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From: <ben...@id...> - 2004-05-22 12:53:27
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Dear Open Source developer I am doing a research project on "Fun and Software Development" in which I kindly invite you to participate. You will find the online survey under http://fasd.ethz.ch/qsf/. The questionnaire consists of 53 questions and you will need about 15 minutes to complete it. With the FASD project (Fun and Software Development) we want to define the motivational significance of fun when software developers decide to engage in Open Source projects. What is special about our research project is that a similar survey is planned with software developers in commercial firms. This procedure allows the immediate comparison between the involved individuals and the conditions of production of these two development models. Thus we hope to obtain substantial new insights to the phenomenon of Open Source Development. With many thanks for your participation, Benno Luthiger PS: The results of the survey will be published under http://www.isu.unizh.ch/fuehrung/blprojects/FASD/. We have set up the mailing list fa...@we... for this study. Please see http://fasd.ethz.ch/qsf/mailinglist_en.html for registration to this mailing list. _______________________________________________________________________ Benno Luthiger Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich 8092 Zurich Mail: benno.luthiger(at)id.ethz.ch _______________________________________________________________________ |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-11-18 21:40:35
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Oh Yeah.. If you can make it out.. The meeting is at the board room in 20 James St. at 4:30 to 7:00. mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Stop Cdn Pension Plan War Investments -> http://coat.openconcept.ca/ Another world is not only possible, she is on her way -Arundhati Roy |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-11-18 21:35:59
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Hi Justin, On Tue, 2003-11-11 at 21:50, Justin Beattie wrote: > Ok, I`ve got the sourceforge thing working finally. The latest tarball of > the code is up. We are happy with this version, and it is more or less our > final version. We have been encouraged and would like to hold an acceptance > test for this version of the code. If you like, we could arrange a time and > place to meet where we can demo the system and run some tests. I think that meeting to discuss your work would be useful. I have been run off my feet in the last while, so had wanted to get further with the install than I managed. Initially, I had envisioned that you would use a virtual server space like that provided by sf to set up the code. It is a real time environment which we all have access to and with a set of tools which are useful for any software development project. However, it didn't work out that way. > You will find attached the "client feedback form" that is used for your > assessment of us, the project group, and the project course in general. Note > that it is divided into four sections, one of them being the "User Manual". > This is in reference to the online help and install documentation. Please > fill out the form, and send it to Gerry Hurdle at > hu...@al... before December 1, 2003. I will certainly do this. I will have implemented your code by that time. Who would be the best person to ask questions of? Or should i just send them to this list? > We are giving a final presentation of the project on Thursday, November 20, > at 1:00pm in room T-129 at the college. You are welcome to come. It is unfortunate but I won't be able to make it then. i was trying to organize a planning meeting for BE developers, but the best time for most people was 5pm that afternoon. I'm going to have to be running around that day making sure that it all goes smoothly. It's going to be an expensive conference call. If any of you can make it, it would be great. Although I haven't implemented your module yet, you might be interested in meeting some of the other developers and getting to know a bit more about where this project is going. I'd also be interested in knowing (probably off list), if any of you would be available for consulting work in the future. I occasionally need more developers familiar with BE than I can get my hands on. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Stop Cdn Pension Plan War Investments -> http://coat.openconcept.ca/ Another world is not only possible, she is on her way -Arundhati Roy |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-11-12 02:50:47
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Mike, Peter: Ok, I`ve got the sourceforge thing working finally. The latest tarball of the code is up. We are happy with this version, and it is more or less our final version. We have been encouraged and would like to hold an acceptance test for this version of the code. If you like, we could arrange a time and place to meet where we can demo the system and run some tests. You will find attached the "client feedback form" that is used for your assessment of us, the project group, and the project course in general. Note that it is divided into four sections, one of them being the "User Manual". This is in reference to the online help and install documentation. Please fill out the form, and send it to Gerry Hurdle at hu...@al... before December 1, 2003. We are giving a final presentation of the project on Thursday, November 20, at 1:00pm in room T-129 at the college. You are welcome to come. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-11-04 22:36:12
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Sorry for the delays in sending this to you. It's been a busy few days. I'm just approving the latest design document. Thanks for sending it in OpenOffice format. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Featured Client Bill Blaikie, MP -> http://www.billblaikie.ca To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult -Plutarch |
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From: <jus...@hr...> - 2003-11-03 20:32:59
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"You can get access to it through the admin pages. I think when you are logged in you should be able to click through to it here: https://sourceforge.net/project/admin/editpackages.php?group_id=3D74559" Ah ok, thanks for the link. I`m trying to ftp upload.sf.net right now, = but it`s very slow, and I`m only getting through half the time. I`m = wondering if there any other ways to get to their server? "Will there sql provided or INSTALL notes in the next version?" Yes. "Ok.. I'll review it for you today then. How am I supposed to sign off on it electronically? Will an email to the team suffice?" An e-mail CC'ing ome...@al... and = hu...@al... will work. "Sorry to hear about Mike. .5.4 would be alright. the CVS version = would be better. If you haven't integrated it yet use the CVS version. Ask if you've got questions. I'll be happy to help." Noted. |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-11-03 19:32:33
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Howdy Justin, On Mon, 2003-11-03 at 10:34, jus...@hr... wrote: > "Can you put up a tarball on SF? The CVS probably would have been useful > to watch your development process." > Not sure if this has been brought up before, but I can`t seem to find any mechanism in sf.net, to allow file uploads. Maybe there`s a missing link in the "Files" section (I can see the links to the Statement of Scope) but nothing else. You can get access to it through the admin pages. I think when you are logged in you should be able to click through to it here: https://sourceforge.net/project/admin/editpackages.php?group_id=74559 > Richard and Mike have been working on the code, and development is still ongoing. I`ve let them manage concurrent versions between themselves, but I`ve asked Richard to put up a tarball on sf.net. We`re all pretty busy at the moment as well, trying to mould the "documentation" into the mysterious and confusing shape our advisors want it in before Wednesday. Right. Deadlines, advisors, documentation.. > Anyway, in light of this sf.net problem, I`ve put the first version of our code (pre-"freeze") on my server so you can see where we started (http://supaju.com/ta.tar.gz). It started very independent from Back-End, so we could test our components before integrating. The interfaces are very basic at this point, and a few features (PDF/RTF download, User Account modification) have not been implemented yet, but these are things we are currently working on. So at the moment this stands as an independent script and not as a module of Back-end? There are advantages to this, but also big disadvantages as the migration work will be rather difficult. Will there sql provided or INSTALL notes in the next version? > With respects to the documentation: "How has it changed since April 11th?" > The only major changes are that algorithms and physical implementation deails are now included. Evidently, an "Analysis Document" (last term) describes purely logical elements of system architecture, whereas a "Design Document (this term) takes that logical architecture and adds implementation specifics (variables types, languages, database types). The diagrams still logically show the system`s behaviour, but now details like "PHP" and "SQL Table" are included. The difference is subtle, but this is evidently what is expected of us. Ok.. I'll review it for you today then. How am I supposed to sign off on it electronically? Will an email to the team suffice? > "Which version of Back-End have you been using?" > To be honest, I don`t know: I left that up to Mike and Richard. Does 5.4 sound right? Mike has fell ill over the weekend, so I`ve lost touch. I`ll let you know ASAP. Sorry to hear about Mike. .5.4 would be alright. the CVS version would be better. If you haven't integrated it yet use the CVS version. Ask if you've got questions. I'll be happy to help. > "Busy, about to release a 7.0.1 release of Back-End. Have cleaned up a > bunch of code within it." > Glad to hear! There was a bit of Back-End related confusion last week, when we were starting integration. Details to follow. Hoping Back-End 7.0.1 will clear things up. :) You can post questions to this list or the Back-End.org mailing list if there are more questions. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Featured Client Bill Blaikie, MP -> http://www.billblaikie.ca To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult -Plutarch |
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From: <jus...@hr...> - 2003-11-03 15:35:04
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Guys, "Can you put up a tarball on SF? The CVS probably would have been = useful to watch your development process." Not sure if this has been brought up before, but I can`t seem to find = any mechanism in sf.net, to allow file uploads. Maybe there`s a missing = link in the "Files" section (I can see the links to the Statement of = Scope) but nothing else. Richard and Mike have been working on the code, and development is still = ongoing. I`ve let them manage concurrent versions between themselves, = but I`ve asked Richard to put up a tarball on sf.net. We`re all pretty = busy at the moment as well, trying to mould the "documentation" into the = mysterious and confusing shape our advisors want it in before Wednesday. = Anyway, in light of this sf.net problem, I`ve put the first version of = our code (pre-"freeze") on my server so you can see where we started = (http://supaju.com/ta.tar.gz). It started very independent from = Back-End, so we could test our components before integrating. The = interfaces are very basic at this point, and a few features (PDF/RTF = download, User Account modification) have not been implemented yet, but = these are things we are currently working on. With respects to the documentation: "How has it changed since April = 11th?" The only major changes are that algorithms and physical implementation = details are now included. Evidently, an "Analysis Document" (last term) = describes purely logical elements of system architecture, whereas a = "Design Document (this term) takes that logical architecture and adds = implementation specifics (variables types, languages, database types). = The diagrams still logically show the system`s behaviour, but now = details like "PHP" and "SQL Table" are included. The difference is = subtle, but this is evidently what is expected of us.=20 "Which version of Back-End have you been using?" To be honest, I don`t know: I left that up to Mike and Richard. Does 5.4 = sound right? Mike has fell ill over the weekend, so I`ve lost touch. = I`ll let you know ASAP. "Busy, about to release a 7.0.1 release of Back-End. Have cleaned up a bunch of code within it." Glad to hear! There was a bit of Back-End related confusion last week, = when we were starting integration. Details to follow. Hoping Back-End = 7.0.1 will clear things up. :) Justin Beattie |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-11-01 15:45:19
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Howdy folks, Justin Wrote: > The time is finally here: the climax of the project! Excellent! > I`ll let you know quickly what`s going on on our end. We basically submerged > ourselves in project work these past couple months and developed the Design > Document, online User Help Documentation, and a good, stable working version > of the system. The system is minimal in its current state, and the > interfaces need more development, but we had to meet a "code freeze" > deadline last Sunday. We will be demonstrating the system to our advisors > tommorrow, after which the freeze will be lifted, and development will > continue. Ok.. I knew this was coming up, but didn't realize that it was so far along. Is it possible to see your working version? > You`ll be happy to know that with a change in professors this term, we can > now submit the documentation in OpenOffice format! And there won`t be any > problems with a digital signature either, so we don`t have to deal with that > faxing nonesense. :P Excellent. > You can download the design document from my personal > server at: http://supaju.com/Design_document_v2.sxw . Please note that this > is due to the academic department by Wednesday, November 5, so please review > and sign before then (by Tuesday, if possible). How has it changed since April 11th? Like the new diagrams. Which version of Back-End have you been using? > Also, please note that the > design document is rather simple, and probably not industry-standard in many > ways, but we had to appease many requests from the advisors again. The code > is more detailed than the Design Document makes it out to be. Ok. This is good to know. > Officially, our project ends at the final presentation on November 20. We > still plan to continue working on the system to fix the bugs and > requirements we missed last Sunday, and improve the interfaces, so we won`t > deliver the final system at least until that date. Can you put up a tarball on SF? The CVS probably would have been useful to watch your development process. > I hope everything is going well on your end, Busy, about to release a 7.0.1 release of Back-End. Have cleaned up a bunch of code within it. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Featured Client Bill Blaikie, MP -> http://www.billblaikie.ca To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult -Plutarch |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-10-31 06:11:19
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Mike, Peter: The time is finally here: the climax of the project! I`ll let you know quickly what`s going on on our end. We basically submerged ourselves in project work these past couple months and developed the Design Document, online User Help Documentation, and a good, stable working version of the system. The system is minimal in its current state, and the interfaces need more development, but we had to meet a "code freeze" deadline last Sunday. We will be demonstrating the system to our advisors tommorrow, after which the freeze will be lifted, and development will continue. You`ll be happy to know that with a change in professors this term, we can now submit the documentation in OpenOffice format! And there won`t be any problems with a digital signature either, so we don`t have to deal with that faxing nonesense. :P You can download the design document from my personal server at: http://supaju.com/Design_document_v2.sxw . Please note that this is due to the academic department by Wednesday, November 5, so please review and sign before then (by Tuesday, if possible). Also, please note that the design document is rather simple, and probably not industry-standard in many ways, but we had to appease many requests from the advisors again. The code is more detailed than the Design Document makes it out to be. Officially, our project ends at the final presentation on November 20. We still plan to continue working on the system to fix the bugs and requirements we missed last Sunday, and improve the interfaces, so we won`t deliver the final system at least until that date. I hope everything is going well on your end, -Justin Beattie. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-09-09 03:07:15
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Mike, "That's one hell of a cubical number they gave you. :)" Sure is. I`ll be damned if they let me change it too! ;) "I sent along the fax of page 2. Glad I didn't have to fax the whole document though as that would have taken days!" Yep, got it. Thank you. "OpenOffice worked fine." I didn`t expect any less of it. "I'd be interested in knowing more about the groups ideas to make the TakeAction tool marketable." Sorry about that, it was poor wording on my part. I meant to make it "marketable" as per implementing the "extra features" that were out of scope of the project. I was trying to get creative with the vocabulary, so I wouldn`t sound redundant. -Justin Beattie. _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail |
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From: Peter B. <pe...@bo...> - 2003-09-05 15:47:17
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On Wed, 2003-09-03 at 21:55, Justin Beattie wrote: > Mike, Peter: > > As Mike Smith testified, I was away last weekend (canoe camping in the > Georgian Bay). Good for me! The trip was excellent; the weather was > beautiful and the park is outstanding. But now i`m back and ready to roll. I'm glad you had a great trip! > Our (the project group`s) first objective this term is to get the Analysis > document out of the way, and try not to touch it again. I can safely say > we`re all sick of it. I won`t presume on your part, but I can understand if > you don`t want to wade through all 200 pages! Understandable. In contrast to waterfall, the Rational Unified Process (and other agile programming models) actually evolve and revisit the analysis iteratively and incrementally. With RUP, you do _most_ of your requirements and analysis at the front of the cycle but, rather than leaving these artifacts behind us, we continually address them as the requirements change (yes, requirements always change mid-stream... fact of life) and our understanding of the system progresses. (I hope not to be perceived as beating a dead horse on this waterfall alternative thing... I merely intend to share my knowledge of a methodology that works far more effectively than waterfall). > Our latest and what we will deem final version is up for download. Our > regular file server is undergoing construction, so you can get it off my > personal server at http://supaju.fdns.net/Analysis_document_v2.sxw and > http://supaju.fdns.net/Analysis_document_v2.doc (I provided that just in > case the OpenOffice one doesn`t work - is that ironic?). :P > > It isn`t very different from the last version you received, but a lot of the > errors that cost us marks last term are now fixed. We decided not to > incorporate any modifications to the system formally, as this will cause us > to waste time on documentation and impede our progress. By now, I`m aiming > only to give the school what it wants, and spend the rest of the time coding > what the collective WE want (meaning making TakeAction marketable). Excellent. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Bojanic <pe...@bo...> | Phone: (613) 762-5376 Open Source Consulting & Development | Ottawa, Ontario CANADA Website: http://www.bojanic.ca This technology could fall into the right hands |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-09-05 15:19:29
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Hello Justin, That's one hell of a cubical number they gave you. :) I sent along the fax of page 2. Glad I didn't have to fax the whole document though as that would have taken days! Glad you had a good camping trip. I scanned through the 200+pages.. OpenOffice worked fine. I'd be interested in knowing more about the groups ideas to make the TakeAction tool marketable. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Fair Vote Petition - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/petition.php The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house - A Lorde |
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From: <jus...@hr...> - 2003-09-04 15:28:24
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You can fax me at (819)997-4711. Please include a cover page that says = "Justin Beattie, 2D666". Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: Justin Beattie [mailto:mik...@ho...]=20 Sent: 03 September, 2003 9:56 PM To: tak...@li... Cc: Beattie, Justin Subject: Analysis document final final Mike, Peter: As Mike Smith testified, I was away last weekend (canoe camping in the=20 Georgian Bay). Good for me! The trip was excellent; the weather was=20 beautiful and the park is outstanding. But now i`m back and ready to = roll. Our (the project group`s) first objective this term is to get the = Analysis=20 document out of the way, and try not to touch it again. I can safely say = we`re all sick of it. I won`t presume on your part, but I can understand = if=20 you don`t want to wade through all 200 pages! Our latest and what we will deem final version is up for download. Our=20 regular file server is undergoing construction, so you can get it off my = personal server at http://supaju.fdns.net/Analysis_document_v2.sxw and=20 http://supaju.fdns.net/Analysis_document_v2.doc (I provided that just in = case the OpenOffice one doesn`t work - is that ironic?). :P It isn`t very different from the last version you received, but a lot of = the=20 errors that cost us marks last term are now fixed. We decided not to=20 incorporate any modifications to the system formally, as this will cause = us=20 to waste time on documentation and impede our progress. By now, I`m = aiming=20 only to give the school what it wants, and spend the rest of the time = coding=20 what the collective WE want (meaning making TakeAction marketable). Could you please sign and return page 2 as you did the Statement of = Scope,=20 so that we can hand it in? I will e-mail the fax number tommorrow so you = can=20 fax it to me at my work (easier than school). _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. =20 http://join.msn.com/?page=3Dfeatures/featuredemail |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-09-04 01:56:32
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Mike, Peter: As Mike Smith testified, I was away last weekend (canoe camping in the Georgian Bay). Good for me! The trip was excellent; the weather was beautiful and the park is outstanding. But now i`m back and ready to roll. Our (the project group`s) first objective this term is to get the Analysis document out of the way, and try not to touch it again. I can safely say we`re all sick of it. I won`t presume on your part, but I can understand if you don`t want to wade through all 200 pages! Our latest and what we will deem final version is up for download. Our regular file server is undergoing construction, so you can get it off my personal server at http://supaju.fdns.net/Analysis_document_v2.sxw and http://supaju.fdns.net/Analysis_document_v2.doc (I provided that just in case the OpenOffice one doesn`t work - is that ironic?). :P It isn`t very different from the last version you received, but a lot of the errors that cost us marks last term are now fixed. We decided not to incorporate any modifications to the system formally, as this will cause us to waste time on documentation and impede our progress. By now, I`m aiming only to give the school what it wants, and spend the rest of the time coding what the collective WE want (meaning making TakeAction marketable). Could you please sign and return page 2 as you did the Statement of Scope, so that we can hand it in? I will e-mail the fax number tommorrow so you can fax it to me at my work (easier than school). _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail |
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From: Mike S. <ms...@ne...> - 2003-08-30 10:44:13
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Hello Mike, Peter- Justin's gone for the weekend, so I'll be standing in for him in the interim. He had a reply for you, which I've appended to the end of this e-mail. On Fri, 29 Aug 2003, Peter Bojanic wrote: > After you're done this course, I highly recommend you read about the > Rational Unified Method, Extreme Programming, or any of the other Agile > development methodologies out there today. I've found that extreme programming works really well on our less regimented assignments in other courses where we have one or more partners. The code is of higher quality and it drastically cuts debugging time. Although, it is a little tricky to get partners together in a college environment for coding sessions; going home to code means access to chips & beer. > I'd really like to teach a course on XP or RUP! What does it take to > teach a course at Algonquin? They could certainly use it. I'll ask the Comp Sci course coordinator for you. The cirriculum changes very slowly from term to term and much of what's being taught is practically archaic. Only just now (but too late for our group) have they split the project course stream into three parts rather than two, so that they can include some more relevent material. > I do urge you to take the feedback regarding RUP, XP, and Agile back to > your department. Strict waterfall doesn't work effectively (as you can > see in this case) and it doesn't do students justice to teach it. There > are better methods to learn that will provide future students with > significantly more learning value. I agree entirely. The waterfall method didn't even look good on paper or in the lectures. Case in point: Over the summer, I wrote an interconnectivity component for the government (Agriculture Canada). The one place I'd expect such a rigid software development cycle, and even they think it's outdated. I wound up with a set of requirements and a rapid prototyping cycle implimenting those requirements. There have been a few times that I've come away with so little from a course and actually contemplated demanding a refund from the college, but never thought I'd get very far with it... but I'm going off track, so I'll just cut this message here and give you Justin's. Mike Justin's message follows: ----- Mike, Peter: Yes, I did enjoy my summer, thanks for asking, although, working full time through it isn`t as enjoyable as the goold old "high school" days when it was three months off. :) Thank you for letting us know that the existing code is in Back-End and CUPE. We haven`t yet searched through for any code that applies to Take Action, but we will do so soon. (I've started going through it as time allows, though the professors are showing no mercy regarding project obligations; they just piled the coursework on in the 1st week. -Mike S.) >I do think that there will be enough work to keep you busy and within >scope.. If you run into having more time, stress testing, in-line >documentation, user documentation and other campaign tracking tools can >be developed. Yes, we agree. We have discussed the situation with our academic advisor (as I mentioned in my last e-mail). His stance is that whatever we can fit into the Analysis document will be what we officially submit as the project. I believe he set this as a limit because we must submit a signed Analysis document by Friday September 5. As this deadline is rapidly approaching, it will be a challenge for us to include more than just a few more features. We are working right now on sticking in the new e-mail Verification feature (send e-mail to user, user must reply), the Site Referral Information (points system), and the cookies. Peter, >I'd really like to teach a course on XP or RUP! What does it take to >teach a course at Algonquin? We`re still trying to figure that one out. ;) >Perhaps we can meet with the school together. It seems the customer >should be present at a meeting that will determine the future course of >this project. While we have already met with them, we agree that the client should have open communication with the college; I will ask the advisors again if they can open a time slot to meet with us. >I think this project is too large for your team to design and build from >scratch in the timeframe you've got. If this is strictly an education >exercise then we can continue to provide you with some feedback and you >can build whatever you need to satisfy your course requirements. As a group of students, we feel that we have been projected into a world that we know little about, and have been given tools that don`t fit all the situations we are facing. This is definitely an educational exercise, in that it is something none of us have done before. That being the case, we can refer to the educational exercises of the past three years of our college courses, in which we have completed successfully. While this is much different from theory courses, we feel that we will be successful in completing the workload - the project - the system as it is currently outlined in the Statement of Scope and the Analysis document. >However, if delivering value to your customer is actually party of the >gig, I recommend you focus on a few important features and implement >these within the existing Back-End Actions framework. This would truly >provide value to OpenConcept and the Back-End community and >(importantly), it will allow your team to focus on achievable goals. While a commerical industry`s foremost goal would be delivering value to the customer, we are forced to balance this with doing it the way the college wants us to. I can appreciate that this means we will not deliver as complex a system as an industry would, however we are also aware that your business itself will be making use of the system and therefore it is useful for the system to include the business' required features. Our main priority right now is to finish the document set required to proceed with the project. While the Analysis document of last term was on the heavy side, we feel our group is functioning much more fluently now, and our documentation will be produced much quicker. If we finish the main project early, which we intend to do, we then can implement extra features. I can't speak for my group in this regard, but I personally intend to volunteer my time to do this, once we have completed the project as defined in the Statement of Scope, and where I have time before starting the next school term. Please understand that we wish the best of this project, and will do our best to ensure it succeeds. (I also intend to continue contributing after the project ends. This tool is really needed if people are going to be heard over career lobbyists. -Mike S.) >Let me know what you think. If Mike is willing, I'd be happy to meet >with your professor and/or with the head of your faculty to discuss the >project further. |
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From: Peter B. <pe...@bo...> - 2003-08-29 12:28:59
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Hi Justin, On Sun, 2003-08-24 at 12:05, Justin Beattie wrote: > Mike, > > Another update on where we stand now. We are finally starting the second > "phase" of this project, where we complete Analysis of the system, design, > code, test and release it. There will be much more tangible progress in the > next three months. Our academic requirements are the production of a very > detailed design document, the fully functional system, and a presentation of > it. The design document will likely be of more interest to you than the the > Analysis document was, as it will contain all the details that were > deliberately left out of the Analysis document (as we were instructed to > do). After you're done this course, I highly recommend you read about the Rational Unified Method, Extreme Programming, or any of the other Agile development methodologies out there today. I'd really like to teach a course on XP or RUP! What does it take to teach a course at Algonquin? > It is necessary for us to model the existing Take Action code in our design > document, so that any work we do will fit within the current design. Could > I, therefore, have a copy of the current code? I`ve been searching the files > in the sourceforge webspace (sf.net/projects/takeaction), but haven`t seen > anything other than the Statement of Scope (oddly enough, sf seems to be > down tonight - as of 9:00pm 23/08/2003). As Mike mentioned in his previous email, much of the Action system has been built already and deployed on the CUPE site (http://www.cupe.ca/ check out the "Action Centre". I recommend you review this code and see how it works. > Your previous e-mail had some great system features that we would like to > implement. As you may recall, though, we are guided to strictly adhere to > the Statement of Scope, and to only