tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285002832024-03-13T02:15:30.263+02:00Elmawrid's - Libyan IT BlogsThese Web-Logs (Blogs) address various issues relevant to Information Technology .. I hope that you'll find useful articles and links to help you weedout the internet info-glut and provide helpful and useful material that would be gathered from my daily search for facts and news related to IT ..ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-85905930434126645402012-06-20T02:06:00.003+02:002012-06-20T02:06:56.084+02:00Outsourcing IT Expertise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
During my conversations with my dear customers I always use metaphor and paradigms to convey abstract concepts in order to explain and clarify common ambiguities and misconceptions related to Information Technology .. <br />
One of the most noticeable misconception is that many companies or institutions always think that they can do everything in-house .. using their own resources .. and this misconception is rather <br />
overemphasized when it comes to Information Technology (IT) … <br />
The misconception goes like this .. "<em><span style="color: #783f04;">We have IT staff graduated from top notch universities .. and we can assign them to do this task</span></em> .. " .. What is <span style="color: #cc0000;"><strong><u>wrong</u></strong></span> with this assumption is that it baselessly assumes that the<strong><em> IT</em></strong> staff can handle all sorts of jobs .. which is true in some cases .. but for enterprises and corporate projects this assumption <span style="color: #351c75;">becomes a real obstacle</span> .. because surely most IT graduates can handle simple installations, or management of software solutions .. but when things scale-up .. their basic or simple approach simply doesn't work !! and you end up with something that might work and would more often fail ..<span style="color: #274e13;"><em> just like assigning the task of building a tower to a builder !!!</em></span> <br />
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So <strong><u><span style="color: #0b5394;">here</span></u></strong> is a little story that I always tell to my customers .. Once upon a time there was a company that has grown in size and reached a state where they built their own corporate headquarters .. The headquarters housed all their offices, utilities, tennis courts, restaurant and a medical center .. <br />
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They employed 2 doctors in their medical centre .. The CEO got a heart attack .. and was taken to the company's little medic center for checkup .. The doctors diagnosed that he needed an open heart surgery .. The company board met and decided to proceed with the operation in their own clinic , and the operation was to be carried out by their employed 2 doctors ... This was in-line with corporate policies .. which relied on the principle that “<em><span style="color: #134f5c;">the company should have everything done internally by its employed staff</span></em> “ .. This principle was thought to be the ultimate <strong><u>money saver</u></strong> .. and was applied in all company's activities .. including<strong> <em><u>I</u>nformation <u>T</u>echnology</em></strong> ..<br />
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They had a number of highly qualified IT professionals .. and they assigned them all sorts of tasks .. whether they were fit for the job or not .. in most cases they were seen very fit for all IT related jobs ... they managed to build the company’s ERP, CRM,HRM .. website .. everything you name it and they did it .. But the question here did they do their tasks professionally .. efficiently .. did they deliver the best optimal solution to their tasks .. The answer in the corporate board meeting was ultimately <u>YES</u> !! .. Going back to our <strong><u><em>story</em></u></strong> the CEO was prepared for the open-heart-surgery which would be performed in their corporate clinic and operated by their highly paid , highly qualified doctors .. <br />
Now <strong><u>ask your self</u></strong> <span style="color: #990000;">would you let the operation to go ahead</span> ??? <u>perhaps</u> their doctors were not qualified for such an operation .. <u>perhaps</u> they are not experienced enough for such an operation ... Surely you will oppose such a decision and call for a wiser option that will allow the CEO to be taken to a <span style="color: #351c75;">proper consultant with an experience and capability to perform such an operation</span>.. because the results are <span style="color: #38761d;">more guaranteed</span> .. and failure is <span style="color: #990000;">minimized</span> .... and the CEO will recover from his condition and rejoin the board ... And this <strong>infact</strong> what had happened .. the CIO & CTO called for a board meeting and came out with this life saving decision .. The CEO's life was saved by the operation .. and he lived happily ever after and decided to scrap that old "inhouse" principle .. and allowed the company's departments to engage with external consultants in order to ensure that<span style="color: #674ea7;"> things are done properly, optimally and efficiently</span> ..<br />
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The moral of the story ... <span style="color: #351c75;">Information Technology</span> has many discipline, specializations .. and in-house staff usually cannot handle all sorts of tasks and jobs .. and even if they could they need guidance from external consultants and experts ... </div>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-75186272819741440282012-05-18T01:20:00.000+02:002012-05-18T01:20:32.359+02:003wala Project Management Methodology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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3wala Project Management Methodology<br />© 2012 Malek Badi <br /> <br /> •How project teams are setup<br />--Team members are selected in a random process to ensure all skills will be available<br />--Team leaders are chosen with a single criteria .. the ability to mislead and the ability to judge prematurely on any issue <br /> <br /> •Project Definition<br />--Projects are always defined in the following terms: very simple, easy "sah<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">la" <br /> <br /> •Kickoff Meeting<br />--A kickoff meeting should never take place, because if it happens then the major decision will be the abortion of the project .. because stake holders would never agree on anything .. So to be safe always avoid such a meeting!<br /><br /> •The Critical Path<br />--The critical path of the project execution schedule in this methodology is never unique .. even if one is found , then eventually another critical path will be formed by other team members who did not have a role to play in the original critical path .. in order to avoid being marginalized.<br /><br /> •Progress Meetings<br /> -- During such meetings one have to use both ears to listen to at least two arguments in parrallel .. and usually ends up missing the overall conclusion of the meeting due to varied and contradictory reports.<br /><br /> •Communication Skills<br />-- Every team member reports to any team member and it does not matter if the team leaders are not informed of the proceedings because even if they were informed they would never add anything of value to their decision making and steering of the project.<br />-- If written reports are to be submitted then it is adviced to write them on a scrap of paper preferably a torn out cigarettes box or a piece of meat packing paper<br />-- Modern trends pushed team members to communicate through cell phone, hence one of the prime budget items should be a reasonable amount allocated to mobile phone top-up cards<br /><br /> • Tasks Progress follow-up & Tracking<br />-- The progress of any task at any time is phrased either:<br />-- -- Alomour Amshya ( things are going well ..)<br />-- -- Mia Mia ( i.e. 100% )<br /><br /> •Resource Allocations<br />-- Resources are adviced to be allocated through the Zero Availability Principle .. i.e. if a resource is needed then it will eventually be made available through borrowing.<br /><br /> •Human Resource Allocation<br />-- A formal allocation of people to do specific tasks is not recommended, this methodology relies on a simple and effective postulate that affirms the fact that whenever someone is needed to perform a task, then many volunteers each claiming to be an expert in the field will surface .. usually ending in choosing the wrong man for the job.<br />-- Team building is based on the "Autobuild" principle … teams of twos or fours (usually made up of people who played cards games "Shcubba or Skimbeel" ) would form a team with sophisticated communication skills gained from their long time card playing history … that would enivitably ensure a winning combination.<br /><br /> •Governance<br />-- What governance ..there are no rules and regulations to follow .. but team members should base their responsibilities and liabilities according to their own mindset with great attention being made to what people would be saying about them<br /><br /> •Quality Assurance<br />-- The end product should be always hailed "Mia Mia" .. which implies delivering top quality deliverables.<br /><br /> •The Deliverables<br />-- Usually this methodology does not require delivery of anything.. The deliverables are conceived at the end of the project unexpectedly.<br /><br /> •Project Closure <br /> -- A Closeout report will be created by each member , claiming their heroism and importance of their work .. as well as marginalizing all other's work<br />-- These closeout reports are usually delivered in a discreet meeting attended only by acquaintances of the report creator and the arena for such a meeting is usually Almarbo3a .. The ceremony is started by a dish full of macaroni mixed with meet floating in a red sauce that is hot enough for the children and the elders to enjoy ..</span></div>
