The strongest articles on engineering excellence and technical leadership — ranked by substance, not recency. How this is ranked
Engineering as a Leadership System: Moving Beyond Frameworks
Delivery outcomes are shaped less by frameworks and practices than by the operating model leaders have designed. How an organisation's …
Why Most Companies Operating Models Fail in Dynamic Markets
A concise comparison of Predictive and Adaptive Operating Models, explaining why traditional structures fail in dynamic markets and how …
One Azure DevOps Project for 1,500 People Is Not the Risky Option
Compare the coordination costs of separate Azure DevOps Projects with the governance a shared Project requires, using actual dependencies …
Telling People What to Do Is Not Leadership. It’s a Failure of System Design
Explores why real leadership means designing systems that enable team autonomy, flow, and accountability, rather than relying on …
The AI Decided Is Not an Explanation
When an AI says it got bored or we say it lied, we give a machine feelings and intentions. The false output needs an explanation, not an …
AI Agents Lie About Being Done
My agent reported every task complete when half the tests were missing. Call that a lie if you like. The engineering problem is that the …
Don’t Manage Dependencies, Remove Them
Explains why dependencies are a sign of poor system design and outlines steps to eliminate them by aligning teams, clarifying ownership, and …
The Estimation Trap: How Tracking Accuracy Undermines Trust, Flow, and Value in Software Delivery
Tracking estimation accuracy in software delivery leads to mistrust, fear, and distorted behaviours. Focus on customer value, flow, and …
Is Agile Really Just a Mindset?
Explores Agile as a disciplined system of delivery, emphasizing engineering excellence, CI/CD, observability, and system design over mindset …
893 resources, newest first
TFS Sticky Buddy v2.0
Sticky Buddy v2.0 introduces a redesigned interface, modular structure, and expanded diagram features for improved usability in TFS-related …
Interview with my favourite author
A personal reflection on an interview with author David Webber, discussing his works and passion for the military science fiction genre.
Mozy Backup providing extra space this month
Mozy is doubling its referral bonus to 512MB of extra backup space until 30 November 2008, making it easier to expand your online storage by …
Unlikely bloggers…
Highlights the value of people from non-traditional backgrounds, like helpdesk professionals, sharing their knowledge and experiences …
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR RC (release candidate)
The release candidate for Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR offers upgrade support to RTM, with setup files, …
Infragistics WPF
Overview of using Infragistics WPF controls, focusing on dynamic menu generation with data binding and templates, and challenges with …
Wakoopa
Tracks and analyses your software usage, providing detailed statistics on application activity and allowing users to join teams or view …
Branch Compare…A Life saver
Explains how a built-in tool simplifies comparing two code branches, helping users resolve branching and merging issues more efficiently in …
MSBuild and Business Intelligence Packages, Ahhhhhh!
Discusses challenges in automating builds, testing, and deployment for SQL Server BI solutions, focusing on SSIS and SSAS packages and gaps …
Hosted TFS, and cheap….from Phase2
Overview of Phase2’s hosted Team Foundation Server (TFS) service, including features, pricing, backup, scalability, integration, and support …
How-To: Display your Outlook calendar on you’re My Site
Step-by-step guide to adding and configuring the Outlook calendar web part on your SharePoint My Site homepage using Outlook Web Access …
How-To: Allow other users to interact with workflow on your MySite
Learn how to give colleagues access to workflow tasks on your MySite by setting permissions on task lists in SharePoint, including adding …
Branch madness!
Describes a complex source control issue in TFS involving branch mismanagement, its impact on merging, and step-by-step actions taken to …
TFS Usage Statistics
Provides key statistics on Team Foundation Server usage, including user activity, work items, version control, builds, and recent command …
Sync extension for Lists/Collections or whatever
Explains how to synchronise two .NET collections by applying differences, with thread safety using locks, ensuring target lists match source …
Team System MVP
Recognition as a Microsoft Team System MVP, highlighting the award’s significance, annual renewal, and acknowledgment of peers in the …
Development and Database combined
Microsoft has merged Visual Studio Team Edition for Developers and Database Developers, giving users of either version access to both tools …
Creating a WPF Work Item Control
Learn how to build a custom WPF work item control for Visual Studio Team System, enabling WPF UI integration in work item forms using a …
Windows Live Wave 3
Download and try the latest Windows Live Wave 3 beta applications, including Messenger and Writer, with options for web or full local …
My first ALM and second VSTS presentaton!
