Every now and then a vid comes along worth reblogging… Courtesy of current_.
Let the Twitter backlash begin. Or not. If you have real friends, who cares? ;-)
Month: March 2009
iPhone 3.0 as Blogging Platform
Finally! The new iPhone OS brings something exciting to the table for blogging. It’s rather stupid and trivial, and yes, other devices have had it for years. Copy and Paste finally makes the iPhone a decent blogging platform.
Until now it was impossible to offer decent linking, which is one of the most important aspects of a blog – sharing information.
It’s still not the easiest to post. switching between apps can be a pain, but for one or two links, it’s finally possible.
The pic in this post has nothing to do with the content, but was taken with my iPhone.
— Posted via iPhone 3G
iPhone 3.0 Test Copy and Paste Post
So far, pretty neat. Ran in to some trouble copying more advanced HTML, Apple’s announcement page worked well.
“On March 17, Apple presented the blueprint for iPhone OS 3.0, the next version of the world’s most advanced mobile platform. In addition to previewing its innovative features, Apple gave members of the iPhone Developer Program immediate access to the iPhone OS 3.0 software beta and an updated Software Development Kit (SDK) with over 1,000 completely new APIs.”
The announcement page is here (C&P’d, too): http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/
Annual Reviews
This year’s annual review process swung around fast! It seems like the team joined Ingram Digital just months ago. I’ve done them a few times, but this was the first review process I’ve done at ID. Reviews are a time for reflection. A time to make and receive input on how we’ve performed. A time to realize and face weaknesses and understand our strengths.
There were five appraisals of my developers, and one on myself. To normalize the results I did my self-appraisal first. I had everyone on the team do their own self-appraisal, too, but I avoided reviewing theirs until I’d done my appraisal of them. This was to make sure my scores weren’t skewed and to look for any disconnects.
I started by reading status reports I sent for the year. For the weeks without status reports I re-read email to make sure I didn’t miss any accomplishments. This was time consuming and highlights the need to maintain a tighter journal of deeds. I’ve done this for myself over the last ten years. Keeping a separate journal for one’s team is highly valuable and I’m going to start doing this beyond status reports.
My team rocks, and my entries in my self-appraisal are the result of their efforts. As I listed each accomplishment I thought, “My team made this. My team created that… I worked my face off, but what specifically did I do?” It’s strange to reflect on what one was responsible for, but did with the hands of others.
Appraisals for my team were less demanding after my own. For one, after this point I’d compiled the full list of the team’s accomplishments. For two, it’s easier to judge others after judging one’s self.
Some additional links on performance reviews:
- Employee Performance Reviews
- Conducting Effective Performance Appraisals
- Why Annual Performance Reviews are a Waste of Time (I don’t agree with the writer, but it highlights what we should do during the year so reviews are effective and aren’t a surprise).