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November 20, 2012
All event times are Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise specified.
Other calendars: General Announcements | Fine Arts Calendar | 4-year Academic Calendar
Tuesday, November 20
Thanksgiving Break (Nov. 17-25)
Ouiatenon Mtg.: Baxter Hall 212, 7:30PM
Speaker will be John Culley on "Siena: the Contrade and the Palio." Membership in the Ouiatenon Club is open by invitation to those with and without connections to Wabash College. Dues are $3. If you are interested in becoming a member or would like more information on the Club, contact James Norton at email@example.com
AMC Classic Cinema 8 Show Schedule: 205 Dry Branch Drive
Questions? Comments? E-mail email@example.com


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By Mike Myslinski
Burlingame teachers win better evaluations, salary increase
Burlingame Education Association members ratified a three-year contract agreement that provides a retroactive 2 percent salary increase, a 1 percent one-time payment and improvements in what the district will pay for medical benefits. Teachers have had no raises for a number of years.
The agreement also includes a new teacher evaluation system for educators in the Burlingame Elementary School District. It was created by a joint group of teachers and administrators and updates an antiquated process.
BEA President Mike Giusti called the agreement reasonable. Read a news story about the Burlingame agreement here.
Superintendent fired, Denair teachers want cuts away from classrooms
Just as tensions began escalating over a threat by the superintendent to impose a 3.5 percent salary cut on the Denair Unified Teachers Association in Stanislaus County, the district's school board abruptly fired the administrator in mid-March, creating a whole new ball game for the bargaining team.
The 75-member San Joaquin Valley chapter had been at odds with the superintendent, whose financial mismanagement they say resulted in a negative state certification for the district.
While acknowledging the difficult financial situation, Denair teachers are adamant that any cuts be made as far away from the classroom as possible, or at least that there be an agreement to repay teachers later.
Lodi educators restore some instructional days
As Lodi Education Association President Jeff Johnston predicted in November, the passage of Prop. 30 helped restore five instructional days to teachers. There are still 2½ non-instructional days and a 2 percent salary cut LEA bargainers hope to restore when the contract is reopened. In the meantime, Johnston says, "We are all waiting to see what will happen with the governor's budget proposal," since Lodi is a district that will benefit from the proposed new funding formula, which will provide additional monies to schools of need.
San Mateo County educators approve strike option
Fed up after five years of no raises, teachers who do challenging classroom work for the San Mateo County Office of Education voted March 18 to allow their CTA chapter leaders to call a strike if necessary to settle their difficult negotiations.
The strike authorization vote came after a March 6 county school board meeting in Redwood City, where San Mateo County Educators Association members addressed the board and staged a rally. Teachers are upset by the indifference they get from the school board and County Superintendent of Schools Anne Campbell in contract talks, says Dan Deasy, president of the 150-member chapter.
"This school board is clearly not respecting the difficult work we do," Deasy says.
Educators with the San Mateo County Office of Education work in special education programs for students with severe disabilities, court and community schools for 2,000 at-risk students, and teach Regional Occupational Program (ROP) career technical courses for 5,000 high school students and adults.
Read news coverage of the strike vote here.
Ocean View Teachers Association settlement still includes furlough
The Ocean View Teachers Association's tentative agreement with Ocean View School District, located in Huntington Beach, is a result of OVTA's ongoing rallies at the district office and other organizing efforts, including a flashlight vigil. The district, which has had five different superintendents in the last nine months, realized the bargaining team had strong support from OVTA members, parents, and community members.
OVTA's bargaining team was able to reach a compromise settlement of two furlough days scheduled to be taken May 24 and 28.
"I think it's the very best settlement that we can get under the circumstances at this time," says OVTA President Marcy Drum. Members are expected to ratify the agreement. Bargaining resumes in May for the 2013-14 contract year.
Fremont educators want smaller class size
"Our students are tired of trying to learn in overcrowded classrooms, and teachers are fed up with making financial sacrifices for a district that does not respect our dedication," says Brannin Dorsey, president of the 1,600-member Fremont Unified District Teachers Association (FUDTA). "Enough is enough. Students and educators deserve better treatment than this — especially from a district with reserves like they have."
With that statement, the teachers union declared a bargaining impasse and mobilized for a lively March 13 protest at the school board meeting.
One year of negotiations has gone nowhere in this financially sound district, which is hoarding money at a level about five times the reserves required by the state.
FUDTA members are seeking a class size maximum of 24 students for grades K-3 and a staffing ratio of 27:1 for grades 7-12. The district is offering maximums of 29 in kindergarten classes and 30 for grades 1-3, and no relief for all other grades. In Fremont, class sizes are now capped at 30 for K-6 classrooms, but for middle and high schools the cap is actually only a "goal" of 30, on average. The goal is 12 for special education students, but the district wants to raise that. High school classes routinely reach 35 students or more. Teachers have filed scores of grievances to lower class sizes.
The 32,000-student Fremont Unified has about $30 million in reserves. Educators have taken 12 unpaid furlough days since 2009 — a pay cut of about $7.2 million. In contract talks, FUDTA is seeking a 2 percent raise on the salary schedule and a one-time 1 percent payment, and some relief for the cost of dental benefits. The district is offering a 1 percent salary increase and a one-time bonus payment of 1.75 percent, and no relief for the escalating cost of health care. Read news coverage of the March 13 Fremont protest here.
Read more Local Bargaining news here.
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Every child deserves a chance to learn and no child succeeds alone.
© 1999-

subset: commoncrawl


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I Am Cuba
Maybe it's just *Godfather II*, but there's always been a certain mystique surrounding pre-Castro Havana. For a few years, it was on its way to becoming the Vegas of the Caribbean—that is, a city almost completely controlled by the mob. It operated under a kind of resort colonialism, with a government whose main concern seemed to be developing new cocktail recipes and keeping the showgirls coming.
Luckily, it's not completely lost to history. Boing Boing pointed us to Peter Moruzzi's *Havana Before Castro*, a quick, colorful tour of the city as a tropical playground. It doubles as a primer in 50s luxury, the beach look back when Miami was still just retirees and sailors.
Some of the spots are still there, if you feel like dodging the travel embargo, but this book may be as close as you'll get.
More pictures after the jump»


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By Brendan Conway
The bounce you might expect after Wednesday's steep selloff isn't here. Instead, in a pretty classic "risk off" trade, investors are driving emerging-markets funds lower than large-cap U.S. stocks.
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (EEM) is down 1.3% to $40.92 at this writing, versus the 0.9% loss in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).
The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (FXI) has slumped 2.3% and the iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ) is down 1.7%.
Dividend-paying stocks in the emerging markets aren't much of a port today, either. The WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (DEM) is down 1.1%.


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Smash Planet
- Publisher: GREE, Inc.
- Genre: Action
- Released: 16 Aug, 2012
- Size: 34.1 MB
- Price: FREE!
- App Store Info
DescriptionWe regret to inform you that we will be closing Smash Planet and disconnecting the service on August 28, 2013, 4:00 a.m. (UTC).
*SMAAASH everything! Experience thrilling monster battles!
■What Players are Saying About Smash Planet
Just started and already addicted to it. Love it
It is a simple game but its so fun! The graphics are amazing and the concept is great.
- Journey into the mysterious planet Monpla!
- Smash your way through heart-pounding battles!
- Build your team from hundreds of monsters!
- Your monsters grow stronger as you fuse them!
The popular monster-raising game enjoyed by over 5,000,000 players has arrived!
Darkness has descended upon the planet Monpla where hundreds of monsters live in
harmony. But suddenly, monsters vanish and many turn wild with no explanation. Could this be the work of the mysterious organization lurking in the shadows?
SMASH your opponents with an evolving team of monsters and save the world from tyranny! It's all up to you!
- Smash Planet is free to play.
- This is an online game only. Users must be connected to the Internet (3G or WiFi) to play.
- Incompatible with iPod touch (below 4th Gen), iPhone 3G, iPad1, or iOS4.X.


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IT'S not a night associated with movie-going, but many Melburnians swapped parties for the cinemas on New Year's Eve.
Screenings of the two biggest blockbusters to come out on Boxing Day, The Hobbit and Les Miserables, were sold out in Village Gold Class cinemas in Victoria. Screenings of the latest Bond flick, Skyfall, were sold out in Gold Class cinemas at the Jam Factory, Southland, Karingal, Doncaster and Crown, despite the fact that the film was released more than a month ago, on November 22.
In Hoyts Cinemas, premium sessions - in La Premiere or Directors Suite cinemas - of all films were completely sold out throughout the state on the night of New Year's Eve, bar a handful of tickets to a single evening session at La Premiere Eastland.
It seems that ''FOMO'' - fear of missing out - hit hard on the one night of the year that no one wants to be stuck with nothing to do, spurring thousands to jump online and book ahead.
A Hoyts spokesperson attributed the big sales to the range of family-friendly films on offer, meaning that young and old could celebrate New Year together, with premium cinemas providing an experience befitting the occasion.
On Sunday, Skyfall's global ticket sales surpassed $1 billion, making it the most popular Bond film ever, not counting for inflation. The Hobbit grossed $5.925 million last Wednesday, making it the biggest Boxing Day opening ever, and third biggest opening day ever, behind The Avengers and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.


