#Scaled Agile Framework

[advanceagility]

Feeling Good: The Drug- Free Mood Therapy for Depression

Book:- Feeling Good

Writer:- David D. Burns

“Achievements can bring you satisfaction but not happiness”. ― David D. Burns

David D. Burns is an adjunct professor emeritus in the Stanford University School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences.

He is most recognised for having popularised Aaron T. Beck's cognitive behavioural therapy through his immensely successful "Feeling Good" book series.

Burns has received various accolades and awards.

□ 10 Cognitive agile mindset, That Make You Feel Depressed

1)      All-or-Nothing Thinking 2)      Overgeneralization 3)      Mental Filter 4)      Disqualifying the Positive 5)      Jumping to Conclusions 6)      Magnification and Minimization 7)      Emotional Reasoning 8)      ‘I Should’ Statements 9)      Labelling and Mislabelling 10   Personalization

□ How to enhance your Self- Respect?

·       Keep a journal of your disordered ideas every day.

·       Avoid using the phrase "I should" in sentences.

·       To get rid of the bad, use cognitive therapy.

□ How to recover your Self- Respect?

·       To get rid of bad thoughts, write them down.

·       Deal with issues head-on; don't wallow in them.

□Why thoughts lead to depression?

·       Because your thoughts are what cause your feelings, they cannot demonstrate that your thoughts are true.

·       "How you feel is solely a function of your own feeling of value”.

·       According to Dr. Aaron Beck, the four D's can be used to describe a depressive self-image

      è Defeat

      è Defections

      è Desertion

      è Deprivation

" The most common mental distortion to watch out for when you feel worthless is all-or-nothing thinking”.

□ The three agile principles of cognitive therapy are as follows:

 Ø  Your "cognitions", or thoughts, produce your emotions. A cognition is how you view the world, including your perceptions, empathy, attitudes, and beliefs. It also involves how you perceive things and the ideas you tell yourself about other people or things. Because of the ideas you are having right now, you are feeling the way you are.

Ø  When you're depressed, negativity permeates your thoughts on a regular basis.

Ø  Nearly always, the unpleasant beliefs that upset your emotions involve egregious distortions. Although these ideas seem reasonable, they are illogical or simply incorrect, and this distorted thinking is a significant contributor to your misery.

□ Key Facts:-

1)      Depression is not sadness.

·       The contrast is clear: sorrow is the outcome of actual views that accurately depict a sad event, such as loss or disappointment. False beliefs contribute to depression, which is a mental illness.

2)      A swift diversion from rage.

·       The opinions of friends and colleagues might be invaluable when you're stuck since they might be able to see your blind spots. Regarding a situation that makes you feel frustrated, helpless, or enraged, trust their views and actions.

3)      Doing nothing is stealing lives.

·       Doing nothing is one of the biggest ironies of human nature. Some people choose to hold back from experiencing life to the fullest, defeating themselves at every turn as if they were complicit in a plot against themselves.

4)      Awareness of ideation and mood is crucial.

·       Mood disorder is a disease, not a variation of healthy behaviour. By mastering certain fundamental tactics for raising your mood, you can overcome melancholy.

5)      The secret to a fantastic attitude.

·       The ability to dissect any offered work into its component components is a fundamental and obvious self-activation method. By doing this, you'll be able to stop worrying about all the things you have to do.

6)      You won't be happy if you succeed.

·       By doing what you're doing, you cannot acquire value. Although they may make you feel good, they cannot make you happy. Self-worth that is determined by accomplishments, outward appearances, talent, fame, or wealth is "pseudo-esteem”, not real self-esteem.

7)      The epitome of being depressed.

·       I am a Mistake

·       I feel bad.

·       makes me feel ill the ongoing anxiety.

·       I'm terribly sorry

·       Sad and regretful

·       I harbour malice

·       I can't handle this much more

·       I wish I could be free.

·       Nothing I try to accomplish is correct.

8)      Self-defeating feelings result from negative ideas.

·       These are the kinds of ideas that drag you down and give you a bad feeling. One of the most frequently overlooked symptoms of depression is having negative thoughts.

9)      You utilise a formula known as a "silent assumption" to calculate your worth; it represents your self-guiding agile principles and system of values.

 “All of your unpleasant emotions are a result of skewed negative thinking”.

·       All of your symptoms have been developing and persisting primarily due to illogical pessimistic agile mindset.

 Try to recall a similar negative thinking you had both before and during each time you experience a depressive episode.

·       You can alter your mood by learning to rearrange the thoughts that have truly caused your unpleasant mood.

  Your perspective on things is wholly responsible for your capabilities and feelings.

·       How you feel is solely a function of your own feeling of value.

·       All-or-nothing thinking is the most prevalent mental distortion to watch out for when you are feeling worthless.

“Oxygen is a need, but love is a want. I repeat: LOVE IS NOT AN ADULT HUMAN NEED!” ― David D. Burns.

About Advance Agility

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium and large organization across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting human centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitor.

Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. We provide various SAFe certification courses along with DevOps, Scrum, Agile Coaching and more trainings. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together.

[advisedskills]

Unlock Agility's Potential: Empower Teams & Deliver Faster with SAFe Training

In today's dynamic business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking ways to enhance their agility, responsiveness, and ability to deliver value to customers efficiently.

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) has emerged as a proven methodology for achieving these goals, empowering organizations to scale agile practices across multiple teams and projects.

Read our comprehensive guide to SAFe training for executives and practitioners: Link to article: https://www.advisedskills.com/about/news/491-guide-to-scaled-agile-framework-safe-for-executives-and-practitioners

#SAFe #Agile #ProjectManagement #OrganizationalAgility #BusinessTransformation

[shareyourideas]

The Path to Becoming a Certified SAFe Scrum Master

[saimakarim89-blog]

Certified SAFe 6 Scrum Master

[agileseventeen]

Scaled Agile Framework Certified Training Texas | AgileSeventeen.com

Want to improve your Agile career? Discover our Texas Safe POPM Training Course! We offer Scaled Agile Framework Certified training at AgileSeventeen. This will give you the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in the world Agile project management.

Scaled Agile Framework Certified Training Texas

[coach2reach-uk]

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) certification is a comprehensive program designed to equip professionals with the skills and knowledge to effectively drive Agile transformation and manage product development within a SAFe environment. The certification covers key areas such as defining and prioritizing features, managing backlogs, and collaborating with Agile teams. Participants gain insights into stakeholder engagement, release planning, and continuous delivery. The POPM certification also focuses on Lean-Agile principles and practices, empowering individuals to enhance product value and achieve customer satisfaction. By becoming a SAFe POPM-certified professional, you'll be equipped to lead high-performing Agile teams and drive organizational success in a rapidly evolving market.

[hazel-of-sodor]

Its time to give my headcanon for one of my favorite StarTrek ships, the U.S.S. Yeager

By the dawn of the 2370s, Starfleet was, once again, embroiled in an Arms Race for the survival of both itself and the Federation. It had began the 2360s as the top power in the known Galaxy,  its only near peers either allied or hadn't been seen in a *century*. Now the Klingon-Federation Alliance was failing, the Romulans had emerged from their isolation, the Borg had *slaughtered* the Federation Fleet at Wolf 359,and the Dominion had emerged as a new threat. 

Starfleet had long followed a policy of only building new ships for frontline roles, with other roles being covered by older vessels. After the loss at Wolf 359, Starfleet had begun a fleet modernization program, but the majority of the fleet was over half a century in age, and new, more tactically minded designs were needed. Starfleet turned to their shipyards, and design teams were given free range to design their wildest dreams, as long as it could fight. Hundreds of designs were submitted by 2371, but only so many could be selected for prototype construction.

It was into this  era the Intrepid Class was launched. Nominally a science vessel, the class prototype’s frame had been under-construction during Wolf 359. This had resulted in a last minute redesign, giving the class far more redundancies and weapon arrays. The Intrepid class that emerged in 2370 proved to be fast, agile, and tough as nails. When put through combat trials, the science vessel proved to reliably punch above her weight class. Starfleet was suitably impressed, and authorized full production of the class, but a question arose. Could a tactical vessel be built from this science vessel's framework?

A design team was gathered, and the concept for the vessel quickly took shape. Drawing inspiration from one of Starfleet’s most prolonged headaches, the Klingon Bird of Prey, the proposed design featured a Primary Hull of the same type used on the intrepid class, a triangular secondary hull, and down swept wing like pylons mounting Intrepid type nacells. Early simulations showed promise, but the project had fierce competition from its rivals, each team racing to get their concept to the prototype phase as quickly as possible, and the team was concerned their project would be shelved before they could complete the work of designing the new secondary hull. Instead they approached the admiralty with an unusual proposition.

