Who:
Leaded by the Team Members and attended by Product Owner, anyone can join (usually the customer make invitations).

Guidelines:

• Business level demo, if the software has no UI encourage the team to create it;
• No use of long ppt presentations and let the audience try;
• Use standard, shared and known tools (wiki, team room, …);
• Begin with a clear presentation of goal;
• Be informative (e.g. show graph to explain performance improvements, etc.);
• Bringing food to a meeting (such as biscuits) is a good way to relax people and make the meeting friendlier, a nice way to break up a long meeting or to encourage to arrive on time;
• If possible, use informal or funny elements (pic, example, …) to get an entertaining and amusing atmosphere.

Finalize the demo:

• On the last day of iteration finalize demo (everyone have to play a part!):
• Clarify which stories are complete and ready to demo;
• Decide on a running order for presenting the stories;
• Agree who will be presenting which stories;
• Schedule the activities to finalize and organize a run-through to rehearse the demo (don’t undervalue preparation!);
• Reconnaissance of the demo room: network connectivity, proxy, browser version, projector, whiteboard, …;
• Technical check of the demo test environment: integration status, software configuration, build version,… .

Demo Agenda:

• Introduction for the customer (overview of goal and user stories chosen) using standard team’s tools (wiki, …);
• Demonstrate stories and ensure that positive and negative feedbacks are captured (use cards or other sheets, whiteboard can distract the audience);
• Review the main points with the group to check none has been missed, these can be used for next iterations;
• Celebrate!

Other references: It’s all about marketing.

5 Advanced Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

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Lost in thought, in daily doing, in stress…

Explore practices that help build the muscles of presence and attention.

“…mindfulness meditation involves experiential learning via silent periods of sitting meditation or slow walking and purposeful attention to daily activities. Relaxation, although often induced during the training, is not the sole goal of the activity; rather, the main activity is a cognitive and intention-based process characterized by self-regulation and attention to the present moment with an open and accepting orientation towards one’s experiences.”

From a study in the Journal of Attention Disorders [Zylowka, et al. (2008).

Look for the study or read more about this description and application of mindfulness meditation.

I am happy that there  are so many great resources on the topics of meditation and mindfulness, because both practices (I see them as 2) have had an immensely practical and positive effect on my life.  I hope if you are interested that you seek, experiment, and find, the perfect inspiration, practices, and teachers for you.

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We’re creatures of habit.  We form little routines to solve our ‘problems’ and we tweek the routines until we get something that works for us.  Take the ‘problem’ of commuting to work.  I used to live in the suburbs, and the most convenient way to work was to drive.  So I tried different driving routes until I found the right combination of factors… shortest route with the least traffic, but somewhat scenic, a less expensive place to park and I would walk by a great coffee stand on the way to the office.  So, I’d found the optimal routine, given my limited approach to commuting to work, for my preferences.  But, is this the absolute best way for me to commute to work?  I may never know, because I’ve arrived at a comfortable solution.  In statistics they say I’ve reached a ‘local maxima’.

If you have a limited number of solutions to a problem, you can plot them in a graph which may appear like the graph below.  A series of bell shaped curves, or what I think looks more like little turtle shells.  The highest point in each shell is called the local maxima, meaning the best solution in that vicinity.  If we are able to plot all of the possible solutions, then it is easy enough to look for the highest point in the highest shell (curve), and that is the ‘best’ solution.  This approach is called a ‘brute force’ search for a solution.  However, there are many problems that have billions of possible solutions.  Some, in fact, have an un-computable number of possible solutions, so you can’t possibly consider all of the solutions.  So, you won’t know if the good solution you have come up with is the best of all possible solutions, or just a local maxima.

In computers, they have an entire field of study called ’search algorithms’.  This doesn’t mean searching the internet with something like Google.  A search algorithm is a computer program or technique that employs various equations to search through the ‘problem space’, the possible solutions, looking for ways to arrive at better and better solutions (now, Google likely does employ search algorithms in its internet search function).  But many of these algorithms get hung up when they reach a local maxima.

There is one search algorithm I’m particularly fond of, which is known as a ‘genetic algorithm’.  This computer program simulates the way genetics works with DNA to arrive at the optimal characteristics for survival, only it substitutes the characteristics for the solution of your problem instead.

