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current community chat Software Engineering Software Engineering Meta more communities Explore other Stack Exchange communities on stackexchange.com Stack Exchange This page is an archive of this blog, and is presented for historical purposes only. IT Needs to be a Better Business Partner November 8, 2013 by Morons . 4 comments Salespeople have a reputation for being just about the worst people to work with when building software. Being in the CRM space myself, this is a constant topic of conversation. Usually the focus is around user adoption, as opposed to mundane complaining about salespeople caring about nothing but their commission checks. But it’s true, that’s all they care about. That’s why when pitching CRM systems to salespeople the pitch always revolves around increased sales\commission. This will save lication; they need evidence that they have more right to the name Python” than POBox Hosting. What is easy is what . If you haven’t visited the site already, trust me, it’s awesome! New features There have been a ton of new features this year, with two very important changes for Programmers: We are no longer a migration target from Stack Overflow , and We now require registration for asking questions (but not for answering them). Network wide the more significant changes were: Reputation history changes Flag weight was removed from user profiles Real time updates to questions, answers, and inbox Rejected migrations Community review tasks (aka the new review queues) Disabling migration for questions older than 60 days Questions I wanted to close this with a list of awesome questions from the past year. At first I wanted to bring some new attention to a few hidden gems, showcase posts from less popular tags, blah blah blah, but at the last moment I decided to go simply with the questions with the highest score. It might not be the best metric we have, but it’s the only metric that I felt would adequately represent the wider community. Here they are, our top twenty questions: My boss decided to add a person to blame” field to every bug report. How can I convince him that it’s a bad idea? Is the use of utf8=✓” preferable to utf8=true”? What is the Mars Curiosity Rover’s software built in? I’m doing 90% maintenance and 10% development, is this normal? I’ve inherited 200K lines of spaghetti code — what now? Should I intentionally break the build when a bug is found in production? What software programming languages were used by the Soviet Union’s space program? Why can’t the IT industry deliver large, faultless projects quickly as in other industries? Torvalds’ quote about good programmer Should you keep a copy of all the code you write? Why is 80 characters the ‘standard’ limit for code width? Why was Tanenbaum wrong in the Tanenbaum-Torvalds debates? How do I review my own code? Why are shortcuts like x += y considered good practice? How to keep a big and complex software product maintainable over the years? Has Not everyone can be a programmer” been studied? How do operating systems… run… without having an OS to run in? Is it just me or is this a baffling tech interview question? Is constantly looking for code examples a sign of a bad developer? Is the phrase never reinvent the wheel” suitable for students? All in all, it’s been an awesome year! Keep on rockin’, Programmers! Filed under Community , Programmers Tagged: site-related Maintaining Healthy Hands November 20, 2012 by Morons . 3 comments Keeping your hands healthy and pain free is something every programmer should be thinking about, minor hand injuries will affect your productivity, a major injury could threaten you livelihood. Hand injury is common problem amongst programmers, so it’s not surprising that the questionHow do you keep your hands in good condition?” was asked here on Programmers (though closed as off topic). Dr. Alan Gotesman an orthopedic surgeon with training in hand, microvascular & upper extremity surgery and friend to the Programmers Community has agreed to answer this question for us. By: Dr. Alan Gotesman Repetitive Strain Injuries of the Hand Prolonged repetitive hand movements, particularly in awkward positions, can lead to strain injuries. It is important to be aware of these injuries and prevent them as well as treat them when appropriate. Some of the conditions may not necessarily be caused by repetitive stress, but many can be aggravated by it. The following are some of the more common hand conditions encountered by hand surgeons in the setting of repetitive stress. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome The carpal tunnel is a narrow, tunnel-like structure in the wrist. The bottom and sides of this tunnel are formed by wrist (carpal) bones. The top of the tunnel is covered by a strong band of connective tissue called the transverse carpal ligament. The median nerve travels from the forearm into the hand through this tunnel in the wrist. The median nerve controls feeling in the palm side of the thumb, index finger, and long fingers. The nerve also controls the muscles around the base of the thumb. The tendons that bend the fingers and thumb also travel through the carpal tunnel. These tendons are called flexor tendons Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the tissues surrounding the flexor tendons in the wrist swell and put pressure on the median nerve. These tissues are called the synovium. The synovium lubricates the tendons and makes it easier to move the fingers. This swelling of the synovium narrows the confined space of the carpal tunnel, and over time, crowds the nerve. The synovial swelling can be caused or aggravated by repetitive motion. Direct compression of the carpal tunnel as well as extreme positions can also aggravate the condition. Symptoms of carpal tunnel consist of: Numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand An electric shock-like feeling mostly in the thumb, index, and long fingers Strange sensations and pain traveling up the arm toward the shoulder Prevention: Prevention of symptoms should focus on proper hand positioning when performing activities, in particular typing. The wrist should be in a neutral position (not bent up or down) which is best done by a forearm rest. There should also be no direct compression on the wrist which can increase the pressure in the carpal tunnel. Occasionally, braces may be required to rest the wrist and if symptoms become severe enough, surgery may be necessary. Tendonitis Tendons are the connection between muscle and bones which allow us to move our joints. The wrist tendons slide through smooth sheaths as they pass by the wrist joint. These tendon sheaths, called the tenosynovium, allow the tendons to glide smoothly in a low-friction manner. When wrist tendonitis becomes a problem, the tendon sheath or tenosynovium, becomes thickened and constricts the gliding motion of the tendons. The inflammation also makes movements of the tendon painful and difficult. The most common and consistent complaint of patients diagnosed with wrist tendonitis is pain over the area of inflammation. Swelling of the surrounding soft-tissues is also quite common. Repetitive stress can cause tendonitis by putting too much strain on the tendons. Prevention: Taking frequent breaks and not putting the wrist/hand in awkward positions can prevent these injuries. If symptoms appear, anti-inflammatories can be helpful as well as short periods of immobilization. Swelling can be brought down with ice and elevation. Cortisone injections can be helpful for symptoms that are not improving and surgery may be necessary if conservative modalities are failing. Sprains A sprain is an injury to a joint caused by a tearing/stretching of the ligaments. These are frequently acute injuries caused by trauma, however they can be chronic from repetitive stress across the joint causing stretching. Any joint can be affected, but the thumb can be particularly vulnerable as the ligament is often being stressed with daily activities. The increased frequency of texting, with...