INCOSE is a good source for systems engineering - as distinct from purely software engineering - information.
They have a tools database team, whose current working reports are generally available to non-members. Requirements management tools, among others, are listed @ http://www.incose.org/ProductsPubs/products/toolsdatabase.aspx
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Risks of Out-sourced and Off-shored Projects
There is an ACM paper that discusses these risks @ www.tinyurl.com/5wfzua.
The Top 10 Risks are:
The Top 10 Risks are:
- Lack of top management commitment
- Original set of requirements is miscommunicated
- Language barriers in project communication
- Inadequate user involvement
- Lack of offshore project management know-how by client
- Failure to manage end-user expectations
- Poor change controls
- Lack of business known-how by offshore teams
- Lack of required technical know-how by offshore team
- Failure to consider all costs
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Usability Resources
A few useful web resources on usability:
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/
http://www.upassoc.org/
www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/usability_in_the_real_world/index.html
www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/usability_in_the_real_world/roi_of_usability.html
www.disambiguity.com/waterfall-bad-washing-machine-good-ia-summit-07-slides
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/
http://www.upassoc.org/
www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/usability_in_the_real_world/index.html
www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/usability_in_the_real_world/roi_of_usability.html
www.disambiguity.com/waterfall-bad-washing-machine-good-ia-summit-07-slides
Saturday, September 20, 2008
On Data Mining
In the book review of "The Numerati", published on 09/15/2008 in the Wall Street Journal, we read:
"What then of our privacy? What if the NSA, having scrutinized my data trail and determined that I am not a terrorist, sees that I may be cheating on my taxes? Or that I am running for public office while subscribing to a pornography service?"
And in an article titled "Mistaken Identity" published in the Wall Street Journal on 09/20/2008, we read:
"Revenue Science and Acxiom, along with a handful of other companies in the field including Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL, make deals with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Web publishers for permission to collect data about visitors to those sites. When a person lands on one of the sites, the targeting technology places a "cookie," or small string of tracking data, on his or her hard drive. The technology can read the codes embedded in the cookies to see which other sites in the network the person has already visited. Based on that information, it automatically decides which ads to display."
In fact, data mining and the accompanying decision support systems (based on such AI techniques as artificial neural networks, decision trees, etc.) furnish the building blocks for potentially oppressive social organizations.
Such a social organization could be designed around the application of cybernetics (control-feedback theory) to society for maintaining a homeostatic state where Liberty is nowhere to be found. The distributed nature of data collection and cybernetic control will make it impossible to change such a system through the customary practice of a revolution that captures the central organs of the state. In fact, the system can only be changed by smashing it or waiting long enough for the Second Law of Thermodynamics to kick-in; the accumulated entropy causing it to finally fail
"What then of our privacy? What if the NSA, having scrutinized my data trail and determined that I am not a terrorist, sees that I may be cheating on my taxes? Or that I am running for public office while subscribing to a pornography service?"
And in an article titled "Mistaken Identity" published in the Wall Street Journal on 09/20/2008, we read:
"Revenue Science and Acxiom, along with a handful of other companies in the field including Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL, make deals with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Web publishers for permission to collect data about visitors to those sites. When a person lands on one of the sites, the targeting technology places a "cookie," or small string of tracking data, on his or her hard drive. The technology can read the codes embedded in the cookies to see which other sites in the network the person has already visited. Based on that information, it automatically decides which ads to display."
In fact, data mining and the accompanying decision support systems (based on such AI techniques as artificial neural networks, decision trees, etc.) furnish the building blocks for potentially oppressive social organizations.
Such a social organization could be designed around the application of cybernetics (control-feedback theory) to society for maintaining a homeostatic state where Liberty is nowhere to be found. The distributed nature of data collection and cybernetic control will make it impossible to change such a system through the customary practice of a revolution that captures the central organs of the state. In fact, the system can only be changed by smashing it or waiting long enough for the Second Law of Thermodynamics to kick-in; the accumulated entropy causing it to finally fail
Starvation .Net
Check out www.starvation.net. I am impressed by the creative way that the world map in that site conveys grim quantitative information.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Comic Life
This is a software tool for making comics. It is not free but is reasonably priced. Find it @ http://plasq.com/products/
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Pun Intended
1. The roundest knight at king Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'
14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
18. It's not that the man did not know how to juggle, he just didn't have the balls to do it.
19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
20. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
21. A backward poet writes inverse.
22. In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
24. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'
14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
18. It's not that the man did not know how to juggle, he just didn't have the balls to do it.
19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
20. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
21. A backward poet writes inverse.
22. In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
24. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Web Archive
Interesting site with all kind of material: old commercials, old books, etc. http://www.archive.org/index.php
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Modelica
Modelica language is an object-oriented language for physics-based modeling — or physical modeling — for virtual prototyping of engineering.
