Nos bizouneux VBRUN à leur meilleur…..

Selon le post suivant: http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/08/19/vb-and-c-enhancements-in-vs-2010.aspx, dans les demandes d’améliorations demandés par les VRUNiste, la demande qui revenait le plus souvent était:

The most common customer request for Visual Basic is to remove the underscore (“_”) character when breaking a code statement across multiple lines in most cases.

WOW, ça en dit beaucoup sur leur niveau et profondeur d’expertise technique!!!  Ce qui les préoccupe le plus, c’est le souligné à la fin des lignes…. ben regarde mon beau, choisi un vrai langage et TADAM… ton principal irritant est… disparut!!!

Wow, Microsoft met Google sur la défensive….

That’s a first!!!

Voir:

http://hofstadtermoebius.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/wow-this-is-a-change-youve-been-binged-google-goes-on-the-defensive/

Apple WWDC

Tout ce qu’on peut dire c’est pauvre homme…. Si au moins il avait développé sur les deux plateformes, sur Mobile6 et sur iPhone, qu’il connaissait une peu les différentes architectures des deux produits, et qu’il arrêtait de lécher le cul de celui qui le fait vivre….

Tsé Paul, Mac ou PC, Vista ou OSX je les pais les deux, j’ai AUCUNE motivation à aimer l’un plus que l’autre…. si ce n’est que comme utilisateur et codeur impartial, l’expérience d’un écosystème bas l’expérience de l’autre!

Apple Announces New iPhone, Mac OS X, MacBooks
by Paul Thurrott

At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco yesterday, a Steve Jobs–less Apple attempted to live up to the on-stage shenanigans of its maestro, announcing new products, taking one-sided jabs at competitors, and generally exaggerating things before a tittering, sycophantic crowd. None of the announcements were particularly surprising or innovative, but the Apple-friendly journalists, developers, and enthusiasts who attended the keynote event ate it up without question, as always. In this world, style wins over substance.

Among the key announcements is the iPhone 3G S, which will ship later this month. Built into the same form factor as the current iPhone 3G, the 3G S is “twice as fast” as its predecessor—the usual caveats about Apple’s typically ludicrous claims apply here—and supports a higher-speed wireless network that AT&T won’t start rolling out until late 2009. The 3G S also sports a better camera (with video support) and will feature unique software features that Apple will not provide to existing iPhone 3G users. It appears to be a nice upgrade, given the confines of the form factor.

Where Apple giveth, however, Apple taketh away. While the iPhone 3G S will retail for a reasonable $199–$299, depending on the model, those prices do not apply to existing iPhone 3G customers, who will instead pay $500–$600 to upgrade, thanks to the subsidization model used by wireless carriers.

Apple also announced that it would ship the third release of its iPhone software, iPhone Software Update 3.0, later this month. iPhone 3.0 is free to all existing iPhone customers, but it will cost $10 for iPod touch owners. It is a minor release with improvements to the core applications, cut-and-paste support, full support for MMS multimedia messaging (finally), and integrated search. However, AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States, is also dampening the positive vibes of this release by not supporting two of its key features: US-based iPhone users will not be able to tether their phones to their PCs or use MMS. It’s unclear how or when these features will be provided, but one can expect AT&T to charge extra for the privilege.

On the Mac OS X front, Apple now claims that there are 35 million active Mac users, once you filter out the 40 million who are actually using iPhones and iPod touches. (Oh, Apple.) This is the first time in several years that Apple has suggested there are more than 25 million Mac users. (Put in perspective, there are more than 1 billion active Windows users.)

Apple said it will ship a minor upgrade to Mac OS X Leopard, dubbed Snow Leopard, in September. It looks, acts, and feels a lot like Microsoft’s Windows 7, which will ship in October. But since Snow Leopard doesn’t change the OS X experience as much as Windows 7 does on the PC side, Apple will charge just $29 for the release if you already have Leopard. (It’s a whopping $129 otherwise.) In Microsoft terms, the release is essentially a service pack (and the type of thing Microsoft can and does distribute for free).

