One Day Left to push for commuter rail

PUT THE NORTH FRONT RANGE ON TRACK!

http://www.cdot.info/northI25eis/index.cfm

One day left to help bring commuter rail to the North Front Range.

In connection with Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) North I-25 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (NI25 DEIS) and to provide viable transportation choices for the movement of people and goods in the Northern Front Range (NFR), we support: necessary safety upgrades on I-25, mass transit components of Package A, and most specifically commuter rail connecting city centers on existing track from Fort Collins to Longmont, there connecting with Denver Metro FasTracks and RTD bus routes.

Please submit comments supporting the components of Package A above directly to CDOT before the public comment period ends December 30, 2008:

http://www.cdot.info/northI25eis/contact.cfm

Phone for comments and/or questions:

(970) 352-5455 or (303) 779-3384.

I have decided James Shore knows Agile

I have been reading through James Shore's Top ten articles about Agile software development and I have decided the man knows what he is talking about. I started with The Decline and Fall of Agile which only served to back up what Mary Poppendieck said in her presentation "Is Agile a Fad?" at the October 27th Agile Denver meeting. I have since been reading other articles and have been impressed with knowledge. Here is his top ten list:

• The Decline and Fall of Agile - 14 Nov, 2008
  It's human nature to only do the stuff that's familiar and fun, and that's what has happened with Agile.
• Quality With a Name - 5 Apr, 2006
  What is good design?
• An Approximate Measure of Technical Debt - 19 Nov, 2008
  Introducing: The Spag.
• Kanban Systems - 15 Oct, 2008
  How, when, and why to use Kanban systems to eliminate iterations.
• Use Risk Management to Make Solid Commitments - 8 Oct, 2008
  How to use risk multipliers and risk-adjusted burn-up charts to make solid commitments to your executives.
• Continuous Integration is an Attitude, Not a Tool - 18 Aug, 2005
  CI tools make it easy to do the wrong thing.
• Beyond Story Cards: Agile Requirements Collaboration - 21 Mar, 2005
  Agile requirements, in-depth.
• Design Debt - 1 Feb, 2004
  Why we trash seven-figure software investments.
• Continuous Integration on a Dollar a Day - 27 Feb, 2006
  An easier, cheaper (and better) way to do continuous integration.
• Change Your Organization: A Diary - 10 Mar, 2006
  Six months of changing an organization from within.

Book Update: Can Wizards4Word help?

I was just feeling overwhelmed with the management of my book project, Battle Gaming: The New American Sport. I recently decided that chapters 7,8,9, and 10 had to be scrapped and replaced with whole new reorganized set of chapters. The current content looks something like

Part I - Playing the Games
1 - A New Kind of Sport
2 - Safety First
3 - Quick Start Guide
4 - The Games
5 - Combat in Detail
6 - On the Battle Field

Part II - Equipment
7 - What You'll Need
8 - Technology of Foam Padded Weapons
9 - Swords and Long Blade Weapons
10 - Handheld Weapons
11 - Tips and Tricks of Weapon Construction
12 - Thrown Weapons
13 - Archery and Arrows
14 - Shields
15 - Armor
16 - Uniforms and Costuming
17 - Game Props

Part III - Running the Games
18 - The Organizations (Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard, Darkon)
19 - Doing it Your Way - Starting a Club
20 - The Successful Game Day
21 - Building on Success

Each of the chapters are split into multiple section files in word. This has made writing much easier since a section is on a very specific topic and covers only a few pages. The problem is that I now have 37 folders containing 348 files. Even though some are just images and diagrams or research items, I am still having a some difficulty keeping it all organized.

I was checking out the Book Master system (http://www.wizards4word.com/bookmaster.html) that is provided by Wizards4Word to see if that might help. I found a few good reviews, but if anyone has some more information about this product, I welcome hearing from you. Feel free to post a comment. Thanks - Dave