21 Rules of Thumb: How Microsoft develops its Software

This is worth a read: The rules of thumb

• Don’t know what you don’t know.
• Get to a known state and stay there.
• Remember the triangle.
• Don’t go dark.
• Use zero defect (ZD) milestones.
• Beware of a guy in a room.
• Never trade a bad date for an equally bad date
• When slipping, don’t fall.
• Low tech is good.
• Design time at design time.
• If you build it, it will ship.
• Portability is for canoes.
• Enrapture the customers.
• Remember one thing: Unity.
• State your theme.
• Vary it.
• Balance it.
• Evolve it.
• Your product should be a hierarchy.
• Establish a shared vision.
• Get the team into ship mode.

word of the day

possibility.

‘The Name of This Band is Talking Heads’ will finally be released on CD

“RHINO OFFERS HEADS ON PLATTERS

THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS And BEST OF TALKING HEADS Available August 17

LOS ANGELES – Rhino Records is pleased to offer two kinds of overviews of the career of one of the best-loved bands of the 1980s with the release of THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS and THE BEST OF TALKING HEADS on August 17. Both packages, assembled with the members’ full involvement, are firsts for the band–THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS has never been available on CD before and THE BEST OF TALKING HEADS is the first single-disc collection of the band’s most popular songs.

THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS offers an unusual take on the concert album–rather than a “souvenir of a single night’s show,” it captures the band’s live evolution from 1977 to 1981. Originally released in 1982 as a double album, fans have waited nearly two decades for the CD release of THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS. This two-disc version doubles the original’s contents by offering 13 previously unreleased tracks and a trio of rarities from a 1979 promotional only disc (“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls,” an early version of “Drugs” called “Electricity,” and “Found A Job”). In its expanded version, THE NAME OF THIS BAND provides a comprehensive portrait of Talking Heads as a live band, since it now includes a substantial number of songs from each of the band’s first four studio albums.

THE BEST OF TALKING HEADS collects 18 of the group’s most popular songs on a single disc for the first time ever. Compiled by the band, THE BEST OF TALKING HEADS includes all the favorites (“Psycho Killer,” “Once In A Lifetime,” “Burning Down The House,” “And She Was), as well as some unexpected selections like “Heaven” and “Memories Can’t Wait.” This collection provides new listeners with a perfect introduction to this ground-breaking band’s work.

David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth formed Talking Heads (note: no “The”) after meeting at Rhode Island School Of Design in the early 1970s. Jerry Harrison, formerly of The Modern Lovers, joined in 1976 and Talking Heads quickly became one of the most important bands to emerge from the New York punk scene. Over the course of their 11-year recording career they released ten albums (including five gold records, one platinum, and two double-platinum), earned critical raves, and racked up more than a few hits.

via talking-heads.net, one of the best fansites on the web

no punctuation update stream of consciousness

tony p style

2 weeks ago i made enchiladas for leah and the kids which was fun

got an amazing gift the other week from my folks for which i thank them

my little sister turned 27 last week yowza

leah may be moving north far

i am considering my options and was angsty about it

clarity comes with knowing and having faith

leah and have been double barrelling the religion on sundays

mass and sacrament meeting

today it was about change and sticking to the plow even when things are hard

today it was about listening to the spirit

today i had bagels and lox at dz akins and leah had pancakes

we got a black and white cookie for later

we have fun together

we talk together

we drive around in a truck together

i don’t always have a white shirt for sacrament meeting

i am bouyed up by the feeling of being part of a faith

its a surprise to me

i know people in los angeles

i know people all around

the movie running on empty can make me cry

quite a bit

black and white cookies and tomato sandwiches are good

when leah and i are angsty the cat is angsty

when leah and i are serene the cat is mellow

the cat is sort of a temperature gauge

we saw napoleon dynamite tonight

no not the cat

but leah and i and two good friends too

it had a kanab cowboys tshirt in it

the movie was funny in a dopey way

i moved around as a kid

i am an interesting person

last week leah and i almost saw bourne supremacy sneak preview

not all the effects were done

but leah couldnt hang with the rudeness and tension of a sneak preview screening

but it worked out cause good friends were there too and matt came with me, and leah hung with margot

