Atomic Spin

Growing as Makers • Nov 04, 2011

Applying Agile to Hardware Development

The motivations and principles of Agile are applicable to many engineering disciplines outside of software development, including hardware itself.

Developer Tools • Nov 02, 2011

Splitting an SVN Repository

Split a SVN (subversion) repository, maintaining commit history during the migration, with svnadmin, svndumpfilter, and svn dump files.

Workplace • Oct 31, 2011

Headphones Are Dangerous

Headphone negatively impact office productivity. They hinder communication among coworkers.

Web Apps • Oct 31, 2011

Upload Files Directly to S3 with Plupload, Rails, and Paperclip

A description of uploading files directly to Amazon S3 from the browser using Plupload, Ruby on Rails, and Paperclip.

.NET / WPF • Oct 27, 2011

Generic Memoization in C#

Dynamic languages have good generic forms of memoization, but I haven't found one I'm happy with in C#. This is a sketch of a generic memoization in C#.

Project & Team Management • Oct 25, 2011

The Tao of Agile

Agile is not about iterative development. It's not about user research or TDD. Agility won't be found in open workspaces - or in cubicles. Agile is an attitude.

Ruby on Rails • Oct 24, 2011

Integrating Paypal Express with Rails 3.1, Part 1

How to integrate Paypal with Ruby on Rails 3.1. A step-by-step tutorial.

Designing for Users • Oct 21, 2011

Designing Complex Applications: Before Asking “Is it useable?”, Ask “Is it useful?”

Usability testing assess the ease of completing a task—usefulness testing addresses if the task is valuable or a better alternative to what exists.

Development Practices • Oct 19, 2011

Builder Syntax: A Timeless Way of Building

What is Builder Syntax and how do recent implementations compare to those of Groovy and Ruby?

Development Practices • Oct 15, 2011

Code Parsimony and the Perils of Over Abstraction

... the more I think that simplicity is one of the most critical aspects of quality software. All things being equal, simplicity outweighs abstraction.

Embedded Systems • Oct 15, 2011

Taking the Training Wheels off the Arduino

The Arduino C Scaffold is a project environment for stepping outside the Arduino IDE and into the land of embedded C programming.

Ruby on Rails • Oct 13, 2011

Testing wrap_parameters in a Rails Controller

Currently, in Rails 3.1 the @wrap_parameters@ controller method works great, but is untestable. Here's how I've worked to resolve this issue.