Review: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has been written by two IT managers/consultants whose main point is that people matter more than technology. People often allure themselves that they are in the high-tec business and that their primary objective is managing technology. In reality, the authors argue, an exceptional IT manager is dealing, first and foremost, with people management: their working environment, channelling their creativity, bolstering their sense of ownership in relation to the IT product they work with, supporting the strong team feeling, not wasting people's time...

Many of the book's theses are no brain teasers and are rather obvious for people with the intensive team management experience. However, the book as a whole is well substantiated, has many relevant examples and - last but least - has a good portion of wit.

Review: Iseseisvuspäev

Iseseisvuspäev by Kaur Kender

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Otsekohene, brutaalselt aus ja lihtsasti loetav lugu noorest mehest ja tema tegutsemistest aastail 1990-1991. Sõltuvalt lugejast võib teenida kas äratundmise, ajaloolise kroonika või tugeva meelelahutuse eesmärke.

What I like most about Norway?

What I like most about Norway?

Egalitarian social system.

Very nice people (most of the time).

High standard of living.

Alcohol policy... NOT! :) (I can't buy a bottle of wine after 15:00 on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays - I feel being treated a irresponsible kid by the society as whole, but, well, that's not the focus of this blog post) :)

There are even more things about Norway I like. But most of all - by far - I love the nature in this country. The fjords and mountains are so magnificent, the lakes so colourful. There are so many breathtaking views all around the country - and I have only seen a small bit of it.

Norway belongs to the TOP 3 countries for me in terms of the nature. All three are those I have lived in - Norway, Croatia and Kazakhstan. Norway has a great combination though. It is both not so much densely populated (there is a lot of untouched wild nature over here) and it has great infrastructure for hiking (marked paths, simple tourist accommodation, updated maps, safe roads etc).

My latest trip was to the area of Voss which is not too far away from Bergen - below are just some of the snapshots speaking for my love affair with the Norwegian nature (and the tiny lovely settlements around).

Review: The French Revolution: A Beginner's Guide

The French Revolution: A Beginner's Guide by Davies Peter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A compact overview of the French Revolution (the end of the 18th century). The author does a good job listing the facts and clearly defining the different periods, while taking a neutral, rational approach to the analysis of this important historical event.

However, the book is rather dry and does not read as a coherent narrative - facts are followed by analysis, then new facts, new analysis etc. The last chapters are more interesting - especially in terms of highlighting the legends which have arisen after the French Revolution.

All in all, I would recommend this book.

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How I learnt programming - Codeacademy

My professional ambitions are related to the information technology management. This is the path I partly follow now - and this is the direction I want to grow in further.

Having worked close to 4 years in an IT-company, I see almost every day that people without technical background education consider the developers' room as "a-place-where-magic-happens". In many occasions, I represent one of those.

Indeed, although I intuitively understand why some things take longer than expected in programming, although I often ask questions from my IT-skilled colleagues, at times I feel simply dumb. What all these lines of code REALLY mean?

Few weeks ago I read of an exceptional U.S.-based start-up which enables people like me to actually learn programming in a fully interactive mode - Codeacademy. You start to learn immediately, as you go - all by solving exercises which start with trivial things and get more and more complicated. There is a good explanation for each component and hints if you don't get it at once - all framed into an easy and clean interface. I have used it and have passed two sets of exercises already. And I can say I love this tool! One needs patience and determination to handle it - but, well, so it goes for all kind of learning.

For me, this project is now on the same line as Khan Academy which I discovered somewhat earlier (and thanks to which I have learnt a great deal about the biology for example). Viva la life-long learning!

Below is the example of the code I wrote for one easy numerical algorithm (with the help of replication and instructions, of course):


Just a couple of days ago I would have struggled understanding it all. What does this code result in? This array of digits/words:

1

2

Fizz

4

Buzz

Fizz

7

8

Fizz

Buzz

11

Fizz

13

14

FizzBuzz

One can learn JavaScrip, jQuery as well as the web fundamentals (HTML and CSS) through Codeacademy. As for now, completely free. I just need time to master it all (and I hope I will have enough of it) - in order to be able to see the real math behind the apparent "magic" when working with the software developers :)

Review: Fra idé til vekst

Fra idé til vekst by Håvard K. Bjor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book provides a well-structured overview of all phases a start-up company goes through. The book has plentiful of practical tips and simple models that any entrepreneur can use in his/her practise. It is especially well-suited for Norwegian practitioners and students.

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How to ruin your message with professional clichés

I have recently received an invitation to a webinar organised by one international company to my work mailbox (they had probably gotten it from some database). It would otherwise not catch my attention too much - but after scrolling through it a little bit, I realised that it was a prime example of how to ruin the whole message with fancy sounding clichés.

Hi Deniss,

My name is [...], Senior Director of Feedback Management at [..]. I wanted to let you know about some information that could impact on your role at [...]. A recent [...] study, “Customer Feedback Management: Leveraging the Voice of the Customer to Amplify Business Results,” revealed that companies successfully leveraging Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs accomplish quantifiable year-over-year performance gains including increased annual revenue and higher customer satisfaction ratings.

[...] I will be hosting a webinar, based on the study’s findings [...]

I hope you’ll be able to join us for what is sure to be an informative webinar that will yield valuable take-aways for your organization!

I wonder if I am the only one who starts to smile when reading messages which exhibit phrases like "information that could impact on your role", "companies successfully leveraging Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs accomplish quantifiable year-over-year performance gains" and "yield valuable take-aways for your organization"?

Keep it short and simple - I hope I follow this effective rule in my business correspondence.

Questioning biotechnology

This is why I have always been sceptical when hearing about the latest advancements in biotechnology. I really hope the wrong people won't get using it...