What You Should Know About Moore’s Law
Moore’s Law was created by one of the most important trailblazers in electronics and computing, but do you even know Moore’s first name? Most people working in technology are familiar with Moore’s Law. It predicts a doubling in computing power every eighteen months by doubling the amount of transistors that can be created on a silicon wafer. However, Moore’s other history changing contributions often go unrecognized. Gordon Moore grew up in a tiny town called Pescadero, which is just a few miles from today’s well known Silicon Valley. From an early age, Gordon was interested in chemistry and chemical reactions.
Bitcoin Technologies Will Change The World
Recently, there has been massive speculation around cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is in the news on a daily basis and even people with little technical knowledge have started participating in the discussion. While these newly created currencies are fascinating, it’s much more interesting to explore the underlying technology – blockchain. Blockchain has the potential to change many more aspects of our lives outside of how we exchange money. From real estate to automobiles, crime scene evidence to designer goods, we are just starting to realize the true impact this technology can have. Before we go any further, let me provide a very high
Exceptional Skills Do Not Make Exceptional Hires
Unfortunately, it still seems personality is not given as much consideration as skill set when hiring new team members. More often, the candidate’s character and attitude are secondary to their intelligence. However, even the smartest person can be a catastrophically toxic team member. After reviewing the most exceptional members of my team, personality and attitude stood out – not skill set. When building a team while trying to maintain an exceptional work culture, a candidate’s personality is key and can even outway any other skills they possess. Humility is of paramount importance. The smartest person in the room is not
A Title Does Not Make a Leader
The first misstep many new managers make is they believe their new title gives them the ability to lead. They feel that because they are the manager, they are a leader that others should follow – sometimes without question. While the title does give the manager authority, it doesn’t guarantee that people will follow. In some cases, a good leader can demonstrate leadership characteristics long before they are given an official leadership position. So, what distinguishes someone who just holds a title from a great leader? For starters, you are not a leader just because you are an expert. Let’s
Fight Ransomware With A Worthless Computer
Ransomware attacks are not new, but there has definitely been a recent surge in occurrences. Even as I write this blog, another huge attack has taken down several large companies across the globe! The monetary losses have been calculated in the billions, but for some people the data that was lost is priceless. The situation can be devastating for both businesses and individuals. While effective use of virus scanning software and religiously applying the latest security updates are good practices, they don’t guarantee your safety. If somehow, something slips by those layers of protection, are you prepared? I had the
My Team Said Goodbye to Tasks Forever
As I mentioned in a previous blog about how to effectively implement agile, the success of an agile process directly depends on how easy it is to integrate into a daily work routine. I spent some time reviewing my own team’s agile practices looking for ways to make our process even more effective. After analyzing the pain points, I adjusted how we plan and track iterations by removing tasks entirely. Here are some of my observations and how we updated our processes to make them more natural. Previously, our team had used a traditional approach to agile where we
A Survivor’s Guide to Cloud Outages
When it comes to hosting cloud services, there is one ever-present worry. Will the cloud go down? It’s bound to happen at some point although it should be a very rare occurrence. In the current high tech world of service uptime agreements that range from 99.9% uptime all the way up to 99.999% uptime, reaction to cloud outages is critical. The way you react can mean the difference between a graceful recovery or highly upset customers. There is no way to positively say that an outage will never occur. So let’s discuss how the situation could be handled so that
Secrets of Team Building and Creating Unrivaled Culture
“Work Rules!” by Lazlo Bock is a must read book for anyone trying to build a team while maintaining a magnetic company culture. Very often, I will look towards successful software companies to establish a pattern of practices that I can follow in my daily business. This book offers a unique insider’s account of how Google built its now iconic culture. Lazlo, who was the Vice President of People Operations until 2016, gives detailed accounts of how they managed to maintain a fair and fun working environment while also dramatically increasing their employee headcount. From hiring strategies to retention strategies, this
Implement Agile Effectively!
Don’t have process for the sake of process! Make your process work for you! Agile methodologies have been around for quite a while. Even after all these years, armed with multiple past experiences, it can still be difficult to transition a development group to use proper agile practices. Whether you are interested in making your current agile practices better, or you are starting to implement them from scratch, here are a couple suggestions that will make your life simpler. First and most importantly, make sure the agile process you define works for you. If the process that you try to
Your Company Should Not Fear The Cloud
Okay, I get it. The cloud can be scary for any business. It’s a huge leap in how its infrastructure, data, and mission-critical assets are managed. Not to mention, the IT practices that are currently in place at many companies have been around for several years. Tested and refined over time and evolved into systems that help IT professionals feel safe when it comes to their infrastructure. However, once you start to investigate the barriers that prevent companies from moving to the cloud, you’ll find that most of the perceived hurdles are not really problems at all. What, someone else
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