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Sun, Nov 8 2009 14:53

How to be a Problem Solver

How to be a Problem Solver    Or how to deal with an angry customer.  In particular note the over communicate concept even if it’s nothing more than we’re still working on it and here’s what we’ve done so far.
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Mon, Nov 2 2009 14:02

Windows 7 development reorganized

Steve Sinofsky took over management of the Windows development team after Windows Vista.  He was in charge of Office development for a number of years prior.  I’ve been reading snippets over the past few years about how the development methodology...
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Thu, Aug 13 2009 15:20

Dual monitors on the laptop

I did some searching recently and located some inexpensive devices designed to add a second monitor to your laptop.   I'm quite happy with the StarTech USB VGA External Dual or Multi Monitor Video Adapter . Typically I move the task manager...
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Mon, May 4 2009 23:36

GIGO Almost Caused Plane to Crash part 2

in GIGO Almost Caused Plane to Crash I mentioned how I screwed up a Dun and Bradstreet database by putting two extra digits for the cents in the data sent to them when dollars were expected. However I forgot to mention the reasonableness check. D &...
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Mon, May 4 2009 23:31

Dreaming of Rails as the Next Microsoft Access

An interesting blog posting titled Dreaming of Rails as the Next Microsoft Access (Rails meaning Ruby on Rails of which I know nothing other than having seen the occasional reference it.) Now I disagree with the authors characterization of us as "Office...
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Sat, May 2 2009 1:18

GIGO Almost Caused Plane to Crash

A very interesting story: GIGO Almost Caused Plane to Crash "Instead of entering the true weight of 362 tonnes on the laptop, the aircraft weight actually entered was 262 tonnes. " The airline now has a second laptop for data entry. But I wonder...
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Sun, Apr 19 2009 22:28

Can't sleep

Can't sleep I got a giggle out of that one. If you don't get it you're not a programmer/developer.
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Thu, Apr 2 2009 13:42

My Manhattan Project - How I helped build the bomb that blew up Wall Street.

My Manhattan Project How I helped build the bomb that blew up Wall Street. "Last month, my neighbor, a retired schoolteacher, offered to deliver my oysters into the city. He had lost half his savings, and his pension had been cut by 30 percent. The...
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Thu, Mar 26 2009 22:05

Microsoft DreamSpark enables students to download Microsoft developer and design tools at no charge.

"Now, for the first time, Microsoft is giving its valuable software developer and design tools directly to students worldwide at no charge! This site enables students, like you, to download professional-level Microsoft developer tools to advance...
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Thu, Mar 26 2009 18:31

Which date is more understandable by the user?

While the left screen shot is more technically accurate and appeals to the accountant the right screen shot is much more understandable by the user. They also have a button where they can drill down to get the exact date. But really if the unit hasn't...
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Wed, Mar 25 2009 22:04

School sends letter to parents of dead teenager complaining about her poor attendance

School sends letter to parents of dead teenager complaining about her poor attendance The relevant paragraph is: He said: "Unknown to the school, Megan's details had remained in a different part of the computer system and were called up when...
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Tue, Mar 24 2009 14:06

"Slacker DBs" Vs. Old-Guard DBs

A very interesting summary at Slashdot - "Slacker DBs" Vs. Old-Guard DBs on an InfoWorld article Test Center: Slacker databases break all the old rules I saw this problem from a different perspective in 2000 or so when I purchased my Palm Vx...
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Tue, Mar 17 2009 14:28

What is the best way to understand the tables,queries, relationships,etc?

KrispyData asked the following question in the newsgroups What is the best way to understand the tables,queries, relationships,etc. I am new to Access and taking over an entire database. Philip Herlihy had an excellent reply well worth reading. Jeff Boyce...
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Wed, Mar 11 2009 22:37

Capturing screen shots

Tired of Alt-PrtScn and various jiggery pokery methods of getting out just the portion of the screen you want? I've quite enjoyed using SnagIt for the various screen shots on this blog and on my web sites. In particular I quite like the ability to...
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Tue, Dec 23 2008 15:36

The case of the form which took 30 seconds to open

The client had two transaction file forms which took 30 seconds to open while a similar form took 3 or 4 seconds to open. I went through many of the items on my Microsoft Access Performance FAQ page and none made a significant difference. The list of...
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Thu, Sep 25 2008 16:00

The sordid life of software bugs, exposed!

The sordid life of software bugs, exposed! is a very interesting look into the software bug process within Microsoft. While this is about another MS product my impression is that this a very common approach within Microsoft. If you are going to report...
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Wed, Sep 24 2008 15:00

Good developers and bad developers

I quite enjoyed reading More flame wars on the way by a fellow MVP. Make sure you follow the link to Coddling is consider harmful and read the comments. The following reminds me of the Therac 25 X-ray machine which killed people. "The full story...
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Mon, Sep 15 2008 20:06

Other deals for students

Thanks to the awesome Canadian MVP Lead Sasha Krsmanovic for informing me of some other deals for students: Microsoft DreamSpark Professional Development and Designer Tools for students at no charge. MSDN Academic Alliance However your school must be...
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Sun, Sep 14 2008 13:43

Fire Your Boss: The best place to cut IT organizations is generally at the top.

Thanks to SlashDot I read an interesting article - Fire Your Boss: The best place to cut IT organizations is generally at the top. I completely agree. I've dealt with two IT managers to any extent over the past ten years. I mostly deal with smaller...
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Fri, Aug 22 2008 21:41

On Our Project, We're Always 90% Done

On Our Project, We're Always 90% Done The first five paragraphs recommend a book and are off topic to my blog posting. The meat of the blog posting starts "My problem is that I'm almost pathologically bad about writing things down."...
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