award winning?

I am one of those guys who is into Facebook. I also like to “share” a lot. My wife thinks I am a “Like” addict, she thinks I need Facebook help… yeah, it’s that serious!

I am that dude that always wants to be liked – it is a fundamental personality flaw. I have borderline insecure/self-conscious tendencies. I AM WORKING ON THIS …promise.

For me, my social fetish started out pretty practical. My family lives in Africa, and they NEVER get any sort of insight into me and my life here in the States. I can be super superficial with my parents even over Skype. So when “The Facebook” became huge, and my parents in Nigeria got an account, and my friends in Holland started to Poke me, I figured “hey, now we can all do life together…” I could share pictures of the babies and my family and share about good and not-so-good times.

This has worked for me because, now, when I speak to daddy, he KNOWS when things are not right with me, he can go through my status updates, and read between the lines, and when he looks at me or hears my voice, he can pry. Facebook, and Twitter allow me to share with the world, but then provides clues as to my real status to those who care about me.

So far so good right? Social media allows me to connect and share and all that good stuff. But, nowadays, it’s getting a little ridiculous! I am getting friend requests from people who think they know me, and I gluttonously accept – because I want my friend count to be enormous. And I post updates (and sometimes exaggerate) because I am craving some sort of attention. aaahhh…. I am working on this too.

Now that you’ve had a glance into my issues. I would like to share with you something that I am very proud of, and that is the Solutions Award (pictured above). So far I’ve told you how I tend to solicit ooh’s and aah’s by posting the best and extreme parts of my life on my social networks… but in the second week of January 2011, I received an “Xfinity Guiding Principles Award” for “Delivering Solutions” at CIM. This was completely unexpected! I was shocked! I work with REALLY smart people, much of whom I respect very much, and even though I work very hard, I did not think I would get THIS award! If there were any awards I would want, it would be this one – because it means they think I work hard too.

The crazy humbling part of this award is that it represents the slow, un-glamorous, day-to-day grinding, caffeine-sustained bouts of hard work – the part of my life that NOONE wants to know about – that I would never share, except with those people who matter!

The point of this post is this: unsolicited praise is awesome! It is reassuring, affirming, encouraging, morale and ego boosting awesomeness! I got soo emotional when I heard one of my managers say “[he] …doesn’t admire problems, is a solution-oriented person, and collaborates to just find away…” – IT WAS SO SWEET! …and something in me said, “this feels good… this is the right type of attention…”

I want my dad to be proud of me – and I know he is!

thank you!

Published on January 14, 2011 10:28 pm.
Filed under: personal Tags:

what really matters

My wife safely delivered our second son on July 21st. We named him Boaz Oluwamitobi Peterson. We will be calling him Tobi. So now we have Tolu and Tobi. I am really really happy, and I’ve been bombarded with so many other emotions like fear and anxiety and joy etc…

My biggest prayer is that I am able to provide my family with everything they need, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I truly don’t care what they become in life, but I hope they are supremely hardworking and super-passionate for everything they do.

Interestingly, I was browsing facebook while having my tea, and I came across this wall post by my friend Cai which I thought was profound. She says:

I could see how back in the biblical times when people lived for hundreds of years, they really had time on their hands. , now the avarage person lives to approximately 87 years. People compared to 400 years… We really better get wit what really is important and stop WASTING Time with things that don’t matter. Enjoy every minute you have, Love,laugh, and share your wisdom make a difference in someones life.

I know exactly what matters…

For more Tobi pictures check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/danielbalapeterson/BoazOluwamitobiPeterson

Published on July 28, 2010 4:28 pm.
Filed under: personal Tags:

it’s alive…

after much hard work, we have a clear vision of where we want to take mad monkey.

check out the website: http://madmonkeyinc.com. PLEASE send your feedback, it is sooo vital.

Published on June 8, 2010 9:54 am.
Filed under: code, Mad Monkey Apparel Tags:

i love me some pomodoro

I like to share things that I find valuable and helpful, and The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo absolutely falls into this category. I’ve steadily practiced his methodology for the past 6 months, and the results are remarkable.

