The Soul of an Internet Machine

Construction contractors and many other trades love to see scope changes and project expansion. Project expansion and scope changes increase revenue and often increase the size of a team. Sometimes the need for more done at a faster rate comes introduces risk to a project. Using modern software development techniques whereby the team work in 2-4 week sprints, we often see issues long before we must deal with them. How does...

When we start a new software project we “swing with a big hammer”, standing up structures and framework quickly. What we build resembled the both the native Oracle APEX environment plus the client’s colors, logos, and fonts. Through this initial framework, we, the development team, offered a vision. From here a shared vision developed through shared work. We also needed to accommodate the multiple languages of French, Dutc...

The first time I heard the phrase middleware, I was writing software for FedEx with a terrific team of Oracle developers in the late 1990s. I had to ask for a definition. In short, middleware is software that run between two things. Middleware is software that is invisible to the user. Middleware is software but seems to fall outside the accepted definitions of an application or app. It is software’s own software-based inf...

I have started so many projects in my life and career. More often, I remember the end of a project. The end of a project means friends disappear. Comfortable familiarity and expertise fades. Sometimes with massive and exhaustive projects, I get sick for a while. When it goes well, I feel snuggly connected to those around me. Leaving Iraq after a year, left me drained, and I failed to keep in tough with others from those da...

During the last half-century, we revise the terminology related to the early days of a software design process. Hopefully, when we ignore dogma, the goals are the same. We, the developers, must create tools for clients that work to improve process. Pragmatically, the process is a bit messier than the ideal suggests it should be. Step 2 then Step 4, then maybe circle back to Step 1 or 3. That’s life isn’t it?

Instead of gett...

My colleague Stephanie, or Stevie, and I have working together for over six years. We’ve written commercial software that has managed billions in U.S. federal government funds. We’ve written software that helps an airline inspect their ramp operations. In the past, I worked on a team that use software to catch bad guys. The Electrotest project started in December of 2021. The audience for this podcast includes business fol...

 Echoes of a Lincoln Song

Listeners I am putting out this story for your enjoyment and dedicating it to two friends: Lynda Copeland and Ginny Lemire. I wrote this piece upon request of my mother in 2003, before I moved back to my native New England and before spent a year in Iraq (2005/2006). It is written about the Town of Lincoln MA, the town of my youth.

Lincoln sits between Lexington and Concord, famous for the battled o...

Ever think about the seconds immediately after buying something online? You get an email. You may have been added to a mailing list. In the seconds buying our product, there are 14 steps, 4 vendors, and thousands of lines of instructions. All invisible, all immediate. When it works, money flows into a bank account. When it goes badly, sweat drips, anxiety soars, and bosses pace. Follow the haps and mishaps of a software de...