Screencast with Google Maps

This screencast is a five-minute walking tour of Keene, NH, courtesy of Google Maps.

Mozilla's browsers global usage share is 8.45 percent according to OneStat.com

OneStat today reported that Mozilla's browsers have a total global usage share of 8.45%. The total usage share of Mozilla increased more than 1 percent since Novermber 2004.

This is significant because this also means Internet Explorer is reducing in market share now standing at 87.28%

Learning UML 2.0 and Model Driven Architecture

These articles and presentations serve to communicate the concepts found in UML 2.0 and Model Driven Architecutre (MDA).

UML 2.0
Lamri.com UML Seminar slides
These slides will give you a high level view of UML 2.0.

Allen Holub's UML Reference
Quick reference quide for UML based on the UML 2.0 Superstructure document from OMG.

Introduction to UML 2
A slide presentation for quickly grasping the changes in UML 2.0

Model Driven Architecture (MDA)
MDA is an approach to system development, which increases the power of models in that work. It is model-driven because it provides a means for using models to direct the course of understanding, design, construction, deployment, operation, maintenance and modification. - MDA Guide, OMG

Model Driven Architecure
Slide presentation by Krzysztof Czarnecki, University of Waterloo

Why Model Driven Development
A good basic introduction to MDA by Marc J. Balcer of ModelCompilers.com.

Executable and Translatable UML
A translationalists view of MDA. "because elaboration is stupid!" -Leon Starr

MDA Guide
Introduction to MDA from the OMG

Books
The Object Primer
Teaches about agile development concepts and techniques with UML 2.0, Agile Model Driven Development (AMDD), Full Lifecycle Object Oriented Testing (FLOOT), etc...

Open Source Radio Show

LugRadio is four Linux fans - Jono Bacon, Stuart Langridge, Ade Bradshaw and Matthew Revell - talking about the world of free and open source software. From the more serious, to the entirely frivolous, this is internet radio by and for ordinary Linux users, who can laugh at themselves.

Silicon Insider: R.I.P. Microsoft?

I have spoken with many about the impending demise of the giant behemouth, Microsoft. They, being the analysts, typically point to Microsoft's enormous pot of cash, claiming they have the money if they need to remake themselves. However, in his treatise, Malone argues Microsoft may have to die in order to be reborn.

Click here for the story.

Yahoo Tests Toolbar for Firefox Browser

"Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) said late on Wednesday it has released a test version of its toolbar for the Mozilla Firefox Web browser."

Press Release.

Google's New Map Service

Google's new map service is one of the best I have seen.

Notice the scrolling zoom on the left.

If you need a link to the address being displayed, for email and such, click on the link button in the top right.

Check it out at: http://maps.google.com

Aqua Data Studio - Cross Platform Database Tool

"Aqua Data Studio is a database query and administration tool that allows developers to easily create, edit, and execute SQL scripts, as well as browse and visually modify database structures. Aqua Data Studio provides an integrated database environment with a single consistent interface to all major relational databases. This allows the database administrator or developer to tackle multiple tasks simultaneously from one application."

It is about time a cross platform database tool came along. I believe this is a perfect example for where thick client Java development makes sense. Java abstracts the database well enough to atleast be able to execute the queries needed per database in runtime.

Plus, it is free for non-comercial use. Basically, until it is a worthwhile enterprise to invest in database development and maintenance, it is free.

Microsoft Recommends Firefox in Knowledgebase

For proof, just visit the following MSDN link.

If the link does not work, it is because Microsoft has removed the page. I thought of posting a screenshot, but I am not sure of the ramifications. Feel free to post comments.

Trial: Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software V6.0

"Optimized for IBM WebSphere® software, and supporting multi-vendor runtime environments, IBM Rational® Application Developer for WebSphere Software is powered by the Eclipse open source platform so developers can adapt and extend their development environment to match their needs and increase their productivity." -- ibm.com

The RSA download includes Windows and Linux versions of the download.

Click here to download the trial.

Clustering Eases Talk America's Replication Woes

"Talk America Holdings Inc., a phone and high-speed Internet access provider and an early adopter of Oracle Corp.'s 10g technology, has untangled itself from 50 Informix databases down to two Oracle databases running on an RAC cluster—a choice that's jazzed up its querying capabilities and helped it wipe its hands of a data replication mess."

For more on this article click here.

Another good article for learning more about Grid Computing. Click here for Grid Computing 101.

Sun's Grid Computing Solutions

In a nutshell, some of the problems solved by Grid Computing according to the Sun website are:

• CPUs are not fully utilized across multiple projects within a department
  
  
• Computing resources in one division are sitting idle while other divisions across the enterprise are experiencing high demand
  
  
• Compute and application demands go way beyond the capabilities within a single organization or corporate firewall

For more, see Grid Computing at Sun

IBM Technical Journals

This is a great resource for access to high-end academic computing research.

IBM Technical Journals

This website, links the user to two different journals:

• IBM Systems Journal
  This journal is a quarterly peer-reviewed technical publication. It features the work of computer systems and software engineers.
  
  
• IBM Journal of Research and Development
  This is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed technical journal. Compared to the Systems Journal, it coveres more general fields of science, technology and information engineering.