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By Tiernan Ray
Global Equities Research's Trip Chowdhry this morning writes that with Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook planning to meet with activist investor Carl Icahn in New York next Monday, according to a CNBC report this morning, the company should disclose all conversations that it has had to date with Icahn.
Icahn, who announced August 13th that he had taken a "large position" in the company, has said he's met with Cook, and for weeks has been trumpeting the planned dinner with the CEO, during which dinner it is expected Icahn will press Cook about being more aggressive in return of cash to shareholders.
Chowdhry argues that it is not clear Icahn is definitely net long on Apple shares, versus short the stock, and that Apple has a fiduciary duty to reveal all conversations between its chief executive and Icahn:
1. Though Carl Icahn has announced he own Apple Stock, there is no certainty that he is net long Apple Stock; 2. There is a perception among investors that Carl Icahn is actually net short Apple Stock; 3. Hence, being in compliance with Reg FD, Apple should fully disclose all the past and future conversations with Carl Icahn to investors.


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The cheapest console version of Batman: Arkham Origins will be the Wii U version. It will sell for $50, while it will be $60 on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Warner Bros didn't explain why the Wii U version is being discounted, but Kotaku postulates that it's due to the omission of multiplayer from that version. "The team is focusing development efforts on platforms with the largest MP audience," the publisher said when the news originally broke.
Given the franchise's focus on single-player, and our lackluster reception to the online offering, it might behoove Wii U owners to save $10. Of course, the PC version is the best option. Not only does it include the online mode, but it also comes in at a discounted price as well.


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I am pretty sure many people consider Brady's 2007 campaign the best of any QB ever. I was in that category until I went back and looked a the stats in a debate I am having.
Volume stats
Brady 4806 yards 50 TD's
Manning 4557 yards 49 TD's
Brady broke Manning's single season TD record and threw for more yards but if you look at the efficiency numbers.
Brady 68.9 completion % 8.3 Y/A 8.7 TD%
Manning 67.6 completion % 9.2 Y/A 9.9 TD%
let me reiterate that one in every 10 passes went for a TD and almost every pass average a first down.... that's insane.
Last but not least Brady threw EIGHTY ONE more passes. So I guess it all boils down to whether you prefer efficiency or volume stats.


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The Fifth Annual Ardmore Tractor and Truck Pull, hosted by the Ardmore Lions Club, will be held this Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, at the John Barnes Park in Ardmore.
Admission each night is $10, except for children ages six and under, who will be admitted free of charge. There are no rain checks.
Classes will in the Mid-South sanctioned pull include light super stock tractors, heavy super stock tractors, limited pro stock tractors, 6200 TWD trucks, 9300 super farm tractors, and P4/PSFWD trucks.
Corporate sponsors for the event are H&R Agri-Power and Rogers Group, Inc.
Proceeds will benefit the Ardmore Lions Club sight services and screenings, as well as to the club's efforts in support of local schools.
The park is located at 26425 Hamlett Street in Ardmore.


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But today was about hiking, as we just wanted to explore and take advantage of the perfect weather. We really enjoyed it. And now, the pictures:
We had a picnic here near the summit. Behind us is a gorgeous view, but our big fat heads are blocking it so you have to look at us instead:
I also found some chaga. It's a fungus that grows primarily in birch trees. No, it doesn't make you see polka dot giraffes. It's just really healthy and good for you, and you boil it in water to make a tea out of it. It's alleged to have very strong anti-cancer properties:
This is on the summit of Sawyer Mountain (1213'). Apparently a whale oil lantern used to burn here back in the day to help guide ships into the Portland harbor. Thought that was interesting. While you could see the ocean from here, it was still far away:
We also enjoyed this incredible viewpoint, which was the best of the day. My phone camera is poopy, so you'll have to take my word on it that we could see the ocean, Portland and Sebago Lake from here. A very nice older couple told us about this viewpoint earlier down the trail a bit. Turns out they used to own the land but donated it to the land trust so all could enjoy it:
On the way back down, we ran into this cute little guy slowly making his way across the trail. It's an eastern ribbon snake. He tolerated my presence while I took his picture:
Hiked 4.0 miles.
Insanely hilly.
Technical trails.
Lower 60s, sunny.
Adidas Adizero XT, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap, Mountain Hardware Bebop backpack.


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A short new Battlefield 3 trailer shows off the game's itinerary of vehicles. Set in the "near-future," BF3 features jets, tanks, and helicopters. EA calls them "the most advanced combat vehicles out there." We think they're just trying to show off.
"Since its inception, vehicles have been one of the signature hallmarks of the Battlefield series," EA added.
BOOM video 10807
Battlefield 3 is coming to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 25.


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The Baillieu government has refused to reveal how it calculated its controversial claim that a 12.6 per cent pay rise for teachers over three years would cost Victorian taxpayers $13 billion.
The Australian Education Union has accused the government of deliberately misleading the community after it said on Thursday night that the teachers' pay claim would cost Victorian taxpayers $13 billion and was "therefore unsustainable".
After Fairfax Media repeatedly requested a break-down of the figures, a spokesman for the Minister for the Teaching Profession Peter Hall, said they could not be provided due to the "confidentiality of the talks".
The government also refused to explain the calculations behind its claims last year that the teachers' former pay claim of a 30 per cent pay rise would cost $14 billion.
Union state president Meredith Peace said the relatively small difference between the $13 billion claimed cost of a 12.6 per cent pay rise and the $14 billion claimed cost of a 30 per cent pay rise "doesn't make any sense".
She said the $13 billion figure was misleading because it implied the union's compromise wage claim of 12.6 per cent over three years would cost an additional $13 billion, when the government was probably referring to the total cost of teachers' wages over three years.
"The premier has made promise after promise which he has broken and now they continue to mislead the community when they should respect the negotiations and resolve this dispute," Ms Peace said.
"The point needs to be made that what is unsustainable is the high level of contract employment ... what is unsustainable is them continuing to break promises and not invest in the public education system."
Shadow Minister for the Teaching Profession Steve Herbert said the government's figures "appear to be all over the shop".
"They've gone into good faith bargaining and yet now they are back to the negotiating table they threaten legal action and put out what appears to be dodgy figures," Mr Herbert said. "What's good faith about that? They appear to be undermining the negotiations."
The union and the government have agreed to meet again three times next week to continue discussions.
Despite the resumption of talks, the government has not backed down from its threat to take legal action against the union after it refused to call off industrial action this term, including a strike on February 14.
However, the government refuses to comment on whether it will seek an injunction in the Federal Court before next week's meetings.
The union is seeking a 4.2 per cent pay rise a year and a reduction in contract employment.
It had originally sought a 30 per cent pay rise over three years consistent with the Coalition's pre-election promise to make Victorian teachers the highest paid in the nation.


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Dayton is playing at home against Kane County.
Carlos Fisher is on the hill for the Dragons. Kane County goes 1-2-3 in the top of the first.
Sarasota faces one of the best pitching propects in baseball today in the Tampa Yankees Philip Hughes. The Reds have Sam Lecure on the hill. Adam Rosales is not in the line up again, but I havent been able to find anything or get word as to if he is hurt, and or what it is.
Chattanooga plays at 2:15 against West Tennessee.
Louisville is currently playing and is down 4-0, 3 runs given up in the first by Mike Gosling in the first inning.


