Halloweenie

Happy Spook Day to one and all!

That's about it. Not doing anything this year except picking up my dry cleaning and maybe comic books. No costume, no party. Although I thought I should start on next year's costume.

Rants and Rant

Henry Rollins was amazing! The idiot parking in my spot when I got home was less so. Because I have been instilled with a sense of tolerance I won't get it towed until tomorrow morning.

That is all.

Technical Difficulties

I know I promised a developer-related article this weekend. I'm still working on a draft (instead of just winging it) but this weekend got too "busy". It's turning out to be a long article but I'm trying to make it a non-rant. I'll let Mr. Rollins do the ranting tonight.

Long-term Relationship

My first weekend without going to work (so far, it's only Saturday). Meaning of course that I've had time to do the things I've been putting off for a few weeks. I managed to actually submit my passport renewal, do a big grocery run and to top it off two new geek bits. The first (a surprise) was Terry Pratchett's Making Money. The second was picking up Cake's new album. I spun it in the car and even though it's mostly covers, it's all Cake.

I also dropped off my dry cleaning. My dry cleaner, to whom I have been giving my custom for four years plus, moved from a convenient location to me to way down south. But I've been going to tony (yes we're on a first name basis) for quite a while, despite having most of my work clothes stolen off of his premises. The crappy location is what prompted the move I think.

With the new place, his prices went up significantly, but he gave me a 30% discount (making it cheaper than before I might add) to what really was a great price considering the dry cleaner closest to me charges nine bucks a silk shirt.

I think this is the longest non-work related relationship I have right now. In a way, that's sad, but in another it's always great to go somewhere where they treat you better than a customer. Going to drop my laundry at Tony's is actually a bit of a treat when the rest of the world treats like a number, a source of income or just a plain nuisance.

Here's to Tony!

Roll a Little Forward, Roll a Little Back

So the death march reprieve was revoked today, so it looks like we're back on the death race again. This has me a little grumpy and a bit incautious:

1. Making the "Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day, set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life" joke on a teleconference with vendors located in Southern California.
   
2. Speculating aloud if getting rid of the marketing department would improve productivity all across the board with the Acting V.P. of Information Services, who happens to be the V.P. of Marketing, sitting in the next cubicle.
   
3. After the Marketing Director says "From what I know about software.." responding with "What do you know about software (apparently he was a developer for about six months ten years ago).
   
4. Walking around the office with a pair of these in hand.

Yeah, I'm a stress puppy.

Up for Air

*gulp!*

Whalp, the death march continues but the extension of the date means that we won't be marching as long on a miles forced-marched-per-day basis. Hopefully I'll get a full (technical!) post this weekend. Barring the parental invasion.

However for my female readership (shut up Capa), I just want to get something off my chest about ... chests.

I'm six-foot-two. If you are standing in front of me, facing me and wearing something with a scoop or low neckline, I'm looking at your face. Especially if you're five-six or shorter, I can't help but look at your cleavage. Whaddaya want me to do? I can look you straight in the eye and whoomp, dere it is. Or rather, they are. Right in my field of vision. If you look up at the branches of a tree you can't help but see sky.

So don't get defensive, creeped out or otherwise. I am a gentleman who, post-surgery, has 20/15 vision in both eyes. Trust me, it's an effort of will on my part to still be a gentleman in that situation and not look at your cleavage.

Sheesh.

Quick Update

The Death March continues, so I've been too busy to update. Hopefully I'll back to my "Regular Schedule" soon.

Thanks to all those who complimented me on my last post. Been considering starting a second blog for that kind of stuff. I'll cook up a few posts first before I publish.

I'll my personal kvetching for this blog. Enjoy!

Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right! Here I Am...

Let's start off this post on a positive note for a change. Today, I ran at six mph for twenty minutes straight on the treadmill. Which is four minutes longer than in my plan.

The running thing began about three weeks ago. The day I started I was winded at the four minute mark. Maybe the pack a day has something to do with that. Since then though things have been going up in terms of time and going down in terms of what the scale says.

Now those who know me know I'm not morbidly obese or anything. In fact I've had the opposite problem: I have difficulty keeping weight one. Had I should say. Now, I can't keep the good weight where I want it (chest, arms, legs) and have accumulated some where I don't want it (belly, thighs and butt). But running has already reduced my waistline an inch (I can get into those jeans) and...

Okay, that's starting to sound too girly. Let's just sum up by saying "Running Good for Moby" and leave it at that.

The last annoyance of the day is I upgraded my iPod software and it bricked. I managed to get it going again but I have to reload the bugger. I was planning on rearranging it anyways but put in a full day at work today (Thanksgiving!) and just wanted to watch Blade Runner and shower, not in that order.

