Matthew's Weblog » General http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com Technical notes and societal musings Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:10:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Mishmash of articles – Part II http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2009/05/10/mishmash-of-articles-part-ii/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2009/05/10/mishmash-of-articles-part-ii/#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 19:30:44 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/?p=353 Management Tips: Gen X vs. Gen Y

Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn | Guy Kawasaki

Welcome to Executor

A multi purpose launcher and more advanced and customizable freeware windows run replacement and more…

Bye-Bye, BPA
BPA/Phthalate-Free Shopping List
Now that we’re reading lots more about BPA and its low-level bad effects, we’re figuring out how to get our plastics to be non-BPA

sslstrip – transparently hijack HTTP traffic on a network, watch for HTTPS links and redirects, then map those links into either look-alike HTTP links or homograph-similar HTTPS links

How do you learn to be a Program Manager?

Mostly, becoming a program manager is about learning: learning about technology, learning about people, and learning how to be effective in a political organization. A good program manager combines an engineer’s approach to designing technology with a politician’s ability to build consensus and bring people together.

]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2009/05/10/mishmash-of-articles-part-ii/feed/ 0 Random cleanup baloney http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2008/09/11/random-cleanup-baloney/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2008/09/11/random-cleanup-baloney/#comments Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:11:52 +0000 admin http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/?p=337 Open Source Laptop tracking system – Aedona

Some funny options for unlocked computers for your coworkers…

Problems with the Community Broadband Act and its lock-in to the established players

]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2008/09/11/random-cleanup-baloney/feed/ 0 Why Hire Great Programmers http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/08/15/why-hire-great-programmers/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/08/15/why-hire-great-programmers/#comments Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:47:17 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/08/15/why-hire-great-programmers/ A perspective on why to hire great programmers instead of average ones:
A Guide to Hiring Programmers: The High Cost of Low Quality
Followup to “A Guide to Hiring Programmers”

Really good points, and some interesting ideas about how to drive the idea through the HR process.

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]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/08/15/why-hire-great-programmers/feed/ 0 Neo-Patronage http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/02/14/neo-patronage/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/02/14/neo-patronage/#comments Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:57:56 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/02/14/neo-patronage/ Because the idea of neo-patronage here is being applied to writing (and kind of associated with all arts) it sounds new… but when I actually sat down to write about how cool I thought it was and how it was related to the Baen Free Library and other many-words kinds of things, I realized — this is really the basis of Open Source software and donations for people’s work and all that is new here is the name.

That said, I really like calling it ‘Neo-Patronage’…

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]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2007/02/14/neo-patronage/feed/ 0 Seen on Slashdot… http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/15/seen-on-slashdot/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/15/seen-on-slashdot/#comments Thu, 15 Jun 2006 23:26:39 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/15/seen-on-slashdot/

Ah yes, more to the specific point, which God is more powerful:

A)
The god that creates everything in [one fell] swoop 6000, filles with
incosistancies (sic) and plotholes and has to step in every so often to
adjust settings here and there.

B) The one who can plan out
events billions of years in advance, making everything fit so perfectly
together, using simple rules that are capable of fractal growth into
marvelously complex systems that continue to run flawlessly for
millions of years without intervention?

In a head to head battle, I have a feeling that God B will have figured out how to win before the fight even begins.

by Clambake

]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/15/seen-on-slashdot/feed/ 0 No High Priests http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/08/no-high-priests/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/08/no-high-priests/#comments Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:41:37 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/08/no-high-priests/ An interesting WSJ article on Google’s management advantages.  The one that I think is the largest advantage is that no one thinks they’re “infallible seers”… priests of high technology that get ideas handed down from some divine providence.  I’ve seen too many technological answers mandated by upper management that doesn’t understand what they are doing.  And I’ve seen the results…

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]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/06/08/no-high-priests/feed/ 0 Apposite, who knew? http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/apposite-who-knew/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/apposite-who-knew/#comments Thu, 06 Apr 2006 22:59:06 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/apposite-who-knew/ From Dictionary.com…

apposite \AP-uh-zit\, adjective:
Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt.

I’ll have to remember that one.

]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/apposite-who-knew/feed/ 0 Attention, what’s that? http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/attention-whats-that/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/attention-whats-that/#comments Thu, 06 Apr 2006 22:55:22 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/attention-whats-that/ I’ve never been good at staying focused, and have wondered if there is some low-grade ADHD embedded in my bones. However, more and more folks are noticing that technology these days pushes us into more-interruptible lives. The most recent description came via Steven Levy about continuous partial attention. I think it really reflects the state of things right now…

The question is, how do we solve it? I’ve wanted, for a long time, a technological fix – a filter that stands between me and the world, knows what I’m doing, and is aware of what is worthy of interrupting me with. Hasn’t happened yet, though a lot of people are working on it.

My answer always has been mundane, because I can’t handle anything more complex. Don’t look. Ringers off. Close the laptop, turn the TV off. I don’t even play music because that distracts me. One activity at a time, when I need to. It’s hard, and I’m still working on it – and my wife will tell me I’ve got a long way to go…

]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2006/04/06/attention-whats-that/feed/ 0 Finding Blue Flame http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/17/finding-blue-flame/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/17/finding-blue-flame/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:30:11 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/17/finding-blue-flame/ So I ran across an article about Finding Your Blue Flame – discovering where your interest burns hottest, and targeting that with purpose.

I will be doing that over this holiday.

]]> http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/17/finding-blue-flame/feed/ 0 Time to strike back against The Voice http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/08/time-to-strike-back-against-the-voice/ http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/08/time-to-strike-back-against-the-voice/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2005 05:49:33 +0000 Matthew http://mps.blog.webplumbers.com/2005/12/08/time-to-strike-back-against-the-voice/ Hate automated phone trees? I heard about Paul English and his magic list of IVR bypass codes. Very cool!

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