Esther has a point (just like Dale has).

Everyone agrees that it's important to show appreciation when appreciation is due. Yet, few people actually do that. I don't do it even remotely enough. In fact, it stings when something reminds me of the fact. I try to be very polite when talking to other people, be it face-to-face or a phone conversation, and always say "thank you" in one way or another. However, that's not showing appreciation. Not really. Saying "thanks" is just what people do so people rarely consider it as "real" appreciation -- even though they value the kindness of the words. I.e. saying "thanks" is good but not nearly enough.

The remarks about rewards != appreciation is also spot-on. Especially if the rewards are monetary. Then again, I've never really seen a company handing out cheques as rewards (if you don't count yearly bonuses as such -- I'm talking about more immediate rewards here).

I just don't get why someone would limit a website to 640 pixels wide these days. Yet, some people still do that. Maybe that particular theme is the default in weblogs.asp.net?

I'll start out by mentioning that Darrell spotted a very nice little article in the latest issue of Better Software Magazine that presents 7 things you can do to make your traditional software project more agile "without going to extremes". I'd like to add that even though you might have one or more of these things in place already, it doesn't hurt to take another look at what you're doing and think of an improvement or two in how they're implemented.

Another useful "checklist" for keeping your project alive and kicking is this blog entry by Mike Mason.

Moving to the world of testing tools, there's a sequel coming for Web Testing in Ruby (WTR). Good news. I've been meaning to look at writing acceptance tests in Ruby for a long time. With this kind of developments going on around me, the pressure is growing and maybe I'll actually do something when it gets high enough :)

Finally, Simon has got some good news for you if you're running a blog on Pebble as I do and are interested in the traffic you're generating.