Mandatory reading for tech leaders 📚

July 15, 2025
4 minute read
I repeatedly encounter ongoing software projects that are far behind industry best practice and as a result are getting the inevitable problems in quality, delays, waste etc. When I talk to the projec…
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Tech lead lessons learned

July 4, 2025
2 minute read
Love Jira. The main method of ensuring the team builds the right thing at the right time is a quality & well ordered backlog. The team owns the stories and tickets. The tickets are just a tool fo…
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Why not WhatsApp?

July 2, 2025
6 minute read
People regularly look at me like I'm from another planet when I say "I'm not on WhatsApp". And I feel the need to explain myself. To save everyone from what is frankly quite a boring IRL conversation …
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Older posts

The Hidden Cost of Overusing AI Coding Tools: Tech Debt in Sheep’s Clothing
June 25, 2025
How to upload kindle fire kids photos to amazon photos
May 20, 2025
NuGet libraries to avoid
May 8, 2025
Podcast: using AI for coding
April 2, 2025
Why is reading bad code so painful?!
January 31, 2025
Viewing git history for merged feature branches
January 26, 2025
Don't use Azure CosmosDB
January 14, 2025
The RAID Log: Your Guide to Surviving Chaos, Politics, and Petty Office Wars
November 22, 2024
Should you create tickets for tech tasks?
October 7, 2024
Why user stories should be shippable increments
September 12, 2024
Running xUnit Test Setup Only Once Across Multiple Test Classes
August 2, 2024
Running a beefy virtualbox dev server
June 7, 2024
Trunk based (mainline) development is (mostly) wrong
April 18, 2024
Why do automated tests matter?
March 27, 2024
Templated repos with dotnet new
March 6, 2024
New tool: sln-items-sync for Visual Studio solution folders
January 13, 2024
New rust and ssbf podcast episodes
October 26, 2023
git - what do 'base' 'local' 'remote' mean?
October 20, 2023
Use kdiff3 for merge conflict resolution
October 20, 2023
What is Hexagonal Architecture, aka "Ports and Adapters"
September 28, 2023
New podcast episodes - rust meetups and fast talkers
June 30, 2023
Enabling modern app security
June 14, 2023
Text-based tools - the ultimate format for everything
June 1, 2023
Maintaining software - a bare minimum
May 22, 2023
Zero-downtime website rewrite migrations
May 22, 2023
Website builders for non-programmers
May 4, 2023
Always Add Argument (Parameter) Names
April 18, 2023
The trap of two-stage commitments
April 6, 2023
Importing Slashdot Journal Articles by Yak
March 29, 2023
Finding a contractor accountants
November 11, 2022
Exceptions vs Wrapper Return Types
November 10, 2022
Taking an idea from business concept to software implementation
August 30, 2022
How to be a highly valued developer
August 24, 2022
Choosing a programming language for timslist
July 29, 2022
Single class per file
July 10, 2022
Tips for remembering names
May 19, 2022
Detecting bit-rot with md5deep
March 2, 2022
Upgrading indirect NuGet dependencies
February 15, 2022
Phone setup notes
December 17, 2021
Being a development team lead
December 10, 2021
Technical phone screen interview questions
December 10, 2021
Integrating ShipStation with QuickBooks Desktop
September 27, 2021
The death of custom software development
August 18, 2021
Why I want you to use slack threads
July 8, 2021
GitHub rebase and squash considered harmful
March 15, 2021
Link your outlook calendar with your google calendar
March 11, 2021
House buying and selling tip - make contact!
March 4, 2021
Podcasting hardware setup
January 26, 2021
A book list for my children
January 25, 2021
Remote code interview pairing tools
December 4, 2020
Database migration options for dotnet core
November 26, 2020
Running the CosmosDB emulator on Linux
September 17, 2020
Effective GTD with Trello
September 15, 2020
Approaches to refactoring, technical debt and legacy code
July 9, 2020
Personal backlogs
June 30, 2020
Fast backup to external drive with lz4
April 23, 2020
Question: where are we at with dynamic static sites?
April 14, 2020
What you should do between contracts
April 9, 2020
Time to "Shape Up" your SCRUM processes? The new thing from Basecamp
November 26, 2019
Should you rebase or merge to update feature branches in git?
