INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - Other Courses And Institutes
List of Institutions In India
Information Technology Course in computers are of four types:
1. University course.
2. Those offered by IT conglomerates like Microsoft, Sun and Oracle.
3. Department of Electronics Accredited Computer.
4. Courses offered by large and small training institutes which are either affiliated to Indian or foreign universities or have no affiliation at all.
Address of Major Institutions offering Graduate/P.G. Programmes in Computers:
1. Alagappa University, Karaikudy, T.Nadu.
2. Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari PO, Guwahati, Assam.
3. Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Rajasthan.
4. Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
5. Bapuji Institute of Engineering & Technology, Davangere, Karnataka.
6. Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot, Karnataka.
7. Bengal Engineering College, Howrah, West Bengal.
8. Bharathiar University, Coimbatore-641 046.
9. Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan.
10. Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Bihar.
11. BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore.
12. Chowdhary Charansigh University, Meerut.
13. Cochin University of Science & Technology, Faculty of Technology, Thrikkakara Campus, Cochin-688 022, Kerala.
14. Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
15. College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
16. College of Engineering, Pune-411 005, Maharashtra.
17. College of Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala.
18. College of Engineering, Waltair, Visakapatnam, A.P.
19. Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering, Bangalore.
20. Department of Computer Science, Delhi University Delhi.
21. Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu.
22. Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Calcutta.
23. Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Calcutta.
24. Faculty of Technology & Engineering, Baroda, Gujarat.
25. Govt. BDT College of Engineering, Davangere, Karnataka.
26. Govt. College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
27. Govt. Engineering College, Thrissur, Kerala,
28. Harcourt Technological Institute, Kanpur, UP.
29. IIT Chennai.
30. IIT Delhi
31. IIT Kanpur.
32. IIT Kharagpur.
33. IIT Mumbai.
34. Indian Agril. Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.
35. Institute of Engineering & Technology, Lucknow, UP.
36. Institute of Technology & Science, Sultanpur, UP.
37. Institute of Technology, Varanasi, UP.
38. ITS, Bangalore, Karnataka.
39. Jadavpur University, Calcutta-700 032.
40. JK Institute of Applied Physics & Technology, Allahabad, UP.
41. INTU College of Engineering, Hyderabad.
42. Koneru Lakshmaiah College of Engineering, Nuttaki, Guntur, AP.
43. LD College of Engineering, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
44. MA College of Technology, Bhopal, MP.
45. Maland College of Engineering. Post Box No. 21, Hassan-573201, Karnataka.
46. MBM Engineering College, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
47. Motilal Nehru Ragional Engineering College, Allahabad-211 004, Uttar Pradesh.
48. MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
50. National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka.
51. PDA College of Engineering, Gulbarga, Karnataka.
52. PES College of Engineering, Mandya, Karnataka.
53. Poona Institute of Computer Technology, Pune.
54. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
55. RA College of Engineering, New Mumbai.
56. Regional Engineering College, Rourkela, Orissa.
57. Regional Engineering College, Silchar-788 010, Assam.
58. Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappali-620 015, Tamil Nadu.
59. Regional Engineering College, Warangal, A.P.
60. Rural Engineering College, Bhalki Bidar, Karnataka.
61. RV College of Engineering, Bangalore.
62 School of Computer & Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
63. School of Mathematics & Computer Information Science, Hyderabad-500 134.
64. School of Maths & Computer Information Sciences, Hyderabad.
65. Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwar College of Engineering & Technology, Dharwar, Karnataka.
66. Shri G.S. Institute of Technology & Science, Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
67. SNDT Women's University, Sir Vithaldas Vidyavihar, Juhu Road, Santa Cruz (W), Mumbai-400 054.
68. Sri Jayachmarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore.
69. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
70. Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Mumbai.
71. Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering, Quilon, Kerala.
72. Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, Punjab.
73. Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
74. University Computer Centre, Osmania University, Hyderabad.
75. University of Poona, Pune-411 007, Maharashtra.
76. University of Roorkee, Roorkee, UP.
77. University Visveswara College of Engineering , Bangalore.
78. Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneshwar-751 004.
79. Victoria Jubilee Technological Institute, Matunga, Mumbai.
80. VR Sidhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
81. Watermull Institute of Electronics Engineering Computer Technology & Electronics Instrumentation, Mumbai.
82. Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh, UP.
Department of Electronics Accreditation of Computer Courses (DOEACC):
Introduced in 1991 by Department of Electronics (DOE), these courses offer a certain quality and standard in computer education. There are four levels of courses under this scheme.
'O' Level/Foundational Level affirms the individuals competence as programmer assistant. Students who have completed +2 and the 'O' Level course from accredited institutes can appear for this exam. Direct applications need a year's relevant job experience in IT including teaching in a recognised training centre or a pass in the NCVT-DP & CS (Data Preparation & Compiter Software), along with the basic +2 qualification.
'A' Level/Advanced Diploma Level: The candidate who qualifies 'A' level is equipped for a programmer's job. Duration of course is 11/2 years. Eligibility for 'A' Level Exam: Graduate + 'O' level + accredited 'A' level course. For Direct Applicants - Graduate + 'O' Level + 1 year relevant experience.
'B' Level/Graduate Level: Those who qualify this exam will be proficient as systems analyst/software designer/engineer. Duration: 3 years full time programme. Eligibility for 'B' Level Exam: Graduate + 'A' Level + accredited 'B' level course. For Direct entrants: Graduate + 'A' Level + 2 years relevant experience or graduate + 3 years relevant experience.
'C' Level/Masters Level: The candidate who qualifies this exam can be a systems manager. Duration: 18 months full time course. Eligibility: B.Tech/BE/MCA/MSc/MBA (after BSc (Maths) + 'B' Level + 'C' Level Course.
Direct applicants: BTech/BE/MCA/MSc [Maths/Statistics/Operation Research] /MBA (after B.Sc(Maths) + 'B' Level + 18 months relevant experience.
Registration for these is a must and the registration is valid for 5 years. DOE collaborates with 2 professional bodies for smooth conduct of these courses. a. Computer Society of India (CSI) for 'O' & 'A' Level. b. Institution of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers. For Details Contact : DOEACC Control Centre, C/o, Man Powere Development Division, Depatment of Eletronics Niketan (2nd Floor), 6 Lodhi Road, CGO Complex, New Delhi.
Some Institutions offering (DOEACC) Courses: 1. Academy of Computer Electronics & Information Technology Wing, Directorate of Industries, Ramthar Veng, Lunglei-796102.
2. Academy of Computer Technology, C9/28, Sector 7, Rohini, New Delhi.
3. Acharya Prafulla Chandra College Computer Centre, New Barrackpore.
4. Acme Computer Institute, 2/5, Godawari Complex New Radhika Road, Near Hotel Rajtara, Satara-415 002.
5. Action for Self Reliance & Alternatives, WZ-14A, Jeet Shopping Market, Budhella, Near Dg-II Flats, Vikaspuri, New Delhi-110018.
6. Advance Computes, (Franchise of Excel Infotech Ltd) 49, Gem Enclave, Prdhan Marg, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur-302 017.
7. AIWC Computer Training Centre, Sarojini House, IInd Floor, Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi.
8. All India Women's Conference Computer Training Centre, 3/1351, Behind D M's Residence, New Bhagat Singh Colony, Bajoria Road, Saharanpur-247 001.
9. Alphonsa Institute of Computer Studies, Alphonsa College, Arunapuram PO., Pala. Via. Cochin, Kottayam District.
10. Alpiers Computer Education F-41, Das & Yadav Computers, Panchvati Circle, Raja Park Jaipur-4.
11. Applied Computers Systems, # 740, Sector 11-B, Chandigarh-160 011.
12. Arcade Business College, Arya Kumar Road, Rajendra Nagar, Patna-800 016.
13. Ashutosh College Computer Centre, 10, Basant Bose Road, Calcutta.
14. Assam Electronics Development Corpn. Ltd., Industrial Estate, Bamunimaidan, Guwahati-781 021.
15. Axis College of Economics & Commerce, IInd & IIIrd Floors, Kesava Buildings, S.S. Kovai Road, Thampanoor, Trivandrum-695 001.
16. Aztech Computers (Uptron ACL-South Extn.), 41, Housing Society, South Extension-1, New Delhi-49.
17. Baftek Computer Education (A Unit of Baftek Infosys Pvt. LTd), L-1, Near Birla Guest House, Kalpana Square, Bhubaneswar-751 014.
18. Bankatlal Badruka Centre Information, Sctl. Ghanisram Gopikishen Badruka Educational Society, Section Road, Kanchiguda, Hyderabad-500 027.
19. Basant Computer Centre (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd), S-17/331-C, Vijay Nagar, Maldahiya, Varanasi-221 002.
21. Basant Dynamics, 472, Pepee Compound, Near Sujata Cinema, Patna.
22. Basanti Devi College Computer Centre, 147b, Rash Behari Avenue, Calcutta.
23. Bhawani Infortech (franchisee of Cistems) NCC Building, Bhootia Paraov, Civil Lines, Haldwani-263 141.
24. Bidhan Chandra College Computer Centre, 31 G T Road (E) Rishra.
25. Biff & Bright Computer Academy Pvt. Ltd., 18, Ved Vatika, New Sanganer Road, Sodala, Jaipur-302 019.
26. Blew Computer Centre, 133, 134 N-3, B-Sector, Vijay Market, Nerkhara, BHEL, Bhopal-462 021.
27. Brainware Consultancy Private Limited, 109, BK Street, Uttarpara, Hooghly, Uttarpara-712 258.
28. Bran. Sewakunj, 48/1, Snehlataganj, Indore-452 003.
29. BRC Institute of Computer Scieces, (Managed by Boss Computer Limited) #188, Sector 19-A, Chandigarh.
30. C R P F I I & T, Under C R P F Educacational Society, 103 Bn. RAF Campus P.O. Gokulpuri, Wazirabad. New Delhi-110 094.
31. C.Tech, Computer Training Institute, 02, Man Singh Pura, Ist Floor, Near Tonk Road Puliya, Tonk Road, Jaipur-302 015.
32. Cat Academy # 61/63, 2nd Floor, 8th B main, 27th Cross, 8th B main, 27th Cross, 4th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore-560 011.
33. Cat Academy, 9-23, Sree Ganesh Complex, Opp. DSNR Bus Depot. Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad-500 036.
34. Cat Academy, 610, 4th Floor, Chandralok Complex, Paradise Circle, Secunderabad-500 003.
35. Cat Academy, 610, 6th Floor, Nilgiri Block, Aditya Enclave, Ameerpet, Hyderabad-500 038.
36. Cat Academy, Flat #102, 1st floor, 3-4-637 to 641, Moghul Mare Ratan, Opp, Deepak Theatre, Narayanguda, Hyderabad-500 029.
37. Cat Academy, Sri Gangabhavani Complex, Chuttogunta Centre, Eluru Road, Vijayawada-520 002.
38. CCS Academy of ComputerEducation (Subject to Screening), 502-504, Ashok Bhawan, 93, Nehru Place, Delhi-110 019.
39. Centre For Advanced Computer Technology (subject to Screening), 692/A, Saluja Chamber, Pune-Satara Road, Pune-411 037.
40. Centre for Advanced Learning in Software Technology Division, PS Elect. Dev, & Prodn. Corp. Ltd. SCO 169-170, Sector 8-C, 2nd Floor, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh.
41. Centre for Computers & Communications Teachnology, New Khadi Bhavan, Deorali.
42. Centre for Electronics Design & Technology of India (Srinagar) Extension Centre, 149, A/D, Gandhi Nagar, Green Belt, Jammu (Tawi)-180 004.
43. Centre for Electronics Design and Tech of India (CEDTI), A-34, Industrial Area, Phase-VIII, Sas Nagar, Mohali-160 059.
44. Chinmaya Computer Education Centre, Chinmays Degree College, BHEL, Hardwar.
45. College of Engineering And Technology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751 003.
46. Compin Technologies, Franchisee of Aptech Computer, Education, 5th Floor, Chanakya, Near Dinesh Hall, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad-380 009.
47. Compucom Technologies Pvt. Limited 5A, 4th Floor, Tilak Marg, Opp, Udyogh Bhawan, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302 005.
48. Computer Career Institute, 33, Upendra Nagar, Durgakund, Kanpur.
49. Computer Centre, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh.
50. Computer Centre, Tezpur University, Tezpur-784 007.
51. Computer Circle, Shakuntal, Near Hanuman Mandir, Rathi Nagar, Amravati-444 603.
52. Computer Informatics, IInd floor, Golden Towers, North Bypass Road, Hyderabad.
53. Computer System & Services, 10, Community Centre, Mayapuri Phase-1, New Delhi.
54. Computer Training Centre, All India Women's Conference, Indore.
55. Computer, S.C.O, 66-67, Sector 8-C, M.Marg, Chandigarh-160 018.
56. Cyber Comptech Pvt. Ltd. (Franchisee of Tata Infotech Ltd-Tulec), 13-C, IInd Floor, Vallabh Nagar, Jaipur.
57. Cyber Soft Computing, A Franchise of Cistems School of Computing, 430/1, Vijay Bhawan, Chandlkaran, Sharda Marg, Opp. Circuit House, Ajmer-305 001.
