ParaSail: Parallel Specification and Implementation Language

Check out the Designing ParaSail, A New Programming Language blog for upcoming ParaSail talks in Edinburgh and Portland.

What is ParaSail, and why should you care?

The number of cores in our processors proliferate, but individual programs continue to do a poor job at parallel processing. Sure, your OS can run your email client on one core and your image editing on another. But how about running that image editor's compression algorithm on a batch of 17 files efficiently, spread across your four, six or more cores? That's a job for the application, or just perhaps, the compiler.

ParaSail is a new, concise programming language that by its design makes it intuitive for developer to write programs that can be efficiently processed in parallel and, at the same time, be inherently safe and secure. In fact the language's constructs hinder writing in declarative style. Principal designer S. Tucker Taft claims that the programmer has to work harder to force sequential evaluation.

As multi-core processors proliferate, languages such as ParaSail will help applications take advantage of increased throughput by easily and reliably executing in parallel at the thread, not application, level.

JDM

eWeek: Enterprise Mobility: RIM BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Spied at Gartner Conference

Nicholas Kolakowski shares on eWeek, reveals a RIM Playbook on display at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2010. Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2010, with a

7-inch screen, front- and rear-facing cameras (presumably for video conferencing) and a slim form-factor. RIM claims a PlayBook screen resolution of 1,024 by 600...

Compare to: Samsung Tab, Apple iPad. Think: Flash, QNX RTOS, open. Wait for: release date.

Q: PlayBook: for enterprise, or play?

Photo source: msn.com

CNN: AT&T: The most hated company in iPhone land

David Goldman compares the perception and the reality behind AT&T's network woes ("fastest 3G network") and Verizon's marketing field day ("more 3G coverage"). Network strain at AT&T may be contributed to the success of the iPhone; would Verizon have fared better?

"For Verizon ... we still wonder if the network has the capacity and backhaul to support a device with an adoption curve of the iPhone," said Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen in a client note.

Q: How reliable is your network?

News Alert: MassTLC merges MassNetComms into the fold - Mass High Tech Business News

News Alert: MassTLC merges MassNetComms into the fold - Mass High Tech Business News





The MassTLC name and current president Tom Hopcroft remain, MassNetComms' Mark Horan taking on a senior vice president role in the new organization.

Software firms enabling work-from-home jobs - Mass High Tech Business News

Galen Moore reports on Massachusetts startup firms using work-at-home for cost savings to IBM at-home employees working across multiple timezones. There is an interesting contrast between Sonian, which rents space when it needs an office, and MathWorks, which believes "success is 80% showing up."

Work-at-home is called into question when Agile methods are being used in software development, placing high value on face-to-face interactions. I highly value face-to-face interactions and have often benefited from hallway conversations. On the other hand, my development team is located in four distinct locations located across three separate states. We use email, the phone including audio bridging, and occasionally conference room-based video conference to keep in touch between face-to-face meetings. Some will throw IM, personal video conferencing, collaboration portals like SharePoint, and perhaps tools like Twitter into the mix in order to keep in touch. Even a face-to-face interactions kind of person sometimes just has to make do.

Q: Do you prefer the chance hallway encounter, or staying focused in the home office?

Posted using ShareThis

Mastery, Just 10,000 Hours Away (Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell)

At the spurring of some of my business colleagues, I recently read Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. Marc S. pointed to the headlined article on WSJ which keyed in on one of the most intriguing concepts illustrated, that of the statistical significance of time spent training/studying/perfecting for an individual to become a master, maestro, or statistical out-performer.

No surprise here, but Gladwell's "10,000-hour rule" applied to potential virtuosos rated by a study done at Berlin's elite Academy of Music. Of the top third, all had played 10,000 or more hours at that point in their career. Perhaps more surprisingly, for those rated in the middle and least-talented, none of them had. There was almost a direct correlation between hours invested and talent.

What about innate talent? Gladwell doesn't dismiss that. His observation that at least in music, computer programming, hockey, chess, and elsewhere, talent requires practice--and a lot of it.

Another key: practice is not idle pastime, but rather "purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better."

Thanks to Eddie D. for noticing Gladwell's interview on Colbert Nation. You can also check out the Malcom Gladwell video on Amazon.

