Thursday, September 15, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
Consider becoming Buddhist
 | You scored as Buddhism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Buddhism. Do more research on Buddhism and possibly consider becoming Buddhist, if you are not already. In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that result from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that base the Buddhist faith: morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration. In Buddhism, there is no hierarchy, nor caste system; the Buddha taught that one's spiritual worth is not based on birth.
Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com |
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
An open source accounting software for Indian markets - My wish list
Set of components
This open source system should be developed as a set of components. Each and every function/feature of this application should be exposed as a web service. These set of components/methods should be accessible by SOAP,REST and Programming languages based APIs. By this way, integration, customization and extending the system is lot easy.
Breaking User interface lock-in
As I noted previously, user interface lock-in of existing systems like tally keeps the users. This kind of well defined set of components allows us to develop multiple interfaces. Any company can build a new interface, an Interface nearly identical to tally with same set of screens and short-cut keys will be the best starting point. By this interface tally-savvy users/accountants have no reason to stick with their pirated tally. Learning curve for data entry operators and switching cost for companies are almost zero.
Plug-ins
This modular architecture should support plug-ins. Plug-ins are optional components that can be replaced at will, either at run time, configuration time or at development time. For example when users want to add new features like sending SMS from the accounting software, they can write a new plug-in and attach to this core system.
Plug-ins are like extensions to the core systems and can be used as adapters to connect other systems like inventory. Without even touching any core part of this system it should able easy to write plug-ins. Like reading data from a third party application or from a Excel sheet or calendar system.
Data import/export API
I have already explained why this is a single most required feature here. This feature along with nearly identical tally interface alone will bring lots of pirated tally users into this open source system.
Multi-language support
Supporting multiple languages is not a fancy feature anymore and especially to a country where 90% of population doesn't speak English. It should be a mandatory for any application targeted to this market. This feature will make sure this open source system reaches the un reached mass market.
No vendor lock-in
There will be no vendor lock because of its open source nature. Any software distributor with sufficient technical and functional knowledge can customize and resell this system.
What this means to Independent software vendors
Forget about fighting with tally or NX. It is about services (or customization), not products. Make profit by providing services. Services market will be bigger than products market.
What this means to Software developers/Students
This will be the biggest opportunity to learn programming and easiest way to show your skills to potential employers.
This open source system should be developed as a set of components. Each and every function/feature of this application should be exposed as a web service. These set of components/methods should be accessible by SOAP,REST and Programming languages based APIs. By this way, integration, customization and extending the system is lot easy.
Breaking User interface lock-in
As I noted previously, user interface lock-in of existing systems like tally keeps the users. This kind of well defined set of components allows us to develop multiple interfaces. Any company can build a new interface, an Interface nearly identical to tally with same set of screens and short-cut keys will be the best starting point. By this interface tally-savvy users/accountants have no reason to stick with their pirated tally. Learning curve for data entry operators and switching cost for companies are almost zero.
Plug-ins
This modular architecture should support plug-ins. Plug-ins are optional components that can be replaced at will, either at run time, configuration time or at development time. For example when users want to add new features like sending SMS from the accounting software, they can write a new plug-in and attach to this core system.
Plug-ins are like extensions to the core systems and can be used as adapters to connect other systems like inventory. Without even touching any core part of this system it should able easy to write plug-ins. Like reading data from a third party application or from a Excel sheet or calendar system.
Data import/export API
I have already explained why this is a single most required feature here. This feature along with nearly identical tally interface alone will bring lots of pirated tally users into this open source system.
Multi-language support
Supporting multiple languages is not a fancy feature anymore and especially to a country where 90% of population doesn't speak English. It should be a mandatory for any application targeted to this market. This feature will make sure this open source system reaches the un reached mass market.
No vendor lock-in
There will be no vendor lock because of its open source nature. Any software distributor with sufficient technical and functional knowledge can customize and resell this system.
What this means to Independent software vendors
Forget about fighting with tally or NX. It is about services (or customization), not products. Make profit by providing services. Services market will be bigger than products market.
What this means to Software developers/Students
This will be the biggest opportunity to learn programming and easiest way to show your skills to potential employers.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Firefox in trouble
A post by Mike Griffin in theserverside.net pointing to this article from eweek
From the Comments:
At first the thrill of a new project and the recognition that goes with it carries you through those tiresome evenings. You are creating something new and there are no bean-counters around to mess everything up. However, as time goes on, as with most things, the thrill begins to wax and wane, and after months of getting no more than 4 hours of sleep per night it begins to affect your health. You get sick more often than you used to, and you're main goal quickly becomes to merely get through each day. And then there's the guilt of spending too much time on it, when the basement needs painting, things need fixed around the house, and you're not spending enough quality time with your kids (and when you do you're the walking dead so it doesn't count). Finally, and much to your surprise, the project doesn't really turn out to be the big career booster you thought it was going to be. In fact, perspective employers are hesitant to hire you when they find out you have a mistress on the side pulling at your time and resources.
