My post before this was a kind of therapy / Buddhism / personal growth kind of deal, but I also spend a lot of time thinking about how to run effective teams and to be a responsible, thoughtful manager of people. It is my work: I am a lead engineer at Bungie, an independent video game developer of about 300 employees (though not for long, we're growing.) There are some unique aspects to making videogames, and I'll use game development terminology here as I refer to, say, texture artists or sound designers or programmers, but when I talk to friends in different creative industries - film, industrial design, other software development - I find these themes are pretty universal.

If you're going to manage people, you're going to have a lot of conversations about employee performance. It's just bound to happen. Sometimes, like during reviews, it might seem excessive. You might wonder if's worth all the time it takes. It is. It's OK that you spend a bunch of time on this. As a manager, that is your job. It's your job to have well-formed opinions about how you evaluate people and how you work with them to help them grow. If you aren't spending time on that, then you may be succeeding as a leader, but probably not as a manager. Apples and oranges.

It is, however, important to spend this time well. During conversations about performance, everything you talk about should boil down to one thing: the value they contribute to the team. What is their value, and how can they become more valuable?

I find a lot of review conversations tend to focus on strengths, weaknesses, and specific work results. These seem like reasonable topics, and there's value there, but I also find this often leads to a review that looks like this:

Sejak disahkannya Undang-Undang Nomor 40 Tahun 1999 tentang Pers, kemerdekaan dalam memperoleh informasi benar-benar membawa Indonesia pada suatu babak yang baru. Media seakan terlepas dari belenggu jeratan yang selama masa Orde Baru mengikat dan mendiktenya. Melalui media, masyarakat dapat memenuhi keinginan untuk mengetahui situasi, perkembangan, dan informasi mengenai berbagai macam hal.

Media yang dimaksud dalam UU tersebut memiliki definisi yang luas. Disebutkan bahwa :

Mengacu pada definisi tersebut, maka media memiliki sedikitnya dua metode penyampaian utama. Yang pertama adalah media cetak, dan yang kedua adalah media elektronik. Secara harfiah pengertian media cetak bisa diartikan sebagai sebuah media penyampaian informasi yang memiliki manfaat dan terkait dengan kepentingan rakyat banyak, yang disampaikan secara tertulis. Sementara itu media elektronik dapat diartikan sebagai media penyampaian informasi yang disampaikan melalui Radio, Televisi (TV), atau pesawat lain berbasis teknologi yang dapat menampilkan kombinasi antara tulisan, suara, atau gambar secara bersamaan.

Akhir-akhir ini, media cetak mulai ditinggalkan, terutama oleh kalangan remaja. Hanya golongan tradisional yang masih menggunakan media ini. Pada perkembangannya, kecepatan informasi yang disampaikan oleh media cetak terhitung lambat. Berbeda halnya dengan media elektronik yang aktual dan lebih mudah dicerna karena mengandung elemen audio maupun visual.

Let there be Light.

Eight of my last 18 professional years have been an adventure with children and adults from all over the world. They brought with them endless gifts of their cultures, and I gave them the English words to express their beliefs, hopes, and dreams. My students have come from Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Senegal, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, among other countries. The secret is that we have taught one another more about Life than any English lesson could encompass. Mutual respect for ideas and differences, along with acceptance, has always been our agreed cornerstone of the classroom.

The challenge as a teacher at this time of year is trying to weave together every culture’s celebration, which all float around the Winter Solstice. How do we explain in simple words, beliefs, religion, and celebration from each corner of the globe? The answer: Seek the Light. I ask my students to share how Light factors into their celebrations at this sacred time of year. So with both excitement and reverence, my students teach each other and me about Diwali, and Hanukkah, which are both called Festivals of Light. They are happy to tell about the illuminating floating boats of Loy Krathong in Thailand, the Chinese New Year Fireworks, the Colored Lights of the Tet Holiday, the Little Day of Candles in Colombia, and varying Christmas Light traditions in Europe and South America.

