Mary Parker Follett on Leadership

link -> Mary Parker Follett on Leadership

Came across this quote today–seems a propros the discussion of management and leadership.

It seems to me that whereas power usually means power-over, the power of some person or group over some other person or group, it is possible to develop the conception of power-with, a jointly developed power, a co-active, not coercive power.

If leadership does not mean coercion in any form, if it does not mean controlling, protecting or exploiting, what does it mean? It means, I think, freeing.  The greatest service [one person] can render another is to increase his freedom–his free range of activity and thought and his power of control.

Leader and followers are both following the invisible leaders–the common purpose.

Mary Parker Follett

What comes up for you when you read this?

I need to start reading this quote in the morning before the work day starts. I believe it. I just have a hard time sometimes remembering it in the moment.

NET Progress: Query Errors and Identity Map

link -> NET Progress: Query Errors and Identity Map

Transactions and the Identity Map. Super fun.

John Resig - JavaScript Testing, Performance Analysis, and jQuery 1.4

link -> John Resig - JavaScript Testing, Performance Analysis, and jQuery 1.4

John Resig (of jQuery et al) presents a summary of the 2009 landscape of JavaScript test automation frameworks, including on build automation for CI. Also covers measuring JavaScript performance.

The transcript for this video talks about all kinds of testing frameworks I have never heard of. Pretty cool find. Thanks Jason for sharing this.

Code Bubbles - A very interesting coding UX

link -> Code Bubbles - A very interesting coding UX

You never know where you are going to see something really interesting. I was passed this URL today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsPX0nElJ0k. You can read more about this research here. It never ceases to amaze - the level of creativity and ingenuity that exists in technology. Based on this guy's CV, he has worked a few internships at Microsoft. If Microsoft is smart, they will him a job asap! The idea of being able to break a class apart into multiple "bubbles" is interesting. What really intrigued me was that not only is there a big WOW factor in the UI's, usability was clearly a core design principle. I was wondering how debugging worked. No sooner did that thought cross my mind, and just like that, the demo turned to how breakpoints can be set for debugging.

 

Different way to build and IDE. Pretty cool

HunabKu: ConfORM: “Mapping” Asp.Net Membership

link -> HunabKu: ConfORM: “Mapping” Asp.Net Membership

Looks like ConfORM has ways to map classes that don't follow the normal conventions

Insights You Can Use » Blog Archive » Real-time Feedback

link -> Insights You Can Use » Blog Archive » Real-time Feedback

It sounds so simple when she says it. Not sure why I have trouble being more specific.

Testing - v8 - How to run the V8 test framework - Project Hosting on Google Code

link -> Testing - v8 - How to run the V8 test framework - Project Hosting on Google Code

I wonder if we could use this for unit tests

Coding Instinct: NHibernate Tip: Use set for many-to-many associations

link -> Coding Instinct: NHibernate Tip: Use set for many-to-many associations

Whoa. I noticed we are using bag in places. May need to figure out if FluentNHibernate can generate set instead.

A Past-Blast: Think Less, Act More, Stay Awake, Ship Code | Situated Geekery

link -> A Past-Blast: Think Less, Act More, Stay Awake, Ship Code | Situated Geekery

Towards a Way of Excellence

Simpler micro tests

Shu-Ha-Ri Considered Harmful? - Agile Coaching

link -> Shu-Ha-Ri Considered Harmful? - Agile Coaching

I'm uncomfortable with approaches that force students to follow agile practices without questioning. These approaches seem to violate the first value of the Agile Manifesto "Individuals and interactions over processes and tools." I question whether introducing agile software development techniques to people is anything like martial arts training. Software development is knowledge work and our aim is to build a team of reflective practitioners. To do this we need to engage with how people think about their work. Are techniques from physical arts that build muscle-memory really applicable here?

I like her ideas about not forcing and encouraging questioning, reflecting, and thinking for yourself. I also like Ron Jefferies ideas that they are called practices for a reason. You have to have done them. Practice makes perfect.