Apple consolidated its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop lines into a single MacBook Pro line and upped the specs on all the machines. You can now get a “low-end” 15″ MacBook Pro for just $1,599, but Apple didn’t really lower prices, it simply added a new model; higher-end MacBook Pros still cost $2,000 to $2,500. In fact, a 17″ MacBook Pro is roughly four to five times as expensive as a typical 17″ PC laptop. (The 13″ MacBook, uh, Pro, is now a much better deal, however. That said, its $1,199 starting price is roughly double that of a typical PC laptop.)

The company also announced a new version of its web browser, Safari, for both Windows and Mac OS X. Safari has evolved into a rebranded version of Google Chrome, with a different JavaScript engine and a few Apple design cues. In a bizarre move reminiscent of Microsoft, the version that’s bundled with Snow Leopard will include special features not available elsewhere, like crash protection. The irony of this was, of course, lost on the adoring crowd.

All in all, it was a typical Apple event: condescending and self-congratulatory, with its moments of actual tech excitement somewhat diminished by hidden realities and mind-numbingly boring demos, in this case of third-party iPhone apps. No one presents a more positive picture than Apple, and that’s apparently true with or without Steve Jobs. For the wider industry, the only news of note here involves the iPhone 3G S, which looks truly interesting. Unless, of course, you’re one of the estimated 20 million or so who already purchased an iPhone 3G.

Intéressant….

Hum, j’étais pas au courant de celle-là. Si vous voulez une façon rapide et efficace de recycler des portables disons plus âgés, Presto est une excellent solution. Basé sur Linux, elle offre un environnement complet et fonctionnel ‘on top of’ Windows. Elle s’installe comme un .EXE traditionnel sous Windows, et met en place une autre option au moment de l’amorce ‘boot’ de l’OS. Elle offre l’accès aux fichiers sous windows et offre le classique fureteur, OpenOffice, Skype, Instant Messaging…. pour $20.00.

http://www.prestomypc.com/get_prestopc.php

C++ dead… Jamais, VBRUN on va finir par le voir disparaître

10 Hot Skills for 2009
By Linda Leung
Whether we are in a down economy, seeing jobs go offshore, or witnessing jobs being cut altogether, there are certain IT skills that will never go out of style. With spending on cost-saving technologies such as virtualization rising, and the maintenance of networking and enterprise Microsoft software keeping IT professionals constantly in demand, here’s our top 10 hot skills that will take us from a down economy and beyond.

1. Virtualization: Virtualization is hot. Vendors are jostling for lead position in the virtualization stakes and user organizations are seeing virtualization benefits through increased efficiency, lower costs, quick return on investment, and a more flexible computing model. But virtualization is complex; it encompasses the entire IT infrastructure, from the desktop to servers and storage systems. That’s why IT professionals with virtualization experience are much in demand.

According to a recent article in Virtualization Review, jobs Web site Dice.com reported that the number of jobs advertised from January 2008 through the first week of November increased by 43% and 37% for VMware and general virtualization skills, respectively. That compares with a total job count that was down 12% during the same period.

Virtualization skills was cited by 35% of the 1,400 CIOs surveyed for the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report for the second quarter of 2009, up from 30% in the Q1 report. Virtualization as a skill first appeared in the Q208 survey when it was cited by 26% of respondents.

2. Web 2.0: Organizations have moved beyond establishing Web sites for their brands. Now they are embracing social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, where you can find such household names as Ford Motor Company and AT&T. CIOs in a wide range of organizations are demanding IT professionals who can keep them up to speed with the fast-moving Web 2.0 world. Web development and Web site design first appeared as a sought-after skill in Robert Half Technology’s Q408 report, when 42% of CIOs surveyed said they were in needs of such expertise. In Q209, 39% of respondents had a demand for Web skills.

According to PayScale.com, the typical salary for a Web designer in the U.S. range from $37,285 to $59,070. This compares to $60,000 for a Web developer, $40,000 for a graphic designer, and $60,000 for a programmer, according to Simply Hired a search engine for jobs.

