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<channel>
	<title>Curious Rami</title>
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	<link>http://raminasser.com</link>
	<description>ideas, tips and thoughts on management, work, and productivity - www.raminasser.com</description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:11:33 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Software Testing</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/09/21/software-testing/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/09/21/software-testing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:11:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/software-testing/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are two flavors of software (and firmware) tests: the functionality test plan and the try-to-break-it test.
The functionality test plan involves writing test plans to test functionalities and requirements. The try-to-break-it test involves using the software in an unexpected manner without a pre-written test plan.
Managers usually lobby for the functionality test plan and developers usually [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>There are two flavors of software (and firmware) tests: the functionality test plan and the try-to-break-it test.</p>
<p>The functionality test plan involves writing test plans to test functionalities and requirements. The try-to-break-it test involves using the software in an unexpected manner without a pre-written test plan.</p>
<p>Managers usually lobby for the functionality test plan and developers usually lobby for the try-to-break-it test.</p>
<p>Both tests are important and both tests must be performed after every new release.</p>
<p>The try-to-break-it test verifies the quality of newly added functionalities. On the other hand, the functionality test plan verifies that all previously added functionalities are still working.</p>
<p>Manager: Why do we need the try-to-break-it test?<br />
Developer: Because we need to test new functionalities <strong>now</strong>.</p>
<p>Developers: Why do we need the functionality test plan?<br />
Manager: Because we need to test current functionalities in the <strong>future</strong> after new releases.</p>
<p>The functionality test plan should be updated after running the try-to-break-it test to include tests for all new functionalities.</p>
<p> What do you think?</p>
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		<title>Fire At Park Victoria Building – 1333 South Park St - Halifax</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/09/03/fire-at-park-victoria-building-%e2%80%93-1333-south-park-st-halifax/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/09/03/fire-at-park-victoria-building-%e2%80%93-1333-south-park-st-halifax/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:20:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/09/03/fire-at-park-victoria-building-%e2%80%93-1333-south-park-st-halifax/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At 4:20 AM this morning, I spent 5 minutes in my bed trying to figure out whether the annoying sound was my alarm clock or my cell phone. Eventually, I realized that it was the fire alarm! So what, the fire alarm goes off regularly in my building, however, the last time we had a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>At 4:20 AM this morning, I spent 5 minutes in my bed trying to figure out whether the annoying sound was my alarm clock or my cell phone. Eventually, I realized that it was the fire alarm! So what, the fire alarm goes off regularly in my building, however, the last time we had a fire was December 2006. So this time it is probably be a false alarm, right?</p>
<p>I took a quick peak outside my bedroom window. Well, well, well! There was a big scene down in front of my building. There were at least 6 fire trucks with their flashy red lights. Many people were already down with more coming out every few seconds. My building has about 400 apartments with an average of 2-3 people per apartment. I am guessing there are at least 1000 residents in my building.</p>
<p>I believe in the wisdom of the crowd, so I decided to head down immediately. I washed my face, put on my jeans and jacket and headed out. My building has 3 exits on each floor, one in the middle and one on each side. I tried the middle one, and it was full of smoke, it did not help that I took a deep breath as I opened the door to the stair way. Well, that sucks, this is the real deal!</p>
<p>I ran to one of the other exits, and it was clear. I got down fast. I survived!</p>
<p>The fire was on the fourth floor. I did not see an ambulance so I am hoping nobody got hurt.</p>
<p>The whole thing was over by 5:45 AM.</p>
<p>It is now 6:20 AM, so back to bed.</p>
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		<title>Questionable and Illegal Trading Practices</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/08/20/questionable-and-illegal-trading-practices/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/08/20/questionable-and-illegal-trading-practices/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Aug 2007 05:22:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/questionable-and-illegal-trading-practices/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After watching the following video of Max Keiser on Rigged Markets, I compiled a list of the definitions of questionable and illegal trading practices:

Bear Raid
The illegal practice of attempting to push the price of a stock lower by taking large short positions and spreading unfavorable rumors about the target firm.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bearraid.asp
Front Running
Front running is the illegal [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>After watching the following video of Max Keiser on Rigged Markets, I compiled a list of the definitions of questionable and illegal trading practices:</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/08/20/questionable-and-illegal-trading-practices/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/8z66kmPRl5Y/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Bear Raid</p>
<blockquote><p>The illegal practice of attempting to push the price of a stock lower by taking large short positions and spreading unfavorable rumors about the target firm.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bearraid.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bearraid.asp</a></p>
<p>Front Running</p>
<blockquote><p>Front running is the illegal practice of a stock broker executing orders on a security for their own account (and thus affecting prices) before filling orders previously submitted by their customers. After the broker has made their original transactions, they can expect to close out their position at a profit based on the new price level. Front running may involve either buying (where the broker buys for their account, driving up the price before filling customer buy orders) or selling (where the broker sells for their own account, driving down the price before filling customer sell orders).</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_running">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_running</a></p>
<p>Backdating</p>
<blockquote><p>Dating any document by a date earlier than the one on which the document was originally drawn up. Under most circumstances, backdating is seen as fraudulent and illegal, although there are some situations in which backdating can be used in a legal and beneficial way, such as backdating a claim for a past period.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/backdating.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/backdating.asp</a></p>
<p>Lookback Option</p>
<blockquote><p>Call or put option whose strike price is not determined until the option is exercised. At the time of exercise, the holder can exercise the option at any underlying price that has occurred during the option&#8217;s life. In the case of a call, the buyer will choose the lowest price, and in the case of a put, the buyer will choose the highest price. The premium on such options tends to be high since it gives the buyer great flexibility, and the writer has to take on a lot of risk.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investorwords.com/2893/lookback_option.html">http://www.investorwords.com/2893/lookback_option.html</a></p>
<p>Wash Sale</p>
<blockquote><p>An illegal transaction an investor makes by simultaneously buying and selling a security through two different brokers, thereby creating the illusion of activity. Investors do this to try and recognize a tax loss without actually changing their position.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/washsale.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/washsale.asp</a></p>
<p>Blank-Check Company</p>
<blockquote><p>A company in a developmental stage that either doesn&#8217;t have an established business plan or has a business plan that revolves around a merger or acquisition with another firm.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blankcheckcompany.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blankcheckcompany.asp</a></p>
<p>Kiting</p>
<blockquote><p>1. The act of misrepresenting the value of a financial instrument for the purpose of extending credit obligations or increasing financial leverage.<br />
2. A fraudulent act involving the alteration or issuance of a check or draft with insufficient funds.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/kited.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/kited.asp</a></p>
<p>Parking</p>
<blockquote><p>A form of kiting shares that a brokerage commits by moving long positions in unrelated accounts to cover short positions that are improperly settled according to SEC regulations.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/parking.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/parking.asp</a></p>
<p>Painting The Tape</p>
