Fairly Realistic

I’ve been working on my graduate project and paper like a fiend lately. Hopefully, I’ll be done in the new couple of weeks. Nicole and I have been working on some random projects and just overall having a good time with ourselves.

Nicole put up a new site at RareEdge.com a few weeks ago if you haven’t seen it yet. 9MinutesOfFame.com is also doing pretty well… see if you can get your blog in for 9 minutes of fame!

GMobileSync is nearly to version 1.3 with two-way sync. As soon as my graduate project is completed, I will begin more serious work on it again. I need this functionality to be working soon for both my own use but mostly for personal gratification!

Hi everyone, I’ve been spending a lot of time at rareedge.com lately. Nicole and I wrote a program called GMobileSync that wirelessly synchronizes Google Calendar with any Windows Mobile or Windows CE device. Tomorrow, Nicole and I are going to Germany for holiday to visit Alex and Mel. That’s the few sentence summary of what’s going on. Check out rareedge.com if you want to see a really sexy picture of Nicole and I.

This open letter was taken verbatim from Software by Rob. I feel like it should be shared and get as much attention as possible!

Dear Software Managers of the World:

We, the Software Developers of the World, realize that our two factions have had many disagreements over the years. Through this letter we would like to extend our hand in a gesture of reconciliation.

This letter contains two lists: the first list describes responsibilities we are willing to accept wholeheartedly, assuming you are willing to accept the second list with an equal amount of zeal and commitment. These lists are not intended as indictments of either side, rather glimpses of an ideal world where developers and managers work together in harmony.

We, the Software Developers of the World, agree to the following:

1. We will do what it takes to get the job done without being asked, including working extra hours (as long as it does not violate clause 1 in the section below).
2. We will not complain when we are assigned boring tasks, bad problems, or have to maintain someone else’s code (as long as it does not violate clauses 4 or 5 in the section below).
3. We will bring issues to your attention constructively and with proposed solutions.
4. We will seek to understand a decision before questioning it.
5. We will build the best software we are able to.
6. We will be loyal to the company and our team.
7. We will be passionate about the software we build.
8. We will be available when you really need us.
9. We will fully document our code and designs.
10. We will happily coach and mentor new developers.
11. We will tell our friends how cool it is to work at our company.

In turn we ask that you, the Software Managers of the World, agree to the following:

1. You understand that “crunch time” is an unexpected part of software development. Unless we have substantial equity in the company, crunch time will not exceed 3 weeks during any 6 month period.
2. You will give us powerful, best-of-breed PCs, huge hard drives, large monitors, and the latest development software.
3. You will listen and take action when we constructively bring a problem to your attention.
4. You will ensure that at least 80% of our time is spent on good problems.
5. If you plan to call us when software breaks, we will be given time to refactor and stabilize it as needed.
6. You will not ask us to serve as technical guides for highly paid contractors only to be held responsible when their code single-handedly brings our operations to a grinding halt.
7. If marketing is allowed to set our deadlines based on their knowledge of software projects, we will be allowed to set their budget and/or revenue expectations based on our knowledge of marketing.
8. You will not ask us to compromise a solid, stable, and maintainable design in order to meet an unrealistic deadline.
9. You will communicate expectations to the stakeholders. You will ensure that before we begin building an application, all stakeholders spend ample time reviewing and understanding the specification.
10. You will ensure that as new requirements arise we will be given the corresponding amount of additional development time.
11. You will pay attention to your people more than your bottom line.
12. You will make our company a cool company to work at so we’re not lying to our friends.

We hope you take these items under consideration and we look forward to how these changes will positively affect our relationship as we continue to work together to build software for many years to come.

Sincerely,

The Software Developers of the World

The developers over at IEBlog released a Windows XP SP2 image file with IE6 installed on it for testing! The image is pre-activated and will work until April 1st, 2007. (Maybe that’s a joke and it will run forever?) This is a great way to test IE6 and IE7 locally.

[bias]I still don’t recommend using IE, of course, since Firefox 2.0 is so much better. You can’t compete with built-in spell check! Unless you’re using a Mac. Then it’s build-in everywhere and has been for a while.[/bias]

You can download Virtual PC 2004 from Microsoft as well.

November 14th is World Usability Day! I know, I’m a day late. However, I promise that I made usable things yesterday. And the days before. And I promise for days that haven’t even passed yet, I will continue to make usable things. Wow, that is starting to sound more and more like a pledge of allegiance to usability. Maybe I should write one?

I, YOUR NAME, promise to make usable things.

Be there little time, little budget or little patience, I shall make usable things.

Be it Web 1.0, Web 2.0 or Web 3.0, I shall make usable things.

Using ColdFusion, PHP or ASP.NET, I shall make usable things.

Through Dreamweaver, SCiTe or Visual Studio, I shall make usable things.

Usability is my middle name and I will defend it until the day I hang up my keyboard.

Amen.

Alright, now everyone chant that a few times a week while taking deep breathes and the world of usability will flourish!

I began World Usability Day at about 8am yesterday. Nicole rolled over in bed, nudged me a little bit, gave me a hug paired with a small kiss and wished me a “Happy World Usability Day.” She then faded back to sleep for a few more minutes. I wasn’t even aware that such a holiday was approaching! What a wonderful way to find out!

I stumbled upon the Whitney Music Box this morning. You really have to see it to understand what it does. It’s open-source so you can check it out if you’re feeling saucy. There are also a few other neat applets available here.

Google has yet another rendition of their search engine called Google Code Search. The twist here is that it’s intended for programmers looking for bits of code publicly available on the Internet. Of course, if you’re looking for the latest algorithm for generating serial numbers for certain zipping software, then it’s good for that too. Seriously though, it’s a pretty neat search tool employing the same old Google-esque easy to use features.

The rumors are true! San Francisco really is made of Jello and I have the pictures to prove it. This helps with earthquakes as you can see from this video.

Nick and I will be in the Adirondacks hiking and camping this weekend. It’s the annual VanDamme hiking trip already! Since we typically go at the end of September, all of the leaves are starting to change in to Fall colors. It’s very beautiful.

I would feel a little safer looking at these images if I didn’t have a Sony battery in this Dell laptop… on my lap. Of course, I could use my Powerbook but it has a Sony battery as well. My Powerbook battery was already recalled once when I first got it. I have to check if it has been re-recalled. Then I have to check if my Dell battery has been recalled.

No one is sure yet if this Thinkpad explosion involved an actual Sony battery or not (could be a cheap eBay knockoff). At any rate, Sony batteries are being massively recalled for safety reasons.

It’s like another Sony rootkit fiasco but with explosions!

The pictures are from Alan Cox’s Thinkpad explosion.