Videos as Documentation and Other Information

This link talks about using videos to explain to users how to do things. It is not a new concept - many online Help systems use videos - and I think it has its place.

My one major concern is knowing your audience. I would not want a video of a couple of the procedures I routinely do at work. I like the paper. I jot notes on it, like the password when it changes. Another place is where I unzip a file and keep track of how many files were unzipped because the procedure will add more files. Then I do the math to make sure that the number of files in my new .zip file is equal to the new files I created, plus the previous number of files. Numbers and I do not really get along because my brain - I admit this - does not work that way. I am better at manipulating words and bending them to my will than I am at math. That's the way my brain is.

Work has been extremely busy. There is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. I did not spend more than a few brief moments working on my number one priority today because my perception was that the 'little' changes I wanted to make would not take long. They took longer and were more involved than what I could have guessed. An example was a programmer talking me through a trainer's question and explaining why his question really didn't make sense and why my initial answer to him was totally wrong. There were other things I have decided I need to do to make my help system more user-friendly and that took some of my day.

Tomorrow, being Friday and all, I'm hoping for a clean slate of nothing but working on a new end-user document (EUD) that can be included on our next cut of the software. I know the cut is coming. The subject of the EUD is new functionality and I'd like to get, at the very least, a draft included on the cut. It is just going to take time to do it.

Megan checked out 4 CDs from the NL Library. One of them was the soundtrack to the Wizard of Oz. Turns out, whoever had it last put in the wrong CD - it was a CD of Christmas songs! I called the library and told whomever I talked to about it so that they wouldn't think it was Megan.

We are playing a song at Mass called "Sing of the Lord's Goodness." Here's an awful version of it (not me on drums!)

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If you listen carefully, the rhythm is similar to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five." There used to be a video here but it was removed from youtube.com.

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From our Development Manager:
Something that caught my eye in one of my daily industry e-letters, thought it might give you a chuckle to start your day:
* Stop oppressing lazy people, says job center
A British recruitment agent has been barred from posting an ad for a "reliable and hard-working" domestic cleaner, on the grounds that the listing discriminates against lazy and unreliable people. A job center official said that they refused to post the listing for fear of being sued by an unreliable but angry applicant. Telegraph (London) (1/26)
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp

Two Masses Never Hurt Anyone & Big Shot

I am going to Mass for the second time this weekend today @ 11. Megan spent the night at a friend's house so I am picking her up @ 10 and then taking her to 11 Mass. We went last night to 5:15 and, of course, I jammed out by playing. We played "Sing of the Lord's Goodness" and it's in 5/4. I spent much of my spare time trying to get more familiar with the rhythm of that song and when we played it, I was the most comfortable I've ever been playing in 5/4. I wasn't mimicking the piano rhythm - I was actually playing closer to what Joe Morello did in "Take Five." I also played well with the other songs - it was a good gig.

We have always liked the original "Beethoven" movie. I have seen the 1st sequel, and that was okay, but then I lost track of it. There's a brand new movie out and we rented it last night. It started out really lame, but eventually, tied into a story about making a movie about a dog. The movie was first going to be about a white foo-foo dog, but that dog gets dog napped so they hold an open audition. Beethoven wrecks the set and the director and producer love it. That sets up a plot line where the movie is going to be about Beethoven. What eventually happens is that the film becomes a film about filming the very first Beethoven movie.

I still fell asleep because I was tired but that's beside the point.

Belly = Full!

We played @ 5:15 Mass tonight. We did a song called "Sing of the Lord's Goodness" which is in 5/4 time. The count is 12-123 12-123 and it sounds a lot like Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" piece, which is famous for Joe Morello's drum solo. No, no drum solo from me. I must admit, though, I played this song 20 years ago in Cedar Rapids at St. Pius X and when I played it then, I had a) no idea who Joe Morello or Dave Brubeck were and b) I wasn't nearly as good of a drummer as I think I am now. I played my drums to mimic the melody and had no idea how it was counted. Tonight, though, was different. I wasn't quick enough to stretch out, but I could feel the pulse and played the ride and snare on different beats while my bass drum and hi-hat kept straight time.

Here's a 5/4 groove solo that sounds good.

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After Mass, we went to Eggy's on 965. I had a BBQ bacon cheeseburger and a couple of pints of Miller Lite. Tasted awesome.

We rented "27 Dresses" and per IMDB.com, it's about a 6 out of 10 star movie. Great.

Tomorrow we're going to CR to do some birthday shopping for Alex, then to Alex's basketball practice @ 3. New "Desperate Housewives" episode too.