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There is an ancient saying that “the only thing that does not change is change itself”. This is true! So, the real question, in software development, is how do we deal, effectively, with change? This is a tough question and over the past three decades of Rapid Application Development, there have been different approaches to dealing with change.

Looking back to my own personal experience in Information Technology (since around 1990, after finishing college), it is best to get all requirements up front for any project. Sound idealistic? Perhaps, but this is the best way to ensure the successful completion of a project (e.g. software development project). If you have changing requirements throughout a programming project then you will be creating scenarios that could seriously frustrate efforts to getting the program (e.g. final code) out the door.

We live in the real world with real change and real needs to update requirements. So, this is not to criticize Project Managers in any way. In fact, I have great respect for Project Managers. It is not easy to deal with changing requirements and get programmers to incorporate such updates into their code.

However, at some point, there needs to be an end to requirement changes and a beginning to lasting changes in the computer code that actually creates the program. Programmers are not gods, they are people (I am sure there are some programmer gods out there, but I’m talking about the general programming population here). Working hard to get all requirements up front is like designing a house with a solid design on paper and then working to create that design. It is also like planning a trip. If you plan, say, 90% of your itinerary, you will most likely fulfill that itinerary with minimal problems.

For several months now, there has been strong speculation that Google is, once again, plotting to take over the universe. Actually, the sector of the universe they are pursuing right now is the most popular social networking platform of all: Facebook. Yes, that is right – Facebook. Different sources from diverse sectors of the web and major social networks have leaked that Google is planning to release information to the public sometime this fall about this new concept and model for social networking, alias, Google-style. Will a new Googlebook (let’s call this new platform Googlebook for now, just for argument-sake) put a dent into the Facebook user community? Will people migrate in a major or minor scale to a new social networking platform released by Google, or will things stay pretty much as they are now? Let me know your thoughts. I am as eager to hear about this new platform as you are. Cheers, Keith

Recently, I was checking out some articles on the web that were written originally by English Teachers and today are archived for public access. There were some really nice articles written on academia, learning, and also “e-learning” which was a new term back in the 1970s. Today, e-learning is as commonplace as wi-fi at Starbucks. Did I learn something from these articles? Indeed, I did. They confirmed for me and helped me revisit an important conclusion about learning “methologies”. Essentially, there are four of them. Three are well-known, and one is a big unknown, but after this blog post you should feel otherwise.

1. There are visual learners who depend upon visual symbols like diagrams and video. So, if you are a professor and have many of these kinds of students, you must prepare lots of good charts to support your lectures.

2. There are audio learners. These are individuals who are able to assimilate your direct words into meaning without necessarily consulting a visual prop. I am an audio learner and therefore love audio books.

3. There are kinetic learners. These are people who can only learn by doing. They need to take something apart and rebuild it to learn, as a case in point. Many engineers are kinetic learners.

4. Finally, there are writing learners. They actually learn by writing about something. Is this a branch of #3? Perhaps. At the same time, they are merely writing about something without physically engaging in a learning activity. It is amazing how authors use this approach to deliver a script, book, movie, etc. and these reading these words experience something from their words.

Wishing you all a restful weekend,

Keith

Dear Readers and Visitors:

This morning, I finally finished composing a free e-book that describes the basics of a fine utility program that is available as a free download from CNET’s website download dot com, called Advanced System Care v3.6.1. This remarkable program inspects and repairs your computer (desktop, laptop, netbook, etc.) system and works with the very latest in anti-virus, defrag, and other relevant technologies. It is clearly on par with giants like Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials. Advanced System Care addresses sensitive issues like privacy, temporary files, and log files, all of which today need to be addressed, lest a spyware program gain new insights into your browsing or confidential information that you thought was safely stored on your local drive. Like AC/DC once sang “watch your back”. So, true, especially in the evolving Internet age.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MY E-BOOK ABOUT ADVANCED SYSTEM CARE v3.6.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ADVANCED SYSTEM CARE 3.6.1 FROM CNET.

Regards and Best Wishes for a relaxing weekend,

Keith

With a subscriber base at nearly 60,000 people, the site called FILEHIPPO is truly a success. What they do is list the most popular and vibrant applications and resources that are being downloaded on the Internet. Why is this important? It is because whether you are a student or business person, you need to know what people are doing and where their concerns presently rest. Are they worried about system security? Are they downloading the latest release of Firefox or Chrome? At File Hippo, you will find this out for yourself. Here is the URL for File Hippo: http://filehippo.com. Wishing you all a nice and restful weekend, Keith

The Cloud refers to the overall network and array of servers that comprise the Internet across the globe. Even though Google, for example, is located in Mountain View, California (west coast of the continental USA), they have servers around the globe. Similarly, other companies utilize cloud technologies to empower their web and other network-based services.

