Showing all posts tagged: 'review'

A 7-post collection

2018 Retrospective

2018 is already behind us and what a year it's been! Lot's of exciting changes and a year marked with many successes along with some (smaller) failures but all in all it's been a good year! 2018 was also marked by one, if not the biggest, life-changing decision in my life - moving to the US with my family to take on a new role at Microsoft. It may have been only the second time in my life that I decided to embark in such a big change but the first time was much simpler as it only involved myself! …[read more]


2017 Retrospective

Here we are! Another year is behind us and it's time again to take a look at all the exciting and interesting things that took place over the course of the year. This is my way of reviewing my progress since my last retrospect in 2016. Although I review my progress on a regular basis and realign my goals as needed, I use the end-of-year review as an opportunity to document my failures and my successes. I've just reread my [2016 retrospective](GHOST_URL/2016-in-review/" target="_blank) and I'm really content with what I achieved in the space …[read more]


2016 in review

2016, what a year! I know that for many, including celebrities, it hasn’t been the best of years. We lost quite a few along the way. However, I'll try to put a positive spin as I look back through 2016. I like to do this because it sets the tone for 2017, the year to come. So, this is my retrospective on 2016, a year that has been incredible for me, from many perspectives. I've included both my failures and successes as I hold myself accountable to my promises. 2016 promises and resolutions My primary goal was to intensify …[read more]


2015 in Retrospect

The first day of the year is always special because aside from being the start of the new year, it's also my birthday. As such, it's a great time to reflect on the past year, and make my plans for the year ahead of me. Special thanks I will start by thanking my amazing and awesome wife, without whose support I wouldn't be where I am today. She's been extremely supportive and understanding, taking excellent care of our 2 young daughters. All this, while I'm flying around the world or visiting clients. I'm the luckiest man alive, so thank you …[read more]


MacBook Pro Retina vs Surface 3

This post is a response to a reader's comment that was posted on one of my earlier blog posts: My Developer Rig & why I use a MacBook Pro as a .Net developer. Today, I will try to review both machines and explain how and why I use each one. Disclaimer: I am not a fan-boy of either camp. I use and respect both OSs equally, however, since most of my day-to-day work in done in Windows and more specifically inside Visual Studio, I tend to spend a lot more time in the Windows world. We should start by geeking …[read more]


2014 in Review

Did you have an awesome 2014? For me it was a strange year with the first half being fairly slow but as I passed the midpoint, my efforts were intensified resulting in a very exciting and busy second half. Many reasons compounded to this effect but it was mainly me getting my "shit together" (in lack of a better synonym) and working harder on my career and personal development. Am I happy with the result? You bet I am since I did more than I did in 2013. Could I have done more? You betcha! That's why as …[read more]


Book Review: Soft Skills - The software developer's life manual

John Somnez is one of these people that as soon as you get in contact with, you instantly get inspired. I consider myself very fortunate to have come across John. He's a very energetic, enthusiastic and inspiring developer who, at the age of 33, managed to retire from the daily rat-race and turn his energy into something more constructive by contributing back to the community. I first heard of John during a .NetRocks podcast. It was during that same podcast that I also won a competition run by John to promote his excellent marketing course "How to market yourself …[read more]