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+1 for Radiolab. The best explanation I've come up with for it so far is that it's a variety series of incredibly well-produced audio micro-documentaries. I listened to one on a whim (Bigger than Bacon, which was about the mystery of a crackling sound one of their reporters used to hear at boat dock near their house) and was immediately hooked. It finds the perfect balance between being educational and entertaining.

I also love their More Perfect podcast. It's worth a listen for anyone who wishes they knew more about the US Supreme Court but doesn't actually want to devote any time to the subject. They manage to find the human interest side to each story and present them in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat, despite the fact that in most of the cases I knew how the cases would turn out.

As for my complete list and why I like them, it's pretty short:
- Accidental Tech Podcast - Three guys talking about tech and cars. They play well off each other and, between the three, usually have some decent insight into the tech community and how it interacts with a mostly inscrutable company (i.e. Apple).

- Radiolab - See above

- Radiolab Presents: More Perfect - See above

- Serial - Everyone and their grandma listens to this one, so it needs no explanation

- Under the Radar - Two guys talking iOS development. I'm not in the space, but it's always under 30 minutes, they stay on topic, and they frequently provide a veteran's perspective that runs contrary to what an outsider like me might think makes sense, so I find it to be a decent listen. Others will likely find it boring.

I'm also going to give the just-begun The Important Thing a shot in the next few days, since the guy doing it writes a frequently-insightful blog that I really enjoy reading and is typically really good on the other podcasts I've heard him on. I expect it'll become part of my usual group of podcasts, but I can't yet offer that recommendation.

Yup. It is. There have been books written about this but they only seem to be read by techs. Too little MBA mumbo-jumbo and too much common sense.

Michael Lopp has described this as The Fez. Rands in Repose is an awesome blog and his book is also quite nice.
http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2005/01/24/avoiding_the_fez.html

Joel Spolsky also had a few run-ins with having to manage while being tech.

That submitter just makes me mad.
But his management has also failed him. If you don't look out for your people then you have no place in management.
This springs to mind: http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2005/01/24/avoiding_the_fez.html
Just a couple of years ago I opened a can of whoop-ass on one of my then 45 year old guys. He transitioned into one of our competent .NET 4.0 people.

I cannot say it better than Rands himself: "In Software Engineering, the Process is the Product"

Read Rands in Repose.

Try Rands' FriendDA at http://friendda.org/
Original article at http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2008/10/19/friendda.html

Rands suggests the FriendDA for approaching friends about ideas without requiring an entire, legally-vetted NDA. His post about it can be found on his blog, but the long and short of it is a short agreement that your friend signs agreeing not to screw you over by stealing your idea.

less than 7% of the population is registered for income tax, and voter lists are thought to be inaccurate, partly due to corruption

So the reason the current system don't work is only 7% of the population is paying income tax, and there is lots of corruption.

So the solution is a massive new government initiative to work around the cause of the current problems.

Yep, sounds like bureaucracy to me.

I stand corrected. I was taking my original comments on the bends from an article on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge (The Makers of Things) it was not clear in that article that the caissons used to set the bridge towers were pressurized, so my assumption was simply that they were they were watertight and very very heavy.

They're just in the "zone" in their "cave" - http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html I like BSing with my coworkers as much as the next guy but lets be honest: people being social = less work getting done.

I have mod-points, but I'd rather post.

I'd like to echo the sibling post and say thanks for linking - I came across that article maybe 2 months ago, and it -perfectly- mirrors my working environment and habits.

However, your off-the-cuff comment regarding productivity seems poorly timed. This current /. article cites a study that says a worker that spends a reasonable proportion of their working day browsing (~20%) is 9% more productive than a worker who grinds through the day. Maybe this is due to a mental page-out during a context switch, but it seems to clear the mind. Some people go for a smoke, though the productivity effects of that break are presumably partially from the nicotine hit, as well as the switch. Others have a 5 minute chat around the water cooler, others prefer /.. It seems that a break that gives the brain time to develop a 1000-yard stare and run the garbage cleaner helps concentration levels. Of course, if the water-cooler chats go for 3 hours, that's not helping anyone.

~/Rockwolf

They're just in the "zone" in their "cave" - http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html
I like BSing with my coworkers as much as the next guy but lets be honest: people being social = less work getting done.

I have never heard of this turd burglar before but I just went and checked out his blog thanks to this article. Let's take a look:

1. Something about bridges and nerds? Looks like someone is jacking off. Later in the article, "Someone, sometime soon is going to start describing the climb out of this impressive hole we've dug for ourselves, and they're going to call it 'America 2.0'. Clever, yes." Yes, you're so clever. Great job. Maybe he was being sarcastic here but any way you slice it that sentence was unnecessary, coming from the guy who talks about "writing less." Also it's all well and good to fellate Obama for telling Americans to work hard, but when he turns around and stabs the whole country in the back with more of the same failed policies that benefit only the rich and penalize the hard-working folks you're talking about, I really don't think any quote from him should be taken seriously.

