The iPhone Development Story: the 22-step process to shipping an iPhone app
I just got my first application in the iTunes App Store, and I wanted to tell the story of what it's like to publish one, from start to finish. The app, NetAwake , is an independent project I wrote with my friend Joshua. It makes an interesting story, I think, because unlike the sordid tale of some people's struggle…
Lucky to be a Programmer
For the past few weeks I've been working with a fellow developer on a project that required an all-out programming effort. It's done now, so we're back to a regular schedule, but when people hear abo
What does a startup CTO actually do?
What does your Chief Technology Officer do all day? Often times, it seems like people are thinking it's synonymous with "that guy who gets p...
Programmer Insecurity
pickin', grinnin', and pushin' bits
Standing versus Sitting
Almost two months ago, I decided that I wanted to try working standing up, rather than sitting down. When sitting in my comfortable, reclining office chair, my posture was terrible, my attention span was narrowing rapidly, and I was constantly battling fatigue. After looking around online a bit, it…
Advice to the Bright and Young
One perspective on school, achievement, meaning, and life. An article on one bright young man, Moshe, recently appeared on Hacker News. For a long time I’ve been meaning to write about the su…
Startup founder evolution (or, the biz guy *is* valuable, just not at first)
In the past two months I’ve been on two different panels with other entrepreneurs. The first was at WTIA in Bellevue, WA (“ Cashing in on Web Services “)– the other panelists were very clearly what I’d call “business entrepreneurs”. All of them had relatively successful funded startups, but not a one of them had…
Rands in Repose Gives Dropbox Love
Cloud computing is yet another name for services that have existed for a really long time. Here's the 2008 IEEE Internet Computing quote regarding Cloud Computi
The Choice of Work
During the back and forth of exchange with a technical recruiter, he finally asked me what I was looking for. And so the floodgates opened. This may sound weird, but I pretty much choose employment…
An Engineer's View of Venture Capitalists
I first encountered venture capitalists (VCs) in 1987. Despite a bad start, I caught the start-up bug
I'm Joining Craigslist in July (by Jeremy Zawodny)
I wasn't really looking for a new job a few months ago when I received an email from Eric Scheide (see Team Bios ), the CTO at craigslist . He mentioned that they were looking for someone with MySQL experience and asked if I knew anyone. This sort of thing happens all the time.
Yahoo loses key mysql developer
It seems that word has started to leak out, so I might as well remove any speculation or ambiguity. In the next few weeks, I'll walk the halls at Yahoo! as an employee one last time and turn in my purple badge. After 8.5 years of service and a better experience than I could have possibly imaged back in 1999, the time…
The Perils of JavaSchools
Lazy kids. Whatever happened to hard work? A sure sign of my descent into senility is bitchin’ and moanin’ about “kids these days,” and how they won’t or can’t d…
Finding Great Developers
Where are all those great developers? The first time you try to fill an open position, if you’re like most people, you place some ads, maybe browse around the large online boards, and get a ton of …
Advice for Computer Science College Students
Despite the fact that it was only a year or two ago that I was blubbering about how rich Windows GUI clients were the wave of the future, college students nonetheless do occasionally email me askin…
A Field Guide to Developers
Unfortunately, you can advertise in all the right places, have a fantastic internship program, and interview all you want, but if the great programmers don’t want to work for you, they ain’t gonna …
Font smoothing, anti-aliasing, and sub-pixel rendering
Apple and Microsoft have always disagreed in how to display fonts on computer displays. Today, both companies are using sub-pixel rendering to coax sharper-looking fonts out of typical low res…
Career Guide for Engineers and Computer Scientists
Did you invest in 10 years of medical school and training? What if you'd bought bitcoin and sat on the beach instead?