3. Networking/Windows Administration: Proving that networking and Microsoft Windows administration skills will likely never go out of style, these two skills consistently appear as either the first, second, or third most sought after skill in Robert Half Technology’s quarterly skills surveys. A full 65% (the second highest number) of CIOs surveyed for the Q209 report said they required network administration skills, while 64% (the third highest) of executives said they needed Windows admin experts. The skill most in demand in Q209 is desktop support, according to the survey.

Networking/systems admin jobs were cited in the Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions report by Jobfox from data collected during November 2007 to July 2008. The report noted that there is a limited supply of qualified workers in that profession, and reported that the median salary in the U.S. for such roles is between $65,000 and $75,000.

4. ITIL: The Information Technology Infrastructure Library is a business framework that was developed by the U.K.’s Office of Government Commerce. It is the subject of much buzz on this side of the pond, with firms such as DHL and General Motors adopting the IT services efficiency framework. A quick search of the Indeed job search aggregator site netted 6,266 jobs, with salaries ranging from $50,000 to $130,000. ITIL is cited by Foote Partners’ IT Skills and Certification Pay Index report, for the last three months of 2008 as a skill that is seeing a sharp increase in pay and demand.

Foote Partners notes a “sharp increases in pay and demand for ITIL, CoBIT and similar expertise” in 2009, and that “while valuable in short range cost reduction initiatives, these are also core enterprise skills with high re-use value long term.”

5. IT Architect/Project Management: The same Foote Partners report also notes that “nothing has been hotter” than IT architect and project management skills and that “they will still be hot commodities long after the economy improves.” Certified folks in that category reported pay increases of 10% in the last 12 months to January 2009, according to the Foote Partners report.

The Open Group’s IT Certified Architect and the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional designations were the certifications that commanded the highest pay premiums, according to the report.

6. IT Security: This skill was called out by Foote Partners as one of three certification groups that saw significant gains in pay. A total of 18 different security certifications, including Check Point Certified Master Architect and Cisco Certified Security Professional, were listed among the IT certifications that earned the highest pay premiums in Foote Partners’ 2009 IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index.

Security will never go out of style, even during a recession, as businesses are required to comply with regulatory controls and data protection requirements. Meanwhile, hackers continue their assaults no matter what the economy is doing. A survey by the SANS Institute showed that through the end of November 2009, 79% of respondents saw no cuts to their security staffing levels.

7. Wireless: Cisco generated buzz in its training community late last year when it launched the expert-level CCIE certification in wireless networking. As part of the launch, it commissioned a study conducted by Forrester Consulting, which found that 36% of global companies surveyed predicted that the number of dedicated wireless specialists on their IT staff would almost double in the next five years.

“In our research we found a pervasive need for wireless skills, and not just in North America,” says Sanjay Mehta, Cisco product marketing manager for wireless and mobility. “The need for experts to design, deploy, manage and troubleshoot is growing exponentially.” He says the wireless certification is particularly popular in emerging markets, such as Brazil, India, and China, where new wireless infrastructures are being built from the ground up.

8. Telecommunications: The government’s $7.2 billion broadband stimulus initiative to extend broadband to rural and unserved communities will mean jobs for pros with telecom skills. Telecom providers operate in a very competitive market, and while operators cut costs in stagnant areas of their markets, they’re still investing in others. For instance, AT&T this year cut its capital expenditure by $3 billion but it is investing in 3,000 new jobs for its mobility, broadband, and video initiatives, reports Unstrung.

Telecoms knowledge is also sought by CIOs. In Robert Half Technology’s Q209 report, telecoms support was the fifth-highest skill sought by respondents, up from the sixth highest in the previous quarter.

9. Programming Languages (C, C++, C#): Forget about programming jobs being outsourced, experts with C, C++ and C# skills “have emerged as a highly desired skill set, being cited as ‘in demand’ just as often as Business Intelligence and Enterprise Solutions skills,” according to the Veritude 2009 IT Outlook Report. Demand for software engineers increased from 27% to 32%, according Veritude’s survey of IT hiring managers.

Those programming languages are also consistently the top most wanted programming skills in Dice reports. In February and March, Dice posted 9,881 and 10,465 Cx jobs, respectively.

