Day 2 of the b.a.b.s. Workshop today.
One of the presentations was from the Inspire Group; talk about a misnomer! They're producing a whole new section of web for the SPARCling website - possibly the most user-unfriendly site in the whole of the world wide interweb - and they announced and described ('scoped' in horrendous SPARC terminology) the project today. The subject matter of the new section is irrelevent but what was amazing is they did the whole presentation (about a web site, remember) without using a computer or screen!
Truly, they excused themselves by saying they weren't going to use PowerPoint so they are obviously influenced by Mr. Tufte and his understandable and believable view that ppt is the work of the Devil but they then didn't use any pixelated aids at all. Nobel-threatening gems such as 'users use different computers' and 'text prints faster than graphics' were thrown out to justify their lack of inspiration. Ppt is, indeed, the work of the devil but Mr. Tufte isn't saying don't use computers!
They handed out one spiral-bound booklet for each four- or five-ish people so everyone had to share and then proceded to draw words, lines and squares on a whiteboard to illustrate their proposed mouse-clicking sequence. 'When I click on this (point to word on whiteboard) it will come up with this page (draw square on whiteboard to ilustrate a page of text).' and then they held up the booklet open at a page showing screenshots of their mocked-up web pages.
They plan to 'go live' in 'mid-December' so beware. If you go to the Client Showcase page on the Inspire link it lists only three examples, big companies for sure, but three? One of them is Telstra Clear which has a case scenario and then 'The Solution .. click next' text at the end. Click on 'click next' and you'll see why I'm not inspired.
Oh, and their site uses Flash; 'nuff said.
p.s. Just found another howler; if you go to the Contact Us page on their corporate site you can't click though on their contact email addresses!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Gunpowder, treason and plot
Strange that a Protestant nation should celebrate a Catholic plot to destroy its 'seat' of democracy over 400 years after it occurred and make a martyr out of someone who was then hanged, drawn and quartered by commemorating their demise by burning them at the stake.
Still, that's England for you.
'Remember, remember the fifth of November ...' everyone loves bonfire night or 'Guy Fawkes' as it's known here in Godzone. The capital, Wellington, spends upwards of $100,000 each year on a firework display so last night I watched it from my balcony (can't do that from RR). Not as good as last year was my verdict but I have no piccies from last year.
We're all under threat from the Blessed Helen that, if we don't behave and stop frightening dogs and setting fire to children each year, fireworks will not be allowed any more. I like Helen, she lives just up the road and I feel sorry for her because she never looks happy but she needs a make-over; the photo in the Wiki spread is both old and touched up.
Anyway, don't try to blow up your Government and don't frighten the animals.
Monday, November 5, 2007
b.a.b.s.
We have a phrase in the office, 'Boring as batshit!' It's ideal for describing a lot of the stuff we hear and deal with on a daily basis and was certainly the most interesting (and possibly the most important) thing the previous Chief Executive Officer (CEO) donated to the cause.
It can't be that boring because Google takes 0.23 seconds to find 487,000 references to batshit and 0.34 seconds to find 1,500,000 for bat shit; what a difference space makes!
Today I, (High Performance Director, HPD) was 'sub'd' from the bench (voluntarily, I admit) for our National Education Manager (NEM) who was swanning around in Florida on 'holiday' to attend a 'Coaching Team' Workshop. Good grief! I should have known, shouldn't I?
One of the presentations was about the 'glue' which holds together the relationship between Regional Sports Trusts (RSTs), National Sports Organisations (NSOs) and Regional Sports Organisations (RSO's) while they manage their Coach Force Managers (CFMs). Apparently the 'secret' (and it was presented as a revelationaly key to the Universe) is to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a consequent Service Level Agreement (SLA) which defined the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Job Descriptions (JDs) for all the relevant parties. The whole thing was organised by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) and it was b.a.b.s. Three letter acronyms (TLAs) were dispersed as if they were limitless in their abundance.
