Ann P. Hoang

Hello Cheese Ipsum!

Ann — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:00:20 +0000

There can never be enough Lorem Ipsum generators in the world. Inspired by the likes of Cupcake Ipsum and Bacon Ipsum, I created Cheese Ipsum, for those of us who consider cheese a major food group.

Cheese Ipsum

Link: Characterizing people as non-linear, first-order components in software development

Ann — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:00:14 +0000

In the title, I refer to people as “components”. That is how people are treated in the process / methodology design literature. The mistake in this approach is that “people” are highly variable and non-linear, with unique success and failure modes. Those factors are first-order, not negligible factors. Failure of process and methodology designers to account for them contributes to the sorts of unplanned project trajectories we so often see.

Link: Characterizing people as non-linear, first-order components in software development by Alastair Cockburn

Link: “Blameless PostMortems and a Just Culture”

Ann — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 19:21:14 +0000

A funny thing happens when engineers make mistakes and feel safe when giving details about it: they are not only willing to be held accountable, they are also enthusiastic in helping the rest of the company avoid the same error in the future. They are, after all, the most expert in their own error. They ought to be heavily involved in coming up with remediation items.

Link: Blameless PostMortems and a Just Culture via Etsy

Link: Being a Developer Makes You Valuable. Learning How to Market Makes You Dangerous

Ann — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:12:56 +0000

The most important thing to know is – trust me, if you are smart enough to build stuff, you can crack this. To paraphrase Paul Graham’s premise in founding YCombinator, “It’s easier to teach an engineer business than it is to teach a business person engineering.”

Link: Being a Developer Makes You Valuable. Learning How to Market Makes You Dangerous

Link: “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why”

Ann — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:31:25 +0000

Programmers who pay attention to how they construct written language also tend to pay a lot more attention to how they code. You see, at its core, code is prose. Great programmers are more than just code monkeys; according to Stanford programming legend Donald Knuth they are “essayists who work with traditional aesthetic and literary forms.” The point: programming should be easily understood by real human beings — not just computers.

Link: I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why. via Harvard Business Review

Eugene-Springfield, Oregon is the Silicon Shire

Ann — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:02:58 +0000

The Silicon Shire is home to a vibrant and growing technology community. Located in the southern Willamette Valley, the Silicon Shire encompasses the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. With a “University town feel,” outdoor-oriented community, and a rich talent pool fed by two universities, the Silicon Shire is a great place to live, work and play.

I have to say, “Silicon Shire” is a pretty clever and apt name for the Eugene-Springfield area. Check out the awesome visualization map on the home page too. Now we just need some Hobbit-inspired startups…

Link: The Silicon Shire

From 2008: ‘Marissa Mayer’s 9 Principles of Innovation’

Ann — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:14:53 +0000

In honor of Marissa Meyer being named Yahoo CEO today, here’s a link to an old but still interesting article where Mayer “shares the rules that gives the search company its innovative edge.” She faces quite the challenge at Yahoo, but she’s always been one of my favorite STEMinists and I’m excited to see where she takes the company. It’s pretty fantastic that Google’s first female engineer is now CEO of one of the most well-known tech companies in the world.

Link: Marissa Mayer’s 9 Principles of Innovation via Fast Company

Link: “StandardStoryPoints” via @martinfowler

Ann — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:08:30 +0000

The estimating system of extreme programming is based on XpVelocity and YesterdaysWeather. Inherent in this is the idea that when you make estimates, the actual units you estimate aren’t important – what’s important is you estimate by rough comparative value and use YesterdaysWeather for calibration.

Link: StandardStoryPoints via Martin Fowler

My Favorite Podcasts on Tech, Startups, Agile, Knitting and Food

Ann — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

For the last year I loyally biked the 1.3 miles to and from work, but since I got a pedometer I’ve been walking 80% of the time. It adds an additional 15 minutes to my commute time each way, but the big bonus is it allows me to listen to my favorite podcasts. I’ve compiled a list of the podcasts in heavy rotation on my walk of walks here.

Women Aren’t the Only Ones Who Experience Imposter Syndrome

Ann — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:00:46 +0000

I recently listened to a podcast by web technologist Scott Hanselman where he interviews Google’s Jon Skeet. Their main topic of discussion? Feeling like a phony, i.e. imposter syndrome.

It was refreshing to listen to Scott and Jon because:

They’re men in tech, and oftentimes women in tech feel like they’re not as technical as their male peers. Turns out, guys aren’t immune from that feeling either.
Scott and Jon are people in the industry I really follow and admire. I mean, if these two feel like a phony sometimes, well then maybe I’m not such a freak of nature after all.

Link: Being a Phony with Jon Skeet