The completion of a task was scheduled for 3:30pm. We have been pretty good at estimating the time that tasks require, and we have exercised practices that helped ensure that we meet our schedule predictions. We were fairly confident that we were going to complete our task at the desired time, until the lights flickered […]
July 16, 2005 – Hua and I set up the company’s very first server at Broadspire LA The introduction of another full cabinet at a new colocation site in Downtown Los Angeles is evidence of the company’s progress and sustainability. I have heard from forgotten sources that eight out of nine companies fail within their […]
Being commissioned for the development of a large software system caused me to reflect on the sources of past software production faults. Three elementary sources of problems were minimal or unacceptable project visibility, compressed schedule, and incomplete requirements analysis and design. These elementary problems resulted in secondary problems such as faulty software implementation, seemingly endless […]
Gmail’s “Why Use Gmail?” page suggests that “storing mail in folders with subfolders and nested sub-sub folders is not a productive way to spend your day.” Because search is Google’s primary strength, they encourage users of their free email service to perform a search query for an email of interest rather than actively organize their […]
The desire of managers to be involved with technology is natural. They want to seem able to learn quickly and adapt. After all, failing to use new technologies puts a company at a disadvantage against its competitors. Effective use of technology can develop a small upstart into a best-of-breed market dominator. Management sees the potential […]