Thursday, December 30, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
Lockergnome's Problem Solvers -> Is Rdxie.dll malware, as Spybot 1.3 says: "The experts here will know much better, but i believe it is spyware in a sense: it's from Real Networks and deals with the transmission of ads & usage statistics re Real Player... btw: there's a spy-free version of it here(make sure to totally uninstall the old version first, of all will be for naught): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp_install.shtml"
Monday, November 08, 2004
FlexWiki: Microsoft's latest Open Source project has some very cool features including... "Federation and namespaces - When there are many somewhat related Wiki sites, it's often hard to get them to link together smoothly. FlexWiki has some very cool features to support this scenario. Specifically, a single installation of FlexWiki (called a WikiFederation) can bind together multiple WikiBases. All topics in a WikiBase live in a TopicNamespace. See WikiFederationOverview. "
Monday, October 25, 2004
Home PCs not as protected as owners think: "While 77% of the survey respondents believed they were safe from online threats, two-thirds lacked current anti-virus software and did not use any firewall protection. More than half said they did not understand the difference between the two.
Yet 84% stored personal data on their home PCs, and 72% routinely used the Internet for sensitive transactions, such as banking and medical data exchanges.
When technicians examined their PCs, they found 80% loaded with dozens of spyware programs that track the user's Web-browsing habits. Cybercrooks also have begun spreading a more invasive kind of spyware, called keystroke loggers, that steal logins and passwords as the user types them in. " [USATODAY.com]
Yet 84% stored personal data on their home PCs, and 72% routinely used the Internet for sensitive transactions, such as banking and medical data exchanges.
When technicians examined their PCs, they found 80% loaded with dozens of spyware programs that track the user's Web-browsing habits. Cybercrooks also have begun spreading a more invasive kind of spyware, called keystroke loggers, that steal logins and passwords as the user types them in. " [USATODAY.com]
Friday, October 22, 2004
Tabbed Browsers Can Disclose Confidential Info: "Among the affected browsers are Mozilla 1.7.2 and 1.7.3, Firefox 0.10.1, Opera 6.x and Opera 7.x, Safari 1.x, Netscape 7.x, and Konqueror 3.x.
Some of the flawed browsers have already been repaired or will be fixed shortly. Konqueror, for instance, closed the vulnerability in the version shipped with KDE 3.3.1, while the newest versions of the Mozilla/Firefox browsers have been patched against the second of the vulnerabilities. Opera said it will correct the issue in the upcoming version 7.60 (the current version of Opera is 7.54).
According to Secunia, users should either disable JavaScript within their browsers, or not visit trusted Web sites--such as financial institutions or retail sites--when tabs showing untrusted sites are also open. "
Some of the flawed browsers have already been repaired or will be fixed shortly. Konqueror, for instance, closed the vulnerability in the version shipped with KDE 3.3.1, while the newest versions of the Mozilla/Firefox browsers have been patched against the second of the vulnerabilities. Opera said it will correct the issue in the upcoming version 7.60 (the current version of Opera is 7.54).
According to Secunia, users should either disable JavaScript within their browsers, or not visit trusted Web sites--such as financial institutions or retail sites--when tabs showing untrusted sites are also open. "
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Yahoo! News - New IE Bugs Open Up XP SP2 To Attack: "As is its usual practice when it touts critical problems in IE, Secunia recommended that users either disable Active Scripting in the browser, or switch to an alternate, such as Mozilla's Firefox."
Monday, October 18, 2004
XStandard Lite XHTML WYSIWYG Editor: "IE/Mozilla/Firefox/ActiveX control -- The Lite version of XStandard is freeware and can be used in commercial applications. Features not supported in the Lite version include the ability to customize the toolbar, Word clean-up, and features dependent on Web Services (ex: spell checker, communication with third-party content, file drag & drop). "
InformationWeek > Sun Microsystems > Sun's Extreme Makeover > October 18, 2004: "Sun has been standing its business model on its head--transforming its most-important commercial software into open source, embracing standard chipsets, converting rivals into partners, and tailoring subscription-style services.. Next month, Sun is bringing out Solaris 10, an upgrade to its flagship Unix operating system that's more finely tuned for x86 microprocessors. This week, it's unveiling more pay-by-the-drink pricing options for grid computing. By year's end, it plans to finalize a sweeping plan to make its software available as open source, including a version of Solaris. And around the first of the year, it promises interoperability with Microsoft's identity-management and directory-services products.
Sun is betting it can make money from service and support agreements, not unlike Red Hat Inc.'s approach to Linux. "'f you want it fully supported or want input into new features, then you might have to pay for that,' Loiacono says.
