From concept to creation
Noteworthy news articles about Structured Software Systems Limited (3SL) , Cradle, or related customer / industry stories.
We’re celebrating International Women’s day 2018 at 3SL #IWD2018
The mix of staff that make #3SL tick is quite diverse. Every team member is important to the success of the company. Today we recognise the women on the team that include our financial controller, one of the software developers, one of the support engineers and our domestic operative.
A bit of #MondayMotivation, this light heated day is celebrated on the first Monday of March. Have a ponder to think where you came from, what lineage came before you. Despite #FunFactsAboutNamesDay sounding like something Sheldon Cooper (Nerd Alert: Big Bang reference) may present it is a real ‘day’. So while you’re having your first cuppa (Good British drink of the day) or at the ‘water cooler’ (Is that really a thing??). Challenge a colleague to a Fun Facts About Names!
Some are fairly obvious “Smith” and “Cartwright” working in a smithy or making carts. Some a little more tricky “Chalker” one who applies white wash. Then there are the more obscure, lost meanings in time, “Lister”, a dyer of cloth. (Maybe someone should tell Dave Nerd Alert: Red Dwarf reference)
So where did we come from? Structured Software Systems Limited ⇒ SSSL ⇒ 3SL that simple really!
It’s National Send A Card To A Friend Day 2018 today 7th February.
Send a Card – National Days In these days of e-based everything, the number of people sending physical cards has declined. Placing a card, selected, bought and handwritten, on the mantelpiece or shelf is still more special than viewing a Tweet/Instagram/FB Message.
If you’re a friend of 3SL’s Cradle and would like to wish 3SL a happy 30th Birthday you could send us a card. Include your company name and website and we’ll feature some of the best in future blog updates*.
Blighted with cloud and rain for most of the evening on the 31st, we see the last remnants of the super blue blood moon over Barrow-in-Furness on the morning of 1st February. Many more world wide had much better views.
“Pinch Punch First of the month”. Were you fast enough to catch someone in your office today? If they are claim you are acting strangely, perpetrating mild violence in the office, try blaming it on the full moon….
3SL (Structured Software Systems Limited) are pleased to announce a new dedicated ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP) link to 3SL Headquarters, here in the UK.
We now have a 100 MBits/sec bi-directional connection to the ether, some five times faster than the previous contract fibre! Go on – give it a go, download one of our white papers, or the latest version of Cradle.
We’re happy to say our ISP services are still provided by Zen Internet, it’s just the new transport mechanism installed by BT can support better transfer rates. So wherever you are in the world, you can reach us here in Barrow-in-Furness at the edge of the English Lake District in Cumbria.
The art of a carefully crafted sentence with beautiful ink on a crisp page is becoming a rarity. Handwriting day serves to remind us of that skill.
These days we can even create ‘handwriting’ in our electronic documents with cursive fonts. We can Digitally sign documents using a pass-phrase. However, there is still room for a quick hand written posty note, a card or a signature on a document as a stamp of authority.
There are a few ways that you could store hand written information in Cradle.
Coupled with ‘Skills’ restricting access to the frame storing the signature, Cradle can also protect access to say a signature of authorisation.
Whether it is a handwritten requirement / letter / alteration from your customer or an authorisation signature, you can store them in Cradle. As part of Change Management you may wish to record a picture of a whiteboard discussion, a snapshot of the back of that envelope or even a scan of the letter sent by a customer.
In this month’s newsletter we asked you to email us when you last “hand wrote a date”. There’s still time to drop us a line and get a mention next month. Or if you really want to practice your writing for handwriting day 2018, drop us a letter.
Happy #ThesaurusDay or Should that be “Convivial greetings to all celebrating alternative onomasticon listings day” ?
In pure terms a list of equivalent words or synonyms helps enrich our language. The thesaurus may list a number of alternatives that are subtly different.
When writing a requirement we have to be careful that we are unambiguous in both our language and meaning.
“The value displayed shall be the total time expended for each activity of a particular type divided by the count of all activities of each type”. Could be interpreted as
A1 2mins, A2 1min, A3 4mins = 7 mins for type A
B1 3mins, B2 4mins, B3 8mins, B4 1min = 16 mins for type B
Value to display for A = (7 mins / 7 ) = 7
Value to display for B = (16 mins / 7) = 2.3
or as intended
Value to display for A = (7 mins / 3 ) = 2.3
Value to display for B = (16 mins / 4) = 4
In this case we could have removed the ambiguity by using an equation as a synonym for the language.
ValA = sum{typeA.duration} / count{type A}
ValB = sum{typeB.duration} / count{type B}
Choices in language can mean different things to different people. This is especially true where suppliers and customers work in different fields. The Customer’s Requirement is their end goal, for the supplier it is the starting point. The Customer asks that the “After the office upgrade and IT installation users should have a clear desk”. Maybe unhindered or unobstructed would have served better?
So to celebrate thesaurus day 2018 : Do your best to keep your requirements Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. Oh and of course Unambiguous, but rich with language.
A Happy New Year 2018 to all our current & prospective customers, distributors & partners.
Hope you all have a great year.
From the staff at 3SL.
April 2020
However you celebrate the end of 2017, 3SL would like to wish all its customers, potential customers, distributors, partners and staff, Season’s Greetings, a Happy Christmas and peaceful family times over the festive season. We’ll see you again in the new year.
The UK offices will be closed from close of business on Friday 22nd December to 2nd January 2018. There will be no one manning the phones. You can send support enquiries to support@threesl.com and we’ll deal with them as soon as we can.
Watch this space for updates during our 30th Birthday Year……..
Thank you to all our loyal customers and friends past and present. We’re proud to have been of assistance in your projects.
Thank you too to all the staff who over the years have changed Cradle into the multi module full lifecycle suite it is today.
Mark Walker founder and Managing Director of 3SL said:
“I am delighted with the success of Cradle and the way 3SL has been able to develop a tool that has influenced and supported so many projects world wide”
Structured Software Systems Limited’s official start date was 1st December 1987 and trades under the catchier moniker 3SL.