TurboTax Bug

I found a bug using TurboTax online. Here are the details:

If you applied some of last year's Federal refund towards this year's taxes, when itemizing this under "Your Deductions and Credits > Taxes Paid > Other Income Taxes", your allocation will automatically transfer over (imported from last year's return). This is fine. The bug however, occurs on the next form "State and Local Refunds Applied to 2007" (at least for VA returns). It seems there is no edit on the amount of 2006 refund applied to 2007 State taxes!

Below, are some screen shots (for demonstration purposes only). Both Federal and State "Error Checkers fail to detect any problems. The Federal return appears to itemize the full amount of last year's refund. The VA State return however, applies the entire amount!!!





I've used TurboTax for about 10 years and have always loved the product. This is the first year I've tried the online version ... looks like a few things slipped through QA at Intuit!

Last note: Use integrity and common sense when filing your taxes. If you're using TurboTax online, make sure you double check the return (or have a Tax professional do so).

Dreams from My Father

Just finished Obama's autobiography ... another one I'd recommend.

Synopsis:
1) Struggles with race and identity growing up in an inter-racial home.
2) His childhood in Jakarta and Hawaii and the key, influential relationships during those years.
3) His work in Chicago as a community organizer and his acute observations of racism and struggling, working class minorities (primarily Black Americans).
4) The journey to discover his family heritage in Kenya.

Obama does an excellent job detailing various life events and subsequently describing his related thoughts and emotions. As these events unfold chronologically, the reader is given an inside view of the character and "world view" evolution of the author. Additionally, the multitude of characters described within the book are done so very tangibly. The nuances of personality and character foibles detailed, provide a very realistic picture.

If the eloquence of Obama's writing in this book translates into his speech writing, he'll likely have a very successful 2008 campaign. In the book, ideas are provided succinctly, but with enough detail to give the reader a clear understanding. A good approach (I think) for political rhetoric.

The Age of Turbulence

Excellent autobiographical chronology of Greenspan's life served with a healthy dose of international economic history. Highly recommend this one!

meh.

Sometimes indifference is comforting ... yes I bought the shirt.

Tidbits of Life Experience

1. No regrets
2. People, not possessions
3. Un-broken homes are a Family legacy
4. Tolerance and morality are not contradictory
5. Listen eagerly, speak when necessary
   

Twilight (ESPN)Zone

Talk about sensory overload ... wow! Tonight, I took my 7-year-old son to dinner at ESPNZone in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. As we were being seated I discovered the "smoking" section was actually the one with the 8' x 10' video screen and leather lounge chairs. Hmmm, I thought ... I wonder how much 1 hour of second hand cigar smoke could actually damage a 4 ft tall human? After all, it was Monday, just after 5pm ... we probably had a good 2 hours before the heavy fumagators/drinkers arrived from local law firms, investment brokerages, and Euro SUV dealerships. Naaah, I'm the Dad ... I've got to do the responsible thing. We settled for the "non smoking" dining section with 24 TVs and alternative rock ... volume (I'm guessing) set at about 85 db.

We ordered and decided to venture upstairs for a look around while the appetizer (chips & chili) was being meticulously prepared in the adjacent kitchen. Cool ... an entire floor of sports video games. I plunked down 26 "clams" for a game card (which I was graciously informed could be re-filled at any ESPNZone nationwide), and we managed to shoot some pucks at a robotic goalie before our waitress found us and informed us that our chips were ready.

By the way, is "waitress" still politically correct? Perhaps the YY servers have a more appropriate title now ... I'd like to know what it is ... server-matron, wait-staff babe, female ESPNZone-ite? I digress ... it's not that I care about offending someone with non "PC" language, I just don't want to sound like an old geezer. Hmmm, probably too late for that now (unless I want to delete this entire entry).

We returned to our table. My son enjoyed his $5 hotdog and fries as I did my $10 pork barbeque. All while being serenaded by Coldplay's "Clocks" and getting an eyeful of cross-checks, high speed auto crashes, and teeth rattling slam dunks. PTI's famous duo, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon began their broadcast on a few screens. I asked our server-lass if it would be possible to switch "Hoobastank" for the PTI audio ... no dice, turns out that is reserved for the smokers only ... dang! No matter, my son seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. Among the short snipits of communication during our dinner, I even managed to get a few "phrases of affirmation" (Stuart Smalley would be proud). "This is great Dad! You're the bestest Dad in the world!" Aaaah, those words ... that smile ... the dancing (literally) around our table.

