Will Kelly

Deciding On My Next Primary Desktop PC

I am still one of those writers who uses a desktop PC. Reason being is that I like the fact I can have a lot of hard disk, heavy duty processing power, and two large screen monitors. While I use a MacBook Pro as my other primary writing machine--nothing beats a large monitor for my eyes.

Random and Recent Projects

I've been in a real tinkering mode as of late. Perhaps it's because I reread my copy of the Lifehacker book at the pool over last weekend.

Some Random And Recent Projects

I try to keep myself busy during my downtime. Here are some random and recent personal projects I've been pursuing:

Computer Book Technical Editing

I am back to contracting and freelancing and trying to research how I can diversify my income streams. Back in the day, I spent a lot of my evenings as a computer book technical editor and reviewer.

Random and Recent Projects

True, I haven't been writing online as much or writing for publications for that matter but I have been busy. Besides client billable work, here is a sample of some  of my recent (non) projects:

• Got Parallels VM and Windows XP up and running on my new MacBook Pro.
• Working on my tan for next month's vacation in Miami.
• Checked out Tumblr as a vehicle for some personal writing.
• Continued decluttering my home office.
• Delved into the intricacies of OmniFocus as part of my quest to find the ultimate organizational tool for my dyslexic mind.
• Continued to research where I am going to flee for my upcoming big birthday.

Backing up Emails and Files to the Cruzer Titanium 4.0 GB

Some client PC problems and later the crash of my MacBook Pro's hard drive made me look for a quick and dirty solution to backup my client issue notebook PC.

I chose the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 4.0 GB  and while I give it full point value for its ease of use and capacity. My only issue is when the software asked me to upgrade the synchronization software the software crashes each time. Other than that, it works like a champ for me when my Outlook calendar chimes for me to backup my files.

Every contractor should have a Plan-B when it comes to backing up their client data even it means bringing your own backup solution to the table.

Updates to this Site...

Have fallen by the wayside lately because of many things including:

• My nasty Northern Virginia commute sapping the motivation of me to write for myself lately.
• Work and my nasty Northern Virginia commute sapping the motivation to write for myself.
• The $5200 I had to shell out to get a new AC and heat pump for my house which made me reconsider some other freelance projects to help make up the money.
• A lot of half congealed thoughts that should/could lead to posts that I haven't had much time to work on lately.
• Allergies brought on by a nasty Northern Virginia spring have been slowing me down.

It's always good to be busy albeit my personal projects like this site are often the first casualty.

Kelly's Ninth Law of Project Communications: Revise your Product Development Process so it Reflects Reality

Rigorously maintain your product development process so it reflects your organization's curent reality versus the  perfect world

Kelly's Eighth Law of Project Communications; Communicate with the Support Staff Early and Often

Keep your  support staff informed during  all phases of the product development  life cycle

Kelly's Seventh Law of Project Communications: Help Tickets aren't just for Customer Care anymore

Tap into your trouble tickets to improve product requirements, specifications, and technical documentation.

Kelly's Sixth Law of Project Communications: Just Say No to A Centralized PMO

Project Managers who retreat from a development team to a centralized PMO run the risk of sacrificing project communications for self promotion to self preservation.

Kelly's Fifth Law of Project Communications: Development and Sales Teams Can Drive Sales

A peaceful coexistence between the development team and sales team can help drive product sales.

Kelly's Fourth Law of Project Communications: Surrogate Product Managers Can Drive Product Development Projects

If a development project doesn't have strong product management at the helm, surrogate product manager(s) can still drive the development project to success.

Kelly's Third Law of Project Communications: Product Roadmaps Can Help Drive Internal Development Projects

Product Roadmaps (even on an informal level)  can help drive internal development projects and give a development team direction and talking points

Kelly's Second Law of Project Communications

Putting multiple project managers in charge of a development project invariably ends up being a Three Stooges episode.

Kelly's First Law of Project Communications

Often times the so called firefighter on the project is the one who brought the matches and accelerant.

How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

It has been a busy couple of weeks between starting a new consulting contract plus some other writing and editing projects but I am starting to come to end of the tunnel.

I am proud to say I just wrapped up my work as technical editor on How to Do Everything with Outlook 2007 by Bill Mann.  It is going to be a great book especially for end users who work in organizations where Outlook is the life blood for internal communications and collaboration.

During my ten years as a computer book technical editor, I had the opportunity to work with some of the great authors of the great computer book publishing of the late nineties. Bill is a real pro who has seen life outside the cloistered home office.

My Current State of Affairs

Typically, the first casualty of my billable project is often my personal projects. My recent silence on this site shows it is still holding true. I've been mad busy getting a new independent consulting off the ground. Without a contracting agency in the middle, I've also had to deal more business and accounting affairs.

I am still writing continuously for Processor Magazine and have two articles upcoming in future issues of PC Today Magazine.

Other projects that came to a close including the technical editing of a new book by Bill Mann about the soon to be released Outlook 2007. I also contributed to an upcoming book about Microsoft Windows Vista with my chapters in varying stages of editing.

willkelly.com meets Google Analytics

While I am generally happy with my current Web hosting provider their Web analytics tools leave a bit too be desired. So after reading the  Lifehacker posting about Google Analytics, I decided to give it a try on willkelly.com.

Perhaps it is my current hunt for my next contract or FT job but I have an interest in seeing details about who is hitting my site and what pages they are seeking.

Fear, Loathing, Windows Vista, and Enterprise Deployments

While during my current contract hunt, I've received more than one hit about Microsoft Windows Vista related projects so I guess it could be true:

 Microsoft: 60,000 Vista biz seats to be deployed on launch day by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley -- Microsoft is predicting on the very day that Microsoft launches Vista for businesses – which officials are (still) saying will happen some time in November 2006 – business customers who’ve been testing the operating system will launch 60,000 worldwide seats of Vista.