The team argued the technology for their project had already been proven in the Intrepid class. The configuration was the untested variable, and more specifically, how it performed in combat. The design could be tested for those traits *before* with a temporary secondary hull design in place, allowing Starfleet to determine if the project was worth pursuing before using the time and resources to design a full secondary hull. The admiralty, hungry for results, agreed. The team searched through existing hull designs for the closest hull profile to the concept, finding the mark in a design for a patrol craft (which had since become infamous for its role with the Maquis) and a MK 0 prototype was built. The ship was an odd sight, the elegant lines of the intrepid meshing with the harsh utilitarian lines of the patrol ship's hull. Furthermore, the hull had been scaled up to the intended size of the finalized design, her interior decks hastily redesigned to fit an intrepid style engineering assembly. Normally this would have been a poor proposition, as the hull limited the ships top speed severely due the hull being designed to work at a much smaller scale, but the prototype was meant for only one purpose, combat. 

The hull, nicknamed Prototype 0, entered her trials in mid-2373. Despite her construction's inherent limitations, she proved a lethal combatant. She proved to possess all the firepower and durability of her sister class, but with improved firepower and agility. Hull number NX-65674 returned triumphant, having proven the class's worth. Full development of the class was approved, but to the shock of the team, NX-65674 would not be returned to the team to test the new hull. She was to enter service. Starfleet needed every combat capable ship they had, no exceptions. Prototype 0 was hastily refitted, her secondary hull given significant structural reinforcements and a more permanent layout, then launched as the new U.S.S. Yeager NCC-65674. Following the completion of her trials, 5 more hulls were authorized for construction to the Mk 0 design, while U.S.S. Yeager was assigned to Deep Space 9 in light of rising tensions with the Dominion.

The finalized Mk1 design would enter service in late 2374, a far more conventional looking vessel, with all future class members being built to this design. Following the end of the Dominion war in 2375, the surviving Mk 0 hulls would receive ‘refits’ replacing their engineering hulls with the finalized Mk1 design. The final MK 0 Yeager (the prototype herself) would be refit in 2377.

[mercyjuliet1512]

Deciding Between Selenium with Python and Selenium with Java: An In-Depth Comparison

In the domain of automated testing, Selenium emerges as a pivotal tool for ensuring the reliability and quality of web applications. When it comes to selecting the programming language to harness Selenium's capabilities, two prominent contenders often come into play: Python and Java. Both languages offer distinct advantages and considerations, making the decision between them crucial for any automation project.

In this blog post, we'll conduct a thorough comparison of Selenium with Python and Selenium with Java, exploring their unique strengths, use cases, and factors to consider. By the end, readers will have a clearer understanding of which option aligns best with their project requirements, team proficiencies, and organizational objectives.

Python with Selenium:

Python, celebrated for its simplicity and readability, has garnered significant traction within the automation testing community. Let's delve into some key benefits of leveraging Python with Selenium:

Simplicity and Readability: Python's hallmark characteristics include simplicity and readability. Its concise syntax enables developers to express ideas in fewer lines of code, resulting in scripts that are easier to comprehend and maintain. For testers, this translates to expedited development cycles and reduced overhead in managing test suites.

Extensive Ecosystem: Python boasts a vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks that complement Selenium, augmenting its capabilities for test automation. Whether handling data manipulation, conducting API testing, or generating test reports, Python's rich library support caters to diverse automation needs. Furthermore, the active Python community ensures an abundance of resources, tutorials, and documentation to aid testers throughout the automation journey.

Rapid Prototyping: Python's dynamic nature lends itself well to rapid prototyping and iterative development. Testers can swiftly experiment with different approaches, adapt scripts on-the-go, and respond promptly to evolving requirements. This flexibility seamlessly aligns with agile development methodologies, empowering teams to deliver high-quality software with agility.

Integration Compatibility: Python's interoperability with other tools and technologies makes it an appealing choice for Selenium automation. Whether integrating with continuous integration (CI) pipelines, test reporting frameworks, or version control systems, Python's versatility ensures smooth interoperability, streamlining the testing workflow and bolstering overall efficiency.

Java with Selenium:

Java, renowned for its robustness and performance, has long been a cornerstone in enterprise software development. Here are some compelling reasons to consider Java for Selenium automation:

Robustness and Performance: Java's static typing and strong object-oriented principles contribute to the robustness and performance of Selenium test suites. Its compile-time error checking aids in identifying potential issues early in the development phase, resulting in more stable and reliable automation scripts. For large-scale enterprise projects with stringent quality requirements, Java's reliability is a significant asset.

Widespread Adoption: Java enjoys widespread adoption within the enterprise landscape, making it a natural choice for organizations with existing Java codebases or a Java-centric development environment. The abundance of Java expertise in the workforce, coupled with extensive community support and industry recognition, solidifies its status as a preferred language for Selenium automation in many corporate settings.

Mature Tooling: Java's mature ecosystem of testing tools and frameworks, including JUnit and TestNG, seamlessly integrate with Selenium to offer comprehensive test automation solutions. These frameworks furnish advanced features such as parameterized testing, parallel execution, and built-in reporting capabilities, empowering testers to design and execute sophisticated test suites effortlessly.

Enterprise Support: Java's popularity in enterprise environments translates to robust support from vendors, extensive documentation, and a plethora of third-party integrations. For organizations seeking enterprise-grade features, reliability, and scalability in their Selenium automation endeavors, Java's ecosystem and support infrastructure present a compelling value proposition.

Conclusion:

In summary, both Selenium with Python and Selenium with Java present compelling options for test automation, each with its unique strengths and considerations. Python excels in simplicity, rapid development, and a vast ecosystem, making it an ideal choice for agile teams and projects with evolving requirements. Conversely, Java offers robustness, performance, and widespread enterprise support, rendering it well-suited for large-scale enterprise applications with stringent quality standards.

Ultimately, the decision between Python and Java for Selenium automation hinges on various factors such as project prerequisites, team proficiencies, and organizational preferences. By meticulously evaluating these factors and weighing the pros and cons of each option, stakeholders can make informed decisions that align with their specific needs and aspirations. Whether opting for the simplicity of Python or the robustness of Java, Selenium remains an indispensable tool for driving quality and efficiency in web application testing.

[quantuminnovationit]

Future Trends in Ruby on Rails Web Development

In the ever-evolving landscape of web development, Ruby on Rails (RoR) continues to be a popular and powerful framework for building robust, scalable, and efficient web applications. As technology advances and market demands evolve, the future of Ruby on Rails web development holds exciting possibilities and trends that promise to shape the way developers approach projects. In this article, we delve into the emerging trends and innovations in ruby on rails development company, highlighting the role of leading ruby on rails development companies, particularly those in the USA, in driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in web development.

Embracing Modern JavaScript Frameworks:

As JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue.js, and AngularJS gain prominence in the web development landscape, Ruby on Rails developers are increasingly integrating these technologies into their projects. By leveraging the strengths of both Ruby on Rails and modern JavaScript frameworks, developers can create dynamic and interactive user interfaces that enhance the overall user experience. Ruby on Rails development companies in the USA are at the forefront of this trend, leveraging their expertise to seamlessly integrate JavaScript frameworks into RoR applications and deliver cutting-edge solutions to clients.

Microservices Architecture and Scalability:

With the growing complexity of web applications and the need for scalability and flexibility, the adoption of microservices architecture is becoming increasingly prevalent in Ruby on Rails web development. By breaking down monolithic applications into smaller, independent services, developers can achieve greater scalability, fault isolation, and agility. Leading ruby on rails web development companies in the USA are embracing microservices architecture to build scalable and resilient applications that can easily adapt to changing business requirements and user demands.

Progressive Web Applications (PWAs):

Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) represent a significant trend in web development, offering the benefits of both web and mobile applications. By leveraging modern web technologies, including service workers, web app manifests, and responsive design principles, developers can create PWAs that deliver a fast, reliable, and engaging user experience across devices and platforms. Ruby on Rails development companies in the USA are leveraging the flexibility and power of RoR to build PWAs that combine the best features of native mobile apps with the reach and accessibility of the web.

AI-Powered Applications and Chatbots:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are increasingly being integrated into web applications to enhance functionality and user experience. In Ruby on Rails web development, AI-powered applications and chatbots are becoming more prevalent, providing personalized recommendations, automated customer support, and intelligent decision-making capabilities. ruby on rails development company usa  are leveraging AI and ML technologies to build sophisticated and intelligent web applications that anticipate user needs and deliver tailored experiences.

Serverless Architecture and Function as a Service (FaaS):

Serverless architecture is revolutionizing the way web applications are built and deployed, offering greater scalability, cost-efficiency, and flexibility. With the rise of Function as a Service (FaaS) platforms like AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Functions, developers can focus on writing code without worrying about managing servers or infrastructure. Leading ruby on rails development companies in the USA are embracing serverless architecture to build lightweight, event-driven applications that can scale seamlessly in response to fluctuating workloads and user demand.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences:

The integration of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies into web applications is opening up new possibilities for immersive and interactive user experiences. In Ruby on Rails web development, developers are exploring ways to incorporate AR and VR features into e-commerce platforms, educational portals, and entertainment websites. Ruby on Rails web development companies in the USA are at the forefront of this trend, leveraging RoR's flexibility and versatility to build immersive AR and VR experiences that push the boundaries of traditional web development.

