Gonzo is a freeware, opensource editor that generated markdown code and shows the html result during typing.

Advantages

• most useful markdown codes supported in the interface
• very simple user interface, codes also reachable with shortcuts (like ctrl+1 for heading 1)
• relatively intelligent: if you press ctrl+2 while a level 2 heading is selected, it does not add an extra code (##) for level 2
• shows wordcount
• multiple open files at the same time is possible (tabbed file interface)
• it generates markdown files that are picked up by Leanpub and produce a nicely formatted ebook.

Limitations

• bulleted lists and numbered lists not supported from the interface
• no support for tables
• no buttons in the interface: all commands can be reached with menu items or shortcuts only
• more complex markdown codes like images and hyperlinks are inserted as a template only; you have to fill in the blanks yourself

Markdownpad is a freeware text editor that generates markdown code and shows the html result during typing.

 Advantages

Markdownpad as an editor for Leanpub files?

• most useful markdown codes are covered
• preview shows what you probably will get after conversion to an ebook
• no need to know the more complex markdown codes (images and hyperlinks)
• very simple user interface
• It actually works: the file generated leads to a well-formatted Leanpub manuscript, at least in my little test.

Limitations

• does not cover everything: for example, bulleted lists are supported but not numbered lists
• image insertion: not possible to select a file (only relative or absolute hyperlink)
• not “intelligent”: when you twice press H2, the markdown code for H2 (##) is also generated twice
• not possible to link to places in the same document
• not possible to relatively link to places in another document
• no support for tables

How to obtain the e-version

The e-version contains exactly the same content as the print version, but it is considerably cheaper because there is no printing cost.

After just four days online, the book was already on the bestsellers list at LeanPub: http://leanpub.com/bestsellers

Buy the e-version at http://leanpub.com/entarch.

Bonus:

• Sample chapter (about 20% of the book contents) available for free!
• In case of updates, e-version buyers will be notified and will get the update for free!
• All three electronic versions included: pdf, mobi and epub!

A task may take 4 hours, if everything goes well, but can also take 8 or 10 hours if we are unlucky. When the task is on the critical path, this may have quite an impact on the total project duration.

CrystalSoup offers a simulation method to estimate the variance of project duration, given the task duration variances. In short, you can

• define tasks and their estimated duration on three levels (min, average, max)
• define dependencies between tasks (currently only finish-to-start)
• simulate multiple executions of this project, each with different settings, controlled by probabilities that are user defined.
• generate a report with the findings, so that you can use these to convince management that you really need this project buffer.
• export the statistics to excel, for when you need to prepare graphical presentations other than that provided by CrystalSoup.

Download CrystalSoup here.

Due to popular demand, the book “Fifty Enterprise Architect Tricks” is available in black and white now. Many EA users told me that they don’t need the colors, but that they wanted a version that is cheaper than the original one. So I made the book available in black & white, which costs about half the price of the colour version. The contents is exactly the same as the original book.

Buy the book here (or read a fragment):

• http://www.unibook.com/en/Peter-Doomen/Fifty-Enterprise-Architect-Tricks-(B%2526W)

Even the paying options don’t offer enough space for photographers or movie collectors or music lovers or video fanatics or… you get the point: when you really need terabytes instead of just gigabites, Dropbox doesn’t cut it.

Therefore, I looked out for other services that offer more space. Unlimited space. I found some who claimed to do that, but it turned out they put other limitations in place that render the service unusable. For example: one such cloud service limits the upload speed once you go above 100 gigabyte. That’s not what I call “unlimited”.

My other alternative was to buy a NAS (Network Attached Storage). But then I considered the disadvantages:

• price: although prices are dropping, a good NAS costs several hundreds of euros.
• RAID: without RAID higher than 0, your data are not protected. One single disk issue can cause your data to become corrupted. So if you buy a NAS of 4TB, you can use only 2TB effectively.
• operating cost: with rising electricity prices, NAS drives are not cheap in operation. Depending on your use of it and current prices, add 10 to even 100 euro a year.
• protection: what if disaster strikes and my house burns down? Next to the financial loss, I’d also lose all of my photos, which are memories
• space limitation: even a big NAS of 6TB has its limitations. One day or another, the disks will be full.
• access: I can access my files only at home, unless I buy a pogoplug or something.
• knowledge: if there’s a problem, I’ll have to fix it. Or find someone to do so.

So I left this option quickly and searched for more online storage plans. I found only one that didn’t lie about limitations and that is LiveDrive. I decided to give it a try. So far, it works for me (I have uploaded almost one terabyte so far) and I thought I’d share it with you. You can test LiveDrive here: http://www.livedrive.com.