The lesson then is that we all Seek the Light in the darkest point of the year, the Winter Solstice. But it has to be about more than just culture and religion, doesn’t it? It has to be more about our human spirit. One of my new heroes, Malala Yousafzai, taught us this year that, “We realize the importance of Light when we see darkness.” The Buddha taught that, “If you light a lamp for someone else, it will brighten your path.” We seek the Light of others often when our own lives are darkest, when we have no answers, and when we need warmth. We seek out their Light when we need inspiration.

Inspire means, “to breathe in.” Whose Light causes YOU to breathe in?? Whose Light fills your darkness? Most often the Light we need comes from those with whom we share our home. But who else floats into our lives and brings us warmth, new hope, and joy? Who else Lights our way? How can we thank them? How can we fan their flames so they continue to shine? Find a way to reflect their Light. Find a way to express gratitude for their illumination. You will see that the Light will get bigger. The flames will be grander. Find a way to celebrate those who bring the Light, for their flames ignite the Good.

Serving Food, Washing Clothes, and Entertaining Kids

Visitors to central Reykjavik who run out of clean clothes have few options. They can pay by the article of clothing to have their hotel do their laundry, or pay by the kilo at two wash and fold laundry/dry cleaners. Or they can do their own laundry at the multi-functional Laundromat cafe/laundry room/playground.

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I, like many of you, spend the majority of my week sitting in a cubicle, typing on my computer and going to meetings. Don’t worry… this isn’t going to devolve into an anti-corporate rant or anything. For the most part, I actually like my job. I work with nice people, my boss is smart and doesn’t micro-manage me, and my work is challenging without being too stressful. Granted, I wish I was getting paid to do something that I was absolutely passionate about (don’t we all?), but since I haven’t fully figured out what that even looks like yet, this is as good as anything.

Even so corporate life; with its process and procedure, long stretches of sitting, and work assignments that aren’t always exotic or thrilling, can sometimes feel a little flat and soulless. To combat feeling uninspired, years ago some friends and I started a little tradition we call “Zen Wednesday”. Mid-week, we send each other random emails with whatever thoughts and ideas are currently inspiring us. It could be a quote we read that stuck in our head, a link to a blog on creativity or mindfulness, a thought for guided meditation, or a snippet from an article on beating procrastination…whatever. The source material didn’t really matter; the point was to take a moment in the middle of the work week to bring awareness back into what we were doing. To think, to be aware, to feel happy or grateful, to breathe, to make something simpler, or maybe to just let go of the bad experience we had when that guy cut us off in traffic that morning. The point was to pause for a moment, remember to live in the present and not take things so darn seriously.

I started to realize that a Zen Wednesday email could completely change my mindset and/or my mood. I had a little extra spring in my step when heading to the copy machine (which, by the way, totally freaks out your coworkers, thereby totally increasing the awesomeness). I listened better to the people around me. I got out of my own head and started paying attention to what was actually happening, instead of worrying about what might happen, or agonizing over some incident that happened last week. Zen Wednesday made me a more happy and engaged person. And I liked feeling that way.

In addition, my lovely, glitter-soaked, leopard-print fabulous friend Kristy Edwards introduced me to the concept of “Favorite Things Friday”, a sort of gratitude journal where you end the week reflecting on the all the things and experiences that made you happy. Another great recalibration tool I use to remind myself of all the extraordinary love and joy in my life.

Suddenly, I thought…..why keep these traditions locked up just amongst my little inner circle? Why not throw the magic of Zen Wednesday and Favorite Things Friday out into the Universe? Can’t we all use a little more mindfulness and gratitude in our lives??