One of the features of genetics is mutation, where a gene pairing is changed randomly, causing an unpredictable result.  Usually, this mutation is counter productive…  say it produces two heads!  But sometimes, the mutation gives the species a new trait that makes them much more successful than before, say a fish with a lung capable of breathing air on land.  Mutation, either in physical genetics, or applied to other ‘problems’ through computer algorithms allows the search to break out of local maxima and possibly find higher maxima; coming out of your shell, so to speak.

So, applied to our world of routines, it means that occasionally, we should break our routines, try something completely different (as Monty Python says).  In commuting, perhaps I should try taking the train instead of driving.  Though the commute may be longer, I would be able to do a couple of hours of work on the train, and be able to leave the office that much earlier, giving me more free time at home.  Or, better yet, maybe I can tele-commute, which would save much more time, save on expenses, reduce my carbon emmissions and help the planet.  But, I’ll never encounter these better solutions, if I stick to my routines.  I’ve got to come out of my little shell once in a while and try something completely different!

On the occasion of ‘Black Friday’, I’ve been thinking a lot about giving.  People give for a lot of different reasons.  Some give because it’s fun to do.  Some give to impress other people and get their names on buildings.  Some give because there is a need and they just happen to be there at that moment.

Commercially influenced giving has put me off for a long time.  Carefully orchestrated seasons for giving, which are slowly creeping their way all around the calendar.  This sort of commercial hype can lead to giving out of obligation, or with the expectation of getting something in return.  If someone you love tends to give you expensive gifts, then you may feel that you need to give them something of equal or greater value; like an arms race, it sparks a gift race!  I saw a commercial the other night encouraging us to give someone a Lexus.  I think I would hate to receive such a gift, because how could I top that?  This sort of giving, I believe, causes more pain and frustration than it does warm feelings of generosity and love.

I enjoy giving personal things that I have made specially for the recipient (if I have the time).  But then, that sort of gift leaves us with little treasures that we feel we need to display and/or store for the rest of our lives.  Better yet are gifts that are consumable;  a night on the town, a weekend in the country.  Once enjoyed, we store only the warm memory.

Thanksgiving always reminds me of the best gift that you can give.  And that is the gift of food.  If you’ve never gone hungry, count yourself lucky; there are many people, whole families in fact, who go hungry every day.  One easy way is to donate canned food (or any food that doesn’t need to be refrigerated) to a local food bank (contact the local food bank near you for details).  If you want to be more involved, I’ve volunteered for organizations that provide meals to shut-ins during the holidays.  Volunteers deliver the meals, then sit and chat while the recipient enjoys their meal and your company.  I’m sure there is one in your area.

And sometimes, if I stop in for take-out food, I’ll order two or three additional meals, and hand them out to people in need, on my way home.  Mostly, for the selfish joy I get from seeing a face light up at the prospect of a warm meal.  Give yourself the gift of giving!

Here is a passage from my 2005 Bestseller, “The Translucent Revolution.”

The most powerful gift we can bring to our relating is the conscious practice of honesty. Under Iago’s spell, telling the truth evokes many conflicting reactions. We may try to be honest to protect an image of being a morally superior person; to prevent the other from leaving us; to avoid guilt, fear of punishment, and other uncomfortable feelings; or to conform to a learned
moral framework. We may also avoid being honest in an attempt to look good, to protect the other from hurt feelings, or to rebel against moral conditioning. We can also adopt honesty as a discipline to deepen presence, to expose and evaporate everything we carry within us that interferes with love. It can be a spiritual discipline, rather than something done in service to separation. Honesty is not just a moral principle. When we avoid the truth, we are cut off from ourselves. If you lie to another, you’ve also created a wall between you and yourself. We split infinity into two, and divide our own intrinsic wholeness. Brad Blanton, who has been a clinical psychologist for more than thirty years, came to translucence through the rigorous and sustained practice of radical honesty. Blanton describes honesty as being completely present and describing your experience just as it is:

“You can take the whole awareness continuum and divide it into three parts. Notice what is going on right now outside of you in the world, what is going on within the confines of your own skin, and what is going through the mind right now, and that’s all there is. Noticing and reporting what is here is honesty. . . just saying it right out as though you didn’t know any better.”

