Open Sources | Rodrigues & Urlocker » How I Work: Brian Aker, Dir. Architecture, MySQL

May 13, 2006 | Comments: (0)

How I Work: Brian Aker, Dir. Architecture, MySQL

TAGS: Random

What is your role?
My title is Director of Architecture, and in MySQL's history that has meant I have done everything from write code, assign bugs, handle operations for engineering, talk to customers, speak at conferences, and once help peel potatoes for dinner. Today I handle technical direction for MySQL, lead architects/senior engineers, and study how are market is evolving. I also still write code from time to time.

What is your computer setup?
I use a 15in PPC Apple Laptop.

What desktop software applications do you use daily?
When browsing I use Safari, but today I read far more RSS then I read web pages. For RSS I use an application called NewsFire. It allows me to scan all of my RSS headlines and select what I want to read. For some feeds I just use the spacebar to tab through all of the articles in the feed. All of my appointments go into iCal, and all addresses go into Addressbook. These are synced into a Treo650 daily so that I get alarms throughout the day about where I should be, and who I should call,. I use the Treo as a read only copy of my information, I rarely add data directly to it.

If it was not for Excel I would not be using Microsoft Products. Pages and Keynote are nice applications, and have a very consistent interface. OmniOutliner stays open constantly, and I use it to take notes, and generate quick lists. It keeps a weekly diary of what I did for work, and I have a file for discussion points for anyone who reports to me, or that I talk to on a regular basis. OmniOutliner's ability to turn my thoughts into Keynote presentations is a killer feature for me.

While I am a very big believer in being a "sync everything to my laptop" type person, I still believe you need to think beyond the desktop today when you think about applications you use. I of course use Google, but I also keep my blog on LiveJournal, and I feed it all of my notes. This in turn is synced into Everydevel, which I then use to generate fast links for people, or as a repository for all I come across.

What websites do you visit every day?
None, I read RSS!
RSS points me to a number of websites daily though. I find that I end up at the BBC and New York Time's websites daily. For technology and culture I read BoingBoing and of course Slashdot. O'Reilly's Radar has been really great as of late.

I keep my feed list public for other's to see, http://krow.net/images/myfeeds.opml.

What mobile device or cell phone do you use?
Treo 650. It has to be rebooted constantly it seems, though since the upgrade I made last week it seems to be stable.

Do you use IM?
Yes, and I use Adium to bridge all of my different accounts. AIM is the most common system I find myself using. As of late Skype has entered my world as well.

Do you use a VoIP phone?
Polycom SounPoint 500 IP SIP. I have had several VOIP phones and this is hands down the best one. It bridges both the corporate Asterisk system and my private one as well.

Do you have a personal organization theory?
I set my email to retrieve every 30 minutes, and I am thinking about changing this to just once an hour. Email is a huge distraction, and I would rather concentrate on it in batch. I also delete any email that is still in my inbox after 30 days. I have an archive of all email, so I can find it again, but letting it pile up does me no good. Each day I try to have answered, forwarded or deleted all email sent to me. I still get a little stressed if email is still in there, but I let it go quickly.

All tasks that I am working on go in lists in OmniOutliner. When I wake up, I look at the list of tasks that need to be completed. I then delete the ones already completed or that are stale, and then write a new list of tasks for that day. I believe in taking a fresh approach to each day, and for longer tasks I break them up into smaller pieces.

Anything else?
I am really enjoying this series of articles. I find it fascinating to see how others work. I am surprised that so few people seem to be really able to adjust their life to a PDA, and it makes me wonder how far we really have to go in synchronization technology. The one note of common issue I see over and over again that would make people's lives easier is the creation of better group calendaring. I believe the reach of Social calendaring is greater then what email has provided us so far.

Posted by Dave Rosenberg on May 13, 2006 08:07 PM

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