How I Enjoyed the Rock Paper Azure Competition

January 6, 2012 1 Comment

Rock Paper AzureIn mid-December, I saw an ad on StackOverflow.com and was immediately intrigued. “Rock, Paper, Azure!” was a contest run by Microsoft wherein programmers design bots to compete in a modified game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The bots had to be hosted in Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure, so you can easily see Microsoft’s motivation to give away some small prizes to influence developers into trying and (hopefully) adopting Azure.

Although I had plenty of things to keep me busy leading up to Christmas, the Rock, Paper, Azure marketing worked on me. I figured I could take 1 or 2 hours out of my time and write the best algorithm I could in that time. Besides, I would be entered into the grand-prize contest drawing just for competing with even the most simple of bots.

Bugs LanguageI was immediately reminded of a school project from an early Computer Science course at Ohio State. The contest back then pitted “bug bots” from teams of students in the course against each other. Each team started out with a handful of bugs on a large virtual checker board. A bug could “convert” another student’s bug by facing it and issuing the “bite” command. The bitten bug would then become a member of the “biting” bug’s army. The game continues until one team has converted all bugs. If I remember correctly, there were only a few possible commands:

  • “Detect” if an object (like a wall or another bug) was in front of it
  • “Move” forward 1 square
  • “Rotate” left or right
  • “Bite”

 

It may have evolved since then, but our bot did surprisingly well back then despite a very simple algorithm:

  1. If something in front, turn left, bite.
  2. Else, move forward, bite.
  3. Repeat Step 1.

 

I’ve often wondered what additional strategy I would write into my bot if given another opportunity in such a competition. Rock, Paper, Azure was the challenge I was looking for.

Microsoft’s version of “roshambo” came with a few twists, such as the introduction of the dynamite and water balloon moves. Check out all the details and rules here. I liked that it was a simple game but with competition against other developers’ bots came many options for creative strategy. Additionally, I was extremely impressed with how simple it was to build the basic bot.

Game Rule Highlights:

  • Bots compete each other throwing one of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Dynamite, or Water Balloon
  • Normal rules apply except that the Dynamite beats everything but Water Balloon and Water Balloon loses to everything but Dynamite
  • Each bot only gets to use Dynamite 100 times
  • First bot to win 1000 times wins the entire match
  • Ties carry over, so the next round could be worth more than 1 win (similar to “Skins” in golf)

 

It took me some iteration to come up with my eventual strategy, which turned out to be admittedly mediocre (98th place out of 162). I realized that my bot can keep track of the history of moves that it has made as well as the moves of my opponent. My plan was to try and detect if my opponent was falling into a sort of pattern. I was especially concerned about the end of the round when we both would be desperately throwing dynamite to close out the match. As you can see, my strategy only had a small amount of success.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my time creating and deploying my bot. I encourage Microsoft to search for more clever ways to get developers interested in learning and using their development platforms. In this contest, I got to expand my mind, learn more about Azure, and I even got a free t-shirt. Here’s to the next competition!

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How to Query the Yahoo Fantasy Football API in .NET

October 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

The Coveted League TrophyAs technical co-commissioner of my Keeper Fantasy Football league, I perform a good deal of administrative duties during the offseason. I have to sort through all the player transactions from the season to determine which NFL players are eligible to be kept within our league rules. One year, at the end of the 2010 season, I waited too long to gather this data. I normally click through the Yahoo Website to see all the historical transaction data necessary. However, after a certain point in the year, Yahoo removes access to the year’s information.

Luckily, in late 2009, Yahoo opened up their Fantasy Football API. Therefore, I was able to implement a .NET solution to retrieve the data I needed. Below are the steps I took.

The goal of our solution will be to create a simple ASP.NET Web Forms application that authenticates to Yahoo and then enables us to query the API.

Perhaps the most difficult hurdle to overcome is authentication. Yahoo uses a web standard called OAuth, which is a “simple, secure, and quick way to publish and access protected data”. You can find out more about it here, as I do not plan to delve into the low-level details of this protocol. The difficulty I found was that there are not many examples of .NET applications using this technology on the web.

To help us authenticate, we will leverage a .NET library called DevDefined OAuth.

  • Create a new Web Forms solution and add a reference to this project or compiled dll.

In our next step, we will create a simple button (named AuthenticateButton) in the Default.aspx page to kick off the authentication process.

  • Create a click event handler for your button. Enter the following code in the code-behind:

string requestUrl = “https://api.login.yahoo.com/oauth/v2/get_request_token”;
        string userAuthorizeUrl = “https://api.login.yahoo.com/oauth/v2/request_auth”;
        string accessUrl = “https://api.login.yahoo.com/oauth/v2/get_token”;
        string callBackUrl = “http://domain.com/Query.aspx”;

         protected void AuthenticateButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            var consumerContext = new OAuthConsumerContext
            {
                ConsumerKey = “[provided by yahoo]“,
                SignatureMethod = SignatureMethod.HmacSha1,
                ConsumerSecret = “[provided by yahoo]“
            };

             var session = new OAuthSession(consumerContext, requestUrl, userAuthorizeUrl, accessUrl, callBackUrl);

             // get a request token from the provider
            IToken requestToken = session.GetRequestToken();

            // generate a user authorize url for this token (which you can use in a redirect from the current site)
            string authorizationLink = session.GetUserAuthorizationUrlForToken(requestToken, callBackUrl);

             Session["oAuthSession"] = session;
            Session["oAuthToken"] = requestToken;

             Response.Redirect(authorizationLink);
        }

 

To obtain your ConsumerKey and ConsumerSecret strings to place into the above code, go Yahoo’s Developer Projects Site and create a project. When creating your project, enter the Application URL (e.g. http://domain.com) and App Domain (e.g. domain.com) of the deployed location of your web site. Also, make sure to enable access to the Yahoo Fantasy Football API.

