2010 United Way Kick-off
October 14, 2009· by Tammy Adler
Today we had our company United Way kick-off.
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From the QWANtify Blogs
In praise of complexity, sort of
October 20, 2009· by Paul Eggerling-Boeck
Having recently worked in two very different development environments (one being very complex, and the other being very simple), I noticed something about myself that really surprised me. I prefer the complex environment. As much as I dislike always having to overcome a challenge in a complex environment when I’m in the thick of things, I have found that I thrive on that challenge and actually NEED it in order to feel successful. It’s true, that I’ve been much more productive in the traditional sense of the word during the time I’ve been working in the simple environment, but I come down more on the quality side of the quantity vs. quality debate. I tend to get much less done in a complex environment, but what does get done, is (IMHO) of a higher quality and I think it has to do with constantly having to be at the top of my ‘game’ in order to overcome the challenges present in a complex environment.
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The Best Tool(s) for the Project
October 10, 2009· by Tammy Adler
QWANtify values our ability to use software and architecture tools that benefit our customers.
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Is IE 6 a COBOL-like legacy situation?
October 1, 2009· by Kevin Runde
Today I received an email from MSN telling me they now recommend using IE 8. I was shocked when I read that. IE 8 has been out since March 19, 2009 and MSN is finally recommending IE 8. It only took them about 6 months. That got a friend and I thinking about IE 6 and the many issues companies will have MS finally stops supporting IE 6. What do I mean? Many companies have internal “Web Applications” that work only with IE 6. I say “Web Applications” because they are not really a web application. Sure they use the browser, but most were written in ASP and rely on specific IE 6 “functionality” that does not work with other web browsers. A real web app is cross platform compatible in my opinion.
This is yet another perfect example of someone trying to take standards and add their own propriety extensions so you have to use their product rather than another standards compliant product (Vendor Lock In). The pragmatic in me hopes these companies will learn from their mistakes when they are finally forced to rewrite all of their IE 6 specific application, but the realist in my realizes they won’t. Worse yet Microsoft will cut support for IE 6 and all of their newer OSes will only support newer versions of IE so eventually companies will have to upgrade or move to a different OS. UnlikeCOBOL which IBM and others are perfectly willing to still sell you systems to run your legacy COBOL. So in my opinion IE 6 is not a COBOL-like Legacy situation. It is actually much worse.
-Kevin
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Social Media
September 30, 2009· by Greg Mattlin
Social Media.
203 million hits in .26 seconds is what you’ll find when you Google Social Media. The first link that shows up is a link to Facebook, which has 250 million current users. Social Media is everywhere! Like it or not, my advice is to absorb it, learn about it and use it.
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LivePipe
September 27, 2009· by Kevin Runde
I was working on a new Ruby on Rails project and needed some standard JavaScript UI elements like modal windows, tabs, tooltips and such. Until recently I had never found any good library to add on to prototype that handles these. jQuery, EXT JS, YUI and others have these so why doesn’t prototype. Well recently I stumbled across LivePipe. This is exactly what I have been looking for. The documentation is just enough so you can figure things out. There needs to be a better newbie guide. Maybe I’ll start working on one after I have more experience.
So if you are using the Prototype JavaScript then take a look atLivePipe.
-Kevin Runde
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Hanging out with a Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital Surgeon
September 11, 2009· by Tammy Adler
This evening I had the pleasure of hanging out with a Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital surgeon, his wife and son.
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Facebook’s Privacy Issues
August 25, 2009· by Eric Sorenson
The next time you take a minute to update your Facebook page, be careful! Most users know the difference between public and private information in their profiles, but making sensitive information private is not as safe as some users may think. Canada’s privacy commissioner has been the latest to put a spotlight on the numerous gaping holes in the security surrounding the most popular social-networking websites.
The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that almost a million Facebook developers around the globe have unrestricted access to all of the information in your profile. Regardless of the safeguards you think you’ve placed on your personal information, it is all visible and accessible to these users. Further, Facebook never deletes any of this information, even if you cancel your account. Thus, there is currently no way to eliminate the chance that someone could later dig up a potentially sensitive piece of information deleted by a user. Several other privacy risks are outlined in the article linked-to below.
This situation is a great example of how important and difficult it is to keep personal information personal. I had thought that I was being paranoid for not getting a Facebook account, but it turns out I was more right than I’d ever thought I would be. As a general rule, I recommend refraining from posting anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want your mother — or your boss — to read.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/17/facebook-privacy-settlement.html
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