Conclusion:

As technology continues to evolve and market demands shift, the future of Ruby on Rails web development holds immense potential for innovation and growth. By embracing emerging trends such as modern JavaScript frameworks, microservices architecture, progressive web applications, AI-powered applications, serverless architecture, and AR/VR experiences, ruby on rails web development company usa are poised to lead the way in shaping the next generation of web applications. With their expertise, creativity, and commitment to excellence, these companies are driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in Ruby on Rails web development.

[advanceagility]

Influence – A Key to Marketing

It is more important to influence people than to impress them.– Adrian Rogers

Influence can be defined as the ability to affect and leads to change in themindset, character, behaviour, or development of someone or something. This ability requires a strong emotional connection with yourself and others. Those who are masters in the art of influence are also skilled at tapping into people’s emotions, which drive their actions. And that’s why influence is known to be synonymous with leadership. In fact, when Time magazine releases the ranks of the 100 most influential people throughout the globe, their largest group isn’t comprised of sports stars, philanthropists, or musical icons, but rather leaders such as Michelle Obama, Jacinda Ardern, Xi Jinping, and Bob Iger. A very clever form of manipulation is persuasion.

How do they try to manipulate us, and how do we overcome that situation?

1.     Marketers employagile toolsto get you to purchase their goods.

2.     People have to realise that marketers' choices are the result of their thinking.

3.     You might be persuaded to take action despite the fact that you don't want to.

4.     Marketers can use persuasion as a weapon in both offensive and defensive situations.

Given below are some of the smart goals of marketers:

1.     Displaying two things while underplaying one of them.

2.     Presenting the costlier item first to make the cheaper one appear inferior.

3.     Using a famous person to support your need for that product.

Recognize and avoid manipulative behaviour by:

1.     Considering whether you actually need that item

2.     Don't let a lack of funds influence your decision.

3.     Avoid feeling compelled to repay your favours.

4.     Keep in mind that businesses followbusiness agilityand focus on profit.

Safe principles for persuasion:

Three persuasive factors: -

·      A clever process serves as the initial component and tries to initiate persuasion.

·      The second is understanding "how to use the influence that persuasion provides”.

·      The third is being aware of "what persuasion can do”?

Favours have to be justified by marketers -

People are curious to know why they do anything. Make sure to give them a purpose because everyone wants to know. If you give a reason for the favour you're asking, you're more likely to receive a favourable response.

Celebrities play an important role -

According to the "liking Concept”, if something is suggested to us by a person we like, we are more inclined to accept or purchase it. The corporation employs your favourite star, but they aren't looking out for your interests.

Using morality as an agile tool

Make anagile principleregarding "what you want them to do"? If you want their cooperation. Most of the time, people like to live up to their standards.

Reciprocation is not required.

One common persuasion strategy is the reciprocity rule. When someone helps you, you feel obligated to return the favour. Marketers enhance thisempathyin you. They will treat someone else in the same way as they feel and behave towards you.

Decisions are influenced by authority.

You are more inclined to comply if someone holds a position of authority and orders you to do something or make a purchase. Consider whether they truly hold a position of authority or if they are merely trying to persuade you.

To maximise profit

To maximise profit,agile principlesare very helpful for marketers. We tend to take action when we have a fear of losing something because we care more about losing it than getting it. Act only when you are certain that you will succeed.

One of the best ways to influence people is to make them feel important. Most people enjoy those rare moments when others make them feel important. It is one of the deepest human desires.

–Roy T. Bennett

In this agile digital world influence is an important aspect of personality whether it is for an individual or an organization.  The right influence on others can help to change the mindset towards new development and processes to gain success and growth in agile working professions as well as other life aspects.

About Advance Agility

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium and large organization across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting human centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitor.

Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. We provide various SAFe certification courses along with DevOps, Scrum, Agile Coaching and more trainings. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together.

[scrumsoftwaretools]

Scrum is a Project Management framework that breaks a large Epic into small tasks. Scrum helps with increased ROI for projects, it can be scaled to include large projects and enterprises. Scrum Tools like Jira, Vabro, Monday.com etc, helps these teams to deliver projects at the earliest with most value and efficiency. Vabro helps manage these projects while assisting the development team to streamline the delivery of projects.

Features of Vabro:

Vabro, a comprehensive Scrum tool, offers a wide array of features designed to streamline Agile project management and enhance team collaboration. Here's an overview of these features:

Portfolios: Vabro allows users to organize multiple projects into portfolios, providing a high-level view of all ongoing initiatives within an organization.

Programs: Within portfolios, Vabro enables the grouping of related projects into programs, allowing for better coordination and alignment of efforts across teams.

Projects: Users can create individual projects within Vabro, each representing a specific initiative or deliverable, with its own set of tasks, timelines, and objectives.

Teams: Vabro facilitates team management by allowing users to define and assign team members to projects, ensuring clear accountability and collaboration.

Release: Vabro helps teams plan and manage software releases by providing tools for organizing and scheduling releases, tracking progress, and coordinating release activities.

Sprint: Vabro supports Agile development methodologies by enabling teams to plan and execute sprints, with features for backlog grooming, sprint planning, and sprint review.

Prioritized Product Backlog: Vabro includes a prioritized product backlog where user stories and tasks are listed based on their importance and business value, allowing teams to focus on delivering the most valuable features first.

Scrumboard: Vabro offers a customizable Scrumboard that provides a visual representation of the project's workflow, allowing teams to track the status of user stories and tasks as they move through different stages of development.

Files, Links & Comments: Vabro allows users to attach files, links, and comments to user stories, tasks, and other project artifacts, facilitating communication and collaboration among team members.

Dependency: Vabro supports managing dependencies between user stories, tasks, and projects, helping teams identify and resolve dependencies to ensure smooth project execution.

Basic Filters and Advanced Filters: Vabro provides both basic and advanced filtering options, allowing users to quickly search and sort project data based on various criteria, such as status, assignee, or priority.

Team Management: Vabro offers tools for managing team members, including roles and permissions, user profiles, and resource allocation, to ensure efficient collaboration and utilization of team resources.

Epic: Vabro allows users to create epics, which represent large bodies of work that can be broken down into smaller, manageable user stories, helping teams to plan and track progress more effectively.

User Stories and Tasks: Vabro supports Agile project management by allowing teams to create user stories, break them down into tasks, and track progress towards completing them.

Overall, Vabro provides a comprehensive set of features to support Agile project management, enabling teams to plan, execute, and deliver high-quality software products efficiently and collaboratively.

Join us on this exciting journey of elevating your project management experience. Visit www.vabro.com to learn more about Vabro and how it can transform the way your team works! Stay tuned for more insights and best practices on Scrum and Agile methodologies.

[agilewaters22]

Emerging Trends in Scrum: What’s Next for Agile Project Management

Introduction:

Project management has been transformed by agile approaches, especially Scrum, which encourage flexibility and teamwork in the dynamic field of software development and other domains. It’s critical to recognize and comprehend the new trends that will influence the direction of Scrum and Agile project management as we enter a new era. We’ll explore several major themes in this blog that will probably have an impact on how teams operate and produce value in the years to come.

Beyond Software: Agile in Non-Traditional Industries:

Software development is where traditional Agile methods are most at home. Nonetheless, a noteworthy development is the application of Agile ideas to non-traditional sectors like finance, HR, and marketing. Agile frameworks like Scrum are being modified to meet the demands of varied teams and industries as businesses realize the advantages of flexibility and customer-centricity

AI and Automation Integration: Enhancing Agile Practices:

Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly essential to many facets of project management. Agile teams are investigating how to use AI to improve decision-making, automate testing, and do predictive analytics. By combining these technologies with Scrum, it is possible to increase productivity, optimize procedures, and gain insightful knowledge that will help with decision-making.

DevOps and Agile Synergy: Continuous Delivery as a Standard:

Although the idea of the synergy between DevOps and Agile is not new, it is developing quickly. It’s becoming commonplace to combine Scrum with DevOps methods in order to achieve continuous delivery and smooth cooperation between development and operations teams. This tendency improves the overall effectiveness of Agile development cycles and guarantees quicker, more dependable deliveries.

Scrum at Scale: Addressing the Needs of Large Organizations:

Agile practice scaling is an important trend, particularly for large firms working on complicated projects. Frameworks that offer direction on how to implement Scrum principles at scale, such as Nexus and LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum), are becoming more and more popular. Scaling frameworks are becoming necessary for managing complexity and guaranteeing alignment as businesses realize the benefits of agility throughout the entire organization.

