Shove It, FizzBuzz!

My developer job resource kit is now available. It's called "Shove It, FizzBuzz: How to find and land a .NET development job."

What's included in this kit?

The kit includes a 200+ page eBook (PDF) that teaches you how to get the job you want (and will make you a better developer in the process). It contains tips on improving your overall developer marketability, 110+ technical questions (with answers), plus general interview questions, puzzle questions, and more.

The kit also includes software that simulates an actual interview and can help boost your confidence during the real thing. You could also just use the software to keep yourself on top of the latest technologies.

Last, but not least, the kit includes a customizable resume (in Word format) that has proven to be effective at getting people jobs.

http://shoveitfizzbuzz.com

When Less Is More

I try to follow all of John Maeda’s Laws of Simplicity, but there are a few standouts:

Law 1: Reduce
The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

Law 2: Organize
Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

Law 10: The One
Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.

I have a hard time getting people to understand that the customer probably doesn’t need to see every column in our database.  They probably aren’t ever sorting on phone numbers.  They probably wonder why all those extra columns are being shown to them in the first place.  The reason is because someone at the company thinks that some customer somewhere will get upset if they are removed.

An excellent example of when less is more is in the case of weather forecast data.  As an end user who just wants to see the weather forecast, which would you rather see?

Hello, BlogTrog

BlogTrog.com is a project I've been working on lately to help with posting code to blogs. My goal was to make it as easy as possible and just work.

Here is a sample:

if (thisWorks)
{
    blogtrogIsAwesome = true;
}

Please note that it is currently still in beta, so use at your own risk. I will make another announcement here when it's truly ready for primetime.

Bill O'Reilly Loses His Shit

Daniel found this gem of a clip:

Hey, don't let that deter you from buying this book, though:

It takes a special kind of asshole dad to buy that book for his kids.

The Adventures of Mark Twain

This is a really strange claymation movie... From Amazon.com's editorial review:

Based on elements from the stories of Mark Twain, this feature-length Claymation(r) fantasy follows the adventures of Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher, and Huck Finn as they stowaway aboard the interplanetary balloon of Mark Twain. Twain, disgusted with the Human Race, is intent upon finding Halley's Comet and crashing into it, achieving his "destiny." It's up to Tom, Becky, and Huck to convince him hat his judgment is wrong, and that he still has much to offer humanity that might make a difference. Their efforts aren't just charitable; if they fail, they will share Twain's fate. Along the way, they use a magical time portal to get a detailed overview of the Twain philosophy, observing the "historical" events that inspired his works.

Watch this crazy clip from it, though. It creeps me out a bit:

Making the PS3 Controller Better

I have complaints with the PS3 controller. The analog sticks and triggers are convex, which means, after playing for awhile, my fingers tend to slip off them.  Note that the 360 controller does not have this problem at all.

 

So aside from Sony doing a redesign of the controller, which doesn't seem like is ever going to happen, what can be done now?

You can buy some of these analog stick grips:

Or some of these really goofy looking ones:

 

Around May 16th or so, you can buy these trigger grips (unfortunately, only as part of a package with "Controller Armor"):

If only I knew how to make my own grips. I could possibly make a trigger out of clay, then super glue it...

But... in the end, this is probably the ultimate PS3 controller solution:

I Want A Secret Room

I've always wanted a secret room in my house. The thing is, I have an office area in my basement that would be perfect for converting into a "secret" area, if only my wife will let me!

I could probably get away with something like the one below, because it looks rather nice:

Here's a Do-It-Yourself Hidden Room complete with the book door handle.

How cool would it be to find a secret room in your house a year after you've lived there?

Ever heard of the Củ Chi tunnels in Vietnam? Lots of secret doors and passages there.

Today the tunnels are a tourist attraction:

Some tunnels have been made larger to accommodate the larger size of western tourists, while low-power lights have been installed in several of them to make traveling through them easier and booby traps have been clearly marked.

Booby traps?! Here's a picture of one:

If I ever have a secret room, I'll leave the booby traps out. Maybe.