New to me local tech blogs

Learning .NET, from Christopher Steen

Privasoft FOIA Blog, Through software and services, Privasoft transformed the way information disclosure teams, like FOIA & ATIP offices, comply with legislative, regulatory and internal requirements.

The MurkyGrey blog, Survive and thrive in software startups

Project Performance Corporation, part of the AEA Group

New to me local tech blog

Arxan CTO Musings, Discussion on the latest application security developments and issues, including piracy, code protection, application hardening and cybersecurity.

Well done Google

Quick Google Analytics Tip: Chrome debugging tool

Google recently launched the Google Analytics Tracking Code Debugger, and a new debug version of its JavaScript code, ga_debug.js. The good news is, that Google has also put together a nifty little Chrome extension for the tracking code debugger, which uses the new script so that you don’t have to re-tag any content.

Well done. Google's strength is its responsiveness to users and developers.

Layer 7 blogs

Layer 7, a software development company (XML, cloud computing, SOA, and so on) has a whole flotilla of blogs:

Layer 7 company blog

Scott Morrison

Adam Vincent

Francois Lascelles

Well done Layer 7.

New to me local tech blogs

Spider Strategies

Simply RFID

Aptela

Intellitrack; Inventory & AIDC Software Blog

Lawrence Wilkes on SOA, EA and AM, Commentary on Service Oriented Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, and Application Modernization

David Sprott's Blog, David Sprott is founder of CBDI Forum, a think tank specializing in practices for SOA and architecture led software delivery and management.

What is a Statement of Work?

Why Clients should take a closer look at SOWs

One very important aspect of successful project management is the creation of a Statement of Work (SOW). A Statement of Work can be defined as a narrative description of the products and services to be provided to a client under contract. Basically the SOW tells “what” needs to be accomplished rather than “how” it is to be accomplished, and clearly defines the scope of the project. Getting everyone to agree on the scope of a project at the very outset is important because it helps in minimizing scope creep. Scope creep occurs when new functionalities or requirements not envisaged in the SOW are introduced into the project plan.

I remember a presentation on software process improvement wherein the presenter said that he wanted to write a play wherein the contract officer slew the dreaded feater creep.

It is so easy in technology to become so absorbed with how that you forget what and why.

What everyone in the software industry needs to understand

George V. Hulme:

Grow up. Business doesn't exist for IT, it's the other way around.

This cannot be said often enough.

Adobe GUI FAIL

Simply blacking out information in a Portable Document Format file won't keep data from prying eyes.

TSA officials posted what they thought was a redacted version of the TSA's airport security operating manual on a Web site used by private contractors looking for government work. The problem: the officials didn't actually delete sensitive parts of the document—they just blacked them out using a graphics tool.

That method left the underlying words intact, and they were exposed when readers cut and pasted pages from the document, "Screening Management Standard Operating Procedures," into a new file. The vulnerability isn't technically a bug in Adobe's product, but its existence shows how those handling secure information should be fully trained in the software they're using.

The end result of the foul-up was that highly sensitive information about TSA screening methods, interviewing procedures, X-ray machines and other terrorist prevention tools became easily available to millions of people on the Web.

This is just another case of the user failing to distinguish between a graphical blackout and deleting information. There have been many such incidents and Adobe invariably blames user error. But the Adobe design is completely counter intuitive. Adobe needs to correct this before someone gets killed.

Technology is not a religious subject

Jason Perlow

I suspect that this is the case for the majority of enterprises and end-users, in the world where folks just want stuff to work.

Once a developer becomes psychologically invested in a technology logic goes out the window and it becomes a religious discussion. Which technology is easier from the perspective of end users becomes irrelevant.

Anyone who does not believe this is invited to read Slashdot or any other forum where developers gather to discuss technology and review the ensuing flame wars.

New to me local tech blog

rdworth.org, JQuery and related technology

Apps for America challenge

Sunlight Foundation

What it Is

Apps for America is a special contest we're putting on this year to celebrate the release of Data.gov! We're doing it alongside Google, O'Reilly Media, and TechWeb and the winners will be announced at the Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase in Washington, DC at the end of the Summer.

