Go, Do, Be.

February Burn

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 16:55:59 GMT

Through our label, Blerito Records Doubleplus Alright released a single on all the streaming services today.

Doubleplus Alright is:

Oakland's Doubleplus Alright blasts out bite-sized morsels of high-gain pop tremor. For fans of: hooks and melody festooned with chugging guitars - Doubleplus Alright runs a little hotter than power-pop, a little cooler than *-core. Chris (songwriting, guitar, vocals) & Nik (bass) met long ago in Manatee (SLR 113, 161), Chris plays guitar in blert as well as Elegant Trash, and he runs the annual Song-A-Day songwriting project. Chris also works with the bay area promoter Lee Hoffman’s Bang The Bay as the recording engineer responsible for all live recordings. Mark (drums) has been in a zillion bay area bands.

We find that we sorta fit into alternative rock and punk genres. We say sorta because it’s an imperfect fit: too poppy for punk, too much chugging for power pop… maybe you’ve heard this one before? Presently we choose to flex the freedom that comes from genre-bending music. We’re as happy to play the diy punk backyard show (e.g. Hank’s bbq) as an alt-rock bill at a Bay Area club.

February Burn is:

One good example of how we flex our genre misfit is February Burn - a song that Chris wrote as part of his Song-A-Day project (http://songaday.netscrap.com). It’s a slow and steady crescendo that starts with acoustic guitar and voice and blooms with explosive drums, guitars, and bass. This mirrors Chris’ writing style as song ideas often arrive while strumming in his living room. Then as the ideas develop, the band digs in.

Warm up the good old band
before it gets out of hand
We’ll make a brand new start,
something you can’t tear apart.
The February chill,
let your heart do what it will.
It takes a tender hand
and someone who understands
how terrible the curse
you cannot reverse.

Oh the February Burn!
Let your heart do what it yearns.
Oh the February Burn!

Why is February Burn so damn short?

A good question. Blame Chris. He’s been writing very spare but rocking pop songs for a while. It started with blert’s Leave The Lights On and continued through much of his Song-A-Day writing.

The idea is this: write a killer melody and just enough arrangement to get the idea across, to get a foot tapping, to get that hook deep into the ears of the listener - then booom! It’s done, move on. Enjoy it for what it was.

Tony Molina was an inspiration, as was the SST catalog from our youth: concision, brevity, leanness.

The thing to keep in mind is that there’s a LOT more where this came from. Expect more short-form epic songs from Doubleplus Alright.

February Burn cover art is:

A detail of a collage called Transmission by the master of mail art and collage, Serse Luigetti. Chris befriended Serse through a facebook group focusing on asemic art. Chris feels that Serse’s art captures the mystery, beauty, and confusion of modern life.

Serse’s art is used with permission by the artist.

More about Serse Luigetti:

Bang The Bay Live Recordings

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Lee Hoffman's Bang The Bay books rock and punk shows at venues around the bay area. Between his Solar Van Saturdays at Point Emery and Rocky's Beach near the bay and his Wendesday night residencies at the Ivy Room in Albany and now the Fab Mab in San Franciso, Lee books MANY bands per month.

For the past year and a half, I've been helping to capture and mix recordings of all the Bang The Bay shows. This involves connecting a computer to the venue's mixer via usb to capture good quality mult-track recordings of each performance. Afterward, I take these recordings and mix them much like one would mix a studio recording - balancing the instruments and voices to yield a rocking record of the show. I'll write another post about the work that goes into mixing these recordings.

Many bands, many shows

Lee is a busy guy and connects with a ridiculous number of acts based in or coming through the bay area. In the year and a half that I've been working on this I've had the privelidge of hearing about 200 acts and about 340 sets (many bands have played several times). A typical show at the Ivy Room will have 6 or 7 bands, each playing about a 35 minute set. Lee books two-to-three shows per month at the Ivy Room, plus one at the Fab Mab, and one or two Solar Van shows each month.

I'll try to keep this spreadsheet updated as we produce more recordings.

A few of these acts are solo singer/songwriter types, but most are full bands - punk rock, alternative rock types. This has allowed me to see and hear a serious swath of the bay area music scene. You'll be happy to know that the bay area scene is thriving - chock full of great bands. I've been lucky to hear many of them.

What's it mean?

For a booker who aims to put on live events, this is kind of a game changer for their model. Live shows are really fun, but they only last a moment in time. Sure everyone has a small recording and movie studio in their phone that could capture the event. A phone-quality recording at least. As nice as these devices are the quality is of the audio they capture is still just so-so.

A good recording of a live performance can bring a good moment to a much larger audience. It's a much more permanent and tangible product of something that takes a lot of work. Bands will practice for many hours and spend time promoting their appearance before packing up their gear and heading to the club for their moment of glory. They try to bring their best. It would be really cool to have a high quality recording that captures that moment.

This playlist is embedded above features many of Lee's live recordings. Or view this on YouTube.

All this happens with the each bands permission of course. There's a high degree of partnership between band, booker, venue, and audience. This only works because everyone wants it to work.

Compilation in the works

At this point with 300+ recordings we're ready to start to share more. We'll be putting a best-of compilation together. We could slice a collection like this in a couple ways, but at this point we're thinking that we will start with a 'best of Ivy Room 2024/2025' and see where that takes us.

I'll write a few more blog posts covering what makes a good recording, what makes a good performance, and why the bay area is seriously amazing.

Stay tuned!

PS the photo collage at the top features these bands: (all shot by me)

18f Guides Mirror

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:28:02 GMT

I was bummed to see that 18f got the axe as part of DOGE's cleanup of "radical leftist" government waste (sarcasm). The loss of 18f is a shame because their mission was in fact related to efficiency and value - they were striving to operate in a way that yields reliable, usable software. Software that serves a purpose. In this case, making government software more reliable and more accessible.

This way of looking at software is critical today as more and more of our government services are delivered through some digital channel. We learned hard lessons about the state of software development in the early days of the ACA. It was an actual mess, armies of expensive consultants built bloated systems that weren't reliable, weren't able to talk to each other, and ultimately didn't serve the people whose medical coverage was at stake.

18f sought to reverse the trend in gov-tech by deploying small teams to work with modern tools and techniques to understand the users, their needs or jobs, and craft just enough software to get the job done.

Were they successful? Kinda. They were able to apply their approach to a few high profile systems and ended up helping many people.

One thing I really appreciated about the group was the way they captured their practice in a set of guides. These guides became the gold standard in some gov-tech circles. In fact during Lab Zero's entry into the ADPQ pool, the California Department of Technology required that all entries refer to the 18f playbooks and guides. You can see an example of how this works in Lab Zero's git repo where we captured an example of how 18f plays apply to the craft of software product development.

There are some real basic common-sense concepts that show up here:

understand your users and what they need
think about the entirety of your users experience
keep it simple
work, build, deliver incrementally, iteratively
have a leader on your team
use modern open source tools

But you know what? There are many places where these ideas are still exotic and rare. With some exceptions gov-tech is still one of those places.

So when it became clear that 18f was in the crosshairs of the DOGE-purges, I decided to grab the guides and make a private copy.

Take a peek: https://greacen.com/media/guides/

Need a usability test script example to help get started with user testing? There's a guide for that. Need to lay some ground rules for how your engineers will handle incident responses? There's a guide for that.

Is my hand-made scraper-script mirror/archive special? I thought it was for a bit, but then I came across 18f's git repo (still not deleted!) and saw that they've made it easy for you to grab it. Tip: grab it.

Similarly, Lab Zero put a lot of energy into< creating resources that describe how we work. We use these to align with our clients or sometimes teach them something to help refine the way they work (want to know more about Speclets? let's talk!).

Teams that share skills and know-how for highly complex topics like delivering quality software products are worth paying attention to. So I pour one out for 18f.

Doubleplus Alright on Spotify - This Is A Comp!

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 15:55:49 GMT

Doubleplus Alright is psyched to have their song Feelin' It included in a fantastic compilation that just arrived on all the streaming services. This Is A Compliation Vol. One includes songs from some of the best independent punk, rock, and alternative bands playing in the bay area right now.

If you want to know the state of music in the bay area today listen to every bit of this thing asap.

Through Lee's Solar Van Saturday and Bang The Bay events, Doubleplus Alright has been able to see and get to know folks in a bunch of great bands: Family Obligation, Dark Satellite, CuVa Bimö, Fuzz Kit, Delta Wave, The Strange Ones, and of course Elegant Trash. Great music all around of course, but more importantly great people. Worth following all of these bands.

Couple notes on our song - we recorded our song Feelin' It at our home in Oakland Music Complex with our previous drummer Jackson. This song is from the first batch of Doubleplus tunes that Chris wrote back when we formed the band (contemporary with Um, No, Turn It Around, Bye Bye Bye). Jackson turned it up several notches on this tune with his background vocals and a killer drum fill at the very end.

Hoping to share much more music with you.

Taking over All of the Land

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 01:11:06 GMT

In the late stage of the pandemic, I was looking for ways that Doubleplus Alright could play a show. Our extended band-family was contending with compromised immunity, essential healthcare employment, and a general desire to avoid getting covid. There weren't too many venues hosting shows at that point so there weren't many options.

Eventually I came across a guy who installed a solar charger and batteries in his van in order to host outdoor shows on a beach in Berkeley right on the SF Bay. He booked about 6 bands on occasional Saturday afternoons and he called it Solar Van Saturdays.

I went to a couple Solar Van Saturday shows. I met the bands, I met their fans, and I met Lee. Lee is also the lead singer of his band Elegant Trash who plays every one of these shows.

Doubleplus Played a couple of the Solar Van shows as well as helping Lee to bring his regular festival to the Baltic Kiss club in Richmond. (Note: we're playing Sunday evening 8/18/2024, be there!).

At some point along the line I got to know everyone in Elegant Trash and learned a little about what they were working on - more recordings, a world tour (Brazil in 2024!), as well as balancing this with the rest of their life.

As it turned out, I have some of the skills that the band needed to get unblocked with their recording. I saw a chance to pitch in and help with some of the recording and mixing of Elegant Trash's next record and jumped on it.

It's out TODAY. Check out Taking over All of the Land on Spotify:

I'm really psyched about how this came out and how it represents the band at this stage. If you're curious, I'd love to tell you (or show you) all about it - how it was recorded, how we mixed it.

A conversation with the A.I.

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 21:10:08 GMT

Everyone is SO VERY focused on AI these days. Everyone expectd this to change our world in a big big way at any moment. People describe this in grand terms believing that this is truly 'unprecedented', but it's happened a couple times before. It already happened in our lifetime in fact.

You can't underestimate the impact that the internet brought to the business world. The change was explosive, radical even. The transformation brought new forms of organizations, new ways of running a business, new ways of connecting with customers. Many household names disappeared because of change brought through modems and cat5 (hello Blockbuster!).

Will A.I. bring the same kind of change? If you drink the kool-aid, it surely will. I see a lot of similarities in some of the shiny-objects that captured a lot of attention in the early dot-boom days of the web. Most were flash-in-pan experiences - got a lot of eyeballs, but offered no lasting value.

I see a little bit of that flash in what these Large Language Models and chat interfaces bring. Somewhat believable answers to questions on almost any topic are, well somewhat believable.

Here's an example:

Me: Can you summarize the story on this web page? https://www.netscrap.com/netscrap_detail.cfm?scrap_id=1 (note: this is my favorite 'scrap' article that's on netscrap.com)
A.I.: The story on the web page is an excerpt from "Masquerade: The Amazing Camouflage Deceptions of World War II" by Seymour Reit (Signet, 1980). It describes a German decoy airfield built in occupied Holland during World War II. The airfield was constructed with meticulous care, made almost entirely of wood, including wooden hangars, oil tanks, gun emplacements, trucks, and aircraft. The Germans took so long to build the decoy that Allied photo experts had ample time to observe and report it. When the decoy was finally completed, a lone RAF plane crossed the Channel, came in low, circled the field once, and dropped a large wooden bomb on the wooden airfield.

Me: Is there anything humorous in that story?
A.I.: The story you provided does not seem to contain any humorous elements. It is a historical account of a German decoy airfield built during World War II, which was eventually destroyed by a single RAF plane dropping a wooden bomb on the wooden airfield. The story focuses on the details of the decoy and its eventual demise, rather than incorporating humor or comedic elements.

Me: Are you sure there's nothing funny in that story?
A.I.: I apologize for the confusion in my previous response. Upon re-reading the story, I found a humorous element in the account of the German decoy airfield during World War II. The humor lies in the fact that the Germans spent a great deal of time and effort constructing the decoy airfield, only for a single RAF plane to destroy it with a wooden bomb. The irony of using a wooden bomb to destroy a wooden airfield adds a touch of humor to the story.

Me: When you say "destroy" in your answer, what specifically was destroyed?
A.I.: In the story of the German decoy airfield during World War II, the following elements were destroyed by the RAF plane dropping a wooden bomb:

Wooden hangars: The decoy airfield was constructed with meticulous care, and the wooden hangars were part of the deception.

Wooden oil tanks: These were also part of the decoy, designed to look like real oil tanks from a distance.

Wooden gun emplacements: These were included in the decoy to make it appear as if the airfield was well-defended.

Wooden trucks and aircraft: These were additional elements of the decoy, intended to make the airfield appear operational and attract enemy attention.
The RAF plane's wooden bomb destroyed the wooden decoy airfield, effectively neutralizing the Germans' efforts to deceive the Allies.

And so, there you have it. These things aren't really tuned to the kind of nuance that makes jokes like the one I shared work. They're impressively verbal, but lacking something important. Everyone close to the tech assures me that it's just a matter of time till stand-up comedian no longer a viable career path.

Till then I'll keep looking for better tasting kool-aid.

Marty Cagan on empowered product development teams

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 23:24:42 GMT

I had a chance to hear Marty Cagan speak at Dan Olsen's Lean Product Meetup hosted at the Intuit office down in Silicon Valley. Marty has just published a new book titled Transformed which helps to lay out rationale and a pathway for organizations to move from a feature factory to operating more as an 'empowered product team'.

After Marty's presentation I asked him about the thing that's been bugging me - are we even making progress in this industry? Our work at Lab Zero has always been to try to bring empowered software product team practice to our clients. Somehow, this doesn't really seem to fit with much of the industry - most companies are happy to have people cranking out work in a more predictable fashion instead of seeking real value.

Marty talks about "the best" and "the rest" both in this answer and in several of his books- the best companies are some of the most valuable companies on earth right now. They have empowered product teams. The rest don't -- and their value shows it.

Scroll to 47:40 to find me:

Me: I have the microphone... thank you. I’m gonna ask a quick question here.
When things get tough in my business, my business partners and I go to YouTube and we put on one of your keynotes. And we watched you recently: 2018, talking about empowered teams, product management skills, product / engineering collaboration, discovery... it was a long time ago when you were bringing that up. Preaching to the choir here, at least in this case. I love the book, the way you’ve laid it out here.
I’m excited to try to bring that to what we’re doing but like it still seems like the exception and a rarity, where there are empowered teams that have the permission to do the right thing. And are we are we losing the fight? Are we fighting the right way? Can you talk about how we can drive more of the goodness into the world that we work in?
Marty Cagan: Yeah. By the way, you just summarize endless frustration for me.
I mean, look, 20 years I’ve been trying to get more people to work like “the best” and when we look at overall... I mean in the absolute sense, there’s way more people working like “the best”... but in a relative sense, it seems about the same percentage. Which is not very good. I mean, it’s somewhere -- it’s hard to know really -- somewhere like 10 to 20% I would put in that “best” category and 80 to 90 in “the rest” category. I don’t think that’s very good.
One of the things I discussed with Lenny (on his podcast the previous day) I probably shouldn’t have was, why the hell is that not the case? So essentially what you’re asking, and I have a theory, and it’s a difficult one to share -- I did share it with him and but and that is that it’s very frustrating. What motivated this was not… this was more recent than the book… if you have been following — I’ve had a lot of stuff talking about theater -- product management theater, transformation theater, product management
Me: LARPing it's a lot of LARPers in there live action roleplaying.
Marty Cagan: Yes, well, we're both being generous with what's going on but you know, how is that possible? And I what what kicked me -- really frustrated me was one of the biggest organizations in the US at least that trains product managers shared an article. I won't embarrass them publicly, but you know, takes two minutes to figure out... and it shared an article about how they define the product manager role. And I'm looking at this article and I can't believe they said this out loud. Because they don't most people you know, you hear him try to define a product manager they go to... bend over backwards to try to make it sound important. And try to make it sound more than a project manager. This company did not. It was 100%: communication, coordination, and you should know a little bit about engineering, a little bit about design. Like I cannot believe they said this out loud. And this is the primary group creating a certifying product manager. So I'm like we're screwed.
If that's what's going on, and I'm like, how does that happen? Well, my theory is, if you're a brand new product manager, and you join a job, you go to Google, you type something like you know, "how do I product manage" or something? Chances are you will end up with people teaching you from feature team world, or worse. That's just the odds. And by the way, generative AI will only increase the likelihood of this not going well if you think about how predictive text works. So those people they just get put on this path, and they think they're doing -- what they're supposed to be doing. And then their CEO says, I mean, there's one other thing that motivated me was a European CEO told me he had 200 product owners... and he said "the truth is I think if we got rid of all 200, nobody would care." That hurts, right? I mean, that's harsh. But you know, how can I disagree with him?
And "product owners" Have you met? You know, this is thankfully not much of an issue here. I hope none of you have a title on your LinkedIn profile "product owners" you do you should wake up and fix that like right away. That is not a job -- that's a role on a delivery process. That's not a job but unfortunately, these -- I don't know how many millions, maybe of people that have been certified as a product owner. Almost all of them have been certified by an Agile Coach that is never done product. Anybody think there's something wrong with this picture? So it just propagates!
On the other side on the on the side of light -- we have the most valuable companies in the world. Otherwise, I think we would have drowned out a long time ago. So it is bizarre. You're all -- we're all fortunate to be right here. In most of the world. I mean, it's shocking. It really is. So you just asked like a BIG question.

So- I think we're both losing sleep over this topic. There's a missing ingredient in making this fit and making this the obvious choice, the obvious better path. I have a lot of work to do - we all do.

BTW- I took this transcription from otter.ai which was one of the sponsors of the event. I made a couple edits in this for clarity. Go listen to the whole thing on otter.ai.

Mercedes 300d Time Travel

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 17:28:07 GMT

The Woods & Barclay guys shared a video recently of a pristine 300d specimen with about 1500 miles on the odometer that they found through its owner north of Montreal. Take a peek at this thing which is as shiny and new as the day it rolled off the line.

It's especially a treat to have someone so knowledgeable point out all of the details. I have to imagine that there are parts of that car that even an expert hasn't seen before - the crispness and texture of the dash. It's worth scrubbing through the video to see how deep they go on this vehicle.

There are so many of these old things on the road in the bay area, many running biodiesel or veggie oil. People like that these things are sturdy, long-lasting, and tough. It's easy to forget that these things were the top of the pyramid in luxury and engineering in their day.

The convo at the end of the video brings this into perspective - even though it's the same model, daily drivers are really a different breed from a showpiece like this one-of-a-kind vehicle. Most people can get what they need from a re-furbed vehicle with 250000 miles on it (or 350 in my case).

