A French Cat Enjoys Life

Chinchih spotted this cat in Nice, France.

A Good Boss Is Hard to Find

For my years as software developer, I often wonder why a good boss is so hard to find. Lately I have been lucky enough to work with the best boss I have seen. Just like the difference between a so-so software developer and a brilliant developer, the difference is huge and matters even more, since a manager is responsible not only for his/her work, but the work of the whole team (or organization). So what makes the difference? I know it's not "technical" because the managers I have seen or worked with all mastered the "technical" side of management (project planning, resource planning, scheduling, etc, stuff required for the PMP certificate). I know it's not related to intelligence either. (True, my current boss is super smart, but I had worked with an excellent manager before whose intelligence caliber is not on par with my current boss but still makes a very good manager.) Some star performers, once promotion often become micro-managers and stay mediocre. Nor is it related to how "nice" the person is. A "nice" manager often become wimpy and let the team run amok.

So what is it then? As usual, when I am baffled by a question I start to read about it. One thing I soon find out is, most management books are bad (and boring). For those not so bad nor so boring ones, some are too strategic and too theoretical, some are just plain Machiavelli rehash. I forgot how I ran into this book (probably from Amazon recommendation). It had stayed in my book pile for a while. I started reading it last night (you can tell I get more free time in my current job). A few pages into it I was hooked. It answered my question why a good boss is so hard to find. I have yet to see if the advices in this book will make someone a better one, but I am secretly thinking of sending a copy to my current boss (who always lamented she was not a good enough manager, a sign she's actually fairly good simply because of the awareness). It will be really fun.

More Photos from Yesterday (Shot with Zeiss 21mm)

After Glow

Falling Pole

Written on the Ground

Bayland Park (Shot with Zeiss 21mm)

Dry Salt Pond

Deserted Trail

I was tired of the cloudy weather on the coast so I decided to take some photos around the bay. Somehow my mood went sour after today's shooting and I threw away most of the photos.

On Live View

One thing I learned from D5100 is how useful the live view feature is. Now I lament D3X's live view support is not "as good" as D5100. You can pretty much see everything (exposure, WB, composition, focus) from the D5100 live view. There is no surprise (exact the shutter lag) between what you see and what's in the photo. It takes away a lot of "guess work". Finally, we can take photos with the eyes (camera) opened.

Funny this feature is actually "borrowed" from the compact digital camera (since it doesn't have a reflective mirror so has to rely on live view). Photographers of DSLRs probably laugh at it at first. Now we know how useful it is. (On the other hand, the feature wouldn't be useful until modern DSLR got its powerful LCD screen.)  It reminds me what Henry Ford said: if I ask the customers what they want, they will ask for faster horses.

Which makes me wonder, we can be very wrong at predicting the future. There are many "bad ideas" which can turn into "great ideas" once the road blocks (LCD screen which you cannot see under sun light, which renders the live view useless) are removed.  To be able to distinguish a good idea from the road block it's currently facing is a true test for the visionary.

Year of Class Reunion (or Midlife Crisis)?

I missed my college class reunion earlier this year. Last week my mom told me my elementary school classmates were also organizing a class reunion. Since I was not able to attend, my mom gave them my email address. Lo and Behold, I got tons of emails from my classmates today. Gee, is 2011 the year of the midlife crisis for everybody? How come I have so many class reunions? 

Waves

Conclusion of today's experience with D5100: the camera is good and the image quality is great, but I will not use it for landscape photography. The shutter lag was too much to bear. Also, it's lacking some fine control on WB and other features. The body is not weather sealed and I already notice some dust on the sensor. Unbelievable.

Below is what it looked like when I was taking photos. It was a quite dreary day and really tested my patience.

Young Man Challenges The Sea

A cloudy day, I was standing on a ledge, waiting for the day to get darker so I could get a longer exposure. The waiting almost bored me to death. Then came this guy and his companion. They went really close to sea, waved and shouted at it. (Why they didn't feel cold was totally beyond me.) I managed to take a snap with one person in the frame. This kind of serendipity makes photography fun.   

Flower Power

A few snaps from Chinchih's home.

Salad Time

Miti enjoyed her favorite cat grass.

The Secret Life of Miti

First D5100 Video

OK, I revise my comment about D5100. The body may be nothing compared to my D3X, but the video and image quality is really impressive. The auto white balance is extremely accurate. The camera body actually feels more balanced with live view. In fact, because it's so light, I sometimes forgot I had a camera in hand (compared to holding my D3X). It's such a joy to use it.

New Toys

D5100, dwarfed by the D3X. Even my smallest Zeiss lens looks huge on it.

Opened the boxes of the Zeiss 21mm and D5100 just now. First impression, Zeiss is, as expected, excellent. My D3X was out of battery (hadn't been using it for half a year) so I was not able to shoot any photo with it. The D5100 was quite a disappointment. It was too small (even for my my small hands), and unbalanced with a prime lens on it. (My D3X may have weighted a ton, but I still felt more comfortable with it.) Well, I guess I was spoiled by my D3X. Anyway, it's fun to have new toys. Let's what we will get in the long weekend.