Anticlue

NASA releases JavaPath Finder

NASA is entering into the Open Source movement by releasing a sweet testing application called Java Path Finder.

JPF is a Java virtual machine that executes your program not just once (like a normal VM), but theoretically in all possible ways, checking for property violations like deadlocks or unhandled exceptions along all potential execution paths. If it finds an error, JPF reports the whole execution that leads to it. Unlike a normal debugger, JPF keeps track of every step how it got to the defect.

A great way to test the mission critical app.

Open Course Ware

Here is a new twist in the open environment, Open course ware from MIT and John Hopkins. Some classes have a lot of material others only a bibliography, but worth checking out for those who love learning but can't stomach the expense.

PayPalMX released

Jared Rypkya-Hauer has released PayPalMX. One gets a license for one URL, the source code, an example, API documentation, and upgrades for the life of the major release.

Good Deal!

Laszlo Systems Ships OpenLaszlo 3.0

Laszlo Systems has made OpenLaszlo 3.0 available. OpenLaszlo is utilizes Flash and XML to create a Rich Internet Application for the UI.
OpenLaszlo 3.0 new features are:

• SOLO deployment option - which allows the UI to be delivered directly to the user without server interaction
• Unicode support
• Drawing API - an API which enables the creation of circles, ovals, fills and lines and provides the foundation for charting and graphing components
• Dynamic libraries - to add flexibility and reduce the startup time involved with OpenLaszlo
• Performance optimizations to take advantage of the capabilities of Flash 6 and 7

Worth checking it out.

Project Blunders – Scope Creep

Scope creep is a great and vile thing. Its great because enthusiasm is occurring and people are wanting to do more with the project. It is vile because it has a potential to kill the project timeline, budget, and bring unjustified risks.

So how does one handle the ever challenging scope creep as a project manager? First, its best to have everyone know what has been committed to for the deliverables. A high level deliverable overview with the team is always a good thing. Next, clearly define how to change the scope of the project within the project organization for example.

First, there needs to be a change sponsor, who is responsible for quantifying the change. They should be able to produce a document with the change described, the impact of the change to timeline, budget, any new risks of the change. The benefits and disadvantages of the change.

This document then needs to go to the leadership group for finalization, here the pm endorses the change, the project sponsor endorses the change, and the executive sponsor endorses the change. At this point the scope creep is a managed change. Now some changes are no-brainers, others appear to be no-brainers but have hidden impacts. This basically gets everyone on board with a way to make changes occur to the project scope after the project has been defined.

Keyboard Loggers

A good overview of Keyboard Loggers can be found over on Security Focus. The article breaks keyboard loggers into three types hardware, software with hooks, and Driver Keyboard loggers.

And one has to really appreciate the features of the ?Perfect Keylogger?

1. Stealth Mode. In this mode no icon is present in the taskbar and the keylogger is virtually hidden.
2. Remote Installation. The keylogger has a feature whereby it can attach to other programs and can be sent by e-mail to install on the remote PC in stealth mode. It will then send keystrokes, screenshots and websites visited to the attacker by e-mail or via FTP.
3. Smart Rename. This feature allows a user to rename all keylogger's executable files and registry entries.

AJAX Library for ASP.NET

Damien McGivern has posted an AJAX Library for ASP.NET along with some demos.

Cloudscape and Derby

Looking for an embedded DB? Check out Derby and Cloudscape.

Derby is an open-source, embedded, Java database available from the Apache Software Foundation. Cloudscape is IBM's productized distribution of the Derby database. Cloudscape is currently available as an open source solution from IBM, although it does not come with source code. Source code comes with Derby, as does the eclipse plugin. Download here.

