Fran Fabrizio’s Blog

Welcome to my blog. I blog on a few different topics, so I’ve organized this blog into categories.

Latest Post from Each Category

mnlife

The Newcomer’s Guide to Surviving Minnesota Winter

Over the past few years I have had the privilege of hiring staff from such varied locations as San Diego, Miami, Atlanta, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Idaho, Italy, Nepal, and India. Many of these individuals have the same question: “What’s winter like here?” Having moved here just four winters ago myself, I had this same question not too long ago.

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homelife

Omissions from Parenting School: Things They Forgot to Tell Me

There are a few things they forget to tell you in parenting school. More specifically, there are a few things which will come up constantly in your parenting life for which the universe fails to prepare you adequately. I’m sure we each have our own list of such things, but here’s a few of mine:

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fun

How to Do the Minnesota State Fair: Tips and Tricks

I’ve only been in Minnesota for about four years now, but I’ve wholeheartedly embraced that rite of passage which marks the end of every Minnesota summer. I’m talking about the Great Minnesota Get-Together, the Minnesota State Fair.

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technology

Done.

Posts

Running Ubuntu 16.04 on the Dell XPS 9370 13” Laptop

I recently started using a Dell XPS 13” Developer Edition (9370) running Ubuntu 16.04 as my work laptop. As I go through setup I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of all the little tweaks I’m doing. I hope someone finds this useful.

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How to Do the Minnesota State Fair: Tips and Tricks

I’ve only been in Minnesota for about four years now, but I’ve wholeheartedly embraced that rite of passage which marks the end of every Minnesota summer. I’m talking about the Great Minnesota Get-Together, the Minnesota State Fair.

Read More

Omissions from Parenting School: Things They Forgot to Tell Me

There are a few things they forget to tell you in parenting school. More specifically, there are a few things which will come up constantly in your parenting life for which the universe fails to prepare you adequately. I’m sure we each have our own list of such things, but here’s a few of mine:

Read More

Sysadmins Are Software Developers Too

At work, we sort of have a reputation locally for a fairly grueling interview process. And we’re fine with this, really. We’re a small shop that doesn’t have the luxury of suffering through a bad hire, so we are pretty careful about it. We’re not Google-esque, but we do have a three-stage interview process (which I describe in the article behind that link above from our work blog).

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Is Googling the Single Most Important Job Skill?

Today at work a visiting colleague asked me what I felt were the most important things to look for in a new software developer hire. My mind immediately went to the usual suspects: a good foundation in modern software development principles, a demonstrated track record of success, and proficiency with the critical soft skills of communication and teamwork. The more I thought about it, though, I decided on a different answer: effective Googling.

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The Newcomer’s Guide to Surviving Minnesota Winter

Over the past few years I have had the privilege of hiring staff from such varied locations as San Diego, Miami, Atlanta, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Idaho, Italy, Nepal, and India. Many of these individuals have the same question: “What’s winter like here?” Having moved here just four winters ago myself, I had this same question not too long ago.

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First Post!

Late last night (early this morning?) I decided that it might be a good idea to start a blog. Like many decisions made in an overtired state in the middle of the night, I’m not sure whether this will turn out to be a good idea!

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