More Mercedes Love: Soup Classic Motoring

Sun, 22 Oct 2023 08:57:31 GMT

I've been really enjoying the videos that George Karellas have shared on his Soup Classic Motoring channel on YouTube. His lockdown restoration of a

Just watch one video and you'll get the gist -- cool music, mesmerizing narrative, clear steps for working on these things (the stop-motion disassembly is strikingly effective). How is he able to make the rebuilding of a front-end so interesting?

All of these strip-down, brush-down, repaint scenes scratch the cleaning fetish itch too. A fetish which I certainly lack -- BUT I have noticed that I'm cleaning the engine bay of my 300td more frequently.

The Irish sideshow at the end is especially magical. Watch this end-to-end if you can.

Parting thought, I think I might need to make a new 'category' for these W123 videos and photos as I think there will be more that show up on this blog.

Technical Debt Talk at Bay ALN Meetup

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 04:47:24 GMT

I recently wrote a post on Lab Zero's blog on the topic of recognizing sources of technical debt. This caught the attention of one of the organizers of the Bay ALN meetups and they invited me to present on the topic.

I put a brief talk together based on the outline of that blog post and delivered it the other night. I think I can embed a couple slides from the deck I used...

The presentation followed this path through the story.

Intro, caveats
Tech debt background
Recognizing trouble
Two common sources
Recognizing progress
The real casualty
Two questions for you

Give this a listen if you're curious about how this went or if you're interested in Technical Debt.

Mercedes 300td love

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 16:25:18 GMT

I've been working on getting my 1984 300td back onto the road after a long hibernation during the pandemic. I got this thing in the early 2010s and it's been a joy to drive. If you're familiar with these things, you know exactly what I mean. For the uninitiated, I'll break it down for you.

These w123 cars were designed and built by Mercedes during a time when the company gave incredible amount of power and permission to its engineers. It was an engineering-led effort to design and build these vehicles. This resulted in a ridiculously expensive and long-lived vehicle.

In 1984 dollars this vehicle cost around $36k, which would be about $100k in 2023 dollars. I bought it for about $2500.

It's steel. It leaks a little oil. I've replaced the engine during the time I've owned it (long story). It needs a little bit of work pretty often at this point, but it's still on track to reach a million miles.

I run this thing on biodiesel thanks to the availability of B20 at the nearby Biofuel Oasis. But I know that this isn't exactly an eco-conscious car when you look at the particulate, COx, and NOx emissions.

There's a great video that I came across that's really a love-letter to these w123 and w115 cars. Worth watching if you're interested/curious. If you scroll up to 14:13 on the video, the host addresses the environmental trade-offs and impact of driving this kind of car. Take a peek:

It was surprising to see the mention of tire particulate pollution. I have a hunch we'll near more and more about this as more people convert to electric vehicles. We live near many highways and I'm pretty sure that we're bathing in these particles. More on this in another post.

If you see me driving around, honk and wave!

Doubleplus Alright at Tamarack 10/7 photos

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 20:02:24 GMT

Couple of great photos worth sharing from our double-double on Saturday 10/7 shot by Paul Ivey.

We're grateful for the chance to share these songs with friends at a place like Tamarack. Grateful also to the other bands who played: Da Pupz and Cassowary. Would do this again in a heartbeat.

Next up for us: we have to record some music. We've started work on Record #3 and we haven't even really done #1 yet. We'll get there...

More about Doubleplus Alright over on the website.

Double Double Saturday 10/7

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:38:28 GMT

My band Doubleplus Alright is doing a "double double" (animal style) on Saturday 10/7 playing two of our favorite spots in the bay area:

First, we're taking a batch of brand-new songs for a test drive at the coolest spot on the bay: the Solar Van Saturday event at Rocky's beach (aka Barkley Beach). The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will be doing their level-best to distract us while we bring the goodness. It's not just us though, some of the coolest bands around will be in the crosshairs.

Solar Van Saturdays
Barkley Beach - on the frontage road just north of Ashby.
12:30 Facekicker
1:10 Doubleplus Alright
1:50 Elegant Trash
32:30 Eggos of Justice
3:10 Lost Puppy Forever
DONATIONS WELCOME - these generous folks put on a show here twice monthly. Worth every penny.
ALL AGES

Find more about the Solar Van Saturday event on the FB event.

Then that evening at Tamarack Oakland, we'll play with Da Pupz making their first appearance in a club and Cassowary who are getting back to the groove of playing live shows after a short hiatus. Fun fact, Doubleplus Alright was supposed to play at Winters Tavern at the beginning of the year but they had to drop for some personal reasons. We're psyched to make it happen now.

Tamarack Oakland
1501 Harrison St, Oakland, CA 94612
6pm Doors
7pm Da Pupz
8pm Cassowary
9pm Doubleplus Alright
$5 NOTAFLOF - 100% goes to the venue
ALL AGES, ALL RAGES

Find more in the FB event for the Tamarack show.

BE THERE!

Wishing a good Labor Day weekend, calling out blog posts

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 17:11:55 GMT

Hope everyone is all set for a good Labor Day weekend. I wanted to share some updates from the Lab Zero Innovations Inc. team. A couple new posts on the blog hint at some of the recent work that the team has focused on: application modernization, performance improvements, managing technical debt. Take a peek:

I shared some thoughts about the two most common sources of technical debt: https://labzero.com/blog/two-most-common-sources-of-technical-debt

Jeffrey Faden shares his experience in modernizing a React.js application: https://labzero.com/blog/upgrading-an-ancient-react-application

Travis Gaff shares a great way to get server performance data into your browser's developer tools: https://labzero.com/blog/server-timings-rails-performance-metrics-in-your-dev-tools

Let's stay in touch!

http://labzero.com

#technicaldebt #reactjs #applicationmodernization #developertools #applicationperformance #blog #fricassee

Two Most Common Sources Of Technical Debt

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 20:24:49 GMT

People say "technical debt" like it's a bad thing. But those who are serious about software development know that this game is all about managing technical debt. Technical debt is a natural part of the landscape in any software development team’s world. It's neither good, nor bad. Yet when trade-offs are mismanaged, technical debt is likely to cause your productivity to grind to a halt. For people who hit that point and wonder why - there should be no mystery about what causes technical debt, the answer is right in front of you.

What is technical debt?

We can thank an early agile-manifesto-ist Ward Cunningham for the term"technical debt" which is a fantastic metaphor for this dynamic. Technical debt, code debt, or design debt functions the same as financial debt: a team can take a shortcut to deliver something quickly, but the short-term advantage of that short-cut can make future work harder. The team gets a convenience in the short run, but has to pay it down with some interest later.

Not all technical debt is equal

Every team at every company regularly makes trade-offs about incurring debt to get something done, then hopefully cleaning it up and refining it afterward. You get a quick win, then you do the work to strengthen or refine your short-cuts. Where this gets dangerous is when it's not a conscious or intentional choice - a team can stumble into a situation where previous decisions they've made have a disproportionately high impact on the work they're doing today. They've built to their best understanding, done their best efforts, but somehow they are still bogged-down. If you find that your team seems stuck in firefighting-mode, unable to deliver new features, facing quality challenges, you may have unintentionally ended up with technical debt.

Where does technical debt come from? (spoiler alert: it's your team)

If you're deep in it, you may be wondering how did we get here? There's a lot of writing online about the causes of technical debt. I'm sure you've read them already. But when you boil it all down, unintentional tech debt comes from two sources: your engineers and your product managers.

Your engineers contribute to technical debt

If your engineers lack the experience and skills to manage complexity, to refactor effectively, to advocate for refactoring/automation/re-architecting, they will build more than you need and have a hard time maintaining it. They may not have the discipline to regularly review, refactor, test, and remove the junk.

No standards
Not reviewing code
No test automation
No regular refactoring
No regular re-architecting
No evaluating new tech or libraries
Not helping product managers understand what's needed
Not advocating for process

Your product managers contribute to technical debt

If your PMs aren't effective with stakeholder management, if they engage in deadline-driven prioritization, if they have poor collaboration with technical roles, lack of clarity in what customers need, lack of clarity in what the business needs. These all conspire to let your teams write code that does't serve the business.

Saying yes to your CEO's hairbrained idea
Setting a string of date-driven milestones
Being unclear on what your customers really need
Not working to solve a measurable problem/solution
Saying no when your engineers advocate for time to refactor/rearchitect
Saying yes to big bang change

But wait, there's more: technical debt == design debt

Designers face challenges of managing complex technical assets (Figma), contributing to product development, and driving learning efforts to get closer to users. In our experience helping companies develop and deliver software products, we've seen how this kind of trade-off can create a similar compounding-interest with the design effort for a product. People love to start building as quickly as possible and inevitably build something based on assumptions. Maybe they get lucky and their assumptions are good enough to work with - more likely they will miss the mark with their customers. When they get around to learning what their customers really need, they will begin to understand the real effort that's needed.

The impact of technical debt

Each of these things in isolation might not have a big impact on your planning or your business. But in aggregate they'll start to show up. Have you seen something like this: defects piling up, poor application performance, poor UX, reduced customer satisfaction, your teams spending time on manual tasks rather than automating their work (driving up operating costs), simple work carrying too much risk (which nobody wants to take), customers preferring to talk to someone on the phone rather than use your website. The obvious end result is massive waste from friction in delivery and lack of capacity while everyone is fighting fires.

A less obvious casualty is your understanding of the cost of development. My personal peeve about the software development world is that very few teams have clarity on the value of what they're working on. The value of our work needs to incorporate the costs of development. When the costs of development are obfuscated by technical debt, it's very hard for a team to establish clear priorities and make effective tradeoffs.

Solving technical debt challenges

There is no one-size-fits-all solution - everyon's situation is different. We often hear teams lament that they are too busy to get help, so solving this isn't going to be straightforward. Without getting too deep into the weeds, you can see that the only way out is by changing practices that your product and engineering roles lead. A healthy approach to managing these trade-offs include regular reviews and refactoring, prioritizing this work that incorporates learning, maintaining high visibility into debt- generating trade-offs, and relying on partnership between engineering and product management in building your roadmap. Want more specifics to help tame and manage technical debt more effectively? Re-read the bulleted lists above and change all the "nos" to "yesses", and vice versa.

How are you managing these two common causes of technical debt in your org?

This post originally appeared on labzero.com.

Hero photograph by Sergei Gussev via CC BY 2.0

Meme photograph from "When A Stranger Calls (2006)" the internet

Lies we tell ourselves: the 10xEngineer

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:18:07 GMT

The Lab Zero team has seen plenty of the good, the bad, and the ugly in the years we've been working in the software development world.

In this and the next couple videos, I'll talk about the 'bad' highlighting some of the lies we tell ourselves. First on my list is the 10x engineer/developer - a mythical creature sought by many.

Have you worked with a 10x engineer/developer? What was your experience?

Hey, this is Chris with Lab Zero. In my last video I mentioned that the Lab Zero team has seen 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' in working on software product development over the years. And in this and the next couple videos I want to talk about 'The Ugly' - and specifically The Lies We Tell ourselves in the software product world.

The first lie I'll talk about is the 10x engineer. Perhaps you've heard it? The Lie goes something like this: the 10x engineer is an individual who will come join your team and do 10 times the work of a normal mortal. They will spray ten times the lines of code all over your source code repository. They will move 10 times the tickets... And um we know that to be a lie, right?

Let's talk about the truth. The truth is: these are well-rounded individuals who can think clearly about complex problems. They are very unlikely to solve a problem with software, unless it's really clear that there's a solution there. They want to write just enough software, with just enough quality so that the problem gets solved - and they don't have to get a page in the middle of the night or get called into work on the weekend (or whatever, remotely).

The 10x developers that I know have people skills. And they are just as likely to be able to get a group of people together to solve a complex problem as they are able to do anything on their own.

They have no pride in the amount of code that they deliver, or the amount of lines of code that they check into a repository. If anything, quite the opposite! They're going to be proud of the lines of code that they removed from a repository. They want to be known as the people who are taking out the unused stuff -- refactoring to make simple and clear all of those parts of the application which are critical and important to your business.

These are people who do not want to save your company. They're going to look at the need for heroics as a problem. Frankly, your plan should be working. The fact that they have those skills -- great. But they don't want to be pulling those things out all day, every day, on the weekend, and at the night.

Have you worked with 10x developers over the years? What is your experience in working with them? Share your notes or your comments below. I would love to hear from you!

Oh, and call out anything that you think is baloney that I just told you I'll follow this up with some other 'Lies That We Tell Ourselves' soon so stay tuned.

Thanks, this is Chris with Lab Zero!

#10x #heroics #ugly #10xengineer #10xdeveloper #productivity #lieswetellourselves #lies #experience #engineer #developer #softwaredevelopment #team

Reflecting on the project that started it all

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 18:20:54 GMT

One of our first big engagements still serves as a model for all of Lab Zero Innovations Inc.'s highest impact work. Our client was able to unlock a huge victory by bringing in a small #team capable of #designing and #delivering a high quality #software #product. Great things can happen when you pair a high #performing team with a huge opportunity and a solid rationale.

I'm Chris Greacen with Lab Zero Innovations I'm going to tell a couple stories this week about the things we've seen over the years designing and building software products for our clients. We've seen "The Good The Bad and The Ugly". But today we're going to start with the beginning: our first big project, our first real, let's say -- opportunity to operate as the team that we always dreamed of being. An effective small team drives big outcomes through the delivery of good software product.

It started in 2008. Our first client was a big name -- you've probably heard of them. They do genealogical services. They let you research your family origins.

Here I am at Pier 38 which is where our family began. You probably know this place, or at least some of the products that came from this place. Some very famous very big names sprang out of Pier 38. They're probably on your phone right now. Lab Zero is not one of those things...

But the product that we worked on in this particular case, our first one is a big well-known name. They had a problem: they wanted to go public. They wanted to expand their empire and grow their company but their team was already subscribed, already committed to a very aggressive road map. Still, Wall Street analysts did not like the fortunes that this company had. They were not giving favorable ratings to this company as they prepared for their IPO.

They had two big problems. Problem number one - revenue was tied to number of users (MAUs). And the number of users was flat! Had been flat for years! Unlikely to grow Revenue - that's a big No-No in your IPO world.

Problem number two - was their product was very skewed toward people who are well documented, families who are well documented through history. Some people live in places where there are records. And the whole product was based on gathering records and connecting records to your family tree. As it turns out, not everybody has well-documented family history for a lot of reasons.

Someone in the company had a brilliant idea and they said, well if we can build a product that compares people's genetic history -- everybody's got genes... If we can sell this product to our existing users and decouple our revenue stream from our user base, we may overcome the objections and have a very successful IPO.

And that's where we came in: designing and building a product that fits into their world of the existing product suite, fits into the existing architecture, fits into the existing value prop, and extends that value prop to a new area. It took guts for those people to do that. To plunk down a budget for it. To work with people who are known at least to the decision makers, but still like outsiders.

Radical success for everybody involved. They took a chance to grow and make something great happen and they needed a team who knew their stuff. And we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. And we definitely knew our stuff.

Since then we've learned a lot more. I'll tell you about it in the next video. Thanks for watching!

#productdesign #productdevelopment #strategy #ipo #wallstreet #genealogy

A vision for Lab Zero

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 18:23:26 GMT

Lab Zero Innovations Inc. started in 2008 with a #vision of our small team making a big impact for our #clients . We've been able to bring our own vision to life by assembling an extremely talented and capable team and connecting them with our clients toughest challenges.

Over the next few weeks I'll share a few insights and anecdotes from the things we've seen and learned along the way.

If you visited us in the early days, what are your enduring memories? What challenges are you and your teams facing today?

Here's the transcript from the video:

Chris Greacen with Lab Zero Innovations - we've been designing and building high quality software products since 2008. I want to put a couple videos together to tell you some stories about the things we've learned and seen over the years and I figure it would be a good place to start right at the beginning - here we are Pier 38.

We Incorporated the company in 2008. I wasn't there at the time, I came a little later, but the dream was: do it better. do it right.

We had worked for so many companies where the shortcuts got in the way of quality work and our first client experience allowed us to do the things we knew we needed to - that were effective.

And what better place than a pier, basically a glorified garage on the San Francisco waterfront, to bring that dream to life it started with a team of three people: an engineer, a designer, and a product manager... and that Trio put together a product that solved a really big problem for our first client.

I'll tell you a little bit more about that in the next video I want to say hi first. Hi!

Stay tuned! Bye.

#productdevelopment #productdesign #teamwork #pier38 #startup #consulting #ipo #labzero #softwareengineering #innovation

Trip Down Memory Lane: Black Market Music

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 18:07:04 GMT

The flipping of the calendar is an obvious time for retrospection and brief trips down memory lane. I've tried journaling and writing but I don't really have the discipline or habits to keep that going. The mechanics of picking up a pen or putting hands on keyboard doesn't always work for me (evidence: the lack of action on this blog).

I like to keep track of the happenings in my life through photographs - the time and geo stamps are especially helpful in the storytelling. Lately I've been shooting a little video too. It's been sweet to revisit moments of life, to hear a voice or sound, to see someone's gesture that prompts a small flood of memories.

Every once and a while I stumble across someone else's video on YouTube that brings me right back to a moment, a place, a person. Here's one that happened recently...

The video below is two and a half minutes of someone's rando walkthrough of Black Market Music in West Hollywood probably in the late 90s or early 00s. There's not much to the video - it's poor VHS quality, shaky, no narration, awful sound, blurry, bad color. Totally charming.

We see a random view from the street (72 and sunny in west Hollywood), piles of amplifiers, guitars hanging everywhere, people chit-chatting (even eating lunch), racks of gear, display cases full of pedals and effects. It's a mess. It's full of action. If you know anything about music gear it's just a disgustingly opulent - absolutely ridiculous.

Black Market Music specialized in used gear and was thriving at this point. The music industry was at its absolute apex (file sharing was JUST starting - we hadn't yet heard Lars whining about Napster). Mega bands and labels were making piles of money with their recordings and tours. And if the major label music biz was a gold mine, Black Market Music was a major purveyor of second- hand shovels for all the miners.

I had the chance to walk through the shop right around that point in time when I went to LA with Steve Bell & Seth Freeman for a Little John show. I'm pretty sure it was Steve who led us to the shop. He was a master of material things - he helped me buy my bass amp and taught me about microphones, effects, amplifiers, tubes, drums. He was way over the horizon as far as his awareness and understanding of all kinds of gear.

At that point I didn't really know squat about Marshall amps or Gibson guitars. I probably didn't own a guitar amp. I had a Fender Lead II guitar and a Music Man bass, maybe that Ampeg Amp that Steve helped me buy. But I was solidly in Peavey Solid State-land as far as my understanding of amps went. I remember the smell of the place - musty, kinda sweaty, definitely dusty. I remember seeing piles of gear that had spray-paint logos from Van Halen and hair metal bands - gently used gear from tours or big shows. I remember seeing OLD guitars - like don't touch it old. Things that went for $5k (something like $12k today).

I remember a pile of Magnatone amps - I had just been introduced to Magnatone by Joe Gore who played a slide guitar through his to show me how it sounded - naturally overdriven full and juicy and perfect. They were hard to find, probably not in production at that point (though they've recently come back to life) - unobtanium, a unicorn. And here on the floor at Black Market were like 10 of them.