Blanton thinks of honesty as a spiritual practice more than as a moral virtue:

“We know meditation develops your capacity to be present. It becomes more complicated with eyes open, and even more challenging when it involves feelings and interactions with other people. Radical honesty is simply the predisposition for meditation that involves interactions with other people. Honesty and intimacy are really the same thing. When you’re honest, the boundaries between yourself and the other break down, and you experience more oneness or more of a mutual beingness.”

Entering into mutual agreements with your partner, friends, and community to end withholding and deception may be more challenging than first meets the eye. But it is worth the price we have to pay. The old habit that creates most separation, and that pulls attention back most forcibly into Iago’s grip, is the tendency to withhold. Says Blanton:

“The biggest rationalization for lying is “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” the second is “I don’t want to offend anybody,” and the third is “I don’t want to make a fool of myself.” I recommend that you do all three. But stay present with people and let them stay with you until you feel your way through it and get clear. I recommend that you hurt people’s feelings till they get over having their feelings hurt, and offend people but stay with them; don’t do a drive-by. Make a fool of yourself, be a fool in life, be embarrassed, ashamed, whatever emotion comes up, do it out loud, and if you’re scared, feel your way through it and go on to the next limit.”

While researching this book, I was hard put to find anyone who had added honesty to their awakening and later regretted it. Practicing honesty as a translucent discipline is not just a disposition; it involves cultivating very specific skills, which in many ways run counter to our habits. Kathlyn Hendricks gives her definition of being honest:

“It is to describe what is going on in any given moment in a way that doesn’t blame anybody. It’s a whole set of skills: being able to pay attention, to notice what is actually occurring, and then to describe what is occurring in a way that matches the experience. And the act of doing that is tremendously enlivening. It literally will flush out and create a burst of aliveness; it flushes out any old grit, either physical or emotional. It is very, very powerful, but it is also a skill that people can learn and can develop. They don’t have to either know it or not know it; they can literally develop it.”

To read more about translucent honesty and translucent living in general, pick up your very own copy of Translucent Revolution today.

Agile time management depends on two variables:

• Team Velocity, i.e. number of story point for iteration
• Stories Size, i.e. the dimension associated with a story

There are different way to evaluate stories size, here some suggestions.

Approach 1 – Ideal time:

During the planning meeting estimate stories with ideal days of work, i.e. a day without any interruptions whatsoever, no telephone, no meeting, …
Velocity comes from historical series of iterations velocity, but for initial iteration we can define Initial Velocity as:

(Number of team members/Load factor) * Sprint days

Load factor is a number that you can use to adjust the ideal day, i.e. the impact of distractions on a team’s performance.

Benefits:

• Easier to explain outside the team
• Easier to estimate at first
• Make the team more comfortable

Approach 2 – Story Point:

If you don’t have previous estimated user stories, ask the team members to select one story which they think is about average effort to implement.
Give the value of 5 story points to this story and estimate all the other stories relative to the selected story.
Break down the selected story to estimate its parts in hours and define the value of initial story point in hours.
Estimated initial velocity is:

(Sprint hours/hours per Story Point)*Focus factor

with focus factor in percentage.

Benefits:

• Faster
• Do not decay
• Pure measure of size

A good starting compromise (to define initial velocity):

For your first iteration define “1 story point = 1 ideal day” help team to get started and gradually convert team to thinking in unit-less story points (“this story is like the story …”) stopping talking about how long it will take.

I do love a challenge.

At least that’s what I’m telling myself now as I pore over my freshly printed practices. Auf Wiedersehen 4600! Guten Tag, 4800! Actually, my second practice is 4600 yds, but there was a time when 4600 yds was excruciating and now it’s nothing. (Well, I take that back…just skimming the 4600 sheet and I realize that it’s not the yardage that makes it difficult, but what you do that makes it hard, and by judging the drills and intervals on the 4600 sheet, I may regard 4800 yds as a walk in the park…).

