This post is, belatedly, inspired by the Ministry of Testing blog idea: The Struggle with Learning to Code. I have a Computer Science degree, and have been programming for a while. (I started doing it as a hobby, and then studied it, and then got paid to do it.) I struggle with learning to code, … Continue reading The Struggle with Learning to Code
Category: Rambling
The compounding value of information
Information is one of those things where sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That is, you get extra value from combining bits of information, on top of the value from the separate bits of information on their own. I’ll illustrate this with an example to do with spies, but then … Continue reading The compounding value of information
Customers, suppliers and fences
In my previous post, I contrasted two different terms for thinking about how people interact with your organisation – Customer Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX). Rebecca Brown (a CX expert I mentioned in the post) kindly explained her view of CX to me, which got me thinking of some quality and process things that … Continue reading Customers, suppliers and fences
Language, discrimination and software development
I recently noticed myself using gendered language to talk about computer things where gender was irrelevant. This got me thinking about language, and prejudice and discrimination, more broadly. Beyond the obvious, decency-related reasons, being more open to how people are different from you could help you do your job in IT. Gendered magic The trigger … Continue reading Language, discrimination and software development
Obsolescence – building to last
This is part two of a series on obsolescence, value, cost and things like that. It's mostly about computer hardware and software, but drawing on other things too. Cars and computersBuilding to last Boots and white goods The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett are full of wisdom. (They also have interesting characters, humour, and an … Continue reading Obsolescence – building to last
Obsolescence: Cars and computers
Even by my standards, this is going to be a random walk of an article. Actually it was going to be a pilgrimage-length random walk so I have chopped it up into a few instalments: Cars and computersBuilding to last The overall walk is based on the concept of obsolescence, mostly to do with computer … Continue reading Obsolescence: Cars and computers
Emotion and software development
I vividly remember an appointment with a sonographer when my wife was pregnant. On one hand, it was a skilled professional using a combination of acoustic gel, a wand that contained a microphone and loudspeaker, a portable computer that did signal processing on what the microphone picked up, and a monitor that displayed a visual … Continue reading Emotion and software development
Blogging
A friend recently talked to me about blogging, and it got me navel gazing a bit. I’ve not really thought about how or why I blog, and I guess it’s a good thing to be a reflective practitioner. At the risk of being self-indulgent, this is an article about how and why I blog. As … Continue reading Blogging
Complexity: Important stuff can be messy
At this time of year, it’s common to set goals and New Year’s resolutions such as lose X kg of weight, or run Y km. If you have a goal like this, then I wish you well. It’s less common to have goals like have a better relationship with the people I love, even though … Continue reading Complexity: Important stuff can be messy
Impostor syndrome and the programmer’s brain
Introduction Impostor syndrome is where you feel that you are in a position that you don’t deserve because you’re not good enough at something, in contrast to all the people around you who all seem to be good enough, and one of these days someone will discover you to be the fraud or impostor that … Continue reading Impostor syndrome and the programmer’s brain
Random Tech Thoughts 