October 14, 2019
Why I made SQL Schema Explorer open source
October 8, 2019
Laptop setup notes
August 20, 2019
Why every team needs a Delivery Manager (DM)
July 8, 2019
How to find contract developer clients
June 26, 2019
Setting up a static website/blog with jekyll
June 24, 2019
Blog refresh - bye bye wordpress, hello jekyll
June 21, 2019
Database tools I was surprised existed
June 10, 2019
Teardown of a landing page story
December 10, 2018
A Modern Digital Government Outsourcer
October 30, 2018
Always add braces
August 28, 2018
5 ways to make your database better - by Tim Abell
July 10, 2018
Building on my own just for you and your database
June 26, 2018
Building a Windows 10 Development VM from scratch
April 1, 2018
My Screencasting Setup
March 17, 2018
Regression Tests for ASP.NET / SQL Projects
March 13, 2018
Developers, Love Your SQL Database
March 12, 2018
My approach to my work
March 10, 2018
Contract developer to entrepreneur - resources
February 16, 2018
Down with SDV! long live SSE!
December 29, 2017
From contractor to entrepreneur - motivations
November 19, 2017
Looking for beta-testers for my new Free Sql Data Viewer tool
November 18, 2017
Why SDV could be a billion dollar business
November 17, 2017
Git for TFS users
October 27, 2017
Choosing wordpress hosting for a new idea
October 22, 2017
Home server docker-compose
August 29, 2017
Home server backups
August 29, 2017
Running sdv in docker
August 13, 2017
Patreon open source funding
June 3, 2017
Dustbin of ideas - IT Contractor Buddy
May 12, 2017
IT Contractor buddy
May 3, 2017
New home server with Xen and docker
March 10, 2017
New year new blog
January 17, 2017
Startup competitors - Data Viewer
January 17, 2017
New year new blog, happy 2017
January 17, 2017
javascript dates in firefox and locales
September 27, 2016
Yet another good-commit-messages post
March 18, 2016
Starting up a startup
December 24, 2015
Sql Data Viewer - preview release
October 27, 2015
100 reasons I hate ssrs
August 12, 2015
LibreOffice mail merge - "data source 'SOURCE' was not found"
January 12, 2015
throw vs throw ex vs wrap and throw in c-sharp
May 10, 2014
Why publish open source when you are commercial?
March 8, 2014
Bash command line editing cheat sheet
February 10, 2014
Converting kml to gpx with python
February 3, 2014
Returning to commercial ASP.NET from Ruby on Rails
January 7, 2014
Getting rails 4 up and running with rbenv on Ubuntu 13.10
December 4, 2013
Unfinished hyperlinks - add a todo
May 25, 2013
Installing ruby 2 + Rails 4 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
May 13, 2013
Java checked and runtime exceptions and how to transition
April 2, 2013
Subversion to git - the pain retold
December 5, 2012
AA Gold member benefits, the real cost
July 10, 2012
Configuration confusion in visual studio
July 10, 2012
automatic mysql backups
June 14, 2012
Connecting to smb shares on a domain in gnome
June 11, 2012
Debugging stored procedures in VS2010 / SQL Express
May 22, 2012
Enabling TCP/IP in SQL Express 2008 R2
May 22, 2012
Running IE Application Compatibility VPC under Virtual Box
April 18, 2012
Poll svn server for changes with git clone
April 5, 2012
Announcing the Communication Book project
March 21, 2012
Quote of the day - scrum progress updates
February 14, 2012
The BBC and the bouncing emails
January 25, 2012
The trouble with agile is it's a bit too good
January 17, 2012
Git, Windows and Line endings
January 11, 2012
Multiple working folders for git on Windows XP
November 16, 2011
GpsPrune file matching
November 9, 2011
LVM + ReiserFS for the win
October 25, 2011
share your test data for your project
October 3, 2011
Simple water butt level meter
August 5, 2011
Auto-expanding django formset with jQuery
July 7, 2011
Data driven test in NUnit with csv source data
May 23, 2011
Reliable javascript checkbox events
May 18, 2011
Using Pidgin for IRC
December 15, 2010
configuring kdiff3 as a mergetool in msysgit
September 3, 2010
openlayers svn into git
February 4, 2010
backing up Vista
December 18, 2009
MCTS in ASP.NET 3.5 - Mission accomplished.
