Friday, February 24, 2012

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees 

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-8-qualities-of-remarkable-employees.html?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=button 

1. They ignore job descriptions.
2. They’re eccentric...
3. But they know when to dial it back.
4. They publicly praise...
5. And they privately complain.
6. They speak when others won’t. 
7. They like to prove others wrong.
8. They’re always fiddling.
 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal
Jim Loehr, James E. Loehr, Tony Schwartz

http://www.slideshare.net/ramadd1951/the-power-of-full-engagement-9935682

Emotional depth and resilience depend on active engagement with others and with our own feelings.  Mental acuity diminishes in the absence of on-going intellectual challenge (s34)

To perform at our best, we must access pleasant and positive emotions; the experience of enjoyment, challenge, adventure and opportunity (s44)
Find balance between exercising emotional muscles regularly and intermittent recovery.

The ability to summon positive emotions during periods of intense stress & to communicate consistently positive energy lies at the heart of effective leadership (s45)

The mental energy that best serves full engagement is realistic optimism - seeing the world as it is, but always working positively towards a desired outcome or solution. (s48)

  • Maximum mental capacity is derived from a balance between expending and recovering mental energy.
  • The highest form of creativity depends on a rhythmic movement between engagement and disengagement, thinking & letting go, activity and rest.
  • When we lack the mental muscles we need to perform at our best, we must systematically build capacity by pushing past our comfort zone & then recovering.
  • Continuing to challenge the brain serves as a protection against age-related mental decline (s50)

