This is a long one.. Apologies..

So, you produce a document or deliverable at work. If you regularly produce a document or deliverable at work, then this is for you.. Let’s talk version control.

First of all, let’s get some stuff out of the way:

> Why is this important?
Because, my friend, one day you’ll fuck it up, or you’ll be on holiday and somebody else will. Without version control, you’re stuck with the unenviable task of fixing your document up.

> Isn’t this just something coders need to care about?
NO! I have often been in a situation where someone has said ‘I like it how it was before. Can we change it back?’ of a presentation I’ve pulled together, or where a process has reverted to a previous iteration and the document has had to be pulled back a level. Without separate versions, that would have been a pain to pull together.

The point is that if you are developing a document, if it is subject to frequent revisions or refreshes, the environment you work in is open to change, or you are handing over your work to someone whilst you take a well earned break, you need a little version control in your life.

Behaviour

Before I rabbit on about how I like to version my documents I’d like to make one very brief point: knowing how to version documents is one thing, actually doing it is another.

Version control is just as much about how you think about your work as it is how you do it. Getting into the habit of re-versioning your files before you make changes to it is hard at first, but essential. It is good working practice and prevents you from accidentally overwriting your old work.

Ownership

None of the following works without the concept of a master document; one document that is the focus for changes or updates. Without it, people will make changes to whatever version of the file they can find and you won’t know what the real picture is.

Personally, I throw all of my documents onto SharePoint and the most recent version of the file on that site is considered the master. People know when I’m making changes to it because I check it out.

There are plenty of SharePoint alternatives out there, so have a nosey. By no means am I saying that this is the holy grail of solutions. In fact, I probably shouldn’t be using SharePoint for version control at all, but that’s another discussion in itself!

Two Kinds

In my experience there are two kinds of document that I work on.

The first is the kind of thing that I write and then build upon. This is my lego document. Bricks are piling on top of one another, being moved around, being removed etc.

The second is the kind of document that reflects a point in time, often reliant on data refreshes and the like. The data in the document changes depending on its source data, which can be different from day to day. I am not making changes or building on the content, I am just refreshing the contents. This is my diary document. It is a record of what happened on a particular day.

Lego!

These documents tend to be Word (translation: Pages) or PowerPoint (translation: Keynote) documents. I start with an idea and then work on it, adding stuff, deleting stuff, moving stuff.. This is iterative; I am building my document bottom up.

My versions, therefore, just need to reflect the iteration I am currently working on.

My personal rules for these documents are:

> The first version of the file is always suffixed by 0.1

> Each time I make a revision I increment this number (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 etc)

> The file only reaches a 1.x version once it has been reviewed (meaning I allow Apple-like versions, such as 0.15)

> A log of changes should be kept with, or close to, the document for reference

> Each version is uploaded to my SharePoint site as it becomes available (the master)

The diary

For me, Excel (translation: Numbers) tends to be my diary document. A half decent example of this would be a status tracker: You want to maintain an up to date view but also look back on previous days to see what the situation was then.

These docs get versioned according to the same philosophy as before. If I’m refreshing my data, I create a new version.

Personal preferences for these, as before:

> The title of the file is prefixed by the date in YYYYMMDD format (so that files order correctly in folders)

> If the file is built upon, the date remains unchanged, but a version number is suffixed (as before, with a change log, which should include details of any persistent changes required)

> Each version is uploaded to my SharePoint site as it becomes available (the master)

Over and out..

Of course, all of this is personal preference. Most, if not all, of the people who will read this probably have their own system for doing this already. If you’re reading this and you do, I’d love to hear what you do differently / what you think I could improve on.

*SVP means s’il vous plaît

I just can’t stop watching this:

In the comments of some video where a guy fell flat on his face doing a backflip or something was this gem (from the fail blog):

I couldn’t help but guggle.

Fanboys and girls alike cannot have missed the chatter about I Am Rich.

Take a look at this to see the poor sap who bought the bloody thing. D’oh! Part of me wishes this isn’t a joke

I know this shouldn’t bug me, but it does.

If you set an event to occur on the 31st of the month, and then set it to recur monthly, the months with fewer than 31 days do not have an entry (as shown in the images below).

Options for ‘last day of the month’ or some slightly improved logic, please. Kthxbai!

..Uh Oh.

Any of you who know me know that I am a strong believer in having an opinion, but that I also have a strong dislike for people who take that opinion and militantly express it, effectively forcing it upon others as truth.

I was flicking through Facebook today and came across this group: Facebook SHOULD NOT allow anti-homosexuality groups and discussion boards.

Fundamentally, I have to agree with the title of the group. Groups out there that exist as a forum for hatred should not be allowed, whatever their guise. Religious groups, ethnic groups, political groups etc are all in the same position.

This particular group, however, has done something that I completely disagree with. Take a look at the header of their page:

Homosexuality is NOT up for discussion? Have I interpreted this correctly? Reading through the group’s notes, I think I have.

Any view that is not ‘pro-homosexuality’ is perceived by this group as abuse, to the point that any discussion of the subject is taboo. As a result, this group is going through Facebook and effectively censoring its content to conform to their view of the world.

THIS IS WRONG. I believe that homosexuality MUST be up for discussion if attitudes are to change and perceptions of the community are to be fair.

This kind of militant behaviour is exactly the sort of thing that engenders negative perceptions in any minority group, and whilst I believe that we should stand up for equality where we can, this kid of behaviour only serves to create division.

Open debate and tolerance of opinion is what counts here. Let’s not get into a position where we believe that we are a moral authority, when clearly there is room for manoeuvre.

I just found out about a VERY cool old arcade style game, via Ajaxian, that is played in the favicon of the website hosting it.

Playing it is a little difficult in 16×16, but I’m all about novelties. Have a go here.

iPhone and iPod touch users the world over are probably all aware that in the 2.0 version of the OS they can tap and hold images to get a menu option to save the image locally.

Why can’t I tap and hold a link to open it in a new tab / mobile safari window?

Carphone Warehouse has the right idea and is taking advantage of the iPhone shortage.

I walked past a store yesterday and it was full of people with Blackberry t-shirts on, bigging it up to customers eagerly searching for iPhone stock.

I’d be interested to see how successful that is.