Who do I thank for this quality evening with my eldest? An opportunity to use all five, God-given senses simultaneously? A chance to sip from the sensory fire hose that is today's American eating establishment for Men? Am I knocking it? Not really, I enjoyed it ... we both did. However, it does make me pause. When was the last time I took my family camping or hiking? My sons don't know how to differentiate a Maple tree from an Oak, or how to find the sweet smell root beer from wild sassafras. Come to think of it, God's creation if full of experiences for all our senses. It might be nice to share those with my family a bit more. Hmmm, sensory stimulation without the "overload" ... there's a concept. Perhaps a Sunday afternoon drive is in order ... maybe this weekend. After all, with my wireless FM modulator, I can pump out "Hootie & the Blowfish" from my iPod as we cruise the countryside!

Is the chai really that good in Bangalore?

A bold tech recruiter actually posted the following message on a Java message board in which I participate. Regardless of the fact that the forum is intended solely for discussion of technical "stuff", what really struck me was the possibility that U.S. professionals might actually consider taking such positions. Is it possible the "Land of Opportunity" (at least for programmers) may now be beyond our national borders? At least one developer responded that he had been working in Mexico for over a year and was actually touting the benefits of the arrangement. Scary stuff!

Here's the post (edited):

Hi Friends!!!
A leading global provider of Information Technology services in
Bangalore, specializing in the design and deployment of leading-edge
information management solutions.

Request you to kindly send your resume and refer
all your friends who might be interested. Kindly apply only if your
skill sets meet all of the given criteria in each stipulated
requirement.

REQUIRMENT I :J2EE WITH EJB Professionals
Skills: We are looking for strong JAVA Professionals
Experience :3 to 10 Years
Location : Bangalore

REQUIRMENT II:AT PRESENT PROJECT MANAGER
Skills: We are looking for strong JAVA(RATIONAL ROSE,QML)
Professionals
Experience :9 to 10 Years
Location : Bangalore

REQUIRMENT III:JAVA,Servlets,ORACLE
Skills: We are looking for strong JAVA Professionals
Experience :3to6 Years
Location : PUNE

The Requirement is Immediate and the paypackage is very
attractive . Kindly Please send as the resume at the earliest.

Death of the corporate developer

I'd like to pose a question ... what is the career outlook for 30-something corporate developers in the U.S.? Is it possible the same folks that were being wooed by "head hunters" with lavish compensation packages just 5 years ago are now at risk of becoming dinosaurs? Could the careers of business application developers mirror those of textile and steelworkers of the 1970s?

I've been "rolling" code professionally for almost 15 years now. In my early days it was PL/1 and COBOL apps for the mainframe, then web development with lots of stuff including Perl, Cold Fusion and Javascript. Today, it's primarily Java/J2EE applications using the WebLogic application server and lots of useful open source frameworks (props to the Apache group and numerous sf.net contributors much more ambitious than I am).

On the personal side, since the dawn of my career, I've married, am now the Father of two boys, and have a small house in the burbs (I'm still holding out on the dog and white picket fence). I even managed to get an MBA in the interim ... a testament to stubborn will power and determination rather than a particular interest in business (I knew after my first year of grad school that I wanted to stay technical).

That said, I return to my original ponderings ... where do I go from here? I'm earning a nice salary and still enjoy logic problems, technical challenges and learning! My resolve remains to resist going into management (at least corporate management) at all costs. Company politics gives me a rash ... I must resist that which I do not respect ... the dreaded phb (pointy haired boss) metamorphosis. I'll save my musings on what defines a phb, and the "top 10" characteristics there of, for a future post ... if you don't already know, you're probably not going to grok much from my blog entries anyhow (consult Scott Adams for insight). Anyway, let's look at some trends in enterprise development today:

Software development as a commodity - the quest for cheap labor
I was recently discussing the topic of outsourcing with an Indian friend (and fellow developer) I've known for years. He informed me that Google recently opened an R&D center in Bangalore. It doesn't surprise me, as India is quickly becoming the global leader in technology service exports. Consider the following statistics gathered by itfacts.biz:

• 6 of the top 10 corporations receiving U.S. patents in 2004, were foreign multi-nationals
• According to a UK ZDNet survey (9/04), 30% of IT executives will be outsourcing their computing infrastructure within 12 months, 30% more are "analyzing the idea"
• Gartner estimates that the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) market will reach $131 bln in 2004, and that represents nearly an 8% increase over the $121 bln figure for 2003
• At a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 17.3%, India is expected to be the fastest growing IT services market for the foreseeable future ... the global average is 6% (Gartner)
• According to the New York Times, exports of advanced technology products are down 21%, while imports are up 28% in 2004

