A Blog by Scott Isaacs

Month: April 2008

Putting a Necktie on a Giraffe

Naked giraffeGiraffe-sized necktieIf I told you that you had to put this necktie on this giraffe, what would you do?

The way I see it, there are three logical positions for this tie to be placed on the giraffe’s neck: 1) at the bottom of the neck, near the body, 2) in the middle of the neck, or 3) at the top of the neck, near the head.  Personally, I think choice #3 makes our business giraffe look the most professional, although with choice #1, the tie is more likely to be out of the giraffe’s way, especially while it is bending down.  Perhaps choice #2 is a good compromise, though — it’s less stuffy than #3, and although not as convenient for the giraffe’s bending tasks as #1, it doesn’t look like it will interfere too much.  Here are my depictions of each of these choices for visual comparison.

Choice 1 - bottom of the neck Choice 2 - middle of the neck Choice 3 - top of the neck

So, in this hypothetical situation, what would you do?  Why?

Perhaps I’ll share my own thoughts about this in another post someday.

Updated OPML

I have finally updated my OPML file, which is always linked from the sidebar of the site.  If you have any suggestions for other blogs I might be interested in, please let me know.

.NET Micro Framework

Just got a book in the mail from Amazon: Embedded Programming with the Microsoft .NET Micro Framework.  It was only about $6 from the "Used and New" section of alternate sellers.

An upcoming project at work is currently planned for Compact Framework, but, if my limited understanding is right, hardware needed for the Micro Framework is cheaper.  So as long as it will perform as needed, this might be the way to go.

Has anyone done any development with the .NET Micro Framework yet?  Any pointers or pitfalls?

Tax Time, Taxing Time

Well, here it is, 9:15 PM on April 14, and I’m just getting started on my 2007 tax return.  I have already installed TaxCut Pro and found all the tax documents that Kelly had set aside for me so that I would do this a couple months ago — as if that’s some big redemptive accomplishment.

Life just gets in the way too often.  I need to find a way to change that.  Maybe next month?

Update: It’s 11:45 PM and I’m done other than confirming some numbers tomorrow.  Two and-a-half hours is record time for Isaacs family tax return prep.  I’m just hoping I didn’t miss something important.

Deeper in .NET 2008 — Today!

If you’re in the Milwaukee area and have nothing to do today (4/5/08), why not come to Deeper in .NET?  It starts at 8AM and will go until right around 6PM.  We have 5 great speakers on the agenda so come on by and see what’s going on.

Is an MBA Worth It?

A friend of mine is going to school in an "MBA for professionals" program.  I’m not sure if it’s public knowledge or not, so no identifying links here.  Anyway, in an e-mail today, he mentioned that he has class tomorrow, and that got me thinking.  Every few months for most of the past decade the thought crosses my mind that I should look into doing the same thing. 

So far I haven’t done anything about it for a number of reasons, mostly falling into either the money category or the time category, some into both.  But I’m still interested in doing it someday — at least I haven’t ruled it out.

So, here’s the question.  Is it worth it?

If you’ve done it, are doing it, are thinking about it, or decided against it, I’d be interested to hear why.  Also, if you are a person that does hiring, I’d like to hear what you think.  Would you take an MBA over experience?  Or is experience king?  Realistically, it will be a year or two before I’m ready to go for it.  So that gives me plenty of time to get tips from all sorts of people.

If you have any thoughts, you can leave a comment or contact me.

Less Than 72 Hours Away

Deeper in .NET 2008 is 3 days away — this Saturday!  I can’t believe it myself.  The time has flown by and I’m amazed that everything managed to get worked out.  If you haven’t already, go register to attend — you won’t be disappointed. 

Also, we just made an announcement on Monday that we are adding an Attendee Party after the conference.  Just stick around at the hotel for a while and enjoy the food and fun.  At the time of this writing, there are only about 40 spots left at the party, so if you want to go, be sure to sign up right away. 

You can sign up for both the Deeper in .NET 2008 sessions and the Attendee Party at www.deeperin.net.  Tell all your friends, coworkers and clients that they should come.  I hope to see everyone there!

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén