Author Archives: stevek

Joel On Software

Posted on May 6, 2011 by stevek

After a bit of a delay, I’ve got another book to recommend. Joel Spolsky has kept a popular blog in the past decade, archived on his web site and in several books including Joel On Software. Joel borrows ideas from … Continue reading →

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The Mythical Man Month

Posted on March 2, 2011 by stevek

The Mythical Man Month is another of my favorite books on software and team productivity (this wikipedia page briefly covers the key ideas). The Mythical Man Month is a classic book which has profoundly affected thinking about software development processes.  … Continue reading →

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Peopleware

Posted on February 22, 2011 by stevek

I recently wrote about several of my favorite books on software and team productivity. Peopleware is a classic book on team building, productive and “jelled” teams, individual and team productivity, and work place environment. It is thought-provoking and should be … Continue reading →

Posted in Software, Zynga | Leave a comment

Three Good Books

Posted on February 15, 2011 by stevek

I’ve been working on the Cafe World team at Zynga for just over a year now.  It’s a great ride – we have an energetic and talented team who have built a wonderful game. Zynga executes software projects in highly … Continue reading →

Posted in Software, Zynga | 3 Comments

Cool Geek Toy: AR Drone

Posted on January 4, 2011 by stevek

A colleague at Zynga recently brought in his new AR Drone – I now have Christmas Present Envy.  AR Done is a product of Parrot. Videos Although I don’t (yet) own one, I’ve had my eye on these for a … Continue reading →

Posted in gadgets | 2 Comments

CityVille

Posted on December 8, 2010 by stevek

Zynga recently launched its latest game title CityVille.  It is described as “Monopoly meets Main Street” – it’s a city building and management game.  So far the game is growing even faster than FrontierVille, as reported in TechCrunch. You can … Continue reading →

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Dusty Leaders

Posted on November 8, 2010 by stevek

After a number of years, I recently re-watched Ken Burns’ iconic documentary The Civil War (the video streamed from Netflix splendidly). It’s a great series full of wonderful moments – Shelby Foote stealing the show, the pan-and-scan effect, and many … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Management | 4 Comments

Rainy Season

Posted on October 20, 2010 by stevek

Not everyone realizes it, but in Northern California we have warm sunny summers but cool wet winters.  I started commuting this year by bike, and needed to pick up some foul weather wear to make the trip bearable in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biking, Commuting | Leave a comment

NetApp System Manager in InfoWorld

Posted on September 28, 2010 by stevek

One of my major assignments at NetApp involved leading an effort to overhaul the administrative software for the company’s storage controllers – resulting in the NetApp System Manager product. System Manager was recently back in the news in a positive … Continue reading →

Posted in NetApp, System Manager | 3 Comments

Dahon Speed D7 Folding Bike

Posted on August 22, 2010 by stevek

Recently I started a job which requires me to commute to work via BART.  BART has its own rules regarding bicycles on the trains, which meant that I needed to get a folding bike in order to commute through downtown … Continue reading →

Posted in Biking, Commuting | 1 Comment