December 18, 2009
getting supybot to announce new bugzilla bugs
November 16, 2009
bugzilla upgrades and user tokens
November 8, 2009
life update - software learning
October 24, 2009
backuppc and windows vista
October 23, 2009
git-svn imports for open source projects
April 11, 2009
mini police eye in the sky
April 11, 2009
format all documents in a visual studio solution
January 29, 2009
password-free ubuntu login with facebrowser
December 18, 2008
error "Not a valid object name" filtering an ex-svn git repo with renames
September 10, 2008
reseting home folder permissions in ubuntu linux
August 24, 2008
Don't trust audible.com, it's drm infected and they don't tell you
July 23, 2008
work at emapsite
July 16, 2008
New wiki, mostly for car pc
July 14, 2008
Nightly Shutdown, a new product from Proven Works
July 3, 2008
A vision of open in-car computing systems
June 6, 2008
sharing work between computers with a usb flash drive and git
May 29, 2008
Removing the execute flag from many files
May 17, 2008
My bash prompt
March 31, 2008
stop motion animation on linux
March 27, 2008
Tech support at its worst
January 30, 2008
Preparing photos for a digital picture frame
December 28, 2007
Enabling TV-Out on Ubuntu Linux 7.10 on a Dell Inspiron 8500
December 9, 2007
Making money with free software
November 4, 2007
xsession sold out
November 4, 2007
OSS Contribution Number One!
October 27, 2007
Creating a blogroll
September 3, 2007
Taking a Microsoft Learning course - my experience so far
August 16, 2007
Blocking web adverts
July 2, 2007
Ubuntu screen locking
July 2, 2007
backing up your home folder
June 20, 2007
My mum and her super ceramics
May 28, 2007
Get emailed Tim's blog and photos
May 27, 2007
starfighter
May 27, 2007
running partimage in batch mode
April 10, 2007
bad geek joke: the bourne shell
March 30, 2007
partimage + stdout, existing code
March 30, 2007
compiling partimage
March 26, 2007
tim; now available with flickr pics
March 23, 2007
Multi-room music at home
March 16, 2007
Today's project - partimage enhancement
March 13, 2007
new blog, take two
March 13, 2007
tim's new blog
January 7, 2007
mountain bike stolen
November 24, 2006
a manual? for £££££?!
July 19, 2006
sailing pics
July 9, 2006
M4 J11 Reading plans
July 7, 2006
comedy email circular
May 25, 2006
Ian & broadband
May 23, 2006
Get with the (music) program - podsafe radio
April 28, 2006
bad websites
March 11, 2006
bicycles
March 10, 2006
gimp trouble
January 4, 2006
article: Windows rapidly approaching desktop usability!
December 7, 2005
cv
November 30, 2005
colds. ugh
November 29, 2005
read a book today - without leaving your chair
November 18, 2005
article: micro$oft battles for survival of office
November 10, 2005
geek here
November 9, 2005
warning: geek entry - vim
November 4, 2005
Hurricane Wilma
October 21, 2005
trackback
October 11, 2005
copying all (hidden) files in linux with cp
September 29, 2005
microsoft office clipart
September 6, 2005
marketing? grrrrrrr! oh, and greenbelt this weekend
August 22, 2005
funky technology
August 19, 2005
tim's technical ramblings
August 10, 2005
google wos ere
August 10, 2005
funky flash game
July 30, 2005
yacht
July 27, 2005
corolla
July 27, 2005
post-relational databases in the real world
July 20, 2005
no patents on software!!
July 6, 2005
i still hate sundays
July 3, 2005
Java!=javascript (geek entry)
June 30, 2005
eBay / iRiver
June 23, 2005
firefox bookmark synch extension
June 23, 2005
I hate ebay because...
June 12, 2005
and paypal aren't looking too hot
June 12, 2005
Pay as you drive won't work because...
June 6, 2005
how to destroy the earth
June 3, 2005
google funds open source development
June 2, 2005
waaaah!
May 31, 2005
What's your political persuasion?
May 25, 2005
some things I'm happy about
May 23, 2005
more raucous laughter
May 17, 2005
unblocked!
May 13, 2005
pointless acronyms
May 13, 2005
laughing my behind off!
May 13, 2005
April showers came early. MS vendor lock in.
