My wife and I were recently talking about one of our mutual friends, a researcher in a “soft money” position. This means that instead of getting paid by the university from general funds, she’s responsible for bringing in the money for her salary, research team, facilities, etc., through writing grants. This has become increasingly difficult over […]
Author Archives: Dan
A quick thought experiment. I’d like for you to imagine the best version of yourself. Not the rich you, or the more attractive you. Not the version of you that went to a different school, grew up in a different country, made different choices. This isn’t the version of you that had different opportunities, or […]
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. – Mark Twain When communicating in a public space (Twitter, Facebook, blogging, meetings, etc.), it’s easy to censor yourself though the simple fear of saying something irredeemably stupid. Something so vapid, so provably false, that […]
Well, it’s been a year since I started blogging, and honestly, I’m a little surprised I’m still at it. But somewhere along the way, even after getting through the things I initially had in mind, I realized I still had some things I wanted to say. And so, here we are. By the numbers: 12.5 […]
When I joined TripAdvisor, I’d been out in the world as a professional coder for a decade and a half. I’d had significant management roles at a prior company, and had just come off of six years of running my own company. I was used to being in charge. And so, when my soon-to-be-boss asked […]
Regular visitors will know that this blog is usually about technical subjects, primarily technical management. However, Thanksgivukkah approaches, and I’ve been asked by a number of people for my Mom’s pumpkin nut bread recipe. I occasionally make this for my team, and I can tell you that it’s easy, delicious, and always a big hit. […]
When I was in high school, I used to amuse myself by multiplying four digit numbers in my head. It was a point of pride that I had memorized all of my friends’ phone numbers. I even worked out my own (possibly incorrect) version of the Doomsday rule (no, no, of course there was no […]
You’ve seen this before, perhaps even lived it. A new person starts at the company, and from day one, she’s on fire. Everything she touches turns to gold: her projects magically complete ahead of schedule, she’s able to pull the thread on long-standing intractable problems until they’re worked out, everyone enjoys working with her, and […]
Learning a language is hard. In addition to grappling with a new grammar, bizarre pronunciations, unfamiliar vocabulary, and in some cases an alien writing system, you also have to build an entirely new set of skills. Chief among these is the ability to memorize massive amounts of completely random data. No matter how smart you […]
When I was in high school, I once told a friend, in a fit of idealistic follow-your-dreams zeal, that if I ever ended up going to business school, he should punch me in the face. Of course, I had no idea what business school was really about, and as I’ve learned more about how things […]
Dan Dreams of Coding 