Approximately two months ago, I was approached by the Research Department at Info-Tech to assist in a Research cycle, which lasts seven weeks.  As a Business Analyst in a busy IT Department I was skeptical to join.  Would I have the time?  Will the employees like me?  Will I have the knowledge to make contributions?  These were a few of the concerns that I had when asked.

I decided to accept the offer to better understand the processes, look for improvements and gain a deeper understanding of a research topic, which happened to be on Diversity in the Workplace.  I look forward to posting this set in an upcoming blog post!

I spent approximately five to ten hours per week researching the topic, attending morning scrums, meetings and displaying results in PowerPoint.  I learned how the team used SharePoint as well as Video Conferencing tools.  It was interesting to have the opportunity to observe and look for possible areas of improvement from an IT perspective.  Over this time, I noticed many improvements emerging as a result of my involvement with the department:

• Communication – I had a more visible presence with the staff;
• Deeper Appreciation – I Gained an understanding of the due diligence the Research Department takes to ensure quality and an effective solution for the client; and
• Engagement – Over the seven weeks, I had a mental break from the day-to-day IT jargon and enjoyed the challenge of learning a new skill set.

A challenge many IT Departments face is aligning their strategies and goals to those of the organization.  Improving communication through cross-training of departments can help address this issue.

An effective first step for many IT Departments is to start cross-training within their own department.  It is human nature for employees to gravitate towards work they are most competent and comfortable with.  However, there is long-term risk with this approach as their knowledge is not transferred to other employees.  Furthermore, as employees leave, IT Departments scramble to train employees or hire an expensive replacement.

The culture has to enable employees to learn new skills and focus on the “big picture” and not short-term solutions.  There has to be support for those employees being cross-trained.  If cross-training only adds to the employee’s current workload, it will not be embraced by the staff.  Lastly, there has to be feedback for the managers to drive continuous improvement.  For example, my perspective as an IT employee in the Research Department spurred many IT initiatives to further improve IT’s support of the Research department.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my experience in more detail.  Please contact me at rfrook@infotech.com.

Over the years I’ve spent many thousands of dollars on DSLR gear only to find myself now wanting to sell it all. Why? DSLRs are bulky, heavy, and expensive. With new technologies in the photography world, I’m finding it harder to justify keeping mine around.

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How television’s terrible plot device continues to distort expectations and make my job harder.

Whether it’s CSI or one of the 20 or so different versions of Law and Order, almost every crime drama is guilty of grossly and comically misrepresenting how much audio/visual evidence can be “enhanced” to help solve a crime. In a few button clicks, blurry footage is sharp as ever, images are zoomed with no loss of detail, terrible audio becomes a studio recording, and that faint reflection in the far off window is “enhanced” to reveal the killer. It’s poor writing.

The tools and techniques available to us to enhance video, fix blurry photographs or cleanup/isolate audio are impressive, but they can’t do anything near their fictional counterparts. Unfortunately that license plate 100 yards away in the blurry security cam can’t be zoomed in and “enhanced” with pixel perfect sharpness and resolution. Sorry folks, the bad guy gets away. The real crime here is the deus ex machina committed by the show’s writers.

Luckily I’m less exposed to these plot devices ever since HBO’s The Wire made it virtually impossible for me to take any network television crime drama seriously. Surely a show about a special police unit gathering evidence from audio/video surveillance to take down Baltimore’s worst criminals would use some sort of “new special algorithm” or “the latest enhancement software” to get the crucial evidence they need? To the amazing writer’s credit, the realm of possibility was maintained.

I didn’t realize TV was part of my problem until one day a coworker at my previous employer came to me with video footage that needed editing asking if I could fix it like they do on “all those TV shows.”  I did what I could, but when I showed it to her, it was obvious she had greater expectations.

I’ve been doing video editing and graphic design for quite some time now and I’ve had to work with a lot of recorded and captured material in serious need of restoration. The corrections that today’s software can make is nothing short of amazing, but it’s not magic. “Garbage in, garbage out,” as the saying goes, and it’s important to know the limitations of what can be done in post-production. Despite what Horatio Caine and crew can do, you can’t create new detail, only manipulate what’s there.

For someone like me who both records and edits video, audio, and digital images, I am aware of how far I can correct my material when I am recording on site in less than optimal conditions, but not everyone tasked with recording something for work has that training. The more time spent learning your equipment, its limitations, double or triple checking your settings while you set up and learn to mitigate environmental distractions, the less you’ll be cringing at the out of focus video, noisy audio, or the blurry image you might have recorded. Just don’t expect miracles if you do.

The IT Person of the Month (or ITPOTM) initiative is intended to let us recognize people in the department who go above and beyond by working outside their role, to help others, to better the company or department, or people who epitomize InfoTech’s core values and are inspirations for others.  People who deserve recognition.

Each month, we have 7 nominees from within the department, broken down across function.

• Sales Operations
• Production
• Infrastructure and Support
• Application Development/Product Owners/Designers – 3 nominations
• Managers

Nominations come from our IT staff – although we do take the odd nomination from outside of our group, the primary purpose of ITPOTM is to recognize and reward peer contributions.  We’ve varied the process a bit from time to time, but basically you can nominate anyone, or even several anyones.  But, you need a story.  Why is this person getting your kind words and support?  What have they done to deserve your precious recognition?  It is this compelling story that will make a finalist into a winner.  If for some reason you’d like your words to be anonymous, tell you manager, and they will strip your name off of your nomination before sharing it with the team. Read More »

In my previous (and very popular) post titled PHP vs Ruby on Rails, I wrote about the differences and similarities between the two languages.  As I said in that article however, the comparison isn’t fair since PHP is a language, and Ruby on Rails is a framework.

