Articles By Esther Schindler

25 best free software apps for 2009

When big companies release new software, they launch it with lots of hoopla: press tours, technical conferences, free T-shirts. Open-source projects, even the well-known ones, generally release their major new versions with a

Published on: June 9th, 2009 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Top tips for effective, hassle-free telecommuting

Telecommuting provides employees with the flexibility and quiet they need to optimize their productivity. You don't have to repeat others' expensive mistakes.  This article presents input that several telecommuting IT professionals shared via

Published on: May 13th, 2009 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Let bygones be bygones – programming techniques you’re happy to forget

Despite its complexity, the software development process has gotten better over the years. "Mature" programmers remember how many things required manual intervention and hand-tuning back in the day. Today's software development tools automatically

Published on: April 30th, 2009 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

25 terrific open source apps for work and play

When big companies release new software, they launch it with lots of hoopla: press tours, technical conferences, free T-shirts. Open-source projects, even the well-known ones, generally release their major new versions with a

Published on: April 1st, 2009 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Telecommuting’s great…if you can overcome these 17 challenges

Telecommuting is great. I've been doing it full time for most of 20 years. But it isn't perfect. Working at home has its own set of irritations, some of which aren't well understood-particularly

Published on: January 5th, 2009 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Six stupid “social networking” slip-ups

Or, The Barkeep and the Bouncer. Call 'em social networks, discussion forums, blogs, whatever. Some businesses have never learned to distinguish between participating in a conversation and trying to sell an online audience.

Published on: November 27th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

How to effectively negotiate a great job offer

You've just been offered your dream job with your dream employer, and the salary looks good, too. Should you just sign the employment contract-or is there more negotiating to do? According to new

Published on: November 5th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

How to get executive buy in for software development projects

The software development department might envision a marvelous solution to the company's IT or business need, but the technology goal can't be achieved unless the Big Boss commits to the new strategy. How

Published on: September 30th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

What Pink Floyd can teach techies about team building

I recently read Mark Blake's Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd. It is, as I said in my 5-star Amazon review, a great book about the history of the band that

Published on: September 24th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Why you should always negotiate a job offer

You've just been offered your dream job with your dream employer, and the salary looks good, too. Should you just sign the employment contract-or is there more negotiating to do?According to new research

Published on: August 26th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Tips on how to motivate developers

In many ways, managing a developer is just like managing any other employee. Developers want managers who'll help them solve business and technical problems, who'll protect them from unnecessary office politics and who

Published on: June 26th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

How to attract more women to IT jobs

Also see:Six simple ways to give the "fair sex" a fairer deal"Generally, women aren't very interested in programming computers," wrote Malcolm McLean, a gaming programmer, in comp.programming on Usenet. He was responding to

Published on: April 3rd, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Six simple ways to give the “fair sex” a fairer deal

Also see: How to attract more women to IT jobs Although men and women may have the same motivations, women are, perhaps, more outspoken about their desire for flexible work schedules, work/life balance,

Published on: April 3rd, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca

Tips and tools to run a terrific teleconference

Meetings are hard enough to run when the participants are all in the same room, fighting over the last chocolate doughnut. But any meeting you call, nowadays, probably has at least one person

Published on: February 26th, 2008 Esther Schindler @itbusinessca