Mine at Nine

I have pretty much a lot of insights for Chapter 9! First off, the Design before Programming part.

Design before programming pretty much is like function follows form. This can turn into a debate,  but let’s face it – no matter how good your website is or no matter how nice your gadgets’ features are, it won’t sell if it’s lacking in the looks department. Look at a car, a lot could boldly say “Form follows function for me, so I choose this cockroach-designed car over that exotic-looking car.” Yeah, the cockroach-designed car sure has GPS, foldable seats, leather interior, or what have you, but no matter how well-equipped that car is, if the first impression (definitely that would be the exterior look of the car) doesn’t give a spark, it never will. No matter how much a function-addict car enthusiast would insist his hard-headedness, truth is, he can never deny that FORM will always serve as a criteria in buying a vehicle.

Same applies for a website, or for any application for that matter. Back in our SYSDESI class, we pretty much appreciated the class because it was DESIGN-intensive. Who cares about the code back then? You even appreciate it more than your programming classes because instead of learning about concepts and theories, you picture out the real thing – what you’re trying to build. I never appreciated IMPROG1 and IMPROG2 in the same manner as I did IMPROG3. There’s a big difference really between having to understand theories now that you won’t be implementing in a real-world program anyways compared to designing a program and later on program it knowing that it will be used in the real-world. I really don’t appreciate the console as a learning foundation, learning through program samples is pretty much my way of getting the “flow”, or the “zone”. And I think I’m not the only one who feels the same way about this.

Moving on, with regards to setting different pages for admin and regular users, I believe that it’s pretty much true – you only confuse yourself more with giving different pages for admin and regular users. An example here would be Xanga. In Xanga, it’s pretty confusing on how, after editing your page design and the preview comes up, you can’t find the links on how to go back to the edit page. When you click the next button on your front page, instead of loading your previous posts, you are sent to a login page. Things that are pretty much weird on the user experience part of things. Therefore, sticking with the same page is pretty much a good approach.

Lastly, context over consistency is pretty much the trend. Whenever I fill-out a survey form or a support form in the web, I pretty much enjoy those that just loads a white-background page with a simple box containing the questions and the choices. Below the box is a simple back and next button, and that’s all the page contains. I find the cleanliness attractive, as opposed to some sites that whenever you click on a link, it’s as if it just redirected you to the same page with a different image or something – boring! It’s also confusing as well, especially when you’re searching for key information yet when you scroll down, all you see are links that you’ve already clicked before.

Perhaps the most important part of the chapter is really on issues with copywriting. I believe that to communicate with your users using simple english is much clearer compared to communicating with them using technical words that a mere fourth-grader couldn’t even comprehend. I used to visit a site before named “GeekyStorm” or something similar. Their page is pretty bloated – not to mention, the main page being at the most. Registration was pretty much confusing as well given that you have to answer questions that would leave your nose bleeding even before you could dare answer. It didn’t pretty much get frequent hits. The last time I was able to check it, the chatbox included in the site’s main page was being flamed – not particularly sure if it’s because of the registration, but there’s really pretty much to flame about it in the first place anyways – considering that even links are written in jargons that I assume are jargons only the developer and his friends know.

Late at Eight

Pretty late around the time I posted this, so the title speaks.

In our “sideline” Gravel & Sand Truck Delivery, we usually run with 20 drivers for 10 trucks. At times, we hire what we call “bantay”, scout per se. With the owner’s decision, hiring these scouts normally are 5 at a time, but by the end of the week only 3 stay. The other 2 normally excuses themself due to “better work opportunities”, and so on and so forth. At the end of the quarter, the remaining 3 are fired off the job, since they scout more for additional income rather than telling us of what’s really going on in the quarrying operations. We lost a total of about PhP 100,000 annually for 2 years then due to this “ihi” scams our drivers do (sell diesel to “ihi” boys).

Fortunately, in 2004, after deciding on renewing our entire fleet (meaning firing off all our drivers and replace them with new ones),  the new set were pretty much flexible. Before, the 2 drivers per truck configuration were primarily for one to sleep while the other drives. Now, while one drives, the other does transactions in the quarry operators while the other listens to the conversations and checks the receipts which are later on sent to us. In short, either one can serve as a scout. The new set are also skillful in maintenance, reducing our annual costs by at least PhP 300,000 for 2005. Most of these drivers had the initiative to check their vehicles, report for possible breakage or damage that can be prevented, and so on and so forth. Our “sideline” business was really able to recover after then.

