Very recently I've been using the google calendar and I really like it. Not so much for the fact that it helps me keep track of what I'm doing (I don't need a calendar to track what I do), but it helps me see what other people with busy schedules are up to. For example: Laura. Before I could never keep track of where she was when. Now I just have to check the schedule online because she's shared her calendar with me. I've also got it set up for family birthday / anniversaries.
I think the killer feature of this tool is that it is great for collaboration. Since the work for events is usually managing it between different people, it doesn't make sense for n different people to keep n different copies of the same event. But that's not news to anyone.
My only grip (that's widely shared on the 'net) is that there doesn't seem to be an easy way to export the calendar from iCal to a format that a palm can use. I've found some hacky ways and some tools, but I don't know how well they work or if they'll mess up Laura's palm something awful. Anyone with a better solution (even if it's only a one way process from iCal to palm)?
Note: looking for a solutions for a WinXP box, hopefully free. So, iSync and the "The Missing Sync" are classed as runners up. ;-)
Tuesday, 27 June 2006
Monday, 26 June 2006
Too funny
Just when you'd wish you brought a hammer with you, someone comes up with a generic solution. Scott Adams, what haven't you taught us?
Saturday, 24 June 2006
A bit sad...
I was in staples yesterday and had a bit of a sad moment. I was checking out the games in the bargin bin and my computer can't even run those. *sigh* Ah well. I'll have to wait for the Wii.
Update: checking out what titles are launching with the Wii, Rayman Raving Rabbids (with screen shots 1, 2, 3) looks sooo funny and Red Steel looks like fun for a shooter. Either way they all look really pretty and a huge upgrade from my current game console.
Update: checking out what titles are launching with the Wii, Rayman Raving Rabbids (with screen shots 1, 2, 3) looks sooo funny and Red Steel looks like fun for a shooter. Either way they all look really pretty and a huge upgrade from my current game console.
Thursday, 22 June 2006
Google Map Pedometer
A friend pointed me to the gmap pedometer which is a tool that uses google maps. It's not actually made by google, but it's pretty cool. You can save your routes, like our running route. Some of the lines are a bit rough in that map because I was having troubles with the app (it wouldn't make another way point) and I got frustrated. Ah well. It's pretty cool over all. Later I'll figure out how long our biking route is. ;-)
Wednesday, 21 June 2006
Cube Farm was never meant to be
Something was pointed out to me: the guy who invented cubicles never meant for them to used as they are. No matter how good the intentions are, an invention can always be changed to fit someone else's needs. Usually bean counters, monopolies or governments. Ah well. ;-)
Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Saturday, 17 June 2006
Agents of hate and terror
Does anyone else think that Harper is sounding more and more like Bush every day espically when he says sound bites like "agents of hate and terror"?
*sigh* Let's just hope that we don't go that way too. :-(
*sigh* Let's just hope that we don't go that way too. :-(
Blue sky
When Laura and I were travelling last summer in Spain and Portugal, after a couple of weeks something was bothering me. Something that I couldn't put my finger on, but just had a feeling that something wasn't quite right. How could something be wrong when the weather was sunny and gorgeous all the time?
After this feeling building up for 3 weeks I was able to figure it out: it wasn't ever cloudy. Ya, sometimes there were wisps of clouds, but it was always sunny and blue sky. Not that I want clouds and freaky weather, but that's what I am used to. Two days of clear weather in Canada is nice but rare. You can usually see big clouds at some point even if it's not going to rain.
I felt comforted when we got to San Sebastian and it was cloudy and cool. That was the first time we had to use our wind breakers in like 3 weeks.
I would never have thought that I would have gotten freaked out my nice weather, but I did. In another post I'll discuss about the food... ;-)
After this feeling building up for 3 weeks I was able to figure it out: it wasn't ever cloudy. Ya, sometimes there were wisps of clouds, but it was always sunny and blue sky. Not that I want clouds and freaky weather, but that's what I am used to. Two days of clear weather in Canada is nice but rare. You can usually see big clouds at some point even if it's not going to rain.