The first annoyance of the day is I may have been a bit hasty on some (certainly not all) of my comments about my downstairs neighbors. I had made a statement earlier that they were partying and having domestic disputes. Now I think they were indeed partying but the domestic disputes came from my neighbors to the west. Justin, if you're reading this, your girlfriend is right: throwing shit around when you are mad is what a four year old does. Grow the fuck up.

The neighbors to the east on the other hand have started watching foreign language films with the volume at "eleven" well past midnight. It vibrates the pictures on the walls.

I'm seriously considering moving before Christmas again if this keeps up. I have never had neighbors like this. Surprisingly my upstairs neighbors, I never hear a thump or peep from...

Mythos

We're doing a classic Death March on the project at work. For those who don't know, a death march is when a project is at the point where there is no hope of meeting a deadline unless everyone on the development team puts in alot of overtime.

It should probably be noted that more often than not that the root cause of a death march is the person who is not spending their evening and weekends punching a keyboard.

So anyways, while I was waiting for a build or three to compile, I put together a l'il list. It's actually about software development. Shocking that sort of thing could actually appear on my blog! Anyways....

Myth: It's faster to build "it" using a browser interface instead of a client-based interface.

In fact it will probably take longer. You have to take browser, operating system, servers and other environmental factors into account that you don't (or not as much) for a client application. Plus, what is a simple thing in a client application is a nightmare of complexity via a browser.

Myth: It is cheaper to build "it" using a browser interface instead of a client-based interface.

Client software applications can be expensive. Developers, testing, support etc can cost quite a bit. A web application needs the exact same resources, blood sweat and tears as a client application.

A client application sits on the box it is installed on. A web application sits on the web server that you either have to own or rent connected to the network that you either have to own or rent. And those boxes and networks need people and software to run effectively. And of course you need support programmers to keep the software running. So while it may be cheaper from the narrow scope of building the software (although not by much when it is in fact cheaper) you have to account for cost of ownership of the application for the life of the application.

Myth: A web browser can do all the same things as a client application does.

As people demand more and more "desktop" type look-and-feel for web applications, the more layers of complexity you need to put into a web-application. Two very big dangers arise from this:

1. The more you do, the fewer browsers and operating systems are compatible
   
2. The more you do, the more fragile (easy to break, hard to fix) the application becomes. In the client world, this can be mitigated by a well-designed application. For web applications, this is unavoidable.
   
3. A web page is inherently stateless. That means as a baseline, one web page knows nothing about any other web page (except for where it is). While they are many ways to make web pages look like they are state full, it is done by inelegant and complex means (as compared to full client software).
   

Myth: There are more web developers than client developers out there (or at least they are easier to find)

Kind of a half-truth. While there seems to be quite a few more people who know HTML than C++, there can be a wide gulf between a web designer (working with how a web page looks) and a web application developer (working with a web interface with a complex piece of software sitting behind it). In fact a web application developer needs to be a web designer *and* a client application developer.

Myth: Web code is throw-away code

Any code could be throw away code. For simple things it is easy to throw up a web page that performs a simple task (or it least it can be) to be replaced later.

Anything of great complexity takes a great deal thought and effort to produce (Web or client). Telling your web application developers that their code is throw-away because they program for a specific interface technology is a good way to find out how the job market is. Just because a web page is more ephemeral than a solid .EXE, doesn't mean it should be regarded as disposable.

Myth: Everyone can use an application with a web interface. It's as easy as using a browser.

Ever work as technical support on anything? Some people, through no fault of their own (in most cases) really don't know how to use a computer. While browsing to Google is pretty straightforward, what happens behind the scenes boggles the minds of a lot of really technical people.

Creating a easy-to-use interface is both an art and a science that requires a lot of thought, work, revision and code. It does not just happen because you are building for a browser.

There is also a really, really big danger if non-power users (powerless users?) start treating a web application like a client application. The first example is the "double-click" danger. In many web applications, a double click (the first click selects what they want to do, the second tells the computer to do it, at least in a client app) is a disaster waiting to happen. Double clicking "Submit" with credit card info can (and far too often does) lead to double billing. It doubles how much work the web application has to do when that happens. Take the problems you have with users in a client app and multiply by two.

A well educated user is a safe user (regardless of the type of application). An educated user is not a cheap user as well, and far too often user education is an afterthought. If thought of at all that is. (Yes, true for any application).

Myth: A web application is easier to support than a client application

The "cost of ownership" for a web application was mentioned above. Now add your support system that actually needs to help your users. In addition to the software, your support people need to know about the multiple browsers, multiple operating systems, the problems with combinations of the previous and more than likely need to tap into which ISP is having problems at the very minute. All while dealing with irate customers who can't understand why their credit card was billed twice.

If there is a single advantage in supporting a web application, it's that you can deploy a patch much faster and easier that a client application. But unless you have a really solid infrastructure and application design, it means *nobody* will get to use the web app while you patch it. And every time you do, your support people will be bombarded with calls.