Software engineering topped Money Magazine and Salary.com’s list of Best Jobs in America in 2007, noting that the number of programming jobs would balloon from 800,050 in 2004, to 1.2 million in 2014. The profession, with an average annual salary of $80,427, beat college professor and financial advisor in the list.

10. Business Skills: Employment surveys have been telling us for a number of years that IT pros must possess business skills as well as technical expertise, and in a down economy IT folks who understand the business could be considered more valuable than those who don’t. A survey by CompTIA of 215,085 IT pros found that employers valued “interpersonal and communication” skills in addition to ’strategic thinking” and “project management” know-how. The survey, which was conducted in 2007, found that 73% of respondents said they planned to upgrade their business skills within two years, with the majority studying for project management skills.

Osti de tête de cochon d’épaisse du CRISS

Cyberpress aujourd’hui publie un article sur le boom de la fréquentation des écoles privées:

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/education/200903/11/01-835606-le-boom-des-ecoles-privees-se-poursuit.php?utm_source=bulletinCBP&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=retention

et quelle belle citation voit-on à la fin:

«Une lutte déloyale»

Mise au parfum des dernières statistiques, Chantal Crochetière, présidente par intérim du Syndicat de l’enseignement de la région de Laval, a dénoncé «la lutte déloyale» entre le public et le privé. «Nous décrions le fait que les écoles privées soient financées à 60% par le gouvernement, a-t-elle dit. C’est au détriment du public, c’est clair. On sait très bien qu’il y a des élèves qui nous reviendraient au public s’il n’y avait pas ce financement-là. Le public aurait alors des moyens pour offrir des services beaucoup plus adéquats.»

Ben sur c’est déloyale…. c’est sur, toi tu veux garantir ta compétence et tes avantages sociaux pas en fonctions des résultats et de la performance, mais en fonction d’un papier négocier avec un gun sur la tempe en prenant les enfants et les parents en otage… l’autre le fait basé sur la performance et l’efficacité… en plus… grosse tarte, les parents déboursent 40% du financement que l’état n’a pas à fournir…. mais tsé c’est pas drôle la MAFIA syndicale perd des cotisations et du pouvoir……

“…. des élèves qui nous reviendraient”…. ben oui, pas par choix par OBLIGATION. Toujours la même chanson, incapable de survivre à la concurrence… on a pas des clients parce qu’on est bon et qu’on offre un bon service… c’est parce qu’ils n’ont pas le choix.. comme le ministères des transport, la SAQ, la SAAQ, la CSST etc…. Pas bon la concurrence, faut se forcer, être efficace, on aime mieux les journées pédagogiques, les réunions interminables qui ne servent à rien, la procrastination, et surtout LA SÉCURITÉ D’EMPLOI À TOUTE ÉPREUVE!!!

Relique d’un temps dépassé où les normes du travail, la CSST, l’assurance maladie et médicament, les congés de maternités et l’assurance emploi n’existaient pas les organisations syndicales actuelles ne sont qu’une mafia, qui vit que pour ses propres bénéfices au détriment du bien collectif, et qui, prend de plus en plus en otage les payeurs de taxe pour soutirer à ces derniers des $$$ en échange de services absents, une valeur artificielle qui ne correspond pas du tout à la valeur du travail fourni. Quelqu’un peu me dire pourquoi il faut, comme payeur de taxe, que je finance les fond de pension et les retraites dorées des cols bleus de la ville de Québec, des la fonction publique, des policiers…. quelle entreprise privée peut ‘augmenter les impôts’ pour compenser les pertes des programmes de retraites, pour ceux qui en ont. Et ceux qui doivent se bâtir leur programme de retraite, qui va les compenser?

Un mouvement de gauche mon cul ouais! Ils sont aussi pire que le patronat sauvage d’un ‘bygone era’ qui les a fait naître. Vite que la théorie Darwinienne de l’évolution fasse disparaître ces reliques mésadaptés au contexte actuel de la planète!!!

Expert de mes deux…..

Ceci est un must read, ainsi que plusieurs autres de la même provenance….

L’original est disponible ici:

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001226.html

Are You An Expert?
via Coding Horror by Jeff Atwood on 2/18/09
I think I have a problem with authority. Starting with my own.

