Upgrade or Change? What does it take to upgrade the user interface in your application? Before you worry about this you should ask yourself what the difference is between a change and an upgrade. If the change you are making Read More …

Last week we discussed The Pomodoro Technique and its many benefits. If you don’t know what the Pomodoro Technique is then please read last week’s post. When I wrote last week I had used Pomodoro almost every day for months, but Read More …

The Pomodoro Technique is a very simple way to boost your productivity and stay focused. It also has some hidden benefits that we will discuss. How it works Simply set a timer for 25 minutes and focus very hard during this Read More …

Bug Suspects On a recent training flight, I was teaching the student about flight at a slow airspeed when our electrical systems began to malfunction. At first the radios lights flickered, and I thought it might be a problem with Read More …

Is user error even possible? I believe there are two possible attitudes when it comes to user error. Either you believe it is possible for the user to make a mistake or you believe it is not possible for the Read More …

Several years ago, I was on a flight that taught me firsthand about the proper role of automation in our technology. We had been flying since early in the morning from Chester County Airport in Pennsylvania to Monterey Airport in Read More …

A heading bug is nothing like a software bug. It is a small pointer that rides inside of a plane’s heading indicator. You can move the bug with a knob to set it on a particular heading and it will stay Read More …

During private pilot flight training every student must complete a cross-country flight at night over a distance of at least 100 nautical miles total. A student of mine came to this point in his training and we planned a cross-country Read More …

In aviation, especially flight training, it is important to debrief after a flight is complete. The debriefing is an opportunity to talk about the things that went wrong and ways to make the next flight go more smoothly. When I am Read More …

Developers need more checklists. As a flight instructor I became accustomed to using checklists in a particular way, and I have begun carrying their benefits into my work with software. Recently, the company I work for began transitioning to a Read More …