Search Results

Search found 1934 results on 78 pages for 'areas'.

Page 48/78 | < Previous Page | 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55  | Next Page >

  • Generic Database table design

    - by Gazeth
    Just trying to figure out the best way to design my table for the following scenario: I have several areas in my system (documents, projects, groups and clients) and each of these can have comments logged against them. My question is should I have one table like this: CommentID DocumentID ProjectID GroupID ClientID etc Where only one of the ids will have data and the rest will be NULL or should I have a seperate CommentType table and have my comments table like this: CommentID CommentTypeID ResourceID (this being the id of the project/doc/client) etc My thoughts are that option 2 would be more efficient from an indexing point of view?

    Read the article

  • How do I get points on a curve in PHP with log()?

    - by Erick
    I have a graph I am trying to replicate: I have the following PHP code: $sale_price = 25000; $future_val = 5000; $term = 60; $x = $sale_price / $future_val; $pts = array(); $pts[] = array($x,0); for ($i=1; $i<=$term; $i++) { $y = log($x+0.4)+2.5; $pts[] = array($i,$y); echo $y . " <br>\n"; } How do I make the code work to give me the points along the lower line (between the yellow and blue areas)? It doesn't need to be exact, just somewhat close. The formula is: -ln(x+.4)+2.5 I got that by using the Online Function Grapher at http://www.livephysics.com/ Thanks in advance!!

    Read the article

  • how to make javascript rearrangeable windows?

    - by ranganaMIT
    hi guys, I want to make a web page with several type of forms,each one on a different area that allows those areas to be rearranged and user will be able to change their position according to their preference.(X form to the left top, Y form to the right bottom etc.) i don't know what that type of windows are called, but think you can get a idea what I'm mentioning here.only thing i know is it can be achieved with javascript, i searched for it but i can't find the relevant tutorial or guide to self study. some one please tell me what they are, and how to make them and include in my web page? is there any thing that ease of making those thing except javascript?please provide me a source of studying and i really appreciate the instructions of the knowledged people.thanks in advance! regards, rangana.

    Read the article

  • Need data on disk drive management by OS: getting base I/O unit size, “sync” option, Direct Memory A

    - by Richard T
    Hello All, I want to ensure I have done all I can to configure a system's disks for serious database use. The three areas I know of (any others?) to be concerned about are: I/O size: the database engine and disk's native size should either match, or the database's native I/O size should be a multiple of the disk's native I/O size. Disks that are capable of Direct Memory Access (eg. IDE) should be configured for it. When a disk says it has written data persistently, it must be so! No keeping it in cache and lying about it. I have been looking for information on how to ensure these are so for CENTOS and Ubuntu, but can't seem to find anything at all! I want to be able to check these things and change them if needed. Any and all input appreciated.

    Read the article

  • How to learn web-programming (Javascript, PHP)?

    - by metal-gear-solid
    If I'm going to learn programming first time, How i should start? I don't know programming yet but I'm good at XHTML and CSS. my main aim is to learn first Javascript than second PHP. after having good command in Javascript I'll move to PHP. all these i want to learn to get good command in all areas of Wordpress design and Development. Although i can use basic javascript, jquery, PHP scripts in my projects but know i want to learn programming concept and want to get good knowledge.

    Read the article

  • C++ - Where do i start?

    - by richzilla
    Hi All, As a bit of a side project while I'm on my summer break from uni, I've decided to have a look at C++, and get the hang of the basics. I'm by no means a programming novice, I've done web development before with PHP and Ruby, and I've done a fair bit of work with compiled languages (Java / C#). However, C++ seems to be a more significant undertaking. Basically I'm wanting pointers to the best resources for learning C++, as well as some idea as to areas I could do with reading up on (That I might not have come across before). Any help would be hugely appreciated. Thanks

    Read the article

  • Content border not showing in any browser!

    - by TankDriver
    I have been working on a project for a few days now and have just recently noticed that the border of 2 of my content areas are not showing in Mozilla or IE. http://www.gamefriction.com/Coded/ is where the page is located. If you look at the main content area where the "news" is you will see that there is a 1px solid border that is a slightly darker grey than the 4px border surrounding each content box. On the right column content the 1px solid #dfdfdf; border does not show. I can't seem to find any reason why this is not showing. Any ideas?

    Read the article

  • Rendering HTML in rails without actually displaying it

    - by Kevin Whitaker
    Hello all, My current project requires me to assemble a .zip file containing HTML and text-only templates for a user to download, for importing into an email marketing program. I've inherited this project, and currently the code uses a "fake" model (that is a model that does not directly correlate to a database table), in which it stores the entire template in a string, using dynamic variables to populate certain areas. The "fake" model then has a method for creating a zip file. It seems to me that there has to be a better way to do this. I was wondering if there was a way to move the template into a .erb/haml file, and then write a method that would populate the file in preparation for being zipped up? Basically, is there a way to render an HTML and text file, without actually having to display them? Thanks for any help.

