I had a similar scenario with a web server generating reports from a rapidly changing, real time database. The original system used a ridiculous number of queries that ran...

Never found a good use for it. Always return sets and process externally if required.

I gave six months notice when I left my last job. I had to work it. Shame. I would have enjoyed six months paid leave.

A colleague, while on holiday, apparently decided it was a good idea to place his company mobile phone on the gunwall of a rowing boat. Predictably, when someone called...

All of our Watsons are busy right now. Please hold...

Ah yes. I remember feeling, mistakenly, that I was indispensable and that the company would collapse if I took leave. Truth is that I probably would have collapsed...

Coding errors are not necessarily dependent on the software, although some are easier to use than others.

Would it be true to say then, that an experienced Excel (or other spreadsheet) practitioner would be aware of the sources of error and be able to factor them into...

Aside from the errors introduced by individual functions, most spreadsheets have chained functions, each contributing its own error. On a good day the errors might cancel but good days...

The report seems to show that none of the popular spreadsheets are up to the job. I doubt if they were ever intended to be used for such critical calculations....

I wonder how often software is validated before it is used. Taking Excel as an example, it's a fantastic piece of software and is extremely useful, I use it a...

There is a saying, "A bad workman always blames his tools".

It occurs to me that Excel is the wrong tool for the job in so many cases. The...

In my limited experience, anyone who spends their time looking for problems, I.e. engineers and I.T. Support personnel, are often accused of being negative by those in marketing and h.r....