New Jersey Code Camp II Recap

Big thanks to Don, Peter, Scott and others for making the second NJ Code Camp happen!

I’m posting the HTML “slide deck” of my presentation on localizing web applications in ASP.NET 2.0.

As far as presenting goes, I highly recommend TopDesk which is an outstanding window manager. Another essential app in my toolbox is the FAR Manager. If you’ve missed the good old Norton Commander, FAR has your name written all over it. Every time I install Windows, FAR is among the first apps to get installed.

Chip Lemmon presented a session on the subject of Living in the off-shore world. No, nobody beat each other on the head. It was a nice, balanced discussion.

One point, raised several times, was that developers need to hone their “people’s skills.” Being a lone wolf, a recluse coder doesn’t fly that well anymore. Coincidently, I came across the following thought in Harvard Business Review on Entrepreneurship:

When entrepreneurs neglect to articulate organizational norms and instead hire employees mainly for their technical skills and credentials, their organizations develop a culture by chance rather than by design. The personalities and values of the first wave of employees shape a culture that may not serve the founders’ goals and strategies. Once a culture is established, it is difficult to change.