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just buy a bullwhip. Easiest way to interact with us mere mortal programmers. And get a cat.
Yes, I've seen several people "promoted" into a manager or VP of Technology type of position who were simply unprepared for the transition. It was felt by the (foolish, ignorant) top execs that the candidate would make a good manager since he was already such a good programmer or architect. The predictable result was catastrophe; the former star programmer became a stupid git who was hated and despised by everyone, and eventually was shown the door after having caused incalculable damage to the organization.
Unfortunately for all parties involved, software engineering and management are two completely separate skills. It's like saying a good surgeon would make a good hospital administrator--where do you pull that out of? They are unrelated and often oppositional jobs. Shoot-from-the-hip, cowboy programmers as well as "team player", 9-5 coders are equally unqualified to manage others, with the team players being slightly better simply because they're less likely to piss everyone off right away.
I've found in my professional experience, as have many others, that really great managers are born, not made. Some people seem to have instinctual abilities to see through the fog of war and focus on the goals, marshal their resources rationally, and avoid letting petty emotions, vindictiveness, oneupmanship, and all the politics that come with human interaction get in the way. You can call them out, tell them to their face that they're full of crap, challenge their assumptions, and they will calmly roll with the punches and adjust accordingly. Their bosses will lean on them, change their priorities, threaten them, etc., and they will push back, educate their superiors, win the time and money they need to achieve the objectives.
It's like sales. Great sales people seem to have an innate ability to close the deal, while crappy sales guys (the majority in the world, I think) piss off the customer, display their ignorance, and basically fumble the ball more often than not.
So, op, proceed cautiously. You are about to step off the cliff and hope you enjoy a soft landing. A few make it, but most don't. I would say, if you're pretty good technically, you should just stay in the tech field where you know you have a good future. But, if you want to learn from bitter experience, be our guest and delve in. Get back to us in a year and let us know how it's going.
Most "good" managers I've met are not good because of skills or training, but from simply being personable, intelligent, and able to solve problems (real world problems, generally very different from the types of problems programmers face). It takes a minimal amount of training to get a good manager, as long as you start with the right person, who possesses those innate abilities. There is plenty of management material to be found among software engineers, programmers, IT, etc. The problem is that, like you said, execs will often just assume someone good in one position will do fine managing that position, and promote them without any management training.
The truly unfortunate thing is that it generally takes much more skill and training to be a good software engineer than it does to be a good manager, and yet management pay generally BEGINS where every other job maxes out. My biggest problem with about 90% of all management I've worked with in my life is that I (or many other people I know) could do their jobs better than them with a week or two of training, and yet they're making twice what I make. At the same time, most of them also face less stress and work fewer hours.
Well, I think it is hard to generalize the way you have and be correct. I'm sure there are shops like the one you described - managers making much more than the devs, worrying more about their golf handicap than the project timeline. There are plenty of places though where the dev and manager payscales have quite a bit of overlap, where you'll find all of the senior devs making (much) more than the junior managers. I think this is right. At well-run companies there will also be quite a lot of pressure and stress put on the manager, simply because the manager is responsible for the success of every person on the team - so take all the things that can go wrong on the dev side (hit a snag and have to refactor, sick time, etc.) and multiply that by the size of the team. Good managers are also taking the heat for making the inevitable tradeoffs - "yes, we know big client X wants feature Y but we need to keep the release on track." Dealing with VPs several levels up trying to pull the project in different directions is also less than enjoyable.
Managers are also much more vulnerable to politics than individual contributors. You can be a great manager and still get canned if new upper management rolls in and doesn't like you or doesn't think you're the right person for their new policies - or if you get a tough project that doesn't go well and someone needs to be blamed. So, I think part of the compensation difference is because the job is simply riskier.
Most "good" managers I've met are not good because of skills or training, but from simply being personable, intelligent, and able to solve problems (real world problems, generally very different from the types of problems programmers face). It takes a minimal amount of training to get a good manager, as long as you start with the right person, who possesses those innate abilities.
As someone who recently graduated from business school I have to disagree with respect to "minimal amount of training". The more formal training the better. Especially since the poster seems to indicate an executive angle not just tech management. The MBA stuff would really help out since it offers a good overall understanding of all the pieces of an organization. Business school and MBAs are not what most around here think, I was just as guilty. One of the things that made business school lots of fun for me was seeing just how ignorant and biased I had been with respect to management, marketing, etc.
No. The more formal the training, the more likely the person is to do something unbelievably short sighted and stupid for short term gains.
No. The more formal the training, the more likely the person is to do something unbelievably short sighted and stupid for short term gains.
That is precisely the sort of ignorant and biased statement that I would have made prior to going to business school. Business school actually teaches you to avoid such traps and to stay away from potential partners who are doing as you describe.
You have to be careful of going to far the other direction as well. The hospital administrator is a good example. Do you want to pick someone for that job who has never worked in a hospital, and therefore has no idea the impact of their decisions? Neither pure professional management, nor pure technical advancement into management is the right path. The ideal manager is going to be a skilled technician who happens to have a natural talent for and interest in management. Which should be followed up with
You're generalizing; there are plenty of people I know up close who were great developers and now great managers. One of them is my boss and I'll tell you what he did to get my utmost respect.
First of all, this guy was a brilliant developer. Both design and coding were always rock solid. Then when the boys from the board asked him to become a manager, we (the grunts) didn't really notice a lot. Sure, he started coding a lot less, and within half a year stopped doing that entirely. Often we wondered what he was doing all day, until one day I spoke to one the founders of the company and he was saying the guy was a bit of a pain in the ass for them. Turns out his day job was nothing less than constantly defending us, making sure we could do our job without being harassed by upper management, and creating support for any of the ideas we (the developers) came up with. In short, instead of being a manager to report to upper management, my boss focuses on ways to make us as productive and happy as we can be.
I can't thank him enough for that.
I recently had to make a similar change - from being in training to becoming one of two cardiologists running a private office, which means I'm responsible for employees.
Making technical decisions is the easy part - managing people is the hard part. You're simply treated differently when you have the ability to make decisions that can change people's livelihood and lives. The best resources I found on this were "Getting to Yes" and "Getting Past No," both touchy-feely pop-style books, but both with semi-use
(Probably not the sort of ignorance you're thinking of, though.)
Start practicing saying "I don't know." You know a lot of technology right now, but in 5 years you'll know less, and in 10 the young kids will roll their eyes when you talk about how it "used to be." Set a big organizational goal ("double our storage space for next year") and then ask the technicians how to make it happen. Resist the urge to do anything more than "suggest" things or vaguely hint at solutions. Know how little you know.
What you shouldn't ever forget is how technology "really works." You know, "fast right cheap pick 2." If your company wants to go with a cheap solution to their problems, make sure you've prepared properly for it.
All the successful technician-to-manager folks I've worked under have suggested solutions, listened when technicians explained problems and tried to get managerial roadblocks out of their way. On the plus side, the best managers I've worked for were promoted techies. Good luck!
All the successful technician-to-manager folks I've worked under have suggested solutions, listened when technicians explained problems and tried to get managerial roadblocks out of their way
My mantra as a manager is, "Trust your people." In one of my first management positions I took over a team that was having a really hard time (they'd been leaderless for a year, had political issues with senior management, etc) that was in the midst of shipping a major new release. Things were chaotic and the urge to micro-manage was intense. Fortunately I knew how technically proficient they were, and was able to discipline myself to trust them across the board on technical issues while I started the (ultimately successful) process of dealing with the political and people issues.
Lots of derogatory remarks towards managers. Not so easy to be in a position of orienting others be it for educating, leading, organizing, inspiring, managing or whatever else. I myself despise jobs coporations and management -do all kinds of things but never accept jobs anymore. But if you want to do anything bigger, you need more people, and you need organization. Whatever you do, whether it is open source coding, protesting, having a big party, or a small company, you will have people, jobs, money, d
1) find a mentor you can use to get advice and bounce ideas of of
2) contact some counterparts and see what professional pegs the belong to and join them and go to local meetings
3) and now the hardest part. While the developers are your friends you now have new responsibilities and may have to make some tough decisions. Be fair, but make the tough calls. If you don't, your team will suffer and do will you.
This is probably the best post here, unfortunately Slashdot isn't a great place to ask this question as half it's membership are too young to have made it to this level succesfully and the other half are grumpy old gits who are bitter that they never made it to this level.
As such "Go ask peers who are already at this level" is about as good advice as can be given here, otherwise you'll just get a long wishlist from people as to how they wish their bosses would be from their inexperienced viewpoint, rather than how their bosses actually need to be to get the job done.
You don't have to become a jackass, but the people who don't get to this level are the ones who don't understand why you're making decisions that to them, seem stupid.
" the ones who don't understand why you're making decisions that to them, seem stupid."
It should never get to that point. A key component of managing knowledge workers is communication. You must communicate the why of your decisions or the people you are supposed to lead will resent those decisions and cut you out of the loop. Not a problem if you are managing people who do not want to know (laborers), but knowledge workers must be a part of the loop.
Study evidence based management. This is a must read for
While the developers are your friends you now have new responsibilities and may have to make some tough decisions.
This reminds me of something: understand that you might not be able to be friends with the people you're managing. You can be on friendly terms with them, but in my experience, friendships are pretty hard once that power imbalance exists. As their manager, at some point, you might need to call them on some kind of bad/irresponsible behavior. If you're like me, you won't really want to, but it'll be your responsibility.
Awesome list. I'll just add one more: block "minor enhancements that shouldn't affect the schedule" no matter who suggests them.
Alternatively, *charge* for "minor enhancements that shouldn't affect the schedule".
Pay the money out as a bonus to the employees who have to accommodate the change if they don't let the schedule slip. This stops you appearing to be an asshat to your customers (while reminding them that your department's work has value), and shows the workforce you're fighting their corner, and appreciate their workload.
So in the end you can deliver something that doesn't do what the client needs?
If a 'minor enhancement that shouldn't affect the schedule' is a big deal to you, you have a serious process problem. It's probably time to learn something from the agile development folks.
I did the same thing many moons ago and recently went back to being an engineer (with great satisfaction).
The issue is: while it is relatively easy to describe what a good engineer is, in abstract, in a way that will work for most companies, it is much harder to define what a good manager should be because it all depends on the expectations (and the organization) of the company you work for.
In my case, I believe I was doing a fine job for 10-15 years of it as a manager (while still being hands-on on some aspects of the job) under the old definition, and having fun in the process, at least some of the time.
Then the company was acquired and the definition of what was a "good" manager changed. A "good" manager was not to do technical work, just to generate schedules and budgets, do personnel management (reviews, hiring), make sure processes were followed and go to meetings, lots of them, many off-site. Engineers need not apply.
These were not the favorite parts of my old job, but under the former organization, I was able to do that because it was not full time and I still had the technical side to keep me interested. However, under the new definition, I was no longer a good manager (or even an acceptable one) and I was utterly miserable. However, because I had been able to not stop being an engineer, I was still a pretty good engineer, so I was able to go back as an engineer
There are many managers meeting that description in that company and some of them do not have strong technical background and yet are apparently doing the job. It is my opinion that those that were strong technically and have been put in these positions do not enjoy their jobs very much, but it is just my opinion. I certainly did not. In many regards, I otherwise consider this company to be enlightened compared to most, they have done many of the right things for the right reasons so there is absolutely no bashing here. I just want to highlight the differences between what many perceive their job to be, and what management expects.
I was fortunate that while I was struggling as a manager under the new definition, this company developed a reasonable technical ladder as an alternative to the management ladder, so going back as an engineer had no downside on my salary or prospects.
So my recommendation is: while you should strive to do what is expected (and I cannot tell you what that is), don't completely abandon the technical aspect and let your skills go stale because if you are any good at it (and you probably are since they offered you this opportunity) that is something you can always fall back on. If you are expected to not do any technical work at all, think twice before taking the job, you probably won't be happy.
Also, in your new management responsibilities, you will have an opportunity to make sure that the company has, or develops, a technical ladder so that good engineers are not offered the choice of either becoming managers (where they may suck) or go somewhere else. That may be you
And one more thing: do not abandon your values. If you believe something is wrong, it is wrong. It does not matter if you wear the engineer's hat or the manager's hat. You will be the most visible technical person in the organization, that comes with responsibilities. Speak your mind in a respectful way, be yourself and represent the interests of your staff and the customers. You will be under a lot of pressure to cut corners and push your better judgement under the rug in order to meet impossible deadlines and budgets. Honestly try to make the best of it. Make friends in the management structure. You will need them one day. You were made that offer because you are smart, never forget it. You have an obligation to speak the truth.
It's a pretty exciting time to be able to doing what you're doing - lines are blurring all over the place between the artificial divisions within organisations. I'd be reading as much about Lean Management as I can (as the wellspring from which Agile comes), but only if it makes sense in your context.
Good luck!
