Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with project

Help me find a good online project management system

peripatew — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:18:48 -0800

What is a good online project management system? I'm trying to find an online project management system that will work for our organizations. We have a LOT of volunteers helping out on committees for various things, and different areas of our organization have projects that need to be completed by these volunteer committees.

I'm looking for something super simple, as the people who will be using it most likely won't be techno-savy, and I don't want extra clutter to make it more confusing.

I need:
To be able to have priorities
Have specific people assigned to projects and that will be notified of changes
A way to include time and money estimates
A way to update the progress
A way to tag/organize projects for different areas within our organization
A way to "hold" projects, IE for when funding isn't yet available, or to say that the project is waiting on someone, something, or another project

I don't need to track time spent on a project.

I just want a way to manage a large number of projects, and to communicate what's going on with a large number of people.

Online is a must, free would be great, but I'm willing to pay for great functionality.

What can you recommend, what have you used, what do you like/hate and why?

Name this book illustration blog!

actionpact — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:39:34 -0800

Help me name my illustrated book blog project! Some illustrator friends and I are starting a blog up where in 2010 we each will draw a scene of a favorite book of ours, every month. (There are eleven people, so eleven books, illustrated at least once a month) These aren't all children's books-- I'm doing Alice in Wonderland, but among some of the other books are One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Tarzan, and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Sounds good, right? Well, I am bad at naming and the first thing I came up with, Picture Book Club, sounded good enough to go with. However I just found that there is a picturebookclub.com, which is a book review blog. Plus since not all the books are all ages/childrens' oriented, maybe picture-book as a term isn't a good one. I am struggling to come up with a better name so I'm hoping you Me-fites might have some awesome suggestions!

Basic starter words to get you thinking: books, illustrations, drawings, stories, storytelling, scenes, reading, worlds, color, mood, narrative.

I was thinking something like Storytelling/Storytellers' Society/League/Club/Lodge or something but I bet you guys can think up something ten times more awesome than that!

Thanks hivemind!

What's the best agile project management tool?

bshort — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:24:47 -0800

What's your favorite agile project management tool? I'm looking for something that allows tracking of backlog, user tasks, developer time for tasks, and provides reporting for sprints, projects, and user stories on a daily, weekly, and sprint-level basis.

I've looked at AgileBuddy, which is pretty great, but the reporting isn't very good. I need to be able to see who did what 6 weeks ago, and I need to be able to do it without referring to the "activity view", which shows every action by every team member.

Is there another tool out there that I should be looking at?

Oh, and it needs to be web-based.

What did I lose when I upgraded to Win7?

Drasher — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:32:13 -0800

[Various Filters] I am stuck. I am using MS Visual Studio 2008 to create a software package. I saved all the source code and what (I thought) I needed so I could format the machine and install the Win7 Update as a fresh OS. After reinstalling the VS2008 compilers, now the project will not compile. The project is a VB.NET front-end GUI and a VC++ DLL back-end which talks to a PIC24FJ256GB110 micro over USB.
The compiler starts spewing error messages as the except.h header file is drawn in. (This file is created by Microsoft and included by some other file, I do not know what file actually includes it.)
The first specific error is: "C2065 '_In_': undeclared identifier."
I suspect that the problem is some kind of compiler setting or directive that is not carried over in the project file. I tried creating a new project from scratch and working the source files into the new project, but the error persists.
I have posted questions on the MS news servers and on stackoverflow.com and have not received helpful answers.

Will putting cloth through a paper shredder kill the shredder?

patheral — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:31:52 -0800

I have old clothes, I have a paper shredder (confetti style), can the two come together and make stuffing for pillows? I'm poorer than dirt, and I need things that I can't afford -- like pillows. I have access to a paper shredder, and I have old clothes that just don't fit or are unfit to wear. The paper shredder is not mine (it's a relative's) so I don't want to break it, which is why I'm asking before trying.

The clothes have been sitting in my trunk for about four months now, just waiting for me to take them to the Salvation Army. I read on their local website that they actually have more clothes right now than they know what to do with, hence the wait. Then it hit me that old clothes = cloth! and an idea was born.

So I wonder if it would be okay to run things like cotton t-shirts or denim through the paper shredder to make stuffing for pillows. I tried looking this up on Google and other search engines and only found similar (and unanswered) questions.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this idea? Will putting cloth through a paper shredder gum up the works? or can it be done if I keep an eye on the fuzz that's likely to result?

Where in Los Angeles can I Cut and Drill Metal Plates?

