Archive for September 2005

InformIT has many excellent articles this week and I believe they’re worth sharing.

* Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan from a DBA perspective. . Another article on the same topic. Between 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, businesses need to take disaster recovery and business continuity planning seriously. Sadly, many didn’t learn from 9/11.

* The Tipping Point: How Good Companies Go Bad and Executives become Rogues. What makes an exec go bad? How do we break the cycle?

* Women Who Step out of the Corporate World Find It Hard to Step Back in. With many women taking a break from the corporate world, they’re finding it difficult to return in this much changed corporate environment. Even Desperate Housewives plans to address this in the new season as Lynette goes back to work and apparently, it’s not an easy transition because her boss doesn’t like women who take off to be with their kids.

* One Size Fits One: Tailoring Technology to Consumer Needs. Consumers today are more demanding because of the environment. How can we customize for each person?

* Real-World Project Management: Project Management Models, Certifications, and the Pyramids. I know people who are certified PMs or working to take the test. Based on their talk, the certification is worthless. I’d take someone who has proven experience over a certificate … easy.

I feel like Harry Potter, now that I’m an official wizard who finished the course based on the book, Call to Action by the Eisenbrothers behind Future Now. They provided insight into designing sites for conversion. I followed most of the course without a problem, it gets tricky when people ask questions or the presenter walk around to get closer to us lowly students.

Typically, I’m exhausted from a full day of training (no matter how good it is) before dinner time arrives, but amazingly enough I remained alert the whole time. Being a lipreader drains your energy when you’re listening all day. Of course, I came home sick and now I’m playing catch up.

Roy Williams, Mr. Wizard, gave a superb presentation based on the book, Generations. The book takes a whole different look at generations and that the focus is on a period of time more than the year we were born. It came out in 1992 and already it’s been said to be on track for the years after its initial publication. Williams added music and a couple of videos to drive the points home. The media was not use gratuitously. The media had a purpose.

Met some talented folks including Tim, Paul (no Web site yet), and Charles. We also had the pleasure of listening to one of the Karmina singers (the other one was singing elsewhere).

Wizard Academy speakers are dynamic and full of energy. It’s impossible to get bored. Had dinner at The Salt Lick BBQ and it was delicious. I don’t say that very often about BBQ being from Dallas/Fort Worth where BBQ is great stuff. Also got treated to a tasty Tex Mex meal from Serrano’s. We also had Chinese for lunch, but I’ve blanked on the name (Out- something, I think, not your usual Chinese restaurant name).

The campus is unique. You feel like you’re at camp or at a ranch because of the rocky and dirty roads. The classroom in Tuscan Hall is more like … I can’t even find the right words to describe it. See the photos. It has old style architecture yet perfect wi-fi There’s a catwalk upstairs so you can go up and admire the pictures related to Don Quixote. Loved looking at the diversity of pictures — some had effects where you could see hidden objects.

Williams and past graduates contributed to the Chapel Dulcinea, which is a wedding chapel open for anyone to use at no cost. The design is awesome and it has a spectacular view of the Texas Hill Country. People wishing to marry there just have to find a two-hour slot and sign up for it. It even has a live cam, so you can watch weddings especially if you know someone getting married and can’t attend. It’s hard to see since the trees block the view.

I’m comfortable with public speaking, but being deaf with imperfect speech puts a damper on that. But if I were a regular speaker, I’d want to come across like the Head Wizards.

Well, I was going to write about my trip to Austin, but that will have to wait as
Murphy’s Law struck again. I unexpectedly brought illness back with me from the trip. I did manage to write a little about it in the
Bionic Ear Blog prior to getting sick. I also covered the wi-fi experiences there at the hotel, the Academy, and the airport.

Howdy, from Austin where I complete my wizard training. Here’s a little light weekend reading… How It Works…The Computer. OK, maybe not so light, but a fascinating tour of the computer in 1971 and in 1979 (revised edition). Details on the trip comes next week. Enjoy your weekend.

I was reviewing feedback left for a Marketplace seller. Here are a couple of snippets:

“Great book for new moms to be!

“Excellent book!”

“Great book…”

“Great quality…”

“Great product…”

This person is a book seller. He doesn’t publish books or sell e-books. So if a person buys a book from him and the book stinks, does that mean the seller is bad, too? If you’re thinking the person could be describing the book’s condition, there are better ways to say that like these:

“As described…”

“Great condition…”

“The order arrived in a timely manner, however the book had water damage…it was listed as almost new.”

