Why Are the Chinese Made IR Thermometers So Cold?
May 4, 2020
14 Comments
Regardless of the root cause of the thermometer poor performance, the fact remains that all of the tested Chinese medical units were faulty.
Category: Engineering
Big O Notation
May 5, 2011
7 Comments
So if you have been suffering from recursive algorithmic nightmares, or have never fully understood the concept of algorithmic efficiency, (or plan to interview for a position on my team), here is a short and concise primer on the subject.
Just Say No to Features
April 3, 2011
1 Comment
To hit the market early and within budget, your feature development strategy must focus on creating the bare essential functionality. So in this vein, you should make it prove itself to be a “worthy survivor”. Your features need to be tough, resilient, and lean. I have come to embrace the U.S Navy SEAL’s “hell week” screening approach before letting any one of them into my development cycle.
Crafting Great Software Features Part-2
October 3, 2010
2 Comments
Your customers are no different than the people who are looking to buy a specific tool for a job. To deliver the right product functionality without getting lost in the technology jungle, you need to develop an understanding of how successful products are developed in other fields.
Designed for Humans
July 5, 2010
6 Comments
After participating in and leading many painful software design meetings, I have come to the realization that the best way to sell the top design idea is to first share some of the alternative and inferior ones.
Developers Just Wanna Have Fun
April 1, 2010
3 Comments
The greatest engineering feats are the ones we don’t notice. The hallmark of a great designer is his ability to translate complexity into simplicity. The automatic transmission in a car represents significantly more engineering effort than a manual transmission, but it positively transforms the average user experience. The best consumer electronics always focus on hiding complexity, not showcasing it.
To Make Errors is Human, to Handle Them is Divine
March 18, 2010
3 Comments
Its not enough to capture and display errors. Real quality of service goes beyond just acknowledging your application’s faults. My rule of thumb is that there is no such thing as an “informative error message”. A good error is one that has been eliminated through error-handling code and product design.
Social Networks vs. the Enterprise
May 27, 2009
1 Comment
But alas, every garden has its resident snake, and such is the A grade serpent found in social network’s Garden of Eden. What many of us don’t realize is that the same characteristics that make the social networks so attractive are also their greatest limitation.
The Death March
April 20, 2009
2 Comments
To those unfamiliar with the term, a death march is not a walk through Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones. Rather, it is a reference to a development project where requirements exceed the realistic deliverables by at least 50 percent.
It’s All About Trust
November 19, 2008
5 Comments
The concept of clearance-based security (that is, non-expiring clearance) is reminiscent of cheese, especially the cheap Swiss variety, the one with too many holes.