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  I’m too lazy to be a HTML developer

There’s no denying it. I’m just to damn lazy to be an HTML developer. This really sunk in when I looked at a tutorial for doing a jQuery Lightbox – for a client project. The tutorial was titled “Super Simple Lightbox with CSS and jQuery” but after reading it over I thought a better title would be “A really freaking hard tutorial on the inane intricacies of doing something that looks simple but in reality is a skein of HTML, Javascript and CSS that no...

   Web design,HTML,JavaScript,Complexity,Messy     2011-12-18 10:42:45

  5 Reasons to Join a Startup After Graduating

After I wrote my last post, a surprising number of people emailed me asking why I decided to join a startup after graduating from Duke. Many of those I heard from face similar decisions today: either they are college seniors choosing between a big company and a startup, or they are recent graduates who work at a big company and are thinking about making the switch. What’s interesting is that most are already leaning towards the startup career path: it seems they just want someone to ...

   Startup,Graduation,Work,Advice,Passion,Learn     2011-11-23 08:12:13

  What We’re Really Afraid Of

I recently had a very interesting conversation with a friend who recently launched an online business, and it surprised me how our fears are never what they seem to be It went something like this: B.: I need your help. I launched my product a few months ago, but I am not getting any sales. Me: Do you have traffic? B.: Not much, about 100 visitors a month Me: Then you need to get more traffic. You probably need at least 100x that amount in your market to start seeing any sales. B.: And how do...

   Developer,Career,Idea,Refuse,Afraid     2012-01-06 02:30:42

  Why Every Professional Should Consider Blogging

I often argue that professionals should share their knowledge online via blogging. The catch is that virtually anything worthwhile in life takes time and effort, and blogging is not an exception to this statement. So before committing your energy to such an endeavor, you may rightfully stop and wonder what’s in it for you. Is blogging really worth it? In this article, I briefly illustrate some of the main benefits that directly derive from running a technical blog. 1. Blogging can impr...

   Developer,Blogging,Share knowledge     2012-01-29 04:30:07

  Why we don’t hire .NET programmers

Skip my post and read this one instead.  It says the same thing, but less offensively.  (Or, rather, more offensively to Facebook and Google employees, less offensive to .NET developers, though the underlying message is the same.) Tuesday midnight edit: After >500 comments, >1000 tweets, and >1000 Facebook likes, I’m closing comments on this thread so we can all get back to work.  The very last comment takes the cake, however, and is a fitting close.  Th...

   ASP.NET,High level,Low flexibility,Weakness     2011-12-20 08:43:28

  My secret Hobby: Applying for jobs

I have a probably unusual habit: I'm applying for jobs as programmer at least once a year. It 's not that I don't have a job, or that I don't like what I do, but since I am self employed and running my own company I have the feeling that I am coming out of touch of what the current job market is like, and so I started to apply for jobs at different companies once in a while. Just to keep in mind how this is like and for the fun of it.I think this is also a good training should I need to be emplo...

   IT,Career,Hobby,Job,How to     2011-08-26 02:41:47

  The Value of the Designer Who Codes

"Well, it's a start, but basically it stinks," said Steve Jobs, telling early Apple engineer Chris Espinosa exactly how he felt about the company's first calculator application. Iteration after iteration, Jobs continued to be dissatisfied with the calculator. Espinosa continued to code, slowly inching his way to perfection. But nothing was quite right. In a flash of both brilliance and perhaps frustration, Espinosa put together a visual builder that let Jobs design the calculator himself...

   Designer,Coder,Value,Designer knows code     2012-01-03 10:49:39

  Advice From An Old Programmer

You've finished this book and have decided to continue with programming. Maybe it will be a career for you, or maybe it will be a hobby. You'll need some advice to make sure you continue on the right path, and get the most enjoyment out of your newly chosen activity. I've been programming for a very long time. So long that it's incredibly boring to me. At the time that I wrote this book, I knew about 20 programming languages and could learn new ones in about a day to a week depending on how w...

   Advice,Programming,Python,Old programmer     2012-03-08 13:51:11

  One interesting story about Chinese software development

I have once seen an interesting complaint written by one foreigner about Beijing South Railway Station (China) on foursquare. It says: "There is simply no way to buy a ticket at the machine unless you have a Chinese ID. What the hell they have English interface for then?" Apparently,the foreigner cannot buy ticket because he doesn’t have Chinese ID but there still presents an English interface for foreigners on the vending machine. Because of my profession, I find this awkward situation w...

   Software design,User experience,Importance     2012-03-26 14:42:50

  A handbook on the first day of joining a new internet company as BE engineer

When joining a new internet company, there might be lots of things need to be done to get ready for taking new challenges. These include both culture and tech preparation. in this post, we would focus on how to prepare the first day technically. The first thing to do is to get your laptop or your work machine up, these involves lots of tool setup and accesses. Normally there are three major task categories. Access As an engineer, there are lots of accesses needed to access different resources wi...

   TIPS,CAREER ADVICE,ONBOARDING     2021-12-11 21:32:10

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