Despite the hubbub<\/A> over Phil Greenspun’s article<\/A> about managing engineers, I still think the article is almost right. The best part of the article:<\/P> The biggest bug:<\/P> More discussion on this topic<\/A>.<\/P> UI Design for Programmers<\/STRONG><\/P> Due to popular demand, the book is now available as a single, giant HTML page<\/A> suitable for downloading, printing, and reading in the park.<\/P> New Toys<\/STRONG> Department<\/STRONG>(why else go into business for yourself?)<\/P> I got a new laptop computer. It’s an IBM Thinkpad X20. Truly a great, tiny laptop computer with a real keyboard and a real screen. (Dave, these are much<\/EM> better than Vaios, and more reliable, too.)<\/P> Most of the day, I keep it plugged into a docking station so that I can use a full size monitor. Fog Creek is all about flat screens; we all use Samsung 770TFT monitors. These monitors are the best monitors you’ve ever seen, everybody that has them sings hosannas all day long. So far I’ve bought 4 of them. They are truly amazing. The screen is 17″, about the same size as a 19″ CRT. It’s the only flat screen that runs at 1280×1024 that you can afford ($1300 most places).<\/P> The Election<\/STRONG><\/P> I can’t help it, voting makes me extremely happy and proud in a deep way. Standing in line with a bunch of fellow citizens doing our civic duty almost makes me tear up. Democracy is something we take for granted, but… think of it from a historical point of view. They let me<\/EM> — a Jew<\/EM> — vote! For 2000 years that was unheard<\/EM> of. I can vote for fat old Representative Jerry Nadler<\/A>, a wonderful man who marches proudly in every NYC gay pride parade, sweating like a pig, even though he looks like he’s about to keel over. I love him. I have sent Jerry something like 3 dozen letters over the years, and in every single case, his political position was totally in sync with mine. “Save the whales, Jerry,” I would write, and he would respond, “yes, in fact I sponsored that bill.” “Protect free speech,” I would write, and he would respond, “indeed I wrote the very bill you’re talking about.” I’m proud to be able to vote for Jerry Nadler and ecstatic that I have that right.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"