I use 3 big monitors, and use a few tools with them that many people haven't heard of that I strongly recommend. If you'd like to try them - here they are:
F.lux - A tool which darkens your monitors while the sun is down. Several websites claims you'll sleep better if you use this tool when computing at night. I can't validate the impact on my sleep, but I can say I enjoy using this tool, and install in on all my computers.
WinSplit Revolution - A tool which allows partial maximize via nice hotkeys. For example, C-A-9 (upper left key on the number pad) 1/4 maximizes the current window to the upper left quarter of your monitor. C-A-2 (down arrow on the number pad) 1/2 maximizes the current window to the bottom right of your monitor. This is really handy with 27" or larger monitors, or 24" monitors in portrait mode.
Leave a comment if you have other good monitor utilities.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Soft Skills: Focus on outcomes, not positions
If you haven't read Getting to Yes, I highly recommend it, it had a drastic positive effect on my negotiation skills.
For me, the key point of Getting To Yes is to focus on outcomes not positions. Outcomes are what we want to accomplish, for example "getting something to eat". Positions are a single concrete instantiation of that outcome, for example "getting a cheeseburger at Burger King".
A problem with humans is we often get very attached to achieving our position, even though there are several positions that can achieve our outcome, many of which will make other people happy. When we get in a fight with someone it's usually because we have incompatible positions, not incompatible outcomes. If we can refocus our interaction onto achieving outcomes, we can usually find a position that can make everyone happy.
A few days after reading Getting To Yes, I was at the cafeteria and had an excellent opportunity to practice what I'd been reading:
Igor: "Can I get a coffee?"
Barista: "Sorry - we're closed, we won't open for 20 more minutes"
Igor: *Smile*
Igor: "I see you're closed, but can I get a coffee anyways?"
Barista: *Confused Look*
Igor: *Smile*
Barista: Sure.
For me, the key point of Getting To Yes is to focus on outcomes not positions. Outcomes are what we want to accomplish, for example "getting something to eat". Positions are a single concrete instantiation of that outcome, for example "getting a cheeseburger at Burger King".
A problem with humans is we often get very attached to achieving our position, even though there are several positions that can achieve our outcome, many of which will make other people happy. When we get in a fight with someone it's usually because we have incompatible positions, not incompatible outcomes. If we can refocus our interaction onto achieving outcomes, we can usually find a position that can make everyone happy.
A few days after reading Getting To Yes, I was at the cafeteria and had an excellent opportunity to practice what I'd been reading:
Igor: "Can I get a coffee?"
Barista: "Sorry - we're closed, we won't open for 20 more minutes"
Igor: *Smile*
Igor: "I see you're closed, but can I get a coffee anyways?"
Barista: *Confused Look*
Igor: *Smile*
Barista: Sure.
The keyboards I use
Keyboards are a personal thing, but people often ask me the keyboards I use. I'm a heavy computer user, I've tried lots
of keyboards and these are the ones I've settled on:
Desktop Keyboard: Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop (L5V-00001)
- My *new* desktop keyboard, the keyboard I use for 8 hours of typing. Uses a custom wireless dongle, and has a removable number pad. Very sleek, I wish there was a little more key travel, but I think after a bit of use I'll prefer it over the Ergo Desktop 7000.
Portable Keyboard: - Goldtouch Go2Mobile - A fully adjustable (like crazy adjustable), really comfortable, and relatively portable keyboard. I say "relatively portable" because the keyboard can fold up so it fits in your bag, but it's still bulky and weighs a pound. I only bring the keyboard with me if I plan on typing more then 30 minutes. A non-obvious advantage of bringing a portable keyboard is you can put your laptop on a raised surface so you can type without having to strain your neck looking down at the screen.
Media Center Keyboard: Logitech K830 - An awesome back lit keyboard with built in trackball. If your considering the cheaper logitech K400, don't, it's got a very difficult to use trackpad and the keys are in strange positions. Do yourself a favor and get the K830.
Happy Typing - leave a comment if there's an amazing keyboard I need to try.
of keyboards and these are the ones I've settled on:
Desktop Keyboard: Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop (L5V-00001)
- My *new* desktop keyboard, the keyboard I use for 8 hours of typing. Uses a custom wireless dongle, and has a removable number pad. Very sleek, I wish there was a little more key travel, but I think after a bit of use I'll prefer it over the Ergo Desktop 7000.
Portable Keyboard: - Goldtouch Go2Mobile - A fully adjustable (like crazy adjustable), really comfortable, and relatively portable keyboard. I say "relatively portable" because the keyboard can fold up so it fits in your bag, but it's still bulky and weighs a pound. I only bring the keyboard with me if I plan on typing more then 30 minutes. A non-obvious advantage of bringing a portable keyboard is you can put your laptop on a raised surface so you can type without having to strain your neck looking down at the screen.