Q. How will I purposefully and single-mindedly spend my next 10,000 hours?

Recommendations to Help You Prepare for a Credential Exam

In our title link Sandy Farnan answers how to prepare for a PMI^® credential examination in a recent PMI Community Post. I have been asked about my experience taking the Project Management Professional (PMP^®) credential exam, so I'll summarize my thoughts here as well.

1. Plan before you commit.

When you apply and are accepted to sit for the PMP exam, you have a 12-month window to pass the exam with up to 3 attempts, before needing to re-apply. One instructor recommends "about 12 weeks preparation" as a balance between learning and diminishing returns. There may be a 3-6 week lead time to schedule an exam at a time of your preference. Apply no less than one month and no more than 9 months before you plan to sit for the exam.

In addition to the PMP, the PMI also offers the CAPM^®, PgMP^®, PMI-RMP^SM, and PMI-SP^SM credentials.

2. Find your peers.

2.(a) Become a member of the PMI and your local PMI chapter.

As a PMI member, you receive a discount on the PMP exam fee--but why not enroll in the PMI today and enjoy the benefits sooner? The local chapters of the PMI offer networking opportunities, training, and many form study groups to prepare for credential examinations. After you receive your credential, your local chapters will be a key resource in your continuing education.

2.(b) Optionally seek out (or create) other peer and/or study groups.

Your workplace or other professional group might provide another venue for peer networking with other project managers. In my company, we started a Project Management Roundtable with only the willingness for attendees to give up their lunchtime (bring your own lunch) and meet together in an available conference room or on the conference bridge. We are not specifically a PMP study group; topics are consensus-selected and vary. The chair is responsible for logistics and minutes, but that roles rotates each meeting to share the burden.

My PMI local chapter was a great way to get connected with a PMP-specific study group, which had weekly teleconference meetings and resources including lessons learned from previous members.

3. Fulfill 35 hours of project management coursework.

There is no time limit on coursework. I had more than enough project-management specific coursework during my graduate studies, but it was from long enough ago that some of the best practices in PM hadn't been codified yet. For instance, the language around earned value had changed from what I thought I remembered. I elected to take a 2-day "exam prep" course and had great results. It gave me a roadmap to the PMBOK^® I could (more easily) understand. It demystified the exam process so I knew what to expect. Practice examinations identified the holes in my own knowledge so I could prioritize them for my ongoing self-study.

Five-day or 10-week "exam prep" courses similarly prepare PMs for the exam and also fulfill the 35-hour requirement. I've reviewed the agenda for some with PMs who have sat through them. These courses cover a lot of information, and they are not the easiest way for the uninitiated to learn project management. They can be a great tool for many experienced PMs to come up to speed on PMP standards, however.

4. Read the PMBOK Guide.

You'll receive this on CD as a PMI member. It can seem dry, but you need to know what's in it. Keep in mind that the PMP also draws on your experience, so not everything you need to know as a project manager is in the PMBOK.

The current Third Edition of the PMBOK Guide applies to credential examinations on or before June 30, 2009.

5. Don't limit your studies to the PMBOK Guide.

The PMBOK is the body of knowledge for all things project management, but the written PMBOK Guide is only a synopsis. Professional journals, recommendations from course instructors, and topical books all apply. Some texts are focused on exam preparation, other more generally on topics in project management. In the quality management knowledge area, I needed more than the PMBOK Guide alone provides. I was glad to have reviewed a pocket guide for six sigma and lean manufacturing.

Practice examinations were helpful to me. Early on, they identified my weaknesses. Later, they confirmed my progress and helped me feel more comfortable with the mechanics of answering questions. I received practice examinations through my 2-day prep course. You may also find some available in text books, or online.

5. Practice, relax, and have confidence.

You are prepared. You do not need a perfect score. You will have time to finish. And when you do, your continuing education begins. Don't neglect making a plan to earn PDUs and continue your education as you strive for excellence in the profession. Your three year renewal will be here before you know it!

Recap and Resources

• Become a PMI member
  
• Find a local PMI chapter
  
• Apply for the PMP Credential
• Schedule your exam
• Prepare, and succeed!
• Continue your learning
  

Am I glad I became a PMP? Yes. Although documenting a level of skills as a project manager may have some value, the greatest benefit to me was that it allowed me to update my knowledge, gain current skills, and in the end, be a better project manager.