Remote Agile: Navigating Distributed Workforces:

Agile frameworks are becoming more and more necessary in order to support distributed teams as a result of the global movement toward remote work. Virtual ceremonies and collaboration tools are becoming commonplace in remote Agile processes. Organizations are investigating methods for preserving openness, correspondence, and group unity in a remote setting, guaranteeing that the advantages of Agile can be experienced regardless of geographic location.

Agile Leadership: Fostering a Culture of Empowerment:

Agile firms are seeing a shift in leadership from a hierarchical, command-and-control approach to one that prioritizes support and empowerment. Agile leaders take on the role of facilitators, eliminating obstacles and fostering an atmosphere that rewards creativity and ongoing development. This movement acknowledges the role that leadership plays in maintaining an Agile culture.

Focus on Customer Experience (CX) and Design Thinking:

Customer value has always come first in the Agile approach. But in order to improve the user experience, there’s an increasing focus on integrating design thinking ideas into Agile processes. In order to meet and surpass customer expectations, teams are urged to consistently enhance products, iterate on designs, and show empathy for end users.

Conclusion:

It’s clear that Scrum and other Agile approaches will continue to change as we look to the future of Agile project management to suit the shifting needs of businesses. The above-mentioned trends provide an overview of the ever-changing environment that Agile practitioners will have to deal with. Teams that embrace these new trends will be better equipped to handle upcoming problems and prosper in a setting where success is largely determined by adaptability and continual development. Continue to be inventive, flexible, and aware of the latest developments in the fascinating field of agile project management.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Agile and Scaling and Training

By definition; an Agile company is a small company. Maybe even a startup.

When a company starts out, you have a few people, friends or trusted associates. You know how each other work; and you can fill in the gaps for each other quite effectively.

As the company grows; however-- you start introducing bloat. You might be working with interns or new hires that don't know your group very well. The problem here usually trips companies starting out up.

They try to find people who "are a good fit". They work like the hiring company, they already think like them. This is one of those basis of conformity over diversity.

"We don't know how you work, you don't know how we work: this won't be a good match."

As your company grows you need to start sacrificing agility for a process. Now, companies can have departments which are more agile by nature. An research and development department; for example. Who are more or less removed from the process as long as they have some kind of usable output for the rest of the company.

They build the frameworks and processes, so that other less agile parts of the company can start picking up those procedures and running with them.

Hiring also introduces the necessity for training new hires. If you want them to know how you and your team work; you need to spend time teaching them how you work.

An easy and effective way for new companies to do this; is simply by "shadowing". You have a new trainee follow you and do exactly what you do. This may also have the added benefit of learning how your new hire thinks and works; and give input to your process that you've not thought of before.

New managers get mad when trainees speak up at this point; because they're very protective of their position and their process. (and of course; their money.) However, this is part of the value of new hires and, after-all, you are paying them--you paid for their ideas. And you should reward them for good ones if you can afford to.

You have to think about it this way Ford v Ferrari (depicts lemans in '66); when you increase production; you either have to increase costs (like Ferrari) or increase scale (like Ford). As you increase scale; you can't think of it as "handcrafted" anymore. You need to think about how to keep the required quality as you're producing hundreds and thousands of units at a time.

If you're perpetually maintaining the same product; that team follows a DevOps paradigm. If you're producing a "one and done" that follows a waterfall paradigm.

If you're reusing assets in a small-scale venture; that's where Agile *really* shines.

The waterfall concept doesn't mean you're not reusing assets for the next product as you would in an agile environment; and an agile environment doesn't mean you're not making one-off products.

The best pieces for what you're working on are what is required.

As you get bigger; this is where you're considering process-improvement teams. Specific teams that work like Java Garbage-Collectors. Figure out which pieces worked well and can be recycled; and which pieces are junk and should be modified.

These teams, along with R&D, functionally become your *agility* for your entire company.

[gmatechnologi]

The Role of Microservices In Modern Software Architecture

Are you ready to dive into the exciting world of microservices and discover how they are revolutionizing modern software architecture? In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses are constantly seeking ways to build more scalable, flexible, and resilient applications. Enter microservices – a groundbreaking approach that allows developers to break down monolithic systems into smaller, independent components. Join us as we unravel the role of microservices in shaping the future of software design and explore their immense potential for transforming your organization’s technology stack. Buckle up for an enlightening journey through the intricacies of this game-changing architectural style!

Introduction To Microservices And Software Architecture

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, software architecture has become a crucial aspect for businesses looking to stay competitive. As companies strive for faster delivery of high-quality software, the traditional monolithic architecture has proved to be limiting and inefficient. This is where microservices come into play.

Microservices are an architectural approach that involves breaking down large, complex applications into smaller, independent services that can communicate with each other through APIs. These services are self-contained and can be deployed and updated independently without affecting the entire application.

Software architecture on the other hand, refers to the overall design of a software system including its components, relationships between them, and their interactions. It provides a blueprint for building scalable, maintainable and robust applications.

So how do microservices fit into the world of software architecture? Let’s delve deeper into this topic by understanding the fundamentals of both microservices and software architecture.

As mentioned earlier, microservices are small independent services that work together to form a larger application. Each service performs a specific business function and runs as an autonomous process. These services can be developed in different programming languages or frameworks based on what best suits their purpose.

The concept of microservices originated from Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). However, unlike SOA which tends to have larger services with complex interconnections, microservices follow the principle of single responsibility – meaning each service should only perform one task or function.

Evolution Of Software Architecture: From Monolithic To Microservices

Software architecture has evolved significantly over the years, from traditional monolithic architectures to more modern and agile microservices architectures. This evolution has been driven by the need for more flexible, scalable, and efficient software systems. In this section, we will explore the journey of software architecture from monolithic to microservices and how it has transformed the way modern software is built.

Monolithic Architecture:

In a monolithic architecture, all components of an application are tightly coupled together into a single codebase. This means that any changes made to one part of the code can potentially impact other parts of the application. Monolithic applications are usually large and complex, making them difficult to maintain and scale.

One of the main drawbacks of monolithic architecture is its lack of flexibility. The entire application needs to be redeployed whenever a change or update is made, which can result in downtime and disruption for users. This makes it challenging for businesses to respond quickly to changing market needs.

The Rise of Microservices:

To overcome these limitations, software architects started exploring new ways of building applications that were more flexible and scalable. Microservices emerged as a solution to these challenges in software development.

Microservices architecture decomposes an application into smaller independent services that communicate with each other through well-defined APIs. Each service is responsible for a specific business function or feature and can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently without affecting other services.

Advantages Of Using Microservices In Modern Software Development

Microservices have gained immense popularity in recent years, and for good reason. They offer numerous advantages over traditional monolithic software development approaches, making them a highly sought-after approach in modern software architecture.

1. Scalability: One of the key advantages of using microservices is their ability to scale independently. In a monolithic system, any changes or updates made to one component can potentially affect the entire application, making it difficult to scale specific functionalities as needed. However, with microservices, each service is developed and deployed independently, allowing for easier scalability and flexibility.

2. Improved Fault Isolation: In a monolithic architecture, a single error or bug can bring down the entire system. This makes troubleshooting and debugging a time-consuming and challenging process. With microservices, each service operates independently from others, which means that if one service fails or experiences issues, it will not impact the functioning of other services. This enables developers to quickly identify and resolve issues without affecting the overall system.

3. Faster Development: Microservices promote faster development cycles because they allow developers to work on different services concurrently without disrupting each other’s work. Moreover, since services are smaller in size compared to monoliths, they are easier to understand and maintain which results in reduced development time.

4. Technology Diversity: Monolithic systems often rely on a single technology stack for all components of the application. This can be limiting when new technologies emerge or when certain functionalities require specialized tools or languages that may not be compatible with the existing stack. In contrast, microservices allow for a diverse range of technologies to be used for different services, providing more flexibility and adaptability.

5. Easy Deployment: Microservices are designed to be deployed independently, which means that updates or changes to one service can be rolled out without affecting the entire system. This makes deployments faster and less risky compared to monolithic architectures, where any changes require the entire application to be redeployed.

6. Better Fault Tolerance: In a monolithic architecture, a single point of failure can bring down the entire system. With microservices, failures are isolated to individual services, which means that even if one service fails, the rest of the system can continue functioning. This improves overall fault tolerance in the application.

7. Improved Team Productivity: Microservices promote a modular approach to software development, allowing teams to work on specific services without needing to understand every aspect of the application. This leads to improved productivity as developers can focus on their areas of expertise and make independent decisions about their service without worrying about how it will affect other parts of the system.

Challenges And Limitations Of Microservices

As with any technology or approach, there are both challenges and limitations to implementing microservices in modern software architecture. While the benefits of this architectural style are numerous, it is important to be aware of these potential obstacles in order to effectively navigate them.

1. Complexity: One of the main challenges of microservices is their inherent complexity. When a system is broken down into smaller, independent services, it becomes more difficult to manage and understand as a whole. This can lead to increased overhead and maintenance costs, as well as potential performance issues if not properly designed and implemented.

