The Alan Zone

by Alan on March 22, 2020 at 11:27 am

Although the controversy over President Trump calling the current pandemic the Chinese Virus is the reason this post exists, I hope to use it to make some universal points. A friend of mine retweeted this: Hi. Yes, it originated in China, but the technical term is Covid-19 Your mom originated from the back of a

by Mathematician on March 20, 2020 at 11:48 pm

Sending a little mathematical love to everyone feeling a bit off-kilter with the Coronavirus situation… Parametric equation behind it available here: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/nbuivqi4uw Credit for equation to Wolfram MathWorld. Stay healthy everyone.

by Mathematician on January 16, 2020 at 11:41 pm

This was a fun exchange on Twitter: I replied that when I lead my trig supplemental instruction session tomorrow and go over the area of a sector, I am going share it like this: Alan = 12r2θ 🙂

by JegErAlan on January 1, 2020 at 5:29 pm

Robust learning requires humility and the ability to accept ambiguity… You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty

by JegErAlan on January 1, 2020 at 4:06 pm

Happy New Year to those who have been kind enough to read or share my posts, and to everyone involved in adding to my knowledge and life in 2019. May 2020 be your best year ever and… #LetsLearnTogether.

by JegErAlan on December 29, 2019 at 6:51 pm

Earlier today, I ran into an interesting article, “The Ultimate Mystery? –‘Consciousness May Exist in the Absence of Matter’ (2019 Most Popular).” It, in part, discussed Andrei Linde‘s paper, “Universe, Life, Consciousness.” I’ll admit the majority of Linde’s piece was basically over my head, but it was a great read on the way to […]

by Mathematician on December 29, 2019 at 4:47 pm

“When am I ever going to use this?” has been asked about various parts of math by students through history. Come on. Admit it. You asked it before, didn’t you? 🙂 Ever used decibels? Then, my friend, you have used logarithms! From ”Understanding Decibels” on The SWLing Post: dB = 10 log10 (P2/P1) Okay, you

by Mathematician on December 26, 2019 at 8:42 pm

So, yesterday…yes, Christmas…I proved (or perhaps, better said “derived”) the Quadratic Formula. The fun didn’t stop there. 🙂 My oldest son (visiting for the holiday), seemed to enjoy what I was doing…so I figured I’d blow his mind with how polar equations act in graphs, first showing him a simple one. After a bit discussing

by Mathematician on December 25, 2019 at 3:37 pm

Reading a bit about the history of algebra in  The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity, I was inspired to prove the quadratic formula I was originally taught in high school (and had reiterated this past semester in two courses at Indiana University East). The Arabic Santa is a

by JegErAlan on November 29, 2019 at 7:09 pm

I recently purchased the GAOMON PD2200 drawing monitor from Amazon to create math tutorial videos (and for live tutoring). I have no artistic abilities, but my wife…who has an art degree…hopefully will push it a bit harder than me. (Quick note: please read the update at the bottom of the post. The monitor is not

by Mathematician on November 29, 2019 at 2:02 pm

Woo hoo! It’s rough. It’s clearly done by a newbie. But we have produced our first “how to” tutorial video. Ever wondered how to solve the side-side-angle ambiguous case with a triangle? Haven’t we all?! Well, here is how to do it… See, I told you it was rough. 🙂 In many ways, this was

by Alan Fahrner on November 24, 2019 at 10:45 pm

by Alan Fahrner on November 23, 2019 at 12:33 pm

This happens to me every time I sit on the couch. This happens to me every time I sit on the couch…although generally worse. 🙂 We have four dogs…and only two of them are actively “attacking” me this time. Okay, maybe not every time, but… Music from Envato Elements.

by Alan Fahrner on November 3, 2019 at 1:00 pm

Although you should head here to read the full review, please check out this Bowflex C6 Indoor Exercise Cycle video, recorded entirely with a GoPro HERO8 Black: I also want to do a shout-out to Fotopro, whose flexible tripod was used in all parts (distant recording, vlog, and the close-up exercising that I didn’t include

by JegErAlan on November 3, 2019 at 12:42 pm

I debated which of my blogs to post this on…but settled here. Although I love what I do for work, “work/life” balance is important, and part of “life” should be exercising. Where I live on the high plains east of Denver, I consider it relatively temperate. However, my favorite mode of staying in shape, bicycle

by Alan Fahrner on October 26, 2019 at 4:43 pm

Today it is in the 70s. Tomorrow, the high is supposed to be 29. I’m not stupid. Well, not mostly, so I climbed on my bicycle today. 🙂 I figured it also would be a good chance to check out my new GoPro HERO8 Black, so I turned on Time Warp in auto mode. What

by Alan Fahrner on October 20, 2019 at 6:38 pm

My GoPro HERO8 Black arrived earlier this week, but work, life, and school meant I didn’t really get to do more than just set it up prior to today. I had intended to take it on 12 mile round-trip bicycle ride (my usual trek to Byers General Store for a meatball sub), but it was

by Alan Fahrner on October 10, 2019 at 10:23 pm

Great, informative video from Mic Bergsma on how to clean you GoPro camera and accessories.