things work out that way for leah and me and our friends

the midway aircraft carrier is in town and is a big museum

my grandfather served on carriers and has no desire whatsoever to go on a carrier

there may be no nostalgia in him

meanwhile i was thinking how cool it would be to see the school i attended in gretna louisiana

when i was running on empty

leah and i had the kids for a week

that was wild and cool

i went on the giant dipper coaster with the kids

well 3 out of 4

my legs are still big

but i fit and i loved it

that belmont park is looking a little sad

but its still fun to ride the coaster

the coaster of life as they have it in that steve martin movie parenthood

the ride is fun and unexpected and its important to try and enjoy it

and be sad when its sad

and be happy when its happy

because thats the way of things

sometimes we resist change so much

we cant even see that change is inevitable

and when you have skills to move anywhere

family is a state of mind

i am bouyed up by my family

i am bouyed up by my partner

its scary as all get out this life thing

its unpredictable and wonderful and full of laughter and tears

and i am living authentically

and cease expecting and all things are possible

i am happy and i try to enjoy every sandwich

onward

hmm is there more?

uh oh, that was punctuation

there it was again. avast!

i thought bourne supremacy was good

i am glad of my decision to go back to school

i am selling books on amazon

i am less attached to material things than i used to be

i feel as though my self is being refined

i am seeing myself tested and tempered into an improving version of myself

sometimes in the changing new rough edges are revealed

but the process of tempering continues

i enjoy this process

this process pains me

this process is necessary

no pain no gain

did i just type that?

when i was in school 12 years ago i argued that learning was possible without pain

i was convinced

but now i know that all learning that is valuable comes with some pain

pain of embarrassment or physical pain or longing or lonliness or loss

but learning comes

and the lifes in the learning i think

definitely

i love to learn

i learn to love

okay

ready?

onward

San Diego Blog

Hoo boy. San Diego Blog has had a whole lotsa work on it done recently. I’m blogging up a storm over there. Some posts:

• Snopes Covers San Diego
• SanDog: For Surfers in San Diego
• Fahrenheit Final Word
• La Migra Sweeping Up Civil Liberties Again?
• So long, and thanks for all the mines
• DUI Hat Trick in Pacific Beach
• Neil Morgan finds a home at KPBS

are a few.

The site was upgraded to WordPress a few weeks ago. And the design has been significantly upgraded. The new logo is actually a remembrance of the old “Citizen’s Western Bank” logo. I worked there when I was in my teens. My Mom did too. (How do you think I got the job?) I can’t find much in the way of references to the logo, and I’m not sure who holds the copyright to it, but it’s a great graphic – with concentric lines of sun, and outlines of sailboats. It’s iconic. I like it.

I’ve agonized about the sidebar for a while – working and reworking it with different looks and feels. Watermark, no watermark. Grey, blue, purple. I think I’m done futzing with it.

I’m also working on an Ad rotation system for selling ads on the site. Interested in advertising? Contact me. So, that’s coming soon. I’ve also added a badge to the site to track hits with SiteMeter. The stats are not bad so far. Average visitors: 160 per day. Average page views: 306.

In the header to the site, you’ll note the word “daily” – how do I maintain that? Well, with WordPress, I can post in advance. As a matter of fact I have posts queued up for the weekend and Monday. It’s kind of cool to keep to a schedule. And the bonus is there are other authors who post when it suits their fancy.

Yeah, I’ve not posted on a personal basis in a while. Stay tuned, thanks!

And, onward!

Another b2 to WordPress Migration

Yesterday I moved ask leahpeah from b2 to WordPress. I’m really loving that software.

And yes, she’s hosted on LAMP Host.

Tired

Long day, good day. Too tired to blog. Good night!

Fahrenheit out of business

San Diego Blog: San Diego indy weekly Fahrenheit RIP