More Capacity, More Waiting
11 August 2026Why adding capacity away from the real constraint just creates inventory — and Leverage Lab, the simulator I built to poke at it.
Engineering
Notes from decades of building software and watching it rot or shine.
Code Was Never the Asset: A Proof-of-Concept for AI-Era Architecture
20 January 2026If English is the new programming language, then the spec is the asset and code is just a rendering. A working proof-of-concept.
Producing Solutions with AI
24 November 2025You're paid to solve problems, not write code. Why the 'producer' mindset is now survival, not philosophy.
2,886 Commits in a Year: Why Senior Engineers Could Have Their Best Year Ever
30 August 2025The false choice we hand senior engineers — code or lead — and why refusing it can make this your best year yet.
iPod in your Car?
22 October 2006I’ve been wanting to improve my in-car iPod experience, so I’ve been doing some research into the in-dash head unit offerings. I had budgeted enough for the unit to be among the top of the line for any brand that...
RadRails vs. Textmate
24 June 2006I’ve been working more with Ruby and the Ruby on Rails framework lately, but one thing I’ve missed is a nice integrated environment. Coming from Java where I use Intellij, well, I guess I’m used to having a nice development...
Scammers on eBay
23 June 2006Last night I posted a listing on eBay for the Nokia N90 phone which I do not wish to keep. Since the posting last night at 10:30pm or so, I’ve now received four questions all seeking to purchase the phone. ...
Repurposing the old iPod
4 June 2006I have an "old" 20GB iPod which no longer holds its charge for very long. I had pretty much retired it in favor of a new 60GB iPod. It had previously made its way to work with me every day,...
Why no SSL?
3 June 2006For the non-techies, SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and is used by websites to encrypt data when needed. I could probably have titled the post a bit better, but couldn’t figure out how to make it concise. My real...
Denver Rails Studio Review
23 January 2006This past week I traveled to Denver to attend the Denver edition of the Rails Studio. First off, a tip for those who ever travel to Denver. Research carefully your transportation options from the Denver airport to wherever you are...
Denver Rails Studio Miscellaneous Notes
23 January 2006Just a few scattershooting notes from the Studio, that I didn’t include in my previous post. The consensus development platform in the class seemed to be Mac OS X using the Textmate editor and using MySQL as the underlying database. ...
Google is Everywhere?
21 September 2005Wow! I recently bought a Linksys Range Extender to cover some wireless dead spots in my own house. However, according to this it looks like Google may be working on a HUGE Wi-Fi network and thus maybe I wasted my...
Weblog Redesign?
19 September 2005My mother recently pointed out that she enjoys the humor and life portions of my weblog, but is bored by the deep ones. In addition, I’d already been thinking that I needed to perform a little redesign magic on the...
Embrace the Swarm
16 September 2005This is the beginnings of part 1 of the Kevin Kelly New Rules of the New Economy review series. I introduced it here. If you’d like to take a quick read of Kevin Kelly’s Embrace the Swarm chapter, an online...
New Rules for the New Economy — 7 Years Later
14 September 2005I read Kevin Kelly’s book New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World practically when it came out in October of 1998. It was an inspiring read back then in a world that was immigrating...
If Pei Wei were a website…
13 September 2005…it would be perfect (in my opinion). Many of the weblogs that I read daily discuss how easy websites are to use. And I’ve read many books on the subject as well. To me, its almost an art form to...
My Valuation is $1,632.35
7 October 2004Man, I’ve now seen it all. Get a load of this! I stumbled across this site which has created a stock market for blogs! Its kind of a fantasy stock market with blogs as the object being traded. I’m not...
Lone Star Software Symposium Thoughts…
20 September 2004Who turned off the light in here? Yeah, its been dark, but I’m back for a post or two. This weekend I attended the Dallas version of the No Fluff Just Stuff conference. Despite the name, I didn’t actually find...
Stylish Programming
19 August 2004I used to work for Graham Glass in late 2001 — but only for about three months. I was struck with one of his statements in my interview whereby he said code should be a work of art — it...
iPod vs. Tivo
19 August 2004As I mentioned in my Alien vs. Predator post, I sometimes like to toss a couple of things in the ring and see who would win. So I’m matching up iPod and Tivo in a no-holds-barred blood-bath to the death....
Does Outsourcing Work?
15 August 2004My company, heretofore nameless, is moving to a modified outsourcing approach. I say “modified” because they are planning to buy deliverables instead of outsourcing complete projects. I am not completely sure what the motivation is for this new approach. And...
NAVY Seals meets IT meets eBay
23 July 2004Strange title, I admit and a long post as well. Patiently read and it may all make sense. If not, I apologize for the time-waste. The e-mail arrived yesterday morning. Due to poor company performance, my bonus will be at...