Updated 2009-11-25
My how things have changed. Java appears to be going the way of OS/2, Microsoft is now .NET instead of ASP, and many unix servers are using PHP(even some Windows servers). XHTML and XML are both extensively used. Netscape is gone and replaced with Firefox. Smart phones have finally replaced WAP. DIV and SPAN tags are the predominate tags now. Many more servers are now Windows based instead of Unix. .NET is dominant in large business sites. Browsers are all over the place and then there are smart phones. I expect everything to change to video/3D over next 10 years so don’t spend too much time on this stuff At this time I prefer the following:

• .NET for server. Can be C#, VB, PHP, Python or other language but .NET handles various browser issues(mostly).
• CSS – now the standard. Actually standards are recommending all layout should be in CSS format and not included in HTML tags. 
• JavaScript – The standard for years.
• Ajax or similar – dynamic communication as well as saving bandwidth.User gets virtually instant responses.
• MySQL – for databases. Open source.
• Flash – for dynamic graphics sections.
• Look into video and 3D tools – I see most sites going to interactive video/3D instead of text.

Updated 2001-02-15
Well, if you consider that AOL is a version of Internet Explorer(IE) then IE version 4+ now controls 85%+ of the browser market. Microsoft owns 98% of the operating systems. With this combination it should make your decisions easier. Now the potential to use VBScript, ActiveX etc. is feasible on the Internet. Is XHTML or XML going to win? Not sure, probably neither. Each is the “new” language that will allow everyone to communicate together… heard that before??? CSS is here to stay. It will be improved but it is a base for layouts to come. WAP is not going away for awhile… bandwidth may change that so I would not invest too heavily but it is necessary for several sites(like stock brokers, banks…) right now. You can trash all the tables and start using DIV and Span tags. Java is actually gaining ground since more powerful computers and faster bandwidth are available. Microsoft owning everything defeats the one real benefit of Java though. There is always going to be the next language that will solve everything for us… we buy it then figure out it can’t do ???? that the other product could. These of course will be solved in the next version…;-).
A big step is Netscape’s support of standards. Now if we could get Microsoft to do the same and drop that *&*%$# document.all method we could really get grooving. It might surprise many of you to know that Netscape6 is a better standards based browser than Explorer5.5. Explorer is much more forgiving for developers where Netscape is strict.

Published 1997-09-25
For Intranet(because of it’s controlled concept) I would use Microsoft^® supported languages exclusively. These would include DHTML, CSS, Jscript with server code mostly in ASP files. Limited use of VBscript, ActiveX and JAVA. This of course won’t work if you are an OS/2 shop but will work for MAC and some Unix operating systems.

For Internet I prefer to recommend more platform independent languages at this time. Unfortunately many languages are needed to truly develop a site. Unless you use at least some of the capabilities specific to the browser you limit your potential gains.
DHTML is now a must.
JavaScript(Jscript) is best for scripting simply because both browsers support it(sort of).
Pure JAVA is best for advanced requirements but is limiting and slow(this is improving very quickly).
CGI is still my choice for server side code but only because most servers are still Unix. If you can, I recommend using other languages(VB,C++,REXX, whatever).
Cascading Style Sheets(CSS) for those with requirements for specific positioning of elements. Or at least extensive use of small tables(large ones are slow to load).
All above can support both Netscape^® and Microsoft^® browsers if designed correctly.
After all that is said, I have found you need ALL languages above to provide the client with the best solution. More importantly, how(or if) they work on different browsers.

Updated 2009-11-25
Still feel the same way even with faster Internet. It is getting worse with ads down the sides of the page as well. On the other side I do run Google Text ads.  Since these met my criteria of low-bandwidth and no effect on page loading I have tried them. I don’t get a lot of traffic so they haven’t worked out that well but I have accumulated  some credits .  I have not seen any tangible value in over 2 years.

Updated 2001-02-15
Apparently the “click through” rate for banner ads is in the range of 1 in every 1000. This from people who track these things. Now think…. each banner ad is at least 30k… If you are running these things then 999 people are inconvenienced by having to download an additional 30k to visit your “awesome” site. If you run these on every page you must really like to punish your customers. I really do hate these things.

Published 2000-10-07
You might have noticed this site does not run any ads. There is a very specific reason. I take the time and effort to actually get you to come to this site. If I ran ads you could possibly leave my site on the first page because you clicked an ad that was of interest. All the work and effort I put in to get you here and I just sent you somewhere else for a fee of maybe 15¢. It just doesn’t seem to pay off. My site would be slower(all the graphic ads). I would lose a lot of valuable screen real estate displaying these ads. In addition I find customers tolerate these ads. They certainly don’t like them.

In my personal experience this has happened more than once…… I went to a site looking for something, saw an ad that was of interest, clicked the ad and forgot about the original site. That original site just gave away a potential customer for 15¢. Often sites pay more than that in promotion just to get the customer to visit. 

Banner ads can be beneficial for sites like Microsoft, Netscape, Disney, Yahoo and others. They are so large that they know the customer will be back. They are also good for free sites that provide various services “for free”.

Banner exchange ads aren’t much better. You have to show other site ads usually twice as many times as you have yours displayed. Again, do you want to promote other sites more than your own?

In summary it seems foolish to run these ads when it cost you more than the revenue they produce. The problem is the costs are not easily quantifiable and not that obvious. The ads do produce tangible revenue……but at what cost?

Anyway, that is my opinion…..Others have had great success with Banner Ads.

2009-11-25
I never did get back to this and spent little time with developing Flash. It is still very popular particularly for ads and media companies. I may review the newest version to see what has changed in 10 years.

2000-10-07
I have recently been playing with Flash 5. I am not sure yet whether I love it or hate it(probably somewhere in between). Either way I am going to start to use it. Please note since I am just starting with Flash 5 some information may be inaccurate.

What is it?

