Let people discover your business! We'll teach you how to get your local business listed in Google Places in simple, easy steps.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Friday, 16 September 2011
Sharper Views of Apollo 12, 14, 17 Sites in New Images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Arizona State University team that oversees the imaging system on board NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has released the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 sites, more clearly showing the paths made when the astronauts explored these areas.
NASA Mars Research Helps Find Buried Water On Earth
A NASA-led team has used radar sounding technology developed to explore the subsurface of Mars to create high-resolution maps of freshwater aquifers buried deep beneath an Earth desert, in the first use of airborne sounding radar for aquifer mapping.
Human Brain Evolution, New Insight Through X-Rays: Experiment Reveals Brain Shape of an Early Human Ancestor
A paper published in Science reveals the highest resolution and most accurate X-ray scan ever made of the brain case of an early human ancestor. The insight derived from this data is like a powerful beacon on the hazy landscape of brain evolution across the transition from Australopithecus to Homo.
Small Distant Galaxies Host Supermassive Black Holes, Astronomers Find
Using the Hubble Space Telescope to probe the distant universe, astronomers have found supermassive black holes growing in surprisingly small galaxies. The findings suggest that central black holes formed at an early stage in galaxy evolution.
Shake, Rattle and … Power Up? New Device Generates Energy from Small Vibrations
sensor networks can do everything from supervising factory machinery to tracking environmental pollution to measuring the movement of buildings and bridges. Working together, distributed sensors can monitor activity along an oil pipeline or throughout a forest, keeping track of multiple variables at a time.
Chromosomal Test By Molecular Biologists Determines Cancer Spread
A new biopsy test, created by molecular biologists, can tell ocular melanoma patients if theirs is the kind that will spread. Using very thin needles, surgeons collect cells from tumors and analyze them. If tumors are missing a copy of chromosome three, patients are at high risk of having their cancer spread. While there's no cure for ocular melanoma, patients who are at higher risk can be followed more closely and put on experimental treatments.
The Allen Institute for Brain Science has announced the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease. The research team utilized the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, a finely detailed genome-wide map of gene expression throughout the mouse spinal cord, to compare the genes expressed, or turned on, in adult spinal cord radial glia with those found in other neural stem cells, revealing a signature set of 122 genes that indicate the likeness of these cells to classic neural stem cells.
Brain tumor researchers have found that brain tumors arise from cancer stem cells living within tiny protective areas formed by blood vessels in the brain. Killing those cells is a promising strategy to eliminate tumors and prevents them from re-growing. The researchers have found that drugs that block new blood vessel formation can destroy the protected areas and stop cancer from
New Class of Stem Cell-Like Cells Discovered Offers Possibility for Spinal Cord Repair
The Allen Institute for Brain Science has announced the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease. The research team utilized the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, a finely detailed genome-wide map of gene expression throughout the mouse spinal cord, to compare the genes expressed, or turned on, in adult spinal cord radial glia with those found in other neural stem cells, revealing a signature set of 122 genes that indicate the likeness of these cells to classic neural stem cells.
Acute Radiation Syndrome Disease Briefing now freely available in pdf format
The Acute Radiation Syndrome Disease Briefing has been added to support those involved in drug research and development projects in this area. As of May 2011, this report has been updated to include expanded Targets and Treatments sections, and three new sections (Diagnosis, Classification of Severity, and Radiomitigants), in addition to an increased number of tables and figures.
Metabolic Syndrome
According to the American Heart Association, metabolic syndrome is becoming increasingly common in the US—the organization estimates that more than 50 million Americans have it. Worldwide, South Asians are at an increased risk for metabolic syndrome. Other at-risk groups include people with a personal or family history of diabetes, and women with polycystic ovary syndrome. In this analysis, Special Topics examines the literature on metabolic syndrome over the past decade and over the past two years. Learn more...
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Muslim Scientists and Thinkers
There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world, it was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean and from northern climates to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins. And this civilization was driven more than anything, by inventions. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease.
Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration. When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others. While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I’m talking about was the Islamic world. Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Muslim mathematicians, chemists, astronomers, geologists and physicians. This is the abstract from the speech of Carly Fiorina CEO of Hewlett-Packard delivered on September 26, 2001 in Minneapolis Minnesota at a conference.
The abstract above is not a fiction but a hard fact. Four hundred years of the golden age of Islamic civilization, starting from eight century to thirteenth century was the most splendid eras of human creativity. At its pinnacle during the thirteenth century the Cairo library had some two million books and millions of books could be found in the libraries of Spain, Baghdad, Bukhara and Damascus. During this period many brilliant scientists were born and flourished. They paved the way to the modern science and technology.
Yet if you read the Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, you will find a few pages about the contribution of Muslim scientists. It is sad to say that we Muslims buried those grate achievement under the rug and totally forgot about it.
Those Muslims celebrated the power of reason and human intellect and also believed that knowledge can be achieved from any source and from any where, which was the essence of Ijtehad. This idea is not contrary to the teaching of Islam, where Qur’an commands the believer to seek rational knowledge by observation and logic.
The Prophet (s) said “seek knowledge even if you have to go to China,” showing the vital importance of aggressively pursuing knowledge.
The Europeans translated the works of Muslim scientists and thinkers into their language and there schools and university flourished – finally they pulled themselves out of drake age of dogmatic Christian era into the age of Enlightenment.
By the end of seventeenth century their innovations and discoveries simply overwhelmed the Muslim world. Though late, the mighty Ottoman Empire could have caught up with the Industrial Revolution and the modern scientific knowledge from the next door European countries, but they simply ignored it.
I myself knew much more about Copernicus, Galileo and many scientists of the western world when I completed my Masters degree, but was absolutely ignorant of our own heritage and their achievement –what a sad situation.
In this series of articles I will introduce the Muslim scientists and thinkers to our readers and try to highlight their work.
Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration. When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others. While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I’m talking about was the Islamic world. Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Muslim mathematicians, chemists, astronomers, geologists and physicians. This is the abstract from the speech of Carly Fiorina CEO of Hewlett-Packard delivered on September 26, 2001 in Minneapolis Minnesota at a conference.
The abstract above is not a fiction but a hard fact. Four hundred years of the golden age of Islamic civilization, starting from eight century to thirteenth century was the most splendid eras of human creativity. At its pinnacle during the thirteenth century the Cairo library had some two million books and millions of books could be found in the libraries of Spain, Baghdad, Bukhara and Damascus. During this period many brilliant scientists were born and flourished. They paved the way to the modern science and technology.
Yet if you read the Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, you will find a few pages about the contribution of Muslim scientists. It is sad to say that we Muslims buried those grate achievement under the rug and totally forgot about it.
Those Muslims celebrated the power of reason and human intellect and also believed that knowledge can be achieved from any source and from any where, which was the essence of Ijtehad. This idea is not contrary to the teaching of Islam, where Qur’an commands the believer to seek rational knowledge by observation and logic.
The Prophet (s) said “seek knowledge even if you have to go to China,” showing the vital importance of aggressively pursuing knowledge.
The Europeans translated the works of Muslim scientists and thinkers into their language and there schools and university flourished – finally they pulled themselves out of drake age of dogmatic Christian era into the age of Enlightenment.
By the end of seventeenth century their innovations and discoveries simply overwhelmed the Muslim world. Though late, the mighty Ottoman Empire could have caught up with the Industrial Revolution and the modern scientific knowledge from the next door European countries, but they simply ignored it.
I myself knew much more about Copernicus, Galileo and many scientists of the western world when I completed my Masters degree, but was absolutely ignorant of our own heritage and their achievement –what a sad situation.
In this series of articles I will introduce the Muslim scientists and thinkers to our readers and try to highlight their work.
International National Community Opinion Reviews Investments Politics Profiles Videos Regional More » TMO Foundation Muslim Scientists and Thinkers: Abu Musa Jabir bin Hayyan
Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, known in Europe as Geber was born in Tus, Iran in 721 CE during the rule of Umayyad Khalifa. His father Hayyan al Azdi was a pharmacist who supported the Abbasid revolt against the Umayyad. The Abbasid sent him to Tus, Iran to gather support for their cause. He was eventually caught by ruling Khalifa and was executed, so his family moved from Tus to Yemen, where Jabir grew up. He went back to Kufa, Iraq after the fall of the Umayyad dynasty, where he lived and received his education. In Kufa he became the student of Imam Jafer al Sadiq. After completing his education he started his career as physician under the patronage of Vizier of Khalifa Harun al Rashid. His connection to the Vizier later on cost him dearly, when the Vizier fell from grace of the Khalifa. In 803 CE he was arrested and spent rest of his life under house arrest, till he died in year 815 CE.
Jabir’s interest in alchemy was probably inspired by his teacher Jafar al-Sadiq. He was a deeply religious man, and repeatedly emphasizes in his works that alchemy is possible only by subjugating oneself completely to the will of Allah and becoming a literal instrument of Allah on earth, since the manipulation of reality is possible only for Allah. In the Book of Stones he prescribes long and elaborate sequences of specific prayers that must be performed without error alone in the desert before one can even consider alchemical experimentations.
Jabir’s interest in alchemy was probably inspired by his teacher Jafar al-Sadiq. He was a deeply religious man, and repeatedly emphasizes in his works that alchemy is possible only by subjugating oneself completely to the will of Allah and becoming a literal instrument of Allah on earth, since the manipulation of reality is possible only for Allah. In the Book of Stones he prescribes long and elaborate sequences of specific prayers that must be performed without error alone in the desert before one can even consider alchemical experimentations.
International National Community Opinion Reviews Investments Politics Profiles Videos Regional More » link-exchange Muslim scientists and thinkers: Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was born in 780 CE at a place called Khwarizm which is a part of present day Khiva, Uzbekistan. Like many other thinkers and scientists of his time he also moved to Baghdad which was center of learning of science and philosophy in the middle ages. He studied the sciences and mathematics at House of Wisdom established by Khalifa Ma’mun, which included the translation of Greek and Sanskrit scientific manuscripts. He worked and lived in Baghdad where died in the year 850 CE.
Al-Khwarizmi developed the concept of the algorithm in mathematics and for this reason he called the grandfather of computer science by some people. The words “algorithm” came from Latin corruptions of his name from al-Khwarizmi to Algorisms. He also made major contributions to the fields of algebra, trigonometry, astronomy, geography and cartography. His systematic and logical approach to solving linear and quadratic equations gave shape to the discipline of algebra, a word that is derived from the name of his book on this subject; Hisab al-jabr wa al-muqabala ( Calculation by Completion and Balancing). It will be interesting to see what al-Khwarizmi wanted to say about the purpose of his book in his own word. He says: what is easiest and most useful in arithmetic, such as men constantly require in cases of inheritance, legacies, partition, lawsuits, and trade, and in all their dealings with one another, or where the measuring of lands, the digging of canals, geometrical computations, and other objects of various sorts and kinds are concerned.
Al-Khwarizmi developed the concept of the algorithm in mathematics and for this reason he called the grandfather of computer science by some people. The words “algorithm” came from Latin corruptions of his name from al-Khwarizmi to Algorisms. He also made major contributions to the fields of algebra, trigonometry, astronomy, geography and cartography. His systematic and logical approach to solving linear and quadratic equations gave shape to the discipline of algebra, a word that is derived from the name of his book on this subject; Hisab al-jabr wa al-muqabala ( Calculation by Completion and Balancing). It will be interesting to see what al-Khwarizmi wanted to say about the purpose of his book in his own word. He says: what is easiest and most useful in arithmetic, such as men constantly require in cases of inheritance, legacies, partition, lawsuits, and trade, and in all their dealings with one another, or where the measuring of lands, the digging of canals, geometrical computations, and other objects of various sorts and kinds are concerned.
International National Community Opinion Reviews Investments Politics Profiles Videos Regional More » TMO Foundation Muslim Scientists and Thinkers–Allama DR. Muhammad Iqbal
Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal was born in Sialkot, Punjab, in 1877 CE. His grandfather was a Kashmiri Brahman who accepted Islam and moved to Sialkote. Iqbal’s father Shaikh Nur Muhammad was prosperous businessman and a devout Muslim. Allama Iqbal graduated from Government College, Lahore with Bachelor of Art degree in philosophy and completed his MA degree in philosophy from the same collage in 1899 CE with gold medal. He became lecturer in philosophy and taught there until 1905. Sir Thomas Arnold the professor and scholar of modern philosophy noticed Iqbal’s extraordinary talent and suggested him to go for higher education in Europe. Iqbal left Lahore for England in 1905 and studied Philosophy at the Trinity College, Cambridge University and Law at Lincoln’s Inn. He went to Germany in 1907 CE and completed his thesis in a short period of one year and received his PhD in philosophy from Munich University and returned back home. Rejoined his service at government college but after some time he resigned and started a law practice.
Allama Iqbal was knighted by the British in 1922 CE, though he was not an active politician, he was elected to the Punjab legislature for four years and president of the Muslim League of India in 1930. He visited a lot of Muslim countries including Spain and after returning from his trip abroad in 1933 CE his health deteriorated. He still devoted his time to politics and writing excellent Urdu poetry till he breathed his last on April 21st 1938 CE in Lahore, leaving a host of mourners in the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic world.
Allama Iqbal started writing poetry at an early age, his early poems have patriotic touch which include Tarna-e-Hind and others. His thinking changed during his stay in Europe, now his poetry reflected a global Muslim perspective which included Islamic heritage, history and philosophy. The poem Khizr-e-Rah, Tulu-e-Islam and others reflects his new thoughts. His poetry has huge philosophical depth, passion, force and eloquence, it can stir the core of your heart.
Allama Iqbal preferred to write poems in Persian probably because of larger Muslim audience. Out of twelve thousands verses, seven thousands are in Persian and the rest is in Urdu. The first work of poetry in Urdu; Bange-e-Dra published in 1924 CE. It is a collection of poems written in different phase of his life, next came Bale-e-Jibril published in 1935 CE, is considered Allama’s most elegant work which is said to have been inspired by his visit to Spain. In his third Urdu poetry work; Zarb-e-Kalim (Rod of Moses) published in 1936 CE, here Allama has declared war on present with his powerful yet eloquent poetry. He presented an idea how to rescue the Muslims from the ignorance and shackle of slavery, just as Moses had rescued the Israelites.
Allama Iqbal was deeply influenced by the poetry and philosophy of poet Mawlana Rumi which reflects in his Persian poetry. His first work in Persian Asrar-e-Khudi (Knowledge of Self Respect) was published in 1915 CE. Here Allama has tried to explain his philosophy of Khudi or self respect. He emphasizes that the aim of life should be self-realization and self-perfection so as to become the vice-regent of God on earth. His philosophy of Khudi can be summed up in his one Urdu couplet,
Khudi ko kar buland etna ke her taqdir se pahle
Khoda bande se khud puche bata teri raza key hai
Raise your self respect so high that before God decide your fate
God Himself come to you and ask o’ man! what do you want?
Allama’s second Persian work is; Rumz-e-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness) was published in the year 1917 CE. Here he is addressing the Ummah about an ideal community based on Islamic social and ethical value where self sacrifice is the essence and the need of the nation is prime, which comes first. Allama’s third work in Persian is Payam-e-Mashriq (The Message of the East) is really a reminder to the west about the importance of spirituality, morality and religion. In his fourth Persian work of poetry; Zabur-e-Ajam, Allama denounces slavery and reminds on remembering the past, excelling the present and making preparation for the future. His fifth work Javaidnama is addressed to his son and young people at large arguing that Muslim traitors were responsible for the many victories of British in the Indian subcontinent which led to shackle of slavery. His other Persian works are Pas Chih Bayad Kard and Armaghan-e-Hijaz.
Allama Iqbal first book in English; ‘The Development of Metaphysics in Persia’ was his PhD thesis which became a masterpiece in its own right. His second book in English is the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, which is a collection of his lecture delivered at the big cities of India. It was published in 1930 CE and again in 1934 adding one more chapter; ‘Is Religion Possible’. In this book Allama Iqbal has tried to reconstruct true spirit of Islam which had been misinterpreted and diluted through ages.
Another contribution of Allama Iqbal to the contemporary Islamic thought is his insistence that modern science is compatible with God consciousness. He considers it more precious than mere belief in God and says that the scientific study of nature brings man closer to God, a kind of mystic search and an act of prayer.
Allama Iqbal passed through the very painful part of the Islamic history – Turkey and its ally had lost the first world war. The vultures of England and France were looming at the horizon of Islamic land with the aim to divide it into small pieces with the sole purpose of making the Ummah weak, for ever. Allama saw the ugly events unfolding in the Muslim land before his own eyes. He turned to Islam for inspiration and rejected nationalism as a disease of the West. He argued that Muslims must find their destiny through a pan-Islamic movement that ignored national boundaries.
In 1930 Allama Iqbal was elected President of Muslim League of India. In his Presidential Address at the Annual Session at Allahabad he boldly asserted the Muslim demand for the creation of a Muslim state within India, thus he laid the foundation of Pakistan. He persuaded Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1934 CE to return from England and lead the Muslims of the Indian Sub-continent in their struggle to create Pakistan.
Allama Iqbal was a great friend and supporter of Mohammad Ali Jinnah because he saw in him those very qualities that were needed by the Muslims at the time to lead them to independence. Jinnah was also a great admirer of Allama Iqbal and said about him when he passed away.
“Allama Iqbal was, undoubtedly one of the greatest poets, philosophers and seers of humanity of all times. To me he was a personal friend, philosopher and guide and as such the main source of my inspiration and spiritual support.”
Allama Iqbal was knighted by the British in 1922 CE, though he was not an active politician, he was elected to the Punjab legislature for four years and president of the Muslim League of India in 1930. He visited a lot of Muslim countries including Spain and after returning from his trip abroad in 1933 CE his health deteriorated. He still devoted his time to politics and writing excellent Urdu poetry till he breathed his last on April 21st 1938 CE in Lahore, leaving a host of mourners in the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic world.
Allama Iqbal started writing poetry at an early age, his early poems have patriotic touch which include Tarna-e-Hind and others. His thinking changed during his stay in Europe, now his poetry reflected a global Muslim perspective which included Islamic heritage, history and philosophy. The poem Khizr-e-Rah, Tulu-e-Islam and others reflects his new thoughts. His poetry has huge philosophical depth, passion, force and eloquence, it can stir the core of your heart.
Allama Iqbal preferred to write poems in Persian probably because of larger Muslim audience. Out of twelve thousands verses, seven thousands are in Persian and the rest is in Urdu. The first work of poetry in Urdu; Bange-e-Dra published in 1924 CE. It is a collection of poems written in different phase of his life, next came Bale-e-Jibril published in 1935 CE, is considered Allama’s most elegant work which is said to have been inspired by his visit to Spain. In his third Urdu poetry work; Zarb-e-Kalim (Rod of Moses) published in 1936 CE, here Allama has declared war on present with his powerful yet eloquent poetry. He presented an idea how to rescue the Muslims from the ignorance and shackle of slavery, just as Moses had rescued the Israelites.
Allama Iqbal was deeply influenced by the poetry and philosophy of poet Mawlana Rumi which reflects in his Persian poetry. His first work in Persian Asrar-e-Khudi (Knowledge of Self Respect) was published in 1915 CE. Here Allama has tried to explain his philosophy of Khudi or self respect. He emphasizes that the aim of life should be self-realization and self-perfection so as to become the vice-regent of God on earth. His philosophy of Khudi can be summed up in his one Urdu couplet,
Khudi ko kar buland etna ke her taqdir se pahle
Khoda bande se khud puche bata teri raza key hai
Raise your self respect so high that before God decide your fate
God Himself come to you and ask o’ man! what do you want?
Allama’s second Persian work is; Rumz-e-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness) was published in the year 1917 CE. Here he is addressing the Ummah about an ideal community based on Islamic social and ethical value where self sacrifice is the essence and the need of the nation is prime, which comes first. Allama’s third work in Persian is Payam-e-Mashriq (The Message of the East) is really a reminder to the west about the importance of spirituality, morality and religion. In his fourth Persian work of poetry; Zabur-e-Ajam, Allama denounces slavery and reminds on remembering the past, excelling the present and making preparation for the future. His fifth work Javaidnama is addressed to his son and young people at large arguing that Muslim traitors were responsible for the many victories of British in the Indian subcontinent which led to shackle of slavery. His other Persian works are Pas Chih Bayad Kard and Armaghan-e-Hijaz.
Allama Iqbal first book in English; ‘The Development of Metaphysics in Persia’ was his PhD thesis which became a masterpiece in its own right. His second book in English is the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, which is a collection of his lecture delivered at the big cities of India. It was published in 1930 CE and again in 1934 adding one more chapter; ‘Is Religion Possible’. In this book Allama Iqbal has tried to reconstruct true spirit of Islam which had been misinterpreted and diluted through ages.
Another contribution of Allama Iqbal to the contemporary Islamic thought is his insistence that modern science is compatible with God consciousness. He considers it more precious than mere belief in God and says that the scientific study of nature brings man closer to God, a kind of mystic search and an act of prayer.
Allama Iqbal passed through the very painful part of the Islamic history – Turkey and its ally had lost the first world war. The vultures of England and France were looming at the horizon of Islamic land with the aim to divide it into small pieces with the sole purpose of making the Ummah weak, for ever. Allama saw the ugly events unfolding in the Muslim land before his own eyes. He turned to Islam for inspiration and rejected nationalism as a disease of the West. He argued that Muslims must find their destiny through a pan-Islamic movement that ignored national boundaries.
In 1930 Allama Iqbal was elected President of Muslim League of India. In his Presidential Address at the Annual Session at Allahabad he boldly asserted the Muslim demand for the creation of a Muslim state within India, thus he laid the foundation of Pakistan. He persuaded Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1934 CE to return from England and lead the Muslims of the Indian Sub-continent in their struggle to create Pakistan.
Allama Iqbal was a great friend and supporter of Mohammad Ali Jinnah because he saw in him those very qualities that were needed by the Muslims at the time to lead them to independence. Jinnah was also a great admirer of Allama Iqbal and said about him when he passed away.
“Allama Iqbal was, undoubtedly one of the greatest poets, philosophers and seers of humanity of all times. To me he was a personal friend, philosopher and guide and as such the main source of my inspiration and spiritual support.”
I think realistically and dream optimistically. I think in Windows Azure.
See what Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals and developers from the latest PDC conference think about the future and our platform for developing and running applications in the cloud.
All Clouds are Not Created Equal.
Cloud computing represents a paradigm shift in the way progressive companies allocate IT resources. Multiple points of redundancy virtually eliminate the risk of failure and the scalability of computing power is nearly limitless. Major challenges to working in the cloud are ensuring end-to-end security and keeping current on emerging standards. Download the white paper today and let your business soar.
Considerations for choosing a cloud computing provider
The types of cloud computing and challenges to overcome
Why building resiliency is the key to success
Considerations for choosing a cloud computing provider
The types of cloud computing and challenges to overcome
Why building resiliency is the key to success
Oracle University Knowledge Center and Self Study New Releases!
Take advantage of Oracle University's zero-travel learning options! Our Knowledge Center and Self-Study classes offer the flexibility you need.
Order Oracle University Knowledge Center Passports and Self Study courses today and you can:
Save travel costs and time away from the office
Train more staff, more frequently, with consistency
Learn at your own pace and convenience
Increase productivity
Help stretch your training budget
Provide a handy, ongoing resource for review and practice
Bookmark this page and check back often as new releases are updated frequently. See below for the current set of new releases!
Order Oracle University Knowledge Center Passports and Self Study courses today and you can:
Save travel costs and time away from the office
Train more staff, more frequently, with consistency
Learn at your own pace and convenience
Increase productivity
Help stretch your training budget
Provide a handy, ongoing resource for review and practice
Bookmark this page and check back often as new releases are updated frequently. See below for the current set of new releases!
Birth Injury and Birth Defect Lawyers Can Help
When a medical professional such as a physician, nurse, midwife, medical technician, anesthesiologist, obstetrician, birthing center, or hospital provides unsuitable care resulting in a catastrophic birth injury, the child’s caregivers and relatives are overwhelmed with attending to their child’s special medical needs. Severe birth injuries lead to costs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars such as physical, occupational and speech therapy, nursing care, medications, specialized equipment, medical staff in the home, and other medical items that help families deal with the overwhelming medical needs of their child’s neonatal injury.
For over 47 years, the Birth Injury Lawyersat Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. have handled medical malpractice cases, helping injured infants and their families cope with catastrophic damages caused by the medical care surrounding the birth process. Our birth injury legal team is strongly committed to helping families gain the reparations they deserve.
For over 47 years, the Birth Injury Lawyersat Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. have handled medical malpractice cases, helping injured infants and their families cope with catastrophic damages caused by the medical care surrounding the birth process. Our birth injury legal team is strongly committed to helping families gain the reparations they deserve.
vOPS Capacity Manager
VM performance and capacity are linked. Without sufficient capacity, applications suffer performance problems. Without accurate capacity planning, a growing environment suffers from firefighting, rushed procurement cycles, and poor ROI on virtual infrastructure.
Plan ahead with Capacity Manager's predictive analysis to:
Identify current and future capacity bottlenecks
Model available VM capacity across server and storage resources
Assess disk throughput and storage capacity for specific datastores
Identify resource constraints to procure the right hardware
Plan ahead with Capacity Manager's predictive analysis to:
Identify current and future capacity bottlenecks
Model available VM capacity across server and storage resources
Assess disk throughput and storage capacity for specific datastores
Identify resource constraints to procure the right hardware
1U Rack Mount Server with Intel Xeon Processor 1U Servers designed for optimal performance, the dual-processor Server series support the QPI format quad-core/dual-core Intel® Xeon® processors 5500/5600 Series in a high-density 1U form-factor, ideal for network infrastructure, front-end, front-end enterprise, and minimal-downtime cluster server systems. Uni-processor 1U rack servers support the latest Intel® Xeon® processors 3000 Series and deliver additional levels of performance, power-efficiency and reliability. ASA1100-I7-S2-S ASA1101-I7-S2-S ASA1102-I7-S2-S ASA1103-X1Q-S2-S $981 $1153 $1234 $510 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 200W Power Supply 280W Power Supply 280W Power Supply 260W Power Supply Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Supports up to 24 GB. 6 DIMM sockets Supports up to 24 GB. 6 DIMM sockets Supports up to 24 GB. 6 DIMM sockets Supports up to 8 GB. 4 DIMM sockets 1x Fixed 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 2x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 4x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 1x Fixed 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 2x Intel® Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel® Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 1 (x16) PCI-e 2.0 1 (x16) PCI-e 2.0 1 (x16) PCI-e 2.0 1 (x8) PCI-e / 1 PCI Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now ASA1104-X1Q-S2-S ASA1105-X1Q-S2-S ASA1106-X1Q-SS-S ASA1107-X2Q-S2-S $622 $705 $1259 $910 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 300W Power Supply 300W Power Supply 560W Power Supply 520W Power Supply Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Series - Single LGA 1366 Socket Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Supports up to 8 GB. 4 DIMM sockets Supports up to 8 GB. 4 DIMM sockets Supports up to 8 GB. 4 DIMM sockets Supports up to 48 GB. 6 DIMM sockets 2x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 4x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 8x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 1x Fixed 3.5" Hard Drive Bay 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 1 (x8) PCI-e / 1 PCI 1 (x8) PCI-e / 1 PCI 1 (x8) PCI-e / 1 PCI 1 (x8) PCI-e Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now ASA1108-X2Q-S2-S ASA1109-X2Q-S2-S ASA1110-X2Q-SS-S ASA1111-X2Q-S2-S Starting Price $947 Starting Price $999 Starting Price $1,776 Starting Price $1365 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 520W Power Supply 520W Power Supply 560W Power Supply 560W Power Supply Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Supports up to 48 GB. 6 DIMM sockets Supports up to 48 GB. 6 DIMM sockets Supports up to 48 GB. 6 DIMM sockets Supports up to 64 GB. 8 DIMM sockets 2x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bay 4x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bay 8x Hot-swap 2.5" Hard Drive Bay 4x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bay 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 1 (x8) PCI-e 1 (x8) PCI-e 1 (x8) PCI-e Left Slot 2 (x8) PCI-e (Gen 2.0) Slot, Right Slot 1 (x8) PCI-e (Gen 2.0) Slot Cost effective 1U Server, Dual CPU support, 22.6" Deep 1U Server Cost effective 1U Server, Dual CPU support, 19.8" Deep 1U Server Cost effective 1U Server, Dual CPU support, 20" Deep 1U Serve Cost effective 1U Server, Dual CPU support, 25.6" Deep 1U Server Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now ASA1112-X2Q-S2-R ASA1113-X2Q-SS-R ASA1120-X4Q-S2-S Starting Price $1566 Starting Price $2756 Starting Price $6961 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 1U Rackmount Server 650W Redundant PS 650W Redundant PS 1000W Power Supply Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 Series - Dual 771-pin LGA Sockets Quad 604-pin FC-PGA6 Sockets Supports up to 64 GB. 8 DIMM sockets Supports up to 64 GB. 8 DIMM sockets Supports up to 192 GB. 24 DIMM sockets per Node 4x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bay 8x Hot-swap 2.5" Hard Drive Bay 3x Hot-swap 3.5" Hard Drive Bay per Node 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controllers Left Slot 2 (x8) PCI-e (Gen 2.0) Slot, Right Slot 1 (x8) PCI-e (Gen 2.0) Slot Left Slot 2 (x8) PCI-e (Gen 2.0) Slot, Right Slot 1 (x8) PCI-e (Gen 2.0) Slot 1 (x8) PCI-e Cost effective 1U Server, Dual CPU support, 25.6" Deep 1U Server Cost effective 1U Server, Dual CPU support, 23.5" Deep 1U Server Cost effective 1U Server, Quad CPU support, 27.75" Deep 1U Server Specification Details Specification Details Specification Details Configure Now Configure Now Configure Now Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
1U Servers designed for optimal performance, the dual-processor Server series support the QPI format quad-core/dual-core Intel® Xeon® processors 5500/5600 Series in a high-density 1U form-factor, ideal for network infrastructure, front-end, front-end enterprise, and minimal-downtime cluster server systems. Uni-processor 1U rack servers support the latest Intel® Xeon® processors 3000 Series and deliver additional levels of performance, power-efficiency and reliability.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
The Fate of the First Black Hole
The Canadian rock band Rush knows its astronomy. In a lengthy 1977 song, the musicians proclaimed Cygnus X-1, an x-ray emitting object thousands of light-years away, a black hole where voyagers venture "through the void to be destroyed"—even though physicist Stephen Hawking had bet against the black hole's existence. This year, astronomers proved Rush right by establishing that Cygnus X-1 does indeed harbor a black hole, a dead star whose great gravity lets nothing, not even light, escape. Now that result has inspired a forecast for the system's future: The black hole will swallow even more mass from an unfortunate star circling it, then likely dash away on its own when its companion explodes.
ScienceShot: World's Oldest Wood
Talk about an old-growth forest. Newly described fossils push back the appearance of wood by at least 10 million years. The fossils, including one from 407-million-years-old rocks in France, preserve the remains of stems about 12 centimeters long. The size and arrangement of cells in the cores of the stems, and particularly the presence of long, thin cells (arrows) that span several rings of cells and extend like rays from the center toward the outer rims, are characteristic of wood, researchers report online today in Science. The plants' small size, as well as the presence of thick-walled cells elsewhere in the stems, suggests that wood evolved to efficiently transport water from the soil into the plant. At the time these plants lived, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide were decreasing, which in turn decreased the water-use efficiency of the plants and boosted their need for water, the scientists say. Although the first plants sporting wood were small, subsequent species quickly took advantage of wood's structural strength: In just a few million years, some had attained treelike stature.
Pushing Light Beyond Light Speed
Warp speed is still out of reach for spaceships, but two new experiments have pushed a pulse of light beyond the speed limit of 300,000 kilometers per second set down in Einstein's theory of special relativity. Although physicists had pulled off similar feats before, two teams now report ways to beat down the loss of light so that much more of it appears to break the universal speed limit. Don't worry, the tricky experiments don't really violate relativity. But the techniques might, in principle, slightly speed up optical communications.
'Earth-Mars' Collision May Have Happened in Alien Solar System
A planet the size of Mars races toward a planet like Earth, smashes into its crust and mantle, and ejects debris that conglomerates into a large moon. Sound familiar? It's what scientists think happened billions of years ago to Earth. But the same drama may have unfolded much more recently around a nearby star in the constellation Hercules.
Known as NLTT 43806, the star is a white dwarf—a dim, dense, and dying sun about the size of Earth—located roughly 50 light-years away. "It is unique among known white dwarfs," says Benjamin Zuckerman, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Its surface has a very high aluminum abundance and a relatively low iron abundance."
Known as NLTT 43806, the star is a white dwarf—a dim, dense, and dying sun about the size of Earth—located roughly 50 light-years away. "It is unique among known white dwarfs," says Benjamin Zuckerman, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Its surface has a very high aluminum abundance and a relatively low iron abundance."
Iconic Fishes Face New Threat
They're not spectacular like marlins, but trout are among the most legendary—think A River Runs Through It—and lucrative fish of mountain rivers and lakes. Across the western United States alone, trout fishing generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually. But trout habitat will likely be cut in half by 2080 due to warming rivers and altered patterns of flooding, according to a large study published today. "It's fairly shocking to us, as biologists," says co-author Kurt Fausch of Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Escaping Gravity's Clutches: Information Could Escape from Black Holes After All, Study Suggests
The implications could be revolutionary, suggesting that gravity may not be a fundamental force of nature.
Prof. Braunstein says: "Our results didn't need the details of a black hole's curved space geometry. That lends support to recent proposals that space, time and even gravity itself may be emergent properties within a deeper theory. Our work subtly changes those proposals, by identifying quantum information theory as the likely candidate for the source of an emergent theory of gravity."
But quantum mechanics is the theory of light and atoms, and many physicists are skeptical that it could be used to explain the slow evaporation of black holes without incorporating the effects of gravity.
The research, which appears in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters, uses the basic tenets of quantum mechanics to give a new description of information leaking from a black hole.
Prof. Braunstein says: "Our results didn't need the details of a black hole's curved space geometry. That lends support to recent proposals that space, time and even gravity itself may be emergent properties within a deeper theory. Our work subtly changes those proposals, by identifying quantum information theory as the likely candidate for the source of an emergent theory of gravity."
But quantum mechanics is the theory of light and atoms, and many physicists are skeptical that it could be used to explain the slow evaporation of black holes without incorporating the effects of gravity.
The research, which appears in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters, uses the basic tenets of quantum mechanics to give a new description of information leaking from a black hole.
Scientists Have New Help Finding Their Way Around Brain's Nooks and Crannies
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new technique that provides rapid access to brain landmarks formerly only available at autopsy. Better brain maps will result, speeding efforts to understand how the healthy brain works and potentially aiding in future diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders, the researchers report in the Journal of Neuroscience Aug. 10.
The technique makes it possible for scientists to map myelination, or the degree to which branches of brain cells are covered by a white sheath known as myelin in order to speed up long-distance signaling. It was developed in part through the Human Connectome Project, a $30 million, five-year effort to map the brain's wiring. That project is headed by Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Minnesota.
The technique makes it possible for scientists to map myelination, or the degree to which branches of brain cells are covered by a white sheath known as myelin in order to speed up long-distance signaling. It was developed in part through the Human Connectome Project, a $30 million, five-year effort to map the brain's wiring. That project is headed by Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Minnesota.
Like Humans, Chimps Are Born With Immature Forebrains
Those are the conclusions of a study reported in the August 11th Current Biology that is the first to track the development of the chimpanzee brain over time and to make the comparison to humans.
"One of the most marked evolutionary changes underlying human-specific cognitive traits is a greatly enlarged prefrontal cortex," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University in Japan. "It is also one of the latest-developing brain regions of the cerebrum."
That built-in developmental delay, now shown to be shared with chimps, may provide an extended period of plasticity, allowing both humans and our closest evolutionary cousins to develop complex social interactions, knowledge and skills that are shaped by life experiences, the researchers say
"One of the most marked evolutionary changes underlying human-specific cognitive traits is a greatly enlarged prefrontal cortex," said Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University in Japan. "It is also one of the latest-developing brain regions of the cerebrum."
That built-in developmental delay, now shown to be shared with chimps, may provide an extended period of plasticity, allowing both humans and our closest evolutionary cousins to develop complex social interactions, knowledge and skills that are shaped by life experiences, the researchers say
TV Time: Why Children Watch Multi-Screens
A sedentary lifestyle, linked to spending lots of time watching TV and playing computer games, is thought to lead to obesity, lower mental well-being, and cause health problems in later life, including diabetes. It is now possible to watch TV 'on demand' via the internet, play computer games on laptops, on hand-held devices or mobile phones, to keep in contact with friends using text, Facebook, Skype, and MSN, and to do all this concurrently. However previous studies have not examined if children take part in multi-screen viewing or children's reasons for doing so.
Questioning 10-11 year olds, researchers at the University of Bristol and Loughborough University found that the children enjoyed looking at more than one screen at a time. They used a second device to fill in breaks during their entertainment, often talking or texting their friends during adverts or while they were waiting for computer games to load. TV was also used to provide background entertainment while they were doing something else -- especially if the program chosen by their family was 'boring'.
Dr Jago from the University of Bristol explained, "Health campaigns recommend reducing the amount of time children spend watching TV. However the children in this study often had access to at least five different devices at any one time, and many of these devices were portable. This meant that children were able to move the equipment between their bedrooms and family rooms, depending on whether they wanted privacy or company. So simply removing the TV from a child's room may not be enough to address the health concerns and we need to work with families to develop strategies to limit the overall time spent multi-screen viewing wherever it occurs within the home."
Questioning 10-11 year olds, researchers at the University of Bristol and Loughborough University found that the children enjoyed looking at more than one screen at a time. They used a second device to fill in breaks during their entertainment, often talking or texting their friends during adverts or while they were waiting for computer games to load. TV was also used to provide background entertainment while they were doing something else -- especially if the program chosen by their family was 'boring'.
Dr Jago from the University of Bristol explained, "Health campaigns recommend reducing the amount of time children spend watching TV. However the children in this study often had access to at least five different devices at any one time, and many of these devices were portable. This meant that children were able to move the equipment between their bedrooms and family rooms, depending on whether they wanted privacy or company. So simply removing the TV from a child's room may not be enough to address the health concerns and we need to work with families to develop strategies to limit the overall time spent multi-screen viewing wherever it occurs within the home."
Avatar-Based Virtual Co-Driver System Replaces Vehicle Owner's Manuals
Flashing signal lamps and unfamiliar control elements tend to worry car drivers. Scientists in Germany in cooperation with engineers ...
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Exploiting Malaria Drug Resistance to Our Advantage
In the world of developing anti-infective drugs, resistance comes with the territory. It is literally in the DNA (or RNA) of the viruses and pathogens targeted for treatment. Because resistance has far-reaching consequences for human health, researchers have studied the resistance of infectious agents such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 with unprecedented intensity and documented in excruciating detail the genetic determinants of resistance to FDA-approved drugs (1). However, understanding drug resistance in a complex eukaryotic parasite, such as the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria, is a very different challenge. On page 724 of this issue, Yuan et al. (2) confront the issue head-on. Using high-throughput chemical and gene analysis methods, they not only identify potential new antimalarial drugs that could be used in combination to suppress the development of drug resistance but also characterize a common set of genetic loci and genes affected by these molecules.
Live Chat: Targeting Type 1 Diabetes
Curing or preventing complex diseases is one of the most ambitious medical goals out there. Since the late 1990s, researchers have been trying—and mostly failing—to accomplish this in type 1 diabetes, an immune disease that destroys cells in the pancreas that make insulin and that mostly strikes children. This summer, a slew of new studies reported results on efforts to shift the balance of cells in the immune system in hopes of keeping disease at bay. The results show just how tough it is to intervene successfully. Why is it so difficult to get from a scientific discovery to a new drug? Is preventing disease harder or easier than treating patients who already have it? What does the road ahead look like?
Seasonal Flows on Warm Martian Slopes
Water probably flowed across ancient Mars, but whether it ever exists as a liquid on the surface today remains debatable. Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are narrow (0.5 to 5 meters), relatively dark markings on steep (25° to 40°) slopes; repeat images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show them to appear and incrementally grow during warm seasons and fade in cold seasons. They extend downslope from bedrock outcrops, often associated with small channels, and hundreds of them form in some rare locations. RSL appear and lengthen in the late southern spring and summer from 48°S to 32°S latitudes favoring equator-facing slopes, which are times and places with peak surface temperatures from ~250 to 300 kelvin. Liquid brines near the surface might explain this activity, but the exact mechanism and source of water are not understood.
Seeing a Molecular Motor at Work
The molecular machinery of life can be visualized by crystal structure analysis, which provides still pictures at atomic resolution (∼0.1 nm), as well as by pulsed-laser methods that can yield recordings of events ranging from vibronic relaxation (10−14 s) to catalysis (10−6 to 10−3 s). The ultimate goal has been to merge high-resolution space and time recordings and advance from still pictures to movies of molecules at work. High-speed scanning probe microscopy provides excellent spatial resolution and has been extended into the time domain of chemical activity (1, 2). On page 755 of this issue, Uchihashi et al. (3) use this technique to examine the FOF1-ATPase, the rotary enzyme that synthesizes adeno sine triphosphate (ATP), the universal fuel of cells. The study demonstrates the power of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in observing the cellular machinery at nanometer and millisecond resolution.
Monday, 8 August 2011
The Space Aged
Space is described as the final frontier. Perhaps the accent should be on ‘final’. It’s not really designed for the young. All that hard radiation upsets the genes in the next generation so it’s left to us older folk to take the first trip to Mars. Not one of us below sixty. Come to that, during the trip, seventy became a memory as well. For some of us, memories are beginning to become a thing of the past as well.
Still, if we’re going to suffer cancer from radiation, well, it won’t last forever. All we had to do was stay alive long enough to get there and put out foot on the red planet on behalf of mankind. An eighteen month trip was a lesson in boredom. An earlier pensionable age would probably have played pea-knuckle or chequers. Us? Well, it was chess or unravelling the secrets of mathematics for some of us. For others, a spot of painting. At least with low gravity, there was no need for zimmer frames, just longer hauls in the gym. Anything to pass the time but compared to experience an old people’s home, bring it on.
Building applications in the cloud
Since the notion of cloud development (formerly known as Web application development) took off, thousands of developers have been intrigued with the notion of creating apps for the cloud in the cloud. After all, the accessibility, portability, and powerful collaborative capabilities of the cloud are practically perfect for developers -- or so one would think.
Yet in-cloud development hasn't taken off as many would have expected; many cloud apps are still coded, tested, and prepped on local machines and then deployed using whatever tools their public, hybrid, or private cloud has.
Part of this has been the problem of lock-in: for instance, previously if you developed on SalesForce.com's Force.com tool, you would have been expected to deploy on SalesForce, rather than something like EC2 or Google App Engine. That, happily, has loosened somewhat: today Force.com has some portability with these cloud services.
But lock-in is still prevalent, which has held back many developers from fully jumping into in-cloud development. There is also the issue of corporate inertia: yes, cloud-based offerings can offer a reduced hardware footprint and configuration setup, but if your organization already has a well-developed development infrastructure, that's going to be hard to part with, at least until machines and software become obsolete.
Today, two development methodologies are bringing a lot of street cred to cloud-based development: distributed and agile development. These concepts are pushing the envelope on existing development apps, requiring a new set of tools that can accommodate new development, testing, and deployment methods.
Lost programming skills
Today's coders may know how to whip up a PHP script or a Drupal extension, create a mobile app for both the iPhone and Android, and run DOOM on their car's GPS (which has been done, it turns out). But there's a lot that their predecessors knew that today's programmers don't.
Some of these skills aren't likely to be needed again, any more than most of us need to know how to ride a horse or (sigh) drive a manual-transmission vehicle. But other skills and "lessons learned" may still or again prove relevant, whether developers are banging their heads against legacy systems, coding for new mobile and embedded devices... or other devices and applications we haven't yet thought of.
"I see poor understanding of the performance ranges of various components," says Bernard Hayes, PMP (PMI Project Mgmt Professional), CSM (certified Scrum Master), and CSPO (certified Scrum Product Owner). "For example, rarely is the processor the bottleneck, but so many people look to 'tight loops' to speed up performance when it's often an I/O issue. In a world in which most folks have never intuited systems operations from studying console lights (or more often now, correlating events with signal analyzers), engineers are losing a strong mental model for processor/IO & systems interactions."
Also, says Hayes, "I see people more often having difficulty in thinking through problems caused by buggy hardware, and in general, folks have minimal real understanding of the hardware issues and the implications of the downstream errors that hardware errors can cause. Instead, they tend to feel that 'the driver should deal with that.'"
"When your company builds specialty hardware, you need to be able to learn how each new thing works -- and write some hardware test routines to figure out whether it was built to spec and which bits do what!" says Suford Lewis, a hands-on developer and project leader for 35+ years and past president of the Association for Women in Computing. "Half the fun of my career was moving between technologies and these days when things change so fast, I would think that changing what you are willing to do when a company dissolves from under you would be a downright necessity."
Miles Fidelman, Principal at Protocol Technologies Group, LLC and a 36-year veteran of the networking industry, wonders, "Maybe it's a personal gripe, but as far back as 1983, I found serious software engineers who didn't understand hardware. For example, in talking about, say, a simulation algorithm:
Dell launches 10-inch Android tablet in China
Dell launched its newest 10-inch Android tablet exclusively in China on Friday, with the aim of capturing a slice of the country's growing mobile Internet market.
Threat Level Downgrade Call-Recording Android Trojan
Earlier this week, Total Defense security researcher Dinesh Vinkatesan broke news of a pernicious-sounding security threat for Android devices. According to Vinkatesan's post on the CA Security Advisor Research Blog, this threat is a Trojan horse malware application capable of recording a user's phone calls and uploading them to a remote server.
It sounds pretty bad. And it would be, if it were true. But according to new information released today by Symantec security analyst Irfan Asrar on the Symantec Security Response Blog, the threat known as Android.Nickispy doesn't look so menacing after all.
In the Monday blog post that launched this story, Dinesh Vinkatesan was less than revealing about the source of the app, saying only, "today we have received an Android package to our collection and observed that this piece of malware walks an additional mile by having a neat configuration and has a capability to record the telephonic conversation the infected victim makes." With that kind of description, it's no wonder security-conscious tech audiences took a keen interest in this package.
According to Symantec's Irfan Asrar, however, the app is widely available on multiple sites in China, with no effort made to conceal its function. "The author had clearly stated the purpose, so anyone installing this app could not be mistaken in its intentions," said Asrar. "Now that's not to say someone couldn't install it on another person's phone. Still, on completion of installation the app actually shows up with an icon marked Speech Recorder, clearly visible to the user." So if you were worried that such an app might surreptitiously appear on your device, breathe easy.
In the Monday blog post that launched this story, Dinesh Vinkatesan was less than revealing about the source of the app, saying only, "today we have received an Android package to our collection and observed that this piece of malware walks an additional mile by having a neat configuration and has a capability to record the telephonic conversation the infected victim makes." With that kind of description, it's no wonder security-conscious tech audiences took a keen interest in this package.
A Paper Phone!
Phones are not only getting smarter, but thinner. Much, much thinner. As thin as paper, in fact!
The PaperPhone is going to debut soon and if you were able to fast-forward five years into the future you would see that all devices will soon be like this.
The PaperPhone is as flexible as paper, you can bend, fold or flex the sides and edges of the e-paper to issue commands and use it like any other phone, or you can just write on it! And yes, it can do everything a current smartphone can: make and receive calls and texts, play music, display e-books and so on.
The inventor of this little nifty gadget is Canada-based Dr. Roel Vertegaal and the PaperPhone was the result of a joint undertaking between the Human Media Lab (Queen's University) and the Motivational Environments Research group (Arizona State University). If you want to see it, then a prototype will be on display at the Computer Human Interaction conference, in Vancouver from 10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
