May 2005 Entries
If you are interested in Software Factories and the like, this is a great read... http://blogs.msdn.com/keith
I'm sure most people already know this, but there is a category specific RSS feed from Microsoft for Knowledge Base articles. Very cool and helpful. You can subscribe to only the ones you care about... http://support.microsoft.co
A new comic aimed at geeks: Bug Bash, by Hans Bjordahl. Cool, subscribed! [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]
One of the things that most IT shops try to get a handle on is the use of Access databases or Excel spreadsheets masquerading as a database. I did a project for a large bank a couple of years ago and we audited this very thing. It turns out this ONE bank had over 450 individual MS Access databases in use. Worse, several of them were instrumental to various processes! So what’s the problem? Well, let’s start with lack of controls and auditibility…in light of the recent hysteria...
In no specific order: X1 NAnt FXCop DebugView Virtual PC Araxis Merge MemProfiler NewsGator What are your favorites...
Virtual PC, Virtual Server or VM Ware...pick your poison...but I honestly don't know how anyone working in the IT space can live without these tools. To say that setting up a virtual environment is life changing is not far from the truth
We are starting to work toward a set of UI standards for our 'Web Based' applications. I use the term 'Web Based' specifically because most of our mission critical apps are not traditional thin-client but are what Microsoft refers to as 'Smart Clients'. For those of you not familiar with this type of app, they are essentially desktop apps deployed over the web with automatic updating and such built in. You can find out much more starting here. With that in mind, the first path that one of my peers...
This sort of thing drives me crazy! Admittedly I am a big Microsoft fan but...even with that properly balanced the lack of logic and understanding is astounding. Sure, Microsoft has botched things pretty nicely from time to time (remember Bob? Visual Basic for DOS?) but for the most part those of us who make a living working in the IT space owe said living (at least in some small part) to Microsoft. Think about it...every BSOD that ever occurs gets blamed on Windows. In the end, an overwhelming percentage...
Our QA Lead (who totally rocks) sent me this parable recently...I thought it was brilliant. "In ancient China there was a family of healers, one of whom was known throughout the land and employed as a physician to a great lord. The physician was asked which of his family the most skillful healer was. He replied, 'I tend to the sick and dying with drastic and dramatic treatments, and on occasion someone is cured and my name gets out among the lords. My elder brother cures sickness when it just begins...
I have noticed an odd phenomenon in Corporate America...I call it the 'Homer Factor'. Expectations for performance are consistently downgraded in order to compensate for the lowest performing members on the team. It is absolutely maddening to me! You try to build a great team and have that team become highly productive. Then, just about the time you are making progress, management steps in and lowers the bar in order for Homer to crawl across. Has anyone else seen this? How do you address it...
My name is Jeff Bagwell and I am an application Architect (Funny...I write that as if there needs to be a 12 step program for my profession). I focus almost exclusively on building large distributed systems using .NET and other Microsoft technologies...yes, Microsoft (feel free to insert your own punch line here). My current engagement is with a large multi-national corporation. I have been working exclusively for this company for over 2 years! The good news is that we have done some really great...