by Alan Fahrner on October 8, 2019 at 10:28 pm

One of the greatest things about a GoPro is it can make a boring life interesting. 🙂 These are pictures taken during a water break on a bicycle ride to Byers General Store. And here’s a GoPro HERO7 Black Time Warp video at 15x: See?! Even my life is interesting at high speed! 🙂

by Alan Fahrner on October 6, 2019 at 9:42 pm

We added two new pages to our site today. The first is of some of our favorite GoPro-related Youtubers. For instance, Mic Bergsma is our most favorite: Additionally, we’ve created a page to help you decide whether you should purchase a GoPro HERO8 Black. It will have links to reviews and information, but now it

by Alan on September 22, 2019 at 9:11 pm

What a beautiful fall day! Which means it was a great time to bring the RC car, with a GoPro on top, to the Strasburg Community Park. Key times for crashes: 1:55 (basketball court) 7:49 (baseball field #1) 9:06 (baseball field #2) P.S. The slow-motion isn’t near as smooth as I wish. I thought I

by Mathematician on September 22, 2019 at 10:06 am

One of the problems I have doing math homework is wanting to take shortcuts (get ‘er done). I suspect, however, that it doesn’t save time in the end. Then, of course there are cases that prove that being meticulous is essential: “Spain builds submarine 70 tons too heavy after putting a decimal in the wrong

by Alan on September 21, 2019 at 5:05 pm

So, admit it, you’ve always wondered what a car feels like in a car wash. 🙂 Well, here is your chance to find out!  Last night, around sundown, I put my GoPro HERO6 Black in a waterproof case, hooked it to the front of The Orangutan (what we call our VW Tiguan), and gave The

by Mathematician on September 21, 2019 at 4:29 pm

I started up college about 4 weeks ago, and in one discussion, a fellow student posited a 90° leftward phase shift to convert a cosine function to a sine one.  It made sense, but I told him that without proving it, our professor might come up with an exception. Well, yesterday on the way to

by Alan on September 20, 2019 at 9:56 pm

It was a teacher workshop day, so we quickly snuck over to the zoo for a quick visit. Augie got a bunch ‘o Pokemon in Pokemon Go along with hanging out with a friend.  It was a beautiful day, and although the GoPro isn’t zoomed in, you’ll still see some neat views (close and distant).

by JegErAlan on September 2, 2019 at 1:53 pm

UPDATE: Gene Kim’s reaction added at the bottom… Why you should preorder The Unicorn Project in four tweets. 🙂 As someone who frequently speaks publicly, I know how powerful answering “How does this apply to me?” is. If you are in IT dev or ops, you will have that answer from @RealGeneKim’s upcoming to-be classic, “The Unicorn

by Alan on September 1, 2019 at 10:00 am

Punishing the Class I’m going to assume two things of everyone here. First, that during school you were (or are) perfect angels. Never the troublemakers. Always the innocent, well-behaved bystanders. Second, that you’ll relate to this experience… You are just there, doing what the teacher wants, as white as snow…but the other kids in class

by Alan on August 24, 2019 at 1:53 pm

No bicycle video today, but how about seeing how the awesome sub I eat whenever I ride to the Byers Country Store is made?!: Actually, what you see there is two subs being made (kind of three actually). This time my wife and son met me at the store and we had lunch together. So,

by Alan Fahrner on August 19, 2019 at 8:18 pm

You can see a longer post on Strasburg Rocks!, but I figured I’d share the time lapse I recorded this morning with my oldest son. One of my favorite features of my GoPro HERO7 Black is its Time Warp.