It's part of a broader push into a software-as-services model. Sun provides hosted storage on an as-needed basis, and, in January, it established a $100-per-seat model for its Java Enterprise development platform, which has attracted more than 345,000 customers. Sun also introduced in September hosted grid computing for $1 per processor per hour and this week will disclose details of a plan for third-party hosting.
November's Solaris 10 launch comes after much work to optimize the operating system to run on x86 microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Sun finally hopes to smash the perception that Solaris' quality and performance come at a steep premium. Solaris is 'cheaper than Windows and less expensive than any of the major Linux distributions,' Loiacono contends.
In addition, Sun is almost ready to play its Microsoft card. Having reached earlier this year a $2 billion legal settlement that included cross-licensing of technology and a joint-development agreement, Sun and Microsoft have identified up to 20 areas of potential collaboration. Within the next 90 days, they'll deliver the first fruits of that work.
The companies will provide single-sign-on capability for Microsoft's Active Directory and the Java Enterprise LDAP Directory. Sun's CTO, Greg Papadopoulos, and Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, have been working closely the past few months on a road map to bridge the Sun and Microsoft environments. The companies say they'll unveil integration products a few times a year over the next 10 years, concentrating initially on interoperability among their messaging services, applications, and systems management. 'I don't anticipate that Microsoft is going to do any kind of similar deal with any of our major competitors,' Loiacono says. 'We have the inroad into technology and interoperability with them. Red Hat's not going to have this capability.'"
Sun is betting it can make money from service and support agreements, not unlike Red Hat Inc.'s approach to Linux. "'f you want it fully supported or want input into new features, then you might have to pay for that,' Loiacono says.
It's part of a broader push into a software-as-services model. Sun provides hosted storage on an as-needed basis, and, in January, it established a $100-per-seat model for its Java Enterprise development platform, which has attracted more than 345,000 customers. Sun also introduced in September hosted grid computing for $1 per processor per hour and this week will disclose details of a plan for third-party hosting.
November's Solaris 10 launch comes after much work to optimize the operating system to run on x86 microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Sun finally hopes to smash the perception that Solaris' quality and performance come at a steep premium. Solaris is 'cheaper than Windows and less expensive than any of the major Linux distributions,' Loiacono contends.
In addition, Sun is almost ready to play its Microsoft card. Having reached earlier this year a $2 billion legal settlement that included cross-licensing of technology and a joint-development agreement, Sun and Microsoft have identified up to 20 areas of potential collaboration. Within the next 90 days, they'll deliver the first fruits of that work.
The companies will provide single-sign-on capability for Microsoft's Active Directory and the Java Enterprise LDAP Directory. Sun's CTO, Greg Papadopoulos, and Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, have been working closely the past few months on a road map to bridge the Sun and Microsoft environments. The companies say they'll unveil integration products a few times a year over the next 10 years, concentrating initially on interoperability among their messaging services, applications, and systems management. 'I don't anticipate that Microsoft is going to do any kind of similar deal with any of our major competitors,' Loiacono says. 'We have the inroad into technology and interoperability with them. Red Hat's not going to have this capability.'"
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Web Application Performance Management Software: ProactiveNet: "ProactiveNet provides real-time application, SLA and infrastructure performance analytics software. Based on patented analytical technologies, ProactiveNet is an essential and cost-effective addition to traditional systems management and performance monitoring tools. By leveraging existing data collection methods, ProactiveNet provides end-to-end visibility into the source of application performance issues."
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Software disasters are often people problems
Big software projects -- whether to manage supply chains, handle payroll, track inventory, prepare finances -- tend to begin with high expectations and the best intentions. They're all about efficiency, reliability, cost-savings, competitiveness.
Companies might develop their own programs internally, outsource the job or buy from a company such as SAP AG, Oracle Corp. or PeopleSoft Inc. Regardless of the route, it's usually a major undertaking to get things right. Often, however, the first step toward total disaster is taken before the first line of code is drawn up. Organizations must map out exactly how they do business, refining procedures along the way. All this must be clearly explained to a project's technical team.
"The risk associated with these projects is not around software but is around the actual business process redesign that takes place," said Bill Wohl, an SAP spokesman. "These projects require very strong executive leadership, very talented consulting resources and a very focused effort if the project is to be successful and not disruptive."
A 2002 study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found software bugs cost the U.S. economy about $59.5 billion (euro48.35 billion) annually. The same study found that more than a third of that cost -- about $22.2 billion (euro18.04 billion) -- could be eliminated by improving testing.
Big software projects -- whether to manage supply chains, handle payroll, track inventory, prepare finances -- tend to begin with high expectations and the best intentions. They're all about efficiency, reliability, cost-savings, competitiveness.
