.net
Vertigo Software’s .NET Pet Shop 4.0 article just went live on MSDN. It’s Pet Shop! You know... our old pal, Pet Shop: However, unlike previous versions of Pet Shop, this version is not a benchmark comparison with Java. It’s purely a showcase for ASP.NET 2.
usability
Jensen Harris recently cited some Microsoft Office usability research which produced a rather counter-intuitive result: One of the most interesting epiphanies I’ve had over the last few years seems on the surface like a paradox: “help” in Office is mostly used by experts and enthusiasts. How can this be?
software development concepts
It’s ironic that the popular DivX codec has all but obliterated the identity of the ill-fated DIVX pay-per-view rental system. VS. So what was DIVX? DIVX (Digital Video Express) was a rental format variation on the DVD player in which a customer would buy a DIVX disc – physically similar
virtual machines
Lately I’ve been spending more and more time inside virtual machines. Whenever I need to try out a new bit of software, whether it’s a small shell extension, or a giant product like Team System – I tear off a new VM first. I don’t want to junk
security
I’ve recently been struggling with a number of racing sims I bought to use after work hours in our new racing cockpit. I’m a big believer in supporting developers. I’m a developer myself. But digging around for CDs or DVDs is impractical for dedicated gaming rigs, so
.net
I just updated my post The Bloated World of Managed Code with baseline memory footprints for Console and Winforms apps in .NET 2.0. I’ll admit I am a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to managed code apps. Now that tiny, native BitTorrent clients are available such
software development
A co-worker and I went over to Scott’s house today at around 1pm PST to pick something up for work. Scott just got a new television, so he demoed it for us, flipping through the channels, comparing HD signals to regular signals and so forth. As we were doing
web development
Every few years, Jakob Nielsen takes websites to task with a Top Ten Web Design Mistakes article. Although things have clearly improved since the original 1996 list, I’m particularly concerned that in the competitive frenzy to get all JavaScripted up for Web 2.0, we may be defeating the
file systems
Don Park recently made an interesting observation about how his family uses the computer: When I observe how my wife and son uses the family computer, I can’t help noticing how little use they have for the desktop. They look bewildered when I open the Windows Explorer. To them,
software development
For better or worse, I’ve been a Microsoft fan since Windows 3.1. Microsoft is far from perfect, but the alternatives were always so much worse. Can you imagine a dystopian future where we’re all running IBM’s OS/2 2004 and Lotus Notes Express? Brr. I get
software development concepts
Philip Chu’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective Programmers is witty, eloquent, and peppered with illustrative real world anecdotes: Upon joining an early-stage startup called Neomar, I found myself in two months of design meetings for a wireless internet portal that was due to launch in six months. Eventually we
image compression
It constantly amazes me how many times I encounter pages where screenshots are inappropriately stored as JPEGs. Not to single Mike Gunderloy out, but there’s yet another example in his recent article on configuring an ASP.NET 2.0 website: That is just nasty. As in, Miss Jackson if