Opening new doors with Open Source

From consumer desktop software to enterprise-wide solutions, Open Source presents a significant opportunity for channel players prepared to stake a claim in this new frontier

If your customers aren’t already asking you about Open Source, they soon will be.

Religious fervour is taking a back seat as Open Source comes of age. It is also shaking off the “free’’ tag as more people come to appreciate Open Source is free as in ‘’free speech,’’ not as in “free beer’’.

There’s more to Open Source than just the Firefox browser and Linux operating system. There’s now a viable, business-ready Open Source alternative for practically every piece of software available today.

Open Source lets the channel build new business models around enhanced support and services, rather than merely lining the pockets of the proprietary software giants. It also offers greater control over the underlying stack and allows you to build more tailored solutions to meet clients’ individual needs – thus strengthening the relationship.

The Open Source development model operates mostly under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Often referred to as “copy-left’’ as opposed to copyright, software covered by the GNU GPL is available free of charge to the general public. Developers have access to the complete source code, making it easier to build customised solutions. If a programmer modifies software covered by the GNU GPL, then those modifications must also be made freely available.

While the underlying code may be “free”, the profit for the channel lies in providing integration, training, support and other services. In an industry where hardware and even software are becoming commodity items, such services are where the decent margins are
to be found.

Although some Open Source applications are designed to run on proprietary foundations such as Microsoft’s Windows operating system and SQL Server database, the beauty of using Open Source software is you can build a complete Open Source stack from the bare metal up. This gives you complete control over your environment, letting you modify any part of the stack to develop a customised solution. The vast majority of Open Source applications are designed to run on the LAMP stack of Open Source applications – Linux, Apache, MySQL and the PHP scripting language (see breakout).

A wide range of business-grade applications have been developed on top of this Open Source foundation, such as SugarCRM for customer relationship management, Compiere for enterprise resource planning, OrangeHRM for human relations management and Asterisk to replace the traditional PABX. Middleware also gets a look in, with JBoss offering a Java-based Open Source applications platform.

The stack of Open Source applications allows channel players to expand their offerings whilst weaning themselves and their customers off reliance on the proprietary software giants, said Gartner research vice president Brian Prentice.

“In general, one of the things we see with Open Source is a move away from a software licensing type of structure, towards a service delivery type of structure. This creates opportunities for channel partners to link Open Source into the primary part of their business today, which is service delivery,” Prentice said.

“The question here is what is the value proposition to the end customer? We see that one of the reasons customers like to buy Open Source is it removes critical dependencies that they have on software suppliers. Most channel partners should be looking to add some form of Open Source to their kit bag. It’s a combination of being both an opportunity and a risk mitigation. If I am a channel partner and I can’t accommodate the Open Source requirements of a customer then that may be a problem. If I am a web developer and I don’t know how to do anything around Ruby or PHP that could be a problem. If I am focused on middleware and I don’t know anything about JBoss, that could be a problem.”

Forewarned is forearmed and, like any technological advancement, channel players need to keep abreast of how Open Source is impacting their market space. The rise of Open Source is providing the channel with a wide variety of business opportunities, said Red Hat Australia general manager Max McLaren. Red Hat provides commercial-grade support, service and training for the Red Hat distribution of Linux, as well as JBoss.

“With small to medium businesses, there is a lot of demand for Linux implementation and management,” McLaren said. “We see lots of opportunities for system integrators and for hosting partners in that space. For the enterprise there is a requirement for organisations to do a reasonable amount of systems integration, especially with third-party applications, and that
is where the whole middleware space is providing a great opportunity for systems integrators.

sourse:- http://www.crn.com.au/

Zend Releases Studio 6.0.1

Technologies recently released another version of its integrated development environment for PHP platform called Zend Studio 6.0.1. This maintenance release adds new features and fixes bugs reported in Version 6.0.0. Zend Studio is the only Integrated Development Environment (IDE) available for professional developers that encompass all the development components necessary for the full PHP application lifecycle.Zend Studio’s main feature is the added support for Zend Framework 1.5.2, allowing developer to chose between Zend Framework 1.0 or 1.5 when creating projects. The interface of version 6.0.1 is translated into German, French and Italian languages. This release also features improved tools of formatting code and enhanced performance. In Version 6.0.1 various PHP extensions (such as php_mysql, php_mysqli and others) were also added to the bundled PHP binary that is used on Windows for locally debugging PHP scripts.

source=http://www.sda-india.com/

Drupal Camp 2008 in Gandhinagar India

Drupal Camp 2008 invite you to attend the DRUPAL CAMP - INDIA which is an International event going to be held from 8th to 10^th August at the DAIICT, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. This is the first ever Drupal Camp in India.

Drupal Camp is an event for local and global Drupalers. Like other camps, this Drupal Camp India is defined by the people and it is for the people, who are interested in DRUPAL, in particular for the learning and sharing knowledge and ideas with each other among the local and global Drupal community. This drupal camp is beneficial for all IT professionals, Freelancers, Companies, Colleges and Students who want to secure their future with latest Open Source Technologies. The benefits with attending with Drupal Camp are:

• Learn about Drupal and other Open Source technologies
• Network with other Drupal Developers and Companies
• Business Partnership with Indian and International Companies
• Job fair where major Technology Companies will tap on Gujarat’s Talent

The Drupal Camp India will be having different tracks (Developer, Marketing & Student), planned sessions, as well as Job fair and Code Sprint for the community. We are expecting many international delegates and speakers to share their knowledge among students. We hereby cordially invite you, and looking forward to your attendance and participation.

DC have different types of Sponsorship package for promoting your Organization in this drupal Camp. For more information regarding Sponsorships, Speakers and Registration visit on DRUPAL CAMP -INDIA

This Attachment shows many Multinational Companies and famous Celebrities are using Drupal.

Here I am looking for a positive response from yours side.
Best regards

Vaibhav Shah

Drupal Camp India : +91 79 4004 3367

Source: topseo.org

SEO Solutions for Small Business or Small Websites

Now days, Most of the Business has website. Some businesses sell their products or services through internet and some business developed their website with their company profile and their services just to demonstrate to their users.

It doesn?t matter whether website is used for selling online products/services or company profile and services demonstration, every business want their website should be found in all search engine like Google, MSN, Yahoo etc.

What do you do when you need to find something on the Internet? In most cases, you open any search engine such as Google or Yahoo and type in the term or phrase that you are looking for and then click through the results, right? Even now days, if you need to buy a digital camera, most of the people don?t go to market and find the cheapest and best digital camera shop to shop.

I have got a very small business, do I need website?

Yes, of course you need a website. At lease a very basic website. Because if you look back 5 years, you will find only 10% people use to find products or services online and now the percentage is more than 40% and within 3 to 4 years it will cover almost 80%. Therefore, if you don?t introduce your website now, it might be very late for you for finding the exact domain for your business.

What is the use of your web site if it cannot be found in any search engine?

Well, it is a very interesting question. If you have a very nice website but no one can find you and your services in Google or Yahoo etc. what is the use having the nice website then? Search Engine Optimization is the solution for that.

Offshore Software Development India Offers Search Engine Optimization Services like search engine marketing, social media optimization, forums discussion, group posting, blog-xml marketing, link exchange, link building, press release submission, article marketing and link navigation.

Contact Search Engine Optimization Solutions

About OffshoreSoftwareDevelopmentIndia.com

Offshore Software Development India offers to Php development, .Net Development, programming, Search Engine Optimization, Web Design, Web Development, Content Management, B2B B2C Portal, Software Development article, news and information | Offshore Software Development in Ahmedabad, Gujarat India.

Visit our website: - http://www.offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com

Object Oriented Programming - PHP and Drupal

Object Oriented Programming (OOP) without classes C++, JAVA, PHP and Drupal. OOP’s Power in Drupal, an Open source application for content management system (CMS) and using Oriented Programming features without classes.

As all the OOP languages use CLASS or similar data structures for Object Oriented Programming, we have considered that without a "CLASS", OOP is not possible.

Object oriented programming (OOP) is quickly taking place over the traditional procedure oriented programming (POP). Programming languages like C# and Java are successful because of OOPs Power.

After gone through the code of "Drupal" - One of the most popular open sources content management system and framework built with PHP language, summary is - Drupal doesn’t use a single Class in its code base. Whole Drupal code base is based on just functions. As PHP, with which programming language Drupal itself is built, is also implementing many powerful OPP features, but Drupal is not using these features.

Actually, the OOP concept is not based on uses of data structures like CLASS. It is based on the fundamentals of features like Objects, Abstraction, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Inheritance etc. If these fundamental features are included in programming then it can be considered in OOP.

There is no keyword 'class' in Drupal code. Drupal is as non-OOP as many programmers do. But that is not true. Drupal doesn’t contain any class like data structure; still it is still Object Oriented.

Drupal covers all these features without classes. Power of Drupal is hardly depends on this programming structure only. The way, how the hook system has been implemented in Drupal would never been possible with the use of Classes.

See more details about how Drupal implements Object Oriented Programming (OOP) without using Classes, visit: http://api.drupal.org

See More Articles: - http://www.offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com/blog

Source

Sharepoint - the Ideal Platform For E-learning

The Return of E-Learning

Many companies and organisations are following the Microsoft led trend and installing SharePoint. They have employed consultants, given the project a witty name, uploaded documents from the last century, designed forms for every task and become SharePoint groupies. Everyone in their organisation is now using SharePoint with information now freely available and presented in a more 'funky' way. But now these businesses they want more from this powerful application. What else can it do now they have invested so much in it?

One interesting area where SharePoint can excell and something that all Corporate and Public Sector organisations need is - 'Training'. Whether it is the correct way to climb a wooden ladder or how to use the new Purchase Order system people will always need training. The cost of instructor led training is not always cost effective though, so a few years ago buzz word became 'E-Learning'. It was going to be the next big thing in Training, but in many ways it failed to really take off, much to the relief of many Training Managers. PCs and especially slow internet connections were just too unreliable. Also the standard of courses, were to say the least, uninspiring with often just very basic multiple choice questions and graphics that were about as appealling as the Testcard in black and white.

PC, internet connections and flash animated courses have moved a long way forward in the last few years making E-Learning yet again a very appealling proposition, but still many companies have not taken the step forward. The reason for this standoff so often is cost because they need to buy expensive Information Management platforms like Knowledgebridge from Websoft. Very good systems capable of producing very good E-Learning systems, but what else can they do? Try to get them to store your Management Meeting Minutes or perform workflow on your expense forms and you realise that it is just an E-Learnign system.

Microsoft sees SharePoint as the ideal platform for E-Learning and have worked with a number of Partners to try to fill this gap. They developed the SLK (SharePoint Learning Kit), but even the most skilled SharePoint Engineers would find it difficult to turn this into a working E-Learning system.

Enter Competentum and their award winning product ShareKnowledge. A fully Microsoft Integrated solution that takes SharePoint and the SLK and makes a complete E-Learning system. It can design courses, assign course to employees, mark tests, manage training, monitor employee career development and all on a front end, 'SharePoint', that the user is comfortable to use. It really is the training tool of the future and so easy to use. You don't need to be an 'IT Geek' or an 'Arty Design' to create courses. The software does most of the clever stuff all you need to do is know the answers to the questions.

Officetalk is now bringing this software, which is already used in Moscow University, to the UK and you can find out more about it at http://www.office-talk.com/pages/shareknowledge.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Dale

Joomla! and the latest trends in the open source revolution

Australia's Andrew Eddie and Brad Baker, two of the core team members of Joomla!, the free open-source Internet content management system (CMS) that in three years has grown into a global development community with more than three million downloads in a year, will be guest speakers at a special event in Sydney on May 19, 2008

Australia's Andrew Eddie and Brad Baker, two of the core team members of Joomla!, the free open-source Internet content management system (CMS) that in three years has grown into a global development community with more than three million downloads in a year, will be guest speakers at a special event in Sydney on May 19, 2008

The content management system has grown into a global development community with more than three million downloads a yearEddie and Baker will talk about the latest trends in the open source revolution

Eddie and Baker will talk about the latest trends in the open source revolution

In a statement they said:"We will talk about the latest trends in the open-source revolution that has liberated online software from the proprietorial designs of companies like Microsoft and made feature-rich Web sites affordable for all businesses, not-for-profit groups and individuals।"

Eddie and Baker are keynote speakers at the annual JoomlaDay Conference being held at the Sydney Conference and Exhbition Centre in Darling Harbour

The Joomla! project has deep Australian roots

It began in 2005 as an offshoot of the Sydney-based Mambo content management system, after members of the Mambo development team became concerned about protecting key open source principles they believed were being violated.

Andrew Eddy (aka "MasterChief") wrote an open letter that within a day had garnered the support of a thousand developers in the global free software community

The name later chosen for the new open source project is derived from the Swahili "jumla," meaning "all together" or "as a whole।"

Since then the community has grown exponentially

As of February 2008, the official Joomla support forum, moderated by Brad Baker, has more than 260,000 threads and 1.2 million posts from more than 170,000 registered members in 40 languages.

Joomla! leverages much open source and Web 2.0 technology, and now offers more than 3,000 add-on features, from podcasts to calendars, wikis to social networking tools.

A live demonstration of the power of Joomla! will be held on May 20, 2008, with a team of developers building a fully functional Web site for a nominated charity in less than seven hours।

source=http://news.idg.no/

Skelta Software Named as Finalist in 2008 American Business Awards

Skelta Software was named a Finalist today in the Best New Product or Service - Computer Software category in The 2008 American Business Awards।

More than 2,600 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories, including Best Overall Company, Best Executive, Best New Product or Service, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program, and new categories including Best Management Team and Best Corporate Environmental Responsibility Program. Skelta DMS, a next-generation document management solution from Skelta Software will be competing in the Best New Product or Service category for Software.

Skelta DMS is designed to help organizations surmount key barriers in electronic records and data management. It integrates core business processes with paper and electronic documents. to manage any paper or electronic document through its life cycle. Further, Skelta DMS simulates physical activities in document management such as indexing and numbering, annotating, routing, signing, additional attachments, storage and retrieval to ensure that an organization is able to make a smooth transition to electronic records and document management.

Talking about the nomination, Arvind Agarwal, CTO, Skelta Software said “Skelta DMS was designed from a completely new perspective – rather than treat documents as a static piece of electronic data, Skelta DMS focuses on documents as dynamic participants in a business process. We are delighted that our innovative approach has been recognized”.

“ABA entries grew more than 30% this year, so being named a Finalist is more of an accomplishment than ever before,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards. “It means that independent business executives have agreed that the nominee is worthy of national recognition. We congratulate all of the Finalists on their achievement and wish them well in the competition.”

Sanjay Shah, CEO, Skelta Software said “Nomination to the Stevie’s Finalist list is a fantastic achievement. It is a matter of great pride that the distinguished award panel chose our product from among the hundreds of nominations received. It is a further testament to the importance that business and industry accords to effective process automation solutions.”

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Global Sponsor of the 2008 Stevie Awards is Dow Jones. Supporting sponsors of The 2008 American Business Awards include FIS Softpro, High Performance Technologies Inc., John Hancock, RCN Corporation, Richardson, and Ultimate Software. Media sponsors include the Business TalkRadio Network, CRM Advocate, and Human Resource Executive.

About Skelta Software
Skelta is an innovative software product company specializing in enterprise-wide Business Process Management (BPM) and Advanced Workflow solutions for small to large-sized businesses worldwide. Its flagship product, Skelta BPM.NET 2007 is a BPM workflow software that is built on cutting-edge Microsoft .NET, XML, and Web services technologies. It is also the world's first embeddable workflow engine. Skelta enables business users and developers to design and deploy workflow applications using software tools with which they are already familiar. In addition, Skelta enables businesses to leverage on their existing investments in Microsoft technologies such as InfoPath, BizTalk Server, and SharePoint.

Skelta, a recent recipient of the 2008 CODiE Awards Finalist, has also won several other awards at industry forums such as Microsoft 2006 Regional Winning Customer Award, Microsoft Tech-Ed 2007 Attendee Choice Award, Finalist in 2007 International Business Awards (Stevie Awards), Best of Tech Ed award in the Software Components category and NASSCOM IT Innovation 2005 Award। Skelta has also been named one of Asia’s top 100 companies by Red Herring magazine and acknowledged twice as one of the fastest growing technology companies in India and Asia Pacific region by winning Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India & Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Awards for 2006 and 2007.

source=http://pr-canada.net/

UK IT salaries on the rise

Permanent IT salaries in the UK have risen by 4.1 per cent over the past 12 months, according to research released this week.

