Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

Mohamed Marwen Meddah is a Tunisian-Canadian, web aficionado, software engineering leader, blogger, and amateur photographer.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (David Allen)

This weekend I finished reading Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen, the personal productivity and self-management guru.

I’ve heard so so much about this book over the past years, read many reviews, went through so many productivity blogs that base their ideas and advice on the teachings of this book, and well, I just had to read it.

I can confirm that the hype is well deserved, this book can be a life-changing one if you choose to apply the simple ideas and tips in it. It will take you from being swamped with things to do and stress, to being well-organized, clear-minded and stress-free when it comes to whatever you need to do.

I’ve already started setting up two parallel systems based on the tips in the book, one for my work and the other for my personal life, and I’m already feeling how much potential they hold to enhance my productivity and relieve me from the extra stress of everyday life and the accumulated stuff I have to do.

This book is a must-read, I truly recommend it to everyone, and if it weren’t so damn hard to buy things online from Tunisia, I’d order a copy each for all my friends and colleagues; yes it’s that good.

Check it out yourself here: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

How I Say Numbers (And Why It’s Better)

A number of people I know have told me that they find the way I give them phone numbers or reference numbers is a bit weird.

I’ll explain, take the following number for example: 75468916

Most people would say it this way for example: Seventy five, four hundred sixty eight, nine hundred and sixteen; or some variance of that, grouping each two or three numbers together.

When it comes to me, it’s: Seven, five, four, six, eight, nine, one, six.

Because of the many times I’ve had people comment on my way of saying numbers, I’m posting to prove that my way is better, more efficient and even easier. I’ll be using some basic computer science concepts in here, drawing parallels to how I think our human brain would stock and retrieve this information.

Well, first of all, I understand that people group numbers because it makes it easier for them to remember these numbers. But when you come to think of it, it’s not a really wise use of memory space, because the grouped version is only a pointer towards the simple version which is a series of numbers. So what you end up with is the person’s name being a pointer to the grouped version which is a pointer to the simple version; that’s a waste of memory space.

Another issue is that everytime you want to read a number like that or try to recall it from memory in that way there’s some wasted processing time trying to find the best way to group the numbers; some people are faster than others but no matter how unnoticed it goes, there is a little lag, as you put some brain processing cycles to work on something useless.
The same goes for the receiving end when hearing a number, you’re forcing their brain to process the number to break it into the simple version, so you’re not only wasting your brain processing cycles but other people’s too.

Imagine when you’re saying the number in another language like French for example, where a number like 78 is actually said as follows: Sixty, Ten, Eight. That wastes even more time in processing and storing.

I believe that if in the end the number is going to be stored in its simple version and then retrieved for use in its simple version, then you should just stock it (remember it) and transfer it (say it, pass it) in its simple version.

It takes a bit of getting used to to optimize your brain to stock the information that way and index it well, but I find it to be a lot faster, more efficient and simpler.

Four Years Of Subzero Blue

Last Friday marked the 4th anniversary for my blog “Subzero Blue”.

For four years this blog has been a great space for me to throw my ideas, thoughts, rambles online and share whatever I find important or interesting with the world. It has been a great ride, and I’ve loved every minute of it.

It’s incredible how much that previous paragraph makes it sound like I’m about to announce that I’m going to quit blogging, but well even though I have to admit that the thought has crossed my mind a few times, I think I’ll be hanging on for a while longer.

The past year wasn’t as active as the three years before it, mainly because of the big changes in my life, from taking on more responsabilities in my new job to having a child to so many other things.
But well, I’m hoping that the year ahead will be a better one and that I’ll have more time to devote to the blog and to other internet projects I have in mind.

A big thanks to everybody who has taken the time to come visit, read and comment on Subzero Blue; You guys rock. Thank you for everything.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy writing it.

The 6 Myths Of Creativity

I just came across an interesting article on Fast Company about the 6 myths of creativity. Their list goes as follows:

1. Creativity Comes From Creative Types
2. Money Is a Creativity Motivator
3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity
4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs
5. Competition Beats Collaboration
6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

I totally agree; these beliefs that many people in management positions hold about creativity and what triggers it are simply wrong and have nothing to do with reality.
Even if they hold in one case or another, it’s obvious they are not the rule, and that there most probably were some other factors in the background that helped.

Check out the full article: The 6 Myths Of Creativity

Alternative Energy: Is The Price Justified?

