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]]> Wed, 1 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CST http://www.businesscasualcomic.com/index.php?date=20100901 The first book collection of Business Casual finally begins its pre-order today! Head over to the Business Casual store to see all the details behind Business Casual Volume 1: Agile Development, including a special pre-order incentive.

I'm looking to submit the initial order of books within the next week or two so this won't be too long of a pre-order. I should have a firm cutoff date for the pre-orders in the next day or two, and I'll be sure to post the exact cutoff date when I have it. I'll also be posting additional preview images of the book in the next few days so be sure to check back in and see more details on what the book will offer.

I'm excited that this book may finally become a reality and can't wait to hold it in my hands. Hopefully, some of you will share that enthusiasm with me.

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]]> Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CST http://www.businesscasualcomic.com/index.php?date=20100825 Don't feel too bad about complaining about a department or someone causing you trouble in your job. Unless you work at a company of one, there's a group or someone else at your company that's complaining about you holding them up. It's just the way we are.

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]]> Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CST http://www.businesscasualcomic.com/index.php?date=20100823 The important detail I have to share is that I had a great time at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo. After a couple of lackluster convention experiences recently, this one really delivered for me. The organization behind this convention was excellent and definitely needs some recognition. Andy Krueger and Sarah Morean did an outstanding job organizing and promoting this event. Kudos to both of them and all of the others who pitched in to make MIX 2010 such a good time.

Since my camera broke recently, I don't have any pictures to share. However, what I can share is that the convention was full of people who seemed genuinely interested in comics, art, and talking about the craft. In some conventions, you get a lot more foot traffic passing by your table, but that's all they do. They just pass by. Even if the MIX attendees didn't buy anything from me, they gave me a chance to either pitch my comics to them or just talk to them about comics in general.

In short, the show was just what I needed to recharge my comics battery. It refueled my excitement level in making comics, and I hope that it shows in my work. I'm more committed than ever to finishing my Business Casual book, and since I had a good response to my first mini comic, I'd like to make another.

So way to go MIX 2010, I hope to see you next year.

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]]> Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CST http://www.businesscasualcomic.com/index.php?date=20100818 Couple of things for today.

First, I will be a guest at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo this Saturday in Minneapolis. This is a new convention, but it looks like things are going to hit the ground running. There's some good stuff planned before, during, and even after the con so be sure to check it out if you're in the area.

Second, I just completed my first mini-comic. "Infinite Loop" will be available for purchase at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo on Saturday, and I'll put it up in the store in the next week or so. It was fun to create a longer story instead of the usual 3-4 panel gags. And I also got to step out of my art comfort zone by laying out the 16 page mini.

And last, does anyone else find it kind of annoying when you hear someone state that a request was due yesterday. We get it. It's a super-rush, and you need it as quick as we can finish it. But yesterday doesn't give me any real information. All it tells me is that the project is behind schedule. Even if you give a date that's likely unreachable, it's better to give an actual expected date than to toss out a date that means nothing.

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]]> Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CST http://www.businesscasualcomic.com/index.php?date=20100813 The longer that I work in my profession, the more it seems like I see a trend toward an acceptance of releasing errors to test users. When I first started my programming career, it was a horrible thing if a tester ever got an error when testing code. But these days, it seems like people almost expect a test version to have some flaws. Why is that? Get ready for a numbered list below.

1. Time crunch

As the recession wears on, and more companies try to do the same job with less people, the time crunch for projects and releases seem tighter and tighter all the time. Gone are the days when you have the time buffer to spend a few days or weeks doing peer testing or just stress testing your own code. More likely what happens is that projects are so overlapped and rushed that testing is done in phases with continual "that piece is ready yet" or "only test this part" replies given as to why testers see errors.

2. Code Complexity

Now this may sound like I'm becoming an old fart (and I am a little bit), but it seems like there is a trend in programming these days for making things complex for no apparent reason. Programmers go to great lengths to set up multi-threaded, stateless objects with perfectly split business and presentation logic when all that was needed for the project was a simple task. There is a place for complex framework logic, but trying to shove it into simple tasks just takes too much time and too much effort. And usually, it ends up being too complex to get the job done efficiently and correctly.

3. Lack of Training

Do companies actually train employees anymore? Of course, in this job market, the companies may not even need to train. If an employee doesn't have a skill the company needs, there are plenty of other potential workers out there looking for work. But even before the job market went belly up, there was a trend to basically expect programmers to learn newer technologies outside of work hours. It seems the days are gone when you would get a job as a help desk technician out of college, spend some time learning some basic logic, then move onto an entry-level programmer which would lead to a mid or senior level position. Too many times, it seems like once you're in a certain position at a company, you're in there for good. So what happens when people either don't have the time to learn or have the motivation to work hard and move forward in their careers? Quality suffers.

So are these things the only reasons for testing errors? No. Laziness and incompetence are probably still the two largest factors. But I hope my rambling list gave some additional reasons.

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