2 & 3. Two separate and extremely pompous articles about Twitter, labled "The Art of the Tweet" and "A Twitter Decision." What? Hey "Rands" (great nick btw, very generic and unassuming, just like you) guess what: it's Twitter. Even if you're 100% right about what you're saying, I guarantee 100% of everyone doesn't give a shit about any of that. Rands says, "For me, a tweet is still a note I tie to a balloon, which I let go and think, "Who is going to read that one?" Sometimes I look and see where it ended up, sometimes I don't." Wow you mean you tweet so you other people can read it? Thanks for the poetry Shakespeare, but you're still full of shit.

This is where the front page ends, but I check out some other articles. I like this one ( http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2003/07/10/nadd.html ) where he talks about "NADD." Here's a description: "You enjoy the content fire hose. Give me tabbed browsing, tabbed instant messaging, music all the time, and TIVO TIVO TIVO. Welcome to NADD." I guess he just means being... uhmm... I don't know, alive? Wow people sure are different aren't they? *points out a bunch of obvious shit* Hey look at me I'm a friggin genius over here. Honestly I don't get this article at all. So you look at shit constantly and can't stand to be without. Great. Who cares? What's your point? "Third, and lastly, you're not going to have much patience with those who have not chosen a NADD-like life." Wow that's funny because I'm almost exactly like the NADD person you described except I don't have this problem because I'm not a self-absorbed asswipe. Grow up you piece of shit.

And for all that, the reviewer can't manage to get the url right (he left the .com off: http://www.randsinrepose/ instead of http://www.randsinrepose.com./

Hi Mikael,

    thanks for the considered response. Let me drag you back to the real world.

    First, I usually don't run anyone's app/website fullscreen. 2ndly, even if I do have 1/2G RAM, you can bet your bottom dollar there's half a dozen other apps fighting for it. Slashdot, ebay, twitter, aardvark. cyclingnews.com are all sideshows predominantly providing c. 10K text. Work?

Now, my home machine has only 388M of RAM and 1500 x 1024 pixels. My work machine has more ram (1/2G), but much less screen (1240 x 1024). Yes, that's my brand new corporate PC. My mother=in-law (and mother) have less than both of these. My kids have subnotebooks with VGA and sub VGA screens. Half my extended family are still on dialup (or dialup paced wifi). Let's not get started on the early adopterkindens with their wunderwebphones!

Now, I have a number of supplier/client sites whose first useful hyperlink is more than 1000 pixels away from top left. Painful. Pretty, pretty graphics above. But not user friendly.

The bottom line is - for most of us, www browsing is only one of the thomgs we are doing (I currently have gimp, xsls,open project, 5 browser panes, email, a stats package, two dos windows, one running perl, RDP and word open. Yes I'm mildly http://www.randsinrepose.com/ ADD )

And, as you said, the my.ebay start page is surreal.

This is a great collection of software management thought, very practical stuff with jokes. (just read the ones tagged "tech life" and "management")

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives.html

Here's a good start, the Nerd Handbook.

--
*An associate's link! I stand to make hundreds of microcents if you use it!

Here's a good start, the Nerd Handbook.

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*An associate's link! I stand to make hundreds of microcents if you use it!

I only manage myself, and I'm on a deadline, so the best thing I can probably do is point you to the blog of a genuinely smart manager, Rands in Repose.

Even though it's not really aimed at me, not being a manager, I still find at least a couple of things to take away from every entry.

More rank and file programmers should read this guy, too. Gives you a real insight into what is involved in the bigger picture. It will make you a better developer.

I remember Peter Drucker discussing education in his autobiography, Adventures of a Bystander.

There are very few "teachers" out there, those who can illuminate a subject and adapt to all the various types of learning styles, personalities, and perspectives that various students may have. This is not a skill that we really know how to teach itself, it's more of a talent.

The second, more common effective educator, is the "pedagogue" (his use of the term), by which he implies, professionals who help motivate students to structure their own learning. This is a skill set we can teach & codify.

I think that new technology has a lot to do with increasing the pace of self-driven learning. In that vein, new technology is very important. I think old technology is great too (libraries, blackboards, etc.), but the ability of (for example) hypertext to provide context to information is an extremely powerful agent to learning, especially for those with short attention spans.