    Read the article

  • Switching from php to python

    - by ts
    Hello I am trying to make a list of things which can be difficult/surprising to someone who is changing language from PHP to Python. so far i have rather short list: forget require / include, learn import (this was most difficult to me - to understand package - module - class - object hierarchy and its mapping to filesystem) you can't just upload file on server to have webpage (-mod_python, wsgi etc) learn the python way for use variable class names (new $class() vs import + getattr) / operator in python 2.x and all float-related horrors those were difficult to me, it takes few days before mind adapts a new paradigm after i found that there is few other areas which could be challenging for someone with (too) many years of php: everything is an object you have to live with exceptions array vs list, set, dictionary, tuple ... learn (effective) list comprehensions learn generators any other ideas / personal experiences ?

    Read the article

  • Matplotlib Contour Clabel Location

    - by jotimaz
    I would like to control the location of matplotlib clabels on a contour plot, but without utilizing the manual=True flag in clabel. For example, I would like to specify an x-coordinate, and have labels created at the points that pass through this line. I see that you can get the location of the individual labels using get_position(), but I am stuck at that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! EDIT: The above image is an example plot that I would like to apply this method to. The default label positions are inconvenient -- the flat areas between Day 2 and Day 4 would be more visually appealing.

    Read the article

  • Extendable accessing of sqlite database on android platform

    - by mscriven
    Hi, I am fairly new to the android sdk and databases and have been searching for an answer to this quite some time. I am trying to build an app which has multiple tables within a database. e.g. one for weapons, armours etc. However, my DatabaseManager class which handles all of my table creating, DatabaseHelper inner class and populating of data is creating for an extremely large class requiring high maintenance. Every time I would like to add or remove a table column I need to change quite a few areas of code, - Every reference to the addition of a row in that table with data - The method that the above calls - The method returning all of the database rows - The code in the helper class creating the table - Any specific update methods My question is this: Surely there must be some better way of coding this system, maybe using a database isn't the best way to go, or am i just not used to such large classes having only learned java at university and my largest class consisting of a mere 400-600 lines of code. Thanks for any help!

    Read the article

  • ASP.NET MVC 2 Released

    - by ScottGu
    I’m happy to announce that the final release of ASP.NET MVC 2 is now available for VS 2008/Visual Web Developer 2008 Express with ASP.NET 3.5.  You can download and install it from the following locations: Download ASP.NET MVC 2 using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer Download ASP.NET MVC 2 from the Download Center The final release of VS 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 will have ASP.NET MVC 2 built-in – so you won’t need an additional install in order to use ASP.NET MVC 2 with them.  ASP.NET MVC 2 We shipped ASP.NET MVC 1 a little less than a year ago.  Since then, almost 1 million developers have downloaded and used the final release, and its popularity has steadily grown month over month. ASP.NET MVC 2 is the next significant update of ASP.NET MVC. It is a compatible update to ASP.NET MVC 1 – so all the knowledge, skills, code, and extensions you already have with ASP.NET MVC continue to work and apply going forward. Like the first release, we are also shipping the source code for ASP.NET MVC 2 under an OSI-compliant open-source license. ASP.NET MVC 2 can be installed side-by-side with ASP.NET MVC 1 (meaning you can have some apps built with V1 and others built with V2 on the same machine).  We have instructions on how to update your existing ASP.NET MVC 1 apps to use ASP.NET MVC 2 using VS 2008 here.  Note that VS 2010 has an automated upgrade wizard that can automatically migrate your existing ASP.NET MVC 1 applications to ASP.NET MVC 2 for you. ASP.NET MVC 2 Features ASP.NET MVC 2 adds a bunch of new capabilities and features.  I’ve started a blog series about some of the new features, and will be covering them in more depth in the weeks ahead.  Some of the new features and capabilities include: New Strongly Typed HTML Helpers Enhanced Model Validation support across both server and client Auto-Scaffold UI Helpers with Template Customization Support for splitting up large applications into “Areas” Asynchronous Controllers support that enables long running tasks in parallel Support for rendering sub-sections of a page/site using Html.RenderAction Lots of new helper functions, utilities, and API enhancements Improved Visual Studio tooling support You can learn more about these features in the “What’s New in ASP.NET MVC 2” document on the www.asp.net/mvc web-site.  We are going to be posting a lot of new tutorials and videos shortly on www.asp.net/mvc that cover all the features in ASP.NET MVC 2 release.  We will also post an updated end-to-end tutorial built entirely with ASP.NET MVC 2 (much like the NerdDinner tutorial that I wrote that covers ASP.NET MVC 1).  Summary The ASP.NET MVC team delivered regular V2 preview releases over the last year to get feedback on the feature set.  I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who tried out the previews and sent us suggestions/feedback/bug reports.  We hope you like the final release! Scott