“Item arrived well packed and in great condition.”

I always forget where to find the feedback page and the product ordered page complete with its condition. You can’t find these in the same place.

The Recent Transactions page (you get there from Your Account > Amazon.com Payments: View All Your Recent Purchases > Sign in > Search transactions or click “Recent Transactions.”

The Transaction ID/Order ID page has the buyer’s shipping address, items ordered and price, payment date, and transaction activity.

The Listing ID shows the item information, seller, seller’s ratings, condition seller listed, and seller’s comments.

Leave feedback is not reachable at any of these pages. It took me five minutes to find it again. I had to click on “Where’s My Stuff” from the Your Account page.

Why can’t all of this be in one convenient place? Perhaps, Amazon’s huge and complex backend may limit its ability. When I got stuck in the Marketplace account pages, I had to email the company because the Help didn’t help.

If I want to see my friends’ wish lists or check to see if I reviewed something, I click on “Your Wish List” > “Your Amazon Home.” It sounds like “Your Amazon Home” should be in the global navigation and this could take you to your accounts and everything else. Yeah, you can get to the account pages and “Where’s My Stuff” if you scroll to the very bottom of Your Amazon Home. It would be nice to get to this page in one click instead of two.

Wow. I’m ranked in the 1200s as a reviewer. You don’t get any awards for hitting top 1000 or top 500 reviewers, but the info appears by your name. Just have to get a few hundred more votes and I’m in. I haven’t been top anything for years.

It’s stuff like this that steer me away from fancy words whether or not I know what they mean. Say what? The title of the paper in question, “Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy.” The article says, “But the four-page send-up, laced with confounding graphs, was accepted by an international conference that itself sounds like a spoof: ‘The Ninth World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics.’”

And this is the reason why say those with a PhD are not necessarily the best professors or authors in the world — “The reason something like that can slip by editors without an eye blink is that a lot of people in academia think, speak, and write that way — and they’re hardly alone.”

Some of the best professors I had in college didn’t have PhD by their names just an MA, MS, or MBA. Years ago, I had a boss who was a PhDer. Boy, did she give the most boring talks! She’d read the presentation slides word for word and add pointless commentary. It’s folks like this who led Edward Tufte to get tough on PowerPoint.

PowerPoint is not the problem. The people using it are. Can’t tell you how many managers asked me to “put it all in there” where I was forced to shrink the font so the audience will have to squint and discover new wrinkles. They probably don’t hear a word the presenter says since they’re working overtime to read the slides. I tried advising otherwise, but pointless battle.

I like them Bullfighter folks. I take them over White Smoke hands down. I didn’t have to download White Smoke to see what a load of bull it is. This screen shot comes from the splash presentation where only the last sentence passes muster. The company is blowing smoke… not a good company name, ya think?

I decided to try out the program to see what it does. I took many screen shots of its “suggestions” that I need to extend this entry. Guess what? It made suggestions on its own material! I copied and pasted the extended entry to use as the example.

(start of WhiteSmoke test) I went ahead and downloaded the trial to see if it lives up to the bull. I expected to fill out a form before downloading, but why should I have to share my profession and my country? You can easily track countries using Web stats. At least, I don’t have to share my name and age.

This is the second time I’ve come across a case sensitive form. You have to enter your email address twice. Roboform does it the first time and in all caps (Why? I don’t know.) and I had to do the second one and I often do email in lower case. The form said they didn’t match.

The program and Web site often use the word “enrichment.” That would go on my bull list. I wouldn’t want such a word in my slogan, mission, or vision. It’s hoity toity and so is the use of “did not” instead of “didn’t.” One of the questions asks, “How do I enrich my text?” That’s not how most people would ask that.

Check out the answer to What is WhiteSmoke? (Notice its own spellchecker doesn’t recognize the product’s name.)

WhiteSmoke has created a unique technology, providing the first context-related all-in-one solution for improving writing. This patent-pending technology is the result of years of development by a leading team of software, algorithm and Natural Language Processing experts.

For the first time ever, users can enhance their writing skills with WhiteSmoke. This revolutionary writing tool instantly analyzes the complete text (in e-mail or Word documents) and provides context-based recommendations to replace words with synonyms, add adjectives and adverbs, check spelling and verify proper grammar use.

In today’s competitive and demanding environment, a smart solution for high quality writing is essential.

