"Equal Opportunity" written by Jim on estrip.org

10/25/08 02:47 - 54ºF - ID#46321

Equal Opportunity

An interesting essay by Will Wilkinson:

which also keyed off some things that I've talked to James about recently, in his job search.

[W]hat little I know of economic sociology tells me that access to economic opportunities is deeply network-relative. -- Will Wilkinson

I find this to be very true. It's the adage that it's not what you know but who you know -- opportunities come through communication, not based on merit. Merit is what allows you to take advantage of the opportunity. You don't have a chance of showing off your skill unless you can talk to the right person.

At work the positions I've helped to hire for have been filled based on me knowing the people we were hiring. I vouched for and championed them because of their personalities and communication skills in addition to their technical chops. The thought of posting those jobs in public and hiring strangers off the street unnerved me greatly.

It's not a perfect system, but we'd only hire a programmer who doesn't come to us through either personal recommendation or by coming to the Ruby meetups we host only as a last resort. Hiring someone is a huge decision that can make or break a team, as I've seen from a few different sides.

It's a tough problem. There are people who are perfectly capable of careers that they can't get into because they don't know who to talk to. Networks limit choices, but also minimize risk and maximize chance of success, if you start out with the right mindset.

If you're looking for a job, don't look in the want ads, look for smokey back rooms and referrals :)

james writes at 12:24:06 10/26/08 - Comment #40976: alright, alright! I will get those addresses monday and draft a freakin letter.

^_^ thanks everyone for the motivation.

janelle writes at 12:11:58 10/26/08 - Comment #40975: It definitely is a good idea for James to ruthlessly pursue his connections, because realistically that's how it works. =)

I just wanted to point out that the who you know system screws people over. It's also what has made it difficult for women and people of color to move up the ladder or even get in the door in some fields.

But I know that it's not your intent to screw people over when you do the hiring process.

Seriously, don't be scared of hiring people off the street. There are interview techniques that you can use to sort out qualified candidates. I'm actually really interested in the whole process of interviewing candidates and making good selections, so you just happened to hit on an area of interest for me.

paul writes at 12:10:40 10/26/08 - Comment #40974: Oh ya, I would definetly say James should pursue it, because no matter how much I think the system is wrong or right, the fact is that it is the system used almost everywhere.

jim writes at 12:07:01 10/26/08 - Comment #40973: The people that we hired was one guy that I'd worked with in the past, and one that has been going to the Ruby meetups for almost a year - neither of whom I was really 'friends' with, but I did know them fairly well, enough to feel very comfortable working with them.

This all came up as James is looking for work, and I'm pushing him to ruthlessly pursue personal connections that he made during the campaign this year :)

janelle writes at 12:04:09 10/26/08 - Comment #40972: I read Paul's journal in response to yours and then I read your journal.

I'm not a big fan of the hire who you know through your networks system. Although I do appreciate when friends pass along possible opportunities to me, like you did. That kind of hiring system is what made it impossible for me to get a job in my field (criminal justice) in Philadelphia. So I ended up working in a totally non-related field than what I studied.

Even though I scored near perfect on civil service exams for probation/parole positions, people who scored less than me were hired on the basis of who they knew. It was unfair and frustrating.

The who you know system seems particularly strong in Buffalo and I've seen hiring practices happen that I thought were uncalled for/unfair in a few different situations.

Really, hiring strangers off the street isn't that scary and you could end up with greater diversity in your staff if you do it that way.

Just my two cents as someone who has done a lot of hiring and has been screwed over by hiring processes.

jim writes at 11:37:16 10/26/08 - Comment #40970: Thanks, Paul - I know what you mean of course. I'm glad that it's working out for me in my new situation, as we had some excellent candidates from the pool at our Ruby meetup. That's not an endlessly deep resource, so maybe I shouldn't think to always count on it, as clearly as you reference it didn't work out for you guys at Roswell with me. :/

paul writes at 11:13:54 10/26/08 - Comment #40965: I turned my long comment into a post (e:paul,46338) in honor of the 25,000 post goal.

tinypliny writes at 05:37:55 10/25/08 - Comment #40951: And talk. Talk to as many people as you possibly can. I mean "quality talk", not just "how's it going" "I am fine" talk. If you don't talk, you are missing more than 70% of the potential friends and contacts you might make.

