Warning: include(/home1/george/public_html/wp-content/advanced-cache.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home1/george/public_html/wp-settings.php on line 84

Warning: include(): Failed opening '/home1/george/public_html/wp-content/advanced-cache.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/share/pear') in /home1/george/public_html/wp-settings.php on line 84

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home1/george/public_html/wp-includes/load.php on line 760
Tales from the bits http://talesfromthebits.com This is a blog about technology, computer science, software engineering and personal notes from these fields Fri, 17 Jun 2016 16:53:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.16 5 Effortless Ways to Triple your Productivity http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/5-effortless-ways-to-triple-your-productivity.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/5-effortless-ways-to-triple-your-productivity.html#respond Wed, 15 Jun 2016 06:31:11 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=781 Use these 5 ways to skyrocket your productivity. You will have amazing results.

  1. Use To-Do lists. A To-Do list is a list of tasks that we plan to accomplish at some point in the future. Having that said let’s see how to create a To-Do list. The first time you will create a list a million things will come to your mind. My advice is to write them all down. Do not let anything out of your list. You need to get them out of your brain into a piece of paper. As you doing this you will realize that some tasks are simple but other tasks are more complex and you will need to divide them to sub-tasks. Since you are going to reorganize and rearrange your list several times, I propose to you to use some software to write your list. You can use something simple like notepad or you can use something more advanced like Toodledo® or Microsoft Outlook®. I am using like Toodledo® with my iPad, with my smartphone, and with my PC but you can use whatever software you choose on your favorite platform.
  2. Use Checklists.Checklists are the best tool to capture experience while performing a process/Workflow. You want to train another person to perform a specific process or routine? Just give that person your checklist. Do you want to improve your process? Just update the checklist.
  3. Use the 20 Minutes to Success® method. This is a method I developed to improve my productivity. In a nutshell, split your hour to twenty minutes interval in order to schedule 3 tasks per hour. This method is far more efficient compared with the Pomodoro technique.
  4. Block distractions. It is OK to say no to a colleague asking you for help or simply wanting to chat with you. Avoid checking your email/ social media account (Facebook) every 5 minutes. Focus on the task at hand. Set your browser to block your access to the sites that distract you.
  5. Use Evernote. Evernote is a must have application to help you save and retrieve information lightning fast. I have a premium account and I can scan documents and business cards. No more loosing time searching for contacts or documents. I Tag them and I can retrieve them on my mobile, Ipad, desktop at no time.
  6. Bonus Tip. Do not multitask! Stay focused accomplishing a single task at a time.
]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/5-effortless-ways-to-triple-your-productivity.html/feed 0
An Amazing Productivity Tip. http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/an-amazing-productivity-tip.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/an-amazing-productivity-tip.html#respond Tue, 14 Jun 2016 06:30:36 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=779 We all try to be more productive. I used the following method to increase my productivity.

  1. I identified the bottlenecks in my workflow
  2. I used a better method for archiving and retrieving the information I am looking for.

It all started with applying te Pareto principle when analyzing my workflows.

In 1906, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto observed that the 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Pareto also popularized the term “elite” in social analysis.

The term “Pareto Principle” was introduced by Joseph M. Juran when in 1941 became aware of the work of Vilfredo Pareto. He began to apply the Pareto principle to quality issues. Generalized, the principle states that 80% of a problem is caused by 20% of the causes.

The Pareto Principle can be stated in the business as following:

  • 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers
  • 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers
  • 80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend
  • 80% of your sales come from 20% of your products

In other industries:

  • 20% of patients have been found to use 80% of health care resources

Fixing the top 20% most reported bugs, 80% of the errors and crashes would be eliminated.

I applied the Pareto Principle to time management to help me identify the causes that produce the most delays in my daily work. When I identified these, I was able to work in the correct direction to fix the true cause of the problem.

In order to do this, I recorded the time that I used to complete my tasks, and I also included the time for interruptions, breaks or destructions.

I then identified the 20% of the activities that take up 80% of my time. Can I delegate some of these activities? Can I reorganize my work in a way to minimize the impact of these activities on the time I use?

For example, I have found that I use a lot of time to search for files or notes that I have taken in the past. I changed the way I file my notes, I used an electronic filing program and the benefits were amazing. I am using Evernote. It is an amazing program that allows you to create notebooks to organize your documents, pictures, business cards and thoughts. The most powerful feature are the Tags. You can create as many tags you need and categorize your Evernote entries. Searching using the Tags is powerful. I freed up a lot of my time. There are a lot of online programs to choose from according to your needs.

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/an-amazing-productivity-tip.html/feed 0
The Secret for Efficient Time Management http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/the-secret-for-efficient-time-management.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/the-secret-for-efficient-time-management.html#respond Mon, 13 Jun 2016 06:02:40 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=776 We all want to be more productive and accomplish more in the same amount of time. Is it possible? My answer is yes, it is possible if you develop impeccable time management skills. (Also, some automation required :))There are several techniques for time management. One largely known and used is the  Pomodoro technique which splits the hour into two 30 minutes parts and gives you 5 minutes breaks for each 25 minutes of work.  So it is 25 minutes work + 5 minutes break= 30 minutes. At first, this looks like a great way to accomplish some tasks such as reading or exercises. If you try to apply the Pomodoro technique to your life outside of the academic or reading time time you will find out that is not at all efficient. For some tasks, you will need less time and for some other tasks, you will need more time. For example, when you make phone calls or when you go for an appointment. There is also another aspect to consider. The increase waste of time. In an 8 hour work day the Pomodoro technique allows you to have  80 minutes break. This is 10 minutes every hour. It is 80 minutes for every 8 hours of work. It does not sound efficient at all.

20 minutes to success!

The secret of 20 minutes time intervals. You split the hour into three parts, accomplishing 3 tasks per hour. You can, alternatively, combine 20 minutes parts to accomplish a much bigger task. For example, you receive a task that needs 4 hours to complete. You can combine the 20 minutes chunks to build the 4 hours that you need to accomplish your task. You can even schedule a 20 minutes break after accomplishing the task. The 20 minutes break down of the hour is very efficient fo meetings too. 15 minutes is not enough time for a meeting. In 20 minutes you can have a well-organized meeting. If you need more time you can add another 20 minutes making it a 40 minutes meeting. This leaves you another 20 minutes to accomplish another task. I can write many examples but I think that you get the idea.

Dividing the hour to 20 minutes alone cannot bring success. For success to come you need also to discuss personal goal setting, the use of to-do or action lists, prioritization, estimation of the tasks, delegation, how to manage interruptions, how to beat procrastination, risk management and how to remain self-motivated at all times. All the discussion points presented previously affect either positive or negative your time management.

The topics mentioned above will be covered in future blog posts.

Have a great, happy and productive day!

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2016/06/the-secret-for-efficient-time-management.html/feed 0
The Shocking Truth About Internet Privacy http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/09/the-shocking-truth-about-internet-privacy.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/09/the-shocking-truth-about-internet-privacy.html#respond Tue, 16 Sep 2014 17:48:27 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=765 Is Internet privacy one of your concerns? Do you know how many companies are tracking you? You cleared your browser’s cookies and you think that all the tracking of your activities is gone. You used the private browsing option of your browser and you think that no one is tracking you online. You selected the option “Do Not Track” of your browser and you think that is enough.

You are so wrong!

Your online activity is tracked with Browser Fingerprinting.

What is Browser Fingerprinting?

Peter Eckersley of the Electronic Frontier Foundation showed in 2010 that from a sample of 470,161 browsers who participated in the experiment, 84% produced unique fingerprints. (94 % including those that supported Adobe Flash or a Java Virtual Machine). The attributes that fingerprinting was based on included  user’s screen size, time zone, browser plugins and a set of installed fonts. All these attributes create a unique fingerprint for a computer.

IEEE Spectrum has a detailed article on how web advertisers stealthily monitor our browsing habits.

How can I test my browser?

You can test and see your browser’s fingerprint here.

There are a couple of tools (browser add-ons) that you can use. Two of them are Lightbeam and Ghostery.

Ghostery is available for all the major browsers. Ghostery has the largest tracker database available on the web. Ghostery profiles and culls over 1,900 trackers and 2,200 tracking patterns.

Lightbeam is a Firefox add-on that uses interactive visualizations to show you the first and third party sites you interact with on the Web.

What are your thoughts?

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/09/the-shocking-truth-about-internet-privacy.html/feed 0
3 New Free ebooks from Microsoft Press http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/3-new-free-ebooks-from-microsoft-press.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/3-new-free-ebooks-from-microsoft-press.html#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2014 09:06:01 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=758 Microsoft Press offers some free ebooks! I found the ebooks at Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) which offers online Microsoft training to help developers learn the latest technology. MVA is free of charge, and the entire service is hosted on Windows Azure.

One of the ebooks (1311 pages) is Programming Windows Store Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Second Edition, by Kraig rockschmidt.

MVA has added 3 New Free ebooks. You can access them here.

 

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/3-new-free-ebooks-from-microsoft-press.html/feed 1
3 Deadly mistakes during requirements gathering http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/3-deadly-mistakes-during-requirements-gathering.html Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:11:46 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=710 What are the 3 deadly mistakes that you can do during requirements gathering?
First, let me tell you a secret. There are more than 3 deadly mistakes you can do during software requirements gathering. I will focus on the deadliest 3. So let’s start! At the moment you start interviewing the client for the software she needs to build, starts the software requirement gathering process.
1. We have a tendency to assume things. My advice: Assume nothing. Especially if you have experience in the domain, it does not mean that everyone follows the same processes or uses the same vocabulary. Check all the assumptions you make with the client to create a common vocabulary and be explicit with all your communications. Add the vocabulary to all documents that you create. If you are new to requirements gathering then listen and make sure you understand everything that the client wants. Ask questions to get clarifications and take notes.
2. The client usually omits to communicate to you some very fundamental tasks that perform daily. This is not done on purpose. They have become “automatic”, part of the daily routine. Ask to observe, if possible, the working environment, the people that will use the system. Go and talk with them. Make sure that you want to make their life easier. You will find more information and you may probably discover additional pain areas or missed stakeholders. Be careful how you communicate your interest for their jobs. You are there to help everyone, you are not there to criticize or comment in a negative way. You are there to help remove the repeated mundane tasks that they perform. Tip: Map the workflow and you will discover the missing steps.
3. Accepting imprecise language from the part of the client. For example, the client says “I want a beautiful design” or “The system has to be very fast” or “The system has to have a log”. All these statements are vague. The requirements have to be precise. It is the analyst’s job to make this happen. What is the definition of beautiful? What is the definition of fast? What to log? Be as specific as possible, draw screen mockups, discuss about responsiveness of the user interface.
The above 3 mistakes left unaddressed ensure the failure of your project.

Do you have more mistakes to suggest? Please feel free to add to the list.

]]>
Alternative to Google Search – Get you privacy back! http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/alternative-to-google-search-get-you-privacy-back.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/alternative-to-google-search-get-you-privacy-back.html#respond Sat, 19 Apr 2014 07:13:02 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=744 DuckDuckGo is an alternative to Google Search that does not track or store your searches. DuckDuckGo does not store any personal information, e.g. IP addresses or user agents. This means that NSA or other government agencies around the globe won’t track your searches. Most important you will not get profiled by advertising agencies. You can find out how you are tracked here. As an added bonus, it has less clutter, less spam, less ads and an overall cleaner design.

DuckDuckGo was founded by Gabriel Weinberg in February 2008 in Valley Forge, PA (USA).

By May 2012, the search engine was attracting 1.5 million searches a day. The search engine currently gets over 120 million direct queries per month and this number is rising.

I want to keep my searches private so I am switching from Google to  DuckDuckGo. What are you going to do?

 

 

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/04/alternative-to-google-search-get-you-privacy-back.html/feed 0
Amazon Drones: Air Delivery in 30 minutes http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/01/amazon-drones-air-delivery-in-30-minutes.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/01/amazon-drones-air-delivery-in-30-minutes.html#respond Sat, 04 Jan 2014 19:00:29 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=740 Amazon is waiting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to launch Amazon Prime Air. Amazon hopes that the new rules for UAV will be in place early in 2015.

There are many questions for UAV delivery. Safety of the drones, security, privacy and many other issues.

Below is the footage of a test flight. In my opinion it is amazing. What is your opinion?

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2014/01/amazon-drones-air-delivery-in-30-minutes.html/feed 0
Top 10 Reasons to Get your Project Management Certification http://talesfromthebits.com/2013/12/top-10-reasons-to-get-your-project-management-certification.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2013/12/top-10-reasons-to-get-your-project-management-certification.html#comments Mon, 30 Dec 2013 07:06:25 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=725 Why you should get your Project Management Certification? Are you still thinking if you should get certified or not? Below you will find the top 10 reasons why you should get certified are soon as possible. Just to clarify, by Project Management Certification I am referring to the Certifications given by the Project Management Institute (PMI). I am a Certified Project Manager Professional (PMP®) with more than 15 years experience. I have managed many projects in different domains but mostly I am managing Software Development Projects in high demanding real time environments. You may have heard the motto “Failure is not an option“, with Project Management skills you just make it happen. It is not magic, it is knowledge and experience.

So, enough said, let’s talk about the Top 10 reasons to get your Project Management Certification list:

  1. Demonstrate your Project Management Skillset. Yes, you are managing projects for many years so it is a must to have your skills certified. Show to everyone that you know the current project management standards, processes and best practices.
  2. Show that you understand what contingency is and how to manage it. You also indicate that you know how to estimate a project.
  3. Show that you understand how to perform risk management and also how to lower the risks for the projects you manage.
  4. Prove that you know how to maintain the scope of the project and guard it against “scope creep” by implementing proper change management processes.
  5. Be part of 460,000 PMI credential holders around the world.
  6. Give yourself a competitive edge. When companies are hiring they will prefer the one with the certification and the experience that the one with only the experience.
  7. Be able to talk about quality and implement quality management for your projects.
  8. Your PMP® certification will bring more value to the company you are employed.
  9. You are demonstrating you personal drive to acquire more knowledge in the field and remain current.
  10. Distinguish from other project managers who are not certified. Demonstrate your life long commitment to Project Management and to learning.

For me it remains a mystery(?) why some project managers prefer not to get certified. I have talked with many project managers without a certification and I have found that they do not know some basic Project Management knowledge areas such as proper scope management, risk management, process optimization, etc. These project managers, probably are afraid to take the test, they afraid of not passing the test. The fear of failure. Alternatively, they might be are so locked in with their beliefs that refuse to change and learn new skills. My advice: Be different, get certified!

What do you think?

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2013/12/top-10-reasons-to-get-your-project-management-certification.html/feed 2
7 Steps for Effective Meetings http://talesfromthebits.com/2013/12/7-steps-for-effective-meetings.html http://talesfromthebits.com/2013/12/7-steps-for-effective-meetings.html#respond Sat, 28 Dec 2013 12:27:29 +0000 http://talesfromthebits.com/?p=663 To run effective meetings, and get the good reputation that comes along,  you need to do some planning and thinking before the meeting. Have you ever got stuck into a meeting that you could not see the end coming? Have you ever got stuck in to a meeting that you wonder why you were invited? If your answer is yes, keep reading.

The 7 steps presented below helps you achieving more effective meetings.

Before the meeting

Preparation is a key element to success.

1. Scope: You set the scope of the meeting. What is the meeting about? Choose a title that represents the purpose of the meeting, like “New office planning”.

2. Time and Location: Instead of having a meeting title like “New Meeting 14:00” or a similar generic description prefer something more specific like “New office planning 14:00 – 15:00” which has a detailed title and also a starting and ending time. You guess it right! The place is missing. You have to state where the meeting is going to take place. “New office planning 14:00 – 15:00, Meeting Room 1 @ Main Building”. The duration of the meeting depends on the agenda of the meeting. If there are many participants allocate 40 or even 60 minutes for the meeting. If there are few participants you can allocate 20 minutes for the meeting. Proper time management is a key element for effective meetings. Needless to say, if the key persons cannot attend you will have to reschedule your meeting.

3. Agenda: You define the contents of the meeting. Write a list of the items that will be discussed during the meeting. This is the agenda of the meeting. Next to each item of the agenda, write the allocated time. You may also include the owner of the particular item and the objective of the discussion.

4. Agenda buy-in: Distribute the agenda by email to all participants of the meeting with a note asking for their feedback and to also add to the list any other item that they think belong to that meeting and send it back to you. Ask them particularly to reply to you and not to all. You do not want to start an email discussion before the meeting. Ask also to receive their reply by a certain date. You may also request their questions regarding specific topics of the discussion. Review the list and distribute it to all participants, latest at the next day of your deadline.

During the meeting

5. Time: Start immediately the meeting with the first topic for discussion. Manage the time and be careful not to overrun the allocated time.

6. Topics: Keep presenting the items for discussion. Ask for comments or questions. If no one has questions then move to the next topic. Give the floor to the owner of the item to present it. Make sure that the presenters stick to the allocated time. Sometimes this may be difficult especially if the presenter is a senior manager or your boss.

Ensure that the meeting stays on topic.

After the meeting

7. Meeting minutes: Send the meeting minutes to all participants. Ask them to add any item that feel that was left out of the meeting minutes. If there are items left uncovered schedule a new meeting.

Are you using these steps for your meeting? What would you add to these steps?

]]>
http://talesfromthebits.com/2013/12/7-steps-for-effective-meetings.html/feed 0