What is a shim?

A software component inserted at a well known interface between two other software components. "Shim" versions of IPSEC are often implemented at the device driver interface, below the host's TCP/IP network protocol stack.

Now you know.

Joab Jackson interviews Dan Bricklin

Making software that’s immortal

How long should an agency use a piece of software? Dan Bricklin, co-inventor of the first electronic spreadsheet program, thinks applications should last for centuries. Last summer, Bricklin wrote an essay about this idea called “Software That Lasts 200 Years,” which was widely discussed within the IT industry.

In IT circles, the notion of extending software longevity borders on heresy, given how companies thrive on rapid obsolesce and regular upgrade cycles. Still, Bricklin has argued, as electronic data becomes more central to our daily lives, the tools to manipulate that data are much like the roads, bridges and buildings we use every day. As such, he maintains, software should be commissioned and maintained in much the same way.

Bricklin knows a thing or two about software. In 1979 he co-developed VisiCalc while he was a student at Harvard Business School. Although Lotus 1-2-3 eventually eclipsed VisiCalc in the marketplace, Bricklin has continued to work in the field, both as a consultant and a software developer. In 1985 he formed his own company, Software Garden Inc. of Newton Highlands, Mass., which he still runs today.

Bricklin holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in business from Harvard University. Staff writer Joab Jackson interviewed Bricklin by phone.

What is dBi?

decibels with respect to an isotropic radiator (antennas)

Glossary of GIS and Remote Sensing Terms

Now you know.

A more prosperous 2005?

Increased 2005 Advertising

Newsday's Monty Phan and James T. Madore report that two advertising forecasters predict notable gains for the industry in 2005, despite the absence of the presidential election and Olympics ad spending that helped drive this year's growth.

Let it be so.

The Center for Open Source & Government

New Conference March 16-17

On May 28th last year, The Department of Defense issued its memo entitled "Open Source Software (OSS) in the Department of Defense (DoD)", which leveled the playing field for Open Source Software. As a result, to be used in the Federal government's market-based, heterogeneous IT environment, Open Source Software must provide best value for money, just like any other software product.

It is within this framework that The General Services Administration (GSA) and The Center of Open Source & Government are co-sponsoring a conference entitled Unlocking Innovation for the Business of Government to discuss the question, "How does Open Source provide an Innovative Solution for E-Government"

Why standards and Service Oriented Architecture matter

One Nomad points toward Enterprise Portals Suites Review

Standards-based portals are a must. If the product complies with portal standards, such as WSRP (Web Services for Remote Portlets) and JSR (Java Specification Request)-168, and Web services standards (SOAP, WSDL), you're assured that third-party products will work with it and the applications you develop will work with your existing infrastructure.

Custom applications are the most difficult to include in a portal, but the most sought-after. In the past, developers had to learn platform-specific portal APIs. The massive push toward an SOA (service-oriented architecture) has let portal vendors embrace both Web services standards and portal-specific ones. With these standards, the vendors can offer technology that lets even nontechnical users build custom applications.

Indeed, the goal for many companies is to create complex portals that include composite applications without writing a line of code. Application developers can concentrate on business logic and functionality rather than learning platform-specific APIs or even coding new interfaces to existing applications.

Soon the entire Federal government will be required to conform to open standards, follow developments at the XML community of practice.

Saudis, expats stunned at US consulate assault

Saudis and expatriates said on Tuesday they were still reeling from a brazen al Qaeda attack on the U.S. consulate, the first strike on a Western mission in the kingdom.

There are many lessons here, one of which is that trading liberty for security does not work.

The disappearing dollar

How long can it remain the world's most important reserve currency?

THE dollar has been the leading international currency for as long as most people can remember. But its dominant role can no longer be taken for granted. If America keeps on spending and borrowing at its present pace, the dollar will eventually lose its mighty status in international finance. And that would hurt: the privilege of being able to print the world's reserve currency, a privilege which is now at risk, allows America to borrow cheaply, and thus to spend much more than it earns, on far better terms than are available to others. Imagine you could write cheques that were accepted as payment but never cashed. That is what it amounts to. If you had been granted that ability, you might take care to hang on to it. America is taking no such care, and may come to regret it.

A bad sign. A very bad sign.

New to blog roll, analyst blog

Firm Research

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Need the latest news on your topic? Search more than 6,000 of the world's leading news sources from the past 2 years. $3/each.

New user group

The Zope/Python Users Group of DC

Congratulations Haberman and Associates

Local Minnesota PR Firm Fights 'The Man'

Since the late 90s, when Microsoft crushed Netscape, the IT world has been waiting for someone to step up to the plate and take on Microsoft--Mozilla Firefox 1.0 browser has answered the call. And while Firefox holds but a fraction of the browser market it underdog status appeals to many.

According to LinuxInsider.com, Minnesota's own Haberman & Associates "recently joined a grassroots effort aimed at making the upstart Firefox browser a plausible alternative to Microsoft's market-dominant but problem-plagued Internet Explorer."

In praise of mainstream media

As one of the few blogs that does original reporting Technoflak appreciates the work involved in providing a simple account of a meeting, never mind getting it done on deadline.

Everyday broadcasts, newspapers, magazines and web sites offer us a cornucopia of news stories gathered by an army of reporters. This is very expensive. If I were an editor I would not embed links in my online edition except in rare cases. That is what advertising is for; if a newsmaker wants a link, let them pay for it.

Nedworking

One of the best email discussion lists is Ed Lundquist’s Job of the Week. From Fast 50:

The proposition is very simple. Members of the cooperative network share jobs, opportunities, questions and observations with JOTW founder Ned Lundquist. He posts them on his e-mail newsletter and people respond. Boy do they respond. There are more than 7,600 subscribers, and more than 9,800 jobs have been posted since JOTW started in 2001.

To subscribe to Job of the Week send a blank email to: JOTW-subscribe[@]topica[.]com

The first ever Australian blogging conference

2005.Australian.Blogging.Conference. Feb 2005 - Melbourne, Australia

Technoflak has always wanted to go to Australia.

NBC, CBS and the United Church of Christ

United Church of Christ ad highlighting Jesus' extravagant welcome called 'too controversial'

CLEVELAND -- The CBS and NBC television networks are refusing to run a 30-second television ad from the United Church of Christ because its all-inclusive welcome has been deemed "too controversial."

The ad, part of the denomination's new, broad identity campaign set to begin airing nationwide on Dec. 1, states that -- like Jesus -- the United Church of Christ seeks to welcome all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation.

According to a written explanation from CBS, the United Church of Christ is being denied network access because its ad implies acceptance of gay and lesbian couples -- among other minority constituencies -- and is, therefore, too "controversial."

"Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," reads an explanation from CBS, "and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."

Similarly, a rejection by NBC declared the spot "too controversial."

"It's ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial," says the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president. "What's going on here?"

It is profoundly disturbing to Technoflak that those who traffic in hate and persecution under color of religion are given hours of free airtime; but her church is unable to buy time to offer a message of love and universal Christian fellowship during the season of peace.

Watch our advertisement and judge for yourself.

Join us for worship this Sunday. All are welcome. Really.

Tech on the Potomac

When people think of technology they think of Silicon Valley, Massachusetts Route 128, or North Carolina’s Research Triangle. Few think of Greater Washington, yet the original Univac was developed for the Census Bureau. The miniaturization necessary for the modern laptop came out of NASA. The Internet came out of the Department of Defense APRA net.

Part of the purpose of this blog is to chronicle the technology scene of greater Washington and give readers a chance to learn about the important work that is done here. Here is a review of Technoflak’s reporting on local technology events:

Federal XML Work Group:

Government XML Community of Practice (not Technoflak’s reporting)

Federal XML Work Group, July 21st meeting

Federal XML work group (from the minutes)

XML Work Group, May 18 Meeting


NCC AIIM:

Tony Byrne of CMS Watch at NCC AIIM

Timothy Sprehe explains Technical Report 48

Mark Mandel’s take of AIIM 2004

AIIM 2004 Show Wrap


DC XML Users Group:

July Meeting of DC XML Users Group

March Meeting of the DC XML Users Group


Northern Virginia Java Users Group:

ILOG at NOVA JUG

Metaprogramming

Everybody is a Public Figure


Independent PR Alliance:

Useful Communication Technologies


DC SPIN:

Process Improvement Basics

Model Driven Architecture: From Theory to Practice, From Promise to Profit

Security changes everything

Developing Secure Software

Six Sigma & Process Improvement


Yorktown High School Libre Users Group:

Richard Stallman


MIT Enterprise Forum:

Where Will the Money be Spent?

MIT Enterprise Forum


Mid Atlantic TAWPI:

In memory of Herbert Schantz

How to Design a Form for Effective Automatic Character Recognition (from the minutes)


Northern Virginia IEEE:

Dr. Gary McGraw on exploiting software (not technoflak’s reporting)


Miscellaneous:

The Spectacled Bear goes to the DC XML Forum (not Technoflak’s reporting)

Civil service IT humor (not Technoflak’s reporting)

Tech Tuesday: Computer Guys Live at FOSE

Colonial Williamsburg

I spent Thanksgiving weekend touring Colonial Williamsburg. It is an enchantingly beautiful and fascinating place. If there had been time I would have gone to Yorktown battlefield park and Jamestown, which are both nearby.

Their presentation has changed since I was a child; they now acknowledge the presence of slavery and its role in our history.

George Wythe lived just two houses away from the Governor’s Palace. You can only wonder what it must have been like for poor Governor Dunmore to look out his window, only to see Jefferson’s horse outside of Wythe’s house and imagine what sort of plotting was taking place there.

Bigger is not better

Benefits system hit by IT chaos

Pension and benefit payments face disruption after what is being described as the biggest computer crash in government history left as many as 80,000 civil servants staring at blank screens and reverting to writing out giro cheques by hand in the latest blow to a hi-tech Whitehall revolution.

A week-long crisis in the giant Department for Work and Pensions created a backlog of unprocessed claims with up to 80% of the ministry's 100,000 desk machines disrupted or knocked out by a blunder during maintenance.

Engineers battling to fix the problem last night claimed 95% were functioning fully again as they prepared to reboot the entire network after offices closed to the public.

Alan Johnson, the work and pensions secretary, has ordered an internal inquiry into the role of Microsoft and the American contractors EDS, who run the ministry's network as part of a £2bn information technology deal.

The disruption is the latest in a line of government technology failures and follows last week's resignation of the head of the Child Support Agency, part of Mr Johnson's empire, after the disastrous introduction of an EDS system contributed to only one in eight parents receiving the correct amount.

How many of these disasters are we going to read about before we learn that you don’t need a big company to handle a big job? Small companies can often do a better job at a lower price.

Happy Thanksgiving

The first Thanksgiving

We gather together

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!