Intromonkey

Wow.. its been so long since i used this blog tool that my last entry was possibly killed off last upgrade/crash/whatever.

I'll also note that there are so many parts of this site that just fail..

I click the Markup formatting help link.. and it opens in this very window. Then the markup language follows a standard i have yet to come across in my journeys across thy vast internets.

On to the meat of the blog sandwich

Indeed.. because im not volunteering to fix these problems.

Avast ye hackfest

Cripes it's time for another hackfest! And as per usual I have about a weeks notice maximum. This could be largely my fault as the most common thing I frequent is the #kruel chat room. Well.. that.. and the long hours my job tends to chop away from life, but hey, thats my fault, and everyone has to deal with their own situation.

I find myself today putting the news of the hackfest in to the topic on channel, which is normally the first place i see it, if im not relentlessly bugging sko (sorry dude). There seems a pretty awesome breakdown of communication, but like i said.. i dont read kruel.org.

So.. I've had my whine.. now I'll move on to the good bits..

To set the scene.. this hackfest is over two days, will be in newcastle at the hospitable sko's place.

It has two goals, which I think is an awesome start. Short concise statements that explain what is to be done, why and even what sort of people would be most able to come and help.

Rock on!

I'm not totally helpful in the current aims of the hackfest, but I am wanting to come around to catch up on project stuff and also prod kmag at people as I like to be a nuisance.

Two things at the moment may stop me from making it.. the amount of rain pouring in is one, and the absolute death that my current job whacks me with each day. Its almost a 2 hour trip door to door and I must say I'm at my wits end with these horrible public transport systems.. nicer than the expense of a car which im not keen at getting at the moment.. and better than sitting in traffic.. but alas.. an hour twenty on a train is painful each day, let alone the total 2.5 hrs each day. The rest is walking.. which I sort of enjoy.

So if im feeling crap, and not insane enough.. I may just head home and send my best wishes :) <3

Kmag-tastic

I will likely be pushing kmag at any possible time at the hackfest.

The idea behind it is to entice possible sponsors and perhaps offer them some recognition in the mag. Im still giving this thought about online presentation as I dont believe pdf to be optimal to get the kruel message out.

But.. this mag isnt even finished.. no one has written a complete article that can be accepted into the mag, despite 3 articles being requested.

Frankly I dont care if you want to dictate it to me and have me type the bloody thing up, it's like.. 200 words.. to fill in some content about what it is we do, where we are heading with it and how we plan to innovate. Not hard. Throw in a picture, or give me a few to compose in to some sort of not-hideous montage and you are done.

Yep I'm a little pissed about the progress.. we did want this out for February. You could even take an excerpt from your blog! or kill two birds with one stone.

At the moment I see less and less value in completing kmag, for a few reasons.

1. It's the first issue.. most design has been done but there just isnt any content to slot in, even after 5 months! What will issue two take to get done?

2. The mag has less graphical appeal than I first envisaged, in terms of having companies wanting to advertise in it.

3. Online, the mag will have next to no presence. PDF is poorly indexed by search engines and people often dont want to open pdf in their browser due to crappy plugin support. If this project were essential, I would recommend instead, creating kruelmag.org and making it html/php/RoR/Python

Which leads to my next rant.

Project Value

It seems to me that projects are rarely re evaluated properly or at all to determine their value to kruel. I view the current projects as hobby style deals that dont necessarily add value to the team and dont have a clear direction in giving people any more experience in targetted areas.

Do correct me if I'm wrong, and please make mention if you are getting some sweet experience out of kruel, I will likely be interested in a short written interview with you for kmag, assuming it doesnt die out.

What I wish to see, is a group evaluation amongst kruellers about the current projects. First of all, we need to figure what projects we even have on board.. there are quite a few, some that I have no idea of the status of..

Next, a structured evaluation should be done. I dont think we should get stupidly extensive.. but I fail to see a lot of direction for kruel apart from the currently active eon work (merlz n sko n anyone else, good work!).

I also dont think our position structure is working.. I see some people with certain roles that contribute rarely, such as myself. We all have lives to take care of and additional work. We likely need to take a look over who can contribute what, how much and how often as a rough guide.

Not to establish things anew.. moreso for a better idea of how we operate. I currently am only aware of merlz and sko doing work on the eon project and thats about it.

Conclusionmonkey

Well, dont take my ranting too serious.. I am a rantmonster.. but I think some of this is relevant.. and by hook or by crook I will eventually see kmag complete, even if it is the only issue and is written on napkin.

Cheers kruellers