Stacey on Software: Human-experience

Advocacy
  • Speak Clearly from Experience

    So today I'm working through some more content management challenges - and hating JavaScript-based WYSIWYG editors. They really really suck…

  • Keep It Simple, (Not So) Stupid

    Have you tried this? I mean really, sat down, tried to make something simple. Not simple for you, simple for others. People always say they…

  • End User Experience - Why, Microsoft, why?

    I recently purchased a new laptop for one of my daughters, it came with Vista. This is the first Vista based computer in the house. Let me…

  • Why, oh why, Wordpress, have you made it so difficult to publish code snippets.

    This started as a post about how Java EE 5 has improved my experience in writing webservices based applications. However, for the past hour…

  • iPhone Blogging

    I think blogging from a portable device will have to fall under the category of microblogging,.. Suffice to say this is my first iPhone blog…

  • iPhone Blogging 2.0

    I just got the native iPhone app for Wordpress. Wow. I take everything back I said - mobile blogging is now a dream. Even offline drafts. I…

  • Integrity, Transparency and Trust

    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…

  • Taking a stand, saying NO to software development quotes

    Starting Tuesday, I will no longer issue quotes for software development. I've been doing a lot of thinking about our Software Development…

  • Doctors are people too

    In following up my "novel" I posted the other day, I found a neat article from Dalhousie magazine published last year that talks about my…

  • Outsource? Yes! Offshore? NO!!!

    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…

  • Agility, Software Development Estimates and Buying a House

    Lately, software project estimation has risen to the surface as a discussion topic at Three Wise Men . The flurry of smaller proposals we…

  • Continuous Improvement: Tools or Process?

    Any organization who wants to survive needs to realize that they need to implement some level of Continuous Improvement. This is a concept…

  • Securing Data on a USB Drive on Mac OS X

    I was looking for a good way to encrypt data on a portable disk on my Mac, and was surprised at the range of misleading information out on…

  • CRTC, Hear Our Plea

    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…

  • My Ongoing Battle with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP)

    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…

  • iPhone Applications and Intermediate Tooling Considered Harmful

    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…

  • An American iPad in Canada

    My sister was so proud, she knew I wanted an iPad and she really did too, so on her recent trip to the US, she got one and texted me right…

  • Software Development Is About People

    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…

  • [DRAFT] Update to My Ongoing Battle with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP)

    In 2009, I wrote about my experience with PMP. Since then, I get posts every month or two from others who are going through their own…

  • 7 Simple Steps to a Successful Software Project

    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…

  • Signed and Encrypted Email on OSX and iOS

    I'm writing this as much for me as I am for you, my fellow netizen. Signing and encrypting email on iOS is a black art. Get your incense and…

  • [DRAFT] Scoping and Estimating Projects

        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…

  • [DRAFT] Specialize or Generalize?

    I've seen some thoughts floating around today around what kind of mix of generalists or specialists should you have on an agile team. It…

  • The Fable

    There was once a family of beavers who lived in the forest in a quiet valley. They had found a stream and made their home there, a lovely…

  • Act on Fact, Not Conjecture

    So, how much of a part do your feelings play in how you write software? Feelings are important. Feelings are your "spidey sense", your…

  • [DRAFT] Getting Started In Software Development

    More than occasionally, I get asked, "How can I learn programming as a beginner?" I have many thoughts on this, and here is just one of them…

  • AI Programmers Will Take Our Jobs!

    So, this hit my newswires today: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23331144-500-ai-learns-to-write-its-own-code-by-stealing-from-other…

  • [DRAFT] Labels

    I believe we are experiencing a diversity crisis in this field. Too few voices and life perspectives shaping the devices and software we use…

  • The Long Road

    More than occasionally, I get asked, "How can I learn programming as a beginner?" I have many thoughts on this, and here is just one of them…

  • A Leaf on the Wind

    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…

  • A Nurturing Culture

    I drew this picture to illustrate a few ideas, and it’s long overdue for an explanation beyond the few folks at whom I’ve stood in front of…

  • Diversity is Critical

    Diversity is critical. Look around you, your management, your board, your government, your colleagues. If all you see are white men in…

  • The Work

    When disciplines in software development are so segregated, those outside a discipline may think only of the final result. Developers type…

  • The Work

    When disciplines in software development are so segregated, those outside a discipline may think only of the final result. Developers type…

  • Is Machine Learning a Threat to You?

    All a Machine Learning model can do is regurgitate existing thoughts and ideas expressed in digital form in astonishing new ways according…

  • Systemic Oppression and Machine Learning

    Many words have been written about the biases in "AI" training datasets. I last blogged publicly on this topic about 6 years ago, and it…

  • The Bionic Coach

    Introduction Being extraordinary, it's a good feeling. My first electronic enhancement was a calculator. Forget long arithmetic, this was…

  • What AI Tells Us About Ourselves

    I saw today that Bumble is incorporating into their business model a way for "AI" to "go on dates" instead of people. Selling their…

  • It Will Do Whatever Fool Thing You Ask It

    I'm talking to more people lately who are fearful for their profession in an age of AI. I keep coming back to "The Map Is Not The Territory…

  • Tacit Knowledge

    Following up on yesterday's post , we can't digitize empathy, feeling, etc. I have a certain kind of person that starts looking at me funny…

  • What Do You Design?

    I was talking with a colleague today about how GenAI is rewriting all our playbooks. Not just the technical ones—the organizational ones too…

  • What Is a Developer?

    Thanks to a colleague, I came across this article today, and it's been energizing. The author and his editors at O'Reilly have put together…