Indie Tip #2: Build something you can support.  The hardest, most time-consuming part of being an independent developer isn't coding: it's tech support. So as you're building your application, always think about how you can make it easier to support. This isn't entirely self-serving – in fact, it's one of the best things you can… Continue reading Indie Tip #2: Build something you can support

Tips for Independent Developers. Shortly after the Design Aesthetic of the Indie Developer panel at SXSW, I was asked for a list of tips for aspiring independent developers. I struggled to come up with a list at the time, so I'm going to try to redeem myself by making this a topic for a series… Continue reading Tips for Independent Developers

Updates on Working Virtually (March 2007). I regularly write about the advantages – and challenges – of working virtually. Several recent items are good reading for anyone interested in this concept. 1. Reasons to Hold Out Hope For Balancing Work and Home in the Wall Street Journal (1/11/07) reports that “What’s hot is informal flexibility… Continue reading Updates on Working Virtually (March 2007)

Security Theatre   Almost everything that happens before you fly on a plane is not as it seems. In order to deal with anxiety, the airlines put on a show. They've been doing it for a long, long time, and it's starting to show signs of wear and tear. The show is getting old and… Continue reading Security Theatre

Jedi build their own lightsabers. By Marc Hedlund I was down at Stanford recently with Adam, and sat in on one of the classes he's taking there. Later on, I looked around at some of the resources Stanford makes available on the web. They provide a lot of fantastic material for free. One thing I… Continue reading Jedi build their own lightsabers

redMine: Open Source Project Management and Issue Tracking Rails App. redMine is an open source project management and issue tracking Web app, created by Jean Philippe Lang and released under the GPL. There's a live demo of the system available. Features include multiple user support, SVN and diff browsers, LDAP support, support for several different… Continue reading redMine: Open Source Project Management and Issue Tracking Rails App

Microsoft Fails to Spring Forward. As we prepare for the early arrival of Daylight Savings Time (DST) this weekend, there are many opinions as to whether it will cause Y2K-level trouble for computer systems or not. But a number of readers say it's already been a major pain for their companies, primarily because Microsoft was… Continue reading Microsoft Fails to Spring Forward

Freebase and the wars over metadata Like Dave , I find the hype over Freebase confusing. What it can become is a good repository of structured data that is poured into it by anyone with access to something useful. The key to that is how easy it is to both add and extract value from… Continue reading Freebase and the wars over metadata

Petraeus interview MSNBC . His next area of emphasis: Some of the facility protection security forces, particularly, those within the ministry of health and other key ministries, certainly have shown significant sectarian biases and they have to be dealt with as well. So, there's going to be effort required in this area. This is going… Continue reading Petraeus interview

Apple stores get the last laugh. Apple: America’s best retailer is a great article about Apple and its stores. The critics were way off… “Sorry Steve, Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work,” BusinessWeek wrote with great certainty in 2001. “It’s desperation time in Cupertino, Calif.,” opined TheStreet.com. “I give [Apple] two years before they’re turning… Continue reading Apple stores get the last laugh