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Work Flow Optimizations for Short Development Cycle Team

By Tom Barker
November 22, 2009

One of the responsibilities of being a technical manager is to optimize work flows and create self sustaining systems for the teams that you manage. One of my teams operates on an extremely short development cycle. They begin coding in...

Microsoft DRM part 3

By Tom Barker
November 17, 2009

Next in my series describing my implementation of Microsoft DRM I will detail how I refined the work flow to a single process. This process is portable, can be run on any machine, so it negates the need to...

Microsoft DRM part 2

By Tom Barker
October 28, 2009

In my previous article I talked about setting up an installation of Microsoft DRM, and some of the pitfalls encountered with the base set up. In this article I will detail how I refined that process. As I described previously,...

Microsoft DRM part 1

By Tom Barker
October 26, 2009

When I worked at Music Choice - almost five years ago - one of my responsibilities was to architect our implementation of Microsoft DRM. In fact my very first day with the company my boss, Stu who was and still...

Life With TED - Micromanaging Your Carbon Footprint

By James Turner
October 19, 2009

I've been interested in having a better handle on my electrical consumption for a long time. Our family regularly goes through 1100-1200 kWh a month, and it's been frustrating that I couldn't really get a grip on where or when the power was really being used. Then, this week, Google announced on their blog that normal mortals could now order a device called The Energy Detective (or TED, as he's known by his friends...)

Vendor Relationship Management workshop

By Andy Oram
October 14, 2009

CRM can offer many valuable benefits, but ultimately the control lies with the vendor. A Vendor Relationship Management workshop at Harvard looked at what it would take to leave control with the customers.

Four short links: 15 September 2009

By Nat Torkington
September 15, 2009

Why You Shouldn't Do It All Yourself -- this resonated with where I am in a few projects. One of the hardest things to learn in management is how not to do it all yourself. People often call this a problem with "delegation". But the problem isn't with telling others what to do. The problem is learning how not...

Four short links: 9 June 2009

By Nat Torkington
June 9, 2009

Drawing Inspiration From Nature To Build A Better Radio -- based on the design of the cochlear, this MIT-built RF chip is faster than others out there, and consumes 1/100th the power. Biomimicry and UWB radio are on our radar. Why the Smart Grid Won’t Have the Innovations of the Internet Any Time Soon -- While it’s significant that...

CrisisCamp is June 12-14th in Washington, DC

By Jesse Robbins
June 7, 2009

CrisisCamp is an unconference to bring together domain experts, developers, and first responders to improve technology and practice for humanitarian crisis management and disaster relief. This is the first event in what I hope will become a movement, and it's happening on June 12 - 14, 2009 in Washington, DC. Potential CrisisCamp sessions include breaking down the bifurcation between international...

The Five Laws of Implementing a Login Solution

By George Reese
May 20, 2009

Don't write your own. But whether your decide to write your own or implement a third-party solution, make sure it follows these five rules no matter what the risk profile of your application.

Reporting for ARRA Transparency - Reporting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

By Kathryn Barrett
May 11, 2009

On Tuesday, May 12, Dux Raymond Sy, author of SharePoint for Project Management, is presenting a webcast on Leveraging SharePoint for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Transparency. We had a chance to ask Dux why the ARRA is so important for today's business. According to Dux, SharePoint is precisely the kind of reliable and scalable reporting technology platform that's necessary to fulfill the ARRA reporting requirements. Read on for his comments.

Four short links: 27 Apr 2009

By Nat Torkington
April 27, 2009

Google Server and Data Center Details -- Greg Linden reports on a Efficient Data Center Summit. Google uses single volt power and on-board uninterruptible power supply to raise efficiency at the motherboard from the norm of 65-85% to 99.99%. There is a picture of the board on slide 17. (and this is a 2005 board). Greg has left Microsoft...

Bonus lessons from AIG: crisis management just sets up the next crisis

By Andy Oram
March 24, 2009

The flap over 165 million dollars in bonuses at a company taking federal bail-out money provides an opportunity to rethink how we handle crises. Start by trusting your staff to set long-term priorities accurately. Ask staff to analyze problems for root causes. Also, ask the people most affected by the problem what they need to fix it.

Four short links: 13 Feb 2009

By Nat Torkington
February 12, 2009

One work-related and three fun geeky links to set you up for the weekend: Continuous Deployment and Continuous Learning -- I've been reading about the processes and structures that different organizations use to develop software, and this was interesting. "Our eventual conclusion was that there was no reason to have code that had passed the integration step but was not...

Four short links: 5 Feb 2009

By Nat Torkington
February 5, 2009

Dearest Reader, for today's compendium of brief pointers to the writings of the world's greatest minds features language not suitable for children. So please stop reading this blog post to your child. Please. Think of the children. Don't Work for Assholes (Derek Powazek) -- sound advice that we all have to learn, then relearn. Broadband Stimulus Package Explained by Yochai...

