Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Open Letter to the Community. This is an Open Letter adressed to the Community and to Zope Corporation and the decisionmakers in the New Zope.Org project. Please go "here":http://plone.org/Members/zwark/plone-nzo to read my letter to the community about the new zope.org website, and add your comments. Open Letter to the Community [Zope.org] This is a letter about using Plone for the new zope.org site.  I am in favor of that.  I like the idea of basing the site on a really great product to show the world what Zope can do.  Also, the internationalization support is key for international users.  Finally, I like focusing on what Zope 2 can do for us today without banking on Zope 3 until it's finished. 9:49:08 PM    comment []

Microsoft Rolls Out SP3 for SQL Server. Microsoft Corp. Tuesday announced the availability of SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3, which includes serviceability and security fixes and enhancements. [Technology News from eWEEK and Ziff Davis] There's some new functionality around manageability and data mining, but maybe more importantly there's security patches and bug fixes.  Also, you can now run SQL Server Agent as a non-administrator.  I don't see any specifically mentioned DTS improvements, though.  :-( 9:36:28 PM    comment []

Web Vulnerability Puts Internet Users, Sites At Risk. Security Alert: WhiteHat Security has released a whitepaper detailing what it calls a "serious security flaw" that affects almost all web servers worldwide. The flaw allows an attacker to steal passwords from users visiting a legitimate store, bank or email system. [Technology News from eWEEK and Ziff Davis] Wow, this one is scary! It's a flaw in the way the HTTP TRACE command works that allows hackers to gain a user's credentials.  Another thing that is scary is that the vendors of IE and Netscape are still working on a client-side fix.  The recommended action on the server side is to disallow the TRACE command. 9:05:26 PM    comment []

USATODAY.com - Microsoft loses showdown in Houston Microsoft went to Houston and told them it was time to pay up, and license Office appropriately.  Apparently the Houston city council said no thanks, and decided to go with an Internet-based office suite for a fraction of the cost.  While it's refreshing to see someone as large as the city of Houston say no to Microsoft, I am a bit disappointed.  I would have loved to see the city of Houston choose Open Office (or even Star Office) as their office suite.  Open Office is, in my mind, a true competitor to Microsoft Office.  In my experience, it provides most the functionality that many Office users need.  Perhaps Houston was looking for more of an ASP model.  Someone to take care of their software for them.  I'm betting that they could have found a Linux-based ASP to slash their costs and move them further away from Microsoft dependency. But, I'm just dreaming... 1:16:41 PM    comment []

Wired News: Pet Lovers: Fancy a Cat Clone? Bummer. Sorry Noel, no clones for you. [Hack the Planet] A friend and I were debating nature vs. nurture recently.  We brought up the subject of human cloning and speculated on personality of a clone.  Basically, this confirms our suspicions.  We speculated that the clone wouldn't be identical due to possible differences in cell division and environment. Unfortunately for heartbroken parents and pet lovers - a true carbon copy of your loved one doesn't look possible yet. 10:03:25 AM    comment []

It's Official: Microsoft Must Ship Java. Judge Motz formally orders the software giant to start shipping Java with Windows XP. [Technology News from eWEEK and Ziff Davis] Ok, now all you people with the old Java 1.1 applets PLEASE go update your software to work with the Java 2 plug-in!!!!! 9:44:25 AM    comment []

Plone 1.0 Release Candidate 2 available.  [Zope.org] Plone is a sweet layer on top of the Zope Content Management Framework (CMF).  If you are interested in setting up a portal with Zope, you should be looking at the CMF and Plone. 9:21:45 AM    comment []

MDA Driving App Designs. OMG chairman Richard Soley extols the benefits of model-driven software development strategies. [Technology News from eWEEK and Ziff Davis] The interview is brief, but interesting.  Soley talks about how model driven architecture (MDA) and even mentions that it is catching on in big companies quicker than smaller companies.  He says the reason is that MDA changes the way you develop applications. I'm not sure that this is truly the reason.  I think that there are other reasons preventing MDA from catching on at smaller companies.  One of those reasons is the cost of the tools.  Most of the MDA tools are extremely expensive, costing thousands of dollars per seat.  This reason alone is going to prevent small companies from fully adopting MDA. Another reason is that smaller companies tend to have fewer large software initiatives.  Large companies tend to have big, formal software projects that are planned and budgeted for.  Smaller companies seem to have small software initiatives and take a more tactical approach to software development.  Perhaps this is due to smaller businesses requiring a more tactical approach as they build themselves into medium and large businesses.  Large businesses tend to focus alot on strategy and a little less on tactics.  Compare, for instance, the IT Operations budget at a large company to the total of all the new software and systems development budgets. I'm not saying Soley is completely wrong.  I would hope he's more in tune with the world of MDA and its customers than I am.  However, I can tell you the things I see as a consultant.  Small companies have tight budgets and tactical needs.  Large companies have the capital, and the luxury, of being able to focus on stratigic initiatives.   9:05:36 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 Tom Pierce.