58. Data Computer Academy, Edathooty, Muzhakkunnu (PO), Kerala.
59. Databank Software Products, Databank Computer Education, Kalash, Ist Floor, Opp. Lal School, Halar Road, Valsad-396 001.
60. Dataline Institute of Information Technology, Sasthamcotta, Trivandrum.
61. Dics Systems Pvt. Ltd. 2516, Hudson Lane, G.T.B. Nagar (Near Vijay Nagar Xing), New Delhi.
62. Digitial Computer (Franchisee Uptron Acl). Above Punjab & Sindh Bank, Police Line Road, Gurdaspur-143 521.
63. Dinabandhu Andrews College Computer Centre, Garia, Calcutta.
64. Dolorosa Computer Centre, St. Mary's College Campus, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
65. Dr. U.V.N. College of Computer Technology, 10, Pattison Street, WCO-Duthie HSS Road, Nagercoil-1.
66. Dum Dum Motijheel College, Computer Centre, Dum Dum, Calcutta.
67. Eagle Institute of Education Pvt. Ltd. Databank Computer Education, 2nd floor, Harekrishna Complex, Opp. Hans Society, Varachha Road, Surat-395 006.
68. Electronics Research & Development Centre of India, CIT Scheme Viiim. Icmard Building, Ultadanga, 7th Floor, Calcutta-700 067.
69. EIectronics Research and Development Centre of India, Vellayambalam, Trivandrum.
70. Electronics Test & Development Centre, B-108, Phase VIII, Industrial Area, Eltop Complex, Mohali-160 059.
71. Electronics Test & Development Centre, Government of India, STQC, DOE, Pilerne Industrial Estatem Saligaon-403 511.
72. Electronics Test & Development Centre, STQC Directorate, DOE, Indranagar PO Kunjaban, Agartala-799 006.
73. Electronics Test and DEvelopment Centre STQC Directorate, Dept. of Electronics, Chambaghat, Solan-173 213.
74. Employment Generation Scheme For North-East Department of Computer Science, Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal-795003.
75. Engineering Staff College of India Computer Centre, Khairatabad, Vibasvaraya Bhavan, Hyderabad-500 004.
76. Engineers Mech. India Pvt. Ltd. (Licensee of ET & T Computer Education & K-1. 50, G Centre), Chitaranjan Park, New Delhi-110 019.
77. Enterprise (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd) 19/1A, Prem Nagar, Jail Road, New Delhi 110 058.
78. Ess Dee Education (EDES) Society, 78/A, Gole Pulli, (Opp. SMHR Secondary School) Talab Tillo, Jammu.
79. Estelle Computers (P) Ltd., Bartand, Patna.
80. Faculty of Computer Technology & Systems (FCT & S) Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Indore.
81. G C S Computer Tech. Pvt. Ltd. S.C.F.34, Globe Complex, Gurudwara Dukhniwaran Sahib Market, Patiala-147 001.
82. George Telegarph Training Instt. Sealdah Centre, 136, B.B. Ganguly Street, Sealdah, Calcutta-700 012.
83. Gooba & Sons, (Franchisee-India Education Centre Ltd., New Delhi). 16/89, LIC Building, the Mall, Kanpur-208 001.
84. Govind Ji Datamatics (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd), 2nd Floor, Karbansram Complex, Vijay Chowk, Gorakhpur-273 001.
85. Gren Line Systems Pvt. Ltd., Authorised Training Centre of Cistems, 01, Bus Stand Colony, Opp, Meena Dharamshala, Gangapur City-322 201.
86. Gurudas College Computer Centre, Narkeldanga.
87. Halisahar College of Vaskodagama Marine Radio officer Village, Jetia Bazar, Post Office-Malancha Dist. 24, Parganas North, Halisahar-743 135.
88. Helois & Matheson Information Technology Ltd. (Formally Express Financial Exchange), "Seethala", III Floor, Canara Bank Upstairs, JN Junction, Gingi Salai, Pondicerry-605 001.
89. Hilal Institute, Super Computers, Opp. Four Bhai, Gen Bus Stand, Anantnag-192 101.
90. Hindustan Computer Academy (Hindustan Technical EducationSociety's) No.9, Sahayog Chambers, Shrinagar, Main Road, Nanded-431 602.
91. IETE Sector 30-B, Chandigarh.
92. IETE, 16/1-2, Institutional Area, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, 'D' Block, New Delhi-110 058.
93. Indext Computer Centre, 7, Kalpana Society, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380 009.
94. Indian Council of Social Welfare, Sector-6, Hira Peth, Mansarover, Jaipur-302 020.
95. Indian Institute of Computer Education, 23, Sarva Ritu Vilas, Near Gulab Bagh Road, Jaipur.
96. Infocom Education & Technology (Licencee of ET & T), 1/4417 (Ist-Floor) Ram Nagar Ext. Mandoli Road, Shahdara, Delhi-110 032.
97. Informatic Education Consultants Computer Center, (Franchisee: India Education Centre Ltd), 173-G Block, Near Sukhadia Circle, Sriganganagar-335 001.
98. Informatics Pvt. Ltd. (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd.) 19, N.W.A. Punjab Bagh Extension, Club Road, New Delhi-110 026.
99. Information Technology Centre, 'Brahmajyoti Yogiji Marg, Annopam Mission, Mogri-388 345, Dist. Anand.
100. Information Technology Training Cell, MR Engineering College, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Jaipur.
101. Information Technology Training Centre, ITTC Ordnance Clothing Factory, Kanpur.
102. Infortech Computer Institution, Deepali, 196, Deepali, Pitampura, New Delhi.
103. Institute of Computer Learning, Mngd. By Dr. Swarup Narain Memorial Educ. Research Soc., Swarup Villa, 62, Gyan Vihar Janpath, Nirman Nagar, Ajmer Rd, Jaipur-302 019.
104. Institute of Computer Technologies & Management #3 & 4, 2nd floor, Alluri Complex, Opp. K.P.H.B. Colony, Kukatpally, Dist. Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, 500 072.
105. DNS Institute of Cooperative Management, Shastrinagar, Patna.
106. Institute pf Engineering and Management, Gourahari Vihar, PO Anta.
107. International Development Centre, B-138, Mohammadpur, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110 066.
108. Jai Hind Institute of Computer Studies & Research, Li Floor, Managhanmal Udharam College of Commerce Bdlg. Pimpri, Pune-411 017.
109. Jogesh Chandra Chawdhuri College, Computer Centre, 30, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Calcutta.
110. Jupiter Systems Software, IMA Boilding, Near Jain Bhavan, 2nd Floor, Damodar Road, Sakchi, Jamshedpur-821 001.
111. Kalyani Surendra Nath Society of Software Technology, Plot No A-8/99 Kalyani.
112. Kanchan Computer Services (Franchisee: Aptech Computer Education), 1, Durga Nursery, Durga Nursery Road, Udaipur-313 001.
113. Keonies, Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd., 29/1, Race Course Road, Bangalore.
114. Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd., (cybernetics division, keltron Equipment Complex, Karakulam, Trivandrum-695 564.
115. Ko-expo Consultants, 237, Shankeshwar Complex, Sagrampura, Opp. Raymond's Shop, Surat-395 002.
116. Krishnath College Computer Centre, Berharapore.
117. KVRN Educational Society of India (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd) Krishna Complex, Opp. Modi Inter College, Modinagar-201 204.
118. Lakshmi Institute of Information Technology, 18/23, Thoppumpady, Cochin.
119. Lin Computers (Marthandam) Pvt. Ltd. 3/64, Main Road, Marthandam, K.K. Dist., Tamil Nadu.
120. Logic Point, Franchisee of Tata Infotech Ltd. Education Centre, SCO 315-316, Sector 35-B, Chandigarh-36.
121. M/s. Aims Services, Licensee ET & T Corporation Ltd., E-99, Mansarovar Garden, New Delhi.
122. M/s. Pinnacle Computers (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd) F-223, Mangal Bazar, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-110 092.
123. Maria Computers Systems (P) Ltd., Bhopal, (Licensee of ET&T Corporation Ltd), 2nd Floor, Sunny Place, Zone 1, M.P.Nagar, Bhopal-462 011.
124. Meena Shah Institute of Technology, Darbar-E-Minaiya-Aliya, Karbala Nagar, Meena Nagar, Gonda-271 002.
125. Micromax (Franchisee of ICES), 139/5, Moti Bazar, Mandi-175 001.
126. Modgen Computer & Technology (P) Ltd. (Licensee of ET & T Corporation Ltd.) 2nd Floor, 27-28 Crown Plaza, Neelam Bata Road, Faridabad.
127. National Technology of Computer of Technology, 51/105, Sector 5, Pratab Nagar, Sanganer-303 906, Jaipur Dist.
128. National Institute of Computer Technology, Umer Colony, Lalbazar, Jammu.
129. National Institute of Computer, SCO-69, Sector 38-C, Chandigarh-160 036.
130. National Power Training Institute, Regional Power Training Institute, Badarpur, New Delhi.
131. Network Education (Franchises of Aptech Computer Education), 1st Floor, Radhaswami Complex, Bhusawal-425 201.
132. New Government Polyclinic, Patliputra Colony, Patna.
133. Newage Computer Education Centre, U-70, 2nd Floor, Shakarpur, Near Laxmi Nagar Crossing, Delhi-110 092.
134. Nice National Institute of Computer Education Pvt. Ltd., Nayasarak (Above Dena Bank), Second Floor, Cuttack-753 002.
135. Nirmala Computer College, Nirmala College Road, Ernakulam (Via).
136. NRS Computech, NZ-B4/A, Vashist Park, Pankha Road, (Near Sagarpur Bus Stand), New Delhi-110 046.
137. Omega Institute of Electronics & Computers, B-28, Fateh Singh Scheme, Opp. Rajputana Palace Sheraton Hotel, Udaipur.
138. Omkarananda Centre for Computer Education and Software Devel. Omkarananda Bhawan, Kailash Gate, Muni-Ki-Ret. Rishikesh-249 201.
139. Ordnance Fy Board, IT Section, Ordnance Fy Board, Ministry of Defence, 10 a1 Auckland Road, Calcutta-700 001.
140. Oricom Education, Commercial Complex, Acharya Vihar, Bhubaneswar.
141. Ozanam Computers, Kuttachery Buildings, High Road, Ernakulam.
142. Pal Institute of Management & Technology, IGNOU Road, Anupam Garden, New Delhi-110 068.
143. Parasoft (Franchisor Aptech Computer Education). 314, 14/4, Vikas Nagar, Near Gomabai Hospital, Neemuch-458 441.
144. Patkai Christian College, BPO, Patkai, Chumukedima-Seithekiema.
145. Pegasus Informatics Pvt. Ltd. (subject-Screening) House No. 1269, Sector-8C, Chandigarh-160 018.
146. Pentafour Communications Ltd. Om Towers, 6th Floor, 32, Chorwinghee Road, Calcutta.
147. Pentafour Communications Ltd., 25, Taurus, Ist Main Road, United India Colony, Kodambakam, Chennai-600 024.
148. Pentafour Communications Ltd., Ist Floor, Gowtham Arcade, 208, T.V. Samy Road (East) R.S. Puram, Coimbatore-641 002, Tamil Nadu.
149. Pitman Computer Educational Centre, STN Building, 308 Main Road, Valliyoor-627 116, Tirunelveli dist. TN.
150. Pramukh Swami Computer Academy, Shree Akshar Purushottam Chhatralaya, Padra Road, Atladara, Vadodara-390 012.
151. Professional Academy of Computer Education, Plot No. 194/1, Khota No. 303, Padhuanpada, Proof Road, Balasore-756 001.
152. Professional Studies Academy Hukmakhedi, Indore-Mhow Road, P.O. Rajendra Nagar, Infore-452 021.
153. Quality Computers (Francisee Bits), Bits Computers, 3rd Floor, 511 E, Arihant Towers, Station Road, Shahupuri, Kolhapur-416 001.
154. R S Competech Pvt. Ltd. (Isct Ajmer), (Lis Infor-tech Ltd) Near Petrol Pump, No-9, Nasirabad Road, Ajmer-305 008.
155. Race Computers (lic. of Shree Dakshinamurti Vidyarthi Bhavan), Shree Dakshinamurti Computer Centre, School Campus, Gijubhai Marg, Bhavnagar-364 001.