Take a look at the value in the callBackUrl string above. This needs to be edited to be an address on your web site. As part of the authentication process, Yahoo calls back to a URL on your site and therefore requires your site to be accessible from the public web.

  • Add a new web page to your project named “Query.aspx”
  • Place the below code in your Page_Load event handler

        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            OAuthSession session = (OAuthSession)Session["oAuthSession"];
            IToken requestToken = (IToken)Session["oAuthToken"];

             // exchange a request token for an access token
            string oauth_verifier = Request.QueryString["oauth_verifier"];
            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(oauth_verifier))
            {
                IToken accessToken = session.ExchangeRequestTokenForAccessToken(requestToken, oauth_verifier);
                Session["oAuthSession"] = session;
            }
        }

 

Now that we are finished implementing the authentication code we can write the query submission logic.

  • Add a textbox (named QueryTextBox), a label (named ResultsLabel), and a button (named QueryButton) to the Query.aspx page
  • Add a click event handler for your button. Enter the following code in the code-behind:

        protected void QueryButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string query = QueryTextBox.Text;
            IConsumerRequest responseText = ((OAuthSession)Session["oAuthSession"]).Request().Get().ForUrl(“http://fantasysports.yahooapis.com/fantasy/v2/” + query);
            ResultsLabel.Text = responseText.ToString();
        }

 

You are now ready to query the Yahoo Fantasy Football API. Here is how you use it.

  1. Load the page by navigating to http://domain.com (replace “domain” with your website domain name).
  2. Click the Authenticate button

  1. Yahoo’s site will guide you through the steps to login to your Fantasy Football account and redirect to your site when finished.
  2. Enter an API Query into the text box and click “Submit Query.”

 

There are definitely improvements that can be made to our sample application. For instance, the results output from our query are not easily readable, but they can be simply output to an xml document or some other format for reading.

The amount of data that can be extracted from the API is huge and can be leveraged for some very creative purposes. For more information about the query syntax as well as available data, see the Fantasy Sports API Documentation.

You can download the code for the sample application.

 

Lastly, below are some resourceful links:

http://github.com/buildmaster/oauth-mvc.net

http://oauth.net/code/

http://oauth.googlecode.com/svn/code/csharp/

http://blog.techcle.com/2010/03/20/simple-oauth-integration-for-twitter-in-asp-net-mvc/

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/Delicious-OAuth-API.aspx

http://code.google.com/p/devdefined-tools/w/list

http://developer.yahoo.com/fantasysports/

http://developer.yahoo.net/forum/index.php?showforum=122

 

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“6 Simple Steps to Getting Certified” – a Toastmasters Presentation

May 4, 2011 1 Comment

Since October I have been attending Toastmasters meetings and occasionally giving speeches to improve my public speaking ability.

Below is my 4th speech:

6 Simple Steps to Getting Certified

  1. Ask your boss & peers which certifications are valuable.
    You don’t want to waste time obtaining a certification that will not ultimately help you to achieve your goals. Ask your boss to find out about certifications that would aide in advancement within your current job. Ask peers to find out which would provide opportunity outside of your current employer. Ideally, you should choose a certification about which you have some relevant knowledge already. Otherwise, the preparation process will be significantly elongated.
  2. Research the governing body’s website or magazine to determine what is required. Find out:
    a. The format of the test (e.g. multiple choice, essay, etc.)
    b. Recommended training materials (e.g. text books, practice tests, etc.)
    c. Additional requirements (e.g. years experience, a verbal presentation, etc.)
  3. Study
    a. Obtain the recommended training materials
    b. Review fundamentals
    c. Spend extra time learning new concepts
  4. Practice Tests
    a. Take practice tests to get familiar with the testing environment
    b. Write down notes about surprising answers and concepts with which you struggled
    c. Schedule the official exam when ready and confident. In many cases, your company will pay for the exam fee.
  5. Cram: study for an hour or two right before the test.
    Focus on those concepts you struggled with as well as facts & formulas that will be beneficial to have memorized. No matter how much you study before-hand, always cram. It’s important to have that information in short-term memory going into the test. Trust me, you don’t want to fail a test because of something trivial that you would have known if you had just done a quick review of the material before the test.
  6. Pass the Test
    a. Many certifications last a lifetime
    b. Update your resume
    c. Now you can add those letters after your name on your business card

I have only been attending for 7 months, so I have plenty of room for continual improvement. However, I have already been helped by the members of my Toastmasters club to use fewer filler words and display fewer nervous ticks. I hope to become more comfortable, so that I can focus on my message while on stage instead of being so nervous my mind goes blank.

