The importance of context was brought jarringly to my attention the other day. This week was my intern’s last week, and as such he needed to fill out a “self evaluation” for HR. The first part of the eval was a simple 5-column table: various categories for evaluation, 3 boxes for “Did Not Meet”, “Met”, [...]

A while ago I wrote about some characteristics of a good Technical Manager. After having some time to reflect on the transition from Developer to Technical Manager, there are three little words that I think every Technical Manager needs to take to heart.
I love you.
Oh wait, no, that was supposed to go in the email [...]

A long time ago my grandfather worked as a machinist in a factory. He was a damn fine machinist, a true craftsman, and he took great pride and joy in his work. Most of my memories of my grandpa were from after he retired, and I would have loved to have seen him "back in [...]

There’s been a bit of talk on Twitter recently about the various twitter clients that exist, with more being created practically every day. One view was that everybody is trying to create the ultimate twitter client.

Maybe.
Certainly there are a lot of new twitter client apps being made, some with lofty aspirations, but more importantly I [...]

Think MIX08 was awesome? Believe the hype that Tech Ed is cool? Forgetaboutit. INTERACT2008 is where the party is at this year! I mean, the conference is so mind blowing, they have no choice but to redirect the web site to HTTPS instantly upon your arrival there. Seriously, that should tell you what goes on [...]

I’m continuing the semi-off-topic posts for just one more. I’ll be back to normal after this, I promise.
Valentine’s Day is the quintessential “Hallmark holiday“. But Hallmark has done a great job: our “significant others” continue to expect something for Valentine’s Day, even though they acknowledge that it’s a made-up holiday.
When I was dating [...]

…when you get excited that your order number at Taco Bell is 2^8.(And you hope the workers will shout it out like “two to the eighth!”)

I think I watched the first 2 seasons of American Idol before I got tired of it. I’ll pick up a few highlights every now and then, but somehow I’m largely able to live my life ignorant of its existence, and thank God for that. But Rhett and Link brought a little piece of it [...]

If you haven’t heard of it yet, just google “one laptop per child“. Or better yet, visit their website: laptop.org. The “XO” laptop is definitely a unique machine – check out some specs on the hardware, software, and interface. The software approach is admirable:
XO is built from free and open-source software. Our commitment to [...]

(Or, "What I did today")
Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go, (I’m on vacation and my car is in the shop.)
Let us code! Let us code! Let us code!