A comprehensive study by IT recruitment specialist CV Screen monitored over 11,000 advertised positions in the UK during the first quarter of 2008.

The survey found that the average advertised salary for an IT professional in the UK is now £34,217.

"The high demand for IT professionals has continued to put upward pressure on IT salaries," said CV Screen director Matthew Iveson.

"There are certain technical skills where there is still a considerable war for talent. Candidates with strong skills in areas such as .Net, C# and PHP are inundated with opportunities."

Iveson added that the IT jobs market is holding up well with regards to the outlook for salaries in 2008, in spite of the wider economic problems.

"The rising costs of living in the UK will see more candidates seeking to move for financial reasons, thus putting further upward pressure on IT salaries, " he said।

source = http://www.vnunet.com/

Network Magic Pro - Networking Solution - Product Review

San Diego, California - What is the magic in Network Magic Pro 4.7? Network Magic is like having a networking administrator in your home or small business at the click of a mouse. It is a magical wizard of its own and an easy-to-use educational tool to instruct you in accomplishing your more advanced networking goals.

Network Magic is a one-time cost of approximately $30.00 to control up to 3 personal computers or $50.00 to control up to 8 personal computers and an unlimited number of printers, fax machines, cameras, routers, switches, shared folders and drives, as well as 6 months of free online backup (the online backup is a $200.00 value free). The cost of Network Magic vs. a full or part time network administrator is magic in its self.

Most homes and small businesses today have more than one personal computer and a number of other devices that need to be connected to the Internet or shared among users. Network Magic is the first product that simplifies networking and ends the intimidation of connecting all those applications and access points for the novice or busy professional.

Windows provides some nice wizards to do most applications, including networking, since XP was released. What happens to most of us, however, is the confusion from the addition of anti-virus, anti-spam, and other products that are necessary for security. These additional products also compete for usage of our computers as well as complicate and frustrate our networking efforts. The hardware manufacturers have taken the approach that we can all purchase a router and wireless networking devices and suddenly we are networking fools. Fools, has been the right word for this attempt until Network Magic came along. Most of us tried our best to follow the directions and install the software, only to end up spending hours of time on the phone with a support person from another country. Most of us who tried the networking manufacturer’s support numbers had difficulty understanding the support person's version of English and finally gave up and returned the product to the store.

Along comes Network Magic. Install Network Magic on the first computer and register the version you purchased. Next install Network Magic on the other computers you wish to include in your local area network. This is where the real magic for the novice or busy professional begins. Network Magic's wizards go to work and locate the computers and devices attached to each computer or router in the area. Network Magic displays its findings in a visual graphical map that would even make sense to a child. Everyone I have shown this product to finds it to be intuitive, no matter their age or experience with computers. Within an hour I am no longer running from one computer to another with my USB thumb drive in hand to print or share files. The learning curve was as simple as clicking on the pictures and following the messages.

Network Magic is so intuitive many hardware manufactures are now including the free trial version with their products to cut down on the frustration of support calls and returned hardware products.

Net2Go is also included with your purchase of Network Magic. With this remote application product you can easily access your home network from any browser while you’re away at work or traveling. Now you have remote access to your files from anywhere you have access to the Internet. Your files can be password-protected when you create your Web address for remote access on your own net2go.com page. Your files will be stored in what is known as a C-name or a third-level domain name. Basically you are creating a Website just for your files. Again, it's Network Magic. You don't have to know all the information I just gave you. Just answer the questions, like the name you want and a password. Choose any name not already taken such as your own name or myfiles.net2go.com. There is no cost for Website name registration or server costs because Network Magic is allowing you space on their net2go.com Web address. Watch the little spinning wheel and you now have a Website to store and view files away from your computer. Whenever you choose to share a folder in your Network Magic application you will be given an option to also share that folder or file on your net2go.com page. Network Magic has also included the ability to publish your net2go.com page via RSS feed and view images or files from a USB-style Webcam. The Net2go feature allows for public viewing of files or the option of password-securing your Web-based files. New features are being tested and added regularly to the Network Magic products.

The real magic in Network Magic is the internal wizards and visual imagery in mapping and bringing together all the applications necessary to simplify the networking features already available in Windows. The average and not-so-average person can now actually find and use the functions they bought the computer and router for in the first place. Network Magic either fixes or assists in directions with all the confusion and frustration of sorting out the conflicting software and hardware issues to your network.

Network Magic uses a well-designed interface so you can easily see, rename and check information about each device, folder or user connected to your network. (including tracking and locking out intruders if you have any.) There is no need to remember or configure IP addresses for each device. Use plain, easy-to-remember English, or whatever language you choose.

In my own networking group I have over 6 computers, 1 fax machine, 1 broadband fax-to-email machine, several Internet cams, a multitude of printers on each computer, and a couple different types of VOIP phone systems. Network Magic allows you to see when each device enters the network and if Network Magic did not identify the device or computer to your liking, you can detail your own labels and icons for each. At this point in time my network also includes a variety of brands for the wireless connections as well as two different Internet providers. Network Magic has made switching between all these connections and this equipment very easy to manage. From within the graphical interface each user on the network can identify who and what resources are available, check the status of the Internet connection and even do Internet connection and network repairs with the click of a mouse.

Even traveling with a computer from the network that has Network Magic installed proves simple; it is now easy to get connected and to secure access in hotels and hotspot connections. Once the computer is returned to the preferred home or office network there is less risk of infecting other nodes on the network. Network Magic alerts you to any risks from unsecured networks and hotspots you may need to use while traveling.

If there is a conflict with Windows firewall, an anti-virus or spam program, Network Magic will generally alert you to the conflict and guide you to the instructions for fixing the conflict.

The three main functions necessary to most networks are to: 1. provide information about the network's connectivity; 2. facilitate the tasks of sharing folders, printers and other devices and 3. provide access to the Internet away from your desk.

A router is required to facilitate a network - or one of your computers must be online at all times and set up as a server through which all the others connect to the Internet and each other. The router version is the least expensive and most secure network to operate. Network Magic also addresses all the issues of security through the router for gaming, chatting and file sharing. This once daunting security task is made simple by Network Magic so you can once again enjoy the reason you wanted a computer and all those applications in the first place.

Network Magic includes a security and activity monitor that reports to your email address when away from your computer. Alerts are easily visible when updates to firewalls and Windows need to be addressed on any of your access points.

Network Magic is compatible with most of the popular routers and the recent versions of router firmware.

The Net2Go feature of Network Magic requires the use of a router that supports Net2go. For a list of supported routers please visit the Network Magic website: http://www.networkmagic.com/product/supported/net2go.php

The wireless protection feature of Network Magic requires a wireless router that supports this feature. Please visit the Network Magic website for a list of wireless routers which will support the wireless protection feature. http://www.networkmagic.com/product/supported/netlock.php

Network Magic gets even better when you realize you can now use your remote access site to view live streams and pictures from your home or office video cameras. To find out which networks and local USB cameras you can use to access this feature check, - http://www.networkmagic.com/product/supported-devices.php#Cameras

Now if only a remote microphone worked this well. Fido!! Off the sofa!!

When you are finally convinced that Network Magic is something you just have to try for yourself, there are lots of options to choose from. A free version of Network Magic comes bundled with the D-Link wireless router and other software products. You can also download a free version of Network Magic to test from http://networkmagic.com. For a very small network, there is the Network Magic Essentials, approximately $30.00 for use with up to three personal computers. Network Magic has the Pro version and versions that allow you to network your Macs and PCs together as well.

From our tests and usage of Network Magic, I think we all agree it is worth all gold stars and they really pulled the rabbit out of the hat on this one. To download Network Magic, visit: www.networkmagic.com.

Consensus: Exceptional Product & Value

soucre=http://imperialvalleynews.com/

5 Blogging Practices to Get You Noticed

Blogging is a great way to be social online, to extend your influence and to build community. Most of you already know these things. But we’re all busy people and this is a rapidly evolving sphere. So the following question is nearly always pertinent and worth revisiting: Are you using your blog most effectively?

To build a blog that people flock to is tough. Even a blog with solid, authoritative content can still not have a loyal following. One must consider how to bring new readers in. The following five blogging practices can help keep your little soapbox on the radar.

