RuthMalan

RuthMalan, 2 months ago to random

“As a rule software systems do not work well until they have been used, and have failed repeatedly, in real applications. Generally, many uses and many failures are required before a product is considered reliable. Software products, including those that have become relatively reliable, behave like other products of evolution-like processes; they often fail, even years after they were built, when the operating conditions change.”
— David Parnas et al

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/78973.78974

RuthMalan, 2 months ago to random

LinkedIn to me (ha!): "you've been selected to answer"

But um, my answer isn't an option? Yours too??? Now isn't that odd!

It depends

Yesss!

Given the experience of anyone entering this role (formally or informally), my first response to a question like this is: don't ask me, ask the person.

(Which is odd when I facilitate workshops? But they're workshops where we find our own particular edges, and leverage our experiences and strengths.)

RuthMalan, 4 months ago to random

Empathy is not Agreement:
“Wiseman identified four defining attributes of empathy:

1. The ability to see the world as another person sees it. ("Without this, empathy cannot occur," Wiseman wrote.)

2. The ability to understand another person’s feelings.

3. The ability to suspend judgment.

4. The ability to communicate this understanding, which is essential "if empathy is to be felt."”

— Ed Batista
https://www.edbatista.com/2019/04/accountability-and-empathy.html

RuthMalan, 3 months ago to random

For International Women’s Day, we’re introducing awesome women?

@dahukanna — https://www.ibm.com/design/community/Dawn/ ; follow here, and live-post Dawn’s talks at a conference to send my unabashed envy level to 11!

@elizayer — read her blogs at https://medium.com/@ElizAyer ; so good!

@hazelweakly — she’s like raising us all up on a platform of insights — here, in talks, in posts here and at https://hazelweakly.me/blog/

@yvonnezlam — my go to whenever i’m like ok, i need a helping of insight and kindness

RuthMalan, 25 days ago to random

I feel so seen

Via https://indieweb.social/@mariapopova/112471481056699280

RuthMalan, 28 days ago to random

I can’t think of a more appropriate reaction than [holy exclamation!] so I’m going with it.

RuthMalan, 6 months ago to random

I need this on a poster/mug/sticker or something

(Well, ok, just the idea of it being on a thing; we’ll keep it low evironmental impact that way.)

The original — for boosting 👇
https://hachyderm.io/@hazelweakly/111420520123219602

RuthMalan, 18 days ago to random

When i hear root cause… the image that comes to mind

Image from: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2022/01/wageningen-root-archive/

RuthMalan, 4 months ago to random

Corey Quinn launches with: “Okay, frens. It's now 2024; tell me your job title and I will tell you what your job is in a thread.”

The scope of comedic achievement in this thread (went on for like 2 hours) is just incredible (and such a joy of laughter in these times of stress):

https://nitter.net/QuinnyPig/status/1747744936211157441

RuthMalan, 3 months ago to random

If you have been laid off and want to be in a fun group while learning from and with them
If you are from an underestimated group in tech
If you have attended this workshop and would love to return to learn more
Lmk so I can get you a scholarship link

System Design and Software Architecture on March 18 - 20 and March 25-27, 2024 at 11 am - 3:30 pm Eastern Time (US/Canada) https://ti.to/bredemeyer/system-design-mar-2024

Preview material: https://ruthmalan.com/Leadership/20240220TechnicalDecisions.pdf

RuthMalan, 5 months ago to random

I went back to Susan Leigh Star's "The Ethnography of Infrastructure" to hoover up a quote I wanted to use to say something a particular way (and to weave Star's work in), and my attention snagged on:

"[Infrastructure is] Built on an installed base. Infrastructure does not grow de novo; it wrestles with the inertia of the installed base and inherits strengths and limitations from
that base."

And oof. Yeah. That.

RuthMalan, 5 months ago to random

A lovely group gathering (on zoom) for this next #PapersInSystems discussion — join us?

When: January 8th, 2023, 1PM - 2PM Eastern Time (US/Canada).

