Substitutions

My oldest daughter is working in an electronic orders fulfillment center until she can find a job in her field. She does not enjoy it but it does help her pay her bills. Our evening conversation today revolved around substitutions. Someone will order one product that she is unable to find in the warehouse and so the computer suggests an alternative. Sometimes those substitutions don't make sense and my daughter will note it but most of the time they work.

I thought about how I use substitutions in my daily job working with data. Sometimes I work with a small amount of data in a spreadsheet. Other times I work with large amounts of data in a data warehouse. Can I do the same operations in both tools? After doing this for many years, I can answer that question with a truthful, "Yes."

A few weeks ago I received a spreadsheet with 190,000 or so rows. I immediately needed to do some aggregate functions. That means I needed to count how many rows met certain criteria for text columns or come up with a sum or average for number columns. I had the choice of using either a database or a spreadsheet. To me it didn't make a difference which tool I used. Ultimately I inserted the rows into a database and performed my analysis there.

Working with a computer there are always a choice of tools you can use. While you may have grown used to Microsoft's Excel, you might not have that option with a new personal computer. If you have a Mac, the spreadsheet program Numbers is included in the operating system for free. You also have the choice of using Google spreadsheets. They all have their pros and cons but you should never feel locked into using a specific tool.

This is true for more complex software as well. My youngest son is a mechanical engineer and has access to a very expensive computer aided design (CAD) program called SolidWorks. It can do a lot. There are also a number of less capable products that can tackle any personal projects he decides to start without the exorbitant cost. When I needed to create very specific candle holders for one of my wife's Christmas decorations, I used TinkerCAD. I learned it easy and quickly had the design I needed for my 3D printer. There are a number of even more feature-rich options should you need them. The trick is knowing how to find them.

With the ubiquity of open source software and vast array of commercial software choices, you should never feel there is only one way to get something done on your computer. There are always multiple. The trick is learning how to use Internet search engines and sift through the bad suggestions to find good ones. Perhaps that is a post for another day.

Software Product Features

Earlier this week I attended 2 different seminars on how to get the most out of the software products I use daily in my job. I will confess that I didn't learn a lot but I discovered several new features that I didn't know about. It got me thinking about how to figure out what features are available in the many different software products we all use.

The first method of discovering new product features is when we do something new. This week I put together a Google Doc's document and needed one section to have 2 columns while the rest of the document just needed that standard single column. In Microsoft Word and other word processing software, there is a "Columns" icon. All you need to do is select the text you want to put into multiple columns, click the columns button, and select how many columns you want. In an effort to reduce screen clutter, Google decided it didn't need a column icon. Instead I just needed to select the text, click on the "Format" menu, and a drop-down menu showed a number of additional options, including columns. I correctly assumed the feature existed but didn't know how to use it until I had a document that required it.

The second method of discovering new product features is attending seminars outlining product features. This is what I did this week at work. We spend a lot of money with certain companies and they always want to make sure we are happy with our purchases and that generally includes taking advantage of all features. Unfortunately not everyone spends large amounts of money on software and don't have access to these seminars.

The third method of discovering new product features is through Internet searches and product videos. Perhaps you are trying to calculate something in a spreadsheet and the video you are watching shows you how to do the calculation but also shows some new features that you didn't know about. I find that very helpful.

Finally, there is the method of watching somebody doing something new that you have not seen before. Perhaps you are watching them edit a document and with a few keystrokes something amazing happens. Don't be afraid to ask them what they did. Then be sure to immediately give it a shot the next time you are working on a document. The best way to learn something new is to practice and so immediately trying something you have recently seen will reinforce the knowledge.

We all use quite a few different software products whether it is on our computers or on our phones. My personal estimate is that we really only use about a third of what the software can do. While we may not need all of those features on a daily basis, there are many more things we can do if we only know certain features exist.

The Art of Using Time Wisely

Everybody has 24 hours in each day, yet not everyone uses that time wisely. There are the requisite work hours that most adults have to endure with seemingly little time left over. This week at work I have even felt like I could have done a better job of using that time better. When I recognize it, I can generally correct it quickly and today I found myself a much better steward of my time.

Computers and technology are supposed to help us and make things easier. Back in the 1970's, the microwave revolutionized cooking as it allowed us to dramatically reduce the time required to heat food. The personal computer in the 1980's provided a platform that sparked such applications as the spreadsheet and word processor that streamlined financial calculations and document creation. Then in the 1990's, the Internet came along and gave us a limitless amount of access to information. Any time someone has a question, it is a matter of typing a few words into a search engine and the answer instantly appears.

So with all of these technologies that allow us to reduce the time it takes to do certain tasks, are we better off than 30 years ago? While I can quickly get the answer to who won the 1980 World Series (Philadelphia Phillies), does that help me in my daily life? Sometimes it allows us more leisure time but more often than not, it just means that more is expected. We also have the problem that all this technology now creates distractions. You can spend hours wasting time doing things like watching YouTube videos or looking at stupid pictures of cats.

As you find yourself with all of these modern conveniences, be mindful of your time. Are you using technology to create a better life for yourself or are you just wasting away the hours?

Am I Ready for Christmas

We are a few days from Christmas and I wonder if I have enough gifts for my wife and children. This is a common occurrence for me and I imagine it is for others as well. If you ask my wallet, I probably over spent. If you ask my kids, they probably want more.

Yesterday I picked up one or two more gifts for my youngest son. He has been out of the country the past 2 Christmases and we really didn't send him much. Putting extra money in his bank account seemed much easier as we didn't have to worry about shipping costs nor everything arriving in the package. So this year I have kind of tried to make up for a lack of gifts in the previous years. My wife isn't happy about that at all. Oh well.

One thing I do when I am worried if I have selected enough gifts for everyone is to pull out a simple spreadsheet. I use the rows to list everyone's name and then I list out the gifts I know they are getting. I do this with my wife and so we use fake names for the gifts we are giving each other. It quickly becomes apparent if we have favored one child or another. If one child seems neglected compared to the others, my wife and I make a purchase or two. If someone seems more favored than the others, we hold a gift for a birthday or other event unless it is easily returnable.

In the case of my youngest son, he is sort of getting a large package of gifts that are all related. Unfortunately they all go together and leaving one out is kind of like giving him a car without tires or wheels. Sure he has a great gift but then has to spend his own money to complete the package. That doesn't seem fair and so I hope the other kids forgive me. I think they will as they have each spent several Christmases away from home and enjoyed the extra gifts upon return. We will see.