It troubles me greatly to hear that people see me as an expert or an authority, and not a fellow amateur.

If I’ve learned anything in my career, it is that approaching software development as an expert, as someone who has already discovered everything there is to know about a given topic, is the one surest way to fail.

Experts are, if anything, more suspect than the amateurs, because they’re less honest. You should question everything I write here, in the same way you question everything you’ve ever read online — or anywhere else for that matter. Your own research and data should trump any claims you read from anyone, no matter how much of an authority or expert you, I, Google, or the general community at large may believe them to be.

Have you ever worked with software developers who thought of themselves as experts, with almost universally painful results? I certainly have. You might say I’ve developed an anti-expert bias. Apparently, so has Wikipedia; a section titled warnings to expert editors explains:

Experts can identify themselves on their user page and list whatever credentials and experience they wish to publicly divulge. It is difficult to maintain a claim of expertise while being anonymous. In practice, there is no advantage (and considerable disadvantage) in divulging one’s expertise in this way.
Experts do not have any other privileges in resolving edit conflicts in their favor: in a content dispute between a (supposed) expert and a non-expert, it is not permissible for the expert to “pull rank” and declare victory. In short, “Because I say so” is never an acceptable justification for a claim in Wikipedia, regardless of expertise. Likewise, expert contributions are not protected from subsequent revisions from non-experts, nor is there any mechanism to do so. Ideally, if not always in practice, it is the quality of the edits that counts.
There is a strong undercurrent of anti-expert bias in Wikipedia. Thus, if you become recognized as an expert you will be held to higher standards of conduct than non-experts.
Let’s stop for a moment to savor the paradox of a free and open encyclopedia written by people who view the contributions of experts with healthy skepticism. How could that possibly work?

I’d argue that’s the only way it could work — when all contributions are viewed critically, regardless of source. This is a radical inversion of power. But a radical inversion of power is exactly what is required. There are only a handful of experts, but untold million amateurs. And the contributions of these amateurs is absolutely essential when you’re trying to generate a website that contains a page for.. well, everything. The world is a fractal place, filled with infinite detail. Nobody knows this better than software developers. The programmers in the trenches, spending every day struggling with the details, are the people who often have the most local knowledge about narrow programming topics. There just aren’t enough experts to go around.

So what does it mean to be an expert, then, when expertise is perceived as impractical at best, and a liability at worst? In a recent Google talk, James Bach presented the quintessential postmodern image of an expert performing — Steve McQueen in The Towering Inferno:

[turns to fire commissioner] What do we got here, Kappy?
Fire started, 81st floor, storage room. It’s bad. Smoke’s so thick, we can’t tell how far it’s spread.
Exhaust system?
Should’ve reversed automatically. It must be a motor burnout.
Sprinklers?
They’re not working on 81.
Why not?
I don’t know.

[turns to architect] Jim? Give us a quick refresher on your standpipe system.
Floors have 3 and 1.5 inch outlets.
GPM?
Fifteen hundred from ground to 68, and 1,000 from 68 to 100, and 500 from there to the roof.
Are these elevators programmed for emergencies?
Yes.
What floor are your plans on?
79. My office.
That’s two floors below the fire. It’ll be our Forward Command. Men, take up the equipment. I want to see all floor plans, 81 through 85.
Gotcha.
[turns to security chief] Give me a list of your tenants.
Don’t worry, we’re moving them out now.
Not live-ins. Businesses.
We lucked out. Most of them haven’t moved in yet. Those that have are off at night.
I want to know who they are, not where.
What’s that got to do with anything? Who they are?
Any wool or silk manufacturers? In a fire, wool and silk give off cyanide gas. Any sporting good manufacturers, like table-tennis balls? They give off toxic gases. Now do you want me to keep going?
One tenant list, coming up.
[turns to crew leader] What do we got?
Elevator bank, central core. Service elevators here. Air conditioning ducts, 6 inches.
Pipe alleys here?
One, two, three, four, five.
Have you got any construction on 81? Anything that can blow up, like gasoline, fabric cleaner?
I don’t think so.

What does this tell us? I mean, other than .. Steve McQueen is a badass? Being an expert isn’t telling other people what you know. It’s understanding what questions to ask, and flexibly applying your knowledge to the specific situation at hand. Being an expert means providing sensible, highly contextual direction.

What I love about James Bach’s presentation is how he spends the entire first half of it questioning and deconstructing everything — his field, his expertise, his own reputation and credentials, even! And then, only then, he cautiously, slowly builds it back up through a process of continual learning.

Level 0: I overcame obliviousness
I now realize there is something here to learn.
Level 1: I overcame intimidation
I feel I can learn this subject or skill. I know enough about it so that I am not intimidated by people who know more than me.

Level 2: I overcame incoherence
I no longer feel that I’m pretending or hand-waving. I feel reasonably competent to discuss or practice. What I say sounds like what I think I know.

Level 3: I overcame competence.
Now I feel productively self-critical, rather than complacently good enough. I want to take risks, invent, teach, and push myself. I want to be with other enthusiastic students.

Insight like this is why Mr. Bach is my favorite Buccaneer-Scholar. He leaves us with this bit of advice to New Experts:

Practice, practice, practice!
Don’t confuse experience with expertise.
Don’t trust folklore — but learn it anyway.
Take nothing on faith. Own your methodology.
Drive your own education — no one else will.
Reputation = Money. Build and protect your reputation.
Relentlessly gather resources, materials, and tools.
Establish your standards and ethics.
Avoid certifications that trivialize the craft.
Associate with demanding colleagues.
Write, speak, and always tell the truth as you see it.
Of course, Mr. Bach is talking about testing here, but I believe his advice applies equally well to developing expertise in programming, or anything else you might do in a professional capacity. It starts with questioning everything, most of all yourself.

So if you want to be an expert in practice rather than in name only, take a page from Steve McQueen’s book. Don’t be the guy telling everyone what to do. Be the guy asking all the questions.

Why IT development failed

Et oui, pourqoi a-t-on tant de misère à livrer des projets informatiques…..

90% des ressources assignées au développement d’un système informatique en connaissent autant sur l’informatique que j’en connais sur les coutumes de compulation des fournis rouges.

Trop heureux de s’être trouvé une belle job ben payé à écrire des documents, ou mieux à en reviser, à se promener d’une réunion à l’autre avec des phrases vides genre “ça ne permettra pas d’atteindre les objectifs d’affaies de l’organisation” ces parasites vivent donc sur le dos des vrais développeurs qui eux essaient tant bien que mal de livrer le système.

C’est comme si on vous disait que 70 pourcent des personnes qui ont travaillés à la mise au point de votre voiture ont révisé la structure des documents, la formulation des phrases et les fautes de français.  Pendant ce temps les juniors et moins bien payé de l’équipe était à développer la structure, le moteur, les freins etc…. de votre voiture!

La plupart des pseudo informaticiens touvent beaucoup plus confotable la première options que la seconde qui demande un apprentissage permanent des nouvelles technologies, langages de programmations et frameworks de développement qui meublent les journées des vrais développeurs.  Pendant que ceux-ci tentent de maîtriser les subtilités des différentes couches de protocol et comment le “null transport protocol” peut avoir un impact positif sur la performance avec WCF, nos spécialistes “de l’objectif d’affaire” se pognent probablement le cul devant un foyer pour profiter de leur après ski.  Ces baveux vous diront cependant, qu’ils méritent sans problème les $700+ par jour qu’ils vous coûtent alors que RIEN, RIEN de ce qu’ils font ne se retrouvera JAMAIS dans les mains d’un utilisateur!

En informatique la complexité est dans le détail et le détail est dans la technologie et sans la maîtriser, rien ne peut aboutir dans les mains des utilisateurs.

En plus, ces paradeux, dont le seul rôle est de jouer à la boîte postale ou au téléphone entre les utilsateurs et les créateurs, ne font que créer du bruit et de complexifiés les communications entre celui qui a besoin et celui qui peut le combler.

