5000 into 3 doesn't go

At work at the moment we have a problem which is a twist on a Computer Science classic known as "Bin Packing". It's one I've been wrestling with quite a bit today.

(Just as a quick overview: the Bin Packing problem is one where you have a number of variable sized objects which must be packed in the most efficient way into a finite number of "bins" - think packing deliveries into vans, TV programs into a schedule, etc - you want the most objects possible placed into as small a number of containers as possible, but you can't change the size of either the bins or the objects. The problem is classified as "NP Hard" which means (without going into the nasty computational theory maths) that while not technically insolvable, it rapidly becomes infeasible to compute the perfect answer as you increase the number of items in the calculation as the complexity of the problem increases exponentially with the size of the input).

Our twist, which I guess does make it insolvable, is that the total volume of our containers is considerably less than the total number of packages. Our containers are staff, and our packages the work required before the end of the year. While management attempt all sorts of alternative packing arrangements ("what if.. we lend Bill to Team 2, and cover off his work with Jim from Team 1.. and take up the slack in Jim's team by using Jack...") the fact remains that we simply can't do everything on the list. However, trying to convince them that shuffling the pack actually makes the problem worse is a bit of a herculean task. It's a case of the immovable object (there simply isn't the required numbers of hours x people to do it) meets the unstoppable force (just not doing everything on the list simply isn't an option we can contemplate).

I've expressed my assessment of the situation of my own sub-team fairly frankly to the higher-ups in the team, a move I'm sure it's not going to win me any favours, but is none the less something they can't really argue with. I'm a bit of a trouble maker like that.

End of the Island

For the last three of four weeks, me and my sub-team have sat in our own little island, surrounded by a sea of empty desks. However, this weekend our rather enjoyable isolation (it's been great to be able to sit in a corner and do whatever we've pleased for a couple of weeks... and you'd probably be surprised how often this has actually been work) comes to an end. The hordes of contractors and scattering of permanent employees that make up the rest of our larger team comes to join us Knowing what to call these various levels of the hierarchy is a problem - there are in fact, 4 levels of grouping referred to as "team" in our organisation before you get to the groupings known as "department", "division" and "Company" topped off by "Group" which is the big bad multinational... I think. I get so confused!

Even worse, my bosses-boss is going to sit right behind me. Good job that he (like my more direct boss) is hardly ever at his desk, and even if he wasn't wouldn't know what I was actually supposed to be doing.

Ho-hum!

But what’s it all got to do with asparagus?

Here’s an interesting pair (Seed Magazine, Wired Magazine) of articles on Autism and Asperger's syndrome, and here’s an equally interesting self-test. The control group (normal folk) scored on average 16 points, Autistic subjects on average score 32. If I answer the questions relatively conservatively (under the assumption that even if present my behaviours are very mild) I score 29. I’m more Autistic than I’m not then.

As usual, I found all the questions lacking definition and context I feel is necessary to properly answer them. This is probably an Autistic behaviour in itself. What does “I find it difficult to imagine what it would be like to be someone else.” Really mean? I can imagine what I’d feel like to be in their position, and I can generally understand their point of view even when I don’t agree (or maybe I can simply construct arguments in favour of it without understanding it... I’m not sure that’s the same thing).

All this should come as no surprise to anyone. Autism is really a spectrum that ranges from “mildly geeky” to “unable to interact with the world at all”. The behaviours and personality traits that make someone geeky are the same things with identify them as having Asperger’s, and no doubt you’d find the majority of any IT department would score highly on this test, as would accounting and engineering disciplines. The “systemising” traits, the focus on detail, the need to understand the inner workings of things, and an affinity for numbers, these are the things that make us good at our jobs. And also make it hard for us to relate to everyone else.

The Prestige

Film review time!

Went to see "The Prestige" last night, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's full of big names such as Michael Caine (a charismatic screen presence as ever), Scarlett Johansson (always radiant), Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale (who play the feuding magicians very well in my opinion), and the ever entertaining David Bowie (although I totally didn't recognise him, it's a lot older than he was when he was Ziggi). I'm not going to spoil the ending and "twist" for you, but I'd like to know at what point anyone else who's seen it realised what the twist was going to be. My friend was a little disappointed that this ending wasn't exactly in keeping with the rest of the film (since while all the other tricks were plausible, this one wasn't in terms of the reality we understand)

The story (loosely) is that of two rival magicians. Once friends, not so any more. The film opens with the death of one of them (Robert Angier), and the start of the trial of the other(Alfred Borden) for his murder. And then plays out as the accused reading the diary of the Angier, which was written after Angier stole the Borden's diary himself (although, since this is all about magicians, nothing is ever quite as it seems). The sequence of flashbacks are essentially in order (thankfully, it'd all get rather confusing otherwise), and follow the two leads as they steal each other's ideas, and play havoc with each other's shows.

I'd give it maybe 4 stars. (of 5)