Bob Hendry

We've all run across different types of users who can make our work a little more difficult. Once you understand them, maybe, just maybe, they'll be easier to deal with. Ida Ida is the user who, completely devoid of any malevolent intent, can utterly devastate her computer and/o... (more)

With all the talk about the great PowerBuilder exodus, this new monthly column will focus on how PowerBuilder has remained at the forefront of client/server and mobile computing. Although no longer the flavor of the month, the downfall of PowerBuilder has been seriously exaggerat... (more)

Mark Twain once said he only has to do as much work as he has to. This quote has often been misinterpreted as one of an underachiever, a mantra for the lazy, bored, and burnt out. I disagree. In my opinion Mark Twain is a genius and can run all of my software development projects... (more)

I live in the midwest where we have a seasonal insect known locally as a "June Bug." These flying bugs are the size of small Buicks and have absolutely no aerial navigation skills. On warm summer evenings, these bugs can be observed in choreographed crazy straw flight patterns th... (more)

I do something every month that is very dear to my heart - once a month I visit my local elementary school where I am a volunteer teacher for the computer club. This is one of the most cherished things I do. The club meets once a week with a regular teacher along with the volunte... (more)

Imagine having all of your data on you, whenever and wherever you go. Most of us use some sort of wireless technology to keep us looped into the wired world. The problem is that even with all the advances in wireless systems and devices, some fatal flaws remain. Wi-Fi (W-LAN) can... (more)

We all have worked with her; most every project has one. She's not technical, most likely not a manager, and usually we all try to avoid her. Most technical team members scratch their heads when it comes to her. What does she really do? She doesn't code, doesn't manage, but she i... (more)

One thing we love to do in high tech is invent new terms, especially acronyms, but new terms of any form really appeal to us. I must confess I find the terminology of technology to be one of its paramount appeals. Of course, new terms sometimes fall into pervasive use without ade... (more)

Sam Walton, the late CEO of Wal-Mart, believed that if someone's efforts were not directly helping Wal-Mart to service its customers, those efforts should be stopped. He had a public relations staff and a human resources staff that he cut severely because they weren't helping wit... (more)

I finally got it! The holy grail of consulting - a telecommuting project. Gone are the days of office distractions and annoying co-workers. Traffic? Traffic is for suckers. I'll commute 20 feet to my job. While others will be stuck in cubiclized corporate hell, I'll be in my pajam... (more)

We may have seen the bottom. After three years of IT dark ages, there's some real evidence that after years of budget cuts, 2004 promises more jobs and projects for all of us. What Happened? To understand the tech recovery, first you must understand why we are talking about a re... (more)

Over the past 10 years, corporations have experienced a dramatic change in the way they store and process information. In the early 1990s corporate information systems tended to be isolated from one another. Most data processing operations were performed on slow (by today's standa... (more)

To my knowledge, Interchange is the world's first Web services-based product for integrating diverse enterprise data. This is the latest addition to the popular Cape Clear Business Integration Suite and has already been chosen by companies such as Vodafone and JPMorgan to simplif... (more)

I can't believe it's almost 2004. Sounds so futuristic right? By now I'm sure all of you work 35-hour weeks and take two-month vacations. Your office is a relic of the past. With advances in teleconferencing and telecommunications, you all work comfortably in your home. If commut... (more)

Crossfire is a mobile-application development platform that enables Microsoft Visual Studio .NET developers to create mobile and wireless applications for the leading mobile devices, including those powered by Palm OS, Windows Mobile/Pocket PC, and Symbian OS. AppForge Crossfire... (more)

Over the past three years I have witnessed many rounds of layoffs. I consider myself lucky. Since 1996 I have worked exclusively on a consulting basis. So in theory, I have no job to lose. This, of course, means I always have to look for a job, since no project lasts forever. If ... (more)

Aileron is a business-quality mobile messaging solution for Palm-powered handheld devices. Its intuitive design helps mobile professionals to completely manage corporate and personal communications from anywhere. Aileron enables users to manage entire conversations from one windo... (more)

Over the past 20 years the economy has lost over four million jobs. Although some of these jobs have disappeared because of increased productivity, most of them have been exported overseas to countries with low-cost labor such as China and Pakistan. As the world becomes smaller, ... (more)

Well designed and a pleasure to use As far as I know, WinWAP is the first WAP browser that is installable on a PC and a PDA. While wireless hardware and software vendors provide a myriad of PC WAP emulators, they lack a common interface, are often somewhat ugly, and require cumbe... (more)

It's not sexy to be a computer geek anymore. A former student of mine, a 31-year-old Web designer, recalls a time in the late 1990s when she was lured by sugar-coated dot-com dreams. She enrolled in classes to learn about HTML coding and JavaScript. She had heard so many stories ... (more)