Disastrous SVVP Review!!!

This evening (well, yesterday evening, at this time) we had the review of the SVVP or the document where the tests procedures are explained.
If you remember (if not, then go back to the week before christmas), the week where we had to deliver the SVVP was really stressfull, because we had the huge review of the DDD, the selling, the audit and the SVVP.
Finally we passed all but the SVVP, we have to make changes in a 20% of the document, mostly changes regarding the naming convention of the elements in the data model. We have to deliver the reviewed version this saturday, and also on saturday we have to deliver the STD and the BPR, but as those two are finished since a week ago, I think we are going to do a good job this time.

So, we have reached a conclussion, that although with this project now we are not going to have to face again, it's a good one that probably will be with us for the rest of our career: in stress time, take it easy and solve the arguments before they reach the conflict stage, 'cos a project is not worth it.

Take care and keep in touch, probably on saturday a entry will be posted.

Nieves

We have passed: Congratulate us!!!

According to our secret source (the X man of X' files), this blog has passed to the final phase of the blog competition!
So we thank everyone who thinks that we are good enough to pass, and for those who doesn't, then we will try harder in this new stage.

We also want to say that we are sorry for those groups that have not passed: guys you are great, don't worry you are in our minds!!! this is our farewell to all of you


Keep working hard, and as Henry Ford said:

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.

Thanks to everyone

Blue Team

Has Google met a possible opponent?

Yesterday, I was reading the newspaper waiting for the typical familiar lunch of the 6th ohf January (here in spain, it's holidays), and I read that Wikipedia has developped a new internet search engine, and also in the title Google was beginning to be cited, so I though what's this about??

I kept on reading and I discovered that Wikipedia has though expanding it's concept about users doing the work by small amounts of contribution, to a search engine. So they don't have to recreate a program with intelligence like google, but it is going to use the intelligence of the real people. At first you think it's not serious, but after the success they had with Wikipedia and how it changed the concept of the encyclopedia, you can just laught it off.

Also it is said that Google is shaking because the amount of users that wikipedia has, could change their searches to Wikia (name of the search engine of Wikipedia).

If you want to know more about Wikia, you can click here

That's all we will have to see who is the winner between google or wikia.

Bye

Nieves

News!!!

Hello everyone!

WE are glad to communicate to everyone that we have finished the BPR we have to deliver the 12th and we have also done a fair share of the STD that is for the same date.

We didn't know if we had to do some points because as we are not implementing we are not supposed to know how the software transfer phase is going to be. But after discussing it with our teacher, he has told us that we have to specify some guidelines for this stage, so when the real implementation takes place, then, the programmers are going to know what can they use or not.
I suppose the implementation is in the middle, we develop the project since the beginning until implementation stage and also tell them what it looks like and use, but we don't code.

Shame for them, good for us.

As of yet, we haven't had any news regarding the blog competition, so we don't know which groups have passed to the last stage and which not, so we'll wait.

Regards

Nieves

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

ColourTeam wishes everyone a happy new year 2008 to everyone.

And some quotes:

• This bright New Year is given to me to live each day with zest, to daily grow and try to be my highest and my best! - William Arthur Ward

• May the dawning of this New Year, fill your heart with new hopes, open up new horizons and bring for you promises of brighter tomorrows. May you have a great New Year. - Anonymous

In this page you can search the greetings in your own language.


ColourTeam

Going back to work!!

After a brief 'kit-kat' moment, a.k.a relax period, our group has gone back to work. We have divided the tasks of the STD (Software Transfer Document) between the members of the team, and also the fourth BPR (Bi-weekly progress report).

We have a question regarding the STD, we know that a User Manual and a Developer one is needed, but do we need to use screenshots in the user manual? I think that it can be a very graphical and easy way to explain the users how to do the things, but we are not so sure.
If someone can answer it could be great, thanks.

As of yet, we haven't got any news about the SVVP, so we are supposing we have passed it or our customer is waiting until new year to send us the review. Anyway, it does not affect our schedule, 'cos until the 9th er don't have to send the last DDD version (is going to be the same as the prefinal, that's the reason we put so much work on it) and the 12th we have to send the STD and BPR.

After that, there is only one document left, the PHD that is a summary of all the BPR already delivered; thus, we are happy with the current workload, after nine very stressfull weeks.

We are back!!!

Cheers

Nieves

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hello people:

This is a christmas post to wish a merry christmas and a happy new year to everyone that read us and also to those that don't.

In order to be more international:

• ¡¡¡¡Feliz Navidad!!
• Merry Christmas!!!
• Frohe Weihnachten
• Joyeux Noël
• Καλα Χριστουγεννα
• Buon Natale
• Рождеством
• メリークリスマス
• 圣诞快乐
• عيد الميلا

Have good holidays, spend time with the family and friends and wish for health, luck, love and also money (why not?)