Companies might develop their own programs internally, outsource the job or buy from a company such as SAP AG, Oracle Corp. or PeopleSoft Inc. Regardless of the route, it's usually a major undertaking to get things right. Often, however, the first step toward total disaster is taken before the first line of code is drawn up. Organizations must map out exactly how they do business, refining procedures along the way. All this must be clearly explained to a project's technical team.
"The risk associated with these projects is not around software but is around the actual business process redesign that takes place," said Bill Wohl, an SAP spokesman. "These projects require very strong executive leadership, very talented consulting resources and a very focused effort if the project is to be successful and not disruptive."
A 2002 study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found software bugs cost the U.S. economy about $59.5 billion (euro48.35 billion) annually. The same study found that more than a third of that cost -- about $22.2 billion (euro18.04 billion) -- could be eliminated by improving testing.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Style Guide for Online Hypertext: This w3c piece by Tim Berners-Lee goes back to 1992, but has been maintained over the years. It is still a seminal introduction to things a new webmaster needs to remember. When you need an introduction to specific web site technologies, the w3c Tutorials are a good place to look.
What is a URI? It looks like the usage of this term has evolved. Around 1999, an article on URx said that "Uniform Resource Indicators (URI) are in development. URIs are defined as ASCII-based character string network protocols that represent communications streams... Identifiers are proxies for resources. A human being (resource) is labeled by a name (identifier), books are known by ISBN codes."
However the HTML 4.0 Recommendation and Terena's Guide to Network Resource Tools describe URI's as simply the protocol + host + path-within-host. Which leaves me wondering Is a URL any different from a URI? "URLs form a subset of the more general URI naming scheme."
The definitive clarification would be the w3C report URIs, URLs, and URNs: Clarifications and Recommendations 1.0 which "addresses how URI space is partitioned and the relationship between URIs, URLs, and URNs.... URL is a useful but informal concept: a URL is a type of URI that identifies a resource via a representation of its primary access mechanism (e.g., its network "location"), rather than by some other [identifying] attributes it may have. " By adding that "an http URI is a URL, " this puts our minds at rest -- we do not need to look for a distinction in http-space. "urn:isbn:n-nn-nnnnnn-n" is also a URI, but one based on an identifier (ISBN) rather than a location, and hence is not commonly referred to as a URL.
So we may as well just use the term URI universally, but there's nothing wrong with using URL in the context of location-oriented mechanisms like http. Some useful historical context is outlined at the http://www.w3.org/Addressing/.
However the HTML 4.0 Recommendation and Terena's Guide to Network Resource Tools describe URI's as simply the protocol + host + path-within-host. Which leaves me wondering Is a URL any different from a URI? "URLs form a subset of the more general URI naming scheme."
The definitive clarification would be the w3C report URIs, URLs, and URNs: Clarifications and Recommendations 1.0 which "addresses how URI space is partitioned and the relationship between URIs, URLs, and URNs.... URL is a useful but informal concept: a URL is a type of URI that identifies a resource via a representation of its primary access mechanism (e.g., its network "location"), rather than by some other [identifying] attributes it may have. " By adding that "an http URI is a URL, " this puts our minds at rest -- we do not need to look for a distinction in http-space. "urn:isbn:n-nn-nnnnnn-n" is also a URI, but one based on an identifier (ISBN) rather than a location, and hence is not commonly referred to as a URL.
So we may as well just use the term URI universally, but there's nothing wrong with using URL in the context of location-oriented mechanisms like http. Some useful historical context is outlined at the http://www.w3.org/Addressing/.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Open-source CMS: On the rise - TechUpdate - ZDNet: "Here's a look at some of the issues enterprises need to evaluate when looking at open-source CMS products, and how four of the main open-source contenders--Zope, Midgard, OpenCms, and Red Hat CCM--stack up"
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Saturday, September 25, 2004
General information about Drupal | drupal.org: "A dynamic web site platform which allows an individual or community of users to publish, manage and organize a variety of content, Drupal integrates many popular features of content management systems, weblogs, collaborative tools and discussion-based community software "
Web Hosting Industry News | OSI Expands Open Source Hosting: "September 16, 2004 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Colocation, dedicated server and Web hosting provider OSI Hosting (osihosting.com) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a deal to acquire facilities in seven locations across the United States. ... its dedicated server offerings will exclusively run open source software."
BlackboardBlog: Ocotillo: blogs, wikis, discussion boards are standing by: "Each group publishes their activities, findings, ideas on a weblog. Each group also has a wiki of its own to build collaborative resources, and a discussion board to have 'conversations' ... The weblog is where groups publish updates, information, commentary. Ideas are exchanged in the discussion area while the wiki is the place where anyone can collaboratively build resource collections. ... So four groups times a blog, wiki, and board = 12 information sources plus a blog for the General faculty Ocotillo chair and we have it all tied together with RSS or RSS-like feeds to present a dashboard view of all the activity... we call Ocotillo Central"
OpenPortal CMF for any host with PHP: "Installing OpenPortal CMF simply requires you to have access to a server running PHP. You don't need MySQL, but can use it if you like. Once you are all setup with PHP, you simply have to download the OpenPortal CMF installation package, unzip it, upload it to your server, and follow the on-screen instructions." See the downloads page for some more Open Source / free tools.
