The Animator’s Survival Kit, Richard Williams, 2009

Artists who create animated graphics will want to read this. Most pages show sketches for animations, with brief notes on the techniques. Large format, 350 pages, with DVD.

Becoming Agile In An Imperfect World, Greg Smith, Manning, 2009

Team leaders in charge of software projects will want to read this. 350 pages.

PeopleSoft PeopleTools Tips & Techniques, Jim J. Marion, Oracle, 2010

Java programmers can use this book when they extend Oracle’s HRMS. The book gets into some advanced programming. 600 pages.

Running QuickBooks 2010 Premier Editions, Kathy Ivens, 2009

A user manual for the QuickBooks accounting app. Large print, 600 pages.

With one of our out-of-town developers visiting the head office, a bunch of us went on our first Photowalk around the Market after work. Unfortunately, we went out on the hottest and haziest evening of the summer, but we still had a great time.

We walked to a great lookout that overlooks Parliament and the Ottawa River, ended up having great fun 'light painting' on the wall of the National Art Gallery. Luckily, no permanent damage was done.

• You can view a few more photos on my Flickr photostream
• Here's Daniel's photostream

Hurricane Earl is already doing damage to people’s productivity.  Just check out the trending topics on Twitter.  Conversation about Earl is hitting a high, as the Twitterati focus in on this new distraction.

Fortunately, even if Earl does touch down on Thursday as some are predicting, it doesn’t have to impede your productivity. Natural disasters happen, but with modern collaboration tools like Calliflower, business can still carry on. Calliflower has local dial numbers over most of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and Canada.

So stay at home, make yourself some hot tea, pick up the phone and make a few conference calls.

• Hurricane Earl heads for US coast (bbc.co.uk)
• Hurricane Earl Projected Path (MAP) (huffingtonpost.com)

World of Science, Vancouver, BC - April 4th 2010

I’m playing through BioShock 2 on the PC. This is one of the first PC games I’ve played in a while – I’ve mostly been playing on the Xbox 360 the last few years.

I’ve been enjoying the game, but I’ve reached a point where it just suddenly stopped being fun. The whole game is a bit too linear/scripted, but the difficulty has been pretty reasonable. Now, all of a sudden, I have a fight that I just can’t win, after maybe 50 tries.

The part of it that really bugs me, though, is that the game is spawning new enemies as the fight goes on. It’s been a long time since I played a game that did that, and I didn’t expect it of a game like BioShock 2. It doesn’t matter how many enemies you kill, there are always more.

And in the context of BioShock 2, where you’re in an underwater city where presumably resources are scarce, it just doesn’t make any sense to have an unending horde of bad guys coming at me one at a time. What, are they all just right around the corner?

I’m tempted to just leave it and play something else, but I have been enjoying the story and would hate to miss the ending..

Get Started in Computing, Moira Stephen, – 2010

Yet another Windows user guide. This one is current for Windows 7.

Upgrading and Repairing PCs 19th ed., Scott Mueller, Que, 2010

1100 pages, with DVD videos.

Plaza of Nations, Vancouver, BC - April 4th 2010

In beta since March of last year, Skype Connect (formerly Skype for SIP) is now officially launched.  The purpose of Skype Connect is to allow companies to connect corporate phone systems to Skype, letting customers who use Skype contact the company via an IP call, and allowing the company to take advantage of Skype’s cheap outbound calling rates to make outbound calls. According to Skype, some 2400 companies have been using the beta since last year.

We have been using Skype Connect to allow customers to connect to Calliflower conference calls via Skype Connect since late 2009.  Four reasons we use it:

1. The service is solid, and the voice quality is excellent (it’s Skype, after all).
2. Skype Connect allows us to service customers in countries where we simply can’t obtain local phone numbers – China and India for example.
3. The price is excellent.  At $6.95/mo for unlimited calling, per channel, it’s very affordable.
4. Skype Connect is a flat rate price per channel, like Calliflower’s flat rate pricing.  It’s affordable, low risk, and easily forecast.
5. Our customers love it!  Since introducing Skype calling to our customers in January, usage has steadily ramped.  Today, Skype callers represent 11% of our volume, growing by an average of 16% every month.

Oops… that’s five reasons!

Interested in finding out how good Skype Connect really is?  Click here to call Calliflower from your Skype client.  You’ll be suprised.

• Skype Wants To Power Your Corporate Phone System (gigaom.com)

• Working in Flex is so much more fun than working in Java. A big part of it is it feels like me and the framework are on the same side. #
• I keep Visual Studio around for keyboard macro recording and playback, a feature they nailed about 10 years ago. #
• The RAID volume is synchronizing now. Please wait for 234.2 minute(s). #

Get Rich with Twitter – Harness the Power of the Twitterverse and Reach More Customers than Ever before, Dennis L. Prince, McGraw-Hill, 2010

Marketing pro’s will want to read this. 200 pages.

What Is Happening to News – The Information Explosion and the Crisis in Journalism, Jack Fuller,  University of Chicago, 2010

Written by a Pulitzer prize winning editor and publisher. Hardcover, 200 pages.

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It might seem curmudgeonly of me to say this, but I am baffled by the attention generated by Google’s announcement that they will add voice calling to Gmail. Granted, merging the voice mail box and the email box is a very friendly move for users.  Allowing an immediate follow up to an email, via voice, is also a nice usability feature.  Aren’t these staples of modern day unified communications systems?

Google Voice doesn’t often show up on my radar any more.  It’s not available to those of us who live north of the 49th parallel, so I don’t use it.  That’s a shame.  If Google Voice did supply service here, I would surely take advantage of all of its super cool features like call screening, one number, voice transcription and more. For reasons that are unclear to me, though, especially since Google offers unlimited calls to the United States and Canada, Canadians don’t have access.  Maybe it’s payback for the defeat of the US Men’s Hockey Team at the Olympics?  Who knows?!  That’s as good a theory as any, I suppose.

These days, if I want one-click calling from within email, I turn to Skype.  And perhaps that’s the reason Google is adding these features to Gmail now – Skype already has them, and word on the street is that Skype and Google are headed for a showdown.

Skype also has a global international network, that includes Canada.

So how about it, Team Google? Whaddya say?

• Google Tests Out Voice Calling In Gmail (searchenginejournal.com)
• It’s official: Google Voice comes to Gmail — phone booths on the way (downloadsquad.com)

The Art of Game Design – A Book of Lenses, Jesse Schell, Elsevier Morgan Kaufmann, 2008

Game designers will want to read this. 450 pages.

Windows 7 Secrets, Paul B. Thurrott, 2009

This is not just another Windows user guide. Advanced users and admins will find it useful. 1000 pages.

Oracle Self-service Applications, Melanie Anjele Cameron, McGraw-Hill, 2010

This book is for admins in charge of Oracle’s e-business apps, including

• Oracle iProcurement for automating both the requesting and approval of requisitions
• Oracle Internet Expenses for streamlining the entry, approval, and auditing of expense reports, including credit card processing
• Oracle iSupplier Portal to allow secure supplier collaboration
• Oracle iReceivables to enable customers and employees to review account information online The order management portal for granting inquiry-only viewing and tracking of orders and delivery status
• Oracle Bill Presentment Architecture for customizing invoices
• Oracle Approvals Management to accommodate complex rules for approving transactions
• Oracle Application Framework to customize both the options and usability of the self-service applications