Every couple of weeks, we will be introducing you to the people that make The Orchard the well oiled machine that we all know and love. So, without further ado, we give you the first ever edition of “What the #&@$ do you do?!”
Myron Machado
Senior Developer
Joined The Orchard May 2007
Hey Myron, what the #&@$ do you do?
There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don’t. Care to take a guess which type I am?
What do I do? – I am a project manager by day and PHP developer when shit hits the fan. Most of my responsibilities are to manage projects with outsourced developers and our super awesome product team. Product team gets requirements – we try to figure out which technology, how many resources and time would be needed, conduct research and come up with prototypes – which for a geek like me is the most fun part of work, finding out the latest and coolest tech toys which will best serve the needs of our products.
Bottom line – Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination. – Albert Einstein.
What is your favorite part about working at The Orchard…besides Tom Lorenc?
Hard to think of anything as soon as you say besides Tom Lorenc. I guess kicking people’s butt in ping pong?
I’m sorry. Tom Lorenc was the obvious answer. We want these profiles to really challenge the interviewee. On your down time from the ping pong tables, you and your team just wrapped up launching Artist Builder. What the #&@$ is Artist Builder?!?!
Artist Builder is an innovative front end facing creative idea of combining all social networks into one. Basicially, it is pretty much in itself one of those apps that the whole web industry is moving towards–which is to make use of all the other social networking apps that are out there, and basically building off of that and making something of your own. Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter have their own information gathering, and building apps on top of that is becoming the new “in” thing, and I think that is what Artist Builder acheives.
What was your role in Artist Builder?
Artist Builder was our last complete in-house project. We received the requirements from the product team, and then we told them what technology is feasible. Based on that, we made a list of tasks that we could perform to get the project done. Then we entered a phase of technical design [how to wire it all]. The first sprint we did, it was flat out new product, Artist Builder…launching into ALW. That is why we spent 5 days just thinking over it and making sure that we weren’t missing anything anywhere so it would seamlessly integrate into ALW. Then, Sammy, Ankit, and I took charge of doing that–making sure that the lineout of detailed tasks were in place so all of the other developers could jump in, read those tasks, and begin working on it by themselves. That worked really well for us.
Is that generally how all of your projects begin?
We usually work in three week sprints. We make sure that at the end of any three weeks, we have the product at a decently stable state. So, at any point if you want to stop it, and launch it, we should be able to do that. We always take projects in terms of steps. Then we decide who will be working on each project. Ankit and I will do the product management stuff, and we manage those teams.
What are 3 albums that you are listening to this week?
Imran Khan – Unforgettable
Pink Floyd – Pulse
Brad Mehldau – Anything Goes
What was the first concert you ever attended?
Bon Jovi at the Meadowlands 2010 :) Would love to go out for concerts more often!
Wow, 2010?! I’m surprised you can remember that far back!
When is the Dev Zepplin reunion tour? The Orchard needs to know!
Rumor has it we might open up for Sammy Sands in Slovenia soon.
Lastly, what is your favorite lunch joint in the Orchard neighborhood?
Just got back from there. Ramen noodle bar on 7th and 2nd Ave. Enjoy Mexican cuisine as well (Chipotle included).
Thanks, Myron! I always wondered what the #&@$ you did…and where you went to lunch!
Myron Glossary:
ALW: Artist & Label Workstation
API: Application Programming Interface
Dev Zepplin: The most spirited band to hit the stage at the 2010 Orchard Holiday Party
