Word for the day: Disintermediation

From Wikipedia: the removal of intermediaries in a supply chain: "cutting out the middleman"

I've been working as a JIRA specialist for some larger consulting businesses recently and this matter has come up in discussion a few times. I'm glad to see there's a nice long word for such a nasty practice. It's a sensitive matter for everyone but I naturally err on the side of caution, even if I've had existing business with the same customer that is now using the other consulting business.

I wonder if I can get my 14-year old to use it correctly in class. I reckon it would make her English teacher's day.

Because it is awesome!

"Why did you bring it to share?"
"kus it is osum."

A standard part of US education is show-and-tell. Some classes have the children fill in a form before bringing something in, both to encourage their writing and stem the flow. My 6-year old Luke found a chunk of crystal and filled in a form. His quick and simple dude-style answer to the question "why?" was a lovely explanation of the wonders of our world.

Appearances and Expectations

I've found that a spaghetti server is a great tool for scratching my back. We have one in the kitchen for food and different one on a shelf elsewhere. Of course, children like to copy their parents so 6 year-old Luke scratches his back just like his Dad, which I find rather endearing.

But sitting at the dinner table a few nights ago, he went very quiet, his eyes widened and asked "Dad, why is your back scratcher in the pasta?".

Just because two things look the same, they aren't necessarily the same.

Action, Expectation, Observation

I remember writing some parts of Practical Development Environments vividly, despite the sleep deprivation that writing a book and having a new child will produce. One such section summarizes what goes into a good bug report:

The three key points to bear in mind when creating a bug report should be:

• How to reproduce the bug, as precisely as possible, and how often this will make the bug appear


• What should have happened, at least in your opinion


• What actually happened, or at least as much information as you have recorded

I still like what I wrote. And now I think it's good advice for other situations. For example,

• Action: I was taking my brother's toy from him. It was his new toy.


• Expectation: He should have let me take it because he wasn't using it anymore


• Observation: He hit me!

Maybe I'll get it printed on my next batch of business cards:
Action, Expectation, Observation.

~Matt