Why we're doing it

Just as the federal government begins to provide data in Web developer-friendly formats, we're organizing Apps for America 2: The Data.gov Challenge to demonstrate that when government makes data available, it makes itself more accountable and creates more trust and opportunity in its actions. The contest submissions will also show the creativity of developers in designing compelling applications that provide easy access and understanding for the public, while also showing how open data can save the government tens of millions of dollars by engaging the development community in application development at far cheaper rates than traditional government contractors.

First prize is $10,000 and serious bragging rights.

CodaServer has a Google Group for users

CodaServer 1.0 Apha 2 Released

CodaServer has a Google Group for users, and you can join it here. Obviously we’re just starting out, but this is the easist way to get help with or become involved in the CodaServer community.

For the benefit of my software developer readers.

Cloud Computing; a secure approach

I trust that seeing is believing:

What is Google App Engine?

Developing Cloud-Based Applications

February 26th, 2009 | 8:30 - 11:00 a.m. | Google, Reston Town Center

---

Information Concepts invites you to join us for a Breakfast and discussion about Google App Engine, Google’s development platform.

We will discuss developing custom Cloud-based applications and the benefits of deploying applications in an instantly scalable environment without the need to pay up front for licenses or hardware.

Agenda:
- Breakfast / Networking
- Benefits of Cloud-Based Development
- What is Google App Engine (GAE)?
- Demo and Sample Code
- Q&A with GAE Product Manager

Event Details:
February 26, 2009
Google Reston Office
1818 Library Street, Suite 400
Reston, VA 20190

Registration Fee: No charge
Please Register by February 20th by 5:00 p.m.

Scott Lock talks about .Net, the Red Cross, Excella, Caparea.net and user groups

Scott Lock is a Managing Consultant with Excella Consulting and President of the Caparea.net users group. He was kind enough to give this blog an interview.

How did you get interested in software development?

This will sound so typical, but I actually became interested in Software Development very young. I copied a program by hand into my older brothers Texas Instruments TI-99A computer. It took a few times to get right either because I would copy something wrong or the power cable came out killing my project. I always like working with computers whether it was games or just writing papers. I always wanted to learn as much as I could about how it all worked.


How did you get interested in .Net?

I started professionally programming in Visual Basic and C out of college. I worked through VS 3.0 through VB 6, attending conferences and learning as much as I could about how to develop software using Microsoft's tools. In 1998 I met Hal Hayes at a VBITS conference (Visual Basic Insiders Technical Summit) and joined him in establishing a VB users group in Northern Virginia. It was through this community that I began to really learn about the future of development tools. Through great speakers and solid topics I learned about Visual Studio and .Net. I became an instant fan.


Tell us about your work for the Red Cross, what are the particular challenges facing software developers working for a high profile non-profit involved in disaster response?

I loved working for the American Red Cross. I had 5 1/2 incredible years there with some truly amazing people. During my time there I was responsible for a few different projects and people, however my greatest responsibility was as the Technical Lead for the Online Donation Site hosted on www.redcross.org. It was originally built by IBM professional service consultants back in 1998 in traditional ASP. I made some core changes to the application on that platform including incorporating a new payment gateway. After .Net was released, we began the push to re-architect the system in .Net and other service oriented platform technologies. September 11th tested our systems and pushed things to the limit. We overcame and thought that it was unlikely that we would see anything near the challenges during that time. We had consultants like Cisco driving all night pulling hardware out of enterprise clients and bringing it to the Red Cross data center. We rebuilt the entire infrastructure over night. It was in 2004 when 4 hurricanes hit Florida, that the real challenges began. That kicked off 2 years of what seemed to be non-stop disasters. The tsunami and Katrina really pushed the envelope in both scalability and disaster recovery. We had to make sure that sites like the online donation system was available full time. We were processing 1500 transactions per minute at one point so any time down meant the potential for lost donations. It was really, really difficult during those time - but we made it through. It was upsetting to read articles and blogs slamming Red Cross IT after Katrina. Unless you went through it, you have no idea how dedicated the men and woman of the American Red Cross and its partners in IT were during those difficult times. They were always there for one thing - the mission - to simply be first to go in and the last leave.


Tell us about your work for Excella.

I joined Excella in 2006, after things slowed down at the Red Cross. It was a difficult choice, but it was time for me to move on. I know lead the Microsoft Center of Excellence for Excella. Through the MS CoE we support accounts and clients, our people, and the community - specializing in Microsoft technologies. I really enjoy my job. I get a chance to work with many different clients, discussing the ways that Microsoft technology can help improve their business. I also get to work with our consultants on becoming the best Microsoft technology firm in the D.C. area. A lofty goal, but I believe we are on our way.

