyond the needed crisis-of-the-moment handling of that time, I can refocus on what I want to – my family, my work (both of which cross section with my hobbies and passions – I am blessed). My education is in support of these. Hopefully will be posting regular updates as to the process.
WashingtonPost: Bytes of Life: For Every Move, Mood and Bodily Function, There’s a Web Site to Help You Keep Track
Jeff Jarvis: The perils of publicness
The Atlantic: He Saw It Coming: The forgotten filmmaker who anticipated our modern media madness:
…the world his early films anticipated is the world we inhabit now. Like no filmmaker before or since, Watkins captures the constant manipulation and counterÂmanipulation of the modern media, the push-pull of image projection and message management that has blurred the line between news and propaganda. His films are testaments to central truths of the current media environment: that mere logic is powerless against a brilliant projection of personality, that self-conscious “objectivity” and truth-telling are very different things, and that compelling narrative is impervious to facts. From the selling of the Iraq War to the selling of Sarah Palin, Watkins, like Orwell before him, shows how we are lied to, and how we lie to ourselves.
Furious Seasons: FDA Panel Slams Antipsychotic Use In Kids, Teens
NYTimes: What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science?:
At least we know one thing: it’s possible to have about the same number of men and women in computer science classes. That just about describes classrooms of 25 years ago.
Malcom Gladwell’s new book is getting trashed by some rather big name bloggers. Me thinks they doth protest too much because – for once – one of his books runs counter to Web’s domineering libertarian culture. If you’ve read “Blink”, read “Tipping Point” – what I consider a far better book and more applicable to the Web. His new one, named “Outliers” looks like a must read.
To Watch: “Strive For Happiness” – a documentary about sensitive subject matter – what the lives are like for those in families with loved ones dealing with mental illness.
A question to think about – will Britney Spears’s struggle with mental illness make it easier to talk about it?
Sip from the Firehose: Michael Davis: Memories of Turbo Pascal version 1.0:
At the time, I was an 18 year old high school dropout that had recently been incarcerated in the Lebanon Correctional Institute outside of Cincinnati, OH. The one saving grace of this facility was that the Quaker originated Wilmington College had a branch located within the walls of the prison.
Facing the possibility of a long sentence, I made probably the best decision of my life to that point. That decision was to get my GED and quickly get enrolled in college. It only took a few days of incarceration to realize that something in my life needed to change and getting an education seemed to be the best way to do it. In addition to the Burroughs B1990 system, there was a lab of several Apple II computers that were capable of running Turbo Pascal. After taking the prerequisite courses, my introduction to computer programming was Turbo Pascal.
Oh boy, does this sound familiar.
James Shore, consultant, lays down just how bad it gets when you ‘go Agile’ and don’t do so correctly: The Decline and Fall of Agile:
Without continuous, incremental design, Scrum teams quickly dig themselves a gigantic hole of technical debt. Two or three years later, I get a call–or one of my colleagues does. “Changes take too long and cost too much!” I hear. “Teach us about test-driven development, or pairing, or acceptance testing!” By that time, fixing the real problems requires paying back a lot of technical debt, and could take years.
What frustrates me the most is that this situation is entirely avoidable.
…There are a lot of teams right now failing with Agile. These teams are working in short cycles. The increased planning frequency has given them more control over their work and they’re discovering and fixing some problems. They feel good, and they really are seeing more success than they were before.
But they aren’t working in shared workspaces or emphasizing high-bandwidth communication. They’re don’t have on-site customers or work in cross-functional teams. They don’t even finish all of their stories by the end of each Sprint, let alone deliver releasable software, and they certainly don’t use good engineering practices.
These teams say they’re Agile, but they’re just planning (and replanning) frequently. Short cycles and the ability to re-plan are the benefit that Agile gives you. It’s the reward, not the method. These psuedo-Agile teams are having dessert every night and skipping their vegetables. By leaving out all the other stuff–the stuff that’s really Agile–they’re setting themselves up for rotten teeth, an oversized waistline, and ultimate failure. They feel good now, but it won’t last.
Hi Dante 🙂
Call this week eventful would be an understatement. Monday was the anniversary of Mom’s death. Wednesday night the Phillies win the World Series, yesterday my friends’s 2 month old son has a successful surgery to address an intestinal issue, and today it is Halloween (wait till you see Emma) and the Phillies parade (which we will hopefully get a chance to attend – we’re leaving now!), all the while, work continues hot and heavy.
And next week, with the election and me seeing a college admissions councilor looks to be almost at hectic.
Wow.
Be seeing you, memento mori, happy Halloween.
Today might be the day that Carlton, Schmidt, McGraw, Rose, get some company in Philly sports immortality.
Today is that one year marker I mentioned in a previous post.
Go Phillies!
(Oh, and I haven’t shaved since Friday. Not going to until this is over. So it is a scruffy manic Monday!)
The year has gone by so fast, and it still seems like yesterday. Maybe it always will. At least now, when I dream of Mom, I end up waking with a smile and a bounce to my step.
So…
Hi Mom,
I’m doing good. Work is going well, Emma and Richelle are doing great. Dante and Katie say hi. So do Brendan and Matt. You should see their house. You’d be so proud. Al and family say hi too. My back is feeling a bit better. Just have to keep working at it. Anyways, I bet you’ve made some friends, and ruffled a few feathers here and there. That’s okay ya know. Not everyone will like you, even if you’d like that to be true. But ya know, those people that know you love you. I miss your giggles and wicked sense of humor. I swear I see it in Emma more every day. And I’ve been known to crack a goofy smile more myself these days. As for the world, Obama might win, and the Phillies are one game away from doing the same in the World Series. I can see you right now in some over sized Phillies jacket enjoying the show. I know you’d be calling me after every game if you could to share some joy. Ya know, you once told me that it was I who was the adult, and you who was the child, but in the end, that can’t be true, because even though you may not think so, it was you who taught me much.
Love you Mom,
Shane
As part of their Women In Tech series, Blogher’s Virginia DeBolt interviews Shelley Powers. It’s a terrific interview. Check it out.