Tag Archives: Tools

8 Free “For Dummies” books you should read in 2016

12 Tuesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Architecture, Cloud, Development, DevOps/OpsDev, Enterprise Architecture, Innovation, Programming, Security

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There has been a lot of the free smaller versions of the “For Dummies” books published recently. These are normally sponsored by a company to help promote a way of thinking/product/etc, however they do contain useful overviews and information on the subject that they are presenting on.

Here are my top 8 of these which should be on your reading list for the start of 2016. All are downloadable in PDF format*.

Agile for Dummies

API for Dummies

DevOps for Dummies

Micro-segmentation for Dummies

Next Generation Endpoint Security for Dummies

Software Defined Data Centres for Dummies

Software Defined Networking for Dummies

Software Defined Storage for Dummies

*You may need to sign up to receive some of these books.

Manual tasks of today should be the Automated tasks of tomorrow

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Architecture, Development, DevOps/OpsDev, Innovation, Open Source, Productivity, Programming, Tools

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“Manual tasks of today should be the Automated tasks of tomorrow”.

CogsThere are lots of Automation tools available to people and businesses today to automate tasks that are carried out in a manual way. The pace at which this is happening is varying based on Habits and Patterns that we use on a daily basis. Also because change is involved which sometimes causes its own set of anxieties and issues.

Back in 2012 Bruno Oliveir published a graph on G+ on Geeks and repetitive tasks, which, shows a view of time vs task and how as geek vs non geek might approach automation.

geeks-vs-nongeeks-repetitive-tasks

An alternative view was published by Jon Udell in 2012 – Another way to think about geeks and repetitive tasks which shows an alternative view adding in more steps to show repetition.

alternate-view-of-automation

xkcd has an interesting view on the subject that does ring true in some cases where something does not exist and needs to be created in order to Automate.

automation

You need to be careful that in spending lots of time in trying to automate a task, that you don’t may spend more time in developing automation than could have been spent actually doing the task.

To get over this an element that is missing from these graphs is reuse and blueprints/patterns. The chances are that someone else has had a go at doing what your about to automate so there may be something to reuse rather than developing something yourself.

There are lots of tools and code repositories available today with more being developed. It will depend upon what you are automating as what to use.

Some of the tools available include;

There are too many to list – lots of others available.

Using an Agile approach as well may reduce the length of the task size line on the graph as you do not need to boil the ocean to automate. Break up tasks into their components and you may find it easier to automate.

These tools are also bringing the geek and non geek lines together as Application’s and API’s make it easier for automation to be implemented. The plot of the graph changes into a repeatable process and in effect becomes a loop for both the geeks and non geeks.

Automate

So what will you automate today?

 

 

Personal Knowledge Management System – Revised for 2016

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Productivity, Social Media, Tools

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I originally blogged about my Personal Knowledge Management System back in January 2015 and as we are beginning 2016 its time to review it again. I use my Personal Knowledge Management System to collect, sort and store useful artefacts, blogs, information, inspiration, articles and bits I find on the web.

PKMS

Journal

Journalling in both a Personal and Work life is a useful tool to keep notes on your thoughts and ideas. In my personal life I opt for recording these in a Moleskine – See my blog post No batteries required for further details.

Personal Social Media

This side of life I separate from my work life using things like Instagram and Facebook.

Research

I have split this into two areas:

  • Podcasts
  • Web

Podcasts cover both Audio and Video casts that I watch/stream online or download to my Media Player to listen to on journeys.

Web I pull down into one feed to read using Feedly.

Feedly

I am using this to collect the stories from blogs and web sites I regularly ready. A good tip picked up in the office today from a colleague. This allows you to scan the articles in a few minutes on a single screen without going via multiple sites. Using a series of key strokes you can read the headlines, then move down the articles, opening each one on the screen if you so wish.

Instapaper

I am using Instapaper to store the articles that I like and want to save. This is done via a manual process at the moment.

Twitter

Apart from my normal twitter account (link at the side of the screen) I now have a twitter account to show what I am currently reading. @HemingwayReads

Publishing my Blog

I publish my blog using WordPress which then posts to Twitter, Linkedin and G+ (While its still going)

Further Inspiration from others

Some other good Personal Knowledge Management Systems from my colleagues to read are:

 

Pen Based Productivity Tools – The Chronodex 2016

15 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Productivity, Tools

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ChronodexI have blogged several times now about Pen Based Productivity Tools and a particular favourite is still the Chronodex by Patrick Ng.