Cloudscape is a 100% Java relational DBMS. It typically runs in 4MB of memory for J2SE and J2EE. Table size and row counts are limited by available disk space, it is possible to have more than 1000 columns per table. Cloudscape comes with a Type 4 JDBC 3.0 driver and it supports most SQL-92E and some of SQL-99. It also runs stored procedures and triggers, has row-level locking, and can perform transaction commits and roll-backs. It also supports encryption. Pretty strong candidate for a little embedded db.

Changes in Google Ads

From the wsj this morning, it is anticipated that Google will announce changes on how it sells ads. The anticipated changes give advertisers control on how the ads are displayed with animated graphics or not, and how the ads are priced. Its a move to attract the big-name advertisers.

Eclipse J2ME plugin

Interested in an Open Source mobile development environment? Check out EclipseME.

EclipseME is an Eclipse plugin to help develop J2ME MIDlets. Its in beta, so test it out and see if it works for you.

Will Longhorn save Microsoft?

Microsoft is gearing up to release Longhorn as the next savior of an operating system. Truth be told, this maybe more of a molehill than a mountain. Microsoft has been involved in a plethora of litigation. It almost makes Microsoft's prime product being a breeding ground of corporate lawyers instead of software.

Longhorn’s competition is actually previous Microsoft OS, Windows 98 runs 16% of the world’s computers. This is actually larger than Apple’s and Linux combine according to Gartner. Gartner also estimates that in 2008, Longhorn will enjoy a market share of 35.8%, less than XP’s projected 55.7% slice.

It is hard to see a new OS as a savior for Microsoft, its just not the killer app that it used to be. Business won’t be pressed to implement the new OS, especially since the apps on the old OS run the business.

The other item is shouldn’t MS strategically be looking towards the mobile market? Adobe buying Macromedia and Macromedia’s growing movement towards the mobile market with flashlite and flashcast. With the cell phone market booming at its current rate, isn’t mobile computing the next big thing?

Deep Link Ratio Tool

Interested in obtaining the top results for certain catch phrases? Check out the Deep Link Ratio Analyzer from We Build Web Pages. Another place to check the top search phrases is buzz.yahoo.com.

Spring.NET

Sprint.NET has released its final release candidate. The code is a port of the Java based Spring Framework. The release contains a Inversion of Control container. The Inversion of Control features allow one to manage object container functionalities. Check out the framework here.

Visual Studio 2005 Beta

If you are looking to learn the new bells and whistles of VS 2005, check out the beta.

Integrating the environment.

Once of the core competencies of hospital environments are the clinical systems. Something that constantly amazes me is how the departmental system truly believe they are silos. What is done in one department doesn't affect others. With the new age of clinical repositorities, this is just not the case. One of the newer movements in healthcare is integrating the PACS, RIS, and CIS. (Picture Archiving and Communication System, Radiology Information System, and Clinical Information System) The key is planning and plugging in the pieces, and having a good foundation. Aunt Minnie has recently highlight published a nice integration overview for the Radiology Side of the house. It is a worthy read.

What's a business rule?

Business Rules are coming of age. Based on the Zachman Framework, business rules are basically just that they capture the rules necessary to run a business.

The principles of the Business Rules Approach are:

• Separate the business rules so that it is only the business knowledge represented.
• Have a source the rule as well as the usages of that rule.
• Make the business rule explicit.
• Have the rules defined in a manner so that change is easier.

Why is this important, rules document the current state of the business, knowing the current state makes it easier to define the to be state and how to get there.

So what are the types of business rules?

• Constraints: Constraints specify the conditions information must (or must not) satisfy.
• Production rules: Production rules derive new information based on existing information.
• Event rules: Event rules specify what action should be taken when an event occurs (and a certain condition is satisfied).

What to learn more? Check out the Business Rule Community.

Argos goes alpha

Argos is a nifty little search engine API, which has just gone alpha. It requires Java 5, but it does provide a single source search across multiple search engines such as blogdigger, feedster, google, msn search and technorati.

It’s a tool that has the potential to be very useful in the future. Check out Argos.