For a proper comparison of PHP and Ruby on Rails, we need to look at comparing CakePHP and Rails, both MVC Architectures for Rapid Application Development (RAD).  These tools allow developers to be able to generate baseline code and to be able to develop quickly within their architectures.

There are many benefits to using MVC, including:

• clean separation of logic from views
• REST friendly URLS
• maintains a stateless nature
• ease of control over rendered HTML
• use of Test Driven Development (TDD)

Compared to my previous post, this is an apples-to-apples comparison between CakePHP and Rails environments.

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A Rhetoric Crash Course

It’s safe to say that we’ve all created a case for ourselves, attempting to persuade our mothers to go for that Grateful Dead road trip, or (please mom) just a small tattoo. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve been utilizing rhetoric since the sweet moment of your language acquisition.

Rhetoric, as defined by the ever-credible Wikipedia, is “the art of discourse.” Alternatively, by Aristotle, “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” In plain language, rhetoric is the art of argument, persuasion, even manipulation, if you wanna go there. Regardless of communication platform, the mediator holds a purpose being shared with an audience in a strategic way.

Why should you care?

If not because rhetoric is awesome, because it applies to all mediated elements. This includes design, multimedia authoring, and many other aspects involved with digital literacy. Have you considered how your website, tool, product is affecting your audience and the broader digital community? Track and revise how your purpose/argument is being communicated using the three appeals of classical rhetoric: ethos, logos, and pathos.

Ethos: Credibility
A relationship between speaker and audience is heavily influenced by perceived intelligence. This is generally supported by your status within a community and display of knowledge on a topic. Not much to do there. Where the work comes in is proving your goodwill and virtuous nature. Don’t make a hard sell, but soft shoe into a buttery soft example of why you are all bunnies in baskets. In terms of design, this can be as simple as color choice.

Logos: Factual Consistency
Logic. Reasoning. Factual proof. This is the most commonly acknowledged means of persuasion within the science crowd. From labs to research papers, logic and supporting factual evidence are meant to be unshakable. With rhetoric, the trick is knowing when to use logos to create a sense of exigence (urgency for action). Consider the use of logos in the same way you would consider name-dropping. It can be extremely effective, but only when you are using proofs with purpose.

Pathos: Emotions
As much as you may deny it, you have emotions. Big, bold, beautiful emotions that are longing to be let loose. Rhetoric easily stirs up the basics—anger, happiness, sadness. Who can say with honesty that those Coca Cola polar bears haven’t moved them to a place of sheer delight? Probably few. Has a keynote speaker ever morphed you into a blubbering pile of compassion? Pretty likely. The open expression of emotion makes a message more trustworthy and relatable. Pathos can easily be utilized in a digital atmosphere with carefully chosen elements of design.

Regardless of purpose, consider these three appeals the next time you’re gearing up to craft a page, write a blog post, or convince your partner that Yoko really isn’t all that evil. Ensure that your message is clear and well communicated by taking a closer look at classical rhetoric, and the rhetoric of digital literacy.

Innovation Days for Small Teams – November 14, 2012

On Wednesday November 14th, I gave a talk at the Digital Interactive Gaming conference (DIG Canada) on creating engagement through innovation.

Most small development teams are so busy with the day-to-day running of the business that they never get the time to think about the bigger picture, but giving developers the freedom to build their own solution changes they way they develop, and creates better products for the business.

Innovation Days at Info-Tech changed the tone in many ways and was the first step in making our business see our developers as creative individuals who could deliver more than they were asking, rather than mere implementers of specs. Read More »

Something that’s much different about the IT department here at Info-Tech compared to other companies I’ve worked for is the attitude towards open source software. While my previous workplace would always choose commercial solutions over often superior open source alternatives, here at Info-Tech, open source is something we embrace, and most of us are really passionate about.

We make use of open source software in almost everything we do here, and it helps us deliver new features to our users much quicker than we’d be able to do otherwise.

There are two particular open source projects that have transformed how we do things.

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You click open an email. You encounter a message peppered with endless question marks and a paragraph that is so dauntingly long and rambling, your first reaction is to close the window and flag it for later. Much later.

I dread these types of emails because they mean I have to expend extra effort sifting through the message and determining its point. And then there’s always the possibility that I’m misinterpreting the message.

Do you write effective emails? Do they convey your message clearly and get the desired results? Be certain with this quick checklist of steps to follow when drafting an email. Read More »

Colorful writing style or source of endless frustration? Idioms, for writers, are a way to spice up a boring or dry topic. Idioms, for editors, are a pain in the behind.

When editing for technical or professional writing, people must be aware that there could be an audience outside of North America that may not understand their sports references or slang that is used in our everyday speech. It may be “less boring” when you include an idiom in a presentation, but for anyone reading it who doesn’t understand the reference, it is frustrating and may cause them to stop reading.

An idiom is defined, by Dictionary.com, as “an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of the constituent elements,” or as “a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people.” An idiom can be used in formal or informal language, but is commonly used in conversation; most people don’t even realize they are using idioms.

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