archive

Why we shouldn't use NLP  18, August 2010
Some groups in the agile community have been advocating the use of Neuro-Linguisting Programming. There are two good reasons not to do this besides the alternative is simpler, more honest communication.

Responsibility-Driven Design References  10, August 2010
Many software problems are design-thinking problems rather than problems with TDD, refactoring or CI. This article cites references to material about Responsibility-Driven Design which I've found to be very useful.

An Aetheist Hymn  04, August 2010
This week's Friday Night Comedy Podcast included Mitch Benn's aetheist hymn. A work of comedy genius.

Why Smalltalk isn't just "another language".  02, August 2010
There are two kinds of agilists. Those that have experienced Smalltalk and those that don't know how much better things should be...

Eight Object-Oriented Design Tips  03, February 2010
Somebody asked me for a list of things that can be done to improve object-oriented design. Here it is.

John Timpson on Servant Leadership  29, January 2010
Peter Day's "In Business" podcast talks about John Timpson's great example of "Servant Leadership".

Daniel Pink on Motivation  24, January 2010
Are bonuses a good way to motivate people? Dan Pink thinks not. He highlights research that suggests the opposite.

What I learned giving an Ignite format talk  22, January 2010
I gave a talk at Ignite Cardiff. It's an interesting experience giving an ignite-format talk. More people should try it...

Building an Agile-Friendly Office Space  24, May 2009
Here's a tour of some of the agile-friendly (and some not so friendly) workspaces.

Always outnumbered, never outgunned: Why I love Smalltalk.  25, April 2009
Not all programming languages are equally good. We discuss why some of the smallest and cleanest languages are so effective.

A Not Very Groovy Design Problem  27, August 2008
The Groovy language has a very nasty metaprogramming feature. Here's why the language would be better off without it.

A little less conversation a little more action please...  27, February 2005
Some thoughts about agility...

New Year's Resolutions  02, January 2005
Some technology-based New Year's resolutions...

You wanna pair with common people?  10, November 2004
My version of "the common people" ... dedicated to developers frustrated by waterfall-managed projects.

Does Europe really hate him?  02, November 2004
Another George Bush story...

Agile Project Management with Scrum  18, October 2004

Insightful error message from Unreal Tournament  10, October 2004

JCollector - JUnit test suite collection  03, October 2004
An experiment in assembling JUnit test suites using reflection (as well as filesystem rummaging.)

Joseph Pelrine thinks we kick ass!  14, September 2004
Joseph Pelrine (a leading Scrum trainer) acknowledges some of our work...

Software in Seattle  19, July 2004
Stories and pictures from my business trip to Seattle...

Fifty reasons why we can't change  20, June 2004

Distributed Agile Development  05, May 2004

Dell support proves to be excellent  13, April 2004

Tip for Laptop Users  21, March 2004

Build failed music found on the 'net  17, March 2004

Captcha those spammers  14, March 2004
Preventing spam by implementing a captcha... and the science behind it.

Just don't mention the war...  24, January 2004
Jeremy Clarkson's documentary about the history of computing was a little bit wrong on a few things. Here are a few points to consider...

Model View Presenter  23, December 2003
Some reference material on Model View Presenter (MVP) - a variant of MVC

Some recollections of XP Day 3  03, December 2003
What I saw and did at XP Day this year...

Making 2004 like "1984"  22, November 2003
The problem with new privacy legislation in the UK...

Programming in Bed  05, November 2003
Allan Wills of Fastnloose - explains what's involved in doing "dispersed agile development".

Here's your arsenic dear and your weedkiller biscuit...  18, October 2003
I liked Michael Bogdanov's new production of "Under Milk Wood"...

Very Quotable Lisp Bigotry  02, September 2003
Here are some great quotations from Paul Graham's talk about Java and Lisp...

The Future Reinvented  19, August 2003
I managed to get a pre-release copy of OpenCroquet and wrote an IT Wales article about it...