Observations – Brian Maggi

December 6, 2018December 6, 2018

Decoding the coding code

I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You.

Real coding is the difficult task of creating something unique.

This guy makes a great point about ignoring the hype around teaching our kids to code. We shouldn’t. Instead, we should focus on developing their problem-solving skills.

I couldn’t agree more. We never encouraged our kids to develop skills over learning how to learn. You can figure out skills later in life after deciding whether or not they’re worth it.

Plenty of people who were conned into developing skills have been left in the dust of progress and change. In a world that is always changing, mastery isn’t nearly as valuable as adaptability.

Besides, most of what they teach kids about code today in school or one of those bullshit code academies is already obsolete.

If you’re thinking of pushing your kids to learn code, ask yourself why. Is it because you think they’ll make more money? If that’s the case, you’re better off encouraging them to be an Instagram influencer. They make a shit ton more money for doing absolutely nothing. If it’s job security, then tell them to go into elder care or nursing because there are way more openings in those fields, and they have yet to find a way to offshore them.

I have a lot more I’d like to add to this topic. Stay tuned.

December 3, 2018December 3, 2018

Cool parents

We’re not cool parents, but we are fun parents. There’s a difference. Cool parents let their kids and their kids’ friends do stuff other parents won’t. Fun parents do all the things cool parents do, just without the kids or in front of the kids and tell them not to. We still drink and swear. We just don’t let our kids or their friends do it when we’re around.

Our kids don’t think we’re cool and we’re cool with that.

When I was a kid the cool parents were usually the divorced parents. They were either trying to score points over their ex or too preoccupied starting over to care about their last family.

I remember thinking it was cool that we could drink in my friend’s basement because here mom was upstairs with her boyfriend. At the same time I remember there was something kind of creepy about it too.

The only thing worse than the cool parents, are the uptight parents. They give us a hard time for not dialing it down because we have kids. They’re worried about sending the wrong message, that it’s hypocritical to have fun while telling our kids they can’t. It’s a double-standard.

To which I say, well no shit. Of course it’s a double-standard. The double-standard is the only thing that makes being an adult better than being a kid. Without it, we’re equals and who wants that? I remember being a kid and thinking how I’ll do everything I’ve been told I can’t do as soon as I’m old enough.

November 30, 2018December 3, 2018

Q in my Queue

Quincy | Netflix Official Site

This documentary profiles music and culture icon Quincy Jones, offering unprecedented access to his private life and stories from his unparalleled career.

Source: www.netflix.com/title/80102952

I started watching this last night on Netflix. it’s decent, as far as documentaries go. It’s worth watching just to see the depth and breadth of Quincy Jone’s work. His name is on everything from the 60s through 80s.

November 29, 2018December 3, 2018

Trent Reznor worked at Apple?

Trent Reznor Describes Working at Apple Music

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor opened up about working at Apple Music in a Stereogum interview published Friday (Oct. 19).

Source: www.billboard.com/articles/business/streaming/8481713/trent-reznor-why-he-left-apple-music

I had no idea Trent Reznor worked at Apple.

Below is a pretty funny quote from Reznor from the article…

I think my awareness that most of that job comes down to product design and marketing and thinking about what the consumer wants felt at odds with the artist in me

It’s not ha-ha funny. It’s more, what in the hell did he expect? Dude it’s a job.

For most people getting a job at Apple would make them cooler. However, wasn’t Trent Reznor supposedly cool already? So why was he even looking for a job in the first place?

Everyone knows if you’re in a band and need cash to make ends meet you work at Trader Joe’s.

November 29, 2018December 3, 2018

Exit Sandberg

It’s time for Silicon Valley to outgrow its Sheryl Sandbergs

Sheryl Sandberg had been working at Facebook for just 13 days the first time we sat down for an interview. That was back in 2008, when the four-year-old start-up defined itself by the messy ways of a college dorm.

Source: www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-time-silicon-valley-outgrow-sheryl-sandbergs-jessi-hempel/

Okay, stop.

Tech reporters consistently contribute to the myth making of executives without out a hint of skepticism on their way up. Advertising as a business model is not a breakthrough. In most cases it’s the thing most tech startups hoped to avoid, but accept when the suits start calling the shots.

People were still writing puff pieces about Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg while those two were hatching the deceptive plans that are now being exposed. Facebook’s actions under their watch have had a significantly negative impact on the world, and any good that came from her being a woman in the C-Suite is just a trivial artifact at this point. The outcome of all this is a net negative on the rest of us.

This is not a new problem. Bad things happen when people are paid to do bad things. The problem is the mere existence of obscenely overcompensated executives (much of that fueled by the obsequious business press and hero worship). There should be less of these, not more women or men trying to fill the role.

November 28, 2018December 3, 2018

Unsubscribe Tuesday

Jesus Christ. Enough with the emails already! For the past week or so, my inbox has been clogged up with emails for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday.

I get viral marketing, but this is something different. It’s like carcinogenic marketing. You thought you got all of the tumor when you unsubscribed, but no, it’s of remission and back in your inbox to bug you about some irrelevant sale for some WordPress plug-in you bought 12 years ago.

November 28, 2018December 3, 2018

Overhauling the site

I have been making some organizational changes to this site over the past couple days. Specifically, I have split up my blog into to two different sections; blogs and articles. Articles is for things I write about related to my work in product design and Blog is my personal posts. Depending on your interests, you now have a choice of which to follow.

Thanks

November 26, 2018December 3, 2018

Fleetwood Mac

Last night we saw Fleetwood Mac at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. It was the ugliest crowd I’ve seen at a concert and I’ve been to Tool at the Sears Center.

That’s saying something. Because at the Tool show, I had to ride a school bus from the parking lot where I saw a dwarf in a wife beater with bleached hair. He gave me the stink eye, I assume, because he thought I was staring at his stripperesque girlfriend.

I was reluctant to go because I hate arena concerts almost as much as 50th anniversary tours of rock bands. We went because my daughter is a huge fan, and especially loves Stevie Nicks; she just twirls and the audience loses their shit.

In terms of concerts, it was decent – which isn’t the highest praise for a band of their stature. I really wanted to see Lindsey Buckingham play live, but he was fired in April. They replaced him with Neil Finn of Crowded House, and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. If you love Fleetwood Mac, it was disappointing. If you love Fleetwood Mac music, it was great. They played all the classics, even went back to their pre-Buckingham days for some blues. They were kind enough to skip songs from “Tusk” and whatever albums came out after 1986.

Our seats were up in the nosebleed section, and still cost an arm and a leg. They said it was sold out, but you could see some open sections. Whatever the case, I’m glad we went.

The best part of the show? They did a cover of Tom Petty’s “Freefalling” in the encore with a photo tribute.

The worst part of the show? The last 10-12 minutes of Mick Fleetwood’s drum solo.