Author Archives: Pgquiles

Bill Swanson is CEO of Raytheon and well known as one of the most important CEOs in the world. But he is better known for this famous “Bill Swanson’s 33 Unwritten Rules of Managament”:

1. Learn to say, “I don’t know.” If used when appropriate, it will be used often.
2. It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
3. If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much
4. Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what’s there; few can see what isn’t there.
5. Presentation rule: When something appears on a slide presentation, assume the world knows about it and deal with it accordingly.
6. Work for a boss to whom you can tell it like it is. Remember, you can’t pick your family, but you can pick your boss.
7. Constantly review developments to make sure that the actual benefits are what they were supposed to be. Avoid Newton’s Law.
8. However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best effort
9. Persistence or tenacity is the disposition to persevere in spite of difficulties, discouragement or indifference. Don’t be known as a good starter but a poor finisher!
10. In doing your project, don’t wait for others; go after them and make sure it gets done.
11. Confirm the instructions you give others, and their commitments, in writing. Don’t assume it will get done.
12. Don’t be timid: Speak up, express yourself and promote your ideas.
13. Practice shows that those who speak the most knowingly and confidently often end up with the assignment to get the job done.
14. Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports.
15. Be extremely careful in the accuracy of your statements.
16. Don’t overlook the fact that you are working for a boss. Keep him or her informed. Whatever the boss wants, within the bounds of integrity, takes top priority.
17. Promises, schedules and estimates are important instruments in a well-run business. You must make promises – don’t lean on the often-used phrase: “I can’t estimate it because it depends on many uncertain factors.”
18. Never direct a complaint to the top; a serious offense is to “cc” a person’s boss on a copy of a complaint before the person has a chance to respond to the complaint.
19. When interacting with people outside the company, remember that you are always representing the company. Be especially careful of your commitments.
20. Cultivate the habit of boiling matters down to the simplest terms: the proverbial “elevator speech” is the best way.
21. Don’t get excited in engineering emergencies: Keep your feet on the ground.
22. Cultivate the habit of making quick, clean-cut decisions.
23. When making decisions, the “pros” are much easier to deal with than the “cons.” Your boss wants to see both.
24. Don’t ever lose your sense of humor.
25. Have fun at what you do. It will be reflected in you work. No one likes a grump except another grump!
26. Treat the name of you company as if it were your own.
27. Beg for the bad news.
28. You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100% of what you feel.
29. You can’t polish a sneaker.
30. When facing issues or problems that are becoming drawn-out, “short them to the ground.”
31. When faced with decisions, try to look at them as if you were one level up in the organization. Your perspective will change quickly.
32. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person. (This rule never fails).
33. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, an amateur built an ark that survived a flood while a large group of professionals built the Titanic!

Postscript: The qualities of leadership boil down to confidence, dedication, integrity and love.

A great book for all the pastafari-religion practitioners out there: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Just added to my wishlist!

Two interesting links on how to home-make PCBs using the toner transfer method: Easy Printed Circuit Board Fabrication and How to make PCBs with a laser printer

A recurring problem in most rich societies is that students in general do not take enough math – despite high availability of relatively well-paid jobs in fields that demand math, such as engineering, statistics, teaching and technology. Students see math as hard, boring and irrelevant, and do not respond (at least not sufficiently) to motivational factors such as easier admission to higher education or interesting and important work.

[Continue reading 12 reasons to choose lots of Maths in high-school]

Well, that’s not the name of the band of Jonathan Coulton but I think it should be.

What can you say after reading the names of the songs in his albums: Mandelbrot Set, That Spells DNA, etc. You can even download some of his songs for free

Don’t miss Mandelbrot Set, it’s awesome!:

Pathological monsters! cried the terrified mathematician
Every one of them is a splinter in my eye
I hate the Peano Space and the Koch Curve
I fear the Cantor Ternary Set
And the Sierpinski Gasket makes me want to cry
And a million miles away a butterfly flapped its wings
On a cold November day a man named Benoit Mandelbrot was born

Just take a point called Z in the complex plane
Let Z1 be Z squared plus C
And Z2 is Z1 squared plus C
And Z3 is Z2 squared plus C and so on
If the series of Z’s should always stay
Close to Z and never trend away
That point is in the Mandelbrot Set
Mandelbrot Set you’re a Rorschach Test on fire
You’re a day-glo pterodactyl
You’re a heart-shaped box of springs and wire
You’re one badass fucking fractal
And you’re just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
And you’re just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
Go on change the world in a tiny way
Come on change the world in a tiny way

Jason Gilmore debunks five misconceptions and myths about PostgreSQL in his article “Five reasons why you should never use PostgreSQL — ever.

And now the reason to use it: if you do Ruby, you do not want to be a LAMR!