produce code and documentation based on > the initial, established system requirements. We realize that much of this > functionality will already be in place come October/November, and so I am > communicating with the school, in order to find some way to add the extra > features and still obey academic guidelines. Perhaps we can meet with the school together. It seems the customer should be present at a meeting that will determine the future course of this project. > In the likely event that the school says no, we can relate some of the extra > features to the "desirable" requirements as found on pages 14 and 15 of the > Statement of Scope, so that we can do them anyway. Any other features that > were not mentioned in the Statement of Scope are out of the bounds of this > project, BUT if the system is completed on or before schedule as is > expected, we can take some time to implement the extra features, as > extra-curricular work. I think this project is too large for your team to design and build from scratch in the timeframe you've got. If this is strictly an education exercise then we can continue to provide you with some feedback and you can build whatever you need to satisfy your course requirements. However, if delivering value to your customer is actually party of the gig, I recommend you focus on a few important features and implement these within the existing Back-End Actions framework. This would truly provide value to OpenConcept and the Back-End community and (importantly), it will allow your team to focus on achievable goals. Let me know what you think. If Mike is willing, I'd be happy to meet with your professor and/or with the head of your faculty to discuss the project further. I do urge you to take the feedback regarding RUP, XP, and Agile back to your department. Strict waterfall doesn't work effectively (as you can see in this case) and it doesn't do students justice to teach it. There are better methods to learn that will provide future students with significantly more learning value. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Bojanic <pe...@bo...> | Phone: (613) 762-5376 Open Source Consulting & Development | Ottawa, Ontario CANADA This technology could fall into the right hands |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-08-26 03:07:46
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Hello Justin, How has your summer been? > Another update on where we stand now. We are finally starting the second > "phase" of this project, where we complete Analysis of the system, design, > code, test and release it. There will be much more tangible progress in the > next three months. Our academic requirements are the production of a very > detailed design document, the fully functional system, and a presentation of > it. The design document will likely be of more interest to you than the the > Analysis document was, as it will contain all the details that were > deliberately left out of the Analysis document (as we were instructed to > do). Glad to hear that this phase is going to move along more quickly. Have any of you had the time to take a look at Back-End lately? With this project it's best to work from the CVS as we're working to develop it as quickly as possible. > It is necessary for us to model the existing Take Action code in our design > document, so that any work we do will fit within the current design. Could > I, therefore, have a copy of the current code? Absolutely! As the project has developed we didn't separate out the BE code from the Take Action code. It didn't make sense as we were working on both.. I can see that it would make sense to migrate them when you start working on the code. > I`ve been searching the files > in the sourceforge webspace (sf.net/projects/takeaction), but haven`t seen > anything other than the Statement of Scope (oddly enough, sf seems to be > down tonight - as of 9:00pm 23/08/2003). I put together a snapshot here of the latest CVS code: http://back-end.org/snapshots/ The CVS is the most useful though: http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=6763 You're going to have to wade through the development doc a bit to get a better sense of how it's organized. The eAction & petition scripts have classes, user pages, admin pages and templates. If you've got questions though please feel free to ask them on the Back-End mailing list: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=6763 This is mostly useful so that the notes/questions will be organized in a location that may be helpful for other Back-End users. > Your previous e-mail had some great system features that we would like to > implement. Great.. > As you may recall, though, we are guided to strictly adhere to > the Statement of Scope, and to only produce code and documentation based on > the initial, established system requirements. We realize that much of this > functionality will already be in place come October/November, and so I am > communicating with the school, in order to find some way to add the extra > features and still obey academic guidelines. Some of the items in the scope (like the petition) where pretty vague. The campaign side can probably be enhanced more as can the work to duplicate the user tracking such as there is in: http://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/actionindex.jsp The current action code does a good job of allowing campaigners to set up campaigns and have people participate in it, but it still doesn't have the level of knowledge that the sierra club's site has. The remember me function is quite nice in the example take action script but not at all implemented in Back-End. I do think that there will be enough work to keep you busy and within scope.. If you run into having more time, stress testing, in-line documentation, user documentation and other campaign tracking tools can be developed. These two features are also useful (and can be considered in scope as far as I am concerned): http://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/profile http://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/history > In the likely event that the school says no, we can relate some of the extra > features to the "desirable" requirements as found on pages 14 and 15 of the > Statement of Scope, so that we can do them anyway. Yup.. > Any other features that > were not mentioned in the Statement of Scope are out of the bounds of this > project, BUT if the system is completed on or before schedule as is > expected, we can take some time to implement the extra features, as > extra-curricular work. There's a eCard tool within Back-End's gallery that can be enhanced to integrate with the user tracking for the eAction tools. The petition and the take action tools aren't integrated and haven't been tested to see if there are any conflicts. Export tools could be enhanced to export the data set as a OpenOffice spreadsheet so that folks could import it easily. Modules can be built to more easily integrate the eActions & ePetitions into existing Back-End sections as blocks. Adding a pdf version of the eActions so that they could print out a letter to send in the mail rather than faxing or emailing the letter would be good. There are probably a heap of other things too.. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Site Launch - Make Every Vote Count - http://www.fairvotecanada.org The cruelest lies are often told in silence. -- Robert L Stevenson |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-08-24 16:53:17
