Asimov's Reviews Weinberg's Novel, The Aremac Project

Peter Heck, in the March 2008 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction,
reviewed Jerry Weinberg's techno-thriller, THE AREMAC PROJECT:

"This one's a bit of a sleeper, a near-future thriller built around
neuroscience and nanotech by one of the giants of the IT
revolution. . . . he has plenty of ideas, and a way of making them
convincing. He has a likeable pair of protagonists, a supporting
cast that manages to avoid stereotyping, and he contrives to
keep a few plot surprises up his sleeve. . . . Probably the closest
comparisons among established SF writers would be Robert
Forward and James P. Hogan. If that's your kind of reading fare,
I suggest you give Weinberg a try."

Read the full review in Asimov's Science Fiction:
http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0803/onbooks.shtml

Read more about THE AREMAC PROJECT:
http://www.littlewestpress.com
and download a PDF Preview of the first five chapers

Muness Alrubaie: Weinberg Gets Down to the Problem at AYE

Muness Alrubaie recently blogged about his experience at
the Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference (Nov. 2007),
hosted by Jerry Weinberg and others. Muness highlights
Jerry's process of problem analysis:

"At AYE 2007, I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry in
person. Something that I was not aware of was his
remarkable skill at helping others. Instead of answering a
request for advice directly, he'd delve into the details,
applying something like the 5 Whys. Within minutes, he
would hone in on a rule that the person had imposed on
themselves that was at the root of the problem. After
expressing the problematic rule, he'd help them relax the
rule into guidelines. Several people who've spent more time
with him have echoed my gut feel that they too found this
ability to help others rare and invaluable."

Read the full post on Mundane Essays:
http://muness.blogspot.com/2008/01/managers-and-rules.html

Read more about Jerry Weinberg:
http://www.jerryweinberg.com

Ambiguity in Exploring Requirements [The Braidy Tester]

Michael Hunter recently blogged about the ambiguities of a
municipal parking sign in his neighborhood. Borrowing from
Don Gause and Jerry Weinberg's book EXPLORING
REQUIREMENTS, Hunter investigates how brainstorming
multiple interpretations of the sign's wording, or "code," can
help testers explore assumptions and identify problem
areas in software:

"If you are interested in learning more about the grief
ambiguity can cause as well as strategies for reducing
ambiguity, pick up the excellent Exploring Requirements,
which Jerry cowrote with Don Gause. It will be worth your
while!"

Read the full post on The Braidy Tester:
http://blogs.msdn.com/micahel/archive/2008/01/23/ZoningForTheHolarcticRegion.aspx

Read more about EXPLORING REQUIREMENTS:
http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/er.html

Peopleware Review [PMToolbox]

PMToolbox recently reviewed Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister's
classic PEOPLEWARE:

"This strikingly clear, direct book is written for
software development-team leaders and managers, but it's
filled with enough commonsense wisdom to appeal to
anyone working in technology. Authors Tom DeMarco and
Timothy Lister include plenty of illustrative, often amusing
anecdotes; their writing is light, conversational, and filled
with equal portions of humor and wisdom, and there is a
refreshing absence of 'new age' terms and multistep
programs. The advice is presented straightforwardly and
ranges from simple issues of prioritization to complex ways
of engendering harmony and productivity in your team.
Peopleware is a short read that delivers more than many
books on the subject twice its size."

Read the full review on PMToolbox.com:
http://www.pmtoolbox.com/peopleware-productive-projects-and-teams

Read more about PEOPLEWARE:
http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/pw.html

Weinberg on Saving Projects [CIO.com]

Esther Schindler of CIO Magazine recently interviewed Jerry
Weinberg about IT project success and how to revive and
shepherd failing projects:

"CIO.com: . . . What advice do you have for
managers to help them know when to [stop a project] . . .
and when to realize that the project is do-able but not being
handled correctly?

"[Jerry:] The essential ingredient for dealing with all these
problems is a system of technical and management reviews.
The technical reviews determine whether the project is
being done right, while the management reviews determine
if it's the right project. The reviewers must be people
whose judgment is trusted by upper management, and
management must believe their judgments -- no matter how
painful they might turn out to be.

"Both types of review must take place for every project, at
pre-scheduled times and/or milestones, and must not be
postponed because a project says it 'isn't ready.' They're
not a way of punishing projects that management thinks
might be in trouble, but are performed for every project on
the same basis -- which helps prevent hidden problems from
growing out of control."

Read the full interview on CIO.com:
http://www.cio.com/article/184000/The_Unfulfilled_Project_An_Interview_with_
Jerry_Weinberg

Read more about Jerry's Dorset House titles:
http://www.dorsethouse.com/authors/weinberg_gerald.html

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