Last week I saw an email that was approximately 600 words that I was able to sum up in 3 sentences: I may have misinterpreted your instructions, but I’m concerned that you are expecting x, y and z from me. I’m stretched a bit thin right now. I may need some assistance if I am […]
Category Archives: Technology
Highway One Problems & Solutions
Summer is time for road-trips and camping, Albertan’s spilling into BC to enjoy the Province’s natural beauty, families travelling to visit relatives, beach vacations – and unfortunately for many of these trips, the Trans-Canada Highway is a necessary part of the route. On twitter, I have several searches that I check before I head out […]
Guarding your time
Sometimes you just have to say no. “You’ve gotta keep control of your time,” Buffett says, “and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.” via: Why Productive People have empty schedules Over the past couple of months I have taken on a new role, one which currently […]
My Totally Unscientific LinkedIn Groups Experiment
Over the past week I conducted an experiment on LinkedIn partially in an attempt to see whether there was value in participating in groups. As a Civil Engineer in Canada, it seemed obvious to attempt to connect through several groups all of while I’ve been a “silent member” of for over a year – (membership statistics below […]
Swales
Since moving to the interior of British Columbia back in 2007, I have had many discussions with engineering types about the benefits of the alternatives to the curb and gutter / catchbasin paradigm. Interestingly, even six years later there really isn’t that much good knowledge out there on the cost of installation and maintenance of […]
The Cumulative Effects of Obstructive Complexity
Cumulative effects are very important. I shared the following article with my wife Robyn this week, and she shared many of the same frustrations as Scott just that very night at the local supermarket. Yogurt in multiple aisles, the loyalty cards, the self check out… When I’m ready to pay, I see long lines at the human […]
The Disaster Management Simulator
This week we learnt that the Fukishima disaster was man made. Not just that it involved a nuclear reactor, but the underlying culture, decision making process and lack of disaster experience all contributed to the extent of the disaster. It “could and should have been foreseen and prevented. And its effects could have been mitigated […]
Big Data in the Local Government Sector
Data is all around us, and all but the most cynical of us assume, probably naively, that the organizations we rely on, whether banks, businesses, schools or governments are optimizing the use of the information they have available. But the reality is that in most industries we’re just scraping the surface of what’s available. Is […]