Month: August 2008

bookmark_borderPrivate Private

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Continuing the terrible titles, this is a take on Catch-22, for no particular reason other than being able to play on the word “private”. Think yourselfs lucky I didn’t choose the schoolboy route and go with “Show us yer privates”.

Oddly the only reason I’m writing about this is because Twitter is currently dead, if it wasn’t then my comment on the issue would’ve been something along the lines of “@plasticbag – nice pic on BBC website! And don’t some people get in a tizzy sometimes..”.

At this point I should probably explain that I’m talking about the recently opened Fire Eagle service which

“… stores information about your location. With your permission, other services and devices can either update that information or access it. By helping applications respond to your location, Fire Eagle is designed to make the world around you more interesting! Use your location to power friend-finders, games, local information services, blog badges and stuff like that…”
[from Fire Eagle help page]

It’s a smart idea, and one which plays nicely into the fact my iPhone has GPS built-in so I can ping exact location information back to the Fire Eagle website at any time I choose. Clever.

But, of course, the privacy nutters (I use the term advisedly) have leapt all over this, stating that locational information could be stored by any of the 3rd party websites or applications that use Fire Eagle and then they’ll know where you have been!

Don’t get me wrong, I realise such things could be abused but from what I can make out Fire Eagle has considered such things. For starters they let you control the level of granularity of the geographic information that you share with other services, from pinpoint co-ordinates to a “I’m near this city” level location. Whilst you can purge your current location from the service at anytime, the privacy busters are more concerned about the historical information that could be stored.

Now I can see that will be an issue for some people, and that having a system know where you’ve been is worrying as it will, no doubt be used to guess where you will be at a given time and then… umm… yeah. Not sure what happens then.

Worse is the possibility of a hi-tec burglar watching out for your location changing before breaking and entering your house. These days I’d guess it’s not that hard to find an address for someone who looks rich, use Google maps to get the geographic co-ordinates of their home and then just wait until they update Fire Eagle with a new location (hey hang on, that DOES sound simple, eep!!).

Or, you know, if you are worried about it DON’T USE IT!!

And no, I’m sorry but the argument of “some people won’t know any better” doesn’t cut it. If they don’t know any better why are they signing up for a service they don’t understand? The Fire Eagle website does a pretty good job of telling people what it is all about so perhaps we need to shift a little responsibility on to the individual?

I’m sure some of you have stronger opinions on this topic than I do, I’d love to hear them. But be prepared to be mocked for, if I’m honest, I really don’t believe the end of the world is nigh because someone knows where I am.

bookmark_borderWhy technical reviews fail

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It’s a common topic, an oft repeated complaint, and one which has already had many many lines of advice written, and countless suggestions offered. So here’s a new slant.

The reason most technical reviews fail is because of the writer, not the reviewer.

It’s not because the reviewers couldn’t find the time, it’s not because the reviewers didn’t understand the need or reasoning behind the review, it’s not because they didn’t know what to do, and it is most certainly not because they don’t value your contribution to the product and your part in the development process.

Because, if any of the above reasons are true, it’s YOUR fault, your responsibility.

Katherine Brown covers this area well in her recent article, noting that:

reviews can often go awry for a number of reasons at a number of points in the overall process:

  • Poor communication
  • Lack of preparation
  • Lack of management support
  • Unclear expectations and objectives for the review
  • Insufficient time planned for the review
  • Lack of follow-up
  • Wrong people involved, or right people involved at the wrong time

Katherine goes on to offer solutions to all of these issues, but I have a different slant, namely:

  • Poor communication – if, as a technical author, you cannot communicate there are bigger problems than the technical review!
  • Lack of preparation – you are asking reviewers to give up their time, even if it is agreed many will consider this an ‘extra’ piece of work. Not preparing for this is likely to come across as both unprofessional and arrogant. If you don’t seem to care about the review, why should they?
  • Lack of management support – yes, we do need to fight a little harder to get support for our work from management. No, it isn’t the way it should be. As professionals we need to learn to promote ourselves and, by our actions, gain the support we need.
  • Unclear expectations and objectives for the review – as I’ve said, many people treat reviews as an interruption, so it’s up to you to make the objectives and requirements clear. What should they be looking for? What should they report back, and how? If they have a general query how do they present it during the review?
  • Insufficient time planned for the review – as a project manager once said to me, there is no such thing as “not enough time” just something called bad planning. Yes you may need to fight to get allocated time (and you should, ad-hoc reviews are never as productive as well organised and scheduled sessions) but it is an important part of the technical publications process, so fight your corner hard.
  • Lack of follow-up – It’s not hard to send a short email, summarising the main review comments or outcomes, to those that were involved. This is something I am terrible at but I know, when I’ve received similar communications, how well they work and how good they make me feel.
  • Wrong people involved, or right people involved at the wrong time – “The more eyes the better” doesn’t always hold true. You need to figure out the best people, and make sure they are reviewing the content at the correct time, enlisting the help of your friendly project manager if required.

This may seem harsh but, and this is something I’m guilty of myself, there can be a tendency to wrongly apportion blame, to presume that the technical reviews are failing because no-one else is interested, or presuming that the work you do doesn’t need a review anyway (and you hate to bother those busy developers, right?).

We are responsible for our work, we are responsible for the information we produce and as the technical review is part of that production process (it is NOT a QA check!) then, if it is failing… well, I’m sorry, but it’s your fault.

bookmark_borderWhy you should watch the Olympics

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One reason I like the Olympics, especially now the BBC red button is so heavily used for additional coverage is the.. er.. additional coverage that all the sports receive. So far I’ve watched a little basketball, fencing, archery, canoe slalom, badminton, weightlifting, boxing, cycling, swimming, and diving. That’s all before the athletics have started.

I’ve watched tennis and football too but they get enough coverage (thankfully there isn’t an Olympic golf contest!).

There is one thing that the BBC remain good at, and I guess it’s largely down to their researchers, is building stories into each event, adding personal backdrops to the unfolding drama and, for me at least, helping to drag you into the excitement.

Add in some skilled commentators who understand that their audience might not understand the finer points of the given sport and it’s an excellent combination (if only they’d managed to shut up during the opening ceremony, where they managed to spoil two surprises).

An example, the men’s cycling road race. At about the halfway point there was a breakaway of 3 riders. Now I’ve watched enough Tour de France to know that breakaways are difficult and that the peloton (the chasing pack) usually reel them back in (strength in numbers and all that).

However the breakaway pulled out a 30 second gap and managed to hold it. With a third of the race to go 2 more riders broke out of the peloton to try and reel them back in before the finish. They managed to get about 15 seconds out from the peloton but couldn’t catch the leaders. Then, with the race entering the final quarter, the last few kilometres, a lone Swiss rider broke from the peloton.

Now, this is a one off event, 3 medals and that’s it. Why the peloton didn’t work harder to catch the leaders I don’t know (there is an element of teamwork at play here too, with the Spanish riders in the peloton probably holding back because they know they have one of the front 3 riders).

Back to the Swiss rider then, and all of a sudden he’s catching the first 2 breakaway riders and no sooner has he done that than he starts to drag them up to the front 3. The kilometres are ticking down, surely the front 3 can’t be caught … but wait! there they are, just up ahead…

By now I’m on the edge of my seat. One man has to work VERY hard to close such a gap, surely he won’t have enough left for the final few hundred metres to the finish line, uphill!

6 riders turn the final corner, up out of their seats, legs pumping hard, lungs burning, adrenalin flooding their veins as they realise they could win! The Russian rider breaks into a sprint, but surely he’s too early!! The hill continues, the other riders are weaving hard now, focussed, determined, they catch the now fading Russian and pass him, the Spaniard edges ahead, the line approaches… HE’S WON!!!!

But what of the Swiss? Does he get anything for his efforts? Any reward at all? I’m desperate to know, unsure if he was beaten into 4th or managed to earn 3rd place and a coveted medal… the tension is killing me, come on commentator!!

