Stacey on Software: Humanity

Advocacy
  • Like we needed more proof that DRM is a BAD IDEA

    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…

  • Keeping A Lid On It

    So I went to the TSOT Rails Project night last night, it was good to see some familiar faces and I enjoyed the presentations. There was some…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Why a Worker's Cooperative

    This past weekend I was at the Software Craftsmanship North America conference (SCNA) hosted by 8th Light in Chicago. This is a wonderful…

  • [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…

  • Retrospective on 2015

    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,…

  • 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…

  • 2016 Big Steps Forward

    Lots of folks have been complaining lately about 2016. Certainly, as one friend of mine pointed out, as movies and celebrities have become…

  • [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…

  • In Memory of Nancy Diamond

    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…

  • 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…

  • [DRAFT] Holding Hands

    Oh the tears. When holding hands with my love went from a simple thing we thought nothing of, to an act of defiance, playing hide and seek…

  • Coaching for “likability”

    Lately, I’ve been exposed to some commercial coaching practices that push the idea of “likability”, they seem to imply that if you develop…

  • 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…

  • Exploring Farming Metaphors for Software Development

    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…

  • Who are you?

    What’s your job title? What does it say about you? What doesn’t it say about you? We are human beings, doing what we can with the tools we…

  • Coding Is Social

    This past weekend, I took part in the PTBOGameJam03 event in Peterborough, Ontario, an event that has steadily grown since August 2016. In…

  • 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…

  • Scientific Management

    In 1909, Frederick Taylor published a paper entitled The Principles of Scientific Management. At this time in history, things got made by…

  • 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 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…