    Read the article

  • The best, in the West

    - by Fatherjack
    As many of you know, I run the SQL South West user group and we are currently in full flow preparing to stage the UK’s second SQL Saturday. The SQL Saturday spotlight is going to fall on Exeter in March 2013. We have full-day session on Friday 8th with some truly amazing speakers giving their insights and experience into some vital areas of working with SQL Server: Dave Ballantyne and Dave Morrison – TSQL and internals Christian Bolton and Gavin Payne – Mission critical data platforms on Windows Server 2012 Denny Cherry – SQL Server Security André Kamman – Powershell 3.0 for SQL Server Administrators and Developers Mladen Prajdic – From SQL Traces to Extended Events – The next big switch. A number of people have claimed that the choice is too good and they’d have trouble selecting just one session to attend. I can see how this is a problem but hope that they make their minds up quickly. The venue is a bespoke conference suite in the centre of Exeter but has limited capacity so we are working on a first-come first-served basis. All the session details and booking and travel information can be found on our user group website. The Saturday will be a day of free, 50 minute sessions on all aspects SQL Server from almost 30 different speakers. If you would like to submit a session then get a move on as submissions close on 8th January 2013 (That’s less than a month away). We are really interested in getting new speakers started so we have a lightning talk session where you can come along and give a small talk (anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes long) about anything connected with SQL Server as a way to introduce you to what it’s like to be a speaker at an event. Details on registering to attend and to submit a session (Lightning talks need to be submitted too please) can be found on our SQL Saturday pages. This is going to be the biggest and best bespoke SQL Server conference to ever take place this far South West in the UK and we aim to give everyone who comes to either day a real experience of the South West so we have a few surprises for you on the day.

    Read the article

  • Game Design Dilemma

    - by Chris Williams
    I'm working on a 2d tilemapped RPG. I've actually made quite a fair amount of progress, but I'm at a point where I need to make a UI decision. I have the overland world completely mapped out, and I have several towns and special areas. I'm on the fence about how to integrate the two. Scenario 1: I have one ginormous map, where everything is the same scale. This means you can walk in and out of towns without having to load or wait and transition in any way. With everything the same scale, movement costs the same no matter where you are (in terms of time/turns/energy/hunger/whatever/etc...)  The potential downside to this is that it could take quite a long time to get anywhere on foot. Scenario 2: I have an overland map, a set of town maps, overland tactical maps, dungeon maps & special area maps. The overland map is at a different scale than the other maps. This means that time/turns/energy/hunger/whatever/etc is calculated at a different rate than on the other maps, which have a 1:1 scale. When entering a town, dungeon, special area or having a random encounter, you would effectively zoom in from the overland scale to the tactical scale. When you are done with combat, or exit a dungeon or town, it would zoom back out to the overland map. The downside to this is that at the zoomed out scale, the overland map isn't all that big (comparitively) and you can traverse it fairly quickly (in real time, not game world time.) Options: 1) Go with scenario 1, as is. 2) Go with scenario 1 and introduce a slightly speedier version of overland travel, such as a horse. 3) Go with scenario 1 and introduce "instant" travel, via portals or some kind of "click the big map" mechanism. This would only work with places you've already been, or somehow unlocked (perhaps via a quest.) 4) Go with Scenario 2, as is.   Thoughts, opinions, suggestions?  Feedback appreciated.

    Read the article

  • Facebook Sponsored Results: Is It Getting Results?

