Randomized Subjects

Cookie Monster: Lawyer and Special Guest Star: Tim Schafer

2012-02-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

This picture is from the super successful KickStarter project from Double Fine (link here).

I just love the fact that Cookie Monster looks bored.

"Gaaah, talk about games? AGAIN? Where's cookies? I was told there were going to be cookies here!"

Doctor Who as Cats

2012-01-24T15:38:00.000-08:00

Doctor Who envisioned as cats. Or Doctor Mew. (Interview here with creator Jenny Parks)

Sure.

Why not.

War Horse: An Illustrated Review from a Horse Fanatic

2012-01-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

This is a slightly disturbing and touching and funny (in a disturbed way) review of the movie "War Horse."

A movie I have no intention of watching... and yet I read this review.

War Horse: An Illustrated Review | The Hairpin:

It is cumberbatches of fun!

(You'd get that if you watched BBC's brilliant 'Sherlock'!)

(AND WHY AREN'T YOU??? )

I am a sap for stories like this: Love At Long Last

2012-01-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I'm a sap for these sappy stories. Maybe it is because of the bitter taste of time-lost or the redemptive power of an actual second chance or the sweetness realized by the fulfillment of life-long quest.

Love At Long Last (via Reader's Digest)

(...though I do wonder how that Marine the lady did marry feels.)

Interesting WhitePaper - Cheaters in the Steam Community Gaming Social Network

2012-01-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

Interesting WhitePaper on the reality and patterns of gaming cheaters.

[1112.4915] Cheaters in the Steam Community Gaming Social Network:

We show that cheaters are well embedded in the social and interaction networks: their network position is largely undistinguishable from that of fair players. We observe that the cheating behavior appears to spread through a social mechanism: the presence and the number of cheater friends of a fair player is correlated with the likelihood of her becoming a cheater in the future. Also, we observe that there is a social penalty involved with being labeled as a cheater: cheaters are likely to switch to more restrictive privacy settings once they are tagged and they lose more friends than fair players. Finally, we observe that the number of cheaters is not correlated with the geographical, real-world population density, or with the local popularity of the Steam Community.

'via Blog this'

The timeline of Doctor Who

2012-01-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Very cool infographic of chronicling Doctor Who's 11 lives!

The timeline of Dr. Who infographic

(If you can't see microfiche-sized text without a microfiche reader, here's a link to the original giant picture)

Awesome James Bond Movie Icons

2012-01-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is an totally cool set of James Bond icons each representing a James Bond movie.

(But no "Never Say Never Again")

by Bryan Lenning - http://bryanlenning.com/

(via Super Punch: James Bond art contest results)

Now You See It, Now You Don't: Time Cloak Created

2012-01-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Now You See It, Now You Don't: Time Cloak Created

Not sure how real this is... but the funniest quote is at the bottom...

There may be good uses of this technology, Gaeta said, but "for some reason people are more interested in the more illicit applications."

Who knew?

(via Fox News)

Praying Mantis Vs Hummingbird

2012-01-04T13:16:00.000-08:00

Praying Mantis Vs Hummingbird

Now, I can see why the Kung Fu masters developed a Mantis style...

(via Environmental Graffiti)

Amazon Provides a Dose of Humor via really weird "reviews"

2011-12-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

Amazon Provides a Dose of Humor - NYTimes.com

Yes, yes, I realize this over 1 year old... But it taking very long for me to consume the Internet with only one computer. I have just received my second computer and plan on consuming the Internet tubes at twice the speed.

And it still doesn't change the fact that this is funny.

Thank you, the Management.

Cool Real-World Advertisements with STICKERS!

2011-12-02T13:34:00.001-08:00

Very cool advertising stickers (link for more stickers)

Motivate your team (and yourself)

2011-12-01T10:12:00.001-08:00

I thought this was an awesome list. Good reminder for self.

Lifted without permission from Tech Republic
(http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-manager/want-to-motivate-your-team-here-are-20-things-to-start-doing-now/7021?tag=nl.e106)

Want to motivate your team? Here are 20 things to start doing now

By Ilya Bogorad

November 28, 2011, 4:21 AM PST

Takeaway: Ilya Bogorad shows you how to create a dynamic, exciting, motivating environment in an otherwise unexciting, underperforming or stodgy organization

For as long as I can remember, the idea of abandoning permanent employment and striking out on one’s own has been a popular topic in water cooler conversations among the technology folks. Typically following the “they don’t get it” or “I’m working for a moron” kind of an assertion, the daydreams of not giving a proverbial rodent’s derriere (I never understood this saying… who’d want it?) and the alluring but exaggerated virtues of tax advantages have driven more than one IT staffer to salivate on the job.

