Essays
From time to time we publish articles here that are of professional interest. All of these represent our opinions and may not be copied or otherwise used without permission.
"Why are we doing this – in this particular technological way?" Isn't there a much simpler way to do the same thing for our customers? A very good question ... (read more)
Growing up is hard to do. (read more)
It's not easy being singularly responsible for everything at once. (read more)
Yes, you are supposed to be "caught in the middle." (read more)
If you are faced with a team of "lone wolves," (read more)
What did our programming-language predecessors latch on to, fifty years ago, that since then we never have? (read more)
Every web site has both a public-facing side and a back door, the latter being the way that site owners gain access to the underlying software in order to maintain it. The most common way to do this is with ssh ("secure shell"). But there is an immediate and obvious problem with this approach: when you attempt to connect, you see this: (read more ...)
Many web sites are filled with advertisements. Superficially, this might seem harmless enough and maybe a source of a little bit of pocket change. But in fact it presents a tremendous vulnerability for each and every user who visits your site! Allow us to explain. (read more ...)
"The Cloud." Everybody's heard of it by now, and everybody's telling you that "you've got to get there." But, what is it? Actually, it could be several things. Let us explain ... (read more ...)
Of course, "lots and lots and lots of books" have been written about "project management," and most of them describe "successes." So then, why is The Mythical Man-Month, a tome written circa 1975 about the spectacular failure of IBM's "OS/360" project, still in print? (read more ...)