Microsoft announced that will release a security update that will include 3 critical and 6 important security vulnerabilities on Tuesday July 11th.
One of the critical vulnerabilities include Internet Explorer 9.
Microsoft customers will have the opportunity to ask questions on the security bulletins in a web-cast that will be held by Microsoft on July 11, 2012, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada).
As always, you should install the security updates as soon as they are available.
The new Google Nexus 7 tablet is available from $199 to order online from google directly. The delivery will start mid-July.
Google announced Nexus 7 today at Google I/O.
Microsoft announced the acquisition of Yammer for $ 1.2 bilion is cash.
Launched in 2008, Yammer now has more than 5 million corporate users, including employees at 85 percent of the Fortune 500. The service allows employees to join a secure, private social network for free and then makes it easy for companies to convert a grassroots movement into companywide strategic initiative. The basic version of Yammer is free, and customers can pay to upgrade their network to receive advanced administrative and security controls, integrations with enterprise applications, priority customer service and a designated customer success manager.
Yammer will join the Microsoft Office Division, led by division President Kurt DelBene, and the team will continue to report to current CEO David Sacks.
Google lowered the online price from US $4 per 1,000 map loads to 50¢ per 1,000 map loads. This is a 88% price drop.
This move from Google happened two weeks after Apple announced that will use it’s own map technology in iOS 6.
Thor Mitchell, Product Manager of Google Maps API announced the move. He also added that “We’re beginning to monitor Maps API usage starting today, and, based on current usage, fees will only apply to the top 0.35% of sites regularly exceeding the published limits of 25,000 map loads every day for 90 consecutive days. We aren’t automating the application of these limits, so if your site consistently uses more than the free maps allowance we’ll contact you to discuss your options. Please rest assured that your map will not stop working due to a sudden surge in popularity. ”
Many sites might want to use OpenStreetMap project instead of Google maps.
Who said that competition is bad?
So, you are managing a software project and you are wondering is there a way to successfully deliver the project on time and within budget? What are the risks in software projects?
The answer is yes but you need to identify and manage the project’s risks. Remember that risks can be positive or negative.
This is an informal introduction to risks for software projects coming directly from my experience in project management. I am managing software projects for many years and I have found some common problems in almost all software projects that if you do not handle properly can lead your project to disaster. I have used different software development methodologies from Waterfall to Scrum. In addition, I am preparing a series of articles dedicated to risk management that will be available in the near future from this blog.
Let’s start!
Managing or coaching a project team is a very exciting experience. The good think is that it is in your hand to make this experience a positive one for all involved in the project. Think positive and be proactive.
Scope
You have to have a vision statement for the project and commitment for the top management for your project. If you do not have that do not even think on starting your project.
An example of scope is “Go to the Moon” as set by President John F. Kennedy‘s on May 25, 1961
Make sure that you have a list of deliverables that are in scope and also that you have an out of scope list.
Requirements
You have to have business requirements for your project. This is a tricky one because you need to define how you will accept the business requirements. Things to be watching for when you deal with business requirements:
Team
Select the best that you can afford or are available. Do team building activities. Remember the Tuckman‘s stages of group development: Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing – Adjourning.
You goal is to create a cohesive team that can perform effectively and efficiently. There will be some frictions but is up to you to coach the team successfully out of a crisis.
The team have to know the technology they are going to use to build the software. The better your team, the better the possibilities of success for your project.
Software Architecture
Do the software architecture phase. If you use Scrum you can do this before you start your sprints or you can have your first sprint dedicated to software architecture.
Allowing time for architecture will save your team (and yourself) a lot of wasted time. Software architecture is a huge subject to be analyzed here. Involve a software architect. Software architects can depict the system is such a way that the system’s behavior will be visible to the business and the implementation teams. The architecture is the primary carrier of system qualities such as performance, modifiability, and security under a unifying architectural vision. Developers see the details of the solution but many times fail to see the system as a whole.
Risk Management
Plan to have frequent (weekly) risk management meetings. You need to identify, assess and prioritize the risks of you project. Leaving your risks unmanaged is a way to ensure your project’s failure.
Estimation
There is always the risk that you did not estimate correctly the effort. Always use more than one estimation method and triangulate. This is a difficult task but if you have performed the previous phases then you and your team have a very good understanding of the challenges of the project and you will be able to create a realistic estimation. You estimation should include all time needed to finish the project this means also time for meetings etc. Remember that various deployments take time and also that there will be bugs in the software. Again, this is a very big topic and it will be covered separately.
In addition according to Cerpa Narciso and Verner M.June. (2009), the 3 factors that contributed most for an in-house project failure are that the delivery date impacted the development process, project was underestimated, delivery date decision was made without appropriate requirements information.
Quality Assurance
Involve your quality team as early as possible. Make sure that they can create test cases out of the business requirements. Use a team of testers.
Quality Assurance will help you with validation and verification of your project. Validation ensures that “you built the right thing”. Verification ensures that “you built it right”.
Audit your development team that they are using the defined quality processes.
If you do not have a quality system in place you are in trouble. Standardizing processes of software projects enforces a unified way of project delivery in the organization.
The most commonly used quality frameworks are the ISO 12207, the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the project management body of knowledge (PMBoK). (Fairley, 2009, p.10)
Executing the project
The way you execute your project is key for the project success. There are different ways to execute your project; this depends on the methodology you are using. Here also experience helps. There are several keys to help you succeed.
There are many things to say for project execution. The above list is by no means complete. Project execution is a big subject that I will treat separately with articles in this blog.