1. Don't piss off programmers. Make them comfortable.
2. They are being paid, make sure they do the work they need to by the time it needs to be done. Stick to schedules. I can not stress how important it is to stick to schedules. If a programmer can't meet targets you feel were set fairly then you may have to fire him/her. If they claim it just takes them longer and you can deal with that then offer them lower pay - in the end results matter and you're on a budget.
3. Listen to advice from your developers ca
I've met few programmers who could estimate their time-frames so well. Of course I would and do take their voices into account if they worry about missing deadlines, but usually if it looks like they will not meet a deadline or critical pass that just means adding or changing out programmers or picking up the slack myself.
If you programmers can't estimate how long it takes, that's because they aren't breaking the task down properly. Either that, or you don't have a time tracker so people actually know how much time they're spending. It can very well happen that you spend two days and get 6 hours of programming done.
Estimation is a really annoying thing to do, so if people aren't forced to do it and held accountable to what they say, it's obvious that people will just botch it.
2. They are being paid, make sure they do the work they need to by the time it needs to be done. Stick to schedules. I can not stress how important it is to stick to schedules. If a programmer can't meet targets you feel were set fairly then you may have to fire him/her. (...)
4. Designate a planner. This will probably be you. The planner takes the goal and the design and makes it into a step by step development cycle programmers can follow. (...)
You may not know it, but the people working for you probably think you're a lousy manager. You're the traditional project manager coming up with an estimate based on how hard it sounds like doing without taking any input from the ones actually working on the code, then drive people hard to meet your imagined schedule. From the "watch every commit" it sounds like you're trying to be the supercoder micromanaging everything everyone under you is doing. Chances are that if you're trying to do that much at once, your quality will turn to shit too even if you could outperform any one of them individually. Particularly if you're doing any part of the managing bit, making sure all your people are productive, clearing roadblocks, dealing with recruitment/staffing/budget issues, management reporting and so on. If you're serious you should get out of management, quick.
I set up schedules with the programmers, but we need to fit those schedules into client time frames so sometimes I do have to make assumptions or harder schedules. As for watching commits it's not about micro managing so much as making sure everyone is keeping up and looking out for developers straying from the design. When different modules are developed separately and need to be put together at later points you really need to make sure they are built in a way they will fit together. You could say it's my
Watch your repositories!
This is all really good advice. The one thing I'd add is: "Make progress visible". I use various metrics to measure progress (tests passed, features implemented, bugs fixed, a sum over developer's own progress reports) and generate an imperfect but meaningful "progress" value that I chart on a paper chart stuck up in a visible place, so everyone can see we're on track or falling behind (I've never seen "ahead of the game" but I hear it can exist.)
2 is dangerous advice. It leans towards metrics that will tend to reward behavior that you may not want to encourage. Better to understand why targets aren't being met. Does your best developer take on the highest risk assignments, and frequently overshoot optimistic estimates?
4 discourages team buy-in. Everyone should be involved in the plan in order to encourage commitment to the result. The further you get from direct development work, the worse are the chances that you'll formulate the most effecti
A difficult thing will be: you have to trust people doing the job, even though you know that they are not good as you. You will get back solutions, that are not the same you would have delivered or may even not be up to the standards you expect. You must take a step back and ask "Does it suffice?" and not "Do i like it?".
There are two big dangers:
a) Trying to do your previous job in addition to be a manager. This will kill you. The result will be abysmal performance in both jobs.
b) Having no reserves in your schedules to talk to people. This will get you disconnected and you may not realize problems until they bite you in your posterior.
The most difficult thing for me was, that i learn things about people i never wanted to know. You have tragedies (child/husband/parent dying of some illness), relationship problems (both sides being in the company more often than you think), all kind of quarrels (If n is the number of persons you manage, the number of conflicts is O(n)) and so on.... You have to develop a thick skin concerning this. If you cannot, step back. Otherwise it will break you.
Another lesson learned: If you make a decision, never postpone it. Pull it through with max burn
After 8 years i had enough of that job and went into sales....
Good luck, Martin
Trying to do your previous job in addition to be a manager. This will kill you. The result will be abysmal performance in both jobs.
School Headmasters (among many others) have managed to do that in a lot of places over the last couple of centuries and leading craftsmen over a much longer period than that. The answer is not to do it as two full time jobs but one job with many elements.
School Headmasters (among many others) have managed to do that in a lot of places over the last couple of centuries and leading craftsmen over a much longer period than that. The answer is not to do it as two full time jobs but one job with many elements.
In my school there was a fixed ratio between the two jobs and the headmaster had two full time secretaries.
While there may be special cases, doing two different jobs is usually a bad idea.
Yours, Martin
And those kinds of jobs are professions.
They come with corresponding formal residency like programs. Training is formally built into the job.
They come with... shall I say greater goals. Doctors take an oath to help the patient. Teachers as well have professional duty to teach.
Both have formal quality and legal controls.
Neither generally operates as a 'general' worker under a corporation.
I can't under-emphasize these points.
Could software be a profession or craftmen like guild? Yes!
Could we engage in 'do
I'm about to switch from a position where I did hands on development to one where I will be building and managing technical team. I will be responsible for designing and implementing the company's overall tech strategy. I am excited about this move but also nervous. It will require a different focus than I had up to this point, different skills, and different orientation. What should I be learning,
I think you should have asked this question a bit earlier me thinks
Having said that, there are things that you need to learn:
1. The basics of project management if you don't understand them already. I'd say buy Steve McConnell's "Software Project Survival Guide".
2. Software estimation if you don't have a good grasp of that already. You can start by reading Spolsky's "evidence based scheduling" http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html [joelonsoftware.com]
3. Learn to delegate.
Also, be aware that you will lo
It'll tell you all you need to know about how successful (or not) you're going to be in your new role.
Welcome to a whole new world. Get Michael Lopp's "Managing Humans", start thinking about the business value of what you are doing instead of just the technology, and at some point you may want to read Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline". You have 3 priorities you need to keep in balance: 1) your financial responsibilities to the company, 2) taking care of your people, and 3) doing the right thing for the customers.
Good luck,
After 13 years as a systems guy/programmer, I ended up as manager of 12 similar people. The University had gone through a restructuring and a few resignations and I thought it would be the right thing to do, since I was recognised as the most capable in the team (no false modesty here!).
Four years later, I left the University to go back to being a systems/guy programmer, working for a small Swiss proprietary fund (my current employer). Reasons:
1. Meetings. Endless. Bloody. Meetings. I'd been to fortnightly team meetings as a programmer. As a manager there was at least one sort of meeting with someone in the University every other day. Protestations that email or other collaborative software would save everyone time, mileage and money were met with indifference - other managers seemed to enjoy the stupid things.
2. Stress and Responsibility - two sides of the same coin. When you're in charge of a group, the buck stops with you. This can wear you down after a while. It certainly did with me. Whilst I was immensely proud of the team and what we accomplished, occasionally things do go wrong and for some reason the customers never remember the good times.
3. Health issues. My underlying, but previously unobtrusive OCD was exacerbated by 1 and 2 above. I grew afraid (shaking, uncontrollable fear) of meetings, eventually getting to the stage where I would leave them mid-way, or invent excuses not to go in the first place, or just not turn up. Whilst my managers were sympathetic, I became unhappy with the way I was doing my job, which of course reinforced the "bad thoughts"-side of my OCD. I was off sick from work repeatedly, sometimes for days at a time. I received professional help and medication for the OCD and got back on a somewhat even keel, but realised that I would never be happy in my job. When the opportunity to get back to programming and systems work arose, I took it enthusiastically.
Now obviously your mileage may vary and my comment may be utterly useless. I guess the point is that a good programmer may not be a good manager. A person who enjoys working directly on problems may not enjoy giving the problems to others to solve. And a person with any sort of mental issues may find them more exposed when working as a manager!
Mod this waaaaay up. To 11 on the dial.
Nice idea. But 30 minutes! Ha. 3 hours was a typical scheduled duration for inter-departmental meetings. They didn't have a problem keeping to that timescale, but the idea of brief meetings was anathema to the layers of management above mine (I was three layers down from the pro-vice-chancellors, i.e. the day-to-day bosses). They'd taken the time to dictate the agenda and detailed notes to their PAs, and dammit they were going to make sure we all enjoyed their prose and oration at length.
I've been back to t
Meetings. Endless. Bloody. Meetings.
It helps to have a set time for them, say 30 minutes in duration and hold fast to it. You will be surprised how many petty objections get dropped when people see there are ten minutes left and for items to go before we get to their pet issue.
" And a person with any sort of mental issues may find them more exposed when working as a manager!"
Lock, stock, and barrel. I often wondered how some eccentric freaks ended up being promoted as managers or directors. They weren't that way before they were promoted, they grew into that disposition. Power corrupts. [v. to alter for the worse; debase.] While you have the opportunity to express the best of yourself, the worst parts of you will sneak to the surface.
Here are some advice:
1) Read the Theory of Constraints, and use it to organize your team
2) Read about Emotional Intelligence
3) Do not try to do everything, find what has value for your position, and concentrate on this
4) Do not micromanage. If you don't know agility, try to follow a Scrum certification, I know it's dumb, but the concepts are very important. The aim is to let people self-organize, and your role is to verify their throughput.
Your role as a manager is to be sure that the work is delivered, and help the team to do that.
It means:
- communicate to your team and to your hierarchy. Everything should be clear for everybody. If it's not clear, you aren't doing your job.
- focus on your work. Stop trying to command people,. If they don't know what they have to do, it means that you didn't communicate clearly.
- remove all possible impediments to the team (you need to protect them from your hierarchy)
- be tough but fair with your team (do not let people abuse you)
Try to use the following values:
- clarity (everybody must know what they have to do, not how to do it, also act transparently)
- feedback (if something goes wrong, fix it as soon as possible. For example, detect bugs or specification inconstencies ASAP)
- trust (trust your team, let them do as they prefer, but check that the work is done correctly and in the time they promised, do not force your planning on them, let your team decide how they want to be organized, help them if they don't know)
- responsibility. Make people feel responsible about their work. If you take all the responsibility, your team won't care about your project. If you take no responsibility, the team will feel that you don't do anything for them.
I don't read a lot of management books but there are two I would recommend:
That latter is literally a book on sword fighting and military tactics from c.1640, but I understand modern Japanese businessmen study it. Read broadly it contains insights into leadership and adapting to ever-changing events. I've seen it in the management section
start from the beginning
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19971117&mode=classic [userfriendly.org]
After the operation, you likely won't remember anything of this anyways. You want to put some reminders around your world about what concepts were important to you.
Your brain function will be less, which will make it harder for you to relearn the lost concepts, but aim for at least a gentle understanding of them.
You will be happier, once unbundled of curiosity, but may be frustrated by your new found limitations. At least you won't remember how you were.
Good luck.
1 - give yourself a major head injury, you need to go from a educated professional to a brain damaged "visionary" who has "forward thinking" and "Paradigm Shift"
2 - buy a book on buzzwords and use them all wrong, typically in the wrong spots. "WE need to Empower the diversity of the SQL server! That way we can Achieve a Sea Change OF Spin up!"
3 - learn how to golf.
That is pretty much it.
First off, while I don't know exactly your situation, it does seem that you aren't going to be moving as far away as you might have thought. I have gone from "developer" to "architect" over the first 15 years of my career and now I have moved onto what is clearly senior management, but I am part of a large organisation which means that I still am not that close to the top. I would be considered a CTO of a medium sized company though. I have full P&L responsibility for more than one area and am responsible for about 150 people and about £10 million in budget per annum, 1/2 of that being hardware/software. I have been doing the management role for about 2 years now and I can say, for me, I won't go back.
I think my people, mostly, don't think of me as PHB. That is in part by remembering your roots, but more than not it is building up trust that you are going to lead them the right direction and having proper "adult" conversations about risks and issues. As others have said, micro-management, especially in the West, is horrible. You have to delegate and trust your team, no matter how tough that can be at times. Respecting their professionalism, much as you would have expected in their place, is necessary. Do not shy away from tough conversations though. It is much better to be up front about issues and direct than it is to avoid the subject hoping that it just will take care of itself. I have seen many "good" people turned into "bad" because there was a minor issue that festered until it wasn't recoverable anymore.
As far as the Technology, ask a lot of questions. Having a good inbuilt "bullshit" detector is a must for effective Technology management. Don't know every detail, but know when people don't know what they are talking about.
I have done it, and it worked well. I've moved back also, which was a lot harder.
Developers want a boss who understands them and who thinks like them. So don't lose your developer mindset. Keep your knowledge up to date by sitting with a developer frequently and go through their code. You know that as a developer, you'd appreciate an executive to look at your code an actually understand it. For you as an exec, it'll keep you up to date, to a certain extent.
Trust the developers you work with. This only works
...an executive.
Presumably you're being put in this position because you have at least some development experience that your compatriots in tech do not and the company thinks you also have leadership potential. Stop telling yourself you're an executive for one thing, you're a manager. In a few years, with a lot of luck and hard work (which includes stepping on the defenseless, the helpless, and the needy - usually) you may get to an executive position, but I doubt it.
You're probably going to absolutely de
1) Do the sh*tty TPS report work yourself. Don't hand it out.
2) If the printer is a continuing problem, GET ONE THAT WORKS
3) Never, under any circumstance, take the stapler away from the mumbly Aspergers guy
4) Keep the department a fun place to work. Good employees work best when they enjoy the workplace.
5) Don't dictate. Lead by example. It's really crappy to see the Manager leave at 5:30 on a Friday while everyone else toils on a late project. Even if you can't help, let everyone know you're willing and making yourself available wherever you can help.
