Learning @ Work

Sugar CRM to manage customers and contacts

2009-08-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

View more presentations from Frans Thamura.

With the screenshots on this one I get a general idea of what Sugar CRM does. Hope you'd find it useful too.

FFC2009: Web Standards, Accessibility & Usability

2009-07-09T20:36:00.001-07:00

Web Standards, Accessibility & Usability: Experience is the Key by Regnard Raquedan

Evolution
• with changes happening, expectations change.
• "Authenticity" - Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore
∘ successive imperatives and sensibilities

Layers of Experience for Web Design
• Jesse James Garrett
∘ Look and feel -> Way-finding and Navigation -> Information Architecture -> Features and Content -> User Needs and Site Goals

Qualities of User Experience
• Peter Morville
∘ UE as honeycomb
∘ useful
∘ usable
∘ valuable
∘ findable
∘ desirable
∘ accessible

How to Improve Web Experience
• Web standards
∘ Markup/Structure
‣ HTML 4.01
‣ XHTML 1.0
∘ Presentation
‣ CSS
∘ Behavior
‣ DOM

∘ Advantage
‣ Ease of Maintenance
‣ Accessibility
‣ Device Compatibility

∘ How can I make my site standards compatible?
‣ Change your mindset
‣ Use the standards
‣ Validate
∘ Current Issues Web Standards
‣ Browsers
• Firefox now has 20% share
‣ Legacy Issues

• Accessibility
∘ making your site accessible to people with disabilities
∘ Why make your sites accessible?
‣ Give the experience to people with disabilities.
‣ Benefits to people with and without disabilities.
‣ Socially-responsible thing to do.
∘ http://pwag.org/

• Usability
∘ ease of use
∘ What makes websites usable?
‣ easy to learn
‣ efficient
‣ easy to remember
• habit forming
‣ handle errors properly
• give a way out
∘ go back
∘ go contact support
∘ etc
‣ satisfying to the senses
∘ How can I make my sites more usable?
‣ Get the basics done.
‣ Put the user in mind.
‣ Remember context.
‣ Test.
• Local Scene
∘ Web standards
‣ blogs
∘ Accessibility
‣ Phil. Web Accessibility Group
∘ Usability
‣ World Usability Day Manila

Put users in mind :)

FFC 2009: Breaking Your Instincts

2009-07-09T19:51:00.001-07:00

FFC 2009: Breaking your Instincts

Breaking your Instincts: Common bad habits and how to fight them
by Rico Sta. Cruz

(There's demo of how to redesign a news site.)

• How convenience affects our work
∘ Don't just make lemonade from lemons :D

• Navigation
∘ usually we're given a site map given by other people
‣ don't just use that; it's not necessarily that, right?
∘ example: newspaper site
‣ maybe have a sidebar which has more links especially if it's something from 3 levels deep
• Search
∘ going with the status quo because of convenience?
∘ think first
∘ searching is not an auxiliary function anymore
• Advertisements
∘ intersperse advertisements with content
• Articles
∘ Headlines
‣ what goes after this?
‣ Dominant + Recessive = Sweet
‣ Importance of articles - could trigger a change in the layout. they don't have to have equal importance.
• primary
• secondary
• tertiary
‣ Excelitis - everything looks like a worksheet. eww.
• you could present table data in a different way
‣ Tendency to use lists
• Recap
∘ Don't just copy and paste
∘ From blog-like you could have a hierarchy
∘ etc.

FFC 2009: Javascript 101 (Nap Lara)

2009-07-09T19:05:00.001-07:00

Form, Function & Class: Javascript 101

Membership webdesigners.com.ph/join
Requirements:
• membership fee - annual
• organize a mini web design conference
• submit a portfolio of webdesign work - prove that you made it

Javascript 101: DOM, Events, and Objects
Talk by Nap Lara

DOM
• analogy: family
∘ body - father - parent node
∘ div - first child - sibling
∘ span - sibling
∘ p - last child - sibling

How do we access elements in the DOM?
• getElementByID
• getElementsByClassName -- YUI
• Selectors -- YUI

Which one do you use?
selectors - not the fastest; generally slower
jQuery - with selectors you could say 'every odd row'
by Class Name - collection of elements
by Class ID - specific

Creating DOM Elements
• inner HTML
• DOM
• Fragments

How Events Work
• Event Bubbling (usually in IE)
∘ from the bottom up
∘ IE supports only Event Bubbling
∘ user clicks on <p>
• Adding events
∘ inline
∘ DOM level 0
‣ div.onclick = function
‣ this way overrides each other
∘ DOM level 2
‣ YUI

When to use them

Event delegation

How to Write Objects
• object literal
∘ lightest way
∘ seen outside, everything could be accessed -- disadvantage
• modular pattern
∘ you could hide some things
• prototypes

AJAX
• XML
• HTML
• JSON - native javascript; lighter than XML
• Custom Format

Phases when making an AJAX request
• onFailure
• onStart - loader

AJAX tips
• limit your calls
• define timeouts

Best Practices
• Compression
• Obfuscation
• Separate Code from Content
∘ reusability
• Multiple Domains

Global Variables and Functions

Repaint and Reflow
- could happen when working with styles

Thoughts on Agile, Truthfulness and the Filipino Culture

2009-04-19T23:50:00.001-07:00

I was just reading up about Agile methodologies and the word truthfulness came out. Here's a link to the InfoQ article: Agility Means Truthfulness. It quotes a blog entry by Birch a lot. Like this particular set of statements by Birch:

Agile methods are made of processes, principles and tools. But most importantly they are concerned with people. Therefore, Truthfulness is the foundation of success in an Agile organization.

Although Agile cannot force people to be truthful, it reveals the direct consequences of opacity in an organization, confronts it and challenges it to change.

As people have said time and again, in relationships, people have to be truthful to each other and we owe it to each other to tell the truth. But the thing is, truth hurts sometimes and in our culture, it's not easy to speak the truth immediately. There are levels of comfort and there are ways of saying the truth that might come off as negative. We have the "pakisama" factor in our culture so it makes it even harder. If you notice someone's flaws, how do you say it without looking mean or KJ (kill joy)? The person's code may be quite flawed or his/her analysis lacking, so how do you tell it to your teammate? Sometimes if you're comfortable enough, it gets easier to do that. But how comfortable are you with your teammates? Do you have walls between you?

Some teammates might sound like they are always right. Or they'd give you an outright "no" when you're just trying to be honest and truthful about pointing out something. Wouldn't the other person look defensive to you and you're probably thinking of how to get through that person. You know you need to be productive but how could you try to be more subtle about the method of getting your point across? Sometimes you're afraid of coming off as disrespectful and you end up becoming like that in the process. That sucks because if truthfulness is indeed a foundation of Agile, you're stuck.

We all have our flaws. Time and again, I show signs of being a PA - Passive-Aggressive person. This is one thing that I know might hinder me from time to time. But if I do have respect for my teammates, I try to give them a heads up. It's just that sometimes maybe I still don't get through them for some reason I have yet to figure out. Is it because I feel the pressure of "pakikisama" and it's deeply ingrained already? Or is it because I am just afraid of speaking out?

Another dilemma we have with our culture is that we need to show respect/deference to other people especially to our elders, leaders, etc. If we're so used to that, it gets more difficult to say our thoughts right away. So how are we supposed to get over that immediately? Breaking a mentality is difficult to do after all. But I am not saying that Agile is impossible. It's just that it's going to be difficult sometimes, depending on the composition of your team, especially in our culture.

What are possible solutions?

Honestly, I don't know. I suppose we just have to see examples of people speaking the truth all the time might help a lot. Truthful but with prudence. I suppose one can be truthful and show it through their humor too. Although that might not work on everyone. I guess it's easier if we could all try harder each day? And just do our best so that we'd all improve. After all, being truthful is not just crucial for an Agile team but for everyone because of our day to day interactions.

Ada Lovelace Day on March 24 :)

2009-03-17T01:16:00.001-07:00

Ada Lovelace day happens on March 24 :)

What's up with Ada Lovelace day you may ask? It's the day we talk about women in technology who are leaders, who are cutting edge, who inspire others through their works in the community and in the field they belong to. You could talk about women in software development, game development, tech journalism, etc.

If you've got women role models you'd want other to know about, it's the chance for you to speak up and be part of the celebration of Ada Lovelace day. For more details, check out findingada.com and make the pledge. I did. I hope you will too :)

Case Study of Agile Testing

2009-01-05T00:06:00.001-08:00

Got this presentation from searching about Agile methods and testing. I think it's an interesting material to jumpstart learning about testing within the Agile context.

Problem though is downloading. I hope sharing it as slides embedded in the post will suffice!

Case Study of Agile Testing

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: naresh nareshjain)

A scrapbook made using Scrapblog

2008-08-24T09:02:00.001-07:00

Random things I am noting for using Selenium

2008-07-09T00:44:00.000-07:00

Just started using Selenium and found out some things:

Use clickAtAndWait when testing for clicking the login button for logging in.

Don't use click when you need to verify contents on the page that's supposed to load after clicking. Use clickAndWait for that so that you could run the commands (whether it's assert or verify) after that.

verify would let the tests go on and log the errors, whereas assert would halt the test case if an error is encountered.

It is painful to try learning Selenium when you feel like you have a hangover even if you didn't even go out drinking. It must be heat exhaustion from the weekend as well as a fever that wouldn't seem to decide if it will happen or not. So yeah, drink Gatorade for that if you feel exhausted for some unknown reason.

Links from Chef

2008-04-17T19:58:00.001-07:00

Must remember this so I am posting the links here:

Rolan Batungbakal: baka makatulong ito: http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer.html
Rolan Batungbakal: tapos eto rin ang must-have add-ons for web devs: Firebug: http://www.getfirebug.com/, and Wed Dev: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

I was having a hard time learning CSS again. Especially when dealing with Internet Explorer. Must learn new things, remember old things I used to know efore.

Don't know how I got to the page with this quote but I love it!

2008-01-21T02:43:00.001-08:00

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.
Donald Rumsfeld

Sometimes I feel so unfocused.