StuffIt Expander: When some files are delivered via email, they're encoded in a standard Internet format known as 'MIME.' Most email programs support this standard, and will transparently decode the 'MIME' file for you. A few email programs, and any web-based email systems (like Yahoo Mail, Juno.com, and others) have trouble with the MIME files. StuffIt Expander can decode these files for you when your email program can't. It's available for free in both Macintosh and Windows versions.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Why the JDK 1.4 Release Is Faster
• Reflection: More than 20 times faster
• Java Native Interface (JNI)
– 78% faster to call native code
– 38% for C code to call Java code
• Serialization: 30–300% faster
• Better GC sizing out of the box
• JIT Improvements
– Array bounds check eliminations, more loop optimization, better inlining
• Reflection: More than 20 times faster
• Java Native Interface (JNI)
– 78% faster to call native code
– 38% for C code to call Java code
• Serialization: 30–300% faster
• Better GC sizing out of the box
• JIT Improvements
– Array bounds check eliminations, more loop optimization, better inlining
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Friday, September 17, 2004
Web Publisher Homepage is a Japanese-developed web authoring tool for Eclipse 3.0, claimine Content Management System features, like Dreamweaver, and various scripting support.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Google - church website solution finds:
RENTthesite.com ... a Website that you manage yourself in 48 hours! - pricing at 75/month for a solution like intellisite... Wonder how they'll compare?
RENTthesite.com ... a Website that you manage yourself in 48 hours! - pricing at 75/month for a solution like intellisite... Wonder how they'll compare?
Open Directory - Society: Religion and Spirituality: Christianity: Computers: Webmaster Resources - who'da thunk that Christian websites would have their own resources and web services listings?
Elexio's IntelliSite offering is promoted to churches at www.christianchurchwebsites.com. It offers web-based tools for:
1. WYSIWYG web page editing where you control the layout of the entire page including the font, color, placement, and size of both pictures and text
2. Unlimited user-defined editors each assigned with specific editing privileges
3. Unlimited user-defined dropdown cascading menus
4. Unlimited user-defined announcements that display between selected dates
5. Unlimited pictures and files uploaded using drag and drop and organized in folders just like Windows Explorer™
6. Unlimited user-defined private areas of your website that require a password to login
7. Control of user-defined POP3 and web-based email (i.e. office@myorganization.com)
Plus a money back guarantee, training videos, professional design, hosting, and more
According to the FAQ: Hosting and the one-time setup are determined based on your needs. The goal is to keep the ongoing hosting amount low. The other part is the one-time setup fee for professional design, integrating all these powerful tools into your website, setting up your email, and providing support for your staff.
Get more information from www.christianchurchwebsites.com or call 888-997-9947
1. WYSIWYG web page editing where you control the layout of the entire page including the font, color, placement, and size of both pictures and text
2. Unlimited user-defined editors each assigned with specific editing privileges
3. Unlimited user-defined dropdown cascading menus
4. Unlimited user-defined announcements that display between selected dates
5. Unlimited pictures and files uploaded using drag and drop and organized in folders just like Windows Explorer™
6. Unlimited user-defined private areas of your website that require a password to login
7. Control of user-defined POP3 and web-based email (i.e. office@myorganization.com)
Plus a money back guarantee, training videos, professional design, hosting, and more
According to the FAQ: Hosting and the one-time setup are determined based on your needs. The goal is to keep the ongoing hosting amount low. The other part is the one-time setup fee for professional design, integrating all these powerful tools into your website, setting up your email, and providing support for your staff.
Get more information from www.christianchurchwebsites.com or call 888-997-9947
Google Search: wiki replication content management
The Classification & Evaluation of Content Management Systems: "websites vary from individual user weblogs (personal web publishing), through organizational news-oriented portals and e-commerce sites, to massive enterprise portals that are the public front end for a complex of intranet corporate portal sites"
The Classification & Evaluation of Content Management Systems: "websites vary from individual user weblogs (personal web publishing), through organizational news-oriented portals and e-commerce sites, to massive enterprise portals that are the public front end for a complex of intranet corporate portal sites"
Monday, September 06, 2004
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed drive review on Ars Technica (6/2003): "Unfortunately, the phrase 'USB 2.0' does not necessarily mean 480Mbps of throughput. USB 2.0 now has three different signaling rates: Low Speed (1.5Mbps), Full Speed (12Mbps), and Hi-Speed (480Mbps). The marketing and advertising departments of product manufacturers like to put the words 'USB 2.0' on all of their product packages. " So, what does this mean for extension cables? I just paid $20 for a 6 ft Belkin cable at Staples, that claims to support "Fastest 12 Mbps transfer speed." Hmm!
