“All We Hear is Radio….”

Our August 2020 newsletter takes you back in time 65 years ago this month….

Do you remember the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation? They  completed production of Japan’s first portable transistor radio the TR-55. It contained 5 transistors, which they developed themselves. Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. was renamed in 1946 to the more familiar Sony. The success is attributed to having that base level control – the design and development of their own transistors in addition to the circuit board. Transistors at the time didn’t have the characteristics or reliability or stability that they needed.

These days it is unlikely a consumer product manufacturer would set out designing their own discrete components. Customisation is done at a much higher level, as specifications to component manufacturer or firmware / software control on top. Knowing where to draw the line is crucial, knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is vital to your product’s success. On one hand there is no point re-inventing the wheel, but neither is there any point using less than optimal components if that is crucial to your design.

It is important to think about the problem first, rather thinking in terms of a solution. As we note in this article on Functional and Non-Functional requirements there are a number of ways to cross a road. There is little point designing a Belisha Beacon based system only to find that there is no power available at the site! However, if the specification does require lights your solution may need to include solar power – but it is unlikely you’ll be designing your own cells. However, if you are designing an electric vehicle, making your own batteries may be a world leading break through. Happy designing!

JOSCAR

3SL were pleased to announce their  JOSCAR accreditation . Using JOSCAR can determine if a supplier is “fit for business”. It is a collaborative tool used by the aerospace, defence and security industry to act as a single repository for pre-qualification and compliance information.

A Word from 3SL

Whether it is remote access to a SaaS solution, or building new processes or designing new products 3SL and Cradle are here to help. We’re ready and waiting to take your email / webinar request / call.  In other words, it’s business as almost usual at 3SL. Just because the staff are not all in the physical office we’re still ready and waiting to make sure Your project + Cradle = Success

Social Media

Twitter

We looked at the precursor to today’s 3 pin UK power plug. This initial design BS 546, was born out of the need to have a safety earth. The modern square pin version is still one of the safest plug designs in the world.
We reminded users there are different ways to view your data in lists, tables, trees or document views.

“I’ve got it, yes it’s so clear now. It was just when you said…….”

What we might call a water-cooler moment – a discussion with a colleague, sometimes about something completely unrelated, gives that neural spark.  An idea for a new project, a way to solve the current conundrum,  these interactions are often the start of a new path forward.
Aside from the fact, here up North in England, we call a ‘Water cooler’ the ‘Tap’, because that’s where water comes from. No fancy machine with a bottle atop!   With many people isolated in spare rooms and on dining tables some of these interactions will inevitably be lost. Arranging a video call is much more formalised and sterile compared to the often relaxed off the cuff old brew table.

How is your business ensuring ideas keep flowing? Are you back at work attempting to hold conversations 2m apart, or speaking muffled through a mask, or still working remotely? Zoom, Skype / Teams, GoToMeeting etc. may have seen a surge in use, but can they truly replace the water cooler interaction?

We think it is important to maintain social interaction as well as formal meetings. Some ideas you could try:

• Set up a Skype Group Chat amongst the office staff, called “Morning” and ask everyone to type “Hello”/”Morning”/”Yo!” when they ‘arrive’ at work, mimicking arriving at the office. You’ll inevitably get a few other light hearted text conversations which can help the team stay in touch.
• Choose to make an audio call to a colleague rather than a text or email. If you would normally have wandered over to a colleague’s desk to chat about an issue, then make the call. It is often easier to judge reaction by tone of voice than tone of text in an email ping-pong. Follow up with a summary email for traceability if applicable.
• Consider a virtual lunch. If you use video conferencing, once a week opt to have an open meeting. Make it clear this is definitely NOT a working lunch and just use it to mimic the break we should all be taking to replenish. However, if you want to discuss last night’s telly, or what Susannah has in her sandwiches today that’s perfectly fine.
• Play lists, if you are working from home the usual restriction of a music licence for the work premises would not apply, why not suggest your top 10 work-a-long  songs?
• Suggest your own social-customer@threesl.com

Discussions

We often leave notes for colleagues, whether as a sticky yellow square, or a text or social media message. Whilst these are very useful to record thoughts and reminders, they lack context. Cradle Discussions allows you to add thoughts and point to note database items. Whether it an action to complete, a question about the colour of a part or a lightweight review and approval mechanism, you’ll find them more comprehensive than a simple sticky.

