Bocconcini - Slashdot User

Comment Why don't you try Agilefant (Score 1) 428

by Bocconcini on Wednesday December 16, 2009 @06:15PM (#30465084) Attached to: What Does Everyone Use For Task/Project Tracking?

Why don't you give Agilefant 2.0 alpha a try?

It's a FOSS tool designed to solve just the problem you have and it has most of the features you need, except file attachments, which aren't there (at least just yet). Currently Agilefant lacks some of the customization options commercial software like VersionOne or Rally have, but many of our users have been quite happy with the current functionality.

Agilefant handles multiple product, projects and iterations simultaneously with ease. In addition to normal backlog lists, it has a personal job queue for each user so you can see what you were planning to do next. If you enter your effort estimates for tasks, Agilefant will calculate how much work on average you have planned for the few next weeks.

Agilefant runs on Tomcat and MySQL and is really easy to install.

Disclaimer: I'm a former Agilefant developer and currently working on a project very close to Agilefant development.

Proton Beams Sent Around the LHC 115

Posted by kdawson on Friday November 20, 2009 @05:40PM from the going-in-circles dept.

feldhaus writes "The BBC reports that the first beams for over one year have been successfully sent around the complete circumference of the Large Hadron Collider. Engineers do not yet have a stable circulating beam but they hope to by 0600 GMT on Saturday."

Science Unlocks The Mystery Of Belly Button Lint 161

Posted by samzenpus on Monday March 02, 2009 @04:15PM from the extreme-navel-gazing dept.

After three years of research, including examining 503 pieces of fluff from his own belly button, Georg Steinhauser has discovered a type of body hair that traps stray pieces of lint and draws them into the navel. Dr Steinhauser's observations showed that "small pieces of fluff first form in the hair and then end up in the navel at the end of the day." Chemical analysis revealed the pieces of fluff were not just made up of cotton from clothing. Wrapped up in the lint were also flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat and dust. Unfortunately, further study has failed to yield a hair or fiber that would give Dr. Steinhauser the last three years of his life back.

In Finland, Nokia May Get Its Own Snooping Law 284

Posted by kdawson on Sunday February 01, 2009 @03:49PM from the expectation-of-privacy dept.

notany writes "Nokia may be too big a company for Finland (a country of 5 million people). It seems that Nokia's lobbyists can push an unconstitutional law through the legislature at will. After Nokia was caught red-handed, twice, snooping on its employees (first 2000-2001, second 2005), the company started a relentless lobbying and pressure campaign against politicians to push what the press has been calling 'Lex Nokia' or the 'snooping law.' This proposed law would allow employers to investigate the log data of employees' e-mails, legalizing the kind of snooping that Nokia had engaged in. Parliament's Constitutional Law Committee asked the opinions of eight legal experts, and all opined that the proposed law is unconstitutional. The committee ignored all the advice and declared the proposal constitutional." An anonymous reader adds a link to an AFP story reporting that Nokia has threatened to pull out of Finland unless the law passes.

Comment Mandatory (Score 5, Funny) 118

by Bocconcini on Saturday January 24, 2009 @04:33PM (#26591845) Attached to: Mozilla Labs Wants To Monitor (Volunteers') Firefox Use

In Soviet Russia, open source monitors you!

Submission + - Valve starts euro pricing for europeans in Steam

Submitted by Bocconcini on Friday December 26, 2008 @06:46PM

Bocconcini writes: Valve has brought the Steam euro pricing out of beta and european customers are not impressed.

Apparently, the initial currency conversion rate is 1USD=1EUR, which makes many Steam games more expensive than local retail prices. In addition, many countries that do not use the euro currency, such as Russia and Poland, are forced to pay the euro prices.

Comment Re:Specs (Score 1) 551

by Bocconcini on Saturday December 13, 2008 @05:18AM (#26101277) Attached to: How Do I Manage Seasoned Programmers?

Kind of related to this is decision making. Don't put a decision off to make sure we know 100% the best possible solution. Usually a good-enough solution will work until more is known about the problem (especially if it contributes to the later solutions).

I've seen near a year lost on a project because management couldn't make the decision everyone knew they would.

There is actually an interesting parallel to this coming from the Lean software development ideology. You shouldn't make a decision until the last responsible moment, when you have the maximum amount of information.

I know, easier said than done.

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