Pakzilla » Software Industry

From 1st September 10, Sun Certification titles will be changed to Oracle Certification

Tahir Akram — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:06:55 +0000

Just came to know from Oracle website that they have completely integrated Sun certifications with Oracle certification program. The title of certification has been changed. Now Sun Certified Java Programmer will be know as Oracle Certified Professional, Java Programmer.
From Oracle website:

Effective September 1, 2010, all Java, Oracle Solaris, MySQL, Open Office and Oracle Solaris Cluster certifications have been re-published and rebranded under the Oracle Certification Program. This change will not impact any of the exam objectives and with Oracle’s firm commitment to the growth of the program, these credentials will continue to be some of the highest recognized achievements in the industry.

Oracles message to Sun customers and challenges IBM

Tahir Akram — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:49:21 +0000

Just found on Oracle website that they have placed a message for Sun customers about their objectives and their focus on Solaris and SPARC. And more interestingly you can find Larry Elison (CEO of Oracle) challenging IBM to compete in hardware business. A marketing tactic.

Picture reference: oracle.com/features/suncustomers.html

Non CS skills every CS graduate or programmer must have

Tahir Akram — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:27:49 +0000

CS graduates come up with superb knowledge of computer, networks and other IT skills. If they are programmer they write sharp logic and design and code software well. These skills helps them to advancing them in their technical career. But being a technical practitioner a CS junkie should know some non-CS skills and abilities. Because in job they have to communicate and interact with many other people who don’t the CS background. And these skills can help them in more advance positions.

So to reach that level one should know these skills to prove better in other areas too. I consider following skills that a programmer or a CS graduate must have. You can add your comments to enhance this article*.

1. Business communication

A fresh CS graduate must have a very good verbal and writing skills. To present well his idea to managers. He should know the art to put things on white board what he has in his mind. I found CS people are lacking very much in it.

2. Inter-personal skills

It can be merged with above. But being better in inter-personally means to be a good listener, behaving effectively on different situations. Convincing power compliance with logical arguments. Interacting well with different niche of people like client, colleagues and managers.

3. Knowledge of business, economics & international affairs

For me this is the thing which put leadership in computer science people. When they started thinking globally. They know whats going in international and local markets. What are the causes of global economic recession. They know what are the means to earn money if they start their own business. How they can market their ideas. Thinking in this way cause them to be entrepreneurs. And hence they start taking risks and giving jobs rather waiting for a job in a cube.

* Note: My this post is a response to the research that Mr. Nadeem Ghafoor from COMSATS IIT is doing on “Non-CS Aspects of Undergrad CS Education in Pakistan“.

Google Code Jam is back for year 2009

Tahir Akram — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:12:08 +0000

Google has announced its annual programming competition for year 2009.

According to Google blog

Registration is now open, so you can find out more about the contest, and practice on some sample problems. Practice hard! If you make it to the top 500, you’ll travel to a nearby Google office for our semifinal round. If you’re in the top 100, we’ll fly you to our Mountain View headquarters to compete with the world’s very best.

Google is taking this competition as a fine grained recruiting process. Because while registering with Code Jam they will ask what Google office location suits you. Well fair enough, they are giving money to winners and an offer to work in Google. I hope this time I will be able to solve problems in qualification round. Last time I able to solve only one problem which works fine by given test cases but Google didn’t accept . That fairly means I need more practice.

Tips for a successful career in IT

Tahir Akram — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:57:55 +0000

Information Technology has completely changed our lives. No matter who you are, you can’t escape to be affected by it. It has a divining force on our lives. I have drawn some tips that I have come up by discussions with friends, colleagues and students directly or indirectly attached with IT fields. These tips can apply equally for those people who are in other professions other than IT.

Recognize Yourself

That comes first. Ask yourself whether you want to be an IT enabled professional. I have seen people who take their decision by just taking influence from other people. Later they came to know the direction they choose didn’t suit them. We should be on our own. The earlier you identify yourself, less time you are likely to waste in a wrong direction.

Identify Your Key Technology Areas

Information Technology is an abstract term. Whenever you think of it there it comes with all sort of stuff bundled under one umbrella. You can consider a divide between programmer and networking expert. If you are a best problem solver, writing a lot of code is a fun for you, riddles attract you then you can choose to excel in programming and software development. If you are new into IT education then its ok to get a mix and more diversified technology diet otherwise you must need to decide for your career prospects.