Its good to see the 2016 Chronodex released for Jan to Jun 2016, but also a Chronodex Daily Scheduler and GTD To-do List option.

Link to downloads:

http://scription.typepad.com/blog/2015/12/scription-chronodex-weekly-planner-jan-jun-2016-released.html

This is primarily meant for the Midori Traveller Notebook system, but can be used without.

There is still a place for journalling using a pen rather than a blog post as discussed here No Batteries Required: My Personal Journal.  I’m now on Journal 16 as an update since that post.

 

Pen based Productivity Tools – Chronodex Daily Scheduler and GTD

28 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by in Productivity, Tools

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ChronodexI have blogged about the Chronodex a couple of times now as a Pen based Productivity Tool.

This tool has now been enhanced and developed further into a Daily Scheduler and GTD (Get Things Done) Pen based tool.

Chronodex Daily Scheduler and GTD To-do List.pdf

Whilst nothing new in realms of GTD Tools, this is for the Midori Travellers Notebook for those who prefer a paper based “thing” opposed to an electronic “thing” and sets out an easy to use daily page. It can be used in a standalone version if a Midori is not owned.

Source :http://scription.typepad.com/

How to write a Short Biography for your CV and LinkedIn profile

18 Tuesday Aug 2015

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QuillI have been asked a few times on how I have compiled my biography on my LinkedIn Profile so have written this post to help. There are many ways to do this and different formats.

A biography or simply bio is a detailed description or account of a person’s life

Bibliography

(n.d.). Biography. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biography

The aim of a Biography on your CV or LinkedIn Profile is to provide a short paragraph about yourself.  This ideally should be a single paragraph that is to the point and informs the reader of your background, expertise and skills. It can also be used to enhance your CV.

When forming your Biography I have found the best way is to follow this framework (Click picture for a bigger version).

Bio1

Listing your details

Your details for the Short Biography may seem hard to bring to mind, so this page is aimed to help categorise the information. Having an up to date CV and using this as a source of information also helps compile your biography. This list is by no means exhaustive, although remember – this is a short biography.

Getting the information into a logical order brings the story to the biography and the table below is based around one possible layout of the information (Click pictures for a bigger version).

Bio2

Bio3

Picking the right points

This will in the main be down to the information you have recorded. When doing this stage, think about the reader and what they would like to know about you in the 2 minutes they will spend reading your biography. You only need to pick the top 1 or 2 in each area. Highlight or mark these to use in the next stage.

Writing the Biography

The key to writing a Short Biography is to be factual, to the point, structured and start with the most important facts to draw the reader in.

Write out the points into a series of short sentences that follow the logical order to make a short history of your working life. Below is an earlier version of my biography as an example of how this could work.

I am a highly experienced Architect with 27 years working in the IT Industry.  I have extensive knowledge in the design and deployment of platform, systems and network architectures to support both web and traditionally based business applications and services. Proven track record acquired through continual client engagement and delivery of leading edge infrastructures, all of which have delivered positive results for end-clients, including IT cost reduction, expansion of service capability and increased revenues. I am a Fellow of the British Computer Society, Chartered IT Professional.

Review

Getting your biography reviewed before you publish is a good test to check what you have written and that you have got your key messages in the biography.  This could be a colleague, friend, mentor or someone you dont know. Ask the reviewer to feed back to you what they have learnt about you.

Is Upgrading to Windows 10 Plain Sailing?

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by in Tools, Windows

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I decided to take the plunge and join the other 14 million Windows users who have downloadmouseed and upgraded to Windows 10.

Expecting a good experience and easy upgrade I was soon put right on my expectations.

After backing up my data, I followed the Windows Update method of upgrade. My PC downloaded the Windows 10 upgrade and after a while it started to install. Unfortunately my device hung. The only way out was a reboot, so reluctantly the power was recycled.

My PC rebooted back into Windows 8.1 and then started to download the upgrade again! – Same issue occured.

This time I downloaded the ISO image to a DVD and got similar results.

After several times of being stuck in this loop and concluding that my current Windows 8.1 build was corrupt in some way I decided that the only way this upgrade was going to get done was to clean my PC back to its original build and then upgrade.

