Antipaucity - Latest Comments

Re: the pros and cons of “gamification”

Eric Hydrick — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:33:41 -0000

You could measure team stats in addition to individual stats, (either aggregating the data from everyone or averaging everyone's raw data, depending on the stat in question). The big issue isn't just the metrics, but also who's reviewing/analyzing them. Do they look at the team data as the sum of the parts, or do they know the team members well enough to know that Jim got sick for half the week, Bob spent the week on a particularly tricky issue that took a while but spent 12 hours a day for 3 days on it, and that Steve was clearing out a backlog of simple issues that had been hanging around for a while and needed addressing?

Relying on raw numbers alone is never good, but no metric system will ever solve that problem. What I'm proposing is a system that can (hopefully) give people a more detailed breakdown of what employees are doing well, where they're doing poorly, doing so in a way that's more difficult to "game", and is easily adaptable to changes in focus from management based on the performance by the team/individuals.

I'm not saying what I'm proposing is immune to "gaming", but by taking multiple, distinct measurements, it should at least be more resilient against it.

Re: the pros and cons of “gamification”

Warren — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:19:41 -0000

stats are all well and good - it's the over-promotion of them that worries me.

I don't necessarily know how you collect the "team" data I alluded to, but I know that it's far more useful than the individual contributors to the organisation as a whole.

Re: the pros and cons of “gamification”

Eric Hydrick — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:34:04 -0000

This isn't unique to gamification. Any time you have metrics, and people know those metrics tie into rewards, people will game the system to increase rewards. While gamification can be a good paradigm for dealing with metrics, there need to be a lot of different factors considered when addressing bonuses, raises, etc. to help avoid (or really at least limit) "gaming" the system.

The "ka-ching" sound doesn't bother me 1 way or the other. It's childish, irreverent, and maybe unprofessional in the traditional workplace sense, but that's part of the appeal of gamification. It's fun, and it's like you're playing, so these things are to be expected. That said, I'd save the "ka-ching" for things that explicitly refer to dollars and use another sound effect for getting points if you must do noises.

I'm starting to think that instead of 1 universal "score", good gamification should take a more traditional RPG route, and measure a series of "stats". In the context of the help desk system you mentioned, the "base stats" would be something like:

Number of tickets closed
Number of reopened tickets
Number of times SLA missed

You can also include some "ratings", stuff like:

Efficiency (Average number of days it took you to close a ticket)
Proficiency (Average number of tickets reopened)
Commitment (Number of times you missed SLA / Total number of days in measurement period)
Satisifaction (How happy the user was with your work, something like "average stars received" if that's the metric you want to use in this system, or scale of 1-5, etc.)

You can adjust the math and measurements as you see fit, and reset stats periodically, but you get the basic idea. By tracking a variety of distinct attributes, people get a more holistic measurement of performance, as well as a clearer measurement of overall performance. It also allows managers to see any organic specializations forming (i.e. Employee 1 has very good user-satisfaction stats, even if they're not the quickest, Employee 2 is great for quick turnaround on tickets, etc). If you don't like this, you can counsel employees on where specifically you want them to focus for improvements, or you can use this to help assign work.

Re: fixing copyrights and patents

Warren — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:14:42 -0000

Can we get Congress to do any of this? Of course not :(

Does something like this need to be done? Yep!

I'm not 100% sure patents should *only* apply to physical objects - but they are, at the very least, easy to verify :)

Re: fixing copyrights and patents

Eric Hydrick — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:48:28 -0000

Interesting post. My thoughts:

I think we should ban the patenting of anything that isn't a physical object capable of being demonstrated to the patent officer at the time of filing.

Another thing, patents are non-transferrable, ever. If the patent holder passes, or the business goes under before the patent expires, it's public domain, no exceptions.

If you sue for patent infringement, to establish standing you must show that you are indeed engaged in making whatever physical object you have the patent on. Hopefully this point and the 1 immediately previous will eliminate patent trolling and stop the "Patent Wars" arms race we see now.

I like the idea of capping the life of copyrights for businesses, but individual copyrights should be capped to the life of the creator. If you worked hard to create something, I'm OK with you being paid for it for as long as you live. But once you die, it's public domain.

I'm OK with leaving patents as a first-to-file system, with the addition of allowing people to use prior art as an affirmative defense. If you can prove that whatever was patented was being done before the patent was filed, you are entitled to reimbursement of your legal fees and the patent is automatically invalidated.

Ideally I'd like to see us reach a point where we don't really need patents at all, and the duration of an inventor's "limited monopoly" is directly proportional to the degree of innovation. If it's a simple, iterative improvement, you don't deserve years of legalized monopoly protection. If you really pushed progress several steps forward, then it'll take longer for someone else to reproduce. There's still a legal, protected monopoly, but it's based on the quality of the work the inventor does and the innovation itself.

