Another weekend, another chance at a learning opportunity missed.  I was hoping to download and install the latest CTP of SQL Server 2005 but once again my "broadband" provider is happily charging me $44/month for high speed service that isn't what any reasonable human would call high speed. If I was in charge of the FCC I would nail a...

A very common mistake I see being made by developers involves the signing of their employment contracts.  Oftentimes there are clauses, like invention clauses, in the contract which can have a signficant impact on your personal time and pet projects.  The purpose of this article is to make you more aware of the legal issues involving...

It's politics day on CodeBetter.com, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to weigh in on a few concepts about wages, unions, personal finances, and the IT business in general. The American Dream Sahil makes an interesting point in his post about the "American Dream" and people living beyond their means today.  The American Dream...

Link from the BSA: http://www.bsa.org/usa/press/newsreleases/BSA-Collects-from-Marketing-Solut ions-Company.cfm Notice that this company was not in compliance with their software licenses (something that can be tracked in Easy Assets .NET) and the cost?  $65,000 Suddenly spending a few thousand on a good Asset Management solution doesn't...

Excellent article here for you wannabe consultants about abusive client relationships that you should end at the first opportunity. Here's some of my own comments on these 11 clients you need to fire right now: THE DISILLUSIONED consistently expresses disappointment with your work even though it is of good quality and conforms to spec. This...

Trying to console myself for missing TechEd due to it filling up so damn fast.  So here's something I found humorous: http://www.yourish.com/archives/2005/june5-11_2005.html#200506601

A common question I get from developers new to OO programming and VB .NET is what the difference is between inheritance and interfaces, particularily when should you use one over the other. At its most basic level, the difference between inheritance and interfaces is that inheritance is intended to allow you to share an implementation, while an...

Just wanted to let all you blog fans know that School One in Cleveland is hiring 3 .NET Developers. "Growing Educational Application and  Technology Services Company seeks full-time developer with BA/BS and approx. five years professional experience creating scalable, custom web apps using ASP, MS SQL 7, HTML, DHTML, and JavaScript. ...

Silly rabbits, there are very few methods out there that you can point to and say "That's the one".   The wonderful thing about programming is that there are many ways to get to point B from point A. The wonderful thing about blogs is that you can often find several ways to get to point B from point A. The wonderful thing about a skilled...

I am a Gauntlet Adventurer.I strive to improve my living conditions by hoarding gold, food, and sometimes keys and potions. I love adventure, fighting, and particularly winning - especially when there's a prize at stake. I occasionally get lost inside buildings and can't find the exit. I need food badly. What Video Game Character Are You?

As all my loyal readers know, I'm mere weeks from releasing Easy Assets .NET and so a lot of my focus is now turning towards marketing and sales.  Remember that the goal of proper Asset Management is to save you and your techs using the help desk feature time and effort when working with your assets.  This sounds alright on paper, but...

Here's a good example of where build vs buy kicks in: One of the developers I'm mentoring was tasked with writing a summary report that had 3 groupings. Since the company currently has no reporting software, the poor junior developer was trying to have a datagrid in a datagrid in a datalist and juggle the sub querying and binding of all 3 at...

In preparation for the standard and enterprise launch I've reworked the website with the help of graphic designer extraordinaire Brian Lanier. You can view the site at http://www.easywebapps.com.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.   Brian is available for freelance work, you can hit him up here: Brian C. Lanier - Design work of...

My previous post got my wheels really turning over how I would design a compensation system if I were in charge of a large corporation.  Basically, there are 3 components of a total benefits package which are salary, tangible benefits (medical/health, vaction time, etc), and intangible benefits (environment, tools, coworkers, etc). ...

You know, I've had many conversations in the last few months about compensation with my contacts, and I have hit upon a common theme.  Those of us who have experience, confidence, and ability seem to agree with the following statement: "I would take a paycut to work less hours" Yes, there is a magic time and place when your experience...