In our Manning Agency, on the other hand, I remember an incidence back then when our HR Department were pretty much obsessed with hiring graduates from the country’s top three universities with high GPA grades. Never did I get the point to why. It’s as if they never went to their own colleges and attended a subject with a terror professor who could only give a 1.0 (1.0 is the lowest passing grade for us) and can’t even tell to why you deserve a 1.0 and nothing more. Up till now they continue to do the same practice, and I’m pretty much disappointed at times that they hire seemingly “intelligent” employees yet when you require something, they can’t deliver.

Mr. “Mon” Zalameda, who was my PROGAP1 Professor a term ago, told us about how employees were hired back when he was in Fujitsu. A bootcamp is a norm, and everyone had to survive it. He became a trainor for Fujitsu, and pretty much brought his training abilities to us students, which is pretty much fair and effective.

Given both cases, I would have to say that the bootcamp done in Fujitsu is pretty much a must compared to having an applicant just sit on a chair and continuously ask him. Through activities, you can pretty much see who’s enthusiastic to enter the company, who is optimistic in joining the team, and who is willing to do a bit of sacrifice just to be welcomed there on. Activities help show who acts from those who bluffs, and it’s pretty ironic that after years and years of practice, it seems a lot of companies are still in the need-to-know basis when it comes to proper HR hiring practices for being able to select real and optimistic employees.

The line in the chapter that says “no matter how good a programmer, designer, or professional he may be but he does not know how to write – he’s nothing” or something like that, is an icebreaker. I can pretty much relate to this because it’s true. There are people who thinks they have the bragging rights simply because they’re good coders, yet when you ask them to explain their codes, they can’t say anything – moreso if you ask them to comment and write about their codes. When a programmer like that suddenly leaves your business and the replacement comes in, what happens? It takes a long length of time before the replacement could get the code – a big problem really.

I believe that writing is pretty much essential no matter what aspect in life we apply it on. The clarity of the words used is essential to lessen conflicts and misunderstandings. It also prevents turmoil similar to the example aforementioned. When are able to write what we do in a way that it can be read as if looking at the soil beneath the water, then can we say that we can help not only in expressing ourselves, but in supporting other people as well – not to mention business processes (support, management, etc.)

Heaven at 7!

*Sigh, just when I got too depressed on chapter six, chapter seven already gave me the idea I’ve been looking for!

Alone time – recalling the times then, I used to close my Messenger applications and go offline everytime I have to do something big. I decide on doing one task and one task alone. Paperworks are quick, printouts are instant, and no matter how plenty the tasks are left behind, I can still push through.

Perhaps what dropped my morale is the fact that everything was just poured instantaneously with no reason at all. “Just do it” – no objections, no questions. For a working student, that sure is something – and perhaps it’s something that much to me.

It’s enlightening that there are books with chapters like this. There’s not much of everyone out there, even book authors, who could dare say that “you’re better off alone” in a positive way. Perhaps the fact that our group of friends has increased has given me a window to be reliant – and I let such to get into my head. I know I’m self-reliant. I survived Military School on my own back then, so how can I not survive something like having tons of requirements? Reading my previous post, I just can’t accept the fact that I can even say that. Never did I rely on anyone, and never did I expect on anyone, so why am I asking from them now? It just doesn’t make sense.

The chapter pretty much gave an enlightenment to what I should re-orient myself into. It also gave me a better reason to pursue letting our group, separated in three teams, to do better collectively at the end of each day. Implementation of separation is pretty much for formality, but at the end of each day, Together, Everyone Achieves More (TEAM). Add this principle with having to be alone at the end of the day and review what has been accomplished and try to accomplish more without anyone having to dictate anything – and a lethal combination appears! Pretty much got the optimistic view back. Gotta focus! Really focus! Team, we’re gonna get through this!

My “tsk” in Chapter 6

Reading Chapter 6 is pretty much like dreaming. Imagine being given the chance to apply the same principle on doing the same “just build and see for yourself” idealogy for a very 90’s company non-web application. That would be like being able to take 2 proposals a week on average and still feel as if you have all the time in the world to complete it – why? Because the company would accept your “I don’t know” answer about the completion of a project. *sigh… IF ONLY.

True, in building an application or simply building a webpage, building it even before creating the charts, diagrams, and lists for it helps gets the sense of what you want to really develop in the first place. You can issue a beta release as mentioned in the book and let others try it and give their comments about it. That’s what Friendster did AFAIK. In the end, they pretty much made an established site.

Going to the preferences part of things, it’s pretty true that customers just don’t like to make a choice that you had to give them just to save yourself from making a decision. I personally dislike such preferences. One particular point about this is with some Social Networking Sites. I really don’t get the point to why questions such as “Which would you prefer to enter on login? Your e-mail address or your username?” Things like that. I just really don’t see the point. It requires an additional mouse click that seems unnecessary really.