5 Smart Blogging Practices

1. Stick to your posting schedule: If you set a posting schedule, stick to it. The best posting schedule seems to be a daily post at least (150 words +) and a weekly long post (650 words +). This is a minimum that works well. The public likes new, fresh content regularly.
2. Get involved in other blogs in your niche: Comment frequently and get noticed on trafficked blogs in your sector.
3. Use Google Alerts to keep you in the loop: Google Alerts will alert you when niche related blogs you follow post new content. Arriving early helps you participate in the core of the conversation. Google’s alert granularities evolve as does the nomenclature in most sectors. Make sure your alerts are relevant and up to date. Expand them. Refine them.
4. Leverage FeedBurner (Google) services: Are you up on the full scope of what FB can do for you? Are you pinging all the top services? Are you serving a consolidated SmartFeed ™ that works across devices and clients? Are you building an email subscription base? Make sure you’ve squeezed the last drops of utility from this free service and that you’re tracking new features as they arrive. (Note: Not many new features are arriving now, but once the Google backend integration is done, rest assured that they will be.)
5. Deliver concise, consumable content: Tight, high value content and Top X lists are great ways to reel in traffic. The public and the search engines love high impact content. As part of this, it’s a good idea to periodically publish Top X lists which summarize useful lessons learned from your real world experience and/or testing. Focus on consumable value. It makes the blogosphere a better place and will attract links.

Source: cmswire.com

Microsoft’s Oslo connections begin to bud

Microsoft took another step in unveiling its “Oslo” SOA strategy, with a sample application intended to not only demonstrate the vendor’s interoperability as a SOA platform, and also show how it can automatically scale to meet the increased and unpredictable workloads SOA will bring to data centers.

Jeffery Schwartz, writing in Application Development Trends, described how Microsoft took its .NET StockTrader application, announced last summer, linked it up to a Web services layer managed by Microsoft Configuration Service 2.0 to interoperate with IBM’s WebSphere Trade 6.1 sample capacity planner for distributed applications.

Configuration Service — built into .NET and is based on managed C# code — is “a general purpose set of tiered libraries that provide the ability to dynamically scale out services across clustered servers for both load balancing to provide additional capacity and also failover at the application and service operation level.” Thus, services and composite applications will be able to automatically scale to meet spikes in traffic or service demand — a key challenge in many SOA sites.

Microsoft says StockTrader/Configuration Service is only a demonstration project, and not a formal part of Oslo, which is still a work in progress. Through such projects, the company hopes to learn where to direct its burgeoning enterprise SOA efforts. Microsoft plans to offer Oslo through BizTalk Server V6, System Center V5, Visual Studio V10, BizTalk Services V1, and the .NET 4.0 Framework.

By the way, there seems to be a lot of Norwegian connections for Microsoft’s latest enterprise thrusts। Is it a coincidence that Microsoft recently acquired Fast Search & Transfer, the Norway-based enterprise search technology, at the same time it has been unveiling its “Oslo” SOA strategy? There isn’t a direct connection yet, but one can see a convergence on the horizon with Microsoft pursuing a strategy of opening up enterprise information assets to Web services.

source=http://blogs.zdnet.com/

Microsoft Throws A Bone To SharePoint Partners

Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) on Monday launched a program that lets qualified channel partners provide Office SharePoint Server 2007 planning and deployment services to volume licensing customers, and be paid by Microsoft for delivering these services.

SharePoint Deployment Planning Services (SDPS) is a partner-focused offering that's limited to Microsoft's Software Assurance customers, and is similar to programs Microsoft has offered in the past for Exchange, BizTalk, and SQL Server. To some partners, SDPS is another sign of the runaway success of SharePoint, which is already a billion dollar business for Microsoft.

Ken Winell, CEO of Expertcollab, a SharePoint-focused solution provider in Florham Park, N.J., says customers benefit not only from the Microsoft-subsidized partner delivered services but also from being able to get their own IT staff quickly up to speed on SharePoint.

"This is a great example of how the SharePoint product team is addressing field concerns regarding deployment and adoption, while also incenting the partner community to attain another level of competency with revenue-rewarded results," said Winell.

The SDPS pilot program is open to Microsoft partners with competencies in Information Worker Portals and Collaboration, Enterprise Content Management (ECM), or Search specializations. Partners also get access to SharePoint deployment plan templates, architecture design guidance documents, and SharePoint server farm deployment guidance.

In the SDPS program, partners provide deployment planning sessions of 1, 3, 5, 10 or 15 days, with the duration and depth of the engagement determined by a combination of a customer's qualifying Office licenses and the number of Core Client Access License Suites and Enterprise CAL Suites, according to Microsoft।

source=http://www.crn.com/

Web Design Service for Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress and Magento Commerce by dedicated web designing team

Offshore software development India has successfully delivered B2B ecommerce website for its Canadian client. The website is all about product information, services of the company with ecommerce facility and integration with the payment gateway.

The other new project of the website design is also delivered to new Canadian client - IP consulting. This includes custom theme, logo design, website design and development, data migration.

In the month of the April, OSDI has successfully delivered different themes for the Joomla, Magento, Wordpress and Drupal to the UK based client with all adequate standards.

Experienced designers at offshore software development India have designed neat and clean eye catching professional themes for the corporate websites which keeps visitors to stay longer on the site. This helps websites with high volume traffic, higher sales, and more inquiries. These are the comments from the clients.

Unique logo design of all these themes is one of the major reasons for getting constant praise and more work from their clients. Logo design meets the criteria of band reorganization, company name and company approved colors and typography,

Designers at offshore software development India, ready to take challenges to deliver low cost, neat and clean corporate design websites and logo with brand reorganization and high traffic.

Please contact info@offshoresoftwaredevelopmentindia.com for the inquiry of logo design, flash website design, theme design, and website development using Joomla, Drupal, Magento and Wordpress.

More Information

A social news site built for the Joomla! community

JoomlaVote.com has gone live and allows the community to vote up the latest Joomla! news stories, extensions, templates, articles and tutorials. Top stories get promoted to the front page if enough people vote them up. Casually browsing the Most Popular stories will give you the top current news in the Joomla! world, while digging into the Most Recent section will show you the newest submitted stories and allow you to vote them up or bury them.

JoomlaVote.com also offers a bookmarklet to let you easily submit any Joomla! story right from your favorite browser. Only members can submit new stories, but anybody can vote them up or down. Members can also upload an image with the story to help generate more page views.

Web site owners can choose from an array of buttons to place directly in their own websites. This will make it easy for their site visitors to vote up their content and help spread their news around the Joomla! community. There is even a JavaScript badge that can be placed anywhere in a website's article, similar to the famous Digg badge, that will display the number of votes a particular story has received. Website owners can also appreciate the fact that JoomlaVote.com links directly to each story's website and doesn't use any redirects.

Come check out the new site at JoomlaVote.com!

Theme Joomla Easy Gallery AI Module free release

Theme Joomla have released the Easy Gallery Advanced Image module, which has multiple features for displaying gallery images in a module.

The module is XHTML and CSS compliant plus it also comes with it's own CSS file with tags, for easy editing. The TJ Easy Gallery AI Module has the following configurable parameters:

* The ability to link to Image Gallery or Image Category
* Image can open in Easy Gallery lightbox directly
* Show or hide the Image Title / Name
* Show or hide the Image Description
* Show or hide the Image Read More link
* Set the module background color
* Set the module width (manual, fixed or auto)
* Ability to list multiple items, and specify specific images
* Abilty to show the latest, featured or a random image

Drupal 6.2 released, fixing security issues

Drupal 6.2, a maintenance release that fixes problems reported using the bug tracking system, as well as security vulnerabilities is now available for download। The security issues identified were in code new to Drupal 6, and are therefore not applicable to sites running on Drupal

Upgrading your existing Drupal 6 sites is strongly recommended. There are no new features in this release, but we fixed some notable performance issues too। For more information about the Drupal 6.x release series, consult the Drupal 6.0 release announcement.

source=http://drupal.org/

An overview of continuous data protection

IT organizations have been caught between a rock and a hard place. Charged with protecting their company's information, IT organizations have established aggressive service level agreements (SLAs) that impact the manner in which they implement data protection by setting recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO).

