arttaylor

Nanchang CJ-6s (thanks Liem) flying over Marin on Memorial Day.

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:33:50 -0700

Nanchang CJ-6s (thanks Liem) flying over Marin on Memorial Day.

Taking it easy at Las Gallinas.

Mon, 27 May 2013 22:52:22 -0700

Taking it easy at Las Gallinas.

"The guy who answers the door at a party is like the the guy in the bomb squad: if you see him..."

Sun, 26 May 2013 19:08:43 -0700

“The guy who answers the door at a party is like the the guy in the bomb squad: if you see him running, try to catch up.”

I saw a wasp carrying a grasshopper in Tilden Park. I followed...

Sun, 26 May 2013 19:07:53 -0700

I saw a wasp carrying a grasshopper in Tilden Park. I followed it and had the opportunity to watch it bury the grasshopper in the ground. The wasp dug surprisingly quickly.

I found a twenty-five cent digiscoping lens at the Coit Tower.

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:18:17 -0700

I found a twenty-five cent digiscoping lens at the Coit Tower.

The closer I look at butterflies, the more freaked out I get.

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:02:09 -0700

The closer I look at butterflies, the more freaked out I get.

You can start by offering them something a little more modern...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:15:00 -0700

You can start by offering them something a little more modern than an ancient PowerBook G4.

Dwolla is (for good reason) proud of creating a successful technology business outside the traditional technology hubs. Unfortunately, this works against a company when trying to create a diverse team.

This includes not only women but ethnic or cultural minorities.

I cannot overstate the value of having women on a team. I’ve found that it’s the easiest way to increase velocity and improve the culture. I’ve found that they rise faster in the organization than men do. I won’t claim to have the answer why, but I’ve found there’s a lot less “world of warcraft” during the day.

In a target-poor environment, you don’t wait for the people you want to come to you. You figure out where they are and go to them. Whether or not they accept your offer, try to find the names of other people (not just women) they respect, and you chase them down as well.

This is all blah blah, so I’ll make some straightforward recommendations.

Find out where the tech companies and IT departments are in your area and stake them out. Nearby coffee shops, whatever it takes.
Find any hackerspaces, especially women-oriented hackerspaces, and not only attempt to recruit from that group, but contribute (money, equipment, whatever). Those people know people.
Don’t be so rigid about some of your requirements. If you only look for people with an MSCS and 15 years of C++, you’re going to miss the women who were discouraged from following that educational track in the early 90s. Include related (or unrelated) education, or think about outcomes…you want someone who understands analytical math (which can be any number of fields), communication (you’re talking to the dumbest thing in the world, a computer), and logical thinking.

Understand that the person you find may not be the match for your job, but make sure they think enough of you, the company, and the jobs that they’ll mention you to a friend that may be a better fit. Better yet, get them to make an introduction.

This is much easier if you have a woman on the team who can break the ice, but remember, it’s not ‘stalking’ if it’s recruiting!

Finally, get your head around the fact that white males have advantages in the USA. Suck it up and get over any thoughts you have to the contrary. Dig deep and offer higher salaries, better family and maternity programs. Think about offering on-site day care or a private bus/car service.

TeX FancyVerbatim (fancyvrb) package

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:15:00 -0800

I stumbled upon the fancyvrb package for some project documentation recently.One thing I really like about it is the ability to include and transclude content from other files.

For example, the following LATEX includes a file, numbers the lines, then permits iterating over the file in segments, which is excellent for exegetical works. Of course, relying on line numbers is brittle if the included file changes, but the package also affords the ability to match on content.

It’s a little bit on the “clever” side, but as long as you don’t become too enamored of yourself or the method, it’s quite decent and quick.

\documentclass[letter]{article}
\title{fancyvrb and me}
\author{Art Taylor $&lt;$art@arttaylor.com$&gt;$}
\usepackage{fancyvrb}
\begin{document}
\maketitle

\section{The file}
\VerbatimInput[frame=single,
framesep=2mm,fontsize=\small,
label=fancyvrb.tex,labelposition=topline,
numbers=left]{fancyvrb.tex}

\section{A snippet}

\VerbatimInput[frame=single,framesep=2mm,
fontsize=\small,numbers=left,firstline=17,
lastline=19]{fancyvrb.tex}

\end{document}

This yields the following document, trimmed to fit.

This is how to overpack. I should have gone for the aluminum...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:33:00 -0700

This is how to overpack. I should have gone for the aluminum cases with metal hinges, not polycarbonates, zippers, and pleather.

I changed the name “red eye” to “IRONMAN”. I’m taking the...

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 22:26:00 -0700

I changed the name “red eye” to “IRONMAN”. I’m taking the IRONMAN to Miami—but this time there’s more IRON.

Fuchsia berries are quite tasty. Yet another reason to...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:07:00 -0700

Fuchsia berries are quite tasty. Yet another reason to love hummingbirds.

Welcome to sunny Miami. 5.5” of rain by 7pm and projected...

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:02:00 -0700

Welcome to sunny Miami. 5.5” of rain by 7pm and projected 3”/hr until 10:30pm. Well past all time high of 3.5”.

Miami in one photo

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:29:00 -0700

Miami in one photo

The “free” 64gb drive is for when your 240gb drive...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:33:00 -0700

The “free” 64gb drive is for when your 240gb drive bombs

(OCZ SSDs are junk, tempting though they may be.)

Oh the bargain! I must act now!

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:56:00 -0700

Oh the bargain! I must act now!

@joelhainley I have a gift for you.

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:47:00 -0800

@joelhainley I have a gift for you.

Repurposed-materials art in our new building @...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:22:00 -0800

Repurposed-materials art in our new building @ Ahmedabad.

I’m afraid of wasps enough without boosting the post-apocalyptic factor.

This is Art in Dubai after 18 Hours in a plane. SFO to DXB via...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:49:00 -0800

This is Art in Dubai after 18 Hours in a plane.

SFO to DXB via great circle route over the arctic.

Come on, click “Yes”.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:30:00 -0800

Come on, click “Yes”.

Chameleon raptor blends into his surroundings.

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:09:00 -0800

Chameleon raptor blends into his surroundings.