Big Dave’s Blog

Month: June 2009

  • Checkout Hoptoad by thoughtbot, inc.

    I’ve been using Hoptoad for about two months now, and I’m sold. Hoptoad is a product by thoughbot, inc. Previously, I’ve always used the excellent exception_notification plugin. The exception_notification plugin is easy to use, and it works great. However, there are a couple of problems with it. You could flood your inbox if there is…

  • Bargaining for Advantage

    It’s not a programming book, but I recommend “Bargaining for Advantage” by G. Richard Shell. You may not be making multi-million or multi-billion dollar deals (yet!), but the techniques described here work just as well when negotiating an architectural detail or project. Plus, it’s pretty interesting to read about how some of the big players…

  • June 6, 2009 – 65th Anniversary of The Great Crusade

    OK, I know I’m a little off my usual topics again, but today is an anniversary. In the early morning hours on a Tuesday morning 65 years ago today, D-Day paratroopers began jumping into the French countryside. At first light, six divisions of soldiers from the United States, Britain, and Canada began landing on the…

  • Platform Engineers or Rock Star Engineers

    I’ve hired a lot of engineers over the years, and one of the first things I’m always asked to add to the job description is “must have experience in XXXX platform.” I sometimes put it on there to make people happy, but I rarely will disregard an engineer because they do not have a lot…