by Alan Fahrner on August 19, 2019 at 8:05 pm

I spent quite a bit of time on Amazon comparing prices, features, et cetera for GoPro compatible selfie sticks, and finally settled on this aluminum Smatree Telescoping Selfie Stick. (I almost purchased Smatree’s carbon fiber version with a fixed GoPro head, but this one, with adapters, allows it to support a GoPro, a smartphone, and

by Alan on August 19, 2019 at 12:56 pm

My oldest son is in down for a few days, so he an I beat the heat today by heading for a bicycle ride before the temperatures got into the 90s. Yes, he made dad feel old. (I used to “pull” him along on bicycle rides back in New Hampshire. No longer.) Either way, here’s

by Alan on August 11, 2019 at 2:45 pm

I just returned from another bicycle ride (and a yummy Byers General Store meatball sub midway). As I was cleaning up the remains of my lunch, I received a storm warning for Strasburg. Now, the adult thing to do would have been to wait it out. Instead I unpacked the GoPro, climbed on my bicycle,

by Alan on August 10, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Although it’s a little deep into the celebrations to begin a running Strasburg Hometown Days post…better late than never, right?! Updates will be added on top (right under this introductory paragraph). Fifth Update Alas, it’s a wet, stormy end to the weekend. This is a picture of what, at that the time of my riding

by Alan on August 4, 2019 at 12:17 pm

From yesterday, here is a quick bicycle Time Warp video from our home in Strasburg to the Byers General Store: Byers General Store has awesome food! 🙂 (And great people too…) This is the second trip where I enjoyed a meatball sub as my halfway reward. Hot day. Hovering around 90 degrees the whole time.

by Alan on August 3, 2019 at 7:55 pm

We previously had the Inaugural Chewie Bicycle Cam, but this is the Inaugural Chewie Cam (no “Bicycle”) thanks to a GoPro dog harness we purchased from…of all places…Circuit City (on eBay). Yes, that Circuit City. 🙂 Here is your chance to see life from a dog’s perspective. This is a short neighborhood work in Coyote

by Alan on August 2, 2019 at 8:02 am

Sure…I get up way early to provide everyone with a sunrise video of Strasburg, and… 🙂 Instead, you get to see a fog bank roll in and it thinning and thickening over about an hour (which is still pretty neat): Using a GoPro HERO7 Black’s Time Lapse Video feature, 1 frame taken per second (so,

by Alan on July 28, 2019 at 8:16 pm

A week+ ago, my body was tortured into better shape by camping six days with Bennett Boy Scout Troop 30, so I am trying to keep my exercise up so as not to lose it. On Monday I rode back-and-forth from the General Store in Byers…and today it was McDonald’s in Bennett. This is a

by Alan on July 26, 2019 at 8:33 pm

I love riding my bicycle…and I love our four dogs. Speaking of love, our largest dog Chewie (65 pounds) loves going out and about whether for a walk or a ride in the car. Thanks to Amazon, Discount Ramps, and Lucky Dog (who actually makes the trailer), Chewie now loves joining dad on his rides. 🙂

by Alan on July 26, 2019 at 9:51 am

Yesterday, our Lucky Dog bicycle pet bicycle trailer arrived, and although it was late by the time I got home and had dinner, I had to try it out. You are rewarded, however, by being able to watch the Inaugural Chewie Bicycle Cam!: Please zoom to 6 minutes in, because initially Chewie tried to climb

by Alan on July 23, 2019 at 10:41 pm

As I continue to try out the features of my GoPro HERO7 Black, here is an example of a Time Lapse Video (.5 seconds between images and 30 FPS). It was a very calm night…with stationary clouds. If you are able to watch it at full resolution, it’ll be 4K: It’s worth viewing full screen

by Alan on July 22, 2019 at 8:54 pm

I’m a bit tuckered tonight…but I wanted to sneak this out before my day wraps up. 10x GoPro Time Warp bicycle ride from Byers to Strasburg, Colorado. Happy Monday everybody!

by Alan on July 13, 2019 at 8:10 pm

I’ll be away for a week at Boy Scout camp with Augie, so here are the last few bicycle rides before we leave tomorrow. Today (when it was greater than 95º when I left): Beautiful day…and the ride wasn’t bad. Low humidity rules! 🙂 This was Tuesday’s ride in two parts (out to the Strasburg

by Alan on July 7, 2019 at 4:14 pm

Be Like Daniel Daniel Duda We didn’t have church last weekend, because I was in Redlands, California visiting a non-profit I volunteer for. It was a recording weekend for them, and the speaker/facilitator was Daniel Duda. Now, even though this sermon is titled “Be Like Daniel” and I think Daniel Duda would generally be a good

by Alan on July 6, 2019 at 6:24 pm

Independence Day brought you a GoPro Time Warp scooter video. Today rewards you with a bicycle ride! 🙂 Again at 5x speed…see a ton of downtown in less than 10 minutes. It’s like zooming through streets at 50 MPH, but without the carnage. 🙂 Music from Bensound.