In a nutshell it is an animation software and player. The player is “built in” to virtually all new browsers. It has been extended beyond that to interface with other HTML components(like JavaScript/Java…). It’s three biggest advantages are browser independence, animation, and vector graphics. If used properly it can produce a very efficient and pleasing site. 

What I like

1. Browser independence. No special code for Netscape or IE. Both browsers support Flash and newer browser versions come with Flash preinstalled. 
2. Object Oriented. Instancing can really improve your sites performance while giving you cool effects.
3. Animation. Need I say more. There is lot’s of it. Too bad it doesn’t support 3D(yet). Then it would be even more interesting. 
4. Timelines. Match up that music to the animation, create object instances each with their own timeline.
5. Vector graphics. Extremely efficient graphics method. Flash 5 allows some very nice effects.
6. Single file with at least basic protection of developers code.

What I don’t like

1. Coding view. You can only see the code for a specific object at anyone time. Would be nice to have option to see code for entire layer/scene. 
2. Proprietary coding standards. There are so many it isn’t funny. 
3. Abuse. Some people make Flash pages that are 1meg+ in size. Eventually this will be fine but right now this is abusive. 
4. Not fully robust yet. It is getting there but working “outside the box” can get tricky.  

I still have to get used to the interface and how it works. The flash tutorial and samples are invaluable for newbies. There is no question Flash 5 has a place in most web sites. Even to a point of being the entire website. There will soon be an entire section for Flash at this site. Many written by an affiliate that is a much better graphics/Flash person than I.

Updated 209-11-24
Notice no one uses the status bar for help anymore. It used to be used on almost every site. Everyone now uses the Title parameer or new custom modules that perform these yellow popups allowing very complex displays rather than the simplistic text display available with the Title parameter…some even look like the classic “balloon help”.  I suspect that these more advanced help module concepts will eventally make it into HTML standards(maybe reference a section of the page like a DIV or snippet of code as the title parm). I have been noticing that sometimes the help flashes on/off when movong over plain text that is in a SPAN with a title parameter. Quite frustrating.

Published 2000-09-02
The title parm is now available in both IE3+ and NN6+. What is it for? It provides those little pop-up help tips when you move the mouse over something. In previous NN browsers this was only available for pictures(Alt parm). This help is now available on ANY tag. For example, move your mouse over this text. Notice the pop-up help appears. Move the mouse over IE3+ or NN6+ to get a better idea of a more common usage. Another reason I supported NN6.

Title is what help should be. None of this writing to statusbar. Clients do not have to look anywhere, help hits them over the head. I had created a Form 7 process for IE3(only) that did the exact same thing before this was built in. This site is changing to exclusively Title help.

How do you do it? Simple, just put TITLE=”What you want to say” on virtually any tag.

I have more stuff on this in How To demos at my website.

Updated 2009-11-25
Iframes are everywhere now. Unfortunately they are being abused by advertisers. They are still a great solution and have provided me with numerous benefits. Still no autosizing capabilities ;(

Updated 2002-01-07
My demonstration site uses IFrames exclusively. Without them there would be no “FloatAway” toolbar. Now if they only had an automatic resizing and true transparency… Never satisfied

Published 2000-09-02
Ever use a frames design? Restrictive aren’t they? You can’t have a frame anywhere you want. A frameset document is a particular type of document. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a frame anywhere you wanted in a window. Wouldn’t it be nice to have frames that can be moved around the window at will? That is what IFrames improves on the old frames(among other things).

The biggest drawback with using IFrames was that they were only supported on IE3+. Not anymore. Netscape V6 now supports them. It is not quite as complete as IE’s version but still it is a major step forward.

Their biggest advantage is they allow a developer to create a site with multiple small windows interacting…just like many Windows applications. This is really cool and opens up the potential for a true client server model on the web.

Don’t get me wrong, frames are great. This demo site still uses frames because when making a simple 3 frame page the Frameset means you do not have to code for resizing and other weird things. I could have used IFrames, but they are not best for this particular site. I do use them on sites that need more complex interaction between many frames. 

If you have a choice and you only need to support IE and NN6 think about IFrames. There are a lot more possibilities once you use them.

Updated 2009-11-24
Well there are so many FREE choices with the capability of FrontPage it is a waste of time. Many free online hosting sites have advanced online site development utilities that include advanced modules like search, rating, breadcrumbs, themes, etc. available with just a few clicks. Even shopping carts & e-Commerce are simple drop-ins. Compelling web sites can now be created without any coding knowledge. Why would you pay for any basic web site development tool.

Update 2000-09-02
FrontPage 2000 has been out for a while now… not sure if I like it or hate it. I know that several other products have stepped ahead. Particularly when it comes to positioning and database connectivity. FrontPage 2000 seems to be trying to be middle of the road. They improved sections where there were problems(like options when publishing site) and you can open more than one web at the same time but the redesigned sucks. Opening more than 1 document at a time means you better know about Ctrl+Tab or read it somewhere in the manuals(someone actually reads those?).
In a nutshell it has some good features, it is not as good as NetObjects(or others), and it has some noticeable drawbacks if you are accustom to 98. If you have 98 don’t waste your money. If you are looking at buying one… There are now a lot of competing products. Some free ones are as good as FrontPage. See sites like CNet/ZDnet for their reviews on these products.
I currently use FrontPage2000 simply because it doesn’t reformat my code like ‘98(big problem). In addition I only use these products to draw the page. I then go to code to make things happen. The less code they produce the better for me.

Published 1998-10-17
Well it has my best recommendation……I use it! Of course I also use other tools as well. FrontPage98 is not my first choice for database driven systems.

FrontPage98 Benefits

There are so many. First off I have virtually removed all requirements to work with CGI. I know CGI is a powerful tool but it is not that easy to work with. Site administration has become a breeze. There are so many prebuilt options that used to take me days that now take me minutes(like discussion groups, forms, search, guestbook, etc.). Shared borders and navigation are what every developer wants. There are many more reasons I just haven’t listed them. With all these options it still lets me do more complex things that it does not support. Alas, nothing is perfect……see below…..