I remember things that were obviously used by pros - oh there's Alex Van Halen's drum cases, those are Tom Petty's amps, that's one of ELP's keyboard rack system. I'm sure there were even better examples that just went over my head.

It's one of the parts of life that I've come to appreciate lately - there are topics and subjects we can learn about that have infinite complexity. The more we learn, the more we see yet to be learned. The amount you could learn blooms and grows and goes and goes. Steve Bell was great at learning all of the stuff. He inspired me to do the same.

Through Steve and much later some of my YooToobers (Johan Segeborn, Kyle Bull, Pete Thorn, Warren Huart, the Guitologist (before he went nuts), Hermansson to name a few) I've learned just enough to realize how much gold was in that room. Looking through today's eyes, this scene is just bonkers.

Couple of droolworthy call outs worth mentioning: That droopy strat thing at 00:38, the hummingbirds hanging in the background next to the hofner bass at 00:42, the red tolex Marshall PA with two (pa) cabinets at 02:20, the pile of JCM800s at 01:03, the spread of snare drums at 01:09, the mountain of 4-hole plexis or JMPs at 01:48, the heap of old EHX pedals at 02:36, the tonebenders and similar pedals at 02:00. Gibson Jumbos sprinkled throughout. Marshall 8x10s tucked into the scenery... Park, Hiwatt... Stuff you just don't see around many places.

Go watch it:

Couple parting thoughts: who's that guy sitting on the Orange cab? Maybe one of the Eels? Some of my friends have told me of their star-sightings at BMM (maybe I'll post a part 2?). Did they let just any band put their show flyer or 8x10 glossy on that bulletin board by the door. There's another walkthrough from another date that shows more purple tolex and more of the keyboard and combo-amp stock.

Outdoor Doodles

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:26:45 GMT

I took a field trip a little while back to test out playing guitar outside. I want to do more of this. Get ready.

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A post shared by Chris Greacen (He / Him / Yo) (@greacen)

Austria Trip

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 17:24:54 GMT

A few moments from our brief romp through Austria in 2022. I've stitched all of the videos I shot together to make this so it's pretty random. Ok, VERY random. You'll see moments from Zürich, Oberlech, Salzburg, Wien.

I'll leave this as unlisted, and share it with friends. If you like this stuff, you may also be interested in the photos we shared here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/greacen/albums/72177720301234906

New Day Undone

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 05:14:47 GMT

Hey- Sssshh... Don't tell anyone, but we've put our new record New Day Undone onto Bandcamp before it shows up everywhere on Friday 10/8. It's just for you, so get a sneak peek! Blast it.

As you may have heard, this new record has taken the scenic route through a couple of decades to get here. We wrote a bunch of those songs in the early 00s (maybe even the later 90s?), recorded the band in our SOMA rehearsal space before blert took a long long nap.

As you probably already know, the really good things that happen are usually the result of a group of people coming together to give their best. New Day Undone is no exception - the whole band dug deep to complete these songs. We even roped Dan and Nolan into performing on "Frozener" our reprise of a tune from our last record, For Obvious Reasons.

But as you'll definitely hear, the biggest boost to this rocketship came from Tasha whose vocal performance sparked the fire that'll propel these songs into your head and heart.

We think you'll love this next incarnation of blert. If we're right about that hunch, could you do us a favor? Tell a friend about blert. You probably know someone who would dig it just as much.

New Day Undone by Blert

Blert album release: New Day Undone

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 21:40:51 GMT

There's a new blert album about to arrive. Check it out:

For Immediate Release Vernonia, OR and Oakland, CA - Blerito Records is excited to declare the release of the latest album from Blert, New Day Undone which will be available worldwide through most streaming services on Friday October 8, 2021.

CTRL-Z and Escape were released previously in September and December 2020 and revealed the addition of Tasha Danner on vocals. Blert has shown in its previous releases that it has the potential to reach for epic-ness in its songcraft. With Tasha’s involvement the band has realized more of that potential in New Day Undone.

New Day Undone contains guitar, bass, and drum tracks that were captured in the early 2000s upon which the band layered vocal tracks recorded in 2019 and 2020. The result is a blend of old and new sounds which will likely resonate with lovers of alternative and indie rock music.

1 · Escape 2 · New Day Undone 3 · CTRL-Z 4 · Blind Spot 5 · Place Among the Stars 6 · Start Plain 7 · Solitary Lines 8 · Rain's Coming Down 9 · Sold Out 10 · Leave the Lights On 11 · Frozener

More information is available in the following doc.

Song-A-Day 2021: Mile On Ice

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 18:07:18 GMT

I'm about to share a video pulled together from clips that I shot on Feb 20, 2021 while recording 'Mile On Ice' for the 2021 Song-A-Day adventure. If you know me, you already know that I've been writing, recording, and sharing a new song every day in February as part of the Song- A-Day project. At this point in February I had already written about 20 songs so I already had the workflow and mindset in place to go from raw idea to 'song' very quickly.

In this example, I was able to create a couple guitar tracks to go with drums & bass before adding #vocals. The #performances and the recordings are messy but that's kind of the point - I want to generate and capture an idea before dinner time. In this case it worked out - the tune has moments that I'll hang onto: a killer #bass line, the shift from the hook to the chorus... even a couple lines from the lyrics would probably make it through a rewrite.

Believe it or not, part of what makes this whole thing work for me is turning off the #critical part of my brain and letting the ideas roll. You can hear a lot of self-critical stuff bubbling out of me, but even though I have #doubts about the '#goodness' I gotta accept it for what it is (and move on). I don't really evaluate the work (as a whole) till I give it some time. Coming back to a song after a few weeks lets me hear it with fresh ears, appreciate the strengths, and let me imagine its next (better) form. The whole point here is to #create and boom- there it is!

So give it a spin and let me know what you think. If you want to hear more, go here:

More Song-A-Day music: http://songaday.netscrap.com Go find the #bands: http://doubleplusalright.com http://blert.com http://instagram.com/greacen http://greacen.com

This damn site

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 05:15:40 GMT

Well it had to happen eventually, I updated this website. It's been basically untouched since 1998 - built with frigging Cold Fusion running on top of an Access database. It would have run forever if it wasn't for a few dumb problems - unsanitized queries, a couple of runaway processes that the ISP is certain that my lazy queries caused (and may have brought down other people's websites).

Well heck - I don't want to be a bad neighbor or customer, so I bit the bullet and updated the database. So THAT's why the site has been up & down lately.

Spoiler alert: it'll go down a bunch more before it's all done. SORRY!

New Blert Song: Escape

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 16:48:21 GMT

If you follow blert on bandcamp, you've probably already heard this new song (will hit streaming services like Spotify on the 11th). We're still putting the finishing touches on a few songs that blert recorded back around 2002-2005 which we'll bundle-up in an album we'll call New Day Undone.

This song started out as "Bingo Bars" which had some of the dumbest lyrics ever written. Getting decent lyrics into my music has always been a challenge and the early version of this song is a great example of my verbal under- achievement. Yet we stuck with that song and even played it in front of audiences. Why? We really loved the music - it's very blert: a tricky rhythm, a weird harmony, a chance for something epic...

I remember when this song arrived, Neal and I were in our space at Downtown Rehearsal Studios and one of us found some book for drummers (icymi: drummers read!) about odd time signatures. The book contained exercises in which they lay down a beat in 4/4 and then add or drop a beat in a phrase.

Neal loved to experiment with beats and rhythms that don't fit into a mold and these exercises kept us on our toes. I liked playing simple guitar lines along with one particular pattern and then BOOM- something clicked. Bingo Bars arrived quickly.

Flash-forward to the now and between Neal and Tasha we have new lyrics which are so much more vital and current - we added some other arrangement twists that help this song really blast off. Hope you are ready to escape...

Feeling all the rage Feeding it for days The beauty has lost its luster All I hear is hate Seeing all the ways We've seemingly gone insane Think of all your lost ones Peeling off the pain

Really must escape Make for better space The joys have drowned in our sorrows Breath is hard to take Giving up the game Been feeling it for days The moment has lost momentum And belief is fake Escape Escape Escape

Another one dead today And rage is what I pray Breaking all composure Hey that's all O.K. Time to leave this placev Some will choose to stay There's no room for the dead ones Everything falls away Escape Escape Escape

In this age of madness Filled with rage and a false sense of hope We come so close now Has it all been a fucking joke Who writes the narrative Where one thing is more than the rest Destroy the premise And escape this Whatever you call It And these things we are tripping about The beasts in the room Where the space between me and you Is in doubt How can we ever be free Ever be free

How can we ever be free

Go listen:

Escape by blert

Bump Doodle on Instagram

Sun, 22 Nov 2020 18:41:03 GMT

I backed the Orba Kickstarter and have been slowly figuring this thing out.

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A post shared by Chris Greacen (He / Him) (@greacen)

New blert song: CTRL-Z

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 17:50:45 GMT

Blert put a new song onto Bandcamp today. CTRL-Z is something we started working on back in '01 or '02. We recorded the instrumental tracks in our space at Rocker rehearsal studio (Dore Alley). Tasha & Neal recorded the vocal tracks in Neal's bedroom in Portland a couple weeks ago (yeah, 2020).

That's not what I wanted That's not how I want it to go Hey can we Reset the button Pretend that it wasn't so And make like a different Option is selected Take on a new life That isn't so expected

That's not what I wanted That's not how I want it to go Hey can I Reset the button Pretend that this it isn't so And make like a different Option is selected Walk down a new road That doesn't seem perfected Go down another path That's not So perplexing So contrived So destructive So not I

This is not what I wanted This is not how I want it to go Hey can we Reset the buttons Live again like it wasn't so And make like a different Option was selected Take on another choice That wasn't so invested Go for the life I imagined

So creative So alive So playful So sublime So elated So divine So translative

So not I That's not how I want it to go Control-Z Live again like it wasn't so Control-Z This is not how I want it to go Control-Z Go back a few steps ago

Because It doesn't look so fine It doesn't seem so grand It doesn't feel like mine

Go listen

CTRL-Z by blert

Blert - For Obvious Reasons

Sun, 23 Aug 2020 21:21:08 GMT

Blert released For Obvious Reasons with a very small diy distribution waaaaaaay back in the early 00s but today you can stream it everywhere. Give it a listen and for obvious reasons you'll be transported back to the 00s.

This was the band's first experience in a 'real' studio (the supremely generous Mr. Toad's), with a 'real' engineer (the supremely patient Jeff Byrd) and wow - what a learning experience for me. We had been working for months on these songs - as a band, our learning style was to drill (practice) HARD a couple times per week. Eventually everything clicked and we worked out a deal with the owner of Mr. Toad's that involved some studio time in trade. Here's the result!

These songs, this music is definitely the product of a BAND. Everyone contributed something and even though each person's voice/contribution is distinct, the whole thing gels. Ron's beefy yet melodic bass, Neal's rhytimic riddles, My soaring guitars, Dan's crunching guitars set the table. The vocal melodies and the lyrics all sprang from the band.

I wish we pushed this harder when we released it because it might have gone somewhere. I still like to listen to these tunes now and then. But it's honestly more than a great trip down memory lane, there are some sweet moments in there.

If you like this, stay tuned because there was a yet-unfinished follow-up record which has been getting some attention by the band with some help from Tasha. The next Blert record is something you'll want to catch as soon as it arrives. Keep your eyes peeled for 'ALBLUM'.

More soon!

For Obvious Reasons by Blert

Doodles 2020

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 09:59:44 GMT

Howdy- it's been a heck of a long time since I touched this blog. Sorry for the cold shoulder. What have we missed? Let's see... Trump's America, pandemic, kids growing up, work getting more challenging. What else?

Well I'll commit to freshening up the place a bit. Here's where I'll start - I have a new collection of lo-fi musical improvisations that will be available on all the streaming places: Doodles 2020. This is a follow-on to the original Doodles that came out in 2018. Give it a spin!

Doodles 2020 by Chris Greacen

Here's how we got the word out there...

More soon!

Chris On The Bridge: Build To Learn

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:25:46 GMT

During the pandemic I shared a short series of videos about some of the software development and teamwork topics that Lab Zero was facing. Here's one about the importance in learning when building software products...

Software development is tricky and can be expensive. If your hopes and dreams involve delivering software, you better be ready to learn about the impact it makes. Sustained value comes from taking stock of what you've delivered and improving upon it. Software enables a relationship between a business and its customers - so learning is a requisite part of building.

Transcript from the video:

This is Chris with Lab Zero. We work with a lot of clients who are trying to launch new things, trying to accelerate their new product or a new feature that needs some help from a team that knows their stuff. They'll call up Lab Zero and we're pretty good about helping our clients deliver software they can rely on, that does a job.

Every once in a while I have that conversation with someone asks me in all earnesty and all seriousness, "we're ready to build this thing (can you help?)" and when I start probing and asking a little bit to get a little bit of the background, usually interesting things happen.

When I ask, "what do you want this thing to do, this thing you want to build?" That is the doorway to some really interesting topics.

One of the things that we've learned from going down that hall a bunch of times and going through that door is that building doesn't happen on its own. It's expensive! You got to build things right. But really building is for a purpose - it's about delivering value to your customers (of course), but more importantly it's about learning.

One of the things we have said to ourselves and now I'm saying it to you - you're ready to build when you're ready to learn.

More from this "Chris On The Bridge" series:

Chris On The Bridge: Self-Healing Teams

Tue, 21 Apr 2020 17:35:34 GMT

During the pandemic I shared a short series of videos about some of the software development and teamwork topics that Lab Zero was facing. Here's one about team's ability to self-improve...

Teams that have clarity in their roles, access to the best data related to the business, and a clear mandate to deliver value will do amazing things. How are your teams thriving in these challenging times?

Here's the transcript:

Hi it's Chris at Lab Zero - you know there are a lot of news stories about health these days. You can't turn on the news and not hear somebody talking about: doctors, medicine, health.

There's a story that probably hasn't been on the news that is really important to me. Stop me if you've heard this one already... it's the story of the self-healing team. Have you heard it before?

It goes something like this... There once was a team made up of members who had clearly defined roles. They understood each other's jobs and contribution to the work on the project. They had the tools available to them. They had the mandate, permission, the ability to make improvements to their process and how they do their job. They had information that was available to them and they took time to look at that information.

Oh I've seen this happen in reality a couple times where a team that is given all this permission and leeway and has the ability to collect performance data on how the team is working. Might be velocity, it might be a burn down chart, something like that.

If they're able to use that data to improve their operation they will improve. They will try to win. They will have fun doing it.

And I wish there were more of those stories on the on the news these days and I look forward to a time when we can focus on that kind of health and healing.

If your teams are doing this I'd be curious to hear what other factors play in there - or into into that story. What factors drive the health and healing powers of your teams? Let me know!

Be well!

More from this "Chris On The Bridge" series:

Chris On The Bridge: Embrace Risk

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 17:52:59 GMT

During the pandemic I shared a short series of videos about some of the software development and teamwork topics that Lab Zero was facing. Here is one about how critical it is to have the right tools available when taking on risky work...

All software teams need to manage risk. If they're working on something important that's a big bet for your company, you need to be able to embrace the risk if you want to get your hands on the benefits.

Just like the fire department who need to be able to work in dangerous situations, your team needs the kit to manage risk in software development. You wouldn't just run into a burning building, but with the right gear you can do it. Your CI, your branching model, your testing rig, your management support are the kit that matters.

People what to work on teams that can take risks and reap the benefits. How are you managing risk?

Here's the transcript:

Hey how's it going this is Chris from Lab Zero. Yeah, this is probably overkill in the car here I was thinking about risk. You know, I had to run out to get some essential services and when I went to pick up my stuff, everybody there had gloves on, everybody there had masks on. They were doing what's necessary to manage risk. And their business is working.

We work with a lot of companies different sizes, different shapes at Lab Zero. And the way companies handle risk is very different from company to company. I think there is this sweet spot where you want your teams to be able to take risks. If you're gonna make big bets and win, you gotta have teams that are able to operate in a way that works. And sometimes that means embracing risk.

And not being completely reckless with your business, with your technology, with your software investment of course. You know but making a big change it's safe - because you've got tests that allow you to make that change without ruining everything. You've got the CI that's going to run those tests with every change. You've got a branching model that allows you to make sweeping changes in isolation (and then bringing them back once you've proven that they're that it's all safe). You've got test environments that allow you to deploy large changes to your system and test them and see them work. You've got management and leadership that realizes that risk is part of the game. And you've got to be able to take risks in order to keep your business chugging along. You've got to take risks in order to keep your software program chugging along.

People want to work on teams that have us that are in that sweet spot of risk - or at least of embracing risk. Nothing good comes easy, right? And and so you've got to be able to operate when there's some something at stake.

I think about this because - shoot, just going to the supermarket as a seems like a risky endeavor right now. But with the right tools, and the right gear, and the right mindset you'd be good for it I think you're gonna be good for it too.

Let me know how that's working for you...

Be well!

More from this "Chris On The Bridge" series:

Chris On The Bridge: Are You Agile?

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 17:40:09 GMT

During the pandemic I shared a short series of videos about some of the software development and teamwork topics that Lab Zero was facing. Here's one about REAL Agility...

Teams new to Agile get hung up on story-writing, daily standup drills, velocity calculations. At Lab Zero, Agile is none of these things. But it's the result of all of these things. True Agility means your whole business is able to respond to something that you didn't plan for.

Real agility comes from all of the practices that your scrum-masters and coaches bring to your team.

Hey, this is Chris at Lab Zero. I hope you are well, I hope all of your teams are well. I am really amazed daily about how the Lab Zero team has flexed to adapt to these new situations that we're all facing. Everybody's safe, and everybody's good and everybody's slightly freaked out, but not in a way that we won't work through.

And the topic at hand that always comes to mind in this situation is agility: are you agile? Have you undergone the agile transformation? Are you performing in an agile way? Well we've worked with a lot of clients through their agile transformation. And a lot of people get really stuck, and hung up on things like story writing, the new rituals of stand-up meetings, and sprints, and calculating velocity...

And they lose touch with the thing that's really important -- which is the ability to handle things you never plan for. The ability to take advantage of things you learn along the way.

"Agility" with the Lab Zero team is none of those rituals. It is the result of all of those rituals -- which should allow leaders to reprioritize their portfolio (and for it to make sense), and to jettison those things that aren't business critical when you really need to focus all of your effort on the projects that matter. And it's the practice of the teams to take advantage of those changes and deliver consistently through it. And maybe even self-organized in a way that takes advantage of the trust, and tooling documentation etc, so as your personnel changes you've got consistent performance

And it really boils down to this the question I ask myself almost hourly nowadays: "Are you agile?

Let me know! Let me know how agile you are and and what's working for you and let's talk about this

This is Chris form Lab Zero

Be safe!

More from this "Chris On The Bridge" series:

Chris On The Bridge: What is Essential?

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 17:43:41 GMT

During the pandemic I shared a short series of videos about some of the software development and teamwork topics that Lab Zero was facing. Here's one about getting real about what's essential

When you boil it down, what is really essential to getting your job done? How well are you set up for success? Do you have what's really necessary to get something done? We all have the ability to flex, but are you in touch with the bare minimums you need in order to get something done?

Do your teams have clear goals? Do they have the ability to reset or resize these goals? Do they have data? Do they have the ability to deliver code whenever they need to? Do they have visibility into the state of their code? Do they have feedback from customers?