I do not claim to have ADHD, but I have the tendency to jump from task to task, without spending any substancial time accomplishing anything. This is especially prevalent when my todo list is massive and I feel a bit overwhelmed.

As I write now, I am under the guidance of a pomodoro.

The idea is simple, make a list of tasks that need to be accomplished, you then get a kitchen timer, set it to 25 minutes and focus on a SINGLE task (and NOTHING else) for that duration. At the end of 25 minutes, you take a 5 minute break to do what ever (preferably something constructive) and then you do it again. After 4 consecutive pomodoros (each interval is referred to as a pomodoro) you take a 10 minute break.

see:

This technique is great because it prevents you from email anxiety and instills discipline. This discipline has been tremendous, especially while working on my graduate classes.

I do not use a physical timer. I have something better. I use a widget on my mac that allows keeps track of my pomodoros.

It is excellent because it actually mimics the ticking sound, and feels authentic. The ticking sound bothers at first, but after a while, it’s like marching to a beat, a subliminal keep-it-up reminder… here is a list of software timers

A great by-product of the pomodoro technique is the task log. As a freelancer, it is indispensable! I use it as my informal timesheet because I know exactly what I worked on, and when, and how many pomodoros it took.

The technique encourages you to break down tasks into manageable 25 minute increments. If something will take more than 25 minutes to accomplish, then you need to break it down. This does wonders for the mind, it also makes things seem less overwhelming.

I would love to see this in practice in a team environment… it could be wicked!

So I encourage you, give it a try… read this, and let me know how it works for you.

Published on March 19, 2010 6:09 am.
Filed under: biz dev, code, personal Tags:

mondo mondo mondo…

Today I received my business cards, just in time for my trip to India… I love the texture, the look, the attitude… totally wicked! You could say that they are MONDO – thanks for the word Patty!!!

I promise you that I will be handing them out to every single person I meet – that looks like they can spell camaraderie.

I am going to take 100 cards and see if I can hand them all out in 5 days overseas, even more importantly, I would like to see how many people actually call.

Seriously people… I am doing this business thing for real! The first 2 months were petrifying, it is amazing to watch my wife keep her cool after doing the bills (Laly you are AWESOME!!!) and it is also amazing to see that every month we have just enough. I’ve setup the business account, I use FRESHBOOKS for time tracking and invoicing, google apps for document management, scheduling and collaboration, and a good ‘ol whiteboard for project management! The foundation is set and is solid.

Lets do this!

So I’ve revised my manifesto a bit, this was originally inspired by the guys at http://lesseverything.com. So here it goes:

I’m the co-founder of an unknown web/design/identity company. I don’t have aspirations of being some widely known madman genius that develops massively popular products. I don’t dream of Ferrari, jets and hookers. I want to know my users, I want them to know me and feel like they can email me with questions anytime.

I want to work with Obinna Elechi until the internet goes away and it’s replaced with microchips in your brain. Then he and I will find some other business to build. I want to stay inspired and continue to work with amazing people. I want our company to invest in people, artists, craftsmen, people with passion.

I want to ride my bike with my kids to school in the mornings and coach their sport teams in the afternoon. My goal is to embarrass them because I’m awkward and weird. I want to take more vacations, buy an RV and nomad around the world. I want work when I feel like it, not because I have to.

I don’t want to build a company that has no flavor, no passion and is a lifeless machine. I want a company that people either love or love a lot. I am the co-founder of an unknown web/design/identity company, I work too much, I am stressed and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Best,
Bala.

Published on February 3, 2010 11:30 pm.
Filed under: personal Tags:

lipstick on a pig

…yeah, so as soon as I saw the business card, I knew we had to go BOLD!

and the result: RemodelingBerksCounty.com

Seriously, if you meet Eric Schultz and hear his story, you will be amazed – and he does incredible work too.

So we started out by finding a domain name that fits, and I was surprised to find that remodelingberkscounty.com was available. This was an early win for us and it set the tone for the rest of the project. We sat and talked – and talked and talked – he showed me his portfolio, explained how he works – he actually told me the best way to put up the child-gate so as not to damage the plaster in my old house. Tolu (my son) hates the gate!

