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Showing posts from 2009

GCR Ch 3: Evolution Theory and the Future of Humanity

I read Global Catastrophic Risks not only to deepen my understanding of global risks, but also to find ways to practically do something about it. Hopefully, blogging about the chapters as I digest them will assist on both accounts. The book’s chapter 3 discusses our understanding of evolution, given the long perspective. Evolution is not unique and has occurred several times in our history. Tool-making hominoids with communication skills have evolved independently in Africa (our ancestors), Europe (the ancestors of the Neanderthal) and south-east Asia (“hobbits”). Environmental change is the major catalyst to drive evolution. Once species have filled their niches in the wake of an environmental change, adaption of organisms is only fine-tuned. It has also been shown that in the last 40,000 years evolution has been driving our species forward, 100 times faster than before. Why this is so, is still unclear. Today, psychological pressures and new environmental factors decide w

The Maturity of Agile Development

Recent discussions about the coexistence of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and agile development has prompted me to revisit my master's thesis on the subject. Ten years ago, I was one of the first practitioners of eXtreme Programming (XP), a software development method that belongs to the agile development movement. The big stumbling block of these methods has always been how to introduce it in an organization. Mentioning the words "extreme programming" makes you fight an uphill battle from the start. Agile is definitely a better word when presenting it. But still, the adoption of agile development requires a shift in the organizational culture, which historically has been more formal. After having participated in and coached a few pilot projects, I started to think about how to best introduce the method in a software organization. This thinking caused me to return to university to research the topic - the result was a master's thesis on the subje

Google Drive Templates For Product Managers

I created two new Google Drive document templates for Product Management work: a Product Requirements Document (PRD) and a Functional Specifications Document (FSD) . These are central documents in the product development lifecycle. The requirements document is used for a product's business and marketing requirements, while the specification document further details how those requirements will be implemented in the product. I'll start to dogfood these templates right away and will make updates along the way as needed. Please let me know if you find them useful or would like to see any changes!

UN's Stagnating Initiatives Against Bioterrorism

With UN's failure to implement the strategy laid out by the former Secretary-General, who will protect humanity from one the most dangerous threats, bioterrorism ?  With great foresight, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan brought the threat of bioterrorism to the UN agenda in 2006. In his recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy he writes: " The most important under-addressed threat relating to terrorism, and one which acutely requires new thinking on the part of the international community, is that of terrorists using a biological weapon. [...] They can [...] bring incalculable harm if put to destructive use by those who seek to develop designer diseases and pathogens. The answer to biotechnology’s dual-use dilemma will look very different [than that of nuclear weapons]. But the approach to developing it must be equally ambitious.[...] What we need now is a forum that will bring together the various stakeholders — Governments, industry, sci

Interview with Henrik Blomgren

For years, I've unsuccessfully tried to get many friends to start blogging. One of them is Henrik Blomgren, software consultant and small business owner. Henrik and I go way back. At the turn of the millennium, we were both leading software teams at Swedish Framfab. As the IT bubble burst, and our hopes with it, Henrik built his own software firm and his journey has now taken him all the way to Zurich, Switzerland. Below is a short interview I did with him a while back. Me: What motivated you to jump off the corporate bandwagon and start your own business? Henrik: Two factors, the first not being in a position to influence or change things at Framfab, the second was a number of ideas I had back then that was not possible to realize as an employee. Me: As a business owner, you currently focus on providing services over products. Was that a conscious decision and which do you think is the smarter strategy? Henrik: Initially, my focus (this was 2002) was on creating niched so

GCR Ch 2: Long-Term Astrophysical Processes

I read Global Catastrophic Risks not only to deepen my understanding of global risks, but also to find ways to practically do something about it. Hopefully, blogging about the chapters as I digest them will assist on both accounts. The book begins with discussing long-term astrophysical processes with a focus on the lifespans of our planet, solar system, galaxy and the Universe. These are the least immediate, but at the same time the most difficult risks to avoid. As such, there are not much we can do about them, right now. Hopefully, if we succeed to manage the other risks we're facing now and will face in the future, we will reach a point in time where we will have to deal the timely demise of the Earth, and later, the Universe. 3.5 billion years from now, the Sun will have exhausted its storage of hydrogen and increased its temperature enough for Earth's biosphere to be unable to sustain biological life. But even before Earth's temperature reaches that level, alr

Sign-Up Closes For Online Chess Match Championships

The sign-up period for the inaugural Online Chess Match Championships is now over. The list of registered players for the two divisions are: Open Division Player Rating ZwaartePaard 1942 Valiantangel 1866 leomalagar 1864 Acho 1861 tseltzer 1850 jonasil 1840 Tensaigg 1759 castleden 1745 SklavinLydia (tentative) 1737 surGeonGG 1660 TonyPrice - jumong (tentative) - Under 1600 Division Player Rating offtherook 1595 ranban    1576 farbror    1561 jerichob    1530 AHappyLearner    1484

