JB Weekly Digest (07-47)

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My apologies on missing last week. Between travel for work, a sister’s wedding, and the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a hard enough time just getting a few hours sleep at night.

Anyway, we’re back this week with some more links and commentary items I’ve found interesting or funny, and that I thought like-minded individuals might enjoy.

Language/Communication

Pain in the English – As business analysts know, it is challenging to communicate ideas with precision using natural language. It’s all the more difficult when we don’t use words correctly. Should I use “obliged” or “obligated”; “skilled” or “skillful”; “percent” or “percentage”? PITE is a “Forum for the Gray Areas of the English Language”. Per the site description,

PainInTheEnglish.com encourages discussions of such gray areas of the English language, for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries and other reference books.

Users submit questions about word or phrases, and the responses are thoughtful and useful. It looks like a pretty good resource, and merits a look next time you are unsure of whether the word you’re using is appropriate or even a word at all.

Productivity

Chart Chooser - I found this the other day while looking for eye candy for a presentation. Chart Chooser from Juice Analytics provides a number of very practical (and attractively designed) chart templates that can be downloaded in used in Microsoft Excel or Power Point. They’ve categorized the available charts as follows: comparison, distribution, composition, trend, relationship and table.

A Little Levity…

> Here’s a tongue twister that probably only a techie can appreciate:

IF IF = THEN THEN THEN = ELSE ELSE ELSE = IF;

> “Goating” – Ever step away from your word area for a little while and either forget or just neglect to lock your computer? Bad idea. Never mind the security risks, Coding Horror warns of the possible pranks and embarrassments that befall those who take their chances. I’ve seen (and maybe even participated in) the one where you send a silly e-mail from a co-workers desk to one or more people. Or, I’ve seen people put up weird Google search results pages (i.e. hair regrowth formulas or, for that matter, hair removal solutions) on the individuals desktop. Per the article, other examples of “goating” include:

• Installing the bluescreen screensaver.
• Replacing the desktop with a screenshot of the desktop, and hiding all the visible items on it.
• Switching the mouse from right to left handed.
• Using the video driver settings to rotate the display left, right, or upside down.
• Switching the keyboard layout from QWERTY to Dvorak (or vice-versa).

There are lots of examples or “goating” and some funny pictures included in the original article. Take a look if you’re up for a chuckle, or up to no good..

Short Cuts

• Michael Gladstone of the IIBA provides a glimpse at what’s in the works for the CBAP and what to expect in 2008.
• Scott Sehlhorst toasts the 2nd anniversary of his Tyner Blain blog. If you’re involved in business analysis or product management and don’t read Scott’s blog regularly, you need to.
• Craig Brown warns that “Agile projects threaten the role of business analysts on IT projects.“
• The NASA Software Assurance Quality Center provides a detailed dissertation on writing effective requirements specifications. Pretty standard stuff, but nicely organized and serves as a good reference resource.