Once we had a rapport going, he literally left everything else to me.

I was “lucky” that he LOVED the design after the first round – that usually never happens, actually, that has never happened to me.

Eric came to me through a referral from a buddy at church (thank you Eddie) and I knew I couldn’t let him down. The good thing about referrals is that, there is already a level of trust there and you don’t have to do a “dog-and-pony” show to gain some credibility.

I like Eric because he likes to keep things simple, and he knows what he wants.

The funnest part of this project was writing all the copy for the site.
Check out the WORKS page.
A line that I am particularly proud of is:

If your house is a pig, and you need some lipstick, I’m your man.

I can help you too… say whaaa…

Published on January 19, 2010 3:25 am.
Filed under: all of the above, code Tags:

finding my place

They say that the best solutions fill a void or meet a need.

Read this and then come back: ARE WEB AGENCIES DESIGN-HEAVY?

From my experience, I think web agencies are design heavy and they should be – because sexy aesthetics sell. I’ve visited several “studios” and web design environments, and they are all pretty awesome, super cool, sleek and creative environments that the principals love to show off – as if the environment were the showcase piece of their portfolio.

This is all fine and dandy, but when it comes to programming, some of these environments could be frustrating. And it is not always feasible to productively write code or do analytical work. Sometimes the music is too loud, or there are waay too many forms of distraction, and sometimes the creative, clashes with the analytical process.

What I am trying to say is that “design” environments might not always be conducive for application developers (coders.) And agencies do not always have the work flow that requires the services of a full-time dedicated application developer. It’s interesting because the industry is providing a solution to this conundrum. A new kind of developer is emerging. Designers are crossing the boundary into development and vice versa. Some people even dub themselves as “Devigners.” For these people, the aforementioned studios are the perfect environment. A perfect blend of the creative and the analytical. Web design agencies should attract, nurture and retain these kinds of people.

But there are instances when someone with a focused application development skill-set is needed.

I do not think design agencies should be over-staffed on the development side of things. I think just as the Devigner role has emerged, web application developers are also being clearly defined. Building a web application is becoming a very specialized task – with applications becoming more and more complex – it requires a solid understanding of data stores, server architecture, usability, performance… and so on.

I was mostly a “CMS wrangler” (CMS = Content management System) for the first 2.5+ years of my independent contractor career. I customized and sometimes re-engineered Dotnetnuke and WordPress to meet my demands. But it wasn’t always so; one of the highlights of my freelance career was building a custom Content Management System (CMS) for the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History. This was an exhilarating project! The web-based CMS allowed museum staff to manage their digital signage which was developed using Adobe Flash technology.

I miss building web-applications. One which has stood the test of time is Sovereign Bank’s Branch and ATM Locator which was built at the end of 2006.

Bear with me for a little longer…

At least once every 6 months (or whenever she is filling out forms) my wife asks me: “what is it you do again?” and I kinda fumble when I tell her that I am programmer or developer or web developer (not web designer) …bla bla bla… This becomes a problem when you are trying to sell yourself to a client.

Before I can truly determine my place, I must to determine my space.

I might be opening up a can of worms here, but I want to clarify some popular web terminology (according to bala):

web design: make it LOOK good

web development: make it WORK good

web applications allow us to accomplish one or more tasks.
- example: gmail, wordpress, twitter

a static website provides information (text, pictures, sounds, video)
- example: cnn.com

a dynamic website is a static website that has one or more web applications
- example: facebook, twitter

front-end developer builds a static website (devigners and wranglers fall into this category as well – using a CMS to build a static site)

back-end developer (or programmer) builds dynamic websites.

here is what wikipedia thinks: web design, web development, web application…

what are your definitions?

So I am dubbing myself as web guy who specializes in web application development. Check out what I can do…

In the coming weeks, I’ll be spreading the word to see if any agencies could use front-end and back-end web development help.

talk to me!

Published on January 7, 2010 5:21 am.
Filed under: biz dev, personal Tags:

appengine and python…

I once read that “…simplicity is king” . This cannot be more true when applied to programming. There are a LOT of different categories of programming languages out there and I find myself attracted to programming languages that offer a higher level of abstraction. Not because I am lazy, but because it is simpler to work with.

