Visit us now at:
http://pinoylancer.com

Our official blog can be found at:
http://pinoylancer.com/blog 
If you have any comments, suggestions, bug reports, please do let me know via a comment on this post.

Please let your friends know too! Thank you for the support.

–
– AJ Batac
// I’m a PinoyLancer

Today I think I am finally ready to share something very near, dear and close to my heart ... my THESIS (what did you guys think eh?)!!

I am trying to look in to alternative ways of representing web pages in a Tactile format so that they are easily accessible to visually impaired users.  In lieu of this my supervisor asked me to meet RG - a middle aged counsellor at my university's student access centred for the disabled.  What my supervisor hadn't told me was that RG was blind (visually impaired being the more diplomatic word for this condition)!!!

My Meeting...

We had been exchanging emails for almost a week now and today (more like yesterday...) I was finally going to meet him!!  As always, I was more or less running late and got to the building on the other side of campus in the nick of time!! Panting like a dog (literally), I asked one of the cleaning staff for Room G2 which was like just in front of me - I just had to look up..lol - talk about being disabled huh ;)!!

I got past the receptionist and you can imagine my surprise when I stood in front of RG, he was looking somewhere over my left shoulder!!  I didn't know whether I should offer my hand for a handshake or stand like a dummy with my mouth wide open or WHAT!!  I was surprised AGAIN when HE offered his hand and asked me to have a seat POINTING me to the direction of the seat...

After introductions I found out that he had had limited vision since he was a toddler which gradually deteriorated as he grew and then about 10 years back he was declared blind by the RNIB.  Whats amazing is that despite of this he went on to complete a Postgraduate and got employed by the uni as a counsellor who supports other disabled students!!  

Being in his office was like me being a small child again let out loose in a toy store!!  There were gadgets in his office that put those in sci-fi movies to shame!!  From screen readers to audio CCTV cameras to tactile keyboards..there was everything in his office that I had just read of in the past!! 

There's probably nothing new in hearing about a disabled person achieving more than an abled person..but RG was the first I had met and after meeting him I have become more convinced that my choice of career is the correct one for me.  Obviously born of practise and familarity, RG's knowledge and awareness of what surrounded him was impeccable!!  It did however force me to think of how lightly I take this gift of sight ...

I don't quite know what this post is meant to be ... maybe nothing more than my inner most rambling of thoughts being made visible for me to reflect on .. but here it is anyways.

PS: If anyone is interested in discussing Tactile technology do get in touch...

Cheerz!

The 48 hr. film that I was in which was a Cavegirl Productions project is now ready for viewing.  Check it out- The direct film link is:
http://www.ask-design.net/portfolio.html#film

See if you can find me in it, I play the character "Charlotte," I have only a few lines but I would say that I make the most of what I've got.  When I watch myself, I feel like I look like a young Julia Louis-Dreyfus. 

My friend Kelley Slagle does a kick-ass job playing "Fortuna," very convincing in the role.

Happy viewing!

While taking a much-needed break from writing his chapter for the Artifact Project, esr960 decided to write a submission for FanLib's Speed Racer contest. However, the Artifact wasn't ready to take a break from him. esr960 became consumed with the question, "What would happen if Speed Racer crossed paths with the Artifact?" His cousin's eyes lit up; she had the answer: "He goes Back to the Future!"

Thus was born the unofficial Speed Racer/Artifact Project crossover event!

Here's the setup:

When Speed discovers a mysterious Artifact, he finds himself transported to a dystopian future ruled by the evil Royalton Industries. Can Speed change the future in time to save the past?

Find out in Flash Forward!

Chapter Three Excerpt

Right now I'm listening to the keynote speaker and there are several more sessions coming throughout the day.  I don't think it's too late to sign up so just go to http://events.unisfair.com/rt/pmexpo and sign up now.  I'll have more details on what I liked about it later.

SUNDAY 25th MAY TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW

For Tickets Call : 0407 670 187 or

Email: qld_jamfactory@live.com.au

My personal approach to IT management centers around success. Most IT projects fail. Some quite spectacularly, but most in a quieter way. I believe these are the three leading contributors to failure:

Poor Project Plans and Resource Allocation

My personal experience is that most IT departments do not have a good sense for the amount of time they have to spend on IT projects. All of the data I have collected since I have been studying this suggests that only 15% to 25% of total staff time is available to work on new projects. If organizations take on more work than they can complete, everything proceeds at a snail’s pace and nothing ever truly gets done.

The only way to manage resources in a large organization is to have detailed plans for every project and to look at the resource requirements across all of your plans.

Vendor Performance

Just as IT departments over-allocate their resources, so do vendors. Vendor performance issues are usually more related to them not providing services in the time expected (or not having a common expectation with the vendor) than bad software. However, sucky software is still an issue.

Lack of Clear Expectations

If someone’s goal is just to implement some software than, in my opinion, they have failed by default. Each IT implementation should have clear business benefits and those benefits need to remain insight throught the effort.

Am I missing other common contributors to failure?