6) Taking everyone out for lunch once a is a great appreciation strategy. Even if it means bringing in doughnuts. People appreciate managers going above-and-beyond once in a while.
This appears to be good advise. From my own management standpoint I would make the following basis to work from as a manager:
-- Listen to your team, but understand you make the final decision.
-- Don't feel that you are more important than those working under you, they have a job to do, you have a job to do, that's pretty much it.
-- Working with technical people, you're most effective by clearing hurdles for them. Help to make sure their health care is taken care of, that upper management comes to you with
One key thing to understand is that right now you are great with technology, but management isn't about technology. It's about people. The people you manage, your peers and leaders in other areas of the organization. People can be a lot harder to figure out than technology.
My advice is this.
1. Read "Behind Closed Doors". Probably the best book I read as a new manager. Wish I had read it before I made the leap. http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Closed-Doors-Management-Programmers/dp/0976694026/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324299173&sr=1-3 [amazon.com]
2. The best part of my day was working with the techies I managed. Listen to them, make time for them, and stay as closed to what they are building as possible. But also remember you are their boss. You will have to force them to make bad technical choices to meet a deadline, and will have to ask them to work nights and weekends. Make sure it is mutual respect, but at the end of the day your word has to be final.
3. Understand how the company makes money. Not just selling a product or service, but really learn this. Because at the end of the day, if a company doesn't make money it will cease to be. This is valuable to learn because the more you can translate how your team fits into the revenue stream, the better leverage you will have. For example, there are two ways to look at how a team "adds value". You will either directly participate in the revenue stream, being on a product team, e-commerce, etc. Or you will be involved with "cost avoidance", meaning the company is spending less because of your efforts. This can be either time savings or accuracy improvements. The later is not too hard to quantify. If you know how many hours are saved in a process you write, add up the salaries of those who did that process, subtracting the salaries of your team. For example, if you save 100 people an hour a day with your process, with each person making minimum wage ($7.25). There are an average of 260 work days per year. This translates into 100 * 260 * 7.25 = $185,000 in savings per year. If you have one full time employee supporting the app, at 80k per year, your application is saving the company ~ 100k per year. Now of course this does not include hardware, software, training, donut expenses. It's not intended to. It is intended to get people's attention, justify funding for your team, and facilitate you getting more in next year's budget.
4. Keep good notes. You may become an Outlook operator in your new line of work. Be sure to keep important emails that record decisions. Send out your understanding of a meeting after the meeting to make sure everyone heard the same thing as you. Keep a notebook or tablet and take tons of notes in meetings. If you are in several meetings per day it can be very easy to forget who said what when. This can be important when decisions are questioned later on. Or if things go bad, accountability can be shared among the entire executive team and not focused as the new manager.
5. Hire really good people. Know that interviews are about finding the right fit for a team as well as their technical abilities. If you do this right, the rest of your work-live is exponentially easier. Ask good questions, do quizes and tech screenings. Listen to the questions a candidate asks. But trust your gut instincts.
Bottom line is remember to keep your sense of humor and humility. This can be one of the most challenging and rewarding things you will ever do, managing others. You are their boss, responsible for their work lives, and a major influencer of their personal lives and financial futures.
While I understand that in US business, the only way to a greater salary is climbing the ladder and that means management, the Peter Principle is nowhere more evident than in managers that were programmers.
First: you are moving from a programming environment where your 'product' is entirely the result of your work, to a management environment where your 'product' is other people's work, meaning an ENTIRELY different skill set. Think working with Waldoes would be challenging? Try accomplishing anything wit
Foster an environment in which people feel they can empower themselves.
You don't get it from reading, you get it by thinking about the people who you liked working for the most, the organisations you felt most valued by.
If you haven't already, read Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams [amazon.com] which will teach you that, as a manager, the most important thing to you is your people and your respect of said people. The book is a must-read. Seriously.
There are so many politics involved with that; I guarantee you no one in sales, marketing, HR, finance, or anything else gives a crap about any technical goal or about what's best for the company or any of that sort of thing. They only know ego and the size of their Christmas bonus. So you have to deal with them strictly on that basis. But that's an entirely different discussion tangential to what you were asking.
As far as motivating your team, the best summation of how to approach it that I've ever seen is this video. [youtube.com]
The second and last gotcha to be on guard for with the transition you're making is to embrace the exercise of your own authority. Human groups need authority to function well. It's how we're wired (unfortunately). You have to get over your natural reluctance as a programmer to exercise it. If you don't make firm decisions and stick to your guns, the team will begin to unravel. Some members may start to undermine you, and that will make it impossible for the team to accomplish its goals, to everyone's detriment. It's very difficult to make this psychological shift and you may experience a lot of feelings of guilt and self-doubt and it can really tear you down if you don't deal with it well. You might want to have a occupational therapist or somebody like that on hand to counsel you as you go through it. Otherwise you won't make it or you'll go full evil in reaction when the programmers stop doing their jobs.
Good luck!
different skills, and different orientation Learning to make a "O" shape with your mouth, I hear, is pretty difficult; but, I think you can do it. As for orientation, I'd say it is pretty much the same except you will be able to afford better knee pads.
In all seriousness, your going to find that it is tradition to hate on you for being the boss no matter how nice you are; and your job as far as your boss is concerned, is to get shit done for as little as possible. Don't take anything personal from below
Don't think of it as a promotion. its not. As the OP identified, its a totally different skillset, therefore a totally different job.
Don't be surprised if you're used to being a great developer, and therefore well-regarded, but find out you suck at being a manager, so start losing credibility fast.
Money aside, I never understood why some developers want to become managers. Did you not choose to be a developer because thats what you like and want to do?
The first thing I'd recommend is not to ask for executive advice from the Slashdot crowd.
Jeez, how'd you ever get promoted?
If you want to avoid being the PHB, then don't read a bunch of management books or go to management seminars or get your MBA. Avoid taking a lot of the advice that you'll be given.
Really, it can be helpful to read about management, but the main source of PHBs is that it's some guy who has been thrown into management without being comfortable with it, and his response is to latch on to whatever random management self-help book he read. He reads something about how to motivate people or how to manage an IT department, and instead of thinking critically and applying his own experiences, he follows the quick-fix methods that he read about.
There's plenty to learn and plenty to study, but use your head. There's no metric to replace knowing the people you're managing. There's no procedure to replace good judgement. There's no magical workflow that replaces knuckling down and doing your job.
Read your Machiavelli. Read Sun Tsu. Whatever works. Clown suits work (see Miyazaki).
Seriously, treat them as you would treat day laborers if you picked them up in the morning to work on your yard: Give them clear instructions about what's expected, give them clear feedback (good and bad) about how they're carrying out your instructions, and stay out of their way if they're doing what you want them to.
A lot of bullshit has cropped up around management techniques, especially among geeks, and it's cruft that needs to be cleared away. Devs are like everyone else: They want to know what they
One major thing that you'll have to get accustomed to is being hands off with the technical implementation. Set your expectation of what needs to happen, bring your team about to help make decisions on what direction you want to go in, but when it comes to putting word into form... stay away. It's far too easy for past developers to turn into micro-managers at the implementation level, which will definitely cause issues for your team going forward.
On the plus side, you have a much greater foundation with
You recognize that you're not infallible and that you don't know everything - this is 80% of the battle of being a Good Boss.
I'll skip the "read this book" stuff, and go straight to the obvious points.
... for roughly 18 months now, and quite successful at least in the aspect that people working for me kept telling that they are quite happy with how I do things compared to what was before I took over. So far, so good. I'm still not dead.
Main lessons I learned:
* Learn to delegate. Fast. Don't ever ever do things yourself (speaking about solving tech issues). If you have worked with the same people before, they will frown at you for not "working" anymore for roughly 3-6 months. Ignore it. Justify it. If
Avoid pointy hair? LOL, ain't no way! You're already 1/2 there...
No matter what, as the boss you are going to be the bad guy at least once in a while.
No matter what, you are going to be less familiar with the technical details of the work being done and the issues involved than the guys in the trenches.
With that said, you can avoid the worst behaviors of the PHB. With your technical background, if you keep it up, you will be able to know which developers are BS'ing you and which give advice and informati
I started my career as a systems administrator / systems programmer on Unix systems. Over the last 20 years, I went from a "hands on" role to a leadership role. I'm now the "CIO" of a small university (we don't have the title "CIO" at this campus, but that's basically my job.) Some of those transitions to a larger role were easy, others were more difficult.
I strongly recommend you read the essay "Taking on a new role" (PDF) from MOR Associates. [morassociates.com] In short, the essay gives this advice:
1. Share broad themes early: what general areas do you plan to address, what are your goals for the team, where are you headed?
2. Read the landscape: what does the culture of the organization look like, not just in the team you work with, but at the leadership level.
3. Build relationships: people who can help you in your new role, mentors, coaches.
4. Create a "SWOT" profile with your team, to understand the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
5. Assess the talent needed to get the job done: do you have the right people, and are the right people doing the right things?
6. Understand your financial situation: this is often the most-overlooked by new leaders.
7. Sketch out your priorities for the first 3-12 months: in particular, keep track of what you need to get done in your first 100 days.
I like do to the SWOT profile (see #4) without actually using the terms "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats." I find it's easier to start with a "plus/delta" profile. If you haven't done that before: Draw a vertical line on the whiteboard. On the left, label it "plus"; on the right, "delta". Draw a horizontal line across this, making 4 quadrants. Above the horizontal line, label it "now"; below the line, "future".
Now you're ready for your team to identify what's working well (plus) right now, and what's going to be a benefit to them after another 6-12 months. They can also help you identify what needs to be addressed/fixed/changed/improved (delta) right now, and what can wait for another 6-12 months. Congratulations, you've built a SWOT profile:
I find the SWOT helps me to identify the key issues to focus on. What you must do is identify a plan to address the right-hand column (deltas) that leverages what you have on the left (plusses). Your team is critical to help fill out the SWOT, and the great thing about this exercise is that it helps the team to identify with you on your new level. But while your team helps you with the SWOT, you must build your own strategy to respond to it; that's your job as a new leader.
If you're having trouble picking out your top priorities (see #7) you may also consider doing an "affinity" exercise with your team. You can do this in different ways, but here's what I find works best for my team:
You can now identify (by score) what are your top priorities. Maybe you have 5 or 6 "top" priorities. Or maybe you only have 4 top priorities, and there's a big gap (in score) between #4 and #5.
I made this transition myself around 2001 and more-or-less successfully managed a team until 2007. It was a great experience, and the right move for me (and IMO for the company). While there's a lot of challenges you'll have to work through, there's only one major thing I look back on that I regret:
I wish I had spent more of my time selling and promoting my team's work to the rest of the company.
I had a great team of people and we accomplished a lot of amazing things. We mostly built internal tools for empl
You'll need to practice increasing your range to piss on more people beneath you.
1) Find a manager that is successful in your company and is generally admired. Get to know him/her and learn what they do right, what they do wrong, and what they know about the culture of the company. When you know them well and know their secrets well, find the next one.
2) Find a very successful manager that runs a similar department to yours in an excellent company reknown in your industry. Get to know them, figure out what they and their teams do right, what they do wrong, and how the culture of their company works and differs from theirs. Fix yours that way or have good enough relationships to join theirs. When your group is better than that group, find the next one.
3) Find out how your company makes money . . . really makes money -- what do they make, what do they sell, who do they sell to and how much of each thing do they sell to whom and how. Figure out how your department fits into that and how you can best fit those goals. Do those things. Figure out what doesn't make money (or worse wastes money at) -- aggressively try to eliminate those things.
4) Figure out what your team is good at and what it is bad at. Cross that with the results from #3. Focus on getting your team better at things that help the company make money and getting rid of things that make it lose money.
5) Respect people -- even those you don't like. You can learn something from _everyone_. Even if it is to just avoid making the foolish mistakes they make. Have enough respect for those people who work hard and pull things through for the company to let go those who slack off and basically leach off of their coworkers. Help those who aren't good at things, but really, really want to get there. Consider everyone's skillset as they are and reward each achievement and each step forward for people at their level.
6) Have a plan. From the details of #3, and the development of #4/5 and the examples of #1,2 figure out what goals get you closer to achieving those ideals in the the next 3, 6, and 12 months. Every quarter, reassess where you are and tune up your goals so they stay relevant and you measure your progress.
7) Measure your progress -- success or failure -- at every turn. How well do you work and how well do you create product? How good are the things you make and how good are your processes/tools for making them? Use your comparative analysis with external and internal teams to figure out how they operate as well and figure out how to measure it and improve it. Don't be a slave to numbers but don't be ignorant of them. If you pick the wrong metrics, then you learned that you need better metrics.
8) Act like the manager you wish you had. Don't be a jerk, and don't gossip. Talk to people face to face and act with integrity. Your group and peers are you community - treat them that way and build the community stronger.
9) Build your self and your group. Figure out what you all are weakest at (that matters) and get training and practice at getting better. Make it a quota to do this at least annually.
10) Manage yourself and your own stress. Have a todo list of the next top 3 most important things to do at all times -- do those next. Take care your health, sleep well, eat right and learn to leave work at the office enough to not bear the burden of your whole team's worries when you go to bed at night.
Air is water with holes in it.