Distractions are everywhere. Online, offline. It's up to the person to be distracted, right? So I know it takes a lot of discipline on my part so I won't be too distracted by the fascinating articles online. I should learn from them, yes, but not to the point of getting distracted. I have goals and I want to stick with those goals. This quote is a very good reminder for me that the best thing to do is keep on working towards those goals that I have, no matter what.

As Dory of "Finding Nemo" says: "Keep swimming, keep swimming."

Experimenting on how to deal with RSI-like symptoms

2008-01-18T04:56:00.001-08:00

1. I follow the breaks in Workrave.
2. Been wearing wrist support.
3. Trying to keep my hands warm.
4. Might buy gloves for number 3.
5. Trying to sit properly and type properly.
6. Poi practice is not too intense.

I have more bookmarks on http://del.icio.us/eclair

I am planning to go to the doctor some time next week. This weekend is time for visiting my Lolo.

Links re: RSI, keyboard layouts

2008-01-16T18:45:00.001-08:00

http://www.powertyping.com/dvorak/typing.html - a Dvorak typing tutor
http://www.gigliwood.com/abcd/abcd.html - Dvorak basics
http://dvzine.org/ - Dvorakzine
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/keyboardlayout.aspx - how to change your keyboard layout in Windows

Considering learning a new keyboard layout

2008-01-16T18:32:00.001-08:00

I've read about Dvorak before and I've also considered it before but found it too daunting a task. But this is what an online friend told me this morning:

bkhl64: My ¢2 on keyboard layouts is that the time it takes to learn a new layout (like Dvorak) is miniscule compared to the amount of time you will use it.
bkhl64: So cutting down the learning period a bit should not be a reason to choose one layout over another.

So yeah, the Dvorak layout is one consideration I have in mind. I also saw that the Colemak layout might be a good option but I am not so certain if Windows will also support it. I am switching OSes every so often (my laptop is still in dual-boot) and I am sure that Dvorak is supported on Windows XP and Ubuntu. I might be slow in typing for the coming weeks but I would hopefully build up speed.

This learning of a new keyboard layout is in response to the pain in my hands and wrists.

Slightly bangag already but I just need say WHOA!

2008-01-15T11:06:00.001-08:00

Eco-friendly laptop MacBook Air!

MacBook Air page http://www.apple.com/macbookair/
MacBook Air on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Air
Jayvee's reaction to the keynote http://abuggedlife.com/2008/01/16/jayvees-live-reactions-to-macworld-2008-keynote/

Yeah, folks. Drool, topple over with shock or excitement, whatever. What a thing to see before going to sleep!

Wrist hurts :(

2008-01-12T03:32:00.001-08:00

My wrist hurts periodically. And I get some tingling sensations on my hands every once in a while. I've been borrowing a co-worker's wrist support as well as using Workrave to remind me to take breaks. I am thinking that the position of my hands while I was working on another project made my wrists worse so I am now periodically experiencing weird pains. Some months ago, I'd be consistently typing and drawing and I wasn't conscious of the position of my wrists. I knew that I felt 'ngalay' (I am not sure what the English word is) after a day of working. Back when I was a full-time blogger, typing my blog posts and stuff didn't feel that way probably because the keyboard was lower and also, I was taking breaks a lot, from typing that is.

Any tips would be welcome. :)

On helping users go beyond the super novice level

2007-12-13T20:19:00.001-08:00

From UX Matters:
http://uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000249.php

Provide contextual user assistance. Within a system, provide the means for people to explore ways to do new things or to do better things that they're already accomplishing in some way. Consider devoting a portion of each screen or module of an application to providing people with user assistance that has the aim of increasing their acquisition of system knowledge. Update this information frequently and dynamically. This kind of knowledge-acquisition content is distinct from classic procedural Help, which as Mike Hughes has pointed out in his UXmatters column is usually not very helpful anyway.
Record users' interactions to discover teachable moments. Encourage your interaction and information designers to discover what people need in order to learn—by, among other techniques, measuring what people do in an application and profiling their usage patterns. This will provide you with some insight into where people spend their time and what—as well as where—the teachable moments might be. This could be as simple as building an RSS feed reader directly into your application.

It reminds me of the fact that I've been using stuff like MS Word and OpenOffice.org and yet I am so not an expert on using them. I am still very much a novice because I just know the things I need to do on a day to day basis. A couple of months ago I learned more about using MS Excel from some of my teammates in a project where we had to use MS Excel and MS Visio a lot for our deliverables. Anyhow, I guess there's a lot of functionality within the apps that I never could find the time to learn and at the same time, I didn't have enough contextual clues so that I could 'figure out' that I could do other things.

Designing user interfaces seems to be quite challenging because you don't want your app users to get lost in clicking here and there. Because if that happens, their user experience turns out so bad. And now that I am learning more, I am also looking for ways that I could help users understand the app more and my getting lost in certain apps and web services (like Ebay, etc.) are good lessons in what should be considered when designing an interface.

Evenings at the park with the O&B people

2007-12-10T21:38:00.001-08:00

We've been going to the park more often these days. Owie loves jogging and playing badminton. Chelle likes walking. Martin also plays badminton with Owie and I think that they're really having a lot of fun. :) Often enough, JM and I go to the park and do poi practice. He's good at weaves ( http://www.homeofpoi.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/105008) while I am totally hitting myself. The nice thing about being there in the park is that we get to do fun things together which are not related to work. Not in any way. :) Even Butch joins us and he's learning poi faster than I ever did. :) He could do somehow do the butterfly and corkscrew moves. Soon, Owie will pick up how the butterfly works. Next time, maybe we could all make weaves! Hahaha.

As for badminton, I'd probably try to join them one time, when I am not so traumatized with my badminton PE class anymore :D Well, this and Wii nights make it easy for us to have more bonding sessions. :)

Links on User Interface Design that are worth bookmarking

2007-12-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

On designing forms:
http://www.themaninblue.com/writing/perspective/2004/03/24/

On user interface:
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch09_Epicenter_Design.php
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch09_Context_Over_Consistency.php
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch09_Copywriting_is_Interface_Design.php

From the Man in Blue, he gives an idea of what those particular form designs have better over each other. Now the difficult thing is to prioritize particular things: Have the users scroll less by making all the fields there? Or present the fields in different columns but it may not really look so appealing but it's not so bas really?

But I agree with the need for "chunking" various fields together. It's easier to contextualize the data especially when entering the data and trying to remember them or when looking for them. It's more organized that way.

As for the essays in the book Getting Real (by 37 Signals) I am seeing that they also think that designing the user interface is important and there's a need for designers to keep it simple. The entire deal about user experience is that we'd want users to come back to the site and use the app.

Microsoft on the XO laptop? Whaddaheck?

2007-12-06T08:55:00.001-08:00

Read a blog entry that Microsoft will try to make sure that Windows XP will run on the XO laptop.

Some of these users may also find that they can influence the development of software in several ways:

By using what suits their needs instead of using what is given to them;
By demanding more features, performance, and cultural/language support byactually interacting with an accessible developer community;
By actively contributing to development efforts (through documentation, localization, advocacy, etc.).

The bottom line is that free software will help poor people realize that technology empowers them. They become more than individuals in lucrative markets. They become agents of progress and change.

I agree with the blog's sentiments. Seriously, the entire project will be defeated if they'd have Windows XP running on those laptops. Is Microsoft desperate or what? Whatever~!

What's it like to work in O&B?

2007-12-05T11:40:00.001-08:00

To be honest, I find it fun to work in O&B.:) I get to do all sorts of things like designing web sites, managing small projects, getting assigned to work with clients and so on. I get to learn various aspects of the IT industry and as such, I get an idea of how important each of us is. From our admin staff, to our developers, my fellow business analysts and our graphics designer. And interns. Life is even more interesting with the interns around because from time to time we encounter questions from them that really challenge us to remember some of the things we already know but don't always use, or it stretches our skills as mentors because we have to say things in such a way that they would understand us.

Sometimes it may seem that we have a lot of work but everyone tries to make it more fun. People don't really stay in the office late for the sake of overtime. There are those who linger just because it's nice to have dinner together. That or there's some impromptu brainstorming. And we have sofa beds! We could take naps when we're tired or really sleepy. And it's better for our productivity too. Especially for people who go on a streak of coding or analysis then suddenly feel the need to nap after it. And when there's a lot of things to be done, people find ways to distribute the workload and it's really great. We get to interact some more and we learn new things about ourselves, what we're capable of, what we have to improve and how we could help each other grow. Another great thing is that Calen, Butch and Chelle all encourage us to enhance our personalities aside from our skills. So we're not just focused on work. That's something that I love about working in O&B.

I guess I've become more reflective on this tonight than the other nights I've stayed up late. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that it's December already, year-end thoughts and all. :D

It boils down to three questions

2007-12-04T00:14:00.001-08:00

As I learned from one of the articles on usabilitynews.com, it boils down to three questions:

1. What should my deliverables be?
2. Will my deliverables provide clarity to me and their audience?
3. Where do my deliverables and other efforts fit within the spectrum of UX design?

Without answering those questions, it will be difficult for someone to focus and decide what to do and what to do next. It's going to take a while though, because I am somewhat new to this. I mean, I've been part of blog re-designs and such but a web app is another matter altogether. There are more interactions that I could see and it could be quite overwhelming. Right now, I am trying to focus on familiarizing myself with how the web app works and what could be improved immediately.

Meetings, meetings, meetings

2007-10-26T01:46:00.001-07:00

One could have too many meetings.

Anyhow, here are some things I learned when it comes to meetings:

1. If you know you will have a steady set of meetings, make sure you note with your client who are the people you will meet.

2. Try to balance the schedule. Too many meetings will be too draining on everyone.

3. Not everything could be resolved immediately in a meeting. Maybe you could have separate meetings. An internal one for your team as well as those that will include those from the client's side. If they need to have an internal meeting, suggest it to them. In any case, maybe you could stipulate that as one of the responsibilities of the client's project representatives. After all, they might have to resolve some things among themselves.

4. Give everyone a break from meetings whenever you can. They might go insane and emotionally drained if they do it every single day or something like that for almost an entire month.

5. Make sure that the project steering committee realizes the importance of meetings and yet not be the only way to communicate with their side.

CVS question re: directories

2007-10-25T21:10:00.001-07:00

Do you really have to check out the entire project everytime you have to get a new directory of files?

