Clarke Ching - More Chilli Please

EU only - Fantastic opportunity - ScotlandOnRails conference

[If you have the faintest interest in RubyOnRails and you're in Europe then you might want to read this note I sent to my AgileScotland email list ... but if you are interested act quick, the special offer disappears in a few of days. 

I'm not organising this conference, btw, but I do think it is a fantastic opportunity.]

Announcement: ScotlandOnRails conference

I must confess that, these days, I struggle with recording macros in microsoft word, so I really struggled to understand what the big deal with Ruby on Rails is.  A friend who is good at "explaining things so that even consultants can understand it", as he put it, told me that "you get loads more working software, for loads less typing".  I took that to mean that it made developers more productive ... he said, yes... but, more important than that, developers just really like using it.

 

So if you're a developer and you want to enjoy your job more or if you are a manager who wants a big productivity boost then pop over to http://scotlandonrails.com/ and register for the ScotlandOnRails conference this April.  It is, frankly, dirt cheap and world class. Paul Wilson, one of the organisers has forwarded on the invite below. If you scroll down to the bottom where there's a special discount code for agilescotlanders (or anyone, I guess who reads this) - but it only applies up to this monday, so be very quick. 

 

[BTW: There is also a special beginners course for people new to Ruby on Rails.  I checked on the website and you can go along for a minimum donation of £75 to The Childrens Hospice Association Scotland. If you can't attend the conference but you'd like to go to the tutorial then email me and I'll put you in touch with Paul who will put you on a "stand by" list in case they have any empty seats left.  I haven't actually asked Paul about this, so I can't promise anything - but it'd be a pity to waste any empty seats.] 

 

I apologise for the long note - I hope it hasn't put you off - but this is a really important opportunity for all of us, and I'd hate for you to miss it for the sake of less than 200 quid.

 

Clarke Ching

07920114893

www.clarkeching.com

 

ScotlandOnRails - Ruby on Rails in Scotland - April 2008

Don't miss the this rare opportunity to learn about Ruby on Rails from the thought-leaders* of the Rails community - right on your door step in Scotland and for less than £200**.  This April, Scotland on Rails hosts the UK's only Rails dedicated conference right here in Edinburgh***, with top speakers from the US and Europe.

Ruby on Rails has taken off.  It is gaining popularity not-only with indie web developers, but is rapidly infiltrating the Fortune 400. Here's your chance to learn from some of the best Ruby on Rails thinkers and doers in the world.  Sessions range from the cutting- edge to Rails adoption experience-reports to Behaviour and Test Driven Development in Rails.

Don't get left behind.  Register now at http://scotlandonrails.com/.

Special Tutorial for "newbies": If you're new to Rails or eager to learn more from top US and UK rails developers, there's a special pre-conference charity tutorial especially for you.  All proceeds to the Children's Hospice Association Scotland.  See http://scotlandonrails.com to register.

(*) Speakers include Michael Koziarski of The Rails Way and Ruby Core, Ruby Central founder David A Black, Jim Weirich responsible for Rake and FlexMock, and many more.

(**) The price will be held at £180 until 12 March

(***)   Edinburgh is not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world but it is a quick trip from anywhere in Europe

P.S. There's a special Agile Scotland discount of £25 up to March 5. Just use the coupon code below while registering.

 SD8NU

boo!

The 2.5 year old has just gone off to swimming with her Mum. Provided it's not raining too bad, we always play this little game whenever the kids get home where they ring the doorbell then hide outside while they wait for me to open the door. When I open the door they jump out and shout "boo!" as I grab my chest and pretend to be frightened out of my wits.

So, the 2.5 was due back home about 20 minutes ago and about 10 minutes ago the door bell rang - you can see where this is going - so I rushed down stairs but before I got to the door I thought I'd play a little trick on them. I figured that this time I'd hide and frighten them.

Anyway, they're still not back yet and it was a salesman at the door, but luckily I realised that before I hid and made a fool of myself.

*I'm finishing off the last few chapters of my book. The last one will be the hardest. Fiction *almost always* has to end with a bang not a whimper.*

Help from an agile developer?

Help! A quick question, hopefully with a quick answer: Why is a "test harness" called a harness?

