Being easily convinced is not a virtue.
SDP Assignment
Entries posted as part of my SDP assignment can be found here.
SDP Entry 5 – Interaction Design
May 16th
Windows Live Messenger (from here on referred to as WLM) is a program I use regularly (almost constantly, every day) to instantly message, or engage in audio conversations my online contacts over the Internet. I first started using this product some time in 2001, when it was MSN Messenger and had very few (or buggy) features. This makes me a 6-year-long user, and over this time I have seen more and more features being added to it. The problem is, there’s a limit to how much you can add to a system before it becomes too fully-featured, or even bloated. More >
SDP Entry 4 – Critique
May 16th
My iPod has become a very valuable part of my daily life. I use it for storage and playback of all my music files and the occasional video file. It’s a 30GB white, fifth-generation iPod, and has been happily fulfilling its responsibilities with almost no faults. I’m going to critique the software that runs on it.
The iPod software is very menu-oriented. Select a menu item, and you’re faced with another child menu until eventually you find what you were after. It sports some very stylish transitions and animations, complimented by a very attractive, vibrant colour scheme More >
SDP Entry 3 – Suggestions for Improvement
May 15th
For this entry I’ll choose a program called Command Console, developed by Daniel Chambers, for which I will write a form/function analysis.
Product: Command Console – A basic command/application launching program.
Scenario: Archibald likes using his computer but often gets tired of scrambling around his desktop to find his programs. Also, he often forgets long directory paths (e.g. c:\documents and settings\archie\my documents\workfiles\accounting\2007\customeraccounts\) He wishes the process of launching applications, directories, files or directories could be done in a more efficient and consistent manner. More >
SDP Entry 2 – Vision Statements
May 1st
Vision statements are used by organisations in an effort to state what they envisage to achieve in the future. It states a realistic and achievable position an organisation would like to be in.
Here are two example vision statements:
- “We will be one amongst the top three transporters of goods and people in North America by 2010″ – Wikipedia
- “Our organisation will have global recognition as the world’s most innovative software developers within the next ten years” – Me
SDP Entry 1 – Basic Software Review
Apr 28th
For entry #1 I shall review an application of my choice that I use regularly, and am therefore in a position to review it in a way that I know demonstrates a justified and unbiased opinion of the software.
Application Profile:
Name – Winamp
Manufacturer – Nullsoft
Version – v5.33
Release date – 1997
URL: http://www.winamp.com/
Screen-shots (click to enlarge):
Winamp is a product with almost no discrimination when it comes to users. You would be one of very few, if you did not use your computer to listen to music or watch video. Winamp facilitates this activity of listening to digital music, and therefore, targets people from all ages, cultures, races and genders. If you’re into music, you’re in Winamp’s cross-hairs.
Offering a way for Joe User to listen to More >
Upcoming SDP posts
Apr 27th
Just thought I’d let everybody know that there will soon be a series of weekly blog entries that are being written as part of an assignment criteria for my SDP (Software Development Practices) subject. Before you read them, you’ll want to read the details (here)
This subject contains a semester-long assignment which involves me and my team to develop a software solution of our own choosing. Our team is called ‘Code-Red’, and comes to you sporting an all-star line-up of Damien Capocchi, Garry Bouchier and of course, myself.
I’m excited because it should be a useful application if we do decide to implement it fully, which is not a requirement of the assignment (since this assignment aims to teach students all the stages prior to coding a solution). If we DO implement it, it’s going to be in C#, because it’s all of our preferred choice of language, plus it’s just plain kick-ass and we love Visual Studio!
Unfortunately the posts won’t be about our particular solution specifically, but will actually be written to the requirements of this part of the assignment. Which involves analysis of other software solutions. Maybe I’ll make some posts about our particular product when we finish it.
So now you’ll understand why suddenly I’m dedicating posts to just the SDP subject, rather than all subjects.
Hopefully these entries, while being for University purposes, might still be some interesting reading material for any bored people who frequent my site.