    - by Mike Stiles
    Social marketers who like to focus on the paid aspect of the paid/earned hybrid Facebook represents may want to keep themselves aware of how the network’s new Sponsored Results ad product is performing. The ads, which appear when a user conducts a search from the Facebook search bar, have only been around a week or so. But the first statistics coming out of them are not bad. Marketer Nanigans says click-through rates on the Sponsored Results have been nearly 23 times better than regular Facebook ads. Some click-through rates have even gone over 3%. Just to give you some perspective, a TechCrunch article points out that’s the same kind of click-through rates that were being enjoyed during the go-go dot com boom of the 90’s. The average across the Internet in its entirety is now somewhere around .3% on a good day, so a 3% number should be enough to raise an eyebrow. Plus the cost-per-click price is turning up 78% lower than regular Facebook ads, so that should raise the other eyebrow. Marketers have gotten pretty used to being able to buy ads against certain keywords. Most any digital property worth its salt that sells ads offers this, and so does Facebook with its Sponsored Results product. But the unique prize Facebook brings to the table is the ability to also buy based on demographic and interest information gleaned from Facebook user profiles. With almost 950 million logging in, this is exactly the kind of leveraging of those users conventional wisdom says is necessary for Facebook to deliver on its amazing potential. So how does the Facebook user fit into this? Notorious for finding out exactly where sponsored marketing messages are appearing and training their eyeballs to avoid those areas, will the Facebook user reject these Sponsored Results? Well, Facebook may have found an area in addition to the News Feed where paid elements can’t be avoided and will be tolerated. If users want to read their News Feed, and they do, they’re going to see sponsored posts. Likewise, if they want to search for friends or Pages, and they do, they’re going to see Sponsored Results. The paid results are clearly marked as such. As long as their organic search results are not tainted or compromised, they will continue using search. But something more is going on. The early click-through rate numbers say not only do users not mind seeing these Sponsored Results, they’re finding them relevant enough to click on. And once they click, they seem to be liking what they find, with a reported 14% higher install rate than Marketplace Ads. It’s early, and obviously the jury is still out. But this is a new social paid marketing opportunity that’s well worth keeping an eye on, and that may wind up hitting the trifecta of being effective for the platform, the consumer, and the marketer.

    Read the article

  • Now It’s Personal (Although It Should Always Be): Campus Recruitment

    - by user769227
    One of the things that I think is important and I want our Campus Recruitment Team here at Oracle to be known for is outstanding customer service. When I say customer service, I mean both students and hiring managers should feel they have had a great experience in our campus hiring process. I think one of the keys to providing outstanding customer service is being able to provide as best as we can a personalised experience where the students who are interviewing with us feel like individuals in our process and not just part a ‘campus drive’. In the campus world this can be challenging at times especially in countries where there is high volume hiring. It can be tricky to create a personal experience when you are hiring for a large number of open graduate roles at one time. I think Campus Recruitment is one of the areas in the recruitment industry that is just waiting for a change. We have all seen the proliferation of Social Media in Recruitment over the past 4-6 years. Every Recruiter has a LinkedIn account or uses Twitter or G+ or FB, etc… and some individuals and organisations do it really well. Even in Campus Hiring there is great Social Media initiatives where companies reach out to students and talk to them. However one thing that has not really changed (and this is a generalisation) is the campus hiring interview process. Do these words inspire enthusiasm to you: “Group Interview, Assessment Centre, On-Campus Drive, Off-Campus Drive, etc...” I don’t know about you but to me these words don’t really sound very personal or individual to students. It almost conjures up images of a factory production line or those long queues you see where the person behind the counter says ‘take a number’. Campus Recruitment has come a long way don’t get me wrong – companies can share data with and talk to students in so many different ways now it really has become a much more transparent and open process. There are some times such as at IIT’s in India where it really is a bit old school in terms of interviewing with students running from company to company interviewing on campus over the course of a few days but I want students talking to Oracle to have as great an experience as possible (the outcome of getting a job or not is separate to the customer experience). As students, what are your thoughts? Do you feel like ‘just a number’ when you are interviewing or is there ways that companies can make the process more personalised. Let us know your thoughts. If you are interviewing with Oracle and have questions, want to talk to us or want to know what it is like working here – email us and we will help where we can. If you can’t reach your local Recruiter in your region email me at [email protected] and I will put you in touch with the appropriate person.

    Read the article

  • BUILD 2013 - Microsoft Set to Unveil It&rsquo;s Reinvention

    - by D'Arcy Lussier
    Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/dlussier/archive/2013/06/24/153211.aspxSome thoughts as we head into BUILD this week… This week in San Francisco Microsoft will be hosting the BUILD conference. They’ll be talking up Windows 8.1 (Windows Blue), more Azure, some Windows Phone, XBox, Office 365… actually, they told us on the original BUILD announcement site what we’d be seeing:           While looking at this, consider a recent article from The Verge that talks about the speculation of a huge shake up at Microsoft . From the article: All Things D quotes one insider as saying they're "titanic" changes, noting they might be attached to Ballmer's legacy at the company. "It’s the first time in a long time that it feels like that there will be some major shifts, including some departures," says the alleged insider. Considering Ballmer let Sinofsky go right after the Windows 8 launch, the idea of Microsoft cutting loose some executives doesn’t seem to be big news. But the next piece of the article frames things more interestingly: Ballmer is reportedly considering a new structure that would create four separate divisions: enterprise business, hardware, applications and services, and an operating systems group. This statement got me thinking…what would this new structure look like? Below is one possibility: At a recent (this year or last year, I can’t recall which) Microsoft shareholder’s meeting, Ballmer made the statement that Microsoft is now a products and services company. At the time I don’t think I really let that statement sink in. Partially because I really liked the Microsoft of my professional youth – the one that was a software and platform company. In Canada, Microsoft has been pushing three platform areas: Lync, Azure, and SQL Server. I would expect those to change moving forward as Microsoft continues to look for Partners that will help them increase their Services revenue through solutions that incorporate/are based on Azure, Office 365, Lync, and Dynamics. I also wonder if we’re not seeing a culling of partners through changes to the Microsoft Partner Program. In addition to the changing certification requirements that align more to Microsoft’s goals (i.e. There is no desktop development based MCSD, only Windows 8 Store Apps), competencies that partners can qualify for are being merged, requirements changed, and licenses provided reduced. Ballmer warned as much at the last WPC though that they were looking for partners who were “all in” with Microsoft, and these programs seem to support that sentiment. Heading into BUILD this week, I’ll be looking to answer one question – what does it mean to be a Microsoft developer here in the 2010’s? What is the future of the Microsoft development platform? Sure, Visual Studio is still alive and well and Microsoft realizes that there’s a huge install base of .NET developers actively working on solutions. But they’ve ratcheted down the messaging around their development stack and instead focussed on promoting development for their platforms and services. Last year at BUILD with the release of Windows 8, Microsoft just breached the walls of its cocoon. After this BUILD and the organizational change announcements in July, we’ll see what Microsoft looks like fully emerged from its metamorphosis.

    Read the article

  • Best of "The Moth" 2010

    - by Daniel Moth
    It is the time again (like in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) to look back at my blog for the past year and identify areas of interest that seem to be more prominent than others. After doing so, representative posts follow in my top 5 list (in random order). 1. This was the year where I had to move for the first time since 2004 my blog engine (blogger.com –> dasBlog), host provider (zen –> godaddy), web server technology and OS (apache on Linux –> IIS on Windows Server). My goal was not to break any permalinks or the look and feel of this website. A series of posts covered how I achieved that goal, culminating in a tool for others to use if they wanted to do the same: Tool to convert blogger.com content to dasBlog. Going forward I aim to be sharing more small code utilities like that one… 2. At work I am known for being fairly responsive on email, and more importantly never dropping email balls on the floor. This is due to my email processing system, which I shared here: Processing Email in Outlook. I will be sharing more tips with regards to making the best of the Office products. 3. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the year people will remember as the one where Microsoft finally fights back in the mobile space. Even though the new platform means my Windows Mobile book sales will dwindle :-), I am ecstatic about Windows Phone 7 both as a consumer and as a developer. On the release day, to get you started I shared the top 10 Windows Phone 7 developer resources. I will be sharing my tips from my experience in writing code for and consuming this new platform… 4. For my HPC developer friends using Visual Studio, I shared Slides and code for MPI Cluster Debugger and also gave you all the links you need for getting started with Dryad and DryadLINQ from MSR. Expect more from me on cluster development in the coming year… 5. Still in the HPC space, but actually also in the game and even mainstream development, the big disruption and opportunity comes in the form of GPGPU and, on the Microsoft platform, (currently) DirectCompute. Expect more from me on gpgpu development in the coming year… Subscribe via the link on the left to stay tuned for 2011… I wish you a very Happy New Year (with whatever definition of happiness works for you)! Comments about this post welcome at the original blog.

