DevTopics

My wife and I have returned from a one-year RV trip across western USA, Canada and Alaska.  It was an amazing trip, truly the adventure of a lifetime.  Although this has nothing to do with software development, if you are interested, please check out our photo tour at National Park Explorers and our behind-the-scenes blog at TNTRV.

Now that I am back working, I will start updating this DevTopics blog again on a regular basis.  I’ve also turned on the comments again (I had turned off comments to stop the flood of spam while I was on the road).

Please comment below if there are any software development subjects on which you’d like me to write an article.

DevTopics is now on Twitter!

Cubital tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a repetitive stress injury (RSI) that can result in moderate to severe pain and numbness in the elbow and ring & little fingers. Last year I wrote the article “Programmer’s Nightmare: Cubital Tunnel Syndrome” about my pain and struggles with CTS and how it threatens my programming career.

As people started commenting on the article, a small community developed. I was impressed at how people would share their CTS tips and experiences, commiserate with each other’s pain, and genuinely care about one another.

So with the help of Tim Perez, we built cubital-tunnel.com, a site dedicated to CTS that includes an online community where people can share and discuss their cubital tunnel challenges and successes.

Please visit cubital-tunnel.com

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the snacks are so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let me code, let me code, let me code!

What should a software developer do over the holidays?  Many take off to be with family and friends during the last two weeks of December.  Others (including me) have spouses who must work or have used up vacation, so they find themselves working in half-empty companies.

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Tags: Holidays, Worker Productivity

Though by profession I am a software developer, like most developers I am also a voracious software consumer.  My job requires me to use many different software tools, and I also use software to automate and manage many aspects of my personal life.

So naturally when it came time to produce a photo book for my parents’ joint 75th birthdays, I jumped on the new wave of “Print-On-Demand” (POD) book publishing.  With POD, you create your own book in a word processor or desktop publishing program, and then you can publish one or many professionally-bound copies of your new hardcover masterpiece for a very reasonable fee.
 

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Tags: Blurb, Booksmart, Personal, POD, Print-On-Demand, Software

Update: We have launched a new website and forums dedicated to people with cubital tunnel syndrome: www.cubital-tunnel.com

No programmers were harmed during development of this article.

(Not true… my cubital hurts like mad today!)

A programming career is supposed to offer advantages such as longevity and limited physical risk. Unlike an athlete or blue-collar worker whose livelihood depends on physical ability and can be cut short by injury or aging, most programmers should expect to work right up until retirement, as long as they can raise donut to mouth. But a nasty secret in the software industry is how repetitive stress injuries including carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndrome can make programming a literal pain and threaten your career.

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Tags: Carpal-Tunnel, Carpal-Tunnel-Syndrome, Cubital Tunnel, Cubital-Tunnel-Syndrome, Development, Disabilities, Ergonomics, Personal, Ulnar, Ulnar-Nerve

The default WordPress blog title “Hello, World” seems appropriate for the debut article of a software development blog, so I’ve decided to keep it.

I never thought I would write a blog.  Adding to the 175,000 new blogs on the Web each day didn’t seem like a worthwhile endeavor.  What could I possibly say that hasn’t already been said?  But then I realized that at least once a day I learn a new tip or trick that could possibly benefit someone else.  Many times I’ve found the answer to a tough problem from some generous soul on the Web, so I wish to repay the favor.  Plus I suppose I have a story to tell that software developers and entrepreneurs may find educational, if not entertaining.

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Tags: Business, Cubital Tunnel, Information Overload, Personal