Life stuff
It’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time -Clayton M. Christensen
- Try to quit (or drastically reduce) your caffeine intake. You’ll sleep better, and get sick less.
- Have non-computer hobbies - you’ll need the balance.
- Actively seek out better workplaces and working conditions. Strive to work at the best.
- Memento mori - don’t waste your life on stupid shit.
Coffee
If coffee is sour, it’s under-extracted.
Sleep
- Buy black-out curtains for your bedroom windows, and keep electronic lights to a bare minimum
- Only use your bedroom for rest. Don’t eat/watch TV/etc. in there
- Caffeine can stay in your system for 12 hours (give or take a few hours). Determine when you want to fall asleep, and then set your last-cup limit accordingly (eg if you go to bed at 9PM, no coffee after 9AM)
- Avoid books/stimulating literature (eg stick to light fiction instead of riveting political manifestos) in bedroom
- Stop checking phone before bed - set a “light’s out” for screens an hour or two before bedtime
- No alcohol after dinner, since alcohol is bad for sleep
- Exercise regularly, but avoid anything strenuous 3-4 hours before bedtime
- Get out of bed if you can’t sleep, don’t ruminate about the inability to sleep.
- If you can manage it, take an early afternoon siesta (<30m)
- Have a consistent wind-down routine that’s fairly mindless, like completing next day’s prep before bed
- Consider nasal saline spray if you live in a dry climate
- Take any pain medication (eg acetominephan) 30m before bed so there’s time to for it to kick in before sleeping
- Don’t cheap out on your mattress - you’ll get bad sleep and a bad back as well
- Weighted blankets are good for some folks (not all), try one if you haven’t yet
- If your sleep still sucks, talk with your doctor. Insomnia research still has new techniques emerging
Ethics
- ACM Code of Ethics
- CIPS Code of Ethics
- IEEE Computer Society Code of Ethics
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Sysadmin Life
- Write great documentation, not necessarily for others, but for your own sanity
- Assume that you typing something in is the weakest link in any chain. If it can be automated, it should be.
Outside of work
- Sleep is precious. Invest in a nice bed, keep light out of the room, keep caffeinated substance consumption to a minimum.
- If you’re on-call, assume things will break any minute. Shower, middle of a meal, while you’re hanging a chandelier - the most inconvenient time. Schedule accordingly.
Staying current
Links
Public Speaking
- Don’t make hesitation noises (“ummm”), just pause
- Rotate eye contact between 3 people
- Avoid the podium
- Use gestures. Don’t fidget
- Don’t read from notes
Canada-specific resources
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
- Canada Intellectual Property Office
- Canadian whistle-blower laws
- Canada Labour Code
- Occupational Health and Safety
- International Development Research Centre
Labour Market
Skill Aggregation
level 1: beginner
- Little or no previous experience
- Doesn’t want to learn: wants to accomplish a goal
- No discretionary judgement
- Rigid adherence to rules
Level 2: Advanced Beginner
- Starts trying tasks on their own
- Has difficulty troubleshooting
- Wants information fast
- Can place some advice in context required
- Uses guidelines, but without holistic understanding
Level 3: Competent
- Develops conceptual models
- Troubleshoots on their own
- Seeks out expert advice
- Sees actions at least partially in terms of long-term plans and goals
Level 4: Proficient
- Guided by maxims applied to the current situation
- Sees situations holistically
- Will self-correct based on previous performance
- Learns from the experience of others
- Frustrated by oversimplified information
Level 5: Expert
- No longer relies on rules, guidelines, or maxims
- Works primarily from intuition
- Analytic approaches only used in novel situations or when problems occur
- When forced to follow set rules, performance is degraded