Friday, May 14, 2004
Quest Gives Away Java Code Profiler: "Quest Software ... released a freeware edition of its JProbe Profiler, a developer's tool for diagnosing performance bottlenecks in Java code. The freeware edition of JProbe Profiler offers a subset of the features in the for-sale version included with JProbe Suite. The suite works on Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, and z/OS operating systems. The free profiler edition is available only for Windows or Linux. It can be downloaded free of charge from Quest's site."
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
BW Online | May 10, 2004 | A Big Blue Gauntlet for Microsoft: "IBM's new Workplace just might succeed where so many earlier attempts have failed: Getting complex software off the desktop.
A confluence of factors could conspire to make Workplace the first legitimate mass-market competitor to Microsoft's Office software suite. That, in turn, could have far ranging consequences. It might open up a wave of competition to the core Windows operating system itself. Should either of these possibilities transpire, the Colossus of Redmond could find itself having to cut prices and slash margins to compete."
A confluence of factors could conspire to make Workplace the first legitimate mass-market competitor to Microsoft's Office software suite. That, in turn, could have far ranging consequences. It might open up a wave of competition to the core Windows operating system itself. Should either of these possibilities transpire, the Colossus of Redmond could find itself having to cut prices and slash margins to compete."
Forbes.com: Is Customs' ACE In The Hole? This is quite the mega-IT-project at US Customs. Good commentary on the cost of long-cycle multi-release projects.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
IBM Virtualization Engine (preview): " ... improves the effectiveness of IT as it treats resources of individual servers, storage, and networking products to function as a single pool or entity, allowing access and management of resources across an organization more efficiently, by effect and need rather than physical location. " Planned for a range of IBM servers running AIX 5L, OS/400, or z/OS, SUSE LINUX, Red Hat Linux, Microsoft Windows, or Sun Solaris, as well as IBM TotalStorage.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Commentary: Sun has plan to shine again: "Sun is expected to announce as early as June that it will bundle more of its technologies together, including hardware, software and services, at a set price per user, per year, in an effort to boost sales and protect margins. A similar program that bundled infrastructure software has had some success at Sun's software division, formerly headed by Jonathan Schwartz, who was named Sun's president and chief operating officer last week. The move would generate more predicable stream of sales, which would go a long way toward doing away with quarterly sales warnings.
Sun is signing business at a profit in many divisions, even in low-end software where Sun is very price competitive with Linux. John Loiacono, formerly in charge of Sun's operating platforms, and the company's newly named head of software, says Sun is selling Unix-based software for $790 a year on an Intel-based server, a price that drops to $540 a year after the first year. In comparison, Red Hat Linux (RHAT) is sold with a service contract that costs $795 a year, he says. 'And I make money on those,' Loiacono says. 'Stay tuned. I'm going to get more aggressive on pricing.'
Sun is very focused right now on what its executives call low-hanging fruit. The company is spending marketing dollars only on specific projects where Sun has its best chance of success.
One near-term sales opportunity is an old, but refined message: Sun's hardware can make hosting mainframe applications cheaper. Companies like Austria-based steel manufacturer Boehler Edelstahl are choosing to host major applications such as its production planning system off of IBM zSeries mainframes and on to Unix-based Sun systems. Sun says such deals are proof that it's starting to see a payoff from mainframe rehosting software it bought from Critical Path in 2001 that's supposed to ease mainframe transitions to Sun systems.
Sun is also targeting sales to some telecom companies, formerly its bread and butter. Revenue is picking up in some areas, Loiacono says. Every time a cell phone company wants to add more features such as instant-messaging or a package of games, it has to write server-based software for it. Sun sells the Java-based infrastructure software that allows companies to more easily deliver such services over wireless networks."
Sun is signing business at a profit in many divisions, even in low-end software where Sun is very price competitive with Linux. John Loiacono, formerly in charge of Sun's operating platforms, and the company's newly named head of software, says Sun is selling Unix-based software for $790 a year on an Intel-based server, a price that drops to $540 a year after the first year. In comparison, Red Hat Linux (RHAT) is sold with a service contract that costs $795 a year, he says. 'And I make money on those,' Loiacono says. 'Stay tuned. I'm going to get more aggressive on pricing.'
Sun is very focused right now on what its executives call low-hanging fruit. The company is spending marketing dollars only on specific projects where Sun has its best chance of success.