Note that nothing I'm proposing should affect the idea of trade secrets and trademarks. You can't ape someone else's product to the point a consumer can't tell the difference between your product and the original. If a business keeps how it builds things or performs services private, and it's released without permission, whoever leaked it and anyone who profits off that information being out there knowing that it's ill-gotten should still pay up.

The big question is could we get desperately-needed patent reforms passed by a Congress who cares more about lobbying money than about what should be done?

Re: professional lying – or is it laziness?

Warren — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:44:06 -0000

I *want* to put the best possible construction on things ... but sometimes it's exceedingly difficult to do so :)

Re: professional lying – or is it laziness?

Eric Hydrick — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:28:20 -0000

My first instinct is to file this under "Trying too hard to sell themselves in a tough economy". I wonder if a lot of people don't realize that for a lot of technical fields, the job market isn't doing too poorly. But, if all they know is a persistently high unemployment rate, then fear could motivate them to range from embellishment to lying.

Re: selecting where to host a project

Tanner Lovelace — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:44:44 -0000

If you're mainly distributing source code I'd suggest github. If you're also distributing binaries Google Code (or github may have stuff for that now too).

Re: fill-in-the-blank takeout and delivery

Tanner Lovelace — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:42:41 -0000

They have a lot of them in the DC area (where I used to live and where my company is headquartered). My wife and I used to use one called "Takeout Taxi". They're very useful.

Re: why have email confidentiality notices?

Eric Hydrick — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:41:37 -0000

I think this is more about protecting any trade secrets in the email than it is about anything else. While most people would treat the message as spam, this would come into play if I accidentally sent a message with confidential company data to a friend of mine elsewhere who wasn't supposed to see it.

At least that's the only plausible explanation I can think of.

Re: selecting where to host a project

Warren — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:16:58 -0000

partially because I have a Hetzner server - http://www.hetzner.de/en/hosti...

Re: selecting where to host a project

Christopher Agocs — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:17:43 -0000

The first thing you should ask yourself is "Why haven't I rented a Rackspace server yet?"

(Seriously -- $12/mo)

Re: 1401 argentinean bistro

cheese shop — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:15:20 -0000

I have eaten at this restaurant too and found it absolutely amazing! I loved his steaks! Unfortunately, the chef wasn’t the one who served our food, but I’m still marveled by how the food tastes really good. I’ll sure go back one of these days!

Re: kirk aragon – lost 25 september 2011

Vandita and John — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:44:12 -0000

kalina your aunt and your uncle are here for you pls call us we love you very much. 415-613-6674.

Re: kirk aragon – lost 25 september 2011

Kali — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:23:50 -0000

hala to all of those who apreciated my father for how hard he worked and how good he was at being a gentlemen.

Re: kirk aragon – lost 25 september 2011

Kali — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:27:27 -0000

Feel better sweet girls and sweet wife and sweet nani.

Re: kirk aragon – lost 25 september 2011

Lata — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:25:02 -0000

Daddy this is your daughter speaking, I miss you so much and I am confused about why you left me at this young of an age. My heart is dead, and I need you to make me alive and myself again. What made you take off in that plane, it was supposed to be a boring sunday, and you were supposed to walk mer down the aisle, and teach me to drive, and build the tree house with me. You left to soon. I'll miss you forever, Good bye.

Re: kirk aragon – lost 25 september 2011

Warren — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:33:49 -0000

The service will be tomorrow Sep. 29 at 11 a.m. at the Brown-Wynne Funeral Home on Maynard Road in Cary, NC. Though the website says “services will be private” Archana said she would like to see people who knew Kirk and could share some personal memories and stories with their daughters so the girls can meet the people who cared about their daddy. Please pass on this link to those who knew Kirk. There is an on-line condolence book for those who cannot attend services in person.

http://obits.dignitymemorial.c...

Re: kirk aragon – lost 25 september 2011

Warren — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:34:30 -0000

Funeral arrangements are private, but will be held at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home (http://obits.dignitymemorial.c... in Cary.

Re: the fcc decides to intervene on lightsquared

Tanner Lovelace — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:30:28 -0000

That article is very misleading. For one, when it says "A typical guard band between spectrum users is about 2MHz." it fails to say under what conditions. Guard bands very across the radio spectrum and depending upon the signal being transmitted. At 146 Mhz, for example, allocations are normally spaced with 0.015 Mhz between them to accomodate how wide the normal signals are there. As you get higher in the spectrum, signals tend to take up more bandwidth on either side of the specified frequency. The fact that they take up more space than the specified frequency is true of all radio signals. The lightsquared signal is described as being "broadband". As a radio person, to me that says it's signal is very wide and at that high of a specified frequency it isn't surprising to me that it would exceed a 2Mhz guard band, especially if it's using a spread spectrum modulation. The 23 Mhz guard is simply meant to make sure that the signals that lightsquared is transmitting don't extend into the GPS frequency range.