156. Raj Computers (Licensee of ET & T Corpn. Ltd) Chhaya Complex, Jhokan Bagh, Jhansi-284 001.
157. Raj Computers Building 'A', Flat-2, Pawana Nagar, Near Jain School, Chinchwad, Pune-411 033.
158. Raja Peary Mohan College Computer Centre, Uttarpara.
159. Rajasthan Industrial Training Institute, 51, Near Jai Coal Depot. Jhotwara Road, Amanishah Pulia, Ambabari, Jaipur-302 012.
160. Rajasthan Institute of Local Self Government, Tonk Road, Jaipur.
161. Rapti Computers (Atc of Cmc Limited) Opp. Sophia Market, Court Road, Saharanpur-247 001.
162. Rashtranguru Surendranath College, Computer Centre, Barrackpur.
163. Ravichandra Systems and Computer Services Ltd., 1029, Avanashi Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
164. Ragional Computer Centre Branch Office, Sumit Complex A 1/9, Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow-226 010.
165. Ragional Computer Centre, Jadavpur University Campus, PO Jadavpur University.
166. Ragional Computer Centre, SCO 1144, Secot 17-B, Chandigarh-160 017.
167. Relianc eComputers (P) Ltd., 23, Hare Krishna Road, Bangalore-560 001.
168. Rishi Bankim Chanda College Computer Centre, Naihati.
169. Ritusha Computer (P) Ltd. (Franchisee: Aptech Computer Education), 124/N/7, Misra market, Govind Nagar, Kanpur-208 006.
170. Rohini Engineers (Franchisee of Aptech Ltd) 29, Nehru Park Colony, Near Sood Dharam Kanta, Prem Nagar, Bareilly-243 005.
171. RSH Computer (Pvt) Ltd. (Aptech Computer Education), Near Tapasya Complex, Boring Road, Patna-800 001.
172. SA International Ltd. #27, 7th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai.
173. Sambal Computer Education, A Unit of Hsdrc, B-130, Sethi Colony, Jaipur Silicon Computers Education Society, D-16, Krishna Nagar-1, Lalkothi, Tonk Road Jaipur.
174. SAR Techno Institute of Computer Education, 20-4-32/6, IIrd Floor, New Bus Stand, Charminar, Hyderabad-500 002.
175. Serampore College Computer Centre, Khetra Mohan Bhattacharya Street, Serampore.
176. Seth Ananda Ram Jaipuria College Computer Centre, 10, Raja N.K. Street, Calcutta.
177. Shashwat, (A Franchisee of Cistems School of Computing) 96, Avas Vikas, Civil Lines, Moradabad-244 001.
178. Siddartha Institute of Information Technology-A Unit of Siddartha Information Pvt, Ltd., B-2, Extn/2 (Lane No.7, Krishan Nagar), Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110 029.
179. Sir Mokshagundam Visveswarayya Institute of Computers & Management Studies, IInd Floor, Sunderplaza, Main Road, Kakinada-533 001.
180. Society for Computer Education & Management Studies (Subject to Screening) 495, Ganesh Nagar-II, Madhuban Road, Shakarpur, Delhi-110 092.
181. Society for Employment and Career Counselling 61, Tughlakabad Instituttional Area, New Delhi.
182. Softech Computers (Franchisee) of Central India Computers) Plot No. 20-A, Central Bazar Road, Ramdas-peth,
Nagpur-440 010.
183. Softronix (Franchisee of BITS (India) Ltd. Mumbai) 38-A, Zone-1, M.P. Nagar Bhopal-462 001.
184. Software Education Park (A Franchisee of Cistems), 291-O Sector 11, Near Alok School, Hiran Magri Scheme, Udaipur-313 002.
185. SP Sampathy's Siva Sivani Educational Society's Siva Sivani Institute of Computer Sciences, Kompally, Via. Hakimpet, Secunderabad-500 014.
186. Sree Krishna Computer Centre, Near MG University Regional Centre, Devankulangara, Edappally PO, Ernakulam-682 024.
187. Sreegopal Banerjee College Computer Centre, Bagati, Mogra.
188. Sri.Bhavana Consultants (Franchisee: VJ Infosystems Ltd) 27/32-1/4, Dunnavari Street, Governorpe, Vijayawada-520 002.
189. SRS Computer Services, Second Floor, Varad Building, Near Corporation Bank, Shanti Nagar, Ponda-01.
190. St. Anthony's College, Bomfyle Street, East Khasi Hills District, Shilong-793 001, Meghalaya.
191. St. Joseph's College, Computer Training Centre, Calicut Medical College PO, Calicut District.
192. St. Thomas College of Computer Science, Nambiakulam, Kurumullor PO, Via. Cochin..
193. St. Zavier's Computer Centre, St. Zavier's College for Women, Kerala.
194. Sun Computers & Technologies, (Franchise: Aptech Ltd) 32-B, Stanley Road, (Opp. Traffic Polic Lines) Allahabad-211 002.
195. Swami Samartha Mahilla Bahuddeshiya Seva Sanstha Novelty Computers, Shani Mandir Chowk, OldJalna, Jalna-431 203
196. Syscom Infotech (Licensee of ET&T Corporation Ltd), 3/1/1, N.C.Sen Lane, Salkia Howrah-711 106.
197. Technocad Computer, Education (A division of Technocad System (P) Ltd) Technocad House, 170, Unit-9, Bhubaneswar-751 007.
198. Technosys Computer Education, 307, Sangam Tower, Church Road, Jaipur-302 001.
199. Tolani Education Foundation, 11/1, Sharada Center, Opp. Digvi Metalware, Erandwana,Pune-411 004.
200. Tripura Regional Computer Centre, MBB College, Agartala.
201. United India Colony, Kodambakkam, Chennai-600 024, Tamil Nadu.
202. Universal Institute of Computers & Technology (UICT), UPS Campus, Block A, Preet Vihar, New Delhi.
203. Universal Systems, 1631-62, Chandan Mahal, Near Sai Baba Mandir, Chaura Rastra, Jaipur-302 003.
204. Uptec Computer Consultancy Limited, 50-C, Bhatia Complex, KanpurRoad, Singar Naga, Alambagh, Licknow -226 005.
205. Uptec Computer Consultancy Limited, C-6, Sector F. Opp. Rashtriya Sahara Office, Kapoorthala, Aligani, Lucknow-226 020.
206. Uptech Computer Consultancy Limited, D-58/53, 54, Shiva Complex, 2nd Floor, Rath Yatra Crossing, Varanasi-221 010.
207. Vag Invetments, LicenceeET & T Corporaion Ltd., D-42, South Extension Part (I), New Delhi.
208. Varshant Electronics (Pvt) Ltd., E-174, Kalkaji, New Delhi.
209. VBS Computech, (ATC of CMC Limited), First Floor, 256, Old Housing Board, Karnal-132 001.
210. Vidyasagar Academy, Nehru Chidren's Museum, 94/1, Chowringhee Road, Calcutta.
211. Vijay Computer Academy, 202, Niharika-1, Besides National Plaza, R.C. Dutt Road, Vadodara-390 007.
212. Virtual Galaxy Infotech Pvt. Ltd., Ist Floor Jagdish Bhawan, Mahal Square, Nagpur-440 002.
213. Vision Computer Park, 789, Krishna Marg, Barkat Nagar, Jaipur.
214. Vivekananada College of Computer Centre, Thakurpukur.
215. Zenics Computer Learning Academy, Electronics House, Treasury Square, Aizawl.
Global Certification offered by Microsoft:
1. Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
2. Microsoft Certified Professional + Internet (MCP + Internet)
3. Microsoft Certified Professional + Site Building (MCP + Site Building).
4. Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)
5. Microsoft Certified Soluction Developer (MCSD)
6. Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)
7. Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA).
8. Microsoft Certified System Engineer + Internet (MCSE + Internet)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Obama Administration Announces “Citizen Cloud” for Federal Software Applications
United States Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra today announced a comprehensive plan for reducing the infrastructure costs of hosting federal software applications by implementing a “citizen cloud” that will use the spare cycles of the idle computers of American citizens to run the myriad of software applications used by the federal government.
Here is a partial transcript of the press conference where this dramatic move was announced:
Vivek Kundra: The citizen cloud is a tremendous step forward in information technology hosting services. By running our government’s critical applications on a network of computers that are owned and maintained by American citizens instead of in huge, expensive data warehouses we will be able to reduce the federal technology budget from $80 billion to $10 billion in just six months.
John King: Obviously, I know what it is, but the average American citizen has never heard of cloud computing. Can you describe how this citizen cloud works?
Vivek Kundra: Cloud computing is an approach to computing that has evolved over the years. It takes advantage of the fact that the computers of an average American citizen sit idle an average of 90% of the time. Our plan is to borrow these spare cycles and use them to run the software the federal government uses to perform its obligations to the American people.
Lou Dobbs: What sort of software are we talking about here?
Vivek Kundra: Great question Lou. The citizen cloud is the preferred platform for every federal software application. We’re going to start migrating everything from the IRS tax refund processing platform to the CIA’s terrorism surveillance database to the citizen cloud within a week.
Marshall Kirkland: Wow. That’s pretty ambitious. Aren’t you worried about hosting sensitive information on machines you don’t have direct control over? I’m not sure I want my tax refund being hosted on my neighbors mac.
Vivek Kundra: We take security very seriously. That’s why every computer in the citizen cloud is going to use a special software package called eCondomsWork that isolates federal data from the rest of the data on that computer in a secure wrapper called an eCondom. The condom protects the data from penetration both by the computer owner and by viruses that exploit weaknesses in the OS and browser to attack the data.
John King: This condom thing - can you tell us more about how it works.
Vivek Kundra: (smiling) I’m sorry John, but if I’d known you were going to ask that I’d have brought someone from the FDA.
Wolf Blitzer: I don’t particularly want the federal government using my computer. What incentive do I have to let you use my spare cycles?
Vivek Kundra: Every American should feel a patriotic duty to support the government. This really is a moment for Americans to ask what they can do for their country, not the other way around. But… if that doesn’t work we have other options, one of which includes tax incentives.
Marshall Kirkland: So, you’re considering paying Americans to use their computers. Would it be a substantial amount?
Vivek Kundra: We’ll make it worth their while, but it will still be very cost effective compared to hosted data centers. An average home with one or two computers and broadband internet could earn as much as $1000/year.
Wolf Blitzer: What if that doesn’t work? That’s not a lot of money to many Americans - won’t a lot of Americans just forgo that money to keep your software off of their machines?
Vivek Kundra: Perhaps. But there are ways around that too. In fact, we’re considering just declaring spare computing cycles the eminent domain of the United States, sort of like the wireless spectrum, and controlling it that way.
Marshall Kirk: Even if you use eminent domain to claim the cycles, won’t you still have to get access to the boxes? What if citizens won’t let you?
Vivek Kundra: We’re going to use a time-proven method of appropriating spare computing cycles without the owner’s permission. Sometime next week, an email will go out to every American citizen promising them a nude picture of President Obama if they open an attachment. That attachment will secretly install the CondomWorks software package and display a tasteful picture of our president. At that point, we will have successfully appropriated the users computer.
Marshall Kirk: What about anti-virus software? Won’t they block you?
Vivek Kundra: We’ve already made agreements with the major software vendors to facilitate the CondomsWork attack and the FCC is announcing new regulations on broadband internet that make it illegal to actively prevent the CondomsWork installation and execution.
End of transcript. For the full transcript of the press conference, go to CIO.gov.
The federal Citizen Cloud is modeled after a successful program initiated by Indiana governor Mitch Daniels to use spare cycles of Hoosier’s computers to operate the state’s public registered sex offender’s database. Indiana has been using a network of 20,000 home computers to track and publish the whereabouts of the criminally perverse since 2007 for a claimed savings of $2.3 million.
Opponents of the plan claim they have been able to exploit a safari vulnerability to obtain the IP addresses of the entire Indiana citizen cloud and have traced them back to physical locations.
“80% of the computers used in Indiana’s so-called citizen cloud are in fact not the computers of citizens at all,” says Walter, an anonymous member of KillTheCloud, an Indiana-based information security group that is opposed to the use of cloud computing. “They are actually computers that we have been determined are not in the United States at all. In fact, nearly half of them are in former Soviet Bloc nations, and 25% of them reside in a data center known to be used to operate an illegal spamming botnet.”
When asked about the CondomWorks package, Walter had nothing positive to say. “CondomWorks is a total piece of crap. It is easily ruptured by both the computer owner and browser-based attackers. In fact, the hacker who obtained the IP addresses for us was able to break through Indiana’s CondomWorks package in fewer than 100 key strokes.”