It enables a very easy definition of a system model by graphically describing its topology. An electric circuit looks like an electric circuit on a computer screen: this circuit can then be easily connected to a mechanical system model through motor models, shafts, gears, and so on.
Learn more about it @ modelica.org
The language specifications may be found @ http://www.modelica.org/documents/ModelicaSpec22.pdf
It enables a very easy definition of a system model by graphically describing its topology. An electric circuit looks like an electric circuit on a computer screen: this circuit can then be easily connected to a mechanical system model through motor models, shafts, gears, and so on.
Learn more about it @ modelica.org
The language specifications may be found @ http://www.modelica.org/documents/ModelicaSpec22.pdf
Apollo Books
A new book called "Digital Apollo" by David Mindell looks at the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC). Listings of the AGC code may be found @ (http://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/apollo/public/archive/1701.pdf)
For more on that see Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer by Eldon C. Hall. This book also provides a fascinating look at the human side of engineering, and how pilot demands (think "customer demands"), both reasonable and not, effect how we build systems.
For more on that see Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer by Eldon C. Hall. This book also provides a fascinating look at the human side of engineering, and how pilot demands (think "customer demands"), both reasonable and not, effect how we build systems.
The Creation Simulation
More on the Spores game from the Seed Magazine:
http://seedmagazine.com/news/2008/09/the_creation_simulation.php
http://seedmagazine.com/news/2008/09/the_creation_simulation.php
Friday, September 12, 2008
All Streets
Check out Ben Fry's (of "Data Visualization" book fame) www.benfry.com/allstreets which is a compilation of more than 26 million road segments in US. What is interesting about it that there are no outlines or geographic features specifically added to the images; they emerge by themselves.
Code_swarm
Code_swarm is a series of videos created by Michael Ogawa about the development of an open-source software. Using dancing lights, rings of color, and snappy music, Code_swarm shows the history of commits in software projects such as Python, Eclipse, PostageSQL, and Apache.
Check it out @ http://vis.cs.ucdavis.edu/~ogawa/codeswarm
The code is available @ http://code.google.com/p/codeswarm
Check it out @ http://vis.cs.ucdavis.edu/~ogawa/codeswarm
The code is available @ http://code.google.com/p/codeswarm
Processing
Check out Processing, an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions @ http://processing.org/.
Data visualization using Processing is discussed in Ben Fry's book, "Visualizing Information".
Data visualization using Processing is discussed in Ben Fry's book, "Visualizing Information".
3 Free Science Games
http://www.fold.it/ This is a free online game where players compete for the most stable protein folding solution.
www.fas.org/immuneattack is an educational game in which the players guide a nano-robot (nanobot) through blood vessels and human tissue of a person with a malfunctioning immune system.
http://www.stellaralchemy.com/lee/virtual_creatures.html is a 3D virtual creature evolution game created by Lee Graham.
www.fas.org/immuneattack is an educational game in which the players guide a nano-robot (nanobot) through blood vessels and human tissue of a person with a malfunctioning immune system.
http://www.stellaralchemy.com/lee/virtual_creatures.html is a 3D virtual creature evolution game created by Lee Graham.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Microsoft ESP
Microsoft ESP is a visual simulation platform that enables developers to create simulations using 3D modeling tools, .Net, C++, and XML-based training missions. Learn more about it @ http://www.microsoft.com/esp/default.htm and http://msdn.microsoft.com/esp.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
A Few Test Automation Tools
Here is a good website with a broad list of QA test tools; many are open source:
http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatweba%20.html
TestComplete Enterprise ($2k per seat, not open, but COM based and extensible) is an automated test manager, with support for unit, functional, regression, distributed and HTTP performance testing at the project level. Find it @ http://www.automatedqa.com/products/.
pywinauto is a set of python modules to automate the Microsoft Windows GUI. At it's simplest it allows you to send mouse and keyboard actions to windows dialogs and controls. Find it @ http://pywinauto.openqa.org/
AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages (e.g. VBScript and SendKeys). Find it @ http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatweba%20.html
TestComplete Enterprise ($2k per seat, not open, but COM based and extensible) is an automated test manager, with support for unit, functional, regression, distributed and HTTP performance testing at the project level. Find it @ http://www.automatedqa.com/products/.
pywinauto is a set of python modules to automate the Microsoft Windows GUI. At it's simplest it allows you to send mouse and keyboard actions to windows dialogs and controls. Find it @ http://pywinauto.openqa.org/
AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages (e.g. VBScript and SendKeys). Find it @ http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
A Few Testing Tools
These are several tools both commercial and free that are great for implementing the testing for .Net applications. Some are specific to .Net and some are not.