Paper: “Value Capture," by C. Thi Nguyen, 2023, https://philarchive.org/rec/NGUVCH

Led by: @aredridel and @yvonnezlam

Free, but sign up for access: https://ti.to/bredemeyer/valuecapture/

RuthMalan, 1 month ago to random

'Given the degree of brokenness of the broken world (and the expense of fixing it), we need all maintainers to apply their diverse disciplinary methods and practical skills to the collective project of repair. [..] Fixers, he says, “know and see different things — indeed, different worlds — than the better-known figures of ‘designer’ or ‘user.’” Breakdown has “world-disclosing properties.”'

-- @shannonmattern
https://placesjournal.org/article/maintenance-and-care/

RuthMalan, 5 months ago to random

“You get our attention when you say people might get killed,” Tajer said. “We’re not interested in seeing exemptions and accommodations that depend on human memory. … There’s just got to be a better way.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-wants-faa-to-exempt-max-7-from-safety-rules-to-get-it-in-the-air/

Via https://mastodon.social/@petethomas/111705304335976039

RuthMalan, 2 months ago to random

Organizational Dynamics for Technical Leaders on April 23 and 30, at 10am-1pm EDT

Info/enroll: https://ti.to/bredemeyer/organizational-dynamics-apr-2024

It’s a wonderful group! But a few more folk would be lovely too.

(As always, there are scholarships
— if you’re from an underestimated, under-supported group, laid off <in these times, at that>, struggling with economic juggling for reasons, etc.)

I use this image (with a fragment from @nsousanis Unflattening) because it conveys richly, and because the link preview is meh

RuthMalan, 4 months ago to random

I want to put

@anildash 's "two key questions" ("What happens if this succeeds?" and "Who is harmed by the changes this causes?")

alongside

"Rigor is not a substitute for imagination.”
― Gary Klein

Because there are some things we know.

Also,
https://xkcd.com/2889/

RuthMalan, 4 months ago to random

“Google’s AI will read and analyze your private messages, going back forever”
..
“analyze your message history with different contacts to understand your relationship dynamics”

(forbes)

Google. wtf

This ai race in big tech is so … desperate… and reckless … and [redacted]

RuthMalan, 5 months ago to random

I hope you can join us on Dec 21, 12-1 pm Eastern Time (US/Canada) to discuss ch 10: Take Care of Yourself. Eb Ikonne presents key ideas from the chapter, and the discussions he leads are wonderful!

Yes, "Learning to say "No" is critical" -- and so is social and cognitive sustenance, which leadership discussions with Eb very much are!

Free but sign up for access: https://ti.to/bredemeyer/take-care-ch10-with-eb-ikonne/with/leadership-with-eb-ikonne

RuthMalan, 1 month ago to random

And once again I find myself playing with iceberger

Try it (me, drawing cat shaped icebergs? Never ;) ):
https://joshdata.me/iceberger.html

RuthMalan, 22 days ago to random

Um.. some of the folks who are vulnerable to microsoft’s incursion with Recall dont have a choice… … kids, employees, folk struggling to get by (cognitive overload and executive function theft, financial constraints, more) … The “just switch to linux” advice is… huh…

RuthMalan, 1 month ago to random

“As we gather to consider the nation’s finest and most courageous journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board would like to recognize the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nation’s college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk. We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary real-time reporting of student journalists at Columbia University”
— Pulitzer Prize Board Statement

https://www.pulitzer.org/news/statement-pulitzer-prize-board-3

RuthMalan, 25 days ago to random

Ohhh!!

“Lines in the Sand - DIGITAL COMIC

A 20-page printed comic that tells the story of Lynn Conway's groundbreaking invention of Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) that enablies today's billion-transistor chips, and the birth of the foundry model that separates chip design and printing.”
https://www.unsungheroes.info/product/lines-in-the-sand-e

Via https://twitter.com/lynnconway/status/1778053340959498373

RuthMalan, 3 months ago to random

“Ford, whose electrical engineers couldn’t solve some problems they were having with a gigantic generator, called Steinmetz in to the plant. Upon arriving, Steinmetz rejected all assistance and asked only for a notebook, pencil and cot. [..] Then he told Ford’s skeptical engineers to remove a plate at the mark and replace sixteen windings from the field coil. They did, and the generator performed to perfection.“ ../