Toastmasters is useful because of the feedback given at the end of a meeting. It is helping me develop a sense for how long (in time) someone is speaking (including myself). I get to learn what I did well and what are areas for improvement. In the specific video above, I received the suggestion to not look back at the PowerPoint presentation but instead to create speaker’s notes to keep in front of me. My presentation could also have been helped with a personal, specific example.

I am looking forward to improving my public speaking by giving more speeches, receiving the feedback of others, videotaping, and personally reviewing my speeches. In fact, I look forward to improving the quality of my videos. I apologize for the poor video quality this time (I used a digital camera from 2004). To record my voice, the best option I brainstormed (that was mobile and not very distracting for the audience) was to use a blue tooth headset with my iPhone, call into a Free Conference Call number, and record the call. I later merged the audio and video. If anyone has any cheap, wireless recommendations for microphones that will work with my iPhone I am open to trying them.

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Drama Queens versus the Status Quo

April 14, 2011 Leave a Comment

I realized leading up to my wedding 2 years ago that I have grown up dreading being the center of attention. Throughout my engagement, I held a heavy fear of the wedding weekend because I was nervous about all the attention. I did not feel comfortable giving a speech (the night of the rehearsal dinner) nor tossing the garter. I’d lived my life until then blending in. I wouldn’t say I am a conformist, but definitely someone who avoids confrontation.

Is it possible to be successful with such tendencies? I say no. Well, not unless you’re a rare exception, one who has a mentor that teaches you all the tricks so that you’re never facing an unknown challenge.

The more stories I hear or books I read, the more I realize that folks get ahead in life and business by being consistently more effective than others. What is the best way to be consistently better? By looking for shortcuts, seizing opportunities, and doing the important things that others hate to do.

Apparently, the normal person is like I was. He or she shrinks away from conflict, hides from uncomfortable situations, and refuses to communicate the whole truth. Exceptional people have bucked the trend of fitting in. They challenge assumptions and find that there are often easier ways to accomplish great things.

A number of authors that I’ve recently read use this as their primary thesis. As Timothy Ferriss says in The 4 Hour Workweek, “What we fear doing most is usually what we MOST NEED TO DO!”

  • Tucker Max – I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell
  • Tim Ferriss – The 4 Hour Work Week
  • David H. Sandler – You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar
  • Jim F. Kukral – Attention! This Book Will Make You Money

The advice from these books is completely logical, so why are Computer Programmers so conflicted when trying to apply it?

Most computer programmers chose the profession because it does not require interaction with other people, allowing them to continue to avoid difficult social situations. On the other hand, most programmers are skilled at seeing shortcut solutions to problems, optimizing processes, and reducing unnecessary tasks. They just won’t do anything that could be potentially embarrassing.


Drama Queen Developer
Photo by aka Kath

I think back to my childhood, when I socialized with some children like me and some who were drama queens, those who captured all the attention by whining that nothing ever went their way. Did the drama queens grow up with an advantage? They are used to asking people for things, do not take no for an answer, and shine with the spotlight. I contend that as long as a drama queen is not completely unlikeable, it is a great way to grow up with an advantage in our culture.

To those programmers who fit into the above personality, I say to become dissatisfied with the status quo. Learn to do things differently and opportunities will present themselves. Then seize them.

Carpe Diem

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Is there any hope for the ideal bookstore?

April 7, 2011 2 Comments

Borders – My favorite bookstore

Recently, Borders Group Inc filed for Chapter 11 and closed a local Cincinnati store that I frequented. You can find details about the filing here. As I have explained in a previous post, I love to work at bookstores. They offer a great way to stimulate my mind while also offering the essentials (Internet and power outlets) to do actual work if I want to. We all knew that bookstores, in their current form, were going away. However, because I still love them is why I feel compelled to write about the disappointment that comes with their closing.


Borders Bookstore Closing

Photo by Mark Hillary

I remember hearing about Borders’ attempts at changing the layout and offerings of their stores with a new model. They were supposed to open one such store here in Cincinnati (the Kenwood area) about a year and a half ago. I waited with excitement to see how they attempted to approach a changing information market, but never was able to see it for myself. The construction project became a debacle and Borders, along with other companies, eventually backed out.

Borders realized that people are becoming less likely to purchase full-priced, bound books at the store. The demand is clearly not enough to warrant thousands of square footage for store space. People can both browse the information at the store for free (and then not buy anything) and find the exact piece of information needed online. It is rarely necessary to take a book home, and when it is it can usually be shipped home more cheaply.

Drastic changes must be made to save the bookstores…

Is there any hope?

Is there any way to fix the dying bookstore industry and make a brick and mortar store work? After all, there are an increasing number of people who can work without an office. Does that mean there is a growing market of people who would pay for a workplace at a bookstore?

Let’s analyze the benefits of bookstores versus other similar establishments (e.g. Libraries and Coffee Shops)…

Bookstore Pros

  • Social gatherings – bookstores are a great place to meet with friends to chat.
  • White noise – they realize conversations can get loud, so they try to please those trying to concentrate by piping music over the speaker system to generate white noise.
  • Food is served – is there any reason to leave when there are vital nutrients and caffeine within a cricket pitch from my table?
  • Research – bookstores have magazines and a wide variety of recent non-fiction books with which to perform research. When a topic can’t be found, just go online (with the free Internet service) and try to fill in the gaps.
  • People watching – for those of us who get a little more enjoyment occasionally working around people.
  • Store hours – bookstore hours are not usually as flexible as coffee shops but are much more so than libraries.