I think that I was able to check out particular directories from our svn repo. How come I can't seem to do that in cvs? Does one really have to indicate that these directories are modules so we could check them out individually?

Rawr.

Might use Hg on Windows

2007-10-25T21:05:00.001-07:00

The long weekend is coming up. In order for me to work on my files, I was thinking of using Git. But because I am currently in a Windows environment, I had to look for another option. I think it was Ealden who mentioned that Hg could push to CVS so I will find out for myself soon enough.

Some references for this experiment:
http://wiki.mozilla.org/Using_Mercurial_locally_with_CVS
http://wiki.mozilla.org/Mercurial_on_Windows
http://qct.sourceforge.net/Mercurial-BI.html
http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/index.cgi/CvsConcepts
http://betterexplained.com/articles/intro-to-distributed-version-control-illustrated/
http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/index.cgi/MergeProgram
http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/index.cgi/WindowsInstall

Don't react too late in the project

2007-10-23T01:28:00.001-07:00

As a project manager, you must plan a lot of things. Even if you have a methodology which you follow, you must plan how your team will follow it, especially if most of you are not familiar with it. You have to be aware of the quirks of the methodology and how it will affect your work, as well as your team's efforts and schedule.

Take for example the Information Engineering Methodology where you have different phases in the project and the first part is the Initial Information Architecture. How detailed must the output of that activity be? Should you have the main modules only, the first level only? Which at the lowest level, would give the function hierarchy diagram up to the first or second level, which would be the functions and sub-functions, mainly. The initial ERD would probably only have the core entities and relationships and as such, you would have the function vs. organization matrix and not the process vs. organization matrix.

After that, there is an assessment of information needs and as such, and details of the processes involved within each function could be detailed there. When that happens, you are at least build up something slowly. Then the other details you gather could be used for the final information architecture deliverable.

Sometimes though things don't always go as planned especially when it comes to things that cause delay. It could be users with whom BAs must speak with. Or it could be the number of holidays that occurred. In any case, you must also account for things you learn from the various phases and activities that you have with the users from the client's side. An example of which is how you could present an activity to the users. If you have a number of users, sometimes one contrarian could affect the others' opinions. So if you carefully think about your strategy, you could win over them contrarians. A sample activity that you could have trouble dealing with such people is when you have a worksheet that you would like them to fill up so that it could help your team assess the data. If your team has given their thoughts on how to make the worksheet, it is important that you review it before you even show it to the users on the client's side. If possible you could already gather inputs from the other members of the project steering committee. As project manager, you are the one who has the voice that these other people will be able to hear. Your team would be doing a whole lot of things involving the preparation of the activities but you are the one who's always meeting with the project steering committee. If your team already started gathering information using that worksheet and turns out that it is something that the project steering committee approves of, your team would end up doubling their efforts in order to revise their work. It would end up as something frustrating for everyone and would probably cause delay too.

Another example. If your team has been asking for access to resource people from the client's side, take action. You could ask the members of the project steering committee for their commitment in the project. Having a steady group of people who act as resources from the client's side would lessen the confusion. Really. But if you don't see that immediately, there could be a lot of communication issues and inconsistency issues. That's why as a project manager, you have to step in immediately when you notice these things.

A project is something that both your team and the client must work for in order to achieve it. Project managers could be crucial to the process. That's why it's important to learn from experience.

What is essential? Why do we make data models?

2007-10-16T21:23:00.001-07:00

We need to make data models to make it clear what data are essential to the system. We need to understand how information flows. But does this mean that we have to detail every single process all the time? I don't think so.

For example, if you have a department that you would like to study for their systems integration and stuff, you could say that you have particular processes which use certain data and if those have elementary processes (the really detailed, step by step thing, as in those you see in the manual of procedures, etc.) it's possible that you don't need to dwell on the long details of the process. But you need to understand what information is there, if it's the same information within that process and how it's transformed or used as you go through that process.

Sometimes dwelling too much on the details of the process keeps us away from what information is really important to the system, to the users.

We need to make our data model clear. Though the processes make it easier for us to understand how data interact with each other, processes tend to change. But the data tend to stay there. We might add some bits of data along the way, maybe later on, but first, we need to see what's really crucial.

If we keep on just talking about processes, things will never get done especially if your processes seem to change a lot. Like which one goes first and stuff like that. I think that's a reason why systems don't get done. People complain too much about their processes but look for a solution that's geared towards data. If they want to re-org, then they have to do it on their own and not foist it down the throats of people studying how they use their data.

Or maybe I should write a different post on that matter altogether.

Nintendo DS Nights...

2007-10-09T21:46:00.001-07:00

Hey, lookie! A Nintendo DS night will be held in Mag:net on October 16.

<blockquote>
When: October 16 2007
Where: mag:net cafe Bonifacio High Street

We'll be there as early as 6 PM till the night fades into morning. SPIT will be performing on that evening too at 10:00 PM so it's going to be one big party! Apart from the usual retinue of games including Mario Kart, Brain Age and Elite Beat Agents, we will be showing off our AIR GUITAR SKILLZ with Jam Sessions for the Nintendo DS!</blockquote>

Taken from Jayvee's blog

Looks interesting and they're even going to lend you a DS if you don't have one ;) If you're interested, just go, go, go!

I do hope to check it out even if I probably won't stay til very late. I hope that my schedule won't be so bad next week... *crosses fingers* People don't just work, we need to play too!

Treat your team members like humans

2007-10-07T23:25:00.001-07:00

When you have a team and you have a lot of deadlines, you know that you have to make sure that they are working optimally. Do they have the information that they need in order to get things done? What resources are they lacking? Are they still alert? Are they still able to deliver?

Sometimes people get sick and it could be something due to stress at work. If you are a project manager and you know that your team members have been falling ill rather often, you have to assess the situation very well. And if your team's composition will change, the adjustments will impact team velocity and productivity. There would have to be adjustments to be done and sometimes it doesn't happen quickly.

Your team members know what they need and how they could do things better. And you, as project manager, could figure out whether they're just trying to slack off or have an easier time but not doing things right. You could talk and see where you could compromise. That's why it's important that from the very start of the project, you are able to hear out each member's ideas, spoken or not. Sometimes you have to read between the lines. It could be tricky sometimes, but you have to do it.

A project manager must respect each team member. And a project manager must treat everyone like humans, not just workers to do the dirty job. Sometimes project managers seem to forget that because of the pressure from the client and from management. There has to be balance somewhere or else, things could fall apart in the middle of the project because the team suffers from too much work.

Relating with other people sure is tough. One has to build up some confidence in approaching others. Flexibility too -- so that one could accept ideas from these people.

Aha! CVS said I love you!

2007-09-17T23:18:00.001-07:00

But I wasn't able to take a screenshot! Dagnabit~

Phooey. But I could probably re-create that moment by checking out a new copy into my local directory :P Maybe.

Anyhow, it works!

Things I did:
1. Create a password file, a .cvspass file.
Reference: http://ant.apache.org/manual/CoreTasks/cvspass.html
Which is basically what the .cvspass file should look like. It should be the user's /home.

2. On the commandline, this is how I checked out my files from the CVS repo:

clair@kaylee:~$ cvs -d:pserver:clair:mypassword@10.0.200.45:/cvsrepo/directoryname co modulename

やった!　できました！

I wish I was able to save the links of those useful guides that led me to this path. And thanks to Dave (via Gtalk) and JM (via phonecall) who gave me some clues along the way too! :)

And here's a screenshot of Crossvc

CVS shows me hatred again!

2007-09-17T21:39:00.001-07:00

Once again, I am battling with using CVS.

(I swear, why do are some people not using SVN yet?! And to think people in the office are already moving towards Git... Anyway, I digress.)

Here's the scenario:

There's a CVS repository on the machine with Windows 2003 server. We use pserver to connect. I already used this on my Windows partition. I check out files and commit them via Tortoise.

Today, I decided to use Linux because I got ntlmaps and remembered what to change in the config file. I also installed CVS and Crossvc. I added my localfiles (it's on a FAT 32 partition) to the 'workbench' and they files are seen as versioned and unversioned. It looked good but I apparently could not commit my changes. I gave the right password but it says: "login failed" and on the command line it was "connection refused" -- sounds grand, huh? Well, I hate it. Is it because I am on Linux and using ntlmaps?

I thought this was the day that I'd stop using Windows here at the client's office. Just when I have no Windows tools dependent tasks, CVS throws me an equivalent of "I hate you!" Rawr.

PS: http://www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/cvs/cvsclient_3.html --> Check the section pserver!

I LOVE YOU
The authentication is successful. The client proceeds with the cvs protocol itself.

I HATE YOU
The authentication fails. After sending this response, the server may close the connection. It is up to the server to decide whether to give this response, which is generic, or a more specific response using `E' and/or `error'.

It's posts like this that make colored pens all the more awesome~

2007-09-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

from a recent post on Dave's LJ:

Today I used nine colours of ink in making a diagram of the disk and RAID layout of one of the servers at work.

See? ;) I do know we have at least three colors of whiteboard markers in the office: blue, black, green. :D

Fountain pens, oh, fountain pens!

2007-09-11T11:47:00.001-07:00

At work, I don't really do much writing these days but I still keep a notebook handy anyway :)

And for that, I generally use only two things write with: a slim Pilot mechanical pencil or a fountain pen.

I like writing my work notes and my tasks using my fountain pens. :) I have Pilot Petit1 fountain pens that come in various colors like baby pink, cherry pink, violet and brown. I could highlight particular words using them. I could draw funky diagrams with them too. Or if I am feeling blue, just having the colorful ink on my paper reminds me that things will get better. Well, if all else fails, I'd doodle with them. Haha.

Fountain pens are also handy when you have to sign documents you are receiving, etc. For that, my black-inked Inoxcrom fountain pen works fine.

Right now, I am sooo wanting the Pilot fountain pen that matches my mechanical pencil.

Like Tommy, writing down notes helps me learn things. I guess it's because I remember things that I wrote better than the ones that I just read. Something like that. :) I even recall what the page looks like. Haha :D Anyhow, I should sleep before I talk about more pens that I want!

Combining Function Decomposition Diagrams in Oracle Designer

2007-08-29T01:12:00.001-07:00

The key is right click on the space and then select "Include root" then select the file name of the diagram you wish to include.

