- The guys who’d starve without Carl’s Jr.? Wouldn’t we be better off without them? #
Tweets on 2009-03-28
- Staccato signals of constant information… #
- At the rink for WIHA tournament #
- FIGHT ON! RT @PeteCarroll: First day of spring ball at SC…. Football is back!! Gotta love it! #
- RT @KathySierra: Dressage Olympian Robert Dover to talented young riders, on focus: “Because U dint have a vision, U created something avg” #
Tweets on 2009-03-27
- RT @presentationzen: NYTimes on learning how to think. http://snipurl.com/enerw [Are you a “hedgehog” or a “fox”?] #
- RT @KathySierra: RT @magdaZINE “math without numbers” http://www.morenewmath.com/all/ #
- Speak always and only when you believe it will improve the general results/effort ratio: http://tinyurl.com/5z2rg6 #
Communication Bandwidth
As I’m writing this article, I’m trying to formulate ideas, understandings, and experiences into words. When you read this article, you try to understand what I’m saying within the context of your experiences. In the process of narrowing my bandwidth to words, and you trying to expand the bandwidth from words to your understanding, a lot is lost. No matter how well I write and you read. And, most of us are not superb writers and readers.
Thomas Jefferson on the Financial Meltdown
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — If anyone could emerge from the AIG bonus debacle looking good, it could be New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo. KWOH-moh. Italian, I suppose.
I have no personal animosity toward Mr. Cuomo, but despite his favorable write-ups in the press, he is certainly no hero in these matters.
Americans have short memories. Even members of the press — or “the media,” as you now call them — who should provide context and perspective, have short memories.
Set the Wayback Machine to 1995. Bill Clinton is president and Henry Cisneros, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary, institutes a requirement that 42 percent of the mortgages financed by government-sponsored entities (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac serve low- and moderate-income families.
Things only got worse under Cisneros’ successor, Andrew Cuomo:
Cuomo raised that number to 50 percent and dramatically hiked GSE mandates to buy mortgages in underserved neighborhoods and for the “very-low-income.” Part of the pitch was racial, with Cuomo contending that Fannie and Freddie weren’t granting mortgages to minorities at the same rate as the private market. William Apgar, Cuomo’s top aide, told The Washington Post: “We believe that there are a lot of loans to black Americans that could be safely purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if these companies were more flexible.”
Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s put half of the GSE money into mortgages for very low income black people! And let’s not trouble them for a down payment either:
Fannie also developed a “flexible” product line, providing up to 100 percent financing and requiring borrowers to make as little as a $500 contribution, and bought $13.7 billion of those loans in 2003.
And yet I often hear the ensuing financial meltdown being blamed on “greed” and “the evils of capitalism.”
That was not capitalism; that was government manipulation of the housing market.
Americans have very short memories . . .
Overheard
It’s Not All About You
No, but it’s mostly about me . . .
Tweets on 2009-03-26
- It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. –Seneca #
- The definition for “value” that I recently started using is “what guides us when we have to make a hard decision.” http://tinyurl.com/chzkqp #
- @tweetmeme @smashingmag Reading ‘Designing Drop-Down Menus: Examples and Best Practices’ http://tinyurl.com/dnzeyh #
- Love the Weinerschnitzel vs Carls Jr 2 for $3 chili dog battle. The customer is the true winner! #
- RT @BonnieLowe: Reading “Thirsty plants cn twttr 4 water w/ new device.” nxt it’ll be yr cat tweeting 4 snacks. http://tinyurl.com/dfh8dk #
- RT @KathySierra: Choosing a dog based on breed name is ridiculous, but the coder in me is geekily drawn to: http://tinyurl.com/d3gmkc #
- At Uni High 4 Irvine Band Festival #
Tweets on 2009-03-25
- Supporting the best idea, regardless of source, however much I hope an even better idea may l8r arise… #
- …and when I have no superior alternative idea: http://tinyurl.com/5z2rg6 #
Tweets on 2009-03-24
- Mega Drop-Down Navigation Menus Work Well: http://tinyurl.com/cgbup8 #
- Expression Web SuperPreview makes cross-browser testing like moist delicious cake: http://tinyurl.com/djbbem #
- No one in our office wears a tie. I’m wearing one today to see what happens. #
- A lesson in free-market capitalism from the Swedes: “The Swedish state is not prepared to own car factories.” http://tinyurl.com/cxjdk6 #
- Declining to offer and refusing to accept incoherent emotional transmissions: http://tinyurl.com/5z2rg6 #
- Why Would You Use Agile for Offshore Development? http://tinyurl.com/djyf5y #
Why Would You Use Agile for Offshore Development?
