web browsers
Now that Internet Explorer 7.0 is final, the browser wars can begin again in earnest. It’s clear that users should upgrade, because IE6 is so ancient. Security concerns alone compel an upgrade. But should IE6 users upgrade to IE7, or should they choose an alternative? This comment in
software development
In Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit, Mary and Tom Poppendieck describe a counter-intuitive technique for making better decisions: Concurrent software development means starting development when only partial requirements are known and developing in short iterations that provide the feedback that causes the system to emerge. Concurrent development makes it
scrum
Here’s a description of the daily Scrum meeting in the Scrum process: During the month-long sprints, the team holds daily meetings – the daily Scrum. Meetings are typically held in the same location and at the same time each day. Ideally the daily Scrums are held in the morning, as
social media
From the Wikipedia entry on Linked In: It is not possible to remove yourself from LinkedIn. Instead, you have to file a customer support ticket. This blurb neatly summarizes everything that’s wrong with the Linked In service. I’ve been a member of Linked In for almost two years
software development concepts
We have a tendency to fetishize audience metrics in the IT industry. Presenters stress out about about their feedback ratings and measure themselves by how many attendees they can attract for a presentation. Bloggers obsessively track their backlinks, pagerank, and traffic numbers. I see it a lot, and it’s
computer chess
I recently visited the Computer History Museum in nearby San Jose, which has a new exhibit on the history of computer chess. Despite my total lack of interest in chess as a game, computer chess has a special significance in the field of computer science. Chess remains the most visible
blogging
I’ve recently been approached by several different people to inquire about advertising on my blog. It doesn’t cost me anything to run this blog. I used to host it myself on my cable modem, and my employer, Vertigo Software, generously donated hosting when I outgrew the limited upstream
software development
It’s Monday, and Steve Yegge still hates Agile software development. How much does he hate it? Approximately 11,000 words’ worth. I think I could start a cottage industry producing Cliff’s Notes versions of Steve Yegge posts. Here’s my condensed version of Steve’s latest: * Steve didn’
gaming
Earlier this year I wrote about how much I loved Introversion Software’s indie PC game Darwinia. Introversion just released their newest game, DEFCON. DEFCON channels WarGames and Balance of Power.. ... but Defcon begins where Balance of Power ended: It’s positively strangelovian. The developers nail the mood of cold
hardware
It’s been over a year since I built my last PC, and all those killer Core 2 Duo benchmark and overclocking results were making me anxious. I just pulled the trigger on the following Core 2 Duo upgrade: * ASUS P5B Deluxe motherboard, $195 * A-DATA 2GB DDR2 667 memory, $199
frameworks
Alex Gorbatchev, after a long hiatus, is blogging again. What was keeping him away? Frameworkitis. This is the longest break in posting I’ve had in the last 2.5 years of blogging. Community Server is really bringing me — I just don’t like it. So, I started working on
agile
We’ve adopted Scrum for all of our software development at Vertigo. Although I’m totally in favor of Anything But Waterfall, Scrum is an unfortunate name: 1. It’s two additional characters away from a term for male genitalia. 2. The term is derived from rugby, an extraordinarily violent