SpyBot - Search and Destroy versus Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta)…. My personal experiences…
October 22, 2007
Ok… Where to start?
Well, I guess I will start at the beginning…..
Like many surfers and especially webmasters and webmarketers, I spend quite a bit of time running around the net, researching this, investigating that and so on.
So of course I come across any number of questionable websites with even more doubtful software. In many cases the webmasters aren’t even aware of how much damage that piece of software they are linking to can cause. In other cases, it’s the actual programmers, and of all people they should know better.
I have seen some messed up systems due to spyware, hackware and other malicious programs (and I am not even going to start talking about the viruses or Denial of Service attacks some people find amusing).
Not all to long ago, a friend of mine was surfing the web and came across a website that all of a sudden triggered a bunch of popups, one after the other, she couldn’t even close them down as fast as they were coming. Amongst all of those popups were also install windows and guess what???? They were set to run some macro that automatically assumed she had hit open (for the request to open, save or cancel) and the next thing she knew 6 new software programs had been installed on her computer.
Microsoft CRM: Implementation, Customization, Support ? Consultant Overview
October 22, 2007
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the US software market plus it makes advances in Europe. We expect substantial number growth of Microsoft CRM implementations across USA.
? Sales. Microsoft CRM in opposite to former CRM leaders, such as Siebel, Onyx, Saleslogix doesn’t need hard pushing sales efforts. It also should probably not be sold to the company top management, but rather to IT department enthusiasts, who are in charge for specific legacy business system support and data fixing. Microsoft CRM is very simple from business logic and intuitively understood by IT group. It is rather very simplified version of full-featured CRM, such as again Siebel.
? Installation. Microsoft CRM should be either hosted or installed by in-house IT group. And this is due to the fact, that MS CRM utilizes all the resent Microsoft technologies: MS Exchange Server 2003/2000, Active Directory, MS SQL Server, Crystal Reports Enterprise, MS Outlook client, Microsoft IIS, .Net components, etc. This makes installation sensitive to existing setup of the above components
Lotus Domino: Application Integration ? A Programmer View
October 21, 2007
There are two approaches for application integration:
? Programmer’s approach ? for applications integration it is necessary to create some program codes;
? Integrator’s approach ? in this case special software products are to be used and the integration process set up by those software settings. The following tools may be used for the first approach:
? ODBC. In Lotus Domino codes may be used:
o Three @-functions (@DbColumn, @DbLookUp and), which work with registrated ODBC-drivers . @DbColumn returns the whole column from external table, @DbLookUp process search by the key, and @DbCommand runs a command of ODBC-driver or external table (for ex, UDATE or DELETE);
o Three inside LotusScript Data Objects (LS:DO), which support connection process, running of SQL-request and provide operations with received result table. This tool is more flexible than usage of described above @-functions (specifically, transactions mechanism, errors handling, etc);
o Free NotesSQL ® ODBC-driver allows calling Lotus Domino databases by SQL. This method is available only for simple Lotus Domino databases, as them are not relation databases and SQL is not good to work with (problems with multiple fields values and different fields set in documents);
Document Templates Give You The Perfect Framework For Your Documents
October 20, 2007
When it comes to running an office, the SOHO entrepreneur has enough on his or her plate as it is. So if you find yourself in the unenviable position of regularly having to set aside your core competencies to handle tedious, repetitive administrative duties such as creating your business documents from scratch, then you need to consider the potential benefits offered by document templates.
Templates enable you to create professional documents that are unified in appearance. With a template, you’ll be able to access readymade documents that you’ll be able to manipulate via a step-by-step process to fit your specific needs. If you are new to the world of business, you can use templates to quickly, easily and efficiently create the professional quality documents you require. If you are familiar with creating business documents, you can use templates to save time.
You no doubt grasp the importance of standard documents such as contracts, business correspondence and agreements. But having to write, edit and print them up each and every single time they are needed is not only costly-in terms of taking away from mission-critical job duties-but also frustrating-in terms of forcing you to complete the same tasks over and over.
Microsoft CRM in Latin America: Implementation, Customization, Support ? Overview for Consultant
October 19, 2007
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the US software market plus it makes advances in Europe. We expect substantial number growth of Microsoft CRM implementations across South and Central America and the need for Microsoft CRM implementation, support, tuning, reporting, training services, especially in such countries as Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Chili, Costa Rica. In this small article we try to project US market lessons on Latin American business climate.
? Sales. Microsoft CRM in opposite to former CRM leaders, such as Siebel, Onyx, Saleslogix doesn’t need hard pushing sales efforts. It also should probably not be sold to the company top management, but rather to IT department enthusiasts, who are in charge for specific legacy business system support and data fixing. Microsoft CRM is very simple from business logic and intuitively understood by IT group. It is rather very simplified version of full-featured CRM, such as again Siebel.
