Oracle-AMD Acquisition Speculation Flares Once Again

Dirk Meyer, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has denied rumors that Oracle may look to acquire AMD.

"AMD is not for sale, but we are happy to listen to any proposal which is in the interest of our shareholders," Meyer said at an industry conference in Barcelona, as reported by Reuters.

The speculation was sparked by comments Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made last month at Oracle's annual financial analyst meeting, in which he said Oracle could soon acquire a chip company in addition to software acquisitions.

But at the Oracle annual stockholders' conference earlier this week, Ellison reiterated his interest in acquiring additional semiconductor and software companies, more so than new service offerings.

"My point really was that we are interested in buying intellectual property of all kinds," Ellison said, as reported by The Wall Street Journal . "We would be interested in certain kinds of semiconductor companies and software companies. Most of our acquisitions and the bulk of our strategy are in creating and acquiring intellectual property, including chips."

By acquiring AMD, Oracle would gain access to the chip company's IP portfolio, adding hardware to its software acquisitions and moving closer to end-to-end control of the entire IT stack.

Oracle couldn't be reached for comment Thursday. An AMD spokesperson offered the following comment to CRN: "As a matter of policy, AMD does not comment on speculations or rumors, but I can confirm that AMD is not for sale."

By Zewde Yeraswork, CRN

What are the highest paying job roles?

  

 

.NET 3.5 WPF FAQ: How to remove highlighted attributes in WPF application - By Mario Fernandes

Query by Mr. Rajpreet Singh

I have a query in my WPF application.

I was trying to generate XAML styles at runtime using the following code:

XNamespace xmlns = XNamespace.Get("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation");

XNamespace x = XNamespace.Get("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml");

XDocument xamlDoc = new XDocument(

      new XElement(xmlns + "ResourceDictionary",

            new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "x", x.NamespaceName)));

xamlDoc.Root.Add(

      new XElement("SolidColorBrush",

            new XAttribute(x + "Key", "ButtonBrush"),

            new XAttribute("Color", "Red")));

The output which I get is as shown below, but it also brings this (highlighted) useless attribute.

<ResourceDictionary xmlns:x=http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation">

            <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AutoBrush" Color="Black" xmlns="" />

      </ResourceDictionary>

Please tell me what I should change in the code to get rid of this. For now I have manually removed it from the XAML string.

I have also tried combing both the statements into a single one but that also doesn’t help:

XDocument xamlDoc = new XDocument(

new XElement(xmlns + "ResourceDictionary",

new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "x", x.NamespaceName),

new XElement("SolidColorBrush",

new XAttribute(x + "Key", "ButtonBrush"),

new XAttribute("Color", "Red"))));

Solutions by Mario Fernandes

(Just add the variable I have marked in green.)

XNamespace xmlns = XNamespace.Get("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation");

XNamespace x = XNamespace.Get("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml");

XDocument xamlDoc = new XDocument(

      new XElement(xmlns + "ResourceDictionary",

            new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "x", x.NamespaceName)));

xamlDoc.Root.Add(

      new XElement(xmlns + "SolidColorBrush",

            new XAttribute(x + "Key", "ButtonBrush"),

            new XAttribute("Color", "Red")));

The output which I get is as shown below, but it also brings this (highlighted) useless attribute.

<ResourceDictionary xmlns:x=http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation">

            <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AutoBrush" Color="Black" xmlns="" />

      </ResourceDictionary>

Please tell me what I should change in the code to get rid of this. For now I have manually removed it from the XAML string.

I have also tried combing both the statements into a single one but that also doesn’t help:

XDocument xamlDoc = new XDocument(

new XElement(xmlns + "ResourceDictionary",

new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "x", x.NamespaceName),

new XElement("SolidColorBrush",

new XAttribute(x + "Key", "ButtonBrush"),

new XAttribute("Color", "Red"))));

 Microsoft ASP.NET is a free technology that allows programmers to create dynamic web applications. ASP.NET can be used to create anything from small, personal websites through to large, enterprise-class web applications.

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From Business projects.

New Technology Adoption Strategy in 2011... Synergetics Approach

Rapid , Revolutionary and Broad reaching changes initiated by new product/platform launches in Information Technology space along with the evolutions of new programming Paradigms/Methodology in Software Applications Development space and releases of Newer Versions of existing product suites; first up spring multiple challenges on Knowledge Acquisitions aspect in these areas as well as on Skills Development side.    

