For instance, I should have spent the last week working on a better solution for our company's internal security protocols, in regards to power outage scenarios. But in fact, found myself resetting passwords, and telling people that shutting of their monitor did not equal restarting their computers. The point is my job is very, very beneath me. And yes, I know that all our jobs are beneath us, and yes I know I'm a nerd, and yes I know I'm an angry nerd, but to quote the esteemed scholar, Mr Geoffrey Lebowski, this aggression will not stand.
2/21/2010
2/18/2010
Steve: I think at one point I was going to add support for 4600 to the alarms tab Steve: which btw that should be pretty easy with the DXSharp code :) blackey: i feel like waking up this morning was pretty easy because of DXSharp code as well! Steve: yeah? I did add some new features in there Steve: did you use the DXCoffeeMaker class? blackey: undocumented features are the best Steve: you know it blackey: DXCoffeeMaker : DXCrack Steve: haha Steve: DXCrack : DXBakingSoda blackey: DXBakingSoda : IChanceEncounterWithLittleBoy Steve: omg that interface is amazing blackey: LOLOL Steve: I need to implement that immediately blackey: i agree!
2/16/2010
2/13/2010
2/13/2010
best voicemail ever...
2/3/2010
2/3/2010
Don't Shave That Yak!
The single best term I've learned this year.
Apparently turned into a computer term by the MIT media lab five years ago, yak shaving was recently referenced by my pal Joi Ito.
I want to give you the non-technical definition, and as is my wont, broaden it a bit.
Yak Shaving is the last step of a series of steps that occurs when you find something you need to do. "I want to wax the car today."
"Oops, the hose is still broken from the winter. I'll need to buy a new one at Home Depot."
"But Home Depot is on the other side of the Tappan Zee bridge and getting there without my EZPass is miserable because of the tolls."
"But, wait! I could borrow my neighbor's EZPass..."
"Bob won't lend me his EZPass until I return the mooshi pillow my son borrowed, though."
"And we haven't returned it because some of the stuffing fell out and we need to get some yak hair to restuff it."
And the next thing you know, you're at the zoo, shaving a yak, all so you can wax your car.
This yak shaving phenomenon tends to hit some people more than others, but what makes it particularly perverse is when groups of people get involved. It's bad enough when one person gets all up in arms yak shaving, but when you try to get a group of people together, you're just as likely to end up giving the yak a manicure.
Which is why solo entrepreneurs and small organizations are so much more likely to get stuff done. They have fewer yaks to shave.
So, what to do?
Don't go to Home Depot for the hose.
The minute you start walking down a path toward a yak shaving party, it's worth making a compromise. Doing it well now is much better than doing it perfectly later.