Q. What did you learn from your experience with the PMP?

Chrysler to Connect with new level of Advanced Wireless Technology

Chrysler has announced its roadmap for integrated Cellular, WiFi, and WiMAX connectivity for "increased security and convenience."

For a closer read on what Chrysler's Uconnect Web system will bring you--and what it will cost--check out Marin Perez' article at InformationWeek, Chrysler's In-Car Wi-Fi Ready To Roll Aug. 25.

Q: Driving while surfing, or surfing while driving?

Picture: Uconnect Web Site blog

VIA Unveils VIA OpenBook Mini-Note Reference Design

"Taipei, Taiwan, 27 May 2008 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today introduced the new VIA OpenBook™ mini-note reference design targeted at the rapidly growing global market for ultra-portable notebooks."

It looks like it might stack favorably against the Asus Eee PC, which has also recently adopted an 8.9 inch display with its Eee PC 900 model.

Q: What should we call these things: subnotebooks, ultra-portables, netbooks, mini-notes?

ASUS Introduces the Highly-Anticipated Eee PC Mobile Internet Gadget

"FREMONT, CA - October 16, 2007 - ASUS Taiwan today officially introduced the ultra-portable Eee PC which is designed to revolutionize the end-user experience when it comes to mobility, simplicity and style. The name Eee PC derives from the concept of easy to work, easy to learn and easy to play. The ultra portable weights 2lbs and simplifies the application interface with one-click graphic intuitive design."

I recently saw these Eee PCs being highlighted up in an online retailer's catalog. They missed the mark for two colleagues I know in the market for portable computing at the moment. The first, although a road warrior with a limited checklist of application needs such as email, browsing, and .PDF document reading, needed a Windows machine to stay in her comfort zone. The other, who requires reading glasses like Coke bottles--and I mean old school glass Coke bottles here--can't deal with the small screen. As for me, for a few hundred bucks, I'm intrigued.

Q. Would you prefer higher-octane luggable luxury, or be content with this embodiment featherweight frugality?

My life as a dog: Adventures in RFID research

"Adam Laurie lived a few Novembers as a dog earlier this year. By duplicating the RFID tags used to identify pets in the United Kingdom and sewing it into his watch strap, Laurie, an independent security researcher, re-created his dog's ID as a hacking exercise. However, this kind of virtual animal cloning could become a serious issue as industrialized countries roll out RFID-based systems to keep track of their livestock."

An interesting article that points out some potential effects of RFID cloning on the food chain. Although some RFID tags are encased in tamperproof casings, it is noted that none use encryption and some can even be touchlessly reprogrammed. With the risk of herds being destroyed due to detection of mad cow or other diseases, a monetary incentive exists for malfeasance.

Photo: West Virginia Department of Agriculture.

GPS is turning cellphones into social mapping devices

Laura Holson reviews how services like Loopt and Buddy Beacon let friends keep track of each other's whereabouts using the Global Positioning System chips available in many mobile phones.

This is viewed as a boon for the Millenial Generation, who seem to not mind sharing their location, and other, details about themselves online. It may prove useful for parents tracking the location of cell-phone-toting children, and for (grown) children tracking the location of their wander-prone, Alzheimer's-diagnosed parents.

Others seem more circumspect.

"We don't know what the implications are," [Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation] added. "We seem to be getting into a period where people are closely watching each other, and there are privacy risks we haven't begun to grapple with."

Buddy Beacon is marketed to employers to keep track of employees.

Q. Social networking meets mobile mashup, or Loss of Privacy 2.0?
Photo: Ocean (black) from Helio.

Palm scuttles Foleo companion device (A Message to Palm Customers, Partners and Developers)

Ed Colligan, Palm CEO, delivered the news in a September 24, 2007 open blog message, "I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering our next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market."

The Foleo was announced in May 2007 as a mobile companion product designed to provide a readable screen and usuable keypad, to be used in conjunction with a smartphones or handheld mobile devices.

Q. Does the concept of a very portable deviced married to a slightly less portable companion lighten your travel worries, or does it weight you down?

Microsoft unveils new 'Surface' computer

Here is a look at Microsoft Surface, a Windows Vista-based PC with a 30" touch screen turned into a table. With an up to $10,000 price tag at present, Microsoft doesn't feel consumer versions may be available for up to 5 years. They should be available in T-Mobile stores by November 2007. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. are among the early adopters.

