Month: September 2021

Book: Patrick Lencioni “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”

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I’ve already written about Patrick Lencioni and my introduction to his books two years ago, so there’s no need to repeat myself. In that same review, I mentioned that the first book of his I read was the bestseller The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, written in his favorite genre—a business novel. To briefly remind you what that genre is: the book is presented as a work of fiction, but it addresses a specific business problem, and throughout the narrative, it shows how the fictional characters solve that problem. At the end, the author usually summarizes the key points in a more straightforward, business-like manner.

Recently, during a discussion, I found myself referring to several of Patrick’s ideas from this book. I decided to open it again to find the exact quotes, and the book immediately pulled me in. I read it over just two or three evenings before bed, even though I was already familiar with the content. However, I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the concepts, applying them to my own experience and the realities of several of my clients (as I now work as a management and process consultant). I think I may have appreciated the book even more this time than when I first read it.

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“The As*trobiologists” — now in English

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This post is mostly for my English-speaking friends (even though my blog is in Russian). Recently Amazon has started selling an English translation of one very good Russian Sci-Fi book with comedy elements. The book is written by my good friend and is very popular among Russian readers. But it would be interesting to know how good the Russian translation is and how this kind of humor is perceived by English-speaking audiences.

Olga Gromyko “The As*trobiologists” (Volume 1)buy
Olga Gromyko “The As*trobiologists” (Volume 2)buy

A Shoemaker Without Shoes, an IT Country Without IT

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In recent years, Cyprus has increasingly been promoting the idea of transforming the country into a haven for IT. I recently wrote about why it’s still far from being an IT Mecca, and today I’ll go into more detail about why this seemingly sound initiative continues to stall.

Many expat IT professionals dream of moving the country forward into the future and breaking its dependency on tourism. They understand that relying solely on tourism isn’t sustainable. The “Mediterranean laziness” mindset often leads to maximizing profits from tourists with minimal investment, but this approach can’t last forever. Most Cypriot hotels lag 20–30 years behind their continental counterparts in terms of room quality for the same star rating. While 5-star hotels are generally decent, their prices are comparable to the cost of a flight to the moon.

However, while Cypriots have at least some understanding of tourism (having relied on it for so long), their grasp of IT is far worse. Add to this the “laziness factor,” where government offices operate for just a few hours a day (and not all of them even then). Requests for refunds of overpaid taxes can take 7–8 years to process (I’m not exaggerating), and unemployment benefits will likely be issued only after you’ve starved to death—applications take a minimum of four months to process from the time you lose your job.

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Song: NIZKIZ “Rules” (Pravily)

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It’s strange—I was sure I’d written about this song, but it turns out that amidst a series of events, I simply forgot.

I was familiar with the Belarusian band NIZKIZ by name, but I hadn’t really listened to them. A year ago, after the events in Belarus, some of their songs started to resonate with me and found their way into my playlist. The song “Правілы” (“Rules”) is clearly dedicated to what happened in the summer of 2020. The official music video makes this absolutely clear (The music video for this song disappeared from YouTube after almost all the band members were imprisoned by “the most fair court in the world.”) And in this combination of sound and visuals, the song tears at your soul even more deeply.

I’m proud of Belarusians!

Cyprus: Attitude Toward Wines

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Living in regions where winemaking traditions span not just centuries but millennia significantly changes one’s perspective on this product. I’ve never been a fan of alcohol in general, or wine in particular, so all the talk about blends, notes of bog moss with hints of caramel was just noise to me. I occasionally have a glass of wine, but very rarely—and I don’t always finish the glass. However, my wife loves wine and is always trying new varieties.

Since people in Cyprus have been drinking wine at least since the days of Ancient Greece, it’s hardly a novelty here. There are plenty of local wineries, and prices start at as little as €1.50–2 per bottle. Of course, experts might debate how good a €3–4 wine can be, but to me, it’s simple: you either like it, or you don’t.

For example, in the photo, there are two wines produced in Cyprus by the company KEO (owned by the local church, by the way). They cost around €3 per bottle. Their average ratings on the Vivino app are 3.5 (depending on the year). Both wines are considered “popular among users” of the app.

So, it’s perfectly reasonable to pour yourself a glass in the evening.

However, what has specifically changed in our family is our attitude toward wine as some kind of lofty, refined beverage. The two bottles in the photo, for instance, weren’t bought or opened to drink at all—they were simply used as part of a meat marinade. When wine is this inexpensive, why not use it for marinating meat? With a large family like ours, a single meal easily uses up an entire bottle.

In the past, I might have considered this sacrilegious (How could you waste such a product?!), but now it’s just normal.

As for Cyprus’s main wine attraction—that would be Commandaria. But I’ll write about it some other time.

Difficulty in Games

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Once again, I’ve been reflecting on gaming preferences. I’m generally almost omnivorous when it comes to genres—I enjoy a wide variety. But a few years ago, I realized I’ve started gravitating toward casual gameplay. Games like Dark Souls already terrify me just from their descriptions. I want a great story, engaging gameplay, but without bone-crushing difficulty.

I still enjoy hack-and-slash games, but in recent years I often play them on easy mode. I understand this means I miss out on some of the satisfaction. But trying to beat a boss 100,500 times robs me of far more enjoyment. Life is too short for that.

Even with this approach, I sometimes encounter wildly unbalanced gameplay. Take Darksiders 3 (which I didn’t like at all compared to the first two games). My daughter spent a week trying to beat one boss on normal difficulty. I spent four days on easy. The balance is horribly off when most of the game feels smooth, and then you hit a sudden spike in difficulty. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t quit. What’s strange is that after that boss, the game gets easier and smoother again until the end.

