posts on chrisxfires blog

quotes

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 08:09:02 -0600

abstract

A collection of some of my favorite quotes.

Inspire

Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen. —Robert Bresson

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. —Mark Twain

One person can make the difference between success and failure. —Unknown

I must create my own system or be enslaved by another man’s. —William Blake

There is no law of progress. Our future is in our own hands, to make or to mar. It will be an uphill fight to the end, and would we have it otherwise? Let no one suppose that evolution will ever exempt us from struggles. ‘You forget,’ said the Devil, with a chuckle, ’that I have been evolving too.’ —William Ralph Inge

the ios experiment

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0600

abstract

First impressions of the iPhone 14 Pro from a long-time Google Android user (since the Nexus One!)

[✔] likes

✔ Display responsiveness. It’s faster than my most recent Android phone, a Google Pixel 6. At times, when typing fast, my Pixel would “miss” touches—this phone doesn’t.

✔ Display brightness. I can see the screen in sunlight while wearing sunglasses. I used to have to peer over my sunglasses to see my Pixel’s display in the sun.

on the state of software in 2023

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In 2023, the majority of software on planet Earth is poorly constructed. This is true for everything from small mobile apps to mid-sized line of business applications to large distributed enterprise systems. It is true for application software, firmware, operating systems, embedded systems, and IoT systems. Low quality software exists in both open- and closed-source codebases. The software we use in our personal and professional lives every day is unreliable. It malfunctions. It frustrates us. And — worst of all — it endangers us. It is simply not fit for purpose.

troubleshooting cs0436 with shared projects in visual studio

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 19:06:48 -0600

overview

I recently ran into compiler warning cs0436 while working on a solution with a shared project in VS2022. If you run into the same, this might help you troubleshoot.

scenario

You’re working on a solution that contains a project, alpha (which is also the name of its namspace). That project contains a project reference to another project, bravo:

alpha
 |--bravo

Shared project, charlie, contains code that is used by alpha, bravo, and other projects. Because of this, a shared project reference from bravo to charlie already exists. You also add a shared project reference from alpha to charlie:

on best practices

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 09:41:25 -0600

Something that has always puzzled me about some organizations is their tendency to ignore best practices.
One particular industry has ignored best practices for decades, filling the gap with hastily developed, poorly vetted practices instead.
This tendency�phenomenon, even�holds true for organizations of various size, specialization, and maturity in this anonymous industry. It is pervasive and deep-rooted.

What is a best practice? Many definitions exist. Here is Merriam-Webster’s:

“a procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that is established or proposed as a standard suitable for widespread adoption.”

on silence

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 09:33:47 -0600

For as long as I can remember, people have told me that I do not speak enough. The feedback has come from family, friends, and colleagues throughout my life. I regularly respond to questions such as �you didn�t say much in that meeting�is everything okay?� and �you sure don�t have much to say, do you?� to comments such as �you seem quiet today.� I�m an introvert, of course, so these comments are peculiar sometimes. Silence is not uncomfortable for me; to the contrary.

on delegation

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 09:26:49 -0600

There may be many things you struggle with as a leader. Do not let delegation be one of them. Think of delegation not as something that you can do as a leader, but instead as something that you must do.

By delegating tasks, you are providing your team with an opportunity to deliver results (in their own way) and, hopefully, to learn new skills or sharpen existing ones. Consider that by not delegating a task, you are actively preventing the growth and development of your team. You are robbing them of the experience to work through a challenge, make mistakes, and ultimately learn. As a byproduct, you are also relieving yourself of workload that could be preventing you from doing other things.