VikingSword — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:38:57 -0800

Recommendations for Los Angeles: machine shop - metal work. I have a little project that's extremely simple, but I don't have the tools.

I need some flat metal plates - steel or hard aluminum - cut to a specific size. The plates would be pretty thick 0.25", sizes of 4"x36" and 8"x8".

I also need several holes drilled into these plates of specific diameter and exact placement.

But first, I need to acquire the metal sheets and plates so I can have them cut to size and drilled.

Where can I (a)obtain the steel and/or aluminum plates/sheets 0.25" thick approx 8"x8" and 4"x36" and (b)have them cut and drilled in specific ways?

This machine shop - metal work (maybe even a DIY hobby place) can be anywhere in Los Angeles, though West side - Hollywood area is a plus. Hopefully won't cost an arm and a leg. TIA!

Is there a term for this real estate strategy?

creeky — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:19:39 -0800

Is there a word for the strategy of real estate companies who buy up properties in one area and keep the buildings empty in order to force out local businesses? Not far from where I live, a real estate project management company was given the task of improving a commercial area. They did this by buying out many commercial spaces in the area and keeping them empty, forcing out other "undesirable" small businesses as the area became abandoned by customers. They then bought up all the commercial spaces and rented them out to "classier" businesses.

Is there a term that people working in real estate would use for this tactic?

What non-food consumables can I make for holiday gifts?

mr. remy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:07:08 -0800

I want to make lots of neat little gifts to give friends for Christmas. I'd like these gifts to be useable, elegant, consumable, and grown-up (not decorative, artsy-fartsy crafty crap). My recipients are Pragmatic New Englanders, and would be irked receiving potpourri, eye pillows, embroidered towels, door-hangings, pine-cone-bird feeders, or anything of that ilk. Hence: consumables. In the past I've had past successes making figgy pudding with brandy butter and a collection of homemade ketchups, relishes, mustards, and chutneys, but this year I want to move out of the kitchen. Blow me away with millions of amazing little home-made gift suggestions. Trio of caveats:

1) Soap initially seemed like a good idea, but now feels expensive to start, if I want to do anything but melt-&-pour.

2) Not into making fabric/textile art. I'm okay doing crafts, but I'm not – 29 year old male – gonna learn to embroider/knit/needlepoint. Also not consumable.

3) I have no access to a woodshop, specialty tools, nor lots of $ to spend on these projects. My kitchen, however, is loaded to the gills with specialty equipment I could commandeer in the name of the holidays.

Focus, brain.

Viola — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:35:41 -0800

I've written 10 of 20 pages of dense literary research in short spurts here and there. How do I spend all day tomorrow finishing up the rest? As a lifelong procrastinator I'm fixated by the fact that my paper isn't due for another 7 weeks, but I'd rather complete the bulk of the work tomorrow. How should I prepare to do challenging intellectual work for long stretches of time? Tomorrow I am taking off a whole day to write at the local library from 9AM until 8PM. The entire project is due December 13th. Deadlines are my academic drug, and since my brain knows the entire body of work isn't due for another seven weeks, it has a hard time snapping together and focusing now. It would much rather dawdle until December 7th rolls around and then grandly rise to the occasion. I've been getting up early in the morning and going to the local Starbucks before work and writing a paragraph here and there. This helps me focus because I know I have to be at my desk by 9:30 to do completely unrelated work, and the mini deadlines give me a tiny push to actually concentrate. Yet my work is a little incoherent because I keep writing in spurts, so I'd do well to just bang out the rest of the rough draft tomorrow and spend the rest of my time tightening the work. Furthermore, I'd like to spend Halloween guilt-free and not worrying about how I've wasted another weekend (I always waste whole weekends) out with my friends.

I'm easily, powerfully distracted by internet searches, which I've combated using LeechBlock. I cannot do work at home, as I'll wander into other rooms, take multiple showers, flip through books, etc, so I'm going to the library. I will pack meals to eat in the library pavilion. I will wear comfortable clothes and not drink too much coffee. I will bring a not-terribly-interesting book to skim when my brain starts flagging.

What else should I do to ensure that I won't idiotically squander a day off from my job by weaseling my way around LeechBlock? Put another way, how can I squash my procrastinating habits for one damn day so I can rid myself of weeks of incremental, social life-killing work?