Yours

Blue Team

Bad SW update in Microsoft Office!!

Just now, while reading the last post of the blog MELIDS (see The others section) I have remembered that I wanted to talk about the new Microsoft Office 2007.

Everyone who knows me, know that I am a pro-windows fan, but in this case I have to say stop. Based on what SE-3, SE-2, SE-1 and all the other subjects about knowledge acquisition, have shown me, it's that when you develop a SW project you must take into account what the user needs and wants and not do some showy application or interface that people is going to get frustrated with.

This is the case of the last Microsoft Officec 2007, over all Power Point and Word. Almost all the people that I know and try to work with them, get mad and shut off the computer where it is installed and try to do it again with an older version of Office like 2002 or 2003. Why??

Simple, because nobody can really understand the interface, you get lost, you don't find the icons or the functionalities. And if you save without really looking, it saves the doc into a new format called .docx or something like that.
So when you try to open it in your personal computer you can't.

This is my example of a very bad SW update; people don't like it, and if WE (engineering students) can not really get it, how are the normal users do it?? )

Please follow the rule:

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools". Douglas Adams

Thanks

Nieves

Audit!!

Hello everyone:

Although we though that if we did the selling we didn't have an audit, that was a wrong assumption of our part. We have to do it also.

The audit consists on recording a CD (good that it's before the canon law is in use) with all the repository of the project: folders, old versions of documents, etc.

Then the customer or in this case the auditor will tell us the result on the audit and how we have to change some documents.

That's all, so finally it's not a lot of trouble, and the CD has already been delivered to the auditor.

Hope we get good results.

Cheers

Nieves

P.S I am on holidays break, if someone wants to read a book about SE, this seems good enough (it could be a christmas presents ;-) ) :
Title: Practices of an Agile Developer: Working in the Real World
Authors: Venkat Subramaniam and Andy Hunt
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
Chapters: Excerpts from Introduction and Chapter 1
ISBN: 097451408X; Copyright © 2006 The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC.

Huge Discovery!!!

Hello bloggers:

Today I have realised a very important fact, but first I have to explain the situation.
This last month, I have been in some job interviews (yeah, I know, bu that's not the point), anyway in everyone of them, they have asked me:

• How do you work in group?
• How do you solve conflictic situations?
• How do you deal with someone that does not do his/her job?
• Can you follow an schedule and a list of tasks?
• etc.

And let me tell you, in that moment I though: Hey, that's what I am doing in this project!!! And also what we have been doing for almost the last 3 years of the degree.
So, that has been my discovery, that although the project can seem boring, hard-work, and all those things that we know; in reality it is preparing us for what is about to come, so we don't go blind in the next 4 or 5 months when we begin really working.

But although all this seems like I should thank my teachers of SE3, sorry but cannot do; it goes against the student rule:
"the student is always the one that suffers"
LOL

Anyway, you can contradict me, support me, etc. But if you do, please say so giving reasons.

Thanks a lot

Nieves

Review of the DDD and SVVP comments

Hello again!

Today we had another review regarding the huge changes we had to make in the previous version of the DDD and I am happy to inform everyone that this time, the customer was really happy with it; so we don't have to make any changes from the final delivery of this document. That time we can use it in other documents.

Also today we sent the first draft of the SVVP document; and in this case we had a little problem with it, because of some 'communication issues', let's say. But finally and thanks to the hard work of our team, the document could be delivered before deadline (Today at 1 p.m., Madrid time).

So now we have begun our christmas holidays for this project. But before we go, we are going to divide a little work for each member, so they don't get lazy with all the food and parties and then we have a not so tight schedule.

But we are happy, because the worst of a software project has passed.

Congratulations Team

Your project manager

Nieves

How did the selling go?

Hello people:

The selling was mmmmm... interesting is a good word. It was my first one, so I didn't know what to expect. But I had a great time listening to the elevator pitches and when we had to show our presentation, we were really nervous.

At the end, we had some mistmatches but in general it went well. I don't know if we sold the product or not; but the important thing is that now we know what we can meet in an event like this.

One of my mistakes was about the SW methodology in Mexico, because I though there was none, but apparently it exist as is something like PROMOVER or PROVER or so. But I have searched again in the Internet, and I have not found anything related to that. So I believe what the customer told me, because he was from Mexico, but I didn't find it.

Anyway, we did it and now it's in the past; yesterday we delivered the pre-final version of the DDD and tonight or tomorrow morning we will deliver the SVVP or Tests.
This week the schedule has been changed, so now we are going to have reviews on Monday and Tuesday because our customer can not meet with us on Thursday, so we accomodate his needs as best as we can.

And then it'll be christmas break; in that time, our development team will keep on working to finish the last 2 documents. So then we have time off after the break.

Post more tomorrow after the review.

Cheers

Nieves