I guess I am in “critic” mode today. (End of WhiteSmoke test)

Click either of the above images to see results showing the markup of the text. Red is a misspelled word and blue has suggestions for other words.

Notice at the bottom, there’s no way to see the rest of the “suggestions?” I can’t scroll anymore. I tried toggling full screen mode, but I couldn’t access it. It appears in the task bar, but click on it does nothing. Can’t resize the window either.

This costs $49.95 PER year??? The program also adds a toolbar to Microsoft Word and it didn’t fare better than the previous example. It also adds a toolbar to Outlook and Outlook Express, but these require a reboot (Word doesn’t). I got a follow up email from the company (follow up is good… but the first sentence is awful…)

“We hope your evaluation period of WhiteSmoke software is according or better than expectations.” Yeah, sure. I’ve uninstalled it. Thanks, I’ll stick with the free and better program, Bullfighter.

The following images show the program’s “suggestions.”

First time I’ve seen a 404
requesting details such as the link you were looking for, what content was expected, and where the link came from. The drawback is the visitor may not take the time to fill it out, but I did and I am sure others do. I believe this is a win-win tool as it helps the site fix problem links and help other visitors who might arrive at the same link later (it could be fixed by then).

In the last few years, books on CSS have crowded the book shelves as designers clamored to better understand how to use the mighty tool that blew away tables. This, however, isn’t just another book on CSS its syntax, and positioning. Professional CSS uses real Web sites to show how the designer did the work and why the designer took the specific steps or approach with the design. One hundred people can build the same site, but do it 100 different ways. Certain methods work better than others and the authors back up their decisions with clear explanations.

Get the inside story on Blogger’s rounded corners and rollovers; FastCompany.com’s three-column layout; strategies for style switching; the process of revamping the giant ESPN.com site from tables to CSS; the evolution of The University of Florida’s site as many sites realistically evolve throughout the years, and a look at the structure of The PGA Championship Web site. Then the book ties it all together using Christopher Schmitt’s personal site as the closing chapter.

Don’t expect start-to-finish walkthroughs and how-tos for the sites. This would take more than a book to do. The authors pick a few areas and hone in on them. The book as a whole should be enough to give readers an idea of how to work through a site from the beginning to the end. An intermediate or experienced designer can take her skills and knowledge to another level thanks to the thorough and clear explanations accompanying them.

The first two chapters are different animals from the rest of the book. Chapter 1 is The Planning and Development of Your Site and Chapter 2 covers Best Practices for XHTML and CSS. Some people might find them a waste, while others might appreciate them. These two topics are better covered in the later chapters, as they look at the planning of real sites rather than dealing with theories.

For instance, one chapter looks at how the decision to convert ESPN.com to a CSS-based site came about. Additionally, the author describes how the three content modes (regular, skirmish, and war) are managed on the front page depending on the importance of the headline. ‘Regular’ mode describes basic news items — like who won the game, who got traded, and an update on a strike. ‘Skirmish’ typically reports on record breaking events while ‘War’ is the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series. This is planning and strategy. Because the information is tied with to a real scenario, readers are more apt to come up with ways to adapt the concepts for their own sites.

The XHTML and CSS best practices chapter is more about the rules than about the best ways of doing things. Closing empty elements like the line break with a slash on the end like this <br /> is a rule example. Creating left-side menus using list items instead of line breaks is a best practice. The chapter focuses on the former.

The book closes with four helpful appendices. Troubleshooting CSS is the most useful. It has tips on how to find where the CSS “bugs” are — much like troubleshooting code. It also contains other resources where readers can go for help. This section is only a few pages long, but packs lot of useful information in a small space.

Reading about the processes and techniques used in these projects taps into a collective of some of the best designers. The reader is a “fly on the wall” listening to the authors describe how they work — offering advice along the way that can be used in the reader’s projects. Expect a few “ah ha” moments in which you suddenly find a better way to approach a challenge. After all, five heads are better than one.

With five authors, some might wonder about the different writing styles. Since every chapter covers a different Web site, readers will find themselves more interested in the process and less affected by the differences in writing style. Intermediate and expert designers will find this solid book complements their other CSS resources nicely.

Title: Professional CSS: Cascading Style Sheets for Web Design
Author: Christopher Schmitt, Mark Trammell, Ethan Marcotte, Todd Dominey, Dunstan Orchard
Publisher: WROX
ISBN: 0764588338
Date: July 2005
Format: Paperback
Pages: 434
Cover Price: USD: $39.99 Amazon: $26.39