If you ask most programmers about the progress of the open source movement, they are sure to tell you significant strides have been made in recent years. Even mainstream open source projects like OpenOffice, Ubuntu and Firefox, are putting a dent in the market share of closed source software applications. However, there is an ongoing [...]
I am not a system administrator. However, I am a software engineer, and responsible for administrating systems. As technical director, it is also my responsibility to create policies. Knowing that systems can be compromised, I know a policy needs to be in place for protection. Not allowing all engineers to run constantly as the root [...]
When Firefox popularity was on the rise, and before the release of IE7, some developers began boycotting IE by dropping support for it on blogs and personal portfolios. It was a rather odd moment in the history of Web technologies. It was both a resurgence in the long fought browser wars, and it was a [...]
Forcing myself to remain calm, I stamped up the stairs to the second floor of the building that the company I work for sublets. If ever there was a day to have a case of the Mondays, this was going to be that day. There are only five parking spots available to us, but all [...]
In college I had an English professor tell me that there are no original story ideas, and that it is only the personal interpretation of familiar themes that brings forth the illusion of originality. I am beginning to feel the same way about software development. Not a day goes by without another CMS rising to [...]
The pervasive myth among up-and-coming programmers today is that the fastest track to understanding a new programming language is to pick up a book and begin reading all about it. This can be instantly disheartening for many, since so few retain information only distributed in written form. Cognition is a very unique process, and learning [...]
I stepped down as manager of my department recently. Although it might make this blog more interesting, it was not amidst a storm of outrage, money laundering, and unseemly behavior. It was because, according to my own personal assessment, I was not (good) management material. Not that I was a dictating blow-hard who ruled with [...]