Those who are familiar with the Open Space concept will know that the motto is “Prepare to be surprised”. This year, it’s the first time we will work with a theme. As a first theme, we chose “agile games” because we believe games are the best way to teach about agile concepts. The XP Game, the Business Value Game, the Frog Factory, Werewolf,… games like and more will be played, analysed and reviewed during the two-day meeting.

Be sure to bring your own!

Of course, since the Agile Open is an Open Space meeting, there is room for other topics too!

All information on http://www.agileopen.net/agile-open-belgium-2011

Step 1: Download the Enterprise Architect profile “genealogy” here.

Download genealogyprofile here. Unzip the file in a separate folder.

Step 2: Installing the genealogy toolbox

Create a new model in Enterprise Architect called ‘MyFamily’ or something similar.

Then, in the Resources window (“View | Other Project Tools | Resources”), right click on profiles and select “Import profile”.

Import the profile you downloaded and unzipped in the previous step.

If all went well, you now have a toolbox “genealogy” showing up at the bottom of the “more tools” window. Open this toolbox. It has five icons which we will use in the next step.

Step 3: Using the toolbox to develop your family tree

For each family name, we will add a folder to the EA tree so we can group families together. This will become important when we start building the pedigree for our ancestors and relatives too. You’d be surprised how many persons you are related to, even in only the fourth or fifth degree.

Suppose you are Lucas Fields and you are married to Sophie Turner. You have two children, Eric and David. Let’s model that in Enterprise Architect. Add two packages (“Fields” and “Turner”) to the MyFamily model and add a diagram to each one.

Then open the Fields diagram and add yourself to it, by clicking the “male person” icon in the toolbox and clicking on the diagram. Type your name in the dialog window.

Now add your wife, Sophie J Turner, to the diagram. Of course we use the “female person” icon for that. Also add a “relation” and fill in the date of marriage. Click the “RelatedBy” icon, then draw the connection from yourself to the marriage and from Sophie to the marriage.

Now we also add Eric and David. We use the connector “BornFrom” for that: they are born from the relation between you and Sophie, so we will connect them with the marriage.

The result is like the following picture.

Step 4: Time to clean up our model!

• First, we’ll move Sophie to her own package: the Turner package we defined earlier.
• Then, we’ll drag the relationship under Lucas. That way, the first level of the tree contains only persons and it is easier to inspect. Also, we can find the date of marriage for people more easily.

The tree that results from these actions is like the picture below.

Step 5: Some more tips to use the genealogy toolbox

• When a person has an “official” name and a “calling name”, we can put the calling name in the “alias” field. That way, we can switch between the official view and the calling name view at diagram level (right click on the diagram, choose “Properties | Diagram | Use alias if available”)
• When people have children without being married, just leave the date of the marriage empty.
• Add more information about a person in the notes field. Useful information includes birth date, death date, place of living and so on. In the “files” section of the properties window, you can attach links like pictures, birth certificates and more.
• For each person, build a diagram with his or her parents, children and spouse and store it under the person’s name in the tree by dragging it there.
• For each family name, add a diagram with the family name to the package and use it to keep an overview of all persons bearing that family name.
• Use the function “Diagrams only report” to quickly generate an overview of your family.
• Use the function “HTML export” to build a website with the information you collected. Attention: when you want to publish the information, for example on the web, make sure you respect the privacy laws relevant to your country.

For more tricks with Enterprise Architect, consult the book.

The three sides each offer a different set of shortcuts, depending on the task the user is performing:

• Building a model: repeat connector, repeat element, delete element from the model, apply a tagged value to elements and bookmark or unbookmark elements.
• Consulting a model: find element in diagrams, copy current diagram to the clipboard, open the model search, open the team review window and find element in the model tree.
• Layouting diagrams: diagram zoom, adjust element position, align elements, autospace elements horizontally and vertically.

The pyramid can be put next to the computer screen. And it’s easy to change tasks: just turn the pyramid one side and you’re done.

Download the shortcut guide to Enterprise Architect here: EA Shortcuts . Print the pdf file and get scissors and glue ready.

About the book “Fifty Enterprise Architect Tricks“.

The XP Days 2010 are over, but these two video’s will tell the story forever.

The movie

XP Days 2010 part 1 – day one

XP Days 2010 part 2 – day two

Sven and I presented the Frog Factory to an audience of 25 agilists. We’re happy to hear feedback from you all! Please use the feedback button at the bottom of this page.

PS. For those who like the game of werewolf, I can assure you it’s even better when played via email. Some of the articles on this site are in English, some in Dutch. Apologies to non-Dutch speakers. Topics of interest include werewolf rules, werewolf via email, werewolf probability and variations on the rules.