I had to do this because I made separate FHDs in the workspace so that I wouldn't be too confused about where I could find the diagrams. Neat feature!

Though I must say I hate it when those weird Oracle error messages show up and there's no logical explanation for them.

Maybe I should learn Oracle DBA stuff, srsly

2007-08-27T20:23:00.001-07:00

I don't always remember the commands I use in Oracle so I've been writing them down here on my blog for future reference and it's been useful. I've been learning some basic commands on Oracle so that I could work with the repository used for Oracle Designer. I am thinking that maybe having such skills would be a boon to the team when we have to work with Oracle projects like that one we did for a payroll system.

But how does one learn except through experience? It's kinda weird not putting things you learn to good use.

New command to kill a session from Oracle SQL+

2007-08-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

alter system disconnect session 'sid,serial#' immediate;

I needed that because alter system kill session '<session id>,<serial#>'; doesn't always work.

Writing for b5media's New Linux User blog

2007-08-24T05:46:00.001-07:00

This month, I decided to try out writing for b5media's New Linux User blog.
I know I haven't been writing much about Linux because I used to do that on my clair.free.net.ph blog. In any case, I still have this as my work blog and the New Linux User blog will be my Linux blog. It doesn't mean that I won't write about Linux here anymore. It's just that I'd be writing more updates related to Linux there. Hope you drop by one of these days :)

When your project is analysis heavy...

2007-08-22T20:28:00.001-07:00

your analysts need a lot of docs and they need the context for the docs. They need to interview people who know the data, the business rules and cases. So what do you need to do in the first place? Give them access to those documents, to those people. If you don't, it will be hard for them to catch up.

It's better to gather enough data to figure out what the scope of the problem really is than relying on the ideal cases, ideal data to be included in the analysis, as well as business processes. Sometimes, things might seem simple but it's not always like that. A particular business/client could have modified their process or documentation (or both) such that it becomes more complex. Understanding such things takes time. Especially when your team of analysts are not that familiar with the domain.

Also, never assume that just because there are some basic documents which have been used as basis of analysis, your analysts are ok. Maybe for initial gathering they're already fine but it's not necessarily going to be enough to show what the domain model is. How could one draw an ERD based on the basic guidebook for a particular set of users and it doesn't necessarily reflect the business model?

A project manager must be able to help his team in doing their tasks and not just ask them later on "Why aren't you done yet? Haven't you done the initial work already?" because there are times that there's really so much more than what is apparent.

Adding a new team member is not always the solution but...

2007-08-22T03:31:00.001-07:00

sometimes, it does help.

Evaluate your team's status every so often so that they would still be productive. The reason why they're not fast enough is that there's too much work and they can't figure out how to manage things anymore. And the volume of work could get boring if there's too much.

Even juggling tasks among team members is ok. But if your analysts are the ones overwhelmed by the work, it might not be easy to juggle tasks as there's the learning time to consider.

*sigh*

That's why managers must be able to communicate with their team members regarding these things! Managers must listen and I mean it. Listen even to the unspoken messages behind the questions and the statements.

Sometimes your analysts might be overworked already, especially junior analysts who seem to be pressured to give as much output as a senior one.

On managing your team and leading them

2007-08-21T07:55:00.001-07:00

I realized that one of the things a project manager could do to demoralize his/her team is to not recognize his/her team's enthusiasm and skill set.

If at any point in time, you have a team member who comes up to you asking about next week's plans or directions, how would you answer them?
a. Tell them the direction you will be taking.
b. Ask them what's on their mind for next week.
c. Ignore the questions.
d. Ask them, "Why are you asking that?" and just shrug them off.

The last two options could be demoralizing, especially when your team is sincerely showing their interest as to what direction to take. For one thing, the question might have been prompted because of several things:
a. Boredom. They could probably be bored with the current week's tasks and activities.
b. They feel the need to catch up with the deadlines, especially if they still have SO MUCH left to do.
c. They are simply curious and enthusiastic about the following week.

As a leader, you have to see if your team is still inspired or enthusiastic and see how enthusiasm could spread among them. If you answer the question and fuel their enthusiasm that would be great. Also, for those who are getting bored with their work already, at least you could discuss things. It could be an indirect hint at you that they've been bored.

There are also those who feel the need to catch up. Maybe there are people in your team who are overwhelmed with the project, especially with the work they've done. They're getting better at estimating how long particular tasks would take and they're probably wondering how they should pace themselves.

And there are also people who are simply enthusiastic and energetic that they want to have a headstart already. That or they're preparing themselves for next week's work.

No matter how I look at it, it's your team's way of saying that they need to prepare for the work ahead for them and they'd like to know where you're heading. Now how are you going to manage these people knowing that?

There's probably no easy way to answer that. I guess you could simply put it simply this way: You musn't kill their enthusiasm and if they don't have any, give them something to be enthusiastic about. Some people manage their teams by giving them 'carrots' to motivate them. And one way of doing that is by making sure that each week, you all have something to look forward to even if it's work, work, work. Putting a damper on their spirits would cause productivity to go down. Really down.

I guess this is one of those times that being a project manager would really require someone to have 'soft skills' and I am afraid that it's something that I must cultivate myself. I am not a very patient person though I might look like it. Aside from that, there are times when I find it 'tiring' to deal with people. Especially in huge groups. Probably because I tend to try too hard in spreading enthusiasm for work and during times that I don't have it, I can't work that well. And somehow, I'd just have to deal with things and make sure I remember the lessons well.

When work is hectic, I listen to K-pop and J-pop

2007-08-20T03:17:00.001-07:00

I really just have a thing for listening to J-pop and K-pop when deadlines are near.

Nothing like upbeat music to keep me sane. Some people would code listening to rock music. I can't do that when I am thinking. Well, not when deadlines are near. But for relatively light workload, rock is ok. I think that upbeat music has a psychological effect on me: lifts me up for some reason or another.

I guess K-pop is a good choice because even though it has lyrics, I can't really sing to the songs because I don't speak Korean. I could sing to some J-pop songs though :P Anyhow, this is still a work-related post, IMHO ;) Just to make sure nobody gets weirded out to what I listen to or if I don't answer people's messages immediately. I have a renewed appreciation of Clazziquai right now so I'd be snapping my fingers or tapping on my table every once in a while.

Back to translating Ubuntu docs

2007-08-18T20:11:00.001-07:00

My Launchpad account is still active apparently. I still had some translation work left unfinished. It's time for me to get back and finish them and start on new ones. I am part of the Tagalog and Filipino translators groups and I pinged xenph last night about particular standards for translating certain terms. He also clarified with me that at this time, Tl and Fil are interchangeable.

It's time to get back into the translation groove!

Why some people prefer working with flexi-hours and no dress code

2007-08-12T22:41:00.001-07:00

If you want to work comfortably and work at your peak hours, the flexi-time and no dress code would be perfect.

I personally hate uniforms: I feel that they're too restrictive. And as for office wear - I don't care for those either unless I have to meet a client. And I am not so formal even then. I feel too stifled at the moment and I need to think hard and think well. Now I am letting myself be distracted by these thoughts so I could let them out already.

As for Flexitime - I've really come to appreciate flexitime all the more. I swear, even though I am not totally averse to mornings, I am simply not working fine early in the mornings. Gah. At 10 am or 11am I am already fine but at 8am? NOOOOO! I don't think I ever was. Even in college I avoided those early morning classes. As much as possible my day started at 10am. If I couldn't avoid it, I'd take the 8:30am classes but I hardly took 7am classes -- That was insane! Me? In school at 7am? Hah! That means no sleep at all!

Anyhow, my point is that sometimes people need to work comfortably in order to produce good quality output.

Why does Windows always change my user profile?!

2007-08-10T02:20:00.001-07:00

No wonder I keep having problems with CVS access. It keeps on making it appear as if I have the setting 'change password during next logon' even though i unchecked that already. Grawr. I hate it, hate it, hate it!

Damn you, Windows! Why do you hate me so? Is it because I miss using Ubuntu and that I say it out loud?

Oh and an off topic note: I hate the AM radio announcer like voice.

Some notes on using CVSNT

2007-08-09T23:09:00.001-07:00

1. Make sure that in Users Management, the option "User must change password at next logon" must be left unchecked. Or else you might have troubles with the users' CVS access. (It happened to me. I swear that I didn't check it. Never did. And so it was troubling me all morning.)
2. CVSNT has certain files you could edit to make your life easier. They are: writers (for write access), admin (for admin access), passwd (for the users login).
3. Check where your repo is. Duh.
4

Things I have yet to understand as to how CVSNT works:
1. Why it seems to be quite dependent on Windows users management
2. The difference between pserver and sspi and in which cases they should be used.

CVS NT makes my blood boil every once in a while because some of the guides are downright confusing and/or there's not enough info or even links so I could understand why I ought to do particular things to make it work. All I know is that it works now, which is a good thing.

The people who make the workplace fun

2007-08-07T03:32:00.001-07:00

Sometimes work becomes more bearable when you are with people who create a great environment. Sometimes work could be hellish and being with people who are fun-loving makes it easier. And bringing such a spirit into your workplace is good, however there are times when you are are bound by constraints of the building/facility you are working in, especially if you're a boisterous group. Nevertheless, a bunch of people who could smile and laugh and joke around while working makes work less stressful. :)

It's so nice to be with O&B people because work becomes fun despite the many deadlines or the tight schedule. Lunch or 7-11 breaks are full of laughter and they are constantly a source of in-jokes among us. I miss being part of the lunch crowd actually and it's great that I could still be a part of the dinner or weekend group. :)

On being an 'expert'

2007-08-01T02:58:00.001-07:00

Who says one is an expert?

