Hardware engineers build products, products with limitations in the physical world. With today’s wide interconnected networks, computers, either it be desktop or mobile phones, have the capability to "talk" to each other. Unlike the limitations of manufactured products, software applications do not have those same constraints. Software applications have the ability to be re-programmed or re-designed and then be transposed to become a different product. One can say that software is bound to be grown, woven into the fabric of the Internet, more than it is manufactured. read more...

I work from my house, as well as several coffee shops next door, and client's labs once in a while. When you are in a software development industry, you can pretty much work from anywhere as long as you can connect to the Internet. I recently attended an event at Rocketspace presented by Podio and Liquidspace. While Podio can feel like a generic tool, check out Screenlight (featured in Zencoder blog). Screenlight is a good example of an enabler of distributed workplaces for a very specific market, in this case the market of video screening. read more...

I picked up "Only the paranoid survive", "Cowboys and Dragons" and "The Shockwave Rider" from the library this week. read more...

Coming up with innovative technology is an art. Building an actual product out of that technology is an art. Making money out of that product is an art. In every case, there are plenty of opportunities to screw-up along the way but as the saying goes: "Smithing makes the smith. Sailing makes the sailor. Cooking makes the cook. Tailoring makes the tailor". At some point you need to jump in the unknown and start doing; practical experience will come with the years. Nonetheless, failing because "we did not know" is not an excuse. The ones that succeed are always the ones that can draw on the experience of others. When given a situation, they will obtain the technical advantage from their accumulated knowledge. Experience is a guide, not a master. read more...

Software is an artistic endeavor where elegance and flow are key factors to success. A passionate debate on two versus four versus eight spaces indentation reveals how much style and form matters to the practitioner. Software is as brutal and cold as any other engineering activities. It is the kind of work where only humble and honest people can thrive because either the computed result is correct or it is not. In most cases, you can objectively trace an error back to an individual. Software is a living entity the same way a manufacturing plant is. It requires the pragmatism and ingenuity of people to fix, update, and extend a system beyond its original intent. read more...