More of my customers have been asking me how to use agile processes, particularly Scrum, to help them manage offshore development. Since offshore development undercuts many of the practices that promote agile productivity, I ask them why they don’t just increase the productivity of their teams by thoroughly introducing agility? It seems that offshore development, with its potential for lower unit costs (dollars per programmer day), offers management hope that their losses can be reduced. Since the project is probably going to fail anyway, let’s minimize our losses by lowering our investment by using lower priced resources. A more optimistic, agile, way of looking at this problem is to fix the problem at home and increase the probability of success.
The Beauty of Cultural Diversity
My son’s one-eighth Japanese on his mom’s side and the student body at his school is about 40 percent Korean, so when he comes into my room yelling, “YES! I am going to shove it” — punctuated with a fist pump — “at those Koreans tomorrow,” it doesn’t take long to figure out that Japan must have won the World Baseball Classic . . .
Crucial Conversations
I know my son had a history test today, and that history is a make-or-break class for him. I want to ask him about the test but we’re having a delicious family meal at Olive Garden and I don’t want to break up the festive mood in the event the news turns out to be bad.
I decide to ease into it with some small talk . . .
“So, how was recess today?”
o_O (BLANK STARE)
I continue, “I know you had a history test today but rather than get right into that, I thought we could start with some small talk about recess.”
He says, “I haven’t had recess since 6th grade.”
“Oh. In that case, how was the history test?”
Tweets on 2009-03-23
Tweets on 2009-03-22
- GOP takes lead in generic ballot.That didn’t take long. http://tinyurl.com/ctudrb #
Tweets on 2009-03-20
- RT @VJnator: The only time Obama is not using the teleprompter is when he uses the word “Look” beginning his sentence.That is the indicator. #
- Forgot my sunglasses, had to drive 2 work w/out them. Turns out to be overcast, no sun. It’s a good day… #
- Buy Ichiro’s house – $1.75 million: http://tinyurl.com/ddvkqj #
- @VJnator He does…it’s an arrogant way to start a sentence. in reply to VJnator #
- RT @PeteCarroll: Best of luck to Coach Floyd and the Trojans in Minneapolis! Beat the eagles!! #
- My brother’s visiting from the Pentagon. Not on official business. Nephew’s wedding this weekend. #
- Building credibility by admitting that you don’t know the answer: http://tinyurl.com/ctyq6s #
Building Credibility
Many people worry that not knowing something is a sign of weakness, and that if a leader seems not to have all the answers they will lose the confidence of their team. Such people try to pretend they have the answer in every situation, making things up if necessary and never admitting mistakes.
However, this approach ultimately backfires. Sooner or later people learn the truth and figure out that the person never admits when they don’t know. When this happens the person loses all credibility: no-one can tell whether the person is speaking from authority or making something up, so it isn’t safe to trust anything they say.
On the other hand, if you admit that you don’t know the answer, or that you made a mistake, you build credibility. People are more likely to trust you when you say that you do have the answer, because they have seen that you don’t make things up.
An MVP-Caliber Performance
He said it was “an AYSO 10-and-under caliber trophy.” He doesn’t really care though. He doesn’t display the trophies he already has.
He had a great season though, and a great game in the finals.
The coach asked him to play defenseman this season — which he’s never played — because they had too many forwards. He made a few mistakes but it turned out to be a great coaching move because he’s probably the strongest skater in the league and the best forwards on other teams got frustrated when they couldn’t just skate around him like they could with all the other defensemen.
He’d get my MVP vote, if I had an MVP vote, and if the league had an MVP award, which it doesn’t . . .
IHF Champions
Northwood won their IHF final game against El Dorado, the number one seed, 5-2.
I saw this team at the beginning of the season and said to my son, “You guys are going to lose every game.”
He said, “I think we’re going to go undefeated.”
It turns out he was closer to being right than I was . . .
Tweets on 2009-03-19
- Really looking forward 2 my 1st ski lesson this weekend! Wait, WHAT?! http://tinyurl.com/cx97xu #
- RT @THE_REAL_SHAQ: Best Dunk ever? http://tinyurl.com/d68vr5 #
- Embracing elegant solutions w/ a philosophy of doing far more w/ much less. #
- How have U changed the way U perform your work in the last week? http://tinyurl.com/cpuuru #
- F’ing gerunds… #
- Dashboard inspiration w/ sparklines: http://tinyurl.com/cdry8t #
- At the rink for IHF finals #