<blockquote><p>An illegal action by a group of market manipulators buying and/or selling a security among themselves to create artificial trading activity, which, when reported on the ticker tape, lures in unsuspecting investors as they perceive an unusual volume.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/paintingthetape.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/paintingthetape.asp</a></p>
<p>Market Timing</p>
<blockquote><p>1. The act of attempting to predict the future direction of the market, typically through the use of technical indicators or economic data.<br />
2. The practice of switching among mutual fund asset classes in an attempt to profit from the changes in their market outlook.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/markettiming.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/markettiming.asp</a></p>
<p>Spring Loading</p>
<blockquote><p>A type of option-granting practice where options are granted at a time that precedes a positive news event. Since positive news typically causes the underlying company&#8217;s stock to surge in value, timing an option grant to precede the public newsrelease will allow the option-holder to receive an almost instant profit.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/spring_loading.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/spring_loading.asp</a></p>
<p>Bullet Dodging</p>
<blockquote><p>A form of option granting where the awarding of options is delayed until a piece of bad news is known to the public and the stock&#8217;s price falls. Since an option&#8217;s strike price is often determined by what the underlying stock&#8217;s price was on the grant date, waiting for the stock price to drop will allow the option holders to gain some additional benefit, in the form of a lowered strike price.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bullet_dodging.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bullet_dodging.asp</a></p>
<p>Short Selling</p>
<blockquote><p>The selling of a security that the seller does not own, or any sale that is completed by the delivery of a security borrowed by the seller. Short sellers assume that they will be able to buy the stock at a lower amount than the price at which they sold short.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortselling.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortselling.asp</a></p>
<p>Naked Shorting</p>
<blockquote><p>The illegal practice of short selling shares that have not been affirmatively determined to exist. Ordinarily, traders must borrow a stock, or determine that it can be borrowed, before they sell it short. However, some professional investors and hedge funds take advantage of loopholes in the rules to sell shares without making any attempt to borrow the stock.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nakedshorting.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nakedshorting.asp</a></p>
<p>Pump And Dump</p>
<blockquote><p>A scheme attempting to boost the price of a stock through recommendations based on false, misleading, or greatly exaggerated statements. The perpetrators of this scheme, who already have an established position in the company&#8217;s stock, sell their position after the hype has led to a higher share price. This practice is illegal based on securities law and can lead to heavy fines. The victims of this scheme will often lose a considerable amount of their investment as the stock often falls back down after the process is complete.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pumpanddump.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pumpanddump.asp</a></p>
<p>Late-Day Trading</p>
<blockquote><p>An unethical (if not illegal) practice of a hedge fund purchasing and then selling securities (usually shares of a mutual fund) after the close of a trading day, but making the transactions appear as though they occurred before the market close.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/latedaytrading.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/latedaytrading.asp</a></p>
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		<title>Save the penny or leave the penny?</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/08/07/save-the-penny-or-leave-the-penny/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/08/07/save-the-penny-or-leave-the-penny/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:44:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/08/07/save-the-penny-or-leave-the-penny/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I was very disappointed to learn that my evil plan to get rid of over 1,000 pennies is going to fail miserably. Over the past few years, I collected over 1,000 pennies. My plan was to take all the pennies and buy something with them and enjoy the look on the cashier’s face while [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Today I was very disappointed to learn that my evil plan to get rid of over 1,000 pennies is going to fail miserably. Over the past few years, I collected over 1,000 pennies. My plan was to take all the pennies and buy something with them and enjoy the look on the cashier’s face while attempting to count the pennies. I thought that cashiers are obligated to take all the pennies. Well, I was wrong, according to a CBC article titled <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/penny.html">Save the penny or leave the penny?</a></p>
<blockquote><p>In Canada, the Currency Act says, &#8220;A payment in coins … is a legal tender for no more than … twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.&#8221; No one is legally obligated to accept more than 25 pennies at a time.</p></blockquote>
<p>Here you can find the <a href="http://www.canlii.org/ca/as/1999/c4/whole.html">Royal Canadian Mint Act and the Currency Act</a> and the limits on all coins.</p>
<p>There goes my evil plan <img src='http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>I look forward to a Canada without the penny.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
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		<title>ScienceHack.com Featured On CTV Canada AM Show Monday July 27 2007</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/08/04/sciencehackcom-featured-on-ctv-canada-am-show-monday-july-27-2007/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/08/04/sciencehackcom-featured-on-ctv-canada-am-show-monday-july-27-2007/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:02:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[ScienceHack]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[ScienceHack was featured on CTV Canada AM show Monday July 27 2007.

       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><a href="http://sciencehack.com/">ScienceHack</a> was featured on <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070730/social_networking_070730/20070730/" title="ScienceHack On CTV.ca">CTV Canada AM</a> show Monday July 27 2007.</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/08/04/sciencehackcom-featured-on-ctv-canada-am-show-monday-july-27-2007/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/lMix3WWqgyg/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
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		<title>CakePHP Main Page Caching Workaround</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/07/24/cakephp-main-page-caching-workaround/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/07/24/cakephp-main-page-caching-workaround/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2007 06:20:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[CakePHP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/07/24/cakephp-main-page-caching-workaround/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[CakePHP has a great caching helper with one annoying bug; the main page located at “/” never gets cached because the cache helper tries to name the cache file .php (null) and fails.
SiteAMonth (http://www.siteamonth.com/archives/2007/02/21/cakephp-cache-workarounds-part-1/) has found a solution with a little problem:
This does generate an extra request due to the redirect. The optimal solution is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>CakePHP has a great caching helper with one annoying bug; the main page located at “/” never gets cached because the cache helper tries to name the cache file .php (null) and fails.</p>
<p>SiteAMonth (<a href="http://www.siteamonth.com/archives/2007/02/21/cakephp-cache-workarounds-part-1/">http://www.siteamonth.com/archives/2007/02/21/cakephp-cache-workarounds-part-1/</a>) has found a solution with a little problem:</p>
<blockquote><p>This does generate an extra request due to the redirect. The optimal solution is to fix this in the CakePHP core. Once I have a better understanding of the cache code I may suggest a fix, assuming someone doesn’t beat me to it.</p></blockquote>
<p>Here is my solution which requires modifying two files in CakePHP framework build cake_1.1.16.5421:</p>
<p>On line 206 of \cake\libs\view\helpers\<strong>cache.php</strong> change:</p>
<p>if (empty($cache)) {<br />
  return;<br />
}</p>
<p>To:</p>
<p>if (empty($cache)) {<br />
  /*Modified by Rami Nasser */<br />
  /*”rami” is the main page cache file name*/<br />
  $cache = “rami”;<br />
  /*return;*/<br />
}</p>
<p>On line 90 of \cake\<strong>bootstrap.php</strong></p>
<p>After:</p>
<p>if (empty($uri)) {<br />
  $uri = setUri();<br />
}</p>
<p>Add:</p>
<p>/*Added by Rami Nasser*/<br />
if($uri == “/”) {<br />
  /*”rami” is the main page cache file name*/<br />
  $uri = “rami”;<br />
}</p>
<p>I used “rami” for the cache file name because… Anyways make up your own.</p>
<p>Let me know what you think.</p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
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		<title>Best of Marketing Videos</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jul 2007 05:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quiksilver:

Ray Ban:

Hydro:

John West Salmon (Classic):

Leave a comment with your favorite marketing videos. NOW!
