The 1st ever bug

In 1946, the 1st ever case of a bug was reported when an actual moth trapped in the relay of a Mark II caused it to malfunction. The bug was removed and taped into a log book and recorded as the 1st actual case of a bug being found! The log book (with attached moth) is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. How’s that for error tracking!


The term bug however was coined earlier as records show that Thomas Edison used it in 1878:

“It has been just so in all of my inventions. The first step is an intuition, and comes with a burst, then difficulties arise—this thing gives out and [it is] then that 'Bugs' — as such little faults and difficulties are called—show themselves and months of intense watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success or failure is certainly reached.”

Adapted from: Refactor your wetware @ Agile2011

The Spinning Lady

Look closely. Is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Think of happy places, found memories, poetry, and music. Let your mind wander.

Look closely. Is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Solve 3*5=?
Solve 15+5=?
Solve 20+5=?
Solve 25 + 3 =?
Solve 28/2=? 14.

Look closely. Is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?




Did she switch direction? The idea here is that our brain switches between left and right. If she is spinning clockwise, then we are using the right side of our brain which is responsible for feelings, beliefs, imagination. If she is spinning counter-clockwise, then we are using the left side of our brain which is responsible for logic, math, and science.


Adapted from "Refactor Your Wetware" @ Agile2011

Back to the Future!

At the conclusion of the Agile 2011 conference, Todd Little jokingly looked back to the 1st Agile conference in 2004 when agile experts made predictions of the future and came up with the top 8 things that will happen once main stream gets hold of Agile Software Development:

8. The 1st Agile software development conference will undergo historical revisionism, in which it will be told as originally taking place on a farm outside Sundance, with lots of music and on-demand pairing, and announcements in middle of the conference to not eat the brown acid.

7. The Spike channel will ask Ron Jeffries to host an Apprentice-type reality show where agile teams will compete against each other to build software for rocket-packs, X-ray goggles, and invisibility rays. The catchphrase when he gets rid of the failing team each week is “You’re dead fish!”

6. GE will develop 3 year, six sigma certification programs for becoming Agile Certified.

4. You’ll see personal ads like ”Certified SCRUM master seeks product owner with large product backlog for promiscuous pairing”, and “Single Agile Developer with data envy and analysis paralysis seeks customer for private requirements collection; expect failure”.

3. Sun will come up with an innovative, elegant Agile programming language, get people to use it, and proceed to totally screw up the marketing for it and name it with really confusing release numbers.

2. Woman out at bars together will refer scathingly to the guy at the end of the bar who keeps starring at them as a “scope creep”.

1. A paperclip in Windows will pop up periodically and say, “Looks like you’re trying the waterfall method. Want me to pair with you?

Follow-up on Getting Fit Using Agile Workstations

Back in late December, I blogged about my New Year's resolution of using a standing workstation. Well 6 months later, I can say that I have stuck to it. I can now work standing for about 6 hours a day, with a break during lunch. Overall, I definitely feel better and more energized, but I do not have concrete metrics to show that my health is improving. There are however more studies that have come out on the subject. Some warn of the dangers of sitting, yet other warn of the dangers of standing. Go figure!

http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/13/the-dangers-of-sitting-at-work%E2%80%94and-standing/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/16/health/main6683528.shtml

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34956099/ns/health-fitness/t/you-sitting-down-experts-say-itll-kill-you/

And here's an info-graphic from medical billing and coding that sums it all up:




Via: Medical Billing And Coding

The Semmelwies Reflex

At the 2011 Agile Development Practices West conference, Linda Rising gave a keynote address entitled “Deception and Estimating, how we fool ourselves”. In the presentation, Linda referred to the The Semmelwies Reflex which is a metaphor for the reflex-like rejection of new knowledge because it contradicts entrenched norms, beliefs or paradigms. It is based on the theory that once scientists have crafted a hypothesis they are reluctant to let go.

Linda quotes Max Plank:

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it”.

Linda then explains that we have to wait for the old ideas to die, physically die, and she amusingly wonders “How many waterfall people must pass on before Agile takes over!!!”

So what's it like to be a generalist?

The Waterfall Manifesto

In a recent blog entry entitled Beyond the Manifesto, I discussed the different agile related manifestos that came out after the Agile Manifesto. Today, I found one that I had missed entitled the Waterfall Manifesto by the Waterfall Alliance!

It states:

Our experience has taught us to value:

• Processes and tools over individuals and interactions
• Comprehensive documentation over quality software
• Contract negotiation over customer collaboration
• Following THE initial plan over responding to change

Check it out at http://www.waterfallmanifesto.org/

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