In handling a team and you're supposed to be the 'expert' I think that you're not necessarily perfect all the time because you might not have encountered particular cases that are more similar to the case at hand. And there are times that the members of the team you're part of would suggest things. It wouldn't hurt to listen to them. Especially because there's a lot of work to be done and they're suggesting things that would help your workflow better, as well as your productivity. And we all know that catching up on work is one of the toughest things you need to do so it's better that you get started with the team's quirks (and suggestions!) in mind. ;)

Things I learned about using Oracle Designer

2007-07-31T22:45:00.001-07:00

1. There are a lot of things that user "SYSTEM" can do so be careful. Just like in Linux, you have a super user. SYSTEM is like that.
2. Save and close everything in Designer before exiting. If you don't, your session will be seen as in progress, hence locking the diagrams you've just made.
3. Kill the session in case the bad news in #2 happens to you. Useful commands:
3.1. select sid,serial#,username from v$session
3.2. alter system kill session '<session id>,<serial#>';
The commands should be run when you're logged in as user SYSTEM.
4. There is an autolayout button.
5. You could check out various tips on using Designer. Some of the useful tips are here: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Peter_Koletzke/tip.htm

It's not really the nicest tool out there but it works.

Thoughts on building rapport with the team and sending out negative vibes

2007-07-31T22:23:00.001-07:00

A team would come from different backgrounds. Some of the members are developers, some are analysts, some are user interface designers, etc. As such, they definitely have different perspectives. Add to that their attitudes, etc. It's a diverse group of people. A microcosm, perhaps? Anyhow, it would be ideal if the rapport among team members be established early on. It would be difficult to work with people you hardly talk with and that would affect how you coordinate. Also, rapport would help in establishing team spirit. Maybe that's why there are team building activities and all that blah. Some people take it for granted. In any case, trying to keep up with others and establishing good working relations with them is not an easy task. Each one in the team must make the effort even though you don't really like each other a lot. Then again, I think that if the members of the team have respect each other, even if they don't like each other, they'd manage somehow.

As for negative vibes, it's difficult to stop sending out negative vibes if you're not conscious about it. And even if you're trying to stop yourself from doing that and yet you see your leaders doing that, it's going to get to you in one way or another. It gets all the more difficult to focus on the work you have... The work may not be that difficult but once you have negative vibes, it might weaken you already and it could be detrimental to your overall productivity. Oh and it doesn't help if those on the client's side are also giving out strong negative vibes. It would feel that you're just doing all these efforts then nothing would come out of it. But that's reality. Sometimes you end up getting caught in the middle of the client's mess (in terms of communication) and that's additional negativity.

Thinking happy and productive thoughts reaching towards the goal might be an ideal thing to do at the moment. Hopefully it would make the days more tolerable because you're eye is on the end goal.

Thoughts on building rapport with the team and sending out negative vibes

2007-07-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

Boredom at work is the killer

2007-07-31T22:09:00.001-07:00

Well, that and apathy towards the project.

If you're bored with what you're doing and it's what happens half the time, it might be that you'd end up dreading each task that you do. Or most of it. For me, boredom is a killer because it's one of the factors that have led me (and my friends) to resign from our former jobs. If you hear someone getting bored with his/her job and there seems like there's no promotion (or even lateral movement) to look forward to, your friend might be close to the edge to resigning and looking for another job.

As for apathy towards the project one is working on, it could probably be a killer because it's an attitude thing. The only way for this to not happen is if the person is engaged in the project (not necessarily in a very personal manner) in some way or another. It's a decision the person has to make. And at the same time, if you're a project manager, it might be a good idea to find out the source of that apathy etc.

Why I haven't switched to Drupal

2007-07-29T23:19:00.001-07:00

It's because I simply want a functional blog that could handle static pages every so often.

For me, Drupal is an overwhelming thing. And me having to learn Drupal at this point is going to be a pain. I'd rather use something else aside from Drupal and TextPattern if ever I do decide to stop using WordPress. Maybe I'd switch to a wiki actually.

I know there are many people out there who love Drupal. Maybe in a similar manner that I love WordPress. I know WordPress has its flaws. There's quite a number of them that have surfaced in the recent months I've been using it. However, I see no reason to change my CMS. And it's not like I could actually change my CMS on the webspace I am using at the moment. There's three of us using WordPress there but Charo's using Drupal -- been using it since 2005 (if I recall correctly). She's shown me what Drupal is like, what it could do, etc. but for a website which doesn't need a lot of its functionalities... I'd stick with WordPress.

(An aside: I think this is similar to why people don't use Emacs. Haha :P It's too much for them. But Planner-El + Muse + Remember-El works for me and I haven't seen anything else quite like it so I am sticking with Emacs. Unless I see another editor which could do something like it or Org Mode, I think I'd always be an Emacs girl.)

Pictures of O&B Agile Training Day 1

2007-07-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

Take a look at those cards! They actually stand :D

That's Miguel Arguelles from the Endangered Species team.

Interested in pictures of the XP game we had that Saturday? Click the link to my Flickr set of Agile Training pictures ;)

O&B company training: Agile Methodology part 1

2007-07-23T22:43:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, we had training on Agile. Sure, we all read and talk about Agile, as well as practice it but we haven't really had a company training on it just yet. Well, until last Saturday that is. During that time, Butch was the main facilitator and he discussed with us the core philosophy of Agile and the practices of XP. In the morning, we even had some kind of debate as the pros and cons of Agile vs. Waterfall methodologies. In the afternoon, we had a game simulating a development team's interaction with customers and they have to accomplish tasks in each iteration. We all got a chance to estimate the amount of effort needed in accomplishing tasks and we had turns in negotiating with customers.

Some of the lessons I learned from the training are as follows:
1. Agile as a methodology, could be somehow confusing to clients.
Especially if you consider fixed-price projects. How does one go about doing things the Agile way and assuring the client that it would yield results? There are various factors to consider and I personally thing that it's more a matter of trust between the client and the dev team so that it will happen.
2. Estimating effort takes practice.
I recall when I was a part of the ABS-CBN project team that we did have gummy bear points for the tasks assigned. Some of us would give out conservative estimates while others didn't. And it also depends a lot on the team's skills, of course. Like someone would do a 10-gummy bear task as if it was just worth 1 or 2 gummy bears!
3. On telling people about Agile: Maybe the terms are intimidating.
I was thinking about it. Maybe people we talk with about Agile find it difficult to grasp sometimes because of the terms used. As with almost anything, we have to learn the vocabulary of the technology and techniques that we use. But communicating it to potential clients and potential developers on the team might not be as easy all the time. As what I've learned in Domain Driven Design (Quickly), there is a need for a 'common language' so it might be a barrier for Agile to be mainstream here. Or something like that.
4. There's nothing like a group of people who value learning.
And when you get together, you get to share different views on matters. Like JM. During the morning, there was a time that he was talking about the merits of Agile. Then at a later time, he was also pointing out why Waterfall is still prevalent. At the same time, we have different perspectives of people who have also read up and/or experienced being in an Agile dev team.

I am looking forward to this weekend's training :) It's the 2nd part.

The Case of the Missing CVS admin file

2007-07-23T22:23:00.001-07:00

I've been having dilemma with CVSNT yesterday. We need to create new users and passwords to go with them. However, I could not seem to add new users via cvs passwd -a <username> :( This morning, my teammate and I were wondering what was wrong. I asked Butch about it and he suggested that I create new users by adding them into the passwd file and just leave the password blank. I did that and when I tried logging on as one of the users, CVS wasn't letting the user in. Aiya~! We have three new users with us so we definitely needed this done because we aim to teach them about using Tortoise CVS this afternoon. This morning, I tried cvs passwd again and I kept on getting the complaint that only administrators can change passwords.

So after a couple of Google searches, I ended up checking the admin file and guess what? It wasn't there! We have no idea as to why it wasn't there. I definitely didn't delete that file because I hardly touch those in CVS Root. In any case, I made a new admin file and added my username and two others who also act as part-time CVS admins. After that I tested it by trying if cvs passwd would do the trick. It did! Yay! Now we have three new users and we could start teaching them about CVS later. :)

Project correspondences etc.

2007-07-23T01:24:00.001-07:00

A project team has members coming from different companies at certain times. Aside from that, each person has quirks and preferences. In particular, email preferences. There are those who check their Gmail account more than anything, there are those who use Outlook and download their mail. To be honest, I still check my Gmail more often than the company email even now that we've migrated to Google Apps.

Anyhow, it is understandable that people would need to always check their email. And if you do assign them project email addresses so you all have uniform domain names and addresses, they won't necessarily check that email address. Especially if you only give them web UI and it sucks.

To be honest, I hate the Microsoft Exchange web UI. It's horrible if you're used to Gmail. Or Horde for that matter. My goodness. Looking for contacts is a pain in that UI. And if the Exchange server is down or inaccessible most of the time, the members would actually end up not using it at all.

So if one of the team members insist on sending email to those addresses, the 'official addresses', the members would not be reached. And that's bad. There's no point in emailing them information. It won't make sense anymore. Solutions could be:
1. sending them email via BCC -- use their preffered email addresses!
2. email them separately
3. improve the mail server's uptime, etc. so people won't feel discouraged to use it
4. forward emails to the preferred addresses

Anyway, communication is important in a team. Email will still be consolidated even if you're using various addresses and you have to know what works. Really. It's the way you could bring your team together.

--
Clair Ching
Business Analyst and Project Manager
Orange and Bronze Software Labs | http://software.orangeandbronze.com
Blogs: http://clair.free.net.ph | http://learning-at-work.blogspot.com

Think positive thoughts on a Monday!

2007-07-08T23:06:00.001-07:00

And for this Monday I need some affirmation. I guess everybody needs a little bit of that sometimes! Work could be overwhelming sometimes. Or boring. It depends. There are phases, so it seems. In any case, one musn't give up! One must persevere!

The song of the Brand New Heavies - You are the Universe - is something I think is good for this day.

You're the future, and you've come for what is yours
The hidden treasure, locked behind the hidden doors
And the promise of a day that's shiny new
Only a dreamer, could afford this point of view
But you're a driver, not a passenger in life
And if you're ready, you won't have to try 'cause

You are the Universe
And there ain't nothin' you can't do
If you conceive it, you can achieve it
That's why, I believe in you, yes I do

You're a winner, so do what you came here for
The secret weapon, isn't secret anymore
You're a driver, never passenger in life
And when you're ready, you won't have to try 'cause

You are the Universe
And there ain't nothin' you can't do
If you conceive it, you can achieve it
That's why, I believe in you, yes I do

You are the Universe
And there ain't nothin' you can't be
If you conceive it, you can achieve it
That's why, I believe in you, and I believe in me

(Yes I do
Believe in you
I do)

You're a driver, not a passenger in life
And when you're ready, you won't have to try 'cause

You are the Universe

Is there room for IEM in this Object-oriented world?