What's essential to a software development team when your business is riding on their productivity?

Here's the transcript:

Hey it's it's Chris from Lab Zero, doing another errand to pick up some essential services. You probably have seen me in some recent videos doing the same -- and trust me. I'm being very careful only doing what's necessary here.

But it definitely gets me thinking about my team, the projects that were on, and how well our teams are set up for success. And I think about what is essential? Like what is really necessary?

Maybe you are like me recently where you've got to make a bunch of adaptations for how you work, how you get stuff done, how you relate to people, and your your team, or your social network, or your family. Those changes are often times removing something from the normal way of operating.

I don't go to a cafe any more. I love my cafe over in North Beach, and I miss those people and we got it you got to turn that off for a little while (hopefully just for a little while). Anyway that one's not so painful, because it's not really essential. Like I can make coffee at home. I got an espresso machine and I can make a pretty good latte.

Really what we're boiling our daily routine down to are the things that are that are the minimal kit that's necessary to get stuff done. And I think about how one person's view of what's necessary may not jive with another's.

What's necessary for your teams to be successful? Do they have clear goals to work toward? Do they have a way of talking with leadership about goals, and maybe resetting or resizing things? Do they have data available to them? Are they able to provision servers and build software on an as-needed basis? Do they have tools that give them insight into the quality of their work, either through some kind of continuous integration static analysis -- or even even an effective ux org that can test a hypothesis, engage with an end-user, and get feedback that matters.

Are these things essential? You could do a lot with very little these days -- but if your business is riding on it your definition of it what's essential needs to expand. And I hope that you're able to get all of your essential needs met during this time when a lot of companies have undergone serious change.

Let me know how you're doing, how you've redefined what's essential now you're working hard to meet your team's needs

Thanks, be well!

More from this "Chris On The Bridge" series:

Chris On The Bridge: Trust From Home

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 17:03:44 GMT

During the pandemic I shared a short series of videos about some of the software development and teamwork topics that Lab Zero was facing. Here's one about trust and how it shows up in remote team work.

Trust is an essential ingredient in the way Lab Zero operates. We work well together because we build a high level of trust between our teammates. When trust is high everything runs smoothly. When we shifted to primarily working from home, we had to adapt to some new things in order to preserve or re- establish trust.

How are your co-workers addressing trust when working as a distributed team?

This is Chris with Lab Zero. Hope you are well. Hope everything's good with you.

I'm running out doing another errand for essential services here, so I figured I'd drop a line. And the thought on my mind today is about about this switch to everybody working remotely.

Personally I loved going into the office. I love getting out of my house. And it's good for me to go work in the office. But the adjustment around that hasn't been so so bad, I'm making it work, rolling with it. The adjustment that is trickier and something that's like it's even a little harder to put your finger on - it's about trust.

One of these things - my team works really well in a under the umbrella of trust. We need to trust our team members, we need to trust our clients, we need to build trust. And that trust gets a little harder when everybody's sprinkled around the country. And I would say that that trust is something that we still are able to emphasize or build -- through effective communication skills, slacking for success, working the video conferencing like it's going out of style. (a little traffic here...)

These things are all really important because if your team has that rapport and understands what to expect from each other, and delivers what's expected -- and don't engage in a parade of surprises, trust will be high. And when trust is high everything else moves smoothly.

And I trust that you are doing everything for your team to emphasize and build the trust already present there. Curious to hear what's working for you and what's not. Drop a line if you can...

Alright, be well! Bye

More from this "Chris On The Bridge" series:

Why is Agile Popular?

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 12:24:10 GMT

Believe it or not- I've been trying to invest a little more time writing lately. Part of this motivation comes from working on stories highlighting capabilities and success that the Lab Zero team has had in working with our clients. The ice-age this-here personal blog has experienced will warm, maybe even thaw. I recently put a quick answer onto Quora and figured I'd capture it here too.

Question: Why is Agile So Popular?

Short answer: Agile is not popular.

My answer will focus on the software world but there are many other ways to tell this story without the software focus.

The promise of Agility is awfully alluring for roles close to the work in a typical org: product managers, designers, and engineers. The way Agile prefers 'individuals & interactions' over 'tools & process' breathes fresh air into a normally stifled environment. Many see Agile's focus on working software over documentation as the right priority for a product team. Any product team will feel like they're driving value into their company when they're able to respond to change rather than merely follow a plan. Benefits abound for teams who want a sustainable pace of work and a high level of accountability. Benefits abound for organizations who want unstoppable, self- organizing teams to drive value.

There are of course real practical challenges in moving a team to a new way of working in companies that haven't already made the leap into Agility. Most people in the software world have encountered these challenges at some point in their career: people get tripped-up on writing / sizing / accepting stories, overloading sprints, and so on and so on. The friction that slows and challenges a team's adoption of Agile is real - even if a transformation is well funded and supported with coaches & experts.

But wait, there's more - all this agility must happen in the context of delivering software and driving results for a business. Chances are there's someone in the PMO (not to pick on Program Management) who wants some predictability in planning a portfolio of work. They have genuine needs involving knowing when reliable work will be delivered. The predictability they seek is critical to the success of the business. Even though Agile programs can be predictable, many aren't at first. How patient can a business be before it sees results from an investment in agility? (spoiler: not very patient)

Here's where it gets tricky- unless someone brings the leadership along, the agile transformation will fail. The work of connecting a plan with a vision forces leadership to take what can feel like a trust-fall. If you've ever helped a leader through their 'trough of despair' in adopting new tricks, you've seen why many agile transformations fail. Investment that doesn't serve a business is waste. No leader can waste time or money in pursuit of agility if it's not showing a benefit.

Most agile transformations fail at one of these levels: team, portfolio planning, leadership. Transformations will fail because teams lack clear signals showing where to focus training. Teams need access to experts in product management, design, and engineering - not just coaches. They will fail because planners aren't supported in working with agile teams. They will fail because leaders haven't bought-into their role in an agile organization. They will fail because leaders haven't seen the benefit to the business.

Sounds pretty bleak, huh? Well that's why you're on Quora, right? When I say 'fail' here I mean that the promise or potential of Agile is never realized. Instead, an organization will settle for some blend of old and new. If they're lucky they can see some small benefit. But the story doesn't have to be this bleak. With access to expertise (from outside the organization) and commitment (within) to driving change, any company at any scale can reach it.

Agile is a rare, beautiful thing - and really totally invisible to the people within it when working its best. I suspect very few software professionals will ever encounter this in their careers. Agile is not popular, but it's worth pursuing.

Go see it in the wild: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Agile-so- popular/answer/Chris-Greacen

12 Signs Your Client Trusts You

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:30:14 GMT

This post appeared first on the Lab Zero Blog.

Your client pays your invoices. You passed all the background checks. But how do you know they trust you? We look for signs of trust from our partners, and we reinforce patterns that increase that trust. Here are some cues to watch for:

#1. They grant access to data

You can pass a background check and sign a confidentiality agreement, but if your client doesn’t trust you you’ll never get access to the data you need. Each organization has its own policy for sharing data. Because you understand the impact of your request, you ask for just what you need to get the job done. And when your partner trusts you, they give it to you.

#2. They share plans and aspirations with you

By sharing future plans, a client is investing in you. By sharing aspirations, they become just the tiniest bit vulnerable to you. It’s a sign that they know you’re on their side. They feel their outcomes will be better if they tell you what they really want.

#3. They communicate about exceptions

When something out of the ordinary happens--good or bad--you don’t find out in the retrospective. Instead, you get the news early from somebody who trusts you to make the most of it for everybody involved.

#4. They share credit and responsibility

We never ‘win’ at the expense of our client. We only win when our client wins. Likewise, we don’t work for recognition. But when something goes well or poorly, a client that trusts you shares both the credit and the responsibility.

#5. They give you personal, constructive feedback

Relationships are maintained at a personal level. It’s often appropriate to ask your client “How am I doing?” The easiest way for your client to answer this question is to tell you that you’re doing a good job--but not too good a job. This keeps the relationship on an even keel. But when a client gives you some personal feedback or otherwise goes out on a limb (even if what they have to say is unpleasant to hear), that is a sign of substantial trust.

#6. They want to be represented by you

They want you to tell others about them. They ask you to lead a sales call with them. They have you help with due diligence for an acquisition. They send you to conferences under their banner. When they talk to others, they refer to you as a colleague and a co-worker.

#7. They introduce you to others

The highest form of business development is getting a new partnership on the basis of an old one. When a client represents you to others, they have to first understand what you do, and they have to trust you. Though they may not introduce you to their competitors, if they introduce you to somebody they like, that is a good sign that you’re moving up the trust ladder.

#8. They ask your advice

And they listen. They may not take your advice every time, but asking means that they want to hear what you think before they make a decision. When your client encounters new information, they enlist your help to interpret it. And it’s especially satisfying when a former client reaches out to you for advice because of the strength of the relationship you built on the job.

#9. They embrace taking the conversation up a level

You and your client share goals beyond the projects you’re working on, such as hiring and retaining talented people. Or contributing to the open source community. Or documenting a new methodology that you created together. If you ‘get meta’ with a client, and they don’t turn away, that’s a sign they trust you.

#10. They encourage you to discover and explore

They give you space to experiment with the best way to perform the task at hand. Beyond that, they may also get you to explore the space of possible contributions you can make, and thereby discover the very best way for you to help.

#11. They ask you to participate in planning

You can help your client better if you know their plans, but when they ask you to help with the planning itself, you’ve reached a higher level of trust. This is apparent even in a simple question like, “Is it reasonable to get the first phase done in six weeks?” Setting goals together is a form of joint planning.

#12. They ask you to help recruit

A client who trusts you may ask for you to contribute to (or write) a job description for a new position, to help screen resumes, or interview candidates. On the flip side, it’s also a sign of trust when a partner asks you for advice on downsizing.

Are you the trusting type?

At Lab Zero, relationships matter. A good relationship can make all the difference when the going gets rough--and relationships built on trust are the strongest ones. We would love to get the chance to earn your trust.

#MyMusical2018 Part 5: Other Shows

Fri, 07 Dec 2018 09:33:37 GMT

If you haven't caught on by now, this is a series of posts about the musical happenings that I was involved with in 2018. The last post was about a project I put together called Doodles. This one isn't about anything I worked on - it's all about the live music I saw that really moved me. If you recall from the first post, I'm pretty sure it was a show that sent me down this path... we'll see where this goes next year.

#MyMusical2018 Part 5: Other Shows

There's so much good live music happening in the bay area. There are so many good clubs and great bands - it can quite a bounty - an all-you-can-eat friggin Smörgåsbord. Life is pretty full though and it's a balancing act to get out to watch a band. I'm more likely to get out and catch friends' bands than out-of-town bands, but I've gotten to know a few out-of-towners who I'd see every time they come through. I could probably have a similar post for both art shows (art gallery openings are a lot like a band's gig and I like going to these things) and my kids' school, theater, and ballet performances.

Here are a few noteworthy gigs I happened to catch in 2018:

1/3 Tony Molina, Healer - Was this Healer's first show? I got some awful yet exciting video of their brief set. (see below)
1/6 Kids on a Crime Spree, Total Bettys
1/16 This Stellar Madness at the Bottom of the Hill
2/17 Mary Timony at the Independent
3/9 Hard Left at the Ivy Room
5/10 This Stellar Madness, Four Minus One Trio, The Gibbs at the Golden Bull
6/8 Business Of Dreams at the White Horse
6/24 Violent Change, Modern Dance, Chronophage, Beatniks at Dildo Factory
6/26 that big band I saw with Ron whose name I forget...
8/7 Tony Molina Record Release show at the Hemlock Tavern
10/4 Terry Malts at the Hemlock Tavern
10/22 Papercuts at Amoeba
11/8 Papercuts, Tony Molina, Kids on a Crime Spree at The Chapel a totally fantastic show!
11/11 Pennywhistle Park at the Ivy Room
12/9 Dead Kennedys at the UC Theater?
12/31 Beanpole at the Fillmore? Hopefully this works out...

Oh hey- more video! This is a playlist, so click through if you want to jump around the list of videos. Otherwise let it play...

What other shows am I forgetting here? Photos and videos? I got 'em.

That's it for the #MyMusical2018 posts. Thanks so much for following along. Maybe I'll update this thing more frequently in 2019? #morefrequentpostsin2019 here we come!

#MyMusical2018 Part 4: Doodles (something New)

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 09:33:53 GMT

I've been writing a series of posts called #MyMusical2018 that covers some of the musical things I've been involved with over the past calendar year. The last post was about open mics and other gigs. This one is all about the doodles...

#MyMusical2018 Part 4: Doodles (something New)

This is new. This is experimental. This is for fun.

I shared a few brief instrumental songs that I called doodles in this year's Song-A-Day event. These doodles came from a process I developed over a stretch of Sunday mornings basically as part of the breakfast routine. My girls would sit on the couch and read a book (or more likely: play a video game) and I'd create something with a guitar, delay pedal, and looping pedal.

Eventually I got smart and started recording the resulting compositions on my phone. At some point later this year, I stumbled onto those recordings and those sounds instantly brought me back to Sunday morning. So think of it as a holiday gift (yes, you may re-gift this if it's not your thing - seriously: find someone who might appreciate this and send it over to them).

Here's what I wrote on Bandcamp...

I created these doodles at home as part of my Sunday morning routine that also included coffee, a newspaper, and making breakfast for my girls. These compositions are conceived in the moment and barely captured using the voice memo app on my phone.

The resulting Lo-fi recordings are special to me because they capture the time and place where our lives took a turn toward a "new" direction.

The background noise, voices, creaking chairs and room sounds are part of the charm for me - listening to these could transport us right back to our living room in the 2014-2018 range. Get comfy, settle-in, let's see where this goes.

What do you think?

I found a moment from one of these Sunday mornings on Instagram:

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post in the #MyMusical2018 series: "Other shows"

#MyMusical2018 Part 3: Open mics and other gigs

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 09:33:57 GMT

If you landed on this article I'd like you to know that I've been writing about some of the musical action that I've been involved with in 2018. The last post was about the long-running Song-A-Day project. Today, I'm sweeping a bunch of extra-curricular performances together in a post called...

#MyMusical2018 Part 3: Open mics and other gigs

While this wasn't a big or deliberate goal for the year, I did step into a few open mic situations that were a blast. My go-to is right around the corner from my house at the Missouri Lounge -- one of Berkeley's oldest and best-attended open mics. I've had a few chances to play here with Seth Freeman when he's in town. Seth & I have played a few Little John songs at the Missouri. We played separate songs at The Octopus Literary Salon. The Monday we visited the Octopus was packed with comedians who put on a pretty good show.

I also had a chance to play a fun Halloween show with some radical musicians. We brought the first two Danzig albums to life (or possibly to death) in all their heavy-riffy glory as GIZNAD. Would I wear a wig onstage again? Yes. Would I play this stuff well outside the Halloween season? Hell yes.

Open Mic at the Missouri Lounge
Open Mic at the Octopus Literary Salon
In-store performance at Guitar Center (you'll see)
GIZNAD at the Ivy Room - (you'll see)

Oh hey- there's a youtube playlist containing a few of these things!

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post in the #MyMusical2018 series: Doodles to hear something (old but) new.

#MyMusical2018 Part 2: Song-A-Day 2018

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 09:33:00 GMT

2018 was a musically-rich year fo me. This post is the second in a series of brief roll- ups of some of the musical projects in which I performed this year. The last post was all about my band Doubleplus Alright. This one is about an ongoing project I've done every February for the last decade called Song-A-Day.

#MyMusical2018: Song-A-Day 2018

Holymoly, this was a big year for the Song-A-Day crew. This year's project was full and highly productive for everyone who participated. Know what? 2018 marks the 10th year this group has written, recorded, and shared a new song every day in February.

If you don't know me, here's the brief background on this project - each year I write and record and share a new song every day during the month of February. I do this with a bunch of musician-friends who have participated for many years. I'm still shy of 300 songs, but there are a few folks who are WAY over 300. Normally everyone records at home, alone, and shares music in the middle of the night. I's FUN.

This year was also special because we got a chance to play songs in front of an audience at the Alameda County Fair. We had been joking about playing he AC Fair for a while- i was a punchline that had legs.

Eventually those legs ran off and got in touch with the booking agent for the fair. Before anyone could say 'no' we were on the bill... with no real rehearsals, and no real plan (kinda like the project as a whole right?) this is where we ended up (oh hey- a video!)

Oh hey- some photos! (click through to see more)

I was a blast! 10/10! Would do it again!

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post in the #MyMusical2018 series: "Open Mics and Other Gigs" I've played.

#MyMusical2018 Part 1: Doubleplus Alright

Mon, 03 Dec 2018 07:10:00 GMT

This year has been chock full of musical activity and here's a not-so-brief recap of the musical things I've been able to sneak into the year. I've been involved with music for most of my life in one way or another.

Music is my source of sanity, a channel for expression, a never-ending puzzle worth solving -- an important part of my life.

And yet, something this important and core to my being doesn't really figure into my planning that much. I didn't really start the year with a plan to focus on music. I kinda rode the wave - went with the flow... you get it.

(After-the-fact edit: I went through photos to go along with a bunch of these stories and came across the almost life-changing Dag Nasty show that I saw in December of 2017 at Thee Parkside. I think this one show (maybe also the Tony Molina show in early Jan 2018 (maybe also the This Stellar Madness show soon after that (well you get the picture))) set me off in this direction.)

Here's the story of my 2018 musical adventures. Full disclosure: I started writing a blog post and it got long... REALLY long. So I chopped this into a few posts which will pop up on http://greacen.com over the next few days. Stay tuned!

#MyMusical2018 Part 1: Doubleplus Alright

Oh hey- I have a band! We're good! Doubleplus Alright got organized and motivated (thanks to Jackson who joined in late 2017!) to polish our songs to the point where we can record them and play in front of people. Nik broke his ankle (doing advanced disco dance-moves at the New Parish - ask him about that). We had an action-packed year!

Recordings & Merch

Bandcamp, CDRs, Lathe Cuts! Heck we even splurged on t-shirts so you know this is official. We might get a chance to put together a few more recordings before the end of the year. Have you heard this stuff yet? Here's the stuff that's up on Bandcamp:

Circa Early 2018 Demos by Doubleplus-Alright

For a rehearsal space recording I'm very happy with the way these came out! I love recording music and have been at it since I was in 9th grade. It's way more fun lately with the songs we're playing and the basic-but-functional gear we're using. We don't have a record label or anything like that- we're (still) totally diy at this point.

