Posts

I just finished reading an article detailing an idea for modernizing the US Postal System and I have some thoughts that I’d like to share. Before I begin, I’d like to take a moment to explain why the following critique is so important to me. The long and short of it is that as a software developer, my career essentially consists of solving problems. Software is just the tool I tend to rely upon for getting the job done. Throughout the course of my career I’ve run into many people who were terrible problem solvers and the people who birthed the idea I’m about to shred exhibit all of the qualifications necessary to join that particular group. ...

As any of my readers know, ethics is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart when it comes to software development. When you run your own shop, there comes a time when your ethics are going to be tested. I thought I understood what that test would entail only to recently discover that I had absolutely no idea at all. To protect the innocent as well as the guilty names have been changed, but the story that follows is quite true. I hope it will serve as an example to the rest of you out there attempting to sling code for a living. Note: You would be well advised to read this and this before continuing. ...

So if you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve probably noticed that over the last few weeks the internet has been awash with people jumping on the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” train. Over the same period of time, I’ve made a number of comments in various online venues which have indicated my distaste for this trend. A number of people have asked me to explain why I feel this way. So be it. ...

Let’s face the facts, most of the people coming to this site either already support Net Neutrality or they have no idea what that term means and are now supremely annoyed that accessing my resume is such a pain in the ass. I apologize to the first group for wasting your time by telling you something that you already know and to the second for well… actually I don’t apologize. As a fellow internet denizen, you are probably not new here. You’ve probably been using the internet for years now and even though we likely don’t frequent the same places our internet experiences both have something in common: Net Neutrality makes it all work. That’s right and please don’t try to look so surprised. ...

Those of you who know me reasonably well, know that I enjoy tinkering with old software. As a developer I’ve always been fascinated with the evolution of software throughout the years. As a result I tend to collect old pieces of software. However 95% of this collection is electronic as I have tended to shy away from physical media. However not even this strong preference has been able to keep me wondering throughout the years, “What is happening to all of that old media?” ...

So as some of you undoubtedly know, last January I decided to start working for myself. Fast forward to today and I am closing in on the end of my first year as an independent software developer. It has been quite a ride. This past year has been most educational and interesting. I hear you asking, “In what way?” Well for starters I got to take my “ivory tower” ethics through a trial by fire of sorts this year. Anybody who has worked with me in the past knows that I have a system of ethics that I judge actions taken in a professional context against. If you want to better understand this system, start here with my “Code Monkey Manifesto”. ...

So as most of you know, the health insurance exchanges for ACA (Affordable Care Act) went live on October 1st, 2013. Well at least in theory they did. When it comes to the exchanges states had two choices: Either implement their own exchange so that residents of that state could buy health insurance or let the federal government do it for you. At the end of the day, only 16 states decided to implement their own exchanges. At this point I think it is safe to say that they were the smart ones. ...

Well this has certainly been a long time coming. It seems that Benefitfocus has finally gone public and the share price is skyrocketing. To my friends still there, I would like to say congratulations. Though I’m not sure why. Unless you are getting stock options, it doesn’t really mean all that much from a compensation standpoint. It does of course mean that your company has now begun the long infamous transition from a stable independent entity to a marionette whose strings are randomly tugged by hordes of idiotic investors. ...

Within the last 24 hours, we have learned that NSA has successfully circumvented the most popular forms of encryption in use on the Internet today. This revelation not only undermines the career of people like myself, who essentially work exclusively with web facing technologies within our applications and solutions, but it also undermines the future of the American public. How does this undermine the future of the American Public? Well that’s simple. It’s undermining the future of the industry in which I work. The Information Technology industry is one of the few industries in America that is experiencing upward mobility nowadays. If you undermine that industry, you unavoidably undermine the future of this country. Moreover, the technology that the NSA has undermined is relied upon by every other industry on the planet. You may not personally care about SSL encryption, but it is one of the few things that stand between your purchase on Amazon and somebody being able to snatch your credit card information out of thin air. If that doesn’t strike you as a problem, then perhaps it’s time for you to switch over to something that is more your speed. ...

As anybody who has read my resume knows, I used to work at a company called Benefitfocus. At some point I decided to move on. Now if you spend some time looking at Benefitfocus’ website you will probably come away quizzically as according to the culture page there, I would be a great fit as an employee. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t get me wrong. Working at BF was a great experience. One that I would not hesitate to do over again if I had a time machine. However this was primarily because of the people I worked in close proximity with, not the company we worked for. Of course the company has to receive some credit for that. Somehow they managed to attract all of this talent. On the flip side, keeping the talent there is becoming a more prominent issue with each passing month and year. It is an issue that BF seems reluctant to take on. ...