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Sunday, May 13 2012

GTG Rich Text Editor

By Radina Matic on Sunday, May 13 2012, 23:57 - Planet GTG



Our GSoC intern Steve Scheel will be reworking the Getting Things GNOME! task editor this summer with the idea of adding rich text capabilities. Here are the ideas that emerged so far on our mailing list:

  • Tomboy-like note editor (rich text options such as bold, underline, etc.)
  • adding a button with a drop down menu and shortcuts commonly used in other programs
  • designing a new architecture for task editor that will be:
          * extensible - adding new features like spell checking
          * testable - split parsing GTK code and cover parsing with as many unit tests as possible
          * with public interface for the rest of GTG - force editor to reload the task

  • writing the editor from scratch using GTK3 instead of PyGTK as GTG is going to switch from PyGTK to GTK3 soon
  • using the alternative shortcuts syntax as in mail editors (*bold* or _underlined_)


Check this blueprint and join the effort on our mailing list!



image ©2007-2012 ~emmie01

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Friday, April 27 2012

Hot GTG Summer!

By Radina Matic on Friday, April 27 2012, 16:24 - Planet GTG



image ©2007-2012 ~ahermin


As you may know, this was THE week when the accepted projects for Google Summer of Code and GNOME Outreach Program for Women were finally revealed. In total 29 Google Summer of Code interns were accepted to work on various GNOME projects together with 10 Outreach Program for Women interns! Getting Things GNOME! is proud to present the 4 interns that are going to make this summer very GTG hot:

Izidor Matušov will be working on collaborative Getting Things GNOME!, with Lionel Dricot as a mentor.

Steve Scheel will rework the Getting Things GNOME! task editor, with Luca Invernizzi as a mentor.

Baptiste Saleil will improve GTG's integration with GNOME Shell, with Luca Invernizzi as a mentor.

Radina Matic will be writing the User Documentation for Getting Things GNOME!, with Bertrand Rousseau and Tiffany Antopolski as mentors.


A part from the new interns and their projects, we have other things cooking:

Alexander Barnickel has been working on some very nifty mockups for UI redesign of GTG - check them here, here and here.

Bertrand Rousseau has been reimplementing the tag context menu as a separate widget.

Luca Invernizzi and Izidor Matušov have been been polishing the boot performance, Google Tasks and RTM sync services for the new release.

And many, many more little things that will make GTG the hottest task manager! 



Stay tuned and bring the sunscreen!


image ©2010-2012 ~Racama

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Friday, April 20 2012

Advice for Google Summer of Code Students - GTG Experience

By Radina Matic on Friday, April 20 2012, 22:12 - Planet GTG

Even though GTG is a small project within GNOME universe, it has been receiving a lot of GSoC applications for a couple of years now. Some of the students presented very compelling proposals and the choice was never easy. One of the GTG mentors, Lionel Dricot, posted on his personal blog a very interesting set of advices for students who are considering/applying for the Google Summer of Code. Here is the gist of his experience:


1. Know your language - Be comfortable with the programming language of the project you are applying to.

You do not need to be a wizard, but knowing your capabilities and preferences regarding the programming language, will permit you to choose a project that is better suited for you.  

2. Be original - Do not just copy and paste the idea that you found on GNOME Wiki or elsewhere.

Take enough time to get to know the app & project that you want to collaborate with, and come up with your own and original idea for the proposal.

3. Start early - Do not wait for the week before the application deadline to present the proposal.

Get involved in the project preferably a couple of months prior to applying for GSoC: get to know the team, fix some easy bugs. It will be easier to get feedback and be noticed.

4. Show initiative - Do not contact a possible mentor vaguely asking for advice on how to write your proposal.   

Present a concrete plan and idea in timely fashion, preferably as soon as the application period opens, and seek critical opinion.

5. Multiply your chances - Present your proposal to different mentoring organizations.

Many ideas can be successfully implemented in different projects.

6. Remember that mentor is only one and candidates are many!

Mentors are not paid and do not have the time to read lengthy CVs and long list of skills that have nothing to do with your coding and planning abilities.   


