The oldest software process is “code and fix”. This actually works on small one-man projects, but as a system grows, bugs become harder to fix. A typical sign of such a system is a long test phase after the system is “feature complete”. Such a long test phase plays havoc with schedules as testing and debugging is near impossible to schedule. The classic response comes from engineering, whose methods try to plan the software process in detail for a long[...]

Windows 7 64bit platform viability and new shortcuts.

Have you heard of the “smart grid”? The national generation and transmission of electricity is one of the defining problems of our time driven by concerns over energy independence, global warming and emergency resilience. To make the most of our resources and incorporate new power sources, such as wind, we will need a grid that is flexible, responsive and efficient. At National Grid work towards the smart grid has long been underway.  Traditionally power is “broadcast” from a few central[...]

The conventional approach to making videos or other data available online is to buy a server and host it at an ISP. This requires up-front capital costs for the server, and development of systems to keep track of backups, redundant copies, and scaling up as your needs increase. An alternative approach is to use storage web services, such as Amazon’s Simple Storage Service, or Amazon S3 for short. Your files are stored on the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive[...]

OK, so as a technology savvy business I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you what ‘Web 2.0’ and the whole social networking sphere is, but if you’re asking yourself should I be doing this? or if you’re already doing social marketing and not seeing results, then I may have some answers for you. Now that 2.0 is in full swing, businesses of all shapes and sizes are getting involved and investing significantly in activities around social networking and[...]