text:
Hi all:
First, kudos to the folks behind the scenes! Great site, features, well done!
I noticed that my character does not show up under the World of Logs section although I do have records over there. One point tho', I have a my own 'fake' guild there so I could post my logs (my guild doesn't want to partake in WoL) and the name is not the same as the guild I'm in. So, my question is - Does Heroes look at WoL for the actual guild you're a member of to find an entry or does it just try to find your character's name there?
Any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated and keep up the good work!
Cheers, Gally


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Cutting Cable on Sennheiser HD201
Long time reader, and little poster here
Basically, been using a pair of HD201 for music production for a few months, but the length of the cable is just annoying now. I don't need 3ft off cable lol.
Has anyone shorten the cable on their pair? I basically want to know if the cable is just pure cable, or if its twisted in with fibres etc.
Hopefully its easy just to cut, and then solder a new nicer jack on
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Most headphone cables are multi-strand, and most sennheiser cables have enamel coated strands. Don't worry about the enamel on the wires, your soldering iron will melt it off. With any type of headphones its a pretty easy thing to do if your handy with a soldering iron.
If you check my signature then you will see I will do this for members on the forum. But I assume you are in the UK so shipping charges might not be worth it.
Ruger M77 , Howa 1500 , Czech Republic 452-2E
Ruger .22 Single Six, Springfield Armory XD-9 , Springfield Armory XD45ACP
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Need your headphones fixed or something soldered? Syndrome's Soldering Service
For what it's worth, I had to repair a set of Sennheiser IEMs which have very thin wires and a little kind of enamel like the user above mentioned. With literally no experience soldering and a random guide from the internet I repaired them pretty handily. Like the user above said, the iron will melt through whatever is protecting it.
I had used this guide http://www.tested.com/tech/accessori...e-a-jack-plug/
even though my cables looked different on the inside. Like some kind of candy cane of different materials on each of 4 cables...
Course there is always a risk of messing it up, but my decision was made easy when I knew they were garbage if I didn't fix them. If you can order a backup cable from Senn, maybe your decision can be easy too. Otherwise I would probably tie and elastic to neatly bunch up some excess cable before I reached for the electric tape. Sorry I can't speak for your specific cable, but I would think the only difference is maybe your wires won't be as delicately thin ;p
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As mayor of Broomfield, I have dedicated more time to RTD and FasTracks than any other subject, which is why I am wholeheartedly endorsing Seth Patterson for the RTD District I Board election on Nov. 6.
I have known and respected Patterson for close to 30 years. He offers 30 years of extensive accounting, finance and business experience plus commercial real estate experience for the last eight years. These are skills very much needed on RTDs board.
Patterson practiced as a CPA with Deloitte for 12 years. He then served for 18 years as controller, CFO and COO for a few local public and private companies, in several industries with revenues from under $1 million to over $1 billion. Patterson's demonstrated leadership skills were honed leading the Rotary Club of Denver during its 2011 centennial year; the Food Bank of the Rockies in 1994 and 1995 (also on the board for 12 of the last 22 years); and in 2000-2001, the Colorado Chapter of Financial Executives International.
He quickly gets to the root of difficult problems and develops creative solutions. Patterson will work collaboratively to better understand the transit needs of District I in order to bring FasTracks to the north end sooner rather than later. His perseverance will help ensure that RTD avoids investments outside of the north end until there is a clear comprehensive and funded plan here.
He has reached out to all elected leaders in District I to ensure that he understands our concerns and has committed to continue this. Having given him an earful myself, I know that he "gets it."
See also patterson4rtd.com. I strongly encourage a vote for Seth Patterson for the RTD District I Board seat.
Mayor, City and County of Broomfield


