Tag: Working Together

[NYTIMES] The Secret Life of Passwords

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://nyti.ms/1xrDxxa

For some people, these rituals are motivational. Fiona Moriarty, a competitive runner, told me that she often used “16:59” — her target time for the 5,000 meters in track. Mauricio Estrella, a designer who emailed me from Shanghai, described how his passwords function like homemade versions of popular apps like Narrato or 1 Second Everyday, which automatically provide its user with a daily reminder to pause and reflect momentarily on personal ambitions or values. To help quell his anger at his ex-wife soon after their divorce, Estrella had reset his password to “Forgive@h3r.” “It worked,” he said. Because his office computer demanded that he change his password every 30 days, he moved on to other goals: “Quit@smoking4ever” (successful); “Save4trip@thailand” (successful); “Eat2@day” (“it never worked, I’m still fat,” Estrella wrote); “Facetime2mom@sunday” (“it worked,” he said, “I’ve started talking with my mom every week now”).

 

Advertisement

[Hollywood Ending] LIFE AFTER PI (Official)

Harsh reality. If we can’t start being paid for how we worked, we’ll only be able to work for how it’ll be paid. How much creativity can we get from this? Having almost identical problem in software development, I cried watching this video.

“Life After Pi” is a short documentary about Rhythm & Hues Studios, the L.A. based Visual Effects company that won an Academy Award for its groundbreaking work on “Life of Pi”– just two weeks after declaring bankruptcy. The film explores rapidly changing forces impacting the global VFX community, and the Film Industry as a whole.

This is only the first chapter of an upcoming feature-length documentary “Hollywood Ending,” that delves into the larger, complex challenges facing the US Film Industry and the many professionals working within it, whose fates and livelihood are intertwined.

http://www.hollywoodendingmovie.com/

Don’t punish Yourself

It’s given as a PUNISHMENT to a student to write sentences REPEATEDLY on a blackboard.

If you are not careful, it’s quite easy to REPEATEDLY paste copies of identical code snippets. Not using iterative methodologies and not trying to find algorithmic solutions, is like let yourself to be in the state of uncomfortable incompetency, which is a PUNISHMENT.

Can App PREview Process be helpful?

Recently, our team has submitted an iOS app to the App Store to be reviewed.

Unfortunately, due to Apple’s own policy, this app was rejected and we couldn’t release it.

Personally, I have known this would happen. What this app tried to do was something questionable, at least in its intention, even if there is no technical violation.

Our team’s strategy was very simple. If Apple didn’t publish anything against about what this app tried to do, we could challenge Apple to accept the end product. If Apple didn’t say NO publicly, we should try it. That was the argument of the team leader.

However, Apple’s decision after reviewing was solid and there is no way we can reclaim time we spent to develop this app. The only comfort we could get was that Apple’s reviewer himself also felt sorry for us, recognizing it’s not a technical violation but just a political issue.

I just wish we could have known about Apple’s policy on this long before designing and developing the app. At least for me, if I could present public documentation about this matter, maybe I could persuade the team leader not to waste our time.

Or, it could be so much better if there are people in Apple’s side, who may answer our questions, BEFORE we start designing & developing something. I wonder if it’s helpful to have PREview team, like REview team.

Of course, there are a lot of instructive materials, teaching us what should we consider when developing an iOS app. But I just wish there is an actual Apple Genius whom we can talk to about very special and rare idea of ours, we just can’t help but to try out.

It’s just wishful thinking of mine.

Talented people are happy to help others using their talents

Everyone is so good at something, and asking for his help is actually easier than it seems.

When working together, however, some people feel reluctant to reach out for help, thinking it might be interfering or distracting the co-worker. And so they decide to try to solve the problems by themselves. It causes initially small problems to become bigger than when they are first appeared, making it even harder to ask for help later.

From the beginning, it was never possible for them to find the solutions on their own, since they are not prepared for certain problems at all. But people often forget that, in many areas, trying is not sufficient enough for finishing the assignments in the right ways.

For example, when you are writing in English, no matter how much you are willing, focused, and diligently browsing through dictionaries and utilizing translating tools, it’s never faster than a native English speaker can write. And the finished writing will definitely require a few number of revisions before finally becoming acceptable.

If you have a co-worker who is so good at writing in English, just ask for help as early as possible and as often as possible. Since tasks are smaller if they are requested in this way, and he is naturally prepared to use his English fluently and confidently, almost always he will happily accept the request for help.  It’s much better than bringing the big assignment with so little time before deadline, worrying if the co-worker will hate you. Likewise, similar principle can be practiced in many other areas.

Talented people are happy to help others using their talents. Their talents are meant to be used to help others. Though it’s tough and we are busy doing our own tasks, it’s critical to remind ourselves that we commute to workplaces which are essentially set up for the us workers to work together.

%d bloggers like this: