Rant

Organizing Your Work With OneNote Page Templates

Tim Murphy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:15:39 GMT

If you have seen the Windows Phone commercial where the father is in the grocery store with the shopping list in OneNote you have gotten you first taste of the flexibility that can be had with OneNote. I like most consultants have a lot of fires going and once and I am finding that the templates in OneNote are helping me to get a handle on the different projects and tasks I need to track.

I started using OneNote to do simply what its name suggests: take and organize notes. Lately though I am finding ways that it can help to centralize things that I had been using multiple applications to accomplish. Having them all in one place, as with most things makes it easier to not miss something.

You may find using the tasks feature of Outlook works well for you, but I found that I was in and out of my email so fast that I ignored the tasks. As simple To Do List template in OneNote seems to be the solution for me since I spend so much time documenting projects. As an alternative you can use the Prioritized To Do List shown below or the Project To Do List which gives you a list per project.

When starting a project at a new client Project Overview is a great way to organize your thought and make sure that you cover all the essentials. While I am just starting to use it this template is quickly proving its worth.

Of course if you don’t find a template that fits your needs you can create your own templates. Start with one of the standards and edit it. Then click Save Current Page As A Template. This is great especially for customizing templates like the project overview to suit you needs.

There are many other features to this tool for you to explore. Add to everything above that it is a write once, maintain anywhere product and I can easily access my notes from any browser or even my Windows Phone. Life is getting just a little better.

del.icio.us Tags: OneNote,ToDo,Task Management,Windows Phone,Office

Why We Need UX Designers

Tim Murphy — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:40:49 GMT

Ok, so maybe this is really why I need UX designers. While I have always had an interest in photography and can appreciate a well designed user interface putting one together is an entirely different endeavor. Being color blind doesn’t help, but coming up with ideas is probably the biggest portion of the issue. I can spot things that just don’t look like they work right, but what will?

UX designers is an area that most companies do not spend much if any resources. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression and and a poorly designed site or application is a bad first impression. Given that they you would think that companies would invest more in appearance and usability.

One of two things need to be done to rectify this issue. Either we need to start educating our developers on user experience and design or we need to start finding ways to subsidize putting full time designers on our project teams. Maybe it should be a time share type of situation, but something needs to be done. As architects we need to impress on our project stakeholders the importance of User Experience and why it should be part of the budget. If they hear it often enough eventually they may present it to you as their own idea.

del.icio.us Tags: User Experience,UX,Application Design

(Technology) Holy Wars

Tim Murphy — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:42:12 GMT

As the song says “War! What is it good for?”. Well, maybe not absolutely nothing, but it is definitely a distraction. Whether we are talking about Apple vs. Microsoft, C++ vs. Java vs. .NET, Lotus Notes vs. Microsoft Exchange, Nikon vs. Canon, Cubs vs. White Sox or Bears vs. Packers our world is filled with fan boys ready to go to battle. Just cheering for your favorite isn’t a problem. It is when you have a driving need to put the other guy down and prove that you are behind the winner. Let’s take a look at a few thoughts around these conflicts.

The first thing people have to remember is that every tool has its place. Every product has its strengths and weaknesses. One of the best examples of this is when people ask me which camera they should buy. The first question is what they want to do with it. The second is how much do you want to pay. You don’t need the professional model if you are just taking snapshots.

Discussions of the differences between products can be productive. There are so many technologies being pushed out so fast that no one can follow them all. Divide and conquer is the only way to get through it all. Cooperation and spirited competition get us a lot further than put downs.

Of course I think part of the reason we do this is that we as IT people love to take jabs at each other. It isn’t about which is better. It is about pushing someone else’s buttons. I have to admit this is a fun sport.