FrontPage98 Disadvantages

It doesn’t work well with complex CGI sites(like my old site). These will have to be converted. You have to work within Navigators limited design if you want to use all functions. Navigator functions do not always do what you would logically think. Shared borders do not support script in headings. Using variables in Explorer are limited to text only values. Numerous quirky problems, especially when working with Unix servers. But I think I have most of them figured out(they all have work arounds). Database functionality is very limited. I wish vendors would stop using us developers to work out their buggy software. 

FrontPage98 Summary

Buy it! It is simple enough an eight year old can build a very nice site yet capable enough to handle much more complex web site requirements. It supports a limited team work environment on it’s own but works even better with integrated tools like SourceSafe, VB6.0, Visual InterDev, and IIS 4.0. There are other contenders. If you want a lot of database design then NetObjects Fusion may be a better choice right now.

The infamous Year 2000(Y2K). It figures we techies had to come up with an acronym for it. Anyway here is some of my input into the problem.

2038 is already solved

2009-11-24
With the mainstream deployment of 64 bit hardware and operating systems ongoing now any issues with 2038 should not occur. This presumes that all 32 bit systems will be replaced in the next 29 years. Of course with our history there will probably be at least a few crtical systems still running software/hardware from 1980.  Dates will not have any problems until at least the year 10,000.  This is my last update on this issue. 

The Biggest Non-Event Ever?

2000-03-26
Well, we have completed the quarter(almost) with relatively no problems. I have heard of lot’s of reporting problems and a few systems failures but nothing that we as customers will ever notice. Every problem I have seen so far has a fairly simple solution. This has to be the biggest non-event in history of mankind. On the other hand there was an awful lot of fixing going on for years before the event.

Hopefully the Final Update

2000-01-02
Whew, we made it. With no major impacts related to Y2K I am not concerned any more. Sure there may be some problems for specific companies but they will work around them. As long as hydro and water works we will go along just fine. I have heard of some trivial problems but nothing that hasn’t been worked around. Have to question our panic in many cases though. It appears that countries that did very little Y2K preparation are not having any major problems. Will have to wait for a few weeks/months to see full results. Also, many computerized systems were shutdown over Y2K just in case. Many systems with problems were just restarted with 1971 date and things went without a hitch. I am amazed how little impact there was on the clock change. I expected at least a few countries with problems. Everyone that thought there would be no problems ended up right. Of course, if no one actually fixed any of  the problems that were there things would have been a mess for sure. A lot of work by many people helped get us by a major hurdle. Now we just have to wait for 2038 and the next major date related hurdle. That is when virtually every program currently built that uses dates will not work. We can’t even start to fix it till we get a 64 bit operating system. 

Investing?…Watch Out

1999-09-26
The US government has created legislation that allows a company that provided non-compliant Y2K systems 90 days to resolve any problems. Although this will help let’s think about this for a minute……..
Companies like IBM and Microsoft may be forced to give away a lot of free upgrades. In addition they may have extensive costs in assisting implement the upgrades. Let’s take a minor example. Windows95 is not Y2K compliant. Your company invested and put Windows95 on every desktop. You do not upgrade to new versions before Y2K. When Y2K arrives and you have problems. You could easily argue that Microsoft sold you a defective software and they must resolve this issue. Microsoft could then be held responsible to upgrade all your desktops to Y2K compliant systems. Not only provide the software but also absorb the cost of implementing the new software. It could get even worse if your PC’s have to be upgraded to run the new Y2K software. Who is responsible for that? Again you may be able to argue that you do not intend to change all your PC’s so you can run the Y2K software. Microsoft may have a difficult negotiation position. Once this gets out virtually every company with Windows95 would expect the same solution……Think it could get expensive for Microsoft? You bet.
Companies like IBM and Microsoft could go bankrupt just trying to fix this mess. I don’t think an argument that you did not upgrade would be defensible on their part. You paid a lot of money for software that should work.
Apple suddenly looks really good since they have always been Y2K compliant.
So if you are investing you may want to keep this in mind.
As for the Stock Market itself…..Don’t worry….Everything I have seen is that the NYSE and NASDAQ are 100% Y2K compliant already. 

The Latest Update….Relax…Sort of..

1999-09-18
Has anybody had any problem getting historical data from any businesses they deal with? Have you tried? If you did have problems that company is probably not ready for Y2K at all. Raise a big flag so everyone else knows. The rest of us will not have noticed anything since 1999-09-09.
Overall I think we are in pretty good shape in Canada. Our society will survive the Y2K mess. With most of the Hydro issues covered and the Banks primary systems Y2K compliant I do not expect any major catastrophe to hit us on 2000-01-01. There is still a lot to do but it only affects specific companies and not Canada.
My biggest concern at this time is over public reaction to this problem.  Let’s get real, the sky is not falling. The impact this should have on you will be minimum. There may even be an employment boom for a while. Let’s presume that many major companies had severe problems. They will revert to some form of manual methods(which require lot’s more people). This could create a huge demand for data entry and customer service people. Plus additional people to fix the problem. For that matter most jobs that have become redundant could be in demand. Just think, you got laid off 2 years ago and may be back at 2-3 times the salary.
On a business note…If you had any problems whatsoever with 1999-09-09 tell me(so I can sell your stock). You should have all critical systems fully Y2K compliant by now. Trying to fix those “other” systems is priority. The biggest problem with this whole mess is the unknown. You must have all resources available to resolve any of these unknown issues on 2000-01-01. They can’t be loaded down with tasks already. Most companies I have been involved with have created contingency plans for the loss of various systems.
More business stuff – Reports are going to be interesting in the new year. Make sure you can trust the data. Otherwise you may make some bad decisions. If your systems are true Y2K compliant this is not an issue but if you put band-aids make sure those systems provide valid reports. This is almost always forgotten about by IT. In most developments I have been involved reports are the last thing completed.