Excella is a diverse, IT services firm. We have a strong portfolio of commercial and government clients. We are a full service IT Services firm. We are also a Microsoft Gold Partner.


What is a MVP? a MCPD?

MVP stands for Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. It's an award given to people that Microsoft believes is a leader and influencer in the community, focused usually in a specific product area. I am a C# MVP, awarded based on my contributions to the C# community through Capare.net and other vehicles.

MCPD stands for Microsoft Certified Professional Developer. I passed the certification tests last year to become a MCPD - Web Developer. I would like to complete the track and end up with an MCPD - Enterprise certification.


How did you get involved in Capital Area .Net Users Group?

I met Hal Hayes in 1999 at a VBITS conference in Florida. I joined him in running the Capital Area .net Visual Basic Users Group. Since then we have grown along with Microsoft's development tools and platforms. We became the Capital Area .Net Users Group in 2001, after the release of .Net. We will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year in July. We estimate that this is our 125 meeting. We will be having a big blast during our July meeting!


What makes a good user group?

A good user group is one that truly serves its members. I believe that if you can bring strong speakers and great topics to your members month to month, you are making a difference in the community. Our members give up 2 hours of their family life every month to come out and here someone talk about .Net development. We owe it to our members and our sponsors to make that meeting worth their valuable time.


How would you characterized Caparea.net audiences?

Our members are smart, diversified, and engaged people. They typically get involved in the presentations, making them often conversations rather than sit and listen events. I love our members. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't appreciate the effort and time they put into improving their skills and knowledge.


How are speakers selected?

Speakers are typically first come first scheduled.  We are lucky to live in an area rich with Microsoft development talent.  We have been able to schedule top speakers not only in the D.C. area, but often well known worldwide.  A big reason for this success has been a larger support group for user groups called Ineta (Ineta.org).  INETA empowers user groups by making it possible for non-local speakers to speak at local meetings.  They cover the cost of flying these well-known speakers into these meetings.  INETA has been very important to Caparea.net getting great speakers over the years.

Our second secret weapon is our Speaker Coordinator and sitting board member Brian Noyes.  Brian is a Microsoft Regional Director, MVP, and INETA speaker.  I am proud to say he is my friend and fellow user group leader.  Brian is a big reason we get such strong speakers.

What makes a good presentation?

Good presentations are ones that are a nice mix of theory and code. I personally like to have the ground work explained before diving into code, but often developers like to just see the code. Speakers who are engaging and relaxed tend to really hit the mark with our members. Of course, we do not have any speakers that are not rock stars!


Are there presenters who particularly stand out?

All of our speakers are strong. Choosing a few that stand out is not an easy task. If I had to pick a few, I would name Brian Noyes, Vishwas Lele, and Sahil Malik as some of our stand out speakers. Brian and Vishwas are veteran conference speakers who set the bar for speakers at our meetings. Sahil is special to Caparea.net because he gave his first presentation at one of our meetings. He has since risen in the community to a very well known and respected speaker.


Where do you see the .Net going? What do you see as the important
trends?

I think that few will argue that .Net is moving become THE way to
develop service oriented applications. The tools and ease of development for building rich, highly available service based applications is really second to none. The user experience is also seeing a transformation in the .Net space. Silverlight, WPF, and other new user interface technologies are redefining the way in which we build front end applications. I can only ask Microsoft to slow down so our members get a chance to absorb and learn all of the new things in .Net. If you want to learn more about the future of .Net, just come out to our anniversary meeting in July where we will have a panel of experts talk about where .Net is going.

New to me local XML blog

PilotFish Blog

Przemek Klosowski talks about Linux, Open Source software and DCLUG

Przemek Klosowski serves as Meeting Coordinator for The Washington DC area Linux User Group.

How did you get interested in Linux?

I work at a government research lab (NCNR/NIST), and we have been using a whole range of computers, VMS, Unix, DOS/Windows, Macintoshes. I started back in the late eighties, and I always  liked the flexibility of Unix but back in that time they were quite expensive. We used remote graphics XWindows terminals to talk to our few machines in the air-conditioned computer room. Black-and-white Xterms were quite affordable, but color Xterms seemed to be out of reach. Sometime around 1993 I thought "why not use a PC-based Unix boxes to do local and remote computing".