À part la crédibilité de la cravate, et de leur Audi et BMW, ils ne seront toujours à mes yeux que des minables parasites qui ne réussisent à survivre que par leurs grandes geules et par la naïveté des gens qui les embauche…..

P.S.

Ça aide pas non plus que:

The majority of developers do not suffer from too much design patterns, or too much SOLID, or agile, or waterfall for that matter. They suffer from whipping out cowboy code in a pure chaos environment, using simplistic drag & drop, data driven, vb-like techniques. (Jeff Atwood)

Borland….. ce que ça signifie pour nous Real Programmers….

Source:

By Michael Desmond
Editor in Chief, Redmond Developer News

PONDERING BORLAND
Few companies in the software business have been as widely admired as
Borland Software. Founded in the 1980s, Borland gave us the modern
integrated development environment (IDE) with Turbo Pascal, the Delphi
programming language and even the SideKick personal information
manager (PIM) software, which introduced task-switching and a limited
windowing interface to DOS users.

The company rightfully earned a reputation as a developer’s
development outfit. Programmers today still speak fondly of working
with people like David Intersimone and Zack Urlocker. As RDN reader
Dr. Dave Dyer, an independent consultant in Houston, Texas, said,
Borland fostered a vital developer culture both inside and outside
its walls.

“Within that culture existed an exquisitely detailed, ever-expanding
universe of knowledge shared by all,” Dyer wrote in an e-mail to RDN.
“Borland became the leader of that universe where every developer
(whether a student, professor, hobbyist or professional developer)
actively participated in creating elegant solutions for any and all
issues related [to] development with Borland products.”

But the company that produced stars like flamboyant Borland CEO
Philippe Khan, Microsoft technical fellow Anders Hejlsberg and former
Microsoft exec Brad Silverberg looks very little like the dynamic
software shop of 15 or 20 years ago. Borland spun off its legendary
Developer Tools Group (DTG) in 2006 and sold the unit outright to
Embarcadero Technologies in 2008.

For the past three years, Borland has largely been an application
lifecycle management (ALM) company. It has forged a coherent strategy
around its Open ALM platform for enabling integrated ALM in
heterogeneous dev environments. It’s a sound strategy, a smart
strategy — and one that could ultimately fail despite itself.

Borland is laying off up to 15 percent of its workforce. Its CEO Tod
Nielsen and Senior VP of Research Peter Morowski have both resigned.
The stock price hovers just below $0.90. There’s a lot not to like
about the news circling Borland today.

http://www.1105newsletters.com/t.do?id=2012660:5661058

But most concerning has to be the loss of leadership. Bola Rotibi,
principal analyst for Macehiter Ward-Dutton, praised “Nielsen’s
ability to reduce costs at Borland” in a blog post. She also lauded
his willingness to make tough, unpopular decisions and noted that
Borland’s move to sell DTG and focus on ALM was the right one for
the company.

http://tinyurl.com/7evg39

But timing in business, as in life, is everything. And it seems that
Borland’s grand ALM play has run afoul of an investment shutdown at
many dev shops. With deployments being put off or directed toward
low-cost or open source solutions, Borland will be hard pressed in the
months to come. Of course, Borland is a company with a long and rich
history of improba

La nouvelle expérience Xbox!

Hum….. the Xbox new experience! Encore une interface d’adolescents, yo, un peu, Mickey Mouse et qui a plus l’air d’une bébelle que d’une interface clean et professionnel! Imaginez ce look bébelle comme interface de votre nouveau cinéma maison. Et, un avatar! Mais qu’est-ce que j’en ai à foutre d’avoir un Avatar quand je veux simplement jouer à Gears of War! Avez-vous vu en plus le « look » des Avatars! Une gagne de yo! Cartoon like…. est-ce qu’un gamer type Gears of War ou Rainbow Six veut avoir l’air de ça en ligne????? Le look de la Wii on aime pas tous ça! Encore une fois le look de l’interface de la PS3 est beaucoup plus clean, que cette patente en couleurs « fluo », qui ressemble plus à une bébelle qu’à autre chose, la version précédente, sans être terrible, était moins pire….. Est-ce qu’on est encore face au syndrome Vista, i.e. faire pire qu’avant.