Surface uses cameras mounted underneath its acrylic frame to sense external objects, and it can recognized barcodes on common items. Be sure to check out the intriguing video and article hosted by KING-TV's web site.

Q. Which surface in your work, home, or travels would be more useful if compute-enabled?

Forget Google Phone? Google eyes wireless spectrum

The FCC plans to auction off a swath of 700MHz spectrum that is currently dedicated to over the air, analog, television signals. Presumably the bands, whose signals can carry abou double the range of those from higher-frequencies, can be used to offer consumer wireless broadband access in competition with cable and DSL. The auction is expected to rake in $10B or more.

According to USA Today, Richard Whitt, Washington, D.C. telecom and media counsel for Google, allows that Google may participate in the auction. Chilling to me was Google's request to the FCC to allow winners of the auction to create an auction system allowing third-parties to bid for use of the spectrum.

I observe that Google serves about 50% of Internet searches, down from perhaps 75% when free market forces prevailed and Yahoo! stopped purchasing Google's search ranking results. If Google owned this new frontier of spectrum outright and set the terms for third-party use, what free market forces could intervene?

Q. Cable, DSL, or holding out for 700MHz?

'Evil twin' Wi-Fi access points proliferate

There is little consumers can do to protect themselves from hackers eavesdropping on wireless communications

Head this warning to be wary of rogue Wi-Fi access points masquerading as legitimate counterparts at hotels and airports. IDG News Service's Jeremy Kirk interviews Phil Cracknell, president of the U.K. branch of the Information Systems Security Association, who warns, "With the growth in wireless networks, the 'evil twin' type of attack is on the rise."

In April I was on the road in North Carolina and changed hotels in the Raleigh area. The new hotel had fee-for-access Wi-Fi, so why did I boot and immediately access the Wild Wild Web without ponying up my credit card? Thanks to the office of the community church visible from my window, I stumbled into their open, insecure network. At least, that's what a potential Evil Twin access point would want me to think.

Whether your access is for free or for fee, encrypt your communications before entering passwords or other sensitive data to at least provide some modicum of security. Redirect to TLS-encrypted web pages (https://) when available, and use a VPN tunnel to get back to the office or even your home network. Or even better, remember your ethernet cable and jack into the wall port. Although a crafty insider could still eavesdrop your communications, at least the drive-by sniffers in the parking lot will be left out in the dark.

Q. Would my hotel time have been better spent at the pool, anyway?

Shown: USBGEAR 802.11b/g USB Wi-Fi adapter

RIM adds APIs for new types of applications

New APIs will allow developers to build social networking, mapping, audio/visual, and other types of applications for Blackberry handhelds

It looks like the Blackberry development environment will be shedding its business persona and adopting the trappings of the 24-hours lifestyle, where mobile devices are ego-centric (an extension of the 24-hour person), and not role-centric (a tool to help a person fulfill one specifice role). And what does an ego-centric device require? Music. Lots of music. Movies--full multimedia capability. And of course a camera. Email is already at the core of the Blackberry offering, but the new APIs will also embrace the textual bailiwick of mobile phones, SMS. Don't forget MMS. And why not enable GPS while we're at it?

The list of extensions being made available are numerous. Buy why? Because the competition offers them, of course. The allure of multi-function phones that have been offering all of the above have outstripped the need for, well, email on the road. I could debate the advantages of leaving my camera-enabled Zire (designed for the "home user" market) at home while bringing my Blackberry (designed for the "business attire" crowd) to the gym, for example, when I first noticed the "No Cameras Permitted" sign that appeared on the wall outside the locker room, just below and to the left of... a security camera. Have you tried to de-camera yourself lately? It's getting difficult as these devices become more pervasive as they become more commoditized. Have you checked out your daughter's teddy bear lately? If he's a model SCI-TB300, he might be recording.

Here's the rundown on API enhancements to help BlackBerryistas build more audio, messaging, and mapping, to build social networking, location-based, multimedia, and other kinds of applications."

