The World vs America: Why the USA is Easy to Hate

Because of the places I've worked, and the jobs I have had while at those places, I've been able to travel to other countries.  While in these places, I've had countless hours of conversations with people from those places, most of whom have never traveled outside of their own countries.  These conversations, frequently, are about America. Today's blog started with me reading something that someone in the UK posted online after a rock concert....

19 Mar 2011 · 8 min · Gary Allen Vollink

From Top Down to Agility

I am a Technical Team Leader.  I have some developers reporting to me.  So let me say this; Regulated, Regimented development.  That's what I try to use most of the time.  Yes, really.  It is extremely important to start a project with good specifications.  First, this means that I have had several conversations with my customers about what they are expecting to get out of the project, and how they expect to interact with it before anybody starts coding....

24 Jan 2011 · 4 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Spreading the Word For Simon

Please help make 2011 Simon's year. You know all those e-mails that get sent around with some heart-felt story about some child who is in dire need, and if you just forward the e-mail, you could help save that child's life?  Well, the overwhelming majority of those e-mails don't actually have a link that they want you to send along with that e-mail.  A link where people who actually have the means can drop a dollar, or twenty....

6 Jan 2011 · 3 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Apple Admits iPhone Can't Compete, Targets Android with Patent Suits

Admitting that the iPhone can no longer feature compete with the fast moving open source platform, Android, Apple Inc dusts off some patents that could be stretched to cover some Android features and starts filing lawsuits. Gone are the days when Apple could just tell people to use their phone and the difference in quality would be obvious.  These days, even the new Windows phones are better than iPhones, so to try to save it's market share, Apple has decided to sue instead of compete....

3 Jan 2011 · 1 min · Gary Allen Vollink