Always Remember the Basics

As people who are pursuing career in IT and software they must keep sharpening the knowledge of basic foundations and principles of their skills. A lot of jargons and buzzword are trailing in the market in the form of libraries, APIs and frameworks. By keeping a strong eye on basics and how stuff is working can cause you to develop such things. More usable and more useful.

Make Smart Use of Internet

Making smart use of Internet doesn’t mean less use. But smart mean productive and meaningful. I know it sounds trivial a trivial idea but if we give it a thought than people who are addicted to use it in a smart ways knows when they see their colleagues stuck up – and remain there – with issues answers to which are just a few click away. Making smart use of internet require force and practice. Every time you face an issue ask yourself how to narrate it so that others can give you solution or can guide in right direction. I got pinched when any of fellow developer used to say that he never found solution on forums and mailing lists. Internet is full of information; we just need to know how to use it rather re-inventing the wheel.

Socialize yourself

Make your communication as a super power. Be a voice on table. Attract people. Engage with them, give arguments, make your point of view clear and leave a solid impact behind you. There is a general perception that technical people lack communication skills and they remain introvert. But I disagree with it. Being as a developer me never found myself falls back in discussion and socializing. And it really can put you out of the crowd.

Develop a ‘Financial Sense’

People pursuing an IT career pose a general risk of being labeled as a ‘purely technical’ entity. Usually we end up marking limits around that force us to remain a techy for the rest of our life. And it is not just about perceptions alone. A technical person who does not have a good financial sense would face problem sooner or later. Whether job requires it or not, we need to try to develop a financial sense that relates directly to our technology area.

That’s all I have scratched my mind to write on this topic. Well things never stop. Make your comments and let others know what you feel to be a successful IT professional and a very good human being.

Sun has announced Java Store

Tahir Akram — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:20:00 +0000

Sun Microsystems has unleashed Java Store at store.java.com. The purpose of this store is to give opportunities to developers to make money by showcasing their Java applications. Which they care about and develop in their own time. Currently store is in beta and available for US residents only.

Sun chief executive Jonathan Schwartz and Java creator James Gosling introduced the concept at the JavaOne conference.

“The objective is very simple: to give Java developers access to a billion consumers,” said Schwartz. “It solves the problem of how you get access to every customer in the world.”

Currently Sun is looking feedback on payment process. This store will be a great oppertunity to give financial benefits to developers and return for their efforts in developing Java apps.

Late sitting in software companies

Tahir Akram — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:42:24 +0000

It’s half past 8 in the office. but the lights are still on…
PCs still running,
Coffee machines still buzzing…

And who’s at work?

Most of them??? take a closer look…
All or most specimens are ??-something male species of the human race…
Look closer… again all or most of them are bachelors…and why are they sitting late? Working hard?

No way!!!

Any guesses???

Let’s ask one of them…

Here’s what he says… “What’s there to do after going home… here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, tea, coffee.. that is why I am working late… importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.
Bachelors “time-passing” during late hours in the office just because they say they’ve nothing else to do…

Now what are the consequences… read on…

“Working” (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.
With bosses more than eager to provide support to those “working” late in the form of bus fair, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he’s a hard worker… goes home only to change..!!).
They aren’t helping things too… To hell with bosses who don’t understand the difference between “sitting” late and “working” late!!!

Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.
So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family… office is no longer a priority, family is… and that’s when the problem starts… because you start having commitments at home too.

For your boss, the earlier “hardworking” guy suddenly seems to become a “early leaver” even if u leave an hour after regular time. .. after doing the same amount of work.
People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled as work-shirkers…
Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays…though) leave on time. The later is not applicable to them. All the while, the male bachelors pat their own backs and carry on working not realizing that they are spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.

So what’s the moral of the story??

Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
Never put in extra time ” *unless really needed *”
Don’t stay back un-necessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.
There are hundred other things to do in the evening..
Learn a foreign language…
Try a sport… cricket….or even running
Make friends…go on outing

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad:

*”Life’s calling, where are you??”*

Lets see, how many of us act upon it. Hope for the best

Software engineering process (cartoon)

Tahir Akram — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:29:26 +0000

Its real?

