Challenge to be Challenged – Guaranteed way to get group participation

I try to publish a summary of interesting links once in a while; this week I came across an article that talked about someone invoking their “McDonalds Moment” (see here). In short, the author says “When we’re trying to decide where to eat for lunch and no one has any ideas. I recommend McDonald’s. An interesting thing happens. Everyone unanimously agrees that we can’t possibly go to McDonald’s, and better lunch suggestions emerge.“

I also have a similar technique that I use to create discussion or opinion; typically when facilitating a meeting or being involved in group discussion I will come to the table with an idea or suggestion that tries to solve the problem – it might not be the perfect one, but it causes others to react and give their thoughts.

Recently I used it when participating in a new product discussion where the problem statement had been laid out and the room was quiet when the (to-be) product owner asked “So what should we do?” Taking the silence as a cue that the group wasn’t sure how to navigate forward, I made a statement about how we could use some existing solutions in a different way so as to bend them in a way they almost fit – I knew it wasn’t the best solution, but it was a starting point. Consequently someone else used my suggestion with one of their own, but with a different twist. What followed was everyone participating in a group-driven solution.  Result!

Now there are some caveats with this approach as it’s not always going to be so effective:

• You’re initial suggestion shouldn’t so outlandish that people discount you and devalue your participation – it should be reasonable and show a connection to the problem statement
• You will get more traction from people that know you – if you do this to a room that you are new to, you may be seen as a know-it-all, aggressively challenging, or enforcing your idea on a group that doesn’t know you and therefore hasn’t got a grasp of your subject matter expertise.
• For a group that doesn’t know you, remove yourself from the suggestion – rather than saying “I think we should do x”, try “You know, I have seen a group solve this problem by doing x” – that way you’re not being the opinionated outsider

So the next time you think the group you’re working with is going to greet you with silence, you have a new weapon to your arsenal.

Notes of Interest – May 1, 2013

How To Prototype In Xcode Using Storyboard

The purpose of prototyping in Xcode is to be able to create a super high fidelity flow using the exact same software that builds iOS Apps… Storyboard, a powerful tool in Xcode that allows you to build an App without a single line of code. You will be able to create a functional prototype in a matter of hours.
http://blog.mengto.com/prototype-xcode-storyboard/

Trello Business Class

Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, Trello tells you what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in a process. Business Class extra features like Google Apps integration, extra administrative controls for boards and members, one-click bulk data export, and a new, view-only observer role.
http://blog.trello.com/introducing-business-class/

How to overcome stage fright

As humans, we’re hardwired to worry about our reputation above almost all things. There are primitive parts of your brain that control your reaction to threats on your reputation, making these reactions extremely difficult to control.
http://blog.bufferapp.com/what-happens-to-our-brains-when-we-have-stage-fright-the-science-of-public-speaking

Touch interfaces are over-rated

Gesture based interactions without touch are the next innovation hot topic
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/05/looking-ahead-at-touchscreen-technology-where-do-we-go-from-here/

Learn coding by video – CodePlayer

HTML5, Javascript, CSS3, etc.
http://thecodeplayer.com/

Intro to Data Science

Commerce and research is being transformed by data-driven discovery and prediction. Skills required for data analytics at massive levels – scalable data management on and off the cloud, parallel algorithms, statistical modeling, and proficiency with a complex ecosystem of tools and platforms – span a variety of disciplines and are not easy to obtain through conventional curricula. Tour the basic techniques of data science, including both SQL and NoSQL solutions for massive data management (e.g., MapReduce and contemporaries), algorithms for data mining (e.g., clustering and association rule mining), and basic statistical modeling (e.g., linear and non-linear regression).
https://www.coursera.org/course/datasci?from_restricted_preview=1&cid=346&r=https%3A%2F%2Fclass.coursera.org%2Fdatasci-001%2Fauth%2Fauth_redirector%3Ftype%3Dlogin%26subtype%3Dnormal%26visiting%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fclass.coursera.org%252Fdatasci-001%252Fclass%252Findex

Why Node and Scala will dry up and Go will take the slack

Node and Scala are quickly becoming languages of choice for building scalable, asynchronous web services and applications. However, Go, the language designed and in use at Google, presents a compelling alternative with few of the warts of Node and Scala. While Node and Scala are specifically targeting developers as the tools of choice for server side architecture, Go is actually a better tool for the job and will prove to be the ultimate winner.
http://devslovebacon.com/conferences/bacon-2013/talks/why-node-and-scala-will-dry-up-go-will-drink-their-milkshake

Who am I to tell you?

