I can't see the "Older Stuff" slashbox. This is easily my most used box as I paged back on a Monday and scanned the weekend's postings. Can I have it back please?
Ps I am using (work enforced) IE 7 so I deserve your pity and help...
The problem with document management software is that they require users to do some "extra" work filling in metadata. This fails. Generally users will not fill in more than title, adding keywords, short descriptions, file numbers are simply too much effort. When the metadata fails, the document management system also fails.
I suggest you first look at geting a good enterprise search engine. Lucene(apache.org) is open source and free, MindServer (www.recommind.com) from Recommind is not but is amazing (I'm a happy client, not a shill).
If your users can find everything they need to do their work, who cares how badly it is sorted or filed.
One vital part of project management that is often missed, sadly most often by highly technical folk is the need for communication.
Every project should specifically address communication. At the beginning of a project the PM should consider and write down, who needs to know "stuff" about this project, for each who, what stuff do they need to know and how will they be informed.
Examples are progress and budget reports to business owners, milestones achieved to the client, how you will achieve team co-ordination. Other things to consider before you unleash the programming hordes is how you will address schedule changes (usually for worse), how are you going to tell the client and management early enough for them to handle the business implications. Once you have this sorted for a workplace it is mostly templating and cookie cutting for each new project.
I cannot stress enough how vital it is to include communication as part of your normal PM work. Projects are implemented by technical staff but the owner is the business and they must be able to make business decisions. To make business decisions and to manage business risk, management must have sufficient timely information. As a PM it is your responsibility to ensure that happens.
Microsoft and Novell provide additional perspective on IP issues in landmark November 2nd agreement.
Open Letter to the Community from Novell - Nov. 20, 2006
REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 20, 2006 -
"Microsoft and Novell have agreed to disagree on whether certain open source offerings infringe Microsoft patents and whether certain Microsoft offerings infringe Novell patents. The agreement between our two companies puts in place a workable solution for customers for these issues, without requiring an agreement between our two companies on infringement.
"Both of our companies are fully committed to moving forward with all of the important work under these agreements. The agreements will advance interoperability between Windows and Linux and put in place a new intellectual property bridge between proprietary and open source software. Customers and participants throughout our industry will clearly benefit from these results.
"We at Microsoft respect Novell's point of view on the patent issue, even while we respectfully take a different view. Novell is absolutely right in stating that it did not admit or acknowledge any patent problems as part of entering into the patent collaboration agreement. At Microsoft we undertook our own analysis of our patent portfolio and concluded that it was necessary and important to create a patent covenant for customers of these products. We are gratified that such a solution is now in place."
is exactly what professional programmers do not do under any circumstances. Using complicated systems such as neural networks to try to solve unanticipated problems is IMO the wrong way to go. How do you fix the errors in the error handling system when the error system is more intricate than the original problem?
Similarly focusing solely on error handling will not make reliable code, it is like an old fashioned assembly line with quality control at the far end of the plant. The real focus must be on writing robust code in the first place. As mentioned before that comes from good, simple program structure and design, good software engineering, and through testing.
In short having a professional attitude to the product you produce, no matter if it is a win toy, an open source project, or a million dollar shrinkwrap system the boss wanted released yesterday, is the real solution. The rest are tools to help you achieve this professional standard, not the solution.
Prohibition failed utterly with banning alcohol. In the grand experiment it was shown fairly conclusively that probihition created a criminal subclass, turned ordinary people into criminals, corrupted the police and the legal process, Oh and jacked up the prices providing a much better profit to the booze runners.
Just to prove that we are doomed to repeat history we are doing it all again, but this time the gang wars are killing our children.
There are only two winners with making drugs illegal. Law enforcement get much bigger budgets and criminal get way, way better profits.
Who loses? We lose, I lose and you lose, addicts also lose. We lose by having the social problems of illegal drugs - crime, poverty, broken homes and communities. Addicts lose by being made into criminals and by having the focus continuily turned away from preventatitve education and sensible treatment to ineffective punishment solutions.
The War on Drugs has utterly failed, that is plain and unarguable. The fact that hard drugs are cheaper and more available now than in any time in history defines that failure. The reasons the war failed are not very important, in fact almost academic. What is important is that we start finding new ways to deal with drugs. Ways that help us and our society not ways that increase criminal profits and body counts of our children.
Slashdot Mirror
I can't see the "Older Stuff" slashbox. This is easily my most used box as I paged back on a Monday and scanned the weekend's postings. Can I have it back please?
