May the Fourth Be With You!

As anyone who is anyone knows, today is a National Holiday, May 4th, where Jedi, Sith, Bounty Hunters, and Wookies (do you add an 's'?) salute each other, "May the Fourth be with you!"  I thought it a great time to discuss the impact that Science Fiction has had on my life.

My earliest scifi memories are of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Picture it.  Vonore.  1987.  (my wife just smiled at that intro)  A five-year-old boy and his older brother are watching a beardless Will Riker discover the truth behind Farpoint Station and the awesomeness that is a "Saucer Separation".  Thus began my scifi love affair, and in particular many episodes of Star Trek with the aformentioned brother.  I was there with DS9 and the myriad instances of Ferengi earlobes.  I was frustrated with Voyager coming on UPN30 and having to use aluminum foil to get a barely watchable signal because we didn't have cable.  I watched all the movies, and regardless of the critics' viewpoints still get excited when Zefram Cochrane gets to warp speed.  Star Trek: Enterprise, honestly.... I missed it.  By then I was in college and it was on my radar but so was life.  However, I retain my geek status by the fact that I've watch most of the episodes on Netflix.

WAIT!  You've not even mentioned Star Wars.  This is May 4th.  You have to make this about Star Wars.  Oh, let me tell you, Star Wars was watched.  I'm not sure if it still is, but do you know how often Star Wars marathons came on growing up?  I didn't even have cable most of my life and it seems like it was on all the time.  Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are three of my all time favorite movies.  They were awesome!  The prequel trilogy.... meh. I watched Phantom Menace.  Never saw the other two.  Probably never will, to be honest.   On top of the movies, the Star Wars book universe was my first foray into real scifi novels (I know, some are debatable).  When I was 12, I owned around 22 books in various series.  I remember devouring the Young Jedi Knight series, but I also read the Thrawn Trilogy, the X-Wing series, etc.

Outside of Star Wars/Trek, the memories are fewer but the Force is still strong with them.  I flew with The Last Starfighter, rode with the Transformers, had my mind blown with the Matrix, and manipulated Roger Wilco.  I was glued to Gradius (or some other, or multiple others of the same basic genre), and Knights of the Old Republic still makes me smile (literally, just bought it on the Steam sale).  Comic books also have their niche in my memories.   I collected them, getting a couple hundred I think, up until they just got too expensive.  The recent Marvel movies give me that inner smile that also accompanies playing a Mario game :).  I rode with Jules Verne under the sea and into Earth's core.

Science fiction (and its cousin, Fantasy) played a huge role in my development.  I was never at a loss for dreams and stories.  Always in the back of my mind (and in the front most days), were the characters of a story, or a show, or a game.  It's influenced my theology, my perceptions of reality, and my world view in countless other way.  As a Christian, I've had to come to terms with science, and the ever expansive world of speculative fiction was often the glass I was looking into as I went through my education.

So, on this May the 4th, I salute you SciFi!  You have been my co-adventurer these many years.  May the Fourth Be With You!

Marriage Raised to the Power of 2

Here is a quote from the Bible I've heard often in my lifetime:

"Where one can put a thousand to flight, two can put ten thousand."
 

The context being used typically for inciting the congregation to further zeal in spiritual warfare and/or the unity of the body.  Both true and noble pursuits.

But today I brought the statement home.  For three days my wife has been sick.  For three days I've attempted to be the Uber Geek I'm paid to be (and I should get bonus points on this article for using the word "Uber".  In fact, I hearby state that all uses of the word "Uber" in the correct context are valid for 20 CHFG points.  If you are now looking for how you use CHFG points, then you have obviously missed the witty satirical essence of this aside.  Or is it witty sarcasm...  I digress), Husband (the Biblical kind that treats his wife as Jesus did the church.  In other words, gives of himself for her), Mom (which for this family means Super Woman who cares for three children while teaching two of them (and somehow providing her needy husband with clean underwear and towels.), and Dad, which we all know is a bit of Captain America mixed with a lot of Superman. 

After three days of effort, I've barely moved my projects at work forward and had to miss all of today, my wife will have to speak for herself as to how good I've done at husbandry (the Biblical kind again, not the raising of livestock, lest my wife slap me), I had a large dishtowel to dry off after my morning shower today, and my wife pointed out that my son's outfit was the same that he had on yesterday.  And the day before that.  Sigh... and the day before that.  Second sigh... 