Library Cons

  • Less Noise – theoretically, loud library-goers are supposed to be shunned. At least, that’s how they were when I was growing up. Nowadays, with constant cell phone interruptions, it seems people no longer treat libraries as a quiet place for reading.
  • Food/Caffeine prohibited – I am getting sleepy, very sleepy…
  • Obsolete resources – most libraries now have free Internet, which is a savior because very few of their nonfiction books are useful anymore.

My ideal bookstore

I don’t know if it can make any money, but as I alluded to in a previous post, I have an idea for the ideal bookstore.

It would combine all the best aspects of current bookstores, coffee shops, and bars.
 

  • Books/Resources/Internet – this is a great benefit to current bookstores. If a goal is to reduce floor space, then books can be made available in electronic form but can only be accessed from within the bookstores’ provided Internet connection.
  • Coffee/Food/Alcohol – follow a similar formula to normal bookstores but provide alcohol as well. If Chipotle can serve beer, can’t a bookstore too?
  • More people watching – current bookstores are pretty good social environments as they are. However, for those people who want to be around others but not subject to their noise, there is no solution. My ideal bookstore would have social (loud) and focused (quiet) gathering areas. The quiet area would be surrounded by glass walls so as not to carry sound but to enable visibility.
  • Great location – a nice perk would be to have an outdoor seating area or a window that overlooked heavy pedestrian traffic.

As I have never been employed in the bookstore industry, I do not know if my concept could even make money, but that is not my concern. I just want someone to build it so I can live/work/play there.

 

 

Ponderous Thought: I have found that I often get “in the zone” during .NET User Group meetings and Firestarters, which leads me to believe that if my bookstores could somehow incorporate training or presentations that they could be even more valuable!

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Were my Microsoft Certification Exams Worth it?

March 2, 2011 2 Comments

As important as it is for Software Developers to keep current with emerging technologies, it is equally important to choose wisely when it comes to learning them. Indeed, there is a finite amount of time to devote to self-improvement. This truth became evident most recently while I’ve been thinking about my personal goals for the year and trying to decide whether or not I should try to obtain the more recent Microsoft certifications on .NET 4.0, such as Web Developer or Azure Developer on Visual Studio 2010. It got me to thinking about all the time I spent at the beginning of my career getting certified and whether or not that investment has paid dividends.

As described in Contrasting 2 Job Rejections, I was scared about my job prospects after graduating college. Once I got a job, I felt that I needed to ensure I had opportunities going forward and figured getting Microsoft Certifications would be the best way to differentiate myself from the candidate pool. I took 14 tests in less than 3 years, passing 12 and failing twice. I obtained the status Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), and Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD). You can see my transcript here (enter transcript ID “677424″ and access code “insights”).

Some of the tests were paid for by my employer, some were not. I usually studied using the officially released self-paced training kit for each test, but I’ve also purchased expensive training videos, exam crams, used free web casts, etc. I was completely immersed in the certification process. I actually understood all the options and the Microsoft certification path, of which there are now many. Since it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve taken any, I find myself out of the loop, wondering if it makes sense for me to re-enter this world.

At the time of this writing, I have about 7 years of professional software development experience, enough to significantly reduce the amount of studying required to pass a certification test compared to earlier in my career.

Microsoft
Certifications		 Expected Study time (hours) Completed Study Time (hours) Practice Tests (hours) Days Studying Hours Per Day Test Date
70-270 (Microsoft
Windows XP Professional)		 45 51.00 9.50 35 1.73 February 12,2004
70-290 (Windows Server
2003 Environment)		 31 28.00 3 23 1.35 March 10, 2004
70-291 (Windows 2003
Network Infrastructure)		 47.5 78.00 11.5 122 0.73 July 9, 2004
Took Test on July 9th – 9 4.5 12 1.13 July 21, 2004
70-293 (Windows 2003
Planning a Network)		 22 12 4 15 1.07 August 5, 2004
Took Test on August 5th – 30.50 8.5 64 0.61 October 8, 2004
70-294 (Windows Server
2003 Active Directory)		 21 14.08 4 31 0.58 April 2, 2005
70-297 (Win2003 A.D.
& Network Infastructure)		 16.5 16.92 2.5 17 1.14 April 19, 2005
70-228 (SQL 2000
Administration)		 55 53.42 5.5 72 0.82 May 27, 2005
70-229 (SQL 2000
Development)		 24 23.50 3 151 0.18 October 29, 2005
70-315 (Web Apps with
Visual C# .NET)		 34 45.50 13.5 81 0.73 January 24, 2006
70-320 (XML Web Services
with C# .NET)		 40 34.00 3 42 0.88 May 2, 2006
70-316 (Windows Apps
with Visual C# .NET)		 14 15.42 3.25 22 0.85 June 6, 2006
70-300 (Solutions
Architecture & Req’ts)		 12 7.58 9 47 0.35 September 28, 2006
70-553 (Upgrade MCSD to
MCPD : Part 1)		 82 16.00 4 428 0.05 April 12, 2008
70-554 (Upgrade MCSD to
MCPD : Part 2)		 55 0.00 5 22 0.23 May 5, 2008
Took Test on May 5th –     still counting 0.00 February 28, 2009?
70-502 (.NET 3.5 -
Windows Presentation Foundation)		 14 14.00 6 108 0.19 December 13, 2008
70-561 (.NET 3.5 -
ADO.NET)		 12.25 12.50 0.5 18 0.72 May 2, 2009