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><span style="font-size:24pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">Quiksilver:</span></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/JR_naKxLEPc/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:24pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">Ray Ban:</span></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/-prfAENSh2k/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:24pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">Hydro:</span></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/kaOEmDJUNmM/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:24pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">John West Salmon (Classic):</span></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/07/04/best-of-marketing-videos/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/zOpKFPEah3E/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">Leave a comment with your favorite marketing videos. NOW!</span></p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
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		<title>Voldemort killed Hermione and Snape killed Hagrid</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/22/voldemort-killed-hermione-and-snape-killed-hagrid/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/22/voldemort-killed-hermione-and-snape-killed-hagrid/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jun 2007 04:46:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/voldemort-killed-hermione-and-snape-killed-hagrid/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am not sure if this story is true or false, however it makes a point that everyone in your organization should be informed about the dangers of the internet and should be trained to spot and avoid hackers’ attacks.
The attack strategy was the easiest one.
The usual milw0rm downloaded exploit delivered by email/click-on-the-link/open-browser/click-on-this-animated-icon/back-connect to some [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>I am not sure if this story is true or false, however it makes a point that everyone in your organization should be informed about the dangers of the internet and should be trained to spot and avoid hackers’ attacks.</p>
<blockquote><p>The attack strategy was the easiest one.</p>
<p>The usual milw0rm downloaded exploit delivered by email/click-on-the-link/open-browser/click-on-this-animated-icon/back-connect to some employee of Bloomsbury Publishing, the company that&#8217;s behind the Harry crap.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s amazing to see how much people inside the company have copies and drafts of this book.</p></blockquote>
<p>http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2007/Jun/0380.html</p>
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		<title>What To Do To Resist Adding New Features To Your Project?</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/20/what-to-do-to-resist-adding-new-features-to-your-project/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/20/what-to-do-to-resist-adding-new-features-to-your-project/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jun 2007 03:18:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GPD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GTD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Getting Projects Done]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Time Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/06/20/what-to-do-to-resist-adding-new-features-to-your-project/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Product managers, marketing managers, sales managers and customers will always push to add new features to your project. It is very hard for developers and engineers to argue against adding new features for many reasons including:
1-Customers and managers will always have a good reason for adding the new features (so they think). They are always [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Product managers, marketing managers, sales managers and customers will always push to add new features to your project. It is very hard for developers and engineers to argue against adding new features for many reasons including:</p>
<p>1-Customers and managers will always have a good reason for adding the new features (so they think). They are always so existed about the new features that they can’t listen to you.</p>
<p>2- Customers and managers will argue that you say “no” because you have to do it (in their mind; developers play Desktop Tower Defense all day long).</p>
<p>3-You, developer, are worried that they will go to someone else, and you will no longer be the go-to-guy.</p>
<p>So what to do?</p>
<p>Simply said: Play Their Game.</p>
<p><strong>Managers and customers will always push the developers to add new features with the assumption that the golden three: cost, time and resources will not change.</strong></p>
<p>So here is what you do:</p>
<p>1-Get really excited about the new features</p>
<p>2-Agree to add the new features</p>
<p>3-Congratulate them on coming up with the new features</p>
<p>Here it comes:</p>
<p><strong>4-Tell them, very casually; that the new features will delay the project by 3 weeks and that you will need another tester for 1 week.</strong></p>
<p>The magic:</p>
<p><strong>Managers and customers will immediately stop you and tell you to forget about the new features and put them in the nice-to-have features list where they will stay there forever.</strong></p>
<p>It works, give it a try, and let me know what you think.</p>
<p>As usual, comment, comment, and comment now!</p>
<p>PS: Wrote this post while listening to Dream Theater’s Systematic Chaos. Awesome CD!</p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
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		<title>issmatblog Interview</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/19/issmatblog-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/19/issmatblog-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[ScienceHack]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Workhack]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://raminasser.com/2007/06/19/issmatblog-interview/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I had a phone interview with Issmat of http://issmatblog.wordpress.com, check it out:
http://issmatblog.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/rami-nasser-young-haligonian-entrepreneure-next-internet-millionaire/
I am not sure about being the next internet millionaire  
Thanks Issmat for the interview and extra points for making it a phone interview. Great talking to you!
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Today I had a phone interview with Issmat of <a href="http://issmatblog.wordpress.com/">http://issmatblog.wordpress.com</a>, check it out:</p>
<p><a href="http://issmatblog.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/rami-nasser-young-haligonian-entrepreneure-next-internet-millionaire/">http://issmatblog.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/rami-nasser-young-haligonian-entrepreneure-next-internet-millionaire/</a></p>
<p>I am not sure about being the next internet millionaire <img src='http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Thanks Issmat for the interview and extra points for making it a phone interview. Great talking to you!</p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
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		<title>What To Do When Projects Are Behind Schedule?</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/19/what-to-do-when-projects-are-behind-schedule/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/19/what-to-do-when-projects-are-behind-schedule/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:24:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GPD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GTD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Getting Projects Done]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Time Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/what-to-do-when-projects-are-behind-schedule/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When projects are behind schedule; most managers will push their team to work overtime and sacrifice quality in order to ship products on schedule.
