For American pundits, China isn’t a country. It’s a fantasyland. - The Washington Post

For American pundits, China isn’t a country. It’s a fantasyland. - The Washington Post: And because China is so vast, its successes can be attributed to whatever your pet cause is. Do you oppose free markets and privatization, like John Ross, former economic policy adviser for the city of London? Then China’s success is because of the role of the state. Do you favor free markets, like the libertarian Cato Institute? Then China’s success is because of its opening up. Are you an environmentalist? China is working on huge green-energy projects. Are you an energy lobbyist? China’s building gigantic pipeline projects. Are you an enthusiast for the Protestant work ethic, like historian Niall Ferguson, who describes it as one of his “killer apps” for civilizations? Then credit China’s manufacturing boom to its 40 million Protestants — even though they’re less than 5 percent of its 1.3 billion people.

Commute Metrics

Previous Commute:

• 2 minute walk to bus
• 22 min bus ride
• 14 minute walk to office

New Commute Day 1 (saving 4:30):

• 4:30 walk to bus (iterating to best path)
• 25 min bus ride
• 1 minute walk to office
• 2 minutes walking inside GSA

New Commute Day 2:

• 2 min walk to bus (iterating to best path)
• 18 min bus ride
• 7 minute walk to office
• 2 walk inside GSA

More importantly, my new commute will involve less exposure on really hot days. :)

Tips for an Epic Interview

A friend of a friend is calling me today for advice about an interview he has with Epic. I've done a few general calls about Epic since departing my job for civil service, but since this one is specifically about tips and advice, I wanted to make my thoughts available publicly. Connections like these are great, but many people who might want a job at Epic don't have them.

So here's my advice, which applies to all phone screens. I am being deliberately vague about the questions because I think that would be against the spirit of Epic and the trust given to employees - something I greatly admire. I am also omitting the suggestion to do research on Epic, since you've found this post (and are therefore doing research!)

1. Take care of the basics. Your phone should have sufficient charge and you should be in a place with signal. (I wouldn't be saying this if I hadn't noticed an issue here)
2. Remember that your screener has an agenda of things to get through. Long-winded answers will rush things for both of you
3. You should have an elevator story about yourself, covering pieces like - who are you? What do you know about? Why do you know about it? What are you looking for in your career, both presently and in the future? This is your arsenal for the questions you will be asked - as long as you've thought through these sorts of questions, biographical questions shouldn't surprise you.
4. You should bear this quote (slightly dated) in mind: "The firm makes about 1,500 hires annually and goes through about 150,000 resumes."
5. If you have weak points on your resume, this is the time to make additional mitigating statements about them.

On Motivation

I've enjoyed self-observing as I age and start taking on the exact traits that I used to see appearing in older friends. For one thing, I don't enjoy movies or TV shows the way I used to - too many tropes, too little creativity, too much familiarity with the tricks of the media-making trade. Learning about how the sausage gets made gives me both a huge appreciation for the work done to great content and takes away from of the magic mystery of shows. So it goes for houses, and programs, and so forth.

One other trait I've noticed lapsing is "passion" - a pattern of getting so immersed into something that used to lead me to spend four hours between 9 PM and 1 AM on a new project. Instead, I've gotten smarter about how I spend my time. Those spurts of projects were fun, but they also generally failed to go anywhere (though I'm still proud of my proposal to fix Williams housing). Long, slow, regular effort is more likely to yield tangible results.

However, I don't see this trend in everyone. On the contrary, some adults remain studiously passionate, jumping from project to project with a degree of direction changing that makes my head spin. It feels like the driving/motivating force for them is something else, and that these projects are offering an avenue for engagement instead of a motivation in and of themselves.

Obama on Baltimore

https://youtu.be/i1Wz_ak4XXE?t=32m50s


(jump to 32:50)

A very good blog post about 18F

From one of the best blog posts I've read about my employer:

These applications and initiatives are important, and they have been
built transparently and in the open. The manner in which this work gets
done is also encouraging: agile, perhaps even lean. I don’t see
year+-long projects comprising large teams and costing millions of
dollars. They appear to be greenfield, relatively small applications
that will likely not require considerable resources to maintain over
time.