It was held at the Miramar Golf Club (MGC) adjacent to Wellington airport (WAP) and a very nice venue (VNV) it was; lots of nice wood and superb view of the links course though, due to the regular Wellington weather, not a lot of activity to be seen.
During the 'glue' presentation the second hand of the clock on the wall 'ticked' 60 times every minute but each one definitely seemed to get slower, the water in the jugs on the tables evaporated a significant amount, I counted 6,600 'louvres' in the wooden false ceiling composed of 11 rows of four sets of three by five patterned louvres - interesting, eh?
There were photographs of 'past Presidents' of the golf club visible through the doors on the walls in the corridor which seemed to be smirking and saying, 'I'm lucky; I'm dead.'
I've heard about animals gnawing their legs off to escape from Mantraps and I know from a very reliable source that octopuses eat their own legs to evade capture, 'Because its a very hard life at the bottom of the ocean, Mister Clive,' but to consider chewing my arm off to distract from a PowerPoint presentation is extreme, however I actually think some delegates started to decompose during the talk.
Fortunately I'd painted #4 'Wairarapa Wind' yesterday and some of the Resene paint had survived the two showers and scrubs I'd had since. There was a splodge of vivid lime green on my right thumb and in the sunlight drifting through the floor-to-ceiling, view-of-the-links window it appeared to be slightly damp and, therefore, fascinating.
Who says watching paint dry can't be more interesting than a SPARC workshop? Ally Todd (NEM), you owe me!
T.T.F.N.
It can't be that boring because Google takes 0.23 seconds to find 487,000 references to batshit and 0.34 seconds to find 1,500,000 for bat shit; what a difference space makes!
Today I, (High Performance Director, HPD) was 'sub'd' from the bench (voluntarily, I admit) for our National Education Manager (NEM) who was swanning around in Florida on 'holiday' to attend a 'Coaching Team' Workshop. Good grief! I should have known, shouldn't I?
One of the presentations was about the 'glue' which holds together the relationship between Regional Sports Trusts (RSTs), National Sports Organisations (NSOs) and Regional Sports Organisations (RSO's) while they manage their Coach Force Managers (CFMs). Apparently the 'secret' (and it was presented as a revelationaly key to the Universe) is to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a consequent Service Level Agreement (SLA) which defined the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Job Descriptions (JDs) for all the relevant parties. The whole thing was organised by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) and it was b.a.b.s. Three letter acronyms (TLAs) were dispersed as if they were limitless in their abundance.
It was held at the Miramar Golf Club (MGC) adjacent to Wellington airport (WAP) and a very nice venue (VNV) it was; lots of nice wood and superb view of the links course though, due to the regular Wellington weather, not a lot of activity to be seen.
During the 'glue' presentation the second hand of the clock on the wall 'ticked' 60 times every minute but each one definitely seemed to get slower, the water in the jugs on the tables evaporated a significant amount, I counted 6,600 'louvres' in the wooden false ceiling composed of 11 rows of four sets of three by five patterned louvres - interesting, eh?
There were photographs of 'past Presidents' of the golf club visible through the doors on the walls in the corridor which seemed to be smirking and saying, 'I'm lucky; I'm dead.'
I've heard about animals gnawing their legs off to escape from Mantraps and I know from a very reliable source that octopuses eat their own legs to evade capture, 'Because its a very hard life at the bottom of the ocean, Mister Clive,' but to consider chewing my arm off to distract from a PowerPoint presentation is extreme, however I actually think some delegates started to decompose during the talk.
Fortunately I'd painted #4 'Wairarapa Wind' yesterday and some of the Resene paint had survived the two showers and scrubs I'd had since. There was a splodge of vivid lime green on my right thumb and in the sunlight drifting through the floor-to-ceiling, view-of-the-links window it appeared to be slightly damp and, therefore, fascinating.Who says watching paint dry can't be more interesting than a SPARC workshop? Ally Todd (NEM), you owe me!
T.T.F.N.
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