Media Center Keyboard: Logitech K830 - An awesome back lit keyboard with built in trackball. If your considering the cheaper logitech K400, don't, it's got a very difficult to use trackpad and the keys are in strange positions. Do yourself a favor and get the K830.
Happy Typing - leave a comment if there's an amazing keyboard I need to try.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
SaaS: Save the Souse
This is part of the SaaS series. Any connection to reality will be strictly denied.
Internships are best approached as a long-term field trip. You should plan to be exposed to new things, spend some time out of your comfort zone, and, by all means – use the buddy system.
My buddy’s name is Biff.
As our eye-opening experience learning to savor soup while sipping scotch revealed, not only did we learn a lot of technical skills during our Microsoft internship, but we also learned key life skills.
On the topic of life, Biff loved life. Biff also loved drinking, and loved driving – and – while sober, he had no trouble understanding that flirting with drinking and driving would ruin his relationship with life. But, as I learned that chilly Seattle fall, Biff’s sound judgment disappeared at quickly as the scotches – and was replaced by a foolish desire to drive drunk.
As an engineer, or perhaps as a foreshadowing of my future role as development lead, I'd devised a structural solution. When we went to parties, Biff got to drive us there, then I'd take his keys, savor my one and only one IPA and then be in charge of getting us home. The buddy system had thus far proven to be 100 proof effective.
However, one day as we arrived at a party, I was distracted by a redhead and made a beeline to bask in her presence. Thirty minutes later, I had come to see two things: the redhead had no interest in me and Biff had already seen the bottom of four scotch glasses.
I couldn't do anything about the redhead, but I could try to reason with Biff. Turns out, he was even less receptive to my ideas than the redhead.
ME: Give me your keys!
Biff: Burp.
ME: Dude, give me your keys!
Biff: Man, chill, I'm good, I can drive.
ME: Look, just give me the keys.
Biff: Look, if you think I'm drunk now, you should have seen me driving last Friday, I couldn't even walk a straight line.
ME: Here's the deal, give me your keys now, and if you can jump off that balcony AND be OK, I'll give your keys back.
Biff: Really? I jump and then I can drive home?
ME: Deal.
At this point, Biff surrendered his keys and leapt off the third story balcony which caused everyone else at the party to freak out. The two guests closest to me had a particularly colorful conversation:
Partygoer 1: Holy Shit – Biff jumped off the balcony!
Partygoer 2: Oh my god! Is he dead? Is he hurt?
Partygoer 1: Get a flashlight
Since Biff and I go way back, I was able to keep my calm as everyone else freaked out. See, I know Biff was basically the judo champion of a small country. He’s incapable of turning down a challenge to leap off of tall buildings or scale tall fences. While our fellow partygoers were stumbling around looking for a flashlight and trying to find the number for an ambulance, I casually unlocked the front door and wished Biff could watch the commotion with me.
Three minutes later, Biff crashed through the front door with a gleaming smile as if he'd just pulled off the big finish at a magic show.
Biff: Tada! I did it – give me the keys, I can drive.
The party guests around us exclaimed in utter befuddlement: “What? Jesus, you should have died!” They pleaded, “Igor - do not let him drive! Keep his keys!”
Morale of the story 1: Do not drive drunk, I don’t care how well you did it last time you were drunk.
Morale of the story 2: Keep your friends safe – be creative if you can, throw them out a window if you must, but your obligation is paramount.
Internships are best approached as a long-term field trip. You should plan to be exposed to new things, spend some time out of your comfort zone, and, by all means – use the buddy system.
My buddy’s name is Biff.
As our eye-opening experience learning to savor soup while sipping scotch revealed, not only did we learn a lot of technical skills during our Microsoft internship, but we also learned key life skills.
On the topic of life, Biff loved life. Biff also loved drinking, and loved driving – and – while sober, he had no trouble understanding that flirting with drinking and driving would ruin his relationship with life. But, as I learned that chilly Seattle fall, Biff’s sound judgment disappeared at quickly as the scotches – and was replaced by a foolish desire to drive drunk.
As an engineer, or perhaps as a foreshadowing of my future role as development lead, I'd devised a structural solution. When we went to parties, Biff got to drive us there, then I'd take his keys, savor my one and only one IPA and then be in charge of getting us home. The buddy system had thus far proven to be 100 proof effective.
However, one day as we arrived at a party, I was distracted by a redhead and made a beeline to bask in her presence. Thirty minutes later, I had come to see two things: the redhead had no interest in me and Biff had already seen the bottom of four scotch glasses.
I couldn't do anything about the redhead, but I could try to reason with Biff. Turns out, he was even less receptive to my ideas than the redhead.
