The New York Times, in its fascinating blog “Measure for Measure,” currently has a great piece by Suzanne Vega about how her song, “Tom’s Diner,” played a key role in the development of the MP3. The engineers at Fraunhofer Institut … [read more]
The New Software Era I know this is a generalization, but I think that the world of software is finally changing. For years now, we’ve heard about systems that provide enough abstraction, enough of a “toolkit” user interface so that … [read more]
A review of Ben Harper’s Lifeline (2007) Ben Harper plays a stylish blend of rock, reggae and old-style r’n’b, like a subtler, less flashy version of Lenny Kravitz. These are well-crafted, well-rehearsed songs, recorded in just seven days in a … [read more]
There’s an industry-wide SharePoint skills shortage. Nobody can currently meet their human resource needs: customers, systems integrators, independent software vendors, even Microsoft itself is short of talent. Such is the plight caused by a product that has been unexpectedly successful, … [read more]
I don’t know why I hadn’t discovered this before. ‘Discovered’ may not be a particularly good word, actually. Of course, I knew about it. I just chose not to use it until now. I’m talking about my MP3 player’s ‘random … [read more]
De-Phazz is a revolving cast of singers and performers around German jazz/electronica producer Pit Baumgartner. For more than 10 years, De-Phazz has released an interesting and unique blend of jazz, German cabaret music, electronica, hip hop, reggae/dancehall and r’n’b. Baumgartner … [read more]
Staying with the theme of how country music could be, here’s a favourite record by Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. Taylor is a singer-songwriter who emerged as a writer of hit songs in the 60s (‘Angel of the Morning’ and … [read more]
When discussing project vision, business requirements and software specifications with clients, a typical challenge is that the business analyst doesn’t act as a discussion partner but rather an order taker who has no opinions of his own. Many business analysts … [read more]