Disqus - Latest Comments for dallemang

Re: Reflection

dallemang — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:10:20 -0000

I'm so proud of myself. I looked at that pic, and said, 'I think that's Keizersgracht'

Then I looked up the restaurant whose name is visible in the photo.

Re: The Difference Between a Design vs Software Education

dallemang — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:46:09 -0000

There is one place where that sort of "let go of the ego" happens in CS education, and that is in the peer-review paper process. I watched my colleagues break down in tears or jump for joy while reading the reviews of their conference papers. I had developed a bit of that sang-froide that it takes to let go of the ego when a rejection come back.

But while this might be the same from an ego perspective, it isn't the same from a design perspective. It teaches us to let go of the ego when writing papers about our programs, not for the programs themselves. In fact, after that paper rejection, one can easily take refuge in the safe haven of coding, where the only judge is that compiler and the final "does it work?" question at the end; no capricious judges with their own political axes to grind, no subjective principles that resist objective observation. Perhaps making code reviews of the sort you describe even more traumatic.

Re: Stupid Recruiter Shenanigans

dallemang — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:49:58 -0000

My company founders have a relationship with an external recruiter of several decades experience; they have worked with her in various companies for a few of those decades. I wondered why on earth they had such a long relationship with a member of this scum group. Until I saw her in action.

She doesn't do any of the stupid crap we're talking about here. She asks us in-the-know folks who in our field we'd like to recruit. "Well, there's always XXX, but you'll never get him away from where he is now. He's world-famous and has been there for years, and they aren't letting go of him without a fight!"

Two weeks later we have a press release to make about the hire we scored.

"Matching" is the least of what she does, and in fact plays almost no role at all. She does negotiating, intermediating, planning and organizing. That's where she earns her money.

I have never experienced any recruiter like her anywhere else. I think she is a fossil remnant of what that profession used to be.

Re: Missing Accessory: Screens

dallemang — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:23:47 -0000

Back in my days at Synquiry, I remember being in a meeting when a fellow brought out one of those new-fangled PDAs (perhaps it was a Palm? This was probably in 1999 or 2000). He became the talk of the meeting by pulling out a keyboard with a little mount on it that his Palm would fit into, and he could touch-type right into it. Everyone was impressed.

But what made this possible - and particularly impressive - was how small that keyboard folded up. It was in three panels that slid into one another, so that the folded keyboard was about the size of the Palm.

I think the big problem with doing this with a screen is that they don't fold up so that you can carry them (like he did his keyboard) in a pocket of a suit coat. Are there folding screens (other than projectors you mention)? If so, is the quality even remotely acceptable?