This is my second SXSW which apparently makes me a veteran because I get quoted saying things like this: It’s true. The best part of SXSW is the networking which goes on outside of the panels. SXSW is a concentrated pool of people who share your same interests which means if you randomly choose to… more
The terrifying reality regarding your resume is that for all the many hours you put into fine-tuning, you’ve got 30 seconds to make an impression on me. Maybe less. It’s unfair, it’s imprecise, and there’s a good chance that I make horrible mistakes, but there’s a lot more of you than me, and while hiring… more
The camera on the new phone has the ability to take three separate pictures and then stitch the three together into a single panorama. It’s a slow process, but the end result is a photo which gives an entirely different perspective. I’m in Scotland all week and I was successful in completely ignoring jetlag until… more
I’m searching my articles from last year regarding SXSW and I can’t find any documentation of one of the major discoveries. SXSW is the only conference I know where designers and developers hang out. Designers have design conferences. Developers have nerd conferences. SXSW has somehow convinced both parties to head to Austin and actually talk… more
There’s a very short list of new manager “must do’s” in the Rands Management Rule Book. The brevity of this list comes from the fact that a must is an absolute and when it comes to people, there are very few absolutes. A clever way to manage one person is a disaster when applied to… more
I’m coming up on five years of steady Mac OS X usage and anniversaries are a time of reflection, so I went back to read my first significant article about Mac OS X. There’s something missing from this first analysis. See, there was one killer app that I’d been dying to try out on the… more
When you accept a new job, you don’t know who you are going to work with, what you are going to be doing, and how much (or little) you’re going to like it. Call everyone you want. Ask their opinions. Trust the fact that a good friend referred you for the gig. Revel in the… more
There is a long-standing perk for working at high tech companies. If there is a nerd-relevant movie coming out, it is the obligation of management to get a sneak preview for the engineering team. An opening day morning showing works, but has significantly less morale impact than the sneak preview earlier in the week as… more
The rules are simple: Take 20 minutes from your busy day Grab some stickies (or equivalent) And tell everyone what’s up Post a link with a comment (or don’t) Winner gets a copy of the book (but that’s not the point) Tell a friend.
I ran cross country for many years in jr. high and highschool. A daily longish run became part of the regular routine. I was unable to sleep well unless I’d chewed up some nearby trail. Upon arrival at UC Santa Cruz, I found a gorgeous loop trail near the East Field House that I’d hit… more