To blog or not to blog? I love to cook at home - for family and friends. Nothing fancy. Just good, tasty, not too fiddly meals, cakes and the occasional dessert. And I love to share recipes. They're not my recipes, they come from cookbooks, chefs, websites, all over the place ... but I always acknowledge where the recipe came from. I started a collection of recipes in the nineties when a friend at work asked for ideas about what to cook for dinner that night. At home, I typed up a recipe and for fun put it on a Natalie's Kitchen Classics letterhead ... and so it began. I'm hoping with this blog to share recipes with friends who are interested, without bugging my Facebook friends who aren't interested! So here we go ...

I'll start with that first recipe that became a Natalie's Kitchen Classic. It was Spaghetti Carbonara from Trattoria Pasta by Loukie Werle - still a weekly favourite in our house. (In fact, it's my 11 year old son's favourite home cooked meal.) The most significant thing about this recipe is that it has no cream - oil, egg and parmesan yes, but no cream. (And don't skimp on the oil!) I must also say that, despite the author's insistence on 'very fresh' eggs and pancetta, it works just as well with eggs and bacon from the supermarket - and I've never used a flame tamer!

With more than a million new downloads every months, VirtualDJ is the most widely used DJ software, and the uncontested leader of non-timecode digital DJing. It has been used around the world for the past 10 years by bedroom DJs and professional superstars alike to rock millions of parties, and has been chosen by leading DJ brands such as Pioneer, Numark, Hercules, Denon, Gemini, or Vestax, to be included with most of their digital DJ controllers. With its cutting-edge beatlock engine, your songs will always stay on the beat, and you can work your mixes incredibly faster than any other DJ. The automatic seamless loop engine and synchronized sampler will let you perform astounding remixes on the fly. The video engine lets you mix and scratch music videos or karaoke as easily as audio. With NetSearch and MusicGroups, you will stay on the edge of the musical trends. And with the versatile VDJScript language and hundreds of downloadable skins, you can tailor your software to your exact needs. Whether you are a professional experienced DJ, or a music enthusiast, VirtualDJ is all you need to get the party started.

What's new in this version: Version 7.4 adds our new ContentUnlimited subscription plans, full compatibility with Windows8 multi-touch surfaces, dozen of new controllers native compatibility.

In the past couple of years, showing off your Everyday carry (EDC) online has become quite popular on Pinterest, blogs, and Instagram (search #edc). Wikipedia defines it as ‘a small collection of tools, equipment and supplies that are carried on a daily basis to assist in tackling situations ranging from the mundane to the disastrous.’ I’m in no way a disaster preparedness type of guy but I have found certain tools to be very useful on a daily basis.

I prefer to keep it simple and minimal. The fewer things you carry, then the fewer things that you can lose or forget to bring with you. One tip is to carry the same items in the same pocket, day in and day out. For example, my cell phone is always in my left pocket and my keys are in my right pocket.

This is what I carry with me on a daily basis.

I have collected below 10 quotes from Robert Greene's book, 48 Laws of Power.

Emphasis mine. I have collected these quotes, and will provide commentary on these quotes in the coming posts.

I was very reluctant to implement themes in SETT. The way I saw it, if we controlled the theme, we could really optimize it for things that people care about -- subscriptions, views, comments, etc. But time and time again, the one thing that was stopping new people from moving to SETT was that they wanted their blog to look unique. Fair enough.

For the past four months, my focus has been building out the theming system. I wasn't surprised that figuring out a theming language and adapting SETT to use it would take two months, but I was surprised that it took another two month to build a theme editor.

The real challenge was to build a theming system that would accomodate users of all skill levels. I wanted advanced users to have access to the full range of capabilities, including Bootstrap integration, LESS stylesheet compiling, and dynamically changing values. At the same time, I wanted very beginners to have a fighting chance at editing an existing theme to change just one thing or two. In the middle of those two, I wanted people with HTML and CSS, but no programming, experience to be able to design a good theme.

On top of all that, the editing experience must be good. No one wants to edit files on their computer and then upload them to see if they worked. Previews should be near instant, and it should be possible to edit multiple files at once online, just as we'd do with a standalone editor.