RegMon for Windows v7.04 by Microsoft [SysInternals]
www.technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896652.aspx
RegMon is a free and very useful discovery tool that monitors all registry interaction from any and all running applications, and allows users to quickly jump to Regedt32 to manipulate registry values.
FileMon for Windows v7.04 by Microsoft [SysInternals]
www.technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896642.aspx
FileMon is a free and very useful discovery tool that monitors all file activity for any and all running applications, and allows users to quickly jump to files in Explorer for management.
Peach Fuzzing Platform 2.0
www.peachfuzzer.com
Peach is a free and comprehensive fuzzing platform that allows on-the-wire fuzzing of network I/O and files of almost any type.
Defensics 2.0 by Codenomicon
www.codenomicon.com/defensics
Defensics is a powerful commercial fuzz testing platform for on the wire fuzzing of most
all protocols.
Wireshark 1.0.0
www.wireshark.org/about.html
Wireshark, formally known as Ethereal, is a free and powerful tool for real-time monitoring and analysis of network traffic.
WhatsUp Gold by Ipswitch
www.whatsupgold.com
WhatsUp Gold is an inexpensive professional-grade network discovery and management
tool that provides real-time server and service monitoring.
Event Analyst
www.eventanalyst.com/index.htm
Event Analyst is an inexpensive tool that allows the consolidation and correlation of server log files.
Holodeck Enterprise Edition v2.8 by Security Innovation Inc.
www.securityinnovation.com/holodeck
Holodeck is a professional-grade discovery and fault injection tool that virtualizes an
application’s runtime environment and allows testers to completely control its resources.
RegMon for Windows v7.04 by Microsoft [SysInternals]
www.technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896652.aspx
RegMon is a free and very useful discovery tool that monitors all registry interaction from any and all running applications, and allows users to quickly jump to Regedt32 to manipulate registry values.
FileMon for Windows v7.04 by Microsoft [SysInternals]
www.technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896642.aspx
FileMon is a free and very useful discovery tool that monitors all file activity for any and all running applications, and allows users to quickly jump to files in Explorer for management.
Peach Fuzzing Platform 2.0
www.peachfuzzer.com
Peach is a free and comprehensive fuzzing platform that allows on-the-wire fuzzing of network I/O and files of almost any type.
Defensics 2.0 by Codenomicon
www.codenomicon.com/defensics
Defensics is a powerful commercial fuzz testing platform for on the wire fuzzing of most
all protocols.
Wireshark 1.0.0
www.wireshark.org/about.html
Wireshark, formally known as Ethereal, is a free and powerful tool for real-time monitoring and analysis of network traffic.
WhatsUp Gold by Ipswitch
www.whatsupgold.com
WhatsUp Gold is an inexpensive professional-grade network discovery and management
tool that provides real-time server and service monitoring.
Event Analyst
www.eventanalyst.com/index.htm
Event Analyst is an inexpensive tool that allows the consolidation and correlation of server log files.
Holodeck Enterprise Edition v2.8 by Security Innovation Inc.
www.securityinnovation.com/holodeck
Holodeck is a professional-grade discovery and fault injection tool that virtualizes an
application’s runtime environment and allows testers to completely control its resources.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Salary Survey
The 2008 Redmond Channel Partner's Salary Survey may be found @ http://rcpmag.com/features/article.aspx?editorialsid=2485
Blueprint
Take a look at Blueprint's Requirements Center 2009 for requirements elicitation @ http://www.blueprintsys.com/product_rc_features.php.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Spores
Spores is a new computer game created by those who gave SimCity and its derivatives. Read about engineering the computer game Spore @ http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/sep08/6594. You can also check out
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About Me
- Babak Makkinejad
- I had been a senior software developer working for HP and GM. I am interested in intelligent and scientific computing. I am passionate about computers as enablers for human imagination. The contents of this site are not in any way, shape, or form endorsed, approved, or otherwise authorized by HP, its subsidiaries, or its officers and shareholders.