Those managers need to understand two points:
1- Working overtime does not fix the problem. As developers/engineers work more hours, their productivity declines. Moreover, sooner or later the team will burnout and hate [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>When projects are behind schedule; most managers will push their team to work overtime and sacrifice quality in order to ship products on schedule.</p>
<p>Those managers need to understand two points:</p>
<p>1- Working overtime does not fix the problem. As developers/engineers work more hours, their productivity declines. Moreover, sooner or later the team will burnout and hate their job.</p>
<p>2- Sacrificing quality is a short term solution; it will most likely get the manager a promotion or a bonus. However, eventually, the product will fail or the code will break, the truth will rise, exposing the manager’s doings, damaging their reputation and costing the company a fortune to fix all the problems.</p>
<p>What to do when projects are behind schedule? Simple: <strong>The only way to successfully finish the project is to cut as many features as possible. </strong></p>
<p>Here is a systematic procedure to accomplish this difficult reality:</p>
<p>1- Stop</p>
<p>2- Admit that something went wrong</p>
<p>3- Make a decision that you are going to do something about it and that failure is not an option</p>
<p>4- Prioritize the project’s remaining tasks (think big - major tasks only)</p>
<p>5- Assign cost, time and human resources required for each task</p>
<p>6- The magic: get rid of as many tasks (features) as possible based on priority, cost, time and human resources required</p>
<p>1, 2, and 3 are lame but required.</p>
<p><strong>50% of all features will never be used and are purely added for marketing purposes, get rid of them.</strong></p>
<p>Let me know what you think, comment, comment, comment now!</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I wrote this post while listening to “Just a Car Crash Away” by Marilyn Manson.</p>
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		<title>MBA Staffing/HR Course</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/11/mba-staffinghr-course/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/11/mba-staffinghr-course/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:05:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[MBA]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/06/11/mba-staffinghr-course/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I just finished a week long course on staffing from Dalhousie University. Mr. Alex Filimon taught the class and he did a great job. The course focused on HR management issues including evaluating and forecasting current and future recruitment requirements, preparing recruitment proposals, preparing job descriptions and requirements, advertising, screening, testing, interviewing and making hiring [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>I just finished a week long course on staffing from Dalhousie University. Mr. Alex Filimon taught the class and he did a great job. The course focused on HR management issues including evaluating and forecasting current and future recruitment requirements, preparing recruitment proposals, preparing job descriptions and requirements, advertising, screening, testing, interviewing and making hiring decisions. In one week, I attended 40 hours of lectures, wrote 3 papers and took 1 quiz. Over the next 2 weeks I have to write a complete HR plan to recruit for a position of my choice, most likely an electrical engineer.</p>
<p>I learned a lot from this course, and I recommend that every MBA student should take a staffing class. I learned that the recruitment process is a scientific process. I learned that it is very easy to discriminate even when you don’t mean to (I did not like the way he laughs is discrimination!). I learned that you have to document the whole recruitment process and prove that every interview question has a purpose and is related to the job requirements. I learned that you could be sued based on the interview outcomes only. I learned that you could be sued if you fire an alcoholic because alcoholism is a sickness in most provinces.</p>
<p>What you need to do:</p>
<ul>
<li>Consult an HR professional before you start the interview process.</li>
<li>Consult a lawyer if you have any bona fide job requirements (example: must be male, or must be age 21 to 25).</li>
<li>Consult a lawyer before you fire an employee.</li>
</ul>
<p>Quiz:</p>
<p><strong>Do you think video resumes are a good idea?</strong></p>
<p>After you answer, read the following article form Business Week on the potential consequences of watching video resumes:</p>
<blockquote><p>Beware Of That Video Resume<br />
Employers should think carefully before pressing &#8220;play&#8221; on the online video résumés job seekers are increasingly sending out, some labor attorneys warn.</p>
<p>Cheryl Behymer, a partner at national labor and employment law firm Fisher &amp; Phillips, says she advises her clients to proceed with caution to be sure they&#8217;re not making themselves more vulnerable to charges of discrimination. &#8220;You&#8217;re seeing a physical representation of the candidate, what their race is, their national origin, their age,&#8221; she says. &#8220;That potential applicant might say: The reason you didn&#8217;t [interview] me is because you can tell I&#8217;m a minority.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
<p>The idea of first looking just at a candidate&#8217;s qualifications, Behymer says, is to help prevent the filing of a failure-to-hire claim, which can arise if an employer is suspected of discriminating against an applicant who belongs to a &#8220;protected class&#8221; a minority individual or an older person, for instance. It helps at this early stage of the hiring process, she says, to keep information about race and age, for example, separate from a candidate&#8217;s skills and qualifications.</p>
<p>One process Behymer recommends: Have initial résumé screeners omit the video when they send along a candidate&#8217;s other materials to the manager actually doing the interviewing or hiring.</p>
<p>Like Behymer, Garry Mathiason, a senior partner at leading employment firm Littler Mendelson in San Francisco, says that employers should never require video résumés from candidates. That&#8217;s tantamount, he says, to asking questions about race or age &#8220;that at this stage in the process are unlawful.&#8221;</p>
<p>But, says Mathiason, &#8220;if the applicant decides to send in that information through a video résumé,&#8221; he doesn&#8217;t agree that an employer has to avoid it. Companies &#8220;do take on some additional, limited risk&#8221; by viewing an online video résumé, he says. But they can also gain from assessing certain traits in candidates—&#8221;how confident they are, for example.&#8221; Still, he says, to be safe, &#8220;I&#8217;d err on the side of including in my interviews all those who meet the job&#8217;s objective criteria.&#8221;</p>
<p>By Jena McGregor</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/c4038004.htm">http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/c4038004.htm</a></p>
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		<title>ScienceHack.com on the Cover of Wired</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/09/sciencehackcom-on-the-cover-of-wired/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/09/sciencehackcom-on-the-cover-of-wired/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jun 2007 00:21:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Fruity McBanana]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[ScienceHack]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/06/09/sciencehackcom-on-the-cover-of-wired/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
 

Well not yet! Make your cover.
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><a href="http://sciencehack.com/"><br />
<img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/wired.jpg" alt="ScienceHack on Wired Cover" /> <br />
</a><br />
Well not yet! <a href="http://www.condenet.com/promo/xerox/">Make your cover.</a></p>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/rami.wordpress.com/166/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/rami.wordpress.com/166/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/rami.wordpress.com/166/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/rami.wordpress.com/166/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/rami.wordpress.com/166/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/rami.wordpress.com/166/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=raminasser.com&blog=92767&post=166&subd=rami&ref=&feed=1" /></div>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/wired.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ScienceHack on Wired Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>Jan Rabaey on Synthetic Biology</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/07/jan-rabaey-on-synthetic-biology/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/06/07/jan-rabaey-on-synthetic-biology/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:17:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Innovation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/06/07/jan-rabaey-on-synthetic-biology/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bioengineering is the way of the future

       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Bioengineering is the way of the future</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/06/07/jan-rabaey-on-synthetic-biology/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/8HNCJlPLfyU/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
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		<title>Web2.0 Graphic and CSS Generators</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/31/web20-graphic-and-css-generators/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/31/web20-graphic-and-css-generators/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 May 2007 22:06:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/05/31/web20-graphic-and-css-generators/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
To accelerate the design process of http://sciencehack.com, I used the following tools (makers, generators, builders, creators, designers or whatever you want to call them):
Loading GIFs:
http://www.ajaxload.info/
Buttons:
http://www.mycoolbutton.com/
Diagonal Stripes Backgrounds:
http://www.stripegenerator.com/
Purely CSS Rounded Corners:
http://www.spiffycorners.com/
Logo:
http://h-master.net/web2.0/
http://creatr.cc/creatr/
Leave a comment with your favorite design tools.
