August 2025 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 -
Recent Posts
Category Archives: Life
…that many failures
I was just reading this article about the Airbus A380 that had an engine blow up (they landed safely), and this quote from the interview caught my eye: “…the fuel dumping system had failed and we were about 50 tonnes … Continue reading
the challenge of choice
I’ve just finished looking through hundreds of channels, our DVR, and an on-demand video service, and I’m right back to the laptop. I can’t help but wonder if “57 channels and nothing on” is actually caused by too much choice … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Life
Tagged choice, custom content, market segmentation, niche programs, tastes
Leave a comment
I’m back!
I’ve been away from blogging for a bit, as you can see. It’s not the first time I’ve put the keyboard down for awhile; this time, the main impetus is a career realignment. I’ve decided to close up shop as … Continue reading
x of the month
Today is my Mom’s birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! As you get older, buying gifts gets more and more complicated. If you’re like me, you tend to just go out and buy those essential things you need; given a situation where … Continue reading
things i like: guided tours
When traveling, you don’t always have the time, energy or expertise to make your visit the vacation of a lifetime. That’s why I love guided tours. Continue reading
Posted in Life, Things I Like
Tagged being in the moment, Chicago, guided tour, landmark, travel
Leave a comment
mini-cases: controlling the source
When you’re working on something by yourself, life is simple. But add just one person to the mix, and everything gets a lot harder. You want to keep track of what changed, when, and who was responsible, and to do that, you need source control. Continue reading
Posted in Business, Life, Mini-Cases, Tech
Tagged collaboration tools, management technology, mini-cases, open-source, project management, source control, Subversion, versioning
Leave a comment
mini-cases: better to beg for forgiveness, part 2
In this mini-case, I did not have official approval for my idea. And it was simple: I was working for a business that, among other things, allowed users of a website to search for airfares across multiple providers—pretty innovative, at … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Life, Mini-Cases
Tagged approval, flight, mini-cases, pricing, projects, skunk works, skunkworks
2 Comments
mini-cases: better to beg for forgiveness, part 1
This case is about a time I should have started a skunkworks. While the historical origin of the term “skunkworks†is lightly disputed (it most certainly references a comic strip called “Li’l Abner†and stems from military projects in the … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Life, Mini-Cases
Tagged approval, flight, mini-cases, pricing, projects, skunk works, skunkworks
Leave a comment
mini-cases: support your core
The new content-management system was done, and we breathed a sigh of relief. We needed it to support our ambitions of providing even more specific content to our users, who came to our site for our well-informed professional recommendations in … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Life, Mini-Cases
Tagged cms, content management system, core business, mini-cases, publishing, publishing systems
Leave a comment
mini-cases: things take time
My manager uttered a phrase that, to a software developer, was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying: “It’s time for an upgrade.†I was working for a company in the financial services sector; their core business involved a proprietary system for predicting … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Life, Mini-Cases, Tech
Tagged mini-cases, project, resources, schedule, software upgrade, time management
1 Comment