2007-07-05T17:54:00.001-07:00

Already talked with some people about it, and they say, yes.

Right now, I think that people hold on to methods that they are used to because they are more efficient that way. Not that the method is efficient in itself but what the heck. That or I might be biased.

I say that there should be enough documentation to work on things and make decisions. But too much documentation is a pain in the neck and too much in terms of budget. You charge for planning and that planning would take half a year? What?! If the government would be like this, we really won't see any roads, any improvements at all.

Anyway, so two different perspectives trying to achieve the same goal which is to do software engineering the right way. If only we could figure out if it is efficient indeed. IEM, I mean.

By the hour or by the output?

2007-07-05T17:50:00.001-07:00

I am thinking in terms of output and tasks done rather than hours rendered.

Somehow I think that counting the hours rendered is stupid at times but that's how consultants work, right? We bill by the hour. My writer self tells me that billing by the output is better because there are times that you could do something so quickly because you're already an expert so you could bill high or something. Or you could gauge how much effort you will give something because you charge by the output and if the client tells you for example that your output is worth Php 1000, how much effort will you put in it?

Quantifying the amount of work done is difficult. Questions that come into mind:

1. Would hours be sufficient to gauge the value added of your output? Effort is definitely accounted for but there are times when you just don't like the tasks you're getting and you're really ploughing through things. So maybe you would end up billing more for that anyway.

2. If you would be output oriented, how much would you charge each time? Would it be on the complexity of the task? Even that is variable and subjective.

Moving on to other things, I have tasks left and I must finish them today. Regardless of whether I have other tasks to do after I am done anyway.

Foregoing breaks for the chance to get out of the office earlier

2007-07-02T22:15:00.001-07:00

Consultants and contractors who are paid by the billable hour must use their time wisely. So right now, it implies that if I am going to take breaks in the middle of the day, they won't be billable and the longer the breaks, the longer I stay in the office. Not good. Especially when not in the O&B office because it's simply not quite the same.

Though I definitely need the breaks, I'd rather get out of the office earlier.

The good thing about having an LIS background and working in software development…

2007-06-26T09:45:00.001-07:00

is that some concepts about information are already familiar to me.

As a business analyst, I have to keep in mind the users of the system, the stakeholders as well. In library and information science, that's one of the things that we have definitely kept in mind even in the very basic courses that we had. I had a professor who always reminded us that users need information at the right cost, at the right time. It was all about that. Why did we catalog the materials? Why did we make indexes? Why did we make abstracts? It was because we needed to give users the information that they need at the right time, at the right cost -- cost being amount of effort exerted and maybe even actual monetary amount, especially if you help them by giving them cheap resources or materials.

Analyzing a system or planning for a system would require that you understand your users and stakeholders. As one of the reading materials I recently got my hands on said: "What are the critical success factors? What is important to them?" and so on. If you could take a look at the entire picture and yet also see how each department or each system (or subsystem) would interact, you'd actually be able to figure out something about them at the very least. Then you could begin unearthing other pertinent information that would be critical in defining business rules, entities, etc.

It's amazing, really. To think that I almost thought I wouldn't have a chance at becoming an analyst after flunking out of Engg.

がんばる！

2007-06-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am saying がんばる！ so that I wouldn't feel the difficulty of learning a new methodology and new tools too much.

I have to learn how to use Oracle Designer and some things about IE. I kind of feel like this:

for now but I suppose that I should just keep trying my best, ne?

I must try being more like this:

Amusing images which I plan to use as LJ mood icons!

2007-06-17T08:58:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

Having an idea of what too much documentation feels like

2007-06-14T00:09:00.001-07:00

I am used to mainly having use cases as basis. And ERDs. Just to have an idea of the data model and all.

Now I am wondering where to look for examples of enterprise-scale projects that use Agile methods and documentation styles.

Learning things the hard way is definitely unforgettable

2007-06-13T00:05:00.001-07:00

It's not the same when you're the one managing a project.

Scope's been limited, priorities defined, etc. But somehow, there are still those times that managing changes could be tedious sometimes.

Verbally you might have already negotiated with the client and all that. The approval has already been given actually. And yet... Sometimes you still get those moments that you would hear the client saying that the changes have to be done because there's something wrong with what they told you before. Especially when you're not familiar with their domain. I recall asking a particular question face to face and yet here we are -- we need to implement certain changes that would affect a particular screen and other functions within that screen.

There are also times when you would have had negotiations done about how things should work. True, you are part of the dev team and you're not the actual user. But when you're building on top of another app with a particular feature already and it works nicely, why shouldn't that particular feature remain as is? Why should it be changed? Especially when the actual user hasn't seen it. You kept on negotiating that it should't be changed anymore so that your team could work on the other things. And yet sometimes the client would push for the change too late - like you're practically done with the entire thing and you've already done the low priority stuff. Why wasn't it mentioned for the past two to three weeks?

My mistake was that I didn't write it down, that it was already agreed upon, that the negotiations were over. Even if those things were already met with approval, I realize that it's not quite set already, that people do change their minds and so on. I know I should have learned this before but I haven't taken it to heart just yet. Now, I am taking it to heart as well as other learnings with regards to handling projects.

JM reminds me that as time goes by, these changes will not be as frustrating anymore because I'd learn how to deal with them. Not just that, I'd probably be a bit immune to them by then. Having personally worked on some aspects of the project, I have a good idea on how difficult it could be to change some things. But still, it is a part of life, part of software development. And that is why I will strive to learn more and apply what I've learned. I'd like to be better at business analysis and project management.

Crack your brains while programming with LOLCode

2007-06-11T03:25:00.001-07:00

Butch sent me this link to LOL Code

If you like checking out Cat Macros or Caturday, I think you'd love this XD

You know you really want to get something over with when ...

2007-06-06T23:56:00.001-07:00

1. There are MINOR changes which could easily be done by the client and would probably be changed by the client anyway and you don't want to do it anymore.
2. There are times when you just want to finish the user manual and give it already.
3. You don't want to hear about any other changes. AS IN. No more changes if possible. So you could already move on to the next project.

Now dealing with all those symptoms is difficult sometimes but you just have to.
1. Email the client, that, yes, you're going to be working on it and it's no biggie. (Well, it's true. It's not biggie and you could really get worked up on it sometimes because you don't feel like it anymore. Simply that. Mainly that.)
2. Set a goal as to when to FINALIZE the manual and hand it in already.
3. Breathe in and out. Be calm. Think of chocolates. Think of teddy bears. Think of Picross, Sudoku or other fun games on your gadget or laptop. Then just be prepared for the next few emails.

Now if you're female and probably having some degree of PMS during the time this hits you, I can't suggest anything at the moment. Mood swings are difficult to handle, that's it. I say Good Luck, girl, when the time comes and you'd probably wing it anyway. Somehow.

Now smile and be happy. :) Just less than a day and a half it's already a weekend.

Form factor + Power = Lurve

2007-06-05T21:38:00.001-07:00

Uh, I am talking about laptops here. ;)

Ealden showed me the link to the MacBook Pro site. I've seen Tito John's MacBook Pro and JM and I were drooling (not literally) over it. Waaah! It's sleek, I have to admit.

Well, I like my laptop. Kaylee's a nice machine. It's a Lenovo C300N100 and it's quite lightweight as it is. But still heavy enough for me have a backpack to bring it around.

We're allowed to sound geeky. Hehe ;)

Conversation with Ealden:
(12:07:57 PHT) Ealden: yung sa sis ko maliit
(12:08:01 PHT) Ealden: 1.6kg?
(12:08:16 PHT) Clair: hmm. pwede na. less than 2kg
(12:08:51 PHT) Ealden: ayoko lang yung keyboard
(12:08:53 PHT) Ealden: is wider than normal
(12:09:00 PHT) Clair: anong laptop ng sis mo?
(12:09:07 PHT) Ealden: compaq bt something
(12:10:00 PHT) Clair: ah
(12:10:41 PHT) Clair: pero wala lang
(12:10:51 PHT) Clair: form factor plus power equals lurve
(12:10:58 PHT) Clair: sheesh. sounds so geek.
(12:11:08 PHT) Ealden: :P
(12:11:23 PHT) Ealden: we're allowed to sound like that ;)
(12:11:37 PHT) Clair: i don't necessarily want a mac. pero, alam mo yun. lightweight is the way ;)
(12:11:42 PHT) Clair: dual monitor na lang if ever :))

Typos in source code

2007-05-31T02:38:00.001-07:00

My team is tweaking Open Realty. Turns out that in core.inc.php, there's a typo. 'template' has become 'tempate' -- haha. Looks like they couldn't find all instances of template so they were stuck using 'tempate' - ha ha.

Geek? Let's party!

2007-05-30T06:37:00.001-07:00

Inviting software, web and digital entertainment professionals in Manila for an evening of booze, industry chatter and tech talk get together. Venue will be in Makati at the M Cafe starting at 9PM this thursday (5-31) .. Please send an email to jsara@exist.com or comment here .. or for the adventurous ones .. Twitt us @go4sw

Winston Damarillo of Exist is in town and is would like to have a get-together with software developers and geeks at M Cafe. Who says geeks aren't into parties and all? :P Make sure to Twit them at go4sw ;)

IE 6: You are evil

2007-05-29T03:42:00.001-07:00

IE 6: What kind of a browser are you? Why can't you just cooperate with us? Why is it so difficult to create a layout which you will render properly? Why must you be the bane of web designers? Come on, IE 6. You can do better than not display our banner.

Of plugins and stuff

2007-05-28T23:21:00.001-07:00

I forgot to disable the static page plugin...
No wonder we were having troubles displaying the customized WordPress index template.

Rawr. ~_~

Thanks to JM for the insight!

Must learn hooks in SVN

2007-05-28T00:34:00.001-07:00

Ealden used a post-commit hook on the test site for one of the in-house projects I am working on. It looks like it would be quite nifty in our other project.

This kind of thing is on my to-do list. Definitely.

