Apr 11
I must confess a severe failing on my part. I am not a mindreader. I am not privy to the thoughts in your head. I do not know your needs or desires. And I am certainly not aware of your expectations. This is why requirement documents exist. Please use them.
Dec 03
It might be self evident, but I realized something today — the real reason behind choosing good algorithms to solve a problem is that the good ones either break the problem into smaller problems or are myopic; focusing only on the steps needed to reach an answer. All else is superfluous.
Oct 01
Recently I have been getting emails from sales people saying “I’m following up again” or “In case you didn’t see my email”. Is it a sales technique? Is it indicating that the economy is slowing? Or just people desperate to meet quotas? If the first, I find it really annoying.
Sep 14
First start with an idea. It can be fiction or not. Then start to write. Write your story and then count the words. The goal is fifty words, no more, no less. Trim if need be, otherwise add words. Edit, rinse, repeat until you’re done. Publish it; write some more.
Sep 12
Too many believe that bigger is better; elaborate systems, multitude layers, and diverse architectural patterns demonstrate a maturity of design. Unfortunately they aren’t called at 3am when it breaks. I prefer the simplicity of less — kissing Occam’s razor; trimming away until perfection… when there is nothing left to take away.
Sep 03
Virtual presence doesn’t work too well when the power is out. It is hard to see in the dark and TCP/IP is pretty slow over semaphore or pigeon. The huddled masses hover over their phones and laptops, hoarding the last few precious voltamps of power, praying for Light’s return. (Over 36K customers lost power in …
Sep 01
Design patterns should emerge like leviathan. Software is not bonsai or a square watermelon; don’t try to force it to a shape. The GoF are not prophets. There is no One True Way. Return to the basics. Grok your data and how it flows; a watershed leading to the sea.
Aug 31
DevOps isn’t a tool or a project. It’s a practice. Like any other practice it improves with… practice. There is no recipe. No roadmap. There is no certificate or trophy. The journey starts with recognizing there is a problem and wanting to change. And practicing until you get it right.
Aug 28
A long time ago I encountered mini sagas. Even wrote some. I think it’s high time for some more…. It’s been said that constraints foster creativity. I have, sitting in a little box, far more computing power than NASA did for Apollo, using far less electricity. Yet, by today’s standards, I feel constrained and need …
Aug 26
One of the manifestos from ChangeThis this month is about Mini Sagas. The author, Rajesh Setty presents the idea that writing mini sagas, which contain exactly 50 words, expands your creativity — following on the idea that Creativity Loves Constraints. Typically the mini saga expresses some sort of message or value — I think in …
© 2008-2016 by Matthew K. Williams
Ramblings by Matt Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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