Four short links: 3 December 2019
On-Prem, Groupthink, Probability and Statistics, and Distributed Meetings
- Oxide.computer — a new hardware company, looking to make on-prem easy. (There are still a lot of applications for on-prem) Read Jessie Frazelle and Bryan Cantrell‘s blog posts for more background. The pendulum always swings between local and remote. Web was a huge breakthrough because it was remote info services, but eventually mobile had its day. Web 1.0 was built on pricey on-prem iron, which (with Moore’s Law) brought economies of scale that meant Google, Amazon, Twitter, etc., could build vast data centers for their own use—some of which then became clouds for others to use, the value being fast scaling from zero to zillions. Now there are signs of life in the on-prem again, where value is privacy, control, and so on. It’s always interesting times in this industry.
- Symptoms of Groupthink — Illusion of Invulnerability; Belief in Inherent Morality of the Group; Collective Rationalization; Out-group Stereotypes; Self-Censorship; Illusion of Unanimity; Direct Pressure on Dissenters; Self-Appointed Mindguards.
- Count Bayesie — Video and lecture notes from a tutorial on probability and statistics given at PyData NYC 2019. This tutorial provides a crash course in probability in statistics that will cover the essentials, including probability theory, parameter estimation, hypothesis testing, and using the generalized linear model—all in just 90 minutes! A truly great name.
- A Distributed Meeting Primer (Rands in Repose) — sound tactical advice for good meetings with remote team members. As the host, schedule meetings at X:05 or X:35 and get there at X:00 to make sure all technology is set up for a distributed meeting. Not only does this make sure the meeting starts on time, but it sends an important signal. How often have you had a meeting where seven minutes in someone asks, “Where’s Andy?” Well, Andy is distributed, and no one turned on the video camera. More importantly, Andy has been sitting in his home office for the last seven minutes wondering, “Did they forget me?”