Would obtaining more certifications be valuable? Looking back, I feel that it was worth it to work towards achieving the certifications that I did. They served 2 purposes:

Milestones for Self-Motivated Learning

By deciding to get certified, I was declaring a personal goal that was tangible and had benefits other than just self-improvement. Many of the topics involved in certification were topics that I wanted to learn about anyway, especially early in my career. For example, I was assigned to my first professional web application project about the same time that I was ready to begin studying for the related certification. Since my professional life and personal interests were colliding, I found it much easier to be motivated to study and create small side projects to practice what I had learned. Better yet, knowing the milestone of passing the test would aid in job security added to the incentive to learn.

Measurable Proficiency

I have heard people in the IT industry downplay the significance of certifications, especially those from Microsoft. Some have argued that the tested topics do not accurately reflect skills that are required to perform well on the job. Others state that the proliferation of “brain dumps,” practice tests that have actual questions from real exams (and are considered cheating), marginalize what the tests represent.

My feeling is that there is a lot of truth to these points. However, employers still seemed to have placed some value on certifications. They may have asked, “If certification tests are so trivial, why doesn’t everyone have them?” I found in the years after my achievements, that it did help in my job search. I believe it exhibited measurable proficiency in topics that I claimed to have experience in. This differentiated me from others who could merely state something to the effect of: “Experience = ASP.NET – 2 years.” The achievement generated conversation in interviews. When asked about my certifications, I got to explain how I set personal goals and followed through on them, learning a great deal of relevant skills in the process. @MikeWo also reminded me on twitter that companies need certain certification requirements of their employees to keep partner status, yet another benefit to hiring someone who has them already or displays the ability to pass them quickly.

 

Having established that it was worthwhile to get certified in the past, does that mean I should set a goal for future certifications?

 

It is yet to be determined, but I don’t think so. The direction I am trying to take with my career is not to spend focused time learning the details of the next version of ASP.NET, for example. I have also already built my resume to a point where “getting my foot in the door” is not the problem it used to be. Therefore, the benefits listed above do not quite align with what I want to achieve going forward. I could always afford to learn more about Microsoft technologies, such as .NET, but I already know enough to be effective. I am more interested in learning non-Microsoft technologies these days, like jQuery, Mercurial, or anything Google, so I may be convinced to take a test for a new, interesting technology once it is released and known to have value throughout the industry. Lastly, I believe that the best way to get a great job is a great network and by establishing the ability to get things done.

 

Time to buckle down and get things done then…

 

Exam Tip: No matter how much you study before-hand, always cram: it’s important to have that info in short-term memory going into the test.

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Mind Map Software – a Great Tool for Brainstorming

February 2, 2011 1 Comment

Are you struggling to be creative? Looking for ways to organize your brainstorming sessions? Or maybe you’re just bored? I have found a good solution for when I am stuck in one of these situations. I look to Mind Map Software for help.

What is Mind-Mapping Software? It is software that helps you to keep track of related thoughts on a bubble-laden canvas. It produces a similar drawing to what you would have put on the chalkboard in 5th grade. Remember that? When no idea was a bad idea?

 

The nice thing about good Mind Mapping-Software is that it speeds up the rate at which we can record information while brainstorming. I type faster than I write so if I can brainstorm digitally, then I am less likely to forget a key idea I had before recording it. Additionally, soft-copies are more easily stored (than 50 white-boards) and can be updated later.

I have used a few of these applications and have definitely found them useful but I would like to do it more. I am just looking for the perfect option at a good price. Below are a couple neat options:

Installed Applications

Mind Manager – I understand this to be one of the leaders in the market, and at $349 it better be robust. I downloaded a trial and was impressed with the software. It had many templates for creating different types of documents, like organization charts and process flow charts. It was also very easy to add new nodes (spacebar) and new child nodes (insert), which is my most important feature.

Using Mind Manager reminded me that these Mind Mapping Software applications are also great for capturing flow charts. During times when you are trying to explain how a process works or how different things interact, fire up the software and draft a quick mind map diagram. Sure, you could use Microsoft Visio to do it but since you’re getting familiar with your Mind Mapping tool you might as well use that.