    Read the article

  • A Few Words from Oracle’s Channel Chief

    - by Meghan Fritz-Oracle
    As Oracle enters a new fiscal year, I want to take a moment and reflect on my time at Oracle thus far. The technology industry is currently at an inflection point trying to figure out where growth will come from. When you look at Oracle’s portfolio of products, it's a complete stack from applications to disc, offering differentiation in the marketplace. I was initially drawn to Oracle’s leadership, strategy, and world-class technology. Since joining the Oracle team in October 2013, I’ve had the privilege of traveling around the globe visiting our partners and customers, and wanted to share several common themes that came up during these meetings. Cloud: Many partners are trying to figure out how to build a business around the cloud. Oracle partners can currently resell or refer our cloud services. We saw over 300 percent growth from cloud resale last quarter. Engineered Systems: Hardware and software integrated together to simplify IT allows our joint customers to focus on the innovation they need to compete in a complex marketplace. We're seeing great success in a several areas, with more partners saying, “Let’s start with Oracle on Oracle.” The Internet of Things: This is the next big opportunity for device manufacturers and ISV‘s to capture market share in what is projected to be a mulit-trillion-dollar opportunity, according to Gartner.  Competition: We've got a tremendous middleware platform and a tremendous database install base. We’re not just a database company; we are a complete provider. So looking ahead, what are my priorities for fiscal 2015? Oracle PartnerNetwork has some very exciting plans on the horizon. There’s a lot more leadership and announcements to unfold, especially at this year’s Global Partner Kickoff taking place on June 25 + 26 depending on your region and time zone. I along with several other Oracle executives will be shedding light on Oracle’s strategy for the upcoming year, the latest opportunities within the OPN Specialized Program and sales strategies that will help you to continue to grow and profit with Oracle. Stay tuned for registration information next week.We also have Oracle OpenWorld and JavaOne to look forward to. These conferences are taking place in San Francisco from September 28 – October 2. We’ll have a variety of partner-specific activities for you at OPN Central @ OpenWorld including the OPN keynote, the famed AfterDark networking reception, access to the OPN Lounge and more.In the meantime, I hope that everyone has a great end to fiscal 2014.Best regards,Rich Geraffo Senior Vice President, Worldwide Alliances and Channels

    Read the article

  • Craftsmanship Tour: Day 3 &amp; 4 8th Light

    - by Liam McLennan
    Thursday morning the Illinois public transport system came through for me again. I took the Metra train north from Union Station (which was seething with inbound commuters) to Prairie Crossing (Libertyville). At Prairie Crossing I met Paul and Justin from 8th Light and then Justin drove us to the office. The 8th Light office is in an small business park, in a semi-rural area, surrounded by ponds. Upstairs there are two spacious, open areas for developers. At one end of the floor is Doug Bradbury’s walk-and-code station; a treadmill with a desk and computer so that a developer can get exercise at work. At the other end of the floor is a hammock. This irregular office furniture is indicative of the 8th Light philosophy, to pursue excellence without being limited by conventional wisdom. 8th Light have a wall covered in posters, each illustrating one person’s software craftsmanship journey. The posters are a fascinating visualisation of the similarities and differences between each of our progressions. The first thing I did Thursday morning was to create my own poster and add it to the wall. Over two days at 8th Light I did some pairing with the 8th Lighters and we shared thoughts on software development. I am not accustomed to such a progressive and enlightened environment and I found the experience inspirational. At 8th Light TDD, clean code, pairing and kaizen are deeply ingrained in the culture. Friday, during lunch, 8th Light hosted a ‘lunch and learn’ event. Paul Pagel lead us through a coding exercise using micro-pomodori. We worked in pairs, focusing on the pedagogy of pair programming and TDD. After lunch I recorded this interview with Paul Pagel and Justin Martin. We discussed 8th light, craftsmanship, apprenticeships and the limelight framework. Interview with Paul Pagel and Justin Martin My time at Didit, Obtiva and 8th Light has convinced me that I need to give up some of my independence and go back to working in a team. Craftsmen advance their skills by learning from each other, and I can’t do that working at home by myself. The challenge is finding the right team, and becoming a part of it.

    Read the article

  • Need to Know

    - by Tony Davis
    Sometimes, I wonder whether writers of documentation, tutorials and articles stop to ask themselves one very important question: Does the reader really need to know this? I recently took on the task of writing a concise series of articles about the transaction log, what is it, how it works and why it's important. It was an enjoyable task; rather like peering inside a giant, complex clock mechanism. Initially, one sees only the basic components, which work to guarantee the integrity of database transactions, and preserve these transactions so that data can be restored to a previous point in time. On closer inspection, one notices all of small, arcane mechanisms that are necessary to make this happen; LSNs, virtual log files, log chains, database checkpoints, and so on. It was engrossing, escapist, stuff; what I'd written looked weighty and steeped in mysterious significance. Suddenly, however, I jolted myself back to reality with the awful thought "does anyone really need to know all this?" The driver of a car needs only to be dimly aware of what goes on under the hood, however exciting the mechanism is to the engineer. Similarly, while everyone who uses SQL Server ought to be aware of the transaction log, its role in guaranteeing the ACID properties, and how to control its growth, the intricate mechanisms ticking away under its clock face are a world away from the daily work of the harassed developer. The DBA needs to know more, such as the correct rituals for ensuring optimal performance and data integrity, setting the appropriate growth characteristics, backup routines, restore procedures, and so on. However, even then, the average DBA only needs to understand enough about the arcane processes to spot problems and react appropriately, or to know how to Google for the best way of dealing with it. The art of technical writing is tied up in intimate knowledge of your audience and what they need to know at any point. It means serving up just enough at each point to help the reader in a practical way, but not to overcook it, or stuff the reader with information that does them no good. When I think of the books and articles that have helped me the most, they have been full of brief, practical, and well-informed guidance, based on experience. This seems far-removed from the 900-page "beginner's guides" that one now sees everywhere. The more I write and edit, the more I become convinced that the real art of technical communication lies in knowing what to leave out. In what areas do the SQL Server technical materials suffer from "information overload"? Where else does it seem that concise, practical advice is drowned out by endless discussion of the "clock mechanisms"? Cheers, Tony.

