Where I work, we have to use this faux-open-source process called scrum. The idea is to emulate the way open source projects work, while retaining some of the controls that waterfall project management gives to people not doing the actual work.
The biggest problem with Scrum is its focus on short term gain. Our sprint cycle - an arbitrary measure used to force developers to turn out code faster - is three weeks. The intent is to break up tasks into small bites so they can get done, but the actual effect is that developers end up overhurried, they skimp on design and testing, and you end up with shitty code that is nothing but one compromise heaped upon another.
If you like how open source projects work, just do it correctly from the start and DO OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPMENT. Don't try to impose arbitrary date and time requirements on people because these will result in crap code.
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I got criticized today for being too contrite with the kernel maintainers over trivial things.
maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather be too apologetic than come off as arrogant.
Whatever. 
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The worst thing about being an engineer is hearing conversations like this:
"I'm sorry, I was in the middle of taking a dump when you hopped on there"
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Recently there have been many articles posted about the level of "realism" in the game Watch_Dogs and whether or not the things that happen in the game are possible.
Unfortunately, most of the discussion has been about weaponized hacking - the stoplight changing and electric-junction-blowing over the top stuff, rather than the parts that are genuinely scary: profiling strangers on the street, invading privacy of others, and the huge effect of corruption in a government agency.
The game would be far more realistic if Blume were renamed "NSA" and CtOS were renamed "PRISM." We don't need a fictional company wiring together an entire city's security infrastructure and putting in back doors; the NSA is already in this business. If they have the means to force private companies to install secret backdoors, they most certainly have the means to force state and local governments to comply as well. The fact is, CtOS's level of interconnectivity may already be a reality for most cities. It simply is not widespread public knowledge.
Add to this the reality that things are becoming MORE connected on a daily basis, not less, and the kind of disaster in Watch_Dogs sounds more like a guaranteed future than fiction.
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I'm testing out the latest Eclipse Luna build (4.4RC2) and it looks like all of the issues I was having with it have been cleaned up. The menus work, the perspective customization menu works, and the new GTK3-based UI is fast and fits in well with Ubuntu 14.04. 
Definitely worth trying out! I need to reinstall the Android devkit next.
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The OwnCloud server was not being automatically updated, and the new version had behavioral problems, so I had to reset the database. Files and settings were deleted and then restored. If something's missing, please let me know.
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Thanks to the ice storm last week, CC was down for five days. We lost power, heat, the phone, as well as my car, which had a branch land directly in front of it, damaging the radiator, front bumper, and fans.
Another storm may be coming to dump a foot or so of additional snow on top of the foot of ice and snow we already have.
I apologise in advance if CC goes down again.
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"An aging, Windows XP Embedded-based POS operating system with insufficient virus detection capabilities may be at fault"
Thanks a lot, Microsoft. Your intentionally buggy, low-quality, suck-ass OS enabled these criminals.
It was time for big businesses to start looking at Linux point-of-sale systems YEARS ago. Maybe now they'll take things seriously. Probably not though; businesses only respond to one thing, the threat of loss of money.
Target should be on the hook to pay for all damage caused by their shitty choice of Windows.
via Target breach takes shape: Hints at malware and hackers - NBC News.com.
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