On April 8, 2014 Microsoft will end support for Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6, Office 2003, and MS Exchange Server 2003. If you still use XP, and according to Net Market Share, as of Dec. 22, 2013, 31% of people on the Internet still use Windows XP, then you should plan on migrating to Windows 7, Windows 8, Linux or the Mac before April 9, 2014. Or retiring.
As I see it, the main reason to upgrade is security. Another reason is performance. The bottom line is money.
Priacta.com has, at least for the last eight months or so, maintained a list of GTD (an abbreviation of “Getting Things Done” and near-GTD-compliant applications – searchable/sortable, by OS, price, and each accompanied with a very concise description of the critical characteristics of each application. 119 Researched GTD Software Programs and Counting. Continue reading
Current software testing: GetTeamTasks, “a simple extensible task management tool” developed by Phil Hawksworth, based on the TiddlyWiki platform (application?) and further developed by Hawksworth’s former colleagues at Osmosoft.
GetTeamTasks screenshot – via GetTeamTasks.com
Within minutes, it was up and running – easy to set up. Not sure for our purposes– uses for community-based groups with multi-segment tasks, alternate plans for different combinations on the risk matrix (power outage during heat wave requires different planning and response than power outage during the winter). But it’s designed for sharing without a constant connection – like Sahana – snd it has promise for our purposes.
There’s no question, though – that in some other contexts – wedding planning, collaborative grant writing, political and fund-raising campaigns. My guess is less so for film production or construction – but perhaps the new work Mr. Hawksworth has in mind for GetTeamTasks will provide functionality which stretches that way.
TiddlyWiki, the basis for GetTeamTasks, has a number of other impressive mods – we’ll certainly be testing the others which, like GetTeamTasks, are to some extent worked around the GTD (Getting Things Done) approach. Phil Hawksworth:
If this one isn’t quite your cup of tea, perhaps consider trying the simple and elegant GTDTiddlyWiki, the ‘kinkless’ approach at d cubed, or the more powerful MonkeyGTD.
We learned about all of this from the ever-useful Lifehacker.
Austhink, an Australian software firm, makes a package called Rationale, which makes it easy to create diagrams of rhetorical and decision-making processes. 
I downloaded a trial version last-night – and immediately started using it to map risk risks associated with energy production. I plan on using it in my work here at Popular Logistics and elsewhere. Which is to say – I think I’m already using it for an off-label purpose.
It’s as easy to use as any graphics program – outputs to a variety of graphic formats. And so far, I’m quite impressed. Since we test software principally to recommend them to community-based groups on zero budgets – we’ve got a strong bias for free software – but at $69 USD this may be an exception.
The people at Austhink think this is an educational tool. They’re right about that – it could be used from grammar school on up. And certainly in law school. But I think it’s got applications in planning and risk assessment.
Worth a look. Learned about this at Social Source Commons.
Four sources of excellent applications – the main criteria being that each of them pointed me to outstanding software I’d never heard of:
ReadWriteWeb appears to publish annual lists of applications for students. Check out Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students and Back to School: 10 Great Web Apps for College Students
. They’re not all web apps, so if you have intermittent net access, these lists are still very much
worth checking out. They may not do this every day – that’s my impression – but these compilations are outstanding. We learned about them from AcademHack.
– a resource for academics trying to navigate the world of computing and technology” – is another excellent resource. They don’t do as much “compiling” – but things are well organized by subject.
The Digital Research Tools (DiRT) wiki is similarly outstanding, with a taxonomy that seems carefully designed to make sure that overlapping function descriptions won’t stop you from finding what you need.
Finally – LifeHacker
. Usually my first stop for tech problems of many sorts – from inside the OS – to outside the box, especially cable clutter. In other words, they’re living in the same tripping-on-cables and-what-about-the-damned DC-converters world we are.
Aggregate these four sites – share them, master what you need – and you and your friends will be dangerous info-ninjas.
Thanks to Kristarella – who led me to Academhack
, and the Thesis Theme community – which which led me to Kristarella. Watch this space for a transition to Chris Pearson’s Thesis Theme
, currently in testing mode.
Via Wide Aperture, we learn of the Digital Research Tools wiki. While the focus is for academics – the fact is that – apart from footnote style – everything else is has application outside academia.
Part of our mission is to develop/identify a “best practices” tool set for disaster planning – particularly community-based groups. So usability, interoperability, and price are critical variables. the DiRT Wiki is exceptionally well organized, and looks like a good place to look.