Comment #2
For an open-source project to remain successful long-term, it needs a strong developer community. "A project with a truck number of two is in deep trouble."
From the Comments:
At first the thrill of a new project and the recognition that goes with it carries you through those tiresome evenings. You are creating something new and there are no bean-counters around to mess everything up. However, as time goes on, as with most things, the thrill begins to wax and wane, and after months of getting no more than 4 hours of sleep per night it begins to affect your health. You get sick more often than you used to, and you're main goal quickly becomes to merely get through each day. And then there's the guilt of spending too much time on it, when the basement needs painting, things need fixed around the house, and you're not spending enough quality time with your kids (and when you do you're the walking dead so it doesn't count). Finally, and much to your surprise, the project doesn't really turn out to be the big career booster you thought it was going to be. In fact, perspective employers are hesitant to hire you when they find out you have a mistress on the side pulling at your time and resources.
Comment #2
For an open-source project to remain successful long-term, it needs a strong developer community. "A project with a truck number of two is in deep trouble."
Friday, March 11, 2005
Paul Graham : How to start a startup
You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed.
You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Eclipse - The Platform
Builder .au has a story about eclipse
From the article,
The availability of many Eclipse plug-ins, and the fact that developers can download Eclipse for free, has helped fuel the adoption of Eclipse with Java developers and Java software companies. The Eclipse "framework", however, can be expanded into other areas, according to Eclipse members.
Computer Associates, which will join the organisation's board this year, intends to propose an Eclipse project in systems management within the next month, according to Robert Levy, senior vice-president of data and lifecycle management at CA.
The proposal aims to make applications under development easier to manage once they're up and running, he said. The idea is to create broadly used software to let programmers add "instrumentation" to applications so that their performance can be easily tracked by systems management products, he said.
The software would also look to eliminate glitches that occur when applications are moved from development into actual use, Levy added. Microsoft has a similar technology under development in its Visual Studio 2005 Team System.
Another significant departure for Eclipse that's under development is a move into tools for building applications targeted at specific industries. In particular, the organisation is exploring a way to work with standards organisations in the health care industry, said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of Eclipse.
The goal of the project is to simplify the process of building health care applications by having built-in support for health care data-sharing standards, such as those for handling medical records, he said. "We see open source as complementary to open standards if they are prevalent," Milinkovich said.
One Eclipse member said that Eclipse software can be applied even more broadly than development tools. The Eclipse Rich Client Platform, which IBM uses in its Workplace client software, could conceivably be used as a replacement to Windows on the desktop, although no vendor has tried to sell it as such, said Michael Norman, CEO of Scapa Technologies.
Eclipse "looks remarkably like an operating system -- a modular, componentised operating system," Norman said.
From the article,
The availability of many Eclipse plug-ins, and the fact that developers can download Eclipse for free, has helped fuel the adoption of Eclipse with Java developers and Java software companies. The Eclipse "framework", however, can be expanded into other areas, according to Eclipse members.
Computer Associates, which will join the organisation's board this year, intends to propose an Eclipse project in systems management within the next month, according to Robert Levy, senior vice-president of data and lifecycle management at CA.
The proposal aims to make applications under development easier to manage once they're up and running, he said. The idea is to create broadly used software to let programmers add "instrumentation" to applications so that their performance can be easily tracked by systems management products, he said.
The software would also look to eliminate glitches that occur when applications are moved from development into actual use, Levy added. Microsoft has a similar technology under development in its Visual Studio 2005 Team System.
Another significant departure for Eclipse that's under development is a move into tools for building applications targeted at specific industries. In particular, the organisation is exploring a way to work with standards organisations in the health care industry, said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of Eclipse.
The goal of the project is to simplify the process of building health care applications by having built-in support for health care data-sharing standards, such as those for handling medical records, he said. "We see open source as complementary to open standards if they are prevalent," Milinkovich said.
One Eclipse member said that Eclipse software can be applied even more broadly than development tools. The Eclipse Rich Client Platform, which IBM uses in its Workplace client software, could conceivably be used as a replacement to Windows on the desktop, although no vendor has tried to sell it as such, said Michael Norman, CEO of Scapa Technologies.
Eclipse "looks remarkably like an operating system -- a modular, componentised operating system," Norman said.
A quotable quote.
Sriram : "Simplicity is tough - complexity is easy. It's easier to build complex things than to take the trouble to make them simple".