“The citizen cloud is going to be a complete and total security disaster. Not only will the data be stolen, but it will be only months before smart software developers begin perverting the governments software to their own means, such as inflating tax returns, modifying criminal records, and stealing government resources.”
Representatives from the Indiana governor’s office were not available to comment on the allegations of KillTheCloud.
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356Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/obama-administration-announces-citizen-cloud-for-federal-software-applicationsObama+Administration+Announces+%22Citizen+Cloud%22+for+Federal+Software+Applications2009-04-01+14%3A18%3A12David+ChristiansenTags: Announcements
Five Tips for Being a Diva-loper
March 24th, 2009 · 353Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/five-tips-for-being-a-diva-loperFive+Tips+for+Being+a+Diva-loper2009-03-24+13%3A10%3A28David+Christiansen
Diva-loper (dee VAH loh per): a software developer who is arrogant, difficult to work with, high-maintenance, manipulative, fussy, highly strung, privileged and demanding (swiped from Wikipedia).
Tip #1: Don’t be bothered with testing. Testing is for wannabes, for tech-weenies who can’t code. Why should you waste your $100/hr skills on an activity that $30/hour NOBODIES can do for you? Besides, your code is probably perfect anyway.
Tip #2: Code everything
yourself, especially the user interface. Dude - UI designers are a total scam. They’re just a bunch of punks who learned html in high school and now they think they’re artists. You don’t need them. Just roll your own UI and tell the users to go sit on a fork if they don’t like it. Usability is for crack heads.
Tip #3: Establish your territory and don’t let anyone else play there. This is your code darn it. No one else can work it the way you do. Anyone else who touches it will just screw it up. Only you are worthy!
Tip #4: Never talk to users! Users don’t know JACK. Listening to them is a complete waste of time. Your time would be much better spent putting three layers of abstraction on that widget you built yesterday so that it can be used in every imaginable context. Isn’t that what business analysts are for anyway? To babysit the stupid users?
Tip #5: Stop learning NOW. You already know everything. Heck, you wrote the definitive framework for automating business decisions like, 10 years ago. Why would you need to learn anything now? Everyone should be learning from you, not the other way around.
The path to becoming a diva-loper isn’t easy. There will be naysayers, critics, and scorners. But you have a dream, and if you stick to it, you can do it. Along the way, you’ll alienate your friends, disenfranchise users, lose your cutting edge, and ignore important aspects of the software development discipline, but when that great day comes when you stand at the top of the pile, grinding the faces of your colleagues under your heel, the view will be fantastic. And you’ll be the only one there.
Note #1: This is obviously a sarcastic piece. That said, it will take all of 10 minutes before someone quotes me as saying testing is for wannabes. That’s not cool and it’s clearly not the way this is meant to be interpreted.
Note #2: You might be tempted to believe this little rant is inspired by the bad behavior of one of my colleagues or business partners and you would be totally wrong. It’s not inspired by their bad traits, but rather by their good. They are anti-diva-lopers, the epitome of good development habits and behaviors. I was thinking about that last night and how to best describe the traits I see in the developers I respect the most, and I thought it would be more fun to describe what they are not than what they are. So that’s what this is - a description of what they’re not that makes them so good.
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353Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/five-tips-for-being-a-diva-loperFive+Tips+for+Being+a+Diva-loper2009-03-24+13%3A10%3A28David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
Symptoms of an Unhealthy Workforce #1: Caring about Stupid Stuff
March 23rd, 2009 · 350Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/symptoms-of-an-unhealthy-workforce-1-caring-about-stupid-stuffSymptoms+of+an+Unhealthy+Workforce+%231%3A+Caring+about+Stupid+Stuff2009-03-23+13%3A07%3A28David+Christiansen
Once upon a time I worked in a little fabric box on a team that was bitterly divided over who should be in charge. You see, we were all consultants (from competing companies) working on the same project. The rates were good, but the team was eventually going to shrink when we went to production and the client chose a few of the consultants to stay on in support roles.
Most of us were independents. I had myself and two other consultants. Another group also had three guys there, and then there were two or three loners. I was younger then, more aggressive and less critical of myself (a reasonably nice way of saying I was stupid, don’t you think?).
The client brought in a team lead, who we’ll call Bill, and asked him to manage the contentiousness between us. A difficult task, since it was rooted in each of us competing for our financial well-beings. Bill decided that contention would be reduced by changing our seating arrangements and forcing competitors to sit nearer each other. He created an optimal seating designed and asked us to move.
Until that moment, I had always had a corner cubicle that was slightly larger than the others. Nice right? Not really, because that extra space had been used for years as a place to store extra manuals. Every license of the software we were using came with about 2 1/2 feet of manuals, of which only 1 1/2 inches were useful. Every time the software was updated, we got a new set of manuals, and nobody ever threw them away (This is state property we’re talking about!). So, everybody stacked them in my corner. They were there when I inherited the cubicle, and they were there when I left. I didn’t think anything about it.
I left that cubicle as part of the brilliant seating re-arrangement, and George moved in. I did a reasonable job of cleaning the cube, but I left the old books. When I found even more manuals in my new cube, I did what everyone else did: I put them in the corner.
This infuriated George. I’m not exaggerating when I say this - George wanted to go outside and have a fist fight. Seriously. It didn’t matter that he and the others had been putting those books there for years. It was his cube now, and he cared. I had some nerve dumping my crap on him like that.
I was astounded at the anger that boiled out of George at this moment. It was insane.
But that’s what happens in an unhealthy workforce. People start to care about crazy stuff, like where they sit, how big their cubicle is, who’s better pals with the boss, who gets dual monitors, and who’s cubicle location is “best”.
It’s an artificial economy of status built on the lack of a clear method of establishing pecking order. Humans, just like chickens, have a need to “know where they stand” in an organization, so they create fake ways of figuring it out. Chickens resolve this by fighting, humans in corporate IT do it with social shadow-boxing where meaningless factors like cubicle size and lunch with the boss establish who is “better”.
I’d tell you not to play this game, not to get caught in the petty feuds of who’s the better employee, but I’m not sure it would help. I’m not sure people can rise above this very primal need to know where they stand in the social order. It starts when we are very young (I was only moderately cool in high school) and I don’t think it ever goes away.
Instead, I think organizations ought to embrace this need for social structure and use it to their advantage. If you can make it based on things that are easily measured, like popularity and pay, it might less unhealthy. If everyone knew what everyone made, everyone would know where they stand. There would be other problems of course, but there would be no need for wondering who was most valuable.
Another method for establishing pecking order that I’ve always favored is an NBA styled draft and trade system. Every year, managers get to bid on project managers they want to work for them, and likewise project managers bid on their teams. Throughout the year, they can trade with other teams as suits them. All the trades and bids are public, and they translate into income for the players. Highly productive people with good social skills would be valuable and sought after - less productive people and angry misfits would find their options more limited until they improved themselves.
I think it’s ironic that the methods most useful for establishing a pecking order, pay and performance, are also the most protected in terms of personal privacy. I don’t think it’s a good thing - in fact I think it is very unhealthy. I wish it were all public.
Or at least I used to. I don’t work in a cube anymore, and I find I’m not concerned about where I stand in the pecking order. It feels healthy to me - I guess it’s true that on a good team even the punter is happy.
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350Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/symptoms-of-an-unhealthy-workforce-1-caring-about-stupid-stuffSymptoms+of+an+Unhealthy+Workforce+%231%3A+Caring+about+Stupid+Stuff2009-03-23+13%3A07%3A28David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
When Project Cultures Collide
March 20th, 2009 · 347Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/when-project-cultures-collideWhen+Project+Cultures+Collide2009-03-20+13%3A10%3A14David+Christiansen
Back when I was still a minion of the dark side (corporate IT - wow that seems so long ago now) I frequently had difficulty obtaining services from other parts of the organization in a way that complemented the agile approach my project teams utilized. Every time I interacted with infrastructure, for instance, they wanted all of my requirements upfront, so they could do comprehensive once-and-done design. “I’d rather build out our infrastructure incrementally,” I would say, and sometimes I would be successful, but… mostly not. When other project managers would ask me how I was able to pull off agile in a waterfall world, I would often say something like “it leaves a lot of scars” because the truth is my approach just didn’t fit in.
Now that I work in a group that has really embraced lean and I have a technical role much more than I used to, I don’t run into that problem as much. Trust me, I don’t miss that issue. But occasionally I have to interact with an outside service provider who has a notion about the “right way” that can make things much more complicated than it needs to be. It’s not as frustrating as the problems I would encounter in the dark side when there was outside pressure to do BUFD or BUFR, but it is still difficult to deal with.
Here are some tips for dealing with outsiders who don’t usually work the way you do:
Explain your approach and see how they respond. Sometimes you will find an unexpected ally by telling them there are simply some aspects of the future you can’t predict and that you want to build something up incrementally and postpone technical commitments as long as you can without being irresponsible. Sometimes you’ll get derision. I’ve been called a cowboy more than once.
Find a different way. One of the beauties of technology is there are so many options. I think it’s okay to take the path of least resistance if you are blocked by an uncooperative, unresponsive, or simply slow moving bureaucracy.
Pick your battles. Don’t let a philosophical difference about project managemetn become a barrier between you and service provides. Minimize the differences when you talk about your approach, and don’t escalate conflict to higher levels of animosity than necessary.
Do the bare minimum to get by. I was always amazed by the answers I got when I asked infrastructure people what the absolute least amount of paperwork I had to to do to get resources was. It was often a tiny percentage of the massive forms they provided. Find out what parts of the process they measure and care about, make yourself look good there, and ignore the rest.
Get in the door, then collude with the people on the floor.This goes along with the previous point. Sometimes, it’s smart to just get through the engagement process to the point where you are working one on one with the actual service provider (not their agent/manager) and corrupt them with your subversive ideas.
Talk about goals when people want BUFD/BUFR. Often, people really only want to see the big picture when they ask for your requirements upfront. So, tell them a story, and make the questions you don’t know the answers to part of the story. Once they see the problems you are tackling, they’ll have a better sense of why you can’t define everything up front and they may not even expect you to.
“Because we’re using scrum” is not a reason. Arguing project methodologies is a waste of time and will only make it harder for you to engage with waterfall service providers. Talk about real problems, not abstract philosophical concepts of project management.
Good luck.
Dave
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347Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/when-project-cultures-collideWhen+Project+Cultures+Collide2009-03-20+13%3A10%3A14David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
How to Use @Reply in Twitter Messages
March 11th, 2009 · 344Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/how-to-use-reply-in-twitter-messagesHow+to+Use+%40Reply+in+Twitter+Messages2009-03-11+12%3A39%3A51David+Christiansen
@reply is a great feature in Twitter. You can use it to draw the attention of a specific Twitter user to a message, but let the Twitterverse in on it as well (as opposed to direct messages, which are private but can only be sent to people who follow you).
Most people use @reply to send a message to a specific user, like this:
@aldos You have CIWS (Corporate IT Withdrawal Syndrome). Keeping all emails to CYA is a classic symptom.
or like this:
@pkirkham Could you please DM me your email id?
I find @replies a bit annoying if they are used in excess, especially if there are extended periods of back-and-forth between a person I follow and a person I don’t. I’ve also found that some people use @replies in ways that don’t annoy me. Here are some tips for using @replies that I think are useful:
Make an @reply about a person as much as it is to a person
Here’s a good example:
Looks like @aldos is working on getting un-followed again with his heretofore twitter style point deficit.
I like this use of @reply. It tells me I’ve been annoying, but it’s not really just to me.
This tweet, from my friend and boss @mherrick66, was a response to a bit of spamming I did as an experiment to promote Uladoo. I sent @messages to about 8 different people I didn’t know but thought might be interested in Uladoo. Which brings up the next point:
Don’t use @reply to spam people
If you want to send a message to a specific person, hoping for a re-tweet, follow them. If they follow you back, send them a direct message. Especially if you are going to send the same message to several different people who don’t know you from @adam.
Don’t start your @reply with @reply
Sending a tweet that starts with @reply is like starting a letter with “Dear David”. That’s actually fine and normal for private correspondence, but that’s not what an @reply is. Starting a tweet with @aldos sends a strong signal to everyone else that this is not to them.
Don’t have extended conversations in twitter that are meaningless to followers
If you only follow one participant in a long twitter conversation, you know what I mean already. Here’s an example:
@junebug I think that idea sucks
@junebug Well, it doesn’t take into account the balance sheet
@junebug Yeah, if monkeys were accountants
@junebug No, I can’t do that today
I could go follow @junebug and find out what this is all about, but I’d rather the author just followed my first rule. She could have done this easily by simply replacing “it” and “that” with whatever she is referring to. For example, here’s how I would fix the last tweet.
