I read this book 6 or 7 years ago after being given a copy by a new development manager while working at Microsoft, and something today reminded me of it -- so I thought I'd recommend it to others (I couldn't remember the author!). I rarely enjoy reading books that are about project management, time management, ... they're so dry that after the first 10 pages, I've lost interest.

Tom DeMarco's, "The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management" is one of my favorite project management books I've read -- and one of the very few that I've read cover to cover. Even better is that I actually felt like I learned something!

The book kept my interest as it's written as an interesting novel. From the book's "home page":

With his trademark wit set free in the novel format, DeMarco centers the plot around the development of six software products. Mr. Tompkins, a manager downsized from a giant telecommunications company, divides the huge staff of developers at his disposal into eighteen teams -- three for each of the products. The teams are of different sizes and use different methods, and they compete against each other . . . and against an impossible deadline.

With these teams, and with the help of numerous consultants who come to his aid, Mr. Tompkins tests the project management principles he has gathered over a lifetime. Key chapters end with journal entries that form the core of the eye-opening approaches to management illustrated in this entertaining novel.

I lost my copy a few years ago in one of my many moves and always wished I hadn't as I'd enjoy reading this book again.

Definitely recommended. It might just open your eyes to some better ways to manage a (software) project.

Posted by Aaron at 8:48 PM | Permalink

I'm reading Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge. I find reading about how others develop products fascinating -- the problems and challenges, the thought process, the successes and failures, etc. I'm not far in yet so I can't give a complete review (very interesting so far though).

However, one interesting topic that is right at the front is discussing the idea from David Liddle that there are three stages in the development of a technology:

1. Enthusiast - this is the type of early adopter who buys or uses a technology because they're excited about it, regardless of whether it might be difficult to use
2. Professional - a person who uses a technology as part of their job -- where the technology has been often purchased by their employer
3. Consumer - people who are just interested in what a product can do for them and really just want it to work and aren't willing to put up with any problems.

I realized today there's a fourth stage however that David missed in his analysis:

The Technology Cultist.This is the person who is extremely excited about technologies that are rumored -- sometimes barely even speculated -- by many false prophets and prepared to buy a product before even learning anything tangible about them. They would pre-order the products if it was an option (and possibly keep money in an escrow account so that they can be the first to buy a new product as soon as it's announced). The flawless figurehead is worshipped, the products glorified, competitors products are sacrificed, and the teachings are spread to everyone they know.

This group is what every company desires from a customer.

It's just too bad I can't think of any perfect examples -- only one has even a passing similarity -- you may have heard of it (or it).

Posted by Aaron at 7:41 PM | Permalink

Kill A Watt (now about $20 US at Amazon) can help save you some of your hard earned cash and also be educational.

While vacuuming this evening, I noted that a TV, VCR and old Xbox (classic) are plugged in 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but they only get used on average about 40 minutes 5-6 times a week by my wife (we have a small exercise room in our house).

Using my handy Kill A Watt, I noted that plugged in, yet not running, the group was consuming 10 watts! Individually, the break down was 5 watts for a tube style 27 inch TV, 4 watts for the VCR, and 1 watt for the Xbox. I moved the power strip up to a more accessible location and turned them all off. Now, she's planning on doing the same. Given our electrical rates, we'll save about $10-$15 a year by turning them completely off the majority of the time.

It's a simple device, easy to use. Highly recommended. I've used it on other things around the house with the same results -- easily paying for the cost of the device after a years time (even more quickly if you discover other devices that use electricity in their "power saving" state.).

(I've completely unplugged our second VCR -- last time we watched a video tape we were horrified by how bad they look compared to a DVD on a plasma TV!)

Posted by Aaron at 8:22 PM | Permalink

I was just chatting with a buddy and mentioned my recent camera purchase to him, the Canon PowerShot SD870IS. I hope I made him just a little jealous.

Here's my brief review of the 870IS of the features I like specifically ..., maybe helping you answer "What digital camera should I buy?"

Overall, it's a spectacular pocket-sized camera for the money.

• It turns on and becomes usable in about 2 seconds. Sweet.
• The camera has an orientation sensor, which usually are only in DSLR cameras. This is a great feature and in very few cameras today. Instead of manually rotating your photos, the photos include a tiny piece of data that indicates which way you were holding the camera. Most modern photo manipulation software will read this flag and automatically display the photo in the correct orientation. If you take a look at my gallery linked below, you'll see that some of the photos are rotated -- I didn't need to do a thing to make that work. Awesome. One less thing for me to manipulate when loading photos.
• Big bright LCD screen (3 inches diagonal). I had the Canon 800 and it had a nice screen, but the 870 puts it to shame really.
• Simple mode switching (from video to a program mode to automatic with a small switch on the top).
• The lens is protected when off.
• The "On" button is located on the top and is difficult to accidentally turn on.
• Fits nicely in my front pants pocket (although I'd recommend getting a simple screen protector to avoid scratching the LCD screen). You can be a tourist without looking like a tourist!
• Easy to learn and tweak the settings. Most stuff is automatic though if you want it to be. But, if you're willing to branch out, it has a lot of nice tweakable settings to help you get the shot you wanted.
• The video and audio feature work surprisingly well. Over Christmas, I shot some video of my little nephew around the house and I must say that I'm not likely to ever want to carry a camcorder again (as my video shots tend to be short anyway). The resolution is 640x480, which is good enough to capture the memories of the moment. The microphone quality is much better than I expected ... music, voices, everything carries through very nicely considering it's just a digital camera! (There are several settings to adjust the quality and the size of the files).
• The model has image stabilization built in. It definitely has allowed me to take shots without the aid of a tripod that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to take. It's not magic though, and it's definitely possible to take blurry shots -- but it decreases the frequency if you use it wisely. It has a little on screen warning when the shot you're about to take may be blurry. In lower light situations, this can prevent the disappointing shot you might have taken with other non image stabilized cameras.
• Really long battery life (in the many hundreds of shots). I haven't done a scientific study or anything though ..., but it's more than adequate for a day of shooting (with some use of the flash).
• Face detection -- helps take better shots of people (a bit gimmicky, but I must say that the people shots I've taken look consistently nice!)