A reboot straight from the Windows 10 image was fruitless as Windows did not pick up the fact that my device has its Windows Key held in the BIOS at manufacturing time.

Luckily my PC has its build disks on a separate partition so an ALT + F10 was all that was needed to wipe and rebuild back to Windows 8.

With the PC booted up and Windows 10 DVD in, I was able to finally upgrade, remembering to lock down a number of the security settings enroute through the screens.

Build done I then put Office back onto the PC. This was followed by a number of Updates to both Office and Windows 10.

Great back and working. A couple of days later and another Windows 10 Update received I found another issue. Outlook would no longer send emails. Receiving emails still worked.

I carried out some research and it appears that somewhere between Windows 10 and Office some of the config files were out of place and it prevented emails working.

This issue seems to be common for some specific configurations although the actual cause isn’t clear at this point. It can happen with any version of Outlook.

http://www.msoutlook.info/question/cannot-send-after-windows-10-upgrade

I followed this sites instructions and ran the  “sfc /scannow” command in a command prompt with admin privileges. This command sorts out the critical Office files and places them back where they need to be after an upgrade to Windows 10.

So far everything seems to be back in working order, but the upgrade was not an easy thing to carry out. I had similar issues on a different machine with the email not sending. Perhaps a further patch is needed to sort this issue out properly.

Anyone else had issues with their upgrades?

Habits and Patterns

27 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by in Architecture, Tools

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During my recent vacation I was staying along the “Dinosaur Coast” in the UK and took my son fossil hunting along the coastline.  Along the way were several other fossil hunters ranging from Amateurs to Semi Professionals.fossil

The thing I noticed observing the other hunters was their habits and methods used in searching the rock faces and surrounding areas in finding fossils.

These ranged from random searches and tapping on rocks with a hammer to careful methodical searching and testing of the rock.

Much in the same was I have observed in my time as an Architect and in business of peoples habits and patterns, however it was more noticeable as I was not in my normal bubble of work/life.

We tend to apply a pattern based on our own skills, knowledge and behaviours that we are comfortable with. Perhaps we should challenge our own habits and look at where efficiencies and benefits can be brought in.

A habit (or wont) is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur unconsciously.

– Wikidpedia

A good reference on habit is “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. Duhigg explains why habits exist and how they can be changed.

With patterns we can create, change or learn based on our needs. Patterns provide that repeatability that is needed for some tasks and solutions.

A pattern, apart from the term’s use to mean “Template”, is a discernible regularity in the world or in a manmade design. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner.

– Wikipedia

A good reference for patterns is by Christopher Alexander

Each Patterns describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice.

– Christopher Alexander

Alexander defines a ‘pattern’ as a three part construct.

  • First comes the ‘context’; under what conditions does this pattern hold
  • Second is a ‘system of forces’. In many ways it is natural to think of this as the ‘problem’ or ‘goal’.
  • Third is the ‘solution’; a configuration that balances the system of forces or solves the problems presented.

By observing the other fossil hunters and their habits and patterns, we successfully found a couple of good Annomite and Belemnite fossils by Learning from others.

My lesson learnt on this vacation is to “Challenge the habits and create/follow a pattern where possible”.

Microsoft Free e-Books

14 Tuesday Jul 2015

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Microsoft have released a large number of free ebooks across a number of subjects via a MDSN Blog.

The subjects covered in the books are:

  • .Netbooks
  • Azure
  • Dynamics
  • Hyper-V
  • Lync
  • Office
  • Powershell
  • Sharepoint
  • SQL
  • System Centre
  • Surface
  • Windows 7
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server

Link to MSDN Blog – Free Books

Pen based Productivity Tools – The Chronodex – Part 2

12 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Productivity, Tools

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If you have been using The Chronodex (I blogged about this back in January) you will soon be coming to the end of the 6 months in the tool. Patrick Ng has now released the next part for the second half of the year.

Download available from here

The format of the Chronodex is meant for the Midori Traveller Notebook style of (http://www.midori-japan.co.jp/tr/english/) but you don’t need one of these to use it.

Chronodex

Upon first glance it looks a bit quirky and hard to use, but once you get used to the format of the Chronodex it does become an interesting tool to use. A bit different from a normal day to a page diary with times down the side.

Using shading, colours or other types of marking you can block out parts of the Chronodex for tasks/appointments and add keys or words alongside the areas filled out.

Source: http://scription.typepad.com/