Category Archives: Development Process

trying out toodledo

Posted on by
Reply

I have too many things going on my free time that I’m outgrowing my current “task management system” (a whiteboard and pieces of paper.)  A few years ago, I started using a portable calendar to keep track of dates/times which helped and moved a few to dos to it.  But that doesn’t even begin to cover it so I’m left with pieces of paper.  I’m spatial with my to do list so I was resisting an electronic list.  Now that it isn’t working anymore, it is time to switch.

A year ago, I tried the GTD plugin for gmail.  I used it to clean out my inbox, but didn’t stick with it.  I think it’s because I don’t manage all my tasks in email.  And I don’t want to.  Now I’m up to the next attempt which is to separate my e-mail and todo list.  Not sure if I want to actually follow GTD yet.  After some preliminary research, it looks like I needed to choose between Omnifocus and Toodledo.  Technoramble had the best comparison of the two.

Criteria I thought were most important to me

  • Be able to enter tasks on subway/train – sounds like both are ok with it.  Even though Toodledo has a web interface, it does have an iPad app.  And it lets you e-mail new tasks to a separate email to be automatically entered.  And Omnifocus clearly works without internet access.
  • Repeating tasks – both have
  • Ability to sort/filter/use contexts – both have
  • iPad app – both have

On my core criteria either is fine.  I would be using it on all Mac products so that isn’t a downside.  Although a suppose the web interface of Toodledo is a nice to have.

Trying Toodledo

I decided to try toodledo first.   The free version wasn’t much more than my paper list.  No subtasks/minimal organization.  There is a 7 day trial of the pro version so I tried that.  (I bought it the next day.)  In pro, subtasks are nice and intuitive.

What I liked

  • Signing up and entering a task was easy.  As was entering a repeating task.
  • The sorting/scheduling/stats are nice.
What wasn’t obvious to me
  • It wasn’t immediately apparent how to edit a task (besides the task name) or add notes to a task (unless it started with notes).     It assumes a certain screen resolution and requires horizontal scrolling to see things like how to add a note, repeating entry, priority, etc.  After scrolling, I do see how to edit everything.

Note that on the web interface, there are two sets of screenshots online. This one which looks easier to use and this one which is what I see

The iPhone/iPad app

The iPhone app is $3 (no free trial.)  I did pay the $3 but I had some doubts as to whether I was going to like it since I wasn’t crazy about the web interface.  Turns out I like the iPad interface a lot better than the web interface!  You can click a task to show details which is more intuitive to me.  Tasks feel linked better.  Just the overall feel is nicer.

The only thing that wasn’t intuitive to me was that contexts aren’t displayed by default. To start showing them, you go to settings > tasks > fields and defaults.  Then you drag context up to the top of the used fields area.

Cost

$3 to experiment, $15 a year to keep.  Nice!

How it did on my criteria

  • Be able to enter tasks on subway/train – excellent.  While I have the iPad app set up to sync on opening/closing, it gives up quickly when there is no internet without draining battery.  I do have to remember to sync when I am not on the subway if I want to see the to dos in a browser.  This hasn’t proven to be a big problem though as I use the iPad app for reviewing tasks more and the web app for adding tasks if I am already on the computer.
  • Repeating tasks – good – easy to configure and specify dates.  The only thing I’d like is the “on date” field to allow multiple dates.  I can specify a task to only show up on Saturdays but not the whole weekend.  If I choose a regular due date, it starts showing up during the week.  If I choose “after” a date, I lose the benefit of a due date.
  • Ability to sort/filter/use contexts – excellent on the iPad app.  I haven’t used this in the web app enough to comment.
  • iPad app – excellent
Four other features
  1. I configured the ability for toodledo to receive tasks by email.  This is a great feature as I often e-mail myself from work something to gmail that is really a todo.  It is great to reserve email for email rather than a task management system.  The email is a “secret” email which is not rememberable.  I’ve added it to my contact list.
  2. I also set up the gmail plugin.  I don’t find it easy to use and it is the same # clicks to get to the tasks as just going to the website in another browser tab.  I tried in the “old gmail look” and it is less clicks there.  Could be this will get better.
  3. I like the importance score which is a combination of due date and priority.
  4. I like the scheduler where you provide the length of time you have, folder and context.  Toodledo suggests what to do.  That’s great for when you know you should do something but can’t think of what it should be.

interviewing – knowledge vs experience vs skill

Posted on by
7

When trying to explain the difference between knowledge and experience, I heard someone jokingly mention a formula between the two.  While there isn’t really a formula (at least as far as I know), his point is still important.  When interviewing, knowledge, experience and skill all come into play.   Let’s look at the differences.

Knowledge

  • Questions: Do you know how to do what needs to be done?  Do you know where to find out?
  • Example:  Do you know how to read in a file so you can go through it and look for data?
  • Why it matters: While technology changes fast, the ability to find knowledge quickly, is an asset.  And caching it in your head or knowing what to look for in the API makes things faster.
  • Where it is on the resume: list of technologies.  Which tends to be buzzwords over depth.  After all, if you list “Spring”, you could have just heard of it or be an expert.

Skill

  • Questions: Do you know how to identify what needs to be done?
  • Example: Do you realize using scanner with a regular expression can make the problem trivial?
  • Why it matters: Solving the right problem is what makes development part art (and not all science.)
  • Where it is on the resume: Sometimes shows up in the form of on the job accomplishments, but often has to be determined by talking to the person.

Experience

  • Questions:  Have you done something similar?  What worked?  What didn’t?
  • Example: Do you identify this is the wrong problem to be solving and a better one would be to ….?
  • Why it matters:  Who wants to repeat the mistakes of the past!
  • Where it is on the resume: In some form, it is on the resume as number of years.  However, this doesn’t show what the person actually learned.  I’ve met people who have managed to learn almost nothing in 7-10 years.

Why this matters at an interview

An interviewer should be interested in all three of these.  (Plus potential, fit and many other things.).  Everyone has some experience.  If you are entry level, it might have come from school or a toy project.

What do you think?  Post here or in the coderanch jobs discussion forum.

the trust cycle vs the hype cycle

Posted on by
Reply

Most of have seen the Gartner hype cycle graph – shown here from wikipedia.  This got me thinking about what would happen if we tried to do the same thing – except with trusting our teammates to see how they compare.  I’m calling that the “trust cycle.”  While we do hear a lot about trust and team in agile, the only place I found using the term “trust cycle” wasDavid Weiss’ blog.

The beginning:

With the hype cycle, we start at basically zero.  We haven’t heard of something and we remain skeptical until we hear a little.  Then we get too excited.

With the trust cycle, I think you start more in the middle.  When you first meet someone, you don’t inherently trust or distrust them.  And at the beginning, people are pretty cautious and don’t do anything to change that.

The middle

With the hype cycle, the trigger for change is reality.  We go from inflated expectations to seeing what the technology can really do.  Since our expectations were too high, we fall harder.

With the the trust cycle, the trigger for change depends on whether it is positive or negative.  For positive trust (teambuilding), it just takes time.  Our trust level slowly goes up until we trust the person fully.  For negative, the jump happens much faster.  Either as a series of little things that make you suspicious (as shown in the graph) or as one big thing that causes a series drop.  Once we’ve dropped, trust either stays at rock bottom or gets re-earned very slowly.

The end

Both cycles stabilize at the end.  The hype cycle stabilizes at reality.  The trust cycle stabilizes at either trust or distrust.

Conclusion

This stickyminds article talks about how to build trust.  What do you think about the trust cycle?