OK. Kim shamed me into really starting to blog. I've known Kim for a LONG time--I think it's about 14 or 15 years now. We worked together at Kaseworks. If you're an old-timer like Kim, you'll remember Kaseworks as one of the original GUI builder companies. Our products were bundled with Microsoft Quick C, and with IBM's C++ compiler on OS/2. This was in the early days, when Graphical User Interfaces were still new--most software was still character-based. In fact, one of our biggest competitors was Easel, a screen-scraping tool that interpreted mainframe screens and put a pretty front end on them.
Anyway, I discovered Kim's blogs last week, and realized that I've become pretty complacent. I spend my days at work, and haven't been keeping up with being on the bleeding edge. So I guess I'd have to say the Kim has goaded me...no, inspired me to start blogging.
I'm not sure yet how this blog will evolve. I've been a nerd for more than 20 years now. Started on the mainframe (Unisys), writing applications with COBOL. Got into PCs when they were still new, and started writing code in C. Then I discovered C++, wrote a book on it, and that got me into Kaseworks, where I created their C++ products. After Kaseworks had essentially died (a story for another day), I followed Deb Wright, our VP of Engineering to another start-up. That one bit the dust pretty quickly, and I needed some stability so I joined Andersen Consulting for a great project on component-based software engineering where I got my first taste of Java. After that project completed, I decided to do my own thing. That lasted about 5 years, and I joined GE Healthcare.
Professional interests include anything OO or component-based, software development processes, the politics behind technology, and leadership of technical organizations.
Unfortunately, I don't make a living by writing blogs. So I probably won't be spitting out blogs as quickly as Kim does. But stay tuned for the next installment in this gripping new saga.