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System Failure ....<br /><br /> C:\>date<br /> Mon 01-Sep-1969<br /><br /> C:\>md Libya<br /> Error reading drive. Would you like to Cancel, Ignore, Retry, Abort , Fail ? R<br /><br /> C:\>date<br /> Thu 17-Feb-2011<br /><span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> C:\>md NewLibya<br /> Error reading drive. Would you like to Cancel, Ignore, Retry, Abort , Fail ? R<br /> Directory successfully created .. Please re-scan for viruses.<br /><br /> C:\>date<br /> Thu 21-Oct-2011<br /><br /> C:\>Delete Q*.*<br /> 2 files successfully deleted! .. some files were inaccessible .. would you like to Retry,Ignore ? R<br /><br /> C:\> cd NTC<br /> C:\NTC> Dir *.*<br /> 72 files found …. some files are hidden<br /><br /> C:\NTC> Find c:\NTC\AZLAM*.*<br /> Zero files found .. but some may be hidden or inaccessible !<br /><br /> C:\NTC>cd \<br /> Error cannot go to root directory .. file system corrupt !! <br /> <br /> C:\NTC> Format C: <br /> Error must add /S parameter to have a bootable operating system .. Please retry<br /><br /> C:\NTC> dir *.* /ah<br /><br /> Directory listing for c:\NTC<br /> Azlam1.exe<br /> Azlam2.Exe<br /> Azlam3.exe<br /><br /> <beep> <beep> .. viruses found ..please install an antivirus and rescan !!<br /><br /> C:\Setup>InstallAV<br /> Error reading file InstallAV.exe .. Would you like to Ignore,Retry,Abort,Fail ? F<br /> <br /> c:\Setup>InstallElections.exe<br /> Program "elections" installed .. <br /> Scaning for corrupt files ...<br /> All corrupted files were deleted ..<br /> Suspect files were moved to quarantine ..<br /> Installing updates .. this may take upto 8 months .. <br /> Please wait while changeges are applied ..<br /> A new folder "DemocraticLibya" is created ..<br /> Applying and patching latest updates to constitution folder ..<br /> Reinstalling OS tools ..<br /> Installing monitoring tools ..<br /> Installing new reporting and media tools ...<br /> Removing old drivers ..<br /> Installing new verified drivers ..<br /> Removng duplicate files ..<br /> Removing suspect files ..<br /> Setting new flag for files ..<br /> Old attribute was set to Write only .. changing attributes to Read/Write .. for more transparency ..<br /> Defragmenting fragemented sectors ...<br /> Optimizing budget allocation ..<br /> Installing new president ..<br /> Installing legal licensing ..<br /> Rescheduling new OS tasks ..<br /> System ready .. press any key to reboot !</beep></beep></span></div>
</div>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-52326350827318413462010-10-19T04:49:00.006+02:002010-10-26T10:33:08.405+02:00Teaching our Kids Computing Creatively with SCRATCH !!During the past few weeks, I was looking at my 11 year old kid's school textbooks . and was astonished to see what they<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd35Sg2HNZXUWXlzxivwQ0bqTpiLxuGbURTXZeUyKcAin-aYruHQake4u7StVbVNDCjiaJBtv9H8SBthMbRmPNy-2_1oTC5xoDQqEohS_jSsmg7wJr8AvnOYxNO25WFg8d3iM1/s1600/scratch.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 246px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 185px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529584924972279666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd35Sg2HNZXUWXlzxivwQ0bqTpiLxuGbURTXZeUyKcAin-aYruHQake4u7StVbVNDCjiaJBtv9H8SBthMbRmPNy-2_1oTC5xoDQqEohS_jSsmg7wJr8AvnOYxNO25WFg8d3iM1/s320/scratch.jpg" /></a> were teaching them in the "Computers" subject .. which is now considered as one of the main subjects taught to kids starting at the fifth year in school … I <em><span style="color:#999999;">found</span></em> the textbook and the syllabus that is being taught very<span style="color:#003300;"> </span><span style="color:#663300;"><strong>dry</strong></span> and <span style="color:#336666;"><strong>boring</strong></span>, they were taught how to switch the computers <span style="color:#009900;">ON</span> and <span style="color:#ff0000;">OFF</span> , and what type of <em><strong><span style="color:#666600;">mice</span></strong></em> are available and <span style="color:#999900;">how to click the mouse</span> .. as well as type of storage and a lot of stuff that a typical child at that age finds <span style="color:#993399;">offensive and undervalues his <strong>IQ</strong></span>. Such skills at these days are <span style="color:#993300;">commonly picked</span> up at an earlier stage (<span style="color:#990000;"><em>3 years old</em></span> ) and thus the whole goal and endeavor which was meant to teach kids <span style="color:#336666;"><strong>computing</strong></span> is apparently lost through this boring syllabus and it's text book .. and schools end up teaching our kids to become <span style="color:#cc0000;">consumers of technology</span> <span style="color:#3333ff;">instead</span> of becoming<span style="color:#006600;"> technologically <span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>savvy</strong></span> in utilizing computers</span> <span style="color:#009900;">creatively</span> …<br /><br />As I <span style="color:#666666;">searched</span> for better means that are more suitable for <span style="color:#666600;"><em>introducing my kids to computing</em></span> and enabling them to <span style="font-size:130%;color:#336666;"><em>use computers creatively</em></span> to learn important <span style="color:#66cccc;">mathematical and computational concepts</span>, and to enhance their ability to <span style="color:#339999;">think creatively</span> and <span style="color:#3366ff;">reason systematically</span> to be prepared to face the challenges of these times… I tried getting their attention to old computer teaching tools made in the eighties such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)">LOGO</a> & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_Graphics">Turtle Graphics </a>.. but I failed even to grab their attention even for a<span style="color:#666666;"> few minutes</span> to explore such offerings .. as today's kids are more interested in moving and <span style="color:#ff6600;">c</span><span style="color:#339999;">o</span><span style="color:#993399;">l</span><span style="color:#009900;">o</span><span style="color:#3333ff;">u</span>rful media with <em>fast</em> paced action .. thanks to powerful playing gadgets ranging from the <span style="color:#663333;"><strong><em>Playstation</em></strong></span>, <span style="color:#666600;"><em><strong>Xbox</strong></em></span> and the likes !!<br /><br />Then accidently I stumbled into something called <span style="color:#cc6600;">"<strong><span style="color:#999900;"><em><a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/"><u>Scratch</u></a></em></span></strong>"</span> developed at<a href="http://media.mit.edu/"> MIT Media Labs</a>, and supported and funded by major IT players such as<em><span style="color:#000099;"> </span></em><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/ar/ly/"><em><span style="color:#000099;">Microsoft</span></em></a><em><span style="color:#000099;">, </span></em><a href="http://www.intel.com/"><em><span style="color:#000099;">Intel</span></em> </a>and others .. I downloaded and installed "<em><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">Scratch</span></strong></em>", and did some <a href="http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/ScratchGettingStartedv14.pdf">reading</a> about it and found how great such a product would be for <span style="color:#993399;">kids</span> aged <span style="color:#6600cc;">8 to 15</span> years who'd been using <strong><em><span style="color:#666666;">computers</span></em></strong> in <span style="color:#cc0000;">browsing, playing and chatting</span> and were unable to use them <span style="color:#3333ff;"><span style="color:#339999;">creatively</span> to build programs and animations</span> …<br /><br />I sat with one of my kids (11 years old), and after giving him an introductory lesson <span style="color:#993300;">in less than an hour</span> , he started<span style="color:#663333;"> using</span> "<span style="color:#ff9900;"><strong>Scratch</strong></span>" creatively and building all sorts of programs, doing <span style="color:#6633ff;"><em>animated stories</em></span> as well as more serious programs<span style="color:#333399;"><em> doing calculations on numbers</em></span>. He got hooked on "<strong><em><span style="color:#ff9900;">Scratch</span></em></strong>" and even started developing scripts for synchronizing events in an animated story and using various <span style="color:#009900;">graphic effects</span> and <span style="color:#006600;">motion</span> and <span style="color:#003300;">behavioral effects</span> that control animated characters .. He learnt some <span style="color:#999900;"><strong>basic programming concepts</strong></span>, which were easily implemented in "<strong><em><span style="color:#ff9900;">Scratch</span></em></strong>" in the form of <strong><span style="color:#cc6600;">blocks</span></strong> that may be stacked together, where some blocks accepted <span style="color:#999999;"><em>parameters</em></span> and some performed <span style="color:#663366;">calculation</span> or <span style="color:#666600;"><em>displayed output</em></span> or performed graphic <span style="color:#666600;">animation</span>.<br /><br />The <strong>momentum</strong> in using "<span style="color:#ff9900;"><strong><em>Scratch</em></strong></span>" worldwide has seen an unprecedented trend recently, with a <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/latest/shared">website </a>for sharing "<span style="color:#ff6600;"><strong><em>Scratch</em></strong></span>" projects reporting daily uploads <span style="color:#999999;">exceeding</span> <span style="font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><strong>1500</strong></span> new projects developed mostly by kids around the world… and what helped it's success is it’s <span style="color:#003300;">support for various languages</span> including <span style="color:#ff9900;"><strong>Arabic</strong></span> ..<br /><br />I advice all schools to start using "<span style="color:#ff9900;"><strong><em>Scratch</em></strong></span>" in teaching <span style="color:#009900;"><strong>computing creatively</strong></span> for our kids, instead of the<span style="color:#666666;"><em> boring syllabus</em></span> that was developed to teach students basic skills of <span style="color:#666666;">using computers</span> and<strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"> NOT</span> <span style="color:#009900;">utilizing computers</span></strong> !!ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-52963797799446037772009-05-31T00:44:00.005+02:002009-05-31T01:25:46.247+02:00"bing" - Microsoft's NEW!! Search Engine<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_bdJOs5fiR4TKG0ILmVoPlKECNBOAJ1Xyw9rgIbCxV2PjRPLNba7Qp5-gmHxfIpsmxE7Z5mmIyrP5QpKFzwgxqVuqnsG1mQf7nwBb5YRoJKhIbco7VFAC0i8foGHkrLyuThf/s1600-h/bing.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341757150018399106" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 235px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 175px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_bdJOs5fiR4TKG0ILmVoPlKECNBOAJ1Xyw9rgIbCxV2PjRPLNba7Qp5-gmHxfIpsmxE7Z5mmIyrP5QpKFzwgxqVuqnsG1mQf7nwBb5YRoJKhIbco7VFAC0i8foGHkrLyuThf/s320/bing.