Modelesis

A few months ago I revisited Conway’s law, a famous adage that says a system’s design structure mirrors its designing organization’s structure. I found that this wording, while prevalent and generally correct, is incomplete; read on for the resulting expanded viewpoint and some applications.

As another year picks up steam, I’m once again reminded that “time flies like an arrow”.  For instance, though it feels like it was yesterday, in February 2015 it’ll be a year since Satya Nadella became Microsoft’s new CEO.  Tasked with implementing sweeping changes at the technology behemoth, some of his moves have been expected and applauded, while others have been surprising and controversial.  Most of us don’t run a large company for a living, but I think there are three very basic steps that can be inferred from Nadella’s style that are worth keeping fresh in our own jobs.

Much of today’s task management issues stem from using the email inbox as a task management system.  Thus far, solutions have revolved around re-educating ourselves on inbox management.  Now, a couple startups (and at least one large email player) are actually rethinking the way our inbox works.  As they carefully tread new ground, task management laypeople will benefit immediately, while productivity experts will initially struggle with this new paradigm.

I have recently finished exporting a GMF editor as a stand-alone Eclipse-based product, as part of ongoing research work (see here for details).  I ran into a couple issues doing this, and after sorting them out I decided to write this technical note in case it helps other Eclipse plug-in/EMF/GMF/RCP developers.

Last Friday, my LG G Watch informed me a system update was ready to install.  Eager to get Android Wear 5.0.1, and having already applied two updates to the watch with no issues, I installed it immediately.  After a minor hiccup, the update was apparently successful, but then both the watch and my phone begun experiencing battery drain.   A factory reset on the watch fixed it, but I only found out what was really going on by serendipity; here’s the story, in case it’s useful to someone else.

If you enjoy working with micro-managers, you can skip the rest of this post.

OK.  Now that I have your attention, let me offer a suggestion for dealing with the micro-managers in your environment by approaching them with a genuine intention to help with –not correct– this trait.  Help them deal with the impact it has on their time, as opposed of making it about the way they control their duties.

Another week, another round of high-profile tech announcements…  And security woes.  Apple announced its new Pay service, which may finally make digital payments mainstream.  It was, however, tainted by concerns arising from “Celebgate” and the presumed role iCloud security played in it.  Meanwhile, Google was busy explaining that the five million Gmail credentials recently published by Russian hackers hadn’t been obtained from their servers.  Tech giants have successfully transitioned us to a cloud-based digital lifestyle, but a lot of work remains to ensure security is actually usable and effective enough.