I’m writing this on Leap Year Day, February 29, which means we’re in a presidential election year. This sticker expresses my feelings about it exactly: I don’t know about you, but I still have a monster case of politics fatigue left over from 2016. As National Review columnist Ian Tuttle wrote then, we had “two …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Two Brain Droppings
Dropping #1: Whenever we work on a UX project, we always think of pleasing the end user. But it often happens that the users aren’t the ones paying for the project. And the users’ desires and the check writers’ desires often don’t coincide, and sometimes even conflict. So: how do we please the user, while …
Watershed Down
Welcome to 2020, dear reader. As we pass the watershed (dictionary: “a crucial dividing point, line, or factor; a turning point”) into a new decade, I realize that I’ve passed a personal watershed in my adoption of technology. Here’s mine, and does it ring any bells about yours? I was browsing the new paper …
What the Skype?
I had planned a different topic for this month, but a bad experience with Skype so infuriated me that I need to rant about it here. What happened? The usual. I started a scheduled call with an important client, and I could hear her, but she couldn’t hear me. “Hello. Hello, Dave, are you there?” …
To Your Health
Microsoft recently announced the impending shutdown of its HealthVault service, effective November 20, 2019 (see https://www.healthvault.com/en-us/healthvault-for-consumers/) . I am sorry to see it go, but I understand the competitive pressures and shifting landscape that led to its demise. We can learn from studying its triumphs and errors. You’ve probably never heard of HealthVault (HV), …
Punishment and Crime
Ladies and gentlemen, I have once again snagged a major scoop. Edward Snowden, still in Russian exile, has favored me with another leak. He’s annoyed that Obama pardoned Chelsea Manning but not him. “What do I have to do, get a sex change?” he fumed. He really enjoyed the firestorm when I published his leak …
Welcome, friend!
You’ve reached the new home of “Don’t Get Me Started”, which graced the back page of MSDN Magazine for almost ten years. (Archives here.) Microsoft recently retired that publication, so I’ve moved my column here. I’ll be keeping a regular monthly schedule. You’ll find the same wise-but-irreverent take on the state of the software industry. As always, you …
Don't Get Me Started 