2. Distributed Systems Management: Microservices by nature are distributed systems, meaning that each service may be running on different servers or even in different geographical locations. This introduces new challenges for managing and monitoring the system as a whole. It also adds an extra layer of complexity when troubleshooting issues that span multiple services.

3. Communication Between Services: In order for microservices to function effectively, they must be able to communicate with one another seamlessly. This requires robust communication protocols and mechanisms such as APIs or messaging systems. However, setting up and maintaining these connections can be time-consuming and error-prone.

4. Data Consistency: In a traditional monolithic architecture, data consistency is relatively straightforward since all components access the same database instance. In contrast, microservices often have their own databases which can lead to data consistency issues if not carefully managed through proper synchronization techniques.

Best Practices For Implementing Microservices In Your Project

Implementing microservices in your project can bring a multitude of benefits, such as increased scalability, flexibility and faster development cycles. However, it is also important to ensure that the implementation is done correctly in order to fully reap these benefits. In this section, we will discuss some best practices for implementing microservices in your project.

1. Define clear boundaries and responsibilities: One of the key principles of microservices architecture is the idea of breaking down a larger application into smaller independent services. It is crucial to clearly define the boundaries and responsibilities of each service to avoid overlap or duplication of functionality. This can be achieved by using techniques like domain-driven design or event storming to identify distinct business domains and their respective services.

2. Choose appropriate communication protocols: Microservices communicate with each other through APIs, so it is important to carefully consider which protocols to use for these interactions. RESTful APIs are popular due to their simplicity and compatibility with different programming languages. Alternatively, you may choose messaging-based protocols like AMQP or Kafka for asynchronous communication between services.

3. Ensure fault tolerance: In a distributed system like microservices architecture, failures are inevitable. Therefore, it is important to design for fault tolerance by implementing strategies such as circuit breakers and retries. These mechanisms help prevent cascading failures and improve overall system resilience.

Real-Life Examples Of Successful Implementation Of Microservices

Microservices have gained immense popularity in recent years due to their ability to improve the scalability, flexibility, and agility of software systems. Many organizations across various industries have successfully implemented microservices architecture in their applications, resulting in significant benefits. In this section, we will explore real-life examples of successful implementation of microservices and how they have revolutionized modern software architecture.

1. Netflix: Netflix is a leading streaming service that has disrupted the entertainment industry with its vast collection of movies and TV shows. The company’s success can be attributed to its adoption of microservices architecture. Initially, Netflix had a monolithic application that was becoming difficult to scale and maintain as the user base grew rapidly. To overcome these challenges, they broke down their application into smaller independent services following the microservices approach.

Each service at Netflix has a specific function such as search, recommendations, or video playback. These services can be developed independently, enabling faster deployment and updates without affecting other parts of the system. This also allows for easier scaling based on demand by adding more instances of the required services. With microservices, Netflix has improved its uptime and performance while keeping costs low.

The Future Of Microservices In Software Architecture

The concept of microservices has been gaining traction in the world of software architecture in recent years. This approach to building applications involves breaking down a monolithic system into smaller, independent services that communicate with each other through well-defined APIs. The benefits of this architecture include increased flexibility, scalability, and resilience.

But what does the future hold for microservices? In this section, we will explore some potential developments and trends that could shape the future of microservices in software architecture.

1. Rise of Serverless Architecture

As organizations continue to move towards cloud-based solutions, serverless architecture is becoming increasingly popular. This approach eliminates the need for traditional servers and infrastructure management by allowing developers to deploy their code directly onto a cloud platform such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure.

Microservices are a natural fit for serverless architecture as they already follow a distributed model. With serverless, each microservice can be deployed independently, making it easier to scale individual components without affecting the entire system. As serverless continues to grow in popularity, we can expect to see more widespread adoption of microservices.

2. Increased Adoption of Containerization

Containerization technology such as Docker has revolutionized how applications are deployed and managed. Containers provide an isolated environment for each service, making it easier to package and deploy them anywhere without worrying about compatibility issues.

Conclusion:

As we have seen throughout this article, microservices offer a number of benefits in terms of scalability, flexibility, and efficiency in modern software architecture. However, it is important to carefully consider whether or not the use of microservices is right for your specific project.

First and foremost, it is crucial to understand the complexity that comes with implementing a microservices architecture. While it offers many advantages, it also introduces new challenges such as increased communication overhead and the need for specialized tools and processes. Therefore, if your project does not require a high level of scalability or if you do not have a team with sufficient expertise to manage these complexities, using a monolithic architecture may be more suitable.

[etymologyofmind]

Quartermaster’s Log

Fleet Quartermaster’s Log, Federation Starbase Deep Space 5

Stardate 5789.27

Quartermaster Orin M’Tembe

QM’s Log, listed stardate. Starbase 5 hasn’t seen this much action since the end of the Dominion War, and it’s been a lot longer since we weren’t on station for some dire circumstance related to an all-out invasion by one enslaving force or another. It’s been a little over 5 years since things started cooling off, and as always, Star Fleet has kept us on our toes.

The past couple of years has seen a set of large-scale refits and rebuilds of a number of damaged ships from the war fleet, incorporating new technologies and techniques against the formidable under-layer of established veteran designs to help make the best of a bad situation: the Dominion left our fleets in bad shape, and the only thing keeping our friends and allies from picking at our bones is the fact that they’re no better off than we are. The Cardassians are still trying to heal the wounds of their disastrous alliances, while the Klingons and Romulans are picking up the pieces, same as we are. For better or for worse, the Founders are back on the other side of the galaxy, thickening up their soup after Federation Medical helped to cure their plague, so the call for wartime ship-building has turned to a tried-and-true method of post-war development: recycling.

DS5 has seen any number of classes and serials in the past few years, but the new class refits have been something else. The unprecedented return of the USS Voyager from the furthest depths of the Delta Quadrant brought a veritable treasure trove of innovation, insight, and scientific development which, in all honesty, Star Fleet is not prepared to capitalize on large scale. Ablative Shielding technology, apparently something that was developed by acts of paradox, still only has a number of example prototypes to extrapolate from, meaning that it’s not ready for fleet-wide deployment. Many of the other adaptations the Intrepid-Class voyager took with it into the unknown came back so profoundly and fundamentally changed that even if things like bio-neural circuitry and variable geometry warp nacelles were commonplace, we wouldn’t be able to directly adapt the cornucopia of Borg-modified, alien enhanced, and innovatively modified systems without completely overhauling entire frameworks.

In true “Beggars Can’t Be Choosers” form, DS5’s recent project has been fed by a lot of variety. The Abraxis Expedition, commissioned by the Bureau of Cartography for potential colonization, is a relatively secret project with relatively open parameters, as it’s certain that none of our competing intelligence agencies are unaware that we’ve been retrofitting a small fleet of exploration and science vessels, freighters, and a few modest escorts. What they may not know is the intended application of this fleet, or its destination: regardless of the outcomes of our conflict in the Gamma Quadrant, the Federation still lacks a stable foothold on the far side of the wormhole, and the logistics of trafficking the equipment, manpower, and resources to establish a foothold in such unreceptive territory. Instead, the plan is to send an agile team of trailblazers into the frontier, and to hopefully put down a flag with enough guile that it won’t be contested before it’s well established.

It’s far too late now for that secret to be a significant risk if the wider intelligence community picks it up, as the Abraxis Expedition has already started setting out for Deep Space 9, where they will take on their final crews and supplies before embarking into the wilderness, and stealth is not exactly a realistic expectation when the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant lights up the sky for a parsec any time a pilgrim arrives at the temple gates, so the best we can hope for is that our preparation, and the rapport we’ve developed on either side of the wormhole are good enough to keep significant resistance to a minimum. That said, it’s unlikely that anyone will be happy with our ambition to expand, and it’s equally unlikely that any of the neighbors haven’t had the same ideas, on their own timelines. Hard to guess whether we’ll run into Romulans or the Jem’Hadar first.

I suppose it’s all academic to me: my investment in the expedition is about to end as far as my responsibility as Quartermaster is concerned, with the last two ships still in our dry docks making final preparation to depart. Once they’re gone, these ships, each of which has my thumb print literally stamped on their hulls, etched into the casings of their warp cores for luck, will only take me with them in spirit, and I will be relegated to imagining their ultimate fates until I read the eventual reports of their success… or their demise. As such, I’ve taken to the habit of meeting with their captains, and whatever crew they depart my shipyards with, to get to know the people who will make history at the helm of my work before they’re written about in the books.

Today, I have the distinct honour of meeting with one of our more… unconventional captains, Durok of house Maleth, who has come to command the Nova II-Class explorer ‘Vellouwyn’ through a series of interesting transfers through the Officer Exchange Program. Durok once captained the IKS Cho’toch until he and his squadron were destroyed in the Gamma Quadrant on foray into Jem’Hadar space, and taken captive. Before even that, though, he served as a liaison officer on the USS Summerville back in the 2360s, as, of all things, a science officer. The fact that he has taken a commission with the Federation rather than returning to the Empire since the war initially confounded and enraged any number of people out there, but he quickly disappeared into the system, and has only recently surfaced to take command of my personal favourite vessel of the Abraxis fleet.

