WebOS is the FUTURE

Something to watch out for.



The idea is novel and its really sound! I've always believe it to be true that the inevitable is the web browser will be the OS eventually. Web + OS = WebOS. Its interesting to see how things will take off from here. This is very much like what happened in the late 80s to 90s where folks were moving from thin client to thick client (green screens to desktops) which contributed in Microsoft's Windows growth. Now having looked at this new phenomenon, the leader this new movement would take off where MS last left. It could be Google or it could be someone else. Who knows? Only the future holds the answer. Let's wait and see.

Identifying Service Candidates

Here's some points taken from the book, Java SOA Cookbook.

These are the set of question one needs to answer before embarking on the quest of marking a software project as a service candidate. They are not really the ONLY guideline but its just few of the many things that you should consider asking first. Consider it sort of a checklist before moving on further in the game.

1. Could this functionality be appropriately designed to satisfy the definition of a service as stated in this chapter?

2. Is this service likely to be consumed across multiple platforms? Does it need to interoperate? Would external business partners have any use for this service? Does it need to cross functional barriers or firewalls? Can it use a popular protocol such as HTTP or SMTP?

3. Would implementing this functionality as a service help you break an integration barrier? Would it wrap or replace a proprietary point-to-point interface? Would it operate in front of ERP, CRM, financial applications, or other systems?

4. Does it clearly map to one or more business processes? Or is it simply a program? (It is generally accepted that services can map to a single process, but mapping to more than one process can offer more opportunities for reuse.)

5. Does the function that the proposed service represents cross business domains? This could point to a greater opportunity for reuse.

6. Does the service exchange business documents or fall readily into one of the three general service categories identified in Section 1.5.

7. Would a business person be interested in reports on the output of this service? Would IT be interested in monitoring its life cycle or runtime? Or perhaps it represents a functional or utility service that in the long term could increase general business agility. (If none of these, it may be too small an operation to merit a place in the service catalog.)

8. Does it offer business value? Is there an existing service commodity that already performs this function?

9. Is the proposed service the right level of granularity? (If it is very fine-grained, this will weaken the interface aspect of the contract, shrink the possibility of reuse, and promote undue chattiness. If it is very coarse-grained, it could be a candidate for a process service that decomposes into other entity or functional services.)

10. Would making this function a service allow it to be composable? That is, can it participate as a seamless blackbox with other services behind a unifying contract (like an orchestration)? Or does it represent just an isolated function, with little relation to other system components?

11. Does the candidate represent an idea with an identifiable life cycle? Can the business define the interface?

12. Is it advantageous if the software can be discovered dynamically (as from a registry/repository)?

13. Does it present an opportunity to aid in the goal of providing a "single version of the truth"?

14. Depending on the implementation, would the benefit derived from using XML to represent your data outweigh the performance hit for marshaling and unmarshaling to and from XML? Is human-readability of the documents exchanged a factor?

15. Would implementing this as a service lower the cost of future integration projects? Would it facilitate new products or business services?

The Future of Mobility

This is how the future of cars should be. Even the economics of possessing a car should change.

Books Wish List

Here's some of the books that I've been itching to get my hands on of late;



and

Good Read For Graduate Students

As I've just embarked on my PhD and thus I'm compiling a list of some good read for potential or current graduate studies student.

Hope some of this articles would be of use and benefit to you as well:

• How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors (Part 1 of 2)
• How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors (Part 2 of 2)
• Technical Writing 101: A Crash Course

Google Wave

This new product from Google will blow your mind.
Check the demo below. Beware, it is about 1 and a half hours long...

Google Squared

Grown Up Digital

In his new book, Grown Up Digital, Don Tapscott talks about how the new generation of youths are coming into the world with a whole new skill sets and expectations. Check out his interview with Rocketboom.



Its an interesting topic given that our generation practically live and eat on technology and what does that mean to the world (the older generation) and to the society as moves ahead into the 21st century.

Faulty RAM

It is indeed SAD. I've wasted my whole weekend figuring out what the problem is with the new laptop and all the error messages that appeared (including Blue Screens) did not hit to 1 specific cause, until eventually I ran the Diagnostics application that's provided by DELL itself with the laptop. That than gave a clear indication that the error was caused by the memory. So after a long 1 hours on the phone, Dell has decided to send over a replacement. Counting the days now to my replacement RAM.

Solving Wifi Network Woes

This is my toy at home. I'm a fan of Netgear. Have been using it all the while and have been loving it since. My first netgear was when I was back renting a place in Petaling Jaya. Then I moved back home in Cheras and used the home's router which my bro bought (it was Dlink anyway). And subsequently when I moved into my own home in Bdr Utama, I bought a netgear as well.

Having moved to Canada and living a apartment here, Internet is essential and now that both me and my wife have separate laptops, a router was the only solution. And so, without any doubt Netgear was my choice. This time I choose the model WNR2000. However, for the pass few days, I've been having slight trouble with the laptops wireless connection.

After awhile I figured it out. The problem was my settings to the number for Channel input as you can see from the diagram below. Previously it was set to "Auto" and I believe that actually made the router picked a channel the conflict with the many number of wireless networks available in the apartment. So after setting it to fix number, the problem (I guess) should be solve. It has been 3 hrs thus far of uninterrupted wifi connection.

Use the Technology from the GlassFish Community

Although my username here may imply that I am of a BIG Blue based technology, that's really not the case. After years of using WebSphere technology, and keeping myself close to others out in the market, I realize what I have missed thus far. The competition can also do the thing. WebSphere which claims to have a sizable user base for its SOA range of products will now have to face even stiffer competition from Oracle. The problem is Glassfish! A gem from SUN which of course some may have heard are now in the works to be aquired by the Big Red.

Oh well, I'm but a mere user and still baby steps from using Glassfish. Probably would write some comments in here a bit later to talk about what I feel about it. Care to recommend any books or other forms of resources for newbies like me?

Prologue (prō'lôg', -lŏg')

So I've decided to separate my technical blog from my other blog which I share with my wife. Consider this a repository of my ideas, thoughts, experiences and so called wisdom with respect to matters concerning technology. Its a place that I could simply write as I like and not care much as to whether others may understand the terminology I am using.

Wait a minute, but isn't the title of the blog - "Preaching Tech Wisdom In Layman's Term"? Then if it is, isn't that going against what I said earlier. Oh well it is in a way. But what I am saying is that I don't have to over simplify things here. The title serves me a purpose of reminding myself not to go too deep into the techno-jargons or techno-babbel. Of course when it can be help, I'll write it in plain English. But at times though, it is simply impossible to do so, so I won't be bothered then to change things.

Any thoughts or opinions here are of my own and my own only. It doesn't reflect that of the company I am associated with (if you know where that is of course! Nope! It's no longer Big Blue, although my name, "thewebsphereguy" may imply so), nor does it reflect any other forms of organization that I am link to.