Letter to My Parents

Dear Mom & Dad,

Please practice social distancing, and adhere to calls to shelter-in-place. Early results from clinical studies indicate a significant number of people infected with SARS-Cov2/COVID-19 show no symptoms. These carriers are unsuspectingly spreading the virus and the disease it causes. Already, there are 16 positive tests confirmed in Lancaster, California as of Tuesday, March 24th. Today, LA County reports 1,216 confirmed cases, including 21 lost souls. Compare that to Illinois which was at 1,285 positive tests confirmed 3 days ago, and today is nearly double at 2,538 positive tests confirmed; across both urban and rural areas of Illinois.

Our duty to slow the spread of this virus is two fold: 1) buy time for a cure and vaccine to be produced and distributed, and 2) prevent our existing medical structure from being overwhelmed. Remember that while this pandemic is occurring, people still have urgent medical needs. The current system has finite capacity in terms of people (doctors and nurses), equipment (particularly personal protective equipment), and appropriate physical space for patients (with necessary equipment and proper hygiene). Even before this pandemic, emergency department visits due to influenza-like illness are high this season. This particularly bad flu season exacerbates the situation at our medical facilities.

We do these things not only to benefit ourselves and our family, but as our Catholic duty to be neighbors to our friends, enemies, communities, country, and humanity.

At the very least, please continue to diligently wash your hands, disinfect surfaces, and practice overall good hygiene.

Thank you for listening!

Love,
Kathleen & Andre, Alexis, Valerie.

SARS-CoV2 COVID-19 Don't Panic

I am trying. I am doing my best not to panic, to keep anxiety at the level of concern. But it's difficult and I'll tell you why. Right now, social distancing seems to have started, fueled, and caused by communities needing to act. They feel that need to act because we have no faith in our government leaders at any level. We have no faith in our government leaders because they did not have a plan, nor have proposed a plan, nor have put into action anything resembling a plan. We don't have a plan because it takes hard work and determination, it takes grit to create and maintain a plan against a future foe that will take an unpredictable form. And nobody in the government took that time and effort and grit to create the plan. And since we have no plan, we have no leadership. And since we have no leadership, we have no faith in leaders. And since we have no faith in leaders, we simply return to basics. We look after ourselves. We selfishly do the things we can to control what we can control given the little education that we have available to us, no matter how unsubstantiated or outrageous.

Yes, I am trying. But this ship is sinking and I can only bail water from this small pail I happen to have.

[EDIT TO ADD]
Sadly, protecting those most at risk is only a secondary concern for me because the panic is pounding on the door. I know it's morally wrong, but it seems socially acceptable in our current environment: that we're looking at deaths by the numbers, and not the people that they are. I'm stupidly drinking the sand not because I'm thirsty, but because I can't tell the difference. The signal-to-noise ratio is completely whacked... I mean, why are comedians like John Oliver and Trevor Noah my beacons, and not journalists like Korva Coleman and Judy Carline Woodruff, or political leaders like Governor JB Pritzker or #45?

Nettelhorst Elementary School Stampede Fundraiser

Alexis will be participating in the Stallion Stampede walkathon on May 11th. 

Please help support her school. 

Click here to donate. 

Happy Fourth Birthday!

Dear Alexis,

The past year you have experienced an immense amount of mental growth. From speech to emotions, you have been inundated with many difficult situations. For me, it's a harsh reminder of the black-and-white views of my own past, and the difficulty (near impossibility) to instigate change in people. On the optimistic side: as parents we learn and employ varying tactics to help you gain empathy, and for you to learn to keep an open mind in this seemingly unfair world set against your joy and happiness. 

Regardless of how you act/react, I always love you. At times you have bent me beyond my personal breaking point. Looking back it's difficult to understand the exact factors both within and outside my control leading to that point. But because it's you, I must find ways to deal with it and move on. There's no giving up. I must have pliability both with my memory and my emotions. Despite the absurdity of your stubbornness and your demands, we still need to understand or find the underlying cause of your troubles, and help you deal with that situation. More often than not, we fail. But as you experience intense emotional situations, we always strive to grow your arsenal to handle what life throws your way. 

