Language is technology. This is not immediately obvious to most of us, but our ability to use and extend and invent languages is a technological achievement (some may even say, our first ever technological achievement). The latest in the series of languages invented by humans are programming languages. Upon discovering (or inventing)...

My friend Michael dropped by for a short visit this weekend, and brought me a gift — a documentary DVD on Latin Jazz. I was very excited to get a chance to watch this film, as I simply adore guys such as Tito Puente. I think his music transcends genres and generations. But as I was watching [...]

My friend Michael dropped by for a short visit this weekend, and brought me a gift — a documentary DVD on Latin Jazz. I was very excited to get a chance to watch this film, as I simply adore guys such as Tito Puente. I think his music transcends genres and generations. But as I was watching [...]

“Take for example Apple’s iPod. Huge success. How do we explain this success?” Good question! I’d like to enter in this discussion. As a mac hobbyist, gadget lover, and former Apple specialist, working on the floor at a Seattle-area Apple Store during the holidays, I sold hundreds and hundreds of these hotcakes. I had unique...

“Take for example Apple’s iPod. Huge success. How do we explain this success?” Good question! I’d like to enter in this discussion. As a mac hobbyist, gadget lover, and former Apple specialist, working on the floor at a Seattle-area Apple Store during the holidays, I sold hundreds and hundreds of these hotcakes. I had unique...

Lately, me and my business partners have been doing a lot of work on product development. It’s a fascinating area, and the one that certainly is in need of a much more research. For the time being, I can share some of my dilemmas and haphazard findings. When is a Product a Success? There are differing opinions [...]

Lately, me and my business partners have been doing a lot of work on product development. It’s a fascinating area, and the one that certainly is in need of a much more research. For the time being, I can share some of my dilemmas and haphazard findings. When is a Product a Success? There are differing opinions [...]

Now is the time to start planning your attendance at Canada on Rails. The first international Rails conference is happening on April 13 and 14, 2006, a mere two months from now. It is, by all accounts, going to be chock full of excellent material that will be presented by some of the most engaging [...]

Now is the time to start planning your attendance at Canada on Rails. The first international Rails conference is happening on April 13 and 14, 2006, a mere two months from now. It is, by all accounts, going to be chock full of excellent material that will be presented by some of the most engaging [...]

Just bumped into an amazingly stupid behavior while using one of the corporate ERP dinosaur products. While trying to log in, I typed the incorrect password. You’ll never guess what the all-knowing product told me in response to my error. It simply told me — get ready for this — Authentication Denied! Tada! So, not only [...]

Just bumped into an amazingly stupid behavior while using one of the corporate ERP dinosaur products. While trying to log in, I typed the incorrect password. You’ll never guess what the all-knowing product told me in response to my error. It simply told me — get ready for this — Authentication Denied! Tada! So, not only [...]

This post sounds like it was written by someone who is very confused. It may be helpful in such cases if we drag in some old and worn out analogy, to try and clarify the issue.Today, I'll go with the much dreaded car analogy (like, how many times have you already heard the car analogy applied to different problem areas?)If I go out and buy a...

This may be a bit beside the topic, but man this is the slowest forum I've ever seen. It takes forever to load the next page! And since you're discussing how you like PHP etc., isn't it time you guys revamp this site and rewrite it in one of the languages that are specialized for web development? J2EE is just soooo sluggish.

I’ve already written about reuse issues here. I’d now like to revisit this problem, and see if I can add something to the existing debate. To reiterate my previous stance, reusing is a peculiar phenomenon reserved mostly for software development. In pretty much all other areas of human activity people do not get stuck in the [...]

I’ve already written about reuse issues here. I’d now like to revisit this problem, and see if I can add something to the existing debate. To reiterate my previous stance, reusing is a peculiar phenomenon reserved mostly for software development. In pretty much all other areas of human activity people do not get stuck in the [...]