A couple of days ago I was flipping through tv channels when I came across this show that was just beginning; the show was about biofuel, and the presenter listing the different points of the show went on about how they would talk about how cost-effective biofuel is and whether the outcome justifies the cost.

This is an approach that I’ve been seeing in a number of places by a number of people, and I’m totally against it, because we don’t really have an option anymore; this is not a business issue where you evaluate what you’re going to get out of doing something, compare it to what you’re putting in and then decide what to do; this is a totally different ball game, whatever the cost, we have to act!

Through years of ignoring nature and scientific facts we’ve driven our planet to the brink of chaos and disaster, and if we don’t act fast to come up with and use alternative sources of energy, it won’t be long before we lose the most precious thing we can leave for our children and future generations: a habitable planet to live on.

So instead of asking whether the price is justified, we should ask how we can make it affordable and accessible for more people, because the justification is stronger than any there could ever be, and there is no need to even think of discussing it.

A Couple Of Office Space Quotes

Last night, I popped in one of my favourite comedy movies “Office Space” into the DVD player and laid back to enjoy.

I just thought I’d share with you a couple of quotes from the movie that I think a lot of people in the IT field will relate to.

Peter Gibbons: Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements.

and…

Joanna: So, where do you work, Peter?
Peter Gibbons: Initech.
Joanna: In… yeah, what do you do there?
Peter Gibbons: I sit in a cubicle and I update bank software for the 2000 switch.
Joanna: What’s that?
Peter Gibbons: Well see, they wrote all this bank software, and, uh, to save space, they used two digits for the date instead of four. So, like, 98 instead of 1998? Uh, so I go through these thousands of lines of code and, uh… it doesn’t really matter. I uh, I don’t like my job, and, uh, I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore.
Joanna: You’re just not gonna go?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Joanna: Won’t you get fired?
Peter Gibbons: I don’t know, but I really don’t like it, and, uh, I’m not gonna go.
Joanna: So you’re gonna quit?
Peter Gibbons: Nuh-uh. Not really. Uh… I’m just gonna stop going.
Joanna: When did you decide all that?
Peter Gibbons: About an hour ago.
Joanna: Oh, really? About an hour ago… so you’re gonna get another job?
Peter Gibbons: I don’t think I’d like another job.
Joanna: Well, what are you going to do about money and bills and…
Peter Gibbons: You know, I’ve never really liked paying bills. I don’t think I’m gonna do that, either.

If you haven’t already seen this movie, you just have to, it’s so so funny…

Check it out: “Office Space”

Les Cendres De Carthage (Abdelaziz Belkhodja)

Last weekend I finished reading “Les Cendres De Carthage” (The Ashes Of Carthage) by Tunisian writer Abdelaziz Belkhodja.
This is the second book I’ve read by him, the first being “Le Retour De L’Eléphant” (The Return Of The Elephant) that I read a few years ago.

This work of fiction revolves around an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Carthage, close to the capital of Tunisia, where the great ancient library of Carthage is discovered, then taking an unexpected twist into a thriller putting politicians and intelligence services from Tunisia and the United States face to face.

It’s style is a bit reminiscant of “The Da Vinci Code” in how the main character keeps digging up historic facts in his investigation to find the truth, but well this book was written well before “The Da Vinci Code” was ever released.

It’s also pretty obvious the writer has a fascination with Carthage and the history of Tunisia as both books I’ve read by him up to now build upon that in their storylines.

I liked this book, it’s an interesting and light read, plus the fact that it’s by a Tunisian and has Tunisia as a character gives it a little extra taste for me.

The Top 10 Dead (Or Dying) Computer Skills

I just came across an article on ComputerWorld that lists the top 10 dead or dying computer skills; the list goes as follows:

1. Cobol
2. Nonrelational DBMS
3. Non-IP networks
4. cc:Mail
5. ColdFusion
6. C programming
7. PowerBuilder
8. Certified NetWare Engineers
9. PC network administrators
10. OS/2

Wow, that list brings back a lot of memories of things I used to use or that I had on my list of things to check out, learn or use.

It’s amazing how much changes in so little time when it comes to the IT/Computer industry; but still we wouldn’t be where we are today without all those dead technologies and skills.
So personally, the list above has all my respect and admiration; May they all rest in peace.

Check the full article: The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills.