Tuesday, 09 February
Bug-hunting spreadsheets [Sacha Chua]
There’s a certain delight in working on obscure problems. In my case, I was trying to debug an old spreadsheet that statistically analyzed survey responses in order to match them to innovation archetypes. It started when I noticed that a few chart labels were incorrect. In the process of trying to figure that out and make handling multiple survey responses easier, I ended up deep in Visual Basic code, untangling algorithms that didn’t make complete sense to me.
The spreadsheet had been created three years ago, and it was hard to track down people associated with the project. Documentation was practically non-existent. Working with the source code, sprinkled comments, and formula auditing tools, I figured out what was going on.
So I knew what the code did, but I wasn’t sure it did what it was supposed to do. I asked two team members and a third consultant to refer me to someone who could explain the manual procedure and provide the missing information. If I could figure out how to do the analysis by hand, I could find the bugs and update the spreadsheet.
Even if we end up discarding the tool, I had fun following the logic through the code. There’s something about understanding a small piece of the puzzle well, and then expanding your understanding until you can hold the program in your mind.
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
Bug-hunting spreadsheets
ACM Hypertext conference in Toronto this June; paper deadline Feb 14 [Sacha Chua]
My research supervisor is chairing the ACM Hypertext conference that will be held in Toronto from June 13 to 16, 2010. The conference focuses on linking and interconnectivity, and will have sessions on Web 2.0, social computing, and the semantic web. Tracks:
- Social computing
- Adaptive hypermedia and applications
- Hypertext in education and communications
The deadline for paper submissions is February 14.
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
ACM Hypertext conference in Toronto this June; paper deadline Feb 14
Monday, 08 February
Weekly review: Week ending February 7, 2010 [Sacha Chua]
Work
- [/] Revise wiki structure
- [X] Follow up on lessons learned
- Also: Coordinated regarding logo
- Explored archetype analysis spreadsheet – understand it better now
- Created archetype presentation for an upcoming workshop
- Created Idea Lab for another upcoming workshop
- Documented Idea Lab preparation
- Set up community for industry maestros
- Gave a new team member the overview of how information was organized; documented this for the team
- Posted follow-up/analysis of backchannel conversation from microblogging talk
- Had fun documenting things right before people needed them
- Signed up for the Art of Marketing seminar
Relationships
- [X] Book wedding chambers
- [X] Try out restaurants – looked at 12 restaurants!
- [/] Book reception
- [/] Look for photographers / videographers – decided against wedding photography package, will go for family portraits instead
- [/] Look for cheongsam (there’s a nice one for $75, but it’s probably available for cheaper) – may opt for simple red dress or brocade jacket
- [ ] Start collecting guest addresses – will go for small wedding instead
- [ ] Send care package
- [ ] Plan February tea party
- [ ] Send thank-you notes
- Also: Met up with Quinn while she was in town
- Helped J- with her homework
- Chatted with Jeff Widman about business, life, virtual assistance
- Ordered book for mom
Life
- [ ] Group Siargao pictures into a story
- [/] Plan crafts
- Also: Had regular eye checkup, ordered glasses
- Made orange marmalade
- Sewed a number of zippered pouches
- Made a little felt case for my iPod
- Bought two pairs of jeans (it’s about time…)
- Read lots of books
- Stocked up on zippers and cloth
The week went by so quickly. I postponed a number of items on my task list so that I didn’t go crazy trying to fit everything in. At work, I prioritized supporting upcoming engagements and improving our process documentation. One of our new team members was impressed by the way we’d written down lots of stuff – hooray. Outside work, I focused on planning the wedding and on exploring crafts.
PLANS FOR NEXT WEEK:
Work
- [ ] Support upcoming workshops by setting up Idea Labs and doing archetype presentations
- [ ] Braindump more of what I know at work
- [ ] Organize teleconference for people working in my neighborhood
- [ ] Give “Shy Connector” presentation to WITI audience
Relationships
- [ ] Try another restaurant
- [ ] Check out portrait photographers
- [ ] Hand-write invitations and include in care package
Life
- [ ] Sew more zippered pouches
- [ ] Sew wrap-around zippered pouch
- [ ] Work on Siargao scrapbook, really
- [ ] Send invitations for February tea party (end of month-ish?)
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
Weekly review: Week ending February 7, 2010
Lessons learned from microblogging talk [Sacha Chua]
I gave a talk on microblogging to approximately 150 people at IBM. It was fantastic! There was so much energy and engagement, it was all I could do to keep up with the free-wheeling discussion.
What worked well:
- My entire presentation (excluding the title slide) consisted of a single-slide summary. That was really useful, as it meant that people knew the structure and what I was going to talk about right away.
- The chat conversation was lively. Really lively. =)
- Having someone else watch the conversation definitely helped. Also, treating it as a river of thoughts, or a jumping-off point for further discussions… It’s like a big brainstorming session!
What I’d like to improve further:
- My quick overview (plan: 5 minutes) ended up taking 20 minutes because I responded to people on the fly. Totally okay. I wonder if I can make the set-up presentation shorter so that I can open it up for Q&A even earlier.
- I’d planned to switch to screen sharing and go through things dynamically, but I went with the static image because I didn’t want to interrupt the conversation with more moving parts. Maybe if I can get to the point of quickly doing visual notetaking in real life (like Minna does!), then I’ll be able to keep up with doing it virtually too.
- This presentation/interaction pattern is new and powerful. It can feel like a chaotic bazaar sometimes, though! I wonder how we can manage this better. I’d love to use a tool with a bigger chat box, for example. That would make the backchannel easier to see and read.
That was exhilarating!
Post from: sacha chua :: enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek.
Check out my blog for tips on managing virtual assistants, Drupal, and other topics!
Lessons learned from microblogging talk
Why CDR King should talk to this Smart SWEEP team [Max Limpag]
When was the last time you were in CDR King in SM City? How much of your time was wasted waiting for your turn? The last time I was in that branch is precisely that—the last time. I spent close to an hour waiting for my turn that I ultimately gave up. Yes, their products are cheaper, but you waste an hour of your time just to save a few pesos? I’ll reserve masochism for bulk purchases.
Waiting in line has got to be the blight of modern man’s existence. In the offices of Pag-ibig, SSS, LTO, NSO, you see people waiting in line for so long you’d worry about the national productivity. In medical clinics, healthy people get sick—and murderous—by the time doctors finally attend to them.
I do not have proof, only strong suspicion, but I think your blood pressure is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend in line. Take a BP monitor the next time you transact with a government agency and find out for yourself.
A better queuing system would do wonders to our health, sanity and national productivity. Wouldn’t it be great to get a priority number for a transaction and be notified when it’s your turn?
STUDENT PROJECT. Ateneo de Zamboanga University mentor Eugene Kanindot (left) explains the TimeFree system to Atty. Jane Paredes, senior manager of Smart public affairs Vis-Min. (SUN.STAR FOTO/MAX LIMPAG)
Joselle Macrohon, a student of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, saw the long lines in the school’s finance office and, instead of ranting or writing a column about it, decided a technical solution to the problem would make a good school project and entry to the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (Sweep) Innovation and Excellence Award. The team came up with the TimeFree application to address that problem.
The system is simple and ingenious. You drop P5 into the TimeFree machine, enter your priority number, specify on which priority number you want to be alerted and then enter the phone number where you want alert text messages sent. After that, you can go somewhere else knowing that when it’s close to your turn, you’ll get a text message to alert you.
For example, you want to pay your utility bills and you get 235 as priority number. The tellers, however, are still attending to priority number 130. With TimeFree, you don’t have to wait inside the payment center until all the 104 people ahead of you are called. You can configure TimeFree to send you a text message when, for example, priority number 230 is called. When it’s your turn, the system will send you another text message.
TimeFree is customizable, said mentor Louie Gallardo. A company can, for example, deploy the system as an added customer service and do away with the coin slot so that its clients don’t have to pay for the alerts. TimeFree is also easy to deploy. Gallardo said they can easily connect it to existing ticketing systems.
The TimeFree protoype that the student group produced will be used by the Ateneo de Zamboanga’s finance office after the contest.
While TimeFree was not among the top three winners of the Sweep Innovation and Excellence Awards, I think the application has the most potential to be actually deployed and used. I’ve covered Smart Sweep for four years but I couldn’t recall being as excited and as giddy as I was during the demo of mentor Eugene Kanindot of Ateneo de Zamboanga.
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Source Code Review According to COMELEC (Feb 08 10) [Pablo Manalastas]
Source Code Review According to COMELEC (Feb 08 10)
Recently, COMELEC announced that it will allow the review of the source codes of the computer programs for Election 2010 by programmers of interested political parties and groups, in conformity with the provision of Section 14 of the AES Law Revised (RA9369), which states,
"Once an AES technology is selected for implementation, the Commission shall promptly make the source code of that technology available and open to any interested political party or groups which may conduct their own review thereof."
We have to take this announcement with a grain of salt -- we can not truly believe in the truth of this announcement. If we ask COMELEC or Smartmatic exactly what the source code review is all about, we get three different answers, depending on which person in COMELEC or Smartmatic we are talking to.
Various Definitions of Source Code Review by COMELEC-SMartmatic
Version 1. Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan, Chief Legal Counsel of COMELEC, has one ver...
Will 1000 Ballots Fit in This Box? (Feb 08 10) [Pablo Manalastas]
This is the ballot box that will be used in the May 10, 2010 national and local elections. In this picture, we see the box with 50 ballots, after 50 teacher-voters cast their votes in the mock elections of Saturday, February 6, 2010, at New Era Elementary School in Quezon City. This box is almost one-fifth full with only 50 ballots. We are told that this box was designed to hold 1000 ballots. I showed this photo to a number of people, and asked them if they think 1000 ballots will fit in this box, and everyone said there is no way 1000 ballots will fit, unless the BEI members open the box from time to time to stack the ballots neatly inside. I think COMELEC-Smartmatic designed this box to hold 1000 ballots that are US letter size, not 1000 ballots that are size 8.5"x29", which is the current ballot size.
Good luck to COMELEC. I hope that it finds a way to solve is packing-stacking problem, which I believe will be a problem on election day.
Saturday, 06 February
UP Team Ranks 40 out of 103 in Programming Contest World Finals (Feb 06 10) [Pablo Manalastas]
The UP ACM Programming Team ranked 40 out of a total of 103 collegiate programming teams from universities all over the world, to produce the finest performance ever of any Philippine team in the World Finals of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, held yesterday in Harbin, China. Each of the 103 participating teams are already champions of the programming contests in their respective regions. The UP team, code named "Mga SOGO in ET", has team members Marte Raphael Soliza, Kevin Charles Atienza, and John Eddie Ayson. Their faculty coaches are Dr. Fidel Nemenzo and Mr. Eric "E.T." Tambasacan. They were champion team from the Asia-Manila regional programming contest in October 2009, at which teams from China, Singapore, Vietnam, and other Asian countries participated.
Congratulations Marte, Kevin, and John, for A JOB WELL DONE!
Correction: The World Finals 2010 scoreboard lists the UP team at the new and higher rank of 36, not 40. Sorry for the error.
http://cm.b...
Tuesday, 26 January
QOTD: Learning journalism [Ian Dexter R. Marquez]
He was doing journalism in order to eat, which is a very good way of learning journalism. Probably the only real way, come to think of it.
– Terry Pratchett on Neil Gaiman, in Good Omens
Posted on Coredump - Work, play, and everything in-between, under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. Original article: QOTD: Learning journalism by Ian Dexter R Marquez
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