Scrum sold out years ago. :( It used to be Chickens and Pigs....now everyone is a "Pig"...honest.

-- The heart of Agile is simple. But it has been falsely inflated for monetary gain. Total agreement.

Docker isn't that hard to explain. And, no, it isn't a VM or a VM controller. (That's Vagrant) Docker is similar to Solaris Zones, BSD Jails, and Linux Containers. It's not (supposed to be) a virtual machine (with all the OS code, drivers, etc.) but rather lightweight container allowing calls down to the OS. (And no, I have no idea how Docker is going to make that work with Microsoft) So...why it is important? Well the difference with Docker is that it allows you to push your application AND ENVIRONMENT at the same time...to Development, to Testing...and (ideally) to production. (You wouldn't normally push a Vagrant file to production, for example). It (ideally) prevents problems of code failing in production because a config file was off, or an environment variable that wasn't set, or a wrong version of a library. There is a LOT of hype and some concerns about security - but that's it in a nutshell.

:thumbsup:

I've worked for (and am currently working for) a company that does time logging. (To the point we are using a 3rd party app - Toggl - to track it, but there are others). Time logging falls into a couple categories: 1) Management is worried you're not working on your job. This indicates a problem with Management itself (and there are better tools, including ones that take a screen shot every X number of minutes). Unfortunately, not much you can do about this. 2) Management is required to track it. Some government contracts (and others) require time tracking. It sucks. Sorry. 2) Management is tracking time for economic reasons. Management is tracking time because they this is a capital project. Hours spent here can be written off of taxes. (So, it's required too). Now that said, most management (except for case 1) aren't going to freak out if you make a phone call or talk to someone. The idea is to get good general hours that will withstand an auditor's scrutiny. As for the WhiteBoard....someone has been reading about KanBan boards, and it's a pain in the neck. (You're supposed to use JIRA or a KanBan board, not both). Ask if you can (at least) use a virtual KanBan board. (JIRA might even supply something similar to a Kanban board). Strict time logging, and you might be a crybaby...but given the Kanban board and JIRA and you might be dealing with a Situation 1 - in which case you're justified. But ask....you might be surprised at the answer.

Sorry - I would never trust mono.

You're assuming you can get a machine without an OS. (There for a long time, you couldn't) For myself, when I bought my latest laptop, it had Win8 on it. I removed the hard-drive, swapped in a new hard-drive and slapped Linux Mint on it. :-)

Can't say I've tried RailsInstaller. I have used both rb.env and rvm. RVM is home heavy weight, but it's the reigning champion. rb.env is coming up fast though.

--Instead, they want me to create something that converts some arcane XML format (CAMT053) to an undocumented XML format they use internally. Ok, sure, arcane to undocumented, perfectly doable, given enough time. Given enough time? It should take only minutes. What you're describing is a XSLT...a transformation from one XML format to another XML format. XSLT does precisely that. Oh...and now you can demand the internal format....if it's wrong...change the XSLT config and you're done.

--Since your work does not go through the extensive editing and review that it would get by using a publishing house, it becomes very easy to put out work that has lots of misspellings and is grammatically sloppy. I've seen a number of otherwise good authors tank their careers because of that. I've seen a number of self-published authors put out stuff with lots of spelling and grammar issues. When you publish via a normal publisher, editors and proofreaders are automatically part of the process. However, getting someone to proofread/edit isn't hard. Friends will do it for free (usually). If you want a professional job, there are those on the internet that will do this for a small fee.

PHP is primarily used for web development. Ruby is a scripting language (along with Bash, Perl and Python). These language can be used for web development but can be used for a variety of other things. This all said, you should be able to pick up PHP in a matter of a few weeks. Ruby will take a few more weeks with Rails / Sinatra taking an addition 1-2 weeks after that.

Except that Javascript isn't always run on the client. There is server-side javascript.

You are confusing 1/3 with 3/10th. The two are not the same. Actually the problem is 1/10th - which can't be accurately represented in binary floating point. (It can be represented in base_10 floating point - but base_10 floating point isn't perfect either. It can't represent 1/3.) The result is a rounding error on addition (1/10 + 1/10 + 1/10). Be very wary of doing financial calculations in base_2 floating point. It ALWAYS bites you eventually.

Nope. Java used to run in the browser as applets or (occassionally) as a signed application. When they're talking about disabling Java, they're primarily talking about disabling on the Client (ie: browser). Javascript is an entirely different Beast (ECMAScript) and it's not going anywhere. -- And I agree that Linux is irrelevant on the Desktop. It's presence is on the Server and Mobile.

The trouble is what do we mean by Java. Do we mean Java on the Brower? Yep, it's a problem. They've been finding all sorts of hacks for it and it needs work. Java WebStart / Auto-Update? Problems, but less so. Java on the Server? Unlikely to go anywhere. .NET is still (imho, Mono not-withstanding), primarily a Windows-Only VM. It won't run on a Unix/Linux box.

Well, for me, the I haven't received a "Daily Industry and Insider" since 12/21.

So much for the staff getting back to us.

Okay...I'm weird, I admit it. 1) 3rd party libs - I don't have a problem using them. I have a problem that the build script / Source Code Control doesn't include them. Having to go get them is bad. (You did fix this as you went forward, right?) 2) 15,000 lines for one control. Seems high, but I've seen worse....occassionally I have written worse. 3) Where do you start? Back to the build script. You do have Source Code Control (please tell me yes...if not, get Git and put it under Source Code Control - ANY Source Code Control) With Source Code Control and a consistent build process, you can begin to code fearlessly. (Your code may never be used, but you can start).

Shouldn't that be Mycroft Holmes IV? (It's scary when you meet yourself.)

I've seen code like that were they were manipulating data -- usually because they couldn't (normally they just didn't want to) use better tools. But I'm worried about this line -- Which was then pealed apart using cursors. Cursors?