Every day we all work at multiple levels of abstraction. Perhaps this XKCD comic sums it up best: But unless you’re weird and think about these kinds of things (like I do), you probably just run through your life happily interacting at whatever level seems most appropriate at the time. Most drivers, for example, don’t …
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Category:insights
owncloud vs pydio – more diy cloud storage
Last week I wrote a how-to on using Pydio as a front-end to a MooseFS distributed data storage cluster. The big complaint I had while writing that was that I wanted to use ownCloud, but it doesn’t Just Work™ on {{CentOS}} 6*. After finishing the tutorial, I decided to do some more digging – because …
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jump start your brain by doug hall
I’m happy I didn’t pay for this copy of {{Jump Start Your Brain}}. I’m saddened someone else did in order to give it to me. The core of {{Doug Hall}}’s creative self-help book from 1996 is decent: get outside yourself, remember what it’s like to be a kid, have fun, don’t take yourself too seriously, and …
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charge for carry-on luggage
Airlines over the past several years have begun charging for all kinds of things that used to be “free” (they weren’t ever “free”, they just hid the cost in your ticket price). One of the worst offenders to this list of fees, though, is the inane charge for your first checked bag whereas carry-on baggage …
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apps on the network
{This started as a Disqus reply to Eric’s post. Then I realized blog comments shouldn’t be longer than the original post 🙂 } The app-on-network concept is fascinating: and one I think I’ve thought about previously, too. Hypothetically, all “social networks” should have the same connections: yet there’s dozens upon dozens (I use at least …
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what to automate
I have been in the world of automation for quite a while. Specifically in the realms of server, datacenter, and cloud automation – but I’ve been interested and/or involved in other tasks that tend towards automation (even for a short period of time) for far longer than just my post-college time in the world of …
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first experiment follow-up
I’ve been attempting a “reactive”/”consumptive” reading experiment recently. The first book I tried it on was the {{Henry Petroski}}’s horrid {{To Engineer is Human}} (my review). That turned into a failure as I couldn’t stomach his writing, and so “reacting” to it was going to pretty much be an exercise in futility. So I’ve ditched …
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the ultimate measure of financial success
How many times have you heard someone suggest that all their financial problems would magically disappear if they only made more money? But high incomes can’t guarantee financial freedom; there are countless examples of people who earned millions yet still ended up bankrupt. The common thread among folks who get into financial trouble — no …
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conference connectivity
My friend Trent posted last week, “[m]eeting organizer Protip: select a location that gets cell phone service.”. I am fairly certain I disagree. I disagree with Joel Spolsky on this, too. If you are organizing a meeting, conference, or the like, there should ONLY be connectivity if you want your attenders to ignore the meeting – …
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why nations fail by daron acemoglu and james a robinson
I first came across {{Why Nations Fail}} at my local Half Price Books. After seeing it on the shelves a couple times, but still being unsure about whether I really wanted to read it or not, I reserved it at my local library. Now I wish I had bought it (and likely will) – {{Daron …
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the “best” industries for starting a business?
I generally really like Inc magazine. But this article is kinda ridiculous: “The Eight Best Industries for Starting a Business.” By the time an industry has landed on a list like this, the odds that you’re really going to be able to capitalize on it are super slim. There’s nothing “wrong” with starting a business …
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magazines
I am the [proud] holder of subscriptions to several magazines. As part of my attempt to vary my reading materials, I get {{Wired}}, {{Inc}}, {{Fast Company}}, {{Western Horseman}}, and several others. However – I’ve discovered that I just don’t care about most of what is any given issue; there are times when more than half …
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group admin in the era of facebook
Along the difficulties of initially building a good group/community, comes the hassles of managing said [virtual] community – especially on the book of the face. I am a coadmin on the Ontario & Western Railways Historical Society Inc Facebook group. My friend Peter is a coadmin of the Linux Mint group. Something both of us have noticed …
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never run out of dry erase markers
They always go dead when you need them most – so stock up. Especially at employee personal whiteboard, meeting rooms, and class rooms.
on tipping
Let me preface by saying that tipping, as such, in the US and Canada is messed up. There is no reason for businesses to not pay their staff to do their jobs. I shouldn’t be “expected” to supplement their employer’s miserly pay by tipping. But, since that’s how it currently works, I want to share …
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what should a professional services group’s goal(s) be?
Should it be as a revenue stream? Or can it be far, far more? Every place I have worked since getting into professional services back in early 2008 has viewed the goal of the organization as making money by performing services. Whether or not the customer was happy, something useful was delivered, whether a relationship …
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unsales
I am a huge believer in unsales. And not in the pharmaceutical industry sense. Because “shipping is a feature“, and because I intensely dislike the “do it for me, then hand me the keys” mentality, I routinely follow the unsales methodology. What is unsales? It is [almost] only selling what a customer can use today. I …
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new documentation should always augment the status quo
In my line of work, I often need to create documentation for clients. Documentation in general is a Good Thing™. But good documentation’s goal should always be to augment and improve upon what already exists – not to supplant, downgrade, or muddle what already exists. A prime example of this has come up with a …
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evaluating “work from home” “opportunities”
It seems the number of advertised “work from home” “opportunities has gone ever higher since the advent of prolific social networking. A not insignificant portion of these opportunities really are legitimate – 31, Avon, Mary Kay … – but a lot of them at the very least feel scammy. The good ones tell you everything you …
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check your home, auto, and plp insurance policies
Every few months to year I take a look around to see if anyone can give me a better rate on my auto & renters’ (home) insurance. This month, after 3 years, I found a carrier who could knock about $60 a month off my payment *and* give me more coverage. Interesting things I learned …
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zombies and vampires
Many people recently have asked me why I like [some] zombie and vampire stories (and, more generally, why they’re so popular right now), and after taking the time to think carefully on the topic and explain it to them in person, I thought I’d do my 3 readers a favor and write it out here …
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automation {gp}
The way people moved up the ladder in IT during my early days (starting in 1975) was to take on new projects that allowed them time to master the new software and become the local expert. As you became the local expert on many new software products, management became very comfortable giving you more and …
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this is not the year of the linux desktop
2013 will not be the YoLD. Nor will 2014. Or 2015. This will be a shock to the fanatical FLOSS heads out there. But not to me. I’ve never thought that “this will be the year of the Linux desktop” – regardless of how many magazine, journal, blog, and other articles have been published about …
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deadline by mira grant
I read {{Feed}} (review) a few weeks ago, and just finished the 2d installment in {{Mira Grant}}’s {{Newsflesh}} trilogy, {{Deadline}}. The frenetic pace of book 1 was upped a level in book 2 (along with some more language). Mira is a fantastic author, and I cannot wait to read {{Blackout}} (it’s on my library queue). …
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automating or automation?
I have been working in the realm of “automation” – specifically data center automation – for several years. Merriam-Webster defines “automating” thusly: to operate by automation to convert to largely automatic operation <automate a process> Notice the subtle difference with M-W’s definition of “automation“: the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically the state of being …
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