FreeMind – This is the other leader. It is open-source and free. The interface for this application is not nearly as beautiful as that of Mind Manager, but for technically-savvy folks like us, it is just what we need. FreeMind also suggests some other interesting uses for their product here, such as for a task list or meeting notes. I would choose FreeMind if I were going to install a windows application, but that’s not what I really want…

iPhone Applications

It would be extremely helpful to be able to record brainstorming sessions on my mobile platform (iPhone). Usually, when I am sitting in front of my computer, my head is buried in my work, writing code, blog posts, or email messages. I struggle to take a step back and reflect while sitting at my desk, because I tend to act on the first idea I have with my computer so close and accessible. The best broad thoughts I have seem to arise when I am not distracted by my computer: waiting to board a plane, riding a bus, or running on a treadmill. I’d like to capture those thoughts as seamlessly as possible.

iBlueSky – I am still searching for the perfect iPhone Mind Mapping application and this is not it. It is $9.99, seems limited, and only has a 3.5 star rating in the App Store. It is amongst the leaders of iPhone Mind Mapping applications but I think I will pass on it.

iThoughts – I am definitely going to give this a try. It is $7.99 and looks very intuitive. It has a 4 star rating in the App Store. I am excited to use this with my Bluetooth iPhone keyboard.

Google Wonder Wheel

Google Wonder Wheel is in a class of its own. It’s useful and yet many people do not even know it exists. To use, search for a topic in Google around which you are trying to brainstorm. How about “Mind Map iPhone Applications?” The lowest option on the left menu should be “More search tools.” Click that. Then click “Wonder wheel.”

I could not describe this tool any better than GoogleWonderWheel.com:

“Did you say mind mapper? This tool is a built in mind mapper with the intention to sort out search results in a logical way of relevancy creating a visual wheel of terms that can make your searching enjoyable and time effective at the same time.”

Clicking around the wonder wheel reveals related topics to what was originally searched for. It’s how I generated the chalkboard image above. I recommend playing around with it as you never know what it might help you to find.

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Analyzing my Choice of Attending Ohio State

October 20, 2010 Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year

We are into the heart of college football season which means I have a date with the television every Saturday around noon to watch my Buckeyes. Can I blame the inconsistency in my blog-posting schedule on football season? I suppose so, but I made a 2010 football season resolution to not make stupid excuses.

In spending so much time thinking about the Buckeyes football team, visiting campus, and discussing school among friends I have recently begun to reflect upon The Ohio State University and whether or not it was the best choice of college for me. While in school, I generally knew that those would be the best days of my life. Ohio State meant a lot to me and I had even gone as far as referring to it as “the Greatest University in the World.” Looking back, it was definitely an excellent choice, but could I have done it better?

To properly analyze the decision means to review the benefits and drawbacks to my personal career and education situation.

The Great

Let’s start out with the obvious. Ohio State has an elite athletics department. At the time of this writing, it is one of the few universities to win a Division I championship in each Baseball, Basketball, and Football and is the reigning 5 time Big Ten Conference football champion. Although it may not seem important in supporting my career, the prestige of the program has made it convenient to connect or keep in contact with fellow alumni. I have yet to meet a fellow Ohio State graduate who did not care about the direction of the football program, providing for a useful icebreaker.

Speaking of alumni, did I mention the sheer size of Ohio State’s Undergraduate class? It is routinely ranked in the top 5 in the nation, sometimes as high as 50,000 students enrolled. Such a high number of students yields a high number of alumni, many of whom have taken jobs at leading companies or have established networks in remote locations. Fellow alumni are more likely to network and pull favors than some other successful stranger.

(OSU alumni have a tradition of taking pictures of this O-H-I-O formation in exotic locations)

(The Columbus Skyline – by voteprime)

With Ohio State being as huge as it is it must accommodate a wide range of needs. The University offers diverse majors, libraries, science & computer labs, and recreational facilities. Essentially, if you can think of a resource that should be available for students, you will be able to find it somewhere on campus. The problem is that many students do not realize what is available until it is too late. Perhaps a more specialized school would not run into this issue.

When I attended OSU, it was ranked respectably in its Computer and Information Science (CIS) department. The program provided a fundamental knowledge of theoretical computer science concepts. According to this site, Ohio State’s Engineering & IT ranking is 157 in the world.

A subtle benefit to Ohio State is the location. Although Columbus, OH does not boast many geographical advantages (it is flat with limited bodies of water), its development has been well-planned and it is of considerable size. Contrasting Ohio State with other schools, like Ohio University, which is clearly the primary attraction of its city, residing in Columbus enables students to find quality careers, co-ops, and interests without traveling a great distance.

The Disappointing

I am proud to be a Buckeye and I still live in Ohio. However, I would like to think that I am objective about the school’s educational program. In my time on campus and afterward, I have met some truly elite individuals. Unfortunately, the curriculum is not as challenging as it is at prestigious academic institutions. Therefore, the average undergraduate student is not very motivated. To draw on a previous point, students at Ohio State have incredible opportunity for success due to vast resources, but in order to take advantage of opportunities requires serious self-discipline.

During my early years at Ohio State (99-01), it was disappointing to realize that the school was more well-known for “riots” than for any of its brilliant research. It seemed as though any off-campus party involving multiple houses quickly turned into an angry mob throwing beer bottles at COPs. Going to class the next week I could hear the frustration in my professors’ voices that their hard-work had translated into negative national headlines.

