Re: Developers In Pain
You know sometimes I even disappoint myself with the amount effort I put into things where I am likely the only one who finds them amusing. I made this in response to Craig’s great video. Both are here.
Archive for Tools & Methodologies
Backcasting: or how I learned to stop predicting and help my clients [Session Audio]
Matthew Milan & Sam Ladner
[audio:http://www.thechickentest.com/vid/IASummit2007/Backcasting_or_how_I_learned_to_stop_predicting_and_help_my_clients.mp3]
Download the MP3 of the presentation ( 28 megs )
Systems Thinking, Rich Mapping and Conceptual Models [Session Audio]
Matt Milan and Gene Smith introduce Rich Mapping and Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to information architects. SSM is a holistic problem solving framework that can be used to design and model interactions between organizations, people, environments, products and services.
[audio:http://www.thechickentest.com/vid/IASummit2007/Systems_Thinking_Rich_Mapping_and_Conceptual_Models.mp3]
Download the MP3 of the presentation ( 22 megs )
EDS is agile?
So Crow has posted some videos on his site about EDS and agile development. I’ve seen most of these except for the first one he posted.
Now while watching this video I didn’t know if EDS was attempting to illustrate how agile they are
OR
commenting on how rediculous agile development can be.
I don’t know if you can equate building airplanes to building software because I presume that an airplane builder knows what an airplane is, how it should work and they have built one before. How do you do iterative builds on a flying airplane? If a wing doesn’t work while flying can you rip it off and rebuild it? Is EDS that good??? WOW!
I like agile, but I am not a true believer, some of it still feels like bullshit to me. The one assumption that has always bothered me is that your project has smart experienced developers building your software who can make educated guesses on interactivity and results based on their tacit :-P knowledge.
I work in a world of software development that has a new domain with new business practices, governance models, acronyms & language terms and regulator rules for almost every project.
NEWSFLASH
Many (not all) programmers are NERDS and therefore may not understand things like aesthetics, business practices or even everyday software conventions. Everyone knows at least one brilliant developer that can shell script a full length ASCII animation of Star Wars but could not buy penicillin from drugstore.com to save their dying chicks.
I think I once heard Ken Schwaber talk about how he was on a panel where he was asked by a CMMI guy how he planned to not make Scrum into the bloated beast that CMMI is because when they started they did not want a lot of process either. That is a bad recounting but I can’t find the reference, but what I am trying to say is that optimum processes tend to require optimum inputs and environments things get messy when you need to ensure predictable success while accounting for variants.
I truly wish I could depend on my teammates to make the correct assumptions but I can’t and that kinda depresses me… later.
BarCamp Toronto presents Enterprise Camp
So what do you do when your company is about to tear up an old telemarketing office to make way for a new floor of developers… you hold a BarCamp that’s what.
We are going to do a more specialized BarCamp this time one whose focus is on enterprise development and solutions.
So if you are in the Toronto area and are sick of holiday cheer come out and join us for some inperson knowledge sharing.
Check out the wiki to sign up and for more details.
… oh and ok-cancel rules.
Copyright Puppets – CopyCamp 2006
CopyCamp was great. It was a truly unique event that I was glad to be a part of. The organizers did a great job of putting on the plushest (or plushiest) unconference style event I could ever imagine. I learned so much and it was so great to talk with people in the art community about technology and how it will change the realities of their work and working environment in the future. To find out more checkout the CopyCamp wiki or the flickr photos.
Download this video in High Quality Windows Media or in High Quality MP4
This was a video I used to introduce a session that I conducted. The session was about using puppets (or if I was Oscar Wilde, masks) as a way of allowing ourselves to say things we might not normally say. Acting for Introverts. The content of this video is meant to be a light commentary on general issues in copyright and how entertainment will be consumed in the future.
After the video we tried to do an impromptu session with the puppets. It was a lot of fun but we didn’t get a lot of solid thoughts. That was ok because I think that lightening up the event a little was cool because there was so much great ideas at the event. Below are some pictures taken from the video we took of the session.
Also posted the presentation I did for the Speed Geek.
