Having ridden the storm of the dot-com decline, it's nice to see the
worldwide press having a semi-upbeat tone about the tech economy. Java, as a
language, rode the crest of the wave; it could do no wrong and Java
developers were the geeks among geeks. We now sit and watch the ups and downs
of our industry; we watch the continual bickering and arguments that crop up.
There are times I actually question why I do any of this coding/consulting
thing at all.
Recently I found myself stuck in a rut, doing the commute, doing the job, and
going home. I'd died on the inside and didn't know which way to turn. I was
enjoying programming but I felt it had no real value. Now I don't really hear
developers talk about this sort of thing at all and there seem to be shocked
faces when ... (more)
In February I took on the daunting task of starting a new venture. It was
based on an idea I had while reading a book on the low cost airline, Ryanair.
I never knew you could lease an aircraft; I thought an airline with billowing
amounts of cash just bought the machines and got on with it. Wrong, wrong,
and wrong with a capital W. My rationale was simple: there are a lot of
aircraft on t... (more)
It's unfortunate that programmers come and go at an alarming rate in the IT
industry, leaving code that must be maintained by someone who quite
frequently had no hand in writing it. Software engineers using UML have
models on how their programs behave, but the rest of us are left to read
through reams and reams of methods. Most of the time all you need is an
overview of how the program i... (more)
You may be aware of a radio program in the UK called "Desert Island Discs."
Basically, well-known people choose which records they would want if they
were stuck on a desert island (I've yet to hear anyone say they're taking a
CD player). Something of a similar nature is happening to me at the moment,
as I'm working from home (but far from stranded).
Since I didn't have any of my normal de... (more)
In my last few editorials I've been looking back in order to look forward;
for example, how to encourage and empower new programmers, how to learn, and
how to create better requirements and user expectations. Now I feel it's time
to look forward.
Diving into the dictionary (as I often do), the term evangelist is defined as
a "bringer of the glad tidings" (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dict... (more)
Jason Bell is founder of Aerleasing, a B2B auction site for the airline industry. He has been involved in numerous business intelligence companies and start ups and is based in Northern Ireland. Jason can be contacted at jasonbell@sys-con.com.
Keith Bergelt
Ricardo Aravena
Gaurav Mantri
Aditya Banerjee
John Karamitsos
Kaj van de Loo
Bob Little
Alois Reitbauer
Chris Schin
Richard Gordon
Anil Parambath
