There's a popular business book out right now called the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. In it he explains how big trends are started by a few people. He calls them connectors and mavens. These are the people who know everyone. I read the book about...

My Drobo arrived today.  It is a slick device.  As one accustomed to the PC world, even the unboxing was a treat.  The typical piece of PC hardware comes in utilitarian packaging.  You're just going to throw it away anyway, so why...

Over the weekend I installed Windows Home Server on a spare box that I had. So far, I'm impressed. The interface is very slick. Installation of the client software called the "Connector" is easy. Go to a share on the server and install. All connections...

This is the 2nd article in the Design Principles to Live By series. An interface is--for the purposes of this post at least--an abstract definition of the functionality of an object. It is the signature of a class divorced from its implementation....

This is the 3rd post in the Design Principles to Live By series. Coupling is the degree to which software components depend on each other. Tight coupling is a high degree of dependence. In practical terms, it means one component needs intimate knowledge...

Joel Spolsky suggests that we should have something called a BFA in Software Development . That is, a Bachelor's in Fine Arts focused on creating software. I think he's onto something. I've called for something similar in the past. Presently there are...

I was recently listening to an interview with Joel Spolsky . The main subject is interviewing and hiring, but in the course of the interview Joel touches on an interesting point. He says that there are two major types of software: Shrinkwrap and Custom...

Not a great start for 2008 out here in Seattle. We had a big fireworks display at midnight on the Space Needle. Unfortunately, there were some glitches. The fireworks were coordinated by a computer, but it had some " glitches " and eventually they had...