Productivity

Google Wave gadgets get second chance in Shared Spaces

December 22, 2010 By Ronald Bruintjes 1 Comment

Google Wave is scheduled to be closed at the end of this month. Luckily, there is a place to go for all the gadgets that were written for Wave – and it’s not gadget hell, but Shared Spaces.

Shared Spaces is a Google Labs product, and instead of centering around the conversation like Google Wave, Shared Spaces is more centered around a particular gadget. You can create a space around a map to collaboratively plan a trip, or around a mind map gadget to brainstorm about an idea.

The slideshow below shows a little about Google’s idea of a shared space:

It looks like Shared Space uses Google Buzz in the background. I’m also not sure if it’s possible to make Shared Spaces invite-only, or that anyone who guesses the URL can participate. I’ll let you know more once I’ve played a little more with it.

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: collaboration, gadgets, google, shared spaces, wave

Cubicle privacy

December 10, 2010 By Ronald Bruintjes 1 Comment

So, you’re a software developer, and you’re in a cubicle. You’re on a deadline and deeply engrossed in how the communication driver and the display driver interact with the main program. Then Bill Lumberg comes by to discuss last night’s football game. You just lost track of 5 variables and 2 subroutines, and now need another 30 minutes to get back on track. How do you prevent that?

I run into this problem almost daily (well, not with drivers, but the principal holds true just the same), and came across 3 solutions:

CubeGuard

The easiest solution, yet conveying the message without any doubt: CubeGuard. It is comparable to the crime scene tape, but is set up to be reusable. It fits openings up to 50″, and is available in a large number of standard patterns, and for a surcharge also completely customizable. If you want to send different messages (i.e. “Out to Lunch”, “Working from home” and “Please do not disturb”), you can use the CubeGuard mount and simply replace the message cartridge. One whole set including mounts costs $19.95, and a message cartridge goes for $14.95.

Quartet Workstation Privacy Screen

The Quartet Workstation Privacy Screen goes a step further than the CubeGuard: instead of simply having a message displayed across the entry to the cubicle, it shields the cubicle entrance with a translucent plastic screen. The screen effectively creates a barrier between your cubicle and the outside world, shielding you from people passing by. It comes with a nameplate and a small dry-erase board, that can be used to leave a message for anyone walking by, or provide visitors with a place to leave a message.

The Workstation Privacy Screen comes in a Lightweight version that is 36″ wide, and a Premium version that is 38″ wide. The Lightweight version is $184.25 and the Premium version is $233.11.

Get a door

The third option is the best, but also the most expensive option: get a door, and walls that reach all the way up to the ceiling.

Cubicles are not a good setup for a software development environment. The cubicle was set up in the 1960′s, to allow for easy information sharing. In today’s world the problem seems to be oversharing of information. And it doesn’t have to mean that everybody works with the door closed and nobody can see what others are doing. Joel Spolsky from Fog Creek Software describes how their new office combines everything a developer could ask for in the Bionic Office.

You may not have to go that far (although your developers will love you for it!!), but think about the environment they work in and how it can affect their productivity. Any investment will pay off quickly!

Filed Under: Features, Productivity Tagged With: cubicle, privacy, Productivity, programming, screen

Sharpening the Tools

October 12, 2010 By Ronald Bruintjes Leave a Comment

Through InfoQ I came across this awesome presentation by Dan North about how to progress from beginner to expert, and how that cycle continues (even after reaching expert level).

Just a couple of tools I’d never heard about:

Hudson – A continuous integration tool, for Java projects, that allows easy integration of changes into a project, and easy retrieval of a fresh build.
GROW Framework – A coaching/self-help tool. GROW stands for Goal, current Reality, Options, and Will. In a nutshell, it lets you evaluate what you want to do, how you want to do it, and apply yourself to doing it.
Six Thinking Hats – A thinking tool for group discussions and individual thinking.
Clojure – A strange mix between Java and Lisp..?
Open Spaces – A meeting/discussion technique to discuss various topics, in a sort-of ad-hoc conference way. Open Spaces last from half a day to about 2 days.
Ivy – The Agile Dependency Manager (and that’s all I have for now).

So it looks like I’ve got a nice list of things to learn about, on top of trying to learn more about HTML5, JavaScript, C#, Sharepoint, Visual Web Developer, and MS-SQL…

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: agile, development, programming, self-help

New search results in Google?

May 4, 2010 By Ronald Bruintjes Leave a Comment

I just entered a search query for Notepad++ in Google Chrome, and the results page looked slightly different from what I’m used to:

Most notably, the left hand side is much cleaner. Clicking on the drop-down below “Everything” will show you the different categories (Images, Videos, etc.). The Search tools option lets you choose between “Any Time” and “Last 3 months”, and expanding it will show you a new list of options:

Limit to a time period
Social graph results
Visited or not
Display of results
Standard results

I’m still trying to get used to it, but it looks like the result page is in line with Google’s minimalistic philosophy.

Filed Under: Network, Productivity Tagged With: google, search

We used Google Wave in a conference call…

December 28, 2009 By Ronald Bruintjes Leave a Comment

… and were mildly impressed.

We set up an agenda before the call started, and used that as our base document. It was then filled out as we discussed the various points, and comments were posted to capture remarks, questions and clarifications.

A couple of observations:

If your participants don’t have a Google account, you can’t add them with their regular Email address (even though that is somehow linked to their googlewave.com account), but you have to use their googlewave.com address.
The Ribbit plugin didn’t work.
There is a reluctance to edit other people’s blips. It seems to be more “polite” to comment on the blip and say that something isn’t correct than to go in and just edit the blip to correct it. Cultural thing – I’m sure it will change once more people have used Google Wave or even a Wiki.
It’s hard to make a comment in the conference call, and record it in the wave at the same time. However, a conference call is far superior in hammering out a discussion quickly. Maybe a designated typer would be an idea in a conference call?

We didn’t run into any software problems. There were 5 people on the call and the wave, and we never saw a slow-down or a crash. The only disappointment was the Reddit plugin, but that was easily overcome.

I think Wave is still looking for a good application. Minutes and collaborative documents seem the most obvious application, but I have the feeling there are more exciting applications for the Wave technique in the future.

Filed Under: Network, Productivity Tagged With: conference, google, minutes, wave, wiki