Organizations struggle with shrinking or non-existent backup windows, the need to recover quickly, often to a specific point in time, and even meeting compliance or regulatory guidelines. Backing up to tape is no longer adequate; not only is it difficult to administer for backups and recoveries, but it lacks the speed, reliability, flexibility and simplicity IT needs to meet stringent SLAs. Backing up to disk using virtual tape emulation or virtual tape libraries also falls short as the administration of the solution is tape-centric and schedule driven. Add in the explosion of data, along with the challenge of protecting remote offices, and you have the challenge facing many of today's business--with IT sitting on the front lines of aligning business needs with today's technology.

As a result, a growing number of IT organizations are augmenting their traditional backup and recovery strategies with continuous data protection (CDP) solutions. CDP dramatically improves RPOs and RTOs while eliminating backup windows. What's more, CDP not only reduces the need for tape in the backup and recovery process but it also makes recovery easy enough that users can often recover their own files, without help from IT.

What is CDP?

CDP is a process that lets organizations continuously capture or track data modifications and stores changes independent of the primary data, enabling recovery points from specific points in the past. CDP systems may be block, file-, or application-based and can provide fine granularities of restorable objects to infinitely variable recovery points in time.

CDP reduces the complexity of the data protection system and eliminates the classic challenge of theing backup window because it eliminates the need for full, incremental, or differential backups by protecting data immediately and then continuously backing it up to disk. CDP is not a complete replacement for traditional backup but rather an important component of a well-rounded backup and recovery strategy.

Can CDP be leveraged for backing up and recovering email? As the predominant form of communication for business transactions, email is an application that is mission-critical to organizations of all sizes. It generates a huge amount of information that must be immediately available and protected. The loss of a single message may generate hours of unnecessary and frustrating labor for administrators and/or users and can lower productivity or affect business operations. And with the introduction of Exchange 2007, organizations need protective solutions that can support the latest offering from Microsoft.

Not surprisingly, the amount of email data requiring protection and availability is growing exponentially. IT, in turn, is faced with the challenge of backing up this critical data within the existing backup window and recovering it quickly. Moreover, they must not only be able to back up and recover whole email databases but they also require a system which enables recovery of individual mailboxes or emails. However, if administrators want to back up email databases for complete disaster recovery purposes and be able to recover individual email, folders, or mailboxes, they typically have had to do separate backups.

New granular recovery technologies have emerged that enable mail messages, mailboxes, and folders to be restored individually without having to restore an entire email database, and without separate and redundant mailbox backups. In an Exchange environment, for example, only a single-pass full or incremental backup of Exchange is required, which dramatically decreases the time required to protect all mailboxes while also reducing the backup storage requirement.

CDP significantly streamlines backup and recovery of email by completely eliminating the need to perform scheduled daily email backups, and speeding recovery, thereby delivering email continuity for businesses.

How does CDP enable end users to recover their own data?

Because CDP is a disk-based protection and recovery solution, it is possible to enable end users to retrieve their own data. Some CDP solutions provide this type of functionality; some utilizing a simple Web interface that requires no training and enables end users to retrieve previous versions of files without contacting IT. Empowering end users to retrieve their own data frees up IT to focus on other business-critical needs of the organization.

With these self-service recovery solutions, retrieving lost, corrupted, or overwritten data is as easy as searching for and downloading a file from the Internet. There is no backup tape to locate or load and no additional information to restore to find the correct file. Best of all, these solutions do not require the installation of client software or agents on individual desktops laptops, and a familiar web paradigm requires no additional training. Users need only a standard Web browser, making data retrieval easier than ever.

Source: findarticles.com

Open Source Software and the CIO

CIOs believe that open source software is a breakthrough platform, but they have some suggestions to make it better still. By Neeraj गाँधी

True to its title, the first word of it that is, Open Source Software has opened a plethora of opportunities for enterprises today। No longer is it necessary for them to leverage proprietary software and reel under the license agreements to get their business going. Instead, they can now leverage the myriad possibilities of open source software, according to their requirements, and achieve their business goals.

The ease and flexibility of leveraging open source applications, among other benefits like cost advantage, reliability, scalability and community support, has had a two-pronged effect। Firstly, this has managed to create certain open source loyalists, who swear by this platform and never ever think of proprietary software. Secondly, it has also managed to generate another category of supporters who have migrated to the open platform after weighing the pros and cons and like it now.

In both the cases, it is the open source platform that has gained momentum and has managed to up the level of acceptance as a business enabler

Choosing open source
Open source software has managed to make inroads amongst Indian enterprises in a big way। In some cases it has even become the backbone of the business. Even in the end-user segment, one can find desktops, if not servers, running open source applications. The choice of open source has largely been dictated by factors like cost-effectiveness, secure platform, flexibility and the whole ecosystem that it provides to users.

“We were looking for something which would help us counter the problems of security threats, compulsive upgradations and high maintenance cost and it had to be something that would serve as dual-edged sword i।e., it had to offer higher security and lower the TCO. Our objective was to reduce system downtime and maximize the utilization of the same. That way we felt open source would be the right choice to opt for,” said S Jala, VP (IT), Usha Martin Group.

The decision to migrate to SUSE Linux from Windows at Usha Martin was dictated from the need to reduce the time that the IT staff was spending at its ten locations to provide technical support and troubleshooting। The company felt the need to find a way to reduce costs and increase efficiency to support is growth plans.

It was much the same at ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu), the organization that provides IT procurement services to the Government of Tamil Nadu। Faced with the challenge to set right the large number of aging servers (1,800) and desktops (30,000) in operation at Tamil Nadu’s schools, ELCOT decided to implement SUSE Linux at its own end first. In line with this decision, the organization moved its own systems from Windows to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.

“We leveraged open source taking into consideration various factors including freedom, security of information, and cost-effectiveness; open source has helped us save 45-50% on the desktops and 90% on the server side। Besides, open source is a fully loaded platform, and offers a complete ecosystem,” said C Umashankar, Managing Director, ELCOT.

After the successful deployment, ELCOT has been successful in deploying Linux-based systems not only in schools across the state, but also at different government offices।

In contrast, the case was completely different at Yatra and Cleartrip, two popular online travel Web sites in the India। Both these organizations have leveraged open source applications right from their inception, and have managed to build a stable infrastructure.

“We were looking for flexible and proven technology to build our travel portal www।yatra.com and we found that the open source development technology LAMP was an evolved and mature platform to build a highly efficient and reliable online application. We decided to use LAMP along with open source development frameworks such as MASON to rapidly build and deploy our applications,” said Manish Amin, Co founder, Yatra.com.

“We wanted a platform that was cost-effective, stable and at the same time scalable enough to mange the ever increasing traffic। Additionally, proprietary software is like a black box inside which nobody can see। Open source on the other hand gives one the flexibility to tune the systems according to one’s own requirements,” said Sanjeev Sreedharan, Vice-president, Software Engineering, Cleartrip.

Leveraging open source

Deploying open source applications involved a lot of effort in research, selection of the right applications and in weighing the pros and cons of migration। Unlike Yatra and Cleartrip, which had open source right from the beginning, different parameters were considered before migrating to open source at Usha Martin and ELCOT.

“There were many factors that had to be considered prior to migration। Most important was compatibility with the existing application and flawless performance of the same. Others includes, compatibility with existing hardware and the cost of upgrading or procurement of new hardware if required, migration cost which included the license fees, user acceptance of the new system and training,” said Jala.

ELCOT’s primary objective was to ensure that the best possible IT solutions should be leveraged in order to maximize the ROI on public money। So it was not only the short-term migration cost, but also other factors like long-term, hardware, software and infrastructure costs that were taken into consideration.

Yatra evaluated the open source platform on parameters like flexibility, vendor support, past success, capacity, scalability and cost advantage. Today it deploys a gamut of open source applications like MediaWiki for documentation, Bugzilla for issue tracking and project management, OpenAds as the Ad server, OpenOffice, Joomla and Subversion which is the source code repository and version control.

“Our organizational goal was to choose a stable, low cost technology that could be scaled up in future to meet business growth. We did a side by side comparison of our options and decided in favor of using LAMP with Open Source development frameworks,” said Amin.

Cleartrip, which had expansion plans in the pipeline, was looking for a platform, which was stable, scalable and capable of handling additional workloads। After evaluating different versions of Linux, it decided to deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux. “The decision to deploy open source was in line with our business goals. It has given us the freedom and has stood the test of time,” said Sreedharan.

