Digital Meanderings
Meanderings of a coder

If you’re a reader of my blog, or a friend of mine, you know I recently started working on a new project named BlackPing.  BlackPing is my first foray into BlackBerry development and what a bumpy road it’s been.  The BlackBerry API (for CLDC applications) is very robust and is written in Java. Java is a big part of my life, I’ve written thousands of lines of code and most of it has made it into a production environment.  But writing for the BlackBerry is different.  You may know how to speak the Java language but do you know the BlackBerry dialect?  Different APIs, different rules, different constraints to take into consideration.

Over the years I’ve learned a few different languages - C, C++, Java, Java Script, some PHP, some Perl, some Ruby-on-Rails, PL/SQL and a slew of other ones.  With all of them I learned through trial-and-error, by looking over a friend’s shoulder or by looking at code examples.  I only ever asked for help at 3am.  Once my brain was fried, my eyes about to bleed and I could barely write a coherent sentence let alone a technical paragraph describing the problem I was having.  Not a good, or fun, way to learn a new language.

This time I decided to do something different - instead of simply posting questions to a forum I found, I tried answering them.  A lot of the posted questions were well over over my head but I read them anyway.  I performed Google searches, I analyzed what other people wrote back.  I tried to understand, I asked questions about the responses not the original post.  By joining in the conversation I was able to learn a lot about BlackBerry programming.  More than I ever would have using my trial-and-error methodology.  By reading what other people had to say I found problems in my application that I didn’t know I had!  I was able to find cool coding tricks and learn what else the BlackBerry API had to offer.

By joining the conversation I was able to rapidly expand my knowledge of what the BlackBerry API allowed me to do.  I think this is the way I’ll try to learn every new language.

If you like reading about all things hype, but are sick of reading about the iPhone, check out Xobni. The website encourages you to “Take back your Inbox.” After using this application, I must say, I think it can help.

If you’re just looking for screen shots, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Backstory

While reading Paul Graham’s essays I first noticed a link to Xobni. The icon (which you find in the right hand column of this page) intrigued me. I’m also addicted to all things organization so “taking back my Inbox” sounded great. Although I was a little skeptical, I signed-up for the beta and even put the button on my web site.

I fought the Inbox, and I won.

On Friday I received an invitation to download Xobni and I was psyched. (Note: Xobni thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for not succumbing to invititis.) Unfortunately the application is only available for Windows users and only for Outlook and I use a Macbook at home, so I was out of luck. Yesterday, I installed it - boy was I surprised!!

The installation process is as simple as you expect - close Outlook, run the install, wait (up to 25min) for it to gather statistics about your email. The length of time it takes to install should not deter you, trust me, it’s worth it.

After Xobni is installed, a context-sensitive sidebar is added to the right hand side of the Outlook window. Simply click on an email, any email and watch the extra pane change. Simply awesome!

If you’re a stats junkie you will love Xobni! At the top of the Xobni pane it displays: how much email you receive from this person (by time of day), a rank (which is how much email you receive from this person in comparison to everyone else) and, using the menu, you have access to a plethora of other customizable reports!

It shows the current email as a thread, this is similar to how Gmail does it.

It shows all the files you’ve exchanged with the person.

It allows you to setup a time to meet. When I first noticed this button I expected it to create an Outlook meeting request, it doesn’t. This may seem wrong but what Xobni does is much better. When you click this button a new email is opened and it includes your availability over the next week. Highly useful, especially if the person isn’t a fellow employee.

It automatically updates contact information. Don’t get worried, this contact information is Xobni-only so there’s no need to worry about this application ruining your contact list. This is only feature that gave me a problem - it doesn’t accurately guess the phone number 100% of the time. This problem happened once out of hundreds of people, so I really don’t think it’s anything major.

It shows all the people that are “connected” to the person who sent the email. A connection between people seems to be made when they both are recipients of an email you send. By clicking on a connection you can see all the information about them.

Wrap-Up

Simply put - Xobni rocks! The UI is fantastic. The reports are great and the application very snappy. Be sure to download it at www.xobni.com!

By the way, if you’re looking for a job, they’re hiring. The only reason I mention this is because Xobni looks like a fantastic place to work.

Screenshots

I am a developer working on the requirements and design of a large application so I spend a lot of time in meetings. For example, tomorrow I have 2.5 hours when I won’t be in a meeting. This equates to pages upon pages of notes. Some of these notes are minor, some require the application design to be rethought or updated and others require some clarification from the SMEs. As you can imagine scanning through these notes can be onerous. So I’ve developed a low-tech version of tagging.

My meeting tags are very simple icons that I put next to each note or group of notes. They enable me to quickly scan through my notes and grab out what I need to do, what needs to updated or even what questions need to be asked. Below you’ll find examples of my “tags.”

• Exclamation Point enclosed in a square - Important, requires immediate attentions.
• Question Mark enclosed in a square - Requires more information from another developer or a SME.
• Light-bulb enclosed in a circle - An idea for improving something.
• “PM” enclosed in a square - A note to keep for the project’s post-mortem.

There are other icons I use, but this should be enough to get you on your way.

Why not use a computer?
I have yet to find a good note taking application. I could use Word, but I’m pretty anal about how things are formatted, so I would spend too much time formatting and therefore less time paying attention.

Don’t the icons take a lot of time?
Not really. At first, it may take a few extra seconds to draw or remember which icon you use for what, but once you get used to it, it is really quite quick.