The city of Ottawa has a nice blue and black box guide. I was hoping to find something that could fit in one page. I didn’t see any from the recycling page, so I made one, in both English and “en Français“.
En collaboration avec les autres étudiants du cours de Gestion de projet, nous avons élaborer ce guide pour les étudiants en formation continue, notament pour les étudiants qui prennent des cours de fin de semaine.
Are there different ways to calculate BCWP?
ProjectLibre, v 1.5, calculates it the following way:
//[(Actual % of completion / Expected % of completion) of an activity for a given period] * Actual cost of activity
public double bcwp(long start, long end) {
if (!isInRange(start,end))
return NO_VALUE_DOUBLE;
end = Math.min(end,getStatusDate());
if (end == 0)
return 0.0D;
if (AdvancedOption.getInstance().isEarnedValueFieldsCumulative())
start = getStart(); // start from the beginning of the task and ignore the range start
double cost = actualCost(start,end);
if (cost == 0)
return 0;
return efficiency() * cost;
}
When I saw this, my reaction was “Why would the actual cost be part of BCWP?”. Wikipedia defines BCWP, as I learned in class, as BAC * % complete.
Now its possible that I’m misinterpreting the function actualCost. When programming, variable names can be confounded with their actual meaning as the code gets bigger and bigger
But when I set % complete to 100% for a task that was due to finish in the future, my SPI is still set to 1. My understanding is that it should be higher than 1. I talk more about this in the projectlibre community forum: http://www.projectlibre.org/discussion/how-bcwp-calculated
So, while acknowledging I could be misunderstanding the output and intent of the code, I set out to correct this. Here’s my correction of the above snipet:
// bac * percent complete -- cyclingzealot
// Changed from:
//[(Actual % of completion / Expected % of completion) of an activity for a given period] * Actual cost of activity
public double bcwp(long start, long end) {
if (!isInRange(start,end))
return NO_VALUE_DOUBLE;
end = Math.min(end,getStatusDate());
if (end == 0)
return 0.0D;
if (AdvancedOption.getInstance().isEarnedValueFieldsCumulative())
start = getStart(); // start from the beginning of the task and ignore the range start
double bac = bac(0,DateTime.getMaxDate().getTime());
double percentComplete = this.getPercentComplete();
if (bac == 0)
return 0;
return percentComplete * bac;
}
Again, totally possible I misunderstood the code. One thing I noticed is that start and end is used in the former calculation, whereas I’ll get the bac from 0 to end. Its possible that the former code has use in calculating earned value through time.
Le message suivant provient de mon professeur en gestion de projet. Je recommande ce cours pour tous ceux qui veulent avancer leur carrière.
For our English speaking friends and clients
The following announcement is for the French version of the certificate in cooperation with La Cite Collégiale. If you are interested in a college certificate in project management an English program will be available in September 2013 in cooperation with Northern College. The Certificate can be taken in class or simultaneously on line
Si vous avez déjà complété le programme de la Cité, passer le message dans votre réseau et aider nous à promouvoir le programme.
La Cité Collégiale, un collège de technologies et arts appliqués à Ottawa, Ontario Canada et EDUCPRO INC, une entreprise spécialisée en formation et coaching en gestion de projet reconnue comme formateur agréé (R.E.P) par le Project Management Institute vous propose un certificat en gestion de projet.
Read the rest of this entry »
I have received the following email from Bike Friday. Good of them to issue this warning to the community. If you are a ticket owner make sure to register so you stay up to date. Good luck to Green Gear on isolating the problem.
For those unfamilliar with the tikit, it is a brand of folding bicycle.
Bike Friday tikit stem SAFETY WARNING:
Stop riding your tikit immediatelyAn important Safety Warning from Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz
Dear Bike Friday tikit owners:
It is with much concern that I write to you today. We have found that your tikit could be dangerous to ride. I want to tell you in the strongest terms we recommend all Bike Friday tikit owners to stop riding their bicycles immediately, until we have fully determined which tikits are at risk.
We have learned that two tikit stems have broken. A stem break is a very serious issue. Should your stem break while you are riding it there is a high risk of losing control of your bike causing you to crash with serious injury or even death as a result.
In August, 2012, an owner of a Bike Friday tikit sustained injury when his front stem broke while riding. Earlier this month, in September, 2012, a second stem failure was brought to our attention.
We received the first bike for inspection [PHOTO ABOVE, right. The second is still unavailable to us] 10 days ago, and upon reviewing the results of that inspection we acknowledge the potential exists for front stems to crack, and ultimately break.
Because of that, we recommend you do not ride your tikit until we can conduct enough tests to isolate the problem, the extent of its potential for failure, and implement safeguards to make your tikit safe to ride again.
Please follow this link to our website to fill out a registration form so we can keep all tikit owners updated as we work through this issue. We will follow up this email with more information on how to inspect your tikit for potential problems.
We are very serious at Green Gear about this. Many of us are regular and extensive tikit users. I have ridden a tikit since the first weeks of production in spring 2007. I rode it to work daily and on tours — even doing several century rides on it until it was stolen last year. My wife and two of my daughters own and ride tikits regularly.
The tikit is an important transportation solution for my two daughters and neither owns an automobile, relying on their bike for most travel. I understand that this will also be true for many of you.
I say this so you understand how deeply I apologize for the inconvenience this causes for you not to ride your tikit until we have come up with a safe solution for you.
