May 2003 Entries
Feeling a bit unmotivated. I spent the weekend finishing RC2 of this portal application
we're working on (stay tuned, I'll be able to tell you more soon...including some
code tips!). As a result I'm not really in a coding mood today - I'm very mood driven.
So, good news is I've been surfing and have found some brilliant links!
This site - http://www.thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com/
is just so funny - the guy is a really good writer as well, which makes it even funnier
:-).
I really have to start writing in this thing every day....
I wrote the previous entry about the Matrix and
it got me thinking - I am waiting to see the Matrix
Reloaded until I can go with my Dad. THis may seem strange, that a 30 year
old guy goes to see films with his Dad, but its something I love to do.
I didn't write about this before but a couple of months ago my Dad had a heart attack.
My Dad is an amazing person, I hope he writes his life story some day 'cos it's pretty
amazing, and the person he's become is phenomenal. He's a social worker - and a damn
good one by all accounts, I think he understands what the children he helps
are going through because, basically, he experienced a lot of it himself.
His heart was such a shock for all of us, he is one of these people who is always
there for everyone else, a more selfless person I have never met. My Mum was amazing,
we've had a difficult year as a family, my Aunt May died quite suddenly at the begining
of the year, she's been amazing, where she got the strength to get through it I'll
never know.
Sorry for the rambling, I'm sure I'll write about this stuff more at a later date...
Everybody has been writing about it...this is the best Matrix screensaver I've ever
seen (and I've seen a LOT...sad obsessive, perhaps :-))
link
Just read an entry over on Sara
Williams blog regarding CS degrees and developers. I read an essay a few
weeks ago by Paul Graham called Hackers
& Painters, which basically puts forward the view that developers are not
just engineers. I admit that in some areas, the 'engineer' developer is vcaluable
- production line software in large companies is a case in point. In the area I work,
I value creative developers far more - it's an overused term, but the ability to think
'outside the box' really is incredibly valuable in small companies. For a lot
of what we do, it would take far more time to draw up specification and design documents
than just to do the job. We need developers who can take any problem and complete
from start to finish - these same developers would never survive in large companies.
Ah well...just my opinion, feel free to disagree!!
I should be asleep...well that was the plan.
I have a project to complete tomorrow - well, I'll be doing QA all weekend and bug-hunting
etc...but the development will finish tomorrow.
We're trying to sort out our development proces at the moment at work,
we're quite a small company and our clients appreciate our agile, flexible approach
to development. Most of the software development processes are really for larger companies
- XP is just to outlandish for us
to use (though I am a major preponent of Re-Factoring). I anyone has any ideas
(books etc...I've read Peopleware -
which is excellent, but its' not really about 'process'...hmm...more comment on that
later no doubt!
Incidentally, my RSS feeds are now operational - if you are looking for a good way
to aggregate your feeds, try Luike Huttemans' SharpReader.
It's a really good aggregator (simple - which is good!). Only problem is that it persists
all feeds in memory at the moment...being worked on apparently!
I'm sick...as I write this I'm sitting in bed watching 'Pet Rescue' - which
for those who don't know is a show about a pet rescue center...
I hate being ill - I kind of know the reason this time - too little sleep, too much
stress has knackered my immune system (it's happened before). So I just have to chill
for a while until I get better (and have LOTS of sleep - my record is 28 hours - after
which I felt like I had died of dehydration).
Anyway, spending the time planning how I can do the amazing amount of work I have
over the next week or so whilst still staying sane...
Later, if I survive...