Search Results: work
the megaphone
Megaphones are amazing. For nearly as long as we have organized into large groups, we have rolled materials into tubes and spoken into them to help carry our voices to the back of the audience. Wit… [more]
Team! A Module For Teams!
Recently I found myself with some time on my hands... so I wrote a simple module for managing engineering team member information in automation projects.
Basically I was working on some auto… [more]
The Hunt Begins
Today my hunt for a new role begins in earnest. So I am dropping some thoughts and links here.
Why am I looking for a new role?
The company that I was at (Lumio) has ended in bankru… [more]
Meet with me!
Come meet with me about software engineering things, career things, business things, or bike things.
If the calendar below doesn't work, it doesn't seem to love mobile devices, more]
Some Thoughts on Engineering Leaderhip
So this article started as a thread of tweets. I want to expand on it, so I am going to quote all the tweets here and the… [more]
Last Lectures
Way back in my year end review for 2021 I wrote,
As part of that effort I’ve worked to build a culture in engineerin… [more]
Book Review-Stranger in a strange land
Review: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
As someone working in computers the slang term grok is pretty synonymous with understanding. It turns out that it originates here in Hei… [more]
What Makes a Team Lead Great?
“Well, don’t you think that you as the commander have an obligation to create a vision for your command?” It was more of a statement than a question. “No, I feel that my job as the com… [more]
Lessons Learned From a Film Producer About Making Software
This last week, I had my leadership team in town for the first time in a while for some planning meetings, and some team buildingmore]
The infinite power of people
This afternoon I was reading a theological book (Jacob: a brief theological introduction by Deidre Nicole Green… [more]
Today is going to be a great day, and other mindset shifts
This covers a bit more than a week, but it’s been wild over here. Onboarding into the company that acquired us, the whole family getting COVID (we’re all doing better thanks), and the associates qu… [more]
Cultural Homogeneity
I've been thinking about France and French culture, and why it is that a country that only recently in the broad scheme of things adopted more equal policies around gender, is also a nation whe… [more]
Book Review-The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
Review: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
No one does magical systems better than Brandon Sanderson. That’s a pretty absolute statement but one that I am comfortable withmore]
Book Review-Getting to Yes
Review: Getting to Yes By Roger Fisher and William Ury
This is a quick read with some really good insights into negotiating that isn’t focused on tricks or manipulative tactics.
It em… [more]
Book Review-Aloha Rodeo-Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West
Review: Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith
Strap yourself in for a story where co… [more]
Book Review-The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaimon
I have a mixed experience with Neil Gaiman's work. Not because he isn’t a brilliant story teller, because he is. It’s more a conte… [more]
Book Review-Road to Valor
Review of "The Road to Valor" by Aili McConnon & Andres McConnon
I have love cycling, a fact you should be aware of if you intend to stick around here. Coupled with my love for… [more]
Organizational Design Democracy And Ownership
There are moments where the lightbulb comes on for you and things that have been bouncing on the tip of your brain just drop into place. This week I had one of those. And it was about why people le… [more]
Human Communications Are Hard
Delays and technical issues bias us against others experiencing them.
This comes from more]
Why weird team names make sense
I've managed teams named, among other things, Python-Brug, and Banpo. Named for bridges in different cities, while we worked on a product named Bridge. A lot of people look at those names and t… [more]
Some thoughts inspired by "Toward peer review as a group engagement"
These are rough thoughts and should be taken as such. Think of them more as the interesting points that deserve thought in a context that the author of the paper (Andrea Bonaccorsi) was not specifi… [more]
Lumio UtahJS Conf 2022
Welcome!
I've been at Lumio for a few months now (ok fine 8 months) and I am looking for more people to join our rapidly expanding team. Check out the jobs, and more information about … [more]
Antisemitism ends with us
In 1096 the crusaders, Christian religious warrior pilgrims, set out for Jerusalem. Their cause was nominally to protect their Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters from the encroaching Islamic emp… [more]
2021: Year in Review
It has been quite the year!