Slides Transcript

  1. Some Impressionistic takes from the book Jim Loehr & Tony Schwarrtz “The Power of Full Engagement” by R. Ramakrishnan (Ramki) ramaddster@gmail.com
  2. About the AuthorJim Loehr is Chairman , CEO and co-founder of LGEperformance systems and is recognized globally for hiscontribution to the field of performance psychology. He hasworked with hundreds of world-class athletes, as well as policedepartments, emergency service workers. He co-founded LGEin 1993 to begin applying principles developed during his workwith athletes to corporate executives. He has authored 12books including the best selling “ Stress for success &Toughness Training for sports”Tony Schwartz is President and founder of the Energy projectwhose mission is to ignite a fire in the hearts of theorganizations & their leaders. He is the author of 3 other booksincluding the No.1 best-selling “ Art of the deal with DonaldTrump, What really matters , Searching for wisdom in Americaand Work in progress. He has been a reporter for The NewYork times , an associated editor of Newsweek.
  3. PreludeEnergy, not time, is our most precious resource. Energy is the fundamental currencyof high performance. Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the skilfulmanagement of energy.Leaders are the stewards of organizational energy—in companies, organizations, andeven in families. They inspire or demoralize others first by how effectively theymanage their own energy and next by how well they mobilize, focus, invest andrenew the collective energy of those they lead. The skilful management of energy,individually and organizationally, makes possible something that we call fullengagement. Full engagement is the energy state that best serves performance.The pace of change in the world has finally outstripped our abilities as humans tokeep up. The worst part is we feel powerless to do anything about it, that we havejust do the best we can, get through the day & deal with the rest of it tomorrow.The power of full engagement : Managing Energy , Not time is the key to highperformance and personal renewal
  4. Objective – Perform in the Storm Build the necessary capacity to sustainhigh performance in the face of increasing demand
  5. 1Human Energy Vs. Engagement
  6. EnergyEnergy is fundamental currency of highperformance
    Capacity is a function of one’s ability to expend & recover energy
    Every thought, feeling and action has a energy consequence.
    Energy is the most important resource to individual and organization Our most critical resource is our energy ,Most fail to manage it effectively
  7. Kinetic energy - Energy in -> Potential Energy -> Energy out
  8. Sources of Human Energy
    Physical
    Fundamental source of fuel
    Affects alertness, emotional management , concentration, creativity & commitment
    The size of energy reservoir depends on
    Patterns of breathing
    Food we eat and when we eat it
    The quality & quantity of sleep
    Intermittent recovery opportunities during day
    Level of our fitness Physical capacity is reflected in one’s ability to expend and recover energy at the physical level- defined by Quantity of energy
  9. Sources of Human Energy
    Emotional
    Defines the quality of energy given
    Emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger, sadness are
    associated with release of specific stress hormones
    The size of energy reservoir depends on
    Our self confidence
    Our ability to self-regulate
    Our interpersonal effectiveness
    Our ability to empathize Emotional capacity is reflected in one’s ability to expend and recover energy at the emotional level- defined by quality of the energy
  10. Sources of Human Energy
    Mental
    Defines the ability to focus our energy
    Allows us to concentrate (sustain focus), move fluidly between broad/narrow and internal/external focus and be creative
    Permits us to have realistic optimism (i.e., seeing the world as it is but moving positively toward a desired outcome or solution)
    The size of energy reservoir depends on
    Our mental preparation & Our visualization
    Our positive self-talk &
    Our ability to manage our time effectivelyMental capacity is reflected in one’s ability to expend and recover energy at the Mental level- defined by the focus of the energy
  11. Sources of Human Energy
    Spiritual
    Energy derived from out connection to our deeply held set of values and to a purpose beyond our self-interest
    Defines the motivation and perseverance to spend our energy
    Sustained by balancing commitment to others with personal self-care
    The size of our energy reservoir depends on:
    Our courage & conviction to live by our values
    Our passion & Our commitment
    Our integrity and honesty Spiritual capacity is reflected in one’s ability to expend and recover energy at the Spiritual level- defined by force of the energy
  12. 2 Dynamics of Full EngagementThe acquired ability to intentionally invest your full and best energy, right here, right now.
  13. The Power of Full Engagement Old Paradigm New Paradigm
    Manage time
    Manage energy
    Avoid stress
    Seek stress
    Life is a marathon
    Life is a series of sprints
    Downtime is wasted time
    Downtime is productive time
    Rewards fuel performance
    Purpose fuels performance
    Self-disciple rules
    Rituals rule
    The power of positive thinking