1. Lose focus on who the real customer is and what will make them happy. You need to be relentlessly focused on who your customer is and what they demand. In both small and large projects, it is easy to fall into the trap of internal objectives, scope decisions that are not what the customer would do. This is a common mistake of great PM's. When project success matters, it serves me to focus the team and project relentlessly on what the customer is asking for.
2. Communication flow in all directions through team, stakeholders, customers, sponsors. For successful communication plans, it is important to collaborate with the project team, customers, end users, sponsors for all impacted groups and type of information that needs to flow. It is not always your job to push communication but bottom line is you are responsible to make sure it happens and its timely and effective. It is proven statistic that it takes multiple times, in multiple methods to get the message across. Error on the side of too much than not enough as it only builds trust and alignment and contributes to gaining successful support along the way.
3. Jump into execution mode without gaining alignment, common expectations and creating plans. This is often the default for new PM but even the most experienced can fall victim. Take the time to map out the "board" of decision makers, who has influence and what you need to go to gain support. Build relationships and alignment to the project goals so there are common expectations and clear objectives. The next step is to build a plan. Taking the time to plan will reduce time later that results in thrash in implementation activities.
4. Lack of focus and strategic priorities agreed to. This can lead to trying to do too much at the same time. As the leader of the project it is your job to keep focus of the team on the right areas, remove obstacles and ensure successful payoff at end of project. This takes ruthless prioritization, this means working with the customer to be realistic when you see conflicts, making trade-off decisions and driving clear priorities that are aligned.
5. Lack of anticipation of change, future needs and the inevitable change that will occur in any project. Every project has changes, but it is easy to get caught up in the great plan that you have developed rather than all the factors that impact it. Take the time to brainstorm, gather feedback from experts on where trouble areas may be, what scenarios could occur, and anticipate what alternatives would be to stay on track. Your customers are depending on it and being prepared with a plan is critical.

What other problems have you encountered along your project journey's?

Then I've been working on it ever since, sometimes with help. Here are my friend, Stephanie, and my student, Alexis, helping me:

Now, of course, Stephanie is a big yarnie like I am, but Alexis is a novice. Just look at her concentration here:

She's hooked, alright. The yarn addiction sinks in as the lanolin smoothes her skin. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Next up, we'll teach her how to work with the yarn once it's wound!

The arbitration was very smooth, very informal, and went very well. I was very nervous when we left my lawyers office to head over... I wasn't positive why. I already knew that I had moved far past the emotional side of the breakup, I was no longer angry at him for what he did. It was more... I tend to get very soft spoken and shy in uncomfortable situations nervousness. I did wonderfully. Upon stepping into the office where the arbitration would take place... I was calm and collected. Not a drop of nervousness. I was relieved, it was finally here. One thing I've managed to overcome over this time is the shyness. I spoke loud and clear. I didn't say any "I think" or "probably." When being questioned I had no issues... there was no reason for issues because I had nothing to hide. No lies. The ex however, wavered in his statements, contradicted himself and answered questions with defensive questions. We'll hear the judgment next week sometime.

I can finally finally FINALLY forget this. I don't hate him... I feel bad for his hurting, I never wanted to hurt him but at the same time I could never be friends or be in contact with someone who would screw me over like that... and now I don't. Either way... win or lose, it's DONE!!!

So let's move on.

Tomorrow I'm back on track. Today I'll hit the gym... but I feel like I need a good day off of life to recoup from the stresses. I feel great. Just fat :) But we'll get back on that tomorrow...

Last night M and I had a good talk. I have an odd way of looking at the world. I wouldn't say it's bad, but it's not typical. M was (and has many times) talking about some reasons he broke up with his exes... sometimes he'll say things like "she had migraines and I was like, do I really want to be with a sick person who can't enjoy weekends?" I don't think that way, AT ALL. M is a man. M is typical in his thinking and comparing to other people. I don't do it at all. I do not look at someone and say hmmm... he's going to be bald in 10, 15 years... do I want to be with a bald person? So to hear M say things, even though he's saying them lightly or jokingly... even though "at the core the relationship wouldn't have worked" I start to wonder if I can be comfortable in the relationship. Someday my ass will sag and my hair will be white. Someday I could be in a wheelchair... and is he going to be sitting there thinking shit... now I'm stuck with saggy ass mcgee in her wheelchair when that hot chick at the bar was hitting on me. What did I pass up!?

M assured my crazy little mind that with me, it's different. That with me, it's right. He's supposed to be with me. He will always love me no matter what... he's never told someone he loved them unless saying it back. He wants to spend forever with me and he's never felt that before. He promised to continue to assure me of his love... and my little mind and heart melted. :)

While sometimes I think about this "project" I'm doing... this changing by 24, and I worry that I've spent 6 months and gotten no where. Granted, I haven't made huge strides in a lot of areas... but I am realizing my accomplishments. M and I are doing so much better. I have some good friends coming into my life recently and things are back on track with my dad and I. Money is steady and to a point I think I can start saving and planning and such. I have a great job for my life needs... I'm creating again! I made (sewed any everything) two notebooks for my sister's birthday! I'll be updating the side blog again.

Yay!

