Designing an Web Interface.

Lately I have started to love to think about user interface, specially web user interface. I’m not sure where I caught the bug from or how it began, but it has kept me thinking a lot lately of how to design webui.

There are lot of design sites and consultants and some of them you can find on nettuts.com or on W3CSites.com but these are again one page design and my head is filled with more of design issues we face in business software, especially communication software ( microsoft exchange sucsk ) and in particular e-commerce.

Here’s the layout I came up with, and this very basic and will be progressively enhanced later on.

There are some issues i know, like the footer still looks ugly and clueless.

By the way this is just a layout design and has no content design added as of yet, but it would be interesting to read comments and get feedback on this. Please feel free to do so.

I will publishing more enhancements later on.

Oracle has bought SUN

It’s official and it’s out Oracle will buy Sun for 7.4 Billion dollars.

My hands are trembling as I write this, as I’m unable to comprehend the outcome of
this single biggest and significant deal in the history of software and hardware.

I’m really concerned about the openness of Java and Solaris, that we have enjoyed so
far and the opportunities that Java has created everywhere in the world.

Let’s hope and pray things remain as it is.

Project Euler – Problem 5

Problem 5 was easy, but was taking a long time in Python. So I tried it in Java, it took around 8 min to get the answer.

Here’s the code.

public class Problem5 {

public static void main(String[] args) {
Problem5 prob = new Problem4();
double number = 1.0;
while ( !prob.isDivisible(number)){
number += 1;

}

System.out.println( “————-” + number );

}

public boolean isDivisible( double number ){
boolean div = true;

for( int i =1; i <= 20 ; i ++) {
if (number % i != 0){
div = false;
}
}

return div;

}
}

Programming langauge Agnostic – PLA

In Computer world, You will always read one language being compared to another… One web framework compared to another… one javascript framework… widget system being compared to another, and frankly I was ( am, still to some extent )addicted to such post, blogs, wikis etc.

But the real challenge is to identify a problem that you want to solve. Tools have kept changing and will change in the future. ( remember stone age tools and now modern tools ). Tools are made after somebody encountered a problem and tried to solve it. There are problem all around us, all you need is an eye for it and aptitude to solve one.

I bet if you are not solving somebody else’s problem than that’s a problem. Otherwise you will not be in a job for a long time. You work somewhere and get paid because there is a problem and you are in their eyes qualified and competent to solve that. And there is benefit coming to somebody by you solving their problem.

Back to PLA. You want to write something like a number fairly quickly.. you won’t power on a computer, start a spreadsheet and not down the number. You don’t even need a computer to do that. The problem of writing something quickly and conveniently can be done by using pen or pencil. But what if you write too many numbers down…like some phone number or sales order or some document number, and you need to quickly find out what the name of person against that number. For this problem you would require a computing device. What could be the best, efficient and easiest way to do this- i would leave that you.

Point is there are problems and there are solutions and there are tools. But the most important is to identify and solve the problem in best way giving maximum benefit using minimum tool.

Be language agnostic, framework, OS agnostic and look at the problem than at tools. Remember tools will change and you need to figure out how to use but more importantly where to use them.

London Stock Exchange chooses windows over Linux for reliability – What Crap !

There was an outage at London stock Exchange that went for more than 7 Hrs. And believe me that’s serious because it’s a STOCK EXCHANGE. Couple of months ago you would have noticed the Microsoft “Get the facts” campaign. There, in one of those they claimed “London Stock Exchange chooses windows over Linux for reliability”. 

 

I don’t claim Linux is superb for reliability, but it lets it’s server do the talking rather than it’s marketing.

Windows is “Lipstick on the PIG”.

Google Chrome … It’s here

download it from here

Here it’s running on my desktop.

Google Chrome and it’s implication.

Today morning i read an incredible news … News about Google Chrome – an open source browser based on Mozilla Firefox and WebKit. It’s got tonnes of improvements specially in the areas of speed, security and memory. It’s got a virtual machine V8. I haven’t tried it out yet ( can’t wait though ), I just read their comic strip on their official blog, but for me the thought looming on my head are the implications of this. Microsoft unfortunately couldn’t take much advantage of it’s IE browser, now it seems to loose out completely in browser war. Here is what i think are the implications of this new browser.

1> Microsoft finally admits that it’s a looser. It just can win the web/browser war anymore and slowly the market share  of IE drop from 70-75% t0 30-35%.

2> As the major browser are the open source, standard based browser, there is an explosion of functionality and capability long promised, but held back in these browsers primarily due to IE dominance. The browser becomes the “application’s platform” rather than just document( Web 2.0 ).

3> I see Opera joining Firefox, and working on firefox base and putting the good stuff of opera in firefox.

4> I see Apple leading WebKit in a different direction.

5> With Google Gears, the browser starts becoming peer to peer or decentralized pockets of computing.

Imagine small parts of application server spread out into the browser of it’s users.

5> I see browser war emerging again from it’s ashes. Microsoft – Mozilla – Opera – Apple – Google – Yahoo all fight to control the browser space, though everybody working on the common goal of standardizing the web ( except you know who ).

6> I see Web Application Science as a major in Universities and colleges.

7> I see semantic web.

What do you see ?

Dim dumbUser As Microsoft

Perhaps you ‘ve read too many blogs of how Linux outshines Windows in so many areas that even at this time of eclipse we are able to see the diamond ring of Linux.