I've talked with colleagues and developer gurus alike on this subject. Most feel it's either a flawed model that will inevitably be relegated to niche contexts, or a trend that will level off and stabilize itself soon. I think we may be wearing the proverbial "rose colored glasses" in this instance. I wonder what textile workers thought of manufacturing stability in the face of increasing imports in the early 70s? How many highly skilled (albeit blue collar) production workers and supervisors actually thought their industry would be literally "ravaged" within a 10 - 15 year time span?

Is business inherently evil for outsourcing software development services? Are American companies permanently destroying highly skilled, white-collar jobs or just forcing a "shift in focus" for the affected professionals? Certainly, businesses in a capitalistic democracy will always search for a better ROI for their "investment buck". However, in today's world, the pace at which trends to this end are birthed and evolve continues to increase. What will be the long term affects on our economy and the health of our nation's families under such stressful circumstances (ok, I'm waxing a bit philosophical here)?

Code "monkeys" trump pragmatic craftsmen
What's the latest "buzz" in corporate software development (Micro$oft crowd excluded)? ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), Spring - a middleware framework to replace j2ee middleware, ORM (Object Relational Mapping) frameworks - yes, these keep on coming (Hibernate, iBatis, JDO). We're awash in Middleware and tools, they're coming out our ears ... we've got frameworks of frameworks (Spring again). Additionally, there are countless open source utilities and libraries to perform all sorts of technical tasks applicable within business software. There are "boat loads" of development tools intended (apparently) to boost the efficiency of the "lowly" biz app developer. The best of these tools are often open source as well (e.g., the Eclipse IDE).

What should we do with this "stuff" ... how should the diligent developer use his time? The classic IT sales pitch goes something like this ... "With {fill in name here} software, you'll be able to focus on "business requirements" and spend less time on software infrastructure.

In 2002, at a BEA dev2dev seminar (4 hours of product "blather" for IT geeks and their bosses), more than one presenter discussed the ability for any junior programmer to integrate legacy systems into a complex SOA with their latest wysiwyg front end. When pressed on the role of Senior developers and architects, one presenter actually said, "you really don't need them". Needless to say, the product that was to render these miracles (WebLogic Workshop) was open sourced as "Beehive" and released to the Apache group last year. BEA in this case, clearly lost sight of their product users. If seasoned j2ee developers and Java OO experts had wanted wysiwyg development, they likely would have stuck with VB early in their careers (or migrated to .NET). That said, the perceived "hook" BEA used with this product reflects the mentality of an increasing number corporate COTS vendors today. Essentially, the thinking is that complex, modern software architectures can be developed without paying the traditional pricetag for senior professionals. Of course, corporations that buy into this line of thinking often "pay through the nose" for support contracts when something inevitably breaks and the $40k compsci newbie doesn't have a clue.

Where is the appreciation for sound software design and craftsmanship? Are corporate in-house development shops forgetting the long term price (with regard to maintainability, flexibility, etc.) of application development in favor of "quicker" time to market? Should developers spend much of their time learning the "latest and greatest" framework API and/or development tool, rather than re-factoring code or creatively applying their brain power to the problems/tasks at hand?

I'd like to pose an answer ... to my original question. I think there are lots of choices for my own career which may be applicable to today's corporate developer as well. Here's the short list:

1. Keep my head down and hope I make it to retirement before my skills become un-marketable
2. Throw myself into an open source project, write a book, and begin touring for speaking engagements and light consulting
3. Start my own IT service/consulting company (Beltway-Bandits-R-Us).
   
4. Morph into a manager dolt and hope I'm able to ascend beyond the masses of middle management with my dignity (and brown nose) in tact.
5. Sell the house and begin touring the country (with the family) in a "mondo" RV ... seaching for career enlightenment and a campground with trailer hookups.
6. Convince Krispy Kreme to open just one more U.S. francise location, and reduce their ownership guidelines (just this once), so you I can get in.
7. Hook up with some COTS vendor and contribute to the glut that is IT middleware for those "lowly" biz app developers.
8. Go back to grad school for an MS in compsci and try to land a job doing AI stuff (really cool). Maybe even land a spot at Google NYC ... sweet.