Anyway, I can do this. No problem. Fortified with a healthy (and filling) breakfast consisting of a spinach and mushroom omelette, two slices of tomato, and two pieces of bacon, I’m ready to jump in the pool and swim fast and hard. What makes today even more special (besides new practices) is that Julie, my coach, might swim with me! Talk about motivation….Swimming next to her makes me want to swim faster and harder, so I can at least attempt to keep up with her. She is an amazing swimmer who makes the sport look like ballet .

Will report back after my practice…The chlorine is calling…

Each year, accidents lawyers associated with litigation, which is engaged in workplace injuries, which could all be avoided primarily by maintaining proper precautions. When an accident happens, it's already too late to react. The key is to take precautions and prevent workplace accidents in the first place. In this article we will be taken to address the basic procedural steps to improve security in the industrial workplace. Weis not to take certain measures such as security in certain respirators, fire protection devices and the like, which is a topic for another discussion.

Above all, develop a safety procedures manual that details of security for your business. Each employee must then be trained with the instructions in the manual and should be obliged to sign off on a training sheet. This safety manual should list all do and must avoid actions in the workplace. This manual shallbe revised so as necessary as more processes are added or changed. Newer employees must be trained and current employees must be re-trained at regular intervals. A person must be provided at least to supervise the safe operation of your business. The security officer was immediately sent to the President of the company, at least as far as the safety part of its duties. This will ensure that all safety practices are seriously right from the top of the organizational measuresLeader.

Penalties for violation of safety practices should be pretty strict. For example, if a worker was not wearing safety glasses are in the manufacturing areas, he will be sent home without pay. It is cheaper to pay one days to lose vision than those due to failures in protective wear lose. The same goes for wearing proper application gloves. Have areas in which it must have a high noise clear indications requiring the use of hearing protection devices such as earmuffs and if one chooses to violate the policy then the penalties must be fairly strict. The safety officer should be required to maintain a log of workplace injuries and accidents and should be given a goal of reducing and potentially eliminating all workplace accidents and injuries. One could provide incentives to keep the workplace free of all injuries and accidents. Safety signs and placards form a constant reminder to employees of the importance of adhering to safety practices. Such signs should be evaluated regularly. Once I got into a manufacturing facility that had a sign that indicates the presence of flammable liquids in an area where there is nothing else than sand blasting booths, and another character in an area called the demand for the use of respirators and the area not but had drums of acetone. As you can imagine, the company had done to move some departments namely the storage of flammable was exchanged with the blasting area, but nobody thoughtRemove and relocation of the security signs, too. Change to ensure the signs at regular intervals and that the employees are not always blind to the safety signs. Remember, the goal is to workplace accidents, prevent workplace injuries and related processes. Simple procedures can go a long way to fulfill this task.

http://diy-toolsandequipment.blogspot.com/ http://diy-homesimprovement.blogspot.com/

Something that I always do now and might in fact be quite obvious to regular people but I’m quite slow so it took me a little while to realise this was a good practise.

Let’s say I have a page for editing a blog post. I want the form to be at /BlogManagement/Edit/postId.

So I write my first action method:

And here’s what the URL looks like in my browser:

Cool. Now I write the method for the edit form view to post to:

This will work of course. But what happens if validation fails? We get send back to the edit form. But we don’t want to redirect, we’ll just return the appropriate view and viewdata. So what will the URL be now?

Oh dear. That’s no good at all. Now our visitors have this erroneous entry in their history. No, this will not do.

To tidy this up we’ll make use of method overloading and the AcceptVerbs action method attribute. Here’s the signature of the GET action method which displays the edit form view:

and here’s the signature of the POST action method that validates, updates and redirects:

This works because the ASP.Net MVC routing engine understands method overloading and, providing you are using the AcceptVerbs attribute, it will route each request to the appropriate method.

Doing this will make sure that the URL in the browser stays the same during the whole process. Much neater, no?

With only four days to Thanksgiving here in the U.S., you may be wondering how you’re going to find the time to prep dinner or what the weather will be like for your long drive to see family. Regardless, I recommend you leverage the power of gratitude to make this week the best Thanksgiving season ever. There are as many ways to cultivate gratitude as there are things to be grateful for. This simple practice involves devoting 5 minutes every day this week to conditioning your mind in the attitude of gratitude.