An Update….major test about to hit us

1999-07-07
Well we are about to hit our first Y2K issue that could affect many businesses. On September 9,1999 some companies may have many of their mainframe files wiped out. Why? Think about it…..99/9/9 was used by many people to specify an indefinite expiry date. The problem with this is even if you fixed the dates to reflect a 4 digit year these files will still get erased since the expiry date is still 1999/9/9. I hope someone in your company adjusted all these dates to 9999/12/31 or at least some time in the future. If not, even your backups might not save you. At the same time you might as well do the 1999/12/31 files as well. Otherwise you will have the same problem again on that date. You have about two months to make sure this is covered. Fortunately it is not that difficult.

An Update….wait for 2038

1999-02-25
Very Few Companies are Really Fixing the Problem!
Most are putting band-aids on their programs counting on them(or the program) not being there “later on”. They are being counted as Y2K compliant. This is a technicality. Many of these systems will fail, just not on 2000-01-01. We will see problems for the next 25-50 years because of the limited vision.
2038 WILL MAKE Y2K LOOK SIMPLE
You have been warned of this! Will anything be done before 2030+? Not likely. The operating system won’t be here for several more years. Then all the programs have to be adjusted. 2038 will be a real killer…..literally. All programs written for current PC systems will fail. This includes “Y2K Compliant” PC’s like Macintosh. Not just reporting wrong dates, actually crash any program that uses a date routine. It is all to do with how dates are stored(again). Technically the date is stored as a number in milliseconds. Current computers only store a number that is 32 bits. Once we hit earlier 2038 the number gets too big for the system to store. To fix this we need 64 bit systems. You know the ones that “are coming”. Only then will we be able to truly fix this mess(at least for 8,000+ years).
The Rant
Why hasn’t everyone standardized on YYYY-MM-DD date format. It is the ISO standard and has been a standard in many countries for years. No confusion and about half of the 2038 problems could be resolved before we get there. Sorting dates would not require special routines. I guess it is too logical.
If you have standardized on this format you have some vision, great job.

Some companies have stated they are Y2K compliant. Not many though….and we in Canada are better off than most countries. In my more recent evaluations I have come to the conclusion that as long as Hydro keeps working and no nuclear plants(or something of that nature) collapse we as a society will survive just fine. Some companies will be out of luck but that will only be a few large businesses.

There is an awful lot of built up spending coming. The mad dash to upgrade PC’s is here! Now who is going to install all this equipment?

Y2K – Who is Affected?

1998-08-23
Actually if you are an individual(or most small business) the impact should be minimum.   Does the date on devices really matter that much to you? I couldn’t care less as long as they still work. Besides you can usually replace devices(PC, software, VCR) pretty quickly. Although on the other hand, I won’t be flying when the clock changes. My recommendation is play it safe when the clock changes. Don’t be using any device that requires computers. These include trains, planes, cars(traffic lights), elevators, escalators, subways, to name a few. Although in most cases things will be fine do you need to take the chance for the sake of 5 minutes?  Your major problem is how the large business problems will affect you. If we get the domino effect of business failures you could be out of a job, consumer goods might not be on the shelves, that kind of thing. If the worst were to happen most governments will step in with assistance(if they can). Now if you are a mid-size to large business this is a whole different issue. Your business depends on this. You can’t go to manual methods and survive. So if  you haven’t covered every base you can think of by now…. PANIC!!!!!

Y2K Status Update

1998-08-23
I do my own unofficial poll of Y2K and Euro readiness of many major Canadian companies(and some International) through my associates and reviews. Although Canada as a whole is in good shape compared to most countries(Including the US) we still have a long way to go. I have only met two people that in private discussions truly felt their systems would be ready for Y2K and many go “Huh?” when I mention the Euro. I do not know anyone that is 100% ready. It is just now becoming obvious that you have to look outside your company as well.
A Thought… If you are lucky(rare) and are ready, your major client/supplier is probably not…..maybe you better help….to save your business.

Y2K testing anyone?

1998-08-23
There is only one way to truly ensure your company is Y2K compliant. Set ALL clocks to 11:55pm 1999-12-31(not just that old mainframe),  wait for the clock to change to 2000 then run ALL batch processing streams including daily, weekly, monthly…., test all applications, software, hardware, customizations, environment(like elevators), CHECK YOUR DATA, pray you have covered everything, set the clock back….and wait.
Now as the CIO, do you have the manpower to even prepare for test like this? Not likely.
Why “ALL” clocks? Unless you can guarantee that every PC, mini, micro, LAN, mainframe…. system is configured exactly the same for anything related to dates you don’t have much choice. It is easy for someone to configure different date formats.

Y2K ain’t over at 00:01

1998-08-23
This caught me off guard. There are some people that believe this problem is over the moment the clock changes. WRONG! This problem will be ongoing for years. There are so many bypasses being put into systems you will wonder if anything ever really got fixed. The most common bypass currently being done is assuming any two digit year earlier than some year is later than 2000. If later it is 1900.
Example:  If the year is 25 assume it is 2025 but if it is 26 it is 1926.
This may actually work for  a few systems but the  mentality that got us here in the first place is still going on………”This system will be replaced in 5 years”!    Maybe somebody should go Hmmmmmmmmmm(or actually replace the system).

Y2K is it simple?

1997-09-25
It could be if you have systems that are all built within the last couple of years. But even if your business is 100% Y2K compliant are your business partners? For most companies it is going to be much larger than most people think. It affects all computing systems from PC’s to mainframes. It is a worldwide problem.
Background:
At one time disk storage was extremely expensive($60,000+/meg). At that time the computer people informed the clients that due to additional space required to store a four digit year it would cost an additional $240,000+(in 1960’s). Plus the client would have to enter the additional two digits for dates. Guess what decision was made? You guessed it….save cost now, fix it later. Now we have the two digit year. Continue this concept with all programs, built for any computers over the last 40+ years and presto you have a major mess.
The Issues:
First myth….The information(data) is a big problem. Wrong! It is simple to convert. It does take extensive processing but can be coded very easily.
Second myth….We have till 2000-01-01 to fix all these problems. Wrong! The problem is already here and will be here after 2000-01-01. Some systems have had to handle this already(like mortgages). As we get closer to Y2K more systems are going to show errors. Not all problems are going to happen on 2000-01-01 at 00:01. Some may take a year or more before they show up. Already many temporary fixes are being employed that give an additional 10-20 years before they have problems.
Physical hardware is a problem for many old computers. The vendor may not even be in business anymore. Most PC’s previous to Pentium’s are not Y2K compliant and will not work properly on 2000-01-01.
The biggest problem is all those systems that were built to access the data. There are billions of lines of code. Again, some vendors may not be in business anymore. Through the years the source code may have been lost so the program will have to be totally rewritten. Even trying to determine which systems are affected is daunting.
The Impact:
I expect every large company will come out of this with some problems. The best prepared will not have much impact that costs the company revenue. The worst will be bankrupt very quickly. Lawsuits are going to be everywhere when damage control takes hold. Everyone will be pointing at others for their problems.
What to Do:
As of 1998-01-01 if you haven’t completed 80%+ of your conversion you are in trouble.
Get Y2K compliance contracts with all business affiliates that are critical for your business. No matter what, keep staff that have experience with your systems(you are going to need all of them)! Hire as many support and development staff as you can(you will find it isn’t easy to find good staff right now). Contract out as much as possible but keep control of the project within the company. Target critical systems first, including all associated programs. Extensive contingency planning. Plan for the unplanned. Panic!
Just a Thought:
If humanity survives past the year 9999(I think it will) think how much will have to change. It will make our current problems seem trivial.
Think of the savings that occurred because of the two digit year. Storage space, processing power, even paper was saved. Sure it is costing a fortune now but I think it did return value.
Most computing systems working today were built with the intention that they would be scrapped within five years of their installation. Many have been running for over thirty years. If a business had any other equipment that performed this way they would be thrilled. Computer software systems are just like any machinery. If they are not kept up they fall apart. They eventually need replacement even though at the moment they are working fine.

Updated 2009-11-24
Nobody talks about this technology anymore. Has been replaced by RSS.

Updated 1999-02-25
Well this technology really hasn’t been used much yet. Most of the sites mentioned below do have their own channel but it is a waste for most sites.

Published 1997-09-25
Cool, but how many sites do you want updates from that often? Big value to specific industries(like stock, weather, etc.).

Updated 2009-11-24
The new standard is XHTML. This new standard just enforces strict rules on DHTML. Forces every DHTML tag to have an end tag. DHTML has been great and has been a valuable tool. It has been a great technology investment.
Published 1997-09-25
Dynamic HyperText Markup Language(DHTML) adds zest to your pages. Finally, they have opened the object model. Now you can code for just about anything. It really isn’t anything new. You could dynamically change things before but you were extremely limited in the objects you could manipulate. All that has changed. DHTML allows you to change anything, you can have layers, redraw a section of screen at will, make animation without gif89a, and lots more. In addition the pages can work with older browsers easier than before. As a technician I think this is excellent. I am having fun learning all the new options.

Updated on 2002-08-28
OK, this is really getting out of hand. Things have gotten so bad I physically disconnect my cable internet  connection when not in use. Even though I am only connected 2-3 hours per day lately my firewall shows I am getting port scanned at least 3-5 times a day. Plus the hundreds of other attack attempts per day. I use dynamic IP but it makes no difference… there is no place to hide when scanners are being used.
Everyone seems to have lost focus on this issue. The problem isn’t  the “software”. The problem is someone abusing the software. Blaming the software is like blaming Ford because someone intentionally crashed their car into a wall. It is not possible for a manufacturer to stop potential abuse of a product. 
Unfortunately in the virtual world a reasonable hacker can make it impossible to trace them so there is no punishment. One solution seems to be removal of “anonymous” surfing. This is not something I want to see happen!  I also see it creating a whole new set of problems.
We need a central security net to stop the most predominate attack methods. These include things like port scans, IP scans, spoofing, denial of service  to name a few. We have to tighten security then punish those that would attack us, not those that enable us to do wonderful things.  

Published on 1998-03-03
There are a lot of security issues being brought forward lately regarding both Netscape and Microsoft browsers. This should not be surprising. Both have enabled you to have a dramatically improved browsing experience. A major disadvantage of enabling features is that there is always going to be someone figuring ways to abuse the features. This does not mean we should all pack up and leave the net. It does however mean that we should keep ourselves informed about potential risks and possible protection. I am surprised by the number of people that have very little understanding of security on the net. There is no place that is 100% secure. Not the net or even your house. If someone wants to get to you badly enough they can find a way.
There are several things you can do to make your browsing safer. I have two Dhtml demos that show you what can be detected by the server and browser. Everyone should check the server detected page at least once. You probably are not affected but you should make sure.

หลังจากเปิดให้ดาวน์โหลดโปรแกรมเบราว์เซอร์ไออี 8 อย่างเป็นทางการ ไมโครซอฟท์นำความคืบหน้าของไออี 9 (Internet Explorer 9) มาประกาศในงานประชุมนักพัฒนาซึ่งไมโครซอฟท์จัดขึ้นในชื่อ Professional Developer’s Conference (PDC) ในลอสเองเจลิสเมื่อปลายสัปดาห์ที่ผ่านมา โดยระบุว่าไมโครซอฟท์กำลังสนใจในมาตรฐานใหม่อย่าง HTML 5 รวมถึงแผนการทดสอบเพื่อป้องกันไม่ให้เกิดรูรั่วในโปรแกรมเบราว์เซอร์แบบที่เคยเป็นมาตลอด

ไมโครซอฟท์ยืนยันว่าไออี 9 จะมีประสิทธิภาพที่เพิ่มขึ้น ความสามารถใหม่ และรองรับมาตรฐานใหม่ โดยสตีเฟน ไซนอฟสกี (Stephen Sinofsky) ประธานธุรกิจวินโดวส์และวินโดวส์ไลฟ์ (Windows and Windows Live) ของไมโครซอฟท์ออกมายืนยันข่าวว่าไออีจะรองรับมาตรฐานใหม่อย่าง HTML 5 ซึ่งจะทำให้เว็บไซต์มีความสามารถเฉพาะทางที่เพิ่มขึ้น ไมโครซอฟท์ระบุว่าไออีประสบความสำเร็จงดงามแล้วจากการทดสอบ “Acid2 Test” ของโครงการมาตรฐานเว็บไซต์หรือ Web Standards Project ทั้งหมดเป็นเครื่องการันตีได้ว่าไมโครซอฟท์ให้ความสำคัญกับความสามารถในการทำงานร่วมกันหรือ compatibility มากขึ้น

เมื่อเริ่มพัฒนาได้เพียง 3 สัปดาห์ จึงเชื่อว่าไออี 9 จะยังไม่สามารถเปิดตัวได้ในอนาคตอันใกล้ โดยแม้จะมีการส่งไปทดสอบ Acid 2 แล้ว แต่ไมโครซอฟท์ก็ยังไม่เปิดเผยชุดรหัสหรือโค้ดโปรแกรมไออี 9

โดย ASTVผู้จัดการออนไลน์

Published 1997-09-25
Rapid Application Development(RAD) is tools and methodologies. Here are a few opinions on both.

I have been using RAD tools since 1995 but have used the methods long before there was a name “RAD”. I have seen RAD benefits and abuse. Whether you like it or not it is today’s development platform.
I have created a short list of things to keep in mind when you step into RAD. They include requirements, benefits, disadvantages and a summary. In no way should this be considered a complete list.

Requirements:

• Excellent leadership. Somebody has to point the technicians in the right direction and let them go.
• Top skilled technicians. If you don’t have the motivated people to do the work it won’t get done. They also have to understand business requirements and be able to interface with clients.
• Supportive infrastructure. This is two sided. You have to inform others of change ASAP, others must be co-operative in supporting your goals.
• Co-operative clients. Some clients want everything yesterday or do not calculate business value.
• Everyone has to “buy in” to the process. It requires extreme dedication by all involved.
• Best tools for the environment. Because a tool is great does not mean it is best for your site. On the other hand the environment should be open in structure to allow the best tool.
• Compensate staff. If you don’t recognize these achievers you will loose your most valuable asset, your staff. Make sure no one steals your investment!

Benefits:

• You get business benefits very fast($$$$).
• Time boxing really allows you to focus on deliverable components.
• Due to factors like iterative development more client satisfaction. Clients are involved from beginning to end.
• If done right you work out more initial requirement bugs before installation.
• You reduce the moving target syndrome.
• Focalizing data into one view instead of many screens.
• RAD’s usual focus is on high return developments. Usually related to the financial sectors of the business. In my experience 10-1 payback in first year is easily obtainable.
• Reusable objects make future developments even faster.
• Did I mention very FAST and very high client satisfaction.

Disadvantages:

• It is like college development projects. You would produce something that performed the required functions, looked good, but usually was not the best quality. Due to time constraints you submit what you have accomplished and take credit.
• The client usually gets a shell of what they want with several sections to be added in future projects(if you get to them).
• Poor leadership can result in projects failing to achieve objectives.
• If the technicians are low skilled you will never achieve objectives. Regardless of leadership.
• It burns out good technicians at an alarming rate.
• Because RAD is usually used on projects that have never been attempted many “work around” coding methods are used.
• Initial project requirements are usually under estimated.
• Time boxing makes technicians compromise on solutions.
• The target still moves, just faster.
• Client expectations go through the roof. Suddenly they can’t wait six months. Even though before RAD you told them two years or more.

Summary:

Sounds pretty negative doesn’t it? Surprise….
RAD can be great for your business. Although it has some drawbacks the return on investment(ROI) can’t be beat. Time boxing is a mandatory element(unfortunately)! If you use top notch leaders and technicians, keep them happy and make sure no one steals them without a fight you can reduce the disadvantages dramatically.
Using the methodology and tools for Internet development is a logical evolution of the client server model. Recommend you implement Object Oriented(OO) methods regardless of tools. Make it challenging, rewarding and above all, FUN!
Something to think about….
You look at a piece of machinery. It cost $2,000,000 and maintenance will be another $2,000,000 a year. It saved or makes $10,000,000 benefits each year and will last five years before you dispose of it. Would you buy it? Would you be happy? Probably, 500% ROI per year would make most of us happy.
Now, you have employees, some who have produced solutions that either saved or made the company $10,000,000(plus subsequent years). Would you pay them $2,000,000 per year? I doubt it. If they are lucky they get a bonus and/or a raise of $5,000. What is the difference? You made an investment and got back the same return either way.
The opposite is true as well. If the machinery keeps breaking down or not performing it’s function you replace it.
I know it is not feasible to compensate at this level but doesn’t the compensation most companies give seem inadequate. Loosing good investments because you won’t pay an extra $10-20,000 just doesn’t make sense. The costs just trying to find another good employee would be substantially higher(plus training etc.). In my experience good employees produce 5-10 times the average employee(more for below average). They are extremely valuable assets. Treat them that way. If they are good, your payback is worth it.
The key truly is the people.

About Ultra RAD

You heard it here first. That is because I have termed this type of development. It is different than RAD in that it is specifically designed for projects that take less than 5 months. Once you have implemented several RAD solutions using OO methodologies many new projects suddenly can shift from 6-8 months to 3-6 months. Although the tools are the same the methodology changes. The process is streamlined even further. Timelines are tightened. Reusable objects are a must.

Please send resumes to rrabines@topsource.com

Location: Boca Raton, FL

Title: Reports Developer / SSRS

Salary: $60,000 – $65,000/year + Benefits

The ideal Reports Developer will need to be effective developing in MS SQL.

