This little tidbit has gone viral the last three days but in case some of you haven't seen it I thought I would share...
Steve Jobs and Dennis Ritchie. Both of these men died in the same month of the same year. Steve was largely considered as a hero whereas Dennis was widely ignored. Only a handful of programmers who know the real value of his work would actually know about Ritchie's death.
Without Steve, there is no Apple, iPod, iPad and Macintosh.
But without Ritchie, there is no C. And without C, there is no Unix, Windows or Linux. Without C, there is no C++ and no Objective C. Which means there is no MacOS X, no iOS, no Photoshop, no FLstudio, no Firefox, no Safari, no Google Chrome, no Playstation, no XBox. As a matter of fact, almost 90% if ALL APPLICATIONS IN THE WORLD are written in C, C++ or Objective C.
It's already too late we all know it. Yet, if you think Dennis deserves appreciation for his enormous contribution to the world of technology that we live in, do share this. Do spread this. Seriously.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Free M.I.T. Courses
My oldest son gave me a heads up on the free online courses available from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content.
MIT OpenCourseWare is a free publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT. Here is a great overview of the site. You can also view the entire course list by department.
Share this with your HR Department and even your kids! This is an incredible opportunity to soak in knowledge from one of the world's premier learning institution!
MIT OpenCourseWare is a free publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT. Here is a great overview of the site. You can also view the entire course list by department.
Share this with your HR Department and even your kids! This is an incredible opportunity to soak in knowledge from one of the world's premier learning institution!
Monday, January 23, 2012
T-SQL
Somehow I've posted a lot of resources for SQL but never for introductory or T-SQL. Consider this oversight fixed!
Here is a good 8-minute introductory video on T-SQL (there are other videos from SQL Tutorials.com...free and fee based). VTC also has 14 free online tutorials in addition to 80+ other t-SQL lessons for a very reasonable price.
If the book format is more to your liking (hardcopy or ebook) then O'Reilly has the book for you.
You might also be interested in a well-done "Intro to SQL" tutorial located here.
Finally don't forget that we teach a three-day T-SQL class about here 6 weeks. Find of the schedule to our next class here.
Here is a good 8-minute introductory video on T-SQL (there are other videos from SQL Tutorials.com...free and fee based). VTC also has 14 free online tutorials in addition to 80+ other t-SQL lessons for a very reasonable price.
If the book format is more to your liking (hardcopy or ebook) then O'Reilly has the book for you.
You might also be interested in a well-done "Intro to SQL" tutorial located here.
Finally don't forget that we teach a three-day T-SQL class about here 6 weeks. Find of the schedule to our next class here.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Contests
The week starts off with several announcements for IT contests. Facebook has it's 2nd Annual Hacker Cup where you can win $5,000. Top Coder always has some high level contests and CodeChef usually has something cool to participate in each month.
Finally, my own IT Skills Contest just kicked off a SharePoint 2010 Admin contest.
Have fun!
Finally, my own IT Skills Contest just kicked off a SharePoint 2010 Admin contest.
Have fun!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Really! It's been two weeks?
I delude myself that I was depriving everyone of my tremendous knowledge by not posting since December 20th. To make it up to everyone I am sharing information on a site that features SharePoint Task-Oriented tutorials (since you use SharePoint to do tasks...see how logical my mind works).
There's three levels of tutorials available from SharePoint-Videos.com (Over 300 from beginner, intermediate and advanced). Topics include creating a SharePoint site, adding users to a site, adding web parts to a site, introducing document management, using the recycle bin, alerts, subscribing to list security overview, understanding master pages, My Sites, understanding and using site columns, creating and using blog sites in SharePoint, exploring SharePoint's central administration and many, many more.
Quite a few of the video tutorials are free but the entire library is only $20 a month!
There's three levels of tutorials available from SharePoint-Videos.com (Over 300 from beginner, intermediate and advanced). Topics include creating a SharePoint site, adding users to a site, adding web parts to a site, introducing document management, using the recycle bin, alerts, subscribing to list security overview, understanding master pages, My Sites, understanding and using site columns, creating and using blog sites in SharePoint, exploring SharePoint's central administration and many, many more.
Quite a few of the video tutorials are free but the entire library is only $20 a month!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Solve a Problem
Ask any project manager—if you want to be in management one day, learn to eat
problems for breakfast. An employee with a knack for problem solving is a great asset
for any company because the skill set involves critical thinking and leadership skills. This
person is able to see the “big picture” raised by an issue and think creatively to uncover
possible solutions.
Not everyone is naturally great at problem solving, but you can develop your skills in this
area by focusing on the following things:
Get used to noticing common business problems around you.
These might be as simple as employees repeatedly missing the Monday scheduling meeting or as
far-reaching as a lack of cash flow for new initiatives.
Look at the problem from all angles.
