Chris Gagné – Page 7

Skagen 809XLTBLB Replacement Watchband

If there’s anyone out there looking for a replacement leather watchband for your Skagen 809XLTBLB, you may have found that nobody seems to recognize this model number (including Skagen themselves). There’s good news, though. Skagen does have a suitable replacement: just tell them you’re looking to replace the watchband on your Skagen 806XLTBLB. The bands are almost identical and the new one fits fine. The chief difference I can tell is that the original band has a tan suede interior, while the 806’s interior is black leather similar to the exterior. The screws that the 806’s band come with are also a little longer, but they seem to fit okay.

I hope this is helpful to someone. Call 1.877.SKAGEN1 to get your replacement band and good luck!

Chris Gagné2014-03-11T20:31:55-08:00February 26th, 2014|1 Comment

The Three Most Important Aspects of a Successful Product

My elevator speech goes like this: “I design, develop, and ship innovative products that delight customers, create value, and do good in the world.”

Those last three components—delight customers, create value, and do good in the world—are the three most important aspects of a successful product. Here’s why I think so.

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Chris Gagné2014-03-12T08:55:00-08:00February 23rd, 2014|0 Comments

3.63 Gigapixel Panorama of Bay Bridge Lights, San Francisco CA

Here’s a panorama I shot of the Bay Bridge Lights art project on March 22nd. Like my other gigapixel panoramas, this was taken with a GigaPan EPIC Pro motorized pano head, Canon 5D Mk II, a 70-200mm f2.8 USM IS L II lens at 200mm, and a Canon 2x extender. (PS. I’m hoping to up the ante on this one by shooting a higher-resolution image; if anyone has access to 400mm+ lenses of good quality, please let me know… I am capped out 3.63GP with 2x 200mm but with a doubled 400mm or 800mm lens this could be 14.5GP. With a doubled 800mm lens this could be 58GP, quite probably the largest panorama shot in San Francisco.)

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Chris Gagné2014-03-11T20:59:50-08:00April 8th, 2013|2 Comments

3.31 Gigapixel Panorama of Dolores Park, MLK Jr. Day 2013

Here’s a panorama I did today of Dolores Park in San Francisco, CA. It’s late January and Dolores Park is crowded due to the beautiful weather. Check out the line at the corner of 18th and Dolores: those folks are waiting to buy ice cream!

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Chris Gagné2014-03-11T21:01:26-08:00January 21st, 2013|0 Comments

2.62 Gigapixel Panorama: Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles

Enjoy this panorama from a park on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, CA. Click the full screen button directly below the “View All” button in the upper-right-hand corner for the best results. Zoom in! What neat things can you spot?

This was taken with a GigaPan EPIC Pro motorized pano head, Canon 5D Mk II, a 70-200mm f2.8 USM IS L II lens, and a Canon 2x extender.

Chris Gagné2014-03-11T21:02:21-08:00January 1st, 2013|0 Comments

4.79 Gigapixel Panorama: Dogpatch Night View, San Francisco CA

Enjoy this 360° nighttime pano from a rooftop in San Francisco’s historic Dogpatch District, with views of Oakland, downtown SF, the Bay Bridge, the Port of SF, planes landing at SFO, and more. Click the full screen button directly below the “View All” button in the upper-right-hand corner for the best results. Zoom in! What neat things can you spot?

This was taken with a GigaPan EPIC Pro motorized pano head, Canon 5D Mk II, a 70-200mm f2.8 USM IS L II lens, and a Canon 2x extender. Exposed for 2″ at f10. 540 shots at 400mm.

Chris Gagné2014-03-11T21:02:46-08:00January 1st, 2013|0 Comments

Mary Poppendieck’s “The Tyranny of ‘The Plan'”

A couple of years ago, my former manager David Denton forwarded me a recorded presentation by Mary Poppendieck, a leading Agile software development expert and co-author of the popular book “Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are not the Point.”

Watching the video on the InfoQ website is a bit kludgey and Mary has lots of wonderful details that are worth hearing. So, with Mary’s permission, I’ve had the video transcribed and included her slides in context. I hope that this will make this very useful knowledge easier to find and learn from. Mary, thanks again.

I’ve eschewed block-quote formatting as it made this transcript a little harder to read. I’ve also edited slightly for readability. Otherwise, everything beyond this point is Mary’s work.

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Chris Gagné2014-03-11T21:07:03-08:00September 20th, 2012|9 Comments

Why Don’t We Love Each Other More?

My friend, Carol Smith, wrote the following in response to the attacks on the American embassy in Libya. It’s a profound and powerful message that I’d like to share. I hope you will find it interesting and inspiring. Also, please see the gallery of images from Libyans who believe in much more than blind nationalism and media sensationalism.

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Chris Gagné2014-03-11T21:46:31-08:00September 14th, 2012|0 Comments

“Silent Lens” Wins Google Ideas challenge at the Google “Develop for Good” Global Hackathon

I attended the Google I/O Extended “Develop for Good” hackathon in San Francisco in late June. We were asked to create a solution for one of three challenges:

Google Politics & Elections: Citizen Engagement for Politics & Elections
Google Ideas: Conflict Reporting for Blackout Situations in Repressive Regimes
Google Green: Help us all be a little greener!

Our team won the Google Ideas challenge! My sincere congratulations to my team mates Perry Chow, Ansgar Halbfas, Ryan Quellet, and Andrew Song.

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Chris Gagné2015-10-12T11:12:02-08:00September 12th, 2012|4 Comments

A Message to Garcia

I was first exposed to Elbert Hubbard’s A Message to Garcia by one of my professors in high school. It seems a little dated and indignant, but the core message behind this essay reflects a fundamental bias for action rather than inaction. An 7-person Agile product development team made up of several people like Rowan will release more high-quality, innovative products than several hundred people in teams without the same ethos. I’d love to find a slightly less edgy essay that brings the same message, but until then…

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Chris Gagné2014-03-11T22:02:55-08:00August 23rd, 2012|5 Comments

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