    The power of full engagement
  14. Full Engagement Requires you to be Spiritually Aligned Mentally Focused Emotionally Connected Physically Energized Optimal energy in the context of high performance Physical Energy is the foundation for the full engagement
  15. Barriers to Full Engagement
  16. Barriers to full engagement
    Negative habits that block, distort, waste, diminish, deplete and contaminate stored energy
    Not knowing
    Not tracking / not focusing on the goals
  17. Strategic Recovery ( in all dimensions) Energy expenditure must be balanced with energy recovery.
  18. Measuring Energy
    The quantity of available energy (physical) is measured in terms of volume (low and high).
    The quality of available energy (emotional) is measured in terms of unpleasant (negative) to pleasant (positive).
    The focus of available energy (mental) is measured in terms of broad to narrow and external to internal.
    The force of available energy (spiritual) is measured in terms of self to others, external to internal and negative to positive.
  19. Optimal Performance requires
    Greatest quantity of energy- Physical
    Highest quality of energy-Emotional
    Clearest focus of energy- Mental
    Maximum force of energy- Spiritual
  20. Full Engagement PrinciplesManaging Energy , not time is key to high performance Four Principles:
    Principle 1 : Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual
    Principle 2: Because energy capacity diminishes both with overuse and with underuse, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.
  21. Full Engagement PrinciplesFour Principles:
    Principle 3 : To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.
    Principle 4 :Positive energy rituals—highly specific routines for managing energy—are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.
  22. Principle 1
    Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy
    Physical
    Emotional
    Mental
    Spiritual
  23. The Dynamics of Energy- 4 Quadrants
    Full Engagement Is possible only when our energy is present in the high positive quadrant Physical Energy –capacity is measured in terms of quantity – Low to High
    Emotional Energy- Capacity in quality – Negative to Positive
  24. Principle 1- contd..
    Four sources of energy are interconnected in much the same way as the cylinders of a car engine.
    If cylinder misfires, the entire engine sputters.
    Physical & emotional energies are our most fundamental energies.
    Together they describe our affect- how we present ourselves to the external world .
  25. Principle 1- contd..
    As important as the high positive energies are to full engagement , the energies of low positive quadrant also deserve comment.
    They are the energies of the “ Strategically disengaged” the energies of renewal.
    This leads to Principle 2 …..
  26. Principle 2Because energy capacity diminishes both withoveruse & with underuse. We must balance energyexpenditure with intermittent energy renewal
    In order to be fully engaged we must periodically disengage & renew ourselves
    We can’t expect to be fully engaged 100% all the time. We need to recover & replenish our energies
    Recovery is not only important, it’s actually necessary for optimal performance.
  27. Principle 3To build capacity, we must push beyond our normallimits, training in the same systematic way that eliteathletes do.
    Stress is not the enemy in our lives, it is the key to growth.
    To build strength in our muscle we must systematically stress it, expending energy beyond normal levels.
    This causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers resulting in diminished functional capacity.
    Give the muscle 24 to 48 hours to recover & it grows stronger & better
  28. Principle 3
    Like we build physical strength for our muscles, we need to build muscles in every dimension of our lives
    From Empathy & patience to focus & creativity to integrity & commitment.
    What applies to the body applies equally to the other dimensions of life.
    This insight both simplifies & revolutionizes the way we approach the barriers that stand in our way.
  29. Principle 4Positive Energy Rituals-highly specific routines formanaging energy – are the key to full engagement &sustained high performance
    Human beings are creatures of habit.
    Change is difficult – what we do is automatic & unconscious.
    It is difficult to sustain the effort over long haul.
    Will & discipline are far more limited resources than most of us realize.
    The status quo has a magnetic pull on us
  30. Making Change- 3 Step Process (1/2 )
    Define Purpose -surface and articulate the most important values to define a vision both personally & professionally.
    Connecting to a deep set of values & creating a compelling vision fuels a uniquely high- octane source of energy for change, it also serves as a compass for navigating the storms that inevitable arise in our lives.
    Face the Truth - it is impossible to chart a course for change until you are able to look honestly at who you are today.
    The first question to ask is :
    How are you spending your energy today?
    Facing the truth begins with gathering credible data.
  31. Making Change- 3 Step Process (2/2 )
    Take Action- to close the gap between who you are and who you want to be . between how you manage your energy now and how you want to manage your energy to achieve whatever mission you are on.