Tips on how to use AJAX

Ahh what a great thing, some tips on how to utilize AJAX has been added to the Java Blue Print Solutions Catalog. Take a look here.

Lessons Learned - learn the lessons

I've been following the tale of the VA in St. Petersburg, FL with great interest. It is a tale of woe and hardship and the implementation of HealTheVet at the Bay Pines Medical Center in St. Petersburg, FL.

From an outside view of one who only really reads the newspaper articles, it appears that last years fiasco surrounded staging the implementation of the CoreFLS, the financial management, and then following up with HealtheVet a classic two phase implementation.

Well CoreFLS, was a failure of a $372 million proportions, and is still under investigation. Carnegie Mellon was asked to review the upcoming implementation of the HealtheVet.

Their findings:
First, it will take $3.5 billion to modernize the VA with the HealtheVet System. (Problem only 311 million was budgeted this year) By the way, these are not in order of importance.

Second, even if they spent the money and create the system it will not do what is necessary. The project lacks a leadership vision, has poor communication based on subjective information. In addition the to be state has been scaled way back and critical functionality is eliminated to stay on time. There is no defined current process and there is no defined future process. Change management and training is not fully grasped by the leadership of the project. Sometimes the basics are necessary.

Now in reading this, what is really interesting is that the project is doomed. It doesn't matter if the code has Procedural, OO, used a framework didn't use a framework, was SOA or wasn't. The project seems doomed because the processes surround implementing a system just weren't there to the extent they needed to be. What's interesting is that is the same thing that happened to the VA last year.

Using subversion, take a look at including Trac

I'm very interested in getting a source control tool in place, and having it be utilized. However in doing my insomniac surfing this morning, I came across a nice wiki, project tracker for subversion, Trac. Its what the new spring site is utilizing.

An Oracle Plugin for Eclipse

From CNet News, Oracle intends to make a plugin for Eclipse that is compatible with Oracle's TopLink software. The proposed plugin will promote new database access features in Java. Please read the full article here.

The Spring Plugin for Eclipse

Good News from the springframework-devel list. The Spring IDE is currently at http://springide.org/

Risk Adversion and Open Source

Knowing what one is getting into is good at times, better yet is determining if the risk is worth it. Everyone has different acceptable levels of risk. So what's up with risk and opensource? Open Source solutions are gaining respect in the business community, but they need to be evaluated in a systemmatic manner. Because frankly there are different levels of a opensource solution, and there maybe early adopters who will take the brunt of the implementation costs and discover the new issues. And then there are the pragmatists, like me, who are trying to evaluate if the solution is really ready for primetime and not a career limiting move, CLM.

In order to avoid a CLM, it might be worth evaluating the open source tool compared to a standard. Navica has the Open Source Maturity Model, and it is worth checking out for evaluating and determining if the solution is a worthy risk.

How do I write a WMI script?

This is a nice little tool, the windows scriptomatic utility. It writes window management instrumentation scripts.

So how to exploit it, first get a text file together of the computer names you would like to investigate. Lets call it asset.txt and save it in C:\scripts.

Then let's ascertain the information, one wants to capture. I'm currently interested in the page file. Just select Win32_PageFile, and the script generator creates the following.