This past week, my website was hacked and a malicious software was installed on my local HP laptop and I could not rid my computer of this application. So, I had to reformat my machine with a clean install on the local hard drive. Fortunately, I had all of my important information copied on the cloud. It is important to remember that the NET is still like the wild west of historical America. There are both cowboys and indians. So, what I am saying is that the NET is not always safe. Your computer, alias any computer, can get hacked even if you have current resources and a well-established firewall. Hackers seem to be able to get by these defense mechanisms and indeed they do. Obviously, I am not going to tell you where my files have backup copies, but let me suffice to say that I use the cloud on a regular basis to ensure that my data is copied, safe, and accessible should my local laptop get a fatal virus, get hacked, or get trashing in some other way.

Our lives are truly virtual these days. Agree? Good! So, with that said, take necessary precautions to ensure your virtual life. Whether it be passwords, applications, and/or data, get your data backed up as soon as possible. Unfortunately, one of the down-sides of open-source software is that not all programmers have positive intentions. There are some hacker-type programmers out there that simply like to cause trouble and so inject malicious code into what otherwise is a respectable evolution of code for positive ends.

Learn to harness the power of the cloud today, if you can. There are quite a few free resources and e-books and white papers about cloud computing.

All The Best,

Keith

This week, my blog was hacked because the server company I use (Media Temple) was hacked and more specifically, WordPress blogs like mine were injected with some aggressive and hostile code that forced me to clean up my database, but unfortunately, when I went to my site while it was hacked, a lethal spyware was installed on my local machine so the only way I could get rid of this program was to completely reformat my machine and do a clean install of Windows 7 and then reinstall all my programs. Fortunately, all my best work is copied on the cloud at Google. The only issue I faced was in deleting the Windows.old folder that is created when you do a clean install of the OS. All you need to do is use a program called Disk Cleanup (just go to Start and type in the Search box “disk cleanup” and the program displays there). Click on this program and click on the button called Clean Up System Files. The program will inspect your hard drive(s) and also include in the clean-up list the old Windows installations.

Once the Previous Windows Installations check box appears in the Disk Cleanup window, click the OK button to delete these previous installations.

So, if you have a virus, spyware, or malware of any kind that might still be in those files, they are finally gone forever now. I knew, immediately, that the program that was downloaded from my blog was malware because I could not delete it from my system. Also, my Microsoft Windows Security Essentials program warned me there was something malicious about the program, which I did not want to download in the first place. The web is still full of hackers people. Stay safe! Our lives are increasingly virtual and so you need to take precautions to protect yourself.

All The Best,

Keith

Recently, I was reading my Computer Magazine from the IEEE Society (where I am a member) and there was an advertisement for Google Code University. Amazing? You bet. Google now is featuring this website so that programmers and developers, students, and entrepreneurs can all collaborate, discover, and mutually benefit from sharing code, coding and software design techniques and more.

Collaboration is a powerful tool for learning. Sometimes when you learn alongside with other people, the learning curve is accelerated and you learn faster. That has definitely been my experience over the years. So, for those of you who are game, check it out: Google Code University. This is definitely going to be a challenger for Microsoft’s Code Plex website (Microsoft collaboration website).

Click here to check out Google Code University.

As I learn how to use Document! X to document assemblies, components, and databases, I turn to the Help tab within Document! X. It is truly helpful. It is well designed and truly written to help the new software user. The welcome page gives you a few brief video tutorials to get you started. After that, you can navigate the TOC in the left pane to find exactly what you need or you can go directly to the Search tab, also located in the left pane. The Help file is essentially a CHM file that is called as you select Help from within the Help tab of the main Document! X menu system, which, BTW, is set-up in the same way that Microsoft Word 2007 is set up. Indeed, developers who are writing code need to take advantage of this fantastic resource so that if they need to revisit their compiled programs, they will be able to see back into their code and the Microsoft .NET framework with the insightful details provided by this program. Regards, Keith

Yesterday, I was searching for a quality e-book on public speaking and I stumbled upon this fine website called MANY BOOKS DOT NET. Wow, what an incredible e-book resource. Kudos and many thanks to the founder and administrator of this site. There are over 27,000 e-book titles you can download from this site. Mind you, this is not a techie website, but rather a cultural and general educational type of e-book that you will encounter here. Even as a Technical Writer, I need to revisit important cultural and educational facts and ideas. We are always human beings (lol). So, take a quick surf over to MANY BOOKS DOT NET when you can. It is really great and I guarantee you will find at least one e-book that you will cherish for present or future reading. Cheers, Keith