As for "damn kids are all entitled with no attention span" carmudgeons, I'd note that this seems to be a mainstream variant of Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder (NADD), which seems to be a way of coping with the increasing information glut. Some people bubble up, some people fixate on one medium, others soak it all in, but as a result wind up with "mile wide / inch deep" knowledge, for better or worse.

The trick, for educators, I believe, will be a way to structure education so that people can be specialists in several areas. This keeps things interesting. The second is to allow those areas of speciality to arise based on the student's strengths & talents. Sudbury Schools seem to be a growing approach, but I'm sure there are others.

  Finally, there needs to be a sense of urgency instilled in students that is gradually increased as they grow... the work ethic is a hard thing to instill. I know from my experience in school that I coasted with 80s for 18 years ... and then fell flat on my face in university. And it took me *years* to develop the work ethic to work on distasteful things, something I still struggle with. I was lucky enough to get high-paying jobs I enjoyed for almost 10+ years before I had to really do something important that I disliked. It's a growing experience that I wish I figured out earlier in life.

Get yourself Michael Lopp's Managing Humans, or read his blog Rands in Repose.

This is a light but competent take on the human factors of sofware engineering. For the more formal approach, I recommend Scott Berkun's The Art of Project Management.

Between these two books and your experience, you should be golden. But it is also good to have a mentor. Approach the best manager you have had in your career as a tech and ask them to have a coffee with you once a month. They don't have to work for the same company, as you won't be discussing the strategic or technical side of work, but rather talking about the practical side of coordinanting people.

Congratulations on your new position (I somehow assume it is better paid), and good luck with your new challenges.

Read this blog: http://www.randsinrepose.com/
And this book by the same author: http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Sof tware-Engineering/dp/159059844X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/00 2-5507769-8385647?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188351151&s r=8-1

As an engineer / architect who has had to deal with some frustrating management (most of it indirect, fortunately), I've found these two blogs to be both enlightening and useful for feeding to managers. Rands especially, as a developer who moved into management with a purpose, has some very insightful commentary. He's also recently published a book, which I'm planning on giving to some of my favorite managers (who despite their sincere desire to treat us well, sometimes have a hard time understanding the geeks they herd.)

Rands on Management: http://www.randsinrepose.com/cat_management.html
Rands's Book: http://managinghumans.com/ (Direct to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Sof tware-Engineering/dp/159059844X)

Joel on Software: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/

Good luck! It's great to hear about people who care enough to want to do it right.

Check out http://www.randsinrepose.com/

It's a fabulous blog about the process of development and managing developers. He's actually got a book coming out very soon that's an expansion of past blog entries, but the stuff on the site is excellent.

Good advice all around in the posts above. A site I've found to be pretty insightful is Rands in Repose. He's also a new book titled "Managing Humans". Check it out—I'm a fan.

If you work for stupid managers, you can get away with this. If they're sharp, they're going to know that you're being opaque on purpose, and this will come back to bite you in the ass.

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2004/12/14/h ow_to_lose_your_job_part_1.html

Sounds like you have N.A.D.D..

I also suggest browsing the back issues of Rands in Repose, another blog about IT management.

Recommended by a name we all trust

Part of this is that you have to consider that for many of us, the Internet has become a daily part of our workflow and without it we could not perform in our jobs. I absolutely need the Internet to collaborate with colleagues, and because I am paid to know things and to think, the ability to be able to search for information and access online scientific journals is critical. I cannot believe how much time I spent as a beginning undergraduate in the library looking through actual card catalogues! Now one can survey tremendous amounts of data in very little time, but the tradeoff is that we have become dependent upon the Internet for our data gathering. I will admit however, to also becoming dependent upon the Internet for daily news as well and do feel a sense of loss when disconnected. For instance, when taking hikes or going biking in the mountains for longer than a day, I feel the need for an information fix. Even when traveling nationally or internationally, I ensure that I am connected via broadband, can communicate through iChatAV with colleagues, can post to my blog, can get the latest news as it happens and of course, keep up with Slashdot. :-)

Of course the referenced links do contain valid points, particularly Rand's blog. What Rand alludes to however and needs to be learned is the ability to focus and extract the absolutely relevant information related to the task at hand. I've noticed in the undergraduates in particular that have come through the lab that they tend to try and multitask everything, talking on the phone, performing Internet related searches, writing their reports and listening to music while also running an experiment in the background. Almost always, mistakes ensue, the quality of the work suffers, wrong conclusions are drawn and it takes them a couple of months to learn to focus while eliminating some of the competing tasks to ensure quality work for the essential task at hand. Once they learn to focus, not only does the quality of their work improve, but also their ability to extract information from all sorts of tasks including Internet related work. Confusion goes away and is replaced by efficiency of thought and action.