ISO 9241-9

shoebox — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:59:29 -0800

Asking for a friend: I need access to ISO 9241-9 for a Comp Eng project, but since I am a poor student, don't have $150 to spend on it. I've tried searching the web for it, but no luck there. Is there some way I can access the document that does not involve me breaking the bank? Thanks In advance!

Need software that does project management, email marketing and advanced analytics

Incy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:26:33 -0800

I am looking for an email management program (like campaign monitor) that also includes email analytics (like google analytics) and project management tools (like basecamp). I am in a small marketing department at a non-profit that relies heavily on email (100K+/month messages sent). My google-fu has failed me so far, I can't find anything that has all three components. Does anyone know of a one stop shop that does this? Also open to a using several programs as long as we can get them to work with each other.

Project Management Technologies Needed!

Dr.James.Orin.Incandenza — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:29:00 -0800

I'm working on a group project that will involve quite a bit of research, scheduling, collaboration and communications and need a centralized, web-based platform to make the job easier... Any recommendations? I'm a B-School student that is currently enrolled in a course that contracts our services out to private clients. We're at the beginning of a 12 week project and the volume of email I receive on a daily basis from my teammates is already unmanageable. My team will be doing a great deal of research and needs a structured system to build upon. I need a solution!!!

Needs:
- Shared calendar for scheduling meetings, teleconferences, etc...
- document storage
- task assignment / management capabilities
- messaging / email integration
- must be web-based
- must be verbose
- can share links, data, notes
- User friendly and intuitive

I've already spent a fair amount of time exploring:
- Google apps and, unfortunately, think the structure too diffuse for our needs. THis includes, Google groups...
- Yahoo Groups is even worse.
- Basecamp looked promising, but because the service lacks an integrated calendar (what planet are they living on?) it's falls short of our needs.

Any thoughts? What do you use for these kinds of projects? Please remember that I'm on a student's budget!

Is learning Prince2 worth the time,energy and money?

errspy — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:26:18 -0800

I have increasingly been asked to manage small projects and teams and would like to know if becoming Prince2 certified will have a positive impact on my career that justifies the initial investment of time & money. Background info:

Early 20s working in the UK private sector. I am fairly certain my employer will not be willing to pay for the certification.

Seeking shared online multi-part project managing solution

Scram — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:59:36 -0800

I am working with several other people to seek sponsorship for a non-profit event. There is a fairly simple but lengthy series of actions that needs to be completed to track each unique sponsor. We've thought about having a binder with a printed page showing tasks for each sponsor, but it would be preferable if there was an online solution any of us can access for checking off and date-stamping completed tasks, with a place to add notes. A sample workflow would be something like: page is named for a sponsor, sponsor is contacted (checked, need room for notes), sponsor is invoiced (checked, date), check is received and deposited (checked, dates), sponsor is thanked (checked, date), sponsor info is added to website and event map (checked, dates).

Is there some simple, preferably free, way of doing this? We are already using Google Documents to share some text-based information, but none of us is a whiz with the various tools there, and perhaps we're overlooking some obvious solution. Our event website is running Drupal, and one of us knows how to code it.

Thanks, hive mind, for any suggestions you can offer.

Help me stop procrastinating and get my work done!

dumbledore69 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:42:06 -0800

I cannot seem to stop procrastinating on a work project, and the deadline is looming. I have no doubt that I can get it done if I can just make myself get the work done, but I cannot make myself concentrate and buckle down and get it done! Basically, I have about a week to get something I had over a month to complete. Putting things off until the last minute is nothing new for me, but my serious inability to make myself work despite getting rid of all distractions is new.

I know I can get it done, but I am constantly having panic attacks and having trouble concentrating on my research and writing. I’m unable to sleep without medication, or relax at all. I wake up still feeling exhausted and stressed out. My stomach has constantly been upset and my body aches and my eye twitches I have had pretty much no joy in my life for over a month because of this, and yet the more I try to buckle down and convince myself that nothing will fix this but getting some work done, the harder it seems to be. I can’t stop thinking about how this is all my fault and how I should have been done by now, not just barely getting started. And while I know this is counterproductive, I can’t seem to stop it.

I have uninstalled IM tools (coworkers use them, but it’s not required, so I got rid of them), installed LeechBlock to block everything from Facebook to Google Reader to all web mail. I’ve been reading The Now Habit and various articles on ending procrastination. I have had trouble breaking this project down into sub tasks… it’s updating a large document based on a couple of other large documents that are highly technical, and I just keep reading and re-reading my source documents, making plans, checking my calendar, checking my schedule, worrying, trying to calm down, etc etc etc.