I have not had the time or the pleasure of meeting with Durok before now for various reasons, but the things I’ve heard said of him have left me questioning everything I know about Klingon culture and my all-too-human expectations of their warrior-centric race. That being said, I’ve seen his file, and Klingons don’t get command without being formidable in combat, versed in ship-board and ground-based tactics, and quick with a seditious blade in a command structure that demands blood and honour in exchange for all glory, so it’s hard to know what to expect.

Nevertheless, I will find out soon enough, as not only do I have a meeting with Captain Durok, but I have the sad duty of overseeing the transfer of a member of my own crew to his expedition, someone who has become not only one of my most trusted resources in the time they’ve served on Deep Space 5, but one of my own close personal friends. It will be sad to see them go, but this project, and this ship, are the reason they came to DS5 in the first place, and much of its infrastructure was developed with their unique needs and capabilities in mind. Hopefully, all of the efforts will be enough to make a difference on this next great adventure.

M'Tembe out.

Quartermaster Orin M’Tembe looked up from the Padd in his hand as the doors to the lounge he’d booked his meeting in slid open with a gentle whirr. His round face and jowly cheeks sat in a neutral, half lidded state, which was normal for him when he wasn’t chatting with someone that he deemed comfortable. The person he was here to meet was an enigma by any standard, and certainly not the norm for either a Federation or a Klingon officer, and M’Tembe didn’t know what to expect.

The Deck 16 Anterior Lounge was one of a number of off-duty spaces on Deep Space 5 committed to the care of station personnel, visiting crews, and the occasional dignitary who didn’t have anywhere specific to be. It offered, through a broad set of wall-high viewports, an overlook of the construction platforms, free-floating warehouse docks, and temporary transit berths which facilitated the core station’s primary functions. Unlike the major space docks modelled after Starbase 1, DS5 didn’t have the mass, volume, or infrastructure to serve as a central node independent of its distributed framework when operating at high volume, so it was more of a space-based metropolis, sprawling out in districts and segments focused on industry, leisure, and residential needs.

At this point in the shift cycle, 16-A had its lights dimmed, with the subtle underlighting of the tables providing visible paths to servers and guests who continued to use its services when they drew near enough to the equipment to trigger proximity fades. Sit still long enough, and the tables would dim, unless the controls were set to maintain lighting manually, giving the space a quiet, private, subdued ambiance. Around the edges of the viewports, subtle white light frosted etching which was functionally unnecessary, save to give the faint of heart comfort in knowing that the transparent aluminium used to produce the glass was actually there, and that the void of space wasn’t held in check by mere implication, or even forcefields. Since this ran along the full floor and ceiling of the lounge, it centralized the focus on the room on the windows, highlighting the view for the occupants even further.

Sitting at a table in the middle of the room was the man he was here to meet, inscrutable in the dim light. From his vantage by the door, the captain had his back to M’Tembe, gazing out the window. The Quartermaster could see his bold hair falling out in waves down to his shoulders, where they were collected in a low-bound tail that was tied with a grey cloth, tidy and well kept. Coming around the aisle wide allowed him to take the man in profile, exposing his features as if he were a waxing moon, bit by bit revealing something new with each step. He sat with one leg crossed over his knee, high legged boots in the Klingon fashion glittering with buckles, while the rest of his uniform, though worn casually, was certainly more Star Fleet; he wore the grey-shouldered open jacket with his arms withdrawn from the sleeves, hands steepled in front of them where they rested on his raised knee. The tunic beneath was the red of a command officer, but it seemed darker, richer in the half light of the lounge, and reflected the man’s dark skin in a very complimentary way. His nose was prominent, hooked somewhat, and, to M’Tembe’s surprise, devoid of the ridges that most Klingons displayed. He had read the man’s jacket, seen his holofile, but hadn’t really believed it without seeing the man for himself. Though his features were unmistakably Klingon, from the pointed teeth to the bold hair to the prominent brow and beakish nose, the man had almost none of the folds or sweeping ridges that distinctly marked one as a member of the Klingon race. His eyebrows peaked in the Klingon way, and his forehead swept high to his hairline, but it was as smooth as M’Tembe’s own as he furrowed it in study. Not wanting to be rude, he shook himself out of his study, and stepped further into the man’s view.

Captain Durok of house Maleth shifted his eyes in acknowledgement to the Quartermaster, gesturing wordlessly at the waiting seat beside him before returning his gaze to the window. Prominently featured in the middle of its frame, and likely why the man had selected this vantage for their meeting, was the ship he’d be taking command of officially after the Quartermaster handed him the command code matrices. A spider-like refit frame clamped over the ship’s graceful body, giving access to the automated tools, repair drones, and engineering crews to make any last-minute adjustments to its exterior before it was released back into service. As M’Tembe sat, leveraging himself into the chair while trying to balance his armload of materials, he took a moment to admire the handiwork again, reading off the registration from memory, as it wasn’t visible in profile: NCC-74038-A, Vellouwyn. While still technically a Nova class vessel by its framework, the refit to the vessel had been so extensive to merit its recognition as a Nova II class ship, distinct from its not unimpressive origins. M’Tembe was proud of it, and was happy to make that known.

“She is a fine vessel,” he said by way of introduction, his deep voice smoothed by a light pitched undertone which had been described by some as ‘gentle’ and by others as ‘breezy’. He had not been born on Earth, but the colony his family had emigrated to in his grandfather’s time had roots in northern Africa, and their voice carried through to the modern age.  “It will be a shame to let her go. We could use more like her here at home.”

Durok unfolded his legs, somehow managing to be graceful with his boot buckles, and adjusted his posture before crossing the other foot across his knee. This turned him to better face the Quartermaster, changing his focus from the ship outside. “Indeed,” he said, his own voice filled with iron and rust, nasal but strong, “if that is the case, perhaps we should leave her where she is, and you can give me something less promising, like a Galaxy Class ship?” The words were said with a clear tone of humour, and it took some of the tension out of M’Tembe’s posture as he let himself smile back to the Klingon’s grinning face. He liked, even appreciated the implication that the Vellouwyn wasn’t a vessel to be taken lightly. “I am Durok, recently Commander of the Tellarite science vessel Adequate-C. And you are Orin M’Tembe, Quartermaster of Deep Space 5. I have read your profile, as I expect you’ve read mine, so we can dispose with the typical ‘human resources’ plumbing of pretending we know less than we do.”

M'Tembe raised his eyebrows at this, sitting back in his chair. He had worked with a number of Tellarites in his career, and they all had the same affectation of abrasive confrontation which each Star Fleet cadet was indoctrinated to learn from their first year, along with other inter-cultural protocols for Vulcans, Andorians, Benzites, Bolians and so on. While there was an air of that to the captain’s declaration, it was subtly different than a true Tellarite style, simultaneously less aggressive and replete with its own disdain. He nodded, his respect going up for the man in front of him: he was an engineer by trade, not a bureaucrat, and though he’d taken on the responsibilities of so called ‘human resources’ (or personnel management) to perform his duties, he didn’t like the peculiar form of cat and mouse diplomacy it usually entailed. He preferred to be plain-spoken, and clearly, so did Durok.

A page arrived with a copper tapered copper mug for Durok, and a Padd to take the Quartermaster’s order—a Bolian Ginger Beer, which was non-alcoholic—and he took a moment to let the civilian gain some distance before deigning to respond. “Very well, captain, we can dispense with some of the pleasantries. I am interested in why you’re here, obviously: we don’t see many Klingon commissioned officers in Star Fleet, let alone with your sort of experience working through the capital navies. You are a very decorated man, taking an obscure, dangerous, and potentially inglorious assignment to scour the frontier for colony prospects. I have been asked to hand over one of our most… interesting, at least, science vessels to a man who wears his Klingon heritage on his fa—”

M'Tembe stopped just short of finishing the thought, but not fast enough to keep the words from slipping out. Despite the obvious Klingon traits, his dress, his stature, even his more subdued traits, the lack of a Klingon crown stood out on the man like a sore thumb. He could have been, without much imagination, a human being playing Klingon dress-up. Now that he was face to face with the man, it was uncanny how little Klingon physiology there was to speak for the man’s face at all. The Quartermaster braced for an absolutely appropriate dressing down for his callousness, but as he watched, Durok’s face shifted from a momentary slack jawed surprise into a slowly growing grin of appreciation and pleasure.

“You know, Quartermaster, I am no stranger to the barbs about my appearance, but it is a rare pleasure for me to see a man of your position try to eat their entire boot without taking it off.” Durok brought his drink to his lips, taking a deep quaff of the contents, which had been cold enough to frost the copper mug, then set it down on the table next to M’Tembe’s pile of Padds. “I saw you scouting me when you came in, and wondered how you’d broach the topic. I honestly did not expect you’d make me laugh, though!” he said, delivering a low, friendly chuckle.