Ps I am using (work enforced) IE 7 so I deserve your pity and help...
No points of I'd mod you up to 5+. What a detailed usable response, well done!
The problem with document management software is that they require users to do some "extra" work filling in metadata. This fails. Generally users will not fill in more than title, adding keywords, short descriptions, file numbers are simply too much effort. When the metadata fails, the document management system also fails.
I suggest you first look at geting a good enterprise search engine. Lucene(apache.org) is open source and free, MindServer (www.recommind.com) from Recommind is not but is amazing (I'm a happy client, not a shill).
If your users can find everything they need to do their work, who cares how badly it is sorted or filed.
One vital part of project management that is often missed, sadly most often by highly technical folk is the need for communication.
Every project should specifically address communication. At the beginning of a project the PM should consider and write down, who needs to know "stuff" about this project, for each who, what stuff do they need to know and how will they be informed.
Examples are progress and budget reports to business owners, milestones achieved to the client, how you will achieve team co-ordination. Other things to consider before you unleash the programming hordes is how you will address schedule changes (usually for worse), how are you going to tell the client and management early enough for them to handle the business implications. Once you have this sorted for a workplace it is mostly templating and cookie cutting for each new project.
I cannot stress enough how vital it is to include communication as part of your normal PM work. Projects are implemented by technical staff but the owner is the business and they must be able to make business decisions. To make business decisions and to manage business risk, management must have sufficient timely information. As a PM it is your responsibility to ensure that happens.
I play the stockmarket.
This the is the text of the Microsoft "back away softly" statement
Microsoft Statement on Novell Agreement
Microsoft and Novell provide additional perspective on IP issues in landmark November 2nd agreement.
Open Letter to the Community from Novell - Nov. 20, 2006
REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 20, 2006 -
"Microsoft and Novell have agreed to disagree on whether certain open source offerings infringe Microsoft patents and whether certain Microsoft offerings infringe Novell patents. The agreement between our two companies puts in place a workable solution for customers for these issues, without requiring an agreement between our two companies on infringement.
"Both of our companies are fully committed to moving forward with all of the important work under these agreements. The agreements will advance interoperability between Windows and Linux and put in place a new intellectual property bridge between proprietary and open source software. Customers and participants throughout our industry will clearly benefit from these results.
"We at Microsoft respect Novell's point of view on the patent issue, even while we respectfully take a different view. Novell is absolutely right in stating that it did not admit or acknowledge any patent problems as part of entering into the patent collaboration agreement. At Microsoft we undertook our own analysis of our patent portfolio and concluded that it was necessary and important to create a patent covenant for customers of these products. We are gratified that such a solution is now in place."
Microsoft Corporation
November 20, 2006
Sharing.
Sharing your request with eveyone in your segment.
Sharing your answers with everyone who may benefit.
Making a request of a shared pool of resources
Being able to get a choice of answers
Getting an immediate answer from whoever is both capable and available
Enough?
Cmdean
Look at the emotional reaction of a parent after more than 30 seconds of sudden silence from the kids. Shock, then fear, usually followed by anger...
Whether they like it or not the Internet is global and a set of US Security Laws ignored by the rest of the world would be silly.
Similarly focusing solely on error handling will not make reliable code, it is like an old fashioned assembly line with quality control at the far end of the plant. The real focus must be on writing robust code in the first place. As mentioned before that comes from good, simple program structure and design, good software engineering, and through testing.
In short having a professional attitude to the product you produce, no matter if it is a win toy, an open source project, or a million dollar shrinkwrap system the boss wanted released yesterday, is the real solution. The rest are tools to help you achieve this professional standard, not the solution.
Just to prove that we are doomed to repeat history we are doing it all again, but this time the gang wars are killing our children.
There are only two winners with making drugs illegal. Law enforcement get much bigger budgets and criminal get way, way better profits.
Who loses? We lose, I lose and you lose, addicts also lose. We lose by having the social problems of illegal drugs - crime, poverty, broken homes and communities. Addicts lose by being made into criminals and by having the focus continuily turned away from preventatitve education and sensible treatment to ineffective punishment solutions.
The War on Drugs has utterly failed, that is plain and unarguable. The fact that hard drugs are cheaper and more available now than in any time in history defines that failure. The reasons the war failed are not very important, in fact almost academic. What is important is that we start finding new ways to deal with drugs. Ways that help us and our society not ways that increase criminal profits and body counts of our children.