I've posted some sample shots I've taken with the SD870 on SmugMug here.

Manufacturer's page.

Thankfully, they don't put stickers on the camera for all of these features ... otherwise, there'd be no actual camera exposed!

Amazon's: Canon PowerShot SD870IS (there are about 100 reviewers there giving it about 4.5 stars).

Posted by Aaron at 3:44 PM | Permalink

The WiredPrairie household, being in southern Wisconsin, is not immune to being in the path of severe thunderstorms or tornadoes (and some nasty winter storms recently). All these years of living in Southern Wisconsin we haven't had an emergency (weather) radio. We've finally rectified that by buying the Midland WR-300.

The Midland WR-300, as you'll see, is an extremely well-rated weather radio and alert monitor with S.A.M.E. SAME stands for Specific Area Message Encoding. Using this, you can set this emergency monitor to react to alerts to the area you live in rather than receiving all alerts broadcast in your region (usually a county, parish, city or marine area). This narrows the alerts and reduces the "noise" you might otherwise be alerted to by cheaper alert monitors.

If you head to SAME web site, you'll see it's actually the NWR SAME system. NWR is the acronym for NOAA Weather Radio. NOAA is the acronym for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (So, that becomes: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio Specific Area Message Encoding. Can you tell a government was involved?)

This device can receive warnings, watches, or other non-weather emergencies (like Amber alerts for example).

It does violate one of my rules by strongly recommending batteries, but not including any batteries. Shame shame (especially given the nature of this device).

We like the device. It's easy to use and provides a little additional piece of mind for around $40. This model has a few accessories available, like a strobe light, and a larger antenna can be attached for poor reception areas.

I'd highly recommend if you live in any area of the country that is subject to inclement weather that you buy this or something like it (a cheaper model like the Midland WR-100B for example). It might save your (or your families' lives).  One reviewer on Amazon mentioned how they were saved by their weather radio as it alerted them right before an F4 Tornado struck their house (which is a tornado with 207-260 mph or 333 to 418 kph winds!).

FYI, it draws about 1 watt of power (2 when the backlight is on).

Posted by Aaron at 3:25 PM | Permalink

I'm reading a new book, Presentation Zen, by Garr Reynolds. (I'm about half way through.)

It's a very good book, especially if you consider the bigger picture of "presentation" as it factors into the many things you may do. Software development and user interface development is all about presentation. I know I fall into the same rut some days as other people -- your design tool is the development environment, rather than stepping back and using a white board, a sheet of paper, or even the back of a napkin! The fields and data, and the visualizations you add to an application all tell a story and communicate emotions to the end user. Stark gray forms may communicate dull, boring, or even simple. Crazy colors and fonts may communicate pain and suffering (AKA headaches!). Presentation.

A few sentences have struck me so far though:

"Decoration, for better or worse, is noticeable--sometimes enjoyable, sometimes irritating, but it is unmistakably there. However, the best designs are so well done that "the design" is never even noticed consciously by the observer/user, such as the design of a book or the signage in an airport."

One company that most everyone who's reading this blog is familiar with is Apple. They get this (with the exception of ITunes on Windows!).

Back to the book --it's a beautiful, full color book. "Airy" (lots of white space). Easy to read (not dry).

I've done more minimal presentations in the last few years (with no more than 6-8 words on a slide) - and they've gone very well. But, it's taken quite a few years to overcome the PowerPoint-effect which is instilled in us by watching other dry, boring slideware.

I'll post more as I get through it, but I'd definitely recommend you check it out if you do many presentations (both in the actual literal sense, or want to consider "presentation" as a larger art). It's around $18 US right now at Amazon.

Posted by Aaron at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've read a few good science fiction books recently that I thought I'd share.

I'm not one for writing a book report (AKA, review), so my very brief comments here are going to have to suffice. The best way to understand my interest in a book is the fact that I've taken the time to write about it. I only do that for books I really enjoy or really dislike. :)

A few good books I've recently enjoyed:

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

This book wasn't as long as I would have liked at slightly more than 300 pages, but it was very enjoyable and a well thought-out book. Without spoiling it, it deals with an older gentleman and his joining of an interstellar war. It's been extremely well reviewed at Amazon. There's a second book that I just purchased, The Ghost Brigades, that I'm looking forward to reading very soon.

Path of the Fury by David Weber

I really enjoyed David Weber's Honor Harrington Series (starting with On Basilisk Station by David Weber), so I've been reading a bunch of his other books. Path of the Fury is about an ex-commando who joins forces against some pirates with two very unexpected partners.

The Shiva Option by David Weber

Again, David Weber. This books follows a Grand Alliance of various aliens and Humans battling against a nasty foe, "the Bugs." I enjoyed the characters and action and was disappointed when a few of them were killed (always a good sign in a book when you have some empathy for the characters).

(Not all books by David Weber are worth reading, but many are: Other books by David Weber).

Many sci-fi books at Amazon are available for a 4-for-3 promotion right now (Buy 4, get one free). I just bought 12 .... :)

Posted by Aaron at 4:26 PM | Permalink