Being commissioned for the development of a large software system caused me to reflect on the sources of past software production faults. Three elementary sources of problems were minimal or unacceptable project visibility, compressed schedule, and incomplete requirements analysis and design. These elementary problems resulted in secondary problems such as faulty software implementation, seemingly endless […]
Gmail’s “Why Use Gmail?” page suggests that “storing mail in folders with subfolders and nested sub-sub folders is not a productive way to spend your day.” Because search is Google’s primary strength, they encourage users of their free email service to perform a search query for an email of interest rather than actively organize their […]
The Linux Programmer’s Manual states, “ldd prints the shared libraries required by each program or shared library specified on the command line.” This tool is useful when setting up a chrooted shell environment. It is also useful when creating custom boot CDs, which may include programs that dynamically link to shared libraries.
All things mechanical will fail. A lack of sound disaster recovery procedures should keep a knowledgeable IT administrator awake at night. Measures to prevent data loss are needed by many recovery scenarios and are a worthwhile vehicle to discuss the overall need to practice disaster recovery procedures. Data backups are a key component of disaster […]
The desire of managers to be involved with technology is natural. They want to seem able to learn quickly and adapt. After all, failing to use new technologies puts a company at a disadvantage against its competitors. Effective use of technology can develop a small upstart into a best-of-breed market dominator. Management sees the potential […]