Thoughts of a middle aged programmer...

Hammer Time by way of Seth Godin

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Seth's Blog: Hammer time: "One study found that when confronted with a patient with back pain, surgeons prescribed surgery, physical therapists thought that therapy was indicated and yes, acupuncturists were sure needles were the answer. Across the entire universe of patients, the single largest indicator of treatment wasn't symptoms or patient background, it was the background of the doctor."

This is not only the biggest problem in marketing, it's the same for programmers. Day in and day out I work with programmers that continue to use only the tools they used up until then. Likewise, every new technique or software tool they inevitably compare to the tools they already used. Of course the new ones are found lacking.

Side effects of this are easy to spot:

Long delivery times
Open programmer frustration
Poorly built code
Falling back strictly on old techniques and tools

I've seen all of these on my current team. Some of this from programmers with years of seniority. It's also been true of consultants I've seen. Color me unforgiving, but someone called into be a code hitman should jump at the chance to learn something new.

Surprisingly, some of these skills are the very things that would improve their marketability. Skills they may consider of limited use will be skills that the next person who submits a resume won't have.

It's not enough to get the team to have an expert on a tool or technique. Joe Expert will become a road block when that tool or technique is the best one for the problem.

Challenge yourself and your team today. Go get your heads around all of the tools you have in your tool bags today and the tools you've only heard of.

You might just see some side benefits of learning new tools and techniques. Your manager might as well.

Improved throughput
Improved code quality
Happier coders
Coders that aren't just biding their time to leave

One Day, sand art, close up profile

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:26:00 +0000

One Day, sand art, close up profile
Originally uploaded by Tojosan.

Lovely sand art work created by a guy that goes by Sandman.
He's been hired on a recurring basis by a nearby church. Each time he crafts a huge sand sculpture. The last one was a rather impressive bald eagle.

Amazing details, and the work survives for a long period. This particular one has survived several thunderstorms.

Enjoy.

Links for 2009-05-31 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Folding Paper
Origami and crafts blog focused on the everyday person.
Origami Club
Origami Club in English (http://www.origami-club.com/en/) is information site about origami for everyone for free.
Robert J. Lang Origami
This site is focused on the Mr. Lang's work. In addition though, quite a bit of history and philosophy about origami is included. The entire page on CP is fascinating.
Origami: Diagrams
This site, though not apparently kept up, is an invaluable resource of diagrams.
Paper Folding
This is another origami focused site. It appears to have one main author. Tons of outbound links to other sites as well as providing diagrams and more.

If I had easy access to a helicopter, I'd fly to Bermuda this weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Bermuda is a beautiful island. It's soft coral sand beaches, the beautiful weather, and friendly people make this a great place to visit.

Utterli - Blog Traffic Driver

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:16:00 +0000

A lot of bloggers out there are looking for more ways to drive traffic. A goodly portion of them are looking into social networking and social media to do that.

Most overlook the obvious though, posting where the audience is. This could mean that you need to bring the topics, writing and etc into the realm your real audience is at. This can also mean going online to where your readers are.

Utterli really allows you to address both of those. Through straight observation of my own stream of posts here, and how the impact they have, I've been drawn to that conclusion.

Utterli has turned out to turn up surprisingly well on search traffic. The stats aren't revealed but based on the pass through on partial posts here to my primary blog, it turns up a fair amount of my blog hits.

Utterli supports multimedia posts. The best part, it's easy to include. This allows you to share a photograph, video, written word, or audio, or all of the above. This works great for sharing a post that contains a recording which is transcribed in the text portion. Makes it searchable as well.

Utterli has a receptive viewing audience. Again, just my own observation here, but it's not unusual for a typical post here of mine to get well over 100 hits with some around 800 or more hits.

Utterli has another benefit, you can blog from anywhere. The Utterli mobile page works great for getting a blog post out to your blog, with the added benefit of instant cross posting.

Yes, cross-posting. Utterli was the original post once, post many platform. Before ping.fm and the sort, you could do that here on Utterli. Utterlie integrates with several of the most popular social networking and media services as well as all types of blogging platforms.

