Desk Coder

Behind a Desk from 9 to 5

My Journey to a PS3

I love football video games - College Football and Madden are my favorite games by a huge margin over other games (now that EA stopped making MLB games).  I owned a Wii, but I sold it because these games didn’t play well on the Wii.  I just wanted to play, I didn’t want to have to throw my hands up in the air to make an interception, it was just too awkward.  So after I sold the Wii, I told my wife I was going to take the money and buy a PS3.  Well, one thing led to another, and we didn’t have the money for it when it came time that I really wanted it.

After my last month, I wanted to celebrate by buying myself a PS3, but my wife said no.  She thinks I will send too much time playing it, and not enough time with the kids.  I think both my time with the kids and the time I spend working on my Internet business will be affected.  The only thing is, it is a relaxer for me, something I need when I come home from work.

So my wife said I could get one at the end of next week, September 12th.  I said great, but I told myself I wouldn’t do it unless I made 2 very important goals.

  1. Make $1000 by September 12th.  I knew this one was going to be tough, but you need to set your goals high so you can achieve them.  I am currently only on a pace for $700 by the 12th, so I really need to step it up.
  2. Lose about 5 pounds and be under 180.  This should not be too tough considering I have had the flu the past two days.  I just need to get into better shape.  Sitting at a computer 10+ hours a day is not very healthy.

Now, I need to get to work so I can make my goals.

I love football video games - College Football and Madden are my favorite games by a huge margin over other games (now that EA stopped making MLB games).  I owned a Wii, but I sold it because these games didn’t play well on the Wii.  I just wanted to play, I didn’t want to have [...]

September Goals

This is something new I will be doing every month, setting hard goals.  By this I mean, I will be writing them down (on the Internet) for every one to see.  This way I will actually be held accountable for whether I met these goals or not.  I am not really concerned with whether I meet the goals, but if I don’t bust my butt to try to meet the goals, then I reall failed.  Ok, here we go:

  1. I am taking two classes this semester (8 weeks long - started Sept 1) - I want to have at least a 98% in both classes after 4 weeks.
  2. I want to make more money this month than I did last month - This will be tough because last month was my best month ever.
  3. At least 15 posts on this blog this month - I am setting the bar low because this blog is kind of low on my priority list.  By this I mean, I have other sites (that make me money) that I want to work on in front of this one.
  4. Get Usability404 designed and up and running.
  5. Create an LLC and get an EIN number - I have been wanting to do this for a while, but I wanted to see a CPA to get some advice first.

Well, I have some high expectations to hit, so I better get going …

This is something new I will be doing every month, setting hard goals.  By this I mean, I will be writing them down (on the Internet) for every one to see.  This way I will actually be held accountable for whether I met these goals or not.  I am not really concerned with whether I [...]

Changing One System to Fix a Flaw in Another

Why do people think this is the right approach?  So we have a flaw in System A, the logic is not right.  Let’s change the way System B works to mask the flaw in System A.  Sounds like an excellent plan, right?

WRONG!

Talk to the manager of System A, and you will hear the blame thrown everywhere but where it should lie.  “It was correct as written”, “It was signed off as correct”, blah blah blah.  The problem is that the wrong people signed off on his System, but not everyone.  If the System has had the same issue since it was created, and now it is considered a bug, it was a bug when it was created.

Sad thing is, this happens all the time.  You continue to put a band-aid on an issue, and add another band-aid until it explodes.  Why not just save all that time and fix the initial issue!

Why do people think this is the right approach?  So we have a flaw in System A, the logic is not right.  Let’s change the way System B works to mask the flaw in System A.  Sounds like an excellent plan, right?
WRONG!
Talk to the manager of System A, and you will hear the blame thrown [...]

Desk Coder Up and Running

If you come around this site often (I have no idea why you would), you would have noticed that there is a new design.  The old one was way overused, so I went with a different one I hope it not as common as the other.  I sprinkled some of my own touches to this theme, as well as cleaning up a ton of BAD code.   I like it.  I don’t know how long I will like it, but it looks good for the time being.

I plan on posting to this site a lot more (starting now).  Not sure how often I will post as I have two other blogs I want to work on, but I will try to get to this one as often as possible.  With work demoralizing me more and more every day, you may see this blog take a turn towards - “here are the idiots I work with and what stupid things they do”.

Other than those type of posts, I want to make this blog about what I do, web devigner (developer and designer).  I have a wealth of information to share, the problem will be finding the time to share it.

If you come around this site often (I have no idea why you would), you would have noticed that there is a new design.  The old one was way overused, so I went with a different one I hope it not as common as the other.  I sprinkled some of my own touches to this [...]

Hardware Quote of the Day - July 15

Ted Dziuba said:

Scalability is not your problem, getting people to give a shit is

Ted Dziuba said:
Scalability is not your problem, getting people to give a shit is

From the June 2008 issue of Better Software:

Our task is not producing software; it’s helping our customers finish their work faster. Our job isn’t writing code; it’s giving our customers fast tools to get their jobs done.

After I read this, I just went, “Thank You”. I thought I was the only one who KNEW this.

From the June 2008 issue of Better Software:
Our task is not producing software; it’s helping our customers finish their work faster. Our job isn’t writing code; it’s giving our customers fast tools to get their jobs done.

After I read this, I just went, “Thank You”. I thought I was the only one who [...]

It’s more important to keep projects as small as possible for as long time as possible.

This comes from the conception that you need to involve everyone in the project from the very beginning like the designer, copywriter, whoever.

This also works when creating a website. SEO specialists tell you keep SEO in mind when creating a site. Designers tell you to keep design in mind when creating a site. Coders tell you to keep code in mind when creating a site. So do I really have to think about everything all at once, or can I just create the site already!

It’s more important to keep projects as small as possible for as long time as possible.

This comes from the conception that you need to involve everyone in the project from the very beginning like the designer, copywriter, whoever.
This also works when creating a website. SEO specialists tell you keep SEO in mind when creating [...]

  

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