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><iframe src='http://digg.com/api/diggthis.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdigg.com%2Fdesign%2FWeb2_0_Graphic_and_CSS_Generators' height='82' width='55' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 4px 0 2px 4px; background: #fff;'></iframe><br />
To accelerate the design process of <a href="http://sciencehack.com/">http://sciencehack.com</a>, I used the following tools (makers, generators, builders, creators, designers or whatever you want to call them):</p>
<p>Loading GIFs:<br />
<a href="http://www.ajaxload.info/">http://www.ajaxload.info/</a></p>
<p>Buttons:<br />
<a href="http://www.mycoolbutton.com/">http://www.mycoolbutton.com/</a></p>
<p>Diagonal Stripes Backgrounds:<br />
<a href="http://www.stripegenerator.com/">http://www.stripegenerator.com/</a></p>
<p>Purely CSS Rounded Corners:<br />
<a href="http://www.spiffycorners.com/">http://www.spiffycorners.com/</a></p>
<p>Logo:<br />
<a href="http://h-master.net/web2.0/">http://h-master.net/web2.0/</a><br />
<a href="http://creatr.cc/creatr/">http://creatr.cc/creatr/</a></p>
<p>Leave a comment with your favorite design tools.</p>
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		<title>Improving Reddit Stories Score Display</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/15/improving-reddit-stories-score-display/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/15/improving-reddit-stories-score-display/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2007 16:58:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/05/15/improving-reddit-stories-score-display/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reddit (http://reddit.com) score their stories by the number of points they get, which is equal to the number of up votes minus the number of down votes.
If we learned anything from politics, it is that people will disagree on everything (social issues, economics, religion, science, etc&#8230;); and when they all agree on one thing, it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Reddit (<a href="http://reddit.com/">http://reddit.com</a>) score their stories by the number of points they get, which is equal to the number of up votes minus the number of down votes.</p>
<p>If we learned anything from politics, it is that people will disagree on everything (social issues, economics, religion, science, etc&#8230;); and when they all agree on one thing, it is probably lame, like puppies are cute, well dah!</p>
<p>Solution: Reddit should display both up votes and down votes next to each story.</p>
<p>I never click on a story unless it has over 10 points, but some stories could have 55 up votes and 50 down votes and the result is only +5 points. Well, a story that gets over 100 votes (up or down) is an important story.</p>
<p>Why should the story suffer when we disagree?</p>
<p>Save the story save the world.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p><a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/reddit-score.gif" title="reddit score"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/reddit-score.gif" alt="reddit score" /></a></p>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/rami.wordpress.com/158/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/rami.wordpress.com/158/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/rami.wordpress.com/158/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/rami.wordpress.com/158/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/rami.wordpress.com/158/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/rami.wordpress.com/158/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=raminasser.com&blog=92767&post=158&subd=rami&ref=&feed=1" /></div>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/reddit-score.gif" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">reddit score</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How Digg Fooled Us All (a Lesson in Marketing).</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/14/how-digg-fooled-us-all-a-lesson-in-marketing/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/14/how-digg-fooled-us-all-a-lesson-in-marketing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2007 22:09:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/05/14/how-digg-fooled-us-all-a-lesson-in-marketing/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event:
On May 1st, the following events took place on the internet:
1. Digg got served with a DMCA takedown notice.
2. Jay consulted Digg’s lawyers and they said ignore it.
3. Nevertheless, Jay took down all related links and posted an entry about the matter.
4. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><iframe src='http://digg.com/api/diggthis.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdigg.com%2Ftech_news%2FHow_Digg_Fooled_Us_All_a_Lesson_in_Marketing' height='82' width='55' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 4px 0 2px 4px; background: #fff;'></iframe></p>
<p>The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event:</p>
<p>On May 1st, the following events took place on the internet:</p>
<p>1. Digg got served with a DMCA takedown notice.<br />
2. Jay consulted Digg’s lawyers and <strong>they said ignore it.</strong><br />
3. Nevertheless, Jay took down all related links and posted an entry about the matter.<br />
<strong>4. Jay ordered his developers to cheat the digg system and digg up every new related link just enough to show up on the front page.<br />
</strong>5. Every digger bought into the… hmm… let’s call it a marketing stunt.<br />
6. Digg got huge spike from blogs.<br />
<strong>7. Most importantly digg got huge exposure to new audience through TV and newspapers.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Conclusion: Jay is a genius, his film and broadcasting experience paid off here.</strong></p>
<p>But Why? Because between Dec 2006 and April 2007, Digg’s daily reach has been declining and Mr. Investor did not like that <img src='http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/digg_spike.gif" title="digg spike"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/digg_spike.thumbnail.gif" alt="digg spike" /></a></p>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/rami.wordpress.com/156/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/rami.wordpress.com/156/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/rami.wordpress.com/156/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/rami.wordpress.com/156/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/rami.wordpress.com/156/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/rami.wordpress.com/156/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=raminasser.com&blog=92767&post=156&subd=rami&ref=&feed=1" /></div>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/digg_spike.thumbnail.gif" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">digg spike</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Social Bookmarking for Engineers</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/14/social-bookmarking-for-engineers/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/14/social-bookmarking-for-engineers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2007 18:34:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[CakePHP]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/05/14/social-bookmarking-for-engineers/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

I believe that there is a huge opportunity for engineering related social networks. The only engineering social website that I know off is http://octopart.com/, a very useful search engine for electronic parts (let me know if you know off other social engineering websites).
Today I developed a new social bookmarking site for engineers, EngBeat: http://www.engbeat.com. I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><a href="http://www.engbeat.com/"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/engbeat.png" alt="EngBeat.com" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>I believe that there is a huge opportunity for engineering related social networks. The only engineering social website that I know off is <a href="http://octopart.com/">http://octopart.com/</a>, a very useful search engine for electronic parts (let me know if you know off other social engineering websites).</p>
<p>Today I developed a new social bookmarking site for engineers, EngBeat: <a href="http://www.engbeat.com/">http://www.engbeat.com</a>. I say today because it took me 4 hours to design and develop EngBeat using CakePHP. EngBeat is very beta, right now you can only submit engineering links but I intent to add accounts, categories, rss feeds and comments soon.</p>
<p>Give it a try and let me what you think.</p>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/rami.wordpress.com/155/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/rami.wordpress.com/155/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/rami.wordpress.com/155/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/rami.wordpress.com/155/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/rami.wordpress.com/155/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/rami.wordpress.com/155/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=raminasser.com&blog=92767&post=155&subd=rami&ref=&feed=1" /></div>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/engbeat.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">EngBeat.com</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Truemors Goes Public</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/13/truemors-goes-public/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/13/truemors-goes-public/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 May 2007 18:21:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://raminasser.com/2007/05/13/truemors-goes-public/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today http://www.truemors.com/ went public. Truemors is an interesting website where you can post rumors using SMS, email, or phone. You don&#8217;t need an account to post anything.