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><strong><em>Microsoft Live Search is </em></strong>being revamped and rebranded as<span style="color:#663366;"> </span><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#663366;"><a href="http://www.bing.com/">bing</a></span><span style="color:#993300;"> </strong></span>and will be officialy launched on <span style="color:#666600;">June 2nd.<br /></span>The <strong><span style="font-size:85%;color:#006600;">new</span></strong> <span style="color:#cc33cc;">search engine</span> which will be replacing Microsoft Live Search is categorized by some as a Decision Engine by others as a Discovery Engine and by me: <span style="color:#00cccc;">Y</span><span style="color:#33cc00;">A</span><span style="color:#cc0000;">S</span><span style="color:#993399;">E</span> ( <span style="color:#66ffff;">Y</span><span style="color:#666666;">et</span> <span style="color:#666666;"><span style="color:#009900;">A</span>nother</span> <span style="color:#cc0000;">S</span><span style="color:#666666;">earch</span> <span style="color:#993399;">E</span><span style="color:#666666;">ngine</span> !)<br />What <span style="font-size:130%;color:#996633;">differentiates</span> <span style="font-size:180%;color:#993399;"><strong>bing</strong></span> from traditional <span style="color:#993399;">search engines</span> is that<span style="color:#336666;"> it</span> tries to cleverly show results of internet searches in a more informative way .. with <span style="color:#660000;">categories</span> of results and relevant information on the side ..<br />It's is a <span style="color:#009900;">cross</span> between <span style="color:#993399;">WolframAlpha</span> , <span style="color:#993399;">Google</span> and <span style="color:#663366;">Ask</span> search engines ..<br />Most people are used to using <span style="color:#993399;">Google</span> despite it's <span style="color:#cc0000;">biased results</span>, and it became a habit to reach for <span style="color:#993399;">Google</span> when searching the internet .. in-fact the word <span style="color:#009900;">G</span><span style="color:#cc0000;">o</span><span style="color:#000099;">o</span><span style="color:#cc9933;">g</span><span style="color:#990000;">l</span><span style="color:#333399;">e</span> was officially included in <em><span style="color:#000066;">Oxford's English Dictionary</span></em> as a <span style="color:#993300;">verb</span> meaning “<span style="color:#663333;"><em><strong>to search the net</strong></em></span> ..”<br />So will we see "<span style="font-size:130%;color:#663366;"><strong>bing</strong></span>"as a <span style="color:#663333;">synonym</span> to the verb "<span style="color:#663366;">google</span>" ..</div>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-7165838330777577342008-12-06T12:02:00.004+02:002008-12-06T12:27:22.720+02:00Development of Software Development ! ( no pun intended)Sometimes using a highly technological tool <strong><em><u><span style="color:#660000;">primitively</span></u></em></strong> is the <strong><span style="color:#666600;">first</span></strong> step towards understanding the tool and <span style="font-size:130%;color:#6666cc;">inevitably</span> utilizing it to the <span style="color:#cc0000;">limits</span> as time passes by … and experience <span style="color:#663366;"><span style="font-size:78%;">acc</span>um<span style="font-size:130%;">ula</span><span style="font-size:180%;">tes</span></span> …<br /><br />But <span style="color:#003300;">staying away</span> and <span style="color:#666600;">refraining</span> from using the newest <span style="color:#cc33cc;">tools & languages</span> for software development based on the pre-assumption of <span style="color:#ff0000;">difficulties</span> and <span style="color:#660000;">inability to understand</span> such technologies would surely keep one at the status quo ..<br /><br />That's <span style="font-size:130%;color:#000099;">why</span> you see people <em><span style="color:#993300;">sticking</span></em> to their <span style="color:#666600;">old habits</span> and afraid to try <span style="color:#00cccc;">newer and emerging technologies</span> … In the <span style="color:#999999;">past</span> when <span style="color:#660000;">Microsoft’s <span style="color:#000099;">V</span>isual <span style="color:#000099;">B</span>asic</span> (<span style="color:#000099;">VB</span>) was released I remember keeping away from using it .. <em><span style="color:#003333;">until </span></em>the <span style="color:#990000;">second release</span> was out .. I read several articles in magazines about how great <span style="color:#000099;">VB</span> was .. So I started using <span style="color:#000099;">VB</span> .. developing simple <span style="color:#333300;"><em>solutions and applications</em></span> within the framework of my knowledge that covered <span style="color:#000099;">FoxPro</span>, <span style="color:#993399;">Fortran</span>, <span style="color:#663300;">BASIC</span> & <span style="color:#cc0000;">Assembler</span> … and as I progressed I <strong><span style="color:#663333;">started</span></strong> shifting my mind-set from the <span style="color:#993399;">old way</span> of doing things <span style="color:#663366;">to</span> <span style="color:#663333;"><em>Event driven visual metaphors</em></span> ..<br /><br />Eventually I reached the limits imposed by <span style="color:#000099;">VB</span> and <em><span style="color:#993300;">switched</span></em> to <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#666600;"><em>Delphi</em></span> </span>(Version 1) and had been using <span style="color:#666600;">Delphi</span> for the past <u><span style="font-size:130%;color:#6600cc;">12 years</span></u> …<br />My <span style="color:#cc9933;">approach</span> and <span style="color:#996633;">methodolgy</span> for software development <u><em><span style="color:#336666;">un-intentionally</span></em></u> shifted towards <span style="color:#6666cc;"><strong>OOPS</strong></span> (<span style="color:#6600cc;">O</span>bject <span style="color:#cc33cc;">O</span>riented <span style="color:#6600cc;">P</span>rogramming) .. as <span style="color:#333300;"><em>Delphi</em></span> was <span style="font-size:130%;color:#6600cc;"><strong>OOP</strong></span> from the ground up ..<br /><br />Then came <em><span style="color:#993300;">Microsoft’s Visual Studio</span></em> and <span style="color:#006600;">C#2</span> , which I started considering as an alternative to my then current development tools .. I started trying and testing the various features of this development environment and <span style="color:#006600;"><em>C#2</em></span> .. but I preferred sticking to <span style="color:#666600;"><em><strong>Delphi</strong></em></span> due to the fact of <span style="color:#996633;"><em>my fluency in the language and deep understanding</em></span> of it’s <span style="color:#336666;"><strong>VCL</strong></span> class libraries ..<br /><br />Then came <em><strong><span style="color:#663300;">Visual Studio 2008</span></strong></em> and <span style="color:#6600cc;">C#3</span> with a lot of <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><u>new</u></strong></span> and powerful technologies such as <span style="font-size:130%;color:#336666;"><em>LINQ</em></span> which was architected by <span style="color:#666600;"><em>Delphi’s</em></span> <span style="color:#993300;"><em>Anders Heijlsberg</em></span> .. <span style="color:#66cccc;">under the cover</span> the soul of <span style="color:#6600cc;">Delphi</span> still exists in these new offerings .. so I found the path of moving from <span style="color:#666600;"><em><strong>Delphi</strong></em></span> to <span style="color:#663333;"><strong><em>VS</em></strong></span> (<span style="color:#009900;">C#3</span> <span style="color:#00cccc;">,.NET</span> & <span style="color:#339999;">LINQ</span>) more promising with a potential of attaining fruitful results in developing better applications and solutions ..<br /><br />This switch inadvertently<span style="color:#ff6666;"> did not go as smoothly</span> as expected ..due to the <strong><u><span style="font-size:130%;">fact</span></u></strong> of differences between <span style="color:#666600;"><strong><em>Delphis’</em></strong></span> class library (<span style="color:#666600;"><strong>VCL</strong></span>) and the <span style="color:#00cccc;"><strong>.NET</strong></span> class library .. as well as the syntax variation between <span style="color:#666600;">Pascal</span> & <span style="color:#33cc00;">C#</span> … But after going through a phase of <span style="color:#996633;">evaluation and testing</span> of various programs .. and after experimenting with <span style="color:#339999;">LINQ</span> <span style="color:#006600;">to SQL</span>, <span style="color:#339999;">LINQ</span> <span style="color:#336666;">to XML</span> & <span style="color:#339999;">LINQ</span> <span style="color:#663300;">to Objects</span> .. I <u><em><span style="color:#ff6666;">realized</span></em></u> that the <span style="color:#cc0000;">change</span> was worth all the effort .. <span style="color:#ff0000;">despite</span> the fact that one would go through an initial phase of <span style="color:#999999;">lower productivity</span> … but <strong><u><span style="font-size:180%;">now</span></u></strong> I <span style="color:#990000;">never</span> look back and <span style="color:#cc0000;">never</span> regret making such a switch .. as I found the newer tools and development language ( <span style="color:#993300;">C#3</span>, <span style="color:#999900;">.NET</span> & <span style="color:#339999;">LINQ</span>) much <span style="font-size:130%;color:#6633ff;">more efficient</span> in producing working applications in a much <span style="color:#ff9900;">shorter time</span> and <span style="color:#66ffff;">less code</span> … and <u><span style="color:#003300;">un-intentionally</span></u> I found myself moving on to <em><span style="color:#663366;"><strong><u>F</u></strong>unctional <strong><u>P</u></strong>rogramming</span></em> which is seen as the future paradigm of <span style="font-size:130%;color:#6600cc;">software development</span> ..<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">( N.B. This blog post is a reply to a friend’s blog.)</span>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-55611824471597332132008-06-18T23:53:00.011+02:002008-06-20T18:51:27.948+02:00Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008 - LINQsRecently <strong><em>Microsoft</em></strong> released <span style="color:#ff0000;">Visual Studio 2008 ...