Fortune 500: Wal-Mart rules yet again

Fortune magazine released it's Fortune 500 list yesterday and no surprises there, Wal-Mart retained it's title as the # 1 company in the US. Another company I love, GE stood at #5. Not surprisingly, Enron and WorldCom are nowhere to be seen. According to Fortune's Editors if Wal-Mart continues bringing in profits like this, it could very well open up a gap between other top companies and maintain it's position for many years. Personally, I love Wal-Mart, Why? because of it's low prices and it's penetration in US cities. Wherever I have stayed in US, I could find my friendly neighbourhood Wal-Mart. Most of the times I've had choices of what Wal-Mart store to visit because of their proximity. Another reason for this love is one project I did for Wal-Mart while working for GE Appliances. Cool !!

JavaScript gets XML [ via Loosely Coupled weblog ]

JavaScript now known as ECMAScript is getting native XML support.

ECMA International (ECMA) is completing extensions to the widely used ECMAScript standard, currently being updated to its 4th Edition. The enhancements known as E4X (ECMAScript for XML) standardize the syntax and semantics of a general-purpose, cross-platform, vendor-neutral set of programming language extensions adding native XML support in ECMAScript.

This is a great step given the importance of XML in Web Services world. It would be interesting to see how client side functionalities get extended with the XML support.

The Myth of Loosely Coupled Web Services

In his Opinari Newsletter, David Chappell breaks some more myths about Loosely coupled web services. He compares loose coupling to asynchronous communication and then goes on to tell that WS-ReliableMessaging will allow Loose Coupling of web services. I haven't yet gone through this spec but looks like I may have to soon. For the uninitiated, here are some more links on this new spec.

Patching made painless

InfoWorld reports, Microsoft has released SUS (Software Update Services) 1.0 which allows companies to have their own update server within the intranet. Apart for being free, the software will reduce headaches for SysAdmins. In a big enterprise, updating servers and PC's is a big pain and I have been feeling this pain for quite some time now (not applying patches but validating those).

SUS uses the latest version of the Automatic Update client, installed as part of either Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or Windows XP Service Pack 1, which allows redirection to the SUS server through use of an Active Directory group policy, or a modification of the desktop's or server's registry keys. SUS only accepts content that's signed by Microsoft, so security is much less of an issue than it might otherwise be.

But SUS just takes care of enterprises (big and SMB's), for individuals Windows Update is still the best bet.

Pop-up ads, spam and those old jokes

Writes Rob Pegoraro in his Fast Forward column:

The Internet comes with its share of annoyances, most of which -- spam, viruses and those old jokes your friends can't seem to stop forwarding to you -- have exhibited a cockroach-like tenacity despite our efforts to make them go away.

Well, the article focuses on blocking Pop-ups but the above statement is so true. Getting old joke(s), again and again from different set of friends is annoying but what can you do. You can't tell them, stop sending me this crap. Jokes are meant to make you laugh but these mails take every bit of smile away from your face while breaking your concentration and impairing productivity. But as I said, What can you do?

While I am on subjects of email, Read this very good article on when to email, what to email, who to email etc.

Martin Fowler on design of distributed objects

In the April issue of SDMagazine, Martin Fowler discusses how the design of distributed objects interfaces affects the performance of the system.

The overriding theme, in OO expert Colleen Roe’s memorable phrase, is to be “parsimonious with object distribution.” Sell your favorite grandma first if you possibly can.

Good Read. BTW, This article is adapted from his new but already famous book, Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture.

Good enough for today and at the right price

Read this Infoworld article by Chad Dickerson. He talks of integrating off-the-shelf software and outsourcing as the trends that will outlast the current economic downturn. At the end of the article, he twists a famous phrase by Steve Jobs of Apple as:

...enterprise IT has moved on from "insanely great" to "good enough for today and at the right price."