In Darksiders Genesis, like a true masochist, I play without a gamepad (despite constant reminders from the developers that playing without one is pain and suffering—then why even bother including keyboard controls if they couldn’t make them decent?). And halfway through the game, there’s another boss where I hit a wall. This, despite my characters being leveled about 30% higher than the recommended level for that boss.

What I’ve been pondering is this: who are all these people playing games on Nightmare mode? When even on easy, I sometimes feel like giving up.

And why have I suddenly shifted toward easy modes in so many games?

In general, I’m all for adaptive difficulty. A game should help the player make it to the end and get maximum enjoyment. The worst outcome is when a player quits a game and is left with a bitter aftertaste.

LitRes: Differences Between ePub and iOS.ePub

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Those who frequently use the LitRes website may have noticed that sometimes eBooks are offered in two ePub formats: standard ePub and iOS.ePub. Many have probably wondered, what’s the difference? I was curious too, so, as a well-known nerd… researcher, I decided to conduct my own investigation.

In addition to offering two formats, LitRes sometimes sells books in the iOS.ePub format separately from the regular eBook edition, and often at a significantly higher price. They used to do this quite often with Boris Akunin’s books.

Since deep down I’m still a bit of a programmer, I have a general idea of what the ePub format is (without getting into the weeds, it’s essentially hypertext). That’s why I was very curious about this sub-format LitRes invented, one they’re charging extra for.

When you try searching online, the results are pretty sparse. They mostly mirror the standard response you’d get from LitRes tech support when asking this question: “iOS.ePub is adapted for viewing on iOS devices.” Not exactly the most helpful answer. Thanks, Captain Obvious, so to speak. And even when you follow up with another question, Captain Obvious doesn’t falter:

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Masterpiece Songs from Flop Films

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Recently, I was playing some of my favorite songs for the kids in the car. At some point, I caught myself thinking that many of these songs are far more famous than the movies they appeared in. Usually, it’s the other way around: the soundtrack (music and songs) fades into the background as we get absorbed by the story. Sometimes, both the film and the songs are great, and we end up happily humming the tunes afterward—or they even become hits.

The latter category includes “Prekrasnoye Daleko” (“The Beautiful Far Away”) from the excellent film “Guest from the Future“ (which deviates significantly from Kir Bulychev’s original story, but as kids, we were glued to the screen, and Natasha Guseva—the lead actress—became every boy’s favorite girl in the USSR for years). Or “Krylatye Kacheli” (“The Swinging Swings”) from “The Adventures of the Electronic“. There are plenty of other examples too.

But let’s think about cases where we remember the songs, but the movies didn’t leave much of an impression. Of course, I can’t name them all, so I invite you to add your examples in the comments. I’ll share a few from my own playlist, and I’ll add any suggestions from the comments to the post.

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Book: Sid Meier “Sid Meier’s Memoir! A Life in Computer Games”

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In the video game industry, there are trendsetters, visionaries like Steve Jobs, and other legends. And then there are the gods. I’m not afraid of this comparison—Sid Meier can be counted among the gods of game development. Because it’s impossible not to know him, and his creations have forever changed the industry, setting the course for a significant number of genres and franchises. Even players who may not recognize his name almost certainly know at least one of his games, and that game is Civilization.

There are people whose names became their calling cards. Their games were bought without question, their name alone enough of a guarantee, because they had already created masterpieces in the past. But I can’t readily recall anyone else whose name was consistently placed directly in the titles of their games. With Sid Meier, this happened multiple times, starting with that very Civilization, officially titled Sid Meier’s Civilization (though the idea of adding his name to the titles didn’t actually come from Sid Meier himself).

Why can he be called a god? Precisely because, with resources modest by today’s standards, he managed to create an entire world with its own nations, a world that grew and evolved according to the rules set by its creator. He made his own Earth, where every player could also feel a bit like a god, guiding their chosen group of people from the dawn of time to the era of space exploration (in the original game, humanity’s journey to Alpha Centauri was one of the possible endings).

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What Did You Study and What Was Your Job?

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I came across Alex Exler’s post about the “What Did You Study and What Was Your Job?” flash mob (the post is in Russian). It’s a fun idea, so I decided to write about myself and also find out about others.

So, I graduated with a degree in “Computer Science” from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (ФПМИ in Russian) at Belarusian State University (BSU). According to my diploma, I’m a “mathematician-systems programmer,” though I’ve always felt we leaned more towards applied programming than systems programming. But that’s what the diploma says.

Now, as for “what jobs I’ve had,” that’s much more entertaining. By “work,” I mean only activities for which I got paid. If I did something for free, it doesn’t count.

Here’s the list:

  • Janitor (my very first job where I earned money)—there’s a photo above, though it’s of poor quality, and I’m not in it because I was the one taking the picture. Still, you could call it our little gang of janitor-trainees back in 1987 (yes, in the fourth grade).
  • Electronic text typist (typed handwritten texts onto a computer).
  • Programmer (even before officially earning the title).
  • Journalist (wrote a few articles for the teen newspaper Perekhodny Vozrast (Teenage Years), for Computer Gazette, and some small pieces for sci-fi magazines).
  • TV scriptwriter (for the TV program Five Wonders on Belarusian television; my wife later took over the baton).
  • Translator of fiction books from English to Russian (I got paid for two; one was published).
  • Writer (I earned some pennies for my book, so it counts).
  • Blogger—like this blog, for instance. I’ve received a few donations for it.
  • And the rest is in my main profession:
    • Programmer
    • Software architect (not of buildings)
    • Analyst
    • Technical writer
    • Project manager
    • Manager at various levels
    • Management and process consultant (this is what I currently do, and my full professional history can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/knari/)

What about your experience?