Live from Vancouver Island

In this Google TechTalk Goranka Bjedov presents on using open source tools for performance testing at Google. A good introduction to the subject, encouraging regular, repeatable and realistic tests. Tips include monitoring the performance on your supporting infrastructure (eg. data generators) and keeping the network simple. I particularly like the concept of storing results in a database for future reference - would have been nice to see the schema they use for this. References to JMeter, Grinder, and OpenSTA.

This had me ROFL over the SCO/Linux battle. (Be sure to click “begin” to start the story.)

Thanks to mx for pointing out this fantastic new article from Paul Graham. It is one of the most inspiring and positive pieces I’ve read about self-employment in the tech industry in a long time.

Here is a quick summary of Graham’s points, which he backs up with both real-world examples and good deal of common sense:

• You don’t need a brilliant idea to start a startup.
• Whatever idea you start with is likely to change quickly.
• Business activities are not “hard” or “mysterious”. Writing a business plan does not require an MBA.
• Obtaining angel and venture capital funding is relatively easy.
• Once you have funding, try to avoid spending it.
• Grow slowly, not rapidly. Avoid hiring whenever possible.
• Avoid renting traditional, expensive office space.
• Ideally you should have between 2 and 4 founders.
• Knowing what your customers want is vital.
• Improving on the shit they use today is not likely difficult.
• Target the low-end of the product spectrum.

I disagree with Graham on one particular point. He seems to think it necessary to work outrageously long hours, pointing at how he used to work “until 2:00 or 3:00 AM every night, seven days a week”. This is one of two points he uses to make an argument for ideal age of 23 to 38 - apparently people over 38 lack the stamina.

Personally, regardless of age, I can’t imagine how anyone could be truly productive working those kinds of hours. A fly banging itself against a closed window may seem productive to the fly, but he’d be better off to head in the other direction and regroup. That’s not to say that time away from the office is devoid of work-related thinking. Taking a walk or going for a drive is often just the change of perspective I need to come up with the solution that’s not so obvious when you’re hammering away at it.

Instead, an 8 hour day, 5 day week, should be the target goal, and you should try to make those hours as productive as possible. This includes taking a lunch break away from your desk, and walking away from problems when progress comes to a standstill.

If the odd period of planned overtime is necessary, it should be reserved for irregular tasks that happen to pop-up. For example: heading into the office on a Saturday to put up that new bookshelf. Unplanned overtime sessions are going to happen as well, but they should be limitted to “crunch” sessions when deadlines are imminent.

Graham makes a good point about keeping office space minimilistic and close to home. I take that one step further by saying why not work from a home office? At least initially, the cost savings are substantial. It also allows for that 8-hour day to be conveniently split up into several sessions over the morning, afternoon, and evening, which will boost productivity immensely. If you’re truly the right kind of person to start a startup, there will be no motivational issues with getting down to work in a home environment.

I’ve been working from home for my employer for over a year now. E-mail, telephone, VPN, and instant messaging all combine to make it work. From my home office I can use Window’s Remote Desktop and access any machine in the company’s test lab. This is how most office-based employees access them anyway! Face-to-face time is definately valuable, especially if there are disagreements, but meeting with co-founders for a once-a-week lunch at a local pub ought to suffice.

An open letter from the board of the International Game Developers Association.

Yesterday we were in downtown Victoria and had lunch at the Irish Times Pub, 1200 Government Street. It’s quite a nice place and I highly recommend paying it a visit if you’re in town. With so many imported beers on tap, I was really disappointed that we couldn’t just spend all afternoon there drinking.

This is is a car advertisement from Germany. When they finished filming the ad, the people who made it noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist.

If you turn up the sound, you can also hear whispering. The ad was never put on TV because the unexplained ghostly phenomenon frightened the production team out of their wits. Watch it and about halfway through (after the car comes from behind the trees) look closely and you will see the white mist coming up from behind the car and then following it along the road!

Click here to watch the video!