Here are photos the other merchy things... CDRs, Lathe Cuts, t Shirts (click through to see more):

Shows

We played about once a month once we got into the groove. I like playing for people. Here's what we did:

February at KZSU - our first time playing with Jackson outside of our rehearsal space. The KZSU studio is the scene of some legendary shows (you'll find them on youtube) so this was a great place for us to kick off the year. Oh hey- there's a video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO2-atR-Q0Y I'll embed this below too.
May at the Ivy Room - our first gig with Jackson in front of PEOPLE, and heck our first gig in way too long. Thanks to The Tet Holiday for putting this together and including us. Factoid: Our first first show (with Gee on drums) was with The Tet Holiday at the Golden Bull in 2015. We asked Like Roses to play this show because they are fan-friggin-tastic.
June at the White Horse - with Neutrals and Hard Left - two of my favorite bands! factoid: my old band blert used to play with the Neutrals' singer's old band Giant Haystacks a long long time ago.
July at The SF Eagle - at one of my favorite clubs/bars with the Gibbs and Externs.
September at the Hemlock Tavern (r.i.p.) - with Low Bote and Remember Karen just before the Hemlock CLOSED. factoid: There was a brief in- store at a Guitar Center in Concord to promote this show. You're right- that's the WORST place to try to activate an audience for a show in SF. Oh hey- another video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0cVFIfGarM

Here are some photos (click through to see more):

Looking ahead, we're interested in doing MORE of this. For shows, follow us on Facebook (of course) but you should pencil us in for 2/7, 2/22, 3/8 in 2019. If we get our act together and complete a record then we may try to sneak a small tour (LA? East Coast? UK?) onto the calendar too. Fingers are crossed...

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post in the #MyMusical2018 series: "Song-A-Day 2018" you won't want to miss this one.

Missing 1963 Bing Log

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 00:03:57 GMT

I screwed up and lost track of my old board near Trail 5 at San Onofre Bluffs campground this past weekend. Seems like it walked away. If you see this board, please let me know.

Specs:

9'6"
D-fin
Serial Number 2699
AWFUL patch-jobs on the deck
small rounded tail block

Though it may already be on a 747 to Tokyo, it's probably not super valuable. Hope to see this thing again...

Doubleplus-Alright

Sun, 10 May 2015 14:43:06 GMT

New band, new songs (still playing a few old ones too), and new gigs. With Manatee on extended hiatus, Nik and I got together and noodled on a few songs. Eventually we connected with Gee (via the miracle of craigslist) and got into a groove on the songs. So here we are as Doubleplus-Alright

Wontchya hit the like button on Facebook, listen to a few songs, and come catch our shows.

Three Demos by Doubleplus- Alright

Couple more teasers here:

Om One

Fri, 06 Mar 2015 21:38:02 GMT

We got an Om One by supporting their kickstarter. The sound leaves much to be desired, but the device has captured our attention and imagination since we unboxed:

Thanks for shooting this Aaron.

Music is all around us.

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:32:34 GMT

This isn't the Autotune craze that happened a little while back. This is Publio Delgado pulling the harmony and melody out of someone's natural speech.

I think I heard Steve Vai play along with spoken word first... and this one from Japan came around recently, but this Jones' thing great.

There's music all around us. Tune in.

Leftovers from MP3 Compression

Wed, 18 Feb 2015 02:23:54 GMT

Following on my last video/sound noise post, I came across this one. The artist basically subtracted the MP3 data from a "full resolution" version of Tom's Diner. What's left is the stuff-- the signal-- the MUSIC that is lost in the process of creating a MP3.

What he ends up with is what I hear in my head most of the time. A video artist applied a similar process to the video portion...

More here: https://vimeo.com/107845118

moDernisT_v1 from Ryan Maguire

Ok, here's the original:

Favorite Friends Episode

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 23:02:41 GMT

What's your favorite Friends episode from Season 1? Ben Roberts put them all together right here:

A Wave

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 12:52:05 GMT

Big Wednesday. It happened the other day: one of those weeks where the buoy graphs are flat except for a sharp peak right in the middle of the week. Some storm from some far-off place sent a burst of energy our way, then stopped.

I got up a little late and saw that the bridge was jacked-up. After texting and sitting on the fence a while, I decided to just go and do it.

The paddle-out was TOUGH! I haven't been surfing nearly enough to be in shape. Also I don't remember exactly what happened on Tuesday night, but something I ate for dinner (or possible second-dinner) wanted to let me know that it was still hanging around.

I paddled for about 45 minutes, nearly barfed once, nearly gave up once. Somehow I was able to recover, find a little riptide and get outside (where I could sit and recover further).

Anyway, eventually I got lucky with a pretty sweet wave. I got luckier a few days later when someone pointed me to this:

Sweet!

OMG Even More Artwork From Mad Men, Season 7 (The Art Department)

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:00:00 GMT

I've been posting a bit (ok, a lot) about the artwork in some of this season's Mad Men episodes. This post focuses on the artwork in the Art Department. These guys are the worker-bees in the ad agency. Their space is more cluttered than the rest of the office. Most of the wall-space seems covered with work-related junk but the artwork on the walls in the Artist spaces show some bold political leanings.

The Artists Stuff
The visual artists working with Peggy have more David Wiedman hanging in their office, but these pieces are more political than the other abstract forms. "Work Smarter" (buy this one btw) and "Generals for Piece" leap out of the background.

Oh hey, get that "Scandinavian Design Black and White Star" on Zazzle or Etsy too.

Stan Rizzo
Stan's bleak apartment features big Moshe Dyan poster as the only decoration. This seems like a pretty big deal to me: Moshe Dyan is a complicated and powerful reference. I can't imagine a set decorator would choose this image without a lot of thought. The series has carefully made reference to historical events (e.g. assassinations of JFK, MLK, RFK). It's completely omitted the 6-day war in 1967. In some ways, if Don Draper could get his act together he could pull his own pre-emptive strikes against the folks surrounding him (Ted, Lou, Jim, clients? Betty? his liver?).

What do you think this brings to Stew's character or the series in general?

Oh and here's one of those posters that appeared on ebay a while back.

Next, Roger Sterling's office... (oops, I didn't actually write this yet...)

Holy Crap Even More Artwork From Mad Men, Season 7 (Peggy Olson)

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 15:00:00 GMT

You might be sick of this after a few days of relentless posting about the artwork in Mad Men, Series 7. There's a lot more to cover though, so get ready. While everyone was mourning the loss of Robin Williams we missed the passing of David Wiedman whose prints were all over the Sterling Cooper Draper Yadda Yadda office.

Peggy's floral prints
Peggy has plenty of screen time this season and her office seems to be a place that the set decorators chose to showcase several pieces from David Weidman. These prints and the story behind them are pretty well-known having been featured in a few LA Times articles.

I love the color and forms in these prints -- so much fun. Once I tuned-in to the artist and his catalog, I started seeing them all over the place. You'll see them in the Artists Office and outside Roger Sterling's office.

Peggy was sporting a Saul Bass poster from the Second NY Film Festival at Lincoln Center (September 14-26, 1964). If you dig around, you can probably find one for sale.

Peggy redecorates her office at some point in the season and the emphasis seems to shift toward these smaller prints. Some still from David Wiedman.

Peggy's apartment like most of the living spaces is pretty drab. She has more of these sunflower shapes and other floral forms at home.

Next, the rest of the Art Department.

Even More Artwork From Mad Men, Season 7 (Ted Chaough, Pete Best)

Wed, 20 Aug 2014 15:00:00 GMT

Here's another set of pics from Mad Men, Season 7. We've gone through just a few of the characters and their sets. There's plenty more to cover.

Ted's office in California
Ted and Pete are setting up the west coast business from this office which has a few neat pieces. There's a funky print on two of his walls which make me think about the dueling perspectives within Ted.

It's not all black & white though. What's this red thing behind his desk?

There's a (possibly?) noteworthy change in the painting that sits behind his desk too. Not sure what if anything this means for the character, maybe an emotional cooling-off? In any case it's neat to see these subtle changes.

Pete's Pad in California
This is the second piece of art that really jumped out of the background for me. I thought the colors and the form were a perfect match for Pete's energy and his role in California.

A little poking around online brought me to this painting for sale on etsy at one point. Linda Monfort, the artist has a bunch of similar large-ish abstract paintings in her store. I suspect she knows that her painting was in a few scenes, but I wonder what that's like... I'll send her a note and find out.

Next, the hero of this season (and probably the whole series) Peggy.

More Artwork From Mad Men, Season 7 (Don Draper, Jim Cutler)

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 15:30:00 GMT

Here's the second set of pieces or artwork from Mad Men, Season 7. Last time I mentioned Lou's office, this week it's Don & Jim. I grouped these two characters together because they're somewhat marginalized this season.

Don Draper's office
The main piece of art that we see in Don Draper's office is an inscrutable abstract mess. This rainy day Miro-like thing doesn't offer much. I wasn't able to find anything about it online. What do you see here?

Over Don's couch is another abstract form with some bold, firey colors. I guess this is really a temporary space for Don since Lou is in his office. Maybe all these pieces were chosen by Lane Pryce when he used this office in previous seasons?

Don finds one more piece that he could hang on his wall, but instead tosses in the garbage. Lane Pryce hung this when he used the office. It kind of makes sense that the Creative Director (in absentia) has the most childish piece of art tucked away in his office. There's an incredible write-up on this piece on another site. This is just one of the period details that keeps this show so much fun.

Jim Cutler's office
This is a funny one. I this this character is a bit of an oddball in that he's often bouncing between clueless & tasteless. Nobody seems to like him much and he doesn't seem to be doing much for the organization. His dialog is usually flat, practical, and he's usually "right" from a business perspective.

Jim has a few pieces of art in his office that are worth noting. This big black & white print dominates the background in most of the scenes here.

There are a few shots that reveal these animal prints on another wall. I should have collected a few more shots to back this up, but it seems that these kind of old-fashioned animal prints show up in scenes with people who don't have good taste in art... Betty's house and many of the suburban scenes are dotted with these plates.

When I saw these prints in Jim's office, it made me wonder whether the big print behind his desk was chosen by his assistant or some office decorator. Maybe Don's office too?

We'll go to California next time to see what's going on with Ted & Pete.

Artwork Seen In Mad Men, Season 7

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 01:45:01 GMT

So there's a point in the course of binge-viewing a tv series where you've probably lost your place. You were trucking-along, right there with the drama and the action at 2 or 3 in the morning when your insomniac monkey-brain wake-up-call ends abruptly and lets you drop back into the REM sleep where you belong. It was after this experience where I found myself fast-forwarding through a few episodes of the most recent season of AMC's Mad Men looking for the point where I dozed- off.

It was during one of these fast-forward sessions that I started to see the scenes differently. Items in the background seemed to pop forward. Whether it was the lack of sound, the rapid movements of the people (in scenes where the camera doesn't even pan), or the late hour, something drew my attention toward the artwork hanging on the walls.

This article collects some of these observations. I hope the DMCA overlords who own the images/characters/likenesses attached to the program see that this is a small attempt to make sense of (just) one level of the visuals in Mad Men. I'm a fan and this is a work of appreciation. It's also in this spirit of "trying to understand" that led me to seek background info on some of the pieces and artists featured in this season's episodes. I'll try to focus on the art without dropping any spoilers, but holler if I mess anything up and I'll redact.

Art
Most of the Mad Men action consists of interior shots, so there's plenty of opportunity to drop paintings and prints into the background. It was a scene in Lou Avery's office that caught my attention. The way the scene was framed, the painting appeared as important as the actors; it seemed like the blue abstract oil painting in the background was a third role in the scene.

This particular painting was pretty important to feeding my interest (read: obsession) with this topic because of what I found when I tossed it into Google Image Search. It looks like this painting which got a heck-of-a-lotta airtime was purchased on Etsy from an artist named Pamela Munger. I bet she knows that her work has been featured this way, but I haven't heard back from her yet. Her paintings are still available, handsome, and decently priced! Go buy one.

Lou has another abstract painting on an adjacent office wall and some print outside his door. I wasn't able to find any info on these pieces.

Over the next few days, I'll post a few notes about each of the offices (and a few other spots) and the artwork that seems worth our attention.

More soon!

Chrissy Tomasco and the 2014 Overnight Walk

Tue, 06 May 2014 20:41:33 GMT

My cousin Chrissy Tomasco is participating the 2014 Overnight Walk in Philadelphia to raising awareness about suicide and raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Take moment to support her efforts by making a small donation here.

She says:

Please support me as I take an amazing journey. The Out of the Darkness Overnight Experience is an 16-18 mile walk over the course of one night. Net proceeds benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, funding research, advocacy, survivor support, education, and awareness programs both to prevent suicide and to assist those affected by suicide.
In 2001 I lost my mother to suicide. Being a 13 year old at the time, I had a very hard time moving on from that day. One of the biggest struggles I faced and still face, is feeling comfortable enough to tell people how I lost my mother. I have been carrying this weight around with me and I very rarely tell people how my mother passed away. There has always been a serious taboo associated with suicide. It makes people uncomfortable. To avoid the conversation that always follows upon someone finding out I do not have a mother, I have often made up other reasons for her death. I catch myself telling people "she was sick" to halt any further questions. In retrospect, she was sick. She was sick for a very long time. She spent her whole adult life battling mental illness and addiction.
My mother was embarrassed by her illnesses and felt alienated by those around her. She made a choice that day because she felt hopeless and abandoned. She was wrong. She had more love and support than most. She was unable to think rationally and she made an irrational, life-altering decision that rocked the lives of many people.
July 17th 2001 was the day that Barbara died. I carry that moment with me everyday and everywhere. I still break down. If anything, it only gets harder. I would like to gain my voice back. I want to feel comfortable to say I am a victim of suicide, and I am surviving. For every person I feel comfortable to expose my true experiences with, the taboo surrounding suicide is chiseled away little by little. It is time to talk about mental illness and suicide. We all know someone who has been affected by this. Lets talk about things that make us uncomfortable, it is time to get it out there and to spread the word that hope and support are always around us. We are never alone, even in the darkest of times.

Donate Here.

Observed: Scat/Rap Counterpoint

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 21:52:15 GMT

2013 Overheards and Observeds

Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:13:44 GMT

From my twitter and stokereport.com activity:

Overheard: "I am not a figurine collector."
Overheard: "we are fully committed."
Overheard: "Android Justice."
Overheard: "I live to increase your complexity."
Overheard: "gravity is proven technology"
Overheard: "he blogged his way into her heart."
Overheard: "It's a rebelution!"
Overheard: "tempo schmempo" #hellomanatee cc @manateebayarea
Overheard: "Theo-fauvism"
Overheard: "we want to do it right or not at all."
Overheard: "i love Taxes" http://instagram.com/p/fQbffdlSRw/
Overheard: "twiddle the boogie" #hellomanatee
Overheard: "The road to World-Class goes through a town called 'Sucks Less'."
Overheard: "The Answer is Beer." cc @citybeerstore
Overheard: "your mom"
Overheard: "musicians are like people" #filmage
Overheard: "a rail-gun, combined with the Concord, combined with air hockey."
Overheard: "What rhymes with 'Cheney'?" #hellomanatee
Overheard: "It sounds like a love song but it's about drone strikes." #hellomanatee
Overheard: "Are these your goats?"
Overheard: "Naughty, but Squareback"
Overheard: "up-and-to-the-right is fine in most graphs except 'memory usage over time'."
Overheard: "It's a list of lists. Which are WORDS."
Overheard: "Mexican contraction."
Overheard: "Philip Glass? No, Throbbong Gristle."
Overheard "this is what you're giving up..." #wisdom #tradeoffs #consulting #decisions
Overheard: "darn, I'll have to hide my illicit oyster farm" #pierproblems
Overheard: "now I have to smell your corndog all night"
Overheard: "ask for it #manateestyle " #hellomanatee #listening #hellosurfclub http://instagram.com/p/Xqr5bOTBMl/
Overheard: "ALWAYS BE VALIDATING." #lean #labzero
Overheard: "Shake my left hand. It's closer to my heart."
Overheard: "new york's alright if you like saxophones"
Overheard: "an app a user and a page walk into a bar..." @facebook #labzero
Overheard: "some people see dead people, I hear pop songs." #songaday http://songaday.netscrap.com
Overheard: "rock-rock always wins" #roshammbo #sessions #hellomanatee
Overheard: "schnitzel-pocalypse"
Overheard: "human oleo crisis falling super back enjoy mile fifteen bounds theme which" #hellomanatee
Overheard: "fresh Jamaican ketchup"
Overheard: "banks suck at technology." #payfac #fintech
Overheard: "if you're starting a payments company, don't talk about regulatory compliance." #payfac #flyundertheradar
Overheard: "who knew there was money in the church?" #payfac
Overheard: "pork is squealing through my veins." cc @Sanguchon_SF #labzero
Overheard: "this song is so pro-agile"#dontgochasingwaterfalls #tlc
Overheard: "Synchrofusing synthetic toggle bearings." cc @darinwilson
Overheard: "It's been a long flu."

A wave

Fri, 27 Dec 2013 16:55:56 GMT

Oh that was a good one. Merry Christmas!

It was pretty big out there today. I made it outside and caught a few. At one point I found myself sitting away from a group of guys when a set came in. The first two waves were nice looking and I was about in the right spot, but I let them go by. A few of the nearby guys were paddling toward me as the third, biggest one of the set came through.

A little voice in my head said, "I think I could make that."

Then I heard a loud voice from outside my head saying, "GO! PADDLE HARD!!!" That was the winning vote. I turned, paddled, and made the drop.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brien Wankel (@sonoranspaceprogram)

Yeah, I got munched right after that picture was taken. I'll figure out how to make the most of those barrely sections at some point...

Thanks Brien.

A wave

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 18:48:38 GMT

I rode a wave this morning. Thanks Darren.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Darren Mason (@darrenmason)

It lives here.

Instagram Embed Test

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:06:43 GMT

Hi. I snapped a pic on Instagram. Here's the embedded pic...

Is this any good? I think I want these pics on my site.

Manatee gig 9/27/2013 at Hemlock Tavern!

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:02:45 GMT

Here's a test repost from Facebook about our show at Hemlock Tavern on 9/27/2013.

Post by Chris Greacen.

Manatee gig 6/28/2013 at Thee Parkside!

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 23:30:20 GMT

We're playing Friday night at Thee Parkside in SF with a few great bands!

Find the Facebook event for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/382388248545555/

Manatee gig 6/6/2013

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:29:45 GMT

Ahoy- we're playing a gig in Oakland on Thursday night at the Nightlight with some great bands.

Facebook event for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/126655314205470/

CTA- the most important part of your page.

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:10:10 GMT

Guess what's the most important part of your web page (or mobile app)...

All web apps

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:05:05 GMT

I've distilled all web applications into a single diagram. I've found this pretty handy.

Manatee KXLU session

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:46:24 GMT

I neglected to include this here when we put out these songs in October of 2012. Dug this up recently as we're putting together some material for a radio show this Thursday night (5/9) Radio Valencia 87.9FM.

Take a listen and let me know what you think!

Part Time Punks/KXLU Session by Manatee

We recorded these one afternoon during a whirlwind weekend of shows south of San Francisco. These songs reflect the direction the band has taken after the Indecision & Single Payer releases: EVEN MORE-tightly fuzed frenetic noise and pop forms... spin, listen...

