From time to time we’ve has this ColdFusion error occur over a period of years regarding the setup of mail server parameters: Message: An exception occurred when setting up mail server parameters. Detail : This exception was caused by: javax.mail.MessagingException: Connect failed; nested exception is: java.net.SocketTimeoutException: Read timed out. Once in this state, ColdFusion would no longer...

Recently on LinkedIn there were two separate threads in ColdFusion related forums regarding the topic of the challenge of finding ColdFusion developers as an employer, and finding jobs as a ColdFusion developer. The discussion covered a variety of perspectives from telecommuting, the ecosystem, economic, tips on attracting developers, tips to finding jobs, etc… Below is is an adaptation of my posts… Telecommuting I’m the...

In Alessandro Di Fiore’s HBR article, “How to Get Past Your Customers’ lies“, he writes about the importance of doing your own market exploration instead of using market research analysts. Or in his own words: These people have to be smart about business, strategy, and people because they’ve got to be able to spot the really significant behaviors and issues. And the best people to do that are going to be the...

Michael Wolfe on Quora posted an amazing analogy explaining why software development estimates are routinely way off, which results in developers padding their estimates to factor in the fudge of such inaccuracies. Another thesis I’ve been pondering over lately are the terms “Software Engineering” and “Computer Science”, which imply that software development is purely scientific and engineering in nature. Most colleges run those...

I recently listened to the audiobook to Peter Drucker’s book entitled the Effective Executive. Here are my key take aways as to what makes an executive effective. They ask what needs to be done? Do not ask “what do I want to do?” Concentrate on just one task, two at most, and never more than two at a time. Set priorities and stick to them. After completing tasks 1 and 2, instead of moving on to number 3 ask again what...