Importantly, we know about all of this because 18Fers are vocal about their work and successes, rightly so. They blog frequently
and tweet, a lot. They market and promote their work, and they do so
consistently. Considering the government’s general risk aversion,
message obsession, and concern about “optics,” 18F’s prolificness in
writing about their work is, again, impressive.




I do not know first-hand what it’s like to work at 18F. But it sure does seem like a good place to spend part of a career in technology.




That, right there, is in my estimation the most important thing that 18F has done: 18F has made working in government seem like an attractive option for talented people.

Why Millennials Are Less Urban Than You Think | FiveThirtyEight

Why Millennials Are Less Urban Than You Think | FiveThirtyEight: Millennials overall, therefore, are not increasingly living in urban neighborhoods. Rather, the most educated one-third of young adults are increasingly likely to live in the densest urban neighborhoods. That’s great news for cities trying to attract young graduates and a sign that urban neighborhoods have become more desirable for those who can afford them. But the presence of more smart young things in Brooklyn is not evidence that millennials are a more urban generation.

Disney Mashups

On a South Carolina Shooting

Regarding this story/video of a police officer shooting a running black man eight times, I am not as interested in stories about these particular individuals and their backstories as I am in stories about:

• Why the police officer actually felt like he had to shoot a running suspect
• Why the police officer felt so secure/confident about framing the murdered man with a Tazor.
• How we can address the many situations like this where its not caught on video.

Running with MS

The backpacks of an implementer vs an innovation specialist

After two days on the job, I don't think I know enough to post a full review (beyond saying 18F is wonderful and I'm so excited to learn more), but here's a starting point.

In my backpack with Epic:

• Laptop, so that you can work anywhere with wifi
• MiFi, so that you have fast wifi everywhere
• Headphones (with attached mic) to do calls while walking between planes
• Semi-wrapped laptop cord for plugging in everywhere
• A pack of Epic pens, which seem to disappear onsite
• Home car keys (rental car keys are in my pocket)
• Business cards
• Pack with toothbrush and other "if my bag gets lost" nesssities

In my backpack with 18F:

• Water bottle, so that I don't have to buy another bottle at lunch
• Umbrella, since GSA doesn't have thousands of free underground packing spaces and I'm taking a bus to work (learned that lesson today)
• Book/Nook for the bus
• My letter paper DC license while they print a new small one

The move to DC has simplified my working life, and I appreciate that. :)

Unexpected areas of expertise, and what to do with them

Before my work life ramps up again on Monday, I'm working to take stock of my areas of semi-expertise and where I want each of these to go:

• Admissions and financial aid in higher education
• I studied this in college, and want to use the knowledge to help spread knowledge and information about college access, especially across socio-economic lines. Some of the best schools in the country are much less expensive than popular belief suggests.
• Less importantly, I will fight a losing battle against college rankings, which are gross simplifications that cause students to make poor college choices.
• Credit cards and EFT processes
• My primary area of expertise at Epic, with rising importance as money transfers via apps like Venmo and Square Cash or services like Apple Pay become more prevalent.
• I have no idea how this might be useful in the future, except in knowing something about network security as it relates to PCI certification for merchants.
• New Media
• I've followed the rise of online "streaming" closely (most relevant for video and computer games at the moment), as well as the ensuring convergence of TV and the internet. Also familiar with monetizing these efforts.
• I think this area will be most useful for community building - if we can create venues where contributing ideas and feedback becomes a joyful action for people, then new media can become an avenue for creating all sorts of projects beyond Wikipedia.
• Lighting and sound design/event support
• I developed this in college as the tech manager for one of the student centers. Never used it in Madison (I had a few opportunities to run sound at local venues, but it never worked out). I don't really expect this to be useful except in setting up a home system or jumping in if technology breaks during an event I'm involved in.

Skills I want to gain:

• Gardening - I want to be able to grow and eat my own food, so that I understand more about food production
• Carpentry - Probably via volunteering for Habitat, I want to learn more and get more practice around home care and projects.