New Lingo and Terms
- ideation
- customer delight
- customer experience
- KTM: Know The Market
- GTM: Go To Market
Essential Software Engineering Lingo
I regularly share about new terms I learned. The following is the essential software engineering lingo I learned over the years:
- Wrapper
- Orthogonal
- Semantic
- Containerization
- Refactor
The Four Stages of Butt Butter
On long distance cycling events, especially on multi-day events like ALC, butt butter is essential.
Butt butter or chamois cream is an anti-chafing cream. Applied to the butt and groin area. It creates a barrier and reduces rubbing. They are often formulated with ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil, and other emollients to soothe and moisturize the skin. There are several variants: a US and European style cream, for him and her.
During ALC, there are boxes and boxes of little packets of butt butter, often in a small plastic glove for easy application.
We all go through various butt butter modesty stages:
- Apply in private, in a port-a potty.
- Apply turned away, and far from folks, near a wall or corner.
- Apply near my bicycle. There are people nearby.
- Apply in conversation, fully keeping eye contact with the person you are talking to. Congratulations, only now are you worthy of the ALC medal.
The hardest part is returning to the normal world and recalibrating modesty levels.
Overpacked For AIDS/Lifecycle 2025
After my ALC2023, I jotted down a few packing notes. They came in handy packing for this year’s ride.
The big lesson from ALC2025 is that I overpacked. My new rolling duffel bag was packed to the brim, and that excluded a large sleeping pad strapped to the top. Here are my lessons.
What Worked Out Well?
- A ticker and more comfortable sleeping pad was a good call, even it didn’t fit inside the bag. The ultra compact thin backpacking sleeping bad is great for backpacking but there is no need to suffer that much.
- The new full size micro fiber towel is better than the tiny towel I had before.
- The REI rolling duffle bag worked so much better than the large luggage.
- The new camping lantern worked out fantastically, as did the small LED mirror to put in my contacts.
- My battery packs worked great and I didn’t have to recharge and linger in the charging tent. Charging there is slow.
- I used the Licodaine patches a few nights.
Prepared for the Worst
I packed a number of items, just in case. I was lucky that I did not needed them. Keep these for the future.
- Several extra inner tubes, a bike repair kit with brakes, derailleur hangers, tools. (I did forget extra CO2 canisters).
- Cold or wet weather cycling gear.
Overpacked
- There is not need to bring both Crocks and sports shoes: leave the sport shoes home.
- Only bring a single down puffer jacket and leave the bulky warm hoodie at home. Keep the beanie.
- There is also no need for the several shirts for in the evening. I barely used them. One to sleep in and two to wear underneath your down jacket. As you use it barely a few hours every day, you can reuse it throughout the week.
- There is no need for an extra cycling kit if you are already have one for every day. In the worst case, I wash and reuse one.
- I packed too many wooden clothes pins and barely use a handful of them.
- I didn’t end up using the bulky medical tape.
To Consider for the Future
- A small foldable backpacking chair.
- A massage roller. A foldable foam roller is less critical, as there were plenty in front of the sport medicine tent.
- A small thermos to keep coffee warm overnight, so you can skip the coffee line and can jumpstart your mornings.
- An extra drawstring bag to carry things around camp.
While there is no other AIDS/Lifecyle, this list may be handy for other multi-day cycling trips in the future.
Hypocrisy
I am watching Rather, a documentary about Dan Rather and the importance of truth in news coverage and of clear language.
Fox News clearly and consistently fails that test.
On the other hand, and incomparable to Fox News, the New York Times isn’t all holy either. It tries to be too cute in their language, and in doing so, distort the truth.
For example, take a recent story in the NY Times
Record Debt Limit Increase Would Break Republican Precedent - A proposed $5 trillion debt limit increase could make it hard for Republicans to maintain their fiscal hawk credibility.
The “Breaking precedent” headline may barely register with many readers. Given the years of unison on not increasing the debt limit, and even shutting down the government over it, are more appropriate headline would be:
Hypocrite GOP lawmakers lose all fiscal credibility as they push for record $5 trillion debt increase.
Networking Magic
I recently attended a presentation by David Speigel on Networking Magic. I reread his notes and LinkedIn posts. Here are my action take-aways:
- Prioritize networking. Do it daily, with thick skin. Move on quickly, don’t dwell on it. It is a numbers game. Goal: 100 connections/number of years of work.
- Learn how to leverage LinkedIn better.
- (Re)Connect with past co-workers.
- Add everyone: Connect with folks you meet at work meetings, conferences, communities, and meetups.
- Connect with super-connectors (e.g., professors, recruiters, anyone who gets lots of looks, VCs).
- Search LinkedIn regularly: people you may know, more profiles for you, search using filters. Combine reach out with contactout.com.
- Build and bookmark LinkedIn’s Feed lists (how-to-connections; how-to-posts)
- Comment on posts!
- Learn how to craft reach out messages: find things in common, show research, add value, be curious. Keep it brief. Start the relationship with at best a minimal ask.