CIOs’ take

A lot has been talked about open source and its benefits. Gradually, it is becoming the engine that is driving business today. However, the question remains whether this platform has managed to live up to the expectations that all the hype has managed to create. How do the CIOs and IT Heads view open source? Is it a breakthrough technology?

For enterprises, which have been working on open source since inception, this platform has certainly given them the edge. “It is definitely a breakthrough platform. It has opened a new market for developers and has created new jobs. It has even created new specialization streams, reduced the cost of development, which has helped many start-ups to come up. It has brought proprietary products to the negotiation table and [compelled vendors of proprietary products] to talk in realistic terms. Finally, it has reduced monopoly,” opined Amin.

Sreedharan added, “Open source has given us the freedom to tune our systems be it the operating system, network layer or application layer according to our requirements. It is definitely a breakthrough platform because it is quite democratic in nature as it gives the freedom to the user. Besides, it also drives a lot of innovation.”

Even within enterprises, which have migrated to open source after having worked on proprietary software, the emotions are quite similar. “Open source is definitely a breakthrough platform. Ever since we have shifted to open source we find it difficult to adjust to proprietary software,” said Umashankar.

“We consider open source as a breakthrough platform। It has given everyone the opportunity to think out of the box, and an option to consider it rather than writhing under [the burden of] mandatory software upgrades,” added Jala।

source = http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/

Rapid app development hits Delphi for PHP 2.0

CodeGear has launched the Delphi for PHP 2।0 integrated development environment to improve its developer tools suite for building interactive Web applications.

Formed as an independent brand from the developer tools division of Borland, CodeGear said that Delphi for PHP 2।0 features visual drag-and-drop design capabilities for rapid development. It also has a PHP component framework for the foundation-level building blocks and design structure.

According to CodeGear, the new product's PHP debugging options sit alongside error insight and source-code formatting features to reduce the potential for bug creation in Web development। The company says that built in HTML templates will help PHP developers to work visually with their Web 2.0 development and collaborate with other HTML designers.

"With the initial introduction of Delphi for PHP, we brought together PHP and rapid application development for the first time," said Michael Swindell, vice president of products at CodeGear। "With version 2.0, we are raising the bar with a wide array of new productivity, debugging and performance-tuning features and much broader support for databases and popular PHP packages and libraries."

CodeGear said its product is targeted at developers in a wide variety of roles who want to bring a Web component into their applications. The latest offering could, for example, be used by a database developer who wants to create intranet and internet gateways to natively connect them to their database

Delphi for PHP 2।0 employs a visual and component-based approach to Web 2।0 PHP development similar to that used by Microsoft Visual Studio ASP.Net and C++Builder developers.

A spokesperson for Zend Technologies has confirmed that CodeGear has also added support for the Zend Framework to increase the options for development between both the PHP and Zend communities.


source=http://www.builderau.com.au/

Apress Publishes New Edition of Bestselling Book Beginning PHP and MySQL

Berkeley, CA (OPENPRESS) April 29, 2008 -- The PHP scripting language and MySQL database server’s meteoric rise in popularity over the past few years, combined with the clear and cohesive writing of W। Jason Gilmore, immediately propelled Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional to the top of many bestseller lists. Written for both novices seeking practical, hands-on training and professionals in search of a comprehensive reference, this book is considered by many the ideal guide to these popular technologies. However, since its release in June 2004, many advances have been made within the PHP and MySQL communities, and numerous exciting new innovations have come to fruition.

To ensure its readers will always have the most updated information available regarding PHP and MySQL, Apress has published a new edition of this bestseller, entitled Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional, Third Edition। With over 100 pages of new material, and extensive updates and revisions, this highly anticipated third edition covers everything readers need to know in order to immediately begin making the most of these technologies.

According to the author, “…if you’re interested in gaining practical and comprehensive insight into the PHP programming language and MySQL database server, and how these prominent technologies can be used together to create powerful database-driven web applications, this book is for you.”


Highlights from this title include the following:
• With more than 100 pages of new material, this book encompasses everything from installation to integration to advanced programming and data management techniques.
• The author explores the newest additions to PHP, including introducing PHP 6, the Zend Framework, PEAR, PDO, and creating multilingual web sites.
• The text covers many of the new features in MySQL, such as triggers, views, stored routines, and the information schema.

To read more about Beginning PHP and MySQL, or the author, or to view a table of contents and sample chapter, please select this title from the online catalog at www।apress.com.

Apress Authors: The Expert’s VoiceÔ
W। JASON GILMORE is a Columbus, Ohio–based developer, consultant, writer, and editor. He’s cofounder of IT Enlightenment and the CodeMash conference, and is a member of the 2008 MySQL Conference speaker selection board. In his previous capacity as Apress’ open source editor, he fostered the development of more than 60 books, along the way helping to transform Apress’ open source line into one of the industry’s most respected publishing programs.

Jason has more than 100 articles to his credit within prominent publications such as Developer.com, Linux Magazine, and TechTarget. He’s the author of several books, including the best-selling Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional, Beginning PHP and PostgreSQL 8: From Novice to Professional, and Beginning PHP and Oracle: From Novice to Professional.


source=http://www.theopenpress.com/

CeBIT Australia ‘08: Open Source for business gets show underway

With around three weeks to go, organisers of CeBIT Australia 2008 - Hanover Fairs - has confirmed global experts from technology giants Oracle, Red Hat, Google and Varien will join local specialists like Atlassian and Solutions First at Open CeBIT।

CeBIT Australia 2008, is one of the largest business technology trade events in the region and will be held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour from May 20-22।

The Open CeBIT conference, a sell-out in 2007, explores business opportunities presented by Open Source platforms and applications। This conference focuses on the strategic advantages offered by Open Source at all levels of the software stack, from operating systems to database to corporate applications and personal productivity solutions.

Open CeBIT includes detailed case studies on how successful implementations take advantage of the open collaborative process to create flexible, robust and cost-effective solutions for business, said Jackie Taranto, managing director of Hannover Fairs Australia।

“Open Source software has moved into mainstream business across all industry sectors,” she said। “This is well beyond just being a technical movement for the technical crowd, Open Source software today is a strategic business decision that reaps real business rewards.”

Speakers at this year’s Open CeBIT include Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder and chief executive officer of Atlassian; Grant Allen, Google Architect; Shane Owenby, an Oracle Corporation senior director; Frank Feldmann, Red Hat Asia Pacific senior product manager on powerful Open Source models; Senator Kate Lundy and Roy Rubin, founder and CEO of Varien – the US-based developer of the just-released Open Source e-Commerce platform Magento।

According to Taranto, Open CeBIT is a flagship conference event at CeBIT Australia 2008। The event’s strategic business agenda differs from more technical Open Source events.

source=http://www.crn.com.au/

Powerful Web Design

With dozens of new sites coming online every second, it's important to make your company's web page stand out from the pack. Effective design can help you establish a strong internet presence; a good site design can help you increase sales and improve click-through ratios, not to mention boost your visitor count। Therefore, when creating a site layout for your business, it's important to remember a few key points.

Abide by the carpenter's old saw: measure twice, cut once. Before going out and spending a large amount of money on a site design, make sure that you have a clearly defined stylistic direction। Many companies, small and large, make the mistake of using "brainstorming on the fly", raking up huge contractor bills through countless tweaks during the (very expensive) design process. This is an incredibly costly mistake, yet it can be easily avoided by a bit of planning. Decide on the basics: target functionality, color scheme, performance target, and browser compatibility. Once you've got those down, move on to sketching out some designs (or, if your not too much of an artist, writing out a description of the site's layout). Armed with rough sketches/outlines and a plan for your site's "look", you'll be better prepared to work with the company/individual doing the redesign.

Watch the competition. The Internet landscape changes quickly, so it's critical that you keep an eye on your competition. You don't want to find out that your competitor recently revamped his online store, and you're now loosing money because your site design doesn't compare well. Don't fall prey to the "not invented here" syndrome. If a competitor's site features an innovative design technique that allows for faster navigation or a better user experience, you should take a close look at it, and see if it can be adapted for your site. Don't copy designs -- use your competitors sites as a target for your site's design. If your site is more aesthetically pleasing and easier to use than your competitors, then you've met your most important design goal.


