Microsoft and Google Compete To Supply E-mail to America's Universities

From Time:

Students have been howling that school e-mail accounts are too small to handle their daily deluge of mail and attachments.

This is the same technology gap I blogged about the other day. Most universities are taking note:

In the 2008 national Campus Computing Project (CCP) survey, 42% of schools reported that they had already migrated or were about to migrate to an outsourced student e-mail service. Another 28% said they were considering switching.

This can only translate into corporate adoption of similar practices. Google hopes this leads to mainstream (read: corporate) adoption of web e-mail.

Even if it doesn't boost short-term profits, Google hopes serving schools for free will help broaden acceptance for Web-based e-mail and software services, says Jeff Keltner, who heads Google's Apps for Education team.

I hope he is right.

Writing User Stories - Use Your Cucumber

I previously wrote a post with some tips about running a user story workshop. It's received a fair amount of traffic, so I thought it'd be worthwhile mentioning a tool I used as a developer which made the idea and implementation of a user story much clearer. It's called Cucumber and it's a behaviour-driven testing framework for Ruby.

If you are a regular Ruby user, there is no good reason why you shouldn't be using Cucumber. If you're not a Ruby-ist, but can program, consider learning enough Ruby to use it, or find out if there are any similar frameworks in the language/platform of your choice. But - and here's where it gets interesting - if you are a business analyst who doesn't know the first thing about coding, get someone to walk you through the basics of how Cucumber works.

Here's why.

Cucumber allows you to write your stories in plain english, but also helps to systematize the ways stories are written so that their scenarios and acceptance criteria are easily (read: automated) testable. For those new to writing user stories, or even those with a bit of experience will find a few worked samples in Cucumber enlightening. It will definitely make you, your stakeholders, and your developers "speak" the same language.

Here's a quick video to get you started.

The Technology Gap: The Street vs. The Enterprise

I remember reading an article in a men's fashion magazine a few years ago. It said that because the "street" trend was to wear pants lower and lower, this caused the style of "corporate" pants to also have a low waste.

First of all, thank God for that. It was have been difficult transitioning from student clothes to corporate attire had that attire being up to my navel.

Second, this highlights the natural trend that things happen "on the street" before corporations adopt it. This is an interesting phenomenon by itself, and it is interesting how it applies to technology.

Here's a typical scenario.

At work, you probably use Windows XP. Your e-mail experience is either Outlook, which crashes often, or Outlook Web Mail. No doubt, you have mastered the art of sorting your e-mails by date then recipient to track conversations. At home, you probably use GMail. You're conversations are nicely clustered together, and when you can't find something, a quick search is all it takes.

At work, you might even be using Internet Explorer 6. At home, you might be using Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer 8 or Chrome. All of these things have the killer web browser feature: tabs. Tabs, of course, have been around for nearly 10 years. However, you likely have several windows of IE 6 open, and naturally, because you are using Windows XP, this slows down your system considerably.

Even at Melbourne Business School, I'm somewhat appalled that my Data and Decision class is designed for those running Windows XP and Office 2003. These are technologies from 2001 and 2002 respectively. I use a Mac, but the class relies on a plugin (StatPro) that only works on Windows. I refuse to buy a Windows license, so I'm running a VM with Windows 7 RC and Office 2007.

If the technology and ease-of-use gap between your corporate (and study) technology life and your home life frustrates you, you're certainly not alone. Gen Y and beyond are going to start demanding that their technology experience is not degraded when going to the office. Employers would be wise to take note; the productivity savings could be enormous.

Upgrading Internet Explorer 6 would be a good place to start.

Learning Tip: Speed it Up!

I have recently come of a contract at Tricycle Developments, and one of the projects I was working on was a site called Podshifter. The concept is simple: take a podcast URL, look at the MP3 enclosures, and speed them up. The new iPhone OS likewise has a feature that will play back your normal podcasts at so-called 2× their normal speed (I think it is actually 1.5×).

The revelation here is that we can process audio much faster than we hear it. This is often why we tune people out, even when they are right in front of us. They are simply speaking too slooooooowly. [We sometimes hear tips when presenting to talk slowly. I find this to be a bad idea.]

So, for audio, check out Podshifter or upgrade your iPhone/iPod Touch if you've got one. If you have existing audio files that you'd like sped up, you might give Huffduffer a try to create Podcast with audio enclosures. Then, feed that podcast to Podshifter.

For video, things aren't as straightforward. If you're taking video podcasts on the go, you're probably out of luck. However, if you have a PC or Mac handy, VLC does a good job of speeding up videos. Just press + when your movie is playing. Each time you press it, your movie will play faster. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy way that I know of to export the faster video. If you know, do leave a comment.

The Case of the Shaver Shop and a Broken Shaver

In this blog post, I bitch about the Shaver Shop.

Wednesday: The other day I was sifting through some of the remnants of my unpacked boxes from the move when I came across the receipt and extended warranty for an electric Braun shaver I had bought about 18 months ago. It was valid for another 6 months.

Thursday: The next day, the shaver broke. Actually, the trimmer bit broke, which is part of the main shaver.

Monday: I took the shaver, receipt and warranty immediately to the city store. No, they didn't have the model in stock. In fact, this model has been discontinued. But there was a better model in the same series in Highpoint, about a 20 minute drive away. I was told someone would bring the shaver to the city store by Thursday.

Wednesday: I have a very itchy beard.

Friday: A trip to the Shaver Shop quickly revealed that, in fact, no shaver had been brought from Highpoint. Apparently, someone who works in both stores who might bring it fell sick, and that was the end of it. Obviously, I wasn't impressed. They could have easily couriered the item to the city, or just given me something they did have in stock. In the end, all I asked for was some shaving cream (I had some razors, but no cream and I didn't want to buy any). This was rejected: "we can't just give you shaving cream... We'll have your shaver in on Monday."

Sunday: I have a very itchy beard.

Monday: Yes, my shaver did some from Highpoint to the city store. I watched as she accepted my broken shaver and opened the box on the brand new Braun 360 shaver. I thought that this would end up being a great; I would get a new, better shaver 18 months after the original purchase. This is why people buy the extended warranty, isn't it.

Here's what the girl in the Shaver Shop did. She opened the box. Took out the main shaver and removed its head. She then took my broken shaver and removed it head. She placed my old head on the brand new shaver and said "Shaver heads aren't under warranty" and handed me the new shaver with the old head attached. So yes, I now had a shaver with a working trimmer. But still, for my troubles, they could have just as easily given me the whole box, new shaver and all. Instead, somewhere, there is an old Braun 360 shaver with a brand new head (and cleaning base too).

Today: Will not buy another warranty from the Shaver Shop. I suggest you don't either.