I felt low by today.  I was trying.  Really hard.  But it was like trying to blow a hole in a fortress wall with a small caliber handgun (I use the term "small caliber" here as a shroud to cover up my woeful lack of knowledge when it comes to guns.  I then mention the cover-up in a parenthetical statement because I'm addicted to parentheses.).  It'll make a dent, but that's about it.

I talked to my wife about my struggles.  She mentioned that I need her.  Yeah, I need her.  I need her because a marriage and a family is not a 1000 foe task.  It's a 10,000.  1 can make sure that the kids are fed, the cat's fed, that there is coffee for his wife in the morning, and that possibly nothing's burning at work.  But it takes a chord of two to tackle life and move it forward.  I need my wife.  She needs me.  And together, we will put 10,000 to flight, and subsequently provide all of our children with both food and a change of clothes.

P.S. After writing this, I proofread it before sending it to my wife, because usually she catches all kinds of mistakes.  I wanted to send her something polished.  She found 4 errors.  Yeah, I need her.

Better Communication

I didn't say that... Yes, you did.

Better Communication. Every time, in any organizational meeting where we brainstorm how we can improve, "Better Communication" is always on that list. More often than not, it's at the top. Why? Because when people communicate effectively, everyone understands their role better. If my manager can effectively communicate the vision of the company and his superiors to me, and from me accurately communicate my concerns, strengths, weaknesses, etc. up to his management, we all win.

Better communication isn't just the Holy Grail of organizations, however. As an individual, the ability to communicate is tantamount to a great sauce; everything just works better. Without further ado, here are a couple tips I've learned:

1. Say Less

Before I send out an email, even brief ones that don't (theoretically) hold any importance, I reread through and remove words and phrases that don't add meaning to the email. Sometimes this is time consuming, but as I've done it for years I've gotten better and have to do less and less revisioning. For any communication, but email especially, you want to say all that you have to in order to convey meaning, but no more than what is required. For example:

Non-Edited:

Bobby Jean,

I think that we would probably get the quote to her by tomorrow. We just need to make sure that there's not a large delay that puts us behind once we purchase it.

Thanks,
Brandon

Revised

Bobby Jean,

We should have the quote by tomorrow, but we'll need to insure there's no delay after we purchase.

Thanks,
Brandon

Trimming the fat on our words accomplishes two goals. First, it clarifies our meaning to the reader. Second, it shows that we value the reader's time. Both of which the reader will appreciate.


2. Be Nice

We all know the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." However, knowing a rule and following a rule are two entirely different items. Just as we were told, "If it's not true, kind, or necessary, don't say it", we need to be kind in our communication. First, never reply when emotional. Whether the emotion is anger, hurt, embarrassment, etc., let the emotion run its course, then reply. You will get plenty of chances to follow this rule, but it only takes breaking it one time to cause permanent consequences. Second, be courteous. If you are asking for something, acknowledge the help you are being given. If you are asking for something big, make the acknowledgement big, and be free with offers to return the favor. Lastly, give thanks and appreciation for help given. If you can do a quick thank you in person, all the better, but even an email saying thanks is better than no acknowledgement.


3. Do It!

The easiest way to communicate better is to communicate more. Manager X asks you to provide Item B, but Priority Q trumped it and made it late? Tell Manager X. Someone sends an email to twenty people on a problem, and you jump on it? Let everyone know you're working on it. The players in a project can only play well when they know what's happening, and the more you communicate, the more they know what's happening. I have turned around an entire department's view of my team by doing nothing more than focusing on communication.


4. Bonus #4
   Don't put stupid stuff in emails.  I know you think it's funny, but when your joke goes askew and you put your follies down in written format, you'll regret it.  Sure, levity is great, but stupid is still stupid. 

The Humble Bundle

I love video games and I love good deals.  The Humble Bundle meshes those two wonderful items together perfectly.  Here are the basics:

• You pay whatever you want for a bundle of high quality Indie video games (Examples include World of Goo and Osmos).  
• They usually have perks for paying more than a certain amount, like paying more than $1 to get the games on Steam, or paying more than the average to get a bonus game.
• Choose the percentages of your payment that will go to the Developers, the EFF, or to the Humble Bundle team.
• Get an email with a download link for DRM-Free games.

The bundles go on sale periodically, and right now you can pick up Bundle # 5.

www.humblebundle.com