Organization
“It’s a way of concentrating your mind to only focus on the aspects that you need to be working on at that moment, to kind of rid yourself of distractions”.
“But practiced at its highest level, mise-en-place says that time is precious. Resources are precious. Space is precious. Your self-respect and the respect of others are precious. Use them wisely. Isn’t that a philosophy for our time?”
FROM:
For A More Ordered Life, Organize Like A Chef
Usabilita’ di siti web
Il sito HealthCare.gov, inaugurato ad Ottobre 2013 nel contesto delle iniziative per l’ObamaCare, e’ finito nel mirino dei media e dell’opposizione repubblicana per i seri problemi tecnici. Il sito ha sofferto di lunghi periodi di inacessibilita’, dovuti in parte al gran numero di utenti cha hanno cercatto di connettersi nei primi giorni.
Oltre ai problemi tecnici, il sito ha anche problemi di usabilita’ e di user experience. Il Nielsen Norman group, leader nell’analisi di usabilita’ e user experience, analizza i problemi di usabilita’ legati alla registrazione e login. Problemi che coinvolgono anche l’efficienza del sito e la cui soluzione richiederebbe meno accessi al sito e meno contatti con l’help desk di Affordable Health della ObamaCare.
L’analisi e’ descritta nell’articolo http://www.nngroup.com/articles/affordable_care_act_usability_issues/
E i siti pubblici italiani come vanno riguardo all’usabilita’ e user experience? Quelli di cui ho avuto esperienza di certo non vanno meglio, anzi.
In futuro ne faro’ un analisi.
Siti web Italiani senza contatti
Nella maggior parte dei siti web italiani mancano i contatti non solo per le varie tematiche che riguardano le offerte o i servizi del sito, ma soprattutto per problemi che riguardano il sito.
Se il sito ha pagine che non funzionano, se e’ stato hackerato, inserito da Google nella black list o altro, non c’e’ modo di contattare il webmaster o i responsabili.
Inizio ora una lista dei siti che non forniscono chiaramente un modo per contattare per problemi al sito.
- Vodafone: http://www.vodafone.it/
Docksy
Docksy is my Dissertation project.
What is Docksy?
Docksy proposes an alternative concept for the desktop system. Documents in Docksy can be manipulated and used to structure the workflow. They can be enriched with visible metadata. Docksy also provides a screen split in explicit areas, each area implemented with a movable and resizable panel.
Many of the features implemented in Docksy are the results of a user study.
A second user study, of people using Docksy, revealed that people like a screen split in areas, and they actually miss it in traditional desktop systems.
The tradition metaphor of the desktop is becoming obsolete since people work on computers more than with traditional desktop environment. As the computer skills and practices become more advanced, so must the desktop system.
Docksy provides new features to help you organize documents and activities. It is meant to be used as an alternative to the desktop and the folder system. It has been implemented in Java.
Docksy’s panels
Docksy screeen is split in panels that occupy the full screen. The panels are variable in number, the user decides the number of lines and columns.
Panels are useful to have an overview of the documents and to zone the screen. Panels are also useful to split documents in various categories. Some people used them as a visual equivalent of tags.
Document as a manipulable workflow item
Documents, besides the classical representation with an icon and filename, in Docksy are enriched with check boxes, comments and tags.
People use comments to summarize the content of the file, to write comments about the content, or to specify operations to do with the files.
Chechboxes are used to remember which operation have been done or still has to be done.
Tags helps in categorizing documents.
Field Study: Open Source Software
On September 21st 2012 we went to Largo, FL, to visit the largest GNOME deployment in public sector.
A detailed account is here: http://bitmodelling.blogspot.it/2012/09/user-observation-hackfest-in.html
PhP Sendletter project (04-2013-…)
I updated some PhP programs to send bulk emails and manage addresses. I had been given a bunch of php programs that were not working anymore or never worked and I fixed them and improve them.
Note: this is my first PhP coding. I found out that I didn’t have to learn much to be able to understand and fix the code.
The programs create a web interface to send bulk email where the sender, usually the owner of a site, send emails to all the subscribers according to their own interests. The sender chooses the interests (such as cats, dogs, horses and so on) and sends emails to all subscribers that chose those interests during their subscription. The data for the subscriptions are maintained in a MySQL database. I updated the schema. The php programs also do the web interface to enroll in a newsletter and to manage subscriptions and subscribers, both front end and back end.
The code for the management of the subscribers has been successfully tested with 95.000 addresses.
To do:
-improve on the code for sending bulk email offline.
-improve on the code to load subscribers from a excel file. Make it work even when the browser is closed.
– provide security, login and authorization interface.
District Web Site: WordPress site. (03-2013 – …)
http://www.vallettavalsecchi.it/
I joined a neighborhood committee and I started to create their website. The purpose of the website was to let citizen know about the activities of the committee and to create more cohesion among citizen.
The website had to be very simple, easy to navigate, and easy for other committee members to build on and add posts in the future, when I will not be available anymore. I chose the WordPress platform. This project was also a chance to learn a little bit more about this CMS. I found a hosting site, I played with plugins, with the pages, with the management of several authors, I modified some php code to personalize the site. I used Google Adsense to see if the site can pay for itself the domain registration and the annual hosting fee. I connected the site to the relative facebook page. I used the facebook plugin and that required the development of a small facebook App. I also connected the calendar site to the committee gmail calendar, so the president can add events to the calendar and they get automatically updated to the site. And I searched and used apps to prepare the content, such as to download all attachments from the committee emails, to cut up pdf scans and so on.
I semi
La storia di questi semi inizia alcuni anni fa. In Texas. In una delle tante case in cui ho abitato. Ogni tanto compravo dei vasi e ci piantavo piantine varie o semi. E poi me li trascinavo dietro fra una casa e l’altra. Un giorno sono uscita sul porch della casa in Austin avenue e ho notato delle piantine piccoline crescere nel vaso verde che era stato trascurato da un po’. Sembravano erbacce, weeds, pero’ era strano perche’ crescevano ad intervalli regolari, in una formazione a scacchiera, tipica di come pianto spesso io I semi nei vasi stretti e lunghi. C’erano state delle violette nel vaso l’ultima volta e non mi ricordavo assolutamente di averci piantato qualcosa. Ne tantomeno cosa. Ho deciso di lasciarle crescere e vedere cosa veniva fuori. Dopo un po’ si sono aperti dei fiorellini piccoli rossi -arancioni, insignificanti. Mi sembrava strano di aver piantato cose del genere. Chissa cos’erano. Ho cercato sul web per poterli identificare, ma inutilmente. Ho deciso pero’ di lasciarli li’ e di innaffiarli lo stesso. Ormai avevano raggiunto una ventina di centimentri. C’erano cinque piantine nel vaso.
Aprile 2009, Austin Avenue
Un pomeriggio esco e vedo un bruco enorme e dai colori bellissimi, a strisce bianche nere e gialle. Non che I bruchi mi piacciano, ma quello era troppo bellino. Tiro fuori la macchina fotografica e in poco tempo il bruco finisce su facebook. Poi mi metto a cercare sul web per identificarlo e … sorpresa, e’ il bruco della Monarch Butterfly, la farfalla Monarca. Avevo visto al Natual Bridges park, in Santa Cruz, alberi di eucaliptus altissimi coperti interamente di Monarch Butterflies. Le farfalle svernano li’. E passano da ottobre a marzo su quegli alberi. Ma non e’ l’unico posto. Le Monarch butterflies che vivono ad ovest delle Rockie Mountains svernano sulle coste della california, soprattutto in Santa Cruz, mentre quelle ad est delle Rockie Mountains svernano in Mexico, e migrano fino a 4000 km due volte all’anno passando per il Texas. Le Monarch butterflies adorano la Milkweek, depongono le uova sulle foglie di queste piantine e quando le uova si schiudono I bruchi si nutrono delle foglie di milkweed, che risultano tossiche per la maggior parte di altri insetti. Inizio a cercare sul web immagini di milkweed e … finalmente riesco ad identificare le piantine. E all’improvviso mi viene in mente. Avevo ricevuto per posta da Nature Conservancy una bustina di semi di milkweed, e li avevo piantati dimenticandomene poi completamente.
Aprile 2009, Austin ave
Nel frattempo le piantine si riempiono di bruchi, ce ne sono cinque o sei che in pochi gorni riducono le piantine a stecchini senza foglie. Se avessi saputo allora che fanno crisalidi verdi smeraldo bellissime sarei andata a cercarle per il giardino. Ma ancora non l’avevo scoperto.
(Aprile 2009, Austin ave)
A questo punto pero’ speravo che le piantine non morissero, nonostante fossero rimaste senza foglie.
Le foglie sono ricresciute, ma non tutte le piantine sono sopravvissute all’inverno.
L’estate dopo mi sono trasferita da Guido, trascinandomi dietro il vaso, e lui me le ha lasciate piantare nel suo giardino, direttamente in terra. Delle cinque originali ne erano rimaste solo due un po’ sofferenti. Ma appena messe in terra hanno inziato a crescere, le foglie sono diventate grandi quasi il doppio, e le piantine alte piu’ di un metro. Guido non era troppo entusiasta di quelle piante dai fiori insignificanti, ma me le ha lasciate tenere, e non si e’ opposto troppo alla loro propagazione. Infatti, oltre a diventare alte e raddoppiare la dimensione delle foglie, hanno anche iniziato a fare baccelli enormi pieni di semi.
E in primavera ed autunno parecchie Monarch butterflies si sono fermate a riposare sulle piantine di milkweed. Mi sembrava di avergli creato una stazione di servizio lungo la loro lunga migrazione. Purtoppo non ho visto piu’ bruchi. O meglio, ne ho visti, ma non sono riusciti a raggiungere la fase adulta. O spero lo abbiano fatto senza che io me ne accorgessi. La pioggia o gli afidi purtoppo devono averli fatti fuori.
Novembre 2010, da Guido
(Settembre 2011, da Guido)
Poi mi sono trasferita ancora. Sono rientrata in Italia e questa volta o dovuto lasciare la’ I vasi e le piantine.
Ma poco dopo essere rientrata in Italia ho dovuto recarmi ancora in Texas per qualche settimana. Prima di partire ho chiesto ad Andrea se volesse alcuni semi dal texas e … indovina cosa mi ha chiesto? Proprio I semi di milkweed. Appena arrivata in Texas sono andata da Guido e raccolto un bel po’ di semi dai baccelli delle piante.
Quei semi sono arrivati ora a Parcobaleno e questa primavera li abbiamo piantati.
Al momento sono appena germoliati, siamo in attesa delle prime vere foglie, quelle strette e lunghe.
Mi viene da sorridere alla storia di questi semi, arrivati in una bustina per posta , cresciuti quasi per caso, e dopo un paio di case e qualche generazione finiti nella serra di parcobaleno.
Germogli di Milkweed @ Parcobaleno (Photo di Paolo Tamassia)
Incorcio le dita e spero che riscano a screscere abbastanza per sostenere le farfalle monarche della serra delle farfalle di Parcobaleno.
Saint James’ way: El Camino de Santiago de Compostela
At the beginning of October 2012 I left Mantua, Italy, headed to Saint Jean Pied de Port, the starting point of the French Way to Santiago de Compostela.
“Why are you walking the Camino?” It is one of the most frequent questions we are asked, and the one we in turn ask others. I don’t know why I decided to walk the Camino. The idea had insinuated into my head three years earlier, after stumbling on info about the Camino while browsing on internet. Maybe the main reason, beside the fact that I love walking, was to disconnect my mind, to detoxify it from the daily routine, from information overload, from internet. A search for peace and solitude.
There are many paths that leads to Santiago, the most walked one is the French Way, of about 800km. Other famous ones are the Way of La Plata, the Aragonese Way, the Portuguese Way, and the Camino del Norte. All ways lead to Santiago, whose Cathedral conserves the remaining of Saint James.
To bring homage to the remaining of Jesus’ disciple is one of the main motives of the pilgrimage. But it is not the only one. Some people do it for sport. Others to loose weight. A twenty year old American College student told me he was walking the Camino to grow up. An Italian in his early forties to straighten his head. A guy from Rome to change his life, to take a leave from his current life, from the job that he had done for twenty years, and take time to decide what to do next. He wanted to do something that would enrich him. I walked for several days with a guy who was a researcher in a university in UK. A prestigious and well paid job, but not fulfilling. Three years ago he left everything and went to teach kids in India. While walking together we witnessed a beautiful rainbow. He told me about the emotions he was feeling by remembering the first time he explained the physics behind the rainbow to kids. Now he was walking the Camino, after he was planning to go back to India, but he wanted to backpack more in the future, in Spain, in Italy and in other parts of the world.