Training

Public Requirements Management Course coming in October, and Document Publisher in November – For this year’s calendar see Public Training Courses 2020 Of course if you would like your own bespoke training, we can arrange it, please contact support@threesl.com

Twitter

We were reminded we have been tweeting about #3SL, #Cradle and general engineering for 11 years!  Why not choose you favourite engineering Tweet and copy us in @threesl using the #LoveEngineering

We marvelled at the ability to receive a signal 0.1 ­billion-billionth of a watt from Voyager I.

…and Finally.

Did you know Friday 17th July is World Emoji Day?  😉

 

3SL recognise trade marks of Zoom - Zoom Video Communications Inc, Skype - Microsoft and GoToMeeting LogMeIn Inc. No association is either made or implied.

It’s June Already

Life is certainly different since the last Newsletter. We’ve been locked away in bedrooms and dining rooms ensuring 3SL can continue to develop the upcoming 7.6 release and provide email support and webinars. A good thing about not having a webcam on your work computer, is that we can get away with t-shirt and shorts rather than normal office attire! Some staff are looking a little different, beards down to their knees, as they feel no need to shave, and that’s just the women……. We hope you too are coping with the changes.

 

Coming Soon……

As mentioned above Cradle 7.6 is lining up for release. We can’t wait to show you some great new facilities in Risk Management and Test Execution & Recording. Keep an eye out for release notifications.

A Word from 3SL

As lock-down eases, you’ll be getting to grips with the ‘new normal’, and making choices about the future of your business.

We just wanted to let you know we are right by your side, to help you navigate what’s next, with experience, support and technology to help. From remote access to a SaaS solution, to building new processes or designing new products in Cradle.

We have a range of online training courses. With a Document Publisher opportunity in June.

However, if there’s more we can be doing to support you, please let us know here. Let’s face the next steps together.

Spam Safe

We have recently updated authentication of our emails. Your mail systems should find communications from 3SL (threesl.com) make use of  DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)  which adds PKI signature verification and  DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) – which combines SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM together. This should reduce the likelihood of 3SL communications mistakenly being marked as spam.

Social Media

Twitter

We noted the birth of the first electromechanical programmable computer, and how things have moved on.

We noted that engineering is not just about making the product it is also about making the machines to help assemble it.

 

And Finally

Did you know June 23rd is Typewriter day? (The anniversary of the granting of the U.S. patent to Christopher Latham Sholes in 186).  Do you clatter away on a responsive full travel 101/102 or 104/105 Key layout or a 78-80 key light travel laptop key or a flat touch haptic button. Are you a single finger prodder, a one hand and one finger keyer, or a fully trained typer? Why not have a go at uniqcode.com/typewriter/

The World has Turned Upside Down!

This undoubtedly, is one of the craziest peace times we have lived through. Our hearts and thoughts go out to any families who are affected by the terrible Covid-19 infection. A great big shout-out, to the healthcare professionals and critical service workers who are doing their best to keep our countries running. #WeAreInThisTogether

A Letter from our Managing Director

Training

Many companies have found that a tailored training course can help drive the most beneficial implementation of Cradle in their organisation. However, we are aware that sometimes this is not suitable. When you only have a couple of new people joining the team, a very small team, or you’d just like to get up to speed for an extended evaluation, a customer on-site course may be difficult to justify.

3SL are pleased to announce that they will be holding a number of public training courses. These will be tutor led and either online or in a common venue. There will be candidates from all companies wishing to take part. The first course is Requirements Management and is an online course in May, so can be followed at home during lock-down as long as you have an internet connection, a browser and Cradle. Your tutor will lead you through the course requirements, provide  exercises for completion and be available through the two days to answer questions and give guidance.

Twitter

We looked at where wear might be! With this tweet from Hardie Polymers.

We reminded our readers how they can re-create Microsoft® Word cross references in Cradle.

And wondered if M C Escher had been at work with some stair design.

…and Finally.

Last month 3SL supported Circus Starr “The Circus with a Purpose” Founded in 1987 it is a touring circus that boasts world-class, professional artists from around the globe. It provides free seats for thousands of disadvantaged, disabled or vulnerable children, and helps raise much needed funds for local charities. It’s nice to put a smile onto someone’s face.

Woob-woob-woob, Aaaharrha! – Aaaharrha!, Ding-Ding, _waaaaAAAHAAaa_aa

Trying to find an onomatopoeic word for a siren, is a bit tricky (as you will see from our efforts above!). Warning – Warning! you have an extra day in February this year. Just in case you’d not realised the divisible by 4 but not 100, unless 400, means 2020 will have 29 days this February.  Now that you have been Alerted to that fact, we can use this as the most convoluted (so far this year) seg-way to  remind you about Cradle’s Alert feature.

There are no bells, whistles or sirens, and the most likely way you’ll know you have one is a reminder when you log into WorkBench. The tool bar across the top will show the number of new alerts you have. Alerts can be raised for all manner of things, from the Project Schema changing, to a new item being created or items being linked to items you own. You can see, read, clear them from the Alerts dialog. You can even send new ones directly to other users, “Gwendolyn – have you finished that review yet please?”. You can have Cradle create email alerts,  sent directly to a user’s in-box.  In summary, they are a useful tool to keep you up to speed with what’s going on in Cradle. More in depth information can be found in this post, or in the help. There are also a setting to control their accumulation.

Love is in the Air

Need more Cradle licences for a bigger project? Not upgraded your single user product to Cradle 7.5?  We want to share the love of Engineering, Requirements Management and our favourite topic Cradle. Take a look at this special Valentine’s 2020 discount offer.

Social Media

Twitter

We noted that the most basic element is starting to attract a lot of interest, with @Alstom‘s tweet.

We mourned the loss of #Windows7, and wondered whether users would turn to  Windows 10 or Linux

And Finally

February the 27th marks World NGO Day a chance to remember that not everything is run by governments, or businesses, that charities, organisations and collaborative groups are equally important in a harmonious world. So have a think how you can support an NGO of your choice, let others know too #WorldNGODay. To those that are keeping the wheels of society silently ticking – we salute you.

A New Dawn, a New Decade, a New Year, a New Animal

We all like to celebrate something new, and 3SL hope you do too. Whether it was the change in decade, the Norse/Gaelic Hogmanay, or the new moon bringing in the year of the Rat. We wish you a great start.

This year will also see a new chapter in UK’s history. At the end of the month we are leaving the European Union. Rest assured 3SL will still be here in Barrow, providing new releases, support, training and services. However, as new regulations come into effect we may need to change some contractual details. We will work hard to ensure these have as little impact as possible on your continued use of Cradle. We will keep you posted through these newsletters and direct mailings. So it’s a good time to ensure all staff that may need to know are signed up to receive communications. If you need to change your main company contact, write to salesdetails@threesl.com .

Security

3SL successfully completed Cyber Essentials and IASME/GDPR Assessment for 2020.

Cyber Essentials is a Government-backed, industry-supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common online threats.

Cradle Update

We’re busy completing and testing the latest batch of features for Cradle 7.6. Release date coming soon.

Social Media

Twitter

We were concerned and saddened by the devastation caused by the fires in Australia #AustraliaFires our thoughts are with all those affected.

We noted that @HartingUK had investigated a problem with automated testing. The item itself may only need to be connected and disconnected a few times, but what about the equipment running the test….

We pondered on the options now #Windows7 has ‘died’.

And Finally

A Persian new year gift of an egg, symbolises productivity, and creation, but you’ll have to wait until March to celebrate.

‘Tis The Season To Be…..

Spending Lolly?

It sometimes feels, that at this time of the year, we’re just “pushing trolley” piling it high with presents and food. Swept along with the commercialism of the season, “Buy Now“, “Massive Discount” adverts. And all while listening to endless repeats of “Now That’s What I Call Christmas” played over the tinny PA system. (Congratulations if you took advantage of Cradle #BlackFriday deal! To remain on point, “Only a few days left to buy a copy of Cradle for Christmas” Look into my eyes; You want to buy now).

Whilst indulging in the festivities, don’t forget to pause a while and consider those less fortunate. Making an extra effort to put change in a collector’s tin, donating to your local food-bank, or shelter can make a great difference.

Sorry?

Yep, you didn’t finish that report before leaving for the holiday. Over the holiday you ate too much. You didn’t take advantage of that gym membership you bought last New Year? Well, you can make promises to start the  New Year afresh and do all those things you intended to do in 2019. (You can see this is working up to another sales point) So if extra copies of Cradle are not on your Christmas list, make sure it’s lined up for new projects starting in 2020.

Build a Folly? or Buying a Collie?

If you like, as long as it is at home and not one of the projects at work – Customers will always see through a façade eventually.

Remember a dog is not just for Christmas.

Jolly?

Above all, we hope if you get a break, you find time to relax with family and friends. Whatever this Winter (Summer – to our friends South of the equator) season means to you, we wish you all the best from 3SL.

