I spec'd a new project the other day. Nothing new, we do this all the time, probably a few dozen times a year. We went through the usual…
So today I'm working through some more content management challenges - and hating JavaScript-based WYSIWYG editors. They really really suck…
Why are there so many form letters in the world? Pointless advertising inserts? Communicating with customers with a form letter is like…
Yes, that might be an odd headline for me to make, given that I actually run a software development company. Or is it. I was catching up on…
Life is a learning exercise. I have two contrasting projects on my mind right now that are at different stages of complexity, although they…
This post set me off today. Apparently, because I want a modern Java on my Mac, I'm being selfish. Actually more specifically I'm being a…
Saw this post on Boing Boing today. shaking head To-date I haven't had a problem with DRM'd content that I've purchased online (I have…
I've blogged before on the fallacies of software development estimates. I found this posting particularly well thought-out and…
I leased a nice Dell server this year to help stabilize our IT infrastructure at Three Wise Men. With it I purchased "next business day…
At Three Wise Men we've just finished off a reasonably large project, and a few things really struck me in the end about the way we operated…
Starting Tuesday, I will no longer issue quotes for software development. I've been doing a lot of thinking about our Software Development…
So, I recently blogged about my new "No Quotes" policy at Three Wise Men, and I've blogged in the past about the perils of software…
I've been doing a lot of work on my company, Three Wise Men Inc. , lately. Honing down on what makes the business special, getting right…
I say again, ?! I have used SSL Explorer for years, it's an incredible piece of software that gives you a simple web console to initiate…
I read an article (well, it's more of a slide-show) this morning that just set my hair on fire. Now I understand that to many folks in I.T…
Lately, software project estimation has risen to the surface as a discussion topic at Three Wise Men . The flurry of smaller proposals we…
Canadian ISPs are trying to make a point to the CRTC. Here's a Boing Boing article , and the CRTC feedback page so that you to can make a…
Introduction So, I haven't told a lot of people about this. Truly, it has taken me a year to learn what I know now, and my journey isn't…
I have to say, I admire Steve Jobs for taking the hard line on so many issues. It isn't easy, and he's sure taking the flack for it these…
We as an industry forgot this for a long time, and I am proud to be part of the movement to bring it back. I hear all the time from people…
We write software today , it's important to always remember this. Often when we are asked to write software, we are typically provided with…
I've been writing recently, mostly because our ThreeWiseMen.ca website needs an overhaul for content. Three Wise Men is my software…
This past weekend I was at the Software Craftsmanship North America conference (SCNA) hosted by 8th Light in Chicago. This is a wonderful…
Something has been weighing heavy on my mind for a while now. Years, in fact. I didn't realize it however until the past few weeks while…
Those that know me know that I'm not afraid of change. I'm a big proponent of "strong opinions loosely held". When something makes sense…
If you require project accountability to funders, for grants or tax refunds, you need lightweight processes that integrate with your…
The past year has been exhausting. I've never felt so much like a hamster on a wheel. This year will mark 8 years into my transition,…
I had an exchange with a colleague last night, and it really pushed me back into this gear. Realizing I haven't published these kinds of…
Lots of folks have been complaining lately about 2016. Certainly, as one friend of mine pointed out, as movies and celebrities have become…
When I was growing up, I didn't have a lot of friends. I had a small circle of friends in high school, and through this small circle of…
This weekend I attended a "hackathon" and was surrounded by folks who didn't really understand the word hacker. They struggled to get…
We have built, unwittingly, a fundamentally flawed environment for delivering software. Incapable of dealing with bugs and viruses…
I've been coaching other teams for over a year now (I spent 15 years coaching my own teams), but I still have a small software development…
Lately, I’ve been exposed to some commercial coaching practices that push the idea of “likability”, they seem to imply that if you develop…
Our friends who live down the road from us, always have such a beautiful garden and take amazing care of their animals. The way they've…
The Past Software development today is very different than 10 years ago, and worlds apart from what it was 20 years ago. 20 years ago, we…
This past weekend, I took part in the PTBOGameJam03 event in Peterborough, Ontario, an event that has steadily grown since August 2016. In…
In the beginning, teams tend to be able to deliver working software with little friction. In fact, developers tend to love “green field…
I was talking to a colleague yesterday, smart guy, basically been focusing on systems level architecture and is maneuvering his employer in…
1. Imagine an end-result in only the coarsest detail Let's face it, we're all human. We can't juggle everything in our heads, and we don't…
Any organization who wants to survive needs to realize that they need to implement some level of Continuous Improvement. This is a concept…
Why do we continue to separate the design of a product from its implementation? When we design a product in one place with one group of…
In an agile organization, our primary concern is the flow of value - "concept to cash" as we've heard from the DevOps and Continuous…
All a Machine Learning model can do is regurgitate existing thoughts and ideas expressed in digital form in astonishing new ways according…
I saw today that Bumble is incorporating into their business model a way for "AI" to "go on dates" instead of people. Selling their…
I sat in a meeting yesterday that was probably the best illustration of conflict between business models and systems models that Ive seen…
When we use Functional Decomposition to break down efforts on a software development project, we work through how a system needs to work in…