MikeWitters.com
My $0.02 on stuff.
ProfessionalStuff
Small Code Differences
May 13th
I enjoyed this post about a scenario where code goes through an evolution based on different types of developers discovering it in succession and applying their own ’style and wisdom’ to it. The post itself was creative and interesting, but the coolest thing about it are the comments, in my opinion. People are getting downright crazy about it. It just shows how literal, logical, and nutty we software developers really are. To each his/her own!
Open source application servers. A tough decision ahead for us.
Oct 21st
One of the cool things about the new job I will _officially_ be starting in November is that we are going to look to use open source tools first. The biggest choice we have to make on that front is which open source application server to use. We have the go ahead to get an environment setup and in-use for some pilot applications that are less mission-critical than most of the apps we have on our primary WebSphere servers. Now comes the time we need to decide which open source application server(s) we will use. Read the rest of this entry »
I got a new job!
Oct 12th
I have accepted a position at a company in Dayton. The position is with a company that I have been working for as a consultant off and on (mostly on) for the last three years. I will be a ‘Technical Architect’ in the ‘Enterprise Solutions’ group at WinWholesale. I am very excited about this new opportunity. In my new position I will be the technical leader of the group that is dealing with newer technologies. We will be making use of open source technologies where they make sense and employing an agile software development methodology. One of the most important things to me is Read the rest of this entry »
LinkedIn vs FaceBook? Even for career/professional stuff?
Aug 27th
I’ve been ‘LinkedIn’ for several months now. I’ve made contacts with enough of my current and past colleagues to feel like its useful. I’ve also gotten several serious employment inquiries. I am a firm believer in the whole ‘web networking’ thing. When you replace the ‘web’ with ’social’ in that statement is where I get a little sketchy – at least when talking about professional relationships.
There are blog posts out the wazoo talking about FaceBook burying sites like myspace and LinkedIn. I am certainly not bashing FaceBook because I’m not much of a user – it seems like it has a nicely designed web interface and certainly is getting a lot of pub so they must be doing something right. I just don’t get the hype from the perspective of saying it will ‘replace’ sites like LinkedIn. When I created my FaceBook account and started trying to connect to contacts I felt like I was in a dating service. Maybe its more of a general issue with society, but the pictures of people are almost always in a party mode and most of the people seem to me to be in more of a ’social mood’ in their profiles and comments. Maybe I’m just turning into an old guy, but it just seems like the purpose is different, whether the creators intended it to be different or not. Maybe the new wave is to totally mashup your personal and professional life. I’m not sure I’m down with that though… that’ll take some getting used to.
So, again I’m not saying use LinkedIn over Facebook. I’m looking for someone to convince me that I should invest the time into FaceBook for professional endeavors. So… let me have it.
My first attempt at a ‘Web 2.0′ look
May 3rd
If you’re one of the 142 people who have visited my site since its inception last month then you’ve probably noticed that I have changed the theme often. I was trying to find what would fit the times and what I liked at the same time. I spent at least 4 hours on each one that I tried – making a logo, customizing the colors, fonts, etc. This is my latest attempt, and for now I’m happy with it. I went with the web 2.0 look which from what I understand is bright colors, big fonts, big graphics (just my RSS buttons), but nothing too flashy. Read the rest of this entry »