As the pandemic has been dragging on, ramping up, slowing down, generally continuing to drag on.
Thoughts
I am excited for 2022.
2022! How did … [more]
Encourage teams to take risks
In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.
— Abraham Maslow
This last Sunday we went on a light hik… [more]
2020: A year
This has been a crazy year, but honestly an exciting one for me and my family. We've lived through multiple natural disasters, moved, changed jobs, survived a pandemic, had a new baby join us, and … [more]
A Simple QR Code Based System for Organizing Your Boxes
Recently we had our second child, and that meant digging through a bunch of boxes in the basement to find leftover baby clothes and gear. After not being able to find a few things we were pretty … [more]
Tech Things I read in 2018
This is going to be a pretty straightforward list of what tech related reading I did this year. It doesn’t include hundreds of blog posts and forum discussion. I’ll break it into two ca… [more]
Neptune (Gremlin) Local Dev Setup
I am playing with some graph databases right now, for a fun project I may write about later. When I first started out I was using Neo4j, which has an excellent local development story, a lovely… [more]
On Bikesheds
The really, really short answer is that you should not. The somewhat longer answer is that just because you are capable of building a bikeshed does not mean you should stop others from… [more]
Making the world more beautiful
Prompt: "You are tasked with making the world most beautiful. Where do you start?"
My first reaction is that I start with furniture. I believe that our perception of quality and beauty, whic… [more]
Vetting Information you read on the internet
Hi friends!
I realized that because of the certain set of skills I have been honing at work for the last decade I have some quick ways of vetting websites for content accuracy that the averag… [more]
design and the internet as ephemera
Hang tight... this is going to get a little esoteric.
The expirement really begins with three realizations. 1) That no one seems to agree on the direction that previous and next should be i… [more]
The right Tools for the right job
Last week I did a bit of programming for Game Of Codes in my "free" time which lead me to a couple of interesting observations.
1. Number of passing t… [more]
First Impressions: Redux/Flow
I am trying to write more and more quickly... so this is just a few quick thoughts from learning flow and redux right now for a new project I just switched to at work.
First, I love the the… [more]
So I got Scammed on Amazon
A couple of weeks ago I fell for scam in the amazon marketplace. Yep me. It was a clever one and not one I have seen written about so I am writing about it.
The Setup
I was in … [more]
monument
Over the past several years I’ve been working on a new application framework for nodejs. Monument is currently on it’s second major release.
What is Monument
Monument is fo… [more]
Critiques and Code Reviews
This is another of my attempts to clear out my drafts folder. I started writing it on 3 August 2011 (So long ago!). Still seems relevant.
Let’s talk about critiques, or as engi… [more]
Let's talk about Boot camps
So the giant article I’ve been planning to write from what I learned prepping for that talk I gave on being senior<… [more]
ambition. life's work.
Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not … [more]
Language Drift and finding code beautiful
I hate javascript Class. I like semicolons. This puts me in a specific group of developers who write js. It puts me at odds with many in the Eternal War of the Semicolon.
As I was driving int… [more]
Being Senior Part 1- the books and data
This is just a quick post to throw up the books I quoted from and a link to the data for anyone who attended my presentation at Utah JS Conference 2016 today. I am putting down my thoughts in a lon… [more]
ambition. life's work.
Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act up… [more]
begin it
"Then indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting over lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;… [more]
Seeing and Speaking
I was reading this wonderful article from ia and it occurred to me that jargon and seeing are related to each other.
We know from resear… [more]
Io: the language, not the moon
This is the first in the Seven Languages series of posts and covers the Io language, a small prototypal language.