Some moved past daydreaming and became contractors. These folks make a good living and are used to moving on to another gig every few months. Others have left their full-time job and built a viable business - a consultancy, a development shop or just something altogether different.

The economic tribulations and the shrinking pool of employment opportunities of the past three years have led to a couple of different phenomena. There is the forced entrepreneurship by the people who were pushed out of permanent employment and couldn’t find a job. Out comes the Nana’s recipe book and yet another cake shop on the street. Or another “social media expert.”

Then, there’s the opposite. With the economy in the shape it is today, people stay on despite being miserable in their current job; putting bread on the table usually beats “I can’t stand it” hands down. According to recently published research by Mercer: “Nearly one in three (32%) U.S. workers is seriously considering leaving his or her organization at the present time, up sharply from 23% in 2005. Meanwhile, another 21% are not looking to leave but view their employers unfavorably and have rock-bottom scores on key measures of engagement, a term that describes a combination of an employee’s loyalty, commitment and motivation.”

If you’re a leader in charge of people, project these results onto your own group, department or company, and reflect. If you haven’t cringed, you yourself have probably checked out. Clearly, it’s impossible to conduct business successfully in these circumstances.

Is there anything you could do to fix it?

It turns out that you can. I’ll show you how to create a dynamic, exciting, motivating environment in an otherwise unexciting, underperforming or stodgy organization. Think of it as of a lush oasis in the dustiest of deserts.

What motivates?

The study of the forces behind human motivation has occupied the minds of great many thinkers. From the original work of Maslow, McGregor and Herzberg to the recent not-so-original but popular interpretations, the subject hasn’t neglected.

Motivation is intrinsic. It varies from individual to individual and what motivates one person would not move another. There are some commonalities, though:

Money is never a motivator. However, lack of money is a demotivator.
People are motivated by applying their abilities to the fullest. Underutilization is a demotivator.
Most are motivated by work that creates tangible results, especially if those results are born out of innovation, a new approach or a great idea.
Being engaged in decision making, especially around the choices of how to do work, is a great motivator. Being told how to do it, which is far too common, will at best yield mere compliance.
People are motivated by doing work that aligns with their values and beliefs.
Too much stress petrifies. Too little stress leads to sloth, procrastination and the sense of entitlement.

Necessary conditions

Three conditions must be met for you to be successful at motivating your team:

You are a leader formally in charge of a group of people of any size. You may be successful if you are attempting it as an individual contributor; it is just that the scope of impact will be limited to one person - you.
You are not averse to the business or the business practices of the organization. This is very important. I once knew a woman employed by a military contractor. She was torn between the need to provide for the family and the misalignment of her personal beliefs with the business of her employer.
You have a reasonably good relationship with your immediate superior that allows for some latitude in how you structure your team and its work.

Twenty things to start doing right away

Be enthusiastic.
Think big. Act on big and small opportunities alike.
Learn to translate aspirations, needs and vision of the broader organization into tangible results you can deliver or facilitate.
Discover aspirations, needs, and vision even if they’re not explicitly stated. See it before everyone else does.
Practice corporate entrepreneurship; determine what the right outcomes are without regard to resources you have on hand.
Connect and spend time with key decision makers and strategists within your organization. Ask questions about their plans, needs and aspirations. Listen. Learn.
Organize your work life so that you spend time on what’s important, not what landed on your desk. Delegate in all directions.
Demand that your team members bring you solutions to problems, not the problems themselves. The former motivates and empowers them; the latter are major downers for all involved.
Solicit input of your team members on strategic directions. Even the act itself is motivating, and you will see a high degree of engagement when it’s time to execute the common vision.
Encourage and empower your team member to decide how to go about their work within the guidelines and expectations you define.
Develop the sense of shared meaning within your team.
Communicate with your team members frequently and openly. Always take the time to explain strategic decisions.
Notice and reward “positive deviance” - new practices that yield superior results.
Pose challenging questions to your team. Notice and reward volition to find answers.
Always be on a lookout for innovation in your industry and profession.
Further, be aware that really exciting breakthroughs come from the cross-application of approaches and methods from other realms.
Reward results, not the time, effort and cost expended. Too often, managers believe that their job is to generate action, whereas it is to create results.
Take every opportunity to promote your team within the organization. Share results, lessons learned and new practices. Utilize internal publications, town-hall meetings, newsletters and so on.
Position your team members as ultimate experts within the organization. Set up mentoring and communities of practice around their expertise.
Become industry experts. Take leadership positions in professional bodies. Write in professional publications.

