Do you make developer resolutions every year? I do as a way to push myself into situations that will make me grow as a developer and consultant. In late 2007, I made resolutions to start embracing the Alt.Net movement to expand my horizons to all things that do not originate in Redman. Do not get me wrong. I love the Microsoft Kool-Aid; I just needed to see what the grass was like on the other side. With successfully completed projects using open source software like Castle Windsor, Spring.Net, NAnt, XUnit and Log4Net, I believe that my resolutions were successful.

A new calendar year comes with a new set of resolutions and challenges. My resolution for 2009 will be to become a competent developer in the field of cloud computing on the Microsoft Platform. To help me in my resolution, Microsoft has just granted me access to the Azure Computing Platform and the Live Services Platform. Talk about great timing.

You might be thinking to yourself why would he pick cloud computing? The answer is simple, cloud computing is the way of the future. Non-scalable, monolithic desktop or web farm applications are so 2005. The future of application development is distributed computing power running your application across hundreds of servers that you do not own or maintain. Today, companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, are creating services and solutions to enable this type of cloud distributed applications. I am certain that the hip cloud computing buzzword of today will materialize into an established platform choice for my application in the near future.

As an early adopter of new technology, I can’t wait. See you in the cloud.
Adam J Wolf

Twoggaling : verb. 1. Twoggaling is the act of mixing Twitter messages and blogging.

Twoggal : noun. 1. A inferior form of a blog post.

What is a Twoggal

A twoggal post is a narrowly focused blog post on a single topic that contains little or no source code and has a limited value. You might have guessed I am not a fan of the new blogging style of twoggaling. This new style has become more and more popular in recent months with some of the more popular technical bloggers, and as a result, their blogs have become more noise than substance. I do not know the exact reason for this new trend in blogging but this blog will not be following this trend.

Today, after reading a couple of twoggal posts in a series on the same topic by the same author posted on the same day, I think I have a greater understanding why it has become more popular. Simple and smaller posts are easier to create and satisfy the bloggers need to be prolific in their writing. More blog posts translate into greater visibility and increased blog readership. The increase in blog readership will translate into increased revenue from blog post advertising. I do not know the exact reason for this new trend, but I hope it is only a short phase.

Increasing My Blogs Quality

Focus, Focus, Focus

Writing blog post on large technical topics like Domain Driven Design is not a good idea. I am still struggling with how to cover this topic for my long overdue series on the ORM Smack-Down. Finding the correct balance of length and depth of a single blog is the most challenging part of writing a technical blog. I do not know if I will ever finish the series, but I will not make the same mistake again.

Show Me the Code

To make each post more useful, I will be adding a zipped folder containing all of the code and data used in the blog post. This download will enable readers to work with the code and concepts without having to retype the post. To make the code covered in this blog more usable and accessible, I will be utilizing Microsoft Visual Studio Express and or the Visual Studio Shell where applicable.

Conclusion

To twoggal or not to twoggal is not the question. The correct question is, why do you blog? I blog for two reasons: one is to learn and the other is to showcase my skills. I am a big believer in Joseph Joubert's quote "To Teach is to Learn Twice." I know when I research a topic and put it to words to teach someone, I understand the topic at a deeper level. If blogging is teaching, then what is twoggaling?

Do you think small or micro blogs are valuable? What would you suggest to increase the quality of technical blog posts?

Links

• Microsoft Visual Studio Express
• Visual Studio Shell

Non Twoggaling Blogger's

• Coding Horror
• Scott Hanselmen
• Matt Berseth

I know you’ve all heard that punctuality is a virtue, but as a consultant and owner of a consulting company, I believe that being punctual is an essential quality of a professional.  Treating other people’s time as not important is disrespectful and should not be tolerated.

Nothing inspires confidence in a business man sooner than punctuality, nor is there any habit which sooner saps his reputation than that of being always behind time." W. Mathews

Your punctuality says many thing about you as a person.

You respect others. Arriving on time and ready shows that you respect others. Mutual respect is the bedrock foundation for creating great business relationships.

You are professional.  Being on time is a fundamental tool for anyone who wants to be perceived as being the very best.

You are confident. When you are on time and ready to get things done, business people will take note that you are confident, professional and ready. Tardiness can imply a lack of confidence or that you are hesitant to meet a challenge.

You’re in control. Business people like doing business with people that are in control of their schedules and are able to manage their business and life in general.

You have a standard for excellence. Punctuality is but one standard of excellence. It implies that you are in control of your life and shows that you respect yourself and others.

"Promptitude is not only a duty, but is also a part of good manners; it is favorable to fortune, reputation, influence,  and usefulness; a little attention and energy will form the habit, so as to make it easy and delightful." - Charles Simmons

"I give it as my deliberate and solemn conviction that the individual who is habitually tardy in meeting an appointment,  will never be respected or successful in life." - W. Fisk

"Punctuality is the soul of business." - Thomas C. Haliburton

"Punctuality is one of the cardinal business virtues: alway insist on it in your subordinates." - Don Marquis

"I owe all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour before my time." - Lord Nelson

"Punctuality is the politeness of kings." - Louis XVIII

"I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments." - Nathaniel Emmons

Conclusion

I don’t know what drives me to be punctual but it started at an early age and continues today. I would much rather be 1 hour early for an interview or meeting and sit in the parking lot and read a book than be 1 minute late.