Characters of the children’s televisions series “Bagpuss” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are some songs that, when played, can bring a wealth of emotion and memories back; some are happy and elated of good times gone by, perhaps a drunken moment with friends that everyone talks of… others of a lost or unrequited love and some are attached to the memory of a departed loved one.

This post is a small deviation from my usual topics as I was recently driving with the iPod on shuffle and the latter happened to me. I knew from the first beat of the sampled drum what this song was and turned off the audio. The person attached to this song is my mum and the song “Who am I” by Will Young. Mum died Xmas 2003 of cancer at the age of 59.

What’s in a song?

The subject matter of the Will Young is irrelevant – the only reason it has meaning is because of the video that accompanies it. It’s based around a BBC Children’s TV show called Blue Peter. Any child growing up in the UK since the late 50′s will be aware of this show that encouraged kids to make things out of empty washing up bottles and coat hangers, explore the outside world, learn about different cultures, animals, interests and even gardening (Percy Thrower’s Blue Peter garden anyone?)… looking back it was an age of innocence – a time when playing in the street was just part and parcel of growing up. It was during the show that they would have craft projects to make (I wish I had made the Blake’s 7 wristband) that would encourage kids to make with their parents.

When I first saw the video it kicked off a so many memories that I didn’t expect to come flooding back; this included the Friday ritual where we’d go to the fishmongers where I’d occasionally be treated to mussels or whelks… We’d then go home to watch the Bagpuss or Lamb chops.  Sunday’s spent as a family at our Grandparents also came to mind – they would grow vegetables and fruits, including some especially for my sister and I as we’d run straight out into the garden and pick cherry tomatoes or eat mint leaves (no wonder my wife says I seem like a kid of the 1940′s!).

The first time I saw the Will Young video was in 2007; I was hanging out with my wife in our apartment and came across the video. At first I was smiling, remembering the TV show – and then all those memories came flooding back and I started to think about Mum would never see me married or meet her future grandkids. Needless to say the emotions were overwhelming and I lost it. Something I hadn’t done since shortly after her death.

You never know when…

The point of this post isn’t so much to relate to the particulars of my own story; instead it’s just saying that even though loved ones leave us, just as it will be our turn one day, their memories and the very essence of who they were remain with us. Their legacy lives on in us – whether it’s a family member or friend – which is a testament to who they were.

Equally, anyone who experiences a loss can never truly known when those memories will come to the forefront. You could be shopping and a trigger piece of music gets played in a store… or perhaps a fragrance, or a place you visit. Or even a mock version of an old UK TV show… 9 years on and it still happens to me.

So what happened after I turned off the audio? I took time to think about mum, turned the music back on and remembered what she meant to me and how she would smile to see how we are now.

Related articles

• Blue Peter Theme – Mike Oldfield (littlesongbird4joysweetfriend2penny4heaven2earth.wordpress.com)

Notes of Interest – April 24 2013

Curated links of interest – April 24 2013

SailFish OS

Open Source Mobile OS based on Linux core and the QT Framework – SDK avaialble for Linux, Windows, OSX
While Mozilla is offering its’ own OS, this could be a outlier that creates a movement for budget devices

• SailFish – SailFish Screenshot
• Qt Framwork

Why Excel has been the bane and core of my business life

28 Year old Econ Grad publishes paper “Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth? A Critique of Reinhart and Rogoff,” that took aim at a massively influential study by two Harvard professors named Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. Herndon found some hidden errors in Reinhart and Rogoff’s data set, then calmly took the entire study out back and slaughtered it.

Link – Link

Don’t Send Me a Message

One of my pet peeves too – Don’t send me a message to say I have a message!!!

Link

Pony – ORM for Python

Pony is a Python ORM that lets you query a database using Python generators. These generators are then translated into effective SQL.

Link

How Hyphens can hurt your SEO

Experiments in SEO and why hyphens can impact you

Link

Javascript demos

Pushing the boundaries of traditional javascript, these demos show how far we have come – and the potential of where we can go

• Raytracing in the browser / javascript
• Tearable Cloth in Javascript

 JQuery 2 released

Drops IE 6-8 Support. Performance improvements.

Link

Which Javascript Frameworks are getting more interest?