Surfing on Easter Sunday

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:29:12 GMT

Overheard:

[16:22] surfer1: sigh
[16:25] surfer2: log today, fish on easter sunday?
[16:25] surfer2: I mean log tomorrow...
[16:25] surfer1: hmm
[16:25] surfer2: wasn't jesus a fisher of men?
[16:25] surfer1: I'd like to, BUT I think it'll be crowded
[16:25] surfer1: scared of dings
[16:25] surfer2: isn't the fish the most christian of surfboards?
[16:25] surfer1: thinking log tomorrow, log sunday, fish monday
[16:25] surfer2: or is it the log?
[16:25] surfer1: it is, people sign them with a jesus fish sign
[16:26] surfer1: heh jesus WAS a carpenter
[16:26] surfer2: because the cross was made of logs
[16:26] surfer1: I think that's a kookbox

2012 Overheards and Observeds

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:25:57 GMT

From my twitter and stokereport.com activity:

overheard: "clearly the Mayans didn't use UTC" Dec 20, 2012
overheard: "it's the borscht of goulashes." Dec 20, 2012
overheard: "we're gonna need a bigger whiteboard." Dec 15, 2012
overheard: "give me a sausage" Dec 12, 2012
overheard: "remember, the death star was never FULLY operational." #labzero #youprobablydontneedadeathstar Oct 26, 2012
overheard: "Sibby found a puffball." Oct 15, 2012
overheard: "Design Data structures" Oct 11, 2012
overheard: "STVCKTVN" #VCTVBER27 #hellomanatee Oct 11, 2012
overheard: "Taking bright ideas from birth to beta." #labzero Oct 04, 2012
Overheard: "innovation is really terrifying." cc @MorningEdition Oct 04, 2012
Overheard: "it's one of the joys of life... not to be confused with the jaws of life." Sep 28, 2012
overheard: "ERFECT FOR AMERICA'S CUP!!!!" Sep 14, 2012
overheard: "Schnitzel spätzle pile-up." Sep 07, 2012
overheard: "Schnitzel 3-way." Sep 07, 2012
overheard: "get the cat skins for nothing" Sep 05, 2012
Overheard: "mmm... wine" cc @donkeyandgoat Aug 27, 2012
overheard: "where do the lost packets go?" to the island of lost packets. Aug 25, 2012
overheard: "If he's Chief Architect, I'm pretty sure I'm Chief-ER Architect." Aug 25, 2012
Overheard: "it's seamless, but not painless." Aug 24, 2012
overheard: "all you need is a neutron generator stuck in your heart." Aug 22, 2012
overheard: "We have veraison!" Aug 14, 2012
overheard: "this is a song about things falling down. It's called Things Falling Down." Aug 14, 2012
overheard: "it's not healthy to eat brains" Aug 13, 2012
overheard:... | Facebook http://t.co/04hCQquZ Jul 26, 2012
overheard: "everyone wants eggs." Jul 18, 2012
overheard: "Disavow!!!" Jul 17, 2012
overheard: "Thanks, bud." Jul 03, 2012
overheard: "every email list is a cult." Jul 03, 2012
Overheard: "daddy, the color you call 'blurple' is actually called indigo" Jun 24, 2012
overheard: "Who you calling howly?" cc @SF_Windy Jun 21, 2012
overheard: "consumers AND merchants want their transaction to work." #commongoals Jun 20, 2012
overheard: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, it is a habit." Jun 19, 2012
overheard: "worst traffic I've seen in 25 years" Jun 14, 2012
overheard: "make friends, be nice" May 17, 2012
overheard: "doctor the body." May 11, 2012
Overheard: "talk nerdy to me." May 04, 2012
overheard: "moose and squirrel" #russianaccent Apr 23, 2012
overheard: "there's nothing but the iPad." Apr 20, 2012
overheard: "lose the pants, grab a beer." Apr 20, 2012
overheard: "we can't process this request." #yourareableepingrobot Apr 18, 2012
Overheard: "judge me by the content of my character, not the cut of my jib." Apr 03, 2012
overheard: "it has a convenient thumb slot" Mar 30, 2012
overheard: "That's a zero-billion dollar market." Mar 30, 2012
overheard: "minimum viably awesome" Mar 28, 2012
overheard: "Sinatra has ended his set (crowd applauds)" Mar 26, 2012
overheard:"clicchi qui." Mar 21, 2012
overheard: "I'm all copy, no paste." Mar 14, 2012
overheard: ""HOLY CRAP THAT LOOKS GOOD!" - you, just now." cc @vintageberkeley Feb 29, 2012
overheard: "dudes in tubes." Feb 29, 2012
overheard: "Uncle Nemus is bringing his washboards n spoons" Feb 23, 2012
Overheard: "Dad, don't speak french. It's hurting my ears." Feb 20, 2012
overheard: "That's a goat if I've ever seen one. That website has a goat on it." Feb 14, 2012
overheard: "I'm the goddamn glue." #kookookachoo Feb 08, 2012
overheard: "my credit card is on vibrate." Feb 06, 2012
overheard: "you moved my cheese" Feb 06, 2012
overheard: "It's like a crock-pot that makes booze." Jan 27, 2012
overheard: "I Left My Dongle in San Francisco" Jan 24, 2012
overheard: "go under the radar with G+" Jan 20, 2012
overheard: "chumby is angry" Jan 20, 2012
overheard: "I want a keg of sunshine and joy" Jan 13, 2012
overheard: "Thank you, Uncle Lev." Jan 13, 2012
Overheard: "walrus seems to be available." Jan 12, 2012
Overheard: "the yeti is ready to roar." Jan 07, 2012
observed: the glare of the sun. Seemed especially glare-y this morning. Maybe I need a vitamin pill.
observed: someone surfing atop my board. I know it's big, but c'mon.
also observed: dolphins!
observed: a (sail-less) sailboard connected to the anklebone via a piece of rope
observed: dolphins
also observed: fritters
also also observed: mirages
observed: a paddle out for Corwin Hardham: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Corwin-Hardham-wind-power-pioneer- dies-3982587.php . Also, there's this: https://baykeeper.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=18 .
observed: everybody
observed: bearded twins?
observed: food festival
also observed: some interesting things elsewhere in the 'hood.
also also observed: Not Wave Glider.
observed: fritter.
observed: one of the water-sample guys locked himself out of his car. I took him up the road to get some help at a garage. Hope everything worked out. Did you know they're volunteers?
also observed: a bumpercrop of pumpkins.
observed: @tracey's sweet new board.
observed: lefts AND rights.
observed: giant dolphins
observed: some folks waaaaaaay out on one of the points.
observed: dolphins
also observed: I ripped the velcro strap clear off my leash.
also also observed: @tracey charging into a really nice SH+ one... w00t!
observed: No sun, just fog.
observed: fog, sun, fog, sun, fog, sun, fog
observed: lots of familiar faces. A few new ones too...
observed: Mercury in retrograde
also observed: a huge friggin crab. srsly. again.
also also observed: fritter.
observed: a crab that was bigger than a fritter.
also observed: something big and splashy waaaaay outside.
also also observed: rainbow!
observed: Farallones
observed: surf mafia
observed: jellyfish
observed: Pelicans, dolphins
Observed: crowds.
also observed: a baby otter. so cute!
observed: a few CG helicopters circling LM, RW, and Mori Point. Anyone know what was up?

Strata Conference

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:38:25 GMT

Big data... Analytics... If you're a quant, you want in on this...

Song-A-Day In-Progress

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:46:53 GMT

Some truly amazing music rolling out of the 2012 Song-A-Day crew so far. The month is nearly done and people are feeling it. I'm feeling it.

Here are a few of the downloads we've noticed...

downloads / files
803 /songs/2012/20120209_jonnybecky_expiration_date.mp3
725 /songs/2012/20120208_darin_instacanon.mp3
619 /songs/2012/20120205_darin_trippin.mp3
289 /songs/2012/20120209_peter_very_funny_elizabeth.mp3
285 /songs/2012/20120206_dberkman_calling_neptune.mp3
284 /songs/2012/20120214_dberkman_safari_of_love.mp3
277 /songs/2012/20120205_dberkman_hammer_reflections.mp3
255 /songs/2012/20120206_darin_epic.mp3
253 /songs/2012/20120207_dberkman_patience.mp3
223 /songs/2012/20120219_dberkman_path_of_the_heart.mp3
204 /songs/2012/20120213_jonnybecky_you_are_me.mp3
195 /songs/2012/20120216_dberkman_the_ground.mp3
195 /songs/2012/20120203_dberkman_the_tea_party.mp3
193 /songs/2012/20120204_dberkman_half_life.mp3
187 /songs/2012/20120215_dberkman_aftermath.mp3
179 /songs/2012/20120208_jonnybecky_corvair.mp3
171 /songs/2012/20120212_dberkman_alien_love_life.mp3
170 /songs/2012/20120202_dberkman_creatures_of_the_core.mp3
165 /songs/2012/20120203_darin_left_behind.mp3
162 /songs/2012/20120210_jonnybecky_anymore1.mp3
153 /songs/2012/20120207_jonnybecky_ears_ring_.mp3
149 /songs/2012/20120209_artemis_eye_to_eye.mp3
146 /songs/2012/20120206_artloft805_hippy_gypsy.mp3
141 /songs/2012/20120201_dberkman_a_life_in_the_day.mp3
138 /songs/2012/20120215_jonnybecky_baby_bankrupt.mp3
137 /songs/2012/20120207_darin_rain_at_last.mp3
135 /songs/2012/20120203_artemis_supernova_21.mp3
130 /songs/2012/20120214_jonnybecky_the_city.mp3
130 /songs/2012/20120211_seela_.mp3
130 /songs/2012/20120211_jonnybecky_run_a_shop.mp3
128 /songs/2012/20120207_artloft805_moon_cocoon_v13.mp3
127 /songs/2012/20120215_jonnybecky_die_in_my_sleep.mp3
126 /songs/2012/20120217_bruce_moon.mp3
125 /songs/2012/20120207_greacen_want_to_move_on.mp3
125 /songs/2012/20120207_derek_elvis_sandwich1.mp3
125 /songs/2012/20120201_darin_inauspicious.mp3
124 /songs/2012/20120216_jonnybecky_songaday.mp3
124 /songs/2012/20120206_jonnybecky_people_are_blind1.mp3
124 /songs/2012/20120201_derek_welcome_to_songaday_2012.mp3
123 /songs/2012/20120205_artemis_fisherheart.mp3
122 /songs/2012/20120202_darin_back_to_sleep.mp3
121 /songs/2012/20120210_jonnybecky_the_bill.mp3
121 /songs/2012/20120204_artemis_just_a_song.mp3
120 /songs/2012/20120208_derek_thanks_walt.mp3
117 /songs/2012/20120212_artemis_little_explosions.mp3
117 /songs/2012/20120204_jonnybecky_weatherman1.mp3
117 /songs/2012/20120203_derek_here_i_am.mp3
114 /songs/2012/20120206_dearl_those_wacky_nords.mp3
113 /songs/2012/20120201_jonnybecky_january_underwear.mp3
111 /songs/2012/20120204_greacen_whats_the_rush.mp3
109 /songs/2012/20120220_dearl_creatures_of_the_core_pt_2.mp3
109 /songs/2012/20120212_jonnybecky_on_call.mp3
109 /songs/2012/20120202_seela_the_dr.mp3
109 /songs/2012/20120202_dearl_deaf_by_drop.mp3
107 /songs/2012/20120211_peter_running_up_a_pane_of_glass.mp3
106 /songs/2012/20120202_jonnybecky_chase_me.mp3
102 /songs/2012/20120211_greacen_world_built_for_two.mp3
101 /songs/2012/20120219_artloft805_57_blues_with_harry_o.mp3

There are more of course. This is just the list of files in the triple-digits. Go listen!

And Boom!

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:10:29 GMT

Almost sounds like he wants to be John Madden.

Song-A-Day what a difference 25 days make

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:16:36 GMT

We're 25 days into 2010 Song-A-Day and hoo-boy, folks are feeling the immensity of the experience. It's no small feat creating, recording a song a day for a month as you can see from Jonathan Aronson's transformation:

Compared with previous years, the 2010 run has the most songs, the most variety, possibly the most talent and verve too. We've also been able to get the songs onto iTunes which has helped drive up the downloads: we'll have 24k downloads within 25 days and will likely finish the month with more than 30k downloads.

We're in the home-stretch. Keep on keepin' on!

Rubicon Project Ad Network Sloughs-off Small Publishers

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:24:05 GMT

Looks like my run with the Rubicon Project is about to end. They are starting to charge publishers a (laughable) $2000/month fee for using their network. I'd love to make more than $2k/mo over on NetScrap.com, but even with 100k impressions a month it's nowhere near that volume. This likely spells the end of my relationship with Rubicon.

Rubicon's service had a great promise: automatic optimization for the ad campaigns that run on your site. They claimed that they'd be able to run the highest-value ads through this optimization. Their system seemed to perform well for a few months, but like all networks the effective CPM eventually started to peter-out.

My guess is that Rubicon's continual focus on premium (read: large-volume) publishers is really driving this. Do they need to aim high-value ads toward their premium properties? Are the operational costs really catching up with their network? The ads on NetScrap.com make a little dough to cover part of the hosting costs. The returns haven't been that great though, maybe I'll just kill them all.

Rubicon Folks-
I am disappointed to read about these changes in your terms. Your decision to scrape small publishers off of your network by charging fees seems to be directly opposed to your 'power to the publisher' tagline. I hope the premium publishers you pursue will accept and understand this apparent disconnect between your claims and your actions.
Sincerely,
CG

Here's the notification from the Rubicon team:

Dear Customer,
It's been a growth-filled year at the Rubicon Project. We've expanded internationally to several continents, continued enhancing our technology and support offerings and welcomed hundreds of new customers to our developing global family.
Over a year ago, we narrowed our focus to concentrate on the premium publisher segment of the market -- tailoring our products, services and level of support to meet their needs. At that time we ceased taking on new sites that didn't meet minimum impression and managed revenue thresholds, but allowed existing small to mid-sized publisher customers to remain using the platform and services.
Despite great strides in developing and applying patent-pending technologies to the management of display inventory, due to the nature of the industry we operate in, there are a number of key elements that still require considerable amount of staff and resources. Primary among those are the development of new ad network relationships, applying resources to collect and consolidate stats from disparate ad networks, billing, responding to and resolving publisher inquires and managing a high level of overall ad quality. As we always strive to give the best to everyone we work with, we've continued to service small and mid-sized publishers, some running 25,000-100,000 impressions a month just as we do premium publishers running 50 million a month. The costs have really begun to add up and we've come to the realization that this simply isn't scalable given our existing basic fee structure.
Beginning January 1st, in order for publishers to continue to be able to access our technology platform and associated support services, we are instituting a requirement for a monthly minimum fee of $2,000, below which a publisher will have to make up the difference. By means of example, if your fee on managed revenue ends up being only $500 a month, you will be responsible for the additional $1,500 to make up for the costs associated with managing and supporting our, and your, business. We recognize these minimums are not going to work for all publishers. If you choose to pass on the new monthly minimum and close your account, we hope you will continue to keep us in mind as your traffic grows and it makes more economical sense for you.
One thing to consider when making your decision on how you would like to proceed, is how your traffic is currently allocated and whether you are serving all your Ad Networks through the Rubicon platform vs. outside of it. This additional traffic might help you meet the minimum monthly fee, while at the same time providing additional lift for your overall inventory.
If you would like to continue to access the Rubicon Project's technology and services, please let us know no later than December 18th by responding to globalsupport@rubiconproject.com Best Regards, the Rubicon Project

This email was sent to: *@netscrap.com*
This email was sent by: the Rubicon Project 1925 S Bundy Drive Los Angeles, CA 90025 USA

Shopping for Used Surfboards

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:36:50 GMT

I put some notes together for a friend who is starting to look at surfboards on Craigslist. He's a beginner looking for something to ride while learning.

Maybe these tips will help you too? Here's what I like to do when I look at a used surfboard.

It's hard to tell how big a board is in a picture. Make sure you get dimensions and those dimensions fit your body & style of surfing.
Look at the fins, leash plug, and rails. Look for cracks that might be open.
If you find a crack or a repaired ding, squeeze it a bit to see if there are soft spots nearby (to tell if it's waterlogged).
If the board is a single-fin or a 2+1, look at the part of the big fin that would touch the ground. If the ground-facing tip is chewed up, one of the last owners may have been a little careless with where they put the board down.
If the board is a 2+1, make sure those little sidebite fins are solid. If they're removable (usually with a hex wrench), see if the bolts are rusty. If they're glassed-on, just do the crack check.
Make sure that the water-side of the board is smooth. This is the side you'll be sliding on. Dings, dents, bumps won't help you too much.
Pick it up to see if it's reasonably balanced (some patches can be really heavy and throw off the board balance).
Look from the tail toward the nose (and vice-versa). Sometimes you'll see a twist in a board. If you see something, ask about it.
See if there's a serial number on the board (handy for tracking history).
Of course, ask where the seller got it. Get the whole story of the board. This will come in handy at some point.
Ask the seller where he/she surfed it. What worked, what didn't? Why are they unloading it? What will they be surfing next?
Look for known shapers and brands. Bonus points are always awarded for investing in local shapers. These will all help with resale.

Sometimes a board will have some problems and it's just worth picking it up anyway. Sometimes the board looks great, but it's just a dud once it gets into the water. If you get stuck with a dud, you'll learn something.

What do you like to do when shopping for new gear?

HELL -- Your Soundtrack For Halloween

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:31:00 GMT

A few years back, the Greacens hosted a halloween party and decided to put some spooky sounds together to complete the mood. A friend and I ad-libbed a few lines and performed some spookiness with random junk in my studio: sticks, a violin, and a few microphones.

The result: four minutes and six seconds of HELL.

greacen · HELL

Go ahead and download 20091015_hell_001.mp3 (~5mb) for your own nefarious purposes.

Blast it on the home hi-fi during the trick-or-treat hours and see how many kit-kats you have leftover. Let me know how you use HELL.

Enjoy! See you in hell.

Story of a Surfboard: SF Green Ten-Footer

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:57:10 GMT

Like all my boards, this one came to me via Craigslist. Unlike the rest, this green 10-footer is a magic board. The 'magic board' is a special match-up between the traits of a surfboard and the style/strength of its surfer. Swaylocks is loaded with posts about magic boards.

I found the ad on CL while I was travelling. A quick email and call to a friend arranged a pickup. J & J completed the transaction for me. They met the seller at his house in SF who told them that he had used the board for tandem surfing. He was leaving SF and didn't want to bring the board along. J & J squeezed it into their hatchback (somehow) and brought it over when I got back to town.

The brand is SF, a small board-making operation and surfshop in San Francisco. It's a sweet-looking board: Nice green tint, 10' x 23" x3.5", triple-stringer, big fin in the finbox. Big, round rails and lots of volume. Kinda heavy though: lots of glass. When it gets into a wave, it really screams down the line. I've taken it to Linda Mar on small days, Ocean Beach on big days: the board works amazingly well in all conditions. Magic.

A few years back, I experienced a mishap. I paddled out at Linda Mar for a rare midweek after-work session. The waves had some energy and the paddle out took timing and paddle-energy. One incoming wave brought a surprising payload toward me: some hairy dude mis-timed his duck dive and ended up catching the wave backwards. The dude's fin jammed into and cut through the nose of my board. Sure, better the board than my shoulder or neck -- still I had a hole about 'that big' in my heart. Would this kill the magic?

I took the board up to the SF surf shop for repairs. Let John Schultze the board's maker fix it and it'll be good as new. John did a great job with it. When I picked up the board, he remembered making it. We talked about it a bit:

John: "Have you tried it in Bolinas? I made it for that wave."
Me: "Why yes, I have. In fact this board seems to really sing on the waves at Bolinas. It's a perfect match."
Me: "Can you make me an EXACT replica? 3-stringers, single-fin, resin tint? that and the magic. Don't leave out the magic. Oh yeah -- and a tail-block."
John: "Nope. Can't work with giant blanks like that anymore."
Me: gasp! "Then I better take care of this thing."