Seven Wonders of the IT World

Tahir Akram — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:05:10 +0000

First, there were the Seven Wonders of the World. Then there was a New Seven Wonders list, voted on Internet-style. That got us thinking: What are the seven wonders of the IT world? Here’s a look at seven of the biggest, most extreme and most unusual computers and projects.

Webcam #1 Computer Closest to the North Pole
NASA’s Voyager 1 satellite Computer farthest from Earth
Google World’s most intriguing data center
The E-sciencE II (EGEE-II) project World’s largest scientific grid computing project
IBM BlueGene/L (BGL) World’s fastest supercomputer
OQO, Model 02 Smallest PC to run Windows Vista
Linux kernel Biggest Paradigm Change in Enterprise Software

By the way, do you have a vote for an eighth wonder?

Computer Closest to the North Pole:
Webcam #1

Who’s in charge: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory takes care of this floating eye at the top of the world.
(in Figure: A view close to the North Pole from Webcam #1 )

Make and model: NetCam XL, made by StarDot Technologies.

Proximity to the pole: Varies. “Since the North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, we deploy our instrumentation on an ice floe as close to the pole as we can,” says Nancy Soreide, associate director for IT at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. “However, the ice floe does not stay at or near the pole. It drifts.”

How it works: The webcam’s container stands on a metal apparatus, on top of a piece of plywood and the ice. A battery floats beneath the ice surface, powering the webcam, which sends back pictures via satellite.

Prime time: Runs only during the balmier months, between April and October.

Life span: Think Titanic—at the end of each year’s season, the webcam sinks, and is replaced by a newer model.

Operating temperature: From a chilly minus 40 degrees F to a balmy 120 degrees F.

Resolution: 2048 by 1536 (3.1 megapixels).

Weight: 19.5 ounces.

Dimensions: 3.25 inches wide (82.5 millimeters) by 2.20 inches high (56 millimeters) by 6.6 inches deep (167 millimeters).

On the scene: Lots of ice but no Santa sightings or flying reindeer, to date.

Computer farthest from Earth:
NASA’s Voyager 1 satellite

Distance from Earth: Voyager is three times farther away than Pluto. That’s to say at least 4 billion kilometers, times three.
(in figure: NASA’s Voyager satellite computes at the edge of space as we know it)

Distance from the sun: 15.44 terameters.

Distance logged per day: 1 million miles.

Years old: Almost 30, having launched on Sept. 5, 1977.

Places it’s dropped by: Jupiter and Saturn, on the way to the edge of space as we know it.

How it communicates with Earth: Uses NASA’s Deep Space Network, a system of antennas around the Earth. There’s no IM out here: Signals traveling at light speed take 14 hours one-way to reach Voyager.

Daily to-do list: Collects data on solar wind, energetic particles, magnetic fields and radio waves.

Powered by: Radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

Power needed: About 300 watts, the amount of power needed for a bright lightbulb.

World’s most intriguing data center:
Google

Location: The Dalles, Oregon, on the banks of the Columbia River, 80 miles east of Portland.

Main attractions: Hydroelectric dam for power, two four-story cooling towers.

B.G. (Before Google): Pioneers knew The Dalles as the end of the Oregon trail.

Jobs inside the data center to date: Between 100 and 200. Google won’t specify.

Code name: Called Project 02 by the locals.

Wired by: A fiber optic artery looped through the surrounding wilderness.

Secrecy level: High. Two reporters from the local newspaper are the only media who’ve been inside the compound and written about it (See “Inside the World of Google”): Google treats any and all details as though they belong to the National Security Agency.

Size: 30-acre site.

Number of servers: Google’s mum. It has an estimated 500,000 around the world, spread across 25 locations.

Storage: Across all its data centers, Google stores an estimated 200 petabytes.

Top searches inside the compound: We’d bet it’s a tie between “Britney Spears” and “Web 2.0.”