One near-term sales opportunity is an old, but refined message: Sun's hardware can make hosting mainframe applications cheaper. Companies like Austria-based steel manufacturer Boehler Edelstahl are choosing to host major applications such as its production planning system off of IBM zSeries mainframes and on to Unix-based Sun systems. Sun says such deals are proof that it's starting to see a payoff from mainframe rehosting software it bought from Critical Path in 2001 that's supposed to ease mainframe transitions to Sun systems.
Sun is also targeting sales to some telecom companies, formerly its bread and butter. Revenue is picking up in some areas, Loiacono says. Every time a cell phone company wants to add more features such as instant-messaging or a package of games, it has to write server-based software for it. Sun sells the Java-based infrastructure software that allows companies to more easily deliver such services over wireless networks."
Spyware - Multiple Internet Explorer windows (64): "Clicking on internet Explorer causes multiple windows to appear until a serious error occurs or the machine freezes due to all the memory being used."
Pointers to some tools for keeping track of what's running in your process list and IE scripting extensions, which are helpful for finding adware / spyware.
Pointers to some tools for keeping track of what's running in your process list and IE scripting extensions, which are helpful for finding adware / spyware.
Jim Rumbaugh of UML fame was appointed an IBM Distinguished Engineer this week...: "My role at IBM Rational revolves around UML, or Unified Modeling Language, the industry standard for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of software systems. Going all the way back to my thesis work, I've focused on modeling. So it's probably not surprising that I think good engineering starts with understanding what you're doing, and then doing it in a systematic way -- as opposed to ad hoc practices that amount to making it up as you go. In other disciplines, it's taken for granted that engineers work systematically. They don't just go out and cobble together airplanes and bridges. They model them first, so they can work out problems before it gets costly to do so. Modeling is quite a simple idea, and the resistance to it among programmers is somewhat surprising. If you told a construction engineer that it was a waste of time for him to use blueprints and to go start banging on metal instead, he'd think you were nuts. But programmers do this all the time. It's not a very mature approach, and it's not the way we're going to create better software products.
Modeling starts with business concepts and works its way down. When you're all done you end up with an application. But when you first talk with your client you don't start by discussing what programming languages you'll use. That would be a sure way to lose them. The beauty of UML models is that even technically unsophisticated clients can understand them. And non-technical stakeholders can readily understand the inherent value of modeling: It gives the project team tools and techniques to ensure they're doing the right thing -- that is, building the system the client actually needs. With modeling, they'll be sure they have the right information flow, the right architecture, the right data structures, and the right algorithms -- before they start worrying about the details of the implementation. "
Modeling starts with business concepts and works its way down. When you're all done you end up with an application. But when you first talk with your client you don't start by discussing what programming languages you'll use. That would be a sure way to lose them. The beauty of UML models is that even technically unsophisticated clients can understand them. And non-technical stakeholders can readily understand the inherent value of modeling: It gives the project team tools and techniques to ensure they're doing the right thing -- that is, building the system the client actually needs. With modeling, they'll be sure they have the right information flow, the right architecture, the right data structures, and the right algorithms -- before they start worrying about the details of the implementation. "
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Yahoo! News - Microsoft Posts First Source Code Under Open Source License: "The source code posted to the Internet was for a tool set, dubbed WiX for Windows Installer XML, that targets developers building Windows installation packages from XML source code. These are the same tools that Microsoft uses internally to create installers for its products, including Office, SQLServer, and BizTalk Server.
Code for the tool set, which consists of a compiler, linker, a library tool, and a decompiler, has been posted to SourceForge.net, a hosting site for open-source projects and code. "
Code for the tool set, which consists of a compiler, linker, a library tool, and a decompiler, has been posted to SourceForge.net, a hosting site for open-source projects and code. "
Friday, March 26, 2004
"The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources - "This impressive compilation is the web companion to Nick Tomaiuolo's new book. ... you're VERY likely to discover many new gems." [ResourceShelf]
The Post-Google Generation is a TR (Technology Review: MIT's Magazine of Innovation) blog entry updating their excellent article in March 2004 on Search beyond Google (subscribers only). Some interesting points of the original article are:
- It's easy to switch engines, so the competition to be best is intense. Google employs more than 60 PhDs.
- There is little infrastructural advantage to perpetuate dominance at Google, but watch out for what Microsoft could do - building search into the operating system, and searching across your hard drive, email, intranet, and the web.
- Google uses PageRank.
- Teoma uses a page's standing among recognized authorities on a topic.
- There is open-source work on search, e.g. Doug Cutter.
- About a quarter of users don't find their answer in the first set of links returned. That sounds pretty good to me.
ResourceShelfPLUS from Gary Price (Library & Internet Research Consulting) is an excellent log of research and patents on information retrieval, especially in the WWW context.
