Webster is Principal and Founder at Bruce F. Webster & Associates, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University. He works with organizations to help them with troubled or failed information technology (IT) projects. He has also worked in several dozen legal cases as a consultant and as a testifying expert, both in the United States and Japan. He can be reached at bwebster@bfwa.com, or you can follow him on Twitter as @bfwebster.
I’m currently reading (and enjoying) Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb; his concepts inspired my latest Baseline column, which talks about the risks that follow a successful IT project: But sometimes with projects that really shouldn’t succeed—that are attempting too much, too fast, with too many risks—enough things go right, particularly along the critical paths, […]
It’s a sad commentary that the best political ad I’ve seen so far — with the most sensible energy policy — stars Paris Hilton: See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.com See more funny videos at Funny or Die The scary part is that she sounds more intelligent than […]
P. J. O’Rourke once observed that Republicans were the party who preached that big government didn’t work and — when elected into power — set about to diligently prove it. Given the gutless, self-serving, and unethical behavior of the Republicans in Congress over the past 8 years, I’d say P. J. nailed it pretty well. […]
My lastest Baseline column is up, in which I argue that setting up one or more maintenance architects within an enterprise can help reduce maintenance costs while at the same time providing a training path for chief software architects. Let me know what you think. Sorry things have been a bit quiet here; both Bruce […]
Actually, it’s hard to write much of a review without giving away key plot points, so this first part will be brief (and spoilers listed below). Truly an outstanding film. Not perfect (see the spoilers section), but every bit as tense, intelligent, and morally complex as the crime dramas that regularly get Oscar nominations. Put […]
I discovered Wondermark a few months ago, and it’s become one of my favorite strips. The general conceit is that the illustration largely comes from actual Victorian-era artwork (which has the advantage of being in the public domain). Here’s today’s strip, but click on the strip below to go to the original to read the […]
I just had a phone conversation with my son Jon (LCPL Webster, USMC), who is somewhere in Iraq. Frankly, the phone call quality was better than when he used to call me from San Diego on his own cell phone. He’s doing well, though he said that when his cohort landed in Kuwait earlier this […]
My latest Baseline column is up, discussing how to make a distributed software development project work. ..bruce..
No, not the movie itself — I haven’t seen it yet, though I do have tickets for Friday night. It’s the movie’s title: “The Dark Knight”. It’s not “Batman: The Dark Knight” or worse yet “Batman II: The Dark Knight” (though I guess technically you’d have to call it “Batman VI: The Dark Knight”). It’s […]
The Onion, as usually, hits the nail right on the head: WASHINGTON—A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest. “What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, […]