Permalink: Equal_Opportunity.html
Words: 285
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: nature

10/25/08 11:55 - 53ºF - ID#46319

Green Thumb

I got a couple cute little house plants to take to work. They're all marked as tolerant of low light, so hopefully they'll do OK. I got a plant light just in case, but I'm not sure how to set it up so it won't put too much light on them. I think I'm going to set a timer so it lights them up for a couple hours every morning.

Does anyone have any recommendations on low light plants species to get? I'm always on the look out, and would love to fill my cube up :)

Also, does anyone know where I can by some simple, plain, but not ass ugly plant stands that would be neutral enough to look OK in an office? Target and Home Depot don't seem to sell them. Metal or wood is OK.

pmrk writes at 10:16:01 10/26/08 - Comment #40995: I'd a recommend a snake plant aka Mother In Laws Tongue. They don't like a lot of water or too much light. I water mine every 2 weeks or sometimes once per month. Pothos plants are fairly tolerant of many light conditions, they prefer indirect light. They'll let you know if you're not watering them enough as they will droop but once per week is generally good. I gave my Mom a pothos a few years and it is still doing very well and she usually kills every plant too so don't feel bad (e:tinypliny) Home Depot sells both.

gardenmama writes at 04:30:35 10/25/08 - Comment #40943: I got a couple of really nice low-light plants at Home Depot. They are two different varieties - one with green leaves and pinkish veins, and the other I believe has pinkish leaves with green veins. They are doing very well in my office - not near the window. Also, bamboo does not like direct sunlight and is interesting to look at. I got some really cheap (loose) at the 99 cent chinese store on Sheridan near Bailey by the chinese buffet. I put it in a ceramic container/vase with small stones around it - doesn't require dirt - just water.

theecarey writes at 12:50:12 10/25/08 - Comment #40938: Philodendrons seem to thrive well in office environments. From what I have been told, the bright artificial light is good enough. Maybe it depends on variety.
:::link:::

This morning I was reading up on plants that offer good air filtration. So here is a link to that as well, as there may be some listed that would work for what you are looking for:
:::link:::

tinypliny writes at 11:59:46 10/25/08 - Comment #40936: Man, I always have killed all the plants (16, at last count) I have ever had. The botanical world and I don't get along too well. I am the queen of all black and decayed thumb people all over the world. :/

Permalink: Green_Thumb.html
Words: 138
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: writing

10/23/08 10:56 - 38ºF - ID#46272

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month -

You try to write a novel over the course of 30 days. Which seems insane, but if you do 10 pages a day that's a 300 page book. If you sign up on the site it's got some peer pressure social tools to encourage you to keep going.

I'm tempted to see what I can do... I'll journal my progress if I choose to participate.

If you do sign up, please join the Buffalo region:

And add me as a buddy:

Permalink: NaNoWriMo.html
Words: 106
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: internets

10/23/08 08:40 - 38ºF - ID#46268

Feed Reader Slaughter

I have been trying to follow the principle of 'inbox 0' (background:

). Basically, you get to zero messages in your inbox at least once per day. Ruthlessly, if need be. It forces you to decide if you're really going to need to respond to something, to really think about how you're going to spend your communication time.

For a few months I've been using that system, and found it incredibly useful. Then a week ago I realized that the tyranny of my mail has always paled in comparison to the beast that is my feed reader.

So, I went through my feed reader and deleted all the feeds that update daily or that are only momentarily useful. I'm down to 60 feeds from over 200. The 60 that are left are the ones that update occasionally, and have a very high signal to noise ratio.

It was taking about an hour or two every night to sift through them all and get to 0 unread. It feels nice to be able to do that in 5 or 10 minutes today. I am missing out on some really awesome random information, but the good stuff that I really need to know still finds its way to me.

The downside is fewer random interesting links to post into the (e:strip) chat.