ME: Give me your keys!
Biff: Burp.
ME: Dude, give me your keys!
Biff: Man, chill, I'm good, I can drive.
ME: Look, just give me the keys.
Biff: Look, if you think I'm drunk now, you should have seen me driving last Friday, I couldn't even walk a straight line.
ME: Here's the deal, give me your keys now, and if you can jump off that balcony AND be OK, I'll give your keys back.
Biff: Really? I jump and then I can drive home?
ME: Deal.
At this point, Biff surrendered his keys and leapt off the third story balcony which caused everyone else at the party to freak out. The two guests closest to me had a particularly colorful conversation:
Partygoer 1: Holy Shit – Biff jumped off the balcony!
Partygoer 2: Oh my god! Is he dead? Is he hurt?
Partygoer 1: Get a flashlight
Since Biff and I go way back, I was able to keep my calm as everyone else freaked out. See, I know Biff was basically the judo champion of a small country. He’s incapable of turning down a challenge to leap off of tall buildings or scale tall fences. While our fellow partygoers were stumbling around looking for a flashlight and trying to find the number for an ambulance, I casually unlocked the front door and wished Biff could watch the commotion with me.
Three minutes later, Biff crashed through the front door with a gleaming smile as if he'd just pulled off the big finish at a magic show.
Biff: Tada! I did it – give me the keys, I can drive.
The party guests around us exclaimed in utter befuddlement: “What? Jesus, you should have died!” They pleaded, “Igor - do not let him drive! Keep his keys!”
Morale of the story 1: Do not drive drunk, I don’t care how well you did it last time you were drunk.
Morale of the story 2: Keep your friends safe – be creative if you can, throw them out a window if you must, but your obligation is paramount.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Powershell One Liners
Instead of making a post every time I stumble upon a cool powershell one liner, I'll combine them all in this post. If you have a better one liner for my tasks, please comment.
Kill a process by name (In this case Jenkins).
Get-Process | ? {$_.Name -like 'JenKins' } | Stop-Process
Delete all Duplication Downloads (I usually run it first without the del paramaters)
dir -r | ? {$_.Name -like '(1)' } | del
Powershell 3, Where/ForEach hack - allowing you to specify properties sans an anonymous expression.
dir -r | ? Name -like '(1)'
Restart Explorer (often auto-hide of taskbar gets stuck, restarting explorer fixes it.)
Get-Process | where name -eq explorer |kill ; explorer
Find Who's hogging memory
Get-Process | sort "VM" -Des | Select-Object -first 10
Set current time forward 4 hours
set-date ((get-date) + [TimeSpan]::FromHours(4.0))
Get my son's age in weeks
((get-date) - (get-date 4/22/2010)).TotalDays/7
1-Liners relying on Power Shell Community Extensions (pscx)
Load pscx
Import-Module Pscx
Load the VS environment:
Import-VisualStudioVars 2012
Put stuff on/off the clipboard:
PS C:\hgs\igsmilebox> dir *ts | Out-Clipboard
PS C:\hgs\igsmilebox> Get-Clipboard
Get Time since last reboot:
PS C:\Users\idvor_000\SkyDrive\Documents> uptime
Uptime LastBootUpTime
------ --------------
6.19:20:27.1723192 4/27/2013 10:01:13 PM
Kill a process by name (In this case Jenkins).
Get-Process | ? {$_.Name -like 'JenKins' } | Stop-Process
Delete all Duplication Downloads (I usually run it first without the del paramaters)
dir -r | ? {$_.Name -like '(1)' } | del
Powershell 3, Where/ForEach hack - allowing you to specify properties sans an anonymous expression.
dir -r | ? Name -like '(1)'
Restart Explorer (often auto-hide of taskbar gets stuck, restarting explorer fixes it.)
Get-Process | where name -eq explorer |kill ; explorer
Find Who's hogging memory
Get-Process | sort "VM" -Des | Select-Object -first 10
Set current time forward 4 hours
set-date ((get-date) + [TimeSpan]::FromHours(4.0))
Get my son's age in weeks
((get-date) - (get-date 4/22/2010)).TotalDays/7
1-Liners relying on Power Shell Community Extensions (pscx)
Load pscx
Import-Module Pscx
Load the VS environment:
Import-VisualStudioVars 2012
Put stuff on/off the clipboard:
PS C:\hgs\igsmilebox> dir *ts | Out-Clipboard
PS C:\hgs\igsmilebox> Get-Clipboard
Get Time since last reboot:
PS C:\Users\idvor_000\SkyDrive\Documents> uptime
Uptime LastBootUpTime
------ --------------
6.19:20:27.1723192 4/27/2013 10:01:13 PM
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