On Survival

What if humanity were extinguished right now? Have you ever considered that scenario? No one can provide an accurate probability of such an event happening, but the fact that it could happen is indisputable. While personal survival is a major force for the individual, humankind's survival is the ultimate goal for us as a species. Individuals do almost anything in their power to prevent their own destruction, but what are we doing as a species to ensure our own survival? I would argue that we're spending more effort protecting specific zoological and botanical species than ourselves. Although humanity is not an extinguished species, there are several kinds of events which could wipe us all out in a matter of hours. We cannot continue to neglect the importance of protecting the survival of humankind. Threats are manifold and I plan to discuss these in future posts as I digest the book Global Catastrophic Risks , which deals with these important issues. Chapters I have r

Off the Back Burner?

How mundane it is to blog. I've put this blog on the back burner for many months now, as I've lacked inspiration for posting. Lately, I have been blogging exclusively about chess, which most likely doesn’t interest most of you. While it is a passion and I intend to keep posting occasionally on the subject, I don't want this blog (nor more life, for that matter) to focus on a board game. It is good to see that the small number of subscribers hasn't dwindled despite the chess focus of late, though. Why blog? In the end, I want to use this space to improve my writing and also to serve as a two-way communication platform with anyone else out there in the depths of cyberspace. Since I enjoy the creative process of writing, I will try to produce more stuff here, and perhaps from a more personal angle. I can't guarantee that it will work. But one thing's for sure: I will not promise to write more here; those are classical final words of the last post on dead blogs!

The Online Chess Match Championships

The Online Chess Match Championships is scheduled to take off on June 1. It is your chance to play in a chess tournament cycle similar to the official World Championships. The main reason that I organize this tournament is to make the excitement of chess matches available to everyone on the Internet. The games will be played on the free FICS chess server. You can sign up right away!

Looking Back at My Match vs. RealChosenOne

My first match on Chess Matches HQ , was versus RealChosenOne. To me, chess matches are the ultimate form of chess; I especially enjoy the preparations between games. Slated for 12 games, the match was unfortunately interrupted after only 7, as my opponent without explanation disappeared from all online chess communities. I still don’t know the reason behind this, but I hope that RealChosenOne is OK. As I’ve always spent a disproportional amount of study on openings, I’d like to present a glimpse of what was played, including one strong novelty. As White, I faced the Sicilian Sveshnikov [B33] and as Black I defended with the 2..Nf6 Scandinavian. As White As White, I met the Sicilian Sveshnikov in games 2, 4, 6 and 7. All four games started with 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 . This is the main line Sveshnikov. From here, Black usually continues 10..f5. My opponent opted for this move only once in our

HOWTO: Play Chess Online

The most efficient way to improve your chess is to play lots of games. The online chess community makes it easy to find opponents of any skill level. This is the reason why the number of great young chess players is much greater today; anybody can gain experience on the Internet, 24/7. In the old days, players had to travel to tournaments to gain the same experience that can now be gained in an online equivalent overnight. So, you ask, how do I best take advantage of the online chess offerings to gain experience and improve my chess? First , select a server that is dedicated to chess. More generic game servers that offer a multitude of board games invariably offer a worse experience and a weaker community for the chess fan. Second , choose a server that has a decent amount of players logged in at any given time, so that you always can find an opponent that wants to play at your preferred time control. Third , go for an intuitive interface that fits your requirements. Fourth , de

Game 1 in Match Against tseltzer

Yesterday, the opening game of a new 12-point chess match against tseltzer was played on FICS . I am having great hopes and expectations that it will turn out to be a close and exciting series of games. The fact that both our ratings are identical (1825) at the start of game 1 bodes well. During my preparations as White I learned that my opponent uses a clever move order as Black against my king’s gambit to avoid the bishop’s gambit lines: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 exf4!?. After this, White does best in transposing into the modern defense lines of the king’s gambit, which I also did in game 1. Black was not properly prepared for the line I played (4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4), and after some inaccuracies I early gained a clear advantage, and delivered mate in move 21. It will be very interesting to see how my opponent will deviate in his next game as Black. Game 1 can be viewed here .

