A Web App Went Live Today

A new web app went live today, and I shed a tear. The Power of Good Questions Some history. Years ago, I was starting to question my decision to become a hydrologist. Not because I hated hydrology, I did– and still do– deeply love it, but because I couldn’t find a job. Since I’d been a programmer for 20+ years (indeed, I programmed all the way through 10 years in the sciences), I decided to see what...

Science in Corporate America

There’s a bill in Congress called “The Research Works Act”1 which threatens open access to science in a very disturbing way. The bill basically gives control of publicly funded research to private companies. There’s a petition to oppose this bill. I wanted to write up why I think we should sign it. The Research Works Act Unlike many bills, The Research Works Act has very short text: No...

New to testing? Just wash one dish

I have a team I’m working with of great tactical programmers. These guys take the craziest specs you’ve ever seen from clients and turn them into shit that actually works. Tactical programmers are great, they are needed in every organization. Nothing will get you to a deliverable better than a solid tactical programmer. One thing I’ve found with many tactical programmers– it’s almost a...

The Ever-Deployable Github Workflow, v2.0: Branches and Issues

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Git WorkflowHere at CHOAM, we love to live at the junction of creating and learning. In fact, it’s one of the primary reasons I became a programmer. As a little kid with my TI 99/4A I could create software I never dreamed possible. Sitting down with my BASIC compiler, I could type a few lines of code and suddenly do something that I could never do before. I’ve been...

Hourly work, fairness, and the scamming of lawyers

I’ve been working full-time as a contract programmer for a few years now, and have recently begun to realize something very disheartening: My clients get a lot of shit for free. Now, that’s not disheartening in a “they get stuff I don’t get” sort of way. I mean, good for them. I’m a happy person who likes spreading happiness, so I’m not against them getting shit for free on...