What people are searching on (sourced from Google)

Link

HTML5 apps are still the red headed step-child

HTML5 is great, or would be if it had tools to support it (and why native mobile apps still win)
Link - Link

Please don’t deploy your app on a Friday

As someone whose life was Friday night app deploy focused, I can relate

Link

O’Reilly Free Books

Free books from the famed tech publisher

Link

App Developers Leaving Facebook

Why Developers are leaving Facebook – sometimes its’ own success can be its’ ultimate downfall

Link

Don’t be fooled – The Race for Mobile Dominance

When the US elections were taking place, there were a number of topics which caused the US public to either get really annoyed, or behind in support, however some of these topics were perceived as smokescreens to get people to invest their time in one matter, whilst the offending party was forging ahead with their real agenda.

Much the same can be said about the state of today’s mobile phone market. The announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is anticipated mid-March 2013 and there is debate about the next iPhone (iPhone 5S). In either case, much conversation has focused in on the hardware specs and screen size.

What’s really important

Whilst having a processor that’s capable of handling function, storage memory sufficient to accommodate photos, videos, apps and music and form that allows the phone to be both of a quality build, handled comfortably and screen size appropriate to needs there are a couple of really important things to consider:

The Operating System

Given that we as consumers appreciate and are more critical of the User Experience (and User Interface), having an operating system that looks and feels intuitive and can be adaptable to your own use of the device is essential. Neither Android nor IOS are yet there, with IOS being somewhat now overdue a UI/UX refresh and Android being plagued by layers of OEM fluff (e.g. MotoBlur, HTC Touch) to confuse the user experience.

Another example of this shortcoming is being able to share to your preferred social network should just be an option, regardless of network. Typically being able to share content from an IOS device to Google+ is more difficult than Facebook – but why is that? I as a user prefer to be able to define my social networks, not be constrained.

[UPDATE: Andy Parry brings the Ubuntu mobile OS to my attention - see this - this is exactly what i'm talking about how the UX should be more like]

The Phone

I’ve mentioned this before; the mobile phone needs to be revamped totally in the experience; not only a good sensor, but also the ability to create more useful metadata such as learning different faces so that it would be possible to then retrieve all the photos of Uncle Dave (person metadata), taken in Chicago (GPS metadata) last Autumn (time/date metadata), near Sears Tower (GPS metadata).

Also the actual holding and storage of a phone needs to be considered; I like the iPhone 4/4S for its compact size, yet it still manages to deliver a solid feel and also very view able screen.

The battery life

It’s all well and good having a powerful phone with an amazing screen, but it’s totally negated if you don’t have the battery life. I feel almost certain that the maximum brightness on phones, whilst very appealing, is hardly used by many due to the battery consumption – effectively rendering it a sales medium. When we start to have efficient batteries and components that consume them, then we have a truly adoptable phone.

Conclusion

Of course, this is skimming the surface, but the point is, don’t be fooled by the processor power etc. Think about the application of the phone to you. Would having a Galaxy S3 vs. S4 make a difference  Maybe, if you’re an avid photograper. However if you’re just browsing facebook, youtube, etc. it may not be of discernible difference (depending on the battery life)… case in point I have an iPhone 4 – initially a temporary phone until the iPhone 5 came out, but after due consideration, cost and features were not quite enough to upgrade for upgrades sake, based off my use.

Playstation 4 (PS4) Announced; What Does It Mean For You?

Sony has marketed the hell out of the fact they were going to announce the PS4 details today (20 Feb). In reality what they released was vapourware – mainly because they never showed any unit, other than the controller and a bunch of carefully created videos and in-game sequences – nor did they announce the price. However here’s what seems to be clear and what it means for you.

Hardware

Basically it’s a powerful PC system on a single board; unless regular PCs where graphics cards and such are interchangeable, putting all the silicon on one board means that everything can communicate more optimally and therefore the “supercharged PC” claim. Just like any other console but unlike any other PC, that means no upgrades.

What this means for you: With a PC like specifications it means game ports between the two systems are easier and game developers can more easily push the system (the PS3 was notorious for being hard to program for). This is nothing new to the XBox, so this is more of a catch-up, albeit on steroids (AMRITE Lance Amstrong?)

System Features

There’s not been much shown so far to wow on the dashboard, but there was the ability to integrate social capability (facebook was mentioned). Not only that, but also the ability to stream your games with your friends through UStream, or let them take over your game to help you out of a tough level, or upload a short video of your gaming heroics.

The system apparently will also learn what games you prefer and be a TIVO-like device that downloads games based on your preferences. That could be annoying and pleasing a the same time!

