Archive for June 2004

Matt Berther points to a thought-provoking entry by Christopher Hawkins who knows how to produce an accurate estimate and shares what to avoid when doing the estimates for a project. I believe historical data is one of the best ways to become an accurate estimator. Mark and Christopher offer good points.

1. The first rule is to not let non-techies do the estimating. Disagree there. Add the word alone and I am om board with ya. Too many projects have failed because the test team wasn’t involved from the get go or so and so team was not included in this portion. Requirements and estimation should involve all teams. Like Matt says, it’s about getting buy-in not determining how long it takes to develop x functionality.

2. Post-mortems are rarely done right or to the full effect. I remember being part of a post-mortem and then following up with the project manager asking if any of the items had been addressed in future projects. Sadly, I was not surprised when she said, “No.”

3. Bugs are still killing us. But of course, process changes are killing us more. One year, we were doing releases four times a year. The next, it was monthly. Then, back to four times a year. With the constant changes to the release process, it’s no wonder we can’t keep up with anything.

4. We use requirements as a root cause in our bug tracking database. It shows up a few times, in other words, it’s neither common nor common. We have room for improvement in ensuring requirements are well-defined up front.

5. Can’t argue with number five. Why give one estimate on the time it takes to build a house when it’s more likely you’ll hit target with the time it takes to build the bookshelf in the library? Add up those tasks and you’ll get a better estimate overall. If the activity has five parts to it, break it down and estimate each part instead of trying to estimate the whole apple.

The comments are back! I was sick of comment spam and just shut them down especially since I had a lot of old entries with comments still open. Thanks to the following, I’m able to hear from you folks again and I hope you’ll c’mon in and say what’s on your mind.

1. James Seng for creating SCode.
2. Kevin Donahue for telling me about SCode.
3. Alan M. Carroll for MTCloseComments, which made it easy and painless to close three years of old comments.

Plus, Alan’s plug-in required SQL, which forced me to finally get off my duff and switch MT to SQL db. In doing this, SCode finally worked. Just never bother to make the move till now.

Thank goodness for the digital camera. People like me with a lousy eye can take hundreds of photos and experiment until our eyes fall out and get a couple of gems. Despite my left-handedness, I don’t have a natural eye for photography, art, or anything of the sort. It all went into writing.

With three kids, photos are important to me as I want to capture many times of their lives so we may reflect on them with a visual aid. A good photo does make a difference. Again, with three kids, who has time to read a book or take a class to become one with a camera? The Digital Photography Pocket Guide fills that need.

It has three simple chapters with quick reference tables in the back of the book. It’s small enough to fit into your camera bag, laptop case, briefcase, suitcase, or jacket pocket. The chapters address What is it? What do I do? and How do I? questions.

What is it? covers the basic, intermediate, and advanced features found on digital cameras. It’s the shortest chapter as once you get familiar with the features, you won’t need the chapter anymore and you still have roughly 85 pages of material to support you when you’re out there trying to capture the world you see.

Once you’ve conquered the buttons and figured out what most of the symbols and modes mean, you’re ready to dig deeper into the features and gain control of the camera with answers to your what does it do? types of questions relating to exposure and Flash compensation, white balance, ISO speed, and resolution.

The last chapter is more free flowing as you and the camera have become one. Get tips on taking outdoor and group shots including sporting events where players are moving fast. Capture kids, travel spots, and wedding memories with class. As kids grow up, you may not return to the same places, and weddings happen only once (we would hope, unless it’s a renewal of vows).
Adding this book to your camera tool bag is a step forward to better pictures and a better understanding of those fancy photography terms – which aren’t a big deal after you read author Derrick Story’s simple and clear explanations.

VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 2nd ed.
AUTHOR: Derrick Story
PUBLISHER: O’Reilly & Associates
PUBLICATION DATE: December 2003
ISBN: 0596006276
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 160
PRICE: US$14.95

We encounter politics in our lives daily, and it’s not just the kind we see in Washington, DC. It’s handling delicate situations in just the right way with the right words and the right actions to avoid making it worse or more uncomfortable.

It can be a simple case of the harried volunteer who can’t take on any additional work, but fears losing respect or her position for future projects when she has more time available. It’s hard and awkward to turn down an opportunity or project, but it’s necessary. What is a good way to do it? Power Phrases.

Are you trying to negotiate a deal on a car, a house, or even a potential new job? Are you trying to make the sale? Handle a conflict? Communicate with your boss, co-workers, or direct reports? Heck, do you have a hard time breaking the ice in social situations? All of these situations can be daunting, but Power Phrases can take the edge off and get you the results you want.

As the book suggests, I read through it in its entirety the first time to get familiar with the concept and how it works. Then, when I am ready to put Power Phrases to practice, I whip out the book and get some ideas. Plus, there are exercises to get you in shape.