Communication
Have everyone informed. Create a communication plan. Be proactive and not reactive. Create status reports and manage the expectations of the involved parties. Failure managing the expectations introduces unnecessary risks to your project. Communication can take up to 70% of your time.
Environment
Your project is not in isolation. It interacts with the surrounding environment. Changes in the environment affects your project. For example inability off subcontractors to deliver their work might affect your project’s success.
Epilogue
Is the above list complete? No, it is not complete. It is a starting point to help you see some major areas that can hurt your project. With this article we only are scratching the tip of the iceberg. Managing software projects is really exciting and requires full commitment of your time and effort. Good luck!
References
Cerpa Narciso and Verner M.June. (2009). Why did your project fail?. Commun. ACM 52, 12 (December 2009), 130-134. Available from: http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1610252.1610286
Fairley, E. R. (2009) Managing and leading software projects. IEEE Computer Society. John Wiley & Sons., Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Project Management Institute(2008A) A guide to the project management body of knowledge . 4th edition. Newton Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute Inc
Project Management Institute (2008B). Practice standard for project risk management Newton Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute Inc.
Microsoft Surface is a tablet announced by Microsoft.
According to Microsoft there will be two versions of Microsoft Surface. One running Windows RT and another one running Windows 8 Pro.
An interesting feature is that the cover becomes an ultra thin keyboard.
The Windows RT version will have the following characteristics:
The Windows 8 Pro version will have the following characteristics:
Microsoft has no data on the mobile information related to Surface.
For a hands-on review click here.
It appears that Microsoft tries to create a tablet that will be comparable to iPad. To my opinion this is a tough task to succeed.
From what I saw, the only feature that is new is the touch cover. I am using a tablet (iPad) for long time now. I bought a keyboard / cover that I do not use. In my opinion this is not a great feature to decide for a purchase of a tablet. You can always buy an external keyboard if you need one.
In my opinion tablet software is still in its infancy. We are approaching the tablet from the wrong angle. Even companies have not decided yet on the features they want to offer for the tablet.
Let’s take for example the iPad. I have the iPad 3G. I do not want to jailbreak it. I cannot use it as a phone. I need to carry 2 devices. A mobile phone and a tablet. I have the simplest mobile phone on the planet (without camera) just to make phone calls and I do all my work using the iPad. Will Microsoft give 3G to Surface? Will Microsoft allow users to make phone calls from their tablets? Will Microsoft use the kinect knowledge to create a more intuitive interface for Surface?
A Lot of questions which only the future can answer.
Apple posted the new iOs 6 preview. Among the new features is the new Maps application. This is a new Apple application designed from the bottom up. The new Maps will offer turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D views, and the stunning Flyover feature where available. By creating a new Maps application it means that Apple will stop using Google maps. As The New York Times reports Apple decision to enter the digital mapping world is not a surprise. If Apple fails then a lot of customers will run to Android or other mobile operating systems but if Apple succeeds then Google will be under pressure. At the end of its last fiscal quarter Apple had $110 billion in cash and securities, so it can afford the battle.
Other exciting features are:
Siri. You can ask Siri about sports scores and stats, where to eat, what movies to see — even ask to make Facebook posts. Siri understands more languages and works in more countries. Siri will also work with the new iPad.
facebook. Is now integrated thought iOS. A totally new user experience.
FaceTime. FaceTime now works over cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi, so you can make and receive FaceTime calls wherever you happen to be.
There are also other new and exciting features such as an improved Safari, Mail, Passbook, new capabilities for the iPhone and many more.
I am looking forward to start using the new iOS.
What is DNS?
Domain Name Service (DNS) is an Internet Service that converts user friendly domain names into IP addresses that computers use eto identify each other on the Internet. For example www.talesfromthebits.com is the user friendly name. The IP is 174.132.189.253. It is much easier to remember the name than the IP address!
What DNSChanger malware is doing to my computer?
Criminals learned that by controlling the user’s DNS they can control what sites the user visits on the Internet. They can create fake web sites and redirect the unsuspected user to these sites in order to gather personal information or to display fraudulent web sites or to install silently more malicious software to the user’s computer. The FBI has uncovered a network of rogue DNS servers and has taken steps to disable it.
On July the 9th 2012 the servers will be shut down. If your computer is affected you may loose Internet connectivity. To check if your computer is affected or not click here.
According to Julia Angwin and Jennifer Valentino-Devries, reporters of The Wall Street Journal, Google bypassed user privacy settings for the Safari web browser. In simple words, Google was able to drop tracking cookies even when the user has set Safari to block cookies. Microsoft confirmed that Google was using similar techniques to bypass privacy settings for IE. Google has released a statement for this issue stating that the cookies were not collecting private information. Google also stated that has stopped using the bypass.
Online retail sales are booming.The annual global e-commerce sales for 2012 is estimated to be $820 billion. In the first half of 2011, online advertise revenues rose 23.2 percent—to a record $14.9 billion, according to figures released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Companies need to retain and expand their online customers. Many companies fail to do that because they do not understand e-commerce sales.
The 10 common mistakes that companies do in their online marketing strategy are:
The above list is not exhaustive. It contains only the top 10 online marketing mistakes. As in the physical world, online marketing need a strategy and dedication to work.
References
Adweek(2007).Optimizing digital touchpoints. Available: http://business.highbeam.com/15/article-1G1-172169197/optimizing-digital-touchpoints-consumer-study-reveals
Worldwide Videotex Update (2007) TOP 10 MISTAKES BUSINESS WEBSITES MAKE ONLINE; May2007, Vol. 26 Issue 5, p4
Technology News
RSS Subscribe to the feed.