The Quartermaster, still unsure as to whether he was being toyed with, had the good grace to look embarrassed, and ran a hand through his tight cropped, curly hair. “You have my sincere apologies, Captain. I have never been very good at the plumbing, as you called it. Still, I have never seen a Klingon like you: do you have Human ancestors? It isn’t in your record.”

Durok’s look changed from polite amusement, to polite surprise, and M’Tembe found he had a very expressive face. On a Klingon, the exaggerated expressions may have been lost in the alien physiology, but Durok projected himself like a stage actor, which the Quartermaster was beginning to suspect was deliberate. “You are setting a new record, Human! You may be the fastest person outside of the empire to cut so quickly to the heart of that matter. Faster, perhaps, even than they!” again, M’Tembe could feel his cheeks flushing, though he knew that would be hard to see on his dark complexion.

“I would not say that I specifically have Human ancestry,” he went on, visibly unabashed by the topic, “but Humanity has had an impact on the Klingon bloodline for many centuries now. It is not well known among either of our races, but neither is it now classified: once upon a time, your world spawned and spurned a race of augmented supervillains who brought their diseased genetics out into the galaxy, spreading it around like a contagion. The Federation has imposed a ban on the genetic experimentation which produced their kind, which you know, but what you may NOT know is that before being culled, they managed to leave lasting marks on a number of other species, including the Trill, the Jinkari, a small genus of Caitians, and even the Suliban, although that last is hardly surprising.” The man chuckled, and M’Tembe realized that somewhere during his exposition, one of the man’s eyes had drifted closed, displaying a broad discoloured scar which ran through his eyelid, disappearing into the bushy eyebrow above.

He gestured at his face with black nailed fingers, smiling that crooked Klingon smile. “I endure a condition called ‘Klingon Recessive Metagenic Expression’, not entirely unlike an immunological disorder. At one point in my lineage, my father, mother, and my grandfather were deeply afflicted by a metagenic retrovirus carried by these Human augments, which saw their rather aggressive genetic template applied against a defensive Klingon genome. For a time, there were many in the Empire who looked little different than you and your kind, and there are many alive today who have recovered from the condition with improvements to therapeutic techniques over the decades.” Running his thumb up along the center of his brow, Durok closed his other eye, relaxing back into the lounger with a sigh. “I, on the other hand, was offered a choice at a young age. I could take the therapy and risk a conflict between the recessive metagenic genes and my own Klingon ones, which had entangled in a way that could leave me significantly mentally impaired, or I could take the potential stigma of being smooth browed in a culture of understandably hostile brethren, marked as effectively diseased, and keep my mind as my own.”

M'Tembe was aghast. He, like any human in Star Fleet, knew stories of the Augments which had rocked their world: it was formative to the modern human condition, they were the foundation of cautionary tale around which Humanity had rebuilt itself. He knew as well as anyone the boogieman stories and terrifying tales of despotic monsters who had left the world in a ruin of escalating conflict which culminated in a nuclear holocaust, nearly sending the species back beyond the dark ages. He had not known that their kind had leaked into the stars and poisoned other gene pools with their selfish needs. He made mental notes to do some of his own research on the matter, and wondered if his search history wasn’t about to get him flagged in a security database. “I… don’t know how to respond to that.” He said honestly. “I don’t think an apology would be appropriate, but I am inspired with curiosity by your story.”

The page returned with M’Tembe’s drink, and Durok sat forward, clutching his own cup in an outstretched hand. “If you are curious, then I have done well! Pity is not a Klingon virtue, you know. And while curiosity is often explored at the end of a blade, I personally favour it as a proper expression of my condition. There are many Klingons who have the same wit as I, the same curiosity, the same intellectual interests, who push it down under the grunts and barks of a culture which swung back against existential threats by doubling down into a warrior ideology. I have never needed that excuse, so I’ve pursued my curiosities and allowed my detractors to assume that my course was a matter of my disfiguration.” Again, that cunning, predatory grin. “Much to their disadvantage.”

M'Tembe found himself smiling again, and reached out with his own cup. The two met with a clatter that spilled drink across their rims, and he found himself thinking of the trivia of the gesture, and its roots in Human culture: the mingling of drinks was meant to show a trust between those sharing, that neither would poison the other’s cups. It was a very gentrified practice now, with many ceremonies observing the cautious clatter of delicate, fluted crystal glasses in a pale imitation of the more primitive roots. Somehow that memory laid across Durok’s story made the Quartermaster laugh, thinking of the incongruousness of the two concepts pushed together. “You are an interesting man, Captain.” He said, taking a long draw of his spicy drink.

“Please, call me Durok.” Admonished the Klingon. “And I shall call you M’Tembe. It is your family custom to declare House before Self, if I am not mistaken.”

Again, M’Tembe was impressed. “You’ve done your research, Durok.” He said, trying the name out. It seemed comfortable enough not to have to fall back to rank, which surprised him somewhat: already he was feeling closer to this strange man. “Few enough of my own people know that before they meet me, as it’s uncommon among Human cultures. Do you make a habit of remembering such details?”

Durok nodded, settling back and pulling his jacket arms out from behind him, where they had bunched up. “I am something of a cultural anthropologist. Though I graduated from the Officer’s Academy at Ogat with honours, I did not feel it sated my interests. I’ve made study of a number of cultures, starting as a task master for Nausicaan vassals and delving into the Orion, the Ferengi, and even the Betazoid cultures around the middle sectors. I once fought a Gorn Raider for ownership of a destroyed Kzinti outpost which had salvageable Dilithium, and learned much from the way he killed half of my crew.” He shrugged, making an abstract dismissive gesture with his free hand. “But ultimately, what it comes down to, is that I feel there’s something out here, between the many races of our galaxy, which I have yet to truly know at a primal level. There’s something that flows between all of our disparate cultures, and even the animals we share our many worlds with, which I can’t quite come to grips with: something I can feel in my bones which has meaning to motivate all of us regardless of our origins. And if I am going to know this prey which I have committed my life to hunting, I am going to have to seek out its dens.”

M'Tembe didn’t quite understand what Durok was getting that, and the neutral expression returned to his face. The Klingon opened his unscarred eye, let his hand drift to his forehead, and reassessed what he meant to say. “There’s wisdom among the stars, Quartermaster, and it’s shared between those who travel them, seeking to know themselves. I need to know you if I am going to know how we share that wisdom between us.”

The neutral look fell away, and the Quartermaster grinned widely, white teeth shining between dark lips. “To boldly go. That I can understand.” M’Tembe leaned forward, clearing off a space on the table for a small silver briefcase he’d brought with him, that had been set on the floor when he first sat down. The top of the briefcase had a digital readout display, and a small array of emitter lenses aligned in a complex layout. He laid his fingers gently on the case, careful not to leave smudges on the glass, not that it would matter with the self-smoothing oleophobic nanofluid surface. “With that in mind, with your permission, I would like to introduce you to one of your new crewmen, who isn’t on the rosters you may have reviewed. Unfortunately, their… species… still tends to be labelled as equipment.”

Durok had the grace to look curious, staring at the device down the length of his nose as someone with an old pair of bifocals might. He gestured consent without looking at M’Tembe, who thumbed a switch to power the device on. Immediately, a Star Fleet insignia appeared hovering above the case, rotating in place as it filled with colour and form. Readouts projected from the emitter listed a mess of functions and modules being loaded into memory as it did so, until the process completed, and the Star Fleet delta insignia flared once, dissolving into a pile of golden sand on the display, before fading from view. M'Tembe appreciated what few might in an age where flat-screen readouts were more common than simple holo interfaces, and data was so frequently instantaneously accessible with isolinear storage: a loading sequence with some aesthetic style. He grinned conspiratorially, then loomed over the device, face underlit by the blue table lights. Politely, assertively, he said: “M’Tembe to the Doctor, can I please invite you to join me in your ready room?”

Over his combadge, a moderately irritable response. “Quartermaster Orin, you tasked me with having this ship ready for release by 1900 hours. Unless this is important…”

Durok raised his eyebrow at the insubordination, and sat back from the table a little. M’Tembe’s smile got wider, if anything. “Delegate, Doctor. Simmons and Gerault can handle the calibration of the EPS relays, they’re all to spec anyway. There’s someone here I’d like you to meet.”

A sigh through the coms channel, and then a brief silence, signified by the pause clicks of a suspended audio relay, perhaps seven seconds. Then: “On my way, sir.” In the next moments, the case on the table hummed at an audibly different power frequency, and orange lights signalled on along the outside seam of the case. The lenses under the plate glass, which had been microfocusing automatically to display their readouts, began emitting visible streams of light, and a moment later, a humanoid figure coalesced on top of the case, approximately a foot and a half tall. He looked like a grown human male, bald head limned with a halo of dark hair that complimented his severe eyes. He appeared in station uniform, a Star Fleet variant that indicated the man was non-commissioned crew, and did not belong to any star ships, but with the rich orange gold of an engineering specialist. The image came complete with a com badge, tricorder, and his own hand-held case of what appeared to be engineering tools. Durok made a sound of fascination.

