Interesting Bits

Scrum Training in Toronto, September 12-13

Our colleague and fellow Canadian Francois Beauregard is offering a Scrum Master course in Toronto, running September 12 and 13. I recommend this for anyone looking to learn how to run a Scrum team well. Visit here to register, or just to learn more.

PS: Francois, I apologize for removing the cedille from your name, but it was breaking RSS feed readers!

Java: It's a sad day....

I just read this at Angelika Langer's FAQ on Generics in Java.

The Java Language Specification even states that it is possible that future versions of the Java programming language will disallow the use of raw types.

That is, "be prepared to be forced to use generic types, whether you like them or not."

Well, a friend of mine recently saw his "Quit Clock" (think "Doomsday Clock") hit 12 midnight. I think my "Quit Clock" as a Java programmer has started running.... Shame, that.

JUnit Recipes is being reprinted...

For those of you who've been asking about JUnit Recipes or having difficulty obtaining it, Manning has told me that they are reprinting it as we speak. I don't know when it will be ready to ship again, but look for online booksellers to start being able to ship in reasonable timeframes again.

If you really need a copy, go here and buy directly from the publisher. You can get the PDF version for USD 25.00 or both PDF and print for USD 50.00 (you can download the PDF immediately and you'll get the print copy when it's ready to ship).

Bad UI design: Canada Post

I've just registered with Canada Post's "Online Business Centre", and it was a harrowing experience, to say the least, all because of an invalid postal code.

First, I tried every format I could imagine for Canadian postal codes: R7N2V4, r7n2v4, R7N-2V4, R7N 2V4, r7n 2v4, ... every permutation of case, punctuation and spacing I thought was reasonable. None worked. Now I really need to pay this bill today, and I don't want to waste time at a bank in line (not to mention the annoying fee for paying a bill at the teller), so I called Canada Post and they told me that they had a different postal code on file. (One address is our location; one is our post office box.) Armed with better information, I hung up and tried registering again.

Well, R7N1M8 didn't work, and neither did r7n1m8 or r7n 1m8. Finally, R7N 1M8 was the winning combination. (It felt, after all, like opening a safe.) I am now registered and have the privilege of paying Canada Post their $207.

Why on Earth would a simple web form force me to get both case and spacing right on something as simple as a postal code?! Web form designers everywhere, stop doing that!