Events

We've known this for 50 years: open-plan offices do nothing good for companies except reduce rent costs, but they do a whole lot of bad. They are not "fun;" they are not "collaborative;" they are not "start-uppy." They just suck: Over the decades, a lot of really stupid management fads have come and gone, including: Six Sigma, where employees wear different colored belts (like in karate) to show they've been trained in the methodology. Stack Ranking, where employees are encouraged to rat each other out...

Nice.

Two milestones yesterday: I tested my grill with some friends and with decent results (note to self: soak the cedar plank first), and I finished unpacking the guest bedroom. Regular posting will resume at some point.

We have a deployment at work tonight at 5pm (because in financial firms, you always deploy at 5pm on Friday). Fortunately, we've already done a full test, so we're looking forward to a pretty boring deployment tonight. Fortunately, we have the Internet, which has provided me with all of these things to read: It turns out, men are responsible for 100% of all unwanted pregnancies. Real, live diplomats explain how to respond to something like Jamal Khashoggi's apparent murder, and how we're not actually...

Today's Chicago Tribune lays out a cautionary tale about Cityfront Center, a downtown Chicago development that hasn't lived up to its developer's promises: The goal was a “progression of spaces which are intended to unify the entire mixed-use project,” according to a 1987 document signed by then-planning commissioner Elizabeth Hollander and Chicago Dock’s president, Charles R. Gardner. Thirty-one years later, no one disputes that Cityfront Center is a real estate success, even though it includes...

My move isn't really over yet. I still have about two, maybe three car loads at my old place. But they'll have to stay there because I'm totally pooped right now. So far, the only casualties of the move seem to be a pizza stone and the connection bracket for my Nest thermostat. The latter is pretty annoying because I can't connect the thermostat without it. I swapped out my thermostat for the one that was in the apartment originally while the movers were moving, so it's entirely possible it's in a box...

Since I switched Internet providers in this move, I was able to leave my Nest Cam and Internet connection live for the move-out. Et voilà:

Almost everything I own is in boxes. The movers are coming in an hour. Parker still has his cone, unfortunately, so I'll have to juggle him around a bit. It's showtime. And unlike the last time I did this, today's forecast is for sunny skies and 14°C. I can live with that.

I'm about to go home to take Parker to the vet (he's getting two stitches out after she removed a fatty cyst from his eyelid), and then to resume panicking packing. I might have time to read these three articles: Lelslie Stahl interviewed President Trump for last night's 60 Minutes broadcast, with predictable results. The Smithsonian explains how Chicago grew from 350 people in 1833 to 1.7 million 70 years later. The Nielsen-Norman Group lays out how people develop technology myths, like how one study...

As predicted, Eddie Lampert has succeeded in driving Sears into the ground: In announcing the news, Sears said Edward Lampert stepped down as CEO effective immediately and remains chairman. Sears and Kmart stores and online platforms will remain open, though the company also said it would close 142 unprofitable stores near yearend, with liquidation sales at those locations "expected to begin shortly." The company said it has commitments for $300 million of debtor-in-possession financing from its senior...