Responsibilities:

-     Monitors integration logs and effectively debugs and resolves issues

-     Manages regular data integration updates from schools which involves managing school data loads; school and campus metadata, school lead forms, lead caps, lead delivery, and all respective web site mappings to schools and their respective program offerings

-     Launches school integrations with new customers in a timely manner.

-     Manages day-to-day interaction and expectations with Sales

-     Works effectively with peers in IT

-     Ensures deliverables for projects are well documented, approved, and prioritized by management

-     Ensures changes to project schedule and/or scope are reviewed and approved

-     Ensures all initiatives follow our SDLC methodology

-     Leads the testing efforts for integration

-     Effectively communicates relevant project information

-     Resolves and/or escalates issues in a timely fashion

Requirements:

-     3+ years experience developing in MS SQL Server (stored procedures, functions, views)

-     3+ years experience developing MS SQL reports using SSRS

-     3+ years experience working with stakeholders

-     3+ years using advanced features in Excel working with raw data and reporting

-     Experience working in a Microsoft .NET environment with specific aptitude using xml and web services.

-     Experience working within an enterprise IT environment

-     Participate in on-call production support, providing off-hour support as appropriate

-     Represents the organization and self professionally

-     Effective time management and organization skills

-     Ability to work on multiple projects

-     Excelling verbal and written communication skills

-     Ability to work within team environment

-     Ability to work independently

-     Ability to be a self starter to promote new initiatives

If you are interested, please send your resume, expected pay rate and citizenship status (US citizen/green card/work permit) to sarada@quality-waves.com

If you are interested, please send your resume, expected pay rate and citizenship status (US citizen/green card/work permit) to sarada@quality-waves.com

If you are interested, please send your resume, expected pay rate and citizenship status (US citizen/green card/work permit) to sarada

The last ABAA meeting for the year is nearly upon us — 8 Dec 2009. The topic of conversation will be ‘what is a business analyst’s role in an agile world’?

At first I thought this would be a very interesting conversation but the more I thought about it the more I thought it was a little naive to be asking the question in this way. Is there an actual role? … see for yourself . . .

Kanban

• Prescribes no formal roles

ZenAgile

• Samurai – the defender of the project
• Roshi – the project lead, teacher and mentor
• Sensei – the team’s mentor, leader and users’ champion
• Team – multi-disciplinary where its members are chosen based on need

Scrum

• Scrum Master – protector and champion of the team from The Powers That Be
• Product Owner – customer representative and stack prioritiser
• Team – multi-disciplinary based on need

Extreme Programming (XP)

• Tracker - measures and communicates the team’s progress
• Coach – like the Sensei in ZenAgile this is a supporting role that helps a team stay on process and help the team learn
• Tester – helps the customer define and write acceptance tests for user stories in the same way a Product Owner might do in Scrum
• Customer - defines what is the right product to build, determines the order in which features will be built, and makes sure the product actually work
• Programmer - implements the code to support the user stories
• Programmer administrator - manages the programmer environment

DSDM [1]

• Executive Sponsor – commits appropriate funds and resources
• Visionary – initialises the project by ensuring that essential requirements are found early on. The Visionary has the most accurate perception of the business objectives of the system and the project. Another task is to supervise and keep the development process in the right track.
• Ambassador User – the knowledge of user community into the project, ensures that the developers receive enough amount of user’s feedback during the development process.
• Advisor User – the one who represents important users’ viewpoints
• Project Manager – manages the project in general
• Technical Coordinator – designs the system architecture and controls the technical quality in the project
• Team Leader – ensures that the team works effectively as a whole.
• Developer – interprets the system requirements and model it including developing the deliverable code and build the prototypes
• Tester - checks the correctness in a technical extents by performing some testings. Tester will have to give some comments and documentation.
• Scribe – gathers and records the requirements, agreements, and decisions made in every workshop
• Facilitator – manages the workshops progress, acts as a motor for preparation and communication.

RUP

• Well, it has over 30 roles … so let’s not go there

If the essence of agile is simplicity then there’s certainly something wrong with some of these ways of working. The most striking thing in all of these is the lack of an actual, dedicated, business analysis role. There are certainly elements of a standard BA in DSDM’s Scribe and Facilitator roles. The Tester and Tracker roles in XP could also be done by someone with a BA background. Craig Brown of Better Projects has even suggested that a BA could undertake the role of the Product Owner in Scrum. But Scrum, ZenAgile and Kanban essentially take the most appropriate people with the most appropriate skills in order to acomplish a specific task or activity. In these, there is obvious room for a BA role to lead or follow, but no defined role for a BA to play as it’s task dependent.

So what is a business analyst’s role in an agile world? Just like there is no PM role in agile there is also no actual BA role either. In some areas that focus more on software engineering there aren’t even any standard analyst roles but moreover a focus on eliciting customer needs directly. It means that in some agile projects there may not be a perceived need to involve an analyst at all.

In reality, though, someone needs to assist with the following:

• Understanding users’ needs, wants, expectations, capabilities and attitudes
• Communicating and documenting those needs
• Translating those needs to those who will implement the project
• Ensuring that the output meets the needs of users and the strategic goals of the project and, moreover, the organisation as a whole

This reinforces that skills in business analysis are important for everyone in the project and not just a single role as is prevalent in traditional waterfall projects. It suggests that everyone, from the project lead, samurai or scrum master, should have these skills.

So what is a business analyst’s role in an agile world? There is no BA role. But everyone should definitely have a business analysts skills.

M

- – - -

1. http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/49/Roles-of-DSDM.html

Last week, the long time Mac coder Rogue Amoeba resigned from the Apple App Store in frustration at the approvals process, stating that a simple bug fix took almost four months of “slow replies, delays, and dithering by Apple” before being cleared for public consumption.

Over the past few months Apple has made some efforts in making their approvals process more open, recently allowing developers to see how apps are progressing on the Dev Centre site. However, as this post by CNET shows, the administrative challenge faced by an App Store owner is huge, with each member of the approvals team having to review an application every six minutes.