WSI

The Cradle Web Services Interface is an API (Application Programming Interface) to Cradle to allow you to develop your own interactions with the database.
Cradle has long offered a C and .Net interface to allow programs to retrieve and store database items. Whilst the standard API is a comprehensive interface, it requires a fair degree of programming knowledge and support structure to create and maintain applications which interface to Cradle.
The new Cradle WSI is a REST-based HTTP interface, this  offers an alternative method by which users can make data requests using a URI to the Cradle Web Service. Through support of standard HTTP methods POST, GET, PUT & DELETE, data can be retrieved and manipulated. The JSON data returned can be manipulated by any script or programming language you choose. Updated data can then be returned to Cradle.  You may want to interface with another product, linking Cradle data, or simply to output  and use in a different data visualisation tool. To see the full range of capabilities see the product documentation for the Web Services Interface User Guide. In order to use these facilities, talk to us about a Cradle API licence.

Look Back……

Wow 2019 has flown by, in writing our December 2019 Newsletter, we take a peek back at what happened:

• Cradle 7.5 released
• WSI  – Web Services Interface http REST interface
• ReqIF – A standard for requirement interchange can now be imported and exported from Cradle
• ODBC database support – if you want to store your data in an Oracle or MySQL data-farm
• Baseline histories can be read through our API
• Non-model items (requirements and system notes) on Cradle diagrams.
• We passed muster with ISO9001:2015
• G-Cloud 11

Social Media

Twitter

We wondered quite what was inside the 150 tonne engineering component moving along Barrow’s streets, was it a bit of submarine or some strange alien recovered from a crash landing in Barrow docks?

Just in case it had escaped your notice, we had a general election, but we opted to ask people to vote for supporting Cradle

And Finally

That’s all for the December 2019 Newsletter , and indeed this year. If you would like to suggest a topic for next time, drop us a line social-customer@threesl.com.

November Luck, Eddystone and Adaptations

The type of luck for Guy Fawkes and the discovery of the plot may depend on your political and religious views. November also appeared to have good and bad luck for a lighthouse. Read our November 2019 newsletter to find out more.

The problem with undersea rocks, is they are difficult to see. If they are too near the surface they can easily catch wayfarers off guard with disastrous consequences. Painter and engineer Sir Henry Winstanley solved the problem of ships being wrecked off the Plymouth coast with the construction of the first Eddystone lighthouse. The wooden structure was first lit in November 1698, good luck for all the sailors. However, again in November bad luck struck,  the lighthouse was washed away in the Great Storm of 1703. The next incarnation came from John Rudyard, a silk merchant;  an adaptation of the initial idea,  a flashing light built out at sea right on top of the treacherous rocks. This time a brick core, covered with planks and caulking almost like a vertical ship. The lighthouse survived all its Novembers, only to burn down in December 1755. The next adaptation was by a civil engineer, John Smeaton. This design revolutionised lighthouse building. It was ready and shining just before November 1756. This concrete based construction lasted until 1877, and it was the erosion of the rocks upon which it stood, rather than the construction which failed. So great was this engineering design, it was reconstructed on Plymouth Hoe as a memorial, a copy was even built here in Cumbria, standing as a memorial to naval administrator Sir John Barrow. The current adaptation has stood for 140 years and fingers crossed it has no bad luck in the November weather currently battering the UK. The moral of the story, as far as engineering goes, build upon what is good, adapt and improve your design and don’t reinvent the wheel (or lighthouse). To read more on adaptations and reuse download our whitepaper, or see the Cradle help.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals

We’ve got some great discounts for you or a donation to a charity of your choice with our 2019 discounts. https://www.threesl.com/blog/black-friday-cyber-monday-2019

Social Media

Twitter

Another item’s design that often evolves and adapts, is that of the bridge. We looked at a story from B1M about bridges in New York. We reminded you  there are different ways to control your password in Cradle, and hosted a student from Furness College on work experience.

And Finally

We’d like to mark our respects for the fallen, and hope you all had a peaceful remembrance day on the 11th. That’s all for our November 2019 Newsletter, let’s hope you have plenty of good luck. If you would like to suggest a topic for next time, drop us a line social-customer@threesl.com.

Spirits, Cauldrons, Witches and Jack-O-Lanterns

The masses were hungry, they needed a solution. The Requirements Master toiled over her cauldron. Into the mix she added a freshly cut bunch of requirements, a handful of ideas and a sackful of luck. The brew steamed for day and night, and as members of her family walked by they threw in their ha’p’orth of comments.