I gave it a try ( http://truemors.com/?p=563 ) and gave myself a score of 4 by deleting the Truemors cookie (I feel like a dirty spammer, just couldn&#8217;t resist [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Today <a href="http://www.truemors.com/">http://www.truemors.com/</a> went public. Truemors is an interesting website where you can post rumors using SMS, email, or phone. You don&#8217;t need an account to post anything.<br />
I gave it a try ( <a href="http://truemors.com/?p=563">http://truemors.com/?p=563</a> ) and gave myself a score of 4 by deleting the Truemors cookie (I feel like a dirty spammer, just couldn&#8217;t resist to try, sorry Truemors.)<br />
Here is a screenshot of my experiment (I am on top):<br />
<a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/truemors-test-2.gif" title="Truemors"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/truemors-test-2.thumbnail.gif" alt="Truemors" /></a><br />
Truemors already implemented the tough features (SMS and phone); the next step should be to add optional signup with the ability to monitor friends and groups. Truemors main man is Guy Kawasaki (<a href="http://blog.guykawasaki.com/">http://blog.guykawasaki.com/</a> ; given Guy’s status in the web2 world, the expectations are super high. Good luck Guy.</p>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/rami.wordpress.com/152/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/rami.wordpress.com/152/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/rami.wordpress.com/152/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/rami.wordpress.com/152/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/rami.wordpress.com/152/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/rami.wordpress.com/152/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=raminasser.com&blog=92767&post=152&subd=rami&ref=&feed=1" /></div>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/truemors-test-2.thumbnail.gif" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Truemors</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Entrepreneur27.org Interview</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/07/entrepreneur27org-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/07/entrepreneur27org-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 May 2007 03:51:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Workhack]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/entrepreneur27org-interview/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week I had an interview with Will Kern of Entrepreneur27.org, check it out:
http://www.entrepreneur27.org/archive/interview-with-rami-nasser-of-workhack/
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>Last week I had an interview with Will Kern of Entrepreneur27.org, check it out:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.entrepreneur27.org/archive/interview-with-rami-nasser-of-workhack/">http://www.entrepreneur27.org/archive/interview-with-rami-nasser-of-workhack/</a></p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>In Memorial of the Tire in the Tree</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/02/in-memorial-of-the-tire-in-the-tree/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/05/02/in-memorial-of-the-tire-in-the-tree/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2007 21:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/05/02/in-memorial-of-the-tire-in-the-tree/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On May 1st 2007, the infamous tire in the tree in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada (highway 102) disappeared. Please take a moment to remember the tire in the tree.

 Update May 19 2007: The picture above is taken from: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2330994504
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>On May 1st 2007, the infamous tire in the tree in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada (highway 102) <strong>disappeared</strong>. Please take a moment to remember the tire in the tree.</p>
<p><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/n2330994504_2298.jpg" alt="Bedford Tire in the Tree" /></p>
<p> Update May 19 2007: The picture above is taken from: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2330994504">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2330994504</a></p>
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		<media:content url="http://a.wordpress.com/avatar/rami-128.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/n2330994504_2298.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bedford Tire in the Tree</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Learning CakePHP Step 1</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/04/22/learning-cakephp-step-1/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/04/22/learning-cakephp-step-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2007 19:09:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[CakePHP]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Startup]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/04/22/learning-cakephp-step-1/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a tutorial on how to design a website from scratch using CakePHP. To make the tutorial useful and challenging, I decided to clone an existing web application. One web app that I visit every day is http://news.ycombinator.com/. Y.News is a great resource for startups and it is based on Reddit.com.
To accelerate the development [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>This is a tutorial on how to design a website from scratch using CakePHP. To make the tutorial useful and challenging, I decided to clone an existing web application. One web app that I visit every day is <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/">http://news.ycombinator.com/</a>. Y.News is a great resource for startups and it is based on Reddit.com.</p>
<p>To accelerate the development cycle, I copied Y.News’s .css file and HTML structure.</p>
<p>All that is left is the dynamic code (php) including database connection, user authentication, etc…</p>
<p>I first started by designing the database and followed CakePHP naming conventions. I have four tables: users, sites, comments and votes. ‘Users’ has many sites, comments, and votes; and ‘sites’ has many comments and votes.</p>
<p>Then I ran cakePHP’s bake.php to build the default models, controllers, and views.</p>
<p>Then I designed the website structure:<br />
/sites/newest<br />
/sites/best<br />
/sites/submit<br />
/sites/view<br />
/users/add<br />
/users/login<br />
/users/view<br />
/layouts/default<br />
/errors/error404</p>
<p>To make the website more efficient, I added two fields, commentscount and votescount, to the sites table and updated those fields every time a new comment or a new vote is added. This saved me two additional JOIN queries.</p>
<p>Then I deleted all unnecessary model relationships, controller functions, and views. Most importantly, is deleting unnecessary model relationships, for example, the relationship between the votes table and the sites table is no longer needed after adding the votescount field to the sites table. Deleting relationships saves you a JOIN query.</p>
<p>Sometimes you will be forced to add a JOIN query. For example, /sites/view displays one site and all related comments, to show the username of the comment submitter, you will need to add a new query:</p>
<p>Sites.*, Comments.*, Users.username AS Auther FROM Comments INNER JOIN Users ON Users.id = Comments.user_id LEFT OUTER JOIN Sites ON Comments.site_id = Sites.id WHERE Sites.id = &#8216;. $id</p>
<p>This website was built in 4 hours; that is a lot given that this is a simple website. CakePHP is awesome if you are familiar with the API, if not it might be a bit frustrating to learn it all, but trust me it is all worth it. For example, to display the time elapsed since a site was added, you could use: $time-&gt;relativeTime($site['Site']['created']), now that is awesome!</p>
<p>Here are few screenshots and the source code:</p>
<p><a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-1.gif" title="reddit-1.gif"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-1.gif" alt="reddit-1.gif" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-2.gif" title="reddit-2.gif"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-2.gif" alt="reddit-2.gif" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-3.gif" title="reddit-3.gif"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-3.gif" alt="reddit-3.gif" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-4.gif" title="reddit-4.gif"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/reddit-4.gif" alt="reddit-4.gif" /></a></p>
<p>Code:<a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/cakephp-tutorial-projectrar.pdf" title="cakephp-tutorial-projectrar.pdf">cakephp-tutorial-projectrar.pdf</a> (right click, save as, rename extension to .rar)</p>
<p>SQL: <a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/cakephp-tutorial-projectsql.pdf" title="cakephp-tutorial-projectsql.pdf">cakephp-tutorial-projectsql.pdf</a> (right click, save as, rename extension to .sql)</p>
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		<title>Science Hack Making Science Cool&#8230; With Videos!</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/04/14/science-hack-making-science-cool-with-videos/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/04/14/science-hack-making-science-cool-with-videos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Apr 2007 00:50:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[ScienceHack]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/04/14/science-hack-making-science-cool-with-videos/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
sciencehack.com
I&#8217;ve been collecting science videos since forever; any video that is physics, chemistry, space, biology, math&#8230; My &#8220;favorites&#8221; folder was getting pretty big, so I finally dedicated some time to put all those science videos in one accessible place; Science Hack. Science Hack is my new blog. I will use it to bookmark all the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><a href="http://sciencehack.com/"><span style="font-size:40pt;"><br />
sciencehack.com</span></a></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been collecting science videos since forever; any video that is physics, chemistry, space, biology, math&#8230; My &#8220;favorites&#8221; folder was getting pretty big, so I finally dedicated some time to put all those science videos in one accessible place; <a href="http://sciencehack.com">Science Hack</a>. <a href="http://sciencehack.com">Science Hack</a> is my new blog. I will use it to bookmark all the cool science videos that I find. Eventually, I want to go beyond videos, with some longer and more detailed posts. If you find a cool science video, leave a comment here or on <a href="http://sciencehack.com">Science Hack</a>, and I will post it and link to your blog or website.<br />
<a href="http://sciencehack.com"><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/pic.gif" alt="science hack" /></a></p>
<p>Visit <a href="http://sciencehack.com">Science Hack</a> and let me know what you think, how can I improve it and make it more useful.</p>
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			<media:title type="html">science hack</media:title>
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		<title>My Top Picks From Digg&#8217;s Top Music Videos</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/04/12/my-top-picks-from-diggs-top-music-videos/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/04/12/my-top-picks-from-diggs-top-music-videos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:49:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Fruity McBanana]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/my-top-picks-from-diggs-top-music-videos/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I started up studying for my financial management final exam, tomorrow, and ended up watching Digg&#8217;s top music videos. WOOOOOW!
