Don’t Click Here

Published March 5th, 2007 Under Humour, Methods & Tools, Software Development | Leave a Comment

The current Methods & Tools poll shows that a majority of participants develop 75% or more of their new applications with a browser as the interface. As Logitech just commemorated its 25-year anniversary, it is time to think about the user interface and the role of the mice in our interaction with computers. The first mice astonished people. There are many stories telling how people misused them, sometimes inventing the trackball before it was needed ;o). We could laugh at this, but it is not always easy to change the way we behave. To test this fact, I suggest that you spend some time on the Web site dontclick.it. As its name suggests, you will surf on this site without clicking on your mouse buttons. Have fun ;o)

Project Management Simpler Life

Published February 22nd, 2007 Under Humour, Software Development | Comments Off

We all do projects and know their problems. With these Project Management Proverbs compiled and some written by Mike Harding Roberts, you can provide additional philosophy to this activity or at least add some humour in your PowerPoint presentations ;o)

A Gem About Ruby

Published February 13th, 2007 Under Humour, Software Development | Leave a Comment

When I surf the Web to find articles for my software development articles directory, I discover a lot of very interesting content. Sometimes you find articles that are more than interesting: “Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby“ is not just a great Ruby tutorial, it is an artwork ;o) Even if you do not program in Ruby, I would say even if you don’t program, you have to read/watch these pages. May the Joy be with you;o)

The Limits of Cost Cutting

Published February 7th, 2007 Under Humour, Quotes | Leave a Comment

Excerpt from: Stanley Bing, “The 0% Solution”, Fortune, Europe Edition, December 18, 2006

News comes from the Department of Labor that productivity growth in nonfarm business in the U.S. hit a critical number in the third quarter. That number was zero, as in naught, as in nothing, no growth at all, not even something you could round up to a minuscule decimal of some kind. [...]

Let’s look at what forces are coming together to suppress productivity growth, to see if we can augment them in some way. [...]

Second, I’m thinking that the reason we kept being more productive in the first place wasn’t so good. When I started out, my department had 20 people rushing around working very hard. Then the corporation, under pressure from Wall Street to grow our stock price every day, decided to do what analysts, investment bankers, and business reporters all agree is the most terrific thing a successful enterprise can do: fire a bunch of people and make those who remain do the work that used to be done by others. Before long, we had ten people doing the work of 20. This naturally produced impressive gains in individual productivity. Of course it did! But at what cost, I ask you. Actually, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. A big one.

The things that’s happened now is that corporate America is just about done firing people, because if management wants to fire any more people, it’s going to have to start firing itself. That’s expensive. Firing an executive is often more expensive than retaining him.[...]

« go back