I promise I won't talk about the weather. March just isn't a good month, in most places.
I will continue to talk about new stuff – that's always exciting. New information: I have become a twitterer. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it,(the whole idea actually strikes me as being a little strange) but I'm doing it. It'll take me a while to really get into it, but if you wish to follow me, my user name is susan_semco. You can see how I'm doing at susan_semco. I'm planning to tweet whenever I run across something I think you all might like to know. I'm hoping on this being fun, and will let you know.
In the meantime, my usual thoughts: Make sure you're keeping current.
Here's the schedule or you can view the complete schedule on our Website:
CSTA Web sessions:
March 11, 12
April 8,9
May 6, 7
UITJ (Understanding IT Jobs) Web sessions:
March 12
May 7
TR Web sessions:
March 16
May 13
Keep in touch and keep up with technology!
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Computers = Appliances
A one word definition of appliance is "computer." However, appliances are specialized computers, and a better definition is "a software/hardware combination with a specific function." It's the words "specific function" that make these systems different from general purpose machines. A general purpose computer is also a combination of hardware and software, as the machine can't do anything without software. The operating system that manages a complete computer environment is just the start of lots of software, which includes programs with many and varied functions. Many companies augment their general purpose computer with appliances.
Another definition states that an appliance is a self-contained IT system that can be plugged into an existing IT infrastructure to carry out a single purpose. This makes it comparable to a consumer appliance such as a toaster, and thus the name "appliance." This IT system can actually contain different kinds of software and hardware. The hardware can include any combination of processors, memory, input/output devices, and disks, while the software contains some level of operating systems, applications, and management programs. Appliances which have been available for years include storage and network appliances:
Storage appliances include massive amounts of storage, and management functions such as disk mirroring and data striping. Data mirroring writes to two duplicate disks simultaneously. This way if one of the disk fails, the system can instantly switch to the other disk without any loss of data or service. Data striping segments data and assigns the data to different disks so the processor doesn't have to wait until one segment is completely written. Using a storage appliance for these functions leaves the general purpose computer free for other functions.
Network appliances (this includes Internet appliances) contain routers which provide firewall protection, messaging, and multiplexing for multiple systems. Multiplexing is combining multiple messages over one stream that is transmitted over a single channel. These appliances also include traffic managers, which monitor users and their activities. They also provide load balancing functions and manage the execution of applications by deploying them to the server most available. Finally, they often provide failover services (automatically substituting an operating resource for one that has failed).
Even more specific appliances are now available. One category growing in popularity is data warehouse appliances. The hardware includes a computer and disk storage devices and installed software includes an operating system, a database management system, query and reporting software, and analytical programs. These appliances can scale to terabytes (trillions of bytes) of data and can be preconfigured for specific tasks such as strategic analysis, or forecasting. Another rapidly growing appliance area is security. Remember, an appliance plugs into the existing system. Picture how an encryption appliance, or a firewall appliance, or an authentication appliance would work.
This is one of those areas which has been around forever, and is still growing. In fact, some IT gurus feel that eventually most common processing will be done by appliances. As software gets more and more functional, we will have more and more appliances. Just look at your kitchen – and the number of plugged-in appliances you now have; a toaster and a toaster oven, a coffee maker and an electric tea pot, an electric can-opener and a food preservation system. We'll soon be plugging appliances into our home IT system; a home protection system, a temperature control system, and a light control system.
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1. When will computers exceed the capacity of the human mind?
2. What's cloud computing?
3. Which of the following does not belong?
Android
Chrome
LiMo
Symbian
4. Is PalmOS still around?
5. Are TraceMonkey and SpiderMonkey related?
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I'm fascinated by the new words we are using every day. You probably blog, or read blogs. Do you twitter? Or tweet? Are you getting a Kindle? Do you store data in the cloud? Is your Web site a mashup?
We're all familiar with blogs – twitter is the new kid on the block. First of all, the difference between twitter and tweet – twitter is a verb, tweet is a noun. When you twitter you create a tweet. Twittering is the newly popular way to stay in touch with friends, or follow celebrities, newsmakers, politicians, etc. who have chosen to twitter. Twitter is simple. You post a short message (140 character) stating what you're doing any time you choose. This message is a tweet. People can choose to follow you, and have your tweets show up on their systems (computers or cell phones) when you post them. So, on a personal level, your friends know when you've gone to a movie, so they won't call you. With public figures, you get a quick glimpse of what they're doing whenever you want.
You might not have a Kindle, Amazon's eReader, so you're still reading paper books, but this is changing quickly. Amazon has just released Kindle 2 and Google has announced that the 1.5 milllion public domain books it has will soon be available (free) through a new cell phone application. You're not going to need a Kindle, you can read books on your iPhone.