Support for the Move (the magic wand Sony released for the PS3) continues.

What this means for you: Showboating game play is a bit of a gimmick for many gamers; It’s more of a feature than a benefit for many but there’s sure to be a niche use for it. For the casual gamer, it’s probably not something to be bothered with. Sony has decided to stick with physical objects to help with user detection – not sure this is the best option and Microsoft’s Kinect will probably continue to have the edge.

Integration

Stream games to the PSP Vita, Sony’s replacement for the PSP so you can keep on playing if the TV is being used – this is similar to the Wii U.

Additionally, Sony claims that the system will also integrate with tablets and phones. GIven they have their own range of said technology out there, you can expect this to be pushed (crossed promotion).

What this means for you: Integrating other devices has potential, but I think those devices will be a limited list. This could either be a unique selling point, or just another piece of show-off.

Games

The games shown looked great (except Krank, which had great intro graphics but the actual gameplay looked like today’s consoles). The hardware looks to have potential to push things, but the PC won’t be far behind.

There are some exclusive titles coming along – many of which impress; check them out here.

There’s also the ability to download games – playing them before they finish downloading. Interesting to see how this pans out, given some games are many gigabytes.

What this means for you: Games are the core reason for consoles being around; having some A-Class titles and game studios onboard means that it will be one of the leading consoles – so long as games continue to be pushed out with quality.

Retro Gaming

Though not yet fully developed, Sony associates talked about being able to stream (not play natively), PS1, PS2 and PS3 games on multiple devices including the PS4.

What this means for you: If you loved an older game, this could be an amazingly handy feature – One game I want to replay is the PS2 “Getaway”

Media Centre

A casual mention of the usual integrations – Netflix, Hulu, etc. plus a Bluray drive, but no significant details.

What this means for you: Unsure – any modern console needs to be a media console too; While XBox can’t play Bluray and it’s UI is clunky for Media play, it’s still capable. PS3 systems are a little more boxed in, but the way to access media is good. To go beyond a games console and to penetrate the home, any modern day console has to be strong in this space.

Price and Release Date

Prices were undisclosed, but rumours put it between US$429 and US$529, which is very competitive. Release date is Christmas 2013.

Should I buy this console?

If you’re the person that has to have the latest iPhone regardless to say you have the latest iPhone then nothing I say here will change your mind.

However for the rest of us I think it’s worth holding out for Microsoft’s offering before deciding. Rumour of new XBox features include a tighter home media console effort, streaming games, inability to play second hand games (stupid move) and built-in and enhanced Kinect. It’s likely to match the PS4 tech specs.

My opinion is that the winner will be that console that has the better user experience, integration with other devices, is accessible for all ages, media savvy, supports the new types of displays (3D and 4K TVs) and of course has quality of games.

Visualization – The US Working Hour

Having worked with visualization of data for some time, I’m always looking at new ways to express data into a meaningful representation, either by restating it through visualizations, aggregations, abstraction, or introducing new data sets to complement it.

Whilst I can’t discuss much of my work due to the confidential nature of the data, there is public data out there which is readily available and very insightful. In the visualizations below I used data from the US Dept. of Labor (Labour) whose census recorded the hours worked across different industries

Hours Worked Heat Map

What stands out most clearly is Healthcare, Protect Services (Security, etc), Food services and Transportation industry workers cover more of the day (and night) than most other industries. Of course this might not come as a shock to many of you (especially if you’ve worked in those industries), but interestingly it also shows that “blip” of the lunch hour of noon – and farm/fishery workers are some of the most prolific “non-workers” during that time.

Yet another Visualisation of the same Data

For added measure I also included another “map” visualisation – whilst not as detailed as the previous heat map, it demonstrates how we can look at data in a number of ways. In effect, depending on the question we’re looking to answer we might want to aggregate information and pick out top/bottom 20% (for example). In the case of this visualisation, we’ve come to the same conclusion but possibly avoided the need for people to see lots of % numbers per “cell” (as in the first visualisation), which can be distracting. This particular visualisation could be a great “opener” and then invite users to click through to the most interesting data points, rather than cause more decision from the user if they were to see the first (e.g. they start to evaluate what their threshold is – 20%? 25%?, etc.).

For added visualisation “fun”, here’s some more public data correlation – Illinois unemployment with retail gas prices and crude oil prices - http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/GasandUnemployment/CorrelationofGasUnemployment?:embed=y