But I don’t agree to this fact, i say that it’s not upto the OS or Application but it’s upto Consumer. If the Consumer is dumb as far as computer’s is concerned don’t ever in your wildest of dream suggest Linux OS or Solaris to him. He would come back to you saying what the f* with this all root,boot and swap, and your impression would be, like mine ‘ve been what got me to suggest this to him.

I was a window user ( when i didn’t knew how to shut down and instead of shutting down i used to power down directly ), but i was also a dumb user. Today I can do so much on Linux without fear, with so much performance from my Compaq Presario P3 that I am happy.

But OpenSource/Linux is not just about an OS or Application for the first time in the history of mankind and computers a group of people created something so Unique that it’s providing cheap computers in Africa, India, China, Thailand and Job Oppurtinities in traditional Linux/Unix markets and IS taking on Microsoft.

For the first time, You who has the time to read this blog ( doesn’t mean anything derogatory ) can create a business out of it, and create Local Wealth from it for your community and Country,

as there no PATENTS issue involved in OpenSource, all the money goes to you and not some company

.

Every dumb user ( including me ) starts with Windows OS and slowly he stops being dumb and outgrows the OS and then he finds his/her match in Linux/Unix domains and leaves wearing diapers.

There is a Buddhist story that i would like to narrate here…

———————————————————————————————-

Once there were two thieves, and they heard that in the next village due a great flood, the people ‘ve abandoned their houses and belongings and had fled to higher lands for safety.

So it was unto these thieves to collect all that was left over in that village, so they went to that village.

They both came across some haystack and they both collected it and mounted it on their head and went ahead. Later on they both came across some nice clothes so the first thief brought down his haystack and replaced it with clothes, the other said hey i’m pretty comfortable by now carrying this burden and so i will skip this and go on with haystack.

Next they came over some silver, the first thief again replaced the clothes that he was carrying with the silver and the other thief again said about comfort and stuff.

Next they came across some gold and same thing happened.

At the end of day they went back to their village only to find that the thief who always replaced the stuff on his head with something better was liked by his family and himself( which is good ) and other was despised by his family and himself ( which is normal and bad ).

Moral : Always replace something that you’re using by something that’s better out there. Don’t stick to

it just because you ‘ve become comfortable with it ( in this case Windows, replace it with Linux—- Greatest feature for me –Not Having to reinstall OS in the last 4 months while connected to Internet and not a single VIRUS ) .

P.S

I wrote this on StarOffice8( FREE) on Fedora Core 3 Operating System (FREE ), as I am scared of Formatting features of the Microsoft Word on top of that frequent crashes on Microsoft Windows XP.

Damn Computer Science

First let me tell you who i am.

I am a graduate from Pune University, India and majored In Computer Science.

When i choosed computer science ( CS ) four years ago i choosed it for the love of it and also for the fact

that i will get a better job opportunity in India. Alas it wasn’t meant to be. Today I felt this, I am doing a course at PICT-SITM ( for placement purpose off course ) and i was being taught EJB, for those who don’t know what that is please stop reading this blog and go somewhere else.

I was surrounded by non engineers and specially people of non IT background, and i was being taught by an B.E Electronics graduate.

You might say this is good but i don’t agree. The amalgamation of the fields of Engineering fostered by the Great Indian IT Industry whose sole purpose is not to create and promote technology but to sell whatever the US or UK clients demands at prices that would be pitied in those country.

I mean you don’t go to pathologist when you need orthopedic, but in this case you certainly do.

I’ll explain you the whole scenario.

In India there was a huge demand for Computer Science graduate as the new core Computer technology wave came into this country, i am talking before the great bubble. But after bubble equation s of the game changed and so called OUTSOURCING phenomenon came into picture. It merely means that US and Europe sub contract their software projects to India because it’s cheap labour and plenty of English speaking army of graduate as compared to China.

After OUTSOURCING came into prominent focus with companies becoming billion dollar industry.

Leading in the forefront is Infosys, Tata Consultancy, Persistent, Cybage etc etc.

These companies are software solution provider and they started to recruit Engineers from other streams such as like Electronics, Mechanical, Polymer you just name it and THEY GOT IT.

Except they recruit Computer Science Engineers the least. I hear people who have done who’ve studied Agriculture are now earning Rs 60,000 that’s $1200 per month ( that’s good amount of money here in India ) just after doing a course of Visual Basic, or doing something based on Microsoft Technology.

Damn Microsoft for making this field trivial and full of shit. If anyone of you are listening please download and install linux operating system from Red Hat Fedora ( Google it for links ) and try it out You can have it along with windows OS. For the sake of future and our children support Open Source.

None the less majoring in Computer Science bacame non fruitfull ( oh ! those night’s and night’s of UNIX, C, C++ and JAVA Programming ).

I along with my batchmates some of them of good potential ‘re still looking for promising jobs ( not in BPO. ) but as the trends are that seems unlikely possible.

If you ‘ve somebody who is interested in majoring in Computer Science stream warn him of these treacherous time that will follow and tell him to major in other streams or take law for instance.

There’s no glory in Computer Science stream, there’s nothing poetic about it.

P.S

I wrote this on StarOffice8( FREE) on Fedora Core 3 Operating System (FREE ), as I am scared of Formatting features of the Microsoft Word on top of that frequent crashes on Microsoft Windows XP.

Homage to THE BUDDHA

This is my first blog ever and pay my respect to the Buddha, so we all live mindfully and wakefully in life.