My biggest regret about choosing Ohio State involves the aforementioned limited geography. Ohio State is located in Columbus, Ohio, right in the middle of the Midwest. The following big cities are within a 3 hour drive: Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. While convenient for those wanting to visit 5 NFL teams within a short drive, it is not exactly close to any technology hotspots such as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, nor even Chicago. Additionally, the region lacks exciting recreational activities. There are no beaches, mountains, nor warm days in November. If I could search for colleges again, my new strategy would be to at least research gorgeous campuses in exotic locales. I have heard Pepperdine University is one example of such a beauty as opposed to the “concrete campus” that was my destiny.

 

Having graduated and entered the workforce, I look back on my decision to attend Ohio State with satisfaction. Although there were some drawbacks, its size helped me stretch my capabilities socially and introduced me to a vast network of professional connections. I wouldn’t be the same person if I were not a Buckeye.

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5 Career Lessons Learned Planning My Wedding

August 3, 2010 1 Comment

My wife and I were married in July two years ago (2008). We had a fairly large wedding, by our standards, which involved many nights spent planning, collaborating, and organizing. The list of tasks that needed to be completed seemed never-ending. To manage them, we used a website that listed them out month-by-month, letting us know when our progress had slipped (e.g. having not yet chosen our center-pieces 8 months prior). Little did I know that we did not have to do every little thing that the website specified…

Looking back on that wonderful night, I realized that I learned a great deal from planning such an important event. Much of what I learned will help me in my career. Below are the highlights.

1. Prioritize

Often times in America, planning of a wedding begins moments after the excitement of the engagement quells. Coming from a male perspective, this is amazing. We spend our time planning to “pop the question”, and then as soon as we do, it is as if the floodgates of wedding expectations and desires open right up. From that point forward, the giant list of preparative tasks stays at the fore-front of our minds. Ever-growing. Never shrinking.

As overwhelming as the list may be, it can be managed through prioritization, by sitting down with your fiancee and discussing those items that are the most important. This exercise leads to a plan that can save you money and time, by realizing which items can be purchased for less money, which items can be delegated, or which items can be left uncompleted.

In addition to the list of known tasks, there will be issues. For example, the color of my vest that I wore on my wedding day was incorrect. It was white when it should have been ivory. I, of course, didn’t notice until it was too late. It was not a big deal. Things like this will happen in weddings and in your career. As long as it does not affect your top priorities, do not let it stress you out. There will be a time and place to resolve such issues. That time is not during your wedding day.

Think of this scenario in the business world. You and a team are working toward a Big Hairy Audacious Goal and it feels as though processes are becoming disorganized. You feel like you have to do everything or you will be a failure. This is simply not true.

Take a step back and evaluate the most significant goals and tasks with your core group. Focus. Make sure to proceed with only those items that will bring progress to your primary goals. If you can achieve them, you will be successful even though things may not be perfect.

2. Outsource

Most people, when planning for a wedding, still have a life to live. They have a full-time job, a social life, family obligations, school… Time management becomes crucial. When wedding planning, you must realize that your time is important, because only you (and your fiancee) can make many of the important decisions. Instead of performing all the work yourself, you MUST delegate/outsource. In my case, I thought I wanted to have complete control over the DJ’s playlist. However, I soon realized that I just wasn’t going to be able to create a complete playlist and also accomplish my bigger goals. “Leave it to the DJ,” I said. “He is a professional, afterall.”

Hopefully you will find that family and friends offer to help with wedding preparations. Perhaps your initial instinct is that you do not need it. I advise you to find a way for them to help. Practice your delegation skills. Remember, your time is critical. If you can relinquish a little bit of control to allow someone else to help, you will have more time to work on the truly important aspects of your wedding. Besides, if you try to do everything yourself, it’s not going to turn out perfectly anyway, because you will run out of time. At the end of it all, make sure to let your helpers know how appreciative you are that they were able to contribute.

At the workplace, how many times have you found yourself working on a rote task because it was easier to perform yourself than to teach someone else how to do it? Please discontinue this dangerous habit! If you are working toward a tight deadline, you must have enough time to do those things that only you can do. Delegate. Outsource. Allow someone else to concentrate on those tasks that you work on just to get them out of your way. He/She may even be able to do them better than you can.

3. Overcommunicate

An important aspect of outsourcing is communication. Most likely, the biggest reason we avoid delegation of tasks is because we fear that the task will not be completed satisfactorily. This is a valid fear. Vendors, colleagues, and friendly helpers all have their own ideas and biases. Without appropriate direction, they will run with them until told to make changes (which will be too late).

Therefore, when planning a wedding or directing a project in our careers, we must overcommunicate. We cannot assume our helpers know what we want. You may not even know what you want right away either. Just make sure to follow-up with them. Express your concerns clearly and with objectivity. Explain how your tastes have changed. Remember, in most cases, you are dealing with professionals. They are skilled in taking an idea and creating something tangible. However, they cannot read your mind.

4. Disrupt Your Comfort Zone

This one is the most important.

There were many, MANY things that I had to do for my wedding that I simply did not want to do. In other words, if I could have avoided uncomfortable obligations, such as giving a speech at the Rehearsal Dinner or having to entertain during the Garter Toss, I would have. However, I would not have realized at the time how much I was missing. Looking back, the uncomfortable times created the memories and stories worth re-telling. Additionally, the uncomfortable efforts gave me experience doing things I was not used to, ultimately giving me more confidence no matter the endeavor going forward.