I've posted posts from my Blackberry already. I've posted from here to YouTube, Blogger, Twitter, Wordpress, and more. Added bonus, tags carry through.

So if you want to be able to reach your audience where they are you don't have to log into all of those services or post to them, you can post here, once.

You can even share posts you've placed here later or multiple times to each of the associated platforms. Posts here also have permalinks, and allow discussion.

Before Seesmic was usable in comments, you could leave full multimedia comments here on Utterli. And, bonus!, comments here show up on pushed through posts to the blogs as a comment counter.

So before you go looking to spend lots of time on other platforms trying to post in 20 places, consider using Utterli as a distribution tool. I've found it even works great for older content you want to give folks a fresh look at.

Drop by http://utterli.com/ today and give it a try.

Cheers,

Tojosan, @tojosan on Twitter

The Broad Brush - http://toddrjordan.com/…broadbrush

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Halloween is upon us...

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:56:00 +0000

It’s that time again, time for Halloween. This year I’d like to do something new; I’d like to send out Halloween greeting cards.

Pictured above, spookily so I hope, is what one type of card looks like. I’ve got about 16 on hand and would love to send all of them out before next week.

more... http://www.toddrjordan.com/…greetings/

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Blackberry in Repose

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:02:00 +0000

Blackberry in Repose
Originally uploaded by Tojosan.

One with the Blackberry and still enjoying the new toy feel.

End of week one at the new digs

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:44:00 +0000

The Broad Brush is now at http://thebroadbrush.toddrjordan.com/ . Please stop by.

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Lost in my cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:35:00 +0000

Links for 2008-03-02 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 PST

PackRat - Facebook App Obsession
Gives a quick introduction to what PackRat is, including a screenshot.

Links for 2008-02-23 [del.icio.us]

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

St. louis social media - Mahalo

SOBCon08 Contest - Help me win!

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:57:00 +0000

Click here http://toddjordan.wordpress.com/…8-contest/ and then follow any of the links on that page to the SOBCon08 site. Every hit counts. Help me win my way there.

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Mother-in-law status

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:27:00 +0000

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Links for 2008-02-18 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 PST

I.T. Happens! No. 1
Cartoon about Twitter and followers. Cute.
SOBCon08
Site is all about SOBCon08. Highlights presenters, purpose and more.

Social networking overload?

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:01:00 +0000

Or is it spreading yourself too thin. How many social networking sites do you belong to, and how many are trying to get you to aggregate your contacts there? Most evident in my case is Plaxo and Spock. The invites have been coming in from folks I know on other networks, because those people have just joined up. But is it worth doing, or will some of those networks go by the way side?

More: http://tinyurl.com/2ud6ua

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Going to SOBCon08 - Help me win my way there!

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:20:00 +0000

I'm heading to SOBCon08 this year. Help me get payed to attened. That's right; I can go for free if enough you click through to the SOBCon08 site from my blog.

Here's a great link if you'd love to help me go for free. Will save me near $1000.

http://tinyurl.com/2mfuqs

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Socnet Friend Overload?

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:06:00 +0000

Please check out my article on cutting back on the socnet update overload - http://tinyurl.com/2vatjg

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Mad Money Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 02:20:00 +0000

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Frozen Pea Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:05:00 +0000

Please check out and donate at:

http://frozenpeafund.com/

Also, check Susan's blog about her cancer battle here:

http://susanreynolds.blogs.com/…oobsonice/

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Social Media Overload?

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:01:00 +0000

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SOBCon08 - Blogging Conference in Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:01:00 +0000

SOBCon08
Overview
SOBCon08 is “Biz School for Blogging.” This year’s event tracks entrepreneur bloggers and corporate bloggers alike, with an innovative format and a stellar cast of speaker/instructors.

Purpose
The SOBCon08 program guarantees to send each attendee home with a Business Action Plan that can be immediately executed for measurable success. The “mastermind” teams in which attendees will be interacting will provide uniquely deep working relationships that are more meaningful than the business card trading found at other conference/networking events.