Have navigation. At a bare minimum, your site should have navigation available at the top -- but splitting the navigation between the top of the page and a sidebar is an acceptable alternative। The main point is, have some. It's not 1997 anymore -- you should never tell users to click their back button, nor should you make them feel as though they have to in order to navigate your site. Instead, your navigation system should allow them to easily see all their navigation options. Clean design is especially important when it comes to menus: the easier to read the entries, the better. Remember: if it's easier for your visitors to navigate your site, it'll be easier for you to make money.

Choose solid fonts. Typically, fonts should be clean and out of the way -- you want your users focusing on the text of the site, not the type of text. Arial is a good standard choice for body text, and Georgia is often picked for headlines -- but really, any sans-serif (or clean serif) font will do. Just make sure you don't pick a font that's not available on the majority of your users computers (or if you do, specify a good-looking fallback।)

Pick colors consistent with your brand/image. Your website is an extension of your company, and its design should reflect that. Customizing your web site layout to your brand is worth the time it takes: your customers will see a polished, professional site।

Think speed. Did you know that the average visitor forms an opinion about the website he's visiting in less than two seconds? While you can change first impressions, it's difficult to do, especially if the user has navigated away from your site। Prevent that by having a page that loads quickly on the lowest common denominator connection that your users use.

Don't depend on JavaScript. I'm not saying that your site should avoid using JavaScript at all -- it's a fine language, and it has it's uses। However, at no point should you make your site dependent on JavaScript. Not only will you prevent a percentage of your users from using your site (screenreaders don't support JavaScript, and some people don't have it enabled), but you'll open yourself up to having to deal with numerous cross-browser incompatibilities.

By following the above rules, you should be able to get through the site design process with a minimum of expense, ending up with a polished, refined, optimized site design that will put your competitors to shame।

source=http://www.informativepost.com/

Microsoft Extends Contract With Mobile Commerce to Provide Location Based Services for MSN Mobile

Microsoft today announced plans to extend its contract with the award winning UK company, Mobile Commerce, to continue providing RoundTown, MSN’s branded mobile location-based service.

RoundTown is a mobile search service which allows users of any internet-enabled mobile phone to access a comprehensive range of location based information।

The MSN Mobile service features a range of art, entertainment and business listing content from partners such as TopTable, the Press Association and Multimap. Users are able to locate, find and secure bookings for a variety of events and services: everything from booking a restaurant table to reading a gig review or even finding a hotel room or nearest cash point.

The service also integrates with ScreenTonic’s ad server allowing MSN to monetise the service with both banners and sponsored लिंक्स.

Hugh Davies, Head of Mobile at Microsoft, commented, “Location based services are central to our mobile internet strategy. With mobile handsets becoming ever more technically advanced, our users expect the depth of content and experience on mobile to replicate that of the traditional PC based internet. We are committed to providing our users with the very best mobile internet experience and are pleased to be working alongside Mobile Commerce on RoundTown as their expertise in this area remains unmatched”.

Steve Page, CEO of Mobile Commerce added, “We are delighted to be able to continue working with Microsoft on RoundTown and look forward to building on the success that together we’ve already made in location-based services.”

The secret is in the hug

Cynthia Karena learns how Lullabot guides the way through open source।

Hugging in the workplace was "a change in philosophy" for James Walker when he joined Lullabot but he soon got used to it।

Hugs are a symbol of openness and sharing, says Mr Walker, Lullabot's director of education। He was in Melbourne this month to conduct Lullabot's first workshops outside the US.

"There's very little ego involved in a hug," says Mr Walker, 30। There's a tendency in companies to keep information and answers close to the chest, as there's a fear that they won't be needed any more. But at Lullabot we want to not be needed any more.

Lullabot, an open-source web design consulting company, wants to help its clients be self-sufficient, says co-founder Jeff Robbins, 39।

"We want to clone ourselves। We want our clients to have the knowledge so they can go on without us. It's not a good business model but it's very rewarding. We do the same thing in teaching workshops. As more people find out about the power of the software and know about it, then more people will want to use it."

Mr Walker says: "There's a lot of websites out there and we can't build them all।"

Lullabot was born out of frustration, says Mr Robbins, who had long been building websites। In 2001, he and his wife began building dynamic websites for others.

"We got a gig building Ringo Starr's website। Ringo likes to make movies and he wanted a content management system to show his videos. Ringo was an early video blogger. This was before YouTube."

Mr Robbins was interested in all the "free stuff" that was available for creating websites with a lot of features, such as e-commerce, social networking and blogging। He was looking for a way to link it all together and then he found Drupal, an open source content management system written in the PHP web programming language. Drupal is used to build websites, including discussion sites, e-commerce sites and social networking sites.

But learning how to use Drupal was a steep learning curve for him। "With open source it can be a cacophony of voices - the tools are there but there are different levels of difficulty, documentation and usability. I was drowning trying to figure out Drupal and how to use it and implement it. I never wanted to be an expert."

Lullabot was formed to help others with Drupal's famed steep learning curve।

"A lot of that has to do with the power of open source and the difficulty of open source," says Mr Robbins। "People aren't paid to polish the software. There is no marketing arm. So it gets 90% of the way and it's up to other people to take it the rest of the way. This is where Lullabot comes in - to identify and help people with the difficult pieces."

Mr Walker says first-time Drupal users are frustrated trying to understand how to use all the features Drupal has to offer। "People see Drupal sites, like them and then when they install Drupal it looks different. When you first install Drupal, it has a default layout. The hurdle is in harnessing the power of Drupal by understanding and using more complex layouts.

"People also get frustrated with Drupal terminology and not understanding why changes are made।"

"The Drupal development community tends to be made up of very technical people," says Mr Robbins।

"They are looking at a text editor all day - and creating a webpage that's supposed to look pretty with big buttons and making it easy to use (isn't their strong point)। There are not a lot of web designer people in the Drupal development community.

"Lullabot bridges that gap। Half our time is spent on client work and the other half is dedicated to doing work in the Drupal community. We are selling our clients our knowledge of Drupal work and our familiarity with the community."

But Lullabot doesn't accept all clients. "Our clients interview us but we also have a list of questions for them," says Mr Robbins. "We don't work for a lot of potential clients because we don't feel we're a good match. Some clients have no concept of what they want. They can pay us but does the client have the pieces they need? The designer? The project developer? Do they have an idea of the features they want? It's not enough to just say 'we want a website'."

Joomla! Accessibility by Joshue O Connor

More accessibilty than Joomla!

This book concentrates mainly on making websites accessible, particularly to the visually impaired. These techniques are then used, more briefly, to explain how to make Joomla! sites accessible. The book’s author, Joshue O Connor, is clearly an expert on accessibility and has covered these areas well.

Joomla! Accessibility - A quick guide to creating accessible websites with Joomla!, published by Packt is a short book that contains materials that every web designer should know and offers sound advice on understanding the problems faced by web users with disabilities and ways to deal with these problems।
The focus of the book is not always clear; however, the content should be known by every web developer, especially as there are legal requirements in many countries—some of which are explored in the book। The assumptions of the reader’s knowledge vary considerably, though the vast majority of readers will gain an good understanding of accessibility.

The print is very legible, with plenty of white-space। The print is slightly glossy and the index is good.

source=http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/

Indian software, BPO industry to touch $132bn

The Indian software and BPO segment will grow at a rate of more than 16 per cent to become a $132 billion industry by 2012, global infotech analyst International Data Corporation (IDC) said today.

"The Indian domestic IT and ITeS market is expected to cross the Rs 2,00,000-crore ($50 billion ) mark in 2012. This translates into a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.4 per cent in the five-year period. It was Rs 90,014 crore in 2007," IDC said.

Together with IT and ITeS, and exports revenue of Rs 3,20,278 crore, the total IT and ITeS industry would grow to Rs 5,29,976 crore ($132 billion ) by 2012, representing a growth of 16.5 per cent, said IDC.

Exports continue to be the biggest segment at Rs 97,492 crore. In 2008, IDC expects the IT and ITeS industry to grow at 20 per cent, with the domestic market growing at 22.4 per cent.

The overall industry is projected to be of the size of Rs 5,29,976 crore, or $132 billion, by 2012-end, with the share of domestic IT and ITeS revenues being 40 per cent of the total compared to the current 37 per cent.

