Manager: a professional who achieves set objectives by organizing other people's work. Recently, I had an interesting conversation about management with my good friend, Matteo. Specifically, we discussed the role of the technical manager in modern companies. Matteo has a deep technical background and is a great engineer. Currently, he is experiencing a stage of … Continue reading Losing the Edge
Fascism Disguised as Oligarchic Democracy
At the beginning of May, I attended a conference in the wonderful town of Sacile. It was hosted by Professor Antonio Soligon, a retired teacher and writer who loves the city of Venice intensely. He talked about the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a historical building that the oma.eu website describes like this: First constructed in 1228, … Continue reading Fascism Disguised as Oligarchic Democracy
The Art of Trading Off: How Engineering Has Affected My Ordinary Life
In this post, I talked about the creative side of engineering. Surprisingly, that is not the only one. In a nutshell, this is what engineering is all about: https://youtu.be/egWvQuT5TCU Simply put, you have to achieve a technical goal with a set of available resources (time, people, money, etc.) and within a deadline. That's it. Most … Continue reading The Art of Trading Off: How Engineering Has Affected My Ordinary Life
Bloodied Sands
In 2014, I visited France and, during my brief stay in Paris, I took a 1-day tour in Normandy. The strict schedule consisted of several visits to places related to one of the greatest military operations in the history of mankind, D-Day. Normandy is a unique place. Its natural characteristics—rainy weather, peaceful seas, lavender fields, … Continue reading Bloodied Sands
Magical Notes
Since I became an adult, I have been fascinated by music. My fascination is the one you feel for the unknown because, technically speaking, I know almost nothing about music. The thing I find so intriguing about it is that a combination of individual sounds—and pauses—may be so powerful as to arouse feelings and emotions … Continue reading Magical Notes
Apathy
A couple of months ago, my teammates and I organized a friendly basketball game between my amateur team and a team composed of players who were born around the year 2000 (technically speaking, they compete in the U20 local tournament). As usual, I was excited about the idea of playing against players that young. Although I … Continue reading Apathy
Cursed Engineers
On March 23rd, I attended a public talk in San Daniele del Friuli, a town that is famous worldwide for its delicious ham. The main guest was the writer Elena Commessatti. The event was organized by Leggermente, a cultural association which aims to promote reading.[1] The organizer devised a compelling formula for such events. Basically, … Continue reading Cursed Engineers
You Play to Win, Don’t You?
At first sight, this question sounds rhetorical to the majority of people living in the western world. We should not take for granted the answer, however. Some weeks ago I wrote a post on victory. Right after writing it, coincidentally I had the chance to discuss on another blog a different topic related to victory … Continue reading You Play to Win, Don’t You?
Millennials and Liquid Leadership
Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. --Dale Carnegie A leader is the one who is able to create a world to which people want to belong. --Robert B. Dilts Frequently, I hear about people of my generation, Generation X, and baby boomers complaining about the fact that they struggle to communicate with millennials. I also have … Continue reading Millennials and Liquid Leadership
Ideas for a DIY Smart Home: Energy Monitoring
Introduction Last year, I decided to analyze in detail my house's electrical power consumption as I found it quite high, given the limited utilization of my home. I googled around to find a relatively cheap solution. This post describes briefly what I did to measure the overall consumption, 7 days a week, 24 hours a … Continue reading Ideas for a DIY Smart Home: Energy Monitoring
