A nagging problem that has cropped up on the last 2 projects I've worked on is users cutting and pasting from MS Word into a text area, including curly quotes (“smart quotes”). These always end up as junk after the request is submitted back to the server. For example, the left curly quote ends up as “ (The characters with the codes 226, 128, and 156 respectively).

There have been some interesting discussions taking place in the security community on issues associated with smart phones. In security nirvana, smart phones would just be seen as another network device that is on the network and would be treated accordingly; that is, it would follow the same security guidelines as other network aware devices. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Each night our build machine kicks off a series of automated web tests using a tool called Selenium. Selenium is packaged with - among other things - a server that allows developers to remotely control a browser using many popular programming languages. Like other servers, Selenium listens on a specific port waiting for a client to establish a connection. Once the client (in our case JUnit test code) establishes a connection the tests are run. After the tests are complete the client code tells the Selenium server to shut itself down.

Some e-discovery firms are making tons of money since the new Federal Rules of Evidence came into affect last year. With a little due diligence, prior to bringing in your consultant, you or your client can save some cash.

Hire the right person:

Encryption has gotten a bum rap for years in the industry. It is too hard. It is too slow. I will lose all my data. I have nothing to hide. I can’t see what my employees are doing. Bunk.

It is time to start encrypting; and not just encrypting in the business world, but it is time to encrypt your home machine too. Sure encryption can cause issues, but as anyone familiar with computers can attest, turning on a computer can cause issues. Planning is the key to minimizing the impact of introducing encryption into your corporate network.

The typical home user gets their new computer home and has the cable guy come out and hook them up to the internet. They are amazed at how fast their new machine can get stuff from the web. What they don’t know is that the bad guys are looking for them. Automated scripts are constantly searching the internet for new machines to come online, and exploit them. I did an experiment once where I took a new Windows XP machine right out of the box and plugged it directly into the internet.

According to the Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) this past month, OS X users have tripled in less than two years, from 25 million at the end of 2007 to 75 million in June 2009. Of course, a huge part of this spike is due to the success of the iPhone since it uses a mobile version of OS X and technically counts.

The CEO of Platinum Solutions, Laila Rossi, was recently featured in the June 2009 issue of Washington SmartCEO Magazine describing Platinum’s employee on-boarding process. New employees, having gone through a rigorous interview process designed to weed out all but the top 10% of candidates, are rewarded on their first day with a hand-written letter from Ms. Rossi, an engraved Platinum Solutions coin, a company jacket or polo shirt, Platinum candy, and a cubicle decorated with balloons.

Introduction

In 1994 I was given the opportunity to learn the Information Mapping (TM) method of technical and business documentation. Information Mapping (TM) is a trademarked documentation process based on cognitive and memory studies performed in the 1960s that explored how people process and retain large quantities of information.

IM is a mildly controversial system for a number of reasons, not the least due to its trademarked status, but the training proved invaluable to me because it introduced, at a very early point in my career, a structured and disciplined approach to the entire process of producing documentation. I have never used IM in any formal capacity since that time, but I've continued to apply the basic principles I learned in those sessions in all the work I've done.

When I was working for IBM in the early 90s, a co-worker and mentor of mine brought me a set of disks containing software I needed. I’d been seeking for the software for weeks, but had just mentioned it to him that morning. I asked him how he was able to get them so fast. I have never forgotten his answer: “Burke, it’s not who you know…it’s who I know.”