There were two available choices then: BSD and Linux.  BSD had excellent networking capabilities but Linux was ahead with the X Windows graphics. Once the Linux kernel got a rewritten decent networking stack, we just threw our lot with Linux and never looked back.

Initially we used Linux mostly for straight computing and communications, but the flexibility was so tempting that we adopted it for hardware data acquisition, connecting Linux to a variety of data collecting hardware, using serial ports, Ethernet, USB, GPIB, VME and other methods. It worked beautifully for us; we were among the original major users of Linux in a large scientific laboratory, and our accomplishments were featured on the cover of Linux Journal:  http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue/51

We also were recognized and awarded for spearheading the introduction of Free and Open Source Software in a Government environment.


How did DCLUG get started?

Early on I understood that Linux is as strong as the community of people that work on it. Since everything in Linux is a result of someone solving their problem and making the solution available to others, it seemed like a great idea to organize a local group where people could meet and talk and help each other. I posted signs in the area geek watering holes (computer stores, libraries, schools/universities) and to my delight our first meeting in July 1994 ended up overflowing the meeting room in the Gaithersburg library.

Later we found a larger meeting room at the NIH campus in Bethesda, and since the NIH campus was locked down after 9/11 we meet in downtown DC.


Do you do joint projects with other local Linux groups?

There is a gaggle of Linux User Groups in the area. We (DCLUG) cover the DC proper and suburban Maryland. NoVaLUG covers Northern Virginia, from Alexandria to Dulles Airport, and there are groups at various schools in the area, as well as in Baltimore. We formed a loose federation of LUGs in the official non-profit corporation TUX.org, and we had a multitude of common projects. For instance, early on we have been running Linux Installfests, where we'd help people install and improve Linux on their machines. It used to be much more difficult, because of the lower download speeds, and various compatibility issues. It certainly is nice now to be able to plop a CD into most computers and just boot Ubuntu or Fedora.

We participate in computer expositions, such as the FOSE  government computing trade show, and the Congressional Internet Expo, and in ad hoc computer events such as the Mapping Parties and encryption key signing parties. Our members sometimes take up public positions on important current events such as DRM, Net Neutrality, and other technology-related issues that affect their professional and personal lives. People have petitioned and presented themselves before various government bodies in hearings and demonstrations. Even more importantly, we try to educate and spread the awareness of all the good technology that is associated with FOSS software and Linux.

How, if any, has it changed over the years? Have the changes in the Linux industry been reflected in the local group?

Linux used to be a guerilla technology. Now that it is in the mainstream, there is less accent on development, and more on sound implementation practices, so I noticed that we have more sysadmin type members than developers. It used to be much more difficult to install and run Linux, so we have less installfest-like events, and more members that participate mainly on the discussion groups and mailing lists.

Why do you think interest in Linux has grown? What are the chief barriers to adoption?

The Freedom aspect is without any doubt the main attraction of Linux. I am  a pragmatist, and I am mostly interested in finding practical solutions to technological problems. Linux has been for me a wonderful experience where I could apply my knowledge to find and develop solutions that work in the long term. There is very little of the 'two steps forward one step back' oscillation, where a commercial solution would work for a while, and then a new version would come out, and things would stop cooperating, and we end up back to square one, having to purchase something again. My experience is that in Linux once something is fixed, it stays fixed. The end user is in control as to when things get updated or changed.

The issue of barriers to adoption is complicated  and there probably isn't  a single stopping block that, when eliminated, would result in a dramatic increase.

For starters, there's the issue of familiarity: it's easier and probably cheaper  to hire personnel familiar with using and running the Windows environment. Next, there is more commercial support for commercial platforms, in terms of applications, hardware, etc. This is a circular argument, but it's certainly there.

Cost, which is an obvious favorable Linux characteristic, turns out to be less important than one might think, for a variety of reasons: first, when economy is good, people don't think much about cost savings. Next, the Total Cost of Ownership, which includes personnel costs for maintenance, evens out the initial capital investment. Next after that, the lesser pricing of Linux also means less marketing, which, like it or not, is bound to influence market share. Finally, the commercial software vendors are skilled in compensating  Linux cost advantage by targeted discounts, such as cheap student licenses for their products---and I even suspect that they may sometimes turn a blind eye to software piracy in the expectation that it will increase their market penetration. I once asked a foreign colleague from a developing country why don't they use more Free software, and he responded that 'All software is free in ...".