WWW2004 Preliminary Program Sessions: This conference at the New York Sheraton May 19-21, 2004 opens with a plenary session by Tim Berners-Lee.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
IBM Offers Pre-loaded SuSE Linux On All Servers: "A day after rival Red Hat announced it had struck a deal with IBM to pre-load its Linux on one line of the computer maker's servers, Novell said it had reached a much broader agreement with IBM to pre-install its SuSE Linux Enterprise Server on all IBM server hardware. IBM will now pre-load SuSE's Linux on all its servers at customer request, including the eServer iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, and zSeries lines, as well as IBM's eServer BladeCenter systems. Previously, both Red Hat's and SuSE's arrangements with IBM meant that, while customers could custom order Linux with new servers, the operating-system software was actually shipped separately by the Linux distributors for customers to install themselves. "
Linux On The Desktop: "HP will offer SuSE's Linux Professional on select Compaq desktop and laptop systems sometime in the second half of the year."
"The bulk of demands by [HP's] largest customers are in relatively specialized areas. 'They're talking about call centers, help desks, and support centers that run E-mail and a Web browser and a single application,' said Martin Fink, HP's VP for Linux. 'They're looking for a client alternative [to Windows]. That's where the interest is right now in the large corporate customers.' "
"[RedHat] 'have made the decision to not pursue the client market at this time. From a desktop and laptop perspective, then, Red Hat is a null set,' he said in explaining why HP turned to SuSE instead. "
Novell acquired SUSE in January.
"With analysts predicting annual growth rates for Linux on the desktop in the 25% to 30% range, HP sees an opportunity, and won't let its competitors--Sun and IBM, especially--get the jump on it. ... Earlier in the day, Novell said it had reached a broader agreement with IBM to pre-install its SuSE Linux Enterprise Server on all IBM server hardware. IBM will now pre-load SuSE's Linux on all its servers at customer request, including the eServer iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, and zSeries lines, as well as IBM's eServer BladeCenter systems."
"The bulk of demands by [HP's] largest customers are in relatively specialized areas. 'They're talking about call centers, help desks, and support centers that run E-mail and a Web browser and a single application,' said Martin Fink, HP's VP for Linux. 'They're looking for a client alternative [to Windows]. That's where the interest is right now in the large corporate customers.' "
"[RedHat] 'have made the decision to not pursue the client market at this time. From a desktop and laptop perspective, then, Red Hat is a null set,' he said in explaining why HP turned to SuSE instead. "
Novell acquired SUSE in January.
"With analysts predicting annual growth rates for Linux on the desktop in the 25% to 30% range, HP sees an opportunity, and won't let its competitors--Sun and IBM, especially--get the jump on it. ... Earlier in the day, Novell said it had reached a broader agreement with IBM to pre-install its SuSE Linux Enterprise Server on all IBM server hardware. IBM will now pre-load SuSE's Linux on all its servers at customer request, including the eServer iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, and zSeries lines, as well as IBM's eServer BladeCenter systems."
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Web Services Journal | The Future Net Will Be Chinese, Japanese, and Korean...Not Just English: "The biggest technical challenge facing the non-profit corporation with authority over systems that connect computers to Web sites, ICANN, isn't security....it's localization - i.e., what to do as non-English languages become incorporated into the infrastructure of the Internet."
Online gamers: They aren't who you think they are: "If you envision a teenage boy when you hear the words 'computer gamer,' think again."
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Wireless Froogle: Never wonder if you paid too much again. If your cell phone supports the WML wireless protocol, you can use Froogle to search for products anywhere your phone can access the web.
Microsoft's Bid to Settle Case in Europe Fails: "A ruling against the company, if upheld in court, could mean a fine of as much as $3 billion. More important, it could force the company to make fundamental changes in the way that it sells software in the European Union, the world's largest trading bloc, where Microsoft now generates about a third of its $11 billion in annual global sales from Windows." It would be a great step forward if Europe can drive some change. It seems every bright idea these days lives in fear that Microsoft will decide to make that idea part of Windows, ending innovation and competition in that space.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Good procedures for using our Athena library software: from Cobb district schools: Athena Support Board and OPAC project information.
From a Comcast newsletter today:
What’s The Danger?
As a parent, there are two things to be concerned about with the Internet: things you don’t want your kids to see and people you don’t want your kids to meet.
If you’ve spent any time surfing the web, you’ve no doubt stumbled onto sites with kid-inappropriate content. Even an innocent search on common terms that children might use (e.g. Barbie, White House), can lead directly to adult content.
In the early days of the web (just five years ago!), this problem was solved with the installation of “blocking” software. Blocking software does its job by maintaining continually updated lists of “bad sites,” and preventing an Internet browser from visiting any site on the list.