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Mike, Another update on where we stand now. We are finally starting the second "phase" of this project, where we complete Analysis of the system, design, code, test and release it. There will be much more tangible progress in the next three months. Our academic requirements are the production of a very detailed design document, the fully functional system, and a presentation of it. The design document will likely be of more interest to you than the the Analysis document was, as it will contain all the details that were deliberately left out of the Analysis document (as we were instructed to do). It is necessary for us to model the existing Take Action code in our design document, so that any work we do will fit within the current design. Could I, therefore, have a copy of the current code? I`ve been searching the files in the sourceforge webspace (sf.net/projects/takeaction), but haven`t seen anything other than the Statement of Scope (oddly enough, sf seems to be down tonight - as of 9:00pm 23/08/2003). Your previous e-mail had some great system features that we would like to implement. As you may recall, though, we are guided to strictly adhere to the Statement of Scope, and to only produce code and documentation based on the initial, established system requirements. We realize that much of this functionality will already be in place come October/November, and so I am communicating with the school, in order to find some way to add the extra features and still obey academic guidelines. In the likely event that the school says no, we can relate some of the extra features to the "desirable" requirements as found on pages 14 and 15 of the Statement of Scope, so that we can do them anyway. Any other features that were not mentioned in the Statement of Scope are out of the bounds of this project, BUT if the system is completed on or before schedule as is expected, we can take some time to implement the extra features, as extra-curricular work. _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-06-25 19:33:42
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Hello Justin, On Fri, 2003-06-20 at 23:44, > Hello Again! "Software Engineering" set our project group on sail through a > tempest and storm (so to speak). We took our share of batterings, but we`ve > all come out alive. Good to hear! > Mike, Peter, I apologize for the delayed response and status update, but I > want to let you know we`re on track for the project. For the last several > weeks of our course, we took an in depth study of System Analysis. From this > we used many tools (Data Flow Diagrams, Use Cases, Time Sequence Diagrams, > etc) to model the Take Action System, and compiled a 200 page Analysis > document. We have passed the document through the academic department for > technical review (and to meet course requirements); we would like just to > edit it before providing you with a copy (we plan to do that this coming > week). That's quite the analysis document. > Our plan for the summer is to research the environment and languages we will > use to design and code the Take Action System, coupled with changing and > adapting our analysis of the system to meet your requirements. Please note > that our academic guidelines have not changed, and we cannot deliver a > complete system before November 17. However, we look forward to working > with you in analysing and designing the system. You should look at the action components within Back-End's CVS at the moment. The standard classes and action classes have been developed since we last talked and I think you will find them both instramental to you successfully completing your project, but it is critical for us as we've had to develop some of the functionality that we were looking for for cupe.ca There is quite a lot more that can be done though, much of which we have already gone over. Not having code before the 17th isn't a problem at this point. > We have finished the Take Action Analysis Document. It has been converted > into OpenOffice and PDF formats, and placed on Richard`s server (the links > can be found below). The analysis document presents a thorough description > of the Take Action System as we see it, in terms of the data it will handle, > and its behaviour regarding the data. Please take the next four weeks to > read and review it and discuss with us by e-mail where our analysis is wrong > or lacking information. Once we are all in agreement with what the system > will do, we can proceed to designing it. > http://www.nullfusion.com/projects/files/Analysis%20Document%20Final/AnalysisDocumentFinal.pdf > http://www.nullfusion.com/projects/files/Analysis%20Document%20Final/Analysis_document_v1.sxw > (If the login prompt displays, use "projects" as username and "test" as > password). I couldn't download the star office document, but could grab the pdf file. The screen shots are a nice idea.. Could grab some from BE's eAction as well. 1.2.2.4 An invalid action item should take them to the search page or to an eAction home page and display the error there above other content. 