Permalink: Feed_Reader_Slaughter.html
Words: 221
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: internets

10/21/08 08:22 - 47ºF - ID#46224

CHILD ABUSE

Don't ever dress your daughter up as Gallagher :)

Read all about it:

Permalink: CHILD_ABUSE.html
Words: 26
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: work

10/20/08 09:49 - 58ºF - ID#46219

Pair Programming Starts Tomorrow

More work stuff - I need to fill my daily journal quota!

We've got our automated testing down pretty well at work, so on to the next step. We start pair programming every single day in the afternoons tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how this goes, if we can make a habit of it. It's the best way to learn.

(

- pair programming )

We aren't going to do it full time, as the linked page suggests, but even part time should be very, very useful. I've learned to hate silo-style development. Everyone on a team should share ownership of every single line of code. There should not be anywhere that a developer fears to tread.

It's a little bit scary to work so closely with someone, the times that I've paired in the past - you have to fumble around and show your inadequacies, but it's worth it when you teach each other new things and hash out designs before they're halfway done. Code is easy to change as you're speaking about it and hard to change later.

The alternative - well, it is very nice to work alone and polish your work before you show it to other people, but it's just not as communicative in the end. I totally go off in the weeds when working alone.

We're going to rotate the pairs - most of the time it will be one Ruby expert paired with one former Fox Pro programmer who is learning Ruby, but is a domain expert in the software. It should be a good match. Everyone will work with everyone though, just to make sure we can all talk together.

Code reviews are coming, probably next month, too.

So the arc looks like -

Phase I - automated test suite: TDD and feature stories.

Phase II - pair programming.

Phase III - weekly team code reviews.

I love my job so much. I love love love it.

Permalink: Pair_Programming_Starts_Tomorrow.html
Words: 332
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: estrip

10/19/08 09:51 - 36ºF - ID#46188

Close Your Eyes and Do It For England

I donated $40 last night to the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 in California (Prop 8 will remove the constitutional gender-indiscriminant right to marry, and nullify existing same sex marriages in CA). I'm hoping that James and I can go there next year and get married. Either there, or Connecticut.

We are upstanding citizens, we pay our taxes, don't hurt anyone, and just want to be able to rely on the legal system to acknowledge that we can make decisions for each other in times of crisis. We're not trying to undermine other families. I don't know how we could.

Someone linked to this on Twitter, and it convinced me to donate:

Yikes.

is the link, if you're interested in donating, too.

jim writes at 09:51:46 10/20/08 - Comment #40606: I want to get married in my own country. I don't want to feel like a fugitive.

drew writes at 01:10:49 10/20/08 - Comment #40566: Why not Canada? Some friends of mine went there to wed.

james writes at 10:38:15 10/20/08 - Comment #40559: I fucking hate people.

dragonlady7 writes at 12:12:35 10/19/08 - Comment #40511: So I was at a roller derby leaguemate's house last night and found out she was from Connecticut, and congratulated her on her state legalizing gay marriage. "Really!" she said. (She's lived in Cheektowaga for 13 years, so she doesn't exactly have her finger on the pulse of Hartford at this point.) "How funny. CT is odd because it's so liberal on some things, but Puritan on others." "Oh exactly," I said. "That's New England. Nobody ever gets to be drunk or naked ever ever, but equal rights for all!!!"

I sort of love New England and sort of hate it. (I grew up on the MA/VT/NY border, right where they all kinda intersect.)

jim writes at 11:53:35 10/19/08 - Comment #40509: Al-Gayda: Gay terrorists! With rainbow bombs!

paul writes at 11:52:26 10/19/08 - Comment #40508: That is so ridiculous. I hope terrorists show up at Qualcomm.

jim writes at 11:38:43 10/19/08 - Comment #40507: If you believe you have God on your side, then your own prejudices become God's prejudices. There is no compromise when you believe you speak on *behalf* of God.

tinypliny writes at 11:32:47 10/19/08 - Comment #40506: REALLY? Can rational people even see a reason to this madness? How in the world did this prop 8 whatever even get drafted? It represents the core of discrimination. It is as sickening as racism. How can people exhibit such intolerance in as diverse a country as US? It is bewildering to me that a country that is far far ahead in scientific accomplishment in the whole of the planet is so woefully and culturally nescient and steeped in dark-age double-standards.

tinypliny writes at 11:21:51 10/19/08 - Comment #40505: That video was so lunatic I couldn't watch it for more than 10 second. PUKE.