The broad classifications of challenges are:

• Knowledge acquisition
• Skill empowerment/improvement
• Moving in fast to stay ahead of competition

Most striking is ; along with these new challenges also come a whole new world of connected new business opportunities; which to encash means, move in fast and stay ahead of your competition. In fact these changes and disruptions provide redefinition to how business in general will operate in the future ; are most liked by SI and ISVs because this allows their business to thrive and reach newer heights ; gain newer clients with a refined set of new value propositions and new solutions.

For Software Services organizations i.e. SIs::System Integrators and ISVs ::Independent Software Vendors the primary challenge is to 1st identify and then adopt the most relevant technology/products/paradigm for its solutions spectrum, for its value propositions and for its client base.

They essentially need an unbiased opinion on the value of a technology and its business value propositions.

Identification of suitability of a particular technology is most crucial as Vendors create unprecedented Hype / Initial demand over each and every technology offerings and attempt to drive adoption even in the technology’s infancy stages putting the ISV / SIs in a quandary “ To adopt or Not to adopt ”. Early adoption gives First movers advantage which no software development organization wishes to miss. Business Drivers create Business Pressure.

The Vision v/s Hype kind of evaluation starts with getting to know Primary Feature / Functionality [FF] then getting to know What and Why aspects in the initial stages leading to the When and How then to Do’s and Don’ts and eventually to the Best and Next practices [BNP] aspects. The premium knowledgebase is the one that enables architecture and architecting of a solutions in these new technology space.

These changes and disruptions induce a redefinition as to how business in general will operate in the future.

This opens up opportunities for SI and ISVs, as:

• This allows their business to thrive and reach newer heights
• It provides them the basis for acquiring newer clients and/or providing refined set of value propositions and solutions.

The SI and ISVs hence need to 1^st identify and then adopt the most relevant technology / products / paradigm for its solutions spectrum, for its value propositions and for its client base.

They essentially need: 

• An unbiased opinion on the value of a technology and its business value propositions.
• Identification of suitability of a particular technology is most crucial as Vendors create unprecedented Hype / Initial demand over each and every technology offerings
• undertaking early adoption, as it gives a First mover advantage which no software development organization wishes to miss.

The Vision v/s Hype kind of evaluation starts with Getting to know Primary Feature / Functionality  

• Then getting to know What and Why aspects in the initial stages
• Leading to the When and How 
• Then to Do’s and Don’ts and
• Eventually to the Best and Next practices aspects.

This premium knowledgebase is the one that enables the architecture and architecting of the solutions in the new technology space.

Knowledge acquisition for various spectrum of professionals in a software development organization eventually followed by Skills Development for its front line staff that produces results is paramount.

Our Core Training interventions 

• Deliver on Peoples Technology Competency roadmap / Certification roadmap as defined by the organization .—“build competitive edge”
• Deliver Customized program for on-Bench people
• Deliver Customized program for people in technical transition

Our Specialized New Services have offerings:   

1.   Custom Solutions

2.   Products

3.   Events

Custom Solutions:

The objective of this service is to provide expertise in Building Custom Solutions/Products, Cater to Resolving Customer Pain Points across Organizational Processes/Adoption, and Improving Functional Areas.

The offerings that are classified as Custom Solutions are:

·                On Boarding

o      To Build Competitive Advantage for Business through Process Effectiveness, Innovation & Project Readiness of Fresher

·                Project Readiness

o      Allow key stakeholders to define their requirements and close important gaps before any significant work and investments begin

·                Evangelism

o      Partner with Customers/Vendors in Product Pre Launch Activities

Products:

Products are aimed at bridging technology and skills gaps, by publishing innovative content designed and delivered by our experienced consultants, with an average industry experience of 10 years.

The offerings published are:

·                Theme Based Program

o      Conduct workshops framed around topics / rhythms prevalent or addressing community needs.

·                Webinar

o      Host Live Web Sessions for current & emerging technologies; showcasing integration, interoperability, and development knowledgebase.

·                Video

o      Publish Current Technology Multimedia Content for far reaching aspiring developers.

·                Real World Project

o      Provide competency building deep dive, end to end hands on workshops for aspiring and experienced developers.

Events

Synergetics, would like to engage and reach out far and wide to existing customers and beyond, to the entire community of the I.T. industry. Events will create the forums which will allow for exchange of ideas and information, and enable the community, to scale up and reach out to each other.

The forums will be targeted at:

·                Developer

A forum for Developer Oriented Knowledge Transfer of emerging technologies

·                Vendor

Participate in Various Annual Events of Vendors and ISV/SI

·                Wisdom

A forum showcasing WOW sessions across ISV/SI community for extending existing product knowledge and capabilities

Our 15+ years to deep connection with the Developer community  as listed below; we get to see that they desire knowledge and skills on different levels as per their role.