    This step involves building a personal development plan grounded in positive energy rituals.
    Building rituals requires defining very precise behaviours and performing them at very specific times . motivated by deeply held values.
  32. 3The Pulse of High Performance(Balancing Stress & Recovery)
  33. Balancing Stress & Energy
    Energy is simply the capacity to do work. Our most fundamental need as human beings is to spend & recover energy. The authors call this oscillation.
    The opposite of oscillation is linearity: too much energy expenditure without recovery or too much recovery without sufficient energy expenditure.
    Balancing stress and recovery is critical to high performance both individually and organizationally.
  34. Balancing Stress & Energy
    We must sustain health oscillatory rhythms at four levels of what they term the performance pyramid.: physical, emotional, mental & spiritual.
    We build emotional, mental & spiritual capacity in precisely the same way we build physical capacity. We must systematically expose ourselves to stress beyond our normal limits, followed by adequate recovery.
    Emotional depth & resilience depend on active engagement with others & with our own feelings. Mental acuity diminishes in the absence of on-going intellectual challenge.
  35. Balancing Stress & Energy
    Spiritual energy capacity depends on regularly revisiting our deepest values & holding ourselves accountable in our behaviour.
    Full engagement requires cultivating a dynamic balance between the expenditure of energy (stress) & the renewal of energy (recovery) in all dimensions. The authors call this rhythmic wave oscillation, and it represents the fundamental pulse of life.
    Expanding capacity requires a willingness to endure short- term discomfort in the service of long-term reward. The key to expanding capacity is both to push beyond ones ordinary limits and to regularly seek recovery, which is when growth actually occurs.
  36. 4Physical Energy -Fueling the Fire
  37. Physical Energy- 1/4
    Physical energy is the fundamental source of fuel in life, even if our work is almost completely sedentary. It not only lies at the heart of alertness & vitality but also affects our ability to manage our Emotions, Sustain concentration, Think creatively, and even maintain our commitment to whatever mission we are on.
    Physical energy is derived from the interaction between oxygen & glucose.
    The two most important regulators of physical energy are breathing & eating. The size of our energy reservoir depends on the patterns of our breathing, the foods that we eat & when we eat them, the quantity and quality of our sleep, the degree to which we get intermittent recovery during the day & the level of our fitness.
  38. Physical Energy -2/4
    The breath is a powerful tool for self regulation- a means to summon energy & to relax deeply.
    Extending the exhalation prompts a powerful wave of recovery. Breathing in to a count of three & out to a count of six, lowers arousal & quiets not just the body but also the mind and the emotions.
    Eating 5 to 6 low-calorie, highly nutritious meals a day ensures a steady resupply of glucose & essential nutrients. Sustained performance depends not just on eating at regular intervals but also eating only as much as you need to drive your energy for the next 2 to 3 hours. Snacks between meals should typically be between 100 & 150 calories & should focus on low-glycemic foods such as nuts & sunflower seeds, fruits, or half of a typical- size 200 calorie energy bar
  39. Examples – Eating-When & how Example 1: Only eating 2 large meals per day Eat every 3 hours +/- 1 hour Never go more than 4 hours without eating! Example 2: Only 3 small meals & 3 small snacks
  40. What to Eat
    Sustainable energy: low glycemic
    Balance of nutrients: physiological needs
  41. Physical Energy- 3/4
    Drinking 64 ounces of water daily is a key factor in the effective management of physical energy. Inadequate hydration compromises concentration and coordination.
    Most human beings require 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night to function optimally. In addition to its energy renewing function, sleep is also a period during which substantial growth & repair occur – most of it at the deepest level of sleep, when slow- wave delta brainwaves are dominant.
    Going to bed early and waking up early help to optimize performance.
  42. Physical Energy- 4/4
    Interval training is more effective than steady-state exercise in building physical capacity & in teaching people how to recover more efficiently.
    To sustain full engagement, we must take a recovery break every 90 to 120 minutes. Just as we cycle through levels of sleep at night, so our potential for engagement varies during our waking hours.
    Brief periods of rest are crucial to sustaining energy over long hours.
  43. 5 Emotional EnergyTransforming threat into challenge
  44. Emotional Energy- 1/3
    Emotional intelligence, from the authors perspective, is simply the capacity to manage emotions skilfully in the service of high positive energy & full engagement.
    In order to perform at our best, we must access pleasant & positive emotions; the experience of enjoyment, challenge, adventure and opportunity.