Reading on dividing a straight 30+ hours work though struck me though. True, not all can stay up for coding or doing an application for 30+ hours straight as compared to doing it for just 6 hours for 5 days or so. During our Frosh years here in Benilde, we used to be able to implement this approach. We start at the cafeteria by 12nn, and go home by 4 in the afternoon. That was consistent until we finished all our requirements, and our deliverables were done a week before the deadline. Pretty much miss those times. These days, you can’t even think of how to implement that anymore. Things are pretty much coming quick… requirements-wise that is. Companies required for us are not helping either. It’s like a month where everyone’s busy, everyone has to be busy, survive, or die.

Overall, the thought brought about by the chapter really got me filled with envy. I mean, when can I ever be able to bring things back? Organized, timed, and although at times lacking in details, things always find its way to completion. We just kept on doing our requirements. Contrary to what’s happening now. As we build our momentum on accomplishing one task for a subject, something else pops out, we lose focus on what we’ve been doing and do the other one. Then another one comes out yet again, and again we lose focus for this new task. I’m pretty much at a loss to what approach should be done, and quite frankly, I just pray that I’d pretty much get an idea soon enough.

High at Chapter 5!

With deadlines immediately slammed upon us at the start of this term, with no proper justication whatsoever, I’ve decided to go high on my reflection with Getting Real and prioritize it till I’m done with it. Requirements from all subjects have sprung up in the opposite manner that America’s stocks have fallen, and with all of them on my To-Do lists, doing one from a subject I see befitting of doing its requirements would be first. Why? Well, as the book states, “It just doesn’t matter.”

Being able to read Getting Real once more, the insight of the author sure has made its strong points in Chapter five (5). Reading through the sections of the chapter, I had a flashback of mIRC. Back then, mIRC was the client of choice for chats over several networks that are majorly free to access by any individual (only a chosen few were invite-based per se).  The simplicity was fantastic then, no one cared what being an OP, Voiced, or the + before the usernames mean, everyone just enjoyed chatting, and at a given few, flame wars as well. Whatever the topic, from religion to technology, when you type a channel name to try and join it, chances are, there are people in it.

From its initial launch up to its current version, mIRC has remained true to such simplicities. Surely, new features to easily join channels and networks were introduced, but even such features were simple. It did not require any complex user decisions, it just needed you to connect then chat. As easy as that!

Even up to now, mIRC is the chatroom of choice for chat gurus. Compared to messenger applications such as Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger, there is definitely no BUZZ!, smileys, or webcams, there’s just chat. It runs light, it runs fast, and reliability is pretty sharp as opposed to that of messenger applications that pops a “Pure Virtual Function Call” error and suddenly just close amidst your conversation with your friend.

There have been a lot of versions of the base-mIRC program that offers better connectivity (those doing P2P via mIRC uses these modified versions), reason to why mIRC has become quiet through the years. But that silence though does not signify it’s dead. Up to now, mIRC is still up and running, still staying true to its mission and vision of simplicity and being the best chat client for being so. A lot of features have been rejected by the mIRC team a lot of times before, one even relating to allowing several port configurations that would change mIRC from a simple chat client to a P2P download illegal stuff here client, but never did mIRC give in.

Perhaps my exemplification of mIRC is my best way of reflecting on Chapter 5 of Getting Real. True, there are plenty of applications there that can serve as an alternative for customers who can’t get the feature they want from your product, so why bother having to drive away from your mission vision just to listen to all the requests of these customers for new features that would just guide you elsewhere?

The goal of the authors of Getting Real perhaps is similar to a Car Manufacturing Firrm. When, for example, the Toyota Vios was launched (the model before the current one). No one can’t deny the tightness inside its narrow interiors. The hump on the rear seats doesn’t save face either. But in the event of the development of the new model, not much was really focused on customer desires, but more on customer complaints. The result? Look at the interior of the new model. The interior was significantly spaced, and the hump at the center of the back seat was removed to give a comfortable seating position for a 5th passenger. Plastics, key eyesores in the previous model, were also replaced with plush interiors, things that customers never liked in the first place. In all these improvements for the customers, Toyota never flew away from their mission vission in doing so. In the desire to push through their corporate image in their vehicles, they delivered what they think was needed more: an overall facelift that resembled the rest of its current lineup.

