Finetix Breakfast in NY
Finetix is hosting a breakfast in New York for those of you who may be interested in the application of Agile in Capital Markets. Ken Schwaber will be talking about SCRUM and I'll be presenting on XP in Capital Markets. There will also be some brief case study's from David Lattimore-Gay's experiences. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Only on Slashdot...
This is an absolute classic. Read more...
A random walk through Financial IT, May 6, 12:43am
I’ve been an avid blog reader for some time now and have been meaning to set up my own blog for some time, a new job at a consultancy company where blogging is an established part of the culture have finally provided me with the impetus to set up one of my own. Cool. Read more...
A random walk through Financial IT, May 6, 12:43am
Pair Programming: Issue 1: Space Violation!
A colleague of mine suggested I blog something on why I am an advocate of Pair Programming (PP) - he is somewhat of a skeptic. He mentioned some unfortunate incident with an insect and an orifice. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Pair Programming: Issue 2 : Stop looking at me!
[The second installment of my response to a colleague's queries about Pair Programming] Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Blogging Virgin
So this is the traditional, "I've never blogged before" first entry. Being an eXtreme Programming type, I of course Wiki but have never blogged. I have recently joined Finetix where blogging is encouraged, so I have been encouraged so.... Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Update: UCM or Base ClearCase?
We copped out… UCM, as implemented at our client, was way too heavy for our project needs and with the help of the local admin Pinakin and I were able to get a significantly cut down process that more resembles base ClearCase. Rational/IBM have recognised the weight of implementing UCM and modified the process tooling in 2004, this client has yet to upgrade… Read more...
A random walk through Financial IT, May 6, 12:43am
What does you Recruitment Process say about you?
Having recently moved jobs, I have been generally unimpressed with the recruitment processes I have encountered. My particular bug-bear is the "technical assessment" questions and my second favorite "the personality profile". Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Pair Programming: Issue 3 : I like you so much I won't Pair with you
[The third installment of my response to a colleague's queries about Pair Programming] Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
My First Real Pairing Experience
This recent blogging of "how to do good pairing" caused my first real pairing buddy to remind me about how different we were but how well it worked. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Pair Programming: Issue 4 : You're in my way!
[The fourth installment of my response to a colleague's queries about Pair Programming] Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Agile and Organizational Change Management
Agile System Delivery in itself is not the main problem when dealing with clients. They want the benefits: regular delivery every 30 days, high quality, ability to change their minds, etc. They understand it, they understand to an extent why it might work but there is always "resistance" to the adoption of Agile practices. This is because you are trying to get the people to change the way they behave and Agile by itself does not address this process. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Light Bulb Jokes
Now that Agile has hit "the big time" with a Dilbert cartoon we (some old OT/SPA cronies at lunch today) were trying to remember if we'd heard an Agile or rather XP Light Bulb Jokes. Failing to do this we decided to make one up: Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
MSF for Agile Software Development - You've Got To Be Kidding, Right?
Matt Davey pointed me at the MSF for Agile Software Development Beta. Damian Guy and I read through it - its a very good laugh! I would like to thank Microsoft for producing such a magnificent pre-Christmas spoof for our entertainment. I recommend it for your geek office party. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Do or Do Not Do. There is no Try.
Master Yoda may well be an Agile master. His sage advise came back to me again in a recent discussion with some colleagues about adopting a stand-up practice for the whole company. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Breakfast in NY with Ken Schwaber
Finetix hosted a breakfast for about 30 senior people from NY banks who were interested in hearing about Agile in Capital Markets. Ken Schwaber came along to add further weight to the Scrum argument. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Software Factories Skepticism
I'm no expert on Software Factories but frankly I am a skeptic. I have spent a day or so reading about them on the InterWeb at the behest of one of my colleagues. There are several very well written articles on Software Factories out there. I particularly like the Jack Greenfield articles on the Microsoft site (Parts 1, 2 , 3 (where's 4 BTW?)). There's no doubt the Software Factory proponents are very articulate and maybe that's one of the things that makes me skeptical? Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Team Building Exercises? Bah! Humbug!
As the season is soon to be upon us I feel comfortable issuing a "Bah! Humbug!" opinion on the notion of Team Building Exercises. Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Winning an Award for Being Agile
I came across this article describing how a game company won a industry prize for using Scrum. I can't decide if this is good or not? Maybe I'm just jealous ? Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
XPDay and Buying a Beer
So XPDay is nearly upon us. Well worth going to if only for the social events on Monday and Tuesday! As per my previous blog entries I am a fan of the social event as a useful practice. If you study the programme closely you will notice that Finetix is sponsoring the drinks on Monday night - clearly I've managed to convince others of my view :-) Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
Agile Letter to The Guardian
I never really believed it was worth writing to newspapers, however, I was irritated by an article by Ed Hasted in the Technology Guardian sufficiently to respond. I got a call from Bernard Horan to tell me that they'd published an excerpt from it on the letters page! Read more...
Being Extreme, May 6, 12:43am
SCM Patterns
Repeatable builds are a key part of any Agile process. I have often had to put together a build/release processes as part of a consulting engagement. Read more...
A random walk through Financial IT, May 6, 12:43am
UCM or Base ClearCase?
ClearCase pretty much has the SCM market sown up in investment banks and I have used it on many projects over the last 8 years; sure it’s heavy(ish) to learn and refactoring support could be better, but it does what it says on the tin and quickly becomes a part of the build environment that you tend to ignore because it just works. Until today. Read more...
A random walk through Financial IT, May 6, 12:43am