Ten things to stop doing right away

Stop lamenting about impediments, barriers, morons at the helm, lack of time and such other.
Do not get hung up on details.
Do not allow pessimists, doomsayers and curmudgeons near your team. They will suck the life out of you.
Stop procrastination and don’t tell me you don’t have time to do this.
Stop being in love with your methodology, processes and tools. Challenge them instead.
Stop censoring ideas.
Stop telling your people how to do their job. Instead, set expectations of results.
If something is old or new, or fashionable does not make it right. Eschew fads.
Stop punishing mistakes, unless they are a result of sloth or overt sloppiness.
Stop limiting yourself with arbitrary timelines, goals and beliefs. Run through the finish line. Exceed your own expectations.

How will you know that you have succeeded?

You will be talked about.
You will get inquiries about vacancies on your team, internally and externally.
You will see your employees engaged and genuinely interested in their work.
You will deliver or enable exciting results.

Human Jet flies formation with Jets

2011-11-29T00:13:00.000-08:00

An amazing video here (http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/11/28/112811-news-jet-pack-pilot-video-page/)...

He is actually flying formation with the jets at 125MPH!

Neat 3d Street Art

2011-11-20T23:34:00.001-08:00

Really cool forced perspective 3d Street Art. Even with CG and stuff like that, it is real-world effort that is still stunning to me.

Setup shot

The stunning result! Very cool!

And if you are curious, the YouTube Behind-the-Scenes look...

(via SuperPunch!)

Amazon == GINORMOUS!

2011-11-16T10:52:00.001-08:00

Infographic on the Mind-boggling scale of Amazon!

Source: Frugaldad.com

Self-check - Are you slipping into one of these employee types?

2011-11-12T11:24:00.001-08:00

Self-Reflection Article: "Three types of people to fire immediately" (Details at Bloomberg Report Link)

The Victim
The Non-Believer
The Know-It-Alls

Pretty easy to let oneself fall into one of these three employee types.

Awesome Papercraft miniatures of Warhammer40k

2011-11-11T20:17:00.001-08:00

Very cool Terminators from Warhammer40k. All done with papercraft!

The hardest part is getting the right paper stock.

And then maybe laminating them.

Also there is a www.flipitpapercombat.com/ game he is pushing (with his own Papercraft miniatures). Very cool!

Never missing the hard hitting issues - The White House says "No Aliens information here"

2011-11-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe we needed an official response to this.

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/response/searching-et-no-evidence-yet

(They could be lying anyways.)

Just like that Zombie infection statement from the CDC, I hope we didn't spend too much money on this official response.

Triumph + Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

But it didn't sound totally like Triumph - Maybe it was not Robert Smigel?

Random SF pic

2011-11-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I forget how pretty the city is...

Here's one reminder for myself.

(All taken with my ancient iPhone 3GS and ProHDR and composed with Diptic.)

libdivide - optimization of integer division

2011-10-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

libdivide is an C math library which optimizes integer division if the divisor is known at compile time.

libdivide's scalar code is up to 16 times faster for powers of 2, 10 times faster for non-powers of 2, compared to naive hardware division. Optimized vector code is a further 2-3 times faster.

Pretty cool to see these things still happening.

NERGASM!!! - Batman and Space Ghost TOGETHER

2011-10-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Batman and Space Ghost!

My kids were wondering why I was so excited about this. Kids today; no appreciation of the significance of the crazy cross over.

I am going to miss Batman: Brave and the Bold when it finishes this season

I realize now that this was all over the internet before it actually went on TV last night... but I am glad I didn't know about it.

Nice to be surprised by *some* entertainment now and then.

Dennis Ritchie - Rest in Piece

2011-10-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Dennis Ritchie has passed away. Though C wasn't my first language or even my current language of choice, it was the first one that really let me span from a structure language down to the machine-code.

Of course, fraught with ways to trip yourself up and the barest of bones, I still bear the scars proudly.

Star Trek Online used for Fan-Films - Star Trek Reunion

2011-09-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

In the geekiest of geeky news, Cerberus Films is starting to produce a series of Star Trek episodic fan films. Episode 1 is here.

It is cool for me because I STILL haven't had time to get back to playing it, so seeing it in play is my vicarious thrill.

UPDATE: Ugh. It is hard to watch. A for effort but the camera is always at a medium range shot which is painful..

Inadvertent Admission of Chinese Cyber Hacking?

2011-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure the editor of this documentary which shows a Denial-of-Service app with a list of "enemy" sites is feeling some heat now...

Relevant segment can be found at 00:36 in the YouTube video below.

From Shanghaiist