That Was the Final AIDS/Lifecycle Ride
After 7 days pedaling from San Francisco, we arrived in Santa Monica, our final destination of the 2025 and final AIDS/Lifecycle: 563 miles (over 900km), 24500 ft, climbing (almost 7500m), and one pothole induced flat tire.
This has been an unforgettable experience, together with my beautiful and hard riding South Bay Blaze teammates, and with the many riders and roadies that make up this special social experiment, called the Love Bubble. The second time around has been more relaxed and more special. I will miss it!
This year, we raised over $17M for the ALC mission. In total, over the years, our little South Bay Blaze team raised $3M(!) and the AIDS/Lifecycle ride in total raised over $300M(!!!). It matters.
On day 3 of the ride, we stop for lunch in a little rural town of Bradley. Also here, ALC matters. This year, we brought together $119K for afterschool activities.
AIDS/Lifecycle brings out the best in people: compassion, empathy, speaking out on important issues, teamwork in the saddle and while repairing those flats, grit, and lots of smiles. Thank you all for a wonderful week!
Documentaries While in the Saddle
I’ve spent a lot of ntime on the road, training for ALC 2025 and other rides. There is nothing that comes close to riding outdoors, nose in the wind, snottering, while feeling even bump of the uneven pavement.
Yet, sometimes riding outdoors is not an option: rain, darkness, or you just don’t have the time for a long ride. That’s when I join a spin class or hop on an indoor trainer. It can be boring to pedal indoors. For this, I created a great Youtube playlist featuring:
- Return of the King, a documentary series about Ted King
- The Lachlan Morton series, with The Great Southern Country, The Hills, Transcordelleras and The Divide
- Can an amateur cyclist finish the Tour de France, about a group of Kiwis doing just that
- 1000 Miles in a Dusty Saddle, about a long ride in the North of Texas
- Rising from Ashes
- The Traka 2025
- Riding Fixed, with Matteo Jorgenson, Phil Gaimon and others. Great insight and of the cuff commentary from the pro riders.
- The meteoric rise of Tadej Pogacar
Saddle up, click in, and enjoy.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWqs4oHNHcfHTSoSAC08ljnDZ9WpGLJLR&si=LmVO2aP56HnTgFoc
Unit X
After a few articles on the same subject, I read, Unit X, how the pentagon and Silicon Valley or transforming the future of war, by Raj M. Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff.
Somewhat oddly, the protaganists in the book, chose to write their own story and toot their own horns, rather than working with biographer, like Walter Isaacson.
The premise of the book is simple and could have been a story in Wired Magazine:
- The military complex has lost its edge and speed, in part because of a bureaucratic, slow, and politicized procurement process.
- Silicon Valley, with its roots in the Cold War, cares more about emojis than about building technology in the interest of national security.
- The threat is China.
The authors tell the story of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which they created at Moffett airfield in Mountain View, California, against great resistance from the establishment Washington. They describe their founding and funding tribulations, as well as various successes in bringing better solutions to the war fighter. They also take you along the halls of congress fighting the political machinery.
Even though it all happened in my backyard, I had not heard about DIU. I did meet some similar folks from In-Q-Tel (IQT), the CIA’s venture fund, at an event, looking for opportunities to fund new technology.
Yet, this world isn’t entirely foreign to me, as the company I work for provides key technology to both aerospace and defense companies, including many US prime contractors, and to commercial companies. We also have an active SBIR research program.
Referring to how our software saves the government money by leveraging a commercial of the shelve (COTS) solution, our CEO is quoted saying,
Prime contractors sell hours, we sell anti-hours.
The book highlights the importance of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts, as they are much faster and easier, then the regular route. This book should have been called How Washington needs to redo how it buys military systems.
Lastly, worth noting is the surprising and increasing role of Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, in bridging tech and defense and in the “AI war” with China. He surely isn’t counting his money on an island somewhere.
In summary: interesting to read a few chapters; could have been an article. Yet, be alarmed by China and the hole our defense innovation has fallen into.
Ten Day Countdown
There are ten days to go before the final ALC pushes off in San Francisco. ALC recently passed $14 Million with more to arrive this week. The training is done. The packing remains.
Saturday was my last serious training ride: a 46 miles and 5,410ft climb to Mount Hamilton (Scalata Hors Categorie in Maglia Rosa).
This past week, I have been in maintenance mode: some light zone 2 indoor cycling and plenty of yoga. This weekend, I’ll do some short training ride in the South Bay to keep the cement from hardening. Stay loose.
Remaining task list:
- $3,500 fundraising minimum reached. Ticket earned.
- Medical forms completed
- Camp forms completed. Tent mate.
- Last minute shopping: extra inner tubes, tent light, lidocaine patches, etc.
- Pack (Picky Packing list ; my ALC Packing list notes)
- Final tune-up of my bicycle: replace brakes, get extra derailleur hanger, prepare saddle bag.
- Orientation day: drop off bike
See ya at the Cow Palace or along the route.
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