Let me explain…

high-level of abstraction = high-level programming language = more legible code = easier. example: Visual Basic

low-level of abstraction = low-level programming language = not so legible code = looks like machine code = more difficult = super efficient and generally faster. example: assembly language

There is a place and time for the different types of languages, although, the introduction of some high-level languages (Visual Basic) has drawn the scorn of many purists. They argue that because the coding syntax is more semantic and easier to understand, un-qualified people are now flocking into the field of programming. Some go to the extent of blaming part of the dot com crash of the 90′s to poor VBScript developers. The claim is that easier = lazier.

I definitely do not think that programming is for everyone. But imagine an excellent programmer that is equipped with the benefits that come with high-level (easier) languages. A programmer that is not hindered by difficult syntax and complex programming structures.

This is why I think that formal training in the art of computer science is so essential. I am grateful that in college, my resolve to be a programmer was put to the test with courses that required the use of low-level languages like assembly language and data-structured (functional) language like Common Lisp, and (not so low-level like) C++ and Java. This was before we were ever introduced to Visual Basic and PHP. Going through the grueling process of understanding data sections and data structures and pointers and inheritance and constructors and destructors… has made me a better programmer. And I’ve come to appreciate the higher-level languages like PHP and C# that help me get work done fast and efficiently in the real world.

NOW to Python and appengine…

I have to say that Python is a beautiful (high-level) language. And Google’s appengine platform is crazy responsive (surprised?). I tried developing on salesforce.com’s offering of a platform as a service (PAAS) and I was not impressed. Using the eclipse IDE to build on salesforce.com’s cloud was not responsive and seemed bloated – IMHO.

So I decided to use my latest pet project to try out Python and Google’s PAAS offering. In anticipation of a sucky PAAS experience, I started out using the Django framework on my local server.

My initial perception is that Python just seems to get out of the way, and allows you to get to work. There are many benefits to Python, one of my favorites right now is:

Maintainable Python: Python’s elegant simplicity yields code that is not only readable, but also easy to redesign and modify. Because Python’s syntax uses indentation to define program structure, code is easy to move around, making it a snap to split up modules or restructure classes. Less time is spent understanding and rewriting code, which leads to faster bug fixes, faster development and integration of new features, and a better-designed code base.
from: http://www.wingware.com/python/benefits

for example, this is how you would query the zillow api to get the zestimate of a property and the high and low valuation;


...
        rpc = urlfetch.create_rpc()
        urlfetch.make_fetch_call(rpc, zillowurl)
        try:
            result = rpc.get_result()
            if result.status_code == 200:
            	dom = minidom.parseString(result.content)

            	#message
            	msg = dom.getElementsByTagName("message")[0]
            	result_node = dom.getElementsByTagName("result")[0]

            	message = msg.getElementsByTagName("text")[0].firstChild.data

            	if msg.getElementsByTagName("code")[0].firstChild.data == '0':
            		zesti = result_node.getElementsByTagName("zestimate")[0]

            		zestimate = zesti.getElementsByTagName("amount")[0].firstChild.data
            		zvaluation = zesti.getElementsByTagName("valuationRange")[0]
            		lowvaluation = zvaluation.getElementsByTagName("low")[0].firstChild.data
            		highvaluation = zvaluation.getElementsByTagName("high")[0].firstChild.data

            		zproperty = ({'zestimate':zestimate,
            					'lowvaluation':lowvaluation,
            					'highvaluation':highvaluation})

            	#self.response.out.write(zamount[0].firstChild.data)

        except urlfetch.DownloadError:
            message = 'There was an error retrieving the Zestimate, please try again later.'

	template_values = {
            'zproperty': zproperty,
            'message':message,
            }

		path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'index.html')
		self.response.out.write(template.render(path, template_values))

...

SO:
Python ROCKS
Django ROCKS
Appengine ROCKS

I just need to find projects where I can apply this stuff!!!

ps: some people are experiencing similar ecstasy with Ruby (on Rails), more power to you, lets change the world with code…

Published on January 5, 2010 3:11 pm.
Filed under: code Tags: