Nice.
Hey hey hey.  Posting worked this time, and BlogJet 2 is a huge improvement over the 1.6 I was using before.
2/19/2007 4:41:41 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  

BlogJet 2.0

I was here yesterday.  Now that posting to the blog seems to work again, time to try BlogJet 2 again…

2/19/2007 4:40:27 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  

It seems that I filled up my blog...

I finally got back to blogging yesterday, and what did I discover? 

My blog site no longer worked!!!!  After spending yesterday and now today trying to figure out why my site would spontaneously stop working, I discovered some strangeness in my log files.

I”m still not exactly sure what happened, but at least, blogging works again!

2/19/2007 8:36:07 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  general

Yet another test
Yet another test.  Explanation to follow…
2/19/2007 8:34:07 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  general

Test 3

Third test.

2/19/2007 8:32:24 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  

Simplicity isn't so simple

Today, Joel had a post about Simplicity. To me, his point was “it’s not simplicity that sells, its complexity”.  I find this an interesting perspective coming from someone who has a product (FogBugz) that is incredibly simple and whose simplicity is one of its biggest selling points.  Now, this is not a criticism of either Joel or FogBugz.  Hey, I love FogBugz. I use it all of the time, and it rarely gets in my way. And, it allows me to do things that more “complex” systems don't.  Because of its simplicity  .

I think people (and developers, especially) get seduced by “simplicity”.  It isn’t about simplicity, its about (first) usability.  Usability is a particularly personal thing.  To extend Joel’s example, what I do with a word processor isn’t necessarily what a Marketing worker will do with a word processor.  We both want the feature sets that we “need” to do our jobs.  What we don’t want is to have the features that we don’t use get in the way of what we do use.

12/11/2006 4:24:25 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  development

Significant Sci Fi

From Eric:
“This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished, and put an asterisk* beside the ones you loved.”

Additionally, I’ve put an “@” sign next to books that I’ve meant to read, but never got around to …

I’ve marked mine below, Eric. What about the rest of you?

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien *
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert *
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson @
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick @
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley @
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe @
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov *
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany @
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey *
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card *
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling *
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson @
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny *
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement *
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien *
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson @
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Now, to go find out what’s significant about these books…

11/27/2006 8:20:20 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)      Comments [0]  

What's with all of this TV stuff?
Yes, I know I’ve been posting a lot of TV related stuff and not a lot of “more serious” stuff.  It’s a bit ironic:  I’m so busy at work, that I don’t have time to do the serious posts.  TV’s coming easily right now.
10/27/2006 8:35:37 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)      Comments [0]  general

30 Rock and 20 Good Years

I’m hearing that 30 Rock is moving to Thursday nights (NBC is resurrecting its sitcom night, a good move) and 20 Good Years is a goner.  I think that this is a bit of a shame.  As bad as 20 Good Years is, the premiere was the worst and its gotten steadily better since.  In fact, I’d say that 20 Good Years is much funnier than 30 Rock, which has gone in the opposite direction, getting steadily worse.  I suspect that NBC is propping it up because of the money they have invested in it.  I can’t complain too much about that, since that’s what’s keeping Studio 60 going too.

By the way, the other added Thursday night comedy is Scrubs. I’m very excited about this; they should have been moved to Thursday nights years ago.

10/27/2006 8:33:49 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)      Comments [0]  TV

October Reruns
Just when things were getting good (Monday’s Studio 60 episode was the best since the premiere), we’re smack dab in the October rerun season.  At least, baseball is ending, and new Fox shows are coming back.  And, we should get a good month of TV in November, for sweeps.
10/26/2006 10:14:38 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)      Comments [0]  TV

TV Spot Check

As of tonight, we’re pretty much done with the season premieres, so I thought that it would be a good time to do a spot check of how the shows are doing…

How I Met Your Mother:  The show’s settled in to its rhythm.  They seem to have abandoned the premise of a guy meeting his future wife for more of a typical “Friends” style show.  This could be the “new Raymond”.

The Class:  This show’s gotten better than its really poor start.  While disguised as a typical sitcom, its got a really twisted sense of humor.  If it finds its stride and fixes its flaws, this could become something really good.

Two and a Half Men:  This is the current “new Raymond”.  The show’s gotten a bit boring.  Like I said earlier, they need to spend more time with Rose and Jake.  Those parts continue to be hilarious.

Adventures of Old Christine:  So, this is what an Emmy awarded show looks like.  I have to admit its the best sitcom in the CBS Monday lineup.

CSI Miami:  We need more Emily Proctor!  She’s really come into her own in this show.

Heroes:  This show is supposed to be a hit.  So far, its a yawner to me.  I’m hoping it gets better.

Studio 60:  There’s been a lot of talk lateley about how this show’s not doing that well in the ratings.  On the other hand, this is easily the best written show on TV now.  Okay, its a little too “inside” right now.  Aaron Sorkin needs to recapture the West Wing magic.  At its height, West Wing was like a little weekly civics lesson on how government works.  Sorkin needs to do the same thing with Studio 60.  I hope he does; this is one of the few shows that I can watch over and over again.

Vanished:  This show’s been surprisingly entertaining.  Unfortunatley, its also not doing well in the ratings, and Fox is moving it to Friday nights.  That’s actually good news for me, since there’s less competition for my DVR’s Friday.

Help Me Help You:  A typical sitcom.  nothing good, nothing bad.  Some of the patients on the show are mildly interesting.

Boston Legal:  Another show that gives us more of what we got last year.  This year, they’re getting more self-referential and make periodic references to the show.  I’m still enjoying it:  William Shatner and James Spader remain terrific in this show.

NCIS:  Anither tried and true show, in its stride.  Predictable and still entertaining.

