2023-01-08 Sunday - Sharpening The Saw - Before Needing to Cut Wood

[Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay]

 

Investing time today in deepening (and refreshing) my knowledge of the latest advances in network encryption and authentication - across Layer 4 (Transport) and Layer 5 (Session).

The luxury of being able to invest time in deepening and expanding your knowledge (without the pressure of a specific project deadline) ...essential to maintaining your edge.

Sharpening the axe before you need to cut wood.

One single thread of exploration...leading to so many interesting areas.

The trick is to avoid just looking for answers - and stay focused on developing deep understanding - without being distracted. 

A difficult balancing act, that.

But, serendipity is also alive and well.

2022-12-31 Saturday - End-of-Year Personal Metrics for 2022

[Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay]

 

2022 Personal Metrics

• 15 technology blog posts in my "Research Notebook"
  

• 6 technical books reviewed  
• Deciphering Object-Oriented Programming with C++
• Deep Learning with Python, 2nd Edition 
• Kafka In Action
• Spring in Action, 6th Edition  
• Designing Hexagonal Architecture with Java 
• TensorFlow In Action
  

• 191 git commits (mostly in my personal knowledge management repositories)

• 12,986 lines (including blanks, 131,677 words) in my private "2022 Technology Reading List" notes file (2,984 links to articles, videos, etc.) - a catch-all of what I've read/found to be interesting - and may want to be able to find/recall/reference in the future.
  

• 27 sailing-related blog posts
  

 

2022-12-01 Thursday - 2023 Challenge - Plant The Seeds of Your Own Renewal

 

[image credit: annawaldl onPixabay]

If, in the last 12 months...you haven't...

• Read at least three books, research papers, etc.related to new ideas, new approaches, breakthrough ideas - in your particular area of discipline.
  

• Written and published something (Medium.com, Github.com, your own blog, a podcast, a book, a zine, a conference presentation, a paper, an article, etc.)...communicating something that you have learned, tried, failed at, succeeded at, explored, ...
  

• Made at least 25 new professional connections...
  

• Offered to make at least 5 new introductions...on behalf of others...with no goal of gain, or advantage, to yourself...
  

• Read a book completely unrelated to your particular discipline...simply because you are curious enough to learn about some other field...just because...
  

• Learned a new skill - or practiced improving an existing skill - outside of your particular discipline...

Then, my friend - I challenge you to plant some new seeds in 2023...to plant the seeds of your own renewal - to embrace the idea of defining some new personal goals/challenges for yourself in 2023 - and make time for yourself, invest in yourself, plant seeds for your own future - and your own personal growth.

 

2022-11-22 Tuesday - Benefits of an EA Tool

(image credit: PIRO4D on pixabay.com)

 

Here are some of the benefits of an Enterprise Architecture tool (and repository) - that immediately come to mind:

• Supports reuse of design artifacts - and RAPID dependency & impact analysis - thus helping accelerate speed-of-delivery, and supports risks analysis - which in turns help with planning risk mitigation strategies (e.g., security, operations, performance, duplication of functionality, waste/costs, ...) 
  

• Supports Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and Application Portfolio Management (APM) - and application rationalization efforts 
  

•  Supports alignment with Policies, Standards, Processes, Procedures - and documenting conformance with regulatory requirements (i.e. Title 12 OCC regulations; Title 31 for Banking and Insurance regulations; Privacy regulations - such as GDPR, CCPA, ..., and the potential future American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA); Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards; etc.) - and mapping of Controls.
  

•  Supports IT Governance mechanisms (e.g., for ARC, TRC/TRM, Security, Infrastructure) 
  

•  Acts as an IT knowledge repository - so the organization is not at risk of "tribal knowledge" walking out the door.
  

• Supports Agile processes - by serving as a shared repository of AS-IS, TO-BE, Roadmaps, and reusable artifacts - and helping improve analysis for development of Epics, Stories, and Tasks.

2022-10-20 Thursday - Keys to a Productive Life

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

 Re: my reply to the question raised by Brian de Haaf (Co-founder and CEO at Aha!)
"A doctor today asked me how to best have a productive life? I was not thrilled with my answer in retrospect. What would your suggestions be?"

1. Rest before you get tired
2. Don't skimp on sleep
3. Good nutrition
4. Make time to exercise
5. Make time to "re-create" (i.e., recreation, play, learn, explore, art, music, painting, sculpture, writing)
6. Periodically pause to reflect/analyze how you can do, what you do, better-faster-efficiently
7. Nourish the spirit by reaching out to encourage, uplift, help others
8. Improve how-you-learn: Develop ways to organize/retain what you learn
9. Prioritize what matters
10. Be the bowling ball - find the key pin: those things that will have a multiplier-effect