tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-230254212024-03-06T21:34:54.736-07:00Journeys of an IT hereticBill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-66691263004621841062009-03-11T17:34:00.003-06:002009-03-11T17:37:14.651-06:00

Finally got the new site up and running on google app engine...update your link to http://www.homesteaddeveloper.com (and http://www.homesteaddeveloper.com/rss for the feed).Bill.

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-40663678535619042382008-04-08T08:57:00.003-06:002008-04-08T09:02:07.441-06:00

We all know the saying that states perception is 9/10 of reality? End users perceive the level of quality in software based on how they like the user interface and the experience it provides.If end users perceive software to be of good quality (based on their individual user experience) they will be more forgiving and understanding when problems inevitably occur. On the other hand, if end users

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-71966239638333437132007-10-14T21:43:00.000-06:002007-10-14T22:13:15.381-06:00

Time to start blogging again....and how about a sports analogy? On October 1st, 1932, at Wrigley Field in Chicago Babe Ruth hit what would be his last World Series home run as the New York Yankees beat the Chicago Cubs 7-5, on their way to a four game sweep of the series. What made the hit remarkable was that Ruth allegedly pointed to the center field bleachers before dispatching the ball there

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1163453348867947042006-11-13T14:27:00.000-07:002007-02-19T21:24:01.596-07:00

Like Yogi Berra said, sometimes “it's like deja vu all over again”.I guess I’ve been at this long enough to remember back to the 1980's when, in corporate IT, we tended to look for the IBM solution first, regardless of what other options there might be, and often overlooked the fact that the IBM option really sucked, as long as it had the illusion of being consistent with our other IBM

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1162408153412338572006-11-01T11:57:00.000-07:002006-11-01T12:11:22.966-07:00

In the IT world we often run into gross oversimplifications. One of my favorites crops up during the hiring process. We sometimes see the requirement for a software developer simplified down to ‘we need a .NET developer’ or ‘we need a TIBCO developer’. There’s an implicit defocusing on skills other than the specific technology mentioned. Hiring the right people is one of the most critical

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1161636712605329412006-10-23T14:47:00.000-06:002006-10-23T15:46:33.383-06:00

I've had a lot of electronic 'devices' over years. Some of them I used for quite a while and got decent benefits from while others I felt never really paid back the investment. The device that changed all this for me was the iPod. I picked up a 30GB iPod photo in April 2005 and since then it's become an essential part of my day.The obvious use for my iPod was to load up my music collection (

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1159808391944599942006-10-02T10:58:00.000-06:002006-10-02T10:59:51.960-06:00

Software development projects fail for many reasons. Issues with budget, direction, management, customer buy-in, scope, etc. can all result in failure. Another common problem is the failure of the development team to deliver the right functionality on time and on budget. What’s the best way to tackle this fundamental issue? Hire good developers and create a working environment that

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1154272324898239292006-07-30T09:07:00.000-06:002006-10-23T14:59:04.146-06:00

This past week I attended the Agile 2006 conference in Minneapolis. I really enjoyed it and found it to be a great forum to see and discuss agile project practices. I found that the sessions I enjoyed the most where the ones covering or discussing the human side of agile projects. Of those sessions the one that surprised me the most was 'Enhancing Diversity' hosted by Orit Hazzan. Orit is a

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1150682071513623902006-06-18T19:53:00.000-06:002006-06-18T20:03:51.260-06:00

My first experiences with computers didn't come in a corporate or institutional setting – they came at home playing with the (very) early personal computers my friends and I had access to.Computers started out for me as something that is a very cool, fun way to use electronics. They didn't start out as some way to grow revenue or increase efficiency. If I wanted my computer to do anything I

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1150681620959267332006-06-18T19:45:00.000-06:002007-01-15T21:38:25.543-07:00

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - George SantayanaWe often see this quote carted out when referring to some geopolitical or societal issue. Truth is, it's a great way to illustrate the problem with up-front estimating on software development projects. We've all seen it: The client wants an estimate for how long it will take to build the system. The delivery

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1143439235525224082006-03-26T22:53:00.000-07:002006-10-23T15:04:35.206-06:00

Back in the early to mid-90's I did a fair bit of reading about Microsoft as they asserted their hold on the IT marketplace. One of the things that struck me was their use of daily builds to assert the condition of the software under construction and the mentality of always having software that was close to shipping quality. I loved the “don't break the build” mentality and started to introduce

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1142917239670801752006-03-20T21:59:00.000-07:002006-03-20T22:00:39.686-07:00

It seems like we're always looking for decent analogies in IT. One that has occurred to me is that building evolving IT project teams is similar to evolution supported by genetic manipulation.I work in a project-based IT services organization. Our ability to repeat success from one project to the next depends, among other things, on how well our organization can assemble effective project teams

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1141517871891855782006-03-04T17:17:00.000-07:002006-10-06T22:09:24.053-06:00

What is a heretic? Here's one definition:Someone whose opinions, beliefs, or theories in any field are considered by others in that field to be extremely unconventional or unorthodox.Here's another one:Someone who holds or adheres to an opinion or belief that contradicts established teaching, especially one that is officially condemned by authorities.OK, so heretic has been a pretty strong word

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23025421.post-1140904360537937902006-02-25T14:40:00.000-07:002007-02-24T08:08:47.266-07:00

Well I finally got around to starting a blog. I've been working in IT since 1988 and I've got a lot to say about a lot of things, so I thought I'd try adding my 2 cents to the 'blogosphere'.Who am I? Well my name really is Bill and I currently work as an IT consultant in Calgary. I've been hacking on computers since I got my first Timex Sinclair 1000 in 1982 and haven't stopped since. I went

Bill Rimmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11794783090983163007noreply@blogger.com0