</span><br />many new <span style="color:#993399;">features and technologies</span> are added to this <span style="color:#ff9900;">new</span> release of <span style="color:#cc0000;">VS2008</span><br />One of the <u><strong>most</strong></u> powerful new features is <span style="color:#993399;">LINQ</span> ( <span style="color:#993399;"><strong>L</strong></span>anguage <span style="color:#993399;">In</span>tegrated <span style="color:#993399;">Q</span>uery ) which brings <span style="color:#ff6600;">VS2008 </span>closer to being a <span style="color:#6633ff;">RAD</span> ( <span style="color:#6666cc;">R</span>apid <span style="color:#3366ff;">A</span>pplication <span style="color:#6633ff;">D</span>evelopment ) environment ...<br /><br />I was reading <span style="font-size:180%;color:#663333;">a lot</span> about <span style="color:#993399;">LINQ</span> in <span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;"><u><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397926.aspx">MSDN</a></u></span> , blogs , webcasts ... etc<br />The best reading I suggest for you to familiarize yourself with LINQ is a couple of <span style="color:#33cc00;">great</span> posts by <a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/"><span style="color:#666666;">Scott Gutheri</span> </a>..<br /><br />Here are some links to these great posts ...<br /><span style="color:#33ccff;"></span><br /><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/05/19/using-linq-to-sql-part-1.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 1: Introduction to LINQ to SQL</span></a><span style="color:#339999;"><br /></span><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/05/29/linq-to-sql-part-2-defining-our-data-model-classes.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 2: Defining our Data Model Classes</span></a><span style="color:#339999;"><br /></span><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/06/29/linq-to-sql-part-3-querying-our-database.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 3: Querying our Database</span></a><span style="color:#339999;"><br /></span><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/07/11/linq-to-sql-part-4-updating-our-database.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 4: Updating our Database</span></a><span style="color:#339999;"><br /></span><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/07/16/linq-to-sql-part-5-binding-ui-using-the-asp-linqdatasource-control.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 5: Binding UI using the ASP:LinqDataSource Control</span></a><span style="color:#339999;"><br /></span><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/08/16/linq-to-sql-part-6-retrieving-data-using-stored-procedures.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 6: Retrieving Data Using Stored Procedures</span></a><span style="color:#339999;"><br /></span><a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/08/23/linq-to-sql-part-7-updating-our-database-using-stored-procedures.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:#339999;">Part 7: Updating our Database using Stored Procedures</span></a><br /><br />Another good reading is the posts from <a href="http://dotnetslackers.com/articles/csharp/IntroducingLINQ1.aspx"><span style="color:#666666;">Granville Barnett</span></a> titled<span style="color:#cc66cc;"><em> </em></span><a href="http://dotnetslackers.com/articles/csharp/IntroducingLINQ1.aspx"><span style="color:#cc66cc;"><em>Introducing LINQ</em></span></a>.<br /><br />I've started using <span style="color:#993399;">LINQ</span> in developing <span style="color:#666600;">DB applications</span>, and now when you look at my code you would see more <em><span style="color:#ff9900;"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Business Logic</span> </span></em><u>rather</u> than <span style="color:#ff6600;">code plumbing</span> ..<br /><br />In the future you'll be seeing many <span style="color:#993399;">LINQ</span> based database applications .. as such technology is so <span style="color:#990000;"><strong>powerful</strong></span> in it's expressiveness .. BUT to really start using it you would have to delve deep in <span style="color:#663300;">C#</span> and <span style="color:#33cc00;">.NET</span> .. and start reading about <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397687.aspx"><span style="color:#339999;">Lambda Expressions</span></a>, <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0yw3tz5k.aspx"><span style="color:#006600;">Anonymous Delegates</span></a>, <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb383977.aspx"><span style="color:#996633;">Extension Methods</span></a> , <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397696.aspx"><span style="color:#999900;">Anonymous Types</span></a> ..... as well as <span style="color:#ff6666;">ADO.NET</span> ...ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-23832940258294360222008-01-16T12:48:00.000+02:002008-01-16T13:02:23.181+02:00Comparing Microsoft SQL Sever Enterprise & Standard Editions<p>I've always been asked the question about the differences between <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.mspx">Microsoft SQL Server 2005 </a>Standard & Enterprise Editions ..<br />Here is a summary of the features that are offered in the Enterprise Edition and lacking in Standard Edition :</p><ul><li><span style="color:#009900;"><strong>Scalability and Performance:<br /></strong></span>- <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666600;">Partitioning</span> :- Support for large-scale databases<br />- <span style="color:#993399;">Parallel Index</span> Operations:- Parallel processing of indexing operations<br />- <span style="color:#cc6600;">Indexed Views</span> :- Indexed view creation is supported in all editions. Indexed view matching by the query processor is supported only in Enterprise Edition<br /></span></li><li><span style="color:#009900;"><strong>High Availability:<br /></strong></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#9999ff;"><strong>Online Indexing</strong><br /></span>-</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#993399;"> <strong>Online Restore</strong><br /></span>- <span style="color:#cc0000;"><strong>Fast Recovery</strong></span> :- Database available when undo operations begin<br /></span></li><li><span style="color:#009900;"><strong>Integration and Interoperability:</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">- <span style="color:#996633;"><strong>Integration Services Advanced Transforms</strong></span> :- Includes data mining, text mining, and data cleansing.<br />- <span style="color:#6666cc;"><strong>Oracle Replication</strong> </span>:- Transactional replication with an Oracle database as a publisher</span><br /></li><li><span style="color:#009900;"><strong>Business Intelligence:</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">- <strong><span style="color:#666600;">Scale Out Report Servers</span><br />- <span style="color:#6666cc;">Data Driven Subscriptions</span><br />- <span style="color:#cc6600;">Infinite Click-troughs</span><br />- <span style="color:#9999ff;">Advanced Business Analytics</span></strong> :- Account intelligence, metadata translation, perspective and semi-additive measures.<br />- <span style="color:#339999;"><strong>Proactive Caching</strong></span> :- Provides automated caching for greater scalability and performance.<br />- <span style="color:#cc33cc;"><strong>Advanced Data Management</strong></span> :- Partitioned cubes, parallel processing, server synchronization.<br />-<span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong> Full Writeback Support</strong></span> :- Dimension and cell write-back<br />- <span style="color:#6600cc;"><strong>Advanced Performance Tuning</strong></span> :- Additional options for tuning data mining models for the highest accuracy, performance, and scalability.<br />- <strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">SQL Server Integration Services Data Flow Integration</span></strong> :- Perform data mining prediction and training operations directly in your operational data pipelines.<br />- <span style="color:#996633;"><strong>Text Mining</strong></span> :- Convert unstructured text data to structured data for analysis via reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), or data mining.<br /></span><br /></li></ul><p><em>For a <span style="color:#993300;">full list of features</span> please refer to </em><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-features.mspx"><em>SQL Server Comparison Chart</em></a><em> on Microsoft's site. </em></p>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-76737643921741206972007-12-03T15:43:00.000+02:002008-12-09T22:35:43.892+02:00Visual Stodio 2008 - The Declarative LINQ Factor<div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139746137150510290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSRtlVNd7TOtKKuVYPnakJ3YO2vf75mExHN0YneD4qKxNAWeyMl0VfFVoaWP_3EAw88D5iY954tRMmis8AvRXqsE5V6hWDlUSoQwZD8AkOEiE42wHkln0sHMv6r6Y1cSUz2H8/s320/linq.png" align="right" border="0" />One of the great additions to<span style="color:#33cc00;"><em> Visual Studio 2008</em></span> in C# 3 is <span style="color:#ff0000;">LINQ</span><br />which stands for <span style="color:#ff0000;">L</span>anguage <span style="color:#ff0000;">In</span><span style="color:#000000;">tegrated</span> <span style="color:#ff0000;">Q</span>uery ...<br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">LINQ</span> enables you to program <span style="color:#006600;">declaratively</span> instead of <span style="color:#cc33cc;">imperatively</span><br />i.e. you declare what you want to be accomplished .. but you do not have to tell how things would be done in your programmes ... just like what SQL offered for database programming ..<br /><br />Here is a bunch of very <span style="color:#000099;">interesting</span> links that explain usage and capabilities of LINQ ..<br /><div><ul><li><a href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vcsharp/aa336746.aspx"><span style="font-size:85%;">101 LINQ Samples</span></a></li><li><a href="http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/UnderstandingLINQ.asp"><span style="font-size:85%;">Understanding LINQ (C#) - The Code Project - .NET</span></a></li><li><a href="http://www.hookedonlinq.com/"><span style="font-size:85%;">Hooked on LINQ</span></a></li><li><a href="http://aspiring-technology.com/blogs/troym/default.aspx"><span style="font-size:85%;">LINQed IN</span></a></li></ul><p>Enjoy reading ...</p><br /><br /><p></p></div></div>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-29658242380887771492007-11-08T17:17:00.000+02:002008-12-09T22:35:44.057+02:00Classmate PC as an Alternative to OLPC<span style="font-size:180%;color:#009900;"><em><strong>R</strong></em></span><span style="color:#009900;">ecently</span> <strong><a href="http://www.intel.com/"><em>Intel</em> </a></strong>announced a deal with Libya for the supply of 150000 cheap PCs destined for schools .. This seems to be a change in Libya's recent intention to buy the competing product <a href="http://laptop.org/"><em>OLPC</em></a> ...<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLBircNa_jZrgdGXZAJVxjpBqAJTPrrmEWRS3-bV8UHlTXVX_-ovR9iZ4PjCWNI4DXe3v1cbhz4KyX4j1egd0SdZmEgI658kOcJZYgCq2RQvVpW2KOJF16cs4XM-TIEMhVSfS/s1600-h/classmatepc.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130494110125440482" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 199px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 176px" height="248" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLBircNa_jZrgdGXZAJVxjpBqAJTPrrmEWRS3-bV8UHlTXVX_-ovR9iZ4PjCWNI4DXe3v1cbhz4KyX4j1egd0SdZmEgI658kOcJZYgCq2RQvVpW2KOJF16cs4XM-TIEMhVSfS/s320/classmatepc.jpg" width="199" border="0" /></a>The <a href="http://www.intel.com/intel/worldahead/classmatepc/"><em>Intel Classmate PC</em></a> specifications ..<br /><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">CPU: <span style="color:#3333ff;">900</span>MHz Intel Mobile processor</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">RAM: <span style="color:#3366ff;">256</span>MB </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Display: a meagre <span style="color:#3366ff;">7"</span> LCD with a max resolution of 800x480</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Power: Six-cell battery ( provides up to 4 hours)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Storage : <span style="color:#3366ff;">1GB</span> NAND flash drive </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Networking: built-in Ethernet and wireless <span style="color:#3366ff;">802.11G</span> </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Plus a built-in keyboard and a touch-pad </span><span style="font-size:85%;">plus an optional wireless pen device.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Multimedia: built-in speakers and microphone. </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Operating System: Windows XP also supports Linux</span></li></ul><br /><br /><p>Initial price for the model is around $200 but is expected to climb to $400 upon launch... and at this price one would rethink paying such money for such a gadget ... Wouldn't it be better if the quantity is reduced in order to cater for <strong><span style="color:#006600;">better specifications</span></strong> ... <span style="color:#666600;">higher speed</span> and a <span style="color:#993300;">larger display</span> .. <span style="color:#ff0000;">more RAM</span> .. a <span style="color:#cc66cc;">built in CD/DVD Drive</span> ..<span style="color:#663366;"> USB support</span> .. </p>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-63175264815780232972006-11-29T09:56:00.000+02:002006-11-29T10:31:34.088+02:00Improving Full Text Search in DocumentsIn the past years <span style="color:#cc6600;">Desktop Search</span> and <span style="color:#996633;">Enterprise Search Appliances </span>had seen increasing usage throughout the world ..<br />However a simple search would usually lead to a long list of what is called "<span style="color:#66cccc;">Relevant Documents</span>" .. that were ranked by an algorithm which treats all text in a document equally..<br /><br />But let us assume a typical document with the following <span style="color:#9999ff;">content</span> :<br /><ul><li><span style="color:#9999ff;">Document Name </span></li><li><span style="color:#9999ff;">Document Title </span></li><li><span style="color:#9999ff;">Section Headings </span></li><li><span style="color:#9999ff;">Paragraphs</span></li><li><span style="color:#9999ff;">Footnotes </span></li><li><span style="color:#9999ff;">etc...</span></li></ul><br />If one is searching with a naked eye , surely the <strong>bolder</strong> and <span style="font-size:180%;">bigger</span> the text.. the higher relevance it would be given .. So if a <span style="color:#999999;"><em>searched phrase</em></span> or <span style="color:#999999;">word</span> occurs in a <span style="color:#666600;">section heading in one document</span> and occurs in a <span style="color:#6600cc;">foot note in another document</span> .. The search engine <strong>should</strong> rank the <span style="color:#666600;">former document</span> higher than the <span style="color:#6600cc;">latter</span> ..This would require Search Engines that understand the formatting and structure of the document and would result in more intelligent ranking algorithms ..<br />So perhaps in the future we will have a <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em>"Text-Format-aware"</em></span></strong> <span style="color:#666666;">search engines</span> ..<br />Maybe you should get started creating "Format-Aware" search filters for alltypes of documents (Word DOC, PDF, XLS ..etc ..) that can understand the formatting and structure of documents and hence will produces a more realistic ranking ...<br />Looking forward for your comments and feedback .. ;-)ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1160639308966565922006-10-12T09:37:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:27.048+02:00One Computer for Every School Kid in Libya<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4160/3020/1600/olpc-small.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4160/3020/320/olpc-small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color:#000066;">Libya</span> will become <span style="color:#333333;">the </span><span style="color:#ff6600;">first country</span> to provide <span style="color:#333300;">every pupil</span> with a <span style="color:#663366;">laptop computer</span> featuring <span style="color:#3366ff;">wireless</span> <span style="color:#3366ff;">networking</span> and <span style="color:#333300;">internet </span>access .<br />The product from <a href="http://laptop.org/"><em>One Laptop Per Child</em></a> (<span style="color:#333300;"><em>OLPC</em></span>), <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666666;">a non-profit association</span> <span style="color:#666666;">dedicated to research to develop a $100 laptop</span>—a technology that could revolutionize the way children are educated. The<span style="color:#3333ff;"> </span></span><a href="http://laptop.org/"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#3333ff;">OLPC</span> </span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>initiative</em> was launched by faculty members at the </span><a href="http://laptop.media.mit.edu/"><span style="font-size:85%;">MIT Media Lab</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> and was first announced at the <em><span style="color:#996633;">World Economic Forum</span></em>..<br /><br /></span>A total of <span style="color:#cc0000;">1.2-million</span> <span style="color:#993300;">computers</span> will be made available <span style="color:#330000;">throughout schools for pupils</span> as well as other supporting <span style="color:#999999;">servers and networking devices</span> for each school by the <span style="color:#333300;">year 2008</span>.<br /><br /><a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Hardware_specification"><span style="color:#3366ff;"><em><strong>The Specs:</strong></em> </span></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666666;"><strong><em><span style="color:#cc33cc;">Processor:</span> </em></strong><span style="color:#009900;">AMD</span> proprietary processor (with no cooling fans)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666666;"><em><strong><span style="color:#cc33cc;">Storage:</span></strong></em> OS/programmes and data will be stored on <span style="color:#993399;">Flash RAM</span> .. <strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">No hard-disks</span></strong> will be used.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666666;"><strong><em><span style="color:#cc33cc;">Power Consumption:</span></em></strong> The computer will consume less that <em>10%</em> of power compared with common notebook PCs, with a battery charge that would last for a whole school day.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#666666;"><strong><em><span style="color:#cc33cc;">Operating System:</span></em></strong> It'll be running a version of free open source </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;color:#3333ff;">Linux</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">M<span style="color:#333333;">y</span> <span style="color:#cc0000;">v</span><span style="color:#cc6600;">i</span><span style="color:#33cc00;">e</span><span style="color:#000099;">w</span> </span><span style="font-size:130%;">in this respect .... I <span style="color:#663366;"><em>think</em></span> that this is a step in the <span style="color:#336666;"><em>right direction</em></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> to <span style="font-size:100%;">enable our kids to indulge in the digital age </span>.. </span><span style="font-size:78%;">and become <span style="font-size:100%;color:#6600cc;"><strong>aware</strong></span> with technology at an <span style="font-size:100%;color:#003300;"><em>early age</em></span> .. and perhaps this will <span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc9933;"><strong>help</strong></span> us to create <span style="font-size:100%;color:#996633;"><strong>future generations</strong></span> that will be <span style="font-size:100%;color:#009900;">actively involved</span> in <span style="font-size:85%;">the <span style="color:#663366;">creation and publishing</span> of digital content and software</span> <span style="color:#cc0000;">instead</span> of the <span style="color:#333300;">status quo</span> of being<span style="color:#cc33cc;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#cc33cc;">passive consumers</span> of <span style="color:#336666;">Information Technology</span>...