So when and where is it?
SOBCon08 will once again be held in the Chicago area from May 2-4, 2008; the place will be announced shortly.

I'm not a business blogger but I'm looking forward to networking with successful bloggers from across the US. It'll be a fun and educational experience, and a chance to make some new friends.

Your support in making this happen will be greatly appreciated. Feel free to help with room and board, transportation at the conference, and extra meals. (grin)

If you are going, let me know and we'll plan to meet at the conference.

I can haz Scrabulous?

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 05:51:00 +0000

Hasbro has supposedly issued a cease and desist to Scrabulous and Facebook. What really happens and plays out remains to be seen.

I can haz invites

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:34:00 +0000

See it full size here, at Toonlet.com.

Toonlet.com and Tojosan the Cartoonist

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:02:00 +0000

I hereby declare myself a cartoonist! Or a Toonletist maybe? In any case, I'm going to be playing at Toonlet.com.

Toonlet is a free site where you can construct comic strip characters and piece together full blown comic strips. Now mind you there are no flashy things here, but the tool set provide is enough for any budding story teller.

The character creation allows you to piece together various body parts, such as torso, arms, and head. As well, there are hair, eyes, and mouth selections. These parts come in various sets, and can be mixed and matched.

New characters belong in new strips of course, and that feature is straightforward if not full of features. The strip allows the entering of a title, a panel heading, and filling in a text balloon. Only one text balloon per panel is available right now.

Strips can be as short as one panel or can span a significant number of panels. The largest I've seen had 16 panels. Panel background color is selectable per panel.

Overall, I can see this as a lighthearted stop on the net, but like any medium, there will be many uses for it. The biggest downfall to that though is the inability to imbed the strips or characters into a blog/web page.

Well all that said, here's my latest comic strip. A small homage to Susan Reynolds and her blog, Boobs On Ice, the ongoing story of her dealing with breast cancer.

Open Mic Night @ Successful Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:34:00 +0000

Tuesdays are open mic (open comment) night on Successful-Blog.com. Tonight was the first one I've really participated in and fun was being had by all.

The link is here for tonights. Each week the theme is different.

If you love social interaction, but aren't a big Twitter fan, this might be for you too. Lots of my Twitter buds joined us there tonight, including Liz Strauss herself.

Go check it out.

Twitter as Village - Mayors and Assholes?

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:46:00 +0000

Well it seems that some folks just don't get jokes, and can't just play along with the fun. J by Jayfresh blog writer is calling out Shel Isreal, @shelisreal, on his follow up Twitter Village post. The one in which he jokes about naming Chris Brogan Mayor.

J, did you really take that post seriously or are you just pulling our legs on your blog post? We all realize that Twitter is not a country, city, or no, even not a village for real. Duh. And logically, you can't elect anyone anything. Of course, that's obvious too when you consider is a company, in which none of us is likely on the board of directors.

And what's with the asshole comment? I get that you're objecting to his post, but good grief, name calling? You're more mature than that. Which leads me back to you just pulling our legs for a little attention.

Cute; you got mine.

Twitter as Village - a rebuttal?

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:44:00 +0000

David Krug of Blog Herald has a rebuttal to Twitter as village. His key argument? It's infrastructure!

He's right. Twitter is just that; it's the streets in Soho, it's the waterways in Venice, it's the pub down the street. So technically, no, it's not a village, but it's the part of the village that enables a village to exist. That by his own admisssion:

"It’s a place to create relationships on a different level. its a place to idea stream, its a place to collaborate. It’s an infrastructure to build other communities ..."

No, it's not a community, but the paths, and byways of many communities. So the rest of us are wrong more by semantics and interpretation than anything else.

But what's your opinion; do you live in a Twitter village and would you elect Chris Brogan Mayor?

Coding Horror on Teaching Computer Science

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:17:00 +0000

Coding Horror shares thoughts on what teaching computer science should be about. As a full time programmer, I'm inclined to care. But as a person who came to be a programmer via running nuke power plants for the Navy, maybe I shouldn't be bothered.

