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August 31, 2007

The One Big Thing - In Your Way?

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about what was coming next for her web site. She has a new site design. The design itself is ready to go, and I'd say that the "important stuff" has been moved into it, but not everything. A bunch of older content hasn't yet been moved. On top of that the older content needs updating as it's moved into the new design.

So she's been waiting to release the new website design until more (all?) of the old content has been revised and moved. And of course, that's just an overwhelming amount of work - all those pages. It's a big deal.

So naturally, since it's such a daunting task, it's not happening.

My response? Just do it.

No, not the old content migration. That is an overwhelming task.

Just do the new web site design switch. Now.

If she does that, several things happen:

• Perhaps most importantly, that "daunting task" of updating and migrating all the old content becomes a much less ominous series of smaller tasks that can happen as needed. Rather than being a big obstacle to a major change, they become incremental improvements to the existing site.

• The new site design becomes motivating. Rather than making changes or adding things that won't be seen "for a while" waiting for the move, every bit of work after the move takes effect and has impact immediately.

• Progress on "other things" that might have been waiting for the new site design can begin.

Yes, some information that's currently on the site might "disappear" for a while, or might look different. Heck, that's even a good thing! When people ask for such-and-such information that they can't find on the site, that a great indicator of the priority of old content that needs to be updated next.

•

Another very good friend and client of mine is also in the middle of a similar transition. His very large site was serious need of a redesign. So he hired a designer and got one. Then we set about to implement it.

Rather than waiting for that One Big Thing to be done, we implemented enough to make a portion of the website work relatively well, and then took it live. Then we did the same to another portion of the site, and took that live. We're currently working on a third portion of the site.

At each step along the way we not only made massive changes to the major portion of the site that we were working on, but we also made incremental improvements to the portions that were already "done" as we learned and tweaked and discovered various issues to resolve.

The bottom line is that the site is still a work in progress, but the majority is much better than it was before we changed, and everything that we do is work on the new foundation.

Now, to be fair, for the third portion of his site, this client is also saying "I need to move more of the content before we take it live". Turns out he doesn't. He could go live now and incrementally move content.

I gotta work on that.

•

So all this is to ask a question:

What One Big Thing are you waiting for?

And is it in your way?

Could you "just do it", even if it's not 100% complete, and would that unblock other things?

Be honest: are you using that One Big Thing an excuse to avoid whatever might come next?

Sometimes "good enough" can unleash a flood of forward progress.

Posted by Leo at 09:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 10, 2007

Those "Other" Questions

Today's the fourth anniversary of Ask Leo!, and that means it's time to collect up some of the questions that you didn't see me answer. You'll soon see why. We've got quite the bumper crop this year.

As always, every question is a real question I've received via Ask Leo! within the last year, presented exactly as I got it (except that any potentially identifying information will have been removed). Each "answer" is the answer that I'd be oh-so-tempted to give...

[Warning: there may be "bad words" in some of the questions. Y'all been warned.]

Enjoy.

•

heyy can u send me lots of dolly magazinz

No. But I know a place where you might buy some.

I am M____ M____. My date of birth is 6th march 19__. I have attended an interview on __th A___ 20__. I am very keen to get this job. I have performed well in the interview. can you predict if I will get this job? I really want to know the answer to that.

If you think I'm the one to ask, then I wouldn't give you very good odds.

give a one mail ask

No, I give a one mail answer, you give a one mail ask.

what can i do to make my pimples go away?

Wait. Years if you have to, but just wait.

how internet changed the world?

From what I can tell, it has totally destroyed the English language; particularly grammar.

How can I ask a girl that I like out on a date? ps i hope that you answere me, i need advice

Pal, if you need to ask a computer geek how to ask a girl out, you need a lot more than advice.

i am turning 16 on the 27th of september and i was wondering if by law i am aloud to quit? do you no?

Yes. You can quit smoking, you can quit doing drugs, you can quit using bad grammar, and you can quit asking the wrong people silly questions. Ya no?

Is there a list of the $4 generic drugs

Probably. But it's $5 drugs that get interesting.

who discovered the television?

Millions of people "discover" it every day.

location of ac filter in a 1990 chrysler lebaron

Sorry. Car Talk I ain't.

am i going to live in london (asked 6 times in succession)

I hope so. Preferably without internet connectivity.

what is your name

Look at the URL, it has a clue.

i dont know where my clitoris is. ive looked everywhere EVERYWHERE. i cant find it. i looked under the clitoral hood but its not there! im thinking maybe im too young to have a fully developed one though but i dont know please help me!

No way am I going to touchanswer that.

Leo.... you inspire me, i wish i could be as big of a left nutted pussy with a bald scrotum. go with christ

Thank You. Indeed, you represent Christianity well.

what is christianity?

See the previous question for an example, I guess.

how long are female dogs in heat?

Jerome says "never long enough".

how can agricultural productivity be enhance in nigeria?