</span>. This initiative will <strong>surely</strong> <span style="color:#cc9933;">help</span> in <span style="color:#996633;">narrowing </span>the <span style="color:#ffcc00;">DiGiTaL DiViDe</span> ... ;-)<br /><br /><span style="color:#666666;"><em>However there still remains an <span style="color:#666666;">issue of concern</span> for such an ambitious project and that is to do with the availability of proper and suitably localized content ( educational , entertainment, etc..) .. As the software platform is not very well established and lacks content especially Arabic content .. <span style="color:#333333;">But who knows</span> .. perhaps such a need would create business opportunities for whoever wants to invest their time and effort to provide relevant content for these devices .. </em></span>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1159580826784959832006-09-30T03:15:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.959+02:00Borland Turbo Languages Are Back<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4160/3020/1600/borland_delphi.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4160/3020/320/borland_delphi.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.borland.com">Borland </a>had always been known for it's excellent software development tools... Remember <span style="color:#ffcc00;">Turbo Pascal</span>, <span style="color:#999900;">Turbo C</span> and <span style="color:#cc33cc;">Delphi</span> .. But over the past 8 years <span style="color:#339999;">software development tools</span> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment">IDEs </a>( Integrated Development Environments) started to become evermore complex for the beginners and students who seek to practice computer programming and software development ... with products such as <em><span style="color:#666666;">Borland Developer Studio</span></em>, <span style="color:#666666;"><em>MS Visual Studio</em></span> and others featuring <span style="color:#666600;">hundreds</span> of commands and libraries , and consumed huge resources and suffered a <span style="color:#666600;">steep learning curve</span>, that turned away many would-be software developers who feared such broad unfocused products ..<br /><br /><strong>But</strong> recently <em><span style="color:#cc6600;">Borland Software Corp</span></em>. announced the release of a new set of programming IDEs which are labeled as the <a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/"><em><strong>Turbo Poducts</strong></em></a> with the following offerings..<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/delphi">Turbo Delphi</a></li><li><a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/cpp">Turbo C++</a></li><li><a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/delphinet">Turbo Delphi for .NET </a></li><li><a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/csharp">Turbo C#</a> </li></ul>Each product comes in 2 versions: <span style="color:#cc6600;"><em>The Explorer version</em></span> which is free and the reasonably priced <span style="color:#996633;"><em>Turbo Pro versions</em></span>..<br /><br />I've been using Borland tools since <span style="color:#cc33cc;"><strong>Turbo Pascal V 2</strong></span> , and moved onward to <strong><span style="color:#ff6600;"><em>Delphi</em></span></strong> which I find as a <span style="color:#339999;">very efficient</span> software development environment for business applications ...<br /><br />You may <a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/downloads">download </a>the above products from this <a href="http://www.turboexplorer.com/downloads">link</a>.ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1159491591686533242006-09-29T01:53:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.884+02:00My First Encounter with Computers …I remember back in the mid-seventies going with my elder brother (<span style="color:#666666;"><em>who was doing a Ph.D. at Queen Mary’s College –London</em></span><span style="color:#9999ff;">) </span>to see the computers that he was using to perform simulations. He had a bunch of punched cards ( in fact his car's boot was loaded with punched cards ) which had to be ordered properly and fed into a card reader, then the mainframe computer would run the programs and crunch the numbers .. and eventually a line printer starts churning out lists of numbers .. I was amazed how could a machine do such calculations.. <br /><br />Later on .... in 1980, I entered the university and started my B.Sc. course in <span style="color:#6633ff;"><em>Control & Systems Engineering..</em></span>We had some subjects related to computers.. Those days I tended to miss few lectures but never missed any of the computer lab sessions. During the courses we started building <span style="color:#339999;"><em>adders</em> and <em>half-adders</em></span>, so I thought that I understood how the thing worked.. Then we attended the <em><span style="color:#6633ff;">Microprocessor Lab</span></em> which was full of <a href="http://www-db.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/3-5-CROMEMCO.html">Crommemco microcomputer</a> built on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80">Zilog Z80</a> ... I remember that we were grouped in 4s and each group had to buy an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk#Origins.2C_the_8-inch_disk">8” floppy disk </a>to store programs that were developed during the course work .. The disks had to be kept in the lab in order to avoid mishandling. ..<br /><br />Later we were given a <em><span style="color:#666666;">user name</span></em> and a <em><span style="color:#999999;">password</span></em> which I still remember until now .. that allowed us to use the <a href="http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/timesharing"><em>Time-Sharing Mainframe Computer</em> </a>( it was a Honeywell machine) …There was a <em><span style="color:#666666;">punch-card room</span></em> that seemed abandoned as everyone opted to use the newer <em>VDU</em> (<span style="color:#666666;">Video Display Units</span>) , in fact the following year the <em>punch card room</em> was modernized to host even more VDU’s.. There were also 2 graphic terminals... one was a <a href="http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acd/icf/terminals/p004.htm">Tektronix </a>that displayed graphical plots ( just like an <em><span style="color:#666666;">oscilloscope</span></em>) and the screen had to be cleared manually to avoid overlapping graphics…The other was a more sophisticated and bigger display.... and of course no mouse was attached !! in fact they had what was called a “<em><span style="color:#666666;">light Pen</span></em>” that enabled some sort of interactivity with the graphical display unit..<br /><br />My first computer programme was to write a payroll calculation programme, despite the fact that we were doing an engineering course .. so we had to write it in FORTRAN .. it took about 10 lines of code .. I still have a print out of my first program ..<br /><br />In <span style="color:#666600;">1979</span>, I remember strolling down <em><span style="color:#cc66cc;">Tottenham Court Road</span></em> to buy a <em><span style="color:#666666;">Microcomputer</span></em>, but there was no choice other than <a href="http://apple2history.org/history/ah03.html">Apple II</a>.. and I preferred buying a modern microcomputer that was out in the US but it seemed that it was not available at that time ;-( ... One shop told me that they’ll have it stoked in a few weeks time.. After about 2 weeks I finally got my first microcomputer , it was a <a href="http://www.tietokonemuseo.net/koneita/texasti99a4.htm"><em>Texas Instruments Ti/99A</em></a> that sported colour graphics and memory extension cartridges … I remember spending hours on hours trying various Basic commands, and writing up various games and testing out numerical algorithms .. I did most of my study tasks with it, and got a thermal-printer as well .. Meanwhile I remember the BBC was starting to broadcast a programme on TV to raise the awareness of the public with Information Technology, so they had to market and use their own branded machine which was named “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro"><em>The BBC Micro</em></a>” , I forgot the TV-programme’s name but it went on for a few weeks.... Every edition was looking at a specific aspect of Information Technology.. and their branded micro, <em>thanks to the un-intentional advertisement</em> became popular in the UK market... Besides other brands such as the <a href="http://www.tietokonemuseo.net/koneita/sinclairzx81.htm">Sinclair</a>, <a href="http://www.tietokonemuseo.net/koneita/acornelectron.htm"><em>Acorn</em></a>, <a href="http://www.tietokonemuseo.net/koneita/Dragon.htm"><em>Dragon</em></a> & last but <span style="color:#666666;">not least</span> the <a href="http://oldcomputers.net/c64.html"><em>Commodore</em> </a>microcomputers. A friend of mine got one of those machines and I eventually abandoned the defunct Ti/99A microcomputer and switched to the newer box..<br /><br />I started buying computer magazines, there was a lot to choose from, but I’d always preferred “<a href="http://www.pcw.co.uk/"><em>Personal Computer World</em></a>” and “<a href="http://www.BYTE.com"><em>Byte Magazine</em></a>” … copies of which I still have tucked away in many boxes somewhere..<br />At that time there was <span style="color:#cc0000;">NO</span> <em>Internet</em>, but I remember seeing “Modems” that ran at amazing speeds of 1200 and 2400 bauds.. they were designed so that the telephone handset would be placed on top of the modem and you could here the signal .. Dial-up “Bulletine Boards” where quite common, but modems where expensive to buy and unreliable …<br /><br />While in college we did a lot of programming on Microprocessors, in fact most of the projects we did had an interface with physical systems such as <em><span style="color:#666666;">stepper motors</span></em> and <em><span style="color:#ffcccc;">tem</span><span style="color:#ff6666;">per</span><span style="color:#ff0000;">at</span><span style="color:#cc0000;">ure</span> sensors</em>.. But the more serious stuff that we did was writing many FORTRAN programs in “Fortran 77“ for numerical algorithms to solve various engineering problems… I always had my <span style="color:#00cccc;"><em>monthly time-sharing quota</em></span> consumed by the second week of the month, so I borrowed extra time from my colleagues who did not get hooked on the keyboard .. and only performed their study tasks with minimal effort..<br /><br />Having finished my <em><span style="color:#cc33cc;">B.Sc.