    Read the article

  • Japan Welcomes Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c

    - by Anand Akela
    Following Oracle’s grand unveiling of Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c at Oracle OpenWorld 2011 in San Francisco, Oracle Japan just completed their launch for the product. Leng Tan, Oracle VP of Products, delivered the keynote with collaboration from a number of key partners in the region. From left to right: Leng Tan, VP of Products, Oracle; Shinyashiki-san, Assistant General Manager, NEC; Fuketa-san, General Manager, HITACHI; Fujii-san, General Manager, Fujitsu; Misawa-san, VP of Alliances, Oracle Japan NEC, Hitachi and Fujitsu have been among Oracle’s most active partners in the Japan region. They have received key awards from Oracle Japan for their efforts. NEC received the partner of the year award for 2010 and 2011. Hitachi received the partner of the year award for Oracle Enterprise Manager in 2011. Fujitsu received awards in the areas of Database and Oracle Exadata in 2011. All three partners were active participants in Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c beta program. According to Hirai-san, the technical lead at the event, there were over 200 attendees. “The event was so well-attended; there was no room to stand.” Said Hirai-san. Hirai-san demonstrating Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c at the Oracle Japan launch Here’s the highlight of the presentations made by the Oracle partners during this launch. NEC has developed an Oracle Enterprise Manager Plug-in for iStorage (NEC SAN Storage product). Additionally, NEC’s WebSAM Invariant Analyzer management tool is now capable of integrating with Oracle Enterprise Manager HITACHI demonstrated monitoring capabilities for Oracle Exadata through Oracle Enterprise Manager in their JP1 system management tool Fujitsu’s Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g adapter for their SystemWalker tool has now been enhanced to work with Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c. Following a very successful launch in Japan, Oracle’s Total Cloud Control road show and additional Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c launches continue in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. This week Sushil Kumar, VP of Product Strategy and Business Development is scheduled to deliver the keynotes at several cities in India. Also this week, Richard Sarwal, SVP of Products, is scheduled to deliver a keynote at the DOAG conference in Nuremburg, Germany. Richard is also delivering the Oracle Enterprise Manger 12c launch event keynote in Paris on November 18th. Check out our event schedule for Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c events across the globe! For more information, please go to Oracle Enterprise Manager  web page or  follow us at :  Twitter   Facebook YouTube Linkedin

    Read the article

  • Part 2: The Customization Lifecycle

    - by volker.eckardt(at)oracle.com
    To understand the challenges when working with Customizations better, please allow me to explain my understanding from the Customization Lifecycle.  The starting point is the functional GAP list. Any GAP can lead to a customization (but not have to). The decision is driven by priority, gain, costs, future functionality, accepted workarounds etc. Let's assume the customization has been accepted as such - including estimation. (Otherwise this blog would not have any value)Now the customization life-cycle starts and could look like this:-    Functional specification-    Technical specification-    Technical development-    Functional setup-    Module Test-    System Test-    Integration Test (if required)-    Acceptance Test-    Production mode-    Usage-    10 x Rework-    10 x Retest -    2 x Upgrade-    2 x Upgrade Test-    Usage-    10 x Rework-    10 x Retest -    1 x Upgrade-    1 x Upgrade Test-    Usage-    Review for Retirement-    Accepted Retirement-    De-installationWhat I like to highlight herewith is that any material and documentation you create upfront or during the first phases will usually be used multiple times, partial or complete, will be enhanced, reviewed, retested. The better the quality right from the beginning is, the better we can perform the next steps.What I see very often is the wish to remove a customization, our customers are upgrading and they like to get at least some of the customizations replaced with standard functionality. To be able to support this process best, the customization documentation should contain at least the following key information: What is/are the business process(es) where this customization is used or linked to?Who was involved in the different customization phases?What are the objects comprising the customization?What is the setup necessary for the customization?What setup comes with the customization, what has to be done via other tools or manually?What are the test steps and test results (in all test areas)?What are linked customizations? What is the customization complexity?How is this customization classified?Which technologies were used?How many days were needed to create/test/upgrade the customization?Etc.If all this is available, a replacement / retirement can be done much more efficient and precise, or an estimation and upgrade itself can be executed with much better support.In the following blog entries I will explain in more detail why we suggest tracking such information, by whom this task shall be done and how.Volker Eckardt

