Play List – 3/21/08

A Quick One, While He’s Away – The Who
Run Eyed Blues – Ben Harper
Dooji Wooji – Duke Ellington
Shadow Of A Man – Oysterhead
One Flight Down – Norah Jones
The Meatstick – Phish
It Is Accomplished – Peter Gabriel
The Horse – Phish
Boomin’ Granny – The Beastie Boys
Do Not Try This At Home – Frank Zappa
Lonely Road – Paul McCartney
Improve/Amazing Grace – Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Walkin’ – Miles Davis
Modern Love – David Bowie
Limehouse Blues – Joe Pass
Army Of One – Vida Blue
Vrooom – King Crimson
Ayub’s Song/As You Were – Afrocelts
Teo – Thelonious Monk
Star Wars Trash Compactor Phobia – Schleigho
I’m Be Boppin’ Too (Take 1) – Dizzy Gillespie
Que Onda Guero – Beck
Stardust – Louis Armstrong
Barcarolle From The Tales Of Hoffman – London Promenade Orchestra
I Am Hydrogen – Phish
The Moma Dance – Phish
I Have The Touch – Peter Gabriel
Affirmation:IMAC – Robert Fripp
Improv One (Part 4) – Charlie Hunter
Red – King Crimson
Started Melody – Mingus Big Band
Moja, Pt. 1 – Miles Davis
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) – R.E.M.
Holiday – Green Day
Where’s Sly? – Medeski, Martin & Wood
Buried Alive – Phish
Stingaree – Duke Ellington
Satin Doll – Duke Ellington
Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Louis Armstrong
All Of My Mother’s Names – David Sylvian
At A Dixie Roadside Diner – Duke Ellington
Jesus Just Left Chicago – Phish
The Deception Of The Thrush – ProjeKct Two
In The Wee Wee Hours – Trey Anastasio
Time After Time – Miles Davis
Directions – Miles Davis
Freebird – Phish
Blue & Shiny – Trey Anastasio & Tom Marshall
Blue Pepper (Far East Of The Blues) – Duke Ellington
Keep The Customer Satisfied – Simon & Garfunkel
Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid – Dizzy Gillespie
Stevie – Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Outer Forces – Freddie Hubbard
Yellow – Miles Davis
There’s Something About An Old Love – Duke Ellington
Take Me Nowhere – Medeski, Martin & Wood
Gumboots – Paul Simon
Blackbird – The Beatles
Glide – Phish
Domino – Genesis
Satisfied Mind – Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama

Estimating Agily

Made my first pass through the re-estimation and I tried to follow the story point method as detailed in the Agile Estimation and Planning book.  I waded through the spec and identifed all of the features that I could identify (not tasks or actions, but features, because ultimately this is what the end user is concerned with).

I then arbitrarily gave what I viewed to be the smallest feature a point value of 1.  Anything very difficult I gave a 9.  I then added point values to each other feature between 1 and 9 based on how they compare with other features.

This gave me a total point value.  Now the trick is to assign what a point value of 1 means:  1 FTE for 1 Day?  2 days?  1 week?  Right now I’m guessing 1 point = 1 FTE for 3 days. 

Using this I can then come up with an estimate (which should be defined as a probability not a commitment) to work with.

I’ve passed these on to the team for review.  Now we have something to work with.  We can adjust weightings (is feature A really 5 times the weight of feature B for example) and this will adjust our estimate accordingly.

Piano Damage

The kids and I were enjoying making a musical concert last night… H on triangle, MJ on a green rattle-shaker and me on piano.  All of a sudden before I could stop him, MJ smashed his shaker into the bottom keys of the piano chipping off the front of several keys.  It was an accident and the piano is still playable.  He felt really bad about it.  I just hope this taught him a lesson in how he should not be hitting things.

More Troops for Afghanistan?

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Afghanistan on Thursday and met President Hamid Karzai ahead of a NATO summit where Washington will urge its allies to send more troops to fight a tough Taliban insurgency.

Reuters

Perhaps we shouldn’t have diverted all those troops to Iraq?  Nah, that can’t possibly be it (sarcasm^10)

A boost for Obama

Even though the morning papers show that Hillary has passed Obama in national polling, which of course has little to no significance about anything, Gov. Bill Richardson has endorsed Barack Obama, which should rightfully be seen as a big boost for his campaign.

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson endorsed Barack Obama’s bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president, Obama’s aides said on Friday, in a big boost for the senator.

“I can confirm that he (Bill Richardson) is endorsing (Obama) and that he will be at the rally in Portland tomorrow,” said an official with the Obama campaign.

Richardson’s endorsement has been fiercely sought by both Obama and his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in part because as a Hispanic he is seen as influential within the Latino community, which could be a key voting bloc in the November presidential election.

Reuters

 I had a nightmare last night that I went down to read the morning paper and the headline was “What Did He Do Wrong?” and a picture of Obama hiding under a desk while another picture showed a maniacal Hillary celebrating the nomination.

Maybe I’m following this stuff too closely.  Or maybe for the first time since I’ve been allowed to vote that I am actually energized and excited about a Presidential election.

cant wurk 2day

 If only that were the case… but here I am at work, revising estimates once again.  Sorry for no posts yesterday, I’ll try and be a bit more diligent as time and mood allows.