I felt comforted when we got to San Sebastian and it was cloudy and cool. That was the first time we had to use our wind breakers in like 3 weeks.
I would never have thought that I would have gotten freaked out my nice weather, but I did. In another post I'll discuss about the food... ;-)
Scary things like microwaves
One of the things that bothering me more and more is the microwave. Yes, that does sound dumb, but I can't help thinking about what kind of damage we're doing to ourselves while we are in the same room as it. What makes me think that it is bad? Well, it was messing up our old 2.4MHz phone, and we "lose the internet" when it takes out our wireless router. Actually, it's very hard for us to use the wireless router around dinner time even if we're not using our microwave. That's what I find scary.
I just wondering how people will react in 50 years when we tell them how we live today. People won't believe how we couldn't know that the things we are doing are really bad for ourselves. I just hope that I am around long enough to tell those "crazy" stories... :-/
I just wondering how people will react in 50 years when we tell them how we live today. People won't believe how we couldn't know that the things we are doing are really bad for ourselves. I just hope that I am around long enough to tell those "crazy" stories... :-/
Thursday, 15 June 2006
To house, or not to house...
One of the things that scares me: buying a house. Not because it's scary to have a house (I want one), but it's the cost. Apprently they are at a record high. Does that mean we should hold off for the prices to come down? Are the prices coming down?? If not, should we buy now while we still can?
*sigh* Who knew that we'd be dealing with "grown up" stuff like this. Now to get back to grapevine and mls (which is horrible by the way).
*sigh* Who knew that we'd be dealing with "grown up" stuff like this. Now to get back to grapevine and mls (which is horrible by the way).
Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Monday, 12 June 2006
Damn cursors...
Something that a co-worker pointed out to me today which I thought was really cool is the visual hint of html cursors. It's got lots of different properties like , , , , , , (mouse over the words to see what I am talking about).
Using the "pointer" cursor on a html label lets you know that it's clickable. As people know, I love html labels for widgets like radio buttons that can be difficult to target. I just love little helpful tips that add polish to an application. ;-)
Using the "pointer" cursor on a html label lets you know that it's clickable. As people know, I love html labels for widgets like radio buttons that can be difficult to target. I just love little helpful tips that add polish to an application. ;-)
Wednesday, 7 June 2006
My God, it's full of <del>stars</del> crap!
Checking some of the (video) content over on myspace and one thing that strikes me: it's all garbage. I thought that blogging was pretty bad (on average) where people dump the random things that happened to them that day, but to allow video? Oie.
The more access people have to publishing content, the more content, but the ratio of quality content can't seem to keep up. It's really quite amazing really.
I'm pretty lazy. My time is important to me. I love content that's been filtered by others like comments on /.. Places that don't have filtered content like the dilbert blog, I don't even bother to skim. I wonder how long till everything is connected, everything is rated. Instead of "street cred", people will have "web cred". Maybe it will be relative web cred so that my friends opinions will be worth more to me (as web cred) than similar people have half way around the world... oie. I am sure that someone else has thought long and hard about this and have written sci-fi stories or a thesis about it. Either way, it's time for me to stop my current brain dump.
The more access people have to publishing content, the more content, but the ratio of quality content can't seem to keep up. It's really quite amazing really.
I'm pretty lazy. My time is important to me. I love content that's been filtered by others like comments on /.. Places that don't have filtered content like the dilbert blog, I don't even bother to skim. I wonder how long till everything is connected, everything is rated. Instead of "street cred", people will have "web cred". Maybe it will be relative web cred so that my friends opinions will be worth more to me (as web cred) than similar people have half way around the world... oie. I am sure that someone else has thought long and hard about this and have written sci-fi stories or a thesis about it. Either way, it's time for me to stop my current brain dump.
Tuesday, 6 June 2006
Lip service has negative value
I feel that lip service has negative impact on all the things that you do. It's worse than not saying anything at all. Specifically I am talking about processes at your job.