By redirecting all the manpower and effort that's being put into email scams sent to the rest of the planet.

is there school tomorrow for the northshore? Lostd of people do not know if theres school tomorrow and i promise to tell my friends! Please! (November 27, 2006)

Yes. Hope this answer got to you in time. (August 10, 2007)

when did the world begin

Any scientist will tell you that the world began at T(0).

plz can u give me some guidelines when u have a date.what do i say?

What is it with people trying to ask a computer geek for dating advice? It's just so ... wrong!

Is there any restriction to use the green ink pen? Who can use and who cann't? I think that only the gazatted officers can use?

I'm not gazatted, at least not lately, and I use one all the time.

DO U FINK IT WILL SNOW AGAIN IN SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

No, I don't fink.

WHERE IS BEYONCE? I`M FURIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111

I'm sure she's not all that pleased either. If I were her, I'd be hiding.

How do we remove google?

The same way we removed Microsoft, I would assume. Oh, wait... darn.

windows is the psyware !

Yes! Windows has psychic powers!

wHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A 120VOLT AND A 230 VOLT?

The loudness of the "OUCH!", and the number of swear words that follow.

I am asking you a question about Louis Riel. Which side won the debate?

Mackenzie, eh?

what was the percentage of childhood obesity in 1982 and in 1994? There was a significant change. Why is that?

You're surfing it.

Do you like cheese???Is santa claus real?

You got that backwards. I like Santa Claus, and cheese is not real.

do young people know how to create their own entertainment?

Apparently not.

If instructions require an average of 2.5 clock cycles to execute, how many instructions are available for each pixel?

It depends on the size of the pixel. A small pixel will need only a few instructions, while a large or extra-large pixel will require many. Don't even ask about Venti-pixels.

how do I change my actual address

Move?

what are three internal stimuli's on penguins?

Sorry, no penguin porn here.

How many peasants are there in bolden

More than you can count.

Y iz it that my brother girlfriend iz a hoe

He's dating a garden implement? Kinky.

what do you call the powerful current caused by conflicting tides around the shetland and orkney islands

Dangerous.

Why did my last boyfriend tell me it waz over

I keep telling you, it's all about the grammar and spelling. Boys love it when you can speak and spell proper English.

i want text my girl on my computer

I'm sure you do. Just clean up after.

i am viewing too much porn sites.

What is this "too much porn" you speak of? I don't understand.

should you have a child or a dog first

Yes.

do you think ainura will came back to me

Nope.

there iz a boy in my class called william do u think he would go out wid me he dose seam 2 keep smilein at me???

More asking for dating advice from a computer geek. Just be sure you know why he's smiling, ok?

my question was your first car ?

No, your question was not my first car.

who is sitting next to me?

No, Who's on first.

is today going to be a good thing or bad thing?

Probably not.

should i get revenge on bf? he has been with anyone who has a pulse but i loaned him money so ime keeping up the pretence i dnt know ime very bitter i trusted him and loaned him my life saving because i though he loved me i hav since found him on several sex sites he is paying be back slowly

It's good to hear you have a pulse. I'd avoid revenge, just to keep it that way.

what do i do after the writen part of a song like how do i make it a song like singing and stuff

Find someone who does "singing and stuff" I guess.

are fat pictures illegal

Hardly. If they were, it'd be the death of home photography and personal photo albums as we know it.

How do I pipe a girl

Again with the dating questions.... I hope.

Can you name all the places in the world that are to hot,to cold,to dry,to wet, to highor to scary.

Uh ... Fresno?

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT GUY

Probably only after it's too late.

Do you always have to STERILIZE canning jars before you use them again for canning?

Depends. How's your health insurance?

I have a Kohler riding lawn tractor. What does the letters OHV stand for, on the frount of the engine?

Sorry, the only Kohler I'm familiar with makes devices that you ride at home.

Have you ever smoked marijuana before?

Actually I have not. Unlike, it appears, many people who ask me questions.

plas dont send me any things

OK, I wan't.

What happens when your brain falls out?

See all the previous questions.

WHY DO SOME LEOS THINKS ABOUT SEX MOST OF THE TIMES?

Apparently my wife discovered how to ask a question, and then tried to disguise it with bad grammar. Nice try, dear.

•

Prior Years

• 2006: Another year of odd ones

• 2005: The Questions You Didn't See

• 2004: Ask me WHAT?

Posted by Leo at 08:26 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

August 09, 2007

Relic

Cleaning out a desk drawer I stumbled onto one of these:

Back in the day this was my pocket bible. Microsoft Cobol on the 8086 was in assembly language, and we counted clock cycles to squeeze every ounce out of the machine. I had most of 'em memorized.

Between processor complexity and teaching mostly only higher level programming languages, I expect most current programmers to never know what a clock cycle even is.

Processor Architecture:

Addressing and Instructions:

From valued tool to keepsake and reminder of a "simpler" time.

Posted by Leo at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack