At least half a dozen times in the past three days I’ve been so annoyed by the payment process for various goods and/or services that I either didn’t purchase the thing, or had a minor meltdown after the whole ordeal was over. Why do merchants insist on making it so damned difficult for their customers to get the goods? A few frustrating examples Ever been to a sporting event where the beer vendor only accept cash, has no cash-register, and yet insists on charging a partial dollar amount per unit of booze? $6.65 for a beer… really?...

This is not a fake. I actually saw this very sign on an ATM here in town... and naturally had snap a picture for my own enjoyment. Oh, and this is no small mom and pop regional bank. We’re talking one of the largest banks in the world (in terms of sheer assets)... and a former employer of mine. I need to visit a few other locations to determine if this is an isolated case of overzealous design, or if it is standard practice. My gut feeling is the latter - most likely as required by...

In his Working for The Man piece Jeremy Allison lays out six lessons he's learned over the course of his career in software; six lessons he'd like to go back and tell himself at the beginning of his career. Whether you're a code-slinger just starting out or a seasoned veteran with wisdom and design patterns coming out your ears, this is a great read. So go read it now... I'll wait. This is me, waiting... See I told it was good, didn't I? Even though I've only been in the software business for half a decade I've already learned many of...