TeamLeague T38: My 5th Round Game

After a painful 0.5-3.5 loss in round 5, our team is no longer in contention of reaching the playoffs. One round remains, but without any real significance. I am starting to plan on finding an even-matched match opponent when the league finishes. Below is my 5th round game. In the diagram position below, I am clearly winning, but blundered away the game on a silly mistake on move 28. Fuzion (1740) – Jonas Martinsson (1808) [B01] TeamLeague T38 Free Internet Chess Server (5), 15.03.2009 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nf3 Qxd5 4.d4 Bg4 5.Be2 Nc6 6.c4 Qf5 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Qa5+? [8...0-0-0=] 9.Nc3 0-0-0 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.0-0 e5 12.Qf3? [12.d5 cxd5 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.b4!+/=] 12...exd4 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Qc5 15.b3N [RR 15.b4 Qxc4-/+ 16.Bg5 f6 17.Rfc1 Qd5 18.Qg4+ Rd7 19.Bd2 Bd6 20.Rc2 f5 21.Qd1 d3 22.Rc3 Be5 23.Rc5 Qe6 24.Rac1 Qxa2 25.Rxe5 Qa6 26.Qf3 g6 27.Rxc6 Qb7 28.b5 Rd6 29.Qe3 Rhd8 Gulati,J (2122)-Lynn,J (1871)/Edmonton 2005/CBM 107 ext/1-0 (33)] 15...f5?! [15...Bd6=/+]

TeamLeague T38: My 4th Round Game

In round 4 of TeamLeague , my game was left to be played last for my team. We were leading 2-1 before my game started, so I needed at least a draw to secure the team win. I came out clearly worse of another declined Benko gambit, but my opponent failed to capitalize on my choice of opening, and we eventually reached an even rook endgame (the 2nd diagram below). However, that endgame was badly mistreated by yours truly… Interesting to note is that in all four games, my opening gambits have been declined. Party-poopers! ValenceJordan (1936) - Jonas Martinsson (1821) [A57] Teamleague T38 (Round 4), 11.03.2009 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 Bb7 5.e3 I was unprepared for this move. In our previous encounter ValenceJordan played 5. Nbd2 5...bxc4 6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nc3 exd5 8.Nxd5 Nxd5N [RR 8...Nc6 9.Bd2 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Bc3 Ne4 12.Qd3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Na5 14.Bb5 Bf6 15.Rac1 d6 16.Rfd1 Be5 17.c4 Nc6 18.Rb1 Qa5 19.Bxc6 Bxc6 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Nxc6 Qxa2 22.Ncxe5 dxe5 23.Nxe5 Sokolova,O-Hvostov

TeamLeague T38: My 3rd Round Game

Now that FeedJournal posts have their own blog , I'll take a more liberal approach to what I post here. With the risk of losing subscribers, I am now starting to post about anything that relates to my life – because that is and will remain the “niche” for this blog. Today, I make the first post about chess, a new subject here. I currently participate in TeamLeague #38 , an online team chess tournament, playing for Poisoned Pawns, in the under 1800 division. After two rounds we're 1-1, and in the middle of the table. In Round 3, my team plays the group leader, Arch Bishops. Here's my game, where my opponent goes for a rather dull choice of opening. Novita (1835) - Martinsson,Jonas (1821) [D94] TeamLeague T38 (Round 3), 22.02.2009 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.e3 The Anti-Benoni gives Black a choice of defenses, typically transposing into a Queen's Gambit, a Tarrasch or even a Caro Kann. I find the Grunfeld setup to be an easy equalizer for Black. 3...cxd4 4.exd4 g6 5

Swedish Keyboard Layout for 64-Bit Windows

My freely available and improved Swedish Keyboard layout has now been updated to support 64-bit versions of Windows. You can find out more about the freeware product here . For the last ten years I have neither used the native Swedish keyboard layout, nor the standard US keyboard layout. Instead, I have been a happy user of my own design: US with Swedish characters. It allows me to use the benefits of the US keyboard layout in combination with quick and unobtrusive access to the additional Swedish letters (å, ä and ö). As previously announced , Linux users can find a version of the keyboard layout here .

FeedJournal Has Its Own Blog

It is about time that FeedJournal gets a blog of its own, instead of being squeezed in here, on its founder’s personal blog. Although subscribers could use the label feed to subscribe only to FeedJournal related posts on my blog, I feel that it is better to niche the content in it’s own blog. My main reason for putting it off as long as I have, is the post frequency – I simply haven’t posted enough to warrant two separate blogs. My aim is to invite other FeedJournal users and enthusiasts to share their experiences with the service on the new FeedJournal blog, to help keep the content fresh there. New posts on the FeedJournal blog, will automatically be published in new FeedJournal Reader issues. The new blog is available here . Here, on my personal blog, I will continue my personal musings and random non-niched posts. Don’t expect more than a couple of posts a month here. All FeedJournal related stuff will go into the new blog.