I wish I could go to Gruberg’s talk on financial accountability with @junebug today, but can’t cuz of PTA.
Note: this conversation is totally made up. There probably is a twitter user named @junebug, so let me apologize in advance.
If @reply doesn’t add to your message, just drop it
Consider this tweet:
@testobsessed Good Morning! have a great day
How is it any better than this?
Good Morning! have a great day
Before you send an @reply, take out the @ part and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn’t, send it without the @.
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344Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/how-to-use-reply-in-twitter-messagesHow+to+Use+%40Reply+in+Twitter+Messages2009-03-11+12%3A39%3A51David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
Dear Twitter: Please Pimp My Twitter Service
March 1st, 2009 · 339Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/dear-twitter-please-pimp-my-twitter-serviceDear+Twitter%3A+Please+Pimp+My+Twitter+Service2009-03-02+02%3A14%3A37David+Christiansen
I think I’ve found the answer to the Twitter business model, or at least part of it.
Pimping Twitter apps like Uladoo.com. I’m not talking about pimping it the way you might pimp out a car. I’m not looking for blue headlights and fuzzy dice here. I’m talking about pimping it, you know, the old-fashioned way - Harry Hines Boulevard style. If you’ve lived in Dallas you’ll know what I mean - if you haven’t and you can’t guess… I don’t know what to tell you.
Here are the twitter service pimp features I’m looking for:
Handling financial transactions between a twitter service and a twitter user
Protecting twitter services from twitter users with intent to do harm
Help twitter services advertise their wares to to twitter users
Establish rules for who does and who doesn’t get to sell their services through twitter
I think there is a huge amount of potential for twitter to make money off of a cut of the twitter service action, so to speak. Let me illustrate what I mean with my twitter-based charting application, uladoo.com.
Charting with uladoo is free. You don’t even need to set up an account - all you have to do is send a message like this “@uladoo bugs fixed 3” and it will create a chart called “bugs fixed” and add the value “3” to it. It’s easy, and it’s kind of cool, and it has lots of potential applications.
It’s also kind of annoying. I created a chart called “calories” with uladoo and I tweeted to it every time I ate for about a week. My followers complained. Some of them, including my boss, un-followed me. Other uladoo users had similar experiences, and within a week of launching people were begging us to support direct messages.
We now support updating charts with direct messages, and soon we’ll be supporting other cool features, like shared charts and charts with multiple series. We want to package these three particular features as a premium “pro” package that uladoo users will pay to use.
Ultimately, I want to use Twitter’s built-in “follow” feature to control this. @uladoo will only follow twitter accounts that pay for the “pro” package. By virtue of the fact that @uladoo follows them, these users will be able to use all the cool extra features the pro package offers.
Here’s where Twitter can make money off of services like this: pimp my twitter service. I want to be able to facilitate the entire monetary transaction between @uladoo and our pro users. As a service provider, I want to be able to define the terms of our following agreement - is the user being charged at a per-message rate (ie $3/1000 DMs) or are they paying for a time period (ie $3/yr)? Once the transaction processes successfully, my twitter merchant account would automatically set @uladoo to follow the user. On top of that, twitter would also handle the recurring charges, allowing me to set up renewal messages, etc. Ideally, twitter would use direct messages to let users know it’s time to renew, and perhaps they would even use direct messages to facilitate the renewal transaction.
New twitter-based services are coming out of the woodworks every day. Many of them have potential for generating revenue through paid “premium” services. Twitter can make money by pimping these services, by managing access to them by proxy and facilitating the financial transactions and charging the merchant for these services.
Would I pay 10-20% of my transactions to Twitter to have them do this? Heck yes I would. Look at my alternatives - building a an integration between PayPal/Google Checkout and my twitter account is not what I want to do right now. I’d rather spend my time adding new features, like chart mashups and data-displaying tooltips, than making a merchant account integrate with twitter.
For the time being, I think we’ll just do it manually. We’ll add a google checkout button to one of our pages, and every time a user pays me I’ll go to our twitter account and follow them. It’s not fun, but it’ll work. Obviously, it won’t scale, but I’ll be very pleased if that becomes a problem.
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339Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/dear-twitter-please-pimp-my-twitter-serviceDear+Twitter%3A+Please+Pimp+My+Twitter+Service2009-03-02+02%3A14%3A37David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
My Three Favorite iPhone Apps (So Far)
February 19th, 2009 · 333Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/my-three-favorite-iphone-apps-so-farMy+Three+Favorite+iPhone+Apps+%28So+Far%292009-02-19+13%3A25%3A29David+Christiansen
Lose It! by FitNow, Inc. (free)
As you can probably guess by its title and scale icon, Lose It! is a weight loss application. With Lose It!, you enter some basic information about your health and goals, and it sets up a caloric budget to help you meet them. Then, you simply enter what you eat throughout the day and it tells you how many calories you have left in your budget. I really like this feature, because it’s changed my attitude about eating - I now see everything I eat as a tradeoff - the opportunity cost of chocolate milk at breakfast is a slice of chocolate cake after dinner, so I forego the one one I like in favor of the one I love. Other notable features of Lose It! include a thorough calorie dictionary for foods, both generic and name brand, as well as the ability to combine foods in a “recipe” that you can use over and over again.
If you’ve got a desire to lose weight, give Lose It! a try. It’s been very helpful to me so far. I’ve still got 48 pounds to go, but I’m off to a decent start.
Touch Physics by Marc D Simpson ($0.99, free lite version)
Okay, so this is practically everyone’s favorite iPhone game already and you’ve probably already tried it. But… I love it too, and so do my kids. Even my 10 month old will sit and quietly poke at the screen for 20 minutes before he finally gives in and tries to stick my phone in his mouth.
If you’re one of the the four people on the planet who haven’t heard of it yet, Touch Physics is all about moving a ball through/over/around/under obstacles to a goal, using objects you draw to flip, push, bounce, or support the ball along its way. The graphical style is crayon, the music is engaging, and the physical effects are really cool. It’s a fun, entertaining game that can keep you busy for anything from a coast-to-coast flight to an oil change at your local Jiffy Lube.
Quick Shot by Code Monkeys at Work($0.99)
Quick Shot adds some cool camera capabilities to your iPhone that make the whole camera phone experience a lot better in my opinion. With Quick Shot you can take pictures by simply clicking anywhere on the screen (as opposed to trying to hit a button). This makes it a lot easier to keep the phone steady for a picture since you don’t have to aim for a button on the screen.
Another feature I like about Quick Shot is the auto-save setting. My five year old likes to take pictures (I’ve been teaching him about framing shots) and he tends to fill up the camera with pictures of socks, toys, ear lobes, etc. With Quick Shot, I can turn off auto save and let him take pictures without having to go back later and delete them all.
Check these apps out. They are handy and fun to use!
~ Dave
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Metrics That Matter
February 16th, 2009 · 327Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/metrics-that-matterMetrics+That+Matter2009-02-16+14%3A03%3A40David+Christiansen
I’ve always had an allergic reaction to metrics in software development. Over the years, lots of people have commented that they find this strange, given my background in manufacturing/mechanical engineering. I’ve never been able to explain why, but the metrics I’ve seen proposed for software development have never felt as genuinely useful as the type of metrics I’ve seen collected about manufacturing processes.
I’ve recently discovered a very powerful personal health metric’s usefulness: calories. I first started tracking calories with uladoo.com and twitter, then recently switched to Lose It!, an iPhone app recommended to me by a friend. As I’ve tracked calories, I’ve realized how little I knew about nutrition. It was astounding to discover there are more than 10 times the calories in a tablespoon of Hershey’s syrup than there are in a large asparagus stalk. Cheese, sour cream, ice cream, chocolate, soda, and even macaroni and cheese all have a completely different meaning to me than they once did. Counting calories has really changed my perspective and altered my behavior. But counting calories in itself is not the really powerful part - it’s the calorie budget that really makes a difference. I can eat 2,642 calories every day and lose a pound a week. If I eat more than that, I won’t lose weight. If I eat less, I will lose weight more quickly.
You might think that this experience has changed my viewpoint about software development metrics, and you’d be right, in a way. My position hasn’t changed (still haven’t seen a useful one), but I now understand why well enough to articulate the reasoning behind my position. So, here’s my list of what makes a good metric, along with quotes meant to be good counter-examples:
A metric must be simple. “A function point is unit of measurement to express the amount of business functionality an information system provides to a user.”
A metric must be easily measurable. One person with a simple tool. “Seriously - you want me to track how much time I spend on prod support, project X, and project Y at the minute level?”
A metric must be an unambiguous indicator. There should be no debate about the actual value measured itself. “Well, we say it’s 3 function points, but if you look at the underlying code you realize it’s a lot more complicated than it seems.”
A metric must be accompanied by boundaries that are clear, indisputable indicators of badness, like my caloric budget. “Yes my project is 25% over budget, but we’re also a bit ahead of schedule in the requirements gathering, so we’ll make it up in the end.”
Boundaries must be based on meaningful stuff (my caloric budget is derived from my height and weight and medical tables) as opposed to just pulled out of an orifice. “My boss expects me to find 3 bugs each day, so I bank up bugs and enter them later when I get my quota.”
The vast majority of software development metrics I’ve seen in my career violate most, if not all, of these rules.
Here are some exceptions that I’ve experienced:
Hours spent at the office (as opposed to hours working, which is pretty ambiguous in software development - if I think about a coding problem while I shower am I “working”). More than 40 for more than three weeks in a row is bad, bad, bad.
Story points completed per iteration. When the same group of people do the estimating and the work over multiple iterations, this becomes a pretty valuable metric and it meets all my criteria. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read User Stories Applied.
I’m starting to think pomodoros might be a good measure of personal productivity over time, but I haven’t been doing it long enough to be sure. It’s certainly a good technique for creating focus.
Notice that this is a short list, and there are lots and lots of metrics for software development I’ve seen over the users. Why haven’t they succeeded? Because they almost always break one of my premises of metrics that matter.
Think you’ve got a metric I would like? Let’s see it then, in the comments.
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327Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/metrics-that-matterMetrics+That+Matter2009-02-16+14%3A03%3A40David+ChristiansenTags: Development
Twitter 2.0: Get on the Public Service Bus!
February 13th, 2009 · 323Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/twitter-20-get-on-the-public-service-busTwitter+2.0%3A+Get+on+the+Public+Service+Bus%212009-02-13+14%3A37%3A34David+Christiansen
Six years ago I was sitting at a table with some guys from SeeBeyond, an SOA/EAI vendor that has since been acquired by Sun. I told one of them, a sales engineer, that I thought it would be really cool if they had some sort of SeeBeyond Lite that was free for consumers to use for things like home automation, etc. He looked at me like I was crazy. I tried to explain why I thought a service bus for the home would be useful, but he took a long drag on his beer and pretended to be distracted by an overheard comment about the price of SeeBeyond stock.
Sigh. He had pegged me as a nerd and moved on.
Today, a few people are using Twitter for exactly what I wanted SeeBeyond Lite for, and I think it’s brilliant. There are houseplants that send you tweets when they are thirsty, houses that obey commands you send from twitter, and just a few days ago yours truly (with Atomic Object) launched uladoo.com, a site that lets you make charts online just by tweeting to @uladoo.
Boy, do I ever want to get those houseplants talking to uladoo!
I think this new application of twitter to send messages, not just to people followers, but to devices and services is then next incarnation of twitter. Twitter 2.0 isn’t a new version of Twitter - it’s a new version of what we use it for.
Twitter is the perfect service bus for short messages with no security requirements. It’s a Public ServeUs Bus! Go ahead, call it a PSUB. It’s freaking awesome! The twitter API is so easy to use creating adapters at either end is almost trivial. Any data you can fit in 140 characters can be sent to any receiver either through a pub-sub model or point-to-point.
Here are a few random ideas I’ve had about how Twitter could be used as data collection/aggregation/distribution service:
Traffic data collection: you know those things in the road that count cars? What if they just tweeted the time and gps coordinates every time a car came by? You could create all sorts of aggregations of this data by combining the twitter search api with animated maps to show traffic flow in a city.
Home weather stations that tweet their data along with their location. There are all sorts of weather geeks out there who would do all sorts of stuff with this.
Birdwatching. Combine twitpic and gps location with a twitter account that aggregates the data and you’ve got a mobile bird-watching application (someone needs to figure out how to tether an iPhone to a digital SLR for this one)
Cheap mobile devices that only send tweets. These aren’t for consumers - they’re just for other devices. Something you can add to a camera, or a weather station, or whatever you want, so that it can send messages anywhere there is mobile service.
Auctions by twitter. People bid with tweets, while ebay or something like it manages the auction at the other end.
Open source exit poll data. Imagine pollsters carrying devices that tweet exit poll data as they collect it. Anyone can analyze it, mash it up, do what they what, with a pretty reasonable data lag.
