Top computer stories we are following July 2019

Here are some interesting computer and software finds...

Skippable Introduction

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell recently testified that the Phillips Curve has broken down and has not worked in 30 years. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez ask powell about the Phillips Curve.

Many people suspect the breakdown is due to changes in the global economy supported by information technology. (For more, read about Solow's productivity paradox.)

If your an Information Technology(IT) or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) junkie, like me, you know whats' been going on for the past 20 years. Some of the system I implemented led to hundreds of layoffs including my own. But they also led to huge increases in productivity especially white collar, indirect-cost type of productivity that does not show up in statistics.

I still keep one eye on some of the latest offerings in the HR, scheduling and ERP market because of the large effect they have had on reshaping the economy.

A secondary reason to look at some of the IT products is because of the knowledge and business best practices built into the software.  You can learn new things from other peoples software programs.



Software Finds

The latest find is something called Pubmatic. It's an on-line advertising management tool. The tool lets on-line ad buyer pick their spots then serves up the ads. It really gives you a window into how sophisticated on-line advertising has become. Check it out here at https://pubmatic.com/.

Unfortunately, it does not look like a good place to work for minorities.  I could zero visible minorities (Black and Hispanic) in their US photos. I saw two people over 40 years of age.  Lot's of young people with beards or blonde hair.  I did see one Asian woman featured prominently but she could be a model. But I digress...

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On the smaller end, we also spotted ShiftPixy, a restaurant human resource scheduling app to manage a contingent workforce.  It let's employers fill shifts with freelance employees. It also handles Human Resource compliance issues.

and finally

Test Driven Development

The nice feature is that you are no longer afraid of making an update.

Test Drive Development

We are reading Eric Elliott's great column in Medium. I wish I had done some of this when I first started programming.  I try to write unit test stub modules but I am so lazy.