So true. I see this happening all the time and more so in the last few months. I have seen that the IT attitudes have changed but it is very difficult to change the habits of end users/clients. They have been accustomed to getting things done their way all the time. Guess these attitudes will have to change sooner than later.

The Deliberate Revolution: Transforming Integration With XML Web Services

Came across a great article on web services by Mike Burner, a software architect at Microsoft. Some very good information in there, especially the section on Service Patterns, where he describes the use of patterns for designing web services. The patterns he describes includes, Facade (to encapsulate complexity), Interception (Is this the same as Proxy pattern?) and few other non-standard ones (EAI Hubs, Information Portals, Catalog Publication, Business Process Management etc). To conclude the article he writes:

As the Internet becomes the backbone for data and application integration, common schema for describing our world and our interactions will unblock the flow of information between organizations, and allowing us to communicate with a precision we have never known before. But this shift requires organizations, from small businesses to world governments, to reconsider how data and processes are managed. The software industry, meanwhile, must deliver on technology that allows people to express and manipulate the information that drives our businesses, our societies, and our social interactions. Web services promise to be central to every facet of the transformation

I would rate the article as essential read for anyone interested in Web Services.

Red Herring Ceases Publication

One of my favorite magazines, Red Herring is shutting down. During the last three years of reading the magazine, I learnt a lot about different businesses, mostly upcoming ones as the magazine focussed most on the venture capital scene and technology companies during the dot-com boom. March will be the last issue of the magazine. I wonder what will happen of other new economy magazines.

Update: I received an email from Tony Perkins (co-founder of Red Herring and AlwaysOn) about his personal views on the closing of Red Herring and its potential revival that he has posted on AlwaysOn. I am sure Tony will keep alive the passion of Red Herring in the form of AlwaysOn.

Ten things to know about XDocs (Infopath)

Jon Udell writes about ten things you must know about Infopath (previously caled XDocs). From the Microsoft InfoPath preview site:

Microsoft InfoPath™ (previously code-named "XDocs"), is a new product in the Microsoft Office family and streamlines the process of gathering information by enabling teams and organizations to easily create and work with rich, dynamic forms. The information collected can be integrated with a broad range of business processes because InfoPath supports any customer-defined XML schema and integrates with XML Web services. As a result, InfoPath helps to connect information workers directly to organizational information and gives them the ability to act on it, which leads to greater business impact.

Jon further discusses InfoPath in his blog. Also check out this article on XML capabilities in Office 11.

Here's what I feel of Mike Tyson

Open this Photo Gallery and goto the last photograph (# 8). This is exactly what I feel about Iron Mike. Shut up now.

Perspective on Web Services

Another article on Web Services, this time by a credible source as Eric Newcomer (CTO at IONA). Eric discusses the evolution of Web Services and the roadblocks to a standardized world of Web Services. He writes:

..today we sit at a fork in the road of Web services evolution. There are two paths that the industry can take, with each path leading to a distinct and different future. One road leads to a truly standardized world where corporations fully reap the benefits of Web services by untangling the "spaghetti mess" of IT systems. The second road leads back to yesteryear, where proprietary systems ruled the day, maximizing vendor service and maintenance revenue, and killing end-user flexibility and return on investment.

Accepting that we have the core standards (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI) in place, standardized and accepted by almost everyone, he says that the fight has reached the next level and this is where Security, transactions, reliable messaging and orchestration comes.

True, This is what is hampering the adoption and deployment of web services. Security is the primary concern but we've got a good start with WS-Security specification (and other related specs) but Orchestration and Messaging involves lots of players (few unheard of before) and quite diverse ones two. It would be interesting to see the tug of war between the Vendors and the standards bodies and hopefully we will have universally accepted standards for these also.

Microsoft goes after Spammers, Finally

Some days back I reported the reduction in spam that I noticed on my hotmail account. Well, That didn't last very long. Spam is back again to its glory days but looks like not for long. Microsoft has finally decided to go after the Spammers and has filed a so-called John Doe suit in the federal court for the northern district of California in San Jose. The suit doesn’t name defendants, but allows the plaintiff the power to issue subpoenas as part of the investigative phase of the trial.