You have an increasing social awareness. Contrary to fears of you "inheriting" my shyness, you display a healthy amount of extroversion. You enjoy playing with friends at school, and chatting with family you have not seen or heard in weeks. On the playground you enjoy leading others around. Around strangers you will lower your voice, but respond to questions and comments. You have an acute awareness of conversations and social situations. Like majority of the population you hate feeling left out. 

As I stumble through changes to being a better father, you relentlessly drive forward to being a better daughter. As mentioned in the past, your presence truly drives me to a better place. The experience and change of parenthood is indescribable, and seemingly inconceivable. Yet, here I find ourselves growing and learning from each other on all levels. Thank you! 

Love,

Your Dad

Progress in United States

To Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Mark Kirk, and Representative Mike Quigley, In light of US Attorney General investigations into Chicago PD, I want to know what is being done to protect both the rights of citizens and the lives of our law enforcement personnel? How do we balance the 1% of criminals ruining the every day lives of the 99%? It's understanding that this is a difficult question but changes must be made towards progress in the United States. As a constituent I urge that we work in small strides towards the ultimate goal of eliminating private ownership of firearms. RE: http://artandeverythingafter.com/i-fit-the-description/ Similar incident happened to a friend that was riding a motorcycle. What's worse: his incident included a helicopter with night sun, and a taste of pavement as an officer dug a knee into his back to detain him. As they left the officer muttered, "you fit the description of someone fleeing police on a Ninja motorcycle." He was riding a Yamaha, not a Kawasaki. On the flip side, the job of law enforcement is not to be taken without suspicion. Stories of officer shootings are all too common, and some very disturbing (http://abc7.com/news/dash-cam-images-of-west-covina-traffic-stop-shooting-released/989093/). We train officers to respond to worst-case-scenarios with assault weaponry because it's the current norm of society. Something needs to change. We cannot continue as-is because the current laws by which we're governed and the state of our current societal norms: all are barely hobbling through year by year, day by day, minute by minute, second by ticking second. Innocent people are being wounded, some are sadly dying. It will be a long journey to a better US but we know it will be worth the effort. Please help us get there by proposing and/or supporting legislation that continues progress into a better future for me and my wife, our daughter, US society, and humanity in general. Regards, Andre Alforque

Review: Scrum by Jeff Sutherland

Quick book review:  http://amzn.com/038534645X

This book inspires me to be a better Scrum Master for the team. It provides solid advice to incrementally improve not only our team performance but also my personal skills.

Biggest takeaways: Work as a team in an honest, safe environment. Find weaknesses of the process to solve missed deadlines, poor performance, or large amounts of technical debt. Always improve or evolve, never be complacent with status quo.

Pros: Great anecdotes regarding Scrum origins, and also successful transformations from waterfall into Scrum. Sutherland discusses common struggles of implementation, and prescribes fairly simple cures.

Cons: Overly optimistic view with little to no stumbling once Scrum is in place. Very few concrete demonstrations of blocker removal in a software development environment. Large assumption that Scrum implemented across entire organization.

The Year 2013

It's difficult to reflect on the past year. Many aspects remain in flux. I minimized my belongings by releasing all cycling equipment. I left Tribune Company into an unknown world of contracting. I picked up golf, again. I acquired technology that exponentially improved productivity and quality. Yet with all these changes I feel more distant from family and friends, and more disconnected from reality.

Fleeting Memories

As an amateur photographer, why are there so few pictures of my daughter? The simple answer is time.

One-Year-Old Lessons

Parenting has a way of motivating (scaring) you into openness and learning: growth. Even with the head start of nieces and a nephew, there are aspects of parenting never discussed that emerge; mainly: the relationship with your partner. While the barrage of emotions is not new, the mad pace at which these emotions arrive felt like being a child all over again. Especially since we both were dealing with situations completely foreign.