That worked well way back when, however with an estimated 3 billion web sites on the Internet today, it’s no longer possible to keep the lists updated.
Today, protection from inappropriate content is done mostly with a “filtering” approach. Rather than simply blocking certain sites from a list, “intelligent filters” look for combinations of words, phrases, patterns and even images, and deny access to sites on a real time, case-by-case basis as a child browses.Filtering software isn’t perfect - some bad things will be missed and some legitimate sites will be erroneously blocked - but it’s a lot better than having nothing in place. With that in mind, my first recommendation is that you do as we did and purchase a commercial filtering software product. There are many available, and most are easy to install, simple to use, and relatively inexpensive (around $40 each). A few examples are CyberPatrol, CyberSitter, NetNanny and Weemote.Net.
Parental Supervision is the Key
When it comes to protecting your kids, keep in mind that filtering software is a lot like skateboard safety equipment: necessary but not sufficient! That’s where the parental supervision comes in.
In terms of the second danger - keeping your kids away from potentially harmful people – you need to oversee the Internet as you would a trip to the mall or any other public place. In other words, get involved in managing where your kids are going and what they’re doing.
In our house, we’ve taught our kids a few, simple rules: No sharing of personal information; no arranging of face-to-face meetings with people you meet on the web; and no “aimless surfing” (i.e. no wandering around the Internet without a specific objective in mind, such as research for a school project).
We also take it one step further by keeping the kids’ computer right smack in the middle of our downstairs family room, so that everything that happens is out in the open.
If you’re thinking of establishing some family rules of your own, take a look at this example put together by the folks at SafeKids.com.
More Resources
...your head may already be spinning from all the options to consider! It’s a big topic, and believe me our family certainly didn’t figure it all out in one sitting.
With that in mind, I’d like to direct you to three exceptional resources for learning about child safety on the web: the Internet Safety Resource page at TechCorps, the Parents' Guide at Yahooligans and GetNetWise, a public service site funded by an assortment of public and Internet industry corporations. All are worth spending time on and all will help clarify the issues and tradeoffs involved.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Journal of Object-Oriented Programming - ADTmag.com: "JOOP was founded in 1987, and continued to publish through the fall of 2001. 101communications and Application Development Trends offer ... here a sampling of some of these key documents from the history of object-oriented programming. Also available are some select items from the highly acclaimed C ++ Report."
YAR2BU2D - Yet Another Reason To Be Up To Date with Microsoft security patches and anti-virus software: Phatbot Trojan Analysis - LURHQ, Washington Post and NYTimes stories.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Economist.com | Wireless telecoms: So where "Wi-Fi provides coverage within a small hotspot, WiMax, which has a maximum range of 30 miles, could provide blanket coverage. It could, as a result, prove to be a far more useful, and disruptive, technology."
Under the heading of interesting but hard-to-find products, I managed to track down (the only two?) manuals for IBM's browser-based admin tooling portal Tivoli Management Portal, based on the Integrated Solutions Console.
I'm working on an Internet Explorer 6 sp1 jscript problem that only occurs on one PC. Same user on a different PC has no problem. It manifests as the yellow "Errors on page" warning in the lower left corner of the browser, with details:
It was on Windows 2000, with the latest IE and Windows 2000 security roll-ups MS04-004 (Feb. 2004).
Resolution: reinstall sp1 of IE 6, to force a reinstall of the scripting engine and all the JScript bits. Only outstanding question is whether all the security hotfixes have to be reinstalled?? They appear to still be present in the IE "About" dialog.
And here are some of the fun links I found along the way:
Line: 35
Char: 3
Error: Microsoft JScript runtime error
Object doesn't support this property or method
line = 9, col = 3 (line is offset from the start of the script block).
Error returned from property or method call.
Code: 0
URL: https://booktravel....
It was on Windows 2000, with the latest IE and Windows 2000 security roll-ups MS04-004 (Feb. 2004).
Resolution: reinstall sp1 of IE 6, to force a reinstall of the scripting engine and all the JScript bits. Only outstanding question is whether all the security hotfixes have to be reinstalled?? They appear to still be present in the IE "About" dialog.
And here are some of the fun links I found along the way:
- Windows Explorer - Errors: "EXPLORER caused an error in module..." This looks like a helpful site for resolving Windows Explorer and maybe related IE crashes.
- Microsoft's main Internet Explorer site
- Wininet retries POST requests with a blank header. This problem occurs after you apply the Feb. 2004 832894 security update (MS04-004) or the 821814 hotfix.
- Transitioning from the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine
- Wininet retries POST requests with a blank header. This problem occurs after you apply the Feb. 2004 832894 security update (MS04-004) or the 821814 hotfix.
- The IE 6 sp1 download site.
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