Let's make up an example. Let's say you have 2 processes, people have to: 1) check tests in with their code and 2) write their name on the whiteboard as the last person that checked code in.
Arguably process #2 might not be as useful. So people stop doing it consistently. Then it stops being done at all. New people come join the group and have to learn what processes are done, which ones are bent, and which ones are ignored. I think that this leads to a thought process of "well, if process #2 is optional, maybe #1 is as well". Ignoring one process is a broken window and will quickly lead to more being ignored.
If you have a process, there has to be some kind of audit or automated check. If there isn't, that means it has to really make sense why you are doing it so that it's not really a process, it's just "the way things are done". For processes without audits or 100% buy in, you have to question why you actually have it if it's not important enough to check that it is being followed.
I think that for all processes, every once and a while you should be asking yourself:
If you have a process that is almost universally ignored, all that you are doing is weakening the other processes. It's a strange case where the whole is less than the sum of the parts. Back to our example, rather than having said anything about process #2, it's better to not have said anything at all rather than risk that people start to not check in tests with the code. But with that process, if there is no audit, no enforcement, that too will soon be an "optional" process. No matter how strong the process, there must be someone around to check for cracks starting before you have a flood on your hands.
Let's make up an example. Let's say you have 2 processes, people have to: 1) check tests in with their code and 2) write their name on the whiteboard as the last person that checked code in.
Arguably process #2 might not be as useful. So people stop doing it consistently. Then it stops being done at all. New people come join the group and have to learn what processes are done, which ones are bent, and which ones are ignored. I think that this leads to a thought process of "well, if process #2 is optional, maybe #1 is as well". Ignoring one process is a broken window and will quickly lead to more being ignored.
If you have a process, there has to be some kind of audit or automated check. If there isn't, that means it has to really make sense why you are doing it so that it's not really a process, it's just "the way things are done". For processes without audits or 100% buy in, you have to question why you actually have it if it's not important enough to check that it is being followed.
I think that for all processes, every once and a while you should be asking yourself:
- does this process still make sense in our current env
- how much value does it bring
- how much does it cost
- could we be doing a different process for a greater ROI
If you have a process that is almost universally ignored, all that you are doing is weakening the other processes. It's a strange case where the whole is less than the sum of the parts. Back to our example, rather than having said anything about process #2, it's better to not have said anything at all rather than risk that people start to not check in tests with the code. But with that process, if there is no audit, no enforcement, that too will soon be an "optional" process. No matter how strong the process, there must be someone around to check for cracks starting before you have a flood on your hands.
Monday, 5 June 2006
Faster, Stronger, Better...
When someone tells me that I am the resident expert of anything, I laugh. Not because of the explanation of what an expert is (an "ex" is a has-been and a 'spert is a drip under pressure), but because I can't seriously see me in any kind of role like that right now.
Don't get me wrong, I like being able to share my knowledge with other people. But to look at the stuff I have done as a shinning example? hahah... No. I can't believe that for the simple fact that I would no longer try and do a better job. I have to believe that I can do my job better. To make my apps faster, stronger, more robust, better tested, easier to maintain.
I can't let my skills stay where they currently are. I have to read more, learn more, do more. There isn't an option.
Don't get me wrong, I like being able to share my knowledge with other people. But to look at the stuff I have done as a shinning example? hahah... No. I can't believe that for the simple fact that I would no longer try and do a better job. I have to believe that I can do my job better. To make my apps faster, stronger, more robust, better tested, easier to maintain.
I can't let my skills stay where they currently are. I have to read more, learn more, do more. There isn't an option.
Saturday, 3 June 2006
My Cubicle
If you work in a cube, you would probably like the song this guy linked to. Pretty funny.
In other news, I'm going to stop using trackback. No one ever tracks back to me (other than Ryan or myself), so I don't seem much point.
In other news, I'm going to stop using trackback. No one ever tracks back to me (other than Ryan or myself), so I don't seem much point.
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