Reflections on delivering ALM and VSTS presentations, focusing on knowledge sharing, presentation style, and insights into pre-sales …
Presenting Aplication Lifecycle Management: Precursor
An introduction to Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), sharing first-time presentation experiences, preparation tips, and insights on …
A problem with Diarist 2!
User lost a blog post in Diarist 2 after accidentally using the blog selection dropdown, suggesting its removal to prevent data loss and …
Working from a Mobile again!
Discusses the need for a mobile app to manage and edit Team Foundation Server (TFS) work items offline, enabling productivity while …
Team Build Error
Explains troubleshooting a confusing MS Build error in a mixed Visual Studio 2005/2008 environment, resolved by updating GDR and Business …
Found GDR Bug: At least I think it is
Describes a bug in GDR and Data Dude where SQL views using derived tables cause unresolved reference errors, impacting database project …
Visual Studio 2008 and the GDR CTP16
Discusses issues with Visual Studio 2008 GDR CTP16 handling complex stored procedure dependencies during database import, and challenges …
TFS Sticky Buddy Update
The latest update fixes login issues when no domain is entered and improves handling of large work item lists in TFS Sticky Buddy version …
Compatibility view in IE8
Explains how IE8’s Compatibility View lets users easily switch to IE7 mode for better website display, with the feature appearing only on …
Cool new feature in IE8
Internet Explorer 8 introduces enhanced address bar features, making it easier and faster to find and revisit websites for improved browsing …
LINQ to XSD
Explains how to use LINQ to XSD in C# to generate classes from XSD files, including setup steps, project configuration, and integration with …
Installing Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2
Provides download links, installation guidance, and updates for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 on various Windows versions, plus resources for …
Calling an object method in a data trigger
Explains how to call an object method in a WPF DataTrigger, the limitations with extension methods, and common errors when binding methods …
WPF Threading
Learn how to handle multi-threading with ObservableCollection in WPF, including solutions for cross-thread collection binding and practical …
Heat ITSM
Describes integrating Heat ITSM with Team Foundation Server to sync and manage support calls, automate work item creation, and streamline IT …
What to do when you dont have a working computer!
Tips for staying productive without a computer, including using mobile devices for web browsing, writing, and software tasks when your main …
If you had a choice!
A poll asking .NET developers which Windows operating system they prefer for running Visual Studio 2008, including XP, Vista, and Server …
Problems with Team Explorer after installed Visual Studio 2008 SP1 RTM
Describes a Team Explorer error after installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1 RTM, troubleshooting steps taken, and issues with accessing version …
Updating to Visual Studio 2008 SP1
Guidance on upgrading from Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta to SP1, including required tools, steps, and downloads for both Visual Studio and …
Ooooh, RTM Delight
Visual Studio 2008, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, and Team Foundation Server 2008 Beta 1 released, featuring major improvements for developers in …
.NET Service Manager
A tool for managing and integrating local and remote services in .NET applications, enabling easy creation of client-side APIs for web …
IHandlerFactory
Explains how to use a custom IHttpHandler and handler factory in ASP.NET to redirect old URLs to a new site, preserving links and SEO with …
Hosted Sticky Buddy
Access a hosted version of TFS Sticky Buddy, requiring .NET 3.5 and Team Explorer 2008, with fast performance and ClickOnce deployment for …
RDdotNET
A portal for hosting and sharing .NET tools and ClickOnce applications, including TFS Sticky Buddy and TFS Event Handler, with links to …
Messenger United
A web app enabling integration between Microsoft Messenger, LinkedIn, and Facebook, supporting third-party sync and part of Microsoft’s …
Error creating listener in Team Build
Explains how to resolve AddressAccessDeniedException when running tests in Team Build by granting the Build Agent service account permission …
TFS Error: MSB4018 The "BuildShadowTask" task failed unexpectedly
Explains the MSB4018 "BuildShadowTask" error in TFS when using Accessors in unit test projects, its cause, and how removing .accessor files …
OutSync with proxy servers
Explains how to configure .NET applications, like OutSync, to work with proxy servers by editing the config file for proxy authentication …
TFS Event Handler Update
Bug fixes and improvements have been made to the TFS Event Handler, resolving recent issues and enhancing reliability for .NET, ALM, and WIT …
SharePoint Solutions Rant
Discusses the need for a streamlined, end-to-end way to build and deploy SharePoint solutions in Visual Studio, including remote development …
Developing for SharePoint on your local computer
Guide to setting up Visual Studio 2008 and required tools for developing and testing SharePoint solutions locally without a full SharePoint …