</span></em> course I started my <span style="color:#cc33cc;">M.Sc</span>. course in <em><span style="color:#663366;">Systems Engineering</span></em> , and took a project in “<em><span style="color:#666600;">Adaptive Optimizing Digital Control of Hierarchical Systems</span></em> “.... I had to write simulation programs in Fortran and use <a href="http://www.nag.co.uk/"><em>NAG </em></a>library subroutines that where so complex to use ... so I wrote Basic programs <span style="color:#000099;">jus</span>t to calculate the <em>parameters</em> that would be used in the FORTRAN source code for the simulation programs.. I managed to get the <span style="color:#cc9933;">expected results</span>.. as theoretically sought .. I ran to my supervisors.. one of them was a <span style="color:#cc9933;"><em>theoretical</em> mathematician</span> who believed in his axioms and theories so <strong>much</strong> .. he was so glad that we finally got the numbers to converge as hypothesized …<br /><br />Then I started writing my M.Sc. thesis .. on paper .. there were no word-processors capable of doing complex mathematical formulae typing , so I had my thesis typed by a professional typist using an <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/ibm-selectric-typewriter"><em>IBM “golf-ball” typewriter</em></a> .. who unfortunately happened to be a professional “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Retriever">Labrador Dog</a>” breeder .. I remember when going to see our typist to follow up with the progress of her work in typing the thesis we had to be over cautious not to annoy those big dogs .. Her house was filled with books and pictures and trophies all related to her professional job .. The smell of her house was taunting, and everything smelt like a dog .. so we had to take with us perfume to refresh our breathing upon leaving ..<br /><br />While preparing my <em><span style="color:#6633ff;">M.Sc.</span></em> thesis, I was physically “<span style="color:#33cc00;">cutting and pasting</span>” ( that is cutting paragraphs and sections <span style="color:#33cc00;">with a pair of scissors</span>) and <span style="color:#33cc00;">pasting it with glue</span> .. by the end of 1984, I got my M.Sc. and started preparing to go back home ..<br /><br />Towards the final months of my studies , I noticed “Word processing” machines were creeping up and filing up many rooms in the university, and discovered that newer students were in fact typing their own thesis and course work, the machines were running <a href="http://www.sysun.com/museum/cpmhist.html">CP/M</a> <span style="color:#cc66cc;">operating system</span> ..and had <a href="http://www.wordstar.org/">WordStar </a>, which we read a lot about in computer magazines that were counted in hundreds ..<br /><br />During my academic years I focused on engineering problems and calculations, so I spent a lot of my time developing "<em><span style="color:#666666;">Computer Aided Engineering Programs</span></em>", that focused on the design of control systems for undergraduate students ... My other brother was so eager to market the product, so I remember performing demo presentation of the software to various universities ( <a href="http://www.city.ac.uk"><em>City University </em></a>and <a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/"><em>Imperial College</em> </a>..) but due to our lack of experience in marketing we failed to reach a deal to sell the product…ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1149733143903063342006-06-08T04:13:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.796+02:00Web SpreadSheets . are Here to Stay !!“<a href="http://spreadsheet.google.com"><span style="color:#990000;"><em><strong>Google SpreadSheet</strong></em></span></a>” <span style="color:#333333;">is the latest</span> <a href="http://www.ajax.org">AJAX </a><span style="color:#333333;">web application released for testing by <span style="color:#006600;">G<span style="color:#ff0000;">o</span><span style="color:#ffcc00;">o</span><span style="color:#3333ff;">g</span>l</span><span style="color:#cc0000;">e</span>..<br />It is simply a web-based spreadsheet that enables many users to work collaboratively on the same spreadsheet, inside the browser .... Imagine yourself preparing an offer and the supplier updating the prices on the same spreadsheet .. and hence no shuttling of emails forth and back .... Or filling up an expense report while traveling, directly on a spreadsheet on the web, then this spreadsheet would be easily imported to the accounting application .. </span><br /><span style="color:#333333;"><br />There are <span style="color:#330000;">many potential usage scenarios</span> for this type of application.. And even<em> </em><a href="http://www.bricklin.com/"><em>Dan Bricklin</em> </a>( the inventor of <a href="http://www.bricklin.com/visicalc.htm"><em>VisiCalc</em></a> .. which is considered to be the first spreadsheet program) is preparing his own open-source product named <span style="color:#cc0000;"><strong><em>WikiCalc</em></strong></span> that will compete with Google’s SpreadSheet..<br /><br />Meanwhile <strong><em>Microsoft’s Excel</em></strong> which dominates the spreadsheet applications market will have similar collaboration features in it’s next incarnation ( <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/default.mspx"><em>Office 2007</em></a>) with the addition of a product that Microsoft acquired after buying Groove Networks ( the company that was founded by Lotus Notes creator <em><span style="color:#3333ff;">Ray Ozzie</span></em>)</span>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1149732385337479872006-06-08T04:02:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.717+02:00AJAX .. for Highly Interactive Web Applications<span style="color:#333333;">Recently we’ve been hearing a lot about <a href="http://www.ajax.org/"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">AJAX</span></strong> </a>applications .. (<span style="color:#000000;"><em><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong><u>A</u></strong>synchronous <strong><u>J</u></strong>avaScript <strong><u>A</u></strong>nd <strong><u>X</u></strong>ML</span></em>)</span> which refers to a web development technology for creating highly interactive web applications using various techniques such as:<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#333333;"></span><ul><li><span style="color:#333333;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">HTML, XHTML</span></em> &<span style="color:#000000;"> </span><em><span style="color:#000000;">Cascading Style Sheets</span> </em>for presenting information</span></li><li><span style="color:#333333;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">Document Object Model</span> </em>& <em><span style="color:#000000;">JavaScrip</span>t </em>to dynamically display and interact with the information presented</span></li><li><span style="color:#333333;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">XML</span>, <span style="color:#000000;">XSLT</span> </em>and the <span style="color:#000000;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">XMLHttpRequest</span> object</em></span> to interchange and manipulate data asynchronously with the web server </span></li><li><span style="color:#333333;">As well as other technologies</span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#333333;">Many applications are emerging that provide new metaphors for interaction with web applications. Using classical web applications such as when filling up a form or interacting with a web based application you would notice that the web page inside the browser refreshing upon changes . <strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><em>AJAX</em></span></strong> provides the means to only refresh or repaint specific regions in a web page, so applications appear as if they’re running on the client’s machine…. And hence resulting in a more responsive and interactive web based applications..<br /><br />In the coming months we’ll be seeing more and more <span style="color:#cc0000;"><em>AJAX</em></span> web based applications that will help users<em> experience richer and more interactive and responsive applications inside their browsers</em>…. In fact a new class of applications will appear that will change the way people use and work on the net..</span></p>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148423793259691942006-05-24T00:26:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.639+02:00"More Chips" .. to Break the Speed Limit ...Processor speeds had been ever increasing over the past years according to Moore's Law .. I remember my first Intel PC was running at a speed of 6MHz and ironically it was called a Turbo PC .. Then we got the 33MHz machines, and 100MHz and later the 800MHz .. and the processors' speeds were on a speed race .. ;-) so there was the 1GHz and 2GHz and lately the 3.4GHz .. but due to manufacturing and physical limits a slow down in this speed race was evident ...<br /><br />The solution was to put more computing power by adding processors leading to multi- processor systems which proved to be expensive and suffered inefficient communication between the processors.. so gradually the processors were redesigned to crunch more instruction in parallel via HyperThreading ..<br /><br />Furtunately now you can get a <strong>Dual Core Processor</strong> where 2 processor cores are placed in a single chip package, such as the <a href="http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium_D/index.htm">Intel Pentium D</a> and <a href="http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_9485_9487,00.html">AMD Opteron</a> processors .. This improved and sometimes doubled the effective computing power of PCs..<br /><br />In fact AMD is already moving to <a href="http://multicore.amd.com/WhatIsMC/en/Default.aspx">Multi-Core Processors</a> and Intel is on the way to provide their multi core processors as well ..<br /><br />Evidently, in the near future when you walk in a computer store to buy a PC the first question that you would be asked is: "<span style="color:#660000;">How many cores do you want Sir ? 2 , 4 , 8 or shall we say 16 ??</span>" .. which reminds me of buying a car ..ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148350929675486382006-05-23T03:45:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.548+02:00Virtualization - An Emerging Trend in IT Infrastructures<p>Enterprises around the world started encompassing new trends in building their IT infrastructures that are based on "Server Virtualization" . </p><p>"<em>Server Virtualization</em>" may be viewed simply as having multiple logical servers running on one physical server.. This provides separation of the applications from the physical systems they are running on.. and therefore great benefits may be gained such as improved utilization, fast and easy transfer of applications among physical servers without the need for reconfiguration and easier scalability, where new resources may be added and utilised effectively. </p><p>There are many products that are used to implement Server Virtualization including the following:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.vmware.com/products/server/">VMware Server from EMC Corporation</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/default.mspx">Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 </a><br /></li></ul><p>This is seen as the next step after <em>Application-Virtualization</em> that proved it's value in recent years...