Collecting feedback. Yesterday Guy Kawasaki asked his followers which logo they liked better over twitter. I don’t know how he processed the results, but they could have been tied to a charting application (uladoo will support this soon) that let Guy and anyone else who cared see the results as they came in.
One of the coolest things about collecting data using twitter as a bus is the openness of it all. If one guy makes a device that tweets weather information, another guy might make an application that makes that weather data meaningful in a new way, like creating animated wind charts for his science fair project.
It’s a way of creating, collecting, and sharing data that is essentially open source. Open source data thanks to Twitter 2.0, the new Public Service Bus.
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Please sign the open source letter to President Obama
February 10th, 2009 · 320Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/please-sign-the-open-source-letter-to-president-obamaPlease+sign+the+open+source+letter+to+President+Obama2009-02-10+12%3A18%3A01David+Christiansen
This morning Stuart Cohen (CEO, Collaborative Software Initiative) and I published an open source letter to President Obama, urging him to consider the role open source software will play in the various technology initiatives that are part of the pending economic stimulus. Co-signers of the letter include executives from a variety of companies in the open-source industry, including Alfresco, Compiere, Hyperics, Ingres, Unisys, and others.
Please take a minute and read the open source letter. If you agree about the importance of considering the source of software products in government projects, you can sign the letter by posting a comment with your name, company (if appropriate) and web-site. We’d also appreciate any mention you might make of the open source letter to your friends and colleagues through email, blogs, and twitter.
The letter itself is open-sourced under a creative commons license, which means you can post it, print it, share it, etc with those around you. We hope you will do just that, and help promote the idea that open-source can help bring cost-effective, transparent solutions to government software projects.
Thanks!
United States Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra today announced a comprehensive plan for reducing the infrastructure costs of hosting federal software applications by implementing a “citizen cloud” that will use the spare cycles of the idle computers of American citizens to run the myriad of software applications used by the federal government.
Here is a partial transcript of the press conference where this dramatic move was announced:
Vivek Kundra: The citizen cloud is a tremendous step forward in information technology hosting services. By running our government’s critical applications on a network of computers that are owned and maintained by American citizens instead of in huge, expensive data warehouses we will be able to reduce the federal technology budget from $80 billion to $10 billion in just six months.
John King: Obviously, I know what it is, but the average American citizen has never heard of cloud computing. Can you describe how this citizen cloud works?
Vivek Kundra: Cloud computing is an approach to computing that has evolved over the years. It takes advantage of the fact that the computers of an average American citizen sit idle an average of 90% of the time. Our plan is to borrow these spare cycles and use them to run the software the federal government uses to perform its obligations to the American people.
Lou Dobbs: What sort of software are we talking about here?
Vivek Kundra: Great question Lou. The citizen cloud is the preferred platform for every federal software application. We’re going to start migrating everything from the IRS tax refund processing platform to the CIA’s terrorism surveillance database to the citizen cloud within a week.
Marshall Kirkland: Wow. That’s pretty ambitious. Aren’t you worried about hosting sensitive information on machines you don’t have direct control over? I’m not sure I want my tax refund being hosted on my neighbors mac.
Vivek Kundra: We take security very seriously. That’s why every computer in the citizen cloud is going to use a special software package called eCondomsWork that isolates federal data from the rest of the data on that computer in a secure wrapper called an eCondom. The condom protects the data from penetration both by the computer owner and by viruses that exploit weaknesses in the OS and browser to attack the data.
John King: This condom thing - can you tell us more about how it works.
Vivek Kundra: (smiling) I’m sorry John, but if I’d known you were going to ask that I’d have brought someone from the FDA.
Wolf Blitzer: I don’t particularly want the federal government using my computer. What incentive do I have to let you use my spare cycles?
Vivek Kundra: Every American should feel a patriotic duty to support the government. This really is a moment for Americans to ask what they can do for their country, not the other way around. But… if that doesn’t work we have other options, one of which includes tax incentives.
Marshall Kirkland: So, you’re considering paying Americans to use their computers. Would it be a substantial amount?
Vivek Kundra: We’ll make it worth their while, but it will still be very cost effective compared to hosted data centers. An average home with one or two computers and broadband internet could earn as much as $1000/year.
Wolf Blitzer: What if that doesn’t work? That’s not a lot of money to many Americans - won’t a lot of Americans just forgo that money to keep your software off of their machines?
Vivek Kundra: Perhaps. But there are ways around that too. In fact, we’re considering just declaring spare computing cycles the eminent domain of the United States, sort of like the wireless spectrum, and controlling it that way.
Marshall Kirk: Even if you use eminent domain to claim the cycles, won’t you still have to get access to the boxes? What if citizens won’t let you?
Vivek Kundra: We’re going to use a time-proven method of appropriating spare computing cycles without the owner’s permission. Sometime next week, an email will go out to every American citizen promising them a nude picture of President Obama if they open an attachment. That attachment will secretly install the CondomWorks software package and display a tasteful picture of our president. At that point, we will have successfully appropriated the users computer.
Marshall Kirk: What about anti-virus software? Won’t they block you?
Vivek Kundra: We’ve already made agreements with the major software vendors to facilitate the CondomsWork attack and the FCC is announcing new regulations on broadband internet that make it illegal to actively prevent the CondomsWork installation and execution.
End of transcript. For the full transcript of the press conference, go to CIO.gov.
The federal Citizen Cloud is modeled after a successful program initiated by Indiana governor Mitch Daniels to use spare cycles of Hoosier’s computers to operate the state’s public registered sex offender’s database. Indiana has been using a network of 20,000 home computers to track and publish the whereabouts of the criminally perverse since 2007 for a claimed savings of $2.3 million.
Opponents of the plan claim they have been able to exploit a safari vulnerability to obtain the IP addresses of the entire Indiana citizen cloud and have traced them back to physical locations.
“80% of the computers used in Indiana’s so-called citizen cloud are in fact not the computers of citizens at all,” says Walter, an anonymous member of KillTheCloud, an Indiana-based information security group that is opposed to the use of cloud computing. “They are actually computers that we have been determined are not in the United States at all. In fact, nearly half of them are in former Soviet Bloc nations, and 25% of them reside in a data center known to be used to operate an illegal spamming botnet.”
When asked about the CondomWorks package, Walter had nothing positive to say. “CondomWorks is a total piece of crap. It is easily ruptured by both the computer owner and browser-based attackers. In fact, the hacker who obtained the IP addresses for us was able to break through Indiana’s CondomWorks package in fewer than 100 key strokes.”
“The citizen cloud is going to be a complete and total security disaster. Not only will the data be stolen, but it will be only months before smart software developers begin perverting the governments software to their own means, such as inflating tax returns, modifying criminal records, and stealing government resources.”
Representatives from the Indiana governor’s office were not available to comment on the allegations of KillTheCloud.
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356Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/obama-administration-announces-citizen-cloud-for-federal-software-applicationsObama+Administration+Announces+%22Citizen+Cloud%22+for+Federal+Software+Applications2009-04-01+14%3A18%3A12David+ChristiansenTags: Announcements
Five Tips for Being a Diva-loper
March 24th, 2009 · 353Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/five-tips-for-being-a-diva-loperFive+Tips+for+Being+a+Diva-loper2009-03-24+13%3A10%3A28David+Christiansen
Diva-loper (dee VAH loh per): a software developer who is arrogant, difficult to work with, high-maintenance, manipulative, fussy, highly strung, privileged and demanding (swiped from Wikipedia).
Tip #1: Don’t be bothered with testing. Testing is for wannabes, for tech-weenies who can’t code. Why should you waste your $100/hr skills on an activity that $30/hour NOBODIES can do for you? Besides, your code is probably perfect anyway.
Tip #2: Code everything
yourself, especially the user interface. Dude - UI designers are a total scam. They’re just a bunch of punks who learned html in high school and now they think they’re artists. You don’t need them. Just roll your own UI and tell the users to go sit on a fork if they don’t like it. Usability is for crack heads.
Tip #3: Establish your territory and don’t let anyone else play there. This is your code darn it. No one else can work it the way you do. Anyone else who touches it will just screw it up. Only you are worthy!
Tip #4: Never talk to users! Users don’t know JACK. Listening to them is a complete waste of time. Your time would be much better spent putting three layers of abstraction on that widget you built yesterday so that it can be used in every imaginable context. Isn’t that what business analysts are for anyway? To babysit the stupid users?
Tip #5: Stop learning NOW. You already know everything. Heck, you wrote the definitive framework for automating business decisions like, 10 years ago. Why would you need to learn anything now? Everyone should be learning from you, not the other way around.
The path to becoming a diva-loper isn’t easy. There will be naysayers, critics, and scorners. But you have a dream, and if you stick to it, you can do it. Along the way, you’ll alienate your friends, disenfranchise users, lose your cutting edge, and ignore important aspects of the software development discipline, but when that great day comes when you stand at the top of the pile, grinding the faces of your colleagues under your heel, the view will be fantastic. And you’ll be the only one there.
Note #1: This is obviously a sarcastic piece. That said, it will take all of 10 minutes before someone quotes me as saying testing is for wannabes. That’s not cool and it’s clearly not the way this is meant to be interpreted.
Note #2: You might be tempted to believe this little rant is inspired by the bad behavior of one of my colleagues or business partners and you would be totally wrong. It’s not inspired by their bad traits, but rather by their good. They are anti-diva-lopers, the epitome of good development habits and behaviors. I was thinking about that last night and how to best describe the traits I see in the developers I respect the most, and I thought it would be more fun to describe what they are not than what they are. So that’s what this is - a description of what they’re not that makes them so good.
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353Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/five-tips-for-being-a-diva-loperFive+Tips+for+Being+a+Diva-loper2009-03-24+13%3A10%3A28David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
Symptoms of an Unhealthy Workforce #1: Caring about Stupid Stuff
March 23rd, 2009 · 350Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/symptoms-of-an-unhealthy-workforce-1-caring-about-stupid-stuffSymptoms+of+an+Unhealthy+Workforce+%231%3A+Caring+about+Stupid+Stuff2009-03-23+13%3A07%3A28David+Christiansen
Once upon a time I worked in a little fabric box on a team that was bitterly divided over who should be in charge. You see, we were all consultants (from competing companies) working on the same project. The rates were good, but the team was eventually going to shrink when we went to production and the client chose a few of the consultants to stay on in support roles.
Most of us were independents. I had myself and two other consultants. Another group also had three guys there, and then there were two or three loners. I was younger then, more aggressive and less critical of myself (a reasonably nice way of saying I was stupid, don’t you think?).
The client brought in a team lead, who we’ll call Bill, and asked him to manage the contentiousness between us. A difficult task, since it was rooted in each of us competing for our financial well-beings. Bill decided that contention would be reduced by changing our seating arrangements and forcing competitors to sit nearer each other. He created an optimal seating designed and asked us to move.
Until that moment, I had always had a corner cubicle that was slightly larger than the others. Nice right? Not really, because that extra space had been used for years as a place to store extra manuals. Every license of the software we were using came with about 2 1/2 feet of manuals, of which only 1 1/2 inches were useful. Every time the software was updated, we got a new set of manuals, and nobody ever threw them away (This is state property we’re talking about!). So, everybody stacked them in my corner. They were there when I inherited the cubicle, and they were there when I left. I didn’t think anything about it.
I left that cubicle as part of the brilliant seating re-arrangement, and George moved in. I did a reasonable job of cleaning the cube, but I left the old books. When I found even more manuals in my new cube, I did what everyone else did: I put them in the corner.
This infuriated George. I’m not exaggerating when I say this - George wanted to go outside and have a fist fight. Seriously. It didn’t matter that he and the others had been putting those books there for years. It was his cube now, and he cared. I had some nerve dumping my crap on him like that.
I was astounded at the anger that boiled out of George at this moment. It was insane.
But that’s what happens in an unhealthy workforce. People start to care about crazy stuff, like where they sit, how big their cubicle is, who’s better pals with the boss, who gets dual monitors, and who’s cubicle location is “best”.
It’s an artificial economy of status built on the lack of a clear method of establishing pecking order. Humans, just like chickens, have a need to “know where they stand” in an organization, so they create fake ways of figuring it out. Chickens resolve this by fighting, humans in corporate IT do it with social shadow-boxing where meaningless factors like cubicle size and lunch with the boss establish who is “better”.
I’d tell you not to play this game, not to get caught in the petty feuds of who’s the better employee, but I’m not sure it would help. I’m not sure people can rise above this very primal need to know where they stand in the social order. It starts when we are very young (I was only moderately cool in high school) and I don’t think it ever goes away.