At this time our engineers and designers have been working to replicate the problem so we can develop solutions. We have stems being tested around the clock. I promise we will share our findings as soon as we have enough information to draw conclusions and offer solutions. Until then, please do not ride your tikit and make sure you register your contact information with us.
This safety warning only affects Bike Friday 16-inch wheel tikits. We have suspended production and delivery of tikits. It does not affect any of our 20-inch Pocket Bike Fridays.
I appreciate your patience in this matter. We have nearly 4,000 Bike Friday tikits located around the world, and getting this important message to all tikit owners is our priority at this moment. I hope you can imagine the challenge for a company of 33 cycling enthusiasts here in Eugene.
Sincerely,
Alan Scholz, Co-Founder, Bike Friday
PS, If you know others who have tikits please be kind enough to tell them to ensure that they have this important Serious Warning and that they can sign up for updates if we have not yet been able to reach them. In the interest of doing this as quickly as possible it is going out to everyone at the same time but everyone may not get the e-mail and we may need to hunt for them. We thank you. The Bike Friday Community thanks you.
ALERT CODE: 1933
BIKE FRIDAY. PERFORMANCE THAT PACKS
Bike Friday has set up a special toll free number for you to call with questions or concerns. Please understand that we have no additional information to share at this time, and when we do, we will contact everyone again through email.tikit owners Hotline NUMBER: 541-683-0175 or Int’l +1-541-683-0175
email: tikitowners@bikefriday.com
Please be patient. We are a small company and we expect a high volume of calls. We have hired additional help, but you might still experience long wait periods before you will speak to someone.
Every time there is a hero in Hollywood, chances are there’s usually a car involved. The romanticization of the car is part of Amercica’s cultural landscape. It drives me nuts: why is this vehicle a sign of power where the real test of self is one’s ability to use their own muscle to get speed?
Fortunately, that’s not the case in Premium Rush, a movie where the protagonist is a bike messenger. Enfin!
Now I can already hear the protest of some of my cycling friends: “Do we really want to be portrayed as lawless users of the road?” No, of course not. But I don’t think the protagonist could have pulled all those moves had he not come from that background. Besides, when vehicles are used in action thrillers, is the law ever perfectly obeyed?
I haven’t talked to enough non-cyclists to see what people thought about the movie. I’m curious if they got more of an insight into the cycling community (and the bike messenger is certainly a sub-community in of itself). Actor Joseph Gordon Levitt probably best expressed what it feels like to be a cyclist in the “training” featurette: “You do starts to feel like its an extension of your body. Less of a vehicle you are riding on top of and more like round circular legs.” The actors definitely gained an appreciation for the bike messenger community and hopefully the public will to. The best backgrounder article to the movie is The New York Post’s “Shooting the messengers“.
So against my better judgement I decided to sit down and read the OS’s editorial “Don’t segregate bike lanes”.
Overall, the editorial make one fair argument - which I will get to - but the overall attitude towards cycling is still one that supports status quo.
We support cycling as a healthy and economical form of recreation as well as transportation. But we don’t support segregated bike lanes.
Coming from a newspaper that will use any triviality to complain about cycling, I have to doubt the honesty of the writer. Reporting on trivialities such as reserved bike parking for staff (when there is plenty of private car parking), skate boarders using the bicycle lane or drivers not being able to turn on a red light used (the latter triviality as a front page headline) point to a different view.
One huge barrier I have in investing in solar power is that I’m not a home owner.
According to p.8 of $mart Power (Kemp, WIlliam), the ROI for energy efficiency is about 12%-20% and for PV system is 5-10% (that’s without subsidies).
If there was a way I could invest 10$ into a community project to get 11$ or 12$, I would for sure invest.
I know the buisness language is a turnoff for many, but if we can win the solar advocacy game because there’s a way for everyone (not just home owners) to profit from it, so the better. About 1/3 of Ottawa residents are tenants.
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:56:15 -0400
Subject: Commission royale sur les appels frauduleux de l’élection de 2011
From: Julien Lamarche
To: info@gg.ca
Son Excellence le très honorable David Johnston,
Il me semble que la Chambre des communes se retrouve dans une impasse qui empêche la population canadienne de découvrir qui a effectué les appels frauduleux dirigeant les électeurs canadiens vers des bureaux de scrutin non existant ou non assigné à l’électeur en question.
Je vous prie de faire appel aux instituons appropriées afin d’initier une Commission royale qui aurait le mandat de découvrir qui a payé pour ces appels effectués dans 18 circonscriptions lors de l’élection fédérale de 2011.
Julien Lamarche
If the Ottawa Sun (or the Canadian Tax Payers Federation) wishes to be taken seriously in the matter of advocating for lower taxes, they should advocate for better urban planning.
One only needs to look at the Canadian Automobile’s Association own figures of cost ownership to realize that building car dependant cities is going to cost residents 6000-9000$ / year just in ownership and 8000-15000$ if one includes operating costs.
Or take a look at Newman and Kenworthy’s 1989 study showing increase gasoline usage as city density decreases.
Until the Sun or the CTPF look at urban planning, their tax whining is just a joke. In the case of the Ottawa Sun, its simultaneous advocacy against taxes and against spending on cycling proves the OS staff can’t think OS’s editorial decisions doesn’t serve taxpayers. The logic just doesn’t add up. Until, of course, one considers that the OS’s cares more about selling headlines than the pockets of Ottawa taxpayers.
