The neat thing about The Joel Test is that it's easy to get a quick yes or no to each question. You don't have to figure out lines-of-code-per-day or average-bugs-per-inflection-point. Give your team 1 point for each "yes" answer. The bummer about The Joel Test is that you really shouldn't use it to make sure that your nuclear power plant software is safe.

A score of 12 is perfect, 11 is tolerable, but 10 or lower and you've got serious problems. The truth is that most software organizations are running with a score of 2 or 3, and they need serious help, because companies like Microsoft run at 12 full-time. 

Siri has been getting a lot of hype over the past year. It's an as yet unreleased product that aims to be a "Virtual Personal Assistant" (VPA). At the recent SemTech conference in San Jose, I sat down with two of the founders of Siri: Dag Kittlaus (CEO) and Tom Gruber (CTO). I was informed that the product will launch end of summer U.S. time - starting out as an iPhone app, but later other platforms will be supported. The iPhone app will go into private beta July/August time period, then launch in Q4 2009 or Q1 2010.

Dear Members of the Cult of Done,

I present to you a manifesto of done. This was written in collaboration with Kio Stark in 20 minutes because we only had 20 minutes to get it done.

Last week, I published a piece on Gerrit and Jenkins about how I saw the future of distributed development teams. It got a fair number of views and positive comments (both off- and on-line) so I followed through with my promise to record a demo of using all the systems together.

This uses Gerrit, combined with Jenkins CI and the Gerrit Trigger Plugin. I skipped on explaining how to set this up in the video, preferring to show how it's used so to get a feel of how it all fits together. If there's interest, I might do a subsequent demo on getting started with Gerrit and Jenkins, taking about the installation steps needed. But without further ado, here's the video:

I own a good set of headphones that fully enclose my ears. I am not an audiophile, I just don't like to hear other people talk at me. When I am staring at my Emacs windows with headphones on, it generally isn't a physical cue that I am looking for conversation. In fact, when I am that deep into thinking out a problem and I get interrupted, I think about the anti-workplace-violence clause in the employee handbook, and how a poorly lit parking lot probably doesn't qualify as "company property".

Stickto's make it easy (and maybe a little fun) to stay organized. Peel and stick your to-do list right into your notebook. Stickto's fit perfectly into most pocket notebooks (3.5" x 5.5") including Moleskines. The tab makes it easy to find when you need it and serves as a small reminder that there is work to be done. Then, simply rip off the tab when your tasks are complete. Out of sight, out of mind. Done.

Do Nothing for 2 Minutes

As I work towards completing my own game, I’ve been thinking a lot about finishing projects in general. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of really talented developers out there that have trouble finishing games. Truthfully, I’ve left a long trail of unfinished games in my wake… I think everyone has. Not every project is going to pan out, for whatever reason. But if you find yourself consistently backing out of game projects that have a lot of potential, it could be worth taking a step back and examining why this happens.