Instead, I think organizations ought to embrace this need for social structure and use it to their advantage. If you can make it based on things that are easily measured, like popularity and pay, it might less unhealthy. If everyone knew what everyone made, everyone would know where they stand. There would be other problems of course, but there would be no need for wondering who was most valuable.
Another method for establishing pecking order that I’ve always favored is an NBA styled draft and trade system. Every year, managers get to bid on project managers they want to work for them, and likewise project managers bid on their teams. Throughout the year, they can trade with other teams as suits them. All the trades and bids are public, and they translate into income for the players. Highly productive people with good social skills would be valuable and sought after - less productive people and angry misfits would find their options more limited until they improved themselves.
I think it’s ironic that the methods most useful for establishing a pecking order, pay and performance, are also the most protected in terms of personal privacy. I don’t think it’s a good thing - in fact I think it is very unhealthy. I wish it were all public.
Or at least I used to. I don’t work in a cube anymore, and I find I’m not concerned about where I stand in the pecking order. It feels healthy to me - I guess it’s true that on a good team even the punter is happy.
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When Project Cultures Collide
March 20th, 2009 · 347Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/when-project-cultures-collideWhen+Project+Cultures+Collide2009-03-20+13%3A10%3A14David+Christiansen
Back when I was still a minion of the dark side (corporate IT - wow that seems so long ago now) I frequently had difficulty obtaining services from other parts of the organization in a way that complemented the agile approach my project teams utilized. Every time I interacted with infrastructure, for instance, they wanted all of my requirements upfront, so they could do comprehensive once-and-done design. “I’d rather build out our infrastructure incrementally,” I would say, and sometimes I would be successful, but… mostly not. When other project managers would ask me how I was able to pull off agile in a waterfall world, I would often say something like “it leaves a lot of scars” because the truth is my approach just didn’t fit in.
Now that I work in a group that has really embraced lean and I have a technical role much more than I used to, I don’t run into that problem as much. Trust me, I don’t miss that issue. But occasionally I have to interact with an outside service provider who has a notion about the “right way” that can make things much more complicated than it needs to be. It’s not as frustrating as the problems I would encounter in the dark side when there was outside pressure to do BUFD or BUFR, but it is still difficult to deal with.
Here are some tips for dealing with outsiders who don’t usually work the way you do:
Explain your approach and see how they respond. Sometimes you will find an unexpected ally by telling them there are simply some aspects of the future you can’t predict and that you want to build something up incrementally and postpone technical commitments as long as you can without being irresponsible. Sometimes you’ll get derision. I’ve been called a cowboy more than once.
Find a different way. One of the beauties of technology is there are so many options. I think it’s okay to take the path of least resistance if you are blocked by an uncooperative, unresponsive, or simply slow moving bureaucracy.
Pick your battles. Don’t let a philosophical difference about project managemetn become a barrier between you and service provides. Minimize the differences when you talk about your approach, and don’t escalate conflict to higher levels of animosity than necessary.
Do the bare minimum to get by. I was always amazed by the answers I got when I asked infrastructure people what the absolute least amount of paperwork I had to to do to get resources was. It was often a tiny percentage of the massive forms they provided. Find out what parts of the process they measure and care about, make yourself look good there, and ignore the rest.
Get in the door, then collude with the people on the floor.This goes along with the previous point. Sometimes, it’s smart to just get through the engagement process to the point where you are working one on one with the actual service provider (not their agent/manager) and corrupt them with your subversive ideas.
Talk about goals when people want BUFD/BUFR. Often, people really only want to see the big picture when they ask for your requirements upfront. So, tell them a story, and make the questions you don’t know the answers to part of the story. Once they see the problems you are tackling, they’ll have a better sense of why you can’t define everything up front and they may not even expect you to.
“Because we’re using scrum” is not a reason. Arguing project methodologies is a waste of time and will only make it harder for you to engage with waterfall service providers. Talk about real problems, not abstract philosophical concepts of project management.
Good luck.
Dave
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347Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/when-project-cultures-collideWhen+Project+Cultures+Collide2009-03-20+13%3A10%3A14David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
How to Use @Reply in Twitter Messages
March 11th, 2009 · 344Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/how-to-use-reply-in-twitter-messagesHow+to+Use+%40Reply+in+Twitter+Messages2009-03-11+12%3A39%3A51David+Christiansen
@reply is a great feature in Twitter. You can use it to draw the attention of a specific Twitter user to a message, but let the Twitterverse in on it as well (as opposed to direct messages, which are private but can only be sent to people who follow you).
Most people use @reply to send a message to a specific user, like this:
@aldos You have CIWS (Corporate IT Withdrawal Syndrome). Keeping all emails to CYA is a classic symptom.
or like this:
@pkirkham Could you please DM me your email id?
I find @replies a bit annoying if they are used in excess, especially if there are extended periods of back-and-forth between a person I follow and a person I don’t. I’ve also found that some people use @replies in ways that don’t annoy me. Here are some tips for using @replies that I think are useful:
Make an @reply about a person as much as it is to a person
Here’s a good example:
Looks like @aldos is working on getting un-followed again with his heretofore twitter style point deficit.
I like this use of @reply. It tells me I’ve been annoying, but it’s not really just to me.
This tweet, from my friend and boss @mherrick66, was a response to a bit of spamming I did as an experiment to promote Uladoo. I sent @messages to about 8 different people I didn’t know but thought might be interested in Uladoo. Which brings up the next point:
Don’t use @reply to spam people
If you want to send a message to a specific person, hoping for a re-tweet, follow them. If they follow you back, send them a direct message. Especially if you are going to send the same message to several different people who don’t know you from @adam.
Don’t start your @reply with @reply
Sending a tweet that starts with @reply is like starting a letter with “Dear David”. That’s actually fine and normal for private correspondence, but that’s not what an @reply is. Starting a tweet with @aldos sends a strong signal to everyone else that this is not to them.
Don’t have extended conversations in twitter that are meaningless to followers
If you only follow one participant in a long twitter conversation, you know what I mean already. Here’s an example:
@junebug I think that idea sucks
@junebug Well, it doesn’t take into account the balance sheet
@junebug Yeah, if monkeys were accountants
@junebug No, I can’t do that today
I could go follow @junebug and find out what this is all about, but I’d rather the author just followed my first rule. She could have done this easily by simply replacing “it” and “that” with whatever she is referring to. For example, here’s how I would fix the last tweet.
I wish I could go to Gruberg’s talk on financial accountability with @junebug today, but can’t cuz of PTA.
Note: this conversation is totally made up. There probably is a twitter user named @junebug, so let me apologize in advance.
If @reply doesn’t add to your message, just drop it
Consider this tweet:
@testobsessed Good Morning! have a great day
How is it any better than this?
Good Morning! have a great day
Before you send an @reply, take out the @ part and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn’t, send it without the @.
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344Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/how-to-use-reply-in-twitter-messagesHow+to+Use+%40Reply+in+Twitter+Messages2009-03-11+12%3A39%3A51David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
Dear Twitter: Please Pimp My Twitter Service
March 1st, 2009 · 339Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/dear-twitter-please-pimp-my-twitter-serviceDear+Twitter%3A+Please+Pimp+My+Twitter+Service2009-03-02+02%3A14%3A37David+Christiansen
I think I’ve found the answer to the Twitter business model, or at least part of it.
Pimping Twitter apps like Uladoo.com. I’m not talking about pimping it the way you might pimp out a car. I’m not looking for blue headlights and fuzzy dice here. I’m talking about pimping it, you know, the old-fashioned way - Harry Hines Boulevard style. If you’ve lived in Dallas you’ll know what I mean - if you haven’t and you can’t guess… I don’t know what to tell you.
Here are the twitter service pimp features I’m looking for:
Handling financial transactions between a twitter service and a twitter user
Protecting twitter services from twitter users with intent to do harm
Help twitter services advertise their wares to to twitter users
Establish rules for who does and who doesn’t get to sell their services through twitter
I think there is a huge amount of potential for twitter to make money off of a cut of the twitter service action, so to speak. Let me illustrate what I mean with my twitter-based charting application, uladoo.com.
Charting with uladoo is free. You don’t even need to set up an account - all you have to do is send a message like this “@uladoo bugs fixed 3” and it will create a chart called “bugs fixed” and add the value “3” to it. It’s easy, and it’s kind of cool, and it has lots of potential applications.
It’s also kind of annoying. I created a chart called “calories” with uladoo and I tweeted to it every time I ate for about a week. My followers complained. Some of them, including my boss, un-followed me. Other uladoo users had similar experiences, and within a week of launching people were begging us to support direct messages.
We now support updating charts with direct messages, and soon we’ll be supporting other cool features, like shared charts and charts with multiple series. We want to package these three particular features as a premium “pro” package that uladoo users will pay to use.
Ultimately, I want to use Twitter’s built-in “follow” feature to control this. @uladoo will only follow twitter accounts that pay for the “pro” package. By virtue of the fact that @uladoo follows them, these users will be able to use all the cool extra features the pro package offers.
Here’s where Twitter can make money off of services like this: pimp my twitter service. I want to be able to facilitate the entire monetary transaction between @uladoo and our pro users. As a service provider, I want to be able to define the terms of our following agreement - is the user being charged at a per-message rate (ie $3/1000 DMs) or are they paying for a time period (ie $3/yr)? Once the transaction processes successfully, my twitter merchant account would automatically set @uladoo to follow the user. On top of that, twitter would also handle the recurring charges, allowing me to set up renewal messages, etc. Ideally, twitter would use direct messages to let users know it’s time to renew, and perhaps they would even use direct messages to facilitate the renewal transaction.
New twitter-based services are coming out of the woodworks every day. Many of them have potential for generating revenue through paid “premium” services. Twitter can make money by pimping these services, by managing access to them by proxy and facilitating the financial transactions and charging the merchant for these services.
Would I pay 10-20% of my transactions to Twitter to have them do this? Heck yes I would. Look at my alternatives - building a an integration between PayPal/Google Checkout and my twitter account is not what I want to do right now. I’d rather spend my time adding new features, like chart mashups and data-displaying tooltips, than making a merchant account integrate with twitter.
For the time being, I think we’ll just do it manually. We’ll add a google checkout button to one of our pages, and every time a user pays me I’ll go to our twitter account and follow them. It’s not fun, but it’ll work. Obviously, it won’t scale, but I’ll be very pleased if that becomes a problem.
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339Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/dear-twitter-please-pimp-my-twitter-serviceDear+Twitter%3A+Please+Pimp+My+Twitter+Service2009-03-02+02%3A14%3A37David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
My Three Favorite iPhone Apps (So Far)
February 19th, 2009 · 333Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/my-three-favorite-iphone-apps-so-farMy+Three+Favorite+iPhone+Apps+%28So+Far%292009-02-19+13%3A25%3A29David+Christiansen
Lose It! by FitNow, Inc. (free)
As you can probably guess by its title and scale icon, Lose It! is a weight loss application. With Lose It!, you enter some basic information about your health and goals, and it sets up a caloric budget to help you meet them. Then, you simply enter what you eat throughout the day and it tells you how many calories you have left in your budget. I really like this feature, because it’s changed my attitude about eating - I now see everything I eat as a tradeoff - the opportunity cost of chocolate milk at breakfast is a slice of chocolate cake after dinner, so I forego the one one I like in favor of the one I love. Other notable features of Lose It! include a thorough calorie dictionary for foods, both generic and name brand, as well as the ability to combine foods in a “recipe” that you can use over and over again.
If you’ve got a desire to lose weight, give Lose It! a try. It’s been very helpful to me so far. I’ve still got 48 pounds to go, but I’m off to a decent start.
Touch Physics by Marc D Simpson ($0.99, free lite version)
Okay, so this is practically everyone’s favorite iPhone game already and you’ve probably already tried it. But… I love it too, and so do my kids. Even my 10 month old will sit and quietly poke at the screen for 20 minutes before he finally gives in and tries to stick my phone in his mouth.
If you’re one of the the four people on the planet who haven’t heard of it yet, Touch Physics is all about moving a ball through/over/around/under obstacles to a goal, using objects you draw to flip, push, bounce, or support the ball along its way. The graphical style is crayon, the music is engaging, and the physical effects are really cool. It’s a fun, entertaining game that can keep you busy for anything from a coast-to-coast flight to an oil change at your local Jiffy Lube.
Quick Shot by Code Monkeys at Work($0.99)
Quick Shot adds some cool camera capabilities to your iPhone that make the whole camera phone experience a lot better in my opinion. With Quick Shot you can take pictures by simply clicking anywhere on the screen (as opposed to trying to hit a button). This makes it a lot easier to keep the phone steady for a picture since you don’t have to aim for a button on the screen.