The requirements soon stewed and disintegrated, but all could see the ideas floating to the top.

The swirling liquor produced a heady vapour, caught by the nostrils of the management team. They liked what they smelled and believed the Requirements Master was doing just fine.

When the soup was dished up to the masses, the flavour was odd, and it didn’t satisfy their hunger. They felt weakened and sad, some even passed over to another project. “A curse has been placed upon this town”, they cried, “the Requirements Master is a Witch!”  The town’s folk lit lanterns to guide the lost souls home to the  land of abandoned engineering.

Well, that’s certainly one way to do design and engineering! But we don’t believe the most successful.  Whilst it is often the case that many ideas are ‘chucked in the melting pot’, it should be used as a tool elicit idea, and not to ‘hopefully solve’ the problem. A more complex mix isn’t necessarily successful. As the tale told, losing sight of the requirements is a dangerous thing. Managing the project by a whiff of success is unlikely to be accurate.

So, don’t fall under the spell of those that don’t know how to engineer, and let Cradle light your way!

Non-Model Items, in a Model

What do we mean by non-model  items? In our system engineering representations specific components of the ‘model’ appear as particular symbols on the diagram. Behind each symbol the specification details the values and characteristics associated with the process/function/store/environment etc. A data definition is used to detail the information in a flow/store/relationship and so on.

The diagram can be cross referenced to the other Cradle components, such as  requirements or user defined system design notes. In this way a requirement could be “modelled by” a particular diagram. A feature “defined by” a state transition diagram and so on. These items, present in the Requirements Management arena are linked but not directly depicted within the model. We therefore class them as ‘non-model’ items.

It is possible, within Cradle, to directly show these items on FAD (Function Analysis Design) modelling diagrams. They can be used to group sub components of the diagram by representing the context within which they reside, or directly showing the item and some of its details. ‘Opening’ the symbol will show the details of the item in a Cradle form.

For further information on classic modelling, see the Cradle help.

Social Media

Twitter

We postulated over travelling to work in a software controlled transport system, and the damage it could wreak following this tweet from @thalesgroup.

We asked you to get a colleague to quickly draw a hill on a piece of paper and then draw a house on it. How did they do?

That’s all for the October 2019 Newsletter, but if you would like to suggest a topic for next time, drop us a line social-customer@threesl.com.

September, An Autumn Season

I wonder if I could get a catchy acronym from that? SaAs…. Not quite sure that’s what the boss meant when he suggested we highlight the growing offloading trend. As you may remember, we surveyed readers a while back, and the split between “Keep it all in house” and “Get someone else to look after it all” was fairly even. However, the predicted compounded growth of this method of working is around 24% over the next 4 years or so. We feel sure that there will still be a mix of users on ‘traditional’ systems and others on the cloud based solutions. Partly this is a matter of  trust, knowing that your data is within your own four walls. However, SaaS providers often have better redundancy and backup facilities than SMEs. The benefits of PAYG computing power, without the capital investment and yearly depreciation of these assets, could benefit the shareholders of larger companies. It’s not a simple choice, but whatever you choose, please feel free to discuss your requirements with 3SL salesdetails@threesl.com. No doubt the debate will reign on, to be joined with discussions about whether Cradle is best served over Cat6 to a desktop, or sent over 5G speeds into your hand-held device. We expect that depends on what you ask of Cradle’s Web Services. It will also depend on whether you want a quick health check dashboard, or to be able to manipulate Engineering models.

Oh, yes and to keep readers happy who thought this article was about Autumn, here is a September picture over our wonderful bit of coastline.

What’s In Store?

Cradle 7.6 is currently in development with a host of new features to support your business processes. Look out for a small patch release to 7.5 which has corrected some small faults and added a few improved features. Such as being able to get hold of baseline information over the API and a new Brazilian Portuguese message catalogue.

If you’ve not already upgraded to 7.5, don’t forget you’ll need a new licence code from 3SL. However, if you have, any forthcoming  patch releases can simply be downloaded and installed.

Social Media

Twitter

We liked the huge civil engineering works to protect against flooding from @ArupGroup
Whilst we always like to progress forward, we checked in with how sometimes it is good to go in reverse.

…and Finally

Congratulations to all those students who achieved so much in GCSE, A-level and Degrees this summer. A reminder to all those off to university, your lecturers can get massive discounts on Cradle for academic teaching. If you are now looking for work, don’t forget there’s  a short while left to apply for the support engineer post at 3SL.