text:
A quote from the video description and link to the product page:
In this video, we talk about our Gesshin Stainless series. This is a western handled series, aimed at chefs looking for reasonable priced Japanese knives and even for people just getting started with Japanese knives. We take great pride in our Gesshin line, and we believe that for the price point, these knives have excellent fit and finish, very good grinds, and a good heat treatment. They are quite thin behind the edge, so they will move through food easily. However, they are not too thin so as not to be too delicate. They sharpen easily and have decent edge retention. If you're looking for a nice way to get started with Japanese knives, or looking for an easy to sharpen workhorse for your kitchen, this is it.
You can find these knives here on our website:
Thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions, please dont hesitate to contact us at email@example.com or check out our website www.JapaneseKnifeImports.com
-Jon and Sara


text: "Za Illuminati Fantasma" is a secret task force of hand-picked Dolls, Mannequins and Phantoms to be a part of princess Lyris Vaselios Ylsaviel's personal guard. Their weapons vary to whatever the phantoms picked for the group manifest for them. These specially organized beings have been restored with organic features such as skin and muscle tissue, but with a blessed "bone" structure that is much like the craft of any diamond or gem, leaving any limb incapable of being sawed through. Getting in a fight with one would surely lead to a very gruesome end. They have all five senses and have one major priority. "Per Voluntatem Reginae." Through the Will of the Princess.


text:
One day in 1997, Myron Nebozuk was reconnoitering a house for sale in a nice, established Edmonton neighbourhood.
He was in the basement when it happened. One moment, he was all vital-signs normal. Then he tilted his head up to look at the rafters.
That's when the gasping, swooning and technical jibber-jabber began. That's when Myron ran up the stairs to put in an offer on the house.
The offer was accepted and Myron and his family have lived happily in the house, ever since.
Question: What did Myron see in the rafters that got him so excited?
Answer: Douglas fir beams and decking.
Question: Uh. OK ... what? Answer: Myron is an architect.
As Myron explains it to me, Douglas fir is top-grade stuff. Not only that, but the Douglas fir in his house is of a diameter and calibre rarely seen outside of mansions and historic mountain park hotels.
"I knew it was a solid house," he said. "The structure was good, so I knew I could open it up."
What he means was he could fool around with the interior walls without the place collapsing. He could load the house with a million books without the walls collapsing. And he could live in a house that met one of his core architectural values - what he calls "adaptive reuse."
The house itself symbolizes this ethic. Myron could have knocked this house down and designed something from scratch. But it takes scads of resources and energy to build a home. Renovating this one was far gentler on the planet.
The home is one of those 1960s flat-roof jobs you see in some west-end neighbourhoods. The initial owner was a homebuilder and Myron suspects he saved the best materials for this house.
Thus, the Douglas fir. But also the red cedar planks in the angled ceiling above the living room. Not a knot to be found in the ceiling. Seriously, not a knot. Not kidding.
The home has three bedrooms, one full bathroom and two half-baths. It was 1,400 square feet, but is now closer to 1,600.
A small addition was added at the back for easy access to the humongous backyard. How humongous? Myron thinks he'll let the ravine's foliage overtake part of the yard, so that he can adaptively reuse his summer weekends for something other than mowing.
The Nebozuks redid the flooring and the kitchen in the home. A huge wall unit was taken out. Walls were painted. Sycamore was used to create a geometric storage wall in one bedroom and for cabinets and such in other parts of the house.
Sycamore is blond and fine-grained and lovely. Just like Veronica Lake's hair, says Myron. Go on - Google her. She's got nice hair.
"Everybody has dark wood nowadays," Myron says. "Sycamore is my favourite wood. It makes me happy."
The floors are all light colours, too. Light floors reflect sunlight, therefore reducing the need to turn on lights, Myron says.
The living room furniture is modernist, of dark leather or cloth and chrome, in the style of architect and designer Le Corbusier, Myron says.
The "couch" by the fireplace is particularly cool. It looks like what a pop art exhibit would use for bleacher seating.
Myron first described the home as a bit like an Austin Powers shag pad. True. There is a 1960s vibe to the place. Myron is fascinated by the music of the 1960s and says it influences his architecture.
But Austin Powers' shag pad? Only if Austin was a learned man.
The Nebozuk home is full of magazines and books. Stacks and shelves piled with books. Architectural books. All kinds of books.
So there is a bit of chaos amid the order in the home. But it is all OK with Myron. Trust an architect to see things deeper than us - deeper than me, at least.
The books, he says, are an obsession. He hunts for rare copies. The shelves and stacks are like groups of old friends, he says.
Myron likes that the home isn't large. He likes that his daughters must spread books out on the dining room table to do their homework.
The living room and kitchen are adjacent so the family bumps into and up against each other a lot.
The design of the space creates intimacy and opportunities to interact and communicate that some homes don't encourage, Myron says.
"It's a modest house, but in many ways it's a spectacular house," he says.
Agreed. Right down to the rafters.
For a gallery of photos of Myron Nebozuk's home, and for more in the My House Beautiful series, go to edmontonjournal.com/house
Scott can be reached at Scott@ ScottMcKeen.ca for comments or suggestions for future features on unique or beautiful homes in the Edmonton region.