Another feature I like about Quick Shot is the auto-save setting. My five year old likes to take pictures (I’ve been teaching him about framing shots) and he tends to fill up the camera with pictures of socks, toys, ear lobes, etc. With Quick Shot, I can turn off auto save and let him take pictures without having to go back later and delete them all.
Check these apps out. They are handy and fun to use!
~ Dave
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333Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/my-three-favorite-iphone-apps-so-farMy+Three+Favorite+iPhone+Apps+%28So+Far%292009-02-19+13%3A25%3A29David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
Metrics That Matter
February 16th, 2009 · 327Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/metrics-that-matterMetrics+That+Matter2009-02-16+14%3A03%3A40David+Christiansen
I’ve always had an allergic reaction to metrics in software development. Over the years, lots of people have commented that they find this strange, given my background in manufacturing/mechanical engineering. I’ve never been able to explain why, but the metrics I’ve seen proposed for software development have never felt as genuinely useful as the type of metrics I’ve seen collected about manufacturing processes.
I’ve recently discovered a very powerful personal health metric’s usefulness: calories. I first started tracking calories with uladoo.com and twitter, then recently switched to Lose It!, an iPhone app recommended to me by a friend. As I’ve tracked calories, I’ve realized how little I knew about nutrition. It was astounding to discover there are more than 10 times the calories in a tablespoon of Hershey’s syrup than there are in a large asparagus stalk. Cheese, sour cream, ice cream, chocolate, soda, and even macaroni and cheese all have a completely different meaning to me than they once did. Counting calories has really changed my perspective and altered my behavior. But counting calories in itself is not the really powerful part - it’s the calorie budget that really makes a difference. I can eat 2,642 calories every day and lose a pound a week. If I eat more than that, I won’t lose weight. If I eat less, I will lose weight more quickly.
You might think that this experience has changed my viewpoint about software development metrics, and you’d be right, in a way. My position hasn’t changed (still haven’t seen a useful one), but I now understand why well enough to articulate the reasoning behind my position. So, here’s my list of what makes a good metric, along with quotes meant to be good counter-examples:
A metric must be simple. “A function point is unit of measurement to express the amount of business functionality an information system provides to a user.”
A metric must be easily measurable. One person with a simple tool. “Seriously - you want me to track how much time I spend on prod support, project X, and project Y at the minute level?”
A metric must be an unambiguous indicator. There should be no debate about the actual value measured itself. “Well, we say it’s 3 function points, but if you look at the underlying code you realize it’s a lot more complicated than it seems.”
A metric must be accompanied by boundaries that are clear, indisputable indicators of badness, like my caloric budget. “Yes my project is 25% over budget, but we’re also a bit ahead of schedule in the requirements gathering, so we’ll make it up in the end.”
Boundaries must be based on meaningful stuff (my caloric budget is derived from my height and weight and medical tables) as opposed to just pulled out of an orifice. “My boss expects me to find 3 bugs each day, so I bank up bugs and enter them later when I get my quota.”
The vast majority of software development metrics I’ve seen in my career violate most, if not all, of these rules.
Here are some exceptions that I’ve experienced:
Hours spent at the office (as opposed to hours working, which is pretty ambiguous in software development - if I think about a coding problem while I shower am I “working”). More than 40 for more than three weeks in a row is bad, bad, bad.
Story points completed per iteration. When the same group of people do the estimating and the work over multiple iterations, this becomes a pretty valuable metric and it meets all my criteria. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read User Stories Applied.
I’m starting to think pomodoros might be a good measure of personal productivity over time, but I haven’t been doing it long enough to be sure. It’s certainly a good technique for creating focus.
Notice that this is a short list, and there are lots and lots of metrics for software development I’ve seen over the users. Why haven’t they succeeded? Because they almost always break one of my premises of metrics that matter.
Think you’ve got a metric I would like? Let’s see it then, in the comments.
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327Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/metrics-that-matterMetrics+That+Matter2009-02-16+14%3A03%3A40David+ChristiansenTags: Development
Twitter 2.0: Get on the Public Service Bus!
February 13th, 2009 · 323Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/twitter-20-get-on-the-public-service-busTwitter+2.0%3A+Get+on+the+Public+Service+Bus%212009-02-13+14%3A37%3A34David+Christiansen
Six years ago I was sitting at a table with some guys from SeeBeyond, an SOA/EAI vendor that has since been acquired by Sun. I told one of them, a sales engineer, that I thought it would be really cool if they had some sort of SeeBeyond Lite that was free for consumers to use for things like home automation, etc. He looked at me like I was crazy. I tried to explain why I thought a service bus for the home would be useful, but he took a long drag on his beer and pretended to be distracted by an overheard comment about the price of SeeBeyond stock.
Sigh. He had pegged me as a nerd and moved on.
Today, a few people are using Twitter for exactly what I wanted SeeBeyond Lite for, and I think it’s brilliant. There are houseplants that send you tweets when they are thirsty, houses that obey commands you send from twitter, and just a few days ago yours truly (with Atomic Object) launched uladoo.com, a site that lets you make charts online just by tweeting to @uladoo.
Boy, do I ever want to get those houseplants talking to uladoo!
I think this new application of twitter to send messages, not just to people followers, but to devices and services is then next incarnation of twitter. Twitter 2.0 isn’t a new version of Twitter - it’s a new version of what we use it for.
Twitter is the perfect service bus for short messages with no security requirements. It’s a Public ServeUs Bus! Go ahead, call it a PSUB. It’s freaking awesome! The twitter API is so easy to use creating adapters at either end is almost trivial. Any data you can fit in 140 characters can be sent to any receiver either through a pub-sub model or point-to-point.
Here are a few random ideas I’ve had about how Twitter could be used as data collection/aggregation/distribution service:
Traffic data collection: you know those things in the road that count cars? What if they just tweeted the time and gps coordinates every time a car came by? You could create all sorts of aggregations of this data by combining the twitter search api with animated maps to show traffic flow in a city.
Home weather stations that tweet their data along with their location. There are all sorts of weather geeks out there who would do all sorts of stuff with this.
Birdwatching. Combine twitpic and gps location with a twitter account that aggregates the data and you’ve got a mobile bird-watching application (someone needs to figure out how to tether an iPhone to a digital SLR for this one)
Cheap mobile devices that only send tweets. These aren’t for consumers - they’re just for other devices. Something you can add to a camera, or a weather station, or whatever you want, so that it can send messages anywhere there is mobile service.
Auctions by twitter. People bid with tweets, while ebay or something like it manages the auction at the other end.
Open source exit poll data. Imagine pollsters carrying devices that tweet exit poll data as they collect it. Anyone can analyze it, mash it up, do what they what, with a pretty reasonable data lag.
Collecting feedback. Yesterday Guy Kawasaki asked his followers which logo they liked better over twitter. I don’t know how he processed the results, but they could have been tied to a charting application (uladoo will support this soon) that let Guy and anyone else who cared see the results as they came in.
One of the coolest things about collecting data using twitter as a bus is the openness of it all. If one guy makes a device that tweets weather information, another guy might make an application that makes that weather data meaningful in a new way, like creating animated wind charts for his science fair project.
It’s a way of creating, collecting, and sharing data that is essentially open source. Open source data thanks to Twitter 2.0, the new Public Service Bus.
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323Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/twitter-20-get-on-the-public-service-busTwitter+2.0%3A+Get+on+the+Public+Service+Bus%212009-02-13+14%3A37%3A34David+ChristiansenTags: Uncategorized
Please sign the open source letter to President Obama
February 10th, 2009 · 320Commentshttp://www.techdarkside.com/please-sign-the-open-source-letter-to-president-obamaPlease+sign+the+open+source+letter+to+President+Obama2009-02-10+12%3A18%3A01David+Christiansen
This morning Stuart Cohen (CEO, Collaborative Software Initiative) and I published an open source letter to President Obama, urging him to consider the role open source software will play in the various technology initiatives that are part of the pending economic stimulus. Co-signers of the letter include executives from a variety of companies in the open-source industry, including Alfresco, Compiere, Hyperics, Ingres, Unisys, and others.
Please take a minute and read the open source letter. If you agree about the importance of considering the source of software products in government projects, you can sign the letter by posting a comment with your name, company (if appropriate) and web-site. We’d also appreciate any mention you might make of the open source letter to your friends and colleagues through email, blogs, and twitter.
The letter itself is open-sourced under a creative commons license, which means you can post it, print it, share it, etc with those around you. We hope you will do just that, and help promote the idea that open-source can help bring cost-effective, transparent solutions to government software projects.
Thanks!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Definition of Information Technology
Information Technology – A Definition:
We use the term information technology or IT to refer to an entire industry. In actuality, information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information. In some companies, this is referred to as Management Information Services (or MIS) or simply as Information Services (or IS). The information technology department of a large company would be responsible for storing information, protecting information, processing the information, transmitting the information as necessary, and later retrieving information as necessary.
History of Information Technology:
In relative terms, it wasn't long ago that the Information Technology department might have consisted of a single Computer Operator, who might be storing data on magnetic tape, and then putting it in a box down in the basement somewhere. The history of information technology is fascinating! Check out these history of information technology resources for information on everything from the history of IT to electronics inventions and even the top 10 IT bugs.
Modern Information Technology Departments:
In order to perform the complex functions required of information technology departments today, the modern Information Technology Department would use computers, servers, database management systems, and cryptography. The department would be made up of several System Administrators, Database Administrators and at least one Information Technology Manager. The group usually reports to the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Popular Information Technology Skills:
Some of the most popular information technology skills at the moment are:
Computer Networking
Information Security
IT Governance
ITIL
Business Intelligence
Linux
Unix
Project Management
For more information about technical skills that are popular in the job market, check out the IT Career Skills List..
Information Technology Certifications:
Having a solid education and specific specialty certifications is the best way to progress in an information technology career. Here are some of the more popular information technology certifications:
Information Security Certifications
Oracle DBA Certifications
Microsoft Certifications
Cisco Certifications
PMP Certification
Jobs in IT:
There can be a lot of overlap between many of the job descriptions within information technology departments. In order to clarify the descriptions, skills and career paths of each, I have put together a Jobs in IT listing. The jobs in IT listing includes information on education and training required for each position. It also includes lists of companies that typically have IT jobs open, as well as links to IT-specific resumes, cover letters and IT interview questions.
Information Technology - Trends:
Information Technology Departments will be increasingly concerned with data storage and management, and will find that information security will continue to be at the top of the priority list. Cloud computing remains a growing area to watch. The job outlook for those within Information Technology is strong, with data security and server gurus amongst the highest paid techies. Check out the Information Security Certifications and Highest Paying Certifications for more information. In order to stay current in the Information Technology Industry, be sure you subscribe to top technology industry publications.
We use the term information technology or IT to refer to an entire industry. In actuality, information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information. In some companies, this is referred to as Management Information Services (or MIS) or simply as Information Services (or IS). The information technology department of a large company would be responsible for storing information, protecting information, processing the information, transmitting the information as necessary, and later retrieving information as necessary.
History of Information Technology:
In relative terms, it wasn't long ago that the Information Technology department might have consisted of a single Computer Operator, who might be storing data on magnetic tape, and then putting it in a box down in the basement somewhere. The history of information technology is fascinating! Check out these history of information technology resources for information on everything from the history of IT to electronics inventions and even the top 10 IT bugs.
Modern Information Technology Departments:
In order to perform the complex functions required of information technology departments today, the modern Information Technology Department would use computers, servers, database management systems, and cryptography. The department would be made up of several System Administrators, Database Administrators and at least one Information Technology Manager. The group usually reports to the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Popular Information Technology Skills:
Some of the most popular information technology skills at the moment are:
Computer Networking
Information Security
IT Governance
ITIL
Business Intelligence
Linux
Unix
Project Management
For more information about technical skills that are popular in the job market, check out the IT Career Skills List..
Information Technology Certifications:
Having a solid education and specific specialty certifications is the best way to progress in an information technology career. Here are some of the more popular information technology certifications:
Information Security Certifications
Oracle DBA Certifications
Microsoft Certifications
Cisco Certifications
PMP Certification
Jobs in IT:
There can be a lot of overlap between many of the job descriptions within information technology departments. In order to clarify the descriptions, skills and career paths of each, I have put together a Jobs in IT listing. The jobs in IT listing includes information on education and training required for each position. It also includes lists of companies that typically have IT jobs open, as well as links to IT-specific resumes, cover letters and IT interview questions.
Information Technology - Trends:
Information Technology Departments will be increasingly concerned with data storage and management, and will find that information security will continue to be at the top of the priority list. Cloud computing remains a growing area to watch. The job outlook for those within Information Technology is strong, with data security and server gurus amongst the highest paid techies. Check out the Information Security Certifications and Highest Paying Certifications for more information. In order to stay current in the Information Technology Industry, be sure you subscribe to top technology industry publications.
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