Programming: Came across a link today that actually made me rethink some of my positions on software architecture. I'm still a fan of eventually starting from scratch with the knowledge you've accumulated (as a project goes on, eventually you either reach a natural end of development, or a brick wall where the architecture just doesn't support where you want to go with it anymore), but this article makes some excellent counter-arguments for the corporate setting, where the people who originally wrote a package aren't necessarily the ones who are working on it now, nor the ones who will rearchitect it later. A good read.
Pondering: Motivational "Go Team!" meetings bother me for some reason. Maybe I'm just too cynical, but they always come across as contrived, and a demonstration of how executives tend to lose touch with average working people over time. Their speech loses a little humanity, and they really do think that motivation can be inspired by a focus group or a strategic session. I feel a little bit sorry for them; they're no longer nearly as alive as most of the people on the receiving end of those meetings, and don't even realize what they've given up for the position and influence they've gained.