    Read the article

  • Customization: It’s Wanted in Enterprise Tech Platforms Too

    - by Mike Stiles
    Did you know that every customer service person does their job the exact same way in every business organization?  And did you know that every business organization cares about the exact same metrics? I hope not, because both those things couldn’t be farther from the truth. And if there are different needs and approaches in different enterprises, it stands to reason technology platforms must become increasingly customizable. Oracle Social Cloud sees that coming and is doing something about it, at least in terms of social media management. Today we introduce Social Station, a customizable user experience workspace within the Oracle Social Relationship Management (SRM) platform. We think a lot about customer-centricity and customer experience around here, and we know our own customers are ready to start moving forward in being able to set up their work environments in the ways that work best for them. That kind of thing increases productivity, helps deliver on social objectives faster, and generally just makes life more pleasant. A recent IDG Enterprise report says that enterprises currently investing in more consumerized, easy-to-use technologies experience a 56% increase in employee productivity and a 46% increase in customer satisfaction. Imagine that. When you make it easier and more pleasant for employees to help customers, more customers get helped and everyone ends up happier. So what does this Social Station do and what does it mean, exactly? It’s an innovative move to take some pretty high-end tech (take a bow developers) and simplify it, making things more intuitive: Drag and drop lets you easily build out and personalize your social workspace with different modules. The new Custom Analytics module can mix and match over 120 metrics with thousands of customizable reporting options. You can check constantly refreshed updates and keep a real-time eye on the numbers you’re trying to move. One-click sharing and annotation in the Custom Analytics module improves sharing and collaboration across teams, departments and executives. Multi-view layout helps you leverage social insights by letting you monitor conversations by network, stream, metric, graph type, date range, and relative time period. The Enhanced Calendar is a better visual representation of content, posts, networks and views, letting you easily toggle between functions and views. The Oracle Social Station sets us up to always be developing & launching additional social modules for you, covering areas like content curation, influencer engagement, and command center creation. Oracle Social Cloud Group VP Meg Bear says, “Consumers today have high expectations of their technology application capabilities and usability, and those expectations don’t stop when they enter their workplaces.” In other words, internal enterprise technology platforms must reflect the personalization and customization being called for in consumer products and marketing. “One size fits all” is becoming an endangered concept. @mikestiles @oraclesocial

    Read the article

  • Inside Red Gate - Divisions

    - by Simon Cooper
    When I joined Red Gate back in 2007, there were around 80 people in the company. Now, around 3 years later, it's grown to more than 200. It's a constant battle against Dunbar's number; the maximum number of people you can keep track of in a social group, to try and maintain that 'small company' feel that attracted myself and so many others to apply in the first place. There are several strategies the company's developed over the years to try and mitigate the effects of Dunbar's number. One of the main ones has been divisionalisation. Divisions The first division, .NET, appeared around the same time that I started in 2007. This combined the development, sales, marketing and management of the .NET tools (then, ANTS Profiler v3) into a separate section of the office. The idea was to increase the cohesion and communication between the different people involved in the entire lifecycle of the tools; from initial product development, through to marketing, then to customer support, who would feed back to the development team. This was such a success that the other development teams were re-worked around this model in 2009. Nowadays there are 4 divisions - SQL Tools, DBA, .NET, and New Business. Along the way there have been various tweaks to the details - the sales teams have been merged into the divisions, marketing and product support have been (mostly) centralised - but the same basic model remains. So, how has this helped? As Red Gate has continued to grow over the years, divisionalisation has turned Red Gate from a monolithic software company into what one person described as a 'federation of small businesses'. Each division is free to structure itself as it sees fit, it's free to decide what to concentrate development work on, organise its own newsletters and webinars, decide its own release schedule. Each division is its own small business. In terms of numbers, the size of each division varies from 20 people (.NET) to 52 (SQL Tools); well below Dunbar's number. From a developer's perspective, this means organisational structure is very flat & wide - there's only 2 layers between myself and the CEOs (not that it matters much; everyone can go and have a chat to Neil or Simon, or anyone else inbetween, whenever they want. Provided you can catch them at their desk!). As Red Gate grows, and expands into new areas, new divisions will be created as needed, old ones merged or disbanded, but the division structure will help to maintain that small-company feel that keeps Red Gate working as it does.

    Read the article

< Previous Page | 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55  | Next Page >