I met with the NP who I work with about my anxiety (which has always been pretty severe) and depression and her focus is mostly on sleep. We’ve tweaked my antidepressants and switched from Ambien to trazodone for sleep, but while I think this will help in the long run, I need to get myself to get work done NOW.

Has anyone gone through this? Does anyone have any advice to just make myself get this done in spite of a really bad bout of anxiety and depression?

My bottle cap level is OVER 9000!!!

Tu13es — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:24:33 -0800

What should I do with a crapload of bottle caps? For some reason, we started collecting used bottle caps in college. After a few years, I find myself with a 12-pack box full of bottle caps.

What should I do with them?

I've heard of making a table top with them. Any other suggestions?

Too many tags, nothing to do.

ttyn — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:02:41 -0800

What's a cool project/thing to do with thousands of RFID tags? Each one is on a sticky avery sheet like this.

Can be as artsy or whacky as you want.

I'm looking for a website where someone is living out their dreams.

bprater — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:25:09 -0800

Do you know of any websites that showcase a person who is actively documenting themselves as they live out their dreams? For instance, do you follow anyone who has sold everything, put everything they need in a backpack and is (or has) been backpacking in Europe? I'm looking for any websites along these lines, especially ones that you really find inspirational.

I'm planning on doing something similar this fall, buying an RV, packing up my stuff and heading out to start crossing items off my bucket list. I'm looking for the best ways I can present my adventure so that I can really connect with readers. I want to inspire others to think about their lives.

PMP A-OK?

parmanparman — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:54:44 -0800

Do you have a Project Management Professional Certificate? If so, how has it improved your earnings and/or employment opportunities and how do employers see the qualification?

Free 4x6 picture project

boby — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:34:57 -0800

What to do with all the free 4x6 print credits I have? I need a artsy project to make use of all the free 4x6 photo print you get for joining a online photo store. I print out lots of personal pictures but have tons of free prints available.
Any ideas would be helpful.

How to import AVI video files in Adobe Premiere Pro?

meta.mark — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:41:22 -0800

When I import an AVI video file I recorded on a Canon digital camera to Adobe Premiere Pro, it only shows up as a still picture with audio. Why does it do this and how can it be solved? We are creating a music video as a school project and we need Premiere to add effects. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What the best way to track my work projects?

Optimus Chyme — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:38:46 -0800

What the best way to track my work projects? I usually have thirty to fifty different projects going on simultaneously, all in various stages of completion. I am interrupted often during the day, need to switch from project to project quickly, and I spend half the day out of the office sometimes. Ideally, I could see the customer, contact info, due dates, notes, color-coding based on status, that sort of thing.

I'm looking for something either electronic or physical or transcendent - all suggestions will be considered.

Art project with/for/about my newborn son

sandor — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:50:48 -0800

What long-term art project should I do with/for/about my newborn son? We've got this baby on the way. Coming in a couple/few weeks. And as if giving him my name, my everlasting love, sustenance for survival, a roof over his head, and my genes weren't enough, I'd also like to involve him in some kind of hare-brained, long-term art project. I'm not sure what, exactly, so I turn to you, creative MeFites.

Obviously choice is some kind of photo-a-day project. This would be great, but I'm not sure I have the stamina for it. Photo-a-week may be a more feasible endeavor. But either of those would be pretty obvious. I'm looking for something new(-ish) to do.

The goal here is to have some kind of artistic document of his growth over time that can be experienced in, say, a minute or two, rather than, you know, real time.

Ideas? Links to similar projects you've seen online?

Best answer gets to name him.

Taking over a project from a floundering employer?

thehickmans — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:10:57 -0800

My employer is running out of cash, in debt to suppliers, and has had trouble meeting payroll several times this year. My gut says I'll be out of work in a couple weeks, a month at the most. I'm working on and managing several web development projects where a deposit has been provided by the client, but we're several months away from completion. Do I approach the clients, let them know the situation and propose completing the projects on my own for the remaining amount of the project? A couple of other points - there is no other new revenue on the horizon, and I just found out my boss has given his notice.

I'm not doing this purely for my own benefit, as I'd genuinely like to see the clients get what they're expecting.

Has anyone experienced this type of situation? Is this horrendously evil?

Los Alamos History

backwords — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:25:45 -0800

I'm interested in reading about the history of Los Alamos National Lab. Does anybody have any recommendations for memoirs, magazine/newspaper articles, books (documentaries) etc. that are engaging and well written about the lab?