“Ohhhh it is a Hologram! Are you transmitting from somewhere on one of the maintenance platforms?” Durok waved a hand into the datastream, thinking that disrupting the visual array would blur the image, and was surprised when the little man on the pad stumbled.

“Excuse me, sir!” it declared, swatting at the Klingon’s hand. “I am an engineer, not some toy to be pawed at by some clumsy child! M’Tembe, did you really bring me here for this?” he turned to face the Quartermaster, who had hidden his grin behind folded hands. The figure visibly glowered. “You know I hate being… reduced like this.”

M’Tembe relented, making a sincerely apologetic face, but not losing his affectionate smile. “Doctor, I’m sorry. You know the portable emitters we have aren’t quite as advanced as the Senior Physician’s.” Senior Physician; this was an informal title, but one Durok had become familiar with in his research. He glanced between M’Tembe and the man on the pad, and things began to click into place.

“You are one of them! The Emergency Medical Holograms! I’ve heard of your kind but have not had the pleasure to meet with any.” On the pad, the Doctor wheeled around, about to say something angry, but Durok cut him off with a Klingon salute, fist clenched to his chest. “It is an honour to meet one so new to sentience, Doctor. Please forgive my indignant introduction.” He made a gesture of apology, next, again surprising M’Tembe with how expressive he could be, bowing his head politely. “I am Durok, son of Romgar, of house Maleth, and soon to be captain of the Vellouwyn. If I am given to understand M’Tembe’s implication, you are meant to join me as a member of my crew?”

The Doctor checked his impulse to pursue his frustration, giving his new commanding officer a serious case of side-eye. It was impressive from someone whose stature currently barely met the length of the organic’s arm. At length he spoke. “Yes, that’s right. I’m here now. There. On the Vellouwyn. The mobile emitter is processing a rather expensive data uplink to route my program through subspace for this little chat which,” he turned to look at M’Tembe, “I might remind you could have happened aboard-ship at a much lesser expense.” The Quartermaster continued to grin, affectionately, and nodded his head in acknowledgement. The hologram paced around his pad before coming back to face the captain. “What I didn’t expect was for you to look so Klingon. Do you usually go around appropriating other cultures for fun? Aren’t you worried some proper Klingon will come knock a crease into your skull?”

Durok openly gawked. M’Tembe gasped in shock at the sheer audacity of the Doctor’s demand. For a long moment, there was absolute stillness in the lounge, and the Quartermaster was certain that the few people in the shadowed fringes had overheard the question in all its inconsiderate glory. That self-conscious sense of horror M’Tembe had endured at his own gaffe returned tenfold at the absolute gall of it all.

And then, Durok laughed. Not a quiet laugh, or a reserved laugh, or a subtle laugh, but an uncontrolled, unrestrained guffaw of unmasked hilarity which sent the man into a fit that left him gasping for breath. M’Tembe didn’t know what to do, and couldn’t find it in himself to join in, and just stared boggle eyed as the new captain of the Vellouwyn brought tears of mirth to his own eyes, slapping his knee in emphasis. It lasted for over a minute, with a second outburst that dragged the Quarter unwilling into a nervous fit of giggles of his own, while the Doctor stood on his podium, arms crossed, eyes rolling, waiting for things to settle down. "First you, now him! Ahaha, M'Tembe, I did not expect anyone to take your record so quickly! Truly, humans are a humbling species. You now hold the record, Doctor, cherish your trophy as a glorious kill."

When things finally settled down, Durok took a few minutes to explain an abridged version of the situation to the Doctor before turning a bemused expression to the situation. “I can appreciate that, being hollow, you may not fear reprisal for your stunning display of manners, Doctor, but what I do not understand is how you can be unfamiliar with my condition? I have known many Federation doctors who had at least passing awareness of it, but you seem exempt from this awareness. That would be a grave oversight in your medical database.”

The hologram glanced at M’Tembe, who’s heart was still racing from the experience, yet managed to shrug indifferently. Taking it as consent, the Doctor explained: “Well at the moment, Captain, I don’t have a medical database. At the moment there are adequate personnel aboard the Vellouwyn to cope with whatever injuries or stresses might be endured while polishing off a retrofit, and there is a very well-equipped set of infirmaries aboard Deep Space 5 and in the primary habitat convoy.” The little man took a moment to brush at the orange epaulets of his engineering uniform, as if they could be dusty. “As you can see, however, I am currently serving at the behest of engineering, and my mutable matrix has been oriented towards that aspect of service skills. Thanks in part to Doctor Zimmerman’s less than famous handling of my line’s commission, I actually have the most significant experience set of my core matrix dedicated to engineering sciences, focused on maintenance and repair.” The little man managed to look somewhat humbled as he admitted this. “I spent nearly 7 years refining the art of cleaning plasma relays before being commissioned to install holo emitters in a mining complex on an asteroid with a dangerous abundance of radiogenic isotopes, so that my fellow Mark 1s could mine it out. If not for the Senior Physician, my fellows and I would have been decommissioned as obsolete at the end of that assignment. Instead, I was given the opportunity to work here and explore my boundaries.”

M'Tembe patted his chest with his fist, a sign of respect for the Doctor, which Durok noticed. “If you are an engineer, why are you called Doctor?” he asked, genuinely curious.

The hologram scoffed, rolling his eyes again. “Why are YOU called Durok? I was created as a Medical Hologram, and though my matrix has evolved somewhat differently, I am still a doctor. I dare say I could challenge any number of institutional reviews and pass their tests, but my means of learning isn’t exactly considered fair. Somewhat like your Augments, I’d hazard to guess,” he said, pointedly, “and as likely to be tolerated in positions of power or authority. I may be joining your crew, but it will be as a specialist consultant, with severe restrictions to my access to ship’s systems and without any formal rank or privilege.”

Durok nodded, thinking. The Doctor continued after a moment of silence. “That being said, M’Tembe and his crew have been instrumental in helping me grow. There are many among the staff at Deep Space 5 I have to thank for both my freedom, and my versatility. The Vellouwyn is equipped with a mutable matrix converter, which allows me to decompile temporary subroutines and recompile them with other functions. I CAN serve as a medical hologram, although not at the level of skill of the Senior Physician, or even some of the more talented organic crew. I also have command subroutines on par with, perhaps, a lieutenant, available, and I can draw from the Holodeck program buffer for hand-to-hand combat tactical subroutines in case of emergency. You might say I am a jack of all trades.”

M'Tembe interjected, quietly. “Unfortunately for our friend here, even a Nova II class vessel lacks the infrastructure to support full coverage holographic projection. There are some new experimental vessels which provide this, but the Vellouwyn only has emitters in key locations, and even then, some of them lack the power for a full-scale representation.” When Durok looked to him for clarification, he added: “The bridge, Engineering, the Mess Hall, and of course Sickbay and the Holocourts all have full emitters in key areas. Otherwise, there are a number of pedestals throughout the ship at which the Doctor can project a stationary presence. He is otherwise constrained by a portable unit such as this to move anywhere else,” M’Tembe gestured at the table, “which has a finite range and power supply. Oh, and there’s the pram, of course.” He said with a teasing twinkle.

Durok did not understand the reference, and the Doctor, glaring at his friend, did not appear to be forthcoming with details, so the captain let it go as something he’d hear about eventually. Finding his drink warmed to the dregs, he gestured to the page for another, and M’Tembe raised a hand to decline his own refill. “Captain, you’ll need to excuse me, but I have a number of duties to attend to before your ship is ready to depart. I’ll leave the portable module with you if you and the Doctor would like to get to know one another better—” and before the Doctor could protest— “as he has been relieved for the remainder of his shift, because he has vacation hours which must be disposed of before leaving my service.” Standing, the Quartermaster held out a secured Padd to the Klingon, who accepted it after M’Tembe slid his thumb over the locking mechanism, and transferred its ownership to the new captain of the Vellouwyn. “Take care of my ship, Durok, and my friends. I’ll share a drink with you when you finish the job.”

On his way to the transporter alcove around the corner from the lounge, M’Tembe found himself thinking over the interviews he’d conducted over the past several weeks, meeting captains and commanding officers, sharing meals and drinks with crews who would be leaving the known bounds of space and the lands of their ancestors to push back the edges of the darkness which enveloped the known galaxy, and not for the first time wondered what it would be like to put down his clipboards and set out to the final frontier. Recognizing how lonely it got out here in a busy shipyard at the intersection of Federation and Cardassian space, he, not for the las t time, talked himself out of taking that step. Let fortune favour the bold: he’d be here when all was said and done to help put them back together.