"I'm sorry, sir, those cookies are not for you..." (3)
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Ted Neward (21)
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Interoperability Happens (21)
3 weeks, 4 days
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One of the more interesting logistical problems faced by the people who run the Microsoft Conference Center is that several events are often running in parallel, and each has their own catering provisions--one might get snacks, another may have lunch boxes, and others have full buffet, and so on. Of course, each group will want to make sure their food isn't swiped by people at other events with less-appealing food, so staff members at the ...
The Never-Ending Debate of Specialist v. Generalist (5)
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Ted Neward (21)
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Interoperability Happens (21)
1 month, 3 weeks
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Another DZone newsletter crosses my Inbox, and again I feel compelled to comment. Not so much in the uber-aggressive style of my previous attempt, since I find myself more on the fence on this one, but because I think it's a worthwhile debate and worth calling out. The article in question is "5 Reasons Why You Don't Want A Jack-of-all-Trades Developer", by Rebecca Murphey. In it, she talks about the all-too-common want-ad description that appears ...
Rotor v2 book draft available (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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1 month, 3 weeks
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As Joel points out, we've made a draft of the SSCLI 2.0 Internals book available for download (via his blog). Rather than tell you all about the book, which Joel summarizes quite well, instead I thought I'd tell you about the process by which the book came to be. Editor's note: if you have no interest in the process by which a book can get done, skip the rest of this blog entry. One thing ...
More Thoughts on Architects and Architecture (2)
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2 months, 2 weeks
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Speaking of things crossing my Inbox, Shane Paterson sent me this email: Hi Ted, How’s things in the USA? I just wrote the following little blog entry I wanted to share with you, which I thought you may find interesting. I used to work with a Naval Architect a few years back. On day we were discussing where the name "Naval Architect" came from. He explained that "Naval Architecture" is really "Naval Engineering" or "Ship ...
Quotable Quotes, Notable Notes (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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2 months, 2 weeks
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Overheard, at the NFJS Phoenix 2008 show: "We (ThoughtWorkers) are firm believers in aggressively promiscuous pairing." --Neal Ford Enterprise consulting, mentoring or instruction. Java, C++, .NET or XML services. 1-day or multi-day workshops available. Contact me for details.
From the "You Must Be Trolling for Hits" Department... (2)
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Ted Neward (21)
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Interoperability Happens (21)
2 months, 2 weeks
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Recently this little gem crossed my Inbox.... Professionalism = Knowledge First, Experience Last By J----- A----- Do you trust a doctor with diagnosing your mental problems if the doctor tells you he's got 20 years of experience? Do you still trust that doctor when he picks up his tools, and asks you to prepare for a lobotomy? Would you still be impressed if the doctor had 20 years of experience in carrying out lobotomies? I ...
So You Say You Want to Kill XML.... (3)
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Ted Neward (21)
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Interoperability Happens (21)
3 months
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Google (or at least some part of it) has now weighed in on the whole XML discussion with the recent release of their "Protocol Buffers" implementation, and, quite naturally, the debates have begun, with all the carefully-weighed logic, respectful discourse, and reasoned analysis that we've come to expect and enjoy from this industry. Yeah, right. Anyway, without trying to take sides either way in this debate--yes, the punchline is that I believe in a world ...
Groovy or JRuby? (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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5 months, 2 weeks
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Recently, it has become the fad to weigh in on the Groovy vs JRuby debate, usually along the lines of "Which is X?", where X is one of "better", "faster", "more powerful", "more acceptable", "easier", and so on. (Everybody seems to have their own adjective/adverb to slide in there, so I won't even begin to try to list them all.) Rick Hightower, in a blog post from January, weighs in on this and comes down ...
Do you fall prey to technical folk etymology? (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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5 months, 4 weeks
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From Wikipedia (itself a source of conceptual folk etymology, but that's another rant): A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word, a false etymology "The popular perversion of the form of words in order to render it apparently significant"; "the process by which a word or phrase, usually one of seemingly opaque formation, is arbitrarily reshaped so as to yield a form which is considered to be more transparent" What do I ...
Developer paradise? (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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6 months, 1 week
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Check out this video. No, go on, watch it. The rest of this won't make much sense until you do. Now that you've seen it, take a moment, do the "WOW" thing in your head, imagine how cool it would be to work there, all of it. Go on, I know you want to, I did too when I first saw it. Go ahead, take a moment; you'll be distracted until you do, and you'll ...
Is Microsoft serious? (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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6 months, 1 week
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Recently I received a press announcement from Waggener-Edstrom, Microsoft's PR company, about their latest move in the interoperability space; I reproduce it here in its entirety for your perusal: Hi Ted, Microsoft is announcing another action to promote greater interoperability, opportunity and choice across the IT industry of developers, partners, customers and competitors. Today Microsoft is posting additional documentation of the XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language) formats for advanced user experiences, enabling third parties to ...
Cirque du Soleil for geeks (1)
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6 months, 3 weeks
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Watch this guy beat calculators, doing two-, three- and then four-digit squares in his head. Have a look if you ever thought you were good at doing numbers in your head. Have a look even if you're of the opposite extreme. (I'm sure there's some other tricks in his head he's using to be able to do this, but the net effect is still impressive, regardless.) Enterprise consulting, mentoring or instruction. Java, C++, .NET or ...
The reason for conferences (1)
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Ted Neward (21)
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7 months
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People have sometimes asked me if it's really worth it to go to a conference these days, given that so much material is appearing online via blogs, webcasts, online publications and Google. I think the answer is an unqualified "yes" (what else would you expect from a guy who spends a significant part of his life speaking at conferences?), but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. A long time ago, Billy Hollis said ...