The flip side of the cost argument is that in the current recessionary environment I expect to see an increase in Linux adoption, because it will allow people to run leaner, meaner business operations.

How would you characterize your audiences?

DCLUG is a forum for Linux and Free and Open Source Software users to participate in a mutual-help peer group. There are technology developers, system administrators, students, and all kinds of folks that use Linux in  personal and work-related projects.
 


How are speakers selected?

We are always on lookout for new topics; fortunately, there is a wealth of new material every month. A typical Linux distribution contains several thousands of pieces of software that was created to solve a myriad of problems, and the trick is to select ones with maximum general interest.

Besides locally run software, though, we have now the entire area of Web Services, which are more often than not deployed on Linux so that is another area rich in potential topics.


What makes a good presentation? Are there presenters who particularly stand out?

The technology community excels in solving problems, and gets a bad rap for communication skills, so getting good talks is always a challenge. Having said that, there is an amazing supply of energetic, enthusiastic people who enjoy sharing their knowledge and skill. Obviously, the leaders of the community have the charisma and communication skills---our most attended meeting was the talk by Linus Torvalds during one of the Linux conferences in town. We recently had an interesting talk by Richard Weait on OpenStreetMap, a project to create a Free world-wide geographic data base like Google maps: http://www.openstreetmap.org/. Think Wikipedia for maps!


How would you describe the current Linux industry, where do you see it going?

Linux is here to stay and flourish. It is making wonderful inroads in all kinds of environments that go beyond standard desktop computing. Linux runs the majority of webservers in the world, as well as the vast majority of high-end supercomputers. It is also making serious inroads into embedded computing, which drives pretty much every piece of modern technology, from MP3 players, to network routers, to cars, phones, airplanes,  and media recorders. Pretty soon they will cross over into refrigerators and garage door openers---this is guaranteed by the combination of market trends to include more intelligence and communication into our appliances, and by the relentless price markdowns.

Linux can be deployed cheaply onto amazingly inexpensive hardware: there are full-fledged ARM architecture microcontrolers capable of running Linux that cost well under $10. There are rumors of $99 laptops being made in China---there's simply extremely little  space for commercially licensed software at those price points. What's more, there's a trend to open up the previously closely held operating environment of consumer personal electronic devices---for instance consider the iPhone third-party application market---and Linux is ideally positioned as an open, vendor-neutral platform for third-party development.

See earlier interview with Klosowski with Linux Journal.

Call for Papers: 2009 multi-conference

PromoteResearch.org

The 2009 multi-conference (MULTICONF-09) in computer science, information technology, computer engineering, computational science, control and automation technology will be held during July 13-16, 2009 in Orlando, FL, USA. The venue details will be announced later on.

Click on the following links for more information about MULTICONF-09:

International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition (AIPR-09)

International Conference on Automation, Robotics and Control Systems (ARCS-09)

International Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics and Chemoinformatics (BCBGC-09)

International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems and Web Technologies (EISWT-09)

International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking and Communication Systems (HPCNCS-09)

International Conference on Information Security and Privacy (ISP-09)

International Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology and Applications (RAITA-09)

International Conference on Software Engineering Theory and Practice (SETP-09)

International Conference on Theory and Applications of Computational Science (TACS-09)

International Conference on Theoretical and Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (TMFCS-09)

New to me local tech blog

Semprebon on Software; The search for better software development tools and techniques

MySQL Conference Opens its Call for Papers

MySQL Conference & Expo

Sun and O'Reilly Media are looking for great presenters for the 2009 MySQL Conference & Expo, scheduled for April 20-23, in Santa Clara, California.

Deadline runs through midnight October 22, 2008.

Fog computing

eWeek: Cloud Computing

Meanwhile, Anderson discussed a project he is working on that he calls "fog computing," which attempts to tap the unused power of private PCs and devices owned by people around the world. The goal is to use the underused computing power as a resource pool to tap for scientific research, Anderson said. Already "about 1 million computers are volunteering" in the effort, he said.

We may have to give up all those jokes about vapor ware.