Consolidate Database Servers

Last week's InformationWeek had a story on how many companies have database software that uses only 10% to 15% of capacity and how a startup Savantis Systems comes to the rescue for such companies.

The Savantis solution, dbSwitch™, maximizes database availability while minimizing the costs of hardware and software. The patent-pending dbSwitch technology allows data centers to pool database servers in order to leverage resources across multiple applications. The result is a Database Area Network (DAN), a unique network-based approach to the provisioning and management of database services. Servers and databases may be added to the DAN without requiring any changes to the DBMS or to database applications.

Over the years I have seen so many database servers getting wasted with just 40-50 GB data and I have also seen the opposite, where database rationing was the utmost priority. This product when released can certainly reduce the hardware costs and what more would you want in today's world. Keep an eye.

Ink-based form designer [ via Shawn A. Van Ness's Blog]

This is so cool, a pen-based forms design tool for Visual Studio.Net. This was demo'ed in VSLive! and Shawn writes that they wowed a late-evening tired crowd. I say who won't get wowed by such a tool, the dead ones are already turning up in their graves....:)

[Also posted at My .Net Weblog]

Google buys Pyra Labs (the makers of Blogger)

This is huge news with even huge implications. Read all about it in Dan Gillmor's blog. More to follow.

HTML Tree Graph

Found an implementation of HTML tree graph on an unknown weblog to me. I really liked it. Basically it uses XSLT to convert a XML file to pure HTML. But then this guy had used Java to convert the XML to HTML. Well, apparently one line does this in ASP.Net. This line:

<asp:Xml id="myXml" DocumentSource="tree.xml" TransformSource="tree.xslt" runat="server" />

Here's the output:


[Also posted at My .Net Weblog]

The J2EE v .NET 'split' is nothing to do with Web services [via WebServices.org]

Tom Welsh tries to clear confusing and misunderstood view that industry is "split" because some organizations are basing their Web services on J2EE, while others prefer .Net. In an article on The Register he writes:

If everyone was ever going to settle for using nothing but Windows, they could all interoperate using COM+ or .Net Remoting. Or if we all agreed to standardise on J2EE, all we would need would be RMI and JMS. Actually, CORBA would have done the trick across all platforms, but it was "politically" unacceptable - meaning that Microsoft (among others) was so committed to talking it down that a U-turn would have involved too much loss of face. The Web services initiative could turn out to be IT's Project Apollo, in that it aims to open up a whole new application space that has hitherto been largely inaccessible. That space comprises fast, smooth, reliable automated interoperation between disparate computer systems, even those that belong to different corporate networks. Like Apollo, it will be a long job, because a set of wholly new technical problems needs to be solved - and before they can be solved, they have to be identified. But success is likely in the long term, simply because everyone has joined forces in the common cause.

Good read.

Microsoft muscles into business reporting

CNet News.com reports:

Microsoft plans to embed a business-reporting feature into its SQL Server database software, a move that will likely cause jitters among specialized business-reporting software companies.

I love companies throwing such surprises. This will be very interesting to see how Crystal Decisions and other vendors react to this development. Crystal Decisions already ships Crystal Reports with Visual Studio.Net.

[Also posted at My .Net Weblog]

Web Service-Oriented Architecture [Via CapeBlog]

Good article on Web services oriented architecture by the Cape Science CEO, Annraí O'Toole.

This article discusses some historic approaches to building service-oriented architectures and outlines the key failures of previous technologies. In particular, this article shows how Web Services technologies, through the provision of ubiquitous, Internet-based, and document-oriented technologies, provide the compelling foundation for implementing Web Service-oriented architectures, and consequently, that Web Services represent the best solution to business integration.