And really, this is why this country is in such major trouble - crszy, insular bigots whose effective brain is the size of a peanut. :/

Permalink: Close_Your_Eyes_and_Do_It_For_England.html
Words: 132
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: work

10/18/08 08:04 - 49ºF - ID#46182

Pseudo-Promotion

I am now the head of Rails development at my work, so I'm coordinating 6 developers. Three new to Rails, and two who are new to the company, and myself. It's actually pretty awesome to be running the projects. I get to be the face of our development team to all the executives and our parent company in Boston.

It's not really a promotion in the sense of title change, more of a coordinator role (still spend 80% of my own time writing code), but it's going to be nice when I have my yearly review next April to be able to claim credit for how nice things are going.

The best part of the job? Saying no to stupid things before they are forced upon us.

We're digging into a ground-up rewrite of one of our core products, an evaluation tool for Physical Therapy students. It's going much smoother then I had anticipated, although two of the guys we thought we'd have had on the project months ago are only now able to lay down Visual Studio and Fox Pro and join us.

There are two other ongoing projects too, so 3 things to keep tabs on and moving forward, plus all the training. Training devs is nice - another way to shape the company culture and make sure that we're doing things the same way. They really like Ruby over Fox Pro - big surprise :)

Thank God for the ADD drugs. I'd be hanging myself otherwise.

Permalink: Pseudo_Promotion.html
Words: 247
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: starwars

10/16/08 10:21 - 50ºF - ID#46148

Episode 7?

(source / more in the series:

)

Permalink: Episode_7_.html
Words: 11
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

10/16/08 09:15 - 54ºF - ID#46139

McCain - Last Debate

What McCain said is not going to play well among independents. Virtually everyone thinks that there should always be exceptions for the mother's health. McCain was very dismissive and used air quotes.

Liberals say that a majority of Americans support abortion rights, and conservatives that a majority don't. The fine print in all that is that a majority support early abortions and oppose late abortions - so it's just how you phrase it in your campaign spots, I suppose.

Personally that's me, pretty much, I am OK with first trimester abortions, and progressively less at ease after that, and by the third trimester I think it's OK to heavily restrict abortions, as long as there are exceptions for rape/health. Which is pretty much what the Supreme Court has decided, right?

paul writes at 07:14:02 10/18/08 - Comment #40485: Like I said, I am pro-abortion. Only under the "extreme circumstances" of actually being able to care for the baby - should they not abort.

gardenmama writes at 08:02:47 10/16/08 - Comment #40373: I found him painfully dismissive on the health of the mother issue. That's a really hard one for me to wrap my head around. Of course, if the Supreme Court ever overturns Roe v Wade, that too would become a health of the mother issue for all women who couldn't afford to leave the country to go elsewhere for safe, legal abortion. Back to butchers, alleys, and coathangers, and young and poor women dying from hemmorage and infection - now there's a plan.

tinypliny writes at 10:09:30 10/16/08 - Comment #40340: Does McCain think "health of the mother" is some fictional roadblock to their party's crazy agenda? Good grief. This bloke doesn't even know what the heck he is talking about. :(

tinypliny writes at 10:03:22 10/16/08 - Comment #40338: Hehehe, I was around 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) when I was born, >1 month premature. People thought I was a a big rat when they looked at my incubator because I was apparently very hairy in addition to being small and ugly. Nothing much has changed even now. LOL

tinypliny writes at 09:57:57 10/16/08 - Comment #40337: Good to know they got medical advice on this one. Back home, the "viable" age is 20 weeks ((e:tinypliny,46006) ), nevermind that many babies dont't make it past 1-2 years because of malnutrition and poor care. :(

jim writes at 09:46:45 10/16/08 - Comment #40336: "Roe v. Wade centrally held that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes â€˜viable.â€™" The Court defined viable as being potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid. Viability usually occurs at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks." The Court also held that abortion after viability must be available when needed to protect a woman's health, which the Court defined broadly in the companion case of Doe v. Bolton. These rulings affected laws in 46 states."

- Summary of Roe v Wade ( :::link::: )