Do you use Google Docs (store documents, spreadsheets, etc. and share them with others) or Google Calendar (share a calendar with friends or co-workers). See TechCheck for the definition of cloud.
If you've set up a Google homepage, you've created a mashup. Mashup is a development technique which allows developers to connect, collect, and put together (mashup) anything on the Web. For example a mashup could be created that would pull in Google maps, blogs by travel experts, reviews of tourist attractions, etc. to provide real-time information on planning a vacation.
Things are changing, and we're getting used to them quickly. It's amazing how quickly we absorb these words into our vocabulary.
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CRM
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is growing, changing, and very healthy. Changing is what we'll concentrate on in next month's article. Web 2.0 is important, SaaS (Software as a Service) is becoming a common delivery method, and CEM stays around the corner.
Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) Technology and tools that define an approach to delivering Web content that eliminates the wait while refreshing an entire page by only updating the part of the Web page that has been changed. The update is done locally (if possible) and asynchronously. The user can continue to interact with the Web page during the refresh. Technology has been available for years, but became popular in 2005.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Application software providing front-office functions, including sales, marketing, and customer support. All CRM systems are designed to find and build a relationship with present and potential customers. One function is to manage help desks and call centers that work with phone, fax, the Web and email. Call Center software can be a separate package or combined with the CRM package. In addition, CRM systems can often interface with back-office systems such as manufacturing and financial applications.
eCRM is providing CRM functions over the Internet. One of the biggest functions of most eCRM software is Website personalization and content management. CRM was formerly called CIS (Customer Information Systems).
SaaS (Software as a Service) IT terminology. Refers to software that is offered on a subscription or lease basis rather than as a packaged product to purchase and bring in house. The vendor hosts the software and provides the hardware and software necessary to run the application, and users interact with the software through a Web-based front-end. This term is replacing the term ASP (Application Service Provider) and is used synonymously with on-demand applications. Companies can also use a hybrid deployment, which allows customers to either subscribe to or purchase (and bring in-house) the application.
Web 2.0 Computer terminology that covers services available on the Web that allow people to collaborate and share information. These services include blogs, wikis, RSS (Rich Site Summary) or (Really Simple Syndication), mass publishing, and other interactive functions. The distinction of sites in Web 2 is that the content of these sites is provided by users, not by the owners of the site. Web 2 includes social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, business networking sites such as LinkedIn, and reference sites such as Wikipedia. In addition companies are adding tools such as blogs and wikis to their own Web sites, usually starting with blogs. The term Enterprise 2.0 is used to refer to corporate adoption of Web 2.0 technologies - the business use of blogs, wikis, networking, etc.
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) Markup language used to create documents that define the exchange of data between two systems or applications. Its most common uses have been in enterprise application integration, linking legacy systems to newer systems such as intranets and Web sites, and for B2B data exchange. Users define the content of a document or Web page, rather than the presentation of it (see XSL for presentation). XML is text-based and can be used on any platform. It formats data by using document tags to catalog information and allows users to define as many tags as they wish. Key elements in a document can be categorized according to meaning. Instead of a search engine selecting a document by the metatags listed in its header, a search engine can scan through the entire document for the XML tags that identify individual pieces of text and images. It's accepted as a standard by W3C, and is used in ecommerce to enable business partners to standardize specific XML syntax to describe, e.g., purchase orders. Also used in EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) systems, used to define metadata, and in WBEM (Web-Based Enterprise Management). Based on SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). Defined: 1997.
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1. New predictions say that by 2013 a computer will be created that exceeds the capacity of the human mind. Even more thought provoking, by 2049 we will have a computer that exceeds the capacity of the human species…
2. An obvious question, but one without an obvious answer. I finally found an answer I really like: cloud computing is anything that takes place outside your corporate firewall.
3. Lots of new odd names – but Chrome, perhaps the most familiar, is the one that doesn't belong. Chrome is a browser – the other three are operating systems. And, operating systems for smartphones. You'll be hearing more about all of them.
4. Not really. You'll still see it on old devices, but Palm has a new operating system, webOS, for its newest cell phone, the Pre. This phone will be available in July (at least that's the plan) and includes EV-DO, WiFi, and Bluetooth wireless, 8GB (Gigabytes – billions) of storage, a 3-megapixel camera, and a charging device called the Touchstone which allows users to lay the phone on the Touchstone to charge it instead of attaching a power cord. Palm, Inc. is still around!
5. Actually they're not. They're both JavaScript engines. A JavaScript engine is a program that deploys and executes both client-side and server-side JavaScript programs. Other variations incude Rhine, KJS, and JavaScriptCore.
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