Steve Fischer's Random Blog

Author: fish1964

  • Happy Anniversary

    Our wedding anniversary was last Saturday, but that’s not what this post is about. Tomorrow is another anniversary. Not quite as significant as our wedding anniversary, but a very impactful one nonetheless.

    One year ago, I and the entire New York office were let go by CS STARS.

    Time flies, at least when you’re having fun.

    It’s been a very interesting year. We’ve certainly done some belt tightening, but these days who hasn’t? There’s certainly been some uncertainty and stress. But if you told me I could wave a magic wand and have my job back the way it was before, I’d look at you like you were nuts.

    I’ve learned an incredible amount over the past year. In no particular order:

    • Four talented people on a mission with no constraints can accomplish more than 40 in a highly structured bureaucracy.
    • Those four people will have way more fun.
    • Between open source tools, very cheap tools and other startup friendly deals, you can build enterprise software incredibly cheaply.
    • Any web developer not using jQuery is crazy
    • Half a feature really is better than a half-assed feature.
    • Free WiFi is ubiquitous in Brooklyn. I can work pretty much anywhere.
    • I still really enjoy coding
    • Supporting multiple browsers isn’t that hard, if you start out assuming that you will support multiple browsers.
    • A small team of talented people that understand the business don’t need to use Scrum or XP or RUP or any other prescribed methodology.
    • But TDD and a focus on automated testing certainly helps.
    • Working outside is really nice
    • Socks are optional
    • Khakis doubly so
    • When working in coffee shops you should occasionally order decaf

    After one year, I still don’t know how our new business will turn out. Things are going very well but any new business has concerns.

    To the folks still at CS STARS, I do miss the people (well, most of them). And I wish everyone well. It’s a big market.

    But my non solicit agreement does expire at the end of the month…

  • Viking Favre

    For a long time Packer fan and a long time Favre fan, last night’s game was just weird to watch. I have to admit that I was watching Favre and still admiring the way he plays the game. He’s just fun to watch. I wish he weren’t playing for the Vikings, but what can you do?

    The game wasn’t Favre vs. Rodgers. Both played well. Switch the quarterbacks and the Vikings win, Rodgers has a great game and people would be talking about how Favre is looking a little old after getting sacked 5 times.

    In truth, the Packers letting him go was probably the best thing that could have happened for Favre. He’s in a way better situation. The Packers have to get their offensive line back or they will be toast. No running game and Rodgers running for his life will not get it done. That is the shell of the offensive line that did not give up a sack in the preseason.

    So congrats to Brett. And the Pack has some work to do…

  • Victoria is a Citizen

    Well it took long enough, but the paperwork finally went through and we had our date in Brooklyn Family Court. Victoria’s name change is official, she is a citizen, she will have a New York birth certificate (or at least the equivalent – if we lose it we contact Albany not Guatemala) and she can get a US Passport. She can’t be president (insert Birther movement joke here) but that’s a lousy job anyway.

    The event was quite anti-climactic. With the paperwork done, the court appearance basically consists of the court clerk asking us if that really is our signature on all the documents while the judge looks on.

    But it being family court, they allow photographs and the judge gives out lollipops…

    image

  • Eight Years Later

    This will be the first 9/11 where I am no longer an employee of STARS. 9/11 has always been intimately tied to STARS for me, but now with STARS not even having a NY office the tie is different. Many of the old gang will get together to toast the friends we lost. The day has become a combination of reunion and memorial.

    While the memories are painful, they remind me of the old STARS organization that I loved to work for. To remember the good folks we lost, here is my post from last year.

  • WiFi

    I’m sitting at a brand new coffee shop just two doors down from our place. It’s nice but they don’t have WiFi. So I’m checking out what random signals I can get.

    Right here I am picking up 26 networks. Most have random boring names. A couple of linksys and Apple Networks. But a few of them have amusing network names:

    • Pickles
    • Good Thoughts
    • Anal Sex
    • Flying Poo! (is the exclamation mark really needed? Like flying poo isn’t alarming all by itself)
    • Landhog
    • Argentina
    • Stan’s Place (that’s the restaurant next door – good New Orleans food)
    • plastic_forks

    And my absolute favorite network name:

    • No Soup For You

  • A Great Vacation

    I’m a bit late with my vacation update. We got back a week ago but the last week was without child care so we’ve all been a bit busy.

    Our vacation was in Cape Cod at the same beach house we rented last year. We shared it with the same couple and Danielle’s best friend joined us as well. With the kids all a year older it was much better. We had:

    • Danielle (6 1/2)
    • McKenzie (Danielle’s best friend) (6)
    • Cooper and Mariee (our friends’ twins) (4 1/2)
    • Victoria (2 1/2)

    McKenzie’s family was also staying nearby. McKenzie stayed with us four nights and Danielle stayed with them one night. The kids got along great and the weather was spectacular.

    We did the usual. Lots of beach. Catching hermit crabs and minnows. Collecting shells. And with the kids a year older, there were are few new items. We did several nice bike rides. And best of all, we had babysitters two nights. Actual adult dinners. Awesome.

    So here are the obligatory pictures.

    DSC01985 Danielle, Mariee, Cooper and Victoria.

    There was lots of dancing on our deck…

    DSC02024Danielle and McKenzie

    DSC02184 McKenzie, Mariee, Danielle and Cooper.

    DSC02082 Victoria, ready to catch hermit crabs.

    DSC02093 At low tide, there’s a lot of beach to cover…

     DSC02079Like I said, they got along…

    DSC02236 Maybe next year…

    DSC02255 Of course there were lobsters…

    DSC02047 The obligatory sunset picture.

    TheKids 

    Everyone had a great time…

  • Lame

    No, not me for not posting in ages (ok, maybe that is lame).

    Yale Press is publishing a book called “Cartoons that Shook the World” about the Danish cartoons about the prophet Muhammad that cause such uproar. It is supposed to be a scholarly discussion of the issues.

    But Yale Press decided to omit the actual cartoons.

    Excuse me? How can you publish a book about the cartoons and not show them? Egads. Yale self-censored to prevent possible uproar, thus giving extremists a victory.

    Lame.

  • Marketing is too important…

    … to be left to the marketing department.

    It’s an hour long, but this is a great speech. If you are building software, you need to be telling a story. And it needs to be a story that other people will want to tell their friends.

    If you can do that, you will succeed.

  • Conspiracy Theories

    Wired Magazine cracks me up…

  • The busiest airport in the world

    As someone who grew up in Wisconsin (my brother is a professor at UW – Oshkosh), this is not news. But it still amuses me. Outside of children’s clothing (this is where Oshkosh B’Gosh comes from) has anyone heard of Oshkosh?