If you are not accepted this year, start coding, learning and contributing NOW for your application in 2013.

Good luck!
 


Some useful resources for future candidates:

GNOME GSoC - Information advice for students
KDE GSoC
The DOs and DON’Ts of Google Summer of Code: Student Edition
Advice for GSoC Students Page
GSoC Student Application Template

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Friday, April 13 2012

Meet the Team - Bertrand Rousseau

By Radina Matic on Friday, April 13 2012, 02:23 - Meet the Team

Today we start our Meet the Team series - all you wanted to know about the people behind GTG!


image ©2006-2012 ~Crisc0


Bertrand Rousseau


I go by: Bertrand Rousseau. My nick is “rousseau” most of the time, but sometimes I use “broussea” as well.


I usually dwell in/around: Brussels, mainly. I was born in Belgium and mostly lived there. I’ve also spent several months in Stockholm a couple of years ago.


I’ve been gnomed since: I’ve been a GNOME user for many years. Started using Linux somewhere in 2000, but I’ve become a serious addict around 2002-2003. It’s about that time that I became a GNOME aficionado too.


GTG entered my life when: Lionel and I decided to start the project in 2008 as we got bored by the task managers that were available back then (Tasque, Tasks, etc.) We were also both open source enthusiasts and we wanted to start our own project. So we basically locked ourselves in a room and started to design what would become GTG! Since we both love python and the idea of a simple-to-code application, we opted for python GTK. We’ve never regretted it!


My wishes for GTG this year: GTG attracted many talented people recently! I hope we’ll develop a rich collaborative community around the project, it’s awesome to see it grow like this! I hope that we will soon roll out a truly amazing release. Given what’s in the pipeline, I’m sure it will! And finally, I’m particularly enthusiastic about the recent interest in GTG redesign, and all the related work/discussions!


When I’m not crashing (on) GTG Launchpad, I enjoy: I’ve been enjoying jogging a lot recently, so I try to run as regularly as possible. Before that I’ve been practicing martial arts (ju-jutsu) and a while back did some improv (and hope to do that again sometimes soon). Besides that, I enjoy hiking a lot!


If you really need me, look for me here: I used to have a blog, but I stopped writing a while back for no particular reasons, and now I mainly post random stuff on Google+ (Bertrand Rousseau) and Twitter (@broussea)! The best way to contact me is clearly by mail (I tend not to hang out on instant messaging systems). If you’re (really, really) lucky, maybe you will see me on IRC, with the nick “rousseau”.

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Tuesday, April 3 2012

Joys and Woes of Multitasking

By Radina Matic on Tuesday, April 3 2012, 00:29 - Planet GTG


If you do not receive LinkedIn newsletter, or you don't bother to read it (happens to me more often than I'm willing to admit), you may have missed the link to this short article about:

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time

The article seemed interesting to me because the author advocates for concentrating on one, primary task, for maximum efficiency, while I find that at least my brain seems to favor switching tasks occasionally. That's one of the reasons I like using GTG because it gives me an easy access to the ready-to-do tasks among which my eager-for-variety brain can pick whatever is on the menu, the same way I can pick one of various books that lay on my nightstand before sleep. And yes, also love reading various books at the same time and changing the subject according to the flavor of the moment... ;)

Anyway, the article does not really say anything revolutionary: do the important things when you are fresh, without distractions; schedule time for strategic thinking; take regular vacations (!!!)... Author also cites another story from NYT which makes the case against multitasking. This one cites several cognitive science research articles with, (IMHO) yet again, no revolutionary revelations: "But one implication of the (...) research, (...), is that talking on a cellphone while driving a car is dangerous.", "Multitasking is going to slow you down, increasing the chances of mistakes."


image ©2010-2012 ~LilySANDRITA87



However, the article ends in the more positive tone: "Further research could help create clever technology, like sensors or smart software that workers could instruct with their preferences and priorities to serve as a high-tech “time nanny” to ease the modern multitasker’s plight".
I guess that with GTG we are already on the wave... ;)

So, did GTG influence the way in which you "multitask"? Share your story with us...

Cheers,

Radina Matic
GTG Docs & Community Co-Manager

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