1.2.2.5 An invalid email should return them to the form with the other information they had just filled in (but with a note at the top saying that the email address was invalid and that they need to correct it. Actually, all of the error messages and confirmation messages should return values within the template & framework of the action pages. they should never get to a blank page without link or branding information no matter what they type in. Campaigns can get floods of folks participating in them. It's important that signatures aren't lost because 200 folks (just an extreme oddball number) decide to sign up at the same time. It occurs to me that having verified that the email address that is provided upon a new registraiton is a good step. Certainly one worth taking. However, it should be something that could be overridden as I believe that there are occationally problems with this method of email verification. More importantly, one still needs to send an email to personX upon a new registration and get an affirmation that they want to join the Take Action Page. Just because I'm using a valid email doesn't mean it is mine. I didn't see this in the proposal, but it may be there. Do you have the action history page in there? So folks can see how many letters they have sent? Some groups give "points" for sending letters. An admin should be able to choose if they want the users to send any combination of email, fax, pdf, or rtf. With a cc of all info sent to a designated campaign email address. User tracking within Back-End would also be useful. Being able to know where folks were in the site before and after they signed the petition. Also site referral information. Who is sending who to the campaign. This info should be available to the administrators. This might be outside of the scope which we talked about, but Peter's done a great deal of the work that was inside the scope.. I'm also working away on integrating some of the existing petition scripts into Back-end using the new standard base classes. So much of the base functionality is likely already going to be built by the time that you get to doing the coding. The focus is going to have to move to improving the campaign tools (to know who is coming and what they are signing and providing that kind of user/effectiveness analysis).. That and making it easier for the user to participate and be remembered by the system so that they too feel like they are making a difference. A user should be able to ask for a username/password to be resent to them if they loose theirs. Should also have the option of setting a cookie to remember them in the future. Might want to add that testing should be done in the sf.net web space. These are my thoughts on this at the moment. Haven't had much time in the last week to look at this. It's a rather long document. Mike -- Mike Gifford, OpenConcept Consulting Free Software for Social Change -> http://www.openconcept.ca Featured Client: CUPE National -> http://www.cupe.ca Whoever controls the media-the images-controls the culture - A. Ginsberg |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-06-13 01:07:20
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Mike, Peter: We have finished the Take Action Analysis Document. It has been converted into OpenOffice and PDF formats, and placed on Richard`s server (the links can be found below). The analysis document presents a thorough description of the Take Action System as we see it, in terms of the data it will handle, and its behaviour regarding the data. Please take the next four weeks to read and review it and discuss with us by e-mail where our analysis is wrong or lacking information. Once we are all in agreement with what the system will do, we can proceed to designing it. Thank you for your continued effort and guidance in this project. -Justin Beattie http://www.nullfusion.com/projects/files/Analysis%20Document%20Final/AnalysisDocumentFinal.pdf http://www.nullfusion.com/projects/files/Analysis%20Document%20Final/Analysis_document_v1.sxw (If the login prompt displays, use "projects" as username and "test" as password). _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-05-10 17:33:42
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Everyone, Hello Again! "Software Engineering" set our project group on sail through a tempest and storm (so to speak). We took our share of batterings, but we`ve all come out alive. Mike, Peter, I apologize for the delayed response and status update, but I want to let you know we`re on track for the project. For the last several weeks of our course, we took an in depth study of System Analysis. From this we used many tools (Data Flow Diagrams, Use Cases, Time Sequence Diagrams, etc) to model the Take Action System, and compiled a 200 page Analysis document. We have passed the document through the academic department for technical review (and to meet course requirements); we would like just to edit it before providing you with a copy (we plan to do that this coming week). Our plan for the summer is to research the environment and languages we will use to design and code the Take Action System, coupled with changing and adapting our analysis of the system to meet your requirements. Please note that our academic guidelines have not changed, and we cannot deliver a complete system before November 17. However, we look forward to working with you in analysing and designing the system. Thanks for your time, Justin Beattie _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus |
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From: Mike G. <mi...@op...> - 2003-04-03 14:10:15
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Hello Folks, Sorry for the delay.. Just had to deal with other issues in the last day or two. I can fax a copy of it without much hassle. > > You can fax the signed document to our student association fax machine > > (727-7712), but please be sure to start the fax with a page that has my > > student information on it: Will be here shortly > As an alternative to faxing though, I could come down to OpenConcept to pick > up the final copy, if that works for you - it`s no problem to me, and I can > come down anytime today or tommorrow. Will that work? Easier for me to just fax it likely. Mike -- Mike Gifford <mi...@op...> OpenConcept Consulting http://www.openconcept.ca |
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From: Justin B. <mik...@ho...> - 2003-04-02 18:39:40
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Peter, "Thanks for considering the option. Paper certainly is a lot easier." Not at all a problem, I`m just sorry we couldn`t do it electronically - thanks for understanding though! "I'll leave this up to you and Mike to decide how to hand off the signed document." Mike, may I come by tommorrow morning at 10:00? If so, where exactly can I meet you (I don`t have your address)? Let me know if there is a better time for you, I can come anytime today, or before 2pm tommorrow. I`m also open to meeting at a Tim Hortons. :) Thanks, -Justin Beattie _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail |
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From: Peter B. <pe...@bo...> - 2003-04-02 17:51:29
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On Wed, 2003-04-02 at 12:42, Justin Beattie wrote: > As an alternative to faxing though, I could come down to OpenConcept to pick > up the final copy, if that works for you - it`s no problem to me, and I can > come down anytime today or tommorrow. Will that work? Thanks for considering the option. Paper certainly is a lot easier. I'll leave this up to you and Mike to decide how to hand off the signed document. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Bojanic <pe...@bo...> | Phone: (613) 762-5376 Open Source Consulting & Development | Ottawa, Ontario CANADA |