? Installation. Microsoft CRM should be either hosted or installed by in-house IT group. And this is due to the fact, that MS CRM utilizes all the resent Microsoft technologies: MS Exchange Server 2003/2000, Active Directory, MS SQL Server, Crystal Reports Enterprise, MS Outlook client, Microsoft IIS, .Net components, etc. This makes installation sensitive to existing setup of the above components
Put Some Pizazz in Your Software Arsenal
October 18, 2007
The software giants don’t do everything and don’t always produce the result that we want. At least if you’re like me, and you’re not where you would like to be (profitwise).
The fact is that there are tons of small software companies looking for niche markets with products that do some very unique things such as: gather auction data from ebay, send masses of mail (not intended for spamming), keep track of your bowling league stats and so much more. The majority of these are marketing their stuff as shareware.
If you haven’t heard that word before, it means that you can download software and test drive it for a short time (generally a month). If it does what you want/need done then you must register (pay).
Pricewise most of it is far less expensive than the major vendors, though it is usually more specific in it’s purpose. In other words they don’t try to be everything to everyone.
The good part is that when a company narrows its’ focus the results can be very impressive. If you’re not selling fluff you can get a lot done.
S is for Spying, Surveillance — and for Software as Well
October 17, 2007
Words we choose to describe things and phenomena often show our attitude towards what we say. They imperceptibly reflect our opinions and judgments, prejudices and preferences, moral convictions and beliefs. Whether we like it or not, good deal of words we use are biased, or should I say “slanted”, –positively or negatively. Two people will call the same thing differently, depending on their points of view.
Look at this example: “Monitoring”, “surveillance”, “control”, “data interception”, “gathering evidence of wrongdoing” — on the one hand; “sleuthing”, “spying”, “eavesdropping”, “snooping”, “peeping”, “prying”, “tapping”–on the other. A neutral “information gathering device” vs. negatively loaded “bug”–choice of words clearly shows whether we approve or disapprove it.
If you feel you have right to do so, you are “monitoring my kids’ online behavior”; your resentful kids, however, might think you are to poking your nose into their lives. The same at work–but here it is you who is the person under surveillance, and your opinion might differ from the CEO’s, who probably thinks that “workplace surveillance software improves employees’ performance and prevents violations of security policy and corporate code of conduct” (or something similar).
Five Reasons for Using an O/R Mapping Tool
October 17, 2007
So, why should you use any O/R mapping tool? I am not talking about a specific tool but rather all O/R mapping tools in general. There are a number of reasons for using an O/R mapping tool but before I dive into that, let me give you a brief overview of what an O/R mapping tool really is.
An O/R mapping tool generates persistence objects for your .NET application. It is a modeling and code generation tool that connects to your database and reads its schema, then lets you map objects to database tables and views, specify single-row insert, update, load, and delete operations, queries and stored procedure calls, as methods to these objects. And, it also lets you define one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many relationships between objects based on relationships between tables in the database. It then generates fully working persistence objects code for you.
There are many other features that a good O/R mapping tool provides but I’m keeping my description brief so I can talk more about the benefits.
Reason 1: Cuts down your development time
Five Tips For A Great Software Demo
October 16, 2007
Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your customer, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later, you will need to demo your software product.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to perform hundreds of demos to audiences of various sizes. I’ve also had the chance to attend demos hosted by others. The following represent the top 5 tips I’ve learned over the last decade regarding demos.
Manage Your Audience’s Expectations
Have you ever gone to see a movie everyone raved about and walk out totally disappointed? More often than not, moviegoers feel let down not because the picture was bad, but rather because it was worse than they anticipated. It didn’t meet their expectations.
Similarly, if people show up to a demo thinking they’re about to see a finished product, they expect it to be virtually defect-free, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly. They wouldn’t be impressed for example with a Web-based application that contains typos or JavaScript errors if they’re under the impression it’s going live in a week. However, if they know beforehand that you’re presenting a throwaway prototype, this same audience will be much more lenient. And they will gladly provide much-needed feedback to help you with your work in progress.
OSI Layers Model
October 15, 2007
Introduction
During the early years of our modern computer era, very few standards and protocols existed between various manufacturers. However, as time went on and computer technology continued to improve and become more widespread, it became apparent that standards would be necessary to ensure compatibility. This was especially true with regard to networks, and networking technology. Since the main purpose of a network is to share information, a standard that governs how this information is formatted, transmitted, received and verified would make it possible for information to be shared openly, even when dealing with dissimilar networks.
This need for a standard means of implementing open communications led the ISO and ANSI to develop the seven-layer network communications model known as Open Systems Interconnect. By providing guidelines regarding the way network equipment should be manufactured and how network operating systems communicate on a network, the OSI model became the common link that allows data to be transmitted and exchanged reliably. Although it does not actually perform any functions or do any of the actual work, the OSI model defines the way things should be done by the software and hardware on a network so that communications can take place between two computers or nodes.
