One of the biggest complaints I hear over and over again about talking to stakeholders as part of a requirements gathering exercise is: “They’re just lazy! They won’t just tell us what they want!” Which is… ridiculous. Now, if it’s around lunchtime, and your belly is grumbling and the smell wafting through the open window […]
That time Ken Thompson made me coffee
I got my Computer Science degree from what was then called the University of Missouri-Rolla a long time ago. Now it’s called the Missouri University of Science and Technology for reasons I don’t remember other than it’s more correct and obvious since Rolla is a tiny, tiny little town in the middle of the state […]
It’s ok, I know you don’t really care about architecture
I’m serious. And actually, you’re right not to care about it. Let’s face it, it’s not like we’re building La Sagrada Familia or something that grandiose. While the idea is that if we do our job right, lots of people will benefit. It’s neigh-on impossible for anyone to come along 100+ years later and wander […]
How architecture can save your life…or get you killed
I’d originally planned to write a different email today, but in doing some quick research to make sure I wasn’t being loopy, I found something I wanted to share with you. The excerpt below is one of many recollections of Col. Francis Harold Potter, USAF, I ran across: === In 1957 I was flying B-52’s […]
The shift from “map SABSA” to “use SABSA”
I’ve been having quite a number of conversations recently with people about their experiences with putting SABSA in practice. I know I did this in 2017-2018, but these are new conversations, so some new insights are emerging. An interesting conversation I had yesterday with a couple of people highlighted a pretty big perception problem. And […]