Today, the board is mostly watertight. Lots of little dings and spider-cracks put this thing at risk for getting waterlogged and eventually destroying it (not to mention hairy dudes who can't duckdive). Each year around my birthday I wax this thing up and drag it up to Bolinas for some magic.

I meant to post a rocker-shot too, I'll do this later.

The deck has the dimensions and says 'For Scott at Ocean Beach'. Who is Scott? Why did he sell the board? What's he surfing now?

Story of a Surfboard: 1963 Bing

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:59:05 GMT

I found an ad for this one on Craigslist a few years ago. At that time I had been watching a bunch of old videos on YouTube and drooling over pics of early Bings on classicbingsurfboards.com was really curious about how these old boards felt on a wave. When I saw the ad for an old 9'6" bing, I jumped on it.

The guy who sold it to me said that he had done some repair work to the nose. He added the paint to the deck (probably to cover up some of the work on the nose), but mentioned that that was common for boards from this era. He offered the following advice about the leash-hole in the tail:

"Someone drilled that leash hole. Not me. I don't use a leash -- with two exceptions. 1. when there are rocks that will break your board. 2. when you know there's a shark in the water."

Bing Copeland, added some info about the board's history:

"Your board #2699 was ordered by a local Hermosa surfer named Steve Lupo on August 3, 1963. I'll send you a birth certificate for your board to your email address.
Bing"

Sure, enough, Bing shared a Birth Certificate (pdf) from his log book when the board was born on 8/3/1963. Super cool!

This thing has taken a beating. 2" balsa stringer, neat red lamination job, big d-fin. What's not to love about it? In the water it really screams (once it gets going). It's kind of like riding a torpedo. I rode this board exclusively in all conditions for a little over a year. It really helped my surfing: strength, balance. Maybe even style.

Lots of gaps in the story. Who was Steve Lupo? How did this thing end up in Santa Cruz? I hope to add a few new stories before the stringer rots through.

Oh yeah: Skip Hoard snapped my pic at Linda Mar one day. I ran into this pic on the wall of a cafe after a morning session.

Dings With Stories

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:02:13 GMT

I found some wisdom on the bing forum while collecting some info on my surf board. Tom points out that dents and dings are part of each board's story while steering someone away from a restoration project:

"How much more would it be worth restored? Well, some people might pay more if you just left it as is, in its original condition. Every ding is part of its story, it's history. I once asked Dr. Ding to fix the only ding in one of my vintage Bings and he said I should leave it cuz it might be where David Nuuhiwa dropped his can of beer. Cool! You never know."

The full post is over on the big forum site.

It's true, you never know unless you can ask at least! Some are like scars from childhood adventures: a mark on the dining room table where my dad put a hot sparkler when he was a kid. Those buckle-rash scratches on that guitar I bought used: wonder what happened there? What stories do you have?

In the next few weeks, I'll put a few posts together about my surfboards and the stories behind each one.

Absurd Film/Foodie Moment

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:05:05 GMT

Just watched Diamonds Are Forever for the first time in a while. I forgot just how kooky and absurd this movie ended-up. It's especially bizarre given the fact that the previous film (On her Majesty's Secret Service) James got married (zoiks!) and then his new bride was killed in an alpine drive-by shooting!

How do you follow that drama? Well with the absurd duo: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd of course. Give Rosencrantz and Guildenstern a bottle Château Mouton Rothschild, a timebomb in an ice cream sandwich, a flaming kabob jab that goes horribly wrong.

SEE?

Seems like there are other foodie chips melting through the Bond cookie.

Allspaw talks at Velocity Conf.

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:25:09 GMT

John Allspaw put together some great slides about his experiences in an organization where Ops and Engineering work well together. John describes a dream environment -- flashes of which I experienced during peak periods of fun at Kodak and Meez, but never became as institutionalized as it seems to be at Flickr.

Here are the slides from his talk: "10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr" (video of the whole talk is coming soon):

More Velocity Conf action on Twitter. Some good stuff going on there! Worth checking out John Adams' talk about scaling Twitter too.

More vids and docs on the O'Reilly site.

Menu and Wines from Dinner at Cyrus

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:36:56 GMT

Amy and I headed north to Healdsburg for an amazing day topped-off with an amazing dinner at Cyrus, one of the best restaurants in the bay area (possibly the country).

I'm reverse-blogging this so please bear with the memories. I recall the service to be top-notch. I witnessed a table of 6 (maybe 8?) served silently, simultaneously, with such grace and precision. Our service was impeccable: every question about preparation or ingredients was met with expert, but friendly answers. I witnessed negotiations between an obviously French patron and a server over the cheese course. The server knew everything about every cheese: climate, preparation, treatments... the patron (and I) was impressed.

Our tasting menu worked like this:

Canapés
California Select Caviar with Accompaniments.
Amuse Bouche
Thai Marinated Lobster with Avocado, Mango, and Hearts of Palm.
Wine: Kerner, Abbazia di Novacella, Alto Adige, Italy 2007
Me: Foie Gras "Torchon" with Tamarind and Dates.
Wine: Riesling Kabinett, Dr. Crusius "Traiser Rotenfels" Nahe, Germany 2007
Amy had the Gnocchi with Morels and Snap Peas
Seared Scallop with Chorizo and Clams.
Wine: Manzanilla Pasada Sherry, Hidalgo "Pastrana" Jerez, Spain.
Duck Breast with Bok Choy and Asparagus, Sesame- Shao Xing Sauce.
Wine: Pinot Noir, Skewis "Lingenfelder" Russian River Valley 2005.
Amy: Wagyu Beef with Burdock and Shiso, Oxtail Umeshu Consommé.
Me: Lamb roulade with Mélange of Spring Vegetables.
Wine: "Pian del Ciampolo", Montevertine, Tuscany, Italy, 2005
Artisanal and Farmhouse Cheeses presented Tableside.
Wine: Savigny-les-Beaune, Camus-Bruchon "Vielles Vignes", Burgundy, France 2006
Verjus Sorbet, Blood Orange Riesling Soup with Crystalized Picholine Olives.
Wine: Brachetto D'Acqui, Marenco, Piedmont, Italy 2006
Tiramisu, Cappuccino "Spoon", Caramelized Fennel and Espresso Gelato
Wine: Bual Madeira, Henriques & Henriques "15 Year Old", Portugal
Amy: Carmelized Walnut Carrot Cake with Yuzu -- Carrot Sorbet
Mignardises

Hits: Cocktails were really good: the bar uses seasonal ingredients to create new drinks. The Amuse Bouche was a play on all senses of taste. The Scallop was amazing: the scallop/chorizo/manzanilla pairing was so perfect. The Foie Gras "Torchon" was a play on indian flavors: I think they served it with papadam and maybe even a puri -- lots of fun.

Misses: Very little. The espresso in the desert was too bitter. The Blood Orange Riesling Soup was a little lame. Nothing much else to complain about.

If we win the lottery we'll get back there sometime soon. Untill then, the memories will keep us rolling along.

Twitter-Based Blog Syndication Flowchart

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:15:25 GMT

Following on the microsyndication theme I mentioned earlier, I decided to map out the events that take place when I put a new post onto this blog.

Here are the basics:

I publish an article on greacen.com. The article appears on the site as well as a (private) url of an RSS feed which...
is polled regularly by feedburner.com which republishes the feed and gives me some basic analytics for how the feed is used and...
is polled by twitterfeed.com. It reads the feed and gets twitter-friendly shorturls for each feed item and updates...
twitter.com with each new article which...
updates my status on facebook.com.

The nice part about this setup is that it's all automatic: the only action I take is posting my idea onto my site. The feeds take it the rest of the way.

Analytics are pretty crude at this point. Any clicks on the feedburner-based feed should offer some basic analytics. If I really wanted details, I think I'd need to generate a separate feed for each microsyndication destination if I wanted to measure twitter clickthroughs vs. facebook clickthroughs (though google analytics should offer a hint about the source of clicks to greacen.com)

Here's the Graphviz drawing of the flow I described above. digraph BlogPost { size="5,6"; ratio = fill; node [style="rounded,filled,bold" shape="box" fillcolor="skyblue"]; /* Set up specific shapes */ "RSS Aggregators" [style="rounded" shape="box3d"]; "URL Shortener" [style="" shape="invisible" label="URL Shortener"]; "Analytics" [style="" shape="invisible"]; "greacen.com" [label="greacen.com Publish blog article"]; "feedburner.com" [label="feedburner.com Analytics and scaling"]; /* Box in those 3rd party things */ subgraph cluster_c1 {"Analytics"; "URL Shortener"; label="Other Parties"; style= "dashed";} /* Show and label relationships */ "greacen.com" -> "feedburner.com" [label="GET RSS" dir="back"]; "feedburner.com" -> "twitterfeed.com" [label="GET RSS" dir="back"]; "feedburner.com" -> "Analytics" []; "twitterfeed.com" -> "URL Shortener" [label="GET URL" ]; "URL Shortener" -> "twitterfeed.com" []; "twitterfeed.com" -> "twitter.com" [label="POST twitter api"]; "twitter.com" -> "facebook.com" [label="facebook/twitter bridge"]; "feedburner.com" -> "RSS Aggregators" [label="rss feed" color="darkorange"] ; "twitter.com" -> "RSS Aggregators" [label="rss feed" color="darkorange"] ; "facebook.com" -> "RSS Aggregators" [label="rss feed" color="darkorange"] ; }

Here's what those instructions become with a click:

This is different from my surf report post. The surf report is the content, whereas with a blog post, my site holds the real content. The RSS feeds publish a pointer to the original content.

Make sense?

Twitter-Based Surf Report Flowchart

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:13:44 GMT

I've been mucking around with Twitter and Facebook lately. There are a few folks who have been using these services to post info about how the surf is. I don't live close to the beach (yet), so I like to see what's happening before I jump into the car and make the trip.

I sent a message from my phone this morning. Even though the surf was lame. The message was published all over the place (microsyndication). Here's how it worked:

I emailed a photo to twitpic.com which...
updates my status on Twitter which...
the @StokeReport user follows. If my tweet contains "SMLM", stokereport will publish my tweet on stokereport.com (and even pull the image off twitpic it seems, nice!).
also, http://greacen.com has that little widgety thing over there on the left. Your browser will pull the image from twitpic and put it onto this page.
also, Twitter will pass my status update on to Facebook.com

Guess what? Most of these nodes along the way have their own RSS feeds for others (services or people) to slurp & read.

Thinking about this plinko-esque publishing flow is a little dizzying. I've been working on web site flows for a few weeks now. It's often helpful to map out a flow to see what's really going on. Graphviz is an open source tool for producing network diagrams and flow charts that I've been using for mapping high-level flows. Here's what a map looks like for the publishing flow I described earlier:

digraph TwitterSurf { size="6,6"; ratio = fill; node [style="rounded,filled,bold" shape="box" fillcolor="skyblue"]; /* Set up specific shapes */ Phone [style="rounded,filled" shape="oval" fillcolor="grey"]; "RSS Aggregators" [style="rounded" shape="box3d"]; /* relationships */ Phone -> "twitpic.com" [label="Email with attachment"]; "twitpic.com" -> "twitter.com" [label="twitter api"]; "twitter.com" -> "facebook.com" [label="facebook/twitter bridge"]; "twitter.com" -> "stokereport.com" [label="if post contains 'SMLM'" style="dotted"] ; "twitpic.com" -> "greacen.com" [label="widget/embed" color="red"] ; "twitter.com" -> "RSS Aggregators" [label="rss feed" color="darkorange"] ; "facebook.com" -> "RSS Aggregators" [label="rss feed" color="darkorange"] ; "stokereport.com" -> "RSS Aggregators" [label="rss feed" color="darkorange"] ; }

If you ignore the []s, it looks like a terse version of our list up above. Here's the flowchart those instructions produce:

Kinda neat, huh? I find the way this goes from text to sitemap really intriguing. This -> that; that -> next; other -> next; makes sense to me. Graphviz does a great job of putting this all together in an easy-to-digest graphic.

There are a few rails front ends to graphviz (demo) that might make a web tool for this possible. I could see this becoming a handy planning tool for our organization.

Questions:

Anyone ever use a tool like this for making sitemaps or high-level flows? What tools work well for modeling these interactions?
What other publishing tools are you using to propel your tweets? (where's my linkedin hook?)
Has anyone run into ownership issues with this plink-esque publishing?
Does this have a name? Let's call it microsyndication.
What's the best way to get metrics for this kind of publishing? Is there a way to measure in this distributed/microsyndicated system? How many people read my surf report?

Thanks for reading.

Top 10 things to do now that Song-A-Day is done:

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:20:40 GMT

Top 10 things to do now that Song-A- Day is done:

Give my ears a rest. between the late-nite sessions in my garage and my morning listening, I clocked many hours in headphones. I'll be happy to give that a rest.
Give my arms a rest. Between the day-job in front of a computer and the drumming, bassing (needs strong hands and fingers!), and guitar shredding (usually 3 tracks per song), I'm starting to feel it in my wrists and forearms.
Surf. The rest of the body needs some exercise too. Now if only the weather would cooperate.
Give my liver a rest. I wouldn't necessarily say that I've been drinking too much wine for the past month. But getting out of a nightly routine that involves a glass of whine can only help. Right?
Family-time: who are these people I love with anyway? Time to get to know them again. No, I don't mean my family on http://www.quakelive.com.
House-time: I was literally shoveling caca out of my garage last weekend. Time to get the place in order.
Cook. I enjoy working in the kitchen. As we get closer to summer, it's time to get this rolling again.
Plan. What did we learn from Song-A-Day that would make Song-A-Week more successful? How are we even defining success at this point? Song-A-Day is as fun for me as a listener as a player. If people are interested in continuing this, I think we can turn it into something really cool.
Sleep. Need a short break from the late nights.
Get outta Dodge. March is a perfect time for a quick weekend getaway: Tahoe, Healdsburg, Mendo, Santa Barbara. Here we go.

Song-A-Day 2009: DONE

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:41:40 GMT

We did it. Congrats to everyone who put their songs onto the site. Thanks for all your hard work; I had a great time listening to all of your songs.

I got about 28 songs up there, a few are even keepers. Of my stuff, I feel good about these:

2/03: Istanbul
2/06: Put Down That Bag Of Rocks
2/17: Up In The Attic
2/19: Special Sauce
2/25: Put A Burrito In Your Mouth

This URL will take you to all my songs.

This player has everything that was uploaded. Steal the embed code if you want this on your site.

Here are some of the most listened-to songs from the month: 247 0203_bruce_2nd_time.mp3 196 0204_bruce_3rdwave.mp3 192 0201_derek_a_song_a_day.mp3 190 0205_bruce_shouldabeenalespaul_.mp3 176 0201_greacen_oh_hell_oh.mp3 173 0203_greacen_istanbul.mp3 163 0202_derek_jury_duty.mp3 163 0202_bruce_timesup.mp3 160 0204_greacen_trouble_sleeping.mp3 159 0215_bruce_base.mp3 158 0203_derek_where_is_walt.mp3 158 0201_peter_all_that_i_can_feel.mp3 157 0206_bruce_thank_you.mp3 152 0204_bruce_whatthe.mp3 149 0202_greacen_2wo.mp3 147 0204_derek_disneyland.mp3 146 0203_ryan_in_to_the_night.mp3 146 0201_seth_the_best_place_in_the_world.mp3 145 0131_seth_the_day_before_song.mp3 143 0209_greacen_master_of_the_mall.mp3 142 0203_peter_twothreeohnine.mp3 140 0213_derek_hawaii.mp3 140 0205_greacen_bring_it_back.mp3 139 0216_greacen_watching_all_the_good_ones_go.mp3 139 0202_peter_all_of_them.mp3 136 0212_bruce_alone.mp3 132 0208_greacen_wafflepalooza.mp3 129 0212_derek_taxonomy.mp3

Pretty evenly distributed. I remember Bruce's stuff got a lot of attention last year too, but it seems like the earlier songs are still getting plenty of play.

We're almost to 13000 song streams at this point and if the traffic followed last year's pattern, people will still be listening for a few more days.

Starting to think about Song-A-Week for the rest of the year. Email me if you want in on this.

Song-A-Day Notes From The Studio

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:01:00 GMT

Seth and Derek (among others) asked for some details on how I recorded a few songs this year. I've been pretty happy with the guitar sounds overall. The big improvement from last year seems to be the mic. I'll tell you everything about what I do. Maybe it'll help you find that killer something.

This is my recipe for rock guitars:

Ingredients:

Guitar: Fender Lead II (1980) with a really kooky humbucker pickup (I think it's a Bill Lawrence, but possibly a dimebucker?) in the bridge position. Someone really took a lot of time modding this guitar before I bought it. This pickup is special though, haven't found many that sound like it.
Amp: ZVex Nano Amp. A .5 (!) watt tube head which should get most of the credit for the sound. It's really an amazing piece of gear that produces controlled overdriven mayhem at a reasonable volume. Zack, my wife, children, and neighbors thank you.
Cabinet: Closed-back Mesa 4x12 (with celestions, I think) (yes, the cab for the dual rectifier)
Mic: Pacific Pro Audio LD2ube Large Capsule Condenser (multipattern)
A->D: Aardvark Q10 a really handy piece of gear. I'm using its built-in preamps. Aardvark went out of business a few years back unfortunately. This thing is still going strong for me.
Multitracking: I have an old version of Nuendo 1.53 (the latest is 4) as my main multi-tracking application.
Several effects: Waves RCL is the main compressor I'll use. I set up some really simple, standard reverb as a sendd effect too.
1 Dirty Secret Ingredient: That Evil Multiband thing that comes with Nuendo. This may be the thing that takes a decent sound from the guitar/amp/speaker and makes it really sing on a recording (perverting it and possibly ruining it at the same time).

For the basic "loud" sound here's what I'll do:

The Performance

Set the guitar to use the humbucker pickup only. Volume and tone wide open (11). Believe it or not, someone fitted my guitar with an XLR output. I don't use it, just the regular 1/4" jack.

Set the ZVEX amp to brighness: middle, thickness: normal. Volume knob is about 3/4s+. There's only 1 knob on this amp I get it into the distortion space, but not all the way up. The amp is relatively quiet, the sound is a little mid-rangey, but it sounds good in the room.

Mic the guitars pretty close. About 4-6 inches away from the cabinet's grill. I'm using a large cap condenser for this. I've been leaving the mic in the omni position lately. The sound is a little more open. That proximity effect wasn't doing anything to help the sound IMO.

At this volume, I trim the Aardvark's preamp to "6.5" (not sure if this is a db level or something specific to the Q10) so there's a strong signal and still a fair amount of headroom.

Play with heart and desire -- and fat fingers. I'm not a great guitarrist, but I think pick technique plays a small part here. I'm working toward my ideal guitar sound which is distorted, but clear, with lots of bright overtones. Most of my favorite punk albums had some combination of this. I've learned to get some of those overtones by sticking my finger onto the vibrating strings as I pick. Do you really want to know about this? Just ask and I'll ramble on and on about it...

I'll usually double the main part of the song, then add one more color track, often with a different distortion and pickup setting.

The Mix

2 main (heavy) guitars panned hard right/left. Usually with no EQ.

