Brightball

Articles about Life

No such thing as "real programming"

PHP | Life | Business | - July 20, 2015 // Barry @ freeCodeCamp

I read an article earlier today called The self-hating Web Developer that I found on Hacker News and it bothered me. It resonated with me as something that I professionally internalized over my career but it bothered me because Joseph encountered personal financial difficulty for both himself and his family due to the struggle. For that reason (and insomnia), I feel compelled to write this as reference to refer to for anybody else who may be struggling with the same thing.

What exactly happened to Brightball for hire?

Life | Business | - August 11, 2014 // Barry

It's been about four years since we last took on a new project as a company. Work continued for existing clients for a long time after that, but the company itself was basically dead from that point. I was on vacation with my family last week and somewhat reflecting on exactly how I got there after ending up in a hospital bed in the middle of the night four years ago trying to keep it going. Here's how it happened.

NOTE: I still personally consult through Brightball.

"Make it faster."

Life | - April 28, 2013 // Barry

 I'm obsessed with performance tuning.  It's an itch that can never fully be scratched.  A sickness that can never be cured.  Here's the story of how I caught the bug.

The Impossible Assignment

Life | Clemson | - April 25, 2013 // Barry

I had the opportunity to visit the class of one of my legendary former professors yesterday and got to share a classic story about him...the time he gave us an impossible assignment.