Why: Gratitude calls forth what is abundant, exciting, compassionate and fulfilling in your life. In doing so it improves your overall experience of life. Gratitude also orients you toward that which you want to experience and away from that which you do not. This is a critical perspective to have as you navigate family dynamics and the cultural busyness of this season. Did I also mention that gratitude frees up your energy from where it is stuck in worry or fear and makes it available for you here, now? Well, it does. And as we head toward a new year, the attitude of gratitude will also help you to vision the possibilities for your richer, more fulfilling life in 2010.

How: Pick an activity you do everyday, such as brushing your teeth or waiting for the bus, to be your “gratitude time.” During that activity, make a mental note of what you are grateful for. You may notice yourself becoming distracted by other thoughts. Simply return to making note of people, places, and things you are grateful for.

When: Start today! Right now, if you can. (And if you could read this blog, you can probably put off whatever else you were just about to do for 5 more minutes while you get down to gratitude and experience increased energy and positivity for the rest of your day!) Repeat daily. Each day, keep your practice going for at least 5 minutes.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

-Eric Hoffer

A good meditation practice consists of meditating daily, twice a day if possible, but at least once a day.  When you meditate, you should practice one of the techniques I’ve outlined, or another that you’ve found helpful to you.  And when you meditate, really work at it, concentrate.  During the rest of the day, you should practice mindfulness.  Pay attention to what you are allowing through your mind, don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future.  Stay in the present moment.  And, in the present moment, focus on positive things.  Don’t allow hate, anger and negativity to dominate your thoughts.

If you do these things diligently, then your consciousness will continually improve and you will live a happy and healthy life.  As mentioned in the last post, there are times when we go on auto-pilot, and don’t put as much effort into our practice, but even a half-hearted meditation keeps us going.  Then, there are times that we fall off the path completely (well, I don’t believe you are ever off the path, because falling off of it IS part of the path).  There are times you may stop meditating entirely, and stop practicing mindfulness.  And one day you wake up and notice you’re in pain.  Life sucks, and you’re not happy at all.

This is where your practice can really pay dividends.  You don’t have to wonder why you’re not happy.  You don’t have to wonder what to do about it.  You know exactly what you have to do.  Start practicing again.  Put on your “beginner’s mind” hat and dig out the instructions for basic meditation exercises and approach meditation as if you’d never done it before.  In re-learning it, you may grasp some concepts or techniques that you missed the first (or the fortieth) time around.

Practice is your best friend that always has your back, and never lets you down, even if you’ve ignored him for a while.

Without imagination for the sacred in everyday experience, we are destined for a life without soul.  We don’t have to become monks, but we can learn from their example how to bring the monastic spirit, as a color and a flavor, into modern life.  – Tomas Moore

Look for that which inspires your soul today.  What moments, flavors, sights, sounds, smells, feelings, activities, colors, places…

Counting down to Nepal trip: 2 days!

NAMASTE! 2 more days!! 2 more days and we’re all off to Nepal, Annapurna Base Camp!! (:Today was a busy day, with everyone preparing themselves for the teaching of cip over there to the nepali students. The members came up with lots of creative and interactive session of teaching for the students there We had lunch after that before going back to school for our cultural exchange practices. The dance are all more or less completed and ready for the performance there. After the dance, everyone sat together and watched the photos that were being taken on Grad Night 2009. We had fun laughing at the photos because of some funny stuffs, like zooming in and revealing “secrets” of our members!! Everyone was laughing so hard that their stomach probably hurts The session was enjoyable and it ended with the briefing from our teachers, Mr Tok and Mdm Yeo and also well wishes from our principal, Mr Ong (: All of us went home after that to get some rest and prepare ourselves for the trip ahead!

JIAYOU GUYS!

this is the photo taken during the sec 4 grad nite.

Edited 20/11/o9,  22/11/o9, 24/11/o9, 26/11/o9

(1)This is the first shot from Twilight Saga: New Moon – entering the Volturi. Edward is talking about the Volturi and how they are the closest thing to royalty. (2)Medium shot – Edward (voiceover) says that they have laws and then this is where they are beheading a man who has done something bad.