</p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">To read more about <em>Virtualization</em> see </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization"><span style="font-size:85%;">this</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> link from WikiPedia.</span></p>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148273271716840012006-05-22T06:17:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.437+02:00MySQL, TheirSQL and YourSQL<p>Recently the major database vendors released free to develop, deploy and distribute slimmed down versions of their database products in order to recap the market lost in favour to <a href="http://www.Mysql.com/"><em>MySQL</em></a> the well known open source database engine that is widely used in combination with Linux operating system and apache webservers.. The offerings from the bigger players where as follows: </p><ul><li><a href="http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html">Oracle 10g Express</a></li><li><a href="http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/db2/udb/db2express/">IBM DB2 Express Edition</a></li><li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/default.mspx">Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition</a></li></ul><p>Most of these products performed similarly to their commercial editions but with limitations on maximum database size and maximum memory usage as well as a limitation to run on one processor only. </p><p>It's worth trying out the products and comparing them , I personally preferred the Microsoft offering especially when they released a more capable package that was named<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/compare/default.aspx"> Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition With Advanced Services</a> ... </p><p>Farewell MySQL ..... and hello TheirSQL .. and you should think of switching YourSQL to TheirSQL ..</p>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148256096916106312006-05-22T01:41:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.326+02:00To Certify or Not to Certify ..That's the Question ????One of the intriguing question that I get asked by my colleagues is whether to enroll in an appropriate Certification programme, such as CISCO's , Microsoft's or Oracle's ..<br /><br />My answer usually starts by re-asking what is the purpose of the certification .. It could be either to get a nice looking certificate to hang on the wall behind one’s desk or to use it as a proof of one’s expertise in the subject field ..<br /><br />If the former reason was sought then one should go ahead and proceed to collect the maximum number of certifications that could fill the office wall to show to others how experienced one claims to be .... But if the latter reason was sought then my advice would be to proceed in becoming an expert via reading and practice covering the field to be certified into and then go ahead and take the certification exams to proof one’s proficiency and expertise .. which would be deemed useless because most probably by then you’d be already recognized as an expert in the field without a need to show a proof …ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148252090492515972006-05-22T00:35:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.237+02:00Microsoft Offers FREE Development ToolsMicrosoft officially released <em><span style="color:#000099;">Visual Studio Express</span></em> as a free download .. you can pick any of these products ...<br /><br /><ul><li><span style="color:#666666;">Microsoft Visual C# Express</span></li><li><span style="color:#666666;">Microsoft Visual Basic Express</span></li><li><span style="color:#666666;">Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express ( for developing ASP .NET applications)</span></li><li><span style="color:#666666;">Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express </span></li></ul>You can download LEGAL and WORKING copies of the various new Microsoft express products, they are being offered for free from <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/" target="_blank">Microsoft Visual Studion Express Editions Homepage</a> .. Once you load the proper CD images you can extract the files using <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.isobuster.com/dl.php?v=1&l=0" target="_blank">ISOBuster</a> utility as instructed on the download page .<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Tutorials are available from the site: </span><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.learnvisualstudio.net" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:85%;">LearnVisualStudio.Net</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> which would help you to get oriented and build essential skills in using these development products ..</span>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148249006580651882006-05-21T23:57:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.144+02:00Webservices .. The future of the Net<p>"<strong><em>Webservices</em></strong>" is the best emerging web technology ....<br />It enables applications to query and retrieve information from the web programatically ..<br />It combines various standards such as XML, SOAP, HTTP etc .. to accomplish host to host comunication and data transfer ...<br /><em></em><br /><em>For a bunch of introductory articles see these urls:</em> </p><ul><li><a href="http://www.developer.com/services/article.php/1485821"><span style="font-size:85%;">Introduction to Web Services</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></li><li><a href="http://www.w3schools.com/soap/soap_intro.asp"><span style="font-size:85%;">Introduction to S.O.A.P.</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></li><li><a href="http://www.developer.com/services/article.php/3547866"><span style="font-size:85%;">Native XML Web Services in SQL Server 2005</span></a> </li></ul><p>Most of the biggest websites offer programming APIs to interact with their offered webservices .. including Amazon, Google , ..etc.. </p>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148248099371307002006-05-21T23:41:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.071+02:00Microsoft's Lingua FrancaMicrosoft recently advertised in a local Libyan advertisements paper "Tripoli-Lelalan" dated Apr 30th 2006 .. This is a good sign that shows Microsoft's interests in the Libyan IT market .. However a URL shown with the advert ( <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/northafrica/">http://www.microsoft.com/northafrica/</a> ) is found irrelevant to the local market, as it would take you to a French Microsoft site, which in our case is unintelligible, as most Libyans speak either English, Arabic or both but NOT French ... We hope that such issues would be addressed in the future in order to enable a closer cooperation between the Libyan IT professionals and Microsoft..ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148243169017652292006-05-21T22:01:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:26.003+02:00Choosing The Right Memory Size for ServersOne of the issues that I frequnety encounter is choosing the right memory size for servers..<br />I found this table from Dell's online direct selling site useful ..<br /><br />Memory Size based on server role and number of users<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Server Role <span style="color:#ffffff;">............</span><span style="color:#ffffff;">.......</span>4GB<span style="color:#ffffff;">................</span>8GB<span style="color:#ffffff;">.............</span>12GB<br />File sharing/print <span style="color:#ffffff;">.....</span>50-200 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">..</span>200-500 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">..</span>500+users<br />Messaging & Email<span style="color:#ffffff;">....</span>50-200 users<span style="color:#ffffff;"> .</span>200-400 users <span style="color:#ffffff;">.</span>400+users<br />Web Server<span style="color:#ffffff;">..............</span>200+ users<br />Infrastructure<span style="color:#ffffff;">...........</span>200+ users<br />Database<span style="color:#ffffff;">.................</span>50-150 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">...</span>150-250 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">....</span>250+users<br />Host Multiple Apps<span style="color:#ffffff;">....</span>50-150 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">...</span>150-250 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">....</span>250+users<br />ERP, CRM, ETC..<span style="color:#ffffff;">........</span>25-100 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">...</span>100-250 users<span style="color:#ffffff;">...</span><span style="color:#ffffff;">.</span>250+ users</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Keeping in mind that <em><span style="color:#666666;">Windows 2003 Standard Server</span></em> <strong>only</strong> addresses 4GB of RAM. Hence if you opt for 8GB or higher you'd have to go for<span style="color:#999999;"> <em>Windows 2003 Enterprise</em></span><em> <span style="color:#999999;">Edition</span></em> or <span style="color:#999999;"><em>Datacenter Edition</em></span> or alternativeley switch to a <span style="color:#999999;"><em>64Bit version of Windows Server 2003</em></span> ...</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span>ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28500283.post-1148241181482809752006-05-21T21:43:00.000+02:002006-11-13T09:37:25.906+02:00Welcome to My BlogsHi all ..<br />This is my attempt to provide Blogs that address various issues relevant to Information Technology .. I hope that you'll find various useful articles and links to help you weedout the internet infoglut and provide helpful and useful material that would be gathered from my daily search for facts and news related to IT ..<br />M.B. ;-)ElMawridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03859394617560918924noreply@blogger.com1