    The key muscles fuelling positive energy are self-confidence, self-control, interpersonal effectiveness and empathy.
    Access to the emotional muscles that best serve performance depends on creating a balance between exercising them regularly and intermittently seeking recovery. Physical and emotional energy are inextricably connected.
  45. Emotional Energy- 2/3
    Negative emotions serve survival but they are very costly & energy inefficient in the context of performance. For leaders and managers, negative emotions are doubly insidious, because they are also infectious.
    The ability to summon positive emotions during periods of intense stress & to communicate consistently positive energy lies at the heart of effective leadership.
    Access to the emotional muscles that serve performance depends on creating a balance between exercising them regularly & intermittently seeking recovery.
  46. Emotional Energy- 3/3
    The delicate dance of a healthy friendship can be a powerful source both of positive energy & of renewal. The pulse of a strong relationship involves a rhythmic movement between giving & taking, talking and listening, valuing the other person and feeling commensurately valued in return.
    Any activity that is enjoyable, fulfilling and affirming serves as a source of emotional renewal and recovery.
    Emotional muscles such as patience, empathy & confidence can be strengthened in the same way that we strengthen a bicep or a triceps: pushing past our current limits followed by recovery
  47. 6 Mental EnergyAppropriate Focus & Realistic Optimism
  48. Mental Energy- 1/3
    Just as physical energy is the fundamental fuel for emotional competencies, so it is the fuel for mental skills. Mental capacity is what we use to organize our lives and focus our attention. Nothing so interferes with performance and engagement as the inability to concentrate on the task at hand. To perform at our best we must be able to sustain concentration, and to move flexibly between broad & narrow, as well as internal and external focus.
    The mental energy that best serves full engagement is realistic optimism . seeing the world as it is, but always working positively towards a desired outcome or solution.
  49. Mental Energy- 2/3
    The key supportive mental muscles include mental preparation, visualization, positive self-talk, effective time management & creativity.
    Changing channels mentally permits different parts of the brain to be activated & facilitates creativity.
    Physical exercise stimulates cognitive capacity. It does so by driving more blood and oxygen to the brain
    Thinking uses up a lot of energy. The consequences of insufficient mental recovery range from increased mistakes of judgment & execution to lower creativity and a failure to take reasonable account of risks. The key to mental recovery is to give the conscious, thinking mind intermittent rest.
  50. Mental Energy- 3/3
    Maximum mental capacity is derived from a balance between expending and recovering mental energy.
    The highest form of creativity depends on a rhythmic movement between engagement and disengagement, thinking & letting go, activity and rest.
    When we lack the mental muscles we need to perform at our best, we must systematically build capacity by pushing past our comfort zone & then recovering.
    Continuing to challenge the brain serves as a protection against age-related mental decline
  51. 7 Spiritual EnergyHe who has a why to live
  52. Spiritual Energy
    Spiritual energy provides the force for action in all dimensions of our lives. It fuels passion, perseverance and commitment.
    Spiritual energy is derived from a connection to deeply held values & a purpose beyond our self- interest.
    At the practical level, anything that ignites the human spirit serves to drive full engagement & to maximize performance in whatever mission we are on.
  53. Spiritual Energy
    Character - the courage & conviction to live by our deepest values is the key muscle that serves spiritual energy.
    The key supportive spiritual muscles are passion, commitment, integrity and honesty.
    Spiritual energy expenditure & energy renewal are deeply interconnected.
    Spiritual energy is sustained by balancing a commitment to a purpose beyond ourselves with adequate self-care.
    The capacity to live by our deepest values depends on regularly renewing our spirit - seeking ways to rest & rejuvenate & to reconnect with the values that we find most inspiring & meaningful.
  54. 8The Training System
  55. Defining Purpose- Rules of Engagement
    The most compelling source of purpose is spiritual, the energy derived from connecting to deeply held values and a purpose beyond one’s self-interest.
    Purpose creates a destination. We become fully engaged only when we care deeply, when we feel that what we are doing really matters. The search for meaning is among the most powerful & enduring themes in every culture since the origin of recorded history.
    The “Hero’s journey” is grounded in mobilizing, nurturing & regularly renewing our most precious resource, energy, in the service of what matter most.
  56. Defining Purpose- Rules of Engagement
    Purpose fuels focus, direction, passion & perseverance.
    When we lack a strong purpose we are easily buffeted by life’s inevitable storms.
    Purpose becomes a more powerful & enduring source of energy when its source moves from negative to positive, external to internal & self to others.
