Misc

Ok….so I got tired of the accordion menu on my blog. You know…the new menu that had my latest post, consulting info, academic info, etc? It was cool at the beginning but it started to get on my nerves after a while. Always flashing around and opening and closing.

I’ve changed the accordion menu to a tabbed menu that is much slicker and much less annoying. Plus…it’s a Wordpress Widget rather than hacked javascript.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth!

Just an fyi to those that visit my site occasionally….I’ve just made a change on the ‘look and feel’ of the site. Hope you like it.

Changes:

• Moved to a cleaner layout and am now using the Thesis Theme
• Changes color schemes slightly…Orange and Black now (to reflect my love for all things Oklahoma State!)
• Added an ‘accordion’ menu using Accordion 2.0 from Stickmanlabs to run my dynamic menu.

Let me know what you think…and if there is any issues with the new site.

Well…my wife and I are about to head back to Dallas from Yosemite. The trip was a great one. We spent three days in Yosemite, a day in Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Park, a day in San Francisco and a day hanging out in Mariposa CA (where our rental house was).

We both got some great pictures…you can see some of my pics here by clicking through to the Picasa web albums below or clicking over to my “Photos” blog at http://onefourphoto.com.

Day 6

Day 5

Day 4

Yosemite Day 3

Yosemite Day 2

Yosemite 2008 - Day 1

Some of you may know what my wife is a photographer (semi-pro) and that I’ve previously mentioned that ‘Photography is Tough‘…..well…I think I’ve caught the photography ‘addiction’ myself.

I’ve inherited my wife’s old Konica Minolta 5D and have been tagging along with her to take pictures (parks, hiking trails, flowers, etc) and have realized that I enjoy taking pictures! So much so that I’ve been putting off some of my research and reading for school to read about photography and lenses and appreatures and…well…you get the picture.

Any hints on how to beat this addiction?

Check out the recent post from Bas de Baar over on Project Shrink…it features 3 of the posts that I’m most proud of. Bas asked me for a list of the three posts that I’m most proud of on my blog and a quick summary and back-story to each.

The three I chose were The Problem(s) with Linear Thinking, Competitive Advantage – The Human Capital Approach and Agile Project Management & Product Strategy - A Case Study.

While you are over at Project Shrink, check out the rest of the blog…some excellent stuff over there.

Just registered for WordCamp Dallas 2008…looking forward to seeing meeting some very interesting folks….especially looking forward to Matt Mullenweg’s talk on the future of Wordpress, John Pozadzides’s “45 Ways to Power Up Your Blog” and Chris Smith’s “SEO For Bloggers” presentations…I’ve followed these three folks for quite some time and it’ll be nice to get to hear from them in person.

I’m sure the other presenters will be fantastic too. Can’t wait.

Technorati Tags: wordcampdallas2008, WordCamp Dallas 2008

It seems like I’ve had this discussion recently with quite a few people…not sure if its because I like the topic or if lots of other people like it to.

Basically, the conversation comes down to this short question:

Is it better to be an expert (aka specialist) or generalist?

Personally, I think it’s better to be a generalist with deep knowledge in a few areas and a much broader knowledge base in multiple industries and functional areas. My areas of interest are so broad that I’ll never be an expert in anything…but I do have a deep understanding of a few functional areas (Technology, Project Management, Business Management) and a broader knowledge base in others (Marketing, Training, IT Operations, etc).

That said, there is a need for experts in all areas. For example, I’m not sure you’d want a ‘generalist’ as your technical architect, database administrator or brain surgeon. These are areas where you would want to be an expert…but these are also areas that attract people who want to be experts. You wouldn’t want me designing the technical architecture of a new enterprise level system…you’d want someone involved that truly understood all facets of the system to be designed and the environment it will operate in.

A few interesting articles/blog posts on this topic can be found below.

• Generalist vs. Expert - Blog post about this topic within the Information Security field
• To specialize or generalize? - Question/Post about specializing or generalizing in the Software Field.
• Agile Developer: Generalists or Specialists - Argues that generalists are better.
• Death of the Generalist - The topic from a Design standpoint. Great article.

After the many discussions, I’ve come to the conclusion that neither is better than the other. There’s room for experts/specialists and generalists in all fields. What’s your thoughts on the subject?

Technorati Tags: Expert, Generalist, Specialist

Check out Scot Herrick’s Cube Rules blog, especially the new series that started with “Laid Of — A new journey begins.”

Scot and his wife were both laid off at Washington Mutual last week and Scot has started a series on the subject with some very interesting insights into the mindset of someone going through this journey. Instead of being angry (at least in a visible way) Scot and his wife are looking at this problem as a new challenge to overcome.

I don’t expect the journey to be a long one as I expect Scot and his wife to find jobs quickly but I’ll be following along closely and hope everyone else will too.

Technorati Tags: Scot Herrick, Cube Rules

Raven from Raven’s Brain (great blog by the way…check it out) tagged me in her recent post titled “Meme me me me me..” Now…I’ve already shared 8 random facts in my post titled “I’ve been tagged…8 Random Facts” but I’ll share three more with everyone.

Random Fact #9:

I’m a geek. I’m sure you probably figured that out…but I am. I’ve got more gadgets and computers than I will ever need. Oh well…its a harmless hobby.

Random Fact #10:

I don’t have a favorite movie…I have 3: Unforgiven (Eastwood’s 1992 Classic), Forrest Gump and Sideways.

Random Fact #11:

I hate mathematics….maybe that isn’t right. I hate doing meaningless math problems but happily spent many semesters working on quantum physics problems. To set the proper context for this… I have a Bachelors in Physics with a math minor and a Masters in Electrical Engineering (even more math) and my MBA work had a lot of math in the operations and finance areas. Strange huh?
Well….there’s three more random facts for you.

Technorati Tags: random facts

Received my first piece of hate mail this evening. Maybe hate is too strong of a word…maybe I should use ‘critical feedback’ mail.

In the email, the author called me ‘very pompose and very proud of what little you have accomplished’ (I assume they meant ‘pompous’ instead of ‘pompose’). I’d like to think that I’m not pompous but what do I know. Plus….everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I guess its flattering to have enough readers to actually get something like this. At least I’m getting feedback…or at least noticed on the web.