Joel Spolsky has written an interesting piece about the idea of "eating your own dogfood" which simply means using your own software - people who buy dogfood don't eat it.  Over the years, I have seldom been in the position to use the software that Thycotic Software Ltd has developed.  The software has usually been out of my realm of...

This weekend we purchased a condo in the Washington DC area and I passed the Microsoft 70-320 exam ("Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework").  The natural question for any techie then would be: which was harder? Let's weigh up the contenders: DC House Purchase...

Eric Sink discusses his views on why Team System is priced at its current level and also may set you straight on what you do and don't get with MSDN Universal.  MSDN Universal is a wonderful product and probably a great way to get pricey (more than $2000) server products into the hands of those who otherwise might not try them. ...

Eric Sink discusses his views on why Team System is priced at its current level and also may set you straight on what you do and don't get with MSDN Universal.  MSDN Universal is a wonderful product and probably a great way to get pricey (more than $2000) server products into the hands of those who otherwise might not try them. ...

Mark Miller talks about a new metric he is calling Maintenance Complexity.  The system assigns operators and constructs a point score representing their contributing complexity.  A method is then analyzed and all the points add up to yield the Maintenance Complexity score.  I like the concept but tackling a report of complex...

Mark Miller talks about a new metric he is calling Maintenance Complexity.  The system assigns operators and constructs a point score representing their contributing complexity.  A method is then analyzed and all the points add up to yield the Maintenance Complexity score.  I like the concept but tackling a report of complex...

Andrew Duthie (the Mid-Atlantic Microsoft .NET Developer Evangelist) mentions that Code Camp will be coming to the DC area in May.  Stay posted for details of this full day FREE technology fest with lots of great technical content from the local community.  This promises to be a local event that you don't want to miss...

Jeff talks about some of our new ideas and options for improving the old "Ultimate Pair Programming Setup".  Some of the obstacles we are trying to overcome are: VNC lag (why is VNC so slow on a local network?) VNC disconnects Single workstation to ensure complete focus on current task No access to email or IM should force us to take more...

Jeff Langr talks about his experiences in Pair Programming Observations.  Some interesting perspectives on pairing developers of different skill levels, the benefits to different stakeholders and best practices when pairing. At Thycotic, we practice pair programming on a daily basis.  I have also used pair programming as an interview...

Jeff Langr talks about his experiences in Pair Programming Observations.  Some interesting perspectives on pairing developers of different skill levels, the benefits to different stakeholders and best practices when pairing. At Thycotic, we practice pair programming on a daily basis.  I have also used pair programming as an interview...

Blog spam sucks but being hosted on weblogs.asp.net doesn't leave a lot of options at the moment.  Blog spam could seen as a personal attack on your good nature and an attempt to mess with your small expression outlet to the rest of the world?  Wiki spam on the company wiki however, is outright war! :-) Thanks to Jeff...

A new project for Thycotic requires major enhancements to a legacy application.  There are no existing tests.  Where do we begin? This is the first post in a new blog series on the issues as they are tackled in this project.  The usual advice you receive in this situation is: Don't write all the missing...

Jeff Schoolcraft has an interesting post on Pair Programming and how it influences your break schedule.  Two people working together certainly helps to avoid distraction and remain "on task" (asides from all the other benefits) but is it unhealthy?  Should there be a "pairing-o-meter" which turns red at some point and causes...

Jeff Schoolcraft has an interesting post on Pair Programming and how it influences your break schedule.  Two people working together certainly helps to avoid distraction and remain "on task" (asides from all the other benefits) but is it unhealthy?  Should there be a "pairing-o-meter" which turns red at some point and causes...

Today we came across a little quirk that is worth sharing. Big thanks to Bob Flanders and Jeff Schoolcraft for help in figuring out the quirk. The Rules: Prize (a Thycotic keyring light) to be mailed to the first comment with the correct answer(s) on this blog post with valid contact information. My definition of the problem is the...