In the end I would say as long as it is friendly and not a consuming pursuit then championing our favorite technologies and hearing the reason why others stand behind their favorites can be profitable. Just make sure you stop before the mud starts flying.

del.icio.us Tags: Apple,Microsoft,C++,Java,.NET,Chicago Cubs,Chicago White Sox,Chicago Bears,Green Bay Packers,Nikon,Canon,Lotus Notes,Microsoft Exchange

Why Windows Phone Rocks

Tim Murphy — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:57:34 GMT

First let me say that this is a “what I like” post and not a comparison of platforms. The Windows Phone is the first smart phone that I have owned (no, I’m not 100 or 15 years old). Now that I have done the full disclosure I did want to talk about the features of the Windows Phone that I really enjoy.

I have had the Samsung Focus since shortly after it came out. I have found it extremely capable and enjoy the performance of the device. It is light, durable and bright. My wife has the LG Quantum that feels like a brick compared to the Focus. But they all seem to be well functioning devices and it is nice to have a choice.

Of course hardware is nothing without the software features to go with it so here are the things I find valuable.

The first thing you may notice are the Bing features. Vision and Music while not new ideas are fun to have built into the software loaded on the phone. QR codes have become the new sales tools. Being able to just point the camera and have it detect QR code, bar codes, album covers and books is great. Music replaces Shazam and takes you straight the Zune market place.

From there I go to XBox Games. They are not a deal breaker for me, but it is fun to sit with my son while we are waiting at a restaurant or to get our hair cuts and playing Assassin’s Creed. Just having great games to preoccupy the kids makes waiting a lot easier.

Having Office preloaded is another win for me. Not the least of the benefits is having OneNote where ever I go and being able to lookup notes for clients without having to start up my laptop. Add to that opening the three main document types of the office suit just puts the cherry on top.

The bonus is that the market place is fast building all the popular apps and then some. It is getting harder and harder to run into a situation that you can’t find an app you are looking for and it is only getting better.

The last area is development. Personally it is the development story that really attracts me to the Windows Phone (yes, I am a strange techie). Having spent so much of the past two decades developing with Microsoft technologies means I both have an investment there and understand the benefits of the tools.

Microsoft may be late to the game, but I think they have combined the strengths of the other platforms and are pushing past. I would say go check one out and see if they rock for you too.

del.icio.us Tags: Windows Phone 7,Mobile,Mobile Phone,Smart phone

Microsoft Is Dead, Long Live SalesForce?

Tim Murphy — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 06:32:09 GMT

A number of people returned from the recent Dreamforce conference. One told me that this is now the largest IT conference. This information was followed up with the statement that Microsoft is missing the boat and will soon go the way of Novell. This got me to thinking. Does this statement hold any water?

Any large company definitely has the possibility getting tunnel vision. Microsoft is not immune to these issues. But is it possible that their culture might could as an anti-virus.

There is one thing that Microsoft has shown that they can do well time after time. They may not be the first to the game, but they are very good at learning from what other companies invent. Can you say Office, Internet Explorer. They weren’t the first to have a word processor or browser, but that didn’t stop them dominating the market.

Given their history I think there is a good chance that Microsoft will learn from any advantage SalesForce may have and eventually accelerate past them. Of course we will all have to watch and see.

del.icio.us Tags: Microsoft,SalesForce,Dreamforce,innovation

This Developers Life Podcast

Tim Murphy — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:27:30 GMT

This Developers Life is a podcast put out by Scott Hanselman and Rob Conery. In the most recent episode there were a couple of things that really struck me.

The fist was on motivation. Why is it that we keep spending every free hour keeping up with the latest technologies and techniques? Personally, I have always enjoyed the satisfaction of solving problems with technology. Hey, if you aren’t one to join sports then you need some sort of challenge. Of course getting to play with new toys like Windows Phone 7 is fun too.

The second was getting a DBA’s perspective. Why is it that they give so many of us a hard time. Is it really that what we develop threatens their ability to do their jobs? I have always found that showing that you understand their priorities and that you aren’t a complete idiot when it comes to database design goes a long way.

