Probably the coolest gift I got this year was this thing called SportZJam, a very thoughful gift from my girlfriend. I wasn't sure what to make of it when I first got it, but basically it lets you listen to music while you swim. I'm not a great swimmer and it doesn't help that it's mind-numbingly boring. With running or cycling, there is at least stuff to look at if not an MP3 player to spice it up a bit. There are a few other waterproof setups on the market (Swimman, and SwiMP3 mostly) but they're all pretty pricey and...

Probably the coolest gift I got this year was this thing called SportZJam, a very thoughful gift from my girlfriend. I wasn't sure what to make of it when I first got it, but basically it lets you listen to music while you swim. I'm not a great swimmer and it doesn't help that it's mind-numbingly boring. With running or cycling, there is at least stuff to look at if not an MP3 player to spice it up a bit. There are a few other waterproof setups on the market (Swimman, and SwiMP3 mostly) but they're all pretty pricey and...

Back in Spokanistan for a few days around Christmas with the family. I've eaten way too much, watched some football, but a good time. It's way too cold here.

Back in Spokanistan for a few days around Christmas with the family. I've eaten way too much, watched some football, but a good time. It's way too cold here.

It amazes me every year. Yesterday, the hallways were busy, parking lot was pretty full. Today, not so much. Monday I'll bet there will be about 1/3 of the normal staffing, if that. 'Course I'll never know since I won't be here either!

It amazes me every year. Yesterday, the hallways were busy, parking lot was pretty full. Today, not so much. Monday I'll bet there will be about 1/3 of the normal staffing, if that. 'Course I'll never know since I won't be here either!

As we near the end of a product cycle QA (Quality Assurance or just 'Test') picks up the reigns and drives the product home. It's their job to give the thumbs up or thumbs down of when we're ready to ship. But the way that dev interacts with test is an interative process and there are many points where we test the product. That said, it's my opinion that we've got a long way to go on this one, and I'm not alone....

As we near the end of a product cycle QA (Quality Assurance or just 'Test') picks up the reigns and drives the product home. It's their job to give the thumbs up or thumbs down of when we're ready to ship. But the way that dev interacts with test is an interative process and there are many points where we test the product. That said, it's my opinion that we've got a long way to go on this one, and I'm not alone....

There's nothing more frustrating than pseudo-science. So if you think you support this, please read this. I thought this was all settled back in 1925, but I guess we're still stuck on it, which doesn't bode well for solving any real problems.

There's nothing more frustrating than pseudo-science. So if you think you support this, please read this. I thought this was all settled back in 1925, but I guess we're still stuck on it, which doesn't bode well for solving any real problems.

I'm a pretty big fan of anything that has a display on the front or jacks of any sort on the back. But lately I've been redoing some stuff to simplify my setup and save some money in the process. One day I was looking at my home phone bill and wasn't too happy I was paying almost 50 bucks a month for something I hardly use. I only have a home phone for two reasons: I live in some sort of a cell phone black hole in...

I'm a pretty big fan of anything that has a display on the front or jacks of any sort on the back. But lately I've been redoing some stuff to simplify my setup and save some money in the process. One day I was looking at my home phone bill and wasn't too happy I was paying almost 50 bucks a month for something I hardly use. I only have a home phone for two reasons: I live in some sort of a cell phone black hole in...

Alex asked a good queston on my previous post: what are the dev teams doing between now and Beta 2 ship? I wasn't really clear on that. After you hit ZBB, you're not done. ZBB is a moment in time, and you'll still get bugs after that. Remember that Developer Division is made up of lots of different teams, all of whom have to get finished at about the same time since we all ship together. So as we approach the end of a milestone, be it Beta 2 or the final...

Alex asked a good queston on my previous post: what are the dev teams doing between now and Beta 2 ship? I wasn't really clear on that. After you hit ZBB, you're not done. ZBB is a moment in time, and you'll still get bugs after that. Remember that Developer Division is made up of lots of different teams, all of whom have to get finished at about the same time since we all ship together. So as we approach the end of a milestone, be it Beta 2 or the final...

Yes, I'm now hooked enough on this triathlon thing that I'm calling it a race season. The whole thing has gotten kind of out of control. The decision to do my first on in July was made in early June so it happened pretty fast. But since then I've ended up with all kinds of stuff: A Wetsuit A racing suit ...

Yes, I'm now hooked enough on this triathlon thing that I'm calling it a race season. The whole thing has gotten kind of out of control. The decision to do my first on in July was made in early June so it happened pretty fast. But since then I've ended up with all kinds of stuff: A Wetsuit A racing suit ...

Okay it's been a while but here's an update with where we're at with Whidbey on the dev side. A few weeks ago we passed ZBB for Beta 2. What's ZBB you say? Well I'm glad you asked. Basically, you need to drive the product to a "known" state at intervals throughout the cycle or you'll never get it shipped. So before each major milestone, the whole division drives towards Zero Bug Bounce, on a per-team basis. ZBB for a team is when that team has...

Okay it's been a while but here's an update with where we're at with Whidbey on the dev side. A few weeks ago we passed ZBB for Beta 2. What's ZBB you say? Well I'm glad you asked. Basically, you need to drive the product to a "known" state at intervals throughout the cycle or you'll never get it shipped. So before each major milestone, the whole division drives towards Zero Bug Bounce, on a per-team basis. ZBB for a team is when that team has...