Let’s get this out of the way righ… [more]
Seven Languages
A few weeks ago we started a book club at work and we are running through more]
safe-shrinkwrap: for all your shrinkwrapping needs
One of the challenges that we have had in the recent past at work is with dependencies that don’t lock down their dependencies well. A lot of this probably rises from a misunderstanding of
estimations and theory building
My team lead at Instructure, more]
reducing noise
Noise is everywhere in our lives. From commercials, to billboards, to a new crying infant, it is literally everywhere. Some of it is good noise. Some of it is distracting us from the things we want… [more]
2015: in review
It is said that change is the only constant and that certainly proved true this year around here in 2015. I started the year working as a Front End Stack team (core team) member for the LDS Church … [more]
Learning the Trade
I thought I would throw together a list of resources I have found interesting and useful when it comes to building the internet. This is by no means exhaustive and will be updated over time as I fi… [more]
Thoughts on Components and stuff
TLDR: Create small shared granular components for everything, and a "view" is just an ordered collection of components.
Warning: this is rambly and mostly a brain dump. Read on...
C… [more]
On To New Horizons
"Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow." - Juliet (William Shakespeare)
For the last three and a half years I’ve been work… [more]
The Problem of Over Communication
Just like under-communicating over-communicating poses a serious problem to organizations. Before you read this and immediately write it off as just another rant, think about it. How often do you r… [more]
Confidence Without Ego
When I was young I thought humility was placing yourself below other people. To believe that they were better than me. To subserviate myself to their opinions and requests. I thought of the stereot… [more]
Audio and Old Androids
I just got done working on a project that involved the use of the audio tag (with flash fallback for IE) and thought I would share a couple of the issues that we ran into in working on it, and how … [more]
Approaching CSS the OO Way
In an interview somewhere in the web development industry:
"Hey, have you heard of CSS?"
Oh yeah! Totally... it’s that stuff that designers write right? You know it makes things p… [more]
Toward a More Responsive Future
Let’s face it, ultimately the ideal solution for responsive images does not exists yet. Honestly, I am not sure that browser makers really have a dog in this fight so it will likely be a whil… [more]
Moving the World
Dear America:
In the wake of yesterday's election it would be wise to reflect on these wise words from our first President, George Washington.
“I have already intimated to you th… [more]
There is a Right Way
I grew up working with power tools. I think I was 9 the first time I used a router. As a family we were making mancala boards for christmas presents for family and friends. The noise was intense, t… [more]
Short Circuit and the Javascript IF Statement
A quick javascript tip that lets you eliminate small IF statements
Ok so it’s not really that kind of Short Circuit, though it is almost as cool. In javascript, as in many programming l… [more]
Don't Call Me. I'll Call You. Single Request Responsive Images
We’ve been talking about responsive design around the office a lot lately. It’s kind of a big deal these days. The holy grail seems to be responsive images, or a system that allows you … [more]
11
Today on the 10 year anniversary of September 11th I thought I would reminisce about my memories from that day, far from New York City. I am working to compile my families’ stories and may ex… [more]
Setting up Speed: Cherokee, Railo and CouchDB on AWS
I am working on a little side project (ansble.com) which is going to require scalability, and a layered architecture that I just couldn't reasonably build in a physical environment. So I started to… [more]
Setting up Speed: Cherokee, Railo and CouchDB on AWS
I am working on a little side project (ansble.com) which is going to require scalability, and a layered architecture that I just couldn't reasonably build in a physical environment. So I started to… [more]
Current Projects Update
I realized tonight that I have a whole bunch of projects lying around that aren't mentioned anywhere here on designfrontier. So to remedy that I decided to put together this quick article.
Now Serving: Obsolescence
This article is part of a series, “Now Serving,” that takes a look at the changes in design, and consumer culture, that are happening right now.
“We have advanced technologi… [more]
Trust and the Box
Last Friday I was in Historic Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center(jsc) listening to Milt Heflin, one of jsc’s Associate Directors, describe some of the history that happened … [more]
A Tale of Two Cookies: Securing ColdFusion Session Cookies
Recently at work we went through a security review. It was a great learning experience to have outside contractors try and break into the web application. Found several things that I didn't expect … [more]
Relaunch of DesignFrontier
So here it is! After having worked for many hours, it's official. The redesign process has been exciting. Creating new features in new ways has been a blast.
Is it done? Far from it. I am sti… [more]