Whatever the problem may be, what does it look like from a management angle? From the point of view of a staff worker? From the client’s point of view. Imagine yourself circling the issue 360 degrees and
see how it looks from multiple vantage points. Perhaps management is unhappy
because staff misses the Monday meeting but the staff members are serving
clients. How does this issue look from all sides?
Brainstorm possible causes.
What do you feel might be causing—or at least contributing to—the problem? Capture your answers, no matter how far out they might seem, in a OneNote notebook or a Word document. One cause of the employees missing the meeting might be that the meeting is scheduled in a high-call
time; another possible cause is that employees don’t want to attend the meetings
because they feel they are a waste of time.
Weigh the possible causes, and focus on one that seems most likely.
Think through the issue—and weigh it against other options—to see whether it is the
most likely candidate. Perhaps after weighing all the options, you feel that the staff
members want to make the meeting but feel that keeping clients happy is more
important—in the long term—than attending the meetings.
Once you’ve identified the possible cause, brainstorm possible workarounds
or solutions to correct the issue.
If you begin to look for solutions and things don’t seem to be coming together smoothly, return to your “possible causes” list and see whether another candidate is a better fit. One solution might be to suggest
the time of the meeting be moved. Another could be to have members of other departments take the phone calls while the meeting is going on.
Test your solution with a peer.
Or write up your solution, put it in a drawer overnight, and revisit it in the morning—before sharing it with your manager or leadership team.
How will you use technology to demonstrate your solution? You could write up a document that states the problem, causes, and possible solutions clearly. Informally, you could simply share your idea in an e-mail. But no matter how you share your solution, be sure to keep a copy for yourself, because it’s a demonstration of a valuable skill you can talk about in future interviews or personnel reviews.
problems for breakfast. An employee with a knack for problem solving is a great asset
for any company because the skill set involves critical thinking and leadership skills. This
person is able to see the “big picture” raised by an issue and think creatively to uncover
possible solutions.
Not everyone is naturally great at problem solving, but you can develop your skills in this
area by focusing on the following things:
Get used to noticing common business problems around you.
These might be as simple as employees repeatedly missing the Monday scheduling meeting or as
far-reaching as a lack of cash flow for new initiatives.
Look at the problem from all angles.
Whatever the problem may be, what does it look like from a management angle? From the point of view of a staff worker? From the client’s point of view. Imagine yourself circling the issue 360 degrees and
see how it looks from multiple vantage points. Perhaps management is unhappy
because staff misses the Monday meeting but the staff members are serving
clients. How does this issue look from all sides?
Brainstorm possible causes.
What do you feel might be causing—or at least contributing to—the problem? Capture your answers, no matter how far out they might seem, in a OneNote notebook or a Word document. One cause of the employees missing the meeting might be that the meeting is scheduled in a high-call
time; another possible cause is that employees don’t want to attend the meetings
because they feel they are a waste of time.
Weigh the possible causes, and focus on one that seems most likely.
Think through the issue—and weigh it against other options—to see whether it is the
most likely candidate. Perhaps after weighing all the options, you feel that the staff
members want to make the meeting but feel that keeping clients happy is more
important—in the long term—than attending the meetings.
Once you’ve identified the possible cause, brainstorm possible workarounds
or solutions to correct the issue.
If you begin to look for solutions and things don’t seem to be coming together smoothly, return to your “possible causes” list and see whether another candidate is a better fit. One solution might be to suggest
the time of the meeting be moved. Another could be to have members of other departments take the phone calls while the meeting is going on.
Test your solution with a peer.
Or write up your solution, put it in a drawer overnight, and revisit it in the morning—before sharing it with your manager or leadership team.
How will you use technology to demonstrate your solution? You could write up a document that states the problem, causes, and possible solutions clearly. Informally, you could simply share your idea in an e-mail. But no matter how you share your solution, be sure to keep a copy for yourself, because it’s a demonstration of a valuable skill you can talk about in future interviews or personnel reviews.
Monday, December 19, 2011
HTML5
Tech Republic ran an interesting article on the current state of affairs for Programmers. Many things were mentioned including the fact that the job market is incredible for those with experience (entry-levelers need not apply).
Number one on the list was HTML5 so I thought it time to add an introductory course to our schedule. If you want to do some studying on your own then I would suggest you visit HTML5 Tutorial, HTML5 Rocks or go to Web Design Ledger and find iPhone tutorials and several useful cheat sheets.
Whether you like the standard or not, HTML5 seems to be gaining a great deal of popularity and support. The upcoming Window 8 program will provide extensive support for HTML5 so it's time to start adding this to your skill set.
Number one on the list was HTML5 so I thought it time to add an introductory course to our schedule. If you want to do some studying on your own then I would suggest you visit HTML5 Tutorial, HTML5 Rocks or go to Web Design Ledger and find iPhone tutorials and several useful cheat sheets.
Whether you like the standard or not, HTML5 seems to be gaining a great deal of popularity and support. The upcoming Window 8 program will provide extensive support for HTML5 so it's time to start adding this to your skill set.
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