    A negative source of purpose is defensive & deficit- based. Purpose fuelled by the feeling of deficit also narrows our attention & limits our possibilities.
    Intrinsic motivation grows out of the desire to engage in an activity because we value it for the inherent satisfaction it provides.
  57. Defining Purpose- Rules of Engagement
    Values fuel the energy on which purpose is built. They hold us to a different standard for managing our energy. A value is ultimately just a roadmap for action.
    Values we fail to reflect in our behaviour are ultimately empty.
    A value in action is a virtue. Alignment occurs when we transform our values into virtues. Simply identifying our primary values is not sufficient. The next step is to define more precisely how we intend to embody the values in our daily lives, regardless of external pressures
  58. Face the Truth- How are you managing your energy now ?
    Facing the truth about the gap between who we want to be & who we really are is never easy. Each of us has an infinite capacity for self-deception.
    Facing the truth frees up energy & is the second stage, after defining purpose, in becoming fully engaged.
    Avoiding the truth consumes great effort and energy.
    At the most basic level, we deceive ourselves in order to protect our self-esteem. We each have our own well- funded defence department.
    We do things like numb out, rationalize against the truth & intellectualize as a means of acknowledging the truth cognitively without experiencing its impact emotionally
  59. Face the Truth- How are you managing your energy now ?
    Some truths are too unbearable to be absorbed all at once. Emotions such as grief are best metabolized in waves.
    Truth without compassion is cruelty, to others & to ourselves.
    What we fail to acknowledge about ourselves we often continue to act out unconsciously.
    A common form of self-deception is assuming that our view represents the truth, when it is really just a lens through which we choose to view the world. It is really just an interpretation.
    Facing the truth requires that we retain an on-going openness to the possibility that we may not be seeing ourselves, or others, accurately
  60. Face the Truth- How are you managing your energy now ?
    Facing the truth requires making yourself the object of inquiry - conducting an audit of your life & holding yourself accountable for the energy consequences of your behaviours.
    It is both a danger & a delusion when we become too identified with a singular view of ourselves. We are all a blend of light and shadow, virtues and vices.
    Accepting our limitations reduces our defensiveness & increases the amount of positive energy available to us.
    The Serenity Prayer is a perfect primer on ideal energy management: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; & the wisdom to know the difference. We spend vast amounts of energy worrying about people & situations over which we have no control. Far better to concentrate our energy on that which we can influence.
  61. Taking action- The Power of Positive Rituals
    Rituals serve as tools through which we effectively manage energy in the service of whatever mission we are on.
    Rituals create a means by which we translate our values & priorities into action in all dimensions of our life.
    All great performers rely on positive rituals to manage their energy & regulate their behavior
    The limitations of conscious will & discipline are rooted in the fact that every demand on our self control draws on the same limited resources
    We can off-set our limited will & discipline by building rituals that become as automatic as quickly as possible , fueled by our deepest values.
    The most important role of rituals is to insure effective balance between energy expenditure & energy renewal in the service of full engagement.
  62. Taking action- The Power of Positive Rituals
    The most exacting challenge and the greater the pressure, the more rigorous our rituals need to be. The bigger the storm, the more inclined we are to revert to our survival habits, & the more important positive rituals become.
    Precision & specificity are critical dimensions of building rituals during the thirty-to sixty-day acquisition period. The specificity & precision of rituals also makes it more likely that we will be able to produce them under pressure.
    It also helps to assure that our rituals themselves remain fuelled by our deepest values.
    By building a ritual to regularly revisit our vision we can insure a strong, continuing connection to the source of energy such a statement provides.
    Far from precluding spontaneity, rituals provide a level of comfort, continuity and security that frees us to improvise and to take risks
  63. Key take away/ Bear in mind
    Managing energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance. Performance is grounded in the skillful management of energy.
    Great leaders are stewards of organizational energy. They begin by effectively managing their own energy. As leaders, they must mobilize, focus, invest, channel, renew, and expand the energy of others.
    Full engagement is the energy state that best serves performance.
    Review the Four Principles.
    Making change – 3 steps process
  64. Decide where you want to be

