Intro:
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with a great deal of very talented and ambitious people on a whole host of technologies. From a tiny little wireless network in the back country of Idaho where one man had the vision of providing high speed internet connections to customers whose only other option remained dial-up, to the fourth largest nation wide mobile provider who continue to role out solutions and services for millions of customers.
This section of ‘Tales from the Megasphere’ details the adventures I’ve had, as well as new adventures that I’m undertaking. One of the great things about computer engineering and data systems is that you never stop learning. The subject encompasses so much history, and the layers of abstraction go so deep, you simply never understand the totality of it. The ingenuity and genius of human beings continues to remain an inspiration for me. Allow me to present some of my forays into that ingenuity and genius.
The pages that follow are a lot more in depth than simple posts. They require a fair amount of time and attention to get through. In such cases, I’ve learned that providing structure and a consistent format if a big advantage to help the reader understand what to expect and how to read the document. I’m planning on using the following format for these articles as I build them out.
Links to Project pages:
A word on Format:
Each page will have the same format; when creating a series of documents, it’s always a good idea to have a consistent format. First, a definition of the problem. Every technological system attempts to solve a problem of some kind. A key metric for assessing how well a system is working is by examining how well it resolves the issue that it attempts to tackle. Defining the problem should be the starting point for building a system; it also serves as a good starting point for dissecting one.
Next, going into a high level look at the solution; this is basically the elevator pitch that sells the solution by generating interest.
And then, we follow with the abstract: a simple paragraph, summing up the rest of the article succinctly.
These three aspects together make up the executive summary. Management are often challenged with time: a terribly valuable resource in our day and age. An executive summary addresses this issue by getting straight to the point. The situation reminds me of the introduction of “The Elements of Style“:
“Will [Strunk] felt that the reader was in serious trouble most of the time, floundering in a swamp, and that it
was the duty of anyone attempting to write English to drain this swamp quickly and get the reader
up on dry ground, or at least to throw a rope.”
You can just as easily substitute “reader” for “manager”. In my documentation, I give a summary that gets through all the essentials in less than a few paragraphs and then I get into the details. That way, the reader can decide upfront if they want to trudge on further without having to make more than a five minute commitment of time.