Here’s a poster for you to celebrate the Fourth of July in the way only a mature development team can appreciate. Feel free to download it, share it, or print it out and hang it around your office. Also feel free to annoy anyone who doesn’t understand the importance of insight and transparency in application development.
Tag Archives: Software
Who’s Minding the Store?
Before I could enjoy my Father’s Day brunch this past weekend, I found myself with a list of things to do around the house – cleaning out the garage, vacuuming the car, replacing our mailbox which “someone” in my family (not me) ran over. The latter of these tasks, of course, required that I go out and purchase some tools and supplies – a new post, new box, numbers for the box and a post digger – to get the job done. My first stop in obtaining the necessary equipment, as always, was my local hardware store. I’m a huge proponent of buying things at local businesses rather than going … Read More
‘Gate Closings’ Before Gimmicks
With all of the security issues appearing in the press these days, I’m often reminded of a conversation I had with John Kilroy, the former CIO at Cape Cod Hospital. At the time I was doing media relations work for a company in the Health Care IT industry and was working with Kilroy, who has been retired for the last five years, on an article for one of the publications that covers that space. The big issue back then was the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA. The underlying security issues behind HIPAA are very similar to those being faced by every organization that keeps its … Read More
Overcoming the Need for Greed
Developing software, like almost any facet of business, often can be overtaken by some rather sinful thoughts and actions. This is why I really enjoyed a recent post on GigaOm by Magne Land, scrum master and tech lead at RightScale who compares issues within software development to the “Seven Deadly Sins.” While Land makes a great case for each of the sins, the one that resonates the most is the sin of Greed. Anyone who ever saw Wall Street knows that every for profit business in the world is pushed by greed. The main character, Gordon Gekko, goes so far as to say, “Greed is good.” But in the development … Read More
Next AppDev Star
We’re a society that is always looking for the “next big thing.” Just check out the TV listings. We tune in to find out who will be the “Next Top Model,” “Next Food Network Star,” “Next Design Star” and “Next Iron Chef.” Technology is also quite interested in “The Next Big Thing” as witnessed by the 19.9 million results you get when you Google “Next Big Thing in Technology.” But while most of the TV “Next” searches focus on the individual, most of the “next big things” discussed in Tech have been on a trend level. Today, though, CAST and Dr. Dobb’s, the most respected development-focused brand for software development … Read More
Will the REAL Agile Please Stand Up?
I hate Geometry. Actually, I do not hate the concept of Geometry – I’m rather partial to shapes and appreciate the need to calculate the areas, perimeters, volumes, et al that they represent. What I hate about the subject – or should I say “hated” (past tense) since I haven’t had a Geometry class since the mid-1980’s – were the proofs I had to do in order to get full credit for my work. I’m a results-oriented person. I’m usually far more concerned about getting things done right than getting things done the right way. Sometimes I think there’s a bit too much focus on the process of how things … Read More
CRASHing Into Technical Debt
Without going into specific finances, I make twice as much money as I did just 10 years ago. You would think this would be an indication that times, for me anyway, are good; yet I still seem to have the same question every month the week before I get paid, “Where did all my money go?” It really isn’t rocket science, though. While my income has more than doubled, my debts have gone up at least that much, if not more. Besides the obvious inflation factors (food, gas and entertainment costs have all gone way up in the last decade), there are many other things for which I am indebted. … Read More