Here are my top picks from Digg&#8217;s top music videos:




       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>I started up studying for my financial management final exam, tomorrow, and ended up watching Digg&#8217;s top music videos. WOOOOOW!</p>
<p>Here are my top picks from Digg&#8217;s top music videos:</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/04/12/my-top-picks-from-diggs-top-music-videos/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/5xZw9D9c18E/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style='text-align:center;display:block;'><object width='400' height='330' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' data='http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=6989780587571054207'><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='never' /><param name='movie' value='http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=6989780587571054207'/><param name='quality' value='best'/><param name='bgcolor' value='#ffffff' /><param name='scale' value='noScale' /><param name='wmode' value='window'/></object></span></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/04/12/my-top-picks-from-diggs-top-music-videos/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/NHC_Qyov2Xc/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style='text-align:center;display:block;'><object width='400' height='330' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' data='http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1320800078757954893'><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='never' /><param name='movie' value='http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1320800078757954893'/><param name='quality' value='best'/><param name='bgcolor' value='#ffffff' /><param name='scale' value='noScale' /><param name='wmode' value='window'/></object></span></p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
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		<title>Why Code Reviews Are a Waste of Time</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/24/why-code-reviews-are-a-waste-of-time/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/24/why-code-reviews-are-a-waste-of-time/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2007 02:38:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[GPD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GTD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Getting Projects Done]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Project Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Time Management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Workhack]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/why-code-reviews-are-a-waste-of-time/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Many companies have a policy to review code to verify that the company’s code standard has been followed.
Here it comes: I believe that code reviews are a waste of time and ineffective.
Spending few hours to review other’s code is not enough. To properly review new code; I believe that developers should spend at lease 20% [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><iframe src='http://digg.com/api/diggthis.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdigg.com%2Fprogramming%2FWhy_Code_Reviews_Are_a_Waste_of_Time' height='82' width='55' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 4px 0 2px 4px; background: #fff;'></iframe><br />
Many companies have a policy to review code to verify that the company’s code standard has been followed.</p>
<p>Here it comes: I believe that code reviews are a waste of time and ineffective.</p>
<p>Spending few hours to review other’s code is not enough. To properly review new code; I believe that developers should spend at lease 20% of the time it took to write the code. For example, if it took five months to write the code, developers should spend at lease one month reviewing it.</p>
<p>Why managers enforce code reviews?</p>
<p>Most managers are aware of the uselessness of code reviews. Managers enforce code reviews because it just sounds good to say that a code review has been done, especially if it is a company policy. Moreover, code reviews have minimal effect on cost, schedule and resources.</p>
<p>Why developers should reject code reviews?</p>
<p>Approving code based on short code reviews only is very risky. Developers will be liable for approving code they reviewed. Developers should never approve code unless they are comfortable that they spend enough time reviewing it.</p>
<p>Moreover, code reviews are usually performed close to the end of the project cycle, even if problems are identified, it too late to fix them and retest the code.</p>
<p>How could you improve the process?</p>
<p>Code reviews are fundamentally ineffective, they don’t work. Here is a better method; make sure every developer believes in the code standard. Review the code standard and update it at least every six months. Every developer should have the opportunity to review and discuss the code standard. When developers believe in the value of the code standard, they will implement it out of habit. Stop reviewing code and trust your developers.</p>
<p>What do you think? Leave a comment.</p>
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			<media:title type="html">rami</media:title>
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		<title>GOOD Magazine: Nuclear Weapons Transparency</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/17/good-magazine-nuclear-weapons-transparency/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/17/good-magazine-nuclear-weapons-transparency/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Mar 2007 23:57:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/good-magazine-nuclear-weapons-transparency/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is a scary thought:

       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><strong>Here is a scary thought:</strong></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/03/17/good-magazine-nuclear-weapons-transparency/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/N-lADZG6-PI/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
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		<title>Startup Funding Options</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/17/startup-funding-options/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/17/startup-funding-options/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:20:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/startup-funding-options/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In last week’s financial management class we discussed funding options for new startups.
There are five funding options for new startups: family and friends, angel investors, venture capitalists, private placements, and public debt equity.