The IT and ITeS exports market is likely to more than double to Rs 3,20,278 crore in 2012, IDC claimed.

In 2008, IT and ITeS exports segment is expected to clock a growth of 20.4 per cent to touch Rs 1,86,142 crore. "The domestic IT and ITeS industry CAGR of 18.4 per cent (during 2008-12) is expected on the back of a robust growth of the past five years (2003-2007)", IDC India Country Manager Kapil Dev Singh said.

The Indian IT and ITeS industry grew to Rs 2,46,609 crore in 2007 from Rs 2,01,413 crore in 2006, representing a growth of 22.4 percent.

source = http://www.business-standard.com/

4 threats to Indian software industry

What is software quality? How can it be ensured?

“Quality is a hidden attribute or virtue that defines ‘worthiness for use’ of any product or service. It comes to light only under detailed scrutiny. Software quality is this dimension of the hidden worthiness, of software,” answers Raghav S. Nandyal, author of Making Sense of Software Quality Assurance (www.tatamcgrawhill.com).

The best way to ensure software quality is to build it into the software product from the very beginning, he avers. “The earliest opportunity to build software quality into a product is at the time of requirements definition and elicitation.”

Some of the quality attributes Nandyal mentions are clarity, consistency, correctness, completeness and testability. “When the complexity of the required software product is known and well understood, these attributes are likely to result,” he adds, in an e-mail interaction with eWorld.

“Since software quality is hidden from apparent view most of the time, there is very little chance in ensuring software quality in a product, as an add-on activity with software quality assurance practices of reviews, inspection or testing. Software quality has to be built into the very guts of the product at each stage in the product evolution.”

Excerpts from the interview, in which, apart from sharing his insights on software quality, he also discusses passionately the four threats that the Indian IT industry faces.

Does our IT education system have to be modified to cater to software quality needs?

Having integrated Peter Senge’s seminal work on ‘The Fifth Discipline,’ into my understanding of process management, I can say that most issues are complex systemic issues that deal with dynamic complexity. To address them effectively, one needs to have systems thinking — the Fifth Discipline — instead of linear thinking.

This shift requires a holistic approach to improving all aspects that bear upon the final determinant – good quality software. This includes improving the basic education system with a curriculum that is kept current and fresh catering to the needs of one of India’s cash-cows: the IT industry.

I would not be surprised if the current software engineering curriculum of most universities would not even make a footnote reference to the CMMI or the People CMM! Yet, a well-grounded understanding of articulating process models and an integration of such practices to a competency framework is what the IT industry needs.

In terms of software quality, how does India fare, globally?

In a very popular TV broadcast in the US, called ‘60 minutes,’ the presenter is quoted to say: “The United States imports oil from Saudi Arabia, cars from Japan, TVs from Korea and whisky from Scotland. So, what do we import from India? We import people! Really smart people”.

This sums up the trust and importance the world has placed on the Indian software professional. They trust the quality of the work that is produced; for, the highest number of high process maturity software development organisations found anywhere in the world are still in India.

With strong middle-class values and an emphasis on good quality education, our ethos is still very much learning-oriented and geared towards improving the intellectual faculties. Infrastructure provided by most software development organisations in India is world-class. At times, they even beat the best-of-the-best in the world!

The logical and analytical abilities of the Indian software professional are unrivalled. Costs to produce good quality software using Indian software organisations are still within acceptable parameters of economic value.

Given the nature of geographically distributed software development, assigning a unique ownership to the goof-ups is difficult. Often times, the customer is not sure of what they want until they see a prototype or some abstraction of what is in their reality. This is one opportunity where Indian software houses have to improve a great deal.

We are very good, I believe in giving what the customer wants — and not leading him, literally, by the nose. We have to make entrepreneurial leadership across the rank-and-file in an organisation, a core competency.

Developing individuals with excellent communication and presentation skills is still a big opportunity to improve. This gap is significant and I believe is the primary reason why we still don’t have ‘great software companies’. We might have many ‘good software companies’. Again, good is the enemy of great!

Consider this: who is the closest to the customer? The humble software engineer found in the trenches! The CEO of an Indian software organisation can do precious little marketing of his talent base given the fact that all such follow-up business opportunities get defined in the trenches – by the one who is dirtying his hands – the software developer or the tester. The CEO of an Indian software organisation is seldom in the trenches!

I find another aberration, which is hard to digest. The Indian culture unfortunately has still not produced or created enough numbers of what is called the Level 5 leadership by Jim Collins. Level 5 leaders are modest and wilful, humble and fearless.

From the People CMM perspective, it is very surprising to note that despite all notions that the Indian IT industry is informal with boss-subordinate relationships and so on which humanises the IT work culture, the most intimidating and hostile relationship is still the same – boss-subordinate relationships! I find this duality very difficult to digest.

A third critical factor is – we have not learned to walk away from bad business practices. Indian software organisations are still mostly bottom line driven. When businesses function purely from a bottom line perspective, values and principles get thrown out of the window.

The biggest threat, which established Indian software organisations must be sensitive about, is mostly internal. One need not look at other lower-cost countries as the threat.

I am sure that the dominance of these established businesses can be easily challenged by a few upstart companies driven by entrepreneurial leadership that is highly ethical, people oriented, competency focused and quality driven.

I think it is time for such a revolution in India. Many business opportunities across the globe are awaiting someone who can just venture out, make marginal improvements, year-on-year on these four dimensions.

Nandyal is an SEI-Certified High Maturity Lead Appraiser, authorised by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Carnegie Mellon University to lead SCAMPI appraisals on both the CMMI and the People CMM. He has been a prime consultant, coach and an assessor on Software and People CMM based process improvement initiatives in leading multinationals, worldwide. Nandyal has served on the international review panel for IEEE Software.

source = http://sify.com/

A-host plans centre to help local developers

To help local independent software vendors (ISVs) gain experience in developing solutions with the latest technologies, Application Hosting Services (A-HOST) has joined with Oracle, Hewlett-Packard (Thailand) and Software Park Thailand to set up the A-HOST Oracle Solution Centre.

A-HOST managing director Bunprasit Tangchaisuk said the centre hopes to build a community of local ISVs and encourage local developers to build solutions based on the Oracle Enterprise Database, Fusion Middleware, as well as applications based on the HP platform. The centre will be used for skill development, proof-of-concept prototypes and technical workshops with assistance from Oracle and A-HOST.

The centre will also offer solution demonstrations. As of now, there are 120 ISVs participating at the centre and it is expected that this number will double in the next five years.

"The centre will facilitate ISVs, customers and local partners in developing solutions, such as grid computing, customer relation management and software-service applications to attain international standard," Bunprasit said.

Oracle Asean regional managing director Natasak Rodjanapiches said the company will provide Oracle solutions, its e-business suite and Oracle applications to support the centre.

It will use its Product Technology Services team, which is a pooled-resource team, to support and assist local business partners. The company will support local partners through various technical and marketing programmes under the Oracle Partner Network.

Hewlett-Packard ( Thailand) managing director Sapat Sopon said the initiative is in line with HP's direction to utilise information technology to enable Thai people to enter the information technology era.

Software Park Thailand director Suwipa Wanasathop said the centre will encourage local software companies and partners in creating an environment conducive to the development of the software industry.

Through the centre's efforts, the park will help build connections to the market.

"We expect that the centre will help in developing the local software industry, improve the quality of products and services as well as promote ICT use among customers and offer greater benefits to them," Suwipa said.

source = http://nationmultimedia.com/

Software industry piracy rate drops again

China's software industry piracy rate dropped four percentage points in 2007, according to sources from "2007 China's software piracy rate survey" assessment meeting held by the State Intellectual Property Office recently.

In 2007, China's software industry's sales, including computer software products and embedded software products, rose to 580 billion yuan, the survey which is commissioned by the State Intellectual Property Office and conducted by the internet laboratory shows.

Calculating the price of the pirated software by their market value, in 2007 China's software industry piracy rate dropped from 24 percent in 2006 to 20 percent, a decrease of 4 percentage points.

The main reason for the drop in piracy rate is China's efforts in promoting genuine software in recent years, experts said. The mandatory installation of the operating system in particular, effectively checked the most serious problem, operating system software piracy.

By People's Daily Online

source = http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6403240.html