Contents tagged with review

  • Principles of Product Development Flow Book Review

    One of the more advanced books I’ve read relating to the subjects of Software Development and Lean is The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development by Donald G. Reinertsen.  I recently published a Pluralsight course on Kanban Fundamentals, and as part of my research for that introductory-level course I read a few related titles, including this one.  I previously reviewed some of the others: Personal Kanban Book Review Kanban Book Review Scrumban Book Review If you were looking into learning more about kanban and lean as it relates to software development projects, I would probably suggest you read them in the order I have listed above, with … more

  • Asus Zen Ultrabook Revisited

    A couple of months ago I got an Asus Zen ultrabook, which I posted about when I first got it, and a month or so later.  Now that I’ve had it a while, I thought I’d post one more time with how it’s continued to work for me.  I’m still very happy with its look, feel, and speed.  It’s very responsive both while up and running and when waking up or shutting down.  One thing I wish it came with is an HDMI adapter, but I picked up an HDMI adapter for $2 from Amazon and it works fine.  The machine does come with a VGA adapter, which is more likely to be what you’ll need when projecting, but our conference room has both and the HDMI is a bit sharper so I’m happy to be able … more

  • Kanban Book Review

    While researching material for my Kanban Fundamentals video training course on Pluralsight, I read Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business, by David J. Anderson.  I’ve previously reviewed a couple of other related books, including Personal Kanban and Scrumban, if you’re interested in learning more about this topic.  I would recommend Personal Kanban as the most introductory, followed by Kanban, which goes into greater depth and does a good job of building on Personal Kanban (even though it was written first).  Scrumban is more advanced and is a collection of essays/blog posts that are more loosely organized than the other two books. Getting back to … more

  • Personal Kanban Book Review

    Not long ago, while preparing my Kanban Fundamentals video training class for Pluralsight, I read Personal Kanban, by Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry.  If you’re new to the concept of kanban, this book is a good place to get started (along with my course, which is about 90 minutes long, and shorter if you speed it up).  I read the kindle edition of Personal Kanban, even though I don’t own a Kindle.  It allowed me to read it at my PC, on my iPad, and on my Windows Phone, depending on where I found the time.  Whether you pick up the book for $10 electronically or $25 on paper, it’s very reasonably priced and is a fairly quick read at just 216 pages (paper). What’s To … more

  • Asus Zen Ultrabook One Month Later

    I wrote a few weeks ago about my new Asus Zen Ultrabook computer.  I’ve  been using it as my primary laptop computer since then, and thought I’d write up a follow-up on how it’s been.  Overall, I’m quite pleased with it.  The performance is great, the battery life is quite good, and the instant on/off experience makes it almost as quick and easy to use as my phone or iPad.  In fact, I’ve just spent the last three days on the road at a client conducting training, and driving as many as four concurrent Visual Studio 2010 instances along with three browsers, SQL Server, and PowerPoint, and everything ran great.  So, the short version is, it’s a nice piece of kit … more

  • Reviewing Scrumban the Book

    I’ve been reading a bunch of kanban and lean books recently as I work on my Pluralsight course on Introducing Kanban.  The most recent one I’ve finished is Scrumban, Essays on Kanban Systems for Lean Software Development, by Corey Ladas (I’m doing the reviews in LIFO order).  I made a bunch of notes while reading this book, and it has a great deal of useful information.  I read David Anderson’s Kanban book first, followed by Benson and Barry’s Personal Kanban.  I think reading Scrumban last was definitely the right choice, though if I were recommending these books today I would most likely suggest someone start with Personal Kanban, as it’s the lightest weight of the … more