If you want a podcast that can really make you think I would highly recommend This Developers Life.

del.icio.us Tags: Rob Connery,Scott Hanselman,This Developers Life

Memories Of The Past While Learning The Future

Tim Murphy — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:29:15 GMT

The last couple of weeks I have been working through some proof of concepts for Windows Phone 7. While working through one exercise I had a flashback. The book I was reading mentioned how you needed to code your application to have the smallest possible memory and and processing speed footprint. Suddenly I was back in high school with my Tandy hand-held computer which had a single line of text screen and a whopping 1K of memory. Talk about limitations.

So what else can you learn from developing in such environment constraints. I think we could all benefit from spending some time doing code where we really have to think about how we are putting it together. We would have developers who produce much tighter and well performing code as they carry those skills back to desktop and web development. Maybe these devices should be required learning in our college classes. Any thoughts?

del.icio.us Tags: Windows Phone 7,programming,best practices,flashback,learning,development

Windows Live Writer 2011

Tim Murphy — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:16:20 GMT

The new WLW 2011 has been a shock to the system. I am used to having my history/drafts and and plug-ins at the ready down the right side of the window. Plug-ins are now under the insert tag on the ribbon. The history and drafts are now under a drop-down file menu in the ribbon. I’ll have to see if this configuration works for me. There doesn’t seem to be an option for a “classic” setup so I may end up looking for a new blog editor that is more efficient for me. I realize to some people these may be improvements or minor inconveniences, but for some reason this change is something I find quite annoying.

del.icio.us Tags: Windows Live Writer,WLW

What I Learned From Thirsty Developer

Tim Murphy — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 06:35:58 GMT

A few months back I sat down on a conference call with Dave Bost and Clark Sell to record an episode of Thirsty Developer. I had suggested that we could talk about Office Open XML and how it can be used to automate the generation of documents. Now for a number of reasons this episode will never see the light of day (at least not as we originally recorded it). But the reason that sticks in my mind is that the story wasn’t there.

As technologists we spend a lot of time learning tools, languages and frameworks. But we don’t always think about the question of why we are using these technologies. Of course what makes a good podcast is the telling of they why as much as the how. I had plenty of how, but really only one example to explain everything. It just turned out to be not enough glue.

This reminded me of something that I knew as an architect is a critical skill. We have to be able to sell our ideas. What could be a better way to sell those ideas but to tell the story of how it is used and how someone benefits for the technology.

Now this isn’t just something that you need to know if you are doing some sort of presentation. This is something we need to remember as we talk with clients and stake holders. From this point on I need to give this principle more attention. I think I see a wall plaque in the making.

del.icio.us Tags: Thirsty Developer,OOXML,Office Open XML,Architecture,Dave Bost,Clark Sell

Architects – Can’t We All Be Friends

Tim Murphy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:50:14 GMT

Lately I have had some run-ins with structural architects who have warned me that calling myself or our user group Architects is against the law in Illinois. I still need to sort out if this is actually the case or not, but it makes me ask a number of questions.

Clearly the law was not intended to protect the word Architect. It was meant to protect the profession and protect the public from people who were practicing architecture without proper training. We wouldn’t want buildings and bridges falling down.

Since we are not representing ourselves as experts in the design of physical structures why is this such a hot topic? Personally I don’t care what my title is as long as I am helping to build software that helps people do business.

I think we also need to take this situation as a warning to ourselves. A lot of the IT community already looks at people with architect titles as being aloof ivory tower types. Let’s make sure that it doesn’t get to the point where we are claiming that we own words because they were first applied to IT. Hey, if a bank wants to call their vault a database, knock yourself out. It is only a word and has meaning within context.

Personally I think they would have a tough time winning a court battle over this since architect has been a title in IT for well over a decade. If I remember correctly it was the title that Bill Gates held in Microsoft. Companies such as Allstate have an entire group in their IT call Protection Architecture.

I hope that the few structural architects who have contacted us are not representative of the profession as a whole. I have to believe that most people with that level of education are much more reasonable. I hope we can all be civil and not bring lawsuits about things as silly as words.

del.icio.us Tags: architect,title,structural architects,software architects,law