What Gen Y Really Wants is a well written by Penelope Trunk about the mentality of the Generation Y workforce.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640395,00.html

I have been reading up Java Server Pages just recently. It's interesting how the idea about the Model View Controller (MVC) design pattern has found its way into web page design. As far as I know, J2EE suggested the use of this pattern first using JSP (View), Servlet (Controller), and EJB (Model). Then, Microsoft supported this pattern through Visual Studio (though, initially, if you didn't have Visual Studio, it would be pretty hard), using the ASPX (View), Code-Behind (Controller), and business code (Model).

Pretty funny and scary at the same time. http://www.hacknot.info/hacknot/action/showEntry?eid=90

Sometimes, when I look at this article, I wonder if every programmer, software engineer, and developer would agree with this list. Personally, I do fully agree with the whole list. These are the type of habits and discipline that good and great programmers live by. Though, my question goes on whether or not the average (or median) programmer agrees with this list. Now, that's the question I have encountered in a lot of discussion with friends. Seven Habits of Highly Effective Programmers

Exchange Traded Notes. It has current exposure to the GSCI [GSP]. But Barclays is going to come out with another ETF later [GSG] without the debt note risk of the company. Barclays Files for Exchange Traded Note for Oil - How It Differs From The ETF - Seeking Alpha

The Art of SQL is a book that I've picked up recently. It seems to be a very good book on theoretical SQL. I'll write a review as soon as I'm finished.

The GSG is an ETF that I've been waiting for. The only other equity that mirrors against the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) is QRACX, which is closed to investments right now and requires a high minimum investment. Diversification into commodities will become a valuable tool because it has been proven to be correlated with inflation. ETFs » New iShares GSCI Commodity Trust - Key Points To Understand (GSG, DBC)

This is an interesting article on a topic that many people do not understand. It's worth a look. ETFs » Asset Allocation: Finding Your Risk Level

This is a very interesting article on how the backwards compatibility for the XBOX 360 is done. It makes me wonder if marketing was overzealous on this feature. Xbox Team : On Backwards Compatibility

Lately, I have been doing a lot of reading between Refactoring Databases : Evolutionary Database Design, Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art, and some of the new .NET books that were released in March 2006. Previously, I had the impression that experience and learning new technologies are the important qualities to get ahead. Though, I am beginning to get the impression that learning new APIs and libraries are not as important as being disciplined in writing quality code. In fact, the software engineering world is too mixed up in using the latest and greatest technology and not worrying about how to maintain and enhance current software. Picking up new technology has always been a habit for good developers, and, is therefore, the reason why I think building more quality and bug-free habits are better.

Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art sounds like it is going to be a good book. In my opinion, estimating is probably one of the toughest aspect of software development that you wish you never have to deal with. Hopefully, some good insight would come from this book, especially from the author of Code Complete. I will give an opinion of my findings as soon as I finish.