Esther's Articles

Esther's IT World Blog: Great Wide Open

I'm blogging about open source and (to a lesser degree) software development for IT World. This link takes you to the blog summary.

Esther's JavaWorld Blog: Irregular Expressions

In late February 2009 I began blogging for JavaWorld about career tips for code wranglers.

How to Sponsor an Open Source Sprint

For IT World, June 2009, feature article: In an open source sprint, you can add new functionality to your most important application for less money than your marketing department spent last month on a single fancy client dinner.

Old-school programming techniques you probably don't miss

Computerworld, April 2009. 11 skills and tactics that every programmer once needed to master ... and today can blissfully forget.

Is Open Source a Good Career Bet for Developers?

For Linux Developer Network, 2009: Programmers may argue about whether it's easier to find a job as a Linux developer or as a Windows developer. But getting beyond preconceptions and into hard hiring data is surprisingly difficult.

25 highly anticipated open-source releases coming this year

Computerworld, March 2009. Among the major open-source releases due in 2009 are several familiar to you -- and more that are worth discovering. From software development tools to mobile apps to open-schematic gizmos aiming to reduce world illiteracy, the open-source community is bent on innovation.

Twitter tackles the story of your life in 140 characters

For Digital Landing. I've written several "short-and-sweet" articles for this site, with the target reader a non-technical consumer (say, my sister... or yours). This one is meant to be a gentle, reassuring introduction to Twitter.

Care & Feeding of the Press

Internet Press Guild. I was lead author of this long document explaining to PR people how to effectively interact with journalists.

Esther's CIO.com articles

This link leads to my author bio and all the articles I wrote for CIO.com. You'll also find a few specific articles below.

My CIO "Developer Wisdom" blog

I used this CIO.com blog for opinion pieces specifically about software development topics. Among the posts you'll find here are "Does IE6 still matter?" "It's Your Bug. But It's Not Your Job Anymore," and "Just a Little SOM Thing for Linux Developers."

Technologies We're Glad are Dead

for CIO.com, 2007. It's easy to cry over the products we loved and lost. But let's take time to appreciate the many ways in which technology really has improved, and the many geeky things we no longer need to worry about.

26 Ways To Know Your Software Development Project Is Doomed

For CIO.com, 2008. There's always a moment when you realize that all is lost, that there is absolutely no way THIS project can be a success. Here's a few signs that should suggest your project is headed for failure.

My "You're the Boss" blog

My primary blog at CIO.com was this one, whose theme was "How would you solve this management problem?" Among the posts you'll find here are "Four Non-Obvious Things Pink Floyd Can Teach Your Team," "Leadership Lessons: Passion, Smarts and What Open Source Can Learn About Management," and "Who's the worst programmer on your team? How can you tell?"

Service-Oriented Architecture Pays Off for Synovus Financial

For CIO.com, 2008. Case study. The winning solution in the case study contest sponsored by the SOA Consortium and CIO magazine [of which I was one of the judges] provided integrated business solutions using existing applications and legacy systems. Learn how they did it.

Would You Fire This Person?

For CIO.com, 2008. It's easy to fire an incompetent employee; you know they failed. But what do you do with a high-maintenance problem employee? Read this case study about a real employee, decide if you'd fire him, and then compare your answers to other managers' opinions.

Negotiating for the Best Job Offer: Survey Says DO IT!

For CIO.com, 2008. (Even when I'm a writer, I'm doing research.) IT professionals who negotiate for a better salary and benefits package during their job search almost always get a better deal, according to CIO.com research. The more specific you are in identifying requirements, the better chance you have to get what you want. Learn how gender, age and income range affect your chances of getting the best deal.

A Do-It-Yourself Open Source Conference: +1

June, 2009, Linux.com: a report on the Open Source Bridge conference in Portland Oregon.

The ABCs of Web 2.0

For CIO.com: Web 2.0 is a set of technologies, a huge set of related functionality and almost a lifestyle choice. This straight-up, non-techie tutorial will help you separate the facts from the hype.

Getting Clueful: Seven Things the CIO Should Know About Telecommuting

For CIO.com: CIO.com presents input from several telecommuting IT professionals about the benefits the practice brings to the enterprise, about processes that help remote workers interact with other team members, and about the irritations that twist telecommuters' shorts in a knot.

Five Things IT Managers Should Know About Software Requirements

For CIO.com: Software requirements documentation was supposed to itemize everything that the application required. But the project was late, the users were unhappy, and the budget spun out of control. Why? Just ask the developers.

Getting Clueful: Five Things CIOs Should Know About Fighting Spam

For CIO.com: The battle for your users' e-mail inboxes probably will never end, but it's not a failure of technology. Experienced e-mail and system administrators share the key points they really, really wish you understood.

All Firewired Up

For IT Business Network, 2006, feature: "In all likelihood, you have a device that uses IEEE 1394, better known as FireWire. It might be a hard disk, a memory card reader, or a digital video camera. But that's today. What's coming up in 1394c? And how will that change the hardware landscape?"

Would You Fire This Person?

For IT Business Network, 2006, feature: "No one likes to show an employee the door, and few of us (thankfully) have reason to acquire the skill to fire someone gracefully and fairly. This article describes a Problem Employee and explores how several dozen IT managers — and workers — would deal with the situation. See if you'd make the same choices."

