software development concepts
Rich Skrenta writes that code is our enemy. Code is bad. It rots. It requires periodic maintenance. It has bugs that need to be found. New features mean old code has to be adapted. The more code you have, the more places there are for bugs to hide. The longer
design principles
Khoi Vinh, the design director for the New York Times, explains how essential grids are to web design in his SXSW presentation with Mark Boulton, Grids Are Good (Right?). So much web design work relies on establishing a grid and the constraints on that grid: ad sizes, display size, browser
computer hardware
I’ve never understood programmers who loved the craft of programming, but were disinterested in the underlying hardware – the very tool that allows them to practice their craft. I have an unabashed love for computer hardware that borders on inappropriate. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Warning: this post
performance
From the “you can’t make this stuff up department,” this 2003 gem from blogging O.G. John Dvorak: IDLE-TIME PROCESS. Once in a while the system will go into an idle mode, requiring from five minutes to half an hour to unwind. It’s weird, and I almost
game development
I originally discovered the fiendishly addictive Tower Defense as a multiplayer game modification for Warcraft III. It’s a cooperative game mode where you, and a few other players, are presented with a simple maze. A group of monsters appear at the entrance and trudge methodically toward the exit. Your
hardware
In When Hardware is Free, Power is Expensive, I referenced a Google whitepaper (pdf) that explained why typical PC power supplies are not particularly efficient: Most likely, the computer you’re using wastes 30-40% of the electrical power it consumes because it is using an inefficient power supply. It’
linux
Today, bowing to customer demand, Dell launched a new series of desktops featuring the free, open-source Ubuntu operating system. To my knowledge, this is the first time Dell has ever offered any non-Microsoft operating system on their desktops. Until today, it was quite literally impossible to decline the
software development concepts
Bill Gates has often said that over time, the cost of computer hardware approaches zero. Here’s one such example: Ten years out, in terms of actual hardware costs you can almost think of hardware as being free. History has proven him right. Computer hardware isn’t literally free, of
javascript
Mike Shaver, a founding member of the Mozilla team, has strong feelings about how the web became popular: If you choose a platform that needs tools, if you give up the viral soft collaboration of View Source and copy-and-paste mashups and being able to jam jQuery in the
c#
In C# and the Compilation Tax, several commenters noted that they have “fast dual-core computers,” and yet background compilation performance was unsatisfactory for them on large projects. It’s entirely possible that this is Visual Studio’s fault. However, I’d like to point out that not all dual
usability
Tantek Çelik recently wrote a great entry on cognitive load in user interface, comparing instant messaging and email: To instant message (IM) someone, you merely: 1. switch to your IM client 2. double click their name 3. type your message 4. press return To email someone, you have to: 1.
hardware
The mouse wheel is so integral to my mousing experience now that it’s difficult to imagine using a GUI without one. Although I clearly remember using mice without scroll wheels, I can’t recall exactly when the transition occurred – when mouse wheels became a standard, expected feature on every