The Truth about BDD

link -> The Truth about BDD

Some of the brightest minds in our industry, people like Dan North, Dave Astels, David Chelimsky, Aslak Hellesoy, and a host of others, have been pursuing the notion that if we use a better language to describe automated requirements, we will improve the way we think about those requirements, and therefore write better requirements. The better language that they have chosen and used for the last several years uses the Given/When/Then form which, as we have seen, is a description of a finite state machine. And so it all comes back to Turing. It all comes back to marks on a tape. We’ve decided that the best way to describe the requirements of a system is to describe it as a turing machine.

Interesting theory

SpecFlow - workflow

link -> SpecFlow - workflow

Another fitnesse competitor

Acceptance Test Excel Addin

link -> Acceptance Test Excel Addin

Acceptance Test Excel Addin is a tool to author, execute and analyze acceptance tests in Excel. The tester write tests using Given-When-Then (Gherkin language). Developer implements the test steps in C# classes using attributes. It makes BDD fun for testsers and developers.

Pretty cool idea

Gojko Adzic » Concordion: Agile Acceptance Testing with free-form text

link -> Gojko Adzic » Concordion: Agile Acceptance Testing with free-form text

Fitnesse competitor

What is Projection? - Chris Missal - Los Techies : Blogs about software and anything tech!

link -> What is Projection? - Chris Missal - Los Techies : Blogs about software and anything tech!

I'm a Software Developer, a testing advocate, blogger, speaker (kinda), nerd, and disc golfer. I try to create quality, solid software and write about it when I think I've done something good.

I like this word projection

Strengthening your domain: Encapsulated collections - Jimmy Bogard - Los Techies : Blogs about software and anything tech!

link -> Strengthening your domain: Encapsulated collections - Jimmy Bogard - Los Techies : Blogs about software and anything tech!

Los Techies - Code like a rabid donkey!

Cool. We are already doing some of this stuff.

Elegant Code » Soft Skills are Actual Skills

link -> Elegant Code » Soft Skills are Actual Skills

Soft Skills are Actual Skills

More on giving feedback

Announcing Ext JS 3.2 beta – Multisort, Transitions and Composite Fields — Ext JS Blog — JavaScript Framework and RIA Platform

link -> Announcing Ext JS 3.2 beta – Multisort, Transitions and Composite Fields — Ext JS Blog — JavaScript Framework and RIA Platform

Love the multiple sorting, composite fields, and unit testing

How TDD and Pairing Increase Production | Situated Geekery

link -> How TDD and Pairing Increase Production | Situated Geekery

Sometimes I feel like some of these folks try too hard to soft-sell the excellent way presented by test-driven development (TDD) and pair programming (PP). A lot of alleged agilists make this argument:  you see, by PP’ing and TDDing, you will greatly increase your quality, so even though your productivity goes down, you get the coolest glow by knowing in your heart of hearts that you are a good citizen of the coding world.

I call bullshit.  Not only is it not true that you can trade internal quality for more features, it’s actually the exact opposite case:  the more productivity you seek, the higher you should raise your standard of internal quality.

Best one yet. Send this to every programmer you know.

Coaching Kicking and Screaming | Situated Geekery

link -> Coaching Kicking and Screaming | Situated Geekery

So.  We’re damned if we follow team or methodology rules too rigorously, and we’re damned if we just quietly ignore them.

The trick then, is hidden in that word quietly. What if we went ahead and broke a rule from time to time, but never break a rule quietly?

Another good point from Situated Geekery. Break rules when you have to but do it openly and learn from it.

Coaching Minor Mistakes | Situated Geekery

link -> Coaching Minor Mistakes | Situated Geekery

If You Yourself Fear Making Mistakes,

You Won’t Help Anyone Else.

I really like this blog. I do fear making mistakes and I see now that my attitude is not helping. I will work on this.

The Socratic Method

link -> The Socratic Method

I never remember how to write binary numbers. I might remember now after reading this.

Coaching: The Perfect Rational Argument | Situated Geekery

link -> Coaching: The Perfect Rational Argument | Situated Geekery

Awesome line - Is this obviously stupid?

Socratic Method Considered Dangerous When...

link -> Socratic Method Considered Dangerous When...