I can kinda see the metaphor, but it's still blurry to me.

Any help please email me clarke.ching@gmail.com.

A380 Cockpit Panorama

From Matthew Stibble:

Check out this panoramic, high resolution image of the A380 cockpit: http://www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/cockpit1.htm. Awesome.

Okay, I'm easily impressed, but this is awesome.

AgileThinkers.com

I've just posted the last few questions and answers from Jim Shore and Shane Warden, authors of The Art of Agile development, to the AgileThinkers weblog.  They've very kindly offered to give away 2 copies of their book - see the weblog for details.

I'm also mid-way through interviews with Johanna Rothman (author of Manage It!) and Jarred Richardson (co-author of Ship It!).

The difference between mums and dads

My wife, bless her, thinks our two children are "brilliant" because they thought (without prompting) to amuse themselves, on a long trip, by playing hide and seek while strapped into their car-seats in the back of our car.

It caused a fight because the 2.5 year old "cheated" by not closing her eyes for long enough and finding the 5 year old too quickly.

Personally I think they're probably a bit daft.

All three of them.

From Symptoms to Solid Solutions in Seven Steps

Here's my latest sticky minds article.

Summary: Have you noticed that one of the easiest things to do in life is to come up with solutions, but one of the hardest is to actually implement them? In this article, Clarke Ching shows you how and when to use the questions "Why?" and "Why not?" along with a little "And Thinking" to turn a half-baked solution into one that is actually implementable in real life.

What's the P stand for?

Larry Leach and William Hoefle, amongst others, are in the midst of a very interesting dialogue on the Critical Chain list .

Larry made a very nice point that Project Management isn't just about scheduling and that:

> The mistake I have seen most over 35 years of implementing PM in organizations is to take an outline like the PMBOK Guide, and try to do it all. People institute taining, write procedures, prepare forms and templates...and nothing much happens, because people don't use it. Its like trying to eat everything on the menu in a Chinese resturant.You'll definitely get indigestion.

William then agreed and turned the nice Chinese Menu metaphore into an insightful little joke:

> Any concern I have about PMBOK in an organization is centered around companies trying to use it all - to the point where their system almost collapses under the weight and, I often joke, the "P in NPD becomes processes rather than product".

The Hudson Bay story

You may have just notice that I accidentally posted 2 q&a's with Johanna Rothman on this blog ... that's one of the problems with being a big dim and having more than one blog.  My apologies.

That said, Johanna's Hudson Bay story is a keeper.  You can have a quick look at it on the agilethinkers.com blog.  It only takes a moment and you'll learn (or reacquaint yourself) with a very useful principle of project management.

Reminder: Update your goals on Joe's Goals

Okay, this is good AND free. I've lost 7 pounds in the last 2.5 weeks - my new behaviour was kicked off by a significant medical scare but reinforced by keeping track of my behaviours using http://www.joesgoals.com/. I had a very busy - but well behaved - weekend, then I was sans-internet for 3 days while working on a client's site - and the software sent me the gentle reminder below.

I've also been using the site to recognise my 5 year old daughter's good behaviour and it's helped turn her from a darth vader back into Anakin Skywalker, so to speak.

From: Date: Fri, Feb 15, 2008 at 11:06 AM Subject: Reminder: Update your goals on Joe's Goals To: clarke.ching@gmail.com

Hi clarke,

This is a friendly reminder from Joe to let you know that your account hasn't been updated for a few days. You currently are receiving this alert any time your account has not been active for more than 7 days.

Update your goals now: http://www.joesgoals.com/

If you are interested in behaviour change then take a look at the books by Aubrey Danielswhere he points the *ABC*'s of long lasting behaviour change. In my case the *A*ntecedent was some scary blood test results, which caused the new *B*ehaviour - no snacks, no second helpings, no cheese, and a good walk each day - which I've been reinforcing with positive *C*onsequences - recording the good behaviours each day, noticing the weight loss on the scales every few days, and lots of blood sugar checking using my glucometer. The se positive consequences seem to be working for me and keeping the behaviour going. The reminder note was very useful for reinforcing the reinforcement - I felt guilty when I realised how long I'd left it.