Joel on Software

StackOverflow Podcast #18

2008-08-21T09:02:05Z

This week's StackOverflow Podcast is up: episode 18. It was the first chance I've gotten to speak to Jeff since the beta went live, which is, honestly, exceeding even my highest expectations. Performance is terrific. The site is crisp and clear Read More......(read more)

Good System, Bad System

2008-07-29T22:59:04Z

“I pass six Starbucks every morning on my walk to work. Just to clarify, that's counting only the Starbucks that are actually on the west side of Eighth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. I think there are some branches on the east side, but that Read More......(read more)

Pecha Kucha

2008-07-18T14:59:00Z

We've already got a great lineup of speakers for the Business of Software conference : Seth Godin Eric Sink Steve Johnson Richard Stallman Paul Kenny Tom Jennings Dharmesh Shah Mike Milinkovich Jessica Livingston Jason Fried and me! Neil Davidson Read More......(read more)

Annual Fog Creek Open House

2008-07-14T11:12:05Z

Here at Fog Creek Software we get a lot of requests for a tour of the office, which we usually have to decline: we have this unusual obsession with giving programmers quiet working conditions. But once a year, we do have an open house. It's a rare Read More......(read more)

Don't hide or disable menu items

2008-07-01T11:42:04Z

A long time ago, it became fashionable, even recommended, to disable menu items when they could not be used. Don't do this. Users see the disabled menu item that they want to click on, and are left entirely without a clue of what they are supposed Read More......(read more)

Desks

2008-06-06T16:25:04Z

A reader wrote in to ask what kind of desks we're going to be using for the new office. The ergonomics experts always want you to have your feet flat on the floor. So you have to adjust your seat height first. Then, your arms are supposed to be horizontal Read More......(read more)

StackOverflow podcasts moving to IT Conversations

2008-06-05T11:21:04Z

Yes! I'm still doing those weekly podcasts with Jeff . We've already done eight of them. We're moving, though, to IT Conversations , a huge network of terrific audio shows about technology. Just looking at all the great shows they have there Read More......(read more)

Adventures in Office Space

2008-06-02T11:33:02Z

“We lost some time because a deal to expand at our current location fell through -- it turned out that the extra floor we wanted wasn’t actually, to use the real estate jargon, ‘available.’” From Adventures in Office Space Read More......(read more)

Architecture astronauts take over

2008-05-01T00:01:05Z

It was seven years ago today when everybody was getting excited about Microsoft's bombastic announcement of Hailstorm, promising that "Hailstorm makes the technology in your life work together on your behalf and under your control." What Read More......(read more)

Stack Overflow Podcast #2

2008-04-22T21:10:00Z

The next podcast is up . Today we talked about why we're doing a podcast in the first place, took some questions/suggestions from listeners, and got into a fight over whether programmers should learn C. Guess which side I took. There are some improvements Read More......(read more)

stackoverflow.com

2008-04-16T21:43:03Z

What is stackoverflow.com ? Nothing, yet. But here's the concept: Programmers seem to have stopped reading books. The market for books on programming topics is miniscule compared to the number of working programmers. Instead, they happily program Read More......(read more)

First Joel on Software conference

2008-04-14T11:14:01Z

Registration is now open for Business of Software 2008 (the first ever Joel on Software conference). Neil has lined up great speakers: Seth Godin , Business Week's "Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age", is the best-selling author Read More......(read more)

Fire and motion, small business edition

2008-04-09T15:24:04Z

“If the flight attendants on the JAL 747 from Tokyo I'm on right now were to, in a remarkable lapse of Japanese standards of service, throw me off the plane with a parachute, I could do a pretty nice roll when I hit the ground.” From my Read More......(read more)

Martian Headsets

2008-03-17T09:00:05Z

You’re about to see the mother of all flamewars on internet groups where web developers hang out. It’ll make the Battle of Stalingrad look like that time your sister-in-law stormed out of afternoon tea at your grandmother’s and wrapped the Mustang around Read More......(read more)

Marketing internships with Seth Godin

2008-03-11T11:33:03Z

The summer internships at Fog Creek are already full, but Seth Godin , my marketing rebbe, has marketing internships . Paid! “The idea is to find a diverse group of motivated young people who want to join together to create a few really neat projects Read More......(read more)

Some interesting jobs

2008-03-07T11:10:01Z

The recent release of FogBugz 6.0 has, approximately, doubled our sales, and, while I fully agree that often small teams can accomplish a lot more than large teams, we have a lot of interesting work to be done here and there never seem to be enough people Read More......(read more)

Pressed uniforms, mid-winter tans, and morale

2008-02-28T11:47:02Z

March's Inc. column is online : “Don't tell your star salespeople to take the bus and stay with relatives when they make that call in St. Louis, even though that's what you did when you started the company.” Not loving your job Read More......(read more)

Inspired Misfires

2008-02-25T16:34:02Z

From my February column in Inc. Magazine: “The bureaucrats in Washington had forgotten Newton's first law: An object in motion tends to remain in motion.” Not loving your job? Visit the Joel on Software Job Board : Great software jobs Read More......(read more)

Speakers for Business of Software Conference

2008-02-23T13:10:01Z

Neil Davidson has posted a preliminary list of some of the speakers for this year's Business of Software Conference . “So far I've lined up (in no particular order) Joel Spolsky, Eric Sink, Richard Stallman, Dharmesh Shah, Jason Fried, Steve Read More......(read more)

A correction to the correction

2008-02-22T09:05:02Z

Some readers were kind enough to point out in the comments that there are a couple of open source projects that integrate with Remote Desktop . I guess news analysis that appears within hours of a story breaking is never very good. The whole business Read More......(read more)

Some corrections

2008-02-21T21:16:05Z

A well-meaning, but rushed, journalist named Ben Charny interviewed me this morning about Microsoft's interoperability press release . He made a ridiculous number of mistakes . That's the nature of the wire reporters on deadline. Here are some Read More......(read more)

Why are the Microsoft Office file formats so complicated? (And some workarounds)

2008-02-19T04:45:02Z

Last week, Microsoft published the binary file formats for Office . These formats appear to be almost completely insane. The Excel 97-2003 file format is a 349 page PDF file. But wait, that’s not all there is to it! This document includes the following Read More......(read more)

Going to Tokyo

2008-02-06T22:06:05Z

I'm heading out to Tokyo tomorrow in advance of next week's Shoeisha Developers Summit . See you later! Not loving your job? Visit the Joel on Software Job Board : Great software jobs, great people. Read More......(read more)

TripIt is awesome

2008-01-31T13:45:04Z

You know what I really like? TripIt.com . It's amazingly simple. You take all those travel confirmation emails that you get from your travel agent, hotels, car rental agencies, etc, and you just forward them to plans@tripit.com . That's all you Read More......(read more)

Microsoft can't speak straight any more

2008-01-29T21:23:01Z

Here's how Microsoft says , “SQL Server 2008 will be late:” “We want to provide clarification on the roadmap for SQL Server 2008. Over the coming months, customers and partners can look forward to significant product milestones for Read More......(read more)