The Pressure to Be Great
I’m a developer, and I love what I do, it’s a great industry, and a very exciting field to be in. If you read my blog often, you’ll see I take every opportunity to mention how great this line of work can be, today I offer a somewhat different, less sugar-coated view. The Pressure There is a constant pressure on developers to be better, to do more, to produce more, sometimes more than is possible.
Read more…What A Surprise!
I’m a fairly active member of a forum focus on VB development, XtremeVBTalk.com (formerly VisualBasicForum.com), I also happen to be a moderator, and carry the “Expert” skill-badge. Well, today they gave me quite a surprise. Back 2003 I posted this on my site at the time: ** 12/01/2003** Expert! The folks over at VisualBasicForum.com just voted to give me an Expert badge! Today, a similar honor has been bestowed. By a vote of the forum leadership I’ve been given the status of Guru – the highest skill acknowledgment available.
Read more…PowerEdge 2500
As I’ve written about, I’m in the process of rebuilding my network at home. the first major addition is a used Dell PowerEdge 2500 server, while this is an older server, it’s quite stable and reliable – and with I intend to use it for, being reliable is critical. This server will have a couple different roles at once, here’s the basics: Domain Controller Development SQL Server Development IIS Server ‘Shared Files’ share This will allow me to keep a stable system running for shared access to development resources, as well as centralize management for my various systems.
Read more…USQL: Unified SQL Editor
On a daily basis, I use Query Analyzer for Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access for Sybase via ODBC, MySQL Query Browser for a MySQL database, and PL/SQL Developer for Oracle access. While there are some features of all of these I really like, what I don’t like is that I have to use all of them. I am proposing the formation of an open source project to develop a SQL front-end to allow users to access the major database platforms from a single, well-designed, and fully featured front end.
Read more…Piracy: Modern Marketing
Piracy is bad, right? Maybe not, and it seems Microsoft figured it out. Piracy can be indirectly profitable, both by giving you additional customers that you may collect from at some future point, and it also serves to reduce or limit the market share of rivals. Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, acknowledged this back in 1998 while speaking at the University of Washington, saying: Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, people don’t pay for the software.
Read more…Wink 2.0
I’m always interested in better ways to produce documentation or demonstrations for my software. One method I’ve found to be rather impressive is desktop capture, generating a movie either in a streaming format, or in Flash. The drawback: Price. The tools used for this are often rather expensive, and on a tight budget they can push you to the limit quickly. There is another option though, Wink – a free, cross-platform application that generates Flash demos and presentations.
Read more…First Impression: Google Calendar
I saw an article on Forbes mentioning the long rumored, Google Calendar, and sure enough! While I’ve not taken long to play with it, this, so far, seems to be very cool. I’ll post more after I play with it for a while.
Better late than never…
I previously wrote about an offer for a free copy of Microsoft Visual Studio, well, mine came today. While it look it’s time about getting here, it finally arrived. The book, while not the full version, is larger than I expected, and looks like it should be worth reading. I’m a bit disappointed in how soon that the discount for the MCP exam expires, as with the schedule I have for the desktop MCTS I don’t think I’ll have time to make use of it.
Read more…Best Job In The US: Software Engineer
MONEY Magazine and Salary.com have announced their top 10 jobs in the country. While it’s no surprise to me, Software Engineer took the #1 spot. Here’s what they had to say: Why it’s great Software engineers are needed in virtually every part of the economy, making this one of the fastest-growing job titles in the U.S. Even so, it’s not for everybody. Designing, developing and testing computer programs requires some pretty advanced math skills and creative problem-solving ability.
Read more…Development Abstraction
When it comes to the world of development, Joel Spolsky is, without a doubt, my favorite writer. His work is always interesting and on-topic, and his latest work is something special. Development Abstraction, what a concept, the only way to ensure the highest productivity, and perhaps, a large part of the Superstars & Monkeys issue. When I wrote about my views on how developers are treated, it was from a developer’s perspective, this article provides the manager’s perspective, on much the same issue.
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About Me
Security researcher, engineer and software developer with more than 20 years of experience.
Work: I primarily focus on application security, usable security, secure communications, and cryptography. I build and lead strong and dynamic teams, who cover all facets of security and privacy.
Writing: I write about my research, security in general, development and software design, and leadership through my blog, essays, and various publications. I also engage in some creating writing when I can.
Photography: I am a purist fine art photographer, working primarily in black & white, and focused on sharing new perspectives of the world. Limited edition prints of my work are available on my online gallery. I also have a background in photojournalism, and volunteer in this field when I can.