What I am watching…

The Signal – Cool Bits from around the interwebs…

• Delving into Technical Debt
  Many of the findings and the recommendations we make in Cutter technical debt engagements are broadly applicable in concept, if not in detail. There is commonality in the nature of the hot spots we typically find, the mal-practices we identify as the root causes and the ways we go about reducing the “heat.”  Granted, your technical debt reduction strategy mi […]
• Grimm makes fairy tale creatures the new homeland terrorists [Video]
  This weekend, NBC premiered its brand new fairy tale procedural Grimm. The show exposes the world to the dark underbelly of criminal fairy tale behavior, and it's like Law & Order for exceptionally desperate Buffy fans. More » […]
• Dungeon Defenders Offers Free Halloween DLC (for PC) [Video]
  A new mission, costumes and weapons and other good stuff await you in Dungeon Defenders' "Halloween Spooktacular" downloadable extension, available for free now but only on PC. More » […]
• Here's Nightwing in Action in Batman: Arkham City [Video]
  Feast your eyes on the grown-up laughing young daredevil as he throws down on the thugs of Arkham City. The clip highlights his specialized weaponry and shows off his acrobatic fighting style, too. You'll be able to start playing as Dick Grayson in new Wayne Manor and Main Hall challenge maps next week. More » […]
• Robot Chicken's DC superhero special gives Green Lantern a new power ring (in his pants) [Robot Chicken]
  Robot Chicken is dedicating one entire stop-motion special to lampooning the superheroes and villains from DC Comics, so Adult Swim's released the first-ever clip of one sad Green Lantern and his power (cock) ring. Yep, this isn't for kids. More » […]
• Batman: Arkham City Ships 4.6M, Sells 2M In Opening Week
  Warner Bros' Batman: Arkham City, released last week, has shipped more than 4.6 million units worldwide in its opening week. The Rocksteady Studios-developed title, currently available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and coming soon to Windows PC, sold through to customers a total of 2 million units during the same period, according to the L.A. Times. Th […]
• This Guild Wars 2 Art Can't Stand Still [Video]
  OK, so I've got a bit of a thing for Guild Wars 2 art. It's a gorgeous game, shoot me. But before you do, you should check out both this concept art and, in a neat twist, some trailers made out of concept art. More » […]
• PC Gamers, You Should Update Your Graphics Card Drivers This Week [PC]
  It's been a big month for PC games, and things are about to get even bigger, so if you've been lazy and forgotten to update your graphics card drivers, you're going to want to fix that. More » […]
• Stories, Epics and Themes
  I’ve been getting more and more emails lately from people confused about the difference between “user story”, “epic” and “theme.” So I thought his month we’d return and cover some basic–but very helpful–territory by explaining those terms. First, the terms don’t matter that much. These are not terms with important specific meanings like “pointer” to a progra […]
• Scrum prohibits all specializations?
  A recent conversation about a team staying together long-term, etc prompted me to ask: "what if the team no longer needs a musician?"  The responses stunned me.  Some insisted that the role "musician" is not part of Scrum and that they are not part of the team.  Everyone should learn to make music, write code, create art, etc.Now, I under […]