Thursday, February 24, 2005
A Byte of Python
If you want to start learning python, but not sure where to start. Here is the best online book/tutorial (Yes, it's free). It's an excellent material and recommended.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
An open source API - To read/import data from tally - part 2
As I mentioned in my earlier post, This should be an API not tool. Instead of just extracting and storing in a predetermined format, It should be based on methods like getCompanyList() which returns list of companies. By this way this API can able to address large number customers, as each and everyone's requirement differs from others. Other accounting software vendors (Like EX, Goodbooks, Wings) or any Custom enterprise developers can utilise this API and integrate with their product.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Dream #1
An open source API - To read/import data from tally
Why I consider an open source API to read/import data from tally is badly needed.
1. Moving to a custom made enterprise application from tally
There are around 1 million official customers for tally. I am sure there will be another half a million unofficial customers (Pirated). Lot of these customers will be using tally for years and when they need to move to their own custom made enterprise applications or different packages from tally as business requirements changes by time, they have left with two choices.
1. Re-Enter all data into the new system
2. Contact tally and pay huge amount of money
How about if they have an open source API, when they moving from tally to a custom made enterprise application. It will be a smooth ride for them.
2. Moving away from pirated version
As we noted early, half a million customers is a big thing. Once government or tally started tightening screws for piracy they will find nowhere to go. I think there are two main reasons, which keeps them in tally. (Apart from it’s great features, one is user interface lock-in and another one is data lock-in.
1. Use interface lock-in
Customers have used to the interface, ctlr-keys and short cuts of tally. Moving away from tally means there will be a big learning curve for them. (We will see what can be done for this in future posts).
2. Data lock-in
It is not always easy to re-enter the bunch of data into a new package, which is very expensive and time-consuming operation
Continues...
Why I consider an open source API to read/import data from tally is badly needed.
1. Moving to a custom made enterprise application from tally
There are around 1 million official customers for tally. I am sure there will be another half a million unofficial customers (Pirated). Lot of these customers will be using tally for years and when they need to move to their own custom made enterprise applications or different packages from tally as business requirements changes by time, they have left with two choices.
1. Re-Enter all data into the new system
2. Contact tally and pay huge amount of money
How about if they have an open source API, when they moving from tally to a custom made enterprise application. It will be a smooth ride for them.
2. Moving away from pirated version
As we noted early, half a million customers is a big thing. Once government or tally started tightening screws for piracy they will find nowhere to go. I think there are two main reasons, which keeps them in tally. (Apart from it’s great features, one is user interface lock-in and another one is data lock-in.
1. Use interface lock-in
Customers have used to the interface, ctlr-keys and short cuts of tally. Moving away from tally means there will be a big learning curve for them. (We will see what can be done for this in future posts).
2. Data lock-in
It is not always easy to re-enter the bunch of data into a new package, which is very expensive and time-consuming operation
Continues...
Usability and killing a useful industry
Joel writes about Microsoft's Antispyware.
Not only that, but I wonder if Microsoft can run an antispyware product without huge conflicts of interest. For example, will they block all the spyware that Real installs on your system? While Real is suing them? Especially when blocking spyware from Real will just give Real more ammunition to use against Microsoft in court? And the next time Microsoft needs a DRM favor from your friendly neighborhood media conglomerate, will the media conglomerate demand exemption from Antispyware removal for their adware in exchange for supporting Windows Media 37.0, with the new brain-zapping feature that prevents you from humming any song unless you bought the performance rights? (A sheet of tinfoil wrapped tightly around your skull is effective against this zapper, I understand.)
I understand that Microsoft wants to help customers who feel like a spyware-free operating system should be your right when you pay for WinXP, but it's a shame that by giving it away free they're likely to wipe out a useful industry and replace it with something that's difficult to trust due to conflicts of interest.
Not only that, but I wonder if Microsoft can run an antispyware product without huge conflicts of interest. For example, will they block all the spyware that Real installs on your system? While Real is suing them? Especially when blocking spyware from Real will just give Real more ammunition to use against Microsoft in court? And the next time Microsoft needs a DRM favor from your friendly neighborhood media conglomerate, will the media conglomerate demand exemption from Antispyware removal for their adware in exchange for supporting Windows Media 37.0, with the new brain-zapping feature that prevents you from humming any song unless you bought the performance rights? (A sheet of tinfoil wrapped tightly around your skull is effective against this zapper, I understand.)
I understand that Microsoft wants to help customers who feel like a spyware-free operating system should be your right when you pay for WinXP, but it's a shame that by giving it away free they're likely to wipe out a useful industry and replace it with something that's difficult to trust due to conflicts of interest.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Welcome to opendreams
This is a blog where I link various interesting (for me) stuff mostly related to Open source, J2EE, EAI and more importantly planning to write my dream(s) and my efforts (if I put any) to realizing them.
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