Alice (on the left) is telling Bella that because she’s human and knows too much about them – that she could also be killed. (Over the shoulder shot)

Establishing shot – its showing in advance that something bad happens here; that it has an impact on what is to come.

An over the shoulder shot – showing that Edward and Bella both aren’t in the same shot together because he is breaking up with her and moving away – so by using these shots it is telling resembling what Edward is telling Bella.

Wide angle shot – this is representing Bella’s hallucinations of Edward; how he’s there one minute and the gone the next.

Jumps from a long shot of Bella and Jake to a close up of Bella – Jake is telling her that he wouldn’t do what Edward did to her.

This morning began with me in quest of the perfect poached egg. For nearly two months now, I’ve had a hankering for a poached egg, and not just any poached egg, but a perfectly poached egg. Like the kind my Mom-Mom used to make. She knew how to cook them so they were soft, never hard, and the yolk was not too runny, but just a little gooey – enough to moisten your bread.

After several dismal attempts to recreate the perfectly poached egg during the past two months, I think I may have cracked the code today. Following mom’s intructions, I let the water boil, then I cracked the egg into its little cup and placed the cup inside the pan, and then put the lid on the pan and turned the heat down to a simmer. I let the egg simmer for maybe three minutes and then, viola! One poached egg on whole-wheat toast, two slices of bacon and a cup of Irish tea…truly a delicious breakfast. Alas, I could not really enjoy my breakfast at a slow leisurely pace because I had to be at the Y by nine to give swim lessons.

Recently, I was approached by two older women in search of someone to teach them how to swim properly and efficiently. The women were very impressed by my swimming because they knew me before I knew how to swim, and the progress that I’ve made has blown them away. (I should note here that I was blown away by these two women asking me to give them lessons; this may be the greatest compliment I ever receive in my career of swimming!) Not too keen on competing, but wanting to improve their technique, I was more than happy to give them a few pointers. I have yet to begin with Ann, but I’ve already started lessons with Pat, and let me tell you, I really love helping people learn how to swim properly.

Pat, my first student, is an amazing woman who wants to learn not only how to swim properly, but also how to execute flipturns so she can impress her grandchildren. That’s how I want to be when I’m her age. Actually, when I’m her age, I hope to kick some 30-year old butt in a meet. Anyway, our lesson went really well. She’s eager to learn and willing to work hard, which is 90 percent of what it takes to be a good swimmer.

As for my practice…It’s been a crazy, busy week for my coach, Julie, and because of her fast-paced schedule (she’s a second-year law student, need I say more?), she hasn’t been able to send new practices for the week. As much as I look forward to her practices (I once told her they’re like presents to be unwrapped), this week has been somewhat difficult for me, too, given my cold and my son’s illness, and so one week without increased yardage or challenging intervals is a nice diversion. I’ve been using old practices (ones selected by Julie), and because I’ve already done them, they’re (for the most part) relatively easy to do. I know, however, that this weekend, things will change. There will be new practices, increased yardage, more challening intervals, and whatever new drills my coaches can concoct. So I better enjoy my “time off” while I can.

While we’re on the subject of practices, I feel I should mention that I never deviate from what Julie creates. Others have often told me to just swim and not worry about doing drills or sticking to a certain interval. And as tempting as it may seem to deviate from the plan, I cannot and will not deviate. I can’t even lie to my coach; once, during the summer, I had accidentally skipped over my backstroke set. Feeling so terrible about cutting my practice short, I returned to the Y and finished it. This unfathomable compulsion to stick to the rule book is probably an atonement of sorts for all the deviation I did as a kid (sorry Mom and Dad).

In sum, I had an excellent practice. I swam fast and hard and finished 4400 yards in 1 hour and 45 minutes (probably would’ve been shorter, but I had to take 4 bathroom breaks). Although, I only had 4400 yards, it was by no means an easy practice. Sets were broken up and your endurance (as well as your sanity) was tested because when you completed a set, you had to repeat it. For example:

2 X:
1 x 200 drill
2 x 200 @ 4:15

Exhausting, but exhilatering! Oh, and the fabulous, famous Mr. X made a show today. Unfortunately, we didn’t share a lane (can you hear me weeping?), but our eyes did make contact, and that’s enough (for now, anyway).