Welcome

These are the home pages of Andy Gavin. I've been using the internet since the early ninties, from the days before the browser. It has been useful in a great many areas. It struck me that much of the information I read of interest on the internet was from other people's blogs and sites. Useful pieces of information that others had found ended up being useful to me. I set up this site partly to keep snippets of information that may be useful to others and also to create a better net presence.

My interests include:

Software Engineering

I have a degree from the University of the West of England in Real Time systems. I've also worked for 10 years in the software industry. I have an interest in:

• Agile Methods: What I like about Agile Methods is the idea that software should be built by communities. There is a change of emphasis that I think does the Agile Community credit: writing software is a people problem. The ability to write a program for a professional engineer isn't so much a difficult skill. What is the real trick is communication. Poor software is often the product of dysfunctional teams has been written about for many years: Agile in part is about getting the culture right.
• Good design, and the aspects of design that are universal: I believe that good design often means to play to cognitive bias. Simplicity in design is often best answered by understanding people's predispositions.
• Software Configuration Management: for some Configuration Management is similar to a Quality Representative. Good lightweight configuration management systems should not be noticeable: they provide a framework for enabling work. Unfortunately as projects scale some command-and-control regimes use SCM systems to restrict and lockout modification. Good configuration management— in its original definition from the DoD— is increasingly difficult to as systems become more complex. One of the first indications that projects are not going well is the management of past and future versions of components, or even a disagreement of what the system components are. Agile development’s continuous integration helps in creating configuration management solutions that are more inclusive, as opposed to authoritarian. Distributed SCM, automated testing and better merge tools lower the risk to the project of integration; removing the need for draconian control. Much work is left to be done in this area, better tools would lead to lighter weight management, high success rates and clearer visions.

Linguistics

Don't get me wrong, I cannot speak any other languages apart from English. Although I'd like to, what interests me is the structure of language and the problems it solves. I also like the view of modern linguists that their discipline is to describe language--- it's a little bit like people watching. It's also a subject like anthropology where you begin to realize how amazing people are.

Evolution

Evolutionary forces in society are interesting. They blend nicely with Game Theory, explain well how cultures come about, social viruses. More and more evolution seems to be used to explain complex systems and interactions. I don't believe that supporting evolution should make you a cynical atheist however.

Skiing

I wouldn't admit to being the greatest skier, though I did take some time off to do some skiing exams. I'm looking to get better every year. I have a level in instructorship which I hope will help me progress, I would ultimately like to show people round mountains for some of the year. Perhaps a guide for the
Ski Club of Great Britain in a few years. I am currently a member of the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance.

Sailing

I'm a day skipper and go sailing occasionally, mostly yachts I'm a member of the RYA. I also hold a level 3 in dingy sailing from when I was a teen.