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I’ve already forgotten who they are.

Life is full of choicesCodeMash was a good reminder

Choices have costsCodeMash was a good reminder

Strategies for coping with decision overload

A Recurring ThemeCodeMash sessions

Preparation for this presentationTool choice: OpenOffice.org vs. Microsoft Office

Which Sessions to Attend?So many choices!

Mutually exclusive options

How to take notes

Participation in Extra Activities

Keynoters were great Neal Ford Brian Goetz Scott Hanselman

Other good sessions: Introduction to Groovy Refactoring for Testing Dojo JavaScript Toolkit Offline with

Google Gears

Software “Engineering” and Polyglot Programming

Polyglot = Someone who is able to speak, write, or read several languagesConcept: memeAn element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by non-genetic meansConcept: fissileAble to undergo nuclear fission, i.e. radioactiveConcept: fissile memeFavorite quote:“In life, if you’ve to say something over and over to someone and they still don’t get it, you may scream that they’re retarded. Generics show that Java is retarded.” – Venkat Subramaniam

As defined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976): "a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation.“

Examples: tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches

Manufactured Serendipity“Serendipity is all about making fortunate discoveries by accident. You can't automate accidental discoveries, but you can manufacture the conditions in which such events are more likely to occur.”

Intertwingularity - Ted Nelson EVERYTHING IS DEEPLY INTERTWINGLED. In an

important sense there are no "subjects" at all; there is only all knowledge, since the cross-connections among the myriad topics of this world simply cannot be divided up neatly.

Hierarchical and sequential structures, especially popular since Gutenberg, are usually forced and artificial. Intertwingularity is not generally acknowledged—people keep pretending they can make things hierarchical, categorizable and sequential when they can't.

Hilarious intro! LOL Code Cat Pictures! ICANHASCHEESEBURGER.COM

IIS 7 Integration with non-ASP.NET applications,

like PHP apps! Scott advocates strongly for the

American Diabetes Association

Concurrency is hard! Great examples of multithreading

pitfalls Ouch! Maybe I should just go live in a

cave!

Implementing LinqTo<T> by Bill Wagner Incredibly Dry and Complicated

Distilling the DLR by Josh Holmes All fluff and no stuff!

Boxed Lunches Roast Beef, Ham, or Turkey??

Dessert Carrot cake or cheesecake??

Go back to the room? It’s a mile!

Rock Band and Guitar Hero To Party or Not To Party? (Sleep is

Good)

Silverlight Workflow Service Oriented Architecture Python Ruby Open Spaces

Limited Resources Time Money Talent

Choices take time to make Choices, once made, have opportunity

costs The Opportunity Cost? = Everything Else Example: Spending my gift cards

Career Certification Advancement Continuing Education and Advanced Degrees

Family Spiritual Social

Volunteering

Strategy Expand?

Where? How much? At what cost? (Time, Opportunity)

Product Emphasis SWOT Analysis

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats

In Code Compile-Time vs. Run-Time Deferred execution

LINQ: Language-Integrated Query

In Projects Agile methodologies postpone some

decisions until later iterations. Waterfall methodologies try to decide everything up front.

Good Advice Front-load your risk If you must fail, fail early Conquer the unknown before it’s too late

A fundamental tension: Analysis (“Look Before You Leap!”) vs.

Action (“He Who Hesitates is Lost”) The “Analysis Paralysis” phenomenon –

is it for real?

Being Proactive means deciding now Deciding now has a cost

Making decisions in advance takes time and energy

Being Reactive means you don’t get to decide! Circumstances pick for you!

“Those Who Are Not Prepared Today Will Be Less So Tomorrow.”

Question: Does Agile = Reactive?

Intellectual Honesty

Capability

Capacity

Refusing to pretend you’re an expert when you’re notReadily admitting your mistakesTrying to understand a compiler warning rather than suppressing the messageClearly understanding your program—not compiling it to see if it worksProviding realistic status reportsProviding realistic schedule estimates and holding your ground when management asks you to adjust them

-- From Code Complete by Steve McConnell

What Can I Really Do?

How Much Can I Really Handle?

“Count the Cost”

Hours in a Week = 168! (not 250)

Work Hours <> Hours of Effort

Parkinson’s Law

“Discretionary” hours in the day (not many)

Useful Minutes in a MeetingDepends on the meeting, but leave at least 20 for wrap-up and asking “What's the Next Action?”)

Know What You Don't Know

Be Informed

Books Magazines Email Newsletters Browsing the Web Networking

User Groups Volunteering

Conferences and Other Events Ask Someone!

Podcasts! .NET Rocks! Hanselminutes ARCast, ARCast.TV IT Conversations

Video Podcasts DNR TV (.NET Rocks TV)

Blogs = focused info

Priorities – “Big Rocks First”

Goals

Accountability

Right now1)Context

2)Time available

3)Energy available

4)Priority (why is this last??)

Sometimes ditching or deleting is the best thing Poker: Don’t go by what’s already been spent “I think never is enough (yeah never is enough)

I never want to do that stuffI think never is enough (yeah never is enough)You never have to do that stuff”-- “Never Is Enough” by Barenaked Ladies

Go for “Best?” “Do Your Best,”

Not “Be the Best” “Perfection” is

not always the same as “best”

Focus on your strengths

Scott Hanselman’s blog: www.hanselman.com

Scott’s awesome tool list: www.hanselman.com/tools/

Neal Ford’s site: www.nealford.com Bruce Eckel’s site: www.mindview.net Brian Goetz’s site: www.briangoetz.com Books:

Getting Things Done by David Allen Code Complete by Steve McConnell

Podcasts Hanselminutes: www.hanselminutes.com .NET Rocks ARCast.TV MSDN Channel 9 Videos

Blogs RSS Rules! (Atom too) Use Google Reader – It’s Free! Outlook 2007 has a news aggregator built in