Well honestly, I do care. Programming is as much about getting the code into production as anything, as CH states. It is more about solving real problems and daily issues, and finding bugs than discussing which O(n) algorithm is best.

Oh yes, programming is about which is best, but that takes up a fraction of the time to get real code into production. Seldom, or never in my case, can I just make a program change in isolation. Theory is great, where you consider a system in isolation. But take that same piece of code out of the classroom and into a complex working environment and suddenly it's not so simple.

Daily programmers deal with the complications of dependencies between portions of software and systems. Dependencies more complex than most schools would even try to cover in class.

Then there are conflicting goals in real world software development. In the class rooms, it's usually much more clean cut. Make this report, import this data, create a data entry screen. In the real world there are users. Users, the great corruptors of your beautiful design. Users, who have no inkling of what beautiful code is, and don't want to know what a compiler is, or why it isn't working today. Users care about the F3 key doing what they want it to, or the double-click making things dance on the screen.

CH is right, many schools are not preparing their graduates for the real world of programming. Programming where you and three other coders need to work in the same code. Programming where appearance is not only equal in importance at times, but sometimes more important than implimentation. Programming where your source control software is buggy. That's real life programming.

Honestly, I'm with CH, coders should work in the real world while they learn. To be a programmer you need to program.

My 2 bits? If your goal is to be a programmer, then start doing it long before you even get to those classes. But you say, how do I do that? Easy enough. Start simple, code a javascript application to serve up random images on your home page. Move up to writinga php script to read the list of commenters on your Wordpress blog. Practice all types of SQL commands over any database you can get your hands on.

I could go on, but like any field, the learning is in the doing.

/rant off.

Twitter as Village Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Tojosan) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:11:00 +0000

So I spoke about Twitter as Village earlier, and the idea seemed well received. Here is a round up of what some other bloggers thought about Twitter and community.

Glenda Watson Hyatt shared about it and what it's inspired her to do.

Before Glenda thought of Twitter as community, here's her initial reaction:

"Initially, my opinion was confirmed: Twitter was instant messaging on speed. It was like being in a room full of people talking and overhearing bits of conversations. Some bits are useful, others are interesting, some are downright bizarre, and, occasionally, a bit is directed at you, drawing you further into that particular conversation momentarily. It was intriguing and addictive, but I didn’t see the value of all this tweeting. Several times I thought of leaving, but being one not to leave a party early, I hung around to see what would happen next."

Shel Isreal also had something to say about the Twitter Village theme on his blog.

Shel has a similar initial reaction to Glenda:

"I've been using Twitter since September, and like she said, for a while, I could not get what it was all about. I was new in the village. people said hello to me and exchanged niceties. The language and content of the 140-character spoonfuls of conversation seemed to me to be kind of shallow. Yep, people really do publish what they had for lunch and say good night before signing off."

Jim Benson followed suit to Shel's post with his own on Twitter community.

Jim questioned the why of Twitter:

"When you are from somewhere and you go somewhere with a very different culture, many things seem patently stupid. Why would someohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifne care if I stuck my chopsticks in my rice and left them there? or Why did he look upset when I gave him a thumbs up and a smile? or Why do I say Thank you before I'm given something?"

In the end though, these people and many others have found that Twitter really has brought them a sense of community. I challenge you to put aside your fears and preformed ideas about what Twitter is or is not, and give it a try. But I warn you, you just might find a real community that brings you joy, tears, a smile and a frown, or unexpected gifts even.

I can be found on Twitter here.

Links for 2007-09-02 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 PDT

7 Ways to Help Yourself Recognize Opportunity | steve-olson.com

Links for 2007-08-10 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PDT

blog.pmarca.com: Age and the entrepreneur, part 1: Some data
Marc Andreessen, technology entrepreneur, Internet, Mosaic, Netscape, Opsware, Ning

Links for 2007-08-05 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PDT

James Duncan Davidson –
The blog of James Duncan Davidson, photographer and technologist.
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