March 31, 2005
shock! timwise.co.uk home page updated!
March 18, 2005
new year? when was that?
March 8, 2005
ebay - buy my stuff
March 7, 2005
email security / lack of
January 25, 2005
update
January 18, 2005
let the selling begin
December 27, 2004
i don't do forwards
December 25, 2004
moved
December 23, 2004
busy
November 30, 2004
xmas flash animation
November 15, 2004
why am i here
November 13, 2004
Urgh. Not such a toothy grin now.
November 12, 2004
Weekend
November 8, 2004
workworkworkworkworkworkwork...
November 4, 2004
mmmm cake
November 1, 2004
mourn
October 26, 2004
b3ta teddy
October 24, 2004
woo!
October 17, 2004
website stats
October 16, 2004
Nothing much
October 15, 2004
Offline friends
October 15, 2004
Lecture, 19th Oct
October 5, 2004
Weekend / Talent? / Sport / Theatre
October 4, 2004
no cycling for me
September 29, 2004
Play / 14th Oct
September 28, 2004
weekend update
September 27, 2004
Guitar Book
September 22, 2004
Mr C
September 21, 2004
Curiosity did _not_ kill the cat. That was the car >:|
September 20, 2004
Tonight
September 20, 2004
more stats!
September 15, 2004
Now I'm annoyed
September 14, 2004
I know where my towel is.
September 13, 2004
stats
September 11, 2004
life continues
September 10, 2004
roxio
September 2, 2004
life update
September 1, 2004
Morzine
August 22, 2004
So what _is_ the "internet"?
August 22, 2004
more pics
August 19, 2004
Picture-skew
August 17, 2004
Bonjour
August 16, 2004
Facial Fuzz
August 16, 2004
Real IT Stories
August 14, 2004
Biking
August 14, 2004
Busy busy
August 10, 2004
paris who?
July 30, 2004
swimming
July 28, 2004
an evenings work
July 27, 2004
taff tour
July 24, 2004
Commuting by Bike
July 12, 2004
Wow. I've never had it so good.
July 11, 2004
Pringles
July 5, 2004
Another rung on the ladder
July 5, 2004
SBR
June 23, 2004
**No Title**
June 18, 2004
Windsurfing
June 16, 2004
Blollogs
June 14, 2004
This is a local village
June 14, 2004
The Wall
June 12, 2004
Photos
May 13, 2004
swimming
May 11, 2004
sleep is for wusses
May 2, 2004
Own a domain? Then Fear the "Joe Job"
April 8, 2004
File manager of fun
April 5, 2004
swimming
April 2, 2004
beer, linux & aaar.
March 24, 2004
Swimming
March 20, 2004
Dodgy DELL drivers
March 17, 2004
Swimming
March 15, 2004
This weekend
March 14, 2004
Cycling
March 8, 2004
morning
February 26, 2004
swimming
February 26, 2004
good for nothing script kiddies
February 26, 2004
Star gazing
February 16, 2004
M$
February 16, 2004
Balls!
February 14, 2004
swimming
February 13, 2004
Hulloa
February 5, 2004
Things + lycra swimwear & goggles
January 29, 2004
You, yes you, reading my /. journal
January 29, 2004
Morning
January 20, 2004
Swimming
January 20, 2004
Drama
January 19, 2004
Swimming
January 15, 2004
Swimming
January 13, 2004
Bloody Banks
January 13, 2004
Swimming
January 8, 2004
Swimming
January 6, 2004
Swimming
January 3, 2004
Music - bad response
December 28, 2003
Swimming
December 23, 2003
Swimming
December 19, 2003
Swimming
December 16, 2003
Anargams
December 12, 2003
Also - music
December 12, 2003
Swimming
December 11, 2003
Eddie Izzard
December 5, 2003
Splash
December 4, 2003
WhoIs Privacy
December 4, 2003
sooooo long
December 3, 2003
Swimming
December 2, 2003
Nigerian Scam
November 29, 2003
Yawn
November 27, 2003
bluetooth headset & old pc with new cable modem
November 22, 2003
light
November 17, 2003
message to motorola support
November 17, 2003
motorola
November 17, 2003
warble
November 14, 2003
Hello reader
October 15, 2003
Wrinkly hands
October 13, 2003
Vodafone - sucking
September 16, 2003