Made an account on Bebo.com simply for the Moo cards

2007-05-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Some time in the future I plan to avail of the ten card pack of Moo cards available only through Bebo. In any case, feel free to add me to your Bebo account in case you have one. My profile: http://happyeclair.bebo.com

It reminds me a bit of Friendster. Maybe there's something about the UI. Right now, I can only say that the among the social networking sites I am on, LJ and Multiply have UIs that sorta work for me. Though I have to admit that I love the whiteboard module in Bebo. :P

Migration to Google Apps -- Yay!

2007-05-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ealden and JM migrated us from Yahoo Bizmail to Google Apps! Hooray!

You can now add clair AT orangeandbronze DOT com to your Google Talk contacts list :D

Because the .htaccess directives I could use is limited...

2007-05-24T12:29:00.001-07:00

I now have to look at templating systems to change the look of the
client's directory for downloadable files on their site.

I know that I've seen Smarty templates used for that... I just
couldn't find the link :(

svn export is my friend

2007-05-24T12:27:00.001-07:00

I had to install the app on the client's server. Everything was
already in the repository and I just needed to make sure that I don't
include the .svn directories and related files.

The command that did the trick: svn export
Reference: http://svnbook.red-bean.com/nightly/en/svn.ref.svn.c.export.html

I basically just had to do an svn export of the copy I had then
archived it and uploaded it on to the server. (To FTP the files would
take around 4 hours or so. ~_~) Good thing I had shell access so it
was quick to unpack it.

BNW. Must sleep soon. (Or how Clair installed the app on the server)

2007-05-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

I got the login credentials for the website and right now, the app
installed but there are still some things that we need to change. For
one: the Google Maps API settings. Another is that the database
doesn't really have much in it, right now, except for the single
listing which is a test data.

The hosting service has its own control panel. It's not Cpanel.
There's SSH access so it was ok. I uploaded the tarball via FTP then I
tried to extract it but I kept failing to untar it. Rawr. So I tried
uploading ALL the files via FTP. Estimated time to FTP everything was
4hours plus. I was getting annoyed so I just tried to extract it
again. And voila~! The tarball was extracted. I might have had typos
when I tried to untar the file earlier.

Using the database manager and PHPMyAdmin on the host's server was
weird. Their database manager was weird... And PHPMyAdmin didn't quite
look like the PHPMyAdmin I've been used to. In any case, after the
confusion was clarified, I was able to give the proper database
settings to the Installer of the app. (Though the first attempt was
really bad enough for the database to be dropped.)

It's up already and we have to work on the changes early in the
morning. :) Hopefully things will continue to look pretty good.

Maybe this Emacs girl should get a vi mug

2007-05-16T23:18:00.001-07:00

I've been editing something on the server and I have to use vi for that. I still get confused with the modes of vi. It's quite different from Emacs...

For the essentials, I think I am managing fine. But I really Google up vi stuff every so often for the sake of not mistakenly editing something.

How much are customized mugs these days? I'd be really amused to have such a mug (the mug of vi). And an Emacs shawl, if there is one. Haha. Emacs bandana works for me too ;)

Contrary to popular belief I don't wreck Windows on the interns' laptops

2007-05-16T23:10:00.001-07:00

There are five interns on my team. 2 of them are now using Ubuntu.

This morning Alvin walked up to me and asked me if he could borrow the Ubuntu installer. I asked why and it seems that he had a problematic file in his system32 directory which he removed. It was a suspicious file because its file name was seemingly just a bunch of random letters. Aside from that, there seems to be no signature as to where that app came from. So he decided to move it from system32 to his desktop. He also mentioned the registry and then he was getting frustrated at making it work that's why he asked me for the Ubuntu Feisty installer.

His files were still intact. Whew. But we couldn't resize the partition with Windows -- which was practically everything. So borrowed an external harddrive and his co-intern's flashdrive so he could back up his files.

Now we're waiting for the essential tools to be downloaded and installed: Geany, Subversion, RapidSVN, gstreamer plugins and fillet-ng. :D

First it was Marc getting fed up with Vista. Now it's Alvin because he got frustrated with what happened to Windows XP.

Although I personally think that they might be better off dual-booting, it can't be helped at this time that Alvin would only have Linux. It's the only installer we have here. Hehe.

The reasons people work hard

2007-05-16T20:35:00.001-07:00

1. To eat good food.
2. To pay for bills.
3. To buy toys :P

Speaking of the last reason, I am all the more getting interested in saving up for a DS Lite http://www.dslinux.org/wiki/DSLinux:About

The first reason was Nintendogs. The second was Sudoku, then Cooking Mama. And just a while back I saw that.

A pink DS Lite it is!

Checking out from the SVN repo using Git

2007-05-10T22:48:00.001-07:00

From Owie: Instructions on using Git to check out from the SVN repo.

1. Make sure that git is installed. For Windows users you will need
to use Cgywin to run git. Also check Ealden's blog on some problems
encountered using git-svn in Cygwin and solutions to it.

2. Create a new directory where the project will be checked out.

3. Initialize the newly-created directory: git init-db

4. git-svn init [path of your SVN repo]

5. Fetch HEAD from SVN. Please take note that Git does not accept
'HEAD' - you will need to derive the exact revision that corresponds
to HEAD: git-svn fetch -r xxxx

6. git checkout master

Learning Git is kinda tough because of the different mindset in using it.

Resolving conflicts in Git (our way!)

2007-05-10T21:21:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: This is by no means a prescription of how to do this
properly. If you know how to resolve conflicts PROPERLY please please
comment now.

Owie and I were at the office today and I saw that I had a conflict to
resolve when I did an update.

So. Here's what we did:
1. Opened the file with the conflict. The filename (including the
path) was shown by git.
2. Edited the blasted file. Rawr. Didn't take so long.
3. (Now beginneth the tricky part.) MERGE IT! We didn't know how. So
basically did a git add after editing the file.
4. Then a git commit was done in order to add the file into local repo.
Normal option: git commit (then you will go to vi and you must type
your comments)
Other option (safer for non-vi users like me): git commit -m "<insert
your comments here>"
5. We pushed it back via git-svn dcommit.

Right now, this is our method. Feel free to correct us. We just needed
something that works.

Git basics part 2

2007-05-09T01:16:00.001-07:00

Thank God for Owie and that he's here in the office while I am trying to use Git.

You ALWAYS need to know if you're at the latest revision. Two ways to check:
1. You could do this by checking the timeline on your Trac browser. OR,
2. You could do a git-svn fetch :)

When you do a git-svn fetch, sometimes it looks like there's nothing going on but it implies that you're at the latest revision.

Things to note when committing files:

Update first so that you're surely working with the latest revision. If someone checks in his/her work 3 minutes ahead of you and you haven't updated, you might experience some errors.
Commit to the local working directory first. (Difference with svn is that in svn you commit it directly to the repo when you're using svn.)

command: git-commit -a

Merge/commit the one you have on your working directory with the central svn repo. Note that if you forget to do #1, you might get an error. If you forget to do #2, you might get an error as well.

command: git-svn dcommit

Git basics

2007-05-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

Got these things from Owie:

link: http://utsl.gen.nz/talks/git-svn/intro.html#howto-track-svn

Tips:
Updating tree from SVN

Essentially equivalent to an svn up

* git-svn fetch
* git rebase remotes/git-svn

Also:
1. Create a new directory where the project will be checked out.

2. Initialize the newly-created directory: git init-db

3. git-svn init [path of your repo]

4. Fetch HEAD from SVN. Please take note that Git does not accept 'HEAD' - you will need to derive the exact revision that corresponds to HEAD: git-svn fetch -r xxxx

5. git checkout master

I've been putting off using git for a while but I am trying to practice using it now.

Converting to Ubuntu Linux Feisty from Windows Vista

2007-05-02T05:48:00.001-07:00

One of the interns is now using Ubuntu Feisty! YAY!!!!

Marc was using Windows Vista, something that he got with his laptop. However, he's been having hassles with file permissions and such. He could not edit his files, he was having other troubles like the caching issue. We were telling him to downgrade to XP but we didn't know anyone who had an installer (and if it's legal heh). Anyway, we have an installer of Ubuntu Feisty here so we tried installing it. At first we had difficulties because the partition tool of the installer wasn't so newbie-friendly and it seemed that we will end up wiping out the partition instead of resizing it and freeing up some space. After a while, we tried partitioning it with Gparted but it seemed to take forever. Good thing that a Google search result showed that Vista had a partitioning tool. After he freed up roughly 4 gigs, he installed Ubuntu Feisty. And good thing it was the desktop installer so he was able to test if his wireless card could be detected. And it was! Wow! Amazing. I was envious because mine wasn't. Well, more like that the driver wasn't working right. *sigh*

We installed essentials like subversion, Rapid SVN, Geany, gstreamer plugins (Yes! Music is very important!), samba and a driver for his ATI graphics card (to fix his laptop's screen resolution). And Frozen Bubble! Haha. Of course. We MUST have Frozen Bubble! ;) (Note: See? I didn't install Emacs. I think I'd be advocating the use of Geany for these interns. It's seems more comfortable to use especially for those who were using Notepad++ and other similar editors.) He seems happier about the change in OS, at least when it comes to work. He wouldn't have to go through the pains of using Vista while at work. He could play whatever games on Windows but while in the office, he could stick with Frozen Bubble to unwind. Hehe.

On to happier things: new packages installed on Kaylee

2007-04-29T13:42:00.001-07:00

I installed some nice packages on Kaylee (my laptop):
Exaile - a music player that behaves like Amarok but it's in Gtk :D
Games - Frozen Bubble, Tangrams
Google stuff - Gmail notify, Googlizer
Comix - a comic reader :D

I tried to build git 1.5 but somehow things went awry, as I didn't seem to be successful in building git-svn. For now, I'd still be using Svn, with RapidSVN as my client.

WordPress 2.1.3 is funky and won't treat Pages the same way anymore

2007-04-29T13:37:00.001-07:00

Right.

That was the main reason I didn't want to do an upgrade. Rawr :( And it conflicts with our use of the Navigo plugin.

For now, we'd stick with the version we have on the live site. We'd have to learn how to manage what the Pages in the new system first.

Beyond non-technical

2007-04-29T12:28:00.001-07:00

The nice thing about working for Orange and Bronze is that I get to level-up. I have to do some things by myself and learn new technologies. Or maybe even not-so new ones but they are new to me anyway.