He did it, he got bronze!! WOO HOOOOO

OK, so maybe I get a little wrapped up in such things a little too easily but I appreciate the effort, the training, the techniques and strategies at play, and not just in cycling. The mental pressures are as tough as the physical ones at times, and for some this is a one time only chance, the pinnacle of their sport.

How can you NOT be dragged into such drama? How can you possibly flick idlly to Eastenders or Big Brother when there is REAL emotion, real guts and passion on display.

Honestly, if you aren’t watching the Olympics you are some weird kind of cretin. It’s not about sport, it’s about passion, commitment and desire. It’s about despair and pain, about winning, about competing, about focus and drive. Tears, laughter and joy, not medals. It’s about being alive.

Isn’t it?

bookmark_borderStorage

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I have a MacBook, and I really enjoy using it as it is a very nice experience.

I have a PC, and I really enjoy using it as I am a power-user and have it tailored to the way I work and I’m very comfortable in the environment.

I find myself wanting to use the Mac for more but as I’m still learning keyboard shortcuts I find myself pausing and.. well it’s still not as fluid for me as working on the PC. Part of that is the resolution of the MacBook screen which is, these days, rather low. Hence my recent ponderings about a KVM to allow me to hook up the MacBook to my LCD monitor.

Anyway, another thing that stops me switching fully to the MacBook is the pitiful hard-drive. My music collection ALONE, is larger than the drive which brings me to the topic of this blog post.

I think what I need to do is switch out all of my storage needs, files, photos, music, to an external drive. That way it doesn’t matter what machine I’m on, I can just switch the external storage drive and access whatever I need.

So I just need to figure out how to move the iTunes library files to an external drive and I’m all set, I think… Ohhh yeah, and buy a big enough hard drive (and backup).

Or maybe buy an iMac… hmmmm

bookmark_borderFluid Languidity

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Yesterday was spent flitting between family visits (bar my Gran as both Louise and I still have remnants of nasty colds and we’d hate to infect her), the evening including some TV and the movie The Matador which I knew a little about but which exceeded expectations by a country mile. A little bizarre and Pierce Brosnan is brilliant, well worth a lazy evening watch.

And today, well bar a brisk walk to test out my knee (it’s throbbing as I type, but not as badly as before) we’ve mainly dotted around the house doing our own thing. Some Olympics have been watched, washings done, rooms tidied and games played. A quiet day, lazily drifting from task to task.

And all washed down with litres of Blue Mountain coffee. Delish.

bookmark_borderKnee-ly there

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(I do love me a craptastic punific title!!)

I was at the physio yesterday and, bar a spot of confusion over the eccentric loading exercises I’d been given previously*, it went well. It’s the small things that matter you see, and the fact that the physio was able to prod and press on that tender spot under my left kneecap WITHOUT ME WANTING TO PUNCH HER IN THE FACE WITH A BRICK was, I believe, a very good thing. Progress indeed.

After a course of ultrasound on my knee the physio gave me some new exercises (raised-heel weighted squats, some lunges and more flexibility focussed work) and an entire week within which to make some progress. I’ll need to go for a couple of brisk walks at some point as well to see how well the knee holds up to that kind of exercise.

All in all it’s good progress, with the hint that I may be able to start jogging again, lightly, in the near future. It will be difficult to get back into the routine I’m sure, and I do need to shift some weight ASAP before that, but I have the advantage of knowing that I can start from scratch and work my way up.

I will go back to jogScotland without a doubt. The way they structure their programs lends itself to rehabilitation of an injury, so I’ll likely slot into one of the beginner groups and just take it easy. We’ll see how it goes I guess.

So, on a gloomy rainy grey day I have a glimmer of light, and it just goes to show what can be achieved when you actually listen to the experts and stick to the training programme they have given you (yeah yeah, shut up).

* Eccentric loading is, as it sounds, a way of exercising an injured area without adding undue stress. One of the exercises I was given involved a simple squat, you lower yourself into the squat then lift the injured leg off the floor before raising yourself up out of the squat with your good leg. The physio yesterday questioned it, as did I as you aren’t actually working the injured leg (but that’s the point!), and there was a small moment where I wondered if I’d spent a month doing the wrong exercises!! Thankfully, I hadn’t.