Microsoft issues only one security patch for today

Microsoft issues only one security patch for today

According to various posts on the Web in the past few days, Microsoft Windows' first Patch Tuesday for 2010 will be a very small one in deed. The Microsoft giant will instead fix just one single critical security issue that affects Windows 2000, Windows XP, the now infamous Windows Vista and even Windows 7.Microsoft says it will also patch the same security hole in Windows Server 2003, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2, although the security flaw in those products is marked as low by Microsoft.But on the company's security blog it states that the "Exploitability Index" rating for this security flaw would not be high, thereby lowering the overall risk. Some security experts disagree.Microsoft still hasn't patched a Denial of Service (DoS) hole in SMB (Server Message Block), which the company went public about six weeks ago.In Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, the security flaw makes it possible to lock up affected systems. The crash would happen without a Blue Screen of Death or other visible indication that anything was wrong, however."We are still working on an update for the issue at this time. We are not aware of any active attacks using the exploit code that was made public for this vulnerability and continue to encourage Microsoft Windows users to follow the guidance in the advisory which outlines best practices to help protect systems against attacks that originate outside of the enterprise perimeter," a blog posting said on Microsoft's site.Overall, Microsoft issued fixes for no less than 34 security flaws as well as 13 updates in December in what was a record Patch Tuesday happening.Microsoft light-footed approach to its latest round of updates contrasts with the hefty collection of security patches that trundled out of MS Towers and onto the Internet last October.

January 12, 2010

http://www.synergetics-india.com/microsoft.htm

Silverlight, WPF at forefront of DevExpress plans

.NET component and application framework maker Developer Express will place a greater emphasis on Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) this year, according to its 2010 road map, announced on Tuesday.

DevExpress' Silverlight components will deliver full design-time support for Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Blend 3. Upcoming Silverlight 3 controls will include charting, data editing and a scheduler. A Silverlight 4 printing control will also be introduced.

"We feel we are late to the party, but then again, Silverlight is changing a lot," said DevExpress CTO Julian Bucknall. Aside from controls, the company is integrating Silverlight into its eXpressApp Framework, he added.

Some of its upcoming WPF controls will include final versions of DevExpress' pivot grid and layout manager, data editor, ribbon, report view, and scheduler.

DevExpress' embrace of Silverlight and WPF comes at the expense of Windows Forms development. Bucknall said that WinForms controls are being deemphasized, but development will continue with more chart types, VS 2010 and Client Profile support for controls, as well as new user interface styles to match the appearance of Windows 7 and Office 2010.

VCL (Visual Component Library) controls will be likewise updated with additional views and similar user interface options for the Microsoft stack.

DevExpress will continue to forge ahead to update its existing ASP.NET controls, and it will begin to deliver new controls that exploit the new capabilities that will be introduced by .NET 4.0, Bucknall said. He is being more circumspect about developing components for ASP.NET's Model-View-Controller pattern, but the company will introduce a navigation bar and tab control nonetheless.

Lastly, new editions of the company's next IDE productivity tools, including CodeRush and Refactor Pro, will be released later this year around the time that VS 2010 ships, Bucknall said. "There were big changes in Visual Studio 2010," he added.

By David Worthington

Aster Data expands SQL for map/reduce

Aster Data has built a business out of map/reduce, and the release today of a thousand new SQL query building blocks—what it calls "functions"—is designed to give business users access to map/reduce computed analytics.

Whereas open-source big data solution Hadoop, for instance, is based entirely on its own implementation of map/reduce, as well as a set of homegrown query structuring frameworks like Pig and Hive, Aster Data wants to use SQL right from the start. Sharmila Shahani-Mulligan, executive vice president of marketing at Aster Data, said that this is a significant advantage over Hadoop.

“Hadoop lends itself more to batch-type processing. Most of our customers are running analytics on a daily basis with the expectation of results returned every few minutes," she said. "It's not real-time, but it's near real-time.

"The second advantage is SQL map/reduce. We are literally targeting the business analyst with SQL using full map/reduce underneath.”

Map/reduce is the framework for processing huge amounts of data, and it is the basis of the Apache Hadoop project, as well as of Big Table, which runs Google's search engine. Using map/reduce, huge stores of data can be processed, and the results can be combined into a cohesive set of information.

Stephanie McReynolds, director of product marketing at Aster Data, said the new sets of query-building tools aren't limited to business users. “We introduced many new business analyst-ready functions," she said. "[These] functions address particular business issues, like path analysis for website traffic.

"We also have a series of packages for power users. These are for people building their own SQL map/reduce applications. They want to use Java or C functions to get ahead. These are smaller building blocks."