I am part of the web team and as such, I need to coordinate with them on how we would make our website look better. When we started this project, I was mainly the only one who has been using WordPress and now even Brian and Edwin are getting more acquainted with it. Right now, I am mainly tweaking it so that our templates would conform to the WordPress scheme of templates and files. As well as tweaking the absolute paths which have been placed in the theme files.

I have been fiddling around with it and I needed a copy of the existing database. Prior to tonight, Ealden was the one who was doing that for me. He'd give me the archived copy of the database. He gave me webadmin access sometime last week so a while ago, I fiddled around with it myself. I've only used PHPmyadmin to be honest so I didn't know but a Google search helped me. Now I have a copy of the database which I could import via PHPmyadmin. (Hehe. Sorry, guys. I really don't know command line MySql.)

Even last week, I've been trying to help the interns figure out the innards of Open Realty. It had some database blahberry so I had to understand it too. I haven't quite fiddled around with the PHP of Open Realty and I am not quite sure if I will have the time to do so. We'll see, we'll see. (Everything's overwhelming as it is and being the loner, having a lot of people around me is another thing I have to get used to for the entire summer.)

I know how one of the interns feel, having to poke around more technical things. However, if it will help us get to understand the inner workings of something we have to tweak, I think that we have to do it.

This is one of those times that I tell myself that I am somehow in between two worlds: the technical side of things and the non-technical side of things. With the website, I was mainly playing around with the layout, giving suggestions as to how it would look, etc. With the Open Realty tweak, I mainly try to understand how users should be able to make better use of it. However, there are aspects that must be considered. In the website, there's the templating system used by WordPress, web admin tasks and such. In Open Realty, I've already mentioned it. Maybe one of these days I won't feel overwhelmed anymore. And I hope it will come soon. :)

Midnight madness at the O&B office :P

2007-04-26T11:19:00.001-07:00

The nice thing about working in O&B is that we have time for work *and* play. :D There are times when we have what we call movie nights, the times when we watch various movies or episodes of a show. Tonight was supposed to be a Heroes marathon but we were a bit late in finishing certain things. So... We ended up chatting a bit, started looking at what our CTO was checking out and then Jo said something about a popular radio show.

The said radio show is not just popular. It's also quite controversial. In any case, we ended up doing a Google search. :P Peals of laughter were reverberating in the room. :P :P :P (Maybe it's because I was the one typing the keywords.)

I swear, after a long day of work, all sorts of topics just pop out. Really. It was some kind of bonding session hahaha.

Curious? Hmm. You'd just have to ask us about it offline. :P The only hint I will mention is that is has a remote connection to Easter. :P :P :P

Declaration of war against unyielding templates

2007-04-20T01:09:00.001-07:00

The interns and I have declared a war against unyielding templates.

Issues at hand:
1. Working on three-column layouts. Liquid. Rawr. Not always easy.
2. Cleaning up some tags, etc.

Ok, here's the deal: not everyone of us is used to working with templates.

First and foremost, I think that we all should have a grasp of the concepts of the existing app we're working with and the templating system it is using. All layout considerations are another matter, actually. But if we have a grasp of what the app does, applying template changes shouldn't be _very_ problematic.

Also, another thing is that we all should understand that themes and templates must be usable elsewhere. For testing purposes, I find it not so difficult to let certain things slide: like using the complete path such as http://localhost/yourdirectory/yourapp/andsoon/andsoforth. However, when you have to let others use that template or you're already going to put it on the server, it won't fly. Na-ah. So it's best that you already change those things into relative paths as soon as possible.

We all have different learning styles and learning curves so I suppose it's time we nudge each other on how to approach template tweaking.

Oh yes, another thing about unyielding templates: more often than not, they seem to be unyielding because we can't seem to find much documentation on them. Rawr. Though in the case of WordPress, there's a lot of resources. It's just that at this time, our files don't seem to sync, for some reason.

Now I know why I haven't been receiving comment notifications from this blog

2007-04-15T02:43:00.001-07:00

It's because I had a typo when I filled out the info about my preferred email address.

Rawr. No wonder! Now I know.

And as they say, "Knowing is half the battle." *rofl* (Now if you know where that line came from...)

ISAC training is over -- and there are so many things I want to write about it

2007-04-15T02:37:00.001-07:00

ISAC training is over. I must thank everyone from CPI because the experience was memorable (in so many ways!). I thank Ma'am Ito and Ma'am Aimee most especially because they were able to clear up some things that I was thinking of. It was six sessions worth of group work and lessons and quizzes. Some of the group work has been quite tough. Especially the one with the ERD. Waaaaaah! I still get confused with ERDs every so often but I think that maybe a bit more of practice and I'd eventually get the hang of it.

Anyhow, here are just several of the basic lessons I learned aside from the technical stuff on systems analysis.

Synergy is an essential ingredient in team efforts. - And if you don't know your groupmates much, sometimes it takes a while before something 'sparks' and you 'click' but if you could find it or make a way to find what will make you 'click' together as a group, it could help all of you be more creative together.
Don't overanalyze. - I am guilty of thinking too much. Really. Absolutely. You could even ask my boyfriend about it. There are times that I just have to stick with something.
Decide. Act. Just do it. - Yeah. I sound like a Nike ad rip-off. But it's true. Things won't get done if you don't decide. I ought to know. It takes me a while to decide on things, thinking that with more details, I could make better decisions. It's not really about the _amount_ of detail one has; it's the kind of detail, the particular details that one has. That's why it's important to ask the right questions.

I'd have to right my other thoughts about ISAC later.

Ok, so we made paper balls but it was supposed to be rubber or plastic

2007-03-20T00:52:00.001-07:00

There it is. The blog post about the rubber balls used to elevate laptops.

However, of course, it must be noted that the laptop might be too hot for the paper to handle. Haha. But it's still a good work around ;)

Using crumpled paper to elevate our laptops

2007-03-20T00:26:00.001-07:00

Jo noticed how hot her laptop was and she decided to elevate it. However we have no more bookstands (so that it will be vertical already) and we have no fancy contraptions for it. What we did was crumple paper so we have balls of paper. I remember this from Charo some time last year. It works perfectly :)

Glad someone wrote this tutorial on WordPress

2007-03-13T00:40:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you want particular categories of content to appear on the index.php of your WordPress blog. Here's how someone did it: WordPress blog posts in different columns. It shows you what to do with The Loop.

Setting up an html as a WordPress theme

2007-03-12T11:46:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've done that. The thing is that I've got an html file containing the basic design to be used for a website.

It would have been easier if the layout is done in divs. I think that the dilemma I have with having to deal with tables is that I might have to split some stuff. Aside from that, I am not really fond of tables. In any case, the attempt to 'div'-ify the layout is currently on-going;)

The layout is actually quite pretty. And sleek. I guess that it's really been quite a while since I've messed around with CSS so I am once again finding my way through the 'maze' as I 'dismantle' the tables in the layout. Also, there are other factors involved, as I am going to apply this layout to a CMS. Meaning, this layout will be the theme to be used all throughout.

Another factor: there are three main categories that need to be introduced so that means that the site structure will change. Hmmmm... There is much to think about as there are potential dead links that will arise from this re-structuring. The re-structuring will be for the best :) So I'd just have to ask a couple of people for help in terms of what to do, how to deal with such changes.

Not liking Kmail

2007-03-01T21:48:00.001-08:00

Whenever I encounter a problem in Kmail, everything freezes up.

That's something terribly annoying because I need to regularly check my mail, reply to emails and add contacts. If it keeps freezing everything else, then I won't be productive.

Now I am running GNOME desktop environment on Kubuntu. I really just prefer it this way and seems like Kaylee (my laptop) does too.

An Ubuntu user who is currently using Kubuntu

2007-02-28T13:45:00.001-08:00

I broke something when I was tweaking something on Kubuntu.

Yes, I've been using Kubuntu but it's only because I have no copy of the Ubuntu installer. The only iso I have with me is the Kubuntu installer.

Next time, I'd be making sure that I have Ubuntu, Edubuntu or Xubuntu. I _prefer_ the Ubuntu apps and the look and feel over the ones in Kubuntu.

Things I immediately notice:
GNOME doesn't look too Windows-like.
There are less options in GNOME -- interface Nazis? Whatever. I prefer it that way so there.
GNOME doesn't have bouncing icons by default. (I swear! This is something I have come to dislike...)
I've been using the apps bundled in Ubuntu even before the day I started using Ubuntu. One of them is GAIM, another is GIMP.

In KDE...
I really have to disable a lot of things when it comes to the look and feel. Bouncing icons for one. Mouse and keyboard shortcuts for another.
I don't like Kmail.
I think Amarok is one nifty app though.
There are interesting apps. The KOffice project, for one.
I think I spend more time tweaking KDE. ACK!

What I still had to add/tweak anyway:
Wifi -- Broadcom... Annoying. Thanks to JM, though, I am able to somehow use it.
Jude and Freemind - some tools we use.
Emacs. YESH! It's a must.
Firefox, VLC, GAIM, GIMP - Can't live without 'em ;)

I could rant and rave some more but I'd have to stop here.

Printing handouts from OpenOffice Impress

2007-02-23T11:57:00.001-08:00

I was never really an OpenOffice.org user. However, we needed to print handouts for our training and I wasn't familiar with it at all. I needed to "consult" with Mr. Google and it gave me a link to a guide to printing OOo Impress handouts. The guide I saw was ok but not really that wonderful because it didn't have the facility to give me a three slide layout with lines for participants' notes. I still had to draw lines. The bad thing about manually drawing the lines on the layout is that each sheet with the handouts printed on them would have the same number of sets of lines. Like, if by default each sheet would have three slides, there would be three sets of lines for writing notes. See the dilemma? I had to make sure that I considered the last sheet: How many slides would it end up having? I then made a change in the template for the handouts of that particular presentation and saved it under a different filename.

Anyhow, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it and I wasn't too keen on Postscript. I printed the handouts as Postscript files. Then I converted them to PDFs. Using joinPDF, I was able to split the files into the pages I needed to combine from the 3-liner handouts and the 1-liner (or 2-liner, because there were two sets of notes with different number of slides) pages into PDFs I was able to print.

It's a rather long way of going about it but if you have shorter solutions, please let me know soon. :) It will be much appreciated.