Dare2XL: Dare to Excel!

Stop SOPA and PIPA!

2012-01-18T07:19:00.000-05:00

This post is black in protest of SOPA and PIPA, the House and Senate bills that will strangle freedom and innovation on the Internet, while doing next to nothing about "piracy", the alleged reason for the bills. Take action! * Go sign Google's petition against them, at https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/, and any others you can find. * Contact your Senator and Representatives.

FOCUS!

2011-12-10T12:46:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned last time, I'm now mainly chasing Ruby on Rails (RoR) work. (Don't worry, I'm not going to get too geeky on this blog. If you want geekitude, though, see my coding blog, Attack of the Codosaurus, at http://www.codosaur.us/. Here on Dare2XL, I'll throw out the names of some technologies, but won't expect you to know what they mean, other than what I'll explain. Bear with me

Making BIDs (Blessings in Disguise)

2011-11-09T21:31:00.001-05:00

As some of you already know, I am no longer with Rosetta Stone. Long story short, I've been "let go". Tragedy, you might think? Comedy, in some ways, perhaps. But I'm hoping to making it a turning point of my history. How? By making it a BID -- a Blessing In Disguise. Those of you who have seen my code blog, codosaur.us, know I like the Ruby programming language. (I'll try not to

Rev up your goal commitment with RPM

2011-03-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

This is a transcript of the speech I gave last night, winning second place in the Toastmasters International Speech Contest (for Area F3 in District 27): Each and every one of us, Mr. Contestmaster, fellow Toastmasters, honored guests, and yes even I myself, ought to be committed... to our goals. We've all heard time and time again, how important it is to have goals, write them

Find Lost Time

2011-01-23T13:42:00.002-05:00

As some of you may know, I live in Fairfax, and recently switched jobs from Reston to Rosslyn. My former commute of half an hour by car, is now about an hour by CUE bus and Metro train, each way. This means an extra hour out of my life each weekday. Why, that's just got to mean a lot of lost time, doesn't it? Well, yes it does -- but not as much as you might think. For several years

Bring a Canteen

2010-12-26T16:17:00.002-05:00

As many people have said, some go to the fountain of knowledge to drink... while others merely gargle. Some want to swim in it. Some just sail their toy boats on it, and don't actually partake of it. Some even go to pee in it, and foul it for everyone else. The way of excellence, though, is to bring a canteen! First of all, your knowledge will fade. As a friend of mine likes to say,

Take a Chance!

2010-11-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

Of course I don't mean stupid chances with major risks for minor possible gains, like jumping over canyons in a motorcycle, mouthing off to the gang of bikers at the bar, or voting for <insert personal least favorite political candidate here>. But, don't be afraid to take any risks at all. Even in the security business, they don't try to eliminate it all, just reduce it to an acceptable

Compete!

2010-11-14T14:43:00.002-05:00

One great way to assess, and probably improve, your skill in something, is to enter competitions. Some people claim that deliberate competition is evil, "macho", or the turf of chest-beating neanderthals. Horse hockey! I think these people are just afraid of competition themselves. Getting over such fears is what this blog is all about, so here we go! Competition has many benefits:

To Thine Own Self Be True

2010-11-07T17:49:00.000-05:00

There are several levels of daring to be different. The one I mean, is the one often phrased as "Be yourself". Some of you might be thinking, "well duh, of course I'm me, who else would I be???" But some people sometimes believe that they need to hide their real feelings, hopes, fears, etc., for various reasons. They may want to impress someone, "fit in" with the "in crowd", etc.

Help Wanted!

2010-10-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

In the "Spiderman" movie, his mom said to him, "You're not Superman, you know!" Are you? Probably not. At most, one of my readers is. More likely, none. Chances are pretty good that, once in a while, you run into something you're just not able to complete alone. So what do you do then? Some people would say, tough it out. Give it all you've got, and if you are indeed excellent,

Don't Burn Out

2010-10-03T19:52:00.000-04:00

Remember the boss from last month's entry, who wanted you to rush rush rush and hop to it on his supposedly need-it-now task, which rarely really is? That kind of boss is likely to also pile unreasonable amounts of work on you, especially claiming again that it's an "emergency". Don't fall for it, unless of course it's a true emergency. That means, something not only unforeseen, but

Dogfooding: Rosetta Stone

2010-10-03T19:35:00.000-04:00

Remember a couple months ago, when I wrote that Quitters Can Win? In the software development arena, we have a tradition called "dogfooding". It didn't originate with us, but we do try to do it when possible. What's the connection, you wonder? "Dogfooding" is short for "eating your own dog food" - click it for the Wikipedia explanation. Go on, I'll wait. I've "dogfooded" that blog

Can it wait?

2010-09-06T15:47:00.000-04:00

How many times has this happened to you, just before you leave for lunch? Boss: I need this report ASAP! You: Sure, boss, I'll get right on it. (You cancel your lunch plans, work work work, and crank out a report.) You: Hey, boss, I just finished the report! Had to skip my lunch plans, but I got it done ASAP, just like you said! Boss: Uh, thanks, put it in my in-basket. (Time passes.) (

Get Committed!

2010-08-29T15:07:00.000-04:00

I've got ideas. You've got ideas. All God's chilluns got ideas. But do we act on them? No, usually we file them away, procrastinate on them, and eventually forget them. Instead we need to get committed. No, I don't mean to a mental institution; I mean that we need to commit to actually bring these ideas to fruition. There are several levels of this. First is the new-agey

Challenge Lies!

2010-08-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

Today's entry is inspired by one of my favorite podcasters. The podcasts contain mainly technical information, but there are a lot of politics about the subject too -- including lots of misinformation and outright lies. Not from him, that is! I mean in general. Especially from the other side, of course. ;-) Over the past few years, he has adopted what he calls a "No-Shrug Policy", and

Quitters Can Win!

2010-08-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

Imagine trying to knock down a brick wall by pounding your head against it. Literally. You finally realize that it's not exactly the smartest idea in the world. So you quit. What?! You quit? But quitters never win, and winners never quit, right? They (the infamous They) have been telling you that for you whole life! So it must be right, right? WRONG! Winners quit all right... but

Just Do It!

2010-08-14T21:55:00.003-04:00

Oops! I forgot to put up an entry last week, so you get two this week to make up for it. And awaaay we go! One of Jeff Atwood's entries on his blog, Coding Horror, struck me as particularly worth referencing here. Those of you in the coding business (as in computer programming, not medical coding), I strongly recommend you go read his blog, not only that entry but all the others too.

So, What's New?

2010-07-31T17:14:00.003-04:00

One way to Dare to Excel, is to try something new. Not just your first bite of sushi, but a new way of doing something, such as a new programming language or technique. At work, my current project (at the time I first wrote this, years ago) is trying a few new techniques. (At my suggestion, another way to Dare to Excel.) At the meetings introducing these, there was no objection voiced.

Confidence Tricks?

2010-07-24T13:42:00.001-04:00

Many people don't speak up or take action, because they lack confidence. So how does one gain confidence? Of course most people gain confidence over the course of life, but that's rather slow. Then there's the famous "fake it 'til you make it", and other such tricks, but even those are much easier said than done -- and tend to lead to bravado, not confidence. What do I recommend instead?

Welcome to Dare2XL!

2010-07-18T11:16:00.000-04:00

No, it's not about daring to supersize your meal, twice. Nor is it about daring to wear the clothes you'd need as a result. It's about daring to excel. No, I don't mean doing spreadsheets! I mean speaking up or taking other such action, when taking the "easy way out" would yield less-than-excellent results. For instance, say your work group is using horribly inefficient processes. You