  Okay, let's face it.  Fire just looks cool when photographed.  It's a shot from when I was burning some of the logs in my yard the other day, Sony Cyber-shot (and you're so tired of hearing that). 

  I may be absent for a couple of days again, as I'm going to SEA WORLD this weekend, leaving tomorrow afternoon.  If I can post tomorrow I will, but I'll definitely be posting again by Monday.  Hopefully with photos of really cute sea animals.

Right now we're implementing a new business management system. It is, in fact, the reason I am staying on another month after I've "moved" to Chicago.

As some of you may know, I already did this once at this job. But the last one wasn't all-inclusive and lacked important features (CRM, accounting, parallel workflows, splitting and combining jobs, etc.) that made us immediately begin shopping for a new one. The one we chose (TQT) has everything we wanted, with the flexibility to allow us to build it to reflect the way we do business.

The problem is that it has the flexibility to allow us to build it to reflect the way we do business - even if we're doing it wrong. In comes "process management". This is where we figure out what we're doing and how we could be doing it better, faster, stronger. Maybe not stronger.

Building good processes means not only figuring out how to build processes that work, but figuring out how to break the process.

This is much like programming. It's easy to build programs that work when you have a well trained, well intentioned user. It's much harder to build programs that still work when you have a poorly trained user. And if your well trained user is malicious, too, you have to think of everything.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with malicious users. And once this system is implemented, we should have everyone trained. But still...

"Hope for the best, plan for the worst."

With the book now 1/3 complete (and a little behind schedule...but that's okay, we're tackling something new here!), I am asking myself a question: When is a book a book?

Does it have to be published? Is it the final draft of the manuscript? Or is it simply when the idea is created, and chapters are planned out?

Without sounding too sentimental, I think with this group, it was the birth of the idea that brought a reality to the project, and a closeness between nine people that have never physically met. Anything that happens after, including the publishing (and it will be published...look for it on this site!), is merely icing on the coat.

There is something magical about this collaboration process...every time a new chapter is emailed to the group, it's like Christmas morning! We get nine Christmases during this process!

So, when does a book become a book? I believe that answer lies with the author/authors. It's that feeling of completion they get, whichever step they feel it.

Do I have to say it again? Go! Go write something...now!

In february I got an email with a request if I liked to become a Speedhunter. After some phonecalls and alot of emails I agreed and in the last couple of weeks the project has started to become a reality.

there will be alot of contributors from around the world, and I'm real proud that I'm going to be one of them.

Here is the first teaser video, the site will go live on the 20th of May, so stay tuned.

Speedhunters

However she acknowledged that now the possibilities are starting to catch up [have they already overtaken? or are they of a different nature?], and possibly inferred an "equalling" of the two mediums.

This is an important comment to highlight in relation to our brief. Since i suspect/feel there is a cultural elitism about the quality/aestheticism of film above/over digital video more generally. I cannot however claim i wasn't struck by the very "special" quality of the 16mm films that were projected for us.

But, since we will be presumably shooting this Video Essay on High Definition Digital Video with contemporary equipment, methods and software, i would like to open up the debate, and perhaps reverse the elitism, by suggesting that we think about the ways in which we can best exploit, highlight, extrapolate, etc. the pro's of, instead of the con's of, the High Definition Digital Video medium.

Since this essay is about "The Future" and it is generally agreed [within industry practise certainly] that High Definition Digital Video is the way forward its important to think about this. We must, i feel, use every plus in terms of the contemporary nature of this brief to showcase the best of what can, should and will be done aesthetically, creatively, technologically and forward-thinking[ly] with regards to "The Moving Image".

How much work actually gets done there? Realistically

Our most senior management showed up today and due to a severe lack of office space currently, people had to be shifted around and squeezed onto double-desk arrangements etc. I very kindly offered to "work from my home" which as some of you already know, is equivalent to a cell about 3m x 4m, with my TV on my desk so the only place to work from is my bed. SO effectively I offered to be the nice guy and go back to bed for the day.

Method in madness? I dunno. I will sleep on that and get back to you!

Freddie's Dead Live

Reading the SLA Blog Posts today I came across this posting about the Collaboration Project. You will also note that on that same page it mentions how breaking the rules of the status quo and building bridges with new partners are the themes of the SLA in Seattle! Clearly this is my year! Tangents aside...

The Collaboration Project's motto is "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what we can do together." This site is about using the interactive web and how to use it best:

"The Collaboration Project is an independent forum of leaders committed to leveraging web 2.0 and the benefits of collaborative technology to solve government's complex problems. Powered by the National Academy of Public Administration, this "wikified" space is designed share ideas, examples and insights on the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in the field of public governance."

You can add your own case study, or review other case studies. Take this one from the State of Rhode Island! They implemented web 2.0 and the results were, "Rhode Island adoption of web 2.0-based technology has allowed the government to be more immediately responsive and more directly accessible to its citizens. The services also helped to create greater public engagement in state legislation debates and other political discussions."

Yes! This is exactly what we needed for so long!!!! (Now I'll stop asking you how you got your services in web 2.0 at your library!!!)