World’s largest scientific grid computing project:
The E-sciencE II (EGEE-II) project

Launched: September 2006, for use by scientists around the world.
(in figure: A Google Earth view of European sites hooked into the EGEE grid computing project)

Helps power: Large-scale scientific research projects in fields from geology to chemistry—for example, will analyze data from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator being built to help investigate details around the Big Bang and related physics questions.

Amount of work it does: 98,000 jobs a day, more than 1 million per month.

Juggling ability: Runs about 30,000 jobs concurrently, on average.

Number of sites connected to the EGEE infrastructure: About 240.

Number of countries connected to the EGEE infrastructure: 45.

Number of CPUs available to users, 24/7: More than 36,000.

Storage capacity available: About 5 PB disk space (5 million GB).

World’s fastest supercomputer:
IBM BlueGene/L (BGL)

Powered by: 65,536 dual-processor computer nodes.
(in figure: The BlueGene/L supercomputer at home at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

Home base: This 2,500-square-foot marvel lives at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.

Claim to fame: Helps researchers answer physics questions about stockpiled nuclear weapons and materials like Plutonium.

Power requirements: 1.5 megawatts (equivalent to a 2,000-horsepower diesel engine).

Clocked speed: Rated fastest in the world after clocking sustained performance of 280.6 trillion operations per second, or teraflops.

Approximate cost: As part of a larger contract including other supercomputers, just under $100 million.

Measure of compute capability: To match the power of this behemoth, every man, woman and child on Earth would need to perform 60,000 calculations per second (without transposing digits or forgetting to “carry the one”).

Brawny bandwidth: Its internal communication network would support 150 simultaneous phone conversations for every person in the United States.

Waiting in the wings: IBM has announced a successor, Blue Gene/P, designed to deliver three times the processing power of the Blue Gene/L.

Smallest PC to run Windows Vista:
OQO, Model 02

The package: OQO’s Handheld PC checks in at 5.6 (wide) by 3.3 (high) by 1 (deep) inches.
(in figure: The diminutive OQO handheld PC weighs in at less than one pound)

The skinny: Weighs just under 1 pound (weight varies with configuration).

Vitals: 1.5GHz processor, Windows XP or Vista, 30 or 60GB hard drive, 512MB or 1GBDDR DRAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

Most likely to twist your fingers into yoga positions: Thumb keypad with 57 keys total, mouse buttons, digital pen, programmable thumbwheel.

Stayin’ alive: Lithium-ion polymer battery keeps it cooking for up to three hours.

Price of entry: Starts at $1,499.

James Bond-worthiness: Sleek, but we’d bet 007 would insist on something even smaller.

Biggest Paradigm Change in Enterprise Software:
Linux kernel

Created by: Linus Torvalds, in 1991, helping open-source developers collectively craft a viable alternative to Microsoft operating systems.

Number of developers: Total since 1991 is unknown; 3,200 developers for the kernel as of release 2.6.22. The Linux kernel contains 8.2 million lines of code, with approximately 86 lines added every hour

New releases: Every 2.6 months.*

Quick change artists: 2.89 changes made to the kernel every hour.

Lines of code: 8.2 million and growing (about 10 percent per year).

Amount of code added every hour: 85.63 lines.

Revenue diverted from Microsoft: Perhaps only Mr. Gates knows.

*Unless otherwise marked, statistics reflect Linux kernel releases of the past 2.5 years (version 2.6.11 through 2.6.21).

A CIO story by C.G. Lynch

Top replies by programmers, when their programs don’t work

Tahir Akram — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:48:57 +0000

20 replies by programmers, when their programs do not work.

“That’s weird…”
“It’s never done that before.”
“It worked yesterday.”
“How is that possible?”
“It must be a hardware problem.”
“What did you type in wrong to get it to crash?”
“There is something funky in your data.”
“I haven’t touched that module in weeks!”
“You must have the wrong version.”
“It’s just some unlucky coincidence.”
“I can’t test everything!”
“THIS can’t be the source of THAT.”
“It works, but it hasn’t been tested.”
“Somebody must have changed my code.”
“Did you check for a virus on your system?”
“Even though it doesn’t work, how does it feel?
“You can’t use that version on your system.”
“Why do you want to do it that way?”
“Where were you when the program blew up? and the number One reply is:
“It works on my machine.”

If you like this, then you should check programmer’s life too.