Keep Yer Paws Off Your PC: Preventing End-Users from Installing Applications

For IT Business Network, 2006, feature: "IT professionals need to strike a balance between user freedom (such as letting them install any app they want) and keeping a predictable and safe computing environment. Several network admins give their advice about the best way to find and maintain that balance -- with tech tips for each operating system." This extremely popular article received a lot of attention from groklaw, and it's one of my favorite ways to craft a "best practices" (or at least real-world) piece: asking people how they address a problem.

Stupid Résumé Tricks

For IT Business Network, 2006, feature: "IT recruiters share the really really dumb things that otherwise intelligent people have done to (and with) their résumés, in the pursuit of a new position. Learn from other's mistakes, before you repeat them."

The Best and Worst Tech Interview Questions

2006, for DevSource.com. Your manager put you on the list of people to interview the latest programming team candidate. What do you ask that isn't lame, and that helps you choose the right person? Techies share their best and most-hated questions.

Review: Is That A Scanner In Your Pocket?

IT Business Network, 2006, product review: "The DocuPen scanner is the size of a fat pen, and does a decent job. Decent, not great. But what do you expect from a full-page scanner that's smaller than a cheerleader's baton?"

The Refactoring Factor

For DevSource.com, 2006, a researched commentary: "Developers rank refactoring — the process by which one improves existing code — at the bottom of their pile. Surely, that doesn't imply that programmers don't *want* to improve their code."

Interview: .NET Rock Star Scott Currie

For DevSource.com, 2004, a one-on-one Q&A: "When customers want help on technical topics in C++, Microsoft's Scott Currie is the one they ask for. Learn his views on Visual Studio's new features, the right questions to ask in a technical interview, and the most common developer mistakes."

Bjarne Again: C++ Poised for its Next Stages

For DevSource.com, 2005, a trade show news report: "C++ might be viewed as a legacy, 'old style' language. Yet at its annual conference, coders see evidence of significant changes in the works, such as debates over the next steps in the C++ Standard Libraries."

Stalking The Wild Software Defect

SD Times, August, 2002, feature article: "Some development managers release impressive software armed with only a spreadsheet, a pile of Post-it notes and a confident attitude. Others, equipped with every QA tool imaginable, have never met a deadline. Clearly, bug-stomping success isn't the result of tool quality, but of your ability to get the most out of the tools available."

Stalking The Wild Software Defect

SD Times, August, 2002, feature article: "Some development managers release impressive software armed with only a spreadsheet, a pile of Post-it notes and a confident attitude. Others, equipped with every QA tool imaginable, have never met a deadline. Clearly, bug-stomping success isn't the result of tool quality, but of your ability to get the most out of the tools available."

OS/2 Has A Future -- It Just Isn't with IBM

eWEEK, 2005, an opinion column. My initial journalism career was founded on my expertise with IBM's OS/2 operating system, my expertise in explaining its technology, and my involvement in its user community. So when eWEEK asked me to comment about OS/2's formal end-of-life, I had to say _something_.

OS/2 Will Run Windows Applications Again

InformationWeek, October, 2001. Connectix's Virtual PC for OS/2 will let OS/2 users run Windows and Linux applications. Short news item

E-learning course: Working on Virtual Teams

I wrote two online courses about virtual teams: this one, about being a member of a virtual team, and another one about managing such teams. I'm rather proud of the results, as the courses really do address the day-to-day issues of living and working in the same house. (For good reason: I've been a full time telecommuter for more than ten years.)

How to Write a Product Review

I've written hundreds of product reviews, most of which appeared in print publications and aren't online. I've also mentored plenty of authors on the process of writing a *good* review; the talent, it appears, does not come naturally. This article appeared initially in my user group newsletter in 2000, but I've pointed a lot of people to it, over the years.

Mobile IPV6 on Linux

For LabRat Magazine, 2005, technology feature: This article explores the issues in developing and testing mobile applications with IPV6. Even if you don't care about the topic (or aren't quite sure what it is), it's a fairly good example of my writing style. [Updated: Labrat, alas, seems to be folded back into its Spirent parent, and the articles are no longer online. This link goes to the Wayback Machine.]

Girl Power

January 2000, Sm@rt Reseller. A column about the role of women in IT.

Return on Interaction

InformationWeek, July 2001. A feature about online community development.

Open Book: Time Out

InformationWeek's "Breakaway" section, May 2002: This week's book has a time-travel paradox, a ginger-ale swilling cat, and an alternate future that never happened. (The Open Book feature encouraged readers to identify a different book each week, for the chance to win a spiffy prize.)

Discussion Software: It Ain't No Party

December, 1998. Sm@rt Reseller. A comparative review of online discussion applications.

Hops To It

InformationWeek, January 2002. An "outside the office" article about home brewing beer. Be sure to note the sidebars.

Beyond Saurkraut

August 2002, ChefMom. A comparative review of German cookbooks.

Exploring the Black Forest by Train

For German Life magazine, 2006, short feature: "An old railway gives you a unique view of the German countryside as it twists and turns through mountainous terrain." You need to scroll down quite far to find the excerpted text of this article.

Product Review: Timestrip Monitors Product Freshness — With No Effort

I occasionally review consumer electronics items that have little or nothing to do with computers. This article examines "smart tags" that let you track how long items have been stored.

Inroads for the Electronic Slush Pile

Feature, BookTech (now Book Business), 2003: A business feature about how one publisher employs technology to acquire new mystery novels.