The companion website for the book Agile Management for Software Engineering - applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results - by David J. Anderson published by Prentice Hall PTR

I guess this is the flipside to the previous article

LEAN.org - John Shook's Lean Management Column: Coaching and Questions; Questions and Coaching

link -> LEAN.org - John Shook's Lean Management Column: Coaching and Questions; Questions and Coaching

yoda would be proud

Ownership

One of the concerns that comes up on my team when we talk about switching pairs is that people want to finish what they started. I read this quote today and made me think about this problem.

I like to break stories into tasks that individuals take responsibility for
and estimate. I think ownership of tasks goes a long way towards satisfying the human need for ownership.
—Beck [2005]

It got me thinking that if we could make our tasks small enough that these task could be completed in 3 hours then people would be able to finish their work before they switched pairs.

Can PHP read the hash portion of the URL? - Stack Overflow

link -> Can PHP read the hash portion of the URL? - Stack Overflow

So hash tags are never even sent to the server. That makes them pretty useless for booking marking links to widgets. Those bookmarks would only work if you were already logged in.

How to elegantly handle ReturnUrl when using UrlRewrite in ASP.NET 2.0 WebForms - Stack Overflow

link -> How to elegantly handle ReturnUrl when using UrlRewrite in ASP.NET 2.0 WebForms - Stack Overflow

protected void Application_EndRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string redirectUrl = this.Response.RedirectLocation;
    if (!this.Request.RawUrl.Contains("ReturnUrl=") && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(redirectUrl))
    {
        this.Response.RedirectLocation = Regex.Replace(redirectUrl, "ReturnUrl=(?'url'[^&]*)", delegate(Match m)
        {
            return string.Format("ReturnUrl={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(this.Request.RawUrl));
        }, RegexOptions.Singleline | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.ExplicitCapture);
    }
}

I tested the checked solution at the bottom. It gets rid of the lookingglass stuff out of our URL when you get redirected to the login page. Still can't figure out how to get a hash tag on the server. ASP seems to strip them out of the URL even without forms authentication or URL rewriting.

ASP.NET Routing… Goodbye URL rewriting? « Chris Cavanagh’s Blog

link -> ASP.NET Routing… Goodbye URL rewriting? « Chris Cavanagh’s Blog

Been trying to figure out to get hash tag into the return url when you bookmark a link to a specific widget, right now the hash tag is getting stripped off. Maybe I can get rid if the URL rewriter all together.

Signing nightmares - HORN Development | Google Groups

link -> Signing nightmares - HORN Development | Google Groups

I found this horrible hack on the web:

Solution of the assigning the strong name to the third part DLL by using
following command on visual studio command prompt.

E.g. Lets say the name of the third party DLL is myTest.dll.
Step 1: Dis-assemble the assembly
        ildasm myTest.dll /out:myTest.il

Step 2: Re-Assemble using your strong-name key
        ilasm myTest.il /res:myTest.res /dll /key:myTest.snk
/out:myTestSN.dll

This code work perfectly to assign strong name.

for verification you can use following command,
sn -vf myTestSN.dll
I was able to patch the lucene.net into the build and nhibernate.search and
more importantly castle.activerecord build now.

This is a short term and horrible hack.  If anyone fancies mentioning the
signing capability to nhibernate then I would be grateful.

Cheers

Paul Cowan

Hack for the signing problem?

I found this horrible hack on the web:

Solution of the assigning the strong name to the third part DLL by using
following command on visual studio command prompt.

E.g. Lets say the name of the third party DLL is myTest.dll.
Step 1: Dis-assemble the assembly
ildasm myTest.dll /out:myTest.il

Step 2: Re-Assemble using your strong-name key
ilasm myTest.il /res:myTest.res /dll /key:myTest.snk
/out:myTestSN.dll

This code work perfectly to assign strong name.

for verification you can use following command,
sn -vf myTestSN.dll
I was able to patch the lucene.net into the build and nhibernate.search and
more importantly castle.activerecord build now.

This is a short term and horrible hack. If anyone fancies mentioning the
signing capability to nhibernate then I would be grateful.

Cheers

Paul Cowan

Alternatives to Acceptance Testing

link -> Alternatives to Acceptance Testing