The lesson perhaps in this chapter is that, when producing an application, the common assumption of building it big to make it successful is not the best choice. Things don’t go that way anymore, there are too many other applications that users can shift to if yours seem insufficient for their needs. Why spend so much money, time, and effort, for a feature request whose costs demeans its benefits? Why do you have to keep your promises to something that would otherwise be misleading on your part? In knowing what to prioritize, in what to implement from that which shouldn’t be, you can create a software that doesn’t need advertising or marketing just to sell it – all you need is simplicity, and through simplicity, you gain not only customer satisfaction or loyalty, but the most rewarding of it all: their word of mouth. Hey, Vista Battery Saver started the same way these guys did their programs, and even with just nimble features, it’s still a hit worldwide.

Oh, and just to add. Adding Steve Jobs’ admonishing words about one of Apple’s key product isn’t really the best way to exemplify the chapter. iTunes Music Store, after several changes and updates, personally has become too bloated. They never were able to solve that irritating “You don’t have iTunes” bug when loading the site. Adding insult to injury, it even tells you the same error even if you DO have iTunes. Not to mention, having it on-access is already a bug since it could’ve been more appropriate if it were to be done right after clicking the download button for a particular song instead. A lot have been complaining about this one particular problem, yet it seems Apple has no plans to listen.

Headstrong for Chapter 4!

Chapter 4 of Getting Real really gave me a flashback – specifically about the Microsoft Cup my friends and I participated in together with Sir Dave and Sir Ben.

Looking back then, if I (yeah, I’m not using “we” ‘coz that was a time when everyone’s just confused really, and besides, just to avoid the finger-pointing, hehe) could’ve just filtered the tons of instructions left for me to do then together with the group, and even perhaps the to-do lists we still had piled up even during the last minute of the competition, then perhaps I could’ve skipped all the plans to increase the scope of the software in its current form and think about the expansion later – or even perhaps just announce that such expansions are planned to be implemented with the Philippine Prairie Watch during the final defense.

Thinking about it gave me a lot of thoughts – I mean, there was a time that Jay3, a groupmate, told me that “we should make sure that the software is, in all aspect, prioritize a marketable environment-friendly software.” Out of panic, I may have focused more in the part being “all aspect” rather than the real key important word: “marketable.” I then made a chat with Riela about how big our software could’ve been if we just have the time to focus on it. A lot can really be made about it, E-commerce wise, we can do our own retail, an adoptable pet locator, and the list just goes on. Not to mention Sir Dave’s recommendation of a forum extension for the software that he relayed to Jay3.

Perhaps my hesitations to take sides on what should be first things first may have hindered everyone from scaling the system light. The vision of the system was then at a blur as well, all we knew was that it’s a pet finder, then when all the features came into our wild imaginations, I, admittedly, have lost the real goal behind it.

I guess what transpired then are pieces that will serve as a guide the next time around, to start small, and finish things small. When it starts increasing in numbers, then will I only consider expansion, new solutions, and so on and so forth.

Overall, the experience in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is fun, but personally, I know I could’ve done more, and we could’ve gone further – even up to France even. But for now,  it’s back to the drawing boards, prepare for a whole new concept, and prove my worth once again, together with a team that I know can be counted on in every step of the way!

For my great Profs in VERTSOL and IS-EBIZ

For: Mr. pageman and goodspeed

Sirs, for your convenience, posts specific to your subjects are categorized here:

For Sir Paul Pajo

For Sir David Quitoriano – IS-EBIZ

For Sir David Quitoriano – WEBDEVT

Thank you po!

On to Chapter 3… Getting Real

Reading further in Getting Real truly ennobles. It’s like you’re still an eight-year old boy who’s being scolded by a book for trying to become a wanna-be instead of simply appreciating that you’re unique – you’re you!

When we compare that to a business, the case is the same. When the book mentioned the advantages of being small, such advantages are never negligible – not to mention David and Goliath. Big businesses have a better chance when we look at survivability since they have better financing options (well, not all, but I suppose it’s safe to generalize). But, survivability, the word itself means only a measure of how long can such businesses survive, not how eternal they can be. A lot of big businesses, Microsoft for example, is one at risk with this. Developing bloated applications and solutions, their income is slowly being runsacked by smaller businesses who can offer applications that may not be as feature-rich as that of what Microsoft offers, but nonetheless useable, less complex, and best of it all – they can offer such solutions faster and relatively cheaper. True, Microsoft may have a big number in terms of market share, but with the development the Linux OS is having, it may not be soon before long when there will come a time that the great and indestructible Microsoft will be replaced by a smaller yet better company – and what would be most ironic then is if that such the company never charged a single penny for their product (well, can be freemium, but all’s free is best).

