I recently read Jacob Kaplan-Moss’ article Software Estimation Is Hard. Do It Anyway. His argument is that although estimation is hard, there are benefits to getting better at it and being able to provide accurate estimates. I disagree with his argument and propose a more helpful mindset.
Banning Preemptive Sludge Justification
This is a sample of Slack messages I’ve read lately that all share a common theme:
Hi all – I’m getting acupuncture from 11:30 – 12:30 so I’ll be offline during that hour.
Hey y’all, I have a few painters in my house today and tomorrow so I may be intermittently away as I shift my workspace from room-to-room
Good weather outside, so I’m gonna go sit under a tree and read [documentation]. Will be away from Slack for about an hour.
This is my favorite
Wanted to give folks a heads up. My mom (our babysitter) pulled something in her back so she’s not able to watch [kid]. [Spouse] is taking care of it today, but if she’s not better tomorrow I’ll have to take the day off and take over. Might still call into a few meetings here and there.
These messages were posted in channels with 20+ people. Most of the people in these channels were not working directly with the authors; they were not in the middle of a chat conversation and got interrupted. Most of these authors did not have meetings scheduled with any of the other channel members during their absence.
I recently advocated that we ban this type of conversation in Slack. It didn’t go over well. Here’s my defense. Continue reading “Banning Preemptive Sludge Justification”
Android Mapbox SDK: Hiding Labels As User Zooms Out
I’m using Mapbox Android SDK in a side project to show bike paths and points of interest (POI). The POIs are indicated with a marker icon and a text label. I only want to show the labels at certain zoom levels. Mapbox provides some label collision options but none of them work like I want. Here’s how I got this working.
Continue reading “Android Mapbox SDK: Hiding Labels As User Zooms Out”
Seven Samurai: A Lesson In Team Dynamics
Seven Samurai is a 1965 film by Akira Kurosawa. The story chronicles the struggles of a small farming village in rural Japan during the time of the Shogun emperors. The villagers discover that they will soon be overrun by bandits who plan to rape, kill and pillage. The villagers are helpless to defend themselves, so they travel to the nearest town to recruit samurai to defend them. The villagers eventually persuade a single samurai to take up their cause. This samurai then recruits six other samurai and together they form and execute a plan to defend the village.
The film is considered a classic in cinema. The direction, camera work, acting, and story line are all amazing. It is an entertaining film that I watch over and over. One aspect of the plot that I find incredibly powerful is understanding the team dynamics among the seven samurai. It serves as a lesson in modern team structure.
R.I.P. Device Farm
I’ve been an Android developer at three different companies in my career. At each company I tried to set up a device farm and run instrumentation tests on that farm. After three attempts, I’m finally giving up.