My biggest misconception? The amount of control I would have over any situation. All it takes is one fever to feel immensely powerless and useless. For panic to take over. For target fixation to narrow my view on only one symptom: the temperature reading.

And even little decisions have me reeling because of their novelty. When do we change diaper size? What solid foods should we feed her? Which stroller should we buy? What should she wear today? Does she need heavier layers of clothing? Will she be too hot? Where can I get diapers and wipes the cheapest?

The biggest luxury we've lost that we didn't know we had is time. Time to sleep. Time alone with our thoughts. Time together. Time for work. Time for family & friends. Time for a movie. Time to prepare and cook a meal. Time to sleep. Time to eat. Time to watch our favorite TV show. Time to sleep (did I mention that already?).

It's easy to see why people turn conservative after having children: it's easy to take the "black and white" path, where answers come quickly. But I've tried and continue to take the more difficult path of questioning issues, experimenting methods and tactics. I'm coming to grips with the reality that there is no "right" path to raising a "perfect" child; there is only the direction of loving and raising our child.

I don't know how we could do this without the help of family and friends. I'm eternally grateful for the candid conversations, and advice and guidance, and reality checks, and sympathy and empathy, and motivation, and generosity.

UX Checklist (WIP)

- Assess influence

  - 1%, 5%, 10%...
  - complete UT Project Charter
  - set expectations
    - learning experience
  - hypothesize personas
    - traits
    - behaviors
    - goals
- Recruit
  - build rapport
  - determine likeness to personas
- Interview
  - continue rapport
  - discover
- Analysis
  - Brainwriting (written, silent) not brainstorming (vocal)
  - grouping
  - QUICKLY CURB TALK AND IDEAS ABOUT SOLUTIONS
- Presentation
  - tell a story
  - back the story up with data

Influences

• Google's Usability Lab
• Usability Testing. Oh, The Things You Can Learn. By Jared Spool
• Usability Guidelines
• UIE Variants
• UIE Dissect Failures
• Farnam Street Blog: Mental Models
• Dana Chisnell interview by Tomer Sharon
• Richard Feynman interview
• Mike Elgan: Group Think Kills Creativity
• various other sources

Photograph File Organization: Exiftool

Using exiftool by Phil Harvey, I performed numerous operations on digital photographs to clean up over 10 years of images spread across numerous platforms. This allows me to consolidate all rendered photos into one, organized location. Below are the command line arguments used to accomplish this task.

Improbability of the Improbable as the New Normal

+Kevin Kelly writes The Improbable is the New Normal (via Farnam Street Blog). 

I wonder about this, especially as it relates to news. What news do people read? How do they chose? Why do they go deeper into some stories and not others? 

In my experience: extraordinary is not the new ordinary. The Internet is not a lens that delivers the extraordinary as a focused beam. The Internet does not make us more expecting of the improbable.  We will not have an insatiable appetite for the extraordinary. 

Individually, we somehow choose our illumination of the day. It could be an "ordinary" photo from a relative that we find cute, or it could be an "extraordinary" photo from The Big Picture that inspires feeling. It could be a local news story about crime that makes us think twice about whipping our smartphone out while waiting for the train, or it could be an international story about a mass shooting that makes us ponder the safety of our family and our ourselves, and what it has to do with gun control. 

What I find extraordinary is how the news cycled has evolved. From 24-hours in print, to a few hours in radio, to a few minutes on TV, to a few seconds on the Internet. And perhaps the speed at which information is made available rather than the information itself is truly the improbable that is the new normal. 

We will be more selective about the news and media we consume, and the ways we consume it. We will be more selective about the way we share, and whom we share it with. And, hopefully we will be more skeptical of the news and media we consume, and we will form our own opinions rather than eat the opinions we are fed. 