Many pilgrims brought prayers with them; prayers for people with illnesses or for people who were not walking on this earth anymore. Every little column that was marking the way had a pile of little stones on top of it, prayers left by pilgrims. “What is that black flag on your walking stick?” I asked a pilgrim from Rome. He showed me the picture printed on it, the photo of a friend that died in a motorcycle accident few months earlier. He had another black flag in his backpack. Another friend that committed suicide in the same period. He had been very close to those them and he was still suffering for their departure. He was bringing them to Finisterre, the end of the world, to let them finally go. Finisterre is 90 km after Santiago, the beach where the remains of St. James washed ashore. A psychologist from South Africa started the Camino after spending two weeks in Egypt for a silence retreat. We exchanged info on books and courses on silence.
There was also a school of South Korean kids, with two Korean teachers and the mother tongue English teacher along. All between the age of 12 and 15, the kids would stop every evening in a Pilgrim hostel, they would do their homework, and then they will perform in a show for all guests with Korean dances and music. This special school would last ten months, during which they will spend time in different countries around the world for a cultural experience.
I was surprised by the number of retired people along the Camino. Alone or in couples. There was that British 70 year old lady that I first met while she was laying down on a bench along the Camino. She was laying down there waiting for a little bit of encouragement to walk to the next village. Or the Irish 70 year old lady that was leaving every morning at 6:30 e was walking 40 km every day. Or that Swedish/Spanish couple that started from Le Puy, in France, 1600 km from Santiago. Or that German couple that was walking two weeks every year; they also started from Le Puy and they were anxious to tell everyone about their story in front of a pilgrims menu and a glass of Spanish wine.
And again couples of fathers and sons. Like the Korean father that was so proud to introduce to everyone his shy 15 year old son. Or that Spanish father and son that walk with me for a little bit after Iraque.
Besides pilgrims there are also the hostelleros. They are volunteers in the pilgrims hostels that walked the Camino in the past. I met a very nice hostellera from Brescia in Berciano del Real Camino. She said that for her the Camino meant freedom “freedom to walk alone or to join a group, freedom to decide how much to walk every day, what to do”.
There are also pilgrims that walk the Camino in pieces, one or two weeks every year. But you can recognize the ones who start at least from Saint Jean or Roncisvalles. You recognize them from their eyes, from the strange energy that they radiate.
I asked myself what is so special about the Camino, besides the religion connotation that is important for many.
You feel a special energy during the Camino and at the end of it.
You meet a lot of pilgrims from all over the world. You talk while walking, in front of the pilgrim’s menu in bars or restaurants, while cooking together, when resting in the pilgrims albergues, or when you stop along the way for a coffee or a tea. The common barriers to every day communication with strangers disappear. While walking, you get besides someone and start talking. About everything. “Where are you coming from? Where did you start from? Why are you walking the Camino? And sometimes the conversation reaches deeper levels. You talk about your own life. During the Camino people talk more, and listen more, something that we don’t have time anymore for in modern life. People feel closer, united by a unique experience such as the Camino.
Often someone feels the need for solitude, to get away a little from the others, so he walks alone for a while, alone with his own thoughts, enjoying the wonderful scenery that he passes along the Camino. Or people look for solitude and mediation in the many beautiful tufa stone churches along the way, or in the majestic cathedrals, such as the one in Burgos o Leon. Or the one in Santiago.
The return home is not easy. You feel this energy inside you, but at the same time you struggle to resume your normal life. Nothing has the same value as before. It takes a while for the mind to falls back on previous rhythms, to fill up again with older habits. The Camino frees your mind from unnecessary things, from daily consumerism, from unnecessary habits. You feel like to abandon everything and to focus only on the important things, to free yourself from all the society conditioning that fills our head with unnecessary desires, with unnecessary habits, with values that are not values. The Camino helps you to get in contact a little bit more with yourself. Maybe the energy that pilgrims feel at the end of the Camino comes from blowing away the layers of ashes that cover our deeper self.
La Melagrana 