evaluate performance
Posted on Become a Better Developer

Creating Velocity In Your Team

There are many traits of a team that can be fostered or part of their make-up.  The speed of completing tasks accurately is one such trait.  A team can focus on creating velocity by defining a proper level of risk and assessing the cost of mistakes. The Weakest Link We look at some analogies to build a case for pushing your entire team to accept some level of risk.  This can be instrumental in avoiding analysis paralysis and generally getting decisions made sooner.  Thus, we see that creating velocity is a direct result of shortening the decision process. Individual team members can contribute to creating velocity.  However, there is a lot of the team dynamics and the general environment that... Read more

thankfulness
Posted on General

A Week Full of Thanks and Thankfulness

It is that time of year again. We talk about appreciation and thankfulness related to the year we are wrapping up.  In the busy schedule of our modern lives, this seems to be more critical than in the past.  We fill our daily planners with tasks from the moment we awake until we crash into sleep.  This hectic approach is excellent for productivity.  However, it can suck the life out of us.  When we take a step back and appreciate what we have, it can be cathartic or even energizing.  Of course, this being developer-focused, we will look at reasons for developers to be thankful. Windows Related Thankfulness I have to start with an almost religious statement.  We can be... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Podcast

Affiliate Marketing Opportunities During the Holidays

Affiliate marketing is a  popular form of passive income.  You just put out content and hope that visitors take advantage of your partners.  This approach can be improved by offering the latest deals from your affiliates to your community.  The passive part of income can be less so during the Holidays as retailers turn to weekly and even daily deals or coupons.  The good news is that this time of year should provide you a boost over your typical affiliate revenues. Build On Your Affiliate Marketing Relationships There are many ways to work with affiliates.  For example, make sure your advertisements and special offers are up to date.  This path may require you to build some automation into your advertising process. ... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Free and Low Cost Tools

Cloud Storage Tools – Free and Low-Cost

Cloud storage is one of the most game-changing products in recent decades.  We have seen the cost of storage drop on a regular basis, and these tools are amazingly affordable.  These applications combine with high-speed connections to make it almost invisible to store data on the cloud instead of your device. Many Cloud Storage Options The product landscape for these tools is full of players.  However, a few have distinguished themselves from the pack.  Nevertheless, we have found a more extensive list of examples in case you want to learn more or find other options.  You can see those options here: https://beebom.com/dropbox-altenatives-cloud-storage-services. The Features At first glance, you might not care what differentiates these products outside of price.  Space is space,... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Patterns of Software Design

Software Design – The Facade Pattern

In this episode, we look at the facade pattern.  This is one we have likely run into when we have dealt with complex systems.  In general, a facade pattern is an interface that summarizes a group of interfaces or objects in a functional group.  Without further ado, let’s take a look at this simplifying pattern. The Facade Pattern Defined As always, we will start with the “Gang of Four” intent to set the stage for our discussion. “Provide a unified interface to a set of interfaces in a subsystem. Facade defines a higher-level interface that makes the subsystem easier to use.” That last bit of the intent is the most import.  They saved the best for last.  The goal of the decorator... Read more

Posted on Google Cloud Tour

Google Cloud Platform: Using the platform

Since we have been talking so much about AWS, I thought it was time to switch gears and look at another popular cloud-based service provider Google. In part 1 of our video on the Introduction to Google Cloud, we cover an overview of the entire Google Cloud Platform. Including how to set up an account, the different levels of pricing, and point out some comparisons and differences between Google’s platform vs AWS. Other Topics covered in Understanding and using the Google Cloud Platform What is Google Cloud? The types of services offered What types of security are supported? Which Programming Languages are supported? What is Cloud Launcher? Understanding and using the Google Cloud Platform Free Tier Other videos in Introduction to Google Cloud series: Understanding and using the Google... Read more