• Audio formats: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC
• pictures
• BlackBerry Messenger API for peer-to-peer messages
  
• GPS (local and/or external)
• BlackBerry Maps
• 3D graphics
• MMS
• SMS

Q. Will your company issue you a business communication device that enables an employee to play the latest video game while listening to ripped industrial MP3s?

Picture: Research in Motion Limited

RSA 2007: Wi-Fi hacking, with a handheld PDA

Ryan Naraine posts on his blog that Silica was perhaps the "most scary device" at the 2007 RSA Security Conference. Silica is Aitel Immunity's palmtop tool that is able to covertly scan for open Wi-Fi access points and optionally launch hundreds of exploits at local networks. Silica runs Debian Linux on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and has 802.11 capabilities. Migration of the system to other hardware platforms is planned, as are capabilities for Bluetooth, ethernet-by-USB, and GPS, for automatic location identification.

The market for Silica is clearly penetration testing, not enablement of criminal hacking. From Naraine's article,

Aitel said Immunity is careful to do due diligence when selling its products, which can fall into the wrong hands and end up being used for illegal purposes. "We don't sell to anonymous users. We make a fair effort to vet buyers and know where the money is coming from and who we're shipping to," she explained.

Despite all good intentions, Aitel goes on to admit there is no way to guarantee units sold through proper channels could not fall into unintended hands.

A greater concern to me is that I'm guessing the hundreds of exploits are not proprietary to Aitel. Aitel's differentiator is in packaging them into a mobile and seductively easy-to-use, $3,600 platform. This is a convenience for large, legitimate organizations. However, there is nothing to prevent a determined hacker form purchasing a Nokia 770 in consumer retail channels for $360, and all to many exploits are already freely available to them. Now that's something really scary.

Q. Are wireless exploits scary to your organization?

Photo: from zdnet.com.

New York may ban iPods while crossing street

Reuters has picked up what we must have known all along: electronic gadgets can be distracting, to the point of causing death to pedestrians in traffic. What may be surprising is that the pedestrians themselves are the ones using the devices, while blithely walking into the path of moving vehicles.

Three deaths were noted in Brooklyn alone. To be fair to the iPod brand, Blackberry and other devices were also at fault (or at least accessories to the accidents.)

New York State Sen. Carl Kruger says three pedestrians in his Brooklyn district have been killed since September upon stepping into traffic while distracted by an electronic device. In one case bystanders screamed "watch out" to no avail.

Mobile phones have a history of causing death by distraction. It looks like bans on device use may not be just for automobile drivers, anymore.

Q: Are dangers due to distraction a real menace, or just over-hyped fantasies dished out on a slow news day?

Photo credit: REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Avis is expected to offer in-car Wi-Fi hot spot by March

Reported in the International Herald Tribune, Autonet Mobile plans to start shipping the Mobile In-Car-Router for the US in Spring 2007. The wireless router, which essentially turns your vehicle into a Wi-Fi hotspot doling out 400 Kbps to 1 Mbps bandwidth, is specifically engineered to prevent network drops while your car is in transit. On January 2, 2006 Autonet Mobile and Avis announced that Avis would adopt the Autonet mobile hotspot in its fleet, available to customers for an additional fee.

Autonet chose Wi-Fi to incorporate the plethora of devices that connect by Wi-Fi, naming laptops, media players, cameras, phones, and even video game consoles. Clearly this surfing, streaming, and gaming experience is not intended for the driver while in motion. We hope.

Today even my GSM phone still finds deadspots in the greater metropolitan area in which I live. Autonet addresses the concern about dropped connections two ways: using a nearly-ubiquitous 3G networks in North America, and TRU Technology (patent pending). Autonet claims that their unit is designed to work on 95 percent of U.S. roads. I assume similar claims can be made by the numerous broadband PC cards available to wireless network subscribers. Autonet's secret sauce is staying connected while in motion which uses a patent-pending technology which is evidently based on how the Space Shuttle manages its data network connection to the ground.

The proof will be in the doing, and Avis customers will be able to kick the tires on the In-Car-Router for $10,95 per day, starting in March 2007. For individuals, the Autonet mobile unit is priced at $399, and the monthly service charge at $49.

Q: If your In-Car-Router is plugged into your vehicle's 12VDC power outlet, how many more outlets do you have to spare for the devices actually connecting to the In-Car-Router?

Photo source: Autonet Mobile, Inc.