In response to: COMPLETED TASK: Detailed plan for Hot Potatoes book chapter

That's fine. As you wish. Approval would be, as I said, a formality. Task or project, minutes are being logged, and that is enough administratively for showing time spent, and provides some argument for recognition of publications and conference work.

I'm trying to think strategically for the future, and getting recognition (advancement, salary increases, research sabbaticals(?) and travel money) for publications and conferences is important. Currently, we have no mechanisms for it (no official ones, that is). Few PEA members do as much of it as we do, and now is the time to think about it. The dean is aware we do it, and also that we do it off the side of the desk.

In response to: COMPLETED TASK: Detailed plan for Hot Potatoes book chapter

I think that would be overkill. This is a task rather than a project, and it would take us as long to write the charter stuff as it would to write the chapter. You already indicated in our meeting last week that this is an approved task, and told us to go ahead with it, and as a result of that we've made a promise to Ana. If you're withdrawing approval now, pending a big formal procedure, we'll be placed in an embarrassing position with regard to Ana.

This is the plan we submitted to her for comments (no response yet):

Hot Potatoes chapter:

1. Early history and development of HotPot:
-Why it was written originally
-Who the target audience was (primarily ourselves initially; very rapidly larger numbers of less technical users; audience had NO control over servers, so everything had to be client-side)
-General programming standards (no useful Web standards at the time, lots of per-browser and per-os coding; source files and customization)
-Registration: why we wanted users to register

2. Commercialization
-Why we did it
-How we did it (licensing agreements with UVic, revenue sharing)
-Terms of use for end-users
-How this affected relationships with UVic, users, etc. (technical support is now a serious obligation)
-How this affected development of the tool

3. Subsequent development:
-The era of no standards
-The problem of frames -- why use them; user problems with multiple files; first solution: frames-on-the-fly; second solution: DOM.
-Standards emerged that we could embrace:
-First, XML; data files became XML, which at the time was a bit of a gamble
-Next, DOM, Unicode, XHTML, CSS, Dublin Core

4. Where we are now:
-Version 6: Trying to write to standards rather than browsers (an issue of timing)
-Moving to Java from Supercard (gives us Unicode in the interface)
-hotpotatoes.net (driven by user needs; supplied by an outside company; again, users have no server control, so they need hosting)
-Our current user base (downloads, numbers, rate of registration, rate of licence sales, etc.)
-How long can a version live?

5. Future plans:
-More standards: SCORM 1.2 in HotPot 6.1
-IMS data files and sequencing in HotPot 7
-Unicode interface and translatability in HotPot 7
-Mixing of item types in HotPot 7 (huge user demand for this)
-Learning objects and metadata standards

6. Relationship with the university:
-Originally an academic project, supported by the university, who were proud of it
-However, priorities in the unit changed as we moved from a Language Centre to Humanities Computing
-Now NO input from university, although university still benefits financially
-Dilemma for the company: how to keep development moving
-Possible solutions
-General points regarding on software development emerging from academic contexts

7. What-ifs:
-What if we had released it as open-source software?
-What if we had tried to maximize revenue, with no free use terms (compare Quandary, Markin)?
-What if we had made it "donation-ware"? (get some info about comparable projects and their income)
-What if we stop now (voluntarily or involuntarily)? How could that be managed?
-What if we continue development without the university's support or interest?

In response to: COMPLETED TASK: Detailed plan for Hot Potatoes book chapter

Once you have the plan, you might consider submitting it as a project charter/plan with time estimates, deadlines, purpose, etc. (as a formality, mainly). Formal "approval" to proceed with the work is a step towards recognizing research and publications as something we don't just do off the side of our desks. Also, it will help with scheduling and have the spin off effect of making Peter and me aware that you need and are taking time to do this. I run all proposals by the Director (and in the future the committee, if it comes to that).

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In response to: COMPLETED TASK: Detailed plan for Hot Potatoes book chapter

In response to: COMPLETED TASK: Detailed plan for Hot Potatoes book chapter

In response to: COMPLETED TASK: Detailed plan for Hot Potatoes book chapter