Well, I was being figurative there, we actually do use a nerfball but I'm pretty sure it's universally despised. What usually happens is someone is done speaking, holds the ball up and looks around for a taker. No one ever really says, "Me next!" so it's thrown to a random person. At least one or two people will drop it per stand-up and someone else will always go, "Nice one, butterfingers!" and there's the awkward, uncomfortable laugh.
I observed this practice for a couple weeks and came to an average of 2.8 seconds per ball movement. Times that by 29 (amount of passes) and you get 81.2 seconds per day we spend tossing that ball around. At an average salary of about $65K amongst the group, the company spends $42.29 per day on passing a ball around; that's just under a $11,000 a year!
Do you consult companies in implementing these practices? What was the largest team using Scrum that you felt was still effective? At my job, there's 30 people at the daily stand-up and it just seems out of control, especially as we pass a speaking stick across the group. What is this, Lord of the Flies?
Management at my gig decided to just use both, a ScrumBan if you will. I think the general manager just wanted a board to stop and look at every time he had to go to the bathroom.
A truly depressing story, but not surprising when their CEO is on the record as saying, "The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought into Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out making video games. I think we've definitely been able to instill in the culture the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we're in today."
I've been a Pandora fan for so long, this article surprised me a bit because I've been so accustomed to them being on the edge of collapse. I remember making donations years ago. I'm glad they're eating "truffle-infused Kobe beef burger[s]" these days.
Some major cities still lack adequate public transportation, like Seattle and Los Angeles. I live in the latter, about 10 miles from downtown due to cost (about $600-$700 cheaper on rent) and I have to drive in because public transportation would include taking light rail to subway to bus and tack on an extra hour to my commute and cost literally hundreds a month. Far cheaper and faster to drive, even with the abysmal LA traffic.
I dunno, I disagreed with your opinion so much I clicked your name, checked out your site and ended up watching the trailer for your game, just to see the kind of person I was dealing with that had an idea so contrary to my own. If you never made that comment, I would never of known about Overgrowth.
There are many office jobs out there that don't allow their employees to install software on their computers or give them anything more than what comes with a default XP install, thus leaving them stuck with IE6.
I remember reading 1984 during my lunch breaks in high school and when I turned that final page, I was a changed person. It's unfathomable to me that some young adults today, in the same country, are purposely sheltered by their community and government from having that same experience.
I'll vouch for it. Picked it up a few weeks ago and was sucked right in by these stories. Great mix of drama, comedy, and wisdom. Read a chapter or two over on Google Books: http://bit.ly/dAFbnw
Reminds of me that table saw that stops in an instant when it comes in contact with a human finger. They tested with hot dogs to simulate a human finger (although the creator does use his own finger). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTUOhYcw4ZY
Be careful if you have certain prescription needs and check with each company if they cover what you need; the list changes company to company.