The Unit:  This show took over for the E-Ring last season, and quickly became the show that the E-Ring should have been.  The show continues to be high-testosterone; the best action show on the TV schedule.

Smith:  Gone, and not missed.

Law and Order CI:  Yet another show giving us what we expect.  So far, I don’t particularly like Julianne Nicholson as Logan’s new partner.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved her last season in Conviction.  But, here, she’s just taking up space.  This show’s all about the characters, and so far she isn’t one.  Also, I miss Jamey Sheridan.

Standoff:  This show’s turned out to be better than I expected.  I still don’t like the “relationship” subplot between the two leads; it distracts from the show.

Jericho:  This is supposed to be a “Lost” knockoff.  In my opinion, they do a better job than Lost does.  The show’s a bit of an anachronism since the end of the Cold War.  I’m waiting to see how they explain the nuclear attacks.  In the meantime, its a lot of soapy fun.

Criminal Minds:  This has to be the most violent show on TV.  I’m amazed to remember that the original Starsky and Hutch series was blasted for too much violence.  Compared to Criminal Minds, it was Sesame Street.  I love the psychological aspect of the show, but hate the violent undercurrent.  I wish they’d do something about that.  Because of that, it remains in danger of falling off my list.

CSI NY:  This one is less soapy than Miami, but definitely soapier than the original.  It’s a good hour of quality TV.

Bones:  They’re upping the relationship factor of the show, which is a big help.  It was pretty good last season, its getting better this season.

Justice:  Not a great show, but not as bad as its pilot (which was awful).  Fox hasn’t given up on it yet, so I’m not either.

Ugly Betty:  This show isn’t living up to its hype.  I’m hoping hard for an upturn.

Grey’s Anatomy:  This was the top show last week, and deserves it. I love this show!

Six Degrees:  Weird soap show.  Off my list.

Survivor:  The show’s gotten long in the tooth.  The race based tribes was actually interesting, but that’s over now and its just more of the same.  They need to bring back Rob and Amber

CSI:  I didn’t like the season starter.  They need to get back to what they do best: investigations.

Shark:  Not a bad court drama.  James Woods is delightfully cartoony.  They need to work on his relationship with his daughter though; it was better in the pilot than since.

My Name is Earl:  The best comedy on TV.  Hey, where’s the Emmy???

The Office:  Still an acquired taste.  Of course, I’ve acquired it.

‘Til Death:  Oh, I wish this show were better; Brad Garrett deserves better.

Happy Hour:  Another show I wish was better than it is.  It might be gone now.  That’s too bad, but expected.

Men in Trees:  Off the list.  Thank goodness.

Close to Home:  I hated that they killed off Annabeth’s husband.  There’s way too many single moms on TV as it is, and this was just mean.  Also the new DA, James Conlon, gets on my nerves.  They need to get back to what the show was about last season.

Numb3rs:  I like this show a lot, even though the premise is incredibly silly (math crime fighter, sheesh). But! Charlie and Amita need to kick it into gear.  It’s got to be the most frustating (and least entertaining) relationship on TV.

Desperate Housewives:  They’re going “back to basics”, and it shows.  This season’s already a marked improvement over last season.

Amazing Race:  Still the 2nd best reality show on TV (Project Runway’s the best, no matter what the Emmys say).

Simpsons, American Dad, Family Guy, War at Home:  The four dads.  Good home town comedy. I”m amazed that the Simpsons continue to please.

This just in:

30 Rock:  This show has its moments.  Alec Baldwin is a comedic genius (who knew?).  Tina Fey is a good writer, but she has to learn that her role here is as the “straight man”, and stay away from the jokes.

20 Good Years:  I’ve only watched 5 minutes of this show, and I already know that its a stinker. Please, please please go away.

Well, that’s what I’m watching.  So far, a better season start than in quite a while, but it could get better. Here’s hoping.

10/11/2006 9:01:54 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)      Comments [0]  TV

How do you know you're "doing agile"?

Steve Yegge’s piece continues to bother me (see my previous post)…

I’ve been sorely tempted to write some long essay rebutting Steve’s piece, but I don’t have that kind of time available (I’m censoring out the “snippy” thing I was going to say here).  Instead, here’s some quick thoughts that came to me while stewing over the whole issue.  Who knows, maybe sometime in the future I’ll edit the whole mess together and create that essay after all.  That seems to work for Joel Spolsky .

The first thing that occurred to me was that there really isn’t an “Agile Methodology”.  I know this term gets thrown around a lot now; I’ve done it myself.  I think that the term “Agile Development” is probably more accurate.  I’m working on changing my own vocabulary to use this term.  Methodologies do, in fact, scream “consultant” or “evangelist”.  I understand Steve’s objection to this:  it’s the tail wagging the dog.  It should be all about “what people do”, not “what people define”.

Given that there’s no “magic formula” for “doing Agile”, how do you do it?  Lets say your boss comes up to you one day and says “I’ve been reading a lot about this Agile stuff.  I think all of our projects should do this from now on”. What do you do?  Just how do you know you’re “doing Agile”?

Here’s my recommendations:

1. Read.  Start with “Practices of an Agile Developer” (ISBN 097451408X).  Then, try “Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices ” (ISBN 0135974445) or “Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C#” (ISBN 0131857258), depending on your language preference.
2. Then, read some more.  Read the Agile Manifesto.  This is the fundamental philosophy of agile development.
3. Get a “process person”.  Either hire a contract “mentor” or bring someone in who knows how to do Agile Development.  If you bring a contractor in, top priority should be to train an in-house person to take over once they’re trained.

The bottom line is that Agile Development is not a silver bullet that allows a company to take relatively inexperienced developers and have them produce high quality work as if they had years of experience.  Instead, its an approach to software development that results in high quality software produced on time and under budget.

10/4/2006 11:30:21 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)      Comments [0]  development