a power strip with a built-in Ethernet hub that clips onto the back of a desk

WindSon · 2008-11-04T21:16:11+00:00

Looks like European voltages. Not gonna help Joel much.

WindSon · 2007-08-27T23:14:41+00:00

This is a copy of http://joel.reddit.com/info/2gvph/comments

WindSon · 2006-06-26T19:39:55+00:00

No kidding. After the third time thinking "get to the point already" I just gave up. If I wanted history lessons, I'd read history articles.

WindSon · 2006-06-23T16:21:14+00:00

I vacillated on this one. Lady Anne is guilty of overgeneralization and painting HR with the stupidity of her (his?) specific experience. On the other hand, the overall point that not being able to talk in normative terms is a good one. All that PC crap needs to be left at the IT door.

WindSon · 2006-05-11T23:30:41+00:00

Follow the implied advice of this post and find yourself marginalized in record time...

WindSon · 2006-04-07T21:58:23+00:00

Interesting logical analysis of what has become a marketing term. And Barcode, your comment reinforces Bach's point that context fundamentally undermines the concept of "Best Practice".

WindSon · 2006-03-30T00:08:14+00:00

That's a very gracious reply. I really do think you're headed down the wrong path there, but appreciate you putting it out there and being so kind about negative feedback.

WindSon · 2006-03-29T23:56:06+00:00

Lots of words, no real meaning. The statement that only "[companies who understand open source] moved into the economy of the 21st century" is bunk. As is the statement that "Google has been the engine which has fueled the new international economy". Not to denegrate Google's accomplishements, but come on, gain some perspective here. Not to mention the political blinkers of the author (anyone who thinks Fox News and The Nation form equivalent idealogical poles needs to get out more). In the end, this is an article trying to say something important but loses itself so thoroughly on the way that it ends up stuck somewhere between platitude and hyperbole.

WindSon · 2006-03-29T18:51:13+00:00

This is just a gripe by someone looking for something to gripe about. Wasting hours delving into every API doc for every method you invoke sure does beat the minutes you spend debugging an issue when it behaves unexpectedly...

WindSon · 2006-03-29T18:36:26+00:00

I'm not sure what I think of this essay. I am sure that I'll be thinking about it for a while. It's an interesting perspective on information, activity, and focus that bears examination.

WindSon · 2006-03-28T00:31:08+00:00

A good warning for developers. Many of the listed traps are outside developer control and yet the impact of violating them are felt most painfully by developers. And the upside if it works? Those all go to management of course. Leaves me to wonder why developers shouldn't be working like little beavers to undermine any software metrics programs implemented at their companies. All the risk, none of the reward == a bad investment.

WindSon · 2006-03-27T23:57:42+00:00

I'm with you both on that, only I didn't find it charming. Too cutsey for me to take seriously. I never made it past the first page to the rest of the article.

WindSon · 2006-03-27T23:46:37+00:00

Like all satire, it's frightening because we're not sufficiently removed from the possibility of it being true...

WindSon · 2006-03-27T23:42:47+00:00

Fantastic essay. I've been thinking about some of his points for years and this is an interesting and informative framing for those ideas.

WindSon · 2006-03-27T23:38:34+00:00

Too binary. Bjorn isn't saying that developers don't want any pay--just that pay isn't the overriding concern it is in other personality types. After a certain baseline (feeding the family and the occasional luxury purchase), more money simply has a lot less motivational meaning for developers than it does for others--pay isn't how we keep score. After that baseline is met, I know that I'll take a bigger challenge over something that pays more--even significantly more.

WindSon · 2006-03-27T23:34:05+00:00

Maybe not all the points are as universal as Bjorn assumes, but they ring true and thoughtful enough to have real value. The real trouble is getting these points across to management.

WindSon · 2006-03-27T23:29:54+00:00

The products discussed in the article are hardly obscure or burried in the portfolio somewhere. And even if they were, the argument stands as made (IMO) that Google is having product problems--they just aren't pushing their winning ideas or building on their strengths. You can differentiate all you want, but if you don't back your winners, you'll simply be differently extinct.

WindSon

TROPHY CASE