Creativity and UX and Design and Life

This short, 3-minute video hints at the importance of paying attention. The importance of observation is not only for good UX. It's not only for good design. It's not only for creativity. It's for all aspects of life! Observation is not only paying attention, but also being open and receptive to what the environment presents. Park your bias and preconceptions at the door; soak the world in. 

In other words: be like Dr. Gregory House! ;)

Connected Devices - Surprising Behavior

Over the course of this year I had the opportunity to interview nearly 100 people. While the focus of these interviews varied, inevitably we talked about the connected devices in each person’s life. Feelings towards these devices varied from despise (“I hate it when people have their face buried in their phone while at a party!”) to love (“I don’t know what I’d do without my iPhone!”). These feelings varied regardless of demographics: age, income, etc. In my observations I stumbled across a consistent behavior: safety and security.

Ad Hoc Usability Testing: Webcam Positioning

The overhead camera was proving to be an issue. The Logitech C310/C260 webcams have a 40cm minimum focus distance (infinite focus). The old setup positioned the camera too close. I converted a desk lamp into a multi-position webcam holder, allowing us to position the webcam farther from the device. The second webcam is positioned at the elbow and will point at the participant.

Ad Hoc Usability Testing: Smartphone/Tablet Stand

When performing usability tests, we want to record user actions. Easy enough on a computer with screen capture, a bit more difficult with a smartphone or tablet. Unfortunately, we don't have the budget (or fabrication machine) for a latch-on device such as the Mr. Tappy or Mod 1000. Next best thing will be to record the device using a stationary webcam. From past experience I have found the variable placement and angle of the device in a user's hands a difficult obstacle for consistent screen recording. I need the device stationary as well. So... how about a stand?

17 Days Early

April 30, 2012

• 3:00 AM CT - Contractions begin. Kathleen experiences moderate cramps, but the timing isn't consistent. Since we're 17 days from due, she decides they're just part of being pregnant and in her last trimester. Kathleen gets rest here and there, I sleep through the night. 
• 8:00 AM CT - I cook us eggs and tortilla with salsa for breakfast. Kathleen notices bleeding (a bit more than spotting) and is worried about a detached placenta or some other complications (Internet searches make us all self-diagnosing, paranoid freaks). After paging her doctor, we're advised to check into triage for a once-over. Kathleen eats a light meal of bread and water, in the unlikely event she's in labor. I eat the eggs and tortilla in the kitchen to reduce the torture of Kathleen's hunger pangs. We're still pretty confident that we'll be released back into public; after all, we're still 17 days from due. 
• 10:00 AM CT - We check into triage. Once the sensors are attached, we're told that Kathleen is having contractions. Another check shows that her contractions are about 6 minutes apart and she is 3cm dilated. Maybe we'll be asked to come back when the contractions are under 5 minutes and she is more dilated. Wait, does this mean the baby is coming now, and not in over two weeks from now? 
• 11:15 AM CT - No time like the present to get my Tdap! I've been trying for two weeks to get this vaccination; my doctor's office ran out. When I called this morning at 9 AM, I learned a new batch had arrived, and I scheduled an appointment (thinking I'd simply drop by after our quick visit to the hospital). Instead, it's a near sprint back-and-forth to the appointment. Thankfully, the office is just down the street. It's starting to really set in for me. I think, "Wow! I'm going to be father!"
• 3:00 PM CT - An ultrasound is ordered to check the position of the baby: all looks good for birth. Contractions are about 4 minutes apart and she is 5cm dilated. We're admitted into the ward, officially going from Early Labor into Active Labor. Although I had a big breakfast, I'm feeling a bit hungry.
• 3:30 PM CT - I am tasked with getting the luggage from the car. Taking advantage of the time, I head over to Chipotle to grab a quick bite; who knows if I'll be able to eat a full meal tonight. I also drop into the apartment to grab some movies to pass the time. How is it that Kathleen has never seen Ella Enchanted?!
• 4:00 PM CT - We're only at 6.5cm dilation and the doctor recommends we push Pitocin to get the delivery back on track or even speed it up. Kathleen is apprehensive because of the added pressure and pain as a side-effect. She wants to proceed without an epidural; if we go with Pitocin, she decides she'll definitely get an epidural. For now we wait and monitor her progress, hoping it picks up again. 
• 7:20 PM CT - A little bit of progress in labor, but not as much as we hoped. The choice of Pitocin is almost a given, so specialists are brought in to start the epidural process. As they check her body, her bag breaks. Labor is back on track! Pitocin is no longer necessary. However, the decision is made to proceed with the epidural because of the intensity of current contractions. I assure her that there is no right or wrong decision here; I let her know why I think that both decisions are good and support her. I can see the tiredness setting in like slow torture. 
• 8:30 PM CT - She's at 7cm dilation, and the pain is ever increasing. Right before the epidural takes effect, she rates the contraction 8/10 but really cannot take any more (meaning it's 10/10). Despite the power of Chipotle, I'm about running on empty. The cafeteria is closed, but luckily the nurses are willing to share their coffee pot with me! 
• 11:59 PM CT - The doctor is called in to help with the birth. Kathleen spikes a temperature of 101.7 (101.4 is the threshold). Pushing is delayed while antibiotics are pushed into Kathleen's system. It's all just a game of hurry-up and wait. 

