Monday, March 28, 2011
James Gosling Goes Google
James Gosling, the father of Java, has gone Google according to his latest blog entry today. This is good news for all things Google in my opinion.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Chrome OS and Flash is now Rock Solid
Since Google updated Chrome OS in early March with the new embedded Flash 10.2 player, I have not had a single Flash Player crash in over two-weeks. It looks like Adobe and Google have resolve the Flash Player stability problems in Chrome OS and the Chrome web browser. At least that is what I have observed on my Cr-48 the past few weeks.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Time for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) at Home
I think it's time to migrate to a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) model at home. At least the thoughts are brewing around my head. The primary problem is cost. I wonder if there are low-cost or FOSS solutions to this problem? Maybe using VMware, VirtualBox in conjunction with Chromoting/VNC, web applications, elastic cloud services to make all this happen. At this point, I haven't put a lot of thought to it but I can envision the need as we continue evolving forward in the Generation M2 (media multitasking) world.
At any rate, I see the need since the proliferation of computing devices seems to be exploding in my household. In the past few years we now have Android, Linux, iOS, Chrome OS, Mac OS, Windows, and cloud-apps, in use on a daily basis. Additionally, on the family/personal entertainment side there is DS, PS3, Wii, GameCube, PS2, etc. etc. We live in a post PC ubiquitous computing environment where traditional OSs such as Linux, Mac OS, and Windows make up an ever increasing smaller portion of the platforms we use on a daily basis.
At any rate, I see the need since the proliferation of computing devices seems to be exploding in my household. In the past few years we now have Android, Linux, iOS, Chrome OS, Mac OS, Windows, and cloud-apps, in use on a daily basis. Additionally, on the family/personal entertainment side there is DS, PS3, Wii, GameCube, PS2, etc. etc. We live in a post PC ubiquitous computing environment where traditional OSs such as Linux, Mac OS, and Windows make up an ever increasing smaller portion of the platforms we use on a daily basis.
Android Application Development without Coding
Android application development is becoming a critical element of any systems engineering and especially software engineering architecture today. So what technology do you use to develop Android applications for the mobile and emerging tablet market segments?
In the past few years, Android development is centered on Java/Dalvik, Python, HTML5 (Javascript, CSS3, HTML5), C++, and any other web development languages and systems that support mobile clients. In today's IT environment, yet another platform and yet another set of APIs, SDKs, and framework is not really desirable to me. It is just more to learn, more issues to uncover, more workarounds, more techniques, etc. The folks over at Google Labs have the same viewpoints and have created something interesting.
Google Labs has released and is experimenting with a new lightweight browser-based development platform called AppInventor which leverages underlying Java technology and does not require any coding in our traditional understanding of programming. How is this possible? It uses a new metaphor for application development I first observed in Scratch. Instead of coding in the traditional sense using drag-n-drop, code snippets, classes, and XML etc., Scratch implements a jigsaw puzzle like paradigm for defining application logic. Visual components are placed onto the application in the traditional drag-n-drop paradigm, but the application logic, behaviors, and other aspects normally coded in snippets are all defined using visual jigsaw like building blocks.
I have played with Scratch a few years ago when my son was in Kindergarten and saw its potential. A few years later, I can see its practical application in AppInventor and the need to experiment with code-free application development for Android platform. I recently created my first sets of Android applications using AppInventor and can vouch for the no-coding paradigm is a viable software development model for simple to mildy complicated applications. The next few months is going to be fun working with AppInventor!
In the past few years, Android development is centered on Java/Dalvik, Python, HTML5 (Javascript, CSS3, HTML5), C++, and any other web development languages and systems that support mobile clients. In today's IT environment, yet another platform and yet another set of APIs, SDKs, and framework is not really desirable to me. It is just more to learn, more issues to uncover, more workarounds, more techniques, etc. The folks over at Google Labs have the same viewpoints and have created something interesting.
Google Labs has released and is experimenting with a new lightweight browser-based development platform called AppInventor which leverages underlying Java technology and does not require any coding in our traditional understanding of programming. How is this possible? It uses a new metaphor for application development I first observed in Scratch. Instead of coding in the traditional sense using drag-n-drop, code snippets, classes, and XML etc., Scratch implements a jigsaw puzzle like paradigm for defining application logic. Visual components are placed onto the application in the traditional drag-n-drop paradigm, but the application logic, behaviors, and other aspects normally coded in snippets are all defined using visual jigsaw like building blocks.
I have played with Scratch a few years ago when my son was in Kindergarten and saw its potential. A few years later, I can see its practical application in AppInventor and the need to experiment with code-free application development for Android platform. I recently created my first sets of Android applications using AppInventor and can vouch for the no-coding paradigm is a viable software development model for simple to mildy complicated applications. The next few months is going to be fun working with AppInventor!
Breach in RSA SecurID Systems
This past week, RSA announced that their very popular authentication token SecurID technology experienced a security breach. In the RSA press release, it was stated that a 'very sophisticated attack' was used to steal source code and other unspecified documents. Details about the breach are still sketchy and may endanger the security of the RSA token technology widely used by many organizations for two-factor authentication purposes.
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is mentioned in the RSA notice. According to other sources, this type of sophisticated attack was used against Google in China in 2009. Discussions, impact assessments, and industry analysis is occurring on a daily basis since this breach was announced. "What the RSA breach means for you (FAQ)" The next few weeks and months ahead will yield the true impact of this cyber threat.
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is mentioned in the RSA notice. According to other sources, this type of sophisticated attack was used against Google in China in 2009. Discussions, impact assessments, and industry analysis is occurring on a daily basis since this breach was announced. "What the RSA breach means for you (FAQ)" The next few weeks and months ahead will yield the true impact of this cyber threat.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
PMI Agile Certification?
This almost sounds like it came out of a strange dream.. but it is real.
I just received an e-mail from PMI last week announcing a new 2011 initiative for a PMI Agile Certification which they are developing and piloting this spring in May 2011. The goal is to provide an Agile management certification starting in the third quarter of 2011.
The initial eligibility requirements are documented here. This new certification is intended for agile practitioners who are seeking or need to demonstrate a level of professionalism in Agile practices of project management. This looks interesting and is something to keep a watch on this year.
I just received an e-mail from PMI last week announcing a new 2011 initiative for a PMI Agile Certification which they are developing and piloting this spring in May 2011. The goal is to provide an Agile management certification starting in the third quarter of 2011.
The initial eligibility requirements are documented here. This new certification is intended for agile practitioners who are seeking or need to demonstrate a level of professionalism in Agile practices of project management. This looks interesting and is something to keep a watch on this year.
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