Shahani-Mulligan said that Aster Data's analytics can be tweaked and queried by business users, a major advantage over Hadoop. She said that many business users already know SQL, which cannot be said of Hive or Pig. She said that with Hadoop, developers likely need to be called in to implement any analytics batches that need to be run, but with Aster Data, the business users can do that themselves.

“With almost any of our [customers] you talk to, one of the big appeals has been that their existing business analysts can work with functions and don't have to use a new language," said Shahani-Mulligan. "This is why we came out with SQL map/reduce. Some of them also have Hadoop, but it requires you to do constant programming in map/reduce versus having a simple-to-use interface."

By Alex Handy

Cloud computing will be hybrid

Cloud computing will be hybrid:

Ovum The next three years will see Cloud computing mature rapidly as vendors and enterprises come to grip with the opportunities and challenges that it represents

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Cloud computing, the most important trend for 2010 has barely even started, says Ovum, an analyst and consulting company. The next three years will see cloud computing mature rapidly as vendors and enterprises come to grip with the opportunities and challenges that it represents.

Cloud computing - Been There Done That

Some prefer to limit cloud computing to infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS), whilst others also consider software-as-a-service (SaaS) and private clouds part of the phenomenon.

A wider perspective helps understand one of the key trends in cloud computing - cloud computing will be hybrid. "Enterprises will mix and match public and private cloud elements with traditional hosting and outsourcing services to create solutions that fit short and long-term requirements", comments Laurent Lachal, Senior Analyst.

"The past 18 months have seen a significant shift in focus away from public clouds towards private ones owing to a powerful mix of vendor push and user pull", said Lachal based in London. The private cloud is, to a large extent, a re-badging of what data centre-focused hardware, software and service vendors have been doing under different names (such as utility computing, autonomic IT, on demand data centre etc.) for the past 10 years.

Many users are wary of public clouds' quality of service in areas such as reliability, availability, scalability and security but curious about the possibility of adopting some of their characteristics (e.g. on demand instant provisioning of IT assets).

Private clouds are either defined as the aim of the data centre evolution journey (a long patient maturation process) or as shortcuts along the way that push parts of the data centre ahead to deliver focused return on investment (the private cloud is the part(s) of the data centre ahead of the rest).

What is needed is a way to reconcile the two approaches (private-cloud-as-a-journey and as-a-shortcut) to understand when, on the road towards a next generation data centres, should users take shortcuts. Unfortunately, most vendors currently emphasises the second approach rather than trying to reconcile the two.

Cloud computing promises to tackles two irreconcilable (so far) IT challenges - the need to lower costs and boost innovation – but it will take a lot of efforts from enterprises to actually make it work. Instead of a nimbler IT with their IT mess for less somewhere else, the ill-prepared will end up with their IT mess spread across a wider area", said Lachal.

Lachal believes that adoption is a two-way street. "It is not just about whether cloud computing is ready for enterprises, it is, more importantly, whether or not enterprises are ready for it", said Lachal, author of the report.  The fact is that many enterprises are currently not particularly ready for either private or public clouds or any type of hybrids in between.

Besides the current confusion as to what exactly Cloud computing is, many enterprises lack the knowledge, skills and metrics to figure out what is best for them. They need to be able figure out how to mix and match:

·Totally private and shared private clouds (to collaborate with partners on common goals).

·Public and private clouds, with public clouds used, for example, for workloads that have unpredictable spikes in their use, for application that are only occasionally used or to turn the pre-production infrastructure (used for test, migrations etc.) into production one and use public clouds instead (since pre-production tasks have much lower requirements in terms of quality of service than production ones).

·Public clouds and traditional hosting/outsourcing service offerings: for example hosted offerings are usually cheaper for static web sites than the Amazon IaaS service. On the other hand, for use such as application testing, where a handful of server is required for a few weeks and a few hours per day, Amazon IaaS is the answer. 

·Pubic clouds offerings (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS), based on their respective cost effectiveness.

To do so, they need to improve their knowledge of which asset cost what in public and private clouds as well as traditional hosting/outsourcing service offerings as well as their ability to monitor, meter and bill usage.  Few enterprises can currently do so. Achieving all of this will take time and tears.

On CIOL web, 28th Jan 2010.

 

New Technology Adoption Strategy in 2011... Synergetics Approach

Rapid , Revolutionary and Broad reaching changes initiated by new product/platform launches in Information Technology space along with the evolutions of new programming Paradigms/Methodology in Software Applications Development space and releases of Newer Versions of existing product suites; first up spring multiple challenges on Knowledge Acquisitions aspect in these areas as well as on Skills Development side.