by Alan on July 4, 2019 at 2:58 pm

Ever wondered what it would be like to scooter from the Strasburg Convenience Store to a home in Coyote Ridge? Of course you have! 🙂 Well, here you go: If you are curious as to why the video rocks up and down…well, we are riding Rockboard scooters, which are propelled by rocking. (Sadly, the company

by JegErAlan on June 13, 2019 at 8:32 am

Now for a change of pace here on the Data Guy (Me) blog… A bit of self-history here: The first two albums I purchased were “Macho Man” and “Cruisin'” by Village People. The next two were “Zoso” (or “IV”) by Led Zeppelin and “Left Overture” by Kansas… And I’ve never looked back. I have a ridiculously

by JegErAlan on June 10, 2019 at 6:07 pm

This past Friday, June 7, I had the honor of interviewing Jack Maher and Carmen DeArdo, coauthors of Standing on Shoulders: A Leader’s Guide to Digital Transformation (you can check out my review here). Here is your chance to learn at the feet of a couple of masters in the leadership, Lean, and DevOps spaces. Find

by Alan on June 2, 2019 at 9:44 am

Power of Three I’ve mentioned before that if you are doing a presentation, there is a power of three. For instance, on a page supporting a given idea, only have three bullets. Not two, not five, but three. This sermon is titled “Short and Sweet.” you might say three concise bullets are exactly that, “short

by JegErAlan on May 29, 2019 at 10:56 am

On Memorial Day, I had the honor of interviewing Mike Rognlien, author of This Is Now Your Company (my review of that book).  Mike was a key HR leader for Facebook during their exponential growth (in part, building its industry-leading unconscious bias training), and is now Chief Builder of Awesome People at Multiple Hats Management.

by Alan on May 26, 2019 at 4:18 pm

I’m generally a 70s rock-and-roll kind ‘a guy, but I can appreciate music from pretty much any genre, as long I can make out a melody and someone isn’t screaming at me the whole time. 🙂 One genre I didn’t like as a kid, but grew to enjoy, was a country…especially traditional country. If there is

by Alan on May 26, 2019 at 10:12 am

Megachurches Has anyone else here attended a megachurch? Wikipedia says… A megachurch is defined by the Hartford Institute as any Protestant Christian church having 2,000 or more people in average weekend attendance.[1][2][3][4] The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term, first documented in 1984, as a church with an unusually large membership, especially one preaching a

by JegErAlan on May 25, 2019 at 6:07 pm

Great quote from Randy Travis’ new book, Forever and Ever, Amen: L.D. and I were talking one night after a show about another artist we had recently seen. The artist seemed almost rude and uncaring about the fans and so arrogant. I was certain I must have gotten the wrong impression, so I asked L.D., “Did

by JegErAlan on May 20, 2019 at 8:04 pm

Have you ever read a book and said to yourself, “I want to lock my executives in a room and make them read this”? Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration :-), but Mark Schwartz’s latest work is one that all levels of IT management should digest, especially executives. My copy is filled why highlights

by JegErAlan on May 18, 2019 at 6:41 pm

These are rough notes I put together for a ~90 minute presentation to my company’s Agile Community of Interest. I have edited them to remove any direct references to who I work for…not because you aren’t smart enough to use Google, Bing, or your favorite search engine to figure that out :-)…but because it has

by JegErAlan on May 7, 2019 at 9:01 am

Over the weekend I ran into this tweet by Charles Betz, whose Twittter bio describes him as “Digital management analyst, author, and instructor. DevOps lead @ Forrester. Adjunct @ U of St Thomas – MN. Occasional jazz riffs.”: Study questions to the original waterfall paper by Royce. Great work by @Morendil. This is what we

by JegErAlan on May 5, 2019 at 5:33 pm

Today Nicole Forsgren started an inspiring conversation on Twitter with these three tweets: I want to do a talk: Hidden Figures of DevOps. Women’s contributions thru history. I know we’re there. I we’re erased or forgotten. Help me remember. Give me dates and names and what we did. Please RT. — nicole forsgren PHD IN

by Alan on April 28, 2019 at 5:02 pm

by JegErAlan on April 25, 2019 at 9:44 am

If you are a people manager, how many direct reports should you have? I had an Executive VP who thought it should never be more than 6. Other companies set guidelines by management level (e.g. a Manager should have 15-20, a Director less, etc.) Is there a good way to establish this number? I’m partway

by JegErAlan on April 24, 2019 at 9:40 am

I’m not 100% sure where I heard about it last week, but I was intrigued by a mention that Ben Franklin had a 5-hour rule around learning. Short version: he spent an hour a day, 5 days a week, learning. I’ve basically been trying to do that myself, mainly through reading (but hoping to expand to spending more time

by JegErAlan on April 14, 2019 at 5:03 pm

Since I stepped more into the Agile and DevOps world, I’ve been blessed by getting to meet and/or talk to some great people, including authors of books everyone should read. Now, I have not met Carmen DeArdo in person yet, but I have spoken with him a couple times (and exchanged e-mails), so I was