1 guitar up the middle, usually cleaner (distortion-wise). Might use a little EQ to fill a gap in the wall of sound. Posssibly with a bit more of the send- verb too.

Group all the guitars. Use light compression with the RCL on the group. Might shelf the bass a little (I'm monitoring with NS-10s and I've found that if I can hear the bass at all there will likely be a problem on other systems.). I'll usually add a touch of room verb as a send effect.

Here are the compressor specifics:

RCL's 'electro' setting
attack: 20.0
release: 20.0
threshold -11.9
ratio: 2.57
gain: 4.0

The overall mix is important too of course. The drum sounds are reasonably loud, but offer some space. The bass has a few EQ notches (where? I'll check) to carve out space. I haven't been too happy about the vocal sounds on the full-band songs this year, so no help in this dept.

Here's the Dirty Little Secret: Bus compression is the evil Multiband thing. Yeah, there it is. It's out. What are the settings here? Hard to tell what all these mean. I'm basically choosing the "FM" preset and trying to dial it back just a bit.

Actually, now that I look closely to a randomly picked mix, it looks like I'm just using the default 'FM Radio' setting for 'Trouble Sleeping'.

That's about it. Here's a guitar-only mix for Trouble Sleeping: http://gr eacen.com/media/greacenzone/20090222_guitar_mix.mp3

You can hear slight variations on this on a bunch of this year's songs:

Up In The Attic
Drive North
Even in Winter (I used the less-distorted guitars in the panned position on this one, reversed the model)
Master of the Mall
Wafflepalooza
Put Down That Bag Of Rocks
Bring it Back
Trouble Sleeping
Istanbul
2wo

Plus a few more that will likely come before we cross the finish line.

Go Listen!

Song-A-Day Week 2: Still truckin'

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:10:45 GMT

We're trucking along with Song-A-Day. This is the point in the month where the daily contributors cross the 'album-length' line. For me, an album doesn't really need more than 10-14-ish songs. So if the well wasn't so damn dry I'd say that the rest of the month is gravy.

For me, it's time to turn to other instruments, other family members, more wine, plagarism... you get the idea.

I have a few comments in no particular order.

Seth

I'll tune into http://www.xanga.com/sethrocker a bit more. Somehow this fell out of my RSS reader.
Totally understand the schedule crunch. Toss in whatever half-baked ideas you want to share. This follows the 'every idea is a good idea' principle.
badaba works! It's a mostly-baked idea. More of these please.
adding the drum + background vox for Derek's song was a great idea. I think we've all heard another part that would fit in with the stuff we've heard from each other.

Bruce

You are so prolific, it's always fun to hear your stuff.
I like the acoustic versions you're putting up there. Both versions of 'Thank You' are nice. The acoustic version is a treat. Did you get a microphone?
"Not Much" I like much.
"Acou" I like a bunch too.
I like instrumentals. Would be fun to add vox or more to one of your tracks (like Seth added to Dereks).
There are a few other instrumentalists this year. Can you out-Tom Tom? or out-Ryan Ryan?

Derek

http://bringbackcardwalker.bl ogspot.com/ has fallen out of my RSS reader too. I'll tune in there.
I'm glad to hear that you've roped the family into songs.
I disagree with your thesis presented in 'Monkeys and Clowns'. Songs that mention Monkeys can be turned cool by the mere mention of robots.
"Jury Selection" really works for me. Quietly angry. Totally pissed in fact. Dangerous. That's how you come across.
I find "Second Life" pretty damn cool.
"Me and the Pope" is a triumph. I'll be watching Meet the Press for the story.
All your recordings sound very natural and high-fi. They work well on every speaker I've used to torture my family.

Peter

I haven't read http://midgaardsormen.blogspot.com / much lately (also fell out fo my RSS reader), but I'll add it.
Short and sweet works for me.
"twothreeohnine" is a highlight for me for some reason. I love the mood. I think it's also because of the sound... I can hear the room.
I like the confessional-style of the recent lyrics.
I need more please. Get back to work.

Ryan

I'm so psyched that you're doing this.
You are totally jamtastic
There's a moment in the beginning of Twilight that reminds me of a song by Rodan, but you take it in a totally different direction.
There are a few other instrumentalists this year. Can you out-Tom Tom? or out-Bruce Bruce?

Tom

Great to have your music up here this year. Vocal and guitar chops are coming through loud and clear.
Is Bigsby a person or a vibrato? (or a cat?) I like this one.
Is "Annalime" using an open tuning? Neat.
Are you using an amp modeler or a microphone. I like the dirty guitar sounds.
There are a few other instrumentalists this year. Can you out-Bruce Bruce? or out-Ryan Ryan?

If you know anyone else interested in playing along for the rest of the month, invite them over.

Finally, I made a few changes to the RSS feeds on the site. There are actually 4 feeds worth knowing about. Here's the skinny:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/songa day is a daily wrapup of songs. This feed has 1 item each day that mentions the songs/notes that have been uploaded.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ songadaymedia is a MRSS feed. Each song that is uploaded will get a mention in this feed.
http://feeds2.feedburner.c om/songadayitunes is suitable for tossing into itunes or another podcast reader that will slurp up itunes-specific feeds.
http://js- kit.com/rss/songaday.netscrap.com/songs/ is a feed of all the comments on the site.

What sort of nefarious things can one do with feeds (nefeedarious?) like this? Well, that MRSS feed will now work with more flashy mp3 players that take RSS feeds as playlists. Like this:

Song-A-Day Week 1: Awesome

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:29:51 GMT

There are songs. A bunch of them, in fact! And good ones! I'm loving it. You are all very brave and generous for being part of this. Also: It's not too late to get going. If you know anyone else interested, email me and I'll get them set up.

A few things for folks using the website:

I'll get the 'edit song' thing together soon. Just holler if you made a typo or mistake and I'll fixy.
There are two RSS feeds:
- the daily summary which links to a given day's songs: links to a url that looks like this: http://songaday.netscrap.com/songs/? scrap_date=02%2F03%2F2009
- The media feed is handy to use if you have an mp3 player that takes an rss feed.
Has anyone tried the itunes podcast feed/link yet?
If you want to show off your own songs, you can link to a list of your own tunes: http://songaday.netscrap.com/songs/? scrap_owner=greacen just click your name in the (poorly placed) list on the right part of the screen.
Don't hesitate to backdate if you want! Or if you prefer, upload a song tonight and date it for next week. There are no rules around this.
The "notes/lyrics" go into the daily summary feed.
Yes, the list of "Tags" goes into the RSS feed.
In the 'All About You' section... if you set an image url for yourself, it'll soon start to appear in the itunes and podcast feeds.
In your Bio, use html if you want to spiff-up your 411.

Also, the facebook page was a great idea (thanks Seth!). There's an audience slowly but steadily growing there. People listening out there. I've been able to measure ~1700 streams during the first week. Not too shabby! Here's the breakdown:

156 20090203_bruce_2nd_time.mp3 106 20090201_derek_a_song_a_day.mp3 100 20090204_bruce_3rdwave.mp3 95 20090205_bruce_shouldabeenalespaul_.mp3 85 20090201_greacen_oh_hell_oh.mp3 81 20090202_derek_jury_duty.mp3 80 20090201_peter_all_that_i_can_feel.mp3 77 20090202_bruce_timesup.mp3 73 20090131_seth_the_day_before_song.mp3 72 20090203_derek_where_is_walt.mp3 72 20090203_greacen_istanbul.mp3 71 20090203_ryan_in_to_the_night.mp3 70 20090201_seth_the_best_place_in_the_world.mp3 65 20090202_greacen_2wo.mp3 65 20090203_peter_twothreeohnine.mp3 62 20090204_bruce_whatthe.mp3 60 20090202_peter_all_of_them.mp3 60 20090204_greacen_trouble_sleeping.mp3 53 20090203_ryan_sleepy_slap.mp3 51 20090203_ryan_bonsai.mp3 51 20090204_derek_disneyland.mp3 43 20090206_bruce_thank_you.mp3 41 ryan_sick_jam_as_in_seriously_not_feeling_well_today_jam.mp3 35 20090205_greacen_bring_it_back.mp3 27 20090205_derek_jury_selection.mp3 16 20090205_bruce_shouldabeenalespaul.mp3 7 20090206_greacen_put_down_that_bag_of_rocks.mp3 6 20090201_greacen_testing.mp3

Thanks for reading. I need to go mix.

29 Again: Song-A-Day

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:00:56 GMT

We did pretty well last year. I want to do it again this year. I want you to participate. Here's a repost from the way things started. Check in with the blog to read more about what happened last year.

Back in the old days, when I was motivated, somewhat creative, and had gobs of freetime I decided I'd challenge myself by writing and recording a song every day for a month. I chose February, the shortest month because I'm not an overachiever. I want to try it again this year.
Clicking around the net, it turns out that my '29 songs in February' idea isn't too original. The RPM challenge is slightly different in that it's more about delivering a full album at the end of the month.
Sure I did this back in 1996 (or was it '95?). The one thing that pleases me is learning that there's something universally musicianly about choosing the shortest month in the year for this kind of effort.
Here's the goal:

write and record 1 (or more) song(s) every day for a month.
upload our work in some place
share & listen with each other at the end
put together a best-of for others

Fine print:

fragments, grooves, hooks, choruses... it's all good. Just record it.
starting early, ending late.... it's all good. Let your guilt be your guide.
taking 2 days to finish recording a song... great. Just end up with 29 at the end of the month.
ending up with 28 songs at the end of the month... great. Just end up with as many as you can. They don't necessarily have to be good. You might not know they're good until a few months later.

This seems like an unlikely time to get involved with an activity like this: blert is in deep hibernation, Little john is buried, we're up to eyeballs in work and family.
Why:

it's a way of getting the cobwebs out
time pressure will force you to stay out of creative rat-holes
it's good practice to let go. good enough is ok, move on.
because then you have 11 months to revise, refine, and record a pile of work (and think like a producer).
it's good practice of your engineering skills: get your workflow in shape.
it's a good excuse to fly mics in your livingroom (or at the breakfast table)
does this really need more elaboration?

In the spirit of just-in-time development, a website will materialize at some point around February 1 to host this thing. Should be simple but fun to use. Should also be hooked into the facebook/twitter/rss piping that makes the web so much fun to use these days.

GoFish Becomes Betawave

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:21:50 GMT

GoFish just morphed to betawave. Links in the twitterfountain below:

Song-A-Day Shopping List

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:16:40 GMT

Just a few weeks left before we start the 2009 Song-A-Day festivities (a.k.a. 29 Songs). Looks like I really need to clean out the garage and the website before this gets going.

Maybe I can pick up a few things to help things along this year too. Here's a shopping list I jotted-down on the BART one night this week:

batteries! Mostly for the tuner, but I'll play around with different sounds a bit more this year.
strings for the acoustic guitar.
sm57: snare sounds have been lame. Maybe this'll help? Maybe properly tuning my snare will help more.
midi controller: I'd love to play with one of these.
Another samson mic to record in stereo (from the road).
a proper mic stand for the kick drum. I lost mine somewhere along the way.
A piano. I meant to get one at some point in '08, mostly for the girls. I used to play a little, would love to have one in the family.

What am I forgetting?

If you have any interest at all in joining the fray, please shoot me a note. As you can see this is a great excuse to go out and buy some gear. Your spouse will surely agree.

Espresso. Pulled, Not Stirred

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:26:03 GMT

I got a kick out of this blatant product placement. I think the editor mis- cut the milk foaming shot...

Merry Christmas!

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:16:23 GMT

I hope you are happy and healthy this holiday season. This year we went back east to my parents' home for the holidays. Highlights:

Great seats on the flight. Thanks Granny.
Snow. immediately.
Bethelehem was beautiful.
A great (though chilly) day in NYC
Quality cousin time.
A quick trip to weyerbacher.
Happy girls on a fun Christmas morning.
Wintery-mix-gate: a tin found under Jon's pillow. All the chocolate chips gone.
Introducing the concept of 'Anti-Santa' who comes to steal presents from under your tree. That's why Santa will occasionally wrap presents using the same wrapping paper as gifts from family members.
The hot water situation.
This year's Christmas Crusaders production.
The Ham-bandit.
Good (great) news of baby Schulman's safe arrival.
Good (great) news of Malone's progress.
cafe from cosmic.
E's tearful (but happy) nite-nite call from auntie L's.
JM's idea about picking up girls at a bar by making racy cats-cradle shapes.
More to come... I'll add it as we do it .

To all our bay area family and friends, we miss you and kwill see you soon.

FOTC Season II

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:46:44 GMT

You've probably seen this already, but I meant to toss this up here when I saw it a few days ago... here they are!

Darwin's moth: a survey of behavioral targeting solutions

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:14:57 GMT

Edit: These notes are pretty old, but heck, I'll toss them out. Also, a note of fair disclosure: I own no stock in any of these companies.

Upon the discovery and study of Malagasy orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale) a beautiful flower with a preposterously specialized shape, Charles Darwin hypothesized that a moth with a tongue of equally preposterous specialization must exist in order for the plant to pollinate and reproduce. Darwin's hypothesis was confirmed much later when the Hawk Moth (Xanthopan morganii) was filmed doing its business.

It's a close, cause-effect relationship between the players. Imagine what would have happened if Darwin found the moth first: would he have predicted the orchid? The flower needs the moth, does the moth need the flower?

The web site parallels are clear: your site is a beautiful flower, its sweet content is the nectar attracting/enticing visitors. You study your users, learn what they want or need. You add a new feature, determine its success by the number of people that use it. If it's good, the people will come, even if you need to lead people to the good place.

This story is worth keeping in mind when examining the approach taken by behavioral targeting systems currently on the market. Their methodologies seem to fall into one of two categories: one group studies the pages on a site to make assumptions about the visitors to that page. The assumption is that you can generalize something about a visitor if you understand the content on a given page.

The other group studies users clicks and trends to make generalizations about groups clustered within a user population. To me, it seems like this group is studying the elusive, hard-to-capture moth. I recently had the privilege of reviewing some of the BT services. Our needs are pretty typical: we want to extend premium ad inventory by targeting ads based on user behavior. Content-targeting (non-ad) would be more of a nice-to-have. Our requirements are similar to most partner-integrations:

Ease of implementation
Ease of segment (moth) definition
Forecasting segment size
Targeting accuracy
Dart integration
A/B testing for auditing effectiveness
COPPA compliance (we want this to be clean!)

Here's a brief survey of the top behavioral targeting services (email me if you think I should add another).

baynote - study the moth

http://www.baynote.com
2 step implementation: first add an observer tag (dead simple), then add the content piece (slightly trickier)
groups users based on search terms and click paths
doesn't care as much about what's on a page
Baynote doesn't seem to have a dart integration, however it seems possible that baynote could serve a dart tag targeted to a user (which won't be too easy to manage in the long run).
proven track record with targeting content (think merchandising 'related items' on ecommerce sites)
cost: no idear. They have no model for an ad-targeting engagement, but they seem interested in exploring this. We would run a test with them if there's no up-front $$$.
Here's something they seem to do well: constant testing to evaluate performance.

Personifi - study the flower (and the moth a little)

http://www.personifi.com
simple integration: serve their tracking tag through dart. This is a great way of dealing with the integration. Let the ad operations folks manage the whole thing.
Personifi spiders the page and maps the content to Personifi's own taxonomy. To me, this is the really cool part: they'll classify your site's content for you.
DART integration! passes name/value pairs to dart. Target campaigns to behavioral segments
cost: cpm or revshare

LOTAME - study the flower

http://www.lotame.com/
implementation is 2 steps: add their tracking tag to collect information, then manually identify the clusters of users their system identifies. The manual cluster-identification seems like a lot of work. We need to learn more about this.
you can manually upload their classification results to dart for ad targeting, but they're working on automating this piece.
cost: cpm or revshare

DART boomerang - study the flower

Edit: This one may have disappeared already. Did it ever really exist?

No url. Not a lot of info on boomerang on the dart site. Sounds like they're gearing up for a 2.0 release sometime in '08 which will have a proper admin-interface.
Implementation: Drop a pixel or 'boom tag' on a page, associate pages with a 'boom list' or segment name, target ads to 'boom lists'. We need to know what pages (or conversion events) belong to each 'boom list'.
Interesting factoid: we could deliver a targeted ad to a user even if the 'boom tag' is not on the page.
cost: fee structure based on the number of 'cookies' or 'users' in 'lists'. We'll see what this really means.
Interesting factoid: Boomerang will work closely with ad exchange to provide some interesting off-site revenue opportunities.

I noticed that the wikipedia page features a bunch of european BT companies. WunderLoop and nugg.ad look interesting! I'll check them out at some point. Tacoda doesn't seem to be licensing their technology right now, so let's skip them altogether.

If I get some time over the weekend, I'll put together some really sketchy notes on what's really happening under the hood with some of these behavioral targeting systems.

100k Pageviews For Free

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:50:35 GMT

I love that netscrap.com is popular with the folks who use stumbleupon. People have had a fun time reading through the scraps and often email me about it.

Every once and a while everyone converges on a piece of scrap almost all at once.

Kinda cool how easy google analytics makes it to see the piece of content that's performing and then get a quick breakdown of all the referrers. Just a few clicks helped me peg stumbleupon as the source. There's not enough detail to tell me exactly what page is driving traffic to netscrap.com. Was it from the homepage or some other highlight? Who knows. It's probably over now anyway.

FWIW- NetScrap.com is hosted on a single shared server on http://www.intermedia.net/, which has been pretty good about these spiky traffic events. NetScrap is also running on zombie technology for over 10 years (though CF may have briefly been not-zombie) with minimal down-time (and fortunately minimal features).

Mad Scientist

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 09:17:38 GMT

I saw this on facebook the other day:

Which reminds me of one of my favorite scenes of all time...

Enjoy it before the copyright police take it down. (Edit: the copyright police took it down)

The Magic of Surf

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:13:00 GMT

I should have seen it coming. I should have known that a sport that depends on the behavior of the moon, sea monsters, and energy that flows from way over the horizon would be dripping with it. Heck, I'm basically walking on water. But still, I'm surprised at how much magic I've found in surfing.

First there's the magic of place... Of course, the secret spots up and down the coast come to mind. Places with shark lore, epic waves, tragedies. There are smaller miracles too. For example: I bought most of my surfboards through Craigslist. Every place I've met someone to buy a board has become a magic spot for me.

I highly recommend you try meeting someone on your commute route next time you buy a surfboard. I bought my last board from a guy I arranged to meet at the BART station parking lot near my house. Now every time I come home, the magic reminds me that there might be waves tomorrow morning.

Then there's the magic of time, which seems extremely elastic when riding a wave. Everything slows down. Why? Because my heart and CNS is on overdrive? Or so I can enjoy the ride? Who knows? Also, photographers talk about a magic hour or golden hour when the sun is just right. Surfers know that the early AM hours are often best for waves because wind tends to stop.

Magic things... magic surfboards. I'm lucky enough to have one. It catches waves in all conditions. Board shapers love to discuss the magicness they've encountered over the years.

It's all true. Every last bit.

The Darjeeling LTD. Tunes

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:48:25 GMT

I caught a few minutes of Darjeeling Limited again the other night. I love it.

Wes Anderson projects usually rock a pretty decent soundtrack. Even the traditional Indian tracks are a lot of fun. Here's an (incomplete) sample...