A Curmudgeon in Redmond

Using and abusing software since 1966

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A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words
When building technology, you need to think about not only what problems you're solving, but also what problems you're creating. 'Nuff said.
Posted: Feb 09 2009, 11:39 PM by jim | with 1 comment(s)
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On Minimum-Change Programming
Think about how easy it is to make a change to a shiny new, clean, well-designed system. Now think about how hard it is to make changes to a fifteen-year old system that has been under constant maintenance. Why the difference? Once upon a time, your fifteen...
Posted: Aug 30 2008, 10:43 AM by jim | with no comments
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Garbage-Collection, Finalizers and Dispose: What Every C# Programmer Should Know
Because C# is garbage-collected, I don't need to worry about cleaning anything up. Not. If you've ever wondered why your C# application is so bloated, this post is for you. The garbage collector in .NET ensures that you don't have to worry...
Performance Rant
I've often seen code with performance problems, and watched people struggle to improve it. I've also seen people struggling to achieve optimal performance while writing code. In both cases, I've witnessed lots of folly committed in the name...
Posted: Aug 25 2008, 06:42 AM by jim | with no comments
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MapPoint and GPS: Another Stupid Pill
MapPoint is a Microsoft product that's a lot like Streets & Trips, with additional features. Most interestingly for me, it includes interfaces to programmatically control it, plus an embeddable ActiveX control. Since I was putting a computer into...
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 10:17 PM by jim | with 1 comment(s)
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SmartLabs Takes a Stupid Pill
There's a simple maxim taught in Business Management 101; Commoditize your complements. That is, whatever other people sell that makes your product more useful should be as cheap and ubiquitous as possible. Selling cars? You want there to be gas stations...
Posted: Aug 11 2008, 07:36 AM by jim | with 1 comment(s)
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My Own Security Rant
E_ACCESSDENIED? Good. We did OUR job. One of the security groups at Microsoft used to have T-Shirts that said this; every time I saw one, my blood pressure went up. He's a story illustrating why: Scene: A home office, fall, 2003. Our hero has just...
Posted: Aug 09 2008, 05:10 AM by jim | with no comments
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My Favorite Security Rants
Here are my three favorite rants about computer security: Matthew Paul Thomas, Security Snake Oil Ian Grigg, What's Your Threat Model? Bruce Tognazzini, Security D'ohLTs They're all five years old. Things haven't gotten any better since...
Posted: Aug 07 2008, 09:16 PM by jim | with 1 comment(s)
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