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Julia language

 http://julialang.org/blog/2012/02/why-we-created-julia/

 

Why We Created Julia

In short, because we are greedy.

We are power Matlab users. Some of us are Lisp hackers. Some are Pythonistas, others Rubyists, still others Perl hackers. There are those of us who used Mathematica before we could grow facial hair. There are those who still can't grow facial hair. We've generated more R plots than any sane person should. C is our desert island programming language.

We love all of these languages; they are wonderful and powerful. For the work we do — scientific computing, machine learning, data mining, large-scale linear algebra, distributed and parallel computing — each one is perfect for some aspects of the work and terrible for others. Each one is a trade-off.

We are greedy: we want more.

We want a language that's open source, with a liberal license. We want the speed of C with the dynamism of Ruby. We want a language that's homoiconic, with true macros like Lisp, but with obvious, familiar mathematical notation like Matlab. We want something as usable for general programming as Python, as easy for statistics as R, as natural for string processing as Perl, as powerful for linear algebra as Matlab, as good at gluing programs together as the shell. Something that is dirt simple to learn, yet keeps the most serious hackers happy. We want it interactive and we want it compiled.

(Did we mention it should be as fast as C?)

While we're being demanding, we want something that provides the distributed power of Hadoop — without the kilobytes of boilerplate Java and XML; without being forced to sift through gigabytes of log files on hundreds of machines to find our bugs. We want the power without the layers of impenetrable complexity. We want to write simple scalar loops that compile down to tight machine code using just the registers on a single CPU. We want to write A*B and launch a thousand computations on a thousand machines, calculating a vast matrix product together.

We never want to mention types when we don't feel like it. But when we need polymorphic functions, we want to use generic programming to write an algorithm just once and apply it to an infinite lattices of types; we want to use multiple dispatch to efficiently pick the best method for all of a function's arguments, from dozens of method definitions, providing common functionality across drastically different types. Despite all this power, we want the language to be simple and clean.

All this doesn't seem like too much to ask for, does it?

Even though we recognize that we are inexcusably greedy, we still want to have it all. About two and a half years ago, we set out to create the language of our greed. It's not complete, but it's time for a 1.0 release — the language we've created is called Julia. It already delivers on 90% of our ungracious demands, and now it needs the ungracious demands of others to shape it further. So, if you are also a greedy, unreasonable, demanding programmer, we want you to give it a try.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Patrick Debois - How To Bootstrap a DevOps Mentality
http://www.slideshare.net/jedi4ever/bootstrapping-a-devops-mentality-at-skillsmatter-by-patrick-debois


It’s not a technical problem - it’s a human problem
It’s a trust problem
Starting a devops culture = restoring trust
We judge others by their behaviour. We judge ourselves by our intentions - Ian Percy
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dmitriy Samovskiy

Complex Systems: Generalists and Specialists

Necessary causes:
If x is a necessary cause of y, then the presence of y necessarily implies the presence of x. The presence of x, however, does not imply that y will occur.
Sufficient causes:
If x is a sufficient cause of y, then the presence of x necessarily implies the presence of y. However, another cause z may alternatively cause y. Thus the presence of y does not imply the presence of x.
Contributory causes:

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

IMVU Continuous Deployment / Intermittent Test Failure

Timothy Fitz from IMVU on Continuous Deployment:
http://timothyfitz.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/continuous-deployment/

Timothy Fitz follow-up post about the organic evolution of their build-bot:
http://timothyfitz.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/continuous-deployment-at-imvu-doing-the-impossible-fifty-times-a-day/

IMVU
  • $1m/month revenue
BuildBot
  • 9min test suite sharded across 30-40 machines
  • up to 6 deploys an hour
  • 15,000 test cases
  • rock solid one-in-a-million-or-better tests that drive Internet Explorer to click ajax frontend buttons executing backend apache, php, memcache, mysql, java and solr
  • imvu_push script pushes rsyncs to 100s machines
  • symlink switches small subset machines live - which are monitored for 5 minutes
  • if good, rest are symlinked live
  • fixed queue of 5 copies of website on each frontend
  • schema changes done out of band

Buildbot running our tests sharded across 36 machines.

John Watte from IMVU on handling intermittent test failures:
http://engineering.imvu.com/2011/01/19/buildbot-and-intermittent-tests/

  • 40,000 tests
  • informal goal: run all tests in 12 minutes or less (can build 5 times an hour)
  • intermittent failure will often not fail next time
  • failed test is retested on another machine, if good, build is green

BSOD troubleshooting Windows 7

BlueScreenView: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

Enabling Windows Driver Verifier: http://mikemstech.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/enable-driver-verifir-to-help-identify.html

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/blue-screens-kernel-power-event-id-41-task/29b24e3c-5080-4f63-b37a-7e88d2c0ef11
I would suggest you to try the steps from the following links:
Review your computer's status ->  Maintenance -> Check for solutions to problem reports -> Check for solutions.
Windows Update.
Advanced Boot Options
Check a drive for errors and Diagnosing memory problems on your computer.

Friday, February 3, 2012