Tag: Software Development

  • Hey It’s Easier Than You Think (Xcode 4 and Subversion)

    I love how the new Xcode 4 shows you code changes side-by-side with it’s version editor view. But I had a little problem. I’m a subversion fan. Yes, I know, totally not cool. I keep this flaw a secret and I don’t force my preference on my co-workers nor do I tweet about it. I’m…

  • Cocos2d Tip#3: Making Your iPhone Game Fast

    My first iPhone game, that might actually make it to the App Store, is just about done. (Not done done but almost ready for testing and tweaking.) With the idea that other people beside me might actually play my game I’ve started to do a very dangerous and high risk activity: Optimization! The all the…

  • Cocos2d Tip #2: Using CCTimer in Your iPhone Game

    If you’re writing almost any type of game, from a puzzler to a FPS to an RTS, tracking time is critical element of the game play. (Except for Angry Birds. You can ponder an Angry Birds level until your iPhone battery runs dry without penalty.) Cocos2d-iPhone provides several means for tracking time in your game…

  • Android SDK Compatibility with Eclipse and JDK

    I recently switched my development workstation from a MacBook Pro to a Windows desktop PC. Yeah, I know, I’m going  against  the trends but it’s a sweet machine I assembled myself based on recommendations from Ash. Immediately I ran into compatibility problems with Google’s Android SDK and the current versions of Eclipse (Helios) and the…

  • Volunteer Scrum Master Handbook

    I have to disclose upfront that I am more of an Agile guy than a Scrum guy. Which is to say I feel more at home discussing Agile in general than Scrum in particular. (I’m not even sure how to capitalize it–SCRUM or scrum?) Over the years I’ve made my peace with Scrum and as…

  • Agile Fables

    I love a good fable. The kind that Aesop used to write with animals acting out human morality tales. Of course, if you do the research, you quickly find out that Aesop didn’t write most (if any of the fables) we ascribe to him and like Shakespeare he probably never existed. I don’t let reality…

  • Managing the De-Motivated

    It still amazes me how a process created by engineers for engineers can make so many engineers so unhappy. I’ve seen all kinds of responses to Agile from engineers. Some are immediately enthusiastic. Others are cautiously optimistic. Many are amused and cynical. And some are down right hostile. Over time the responses polarize and the…

  • In Search of the Motivated

    I’m doing a lot of hiring right now. So much that I’ve had to form a hiring scrum and treat it like an engineering project. The scrum is doing a great job. We now have a systematic way to write job descriptions, assign interviewers, evaluate resumes, perform phone screens, and conduct interviews. All this to…

  • Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

    What can we learn from Dr. Peter Venkman about the Agile development process? It’s true that Venkman was the less technical member of his team. Clearly Dr. Egon Spengler was the blue-sky researcher while Dr. Ray Stantz was the practical engineer.   But Venkman brought a lot to the table: Charm, business acumen, and the…

  • Improving Your Whuffie with Agile

    Virtual currency like Cory Doctorow’s concept of Whuffie will probably replace real money in the next 100 years. Maybe sooner with the way our current economic crisis is going. Once all the hard currency in the world is spent it’s Gresham’s law FTW! You can get a head start by using Agile development principles to…