carolstimmel.net

According to a Brattle Group Report a 1.5 to 2.0 Trillion dollar investment is needed in the US Utility industry by 2030:

All types of new generation capacity will be needed, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables. Nearly 40 gigawatts of new renewable capacity will be needed just to meet state requirements. Significantly, capital spending to upgrade distribution and transmission facilities nationwide may surpass investment in new generation, the study found. Spending on “smart grid” technologies to ramp up efficiency—along with new power lines to integrate renewable electricity sources—will account for much of that spending.

The executive summery is available here.

Since it is well established that I’m a GTD junky, I thought I would explore the idea of applying GTD principles to living a sustainable life.

There are two major axes to sustainable living; efficiency and reuse.  And a major principle of GTD, if it takes less than 2 minutes to get it done; do it.  

Here are 10 things you can do for the environment that don’t require more than a moment to complete.  

Water Bottles

1. Wash you clothes on the Gentle Cycle.  The motor doesn’t have to work as hard. (Estimated Time: Less than 2 seconds).

2. Replace a lightbulb with a Compact Fluorescent. Lasts 10 times longer, burns cooler, and uses about a quarter of the energy to operate. (Estimated Time: 1 minute).

3. Close the Door Behind You.  Don’t cool or heat rooms you aren’t using. (Estimated Time: 2 seconds).

4. Shave with an Electric Razor.  Water not required. (Estimated Time: 2 minutes to pick up the razor at Target; 0 to choose it)

5. Grab your Travel Mug on the Way out the Door.  Stop using all that paper at the Coffee Shop. (Estimated Time: 2 minutes to find the mug and rinse it out)

6. Refill your water bottle at the Water Cooler. Stop filling the landfill with those little plastic bottles. (Estimated Time: 1 minute)

7. Turn on Cruise Control on the Highway.  Be smooth and conserve expensive fuel.  (Estimated Time: 20 seconds).

8. Set your Refrigerator to 37 degrees F.  The Fridge accounts for 20% of your household electricity use. (Estimated Time 2 minutes to find and set, though depending on your unit, you mileage may vary).

9. Put on a Sweater and a Pair of Socks.  Before you turn up the heat put on some clothing. (Estimated Time: 2 minutes). 

10. Unplug your Appliances. Avoid overtime wasted electricity.  (Estimated Time: 2 seconds per plug).

I’ve been thinking a lot about software release quality lately and from a product perspective determining software acceptance criteria.  Especially, in the web 2.0 world where it is more acceptable to move quickly and use your customers as your test team supported by an active community team.  I’ll admit, up front, that I have a pretty high bar on quality and that has driven me into conflict on more than one occasion with my bosses and my own teams.  

The question is, can the drive for quality put asunder the efficiency that agile brings to the table; and, when does the investment in quality break down?

Scott Ambler at Agile Modeling coined the term “Just Barely Good Enough” or JBGE. He says:

When you are working on something and it isn’t yet sufficient then you can still invest more effort in it and gain benefit from doing so (assuming of course you actually do work that brings the artifact closer to it’s intended purpose).  However, if an artifact is already JBGE (or better) then doing more work on it is clearly a waste: once an artifact fulfills its intended purpose then any more investment in it is simply busy work … it is clearly possible for the value to be negative before the artifact becomes barely good enough although for the sake of argument I’m going to assume that you do a good job right from the beginning [my emphasis].  

I emphasized the last sentence, because that is really the variable of consequence.  All the analysis in the world about measuring value against effort is useless if you can’t be confident that your engineering team is not only doing a “good job”, but being enabled by the development practices to succeed at their efforts. And I think this is really where the wrong turns happen that cause poor quality practices and products to emerge.

Remember, it is the intended audience for the software that determines JBGE, not the engineer and not even the product manager.  The quality process must measure against a quality index that meets the desires of the client.  It is not sufficient to argue that the client always wants “perfect” software, because most clients who are trained to understand an iterative software development process will accept the fact that their needs will be met in a timely manner albeit not immediately.

It is premature to talk about What is Good Enough, until you understand intimately the issues of your customer.

I admit it; I’m an addict.  An addict that is wildly hooked on the process of Getting Things Done (GTD), even though it is wrecking my life and my relationships with others.  I even went to mecca (San Francisco) and saw the man - David Allen - in person.  It was so religious.

GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them externally. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks. [wikipedia]

The nature of addiction, however, is to compulsively attend to the process of getting high at the cost of other obligations.  Enter the GTD addict.  I can’t even have a conversation at work without mumbling, “oh, gotta do that” to myself and whipping out my notebook or hot-keying may way to success with my Omnifocus tool.  The process of freeing my mind feels incredibly important to me; I’m a believer!

The term addiction is … applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences to the individual’s health, mental state or social life. [wikipedia]

My filtrbox alerts are filled with GTD tricks and tools.  I haunt 43folders and troll every new online or computer-based system that emerges with fresh promise of saving me from myself.  I have guilt and anxiety over my mailbox which I can seem to get below 50 and then when I do get everything in its proper place, I admit that I struggle to find just the right “next thing.”  I dream of mailbox-zero.  I have to do it.  I need that sticky note there.  I need to check off that box.  And if you aren’t on my list, you don’t exist to me.

my brain on GTD

But, for all the promise of psychic freedom, I think I love the ritual more than its benefits.  I can process with the best of them, but then I fall off the curve and plan for just that moment to climb back on. I’m just another addict with a habit.  Albeit, a very busy one who gets $h*t done.

If you need me, I’ll be walking the dog.  It’s my “next action.”

via Jud Valeski

Meme(Me)

1. Take a picture of yourself right now.

2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture.

3. Post that picture with NO editing.

4. Post these instructions with your picture.