Ever since that night I have made a concerted effort to try and push myself outside my comfort zone. The book The Think Big Manifesto refers to this as “Getting Comfortable with Discomfort.” I admit, I have not made as many strides as I would have liked in this area. Why? Because doing things outside your comfort zone is HARD! By definition, it means doing things that are uncomfortable. Then, once you have mastered those so they are comfortable, finding new awkward things to do. Without a catalyst or a deep-rooted goal, most people will slip into a rut of comfort.

In the case of a wedding, finding that goal can be simpler. It might be to “have the best time possible,” to “show our family how much we love them,” or to “actually look half-decent while dancing.” In our career and our life, it is much more difficult to find motivation. I encourage you to do some “soul-searching”. Determine what it is you truly want from life and begin moving forward by living outside your comfort zone. If you cannot settle on a worthy goal, I recommend making a list of things that you feel like you should be able to do but have never done.

Here are a couple things on my list:

  • Sell Something
  • Talk to a Stranger in a bar (Sober)
  • Babysit
  • Medium-Sized Home Improvement Project

Perform one a week. Perhaps it will open your mind to new possibilities. I will post my progress on this blog as well.

5. Connect

There is no better time to let someone know how special they are than right now. Ok, so this isn’t necessarily career advice, but it does come into play. If you appreciate someone, let them know. Right now. In person. You will be glad you did. You will feel better about spending many hours at work knowing the people you love know you love them.

Some people find this difficult, including myself. If you are one of these people, or for some other reason you would like to say “Congrats” or “I’m Sorry” or “I Love You,” but you can’t or don’t know how, browse to my website, Viternus, which is exactly for situations like this. Create a message that can be delivered at a later date. Perhaps that will take off some of the pressure.

Conclusion

By the end of it all, we had made mistakes and left things unfinished. But guess what? I still consider the event a success. As long as our core group (i.e. my wife and I) are focused and aligned with what we want, it is possible to have success even though everything is not perfect. I will strive for this type of success throughout my life and career.

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Why are there no programming books at the bookstore?

July 13, 2010 1 Comment

This post was written over a year ago based on frustrations of not finding good .NET materials at the bookstore. It is being published as a bonus post now after finally completing it.

A little about me:

- I live in the Midwest
- I like to program at bookstores
- My favorite band is Huey Lewis & the News

I like programming at bookstores. Armed with a laptop and earplugs, I find myself at my most creative and in flow when I am around interesting resources. Browsing a few technical or business books, my mind quickly reaches hyper-active problem solving mode. To play off the ancient proverb, when I find my hammer through reading, I immediately notice all the nails I have to pound.

In the Cincinnati area, Barnes & Noble and Borders are the most predominant bookstores with Joseph Beth coming in a distant 3rd. Bookstores are nice because they are open relatively late (compared to libraries), have coffee bars with Internet, and have seemingly infinite resources on a variety of topics (as compared to Starbucks). At least, they “had” a variety of resources. It seems over the last couple years these large scale bookstores have been phasing out the acquisition of new tech books. It used to be that I could go to the bookstore and utilize the books to do legitimate technical research. Now, it seems that only the heavily mainstream books are on the shelves.

In late 2008, when I should have been seeing books about the Entity Framework or Sync Framework soon after they came out, I did not find anything except on Amazon. The lack of books on new .NET frameworks continued when ASP.NET MVC came out and no physical copies could be found. My strategy used to be to check Amazon to see when new books were about to be released and then to travel to Borders on that day to perform the research I needed. Or sometimes I would browse the books at the store to determine if any were worthy of buying. For those that were, I then bought them on Amazon because they were much cheaper.

Unfortunately, the trend has continued. I am hard pressed to find any interesting books (or those that I have not read already) in the “Computers – Programming” category. And this used to be the key differentiator to me from the coffee shops on every street corner.

I realize that I may not be the ideal customer in the eyes of the bookstore. I have learned not to buy any books from them and commonly use the free Internet provided. However, I at least make a conscious effort to purchase an overpriced beverage every time I abuse the store’s resources.

With the above changes comes my growing disappointment. I miss having a central place to do research, skim random books, surf the Internet, energize myself with caffeine, and watch people. I don’t believe I can get that just from the Internet at home or a coffee shop. Additionally, I prefer to learn through reading books versus through the Internet, mainly because they tend to cover a wider spectrum of knowledge. Usually, a book goes through the basics to the intermediate and then the advanced. Books tend to contain straight-forward walkthroughs, executive summaries, and theoretical concepts. In contrast, the Internet tends to have very specific blog entries that solve a particular problem. When researching this way, I am forced to “jump right in” instead of following a complete tutorial targeting varying experience levels. It can be difficult to find high-level descriptions about a technology and why it is useful.

Is it useful to complain about a problem for which I am not offering a solution? I don’t know. I assume the bookstores are not making very much money by filling their inventory with programming books. Or perhaps authors are no longer producing content in the form of physical page turners. I just hope they know that the technology and programming books were a small part of the overall experience which caused me to buy their coffee. I guess attracting my “type” wasn’t worth it for them.

Perhaps when I win the lottery, I’ll unleash my solution to the dying bookstore industry. More on this in a later post…

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