Requirements as well can be related to the chapter. For example, being an IS Student in CSB, a lot of work can be requested by one subject (and everyone who’s reading may already have a hint). When we try to apply running lean, especially during midterms or finals when all subjects are demanding 100++ pages from you and 300%++ of your time and focus, it’s better to start with what’s small and easy to do. Just with financial loans, if you prioritize the smaller loans, the fewer loans you have to pay in a short period of time. But, if you start on the big ones, all the rest of the loans gain interest, gain value, and you pay more. Going back to projects, it’s pretty much the same. If you prioritize on a bigger project since (well who knows, it’s a major subject?) you think it’s of utmost performance, then all the rest of your requirements in the rest of your subjects will be affected greatly. You may have pass one great project for one subject, but you have failed miserably to submit a good one for all the rest.

Looking back on what I read, perhaps the best saying is this: “Size doesn’t matter”, as so marketized by the retake of the Godzilla movie. And that’s all that counts.

Selling Starts Now!

I have started my shopify account and am now selling my first five automotive products. Wish me luck!

Link is: http://jrgalang.myshopify.com

Getting Real – First Thoughts

Reading the first two chapters of the book “Getting Real” reminded me of a lot of things I’ve done in the past. The most recent actually was during our IMPROG3 class’ final machine project. Looking back then, I was never good with the loops or the maths, but I knew what to do.. I always did. I know what keyword to type to make my program work, but when it comes to clicking a next button, or any button for that matter that would require a loop, I always had to ask someone better than me (even Godlike compared to me I suppose) to know how. No matter how he hints on me, I could never understand it, I couldn’t even get the logic behind it.

Comparing it to my ship building classes before, such never occurred to me really. Finding the logic behind how the ship’s design work hand-in-hand with its mechanics, gears, hull, ballasts, etc., it was all in a snap of my fingers. It’s been long that I’ve been confused to why I can never get that same capability to understand before and apply it to what I am taking now. Fortunately, a good friend of mine, Ryan Gesmundo, enlightened me. During our final exam in ITINFRA, I was the same guy having problems with this Subnetting, the logic to how it’s done all-in-all. I tried analyzing it all on my own, but it never worked. I tried reading someone else’s reviewer, useless. Then just about 30 minutes before the exam, Ryan approached me and asked if I could teach him about it. Being the typical “can’t say no to a friend” guy (even though I’m not yet confident of what I’ll teach), I taught him anyway. And using what I just understood on my own – worked! I was able to teach him while at the same time learned from teaching as well! I was able to easily answer the questions in the exam about it and pretty much finished early.

Looking at the contents of the book, the first 2 chapters was pretty much an eye-opener. I finally figured out that the reason perhaps to why I lost the logic I had before was because I was busy watching someone else being better than I am that I let myself be subdued by that thought and stick to what I have – nothing. Never had I relied on someone and never had I compared my work with someone to get things done, and in doing the opposite, I lost. Same with how the book mentioned about being busy watching the competition I suppose. I guess the same case applies to me.

I was also hit while reading the book when it mentioned about the scope getting larger and larger (project-wise that is). Back in our SYSANAL class then, our group was so preoccupied with trying to increase the scope that when the defense came, I, on my personal belief, failed. And the most disappointing is that I failed on identifying the most important part – the MAIN problem. Our team have spotted a problem (and perhaps the only problem there is in that company) that in our quest to submit a content-filled project, we connected a simple attendance sheet problem to the company’s HR, Finance, Registrar, and even its Cashier to propose a very automated solution, where in fact the only solution needed, practicality-wise, is a better way of managing the attendance sheets and simplifying the attendance sheet as well. We increased a scope of a project that need not even involve itself with the HR, Finance, Registrar, and not even the Cashier. Although we got a good grade then and there, since the panel was proud that we did our best to correlate all the departments, I am personally aware that it was not a passing mark for my ego. I knew my approach was wrong, and my team paid for it.

Reading this book may help me more on making things simple yet useable, affordable, and reliable. It’s an introduction of a whole-new philosophy really, I mean coming from subjects that required graphs and charts most of the time. But, given that a lot of people have succeeded using this principle web-wise and even software-wise, I believe that giving the philosophy being introduced in this book a try is a shot that I may truly find useful. I mean, if its beginning chapters could give me such a realization as what I’ve mentioned above, then it may just show how much I’ve been longing to simplify my way of doing things as well.

A pretty good read, and a pretty good justification of finally believing a professor’s word that when he says something – you do it. I did, and I’m pretty much thankful to be given the opportunity.