On Error Resume Next
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PageFile",,48)
For Each objItem in colItems
Wscript.Echo "AccessMask: " & objItem.AccessMask
Wscript.Echo "Archive: " & objItem.Archive
Wscript.Echo "Caption: " & objItem.Caption
Wscript.Echo "Compressed: " & objItem.Compressed
Wscript.Echo "CompressionMethod: " & objItem.CompressionMethod
Wscript.Echo "CreationClassName: " & objItem.CreationClassName
Wscript.Echo "CreationDate: " & objItem.CreationDate
Wscript.Echo "CSCreationClassName: " & objItem.CSCreationClassName
Wscript.Echo "CSName: " & objItem.CSName
Wscript.Echo "Description: " & objItem.Description
Wscript.Echo "Drive: " & objItem.Drive
Wscript.Echo "EightDotThreeFileName: " & objItem.EightDotThreeFileName
Wscript.Echo "Encrypted: " & objItem.Encrypted
Wscript.Echo "EncryptionMethod: " & objItem.EncryptionMethod
Wscript.Echo "Extension: " & objItem.Extension
Wscript.Echo "FileName: " & objItem.FileName
Wscript.Echo "FileSize: " & objItem.FileSize
Wscript.Echo "FileType: " & objItem.FileType
Wscript.Echo "FreeSpace: " & objItem.FreeSpace
Wscript.Echo "FSCreationClassName: " & objItem.FSCreationClassName
Wscript.Echo "FSName: " & objItem.FSName
Wscript.Echo "Hidden: " & objItem.Hidden
Wscript.Echo "InitialSize: " & objItem.InitialSize
Wscript.Echo "InstallDate: " & objItem.InstallDate
Wscript.Echo "InUseCount: " & objItem.InUseCount
Wscript.Echo "LastAccessed: " & objItem.LastAccessed
Wscript.Echo "LastModified: " & objItem.LastModified
Wscript.Echo "Manufacturer: " & objItem.Manufacturer
Wscript.Echo "MaximumSize: " & objItem.MaximumSize
Wscript.Echo "Name: " & objItem.Name
Wscript.Echo "Path: " & objItem.Path
Wscript.Echo "Readable: " & objItem.Readable
Wscript.Echo "Status: " & objItem.Status
Wscript.Echo "System: " & objItem.System
Wscript.Echo "Version: " & objItem.Version
Wscript.Echo "Writeable: " & objItem.Writeable
Next

So let's wrap and cut this down, so we only get what we want.

Dim oFSO, txt, strComputer
Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set txt = oFSO.OpenTextFile("C:\scripts\assets.txt")

Do Until txt.AtEndOfStream
strComputer = txt.ReadLine
WScript.Echo vbCrLf & "Working with " & strComputer

On Error Resume Next
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PageFile",,48)
For Each objItem in colItems
Wscript.Echo "Drive: " & objItem.Drive
Wscript.Echo "FileName: " & objItem.FileName
Wscript.Echo "FileSize: " & objItem.FileSize
Next

Loop

WScript.Echo "Completed, Life is good"

Need a DB Performance Boost

Sometimes in tweaking things, the most obvious are the most illusive. For example, in the odbc connections, instead of using the SQL Servers name, try using the IP address. This eliminates looking up the DNS name, and once again brings ms to the party.

Spammers and the CAN-SPAM Act

Here is a thought, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, CAN-SPAM Act, is maily focused at email spammer companies sending more than 1,000 emails within a month.

Since blogs are becoming increasingly popular, and blog spam via comments or track-back pings are basically an assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing. Is this an extension of the law?

Get the content authorized

Since we are on the topic of HIPAA, all content really needs an authorization structure in place before it is placed in public. This includes websites, newspaper articles, and submissions to journals. For example on of the larger blunders that can be experienced was outline in this medscape article.

<--- Snipped from article --->
The provision of uncropped electronic images that contain the patient's identifying information on them to a peer-reviewed medical journal, on the other hand, would violate the rule's prohibitions on using or disclosing PHI unless the disclosure is specifically permitted under the rule or the patient has specifically authorized in writing the disclosure to the journal. The uncropped electronic images meet the rule's definition of PHI, and the act of sending them to the peer-reviewed journal would fall within the rule's definition of disclosure.

Securing Email in Healthcare

Email is one of the daily knowledge transfers of an institution. The need to maintain patient confidentiality is absolutely required with any healthcare system. Email is no exception.

Tumbleweed has a good overview of what things to be thinking about when securing email in a healthcare environment.

Security Practices

Ever think that application security is just a shortcut that you can take of later. Or that it might add more to the scope.

