Eric Spiegel

“Is that alcohol I smell on your breath?” The question seemed to hang in the air for a very long time, even though we both already knew the answer.I had been suspicious that one of my best developers had an alcohol problem for quite some time. But this time the stench made me finally address […]

Some of the smartest developers I’ve ever worked with were also some of the weirdest. You might say that “weird” is a matter of opinion or perspective. Perhaps it would be nicer to refer to them as quirky. But either way, I must say that in retrospect, in many cases they weren’t worth the trouble. […]

“That’s an insult!” That was feedback I received from my last article when I referred to someone who writes software code for a living as an “engineer.”It seems that many people who graduated with a computer science or engineering degree take umbrage at those who use the title “engineer” loosely when referring to someone who […]

We all know this is a tough job market with unemployment on the rise. Just because you have technical skills does not make you immune. The global economy, along with cost cutting, is pushing CIO’s to look offshore again, just when the tide was turning in favor of the convenience of local resources. Or they […]

(Add a comment or describe your worst software development experiences at the bottom of the page.) “Gone?” I almost dropped the cell phone and almost hit the car in front of me. The phone call was the result of something bad happening on a high profile data conversion project. Our team had to convert three […]

(Comment on this article at the bottom of the page.) Times are tough and about to get even tougher for software developers. The latest headlines say that 2008 could end up being the worst for tech job losses since 2003. So this a great time to switch careers, right? Well, maybe. Let me even go […]

“What are you doing?” My manager popped into my cube and asked this seemingly harmless question. I must be honest and say that I was not doing my job. I’m sure many developers have been asked questions during the work day like “What are you up to?” or “What are you working on?” and at […]

I was sitting down with one of our most productive software developers for his annual review, trying to carefully craft my words. You see, Tyler had produced some amazing results that year in tackling our most difficult assignments. Praising him was easy… almost too easy. My conundrum over word phrasing was a direct result of […]

“I’m sorry but we have to let you go.” I had to repeat that line multiple times as we reduced our IT staff when I worked for a consulting firm many years ago. Other crappy lines included “This is nothing personal, just business” and “I’m sure you’ll land on your feet.” Having been through this […]

“He said what about me?” I said this out loud because I could not believe my eyes. A peer had sent me an email, with the lead in “I thought you should see this – but you didn’t get it from me.” This was a substantial hint that what followed wouldn’t be pleasant reading. Also […]