Four short links: 7 Jan 2009

By Nat Torkington
January 5, 2009

Draw closer around the flickering firescreen, and hear four tales of brains, words, medical improvement, and the sharp ache of the wisdom teeth of the future poking through the soft gum of the 21st century as diagnosed by Dr Sterling. Mind Bites - Flickr set of findings from neuroscience on top of beautiful photos. Mind candy meets eye candy. Dr...

Four short links

By Nat Torkington
December 28, 2008

Hahlo - a very sweet-looking mobile (iPhone in the particular) optimised Twitter interface. Although, as I said, every time a Twitter API-consuming web site makes me type in my username and password, a little piece of my soul dies. Thanks to @sogrady for the pointer. Prius as emergency generator - New York Times story about a clever gent who...

Project Management from the Developer's Perspective - Planning

By Stacey Mulcahy
December 8, 2008

Seems every discipline in the interactive space has their little motto or saying. Account services are famous for “ the client loves it but wants to change everything”, or perhaps just make the logo bigger. Designers are simplicity’s pimp because...

Point-Counterpoint: Digital Book DRM, the Least Worst Solution

By Bill McCoy
November 24, 2008

In the second part of a point-counterpoint exchange, Bill McCoy examines two scenarios: a publishing industry that doesn't embrace interoperable DRM, and one that does.

Point-Counterpoint: On Digital Book DRM

By Peter Brantley
November 20, 2008

In the first part of a point-counterpoint exchange, Peter Brantley outlines reasons why DRM is bad for book publishers.

Project Management from the Developer's Perspective : Project Taxonomy

By Stacey Mulcahy
October 28, 2008

If I had a dime for each time some name or term was butchered, most often by the resident local marketing douchebag extraordinaire , I surely would be in the tax bracket pronounced astronomical and starting a commune with Wesley...

The Analog Hole: Another Argument Against DRM

By Liza Daly
October 22, 2008

No matter how strong the encryption, digital rights management can't block "analog hole" piracy.

Apocalyptically Underqualified: When Ignorance Can Be Fatal On The Job

By Noah Gift
October 13, 2008

Like much of the civilized world, I have been watching in unpartisan horror, shock, and awe, at the Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin reveal how "Apocalyptically Underqualified" she is to assume the position as Vice President of the United...

Series:Project Management from the Developer's Perspective - On Estimation

By Stacey Mulcahy
October 1, 2008

When it comes to the topic of estimating, my favorite line to throw back at the sad soul who is asking for some intangible number is - " I'll see your vague, my friend, and raise you a wide...

Series: Project Management from the Developer's Perspective

By Stacey Mulcahy
September 26, 2008

I'm not entirely sold on the fact that the title of this series is completely fitting. At least, it certainly feels a tad bit on the ironic side given the breadth of my experience as an interactive developer. Project Management from the Developers Perspective. This suggests that I have a viewpoint - or at the very least, have a vantage point to “see things”. The reality of my experience has taught me in some of the most brutal ways, that more often than not, I’m too busy assuming the position to actually be able to have one.

"Spore" Backlash: Is DRM Officially Bad for Business?

By Mac Slocum
September 14, 2008

Strict digital rights management may limit long-term development of "Spore's" user base.

What makes a good project manager?

By Kathryn Barrett
June 23, 2008

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Scott Berkun’s new book, Making Things Happen, and I asked people to post their ideas about what makes a good project manager. I said I’d arbitrarily select one winner from among those who posted and give away a free copy of Scott’s book.

Understanding Web Operations Culture (Part 1)

By Jesse Robbins
June 14, 2008

“You don’t choose the moment, the moment chooses you. You only choose how prepared you are when it does.” - Fire Chief Mike Burtch Last week I came upon a truck vs. scooter accident on my way home. I could hear a woman yelling in pain from underneath the truck (a good sign!) and could see a guy in the...

Is it Time to Retire the Never-Ending List?

By Linda Stone
June 12, 2008

One afternoon, earlier this year, as I was scanning a long list that I was adding to endlessly, I realized, I'll never get it all done. That's probably just fine. But this endless list and this feeling of being completely scheduled's not working right now. I met some friends for dinner and put the question out: Do you have a...

Bill Coleman to keynote Velocity

By Jesse Robbins
June 11, 2008

Bill Coleman has twice transformed our industry, and I'm excited to announce that he will keynote Velocity later this month. Bill is most famous for being the "B" in BEA and for leading the creation of Solaris while at Sun. He is now the CEO of his new startup, Cassatt, which "makes Data Centers more efficient". Bill is awesome and...