With e-mail being a regular communication tool for most of us, it’s a great way to make Power Phrases a habit. Since there is no spur of the moment thinking in creating an e-mail, take the time to review the book and determine the best way to word the e-mail for a given situation.

Another opportunity to practice it is when making a phone call on a tough topic. Prior to making the call, review the book and think about what you want to say, write down your thoughts, and try to have possible counters to the person’s questions or concerns.

Many of the lessons in Power Phrases! are based on things I’ve learned over the years in management-related classes, seminars, and reading self-improvement articles and books. The book provides a reminder of all these lessons in one shot. It applies to all facets of life: work, home, and social. Even if you work independently with little or no contact, it’s impossible to hide from a situation when a Power Phrase can come in handy.

How often have you been asked something and you instinctively and quickly said “yes,” but regretted it? Perhaps you can easily say “no,” but what of the person’s feelings that could be negatively impacted with a fast “no” answer? Or maybe you need more time to think it over? Ah-ha! A Power Phrase can help you here and buy you more time.

Buying time gives you a chance to think it through and look for good Power Phrases to use in providing an answer. Suggestions:

* Let me check and get back to you.

* I need to think it over and I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow (or appropriate time).

Everyone should have a book like this to provide support in everyday life, although I think the comment on the book – “Better than any college degree” is a little too enthusiastic. In college, we rarely get lessons on people skills and this book offers that. Even the most voracious readers like me have too many unread books or once read and never opened again. However, this book is written in a way that it makes it easy to quick-reference and find the perfect phrase for a given situation. Plus, reading it the first time only took a few hours on an airplane.

To borrow a Power Phrase – How important is it to get results by saying what you mean, meaning what you say, and not being mean when you say it? If it’s important, then you should know what to do after reading this review.

David Morrell’s name may not sound familiar, but his works should spark recognition. Rambo. Brotherhood of the Rose. If you haven’t read them, you may have seen or heard of the Rambo movies or TV miniseries. Who can forget Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in his black headband with his exposed sweaty muscular chest holding a machine gun with fury? Read the review of Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing.

The verdict is in for the Case of the Incomphrensible Instructions at Copy Court. Have your say in the newest case on the docket or turn in a suspect on account of bad copy.

Web Standards Link Bonanza [ Link DMXZone ]

Hermish is an accessibility tool that checks Web pages for accessibility issues. This is easier to use than Bobby. Not only does it check accessibility, but also it checks reading ease.

The only drawback is it doesn’t point out where the errors are located. It highlights all <img> whether or not there is a problem. I believe the one where I have a missing alt is in a code that isn’t my own and I don’t want to screw with it. However, I did correct it. It passed in Bobby and it still fails in Hermish.

When clicking on point to understand the issue, the explanation is brief and to the point.

<style> and <script> both point to 1.1, which is <img>. 1.1 talks about <img> and nothing else. Looks like a bug. Also, I suggest using a different color other than red for highlighting. Red is associated with errors and the highlights aren’t necessarily errors.

I’ve used a few accessibility checkers and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Hermish is good quality and helps reduce the number of non-compliant instances. This page does pass Priority 1 and Section 508 checks.

It’s happened to all of us. An employee prints a hundred pages. Such a situation doesn’t always happen because of a large or graphics-heavy print job, but because Mr. Normal Employee keeps clicking the printer icon thinking the network is messed up. Soon, the network is slowing down and jammed with employees who go surfing during launch hour. It’s a domino effect as this The Remediator Security Digest’s feature covers the adventures of Norm Al.

It’s not enough that we have to worry about the security issues with passwords, people bringing stuff from home, downloads from the Internet, and so on; but we also have to worry about an invisible security, the wireless network. Hear thoughts on dealing with WWANS and WLANS.

Apparently, I am the fifth person who hasn’t read the Da Vinci Code. It’s not because I don’t want to, but rather because I don’t have time. My book reading time is devoted to non-fiction and fiction books that I’ve been asked to review. In Language Log: The Dan Brown code, Geoffrey Pullum tears apart the code as only a professor of linguistics could.

I talked to my mom and a co-worker who have read the book. They spoke highly of it. Mom says:

I do agree that he isn’t the best writer. Pretty heavy-handed, but still think the story moves, is clever and interesting. I like the codes and puzzles, etc. Of course, it’s all way beyond belief as all of his [Brown] books are – things happen too fast for one thing. In Angels and Demons, a whole novel takes place in just a day or two. I think they’re good for fun reading.

At Amazon, Angels has 813 reviews receiving four stars while Code has 3000 reviews receiving 3 1/2 stars. The professor makes valid points, but the average reader of fiction doesn’t nitpick over details he mentions.

This book is not a doctoral thesis or up for a literary award. In thinking about his criticism of the book, it’s fine to share an opinion and explain why he didn’t like the book. It’s the approach he takes that doesn’t give it the same merit as a NY Times reviewer. [ Link Cox ]