RailsConf 2017 in tweets, and my “Why Do Planes Crash?” lightning talk
RailsConf 2018 starts in exactly one month, and I’m looking forward to it! This means I should probably get around to saying something about RailsConf 2017. The video above is cued to start at the beginning of a lightning talk I gave. The title was “Why Do Planes Crash? Lessons for Junior and Senior Developers.” Analyses of plane crashes show planes actually crash more often when the senior pilot is in the flying seat, often because junior pilots are reticent to speak up when they see problems, while senior pilots don’t hesitate to do so when the junior pilot is flying. There are some great lessons developers can apply from this for how to do mentoring and pair programming.
The lightning talks were at the end of the 2nd day, and I made a last minute decision that morning to sign up and put a talk together. I’ve given a number of conference talks before, but never to a crowd this big, and never with so little time to prepare. Then when it was time to give the talk, there was a technical issue that prevented me from seeing my notes, so I had to wing it. Under the circumstances I think it still turned out ok. Here are my slides (they’re also embedded below) and some tweets about the talk:
Japanese Baseball on the 4th of July
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- You can bring your own drinks to Tokyo Dome, but you have to give up the cans – they pour the drinks in cups for you
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- Pre-game warm-up inside the Tokyo Dome
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- Japanese baseball has cheerleaders – here they are before the game
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- So many fans are dressed up, it’s hard to tell the stadium from the team locker room
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- David Bowie on the Tokyo Dome Wall of Fame (Sean, this one is for you)
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- These girls running up and down the stadium steps with kegs on their backs made me think of soldiers in boot camp
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- Red alert! An attendant frantically cleaning up a spilled beer
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- The Yomiuri Giants cheering section
As an American attending a Japanese major league baseball game for the first time, it turned out that the most fun part wasn’t watching the game, it was enjoying the highly choreographed, non-stop cacophony of alcohol soaked cheering and singing from the fans. The game itself was good, and was very much like watching two good major league American teams play. It was the Yomiuri Giants vs. the Hanshin Tigers, who have a long-running rivalry like the Yankees and Red Sox. The big difference from American baseball is the rituals the Japanese bring to the game. When you combine Japanese baseball fans’ fanaticism with their obsessions over convenience, cleanliness, and group activities involving alcohol, you get a unique experience.
Big Country’s Stuart Adamson: Underrated
Big Country’s Stuart Adamson
Stuart Adamson was the singer, lead guitarist, and primary song writer for Big Country, my favorite band. I’ve always been dazzled by his guitar work, but not being a musician myself, I was never really able to find the right words to describe what I was hearing. When I meet folks who play guitar, I always have to recommend they give a listen to Big Country, as most are not familiar with Adamson’s work, but I’ve never been able to explain exactly why he’s so good. The other day I came across Tom Kercheval’s blog – he’s an independent musician – and not only is he a Big Country fan, he listed Adamson as his primary influence, and unlike me, he’s able to explain Adamson’s talent: