Author: Carl Page 26 of 152

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

On February 23, 2020

My favorite part of this entire book is his description of how terrible it is live in the DC area. The traffic. The people. Just trying to get around is an entire evening’s endeavor.

The second part I loved about this book is his description of the access to some administrators have. The ability to look into each and every part of a system because that person has to administer and fix that system when it breaks is like the hand of God reaching out over computer files and information.

Trust is a huge requirement when it comes to administering computer systems. Trust can easily be broken when there’s no oversight. And can be easily abused when there’s no accountability.

The hardest part of this book to read, by far, was the portions of his girlfriend Lindsay’s journal entries.

On Compensation

By Carl

On February 20, 2020

In Observations

When trying to understand (and let’s be honest – increase!) my pay, I’ve found it really useful to first understand the processes around compensation at the company I work for. Here are some questions you can ask. Your manager can probably answer many of these, but your colleagues might know too!
Questions you can ask about compensation – Julia Evans

Two questions I like to ask in interviews are very similar to these:

Who makes decisions about raises? (is it at the discretion of the manager? Does the manager have a fixed budget they can give out? Is there a formula based on past performance evaluations?)
When do we adjust salaries? (on the employee’s work anniversary? Right after a performance review?)

I like to ask something like, “In a year if I’m hired and I excel in the position and bring a ton of value to the company, what does the review process look like? How is performance reviewed and what is the outcome from those reviews?”

Now, in the world of government contracting, often times the “performance review” is a performance in itself. There’s no actual review. There’s no outcome other than checking the box for received performance review.

But in the private sector, there should be a review of your performance. And it should mean something. If the interviewer(s) can’t answer these questions, then there may not be a plan in place and it could be a warning sign.

If that’s the case, negotiate strong up front. Push for as much money, time off, other benefits the company offers as you can. This may be your one and only chance.

All of the questions Julia lists are great and depending on your situation may or may not apply to your situation. But they’re good things to think about. Especially if the money isn’t where you want it to be, ask for more vacation time or some other benefit that can often be considered.

And when it comes to salary, always, always, always, always ask for more money.

The worst that can happen is you’re told no.

But there’s often a couple thousand more dollars per year you’re leaving on the table if you don’t ask. If you’re offered $30k, ask for $35k. Even if they only offer $32k, that’s an extra $2,000 per year you wouldn’t have gotten.

Never take the first offer. Always ask for more. There’s more to be given, all you need to do is ask.

Recording All the Melodies

By Carl

On February 17, 2020

In Links and Quotes

In this recent TED Talk, lawyer, musician, and technologist Damien Riehl talks about the rapidly diminishing number of melodies available to songwriters under the current system of copyright. In order to help songwriters avoid these melodic legal landmines (some of which are documented here), Riehl and his pal Noah Rubin designed and wrote a program to record every possible 8-note, 12-beat melody and released the results — all 68+ billion melodies, 2.6 terabytes of data — into the public domain.

We are running into this with our podcast. When I take our show, add video to it and upload it to YouTube, we inevitably get hit with some copyright claim.

Often for innocuous audio behind something that, if removed, would have no bearing on what’s being said. It’s a bit of sad music. Or a guitar riff that meanders on.

We aren’t at the level of making any money off YouTube, but if we were, it would give me a strong reason not to upload the show to their service.

How to win at gift giving for kids (and their parents)

By Carl

On February 5, 2020

In Observations

My wife is part of a large family. With 6 siblings, and those siblings have 18 children of their own. That’s a huge number of birthdays, Christmases and special events where presents are expected. We have been trying to go another route with presents for the kids.

With so many grandparents, uncles, aunts and friends the children are showered with presents. Toys and books and batteries and stuff. So much stuff. Christmas morning looks like a toy store exploded under some Christmas trees. Instead of buying more stuff for their kids, we have been giving different sorts of gifts.

College Funds

We have encouraged anyone who doesn’t have a 529 account to set one up for their kids. Then we can send them money for their futures instead of toys for today. It’s a good gift for the parents and helps a little with their kids’ future. It also encourages them to setup the account (if they didn’t already) and I hope makes the conversation easier to have with others. Instead of buying the kids another toy, do something that will benefit them in the future.

But think of the children! I can hear the wails of grandparents everywhere needing to see the kids filled with delight over the wrapped packages. This brings me to the second part of winning at gifting.

Awesome Greeting Cards

Instead of spending $20 (or more) on a toy, find the coolest car you can with with the current favorite cartoon character, prehistoric creature or just neat artwork. We sent Thomas the Tank Engine card (for a little Tommy) and that elicited running around and showing everyone who was near with the card for the next week (and it remains intact 7 months later). For Christmas, we found a card with a series of little pop-open windows and different scenes playing out. And the boys love opening the windows and seeing things pop-up.

Instead of another toy in a pile of toys, it’s fun to have the kids talk about the cards months after we send them. I know kids love what they love. But it’s so much fun seeing them love the cards as much as we loved picking them out. And now you’ve got extra money to send for their futures. Or to get their parents something nice, like an Instant Pot.

Seriously, if you haven’t found the Instant Pot, it may change your life. It’s the best gift we gave to an adult last year.

Make It Happen

By Carl

On January 30, 2020

In Observations

This is a lesson I learned the HARD way. Reigning in your curiosity, of wanting to get down into the detail and ask questions without understanding their impact. https://t.co/ERUSDQB2ID
— Joe Pettersson (@Joe8Bit) January 30, 2020

This tweet inspired this post.

In another case, I was asking too many specific questions, which I thought were harmless, but they were un-intentionally setting off a chain of useless workflow at a company because when a board member asks a question everyone drops what they are doing to answer it, even if it isn’t all that important.
Feedback for Board Members – Javelin VP – Medium

This one really hits home and is related to the Executive Makes Request and No One Asks Questions problem that happened recently.

This has happened at every place I’ve ever worked in support. An Executive makes a request like “I need X for a meeting.” This triggers a flurry of activity. Meetings are called. People are given marching orders. There’s a flurry of activity caused by this request.

This is all as it should be. Until questions are asked.

Questions such as “When is this meeting?” Well… um…. I don’t know. “Where will this meeting be held? And for approximately how many people?” Um…. I don’t know. Just make it happen.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been given orders like make it happen without the most minor details provided or questions answered.

This leaves the people responsible for making it happen in a awkward position because they often don’t have the power to ask or know who to ask for details when their managers also don’t know them.

And no one will ask the Executive in question for this information, or go through their assistant.

So what should be a 5 minute conversation often turns into (if you’re lucky) a single day of meetings, phone calls, IMs, and activity all in the service of nothing.

All of this motion wastes all of this time and at the end of it, you’re still no closer to a successful execution because you don’t know what to execute.