For a web startup, the first three options are the most common ones. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of the first three [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p>In last week’s financial management class we discussed funding options for new startups.</p>
<p>There are five funding options for new startups: family and friends, angel investors, venture capitalists, private placements, and public debt equity.</p>
<p>For a web startup, the first three options are the most common ones. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of the first three funding options:</p>
<p><strong>Family and friends:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Advantages:</strong><br />
- You get to run your own company without any interference into the management of the company.<br />
- You don’t have to give up equity in the company.<br />
- Cheaper to setup, if you choose to structure the company as a proprietorship.</p>
<p><strong>Disadvantages:</strong><br />
- You get less than $50,000 to invest.<br />
- Investing with your family’s and friends’ money carries an emotional burden. To get around this, make sure you invest as much money as they can afford to lose. It is ok to invest your parents’ vacation money. However, it is not ok to invest your grandmother’s savings.</p>
<p><strong>Angel investors:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Advantages:</strong><br />
- You get between $50,000 and $150,000 to invest.<br />
- You get to run your own company without any interference into the management of the company.<br />
- Angel investors are usually a good resource for help and guidance.<br />
- Using angel investors’ money is usually less emotional.</p>
<p><strong>Disadvantages:</strong><br />
- You have to give up some equity in the company (usually less than 10%).<br />
- You have to incorporate the company and invest in legal and accounting services.</p>
<p><strong>Venture capitalist:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Advantages:</strong><br />
- You get over $150,000 to invest.<br />
- Using venture capitalists’ money is usually less emotional.<br />
- You get legal and accounting assistance.<br />
- You get management assistance.</p>
<p><strong>Disadvantages:</strong><br />
- Venture capitalists are very much involved in the management, vision and operation of your company.<br />
- You have to give up some equity in the company (usually more than 10%).</p>
<p>Did I miss anything? Let me know what you think.</p>
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		<title>Productive Excel Tips</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/11/productive-excel-tips/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/11/productive-excel-tips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:02:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[GPD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GTD]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Getting Projects Done]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[
I recently learned a couple of productive excel tricks in my financial management class. Here they are, enjoy…
Trick 1: Naming cells
It is very useful to name a cell or a range of cells in excel. Instead of calling a cell by its coordinates (e.g. B12 or B12:B17) you can give it a name (e.g. TotalPayments [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><iframe src='http://digg.com/api/diggthis.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdigg.com%2Fsoftware%2FProductive_Excel_Tips' height='82' width='55' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 4px 0 2px 4px; background: #fff;'></iframe><br />
I recently learned a couple of productive excel tricks in my financial management class. Here they are, enjoy…</p>
<p><strong>Trick 1: Naming cells</strong></p>
<p>It is very useful to name a cell or a range of cells in excel. Instead of calling a cell by its coordinates (e.g. B12 or B12:B17) you can give it a name (e.g. TotalPayments or Payments).<br />
Naming cells is especially useful if you are using cells in calculations across more than one worksheet.</p>
<p>To name a cell or a range of cells:</p>
<p>1- Click on the cell or range of cells.<br />
2- Click on the name box, usually in the upper left corner, and type in the name.<br />
3- Press Enter.</p>
<p>Here is an example with the cell name in the upper left corner and the value of the cell in the upper right corner:</p>
<p>Worksheet 1:</p>
<p><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image001.png" alt="image001.png" /></p>
<p>Worksheet 1</p>
<p><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image003.png" alt="image003.png" /></p>
<p>Worksheet 2</p>
<p><img src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image005.png" alt="image005.png" /></p>
<p><strong>Trick 2: Using a constant value in multi-row calculations</strong></p>
<p>In the following example, I set the value of C2 = B2*F5. F5 is constant and will be used in every calculation in column C. However, when I click on C2 and drag the formulas down, the value of F5 doesn’t carry over; instead the next rows use F6, F7 and so on.<br />
<a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image007.png" title="Excel Tips"><br />
<img width="500" src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image007.png" alt="Excel Tips" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>To fix the problem use C2 = B2*$F$5 as follow:<br />
<a href="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image009.png" title="Excel Tips"><br />
<img width="500" src="http://rami.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/image009.png" alt="Excel Tips" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>What do you think? Share your thoughts and tips.</p>
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		<title>Maximise the Power of Your Brain - Tony Buzan MIND MAPPING</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/09/maximise-the-power-of-your-brain-tony-buzan-mind-mapping/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/03/09/maximise-the-power-of-your-brain-tony-buzan-mind-mapping/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2007 23:34:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[GPD]]></category>

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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/maximise-the-power-of-your-brain-tony-buzan-mind-mapping/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Checkout Anne Zelenka&#8217;s review of web based mind mapping apps: http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/03/08/three-web-based-mind-mapping-tools-reviewed/
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://raminasser.com/2007/03/09/maximise-the-power-of-your-brain-tony-buzan-mind-mapping/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/MlabrWv25qQ/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Checkout Anne Zelenka&#8217;s review of web based mind mapping apps: <a href="http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/03/08/three-web-based-mind-mapping-tools-reviewed/">http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/03/08/three-web-based-mind-mapping-tools-reviewed/</a></p>
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		<title>Job Satisfaction</title>
		<link>http://raminasser.com/2007/02/18/job-satisfaction/</link>
		<comments>http://raminasser.com/2007/02/18/job-satisfaction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 18 Feb 2007 16:06:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rami Nasser</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rami.wordpress.com/2007/02/18/job-satisfaction/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[




What do you think?
       ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><br /><p><img src='http://l.wordpress.com/latex.php?latex=%7BJob+Satisfaction%7D+%5Cpropto+%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7BCompany+Size%7D+&amp;bg=ffffff&amp;fg=000000&amp;s=0' alt='{Job Satisfaction} \propto \frac{1}{Company Size} ' title='{Job Satisfaction} \propto \frac{1}{Company Size} ' class='latex' /></p>
<p><img src='http://l.wordpress.com/latex.php?latex=%7BJob+Satisfaction%7D+%5Cpropto+%7BAccountability%7D+&amp;bg=ffffff&amp;fg=000000&amp;s=0' alt='{Job Satisfaction} \propto {Accountability} ' title='{Job Satisfaction} \propto {Accountability} ' class='latex' /></p>
<p><img src='http://l.wordpress.com/latex.php?latex=%7BJob+Satisfaction%7D+%5Cpropto+%7BNumber+Of+Responsibilities%7D+&amp;bg=ffffff&amp;fg=000000&amp;s=0' alt='{Job Satisfaction} \propto {Number Of Responsibilities} ' title='{Job Satisfaction} \propto {Number Of Responsibilities} ' class='latex' /></p>
<p><img src='http://l.wordpress.com/latex.php?latex=%7BJob+Satisfaction%7D+%5Cpropto+%7BQuality+Of+Responsibilities%7D+&amp;bg=ffffff&amp;fg=000000&amp;s=0' alt='{Job Satisfaction} \propto {Quality Of Responsibilities} ' title='{Job Satisfaction} \propto {Quality Of Responsibilities} ' class='latex' /></p>
<p><img src='http://l.wordpress.com/latex.php?latex=%7BJob+Satisfaction%7D+%5Cpropto+%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7BAmount+Of+Paperwork%7D+&amp;bg=ffffff&amp;fg=000000&amp;s=0' alt='{Job Satisfaction} \propto \frac{1}{Amount Of Paperwork} ' title='{Job Satisfaction} \propto \frac{1}{Amount Of Paperwork} ' class='latex' /></p>
<p><strong>What do you think?</strong></p>
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