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Conway's Law is sometimes reported as a different adage: In every organization there is one person who knows exactly what is going on at all times. This person must be fired.
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Tag: Links
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links for 2009-01-18
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links for 2009-01-17
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lmorchard bragged about this all day on twitter so hummus must be made at home!
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Moved their page…
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A Few of My Favorite (Free) Things
Inspired by a conversation at work today about free (as in beer) software, here’s a quick list of some of my favorite apps. I use Windows, so many of these will be Windows-only.
FileZilla; open-source, easy to use, FTP client; even runs off a USB drive
Twhirl – Adobe AIR-based Twitter client. Supports multiple accounts, skins, multiple link-shortening services, etc.
KeePass – Password safe. Folder, search, password generation (with random inputs). Open-source, speedy, runs on USB drives.
Notepad++ – Enhanced text editor with support for syntax coloring for dozens of languages and plug-ins. Fast cross-file searching make this a must-have for troubleshooting via log file.
CDBurnerXP – Free CD/DVD burning software. Doesn’t automate, but is incredibly lightweight when compared to the bloatware that Roxio has become.
VirtualBox – Open-source virtualization software. Easy-to-use, let’s me safely build sandbox environments to trash.
Handbrake – DVD to MPEG-4 converter, which now accepts file (such as AVI) as inputs. Perfect for encoding video for my iPod/phone.
Synctoy – Synchronization tool from Microsoft. Echos, copies, moves, and synchronizes folders or entire drives. I use it for easily backing up my music collection to an external hard drive.
7-Zip – free WinZip replacement.
CutePDF – Free PDF creation. Adds itself as a printer on your system.
Evernote – Cloud-based note taking; works especially well with a smart phone.
VLC – Plays pretty much any video format you throw at it.
Now, if I could find a free replacement for Dreamweaver, I’d be all set.
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links for 2009-01-15
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The Prado Museum's Masterpieces in ultra high resolution on Google Maps. Get Google Earth to see all of them now and full screen
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links for 2009-01-14
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Updated every minute with with availability for downtown structures
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links for 2009-01-12
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Great guide for getting Windows 7 Beta running in VirtualBox
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Reducing the Administrative Burden Means You Need to Help Us
My AD forwarded yet another article today (this one in Science Magazine) about the increased administrative burden placed on faculty and researchers. To quote:
A 2007 survey by the U.S. Federal Demonstration Partnership… found that 84% of faculty in the United States believe that the administrative burden associated with federally funded grants has increased significantly in recent years. Most notably, the study indicates that of the total time that faculty devote to research, 42% is spent on pre- and post-award administrative activities. [Here’s the report]
First, this is a perception that is widely shared up and down the research structure. Central offices, research assistants, and researchers alike are being asked to complete more paperwork, submit to more reviews, and respond to more and deeper questioning than ever before. And, with good reason.
Headline-making conflicts of interest and the need to protect subjects, both human and animal, and security concerns in a “post-9/11 world” (what a stupid phrase) demand that regulations tighten to prevent or discover abuses.
My entire job revolves around this issue. The work done building and integrating systems is all done in the name of reducing the need for faculty and staff to redo duplicate forms, assemble printed proposal packages, or manage a paper trail that fills an entire floor (no joke). Our mantra is “do no harm.”
But, here’s our challenge. I can get hundreds of staff people, from research administrators to central office folks, to volunteer their time for months to design a form or automate a business process. What I can rarely get, and never with any commitment of time or extended effort, is a faculty member to do the same.
6,000+ faculty members are represented in the report linked above. 84% believe that their burden has increased in recent years. Yet, over two projects and 4 years, we’ve had to conscript, at most, a dozen faculty members to work with (not “on”) our projects. Of that dozen, none of them are willing or able to commit to more than an hour a quarter specifically to a project.
And so, my plea and promise. I promise, we really do hear your concerns and we really do want to reduce your burden. But we need your help. Not just at my institution, for this is a problem I’ve heard from many other institutions. When we ask–and we’ll ask–we’re not there to disrupt your life. We’re not there because we picked your name out of a hat (in fact, a senior administrator probably pointed us your way with a “they’re always helpful” sort of comment). We’re there because we have questions about how you want to use the system, how you work on a day-to-day basis, how you think the best way could be.
If you don’t give us your time, we understand. But the contract goes both ways; you, by not giving of your time, have to understand that we did our best with the information at hand. We are not psychic. We do not see what happens in your office all day long; we suspect neither does your research administrator, but they’re the only ones giving us information.
So, please, please, when we show up in your office (and we will take the time to come to you), give us a chance. Consider that your time is spent not only in furthering your own work, but the work of hundreds of other researchers around campus. I pledge to not waste your time, to deliver the best product I can, and to credit you every chance I get.
We’ll even get you a T-shirt.
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links for 2009-01-04
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Awesome writing store. Love the feel of a good, solid, pen, no matter how many keyboards I interact with.
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