Good grief, sometimes it's getting a little ridiculous with this whole "WOW MARS IS SO MUCH CLOSER OMG WTF LOL BBQ"
Mars is all of 1% closer this year than it has ever been in the last 600 years. This is an almost insignificant amount. "Even with a good telescope and a camera", writes "Bad Astronomy" debunker Phil Platt in on a page about the closeness of mars and a variety of bad astronomy being spread about it, "you'd have a hard time seeing the difference. In fact, the difference is so small it would just barely be detectable using Hubble."
Two books that I've read come to mind that deal with this sort of "omg wtf 12 hour days stupid management" deal.
The first is "Death March Projects" by Edward Yourdon. The book deals with so-called Death March projects that everyone expects will end in failure (and similarly doomed situations). There are several sections on how to cope with situations like 12/7 work situations (as well as how to avoid them, but those passages might not be too useful at the moment). The book is interesting and (especially if you've never BEEN in a death march project) rather entertaining. Available at a local University library near you. Roughly 4 hours to skim through it.
The second is a book that should be on every programmer's bookshelf. I speak, of course, of "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell, the manual of 90s programming (when widescale 12/7 programming enforcements took place). In addition to much useful content about creating software, the last few sections deal with how to manage the product team, including help on how to deal with situations such as an enforced overtime. And yes, I know the book is published by Microsoft Press, so go ahead and post "ha-ha MS sux" and all that, thankyouverymuch now please sit down, because this is a GOOD book.
I highly recommend reading both these books, and keeping a copy of Code Complete handy. Now, as to when you'll find the TIME to read such things if you're working 12/7... all I can say is, I have no idea; I'm just a CS student, so I have plenty of time.
Puzzled by the cube? Try renting two (relatively low-budget, unknown) sci-fi flicks.
- Cube: Buncha people, trapped in a buncha cubes, with a buncha deadly traps.
- Cube 2: Hypercube: Buncha people, trapped in a hypercube, with less deadly traps but more confusion as to wtf is going on.
Both movies are fairly puzzling in their own right, with that sort of "unknown" sci-fi ending that is commonly found in lower-budgeted movies (e.g. Pi).
"merge to survive"
List your pop-culture references here!
I count 3 so far:
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Veger, the long-lost Voyager space craft, wants to merge with its creator to become self-aware.
- Deus Ex
At the end of the game the AI "Helios", created by the Head Bad Guy who wants to merge with it in order to become a superbeing, decides it wants to merge with the main character, JC Denton instead.
- Starcraft (Game)
Merging two Protoss templars (of the normal or dark variety) is a good way to save their asses when they're under heavy fire.
Slashdot Mirror
I heard that some of the canal lines he claimed to see were actually cataracts and other defects of his own eyes.
Good grief, sometimes it's getting a little ridiculous with this whole "WOW MARS IS SO MUCH CLOSER OMG WTF LOL BBQ"
Mars is all of 1% closer this year than it has ever been in the last 600 years. This is an almost insignificant amount. "Even with a good telescope and a camera", writes "Bad Astronomy" debunker Phil Platt in on a page about the closeness of mars and a variety of bad astronomy being spread about it, "you'd have a hard time seeing the difference. In fact, the difference is so small it would just barely be detectable using Hubble."
Two books that I've read come to mind that deal with this sort of "omg wtf 12 hour days stupid management" deal.
The first is "Death March Projects" by Edward Yourdon. The book deals with so-called Death March projects that everyone expects will end in failure (and similarly doomed situations). There are several sections on how to cope with situations like 12/7 work situations (as well as how to avoid them, but those passages might not be too useful at the moment). The book is interesting and (especially if you've never BEEN in a death march project) rather entertaining. Available at a local University library near you. Roughly 4 hours to skim through it.
The second is a book that should be on every programmer's bookshelf. I speak, of course, of "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell, the manual of 90s programming (when widescale 12/7 programming enforcements took place). In addition to much useful content about creating software, the last few sections deal with how to manage the product team, including help on how to deal with situations such as an enforced overtime. And yes, I know the book is published by Microsoft Press, so go ahead and post "ha-ha MS sux" and all that, thankyouverymuch now please sit down, because this is a GOOD book.
I highly recommend reading both these books, and keeping a copy of Code Complete handy. Now, as to when you'll find the TIME to read such things if you're working 12/7... all I can say is, I have no idea; I'm just a CS student, so I have plenty of time.
Puzzled by the cube? Try renting two (relatively low-budget, unknown) sci-fi flicks. - Cube: Buncha people, trapped in a buncha cubes, with a buncha deadly traps. - Cube 2: Hypercube: Buncha people, trapped in a hypercube, with less deadly traps but more confusion as to wtf is going on. Both movies are fairly puzzling in their own right, with that sort of "unknown" sci-fi ending that is commonly found in lower-budgeted movies (e.g. Pi).
"merge to survive" List your pop-culture references here! I count 3 so far: - Star Trek: The Motion Picture Veger, the long-lost Voyager space craft, wants to merge with its creator to become self-aware. - Deus Ex At the end of the game the AI "Helios", created by the Head Bad Guy who wants to merge with it in order to become a superbeing, decides it wants to merge with the main character, JC Denton instead. - Starcraft (Game) Merging two Protoss templars (of the normal or dark variety) is a good way to save their asses when they're under heavy fire.