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0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
What about this scenario: Someone notices an interesting story on the blog, posts it to the forum, and we discuss it separately from the blog post? If we are commenting ONLY on the story sent in by an anonymous source (as in one recently locked thread) and not on the comments on the blog, it's no different than commenting about the etiquette of a random news story. Is that not allowed, and if not, may I ask why?
I think its almost always impossible too, to keep from having the blog comments influence the conversation if we move a topic over to the forum.
And with the info that banned-from-the-forum folks are commenting on the blogs, it seems a bit unfair to essentially take their topics as our own. Banned folks can still read what we are writing on the forums even if they can't participate, so it comes across as very "ha ha we could participate with you all but we'd rather have our own private conversation you can know about but that you can't participate in! Oh but we might still butt into your conversation too, cause yours is public but ours is exclusive!"
I imagine that those who were banned were banned for good reason, so I'm not really getting the "neener neener" vibe. It's their own fault that they can't join the "exclusive club," that is, post on the forum any more.
I agree with Wonderflonium. I hardly ever comment on the blog because I simply don't think it's a forum that leads well to back-and-forth conversation, and honestly I'm just not interested in just leaving my opinion and then moving on. I love the conversations we have here, and haven't had any good experiences with that on most blogs. The thought that I would be excluding people by bringing it up here rather than on the blog would never in a million years cross my mind. I would post it here because I prefer the discussions on this site - end of story, no other reason.I didn't see any difference between the locked thread and the hundreds of threads in the Etiquette Classics folder, and those all seem to be alright.I completely agree that it's fair to put a ban on discussing comments though! It should be blog post and blog post only. The blog post may or may not include the admin's commentary though - that's still part of the blog post, even if it's not part of the submission. After all, when discussing Dear Abby etc. we discuss both the question and the answer.
I just think the nature of the postings is different though. On the forum the original poster is around; its a dialog. On the blog people might just submitt and that's it. So to then discuss it (vs just commenting on it) I think is changing the nature of the type of submision the OP wanted when originally submitting the story.
I'm a little confused. If people have been banned how are they able to comment on the blog posts? Doesn't that kind of negate the point of banning them?
Quote from: sourwolf on September 25, 2012, 12:05:41 PMI'm a little confused. If people have been banned how are they able to comment on the blog posts? Doesn't that kind of negate the point of banning them?Because the blog is a different environment that I personally manage all content and comments. There tends to be a lot less interpersonal drama among the blog commentators and if there is, I nip it in the bud immediately. They tend to stick to the subject of the discussion and do not typically deviate into other areas. Each blog post is like a separate thread a day...just one as opposed to hundreds of new topics that appear every day here. It might be an interesting blog topic to ask them what they think of topics on the blog being discussed in the forum, an area some of them choose not to participate in or cannot due to being banned.
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Family camping is more popular than ever as families simplify vacation plans in order to stretch hard-earned vacation dollars. But a family camping trip should not be thought of as something less than a real vacation. North America features some of the most interesting and varied landscapes in the world, and wherever you live there are interesting destinations that satisfy all of the prerequisites for a great summer vacation. Best of all, camping is a great way to unplug and spend some quality time with your family.
How to Choose a Destination
To get the most value out of your vacation dollar, limit the amount of time you waste driving and maximize your actual camping time. One of the quickest and easiest ways to find camping destinations near you is with ReserveAmerica (www.reserveamerica.com), a reservation site for private campgrounds, state parks and federal campgrounds. In essence, it is a one-stop shop that offers online reservations for campsites at thousands of campgrounds across America.
The ReserveAmerica interface is very straightforward. Simply enter your zip code (1) and arrival date (2) in the search form and click the search button (3). You will be presented with a list of campgrounds, sorted by distance from the zip code entered on the search form. Additional information about the campground is provided by graphical symbols that tell you, for instance, if the campground allows pets or has hookups for RVs.
The listing of amenities helps you easily refine your search to campgrounds that suit your vacation plans. If your plans include swimming or boating, it is easy to scan through the campground list and choose the ones that display the water activities symbol. For other outdoor activities, such as hiking, the description provided on the details page will tell you about the trail system in the park.
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text:
Why Are Jews So Smart?
And does it really matter?
Give Tzedakah! Help Aish.com create inspiring
articles, videos and blogs featuring timeless Jewish wisdom.
(23) Knox Fitzpatrick, August 13, 2012 7:51 PM
An excellent response.
Rabbi Salomon hits the nail on the head. Many excellent jewish writers seem to have to comment on what a bad deal Jews get, (See Stephen Greenblatt on the Merchant of Venice in Will in the world.) This is one of the best books I've read on Shakespeare, Greenblatt has to throw in Shakespeare's dig at Jews. Let's face it, Jews are generally VERY intelligent, and have nthing to apologise for in my opinion
(22) to allen, June 25, 2008 10:06 AM
pushed around
(21) Allen, March 7, 2008 12:03 PM
(20) Chavi Hornig, November 21, 2007 11:15 PM
What really matters
Intelligence, as well as all other talents, are gifts bestowed by G-d. As such, there is no credit due the recipient. These gifts are not the result of any accomplishment on the part of the recipient.
However, these gifts also have another name-- potential. These gifts carry the responsibility to make every effort to actualize the potential inherent in every talent and ability that's been granted.
One may be justifiably proud of one's efforts (with or without accomplishment) in that direction. A person who constantly strives to actualize his G-d-given potential in every situation is certainly deserving of respect by all.


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Like many of the other 11 Premiership clubs, Cardiff have started their preseason strength and conditioning training as Fowler looks to build his squad's fitness ahead of the new season.
This has including Premiership testing sessions at the WRU'S Centre of Excellence in the Vale of Glamorgan.
"We've had a six-week period of training which resumed on June 11, based predominantly on establishing a strong fitness and power base," said Fowler.
"Throughout June we have worked to a 80 per cent conditioning to a 20 per cent rugby ratio, resulting in hopefully a strong benchmark for the squad set in the WRU Premiership testing at the WRU Centre of Excellence."
After an inconsistent 2012/13 season, Cardiff finished in eight place, something Fowler is desperate to improve upon. With that in mind, the Cardiff coach has strengthened his side with a number of new signings.
Back row forward Jonathon Edwards has joined from the Scarlets while winger Saipolu Tapaatoutai Uhi gets a chance at Premiership level after impressing for Ebbw Vale in the Championship last season.
Tighthead Ryan Harford, Nick White, Sam Feehan, Tom Slater and centre Luke Ford have also all joined the club while Jamie Ringer will combine a coaching role with the occasional playing experience this season.
"Our strength and conditioning coach Richard Hughes was tasked with ensuring the squad are one of the fittest in the Principality Premiership," said Fowler.
"Richard has delivered sessions of the highest quality throughout June. He's eagerly awaiting the testing scores, confident that the squad have set a strong benchmark to further develop from."
With Cardiff boasting a good relationship with the Cardiff Blues Academy, the Arms Park club have also secured the availability of centre Tom Pascoe and hooker Ethan Lewis, both having recently experienced a successful Junior World Championship campaign with Wales Under 20.
Callum Lewis, Aaron Elliott, Will Baird, Jack Maynard, Jack Phillips, Ollie Smythe, and James Sheeky will also be available to Fowler throughout the season.
"All of the coaching group and committee believe we have a well-balanced squad that will give us the continuity in selection and the style of game we want to play moving forward," he said.
Current Squad: Will Baird, Kriss Barry, Brett Chatwin, Jonathon Edwards, Aaron Elliot, Lloyd Elliot , Sam Feehan, Luke Ford, Aaron Fowler, Joe Griffin, Ryan Harford, Jack Huntley, Rhys James, Alwyn Lee, George Lee, Ethan Lewis, Callum Lewis, Garyn Lucas, Jack Maynard, James Murphy, Miles Nomandale, Sam Parker , Daniel Partridge, Jack Philips, Shaun Powell, Jamie Ringer, Darren Ryan, James Sheeky, Dafi Sion Davies, Tom Slater, Ollie Smyth, Lewis Smout, Cieron Thomas, Will Thomas, Saipolu Tapaatoutai Uhi, Danny Wardle, Nick White, Thomas Pascoe, Gareth Walters, Owen Sedgebeer, Mike Stephens, Thomas Silva.


text:
has been playing post office in her classroom.
I made one of these for her classroom and an extra one for our house!
Super easy to make.
Just wrap a cardboard box with blue construction paper
(I used a combination of Elmer's school glue and my glue gun to attach it.)
Then, I fastened a piece of blue poster board to create the curved top.
Cut a slot on the front and a flap or hole in the back to retrieve your mail.
I printed out a photo of the USPS symbol off of Google Images
and we were good to go!


text:
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Richar Abril defended his WBA lightweight title with a unanimous decision against Sharif Bogere on Saturday.
Abril was forced to wrap up Bogere in defense and both fighters tumbled to canvass more than once during the fight. Abril was docked one point in the eighth round for holding and Bogere was penalized one point in the 12th for leading with his head.
``I don't like fighting dirty fighters and I lost my concentration,'' Abril said. ``I thought I won the fight even though it wasn't clean.''
An accidental head-butt opened up a large gash over the right eye of Abril in the sixth round which seemed to energize both boxers and sway the momentum toward the champion.
``I had confidence in my corner, `` Abril said. ``The blood didn't disrupt me, I am trained for situations like this.''
Abril's activity increased and he was able to create the distance needed to use his length. Abril weathered the storm and found his range in the later rounds, landing effective combinations to keep the charging Bogere at bay.
The judges scored the bout 115-111, 116-110 and 116-110. Abril improved to 18-3-1 (8 KO's) while Bogere suffered his first loss and fell to 23-1 (15 KO's)
In the co-main event, featherweight prospect Gary Russell Jr. remained undefeated with an impressive 10-round unanimous decision over Vyacheslav Gusev.
Russell wobbled Gusev late in the first round and sent him to one knee in the third with a big right hook.
The southpaw Russell appeared to have injured his left hand during the seventh round and used it sparingly for the rest of the fight, but it had no bearing on the outcome.
``I'm not sure if I broke it,'' Russell said. ``I know I was in a lot of pain. Great fighters are willing to make necessary adjustments in the ring.''
Russell maintained his dominance throughout the fight with a steady jab and lightning quick combinations to defeat the Russian Gusev and improve his record 22-0 (13 KO's).
Copyright 2018 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written
consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.


text: Listen Get Fit for Sport! The Special Olympics GET FIT FOR SPORT challenge is for everyone associated with Special Olympics, including Athletes, Families, Coaches, Volunteers, Program Staff, Board Members, and Friends. About PALA+The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award Plus (PALA+) is a program designed to motivate people of all ages to be physically active on a regular basis by participating in activities they enjoy. SIGN UP FOR PALA+ NOWSpecial Olympics is committed to fostering fitness and healthy lifestyle choices among its athletes and other members of the Movement. There is a PALA+ sign-up page for each of the 50 United States. JOIN NOW Getting Fit with PALA+PALA+ is one of several programs of the President's Challenge, the premier program of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.To earn the Special Olympics Get Fit for Sport PALA + Challenge Award, you must: Meet an activity goal minimum of 60 minutes per day (youths) Meet an activity goal minimum of 30 minutes per day (adults). Meet this activity goal for at least 5 days a week. Meet this activity goal for 6 out of 8 weeks.Focus on a healthy eating goal each week. Learn moreLearn more about the specific physical activity requirement of PALA+.Click here to see how to log your activities.