BTW, while the political arm of the FCC does things I think are fairly questionable, it's technical arm is top notch and has a long history of technical excellence.

Re: personal vs professional blogging

Warren — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:02:20 -0000

...and what I sent to the staff of the Charlotte Observer:

Good morning. I am not 100% sure to whom this should be addressed, so apologies in advance if this should not be directed to some of the recipients.

I recently had one of your "freelance reporter" blogs shown to me by a long-time friend who lives in Charlotte - '30 Bars in 30 Days' (http://clt30bars30days.blogspo....

Brittany Penland's writing style is very informal and unprofessional - not at all what I would expect for someone writing for a professional publication like The Observer. Specifically I am writing with regards to her "review" of The Flying Saucer located at 9605 N Tryon St (http://clt30bars30days.blogspo.... Informality could be understood as this is a "personal" blog, but since she claims to be associated with the paper (indeed, there is a Charlotte Observer header at the top of the blog), Ms Penland's writing shouldn't be so blase.

I like to hear personal voice and style come out in a writer's work - but her overuse of "I", simple sentence structure, and constant references to her boyfriend shouldn't have such prominent place in reviews associated with the paper. Most of her posts appear to have undergone 0 proofreading (see my call-out of one such example among many below).

I hope something can be done to address this in such a way as to improve Ms Penland's writing, and not to bring her career harm.

Re: personal vs professional blogging

Warren — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:01:37 -0000

The comment I tried to leave on one of Ms Penland's posts (http://clt30bars30days.blogspo...

I have to take some umbrage with this post - while I am a member of the UFO club (and have my plate hanging in Raleigh), the write-up of not only this location, but the chain in general is horrid. You mention this is a chain (and rightfully so), but neglect to provide information as to the rest of the company (http://beerknurd.com) and its 14 locations (including the other one in NC and the one in nearby SC).

Aside from the grammar issues (eg 'the decor was is unique to other bars I've visited' - do you ever proofread your posts?), which I have noticed in almost all of your reviews so far, you haven't really told us anything about the place beyond that it has pennies for a back splash. The wall behind the bar is not a "back splash" - it's a wall. A backsplash is to protect against splashed liquids (http://dictionary.reference.co.... Based on the height of the penny panels, they're either expecting a heluva mess, or it's just there for decoration (like it is in Raleigh and Fort Worth).

You can't offer "vast beers" unless the beer itself is "vast". You might have a vast 'array' or 'selection', but the beer is not "vast".

How many times can you use the word "I" when writing a review? Yes, it's a personal experience, but as a "recent Appalachian State University graduate", you are not showcasing a quality of writing that should be expected from someone having completed a collegiate degree program.

When other than "during the school year" would you expect a place to pack "a college crowd"? Certainly not when school is not in session!

The UFO Club is a blast - but you left out a couple important points: not only do you get a beer knurd t-shirt, but in order for the 200 beers to count, you cannot have more than 3 per night - which means that it will take at least 67 visits to complete your platter.

With regards to the Saucer's schedule, Tuesday is trivia night every week (with a few exceptions), and is not "Belgian beer trivia"; every Wednesday is glass night.Lastly, do you have something against using the full name of the establishment? It is "The Flying Saucer", not "Flying Saucer" (http://www.beerknurd.com/store....

I sincerely hope your writing on this blog is not indicative of the rest of The Charlotte Observer's writing staff, because if it is, I can only laud those who elect to not read the paper any more.

Re: lightsquared

Tanner Lovelace — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:25:06 -0000

I take it from your post that you are not a radio person. Radio signals, while they may be listed at a particular frequency also take up spectrum to either side of the listed frequency. Some signals may take up very large portions of the spectrum on either side of a listed frequency. In addition, the way transmitters work, there may also be signals on various harmonics of a listed frequency. Generally, the way this has been handled is to leave large spaces between assigned frequencies so that interference doesn't happen. But, over the past few years, the FCC has shown increasing interest in squeezing out those spaces. If I was more cynical I might say that they've been doing that because of the money the government gets from selling frequencies (or the perks and jobs FCC commissioners get from the industry after leaving the FCC), but no matter what the reasoning the technical limitation still exists and wishing it otherwise is unlikely to change it.

Re: chimneys and fireplaces

Joseph Tate — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:31:39 -0000

I found out about it via this blog post: http://www.fourhourworkweek.co...

Re: chimneys and fireplaces

Warren — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:01:15 -0000

Had to Google to find that one, Joseph :)

For others who may be interested: http://www.hikecampfish.com/ho...