What's good for the soul...
Last Updated on Thursday, 16 June 2011 08:47
Written by Michael Richey
Thursday, 16 June 2011 08:24
... isn't necessarily good for the wallet.
At the end of April, I was
laid off from the Dallas Independent School District. I wasn't alone, 449 other people were laid off, including my entire department. Many things can be said about the layoffs, and many are well covered in the comments in the article I linked, so I won't go into further detail... It was a great job and I'll miss it and the people I worked with.
Since then, I've been sending out my resume and applying to local companies and doing almost everything possible to avoid taking any unemployment assistance. I say almost because I've turned down several development requests in the last few weeks. Rather than compromise my ideals, I'm choosing to keep my conscience clear and turn down jobs that would require me to write software for use in the porn or gambling industries. Don't get me wrong, I don't pass judgement on anyone - that's not my place. I think everyone is entitled to exercise their free-will, but I don't want to have any part of some activities.
Immitation is the best form...
Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 October 2011 21:30
Written by Michael Richey
Tuesday, 22 March 2011 18:12
That's what they say, but it still bothers me a bit.
I've been writing free extensions for Joomla for a while now. There is one criteria that must be met before I'll write a Joomla extension:
- No free extension currently exists that does the same thing
It's pretty simple.
If I'm writing a free version of an existing commercial extension, I specifically avoid the commercial extension so that my code is absolutely unique and doesn't violate any copyrights.
So, this afternoon I was looking through the new extensions and found "Awo Email Login" by Seyi Awofadeju, or should I say - copied by Seyi Awofadeju. After downloading the Awo Email Login extension and comparing the code to my Authentication - Email extension, I found that Seyi had basically deleted the language files and changed a couple of variable names and released it as his own. Seriously, it's 100% identical to the code I released over a month earlier.
Update 10-12-2011:
Seyi Awofadeju has brought it to my attention that he, in fact, released a version of his plugin in a forum a little over two weeks prior to the release of my plugin. He pointed out that both are based on a core Joomla plugin, and that he was offended by my accusation. I can admit that I was wrong in making the accusation, and I appologize. I'm sorry Seyi.
Then, I found Secure Authentication by Michael Epstein J. I'm not as upset about this extension, because the code is distinct from my own
AdminExile extension. I don't agree with his methods, but they're effective and accomplish the same thing as my extension released over a month earlier.
OK, I'm finished with my rant.
It's not me!
Last Updated on Friday, 25 February 2011 20:27
Written by Michael Richey
Friday, 25 February 2011 19:57
It has come to my attention that several sites I built while working for ECTISP have been taken down. Let it be known that I have not been an employee of theirs since February of 2010 and I no longer have any contact with them.
I feel bad that they're down, I like to build lasting solutions but there isn't anything I can do about this. The sites that I maintain are still online. Sadly, I'm not omnipresent...that could come in handy.
Life lessons learned while working in tech
Written by Michael Richey
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 14:42
I submitted a couple of tech-support stories to Infoworld for their "
Off the Record" blog and they published them. I would've given them the stories for free, but they insisted on paying me. Cool huh?
