Trac vs. Mantis; MoinMoin vs. Sycamore


I'm looking for information on Trac vs. Mantis for issue and bug tracking, and MoinMoin vs. Sycamore for wikis.  By "information," I mean comparisons and trade-offs thereof... The issue tracker would be used by about 20 people, all within one company.  The wiki would be used by up to 100 people, ditto. Any experiences, anecdotes, informed opinions, … Continue reading Trac vs. Mantis; MoinMoin vs. Sycamore →

Mercurial vs. Subversion


I'm launching a new Django-based project at work.  I'll initially be the sole developer, but I expect it to grow to 10 heads (developers, QA, web designers, operations, and project management) over time.  I hope to start the ball rolling this week, and one of my first decisions is the Source Code Management (SCM) tool. … Continue reading Mercurial vs. Subversion →

“Excellent communication skills” are a joke


I'm writing a job description for a new opening in my team.  While reviewing a draft, I realized that one of the requirements was meaningless, and bordered on being silly. Why do job qualifications list, "excellent communication skills?" This knee-jerk requirement is in every description I see.  And I'm guilty of putting it in my JD's over … Continue reading “Excellent communication skills” are a joke →

Memeo is clueless


A follow-up to my earlier post about problems with Memeo LifeAgent for Mac, and Memeo's sup-optimal customer support. Today, they finally responded in their support forum. A recap: They initially said they would fix the problem by the end of May.  They had no more response for five weeks, during which time two other users … Continue reading Memeo is clueless →

A Review of EMC Retrospect for Macintosh


After my terrible experience with Memeo LifeAgent for Mac, I searched for a better backup application for my MacBook.  (By "better," I mean, "it's not a piece of crap, and it works.") After reading enough product descriptions to glaze my eyes over, I decided upon EMC Retrospect for Macintosh. At $119, it's pricey, compared to … Continue reading A Review of EMC Retrospect for Macintosh →

A Review of Memeo LifeAgent for Mac


Shortly after I acquired my MacBook, I was disappointed to discover that Apple had designed lobotomized Time Machine so it wouldn't work with generic network storage — e.g., with a NAS. There's no good technical reason why Time Machine should require disks formatted in Apple's HPS+ file system.  The file system should be entirely abstracted. The only reason … Continue reading A Review of Memeo LifeAgent for Mac →

AT&T Mobile sucks


Dave Gouldin is one of the bright minds at Pegasus News, and a performer in the up-and-coming alternative/indie band Watching Cars. AT&T Mobile is selling refurbished iPhones, and Dave has run into a buzz-saw of AT&T Mobile incompetence whilst trying to buy one.  

Ah, Emacs


I've been using SPE as my Python editor for a couple of years.  It takes an IDE approach to the user window and UX model.  I liked it, and I even donated money to its support fund. But I've been an Emacs guy since back in the day.  I was never fond of Emacs' Windows integration, … Continue reading Ah, Emacs →

How to dive into another team’s Django code


I'm starting to learn my way around another team's Django project. They started from yet another team's code base, and extensively modified it over the last ~1.5 years. It's code for a large commercial site, which I hope to use to build an even larger commercial site having needs similar to, but different from, theirs. My immediate goals are … Continue reading How to dive into another team’s Django code →