May 1, 2012

• 1:00 AM CT - After just 10 big pushes, Alexis is pushed into this air-breathing world. She lets out a scream as soon as she is pulled out! The doctors and nurses are taken aback by her quick adaption to breathing our air. I cut the cord. She is given a quick rub down before being placed into her mother's awaiting arms. Kathleen is near tears of joy. "She's so beautiful! I love her!" We cuddle her for several minutes. Her temperature is 102.7, and the tentative decision is made to bring her into the nursery to bring her temperature under control. But while she is cleaned and measured, her temperatures drops to the normal range; she came out hot because of Kathleen's fever. She is allowed to stay in our room, foregoing the nursery. We're now a family of three!

Google Offers + Google Latitude

Today's email from Google Offers includes a "Near work" link. I cannot recall entering addresses into Google Offers; I assume it pulled my data from Google Latitude. Yay! I really enjoy and appreciate when Google products play nicely with each other.

iPhone Camera - Lens Flare

The lens protector on the iPhone 4 (and other iPhones) have a tendency to get scratched. I'm not sure why Apple chose to use cheap plastic instead of glass... after all, it's a camera. I tried buffing the lens, but to no avail. Apple charges something like $30-$40 to replace the "lens."

This temporary fix cost me nothing since I already had these screen protectors in stock (I found them on Amazon for $3.66: http://amzn.com/B002C6MOO0). Why does this work? The liquid adhesive fills the tiny scratches on the lens.

Even if you don't have this problem with your iPhone camera, I'd recommend placing this screen protector on the back of your iPhone to prevent future damage.

Weening Off Upgraded Shipping

Amazon Prime is awesome. Who doesn't like receiving their packages in two days, versus the "5-7 business days?" And for every single item Amazon can ship, you too can use and abuse this sense of urgency for a mere $80/month. Is there any way out of this addiction?

Amazon thinks so. With the rising costs of oil (and therefore shipping) and instability/sustainability issues surrounding oil, we're bound to see a plethora of solutions for the energy crisis. But what can Amazon do besides raise the prices for Amazon Prime? What can Amazon do to postpone (or perhaps avoid) complete backlash from its current customers? How about electronic money?

While purchasing items today, I noticed a link after the 5-7 days shipping: "Get $1 to Spend on MP3s - Learn More." That's one song. That's 1/10 of an album. Considering that I just bought a couple albums (Gotye and Lisa Hannigan) and considering my sporadic desires for a song here-and-there, this piqued my interest, and may ween me off the addiction to 2-day shipping.

Amazon Shipping: Get $1 to Spend on MP3s - Learn More