A nice and frightening statistic is according to Gartner 75% of the breaches of security occur within the patient management and clinical information systems. And you thought that custom access database was nice and tightly secured, especially since you link it to a paradox palm app.

Since the April 20th HIPAA Security deadline is around the corner, health leaders published a full checklist of items for security. Its actually a good list to look at for developing applications and maintaining security.

1. Does the application create, receive, maintain or transmit electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI)? (For all applications that process ePHI in some way, the entity must pursue responses to the next 15 questions.)
2. Is there a procedure for authorizing, establishing and modifying user access?
3. Does the application possess unique user identification capabilities?
4. Have unique user identification capabilities been activated?
5. Are there generic IDs in use?
6. Does an Emergency Access Procedure exist?
7. Does the application facilitate automatic logoff capability?
8. Is automatic logoff capability enabled?
9. Is there an encryption feature for data "at rest" in databases?
10. Is the application capable of performing audit logging?
11. Is the audit logging function enabled?
12. Are audit logs reviewed on a routine basis?
13. Does the application possess person or entity authentication capabilities?
14. Are person or entity authentication capabilities activated?
15. Is there a method to ensure transmission integrity?
16. Is there a capability to encrypt the transmission?

Here is the final security rule.

Open Source Portal, LifeRay

I took some time this weekend to check out Liferay, Its very impressive and worth checking out. First the design is just beautiful and minimalistic. There is a document repository, that is very searchable, a weather iframe, polls, blogs, projects with statuses. Its worth taking the time to check
out the online demo.

Inversion of Control and the Dependency Injection Pattern

Continuing with the good articles and must reads to get a great understanding of dependency injection check out martin fowler's clarifying blog entry.

Good Ajax Overview

If you are looking for a good overview of what ajax is and how it enhances the user experience check out this article on Javalobby by Jesse James Garrett.

First excellent point of the article is that Ajax incorporates several technologies to derive the Ajax web application model. The technologies are:

• standards-based presentation using XHTML and CSS;
• dynamic display and interaction using the Document Object Model;
• data interchange and manipulation using XML and XSLT;
• asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest;
• JavaScript binding everything together.

VB6 End of Main Stream Support

I can remember when I was waiting desperately for VB6 to arrive. However, VB6 has reached the end of mainstream support last month. Who says software applications last forever? They need to be continually transformed into the latest and greatest languages and operating systems.

XMLHttpRequest Usability Guidelines

Since AJAX is becoming increasing popular, times have come up when it is appropriate to use and when it is better left to "archaic" techniques.

Baekdal has a list of XMLHttpRequest Guidelines.

Need a great MS web guy?

A friend of mine is looking for a new opportunity, contract or full-time. His background is on the Microsoft side of the house. He has a lot of experience architecting and implementing .NET applications, in addition he will improve your testing proficiency and web standards throughout the project.

Please take a moment to meet Chuck Gatto, and if you are interested please contact me (Elyse@anticlue.net) offline or Chuck himself.

Aliens attack Anticlue.net

How's that for an attention getting headline?

Click here to see the destruction.

Hope about enjoying a cathardic experience for yourself try netdisaster on your favorite site.

Core J2EE Pattern Catalog

A nice overview on patterns can be found here.

Tartan Framework Site

Congrats to Paul Kenney and the Tartan community. I've been catching on on old emails this morning, and found the http://www.tartanframework.org. It is a nice introduction to the concept and usage of tartan.

Eclipsys Sunrise and Testing

I'm going to have to commend Eclipsys for its testing strategy explained in this article. The great repeatable factors for any healthcare vendor.

First, an available online hospital system so customers can partake in testing. What a great way for customer acceptance testing. Customers were able to report issues on-line. Second for communication, there was a list serve set up to for posting questions and providing feedback.

This type of testing at the vendor level will only lead to better products, and also build a greater sense of healthcare it community.