Thanks to Encyclopedia Braun for the link.
Via Academhack, a way around the “subscription walls” which sometimes appear to limit access to scholarly journals. GoogleSystem link here. We’re not talking about breaching the subscription wall – but copies of the same articles which have been placed in the public domain. We note that often these walls prevent the public from reading the results of research which has been supported or subsidized by public funds.
Academhacks is an outstanding site for software and information tools for students and educators – with a clear preference for low-cost/no-cost solutions. They’re probably radicals who believe in free public education.
has collected a number of project management tools – most if not all free. For community groups – disaster response
-related or other – there’s probably something useful for all but the most tech-savvy (or best-funded) groups.
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My first thought was how intuitive and elegant an interface:
Low tech technology like index cards, colored sticker dots and a whiteboard is a fast way to visualize and change a plan. The Digital Planning Board is not meant as a replacement of this but as a tool for distributed teams, enhanced client communication and quicker storage and search functionality.
Using User Stories To Define Tasks
The work planned for an iteration is divided into tasks with a clearly defined deliverable and these tasks are represented as User Stories. User stories are represented by story cards and will not hold all information about a given task but enough information to remind involved parties what the requirements are. Ron Jeffries describes it as “The card is a token representing the requirement”.
The Basic Rules of a Planning Board
A planning board is managed using these basic rules:
But Arb’s designers took this many steps further – ending up with an interface which looks like this:
. Larger explanation and further resources here.
Open Source Commons, a project of the Open Society Institute Information Program, is a resource for open-source and open-architecture (i.e. not necessariy free) tools. In answering the question “What Tools do Nonprofits Use?”, provides this answer:
Social Source Commons is a place to share lists of software tools that you already use, gain knowledge and support, and discover new tools. It’s a place to meet people with similar needs and interests and answer the question: what tools do they use?
Within a minute or two of looking at the sitek I found a listing for EmerGeo Solutions, which makes a number of relevant GIS solutions, and which we’d like to evaluate and test as part of a “best practices and tools” project we’re now planning with another group. (More about that shortly). Here’s a look at Emergeo Solutions’ product line, and we hope to have more for you on that soon. But in any case – it’s a safe bet that Open Source Commons will be invaluable. More from EmerGEO:
EmerGeo™ has been installed and exercised in the City of Vancouver Emergency Operation Centre since product launch in October 2003. The software has been installed in several emergency centres and disaster-tested during major events like the 2004 wild land fire event in B.C. The software is designed to streamline inter and intra-agency communications and improve coordination of planning/response/recovery activities among all responding agencies and organizations involved in an event.
EmerGeo™ is built with Interoperability in mind; therefore, we recognize that it is essential to integrate with other emergency planning and response software used by emergency managers, such as the WebEOC crisis management system, alerting and communication technologies and hazard risk vulnerability tools. EmerGeo Solutions is expanding the use of its emergency mapping engine through partnerships with value-added technology providers and emergency and security experts around the world.
BrainMurmurs, have released a project management tool called Mentat , which looks interesting. Has a free individual version, two inexpensive paid versions. Of course – our first thought is whether the team version lends itself to use by emergency response teams, SARs, or 3Steps
groups. No word on whether they’ve got a different price structure for nonprofits.
The people behind Brain Murmurs – “Guerrilla computing in the mountains of Seattle” – have a bunch of impressive achievements behind them. Mentat may be worth a try.
We’ve run across the blog of one Ryan Lanham – another guy smart enough that you’re happy he’s a good guy. Which he manifestly seems to be. We’ll describe him here as a nouvelle social scientist – because we don’t know which flavor of social scientist he is for formal purposes.
Here’s Ryan Lanham’s wikipedia entry .
And his blog, Identity Unknown
We came across Mr. Lanham’s blog because we’re looking at open-source software solutions for emergency management – and he’s part of – or connected to – the group that’s been developing Sahana, an open-source NGO emergency-management application.
There are automobiles – more than one model – that have been tested in New York as taxis and police cars. We’re perversely proud that our streets are too barbaric for civilized cars. (Is it just me that feels this way?)
We’re hoping, of course, that Sahana won’t crumble under the pressure of hypothetical Brooklyn emergencies. But we’re going to test it –
as well as SUMA – a similar (in purpose) open-source application which is available via the Pan American Health Organization.