Technologically a lot has changed in the last two years also. There has been shift of functionality from the back end (servers) to the front end (browsers) and this movement is played out with frameworks like SproutCore and Cappuccino. I see this movement as being a good thing and seems to be the result of google joining the browser market and introduction their V8 catalyst. Another side effect of logic moving into the browser has been that people have been finally understanding the power of JavaScript and we are beginning to see JavaScript on the server side going main stream (node.js, CouchDB). Some (such as Adobe and Microsoft) have been trying push their frameworks into the browser which is the wrong approach and fortunately that seems to be slowly loosing out to HTML.

Social networking also seems to have gone more mainstream in the last couple of year (twitter, facebook, etc…) and this seems to be one of the main culprits in taking content away from blogs (such as this one).

Not sure what 2011 holds for this blog, but I can see it being a bright year for web technology in general and I’m hoping to make positive changes in the organisations that I encounter this year.

I’ve recently been having problems with Home Design Studio Pro for Mac failing to render objects in the 3D/Live View following a resume from sleep. Sometimes it renders objects after you reposition or resize them, but usually you have to restart the software. I emailed them about this issue and this was their response:

Dear Garth,

Thanks for contacting Punch! Software.

The issue that you are describing when in sleep mode, it is an issue related to OSX not our software. We also responded to your previous email telling you that your comments were sent for review. Any patches or new products are available in our site , we will not disclose any information prior to the release date.

You can always contact our Corporate Offices at 816-891-0025.

Best regards,

Patricia

Punch! Software Customer Support Center
Monday – Friday 8:00am – 8:00pm Central Standard Time

I’m not quite sure if the lady is suggesting that I should call their Corporate Offices to complain or not? But all I’m looking for is a response that acknowledges the issue and some kind of assurance that they are looking into it. Ideally a response from an engineer who understands OS X (as this individual probably doesn’t) and can give an informed response would be great.

Punch have some potentially great software, but unfortunately it’s very buggy and they don’t seem to have any interest in supporting existing customers. I’m sorry to say that I still have to recommend that you steer clear of Punch Software until they can get their act together. The day that I get a positive response from Punch Software I’ll be sure to report it here.

Unfortunately it seems to me that the practice of code folding (especially when it involves adding syntactic syrup to your source) only hinders readability and navigation by hiding precious statements away from you. Another side affect of #region style coding is that developers have a tendancy to artifically group code blocks into methods, properties, etc… instead of grouping code by relevance.

If your code is so nested that it requires folding, or hideous that it requires hiding with a #region, then perhaps it needs a good refactoring instead. Be sure to steer clear of god objects and keep your methods short and readable and the world will be a happier place.

Drawing floor plans, whilst useful, never really gives you a feel for how the house will look. So I decided to get some house design software.

There are lots of choices for the PC but very few for the Mac. In fact, if you discard all the generic 3d modeling packages there’s only one. Home Design Studio (Pro) from Punch Software.

So I paid out my $250 and gave it a try. It’s a great piece of software, a lot easier to use than generic 3d software. And once you’ve built your house you can do the decoration and garden too.

The only problem is that whilst Punch Software have been around for quite a while, they are relatively new to the Mac and there are some significant behavioural issues and bugs, including a couple of nasty ones that cause the software to crash without warning, loosing your work.

Just a few examples:

• The undo feature is almost useless, it can take minutes for each undo action and sometimes the undo history is inexplicably absent.
• All user preferences are tied to the design, so the software has to be reconfigured for every new design.
• The software often forgets settings such as default elevation, making placing new objects tedious at times.
• The software only supports 3 stories, so if you’re design has more than 3 floors (as do many split-level or town houses) it’s very difficult to use.
• The 3d navigation controls are almost impossible to master.
• Whilst the software does support metric units, all objects are in inches/feet and converted to metric when placed on the design, so most objects need to be resized once placed.
• The software also claims to support major brand name items, but these names are nearly all unheard of outside of North America.
• And I don’t know what Americans do with their gardens, but you won’t find a single fruit tree, vegetable or other useful plant for your garden.

Normally these issues wouldn’t concern me too much. The company is new to Mac, the software is young and should mature over time. However, what really surprised me was their attitude when I tried to contact them to talk about the issues. Firstly they woulnd’t let me talk to anyone technical, so I had to deal with a lady that obviously had not used the software, and secondly she said that they do not fix problems in a release but rather add new features for the next release. So they may or may not address current bugs, but even if they do you’d have to pay for the next release (which will no doubt come with it’s own set of new bugs).

As a software engineer I find this kind of behaviour from a software company rather shocking. It really makes you appreciate open source. A couple of days with the source for Home Design Studio and I’m sure that the worst of the issues could be resolved and I would have some usable software.

If anyone from Punch Software is listening. Please ditch your useless online support system. Make your bug tracking system publicly visible and allow users to add and track the status of ongoing issues (I’ve asked for feedback several times and have had no response). Provide patches to existing releases. Move into the new millenium, be more open about your operation and involved your customers.

http://econcepts.ltd.uk

Unfortunately I have received non-stop marketing emails from them since, and whatever I try they won’t stop sending them.

The only way to contact them is via premium rate telephone number, which they use as a massive profit earner by ensuring they leave you on hold indefinitely. I have never managed to get them to pick up, I’ve tried every different option, even sales, which usually gets a quicker response than most options with other companies.

I’ve tried email, but they are always bounced, I did manage to get through to their sales team via email once, but they just told me to call their premium rate number for support and refused to help.

All I want is for them to remove my details from their system and stop sending me spam. This is a good example of a company to avoid, and I would recommend that you do not make the same mistake of signing up with them as I did.

I ended up with a grumpy security guy who seem to only get more annoyed as he padded me down and found item after item in my pockets.

It really brightened up my day.

I took me about 20 minutes to decided that it wasn’t going to work. There’s no way to cancel on their website, so you have to go though their support system where they try to persuade you to stay, which is a pain, but they did eventually refund me.

I hope that one day these kind of services get a lot better and more flexible, but for the moment a pair of VPS’s is cheaper and more flexible.

If a tree falls in a forest when no one is there, does it make a noise?

I realise that agents are a necessary evil, and it’s great that there are so many jobs around, but if they continue like this then people will just stop using them.

If you’re an employment agent reading this, and you want to entice people like me to look at the jobs you have on offer, then I have some advice.

1. Don’t withhold your number when calling (I won’t answer)
2. When emailing or texting your advert, tell me what you are advertising. I won’t call you back if you just say “call me about this great job opportunity”. As a minimum I want to know where the job is, what skills are required, and what compensation is on offer. Without this information I won’t call you back. Remember you’re trying to make a sale, why should I buy your product if you don’t tell me what it is you’re selling.
3. Don’t spam me. If you send me a job ad for a junior developer with php skills I will probably add you to my spam list. It should be obvious from my CV/Resume how many years I’ve been in the industry and what skills I have.
4. Don’t ask me to treat your ad as chain mail. If I have a friend who needs a job then I’ll pass on information sure, but I’m not going to spam my contacts list on your behalf.