Mac's Exposé and Spaces coming to a Windows near you

Macs have the edge on Windows (XP and Vista) when it comes to window management.

First it was Exposé, a quick and intuitive way to find open windows or to uncover the desktop.

More recently, it was Spaces, an easy to use virtual desktop manager that allows you to have one desktop for your email, one for your work, on for documentation, etc.; and switch between them.

Otaku software brings these features to Windows with TopDesk and DeskSpace.

Highly recommended! Give them a try and "see what you think", literally ;-)

BizTalk 2006 installation guide (in portuguese)

You can find it in this Google Doc.
It's in Portuguese, but it uses the English terms for each step of the way. Some steps are illustrated with screenshots.

Association vs Union / Ordem vs Sindicato

Last week, a colleague asked:
"What's the difference between the Engineering Association and the Engineers' Union?"

At the time I could not give him a straight answer, but after some tought, I think it comes down to this:

The Association protects Engineering; The Union protects Engineers.

/ This post is bilingual: English (U.S.) and Portuguese (Portugal) /

Na semana passada, um colega perguntou:
"Qual a diferença entre a Ordem dos Engenheiros e o Sindicato dos Engenheiros?"

Na altura não lhe consegui responder de forma simples, mas depois de pensar um pouco, acho que se resume ao seguinte:

A Ordem dos Engenheiros protege a Engenharia; O Sindicato protege os Engenheiros.

PhD Position Paper - v1.0

Today I finished the first complete version of my position paper. One month late according to my original planning.

The title is "Computer science research for the Internet of Things". The paper is about the forthcoming widespread use of smart things, like RFID tags and sensors, along with omnipresent wireless networks, that will create an Internet of Things (IoT), where most everyday objects will be interconnected and part of an universal-purpose system akin to the Internet.
This position paper looks at the IoT in a computer science research perspective. It identifies the main challenges to address and points to a set of possible research paths. It also provides some insight into what will change in the way information systems are designed and used in the IoT era.

The paper is still not ready for publishing, but it's ready to be sent to my Advisor so we can discuss the written ideas.

In short, the PhD prologue still isn't over, but I'm making progress...

All the best!

More juggling help: "hat" of the day

When I have several working "hats" to wear in a week - teaching, research, etc - a technique that also helps me to keep focused is setting a "hat" for each day, at the start of the week. This way I can do more related tasks in a single day thus reducing context-switching costs.

For example, this week my "hats" are:
Monday -> Teaching
Tuesday -> Big Picture
Wednesday -> PhD
Thursday -> PhD
Friday -> Teaching

John C. Dvorak on Software License Agreements

Generally speaking, a software license and various terms-of-service and terms-of-use agreements say the following:

• Whatever you think we said, or whatever we said, about the product may have nothing to do with reality, and you agree not to expect that it does.
• No matter what happens, including damage to your equipment or even someone's death, you agree not to blame us even if it is our fault.
• If we are a Web site and you use it, no matter what bad things happen, it is not our fault.
• If you contribute anything at all to a site or system, we own it.
• You will never sue us for anything, ever.

My advice is to have a 13-year-old do all the installations and make all the agreements. They cannot legally enter into these contracts. I wish someone would try that trick and litigate it.

John C. Dvorak in PC Magazine

Juggling tasks at work

No, this post isn't about Circus artists (or is it...? ;-)


Currently I'm struggling with several different nature tasks at the same time. Some are bureaucratic while others are highly focused knowledge work (in my case, programming).

When I'm programming, I'm constantly being interrupted and I lose track of what I'm doing. Bureaucratic tasks are never very complicated, but they require full attention.

If one of the sources of lower productivity (and motivation) is constant interruption, then I tried to eliminate the source of most interruptions, namely, e-mail. I have turned off the email programs while I'm programming and I willed myself into resisting the urge to go and check it every few minutes! Now I work hour-long intervals and things have been working out much better!

It wasn't my idea actually, but my wife's. (One more) big thanks to her!

I'd like to hear how you handle the same problem!

InspiRed by love...

... I keep on moving forward and upward!

Extreme programming (XP) distilled

Michael A. Cusumano in "Communications of the ACM", October 2007

Key XP practices:

• Planning around user stories
  
• Small releases of functionality
• System or project metaphor
• Simple design
• Continuous testing (or test-driven design)
• Refactoring
• Pair programming
• Collective product (code)
• Ownership
• Continuous integration
• Minimal overtime
• On-site customer representative
• Design (coding) standards

World Cup Draw / Sorteio do Mundial

After yesterday's World Cup 2010 draw, we have the following qualifying group in Asia (group 3): North Korea, Jordan, Turkmenistan, South Korea.

Maybe the Plan includes cleats...

/ This post is bilingual: English (U.S.) and Portuguese (Portugal) /

Depois do sorteio de ontem para o Mundial de 2010, temos o seguinte grupo de qualificação na Ásia (grupo 3): Coreia do Norte, Jordânia, Turquemenistão e Coreia do Sul.

Talvez o Plano inclua chuteiras...