With the Apple App Store already offering over 100,000 applications, how can competing storefronts ever hope to catch-up whilst still ensuring quality content? Google has taken the approach to only check the technical performance of the application and then allow the users to flag unsuitable content; however those technical tests still represent a costly and time consuming process.

One option would be to put those processes into the hands of the developer themselves, who already thoroughly test their applications before submission to ensure solid reviews. Companies could simply submit their application along with a video recording, screenshots and other pre-determined data points to provide an extremely simple and coherent submission platform.

This process would benefit everyone from store owner to developer through to consumer:

• Store owners bypass an expensive and time consuming process, whilst benefitting from a steady stream of quality content and applications
• Developers gain access to a more open certification process that allows them to get their content into stores faster and more cost-effectively than before
• Consumers gain access to a range of content in a more timely manner, whilst benefitting from ensured quality controls

With global mobile application downloads predicted to grow to 18.7 billion by 2014 the opportunity for the entire mobile ecosystem looks bright, however only if we put in place the controls and processes which will allow this market to grow at this pace today.

We are looking for C++ Developers for one of our clients, a Leading listed IT Services company. This is a contract role with the company.

Write to rizwan.syed [at] avanceservices [dot] com for more details

Role : C++ Developer
Location : London
Terms : Competitive
Role: Contract

Referral Reward – 500 Euros

There is a referral reward of 500 Euros on a success fee basis for this role i.e. we will pay this reward if the person you refer is selected for this role, joins this position and meets some basic client obligations in the first 3 months

We will reply to you within 2 business days for any candidates that you recommend and whom we have already spoken to in the past for this role. This referral reward offer is valid only till December 5th -2009

Orco’s third quarter results were at least as disappointing as those of the entire sector. Whereas the company reported a loss of just €29.8m over the first nine months of 2008, this figure ballooned to €202m in 2009. The company, which is currently in creditor protection through French courts, said it had cut expenses by 24% compared to last year, and that its revenues had risen 24%. But revenues fell from €225.6m to €186.8m as its residential sales fell to €66.2m (from €111.8m), with the company ceasing its resi development activities in Hungary.

Orco said it was seeking the sale of various assets, including the Stein project in Bratislava and Cumberland Haus in Berlin. It claims that work on the Vaci 1 department store in Budapest will resume and that it hoped to reinstate the building permit for Zlota 44 in Warsaw after a court revoked it over the summer.

I’m pleased to announce that PrimeFaces 1.0.0.RC is released.

PrimeFaces 1.0.0.RC introduces 12 new components, Ajax Push Alpha Integration, various improvements and fixes. In total 61 issues in tracker are closed.

• Alpha Ajax Push/Comet integration built on top of Atmosphere Framework.
• New component: AccordionPanel (Reimplementation)
• New component: Password Strength
• New component: Inplace
• New component: Terminal
• New component: Printer
• New component: Tabslider
• New component: Breadcrumb
• New component: Messages
• New component: Message
• New component: RemoteCommand
• New component: Resource
• New component: Watermark
• TouchFaces enhancements; exposed client side api, new view animations.
• DataTable enhancements; Instant Ajax row selection and Ajax Sorting
• Many improvements and fixes to issues reported by PrimeFaces community

See the full changelog for detailed information. Also don’t forget to update your Reference Documentation, it has reached 300 pages now.

Note: This version is not backward compatible, please see Migration Guide.

Next release is for PrimeFaces 2.0.0.RC that targets JSF 2.0, we’re aiming to release 2.0.RC by next week. After that we’ll add more components such as treeTable, contextMenu, fullCalendar, implement feature requests of PrimeFaces users and improve the current codebase.

Thanks to everyone supporting PrimeFaces!

By the way today is the 1st birthday of PrimeFaces, happy birthday!

A revolução digital já era. Falar em revolução digital só tem sentido para aqueles ( EU ! ) que nasceram no mundo analógico e puderam acompanhar a transição dos átomos para os bits.

Sim, já era ! Que sentido tem falar em digital para esta geração que nasceu após 1995 e não conheceu o mundo sem WEB, CD, DVD, IPODs e afins ?

O Devigner é o profissional desta nova geração que não está mais preocupada em digitalizar o mundo ( alguém já fez isto para eles… ) mas sim em interagir com o mundo !

O vídeo “O fim do digital ” produzido pela iThink mostra de maneira didática como o fato de “ser digital” não é mais um diferencial, o diferencial agora é o quanto e de que modo interagimos com o mundo ao nosso redor.

Obs : Este artigo foi originariamente publicado no Quadro dos Bemóis.

O primeiro pintor de cavernas era artista ou engenheiro? Era ambas as coisas, é claro, como o foram, em sua maior parte, os artistas e engenheiros desde então. Mas temos o hábito – cultivado por muito tempo – de imaginá-los como separados, os dois grandes afluentes correndo incessantemente para o mar da modernidade e dividindo, em seu curso, o mundo em dois campos: os que habitam nas margens da tecnologia e os que habitam na margem da cultura.

Qualquer analista profissional de tendências nos dirá que os mundos da tecnologia e da cultura estão colidindo. Mas o que surpreende não é a própria colisão – é o fato de ela ser considerada novidade “

JOHNSON, Steven. Cultura da interface: como o computador transforma nossa maneira de criar e comunicar.

Neste cenário apontado por Steven Johnson, encontra-se o tema da palestra que fiz  em Campinas no Circuito de TI 2009 promovido pelo SENAC SP : Computaçao Gráfica : novos profissionais, novas ferramentas e novos mercados.

Devigner é uma brincadeira com as palavras : developer + designer e é também o perfil de um novo profissional muito requisitado pelo mercado : aquele que faz a ponte entre o estático e o interativo.

Conhece algum Devigner ? Não ? Tem certeza ? Não lembrou deste ?

Obs : Este artigo foi originariamente publicado no Quadro dos Bemóis.