Genii Weblog


Civility in critiquing the ideas of others is no vice. Rudeness in defending your own ideas is no virtue.


Wed 26 Mar 2008, 01:32 PM
Yesterday, there was a perfect example of how the new dialogue we want with our customers could work, and also of how GeniiJam is likely to differ from IdeaJam.  In the comments for a post from November 2007 called Midas 4.00: More control over file attachments and file icons Mika Heinonen expressed two wishes, or two ideas, that he would like to see.  Specifically, Mika wrote:
I put also attachments on their own line, that works fine. One very annoying thing is however that I can't change the filename of the attachment directly, but I have to detach, rename, and attach it again. Can't MIDAS fix that bug in specification? :)

It would be also nice that .doc, .xls, .ppt would be automatically forced to use the OpenOffice icons, so that people don't wonder why my icons look different than theirs. Another thing for MIDAS?
My response:
You can certainly do either of those with Midas 4.00, Mika
So, here were two ideas that Mika asked for, but which he did not realize already were handled by Midas.  The first request, that a filename of a file attachment be changed without detatching, is handled directly by the RenameAttachment method, while the second request, that the .doc, .xls and .ppt extensions use the OpenOffice or Symphony icons, is handled easily using properties in that and other methods, such as the AppendFileAttachment method.

So, how would this fit into the dialogue I mentioned before?  With GeniiJam, one could easily suppose that Mika would propose the ideas, and we at Genii Software would respond with solutions and the ideas would be marked Completed.  This is somewhat different than IdeaJam, where for example there are 399 ideas in the Domino Designer idea space and only one is marked Completed, and there are 350 ideas in the Notes Client idea space, and only two are marked as Completed.  I don't mean that as a slam against IdeaJam, but simply a recognition that with GeniiJam, you are likely to have a far higher focus on Completed items and links to solutions than in IdeaJam.  That is our goal, and the standard we need to meet to consider the experiment successful.

Copyright © 2008 Genii Software Ltd.

Tags:

Wed 26 Mar 2008, 10:49 AM
Once upon a time in a kingdom not very far from here, there lived a beautiful princess.  She was smart and musical and politically active and talented in many ways, but the kingdom was afflicted with an evil spirit which whispered evil and often contradictory thoughts in people's ears and left them quite confused.  At first, the princess was protected in her royal palace, but as she ventured out in the world, these people sought to turn her one way or another.  

Some people came to the princess in the classroom and extolled her academic prowess, saying, "You are so smart, you should focus entirely on your studies or you will never get where you want to go."  But the princess just shook her head and said, "I'm going to do things my way." and went on doing all the activities she liked, including her studies among them.  

Other people came to the concert hall and praised her musical talent, saying, "You are so musical, you should focus entirely on your music or you will never get where you want to go."  But the princess just shook her head and said, "I'm going to do things my way." and went on joining all the groups she wanted, including the marching band and jazz band among the others.

Still other people came to the streets where the princess marched, "You are so involved, but you must not participate in these radical activities or you will never get where you want to go."  But the princess just shook her head and said, "I'm going to do things my way." and went on marching and protesting, in between her clubs and concerts and studies.

After a while, the princess determined to go to college, and ignoring the people who thought she should go to a fancy "Ivy League" colleges, and the others who thought she should go to a conservatory and study classical music, and even others who thought she should go somewhere close to home where she could learn "practical skills", the princess went to a small but intellectually rigorous college which was known for political activism and international studies.  The people who had proposed the Ivy League schools were appalled and said they had never even heard of her college, and that the princess had obviously relegated herself to a life of anonymity and obscurity.  The people who had suggested a conservatory were dismayed that the college did not have a strong enough music program, and that the princess would lose all her musical gifts due to lack of practice and use.  And the people who had suggested close, practical schools were agog at the distance and liberal attitudes of college, and worried aloud that the princess would never go anywhere after making such a poor choice.  But the beautiful princess just shook her head again and said, "I'm going to do things my way." and took the hardest and most interesting classes with much better access to professors than the Ivy Leagues offered, and played first chair in the college's orchestra with much more chance to shine than at the fancy conservatories, and continued to march and protest and support the candidates of her choice, and not just those of the safe mainstream.

After three and a half years of this, the princess was ready to move on, and the people protested once again.  "You cannot graduate early," some said, "as you have not learned all there is to learn and there are courses yet to take."  But the princess was quite sure she had learned enough.  And others said, "You cannot graduate early, as the world is a big bad place and you should stay in safety as long as possible.  You will regret it if you leave."  But the princess felt quite prepared to take on the world, thank you very much.  Others said, "You cannot graduate early, as you have not found a life mate.  You should stay and find a nice prince to marry."  But the princess had spent enough time with the local princes, and was quite content to take her chances elsewhere.

So the princess graduated early, and went off to the big city to seek fame and fortune.  She landed a prime internship in a progressive think tank, despite not having gone to the Ivy League colleges and despite espousing radical views and supporting unpopular candidates.  A few still whispered that she was too young and would not ever be able to get a job without a master's degree or law degree, and that she should leave until she was better prepared and had better credentials, but she barely heard them.  All she said was, "I'm going to do things my way." and went about her business.  And lo and behold, after a few months,  but before her internship had even ended, and before she would have graduated from her college far away, she was offered a job by the clear thinking people in the big city who valued someone who would do things her own way and knew her own mind, a job doing what she loves to do and not what other people tell her is best.

And back at the palace, her father, the king, is very proud.

Copyright © 2008 Genii Software Ltd.

Tags:

Wed 26 Mar 2008, 08:20 AM
I have long appreciated all the help Andre Guirard (of IBM) provides people on the public forums, and am quite a fan of his blog, Best Practice Makes Perfect.  (He is also an excellent fiction writer, as I am sure people will see soon with his participation in the Web of Deception story)  

In the past couple of days, Andre has published the first two of what promise to be three "must read" articles called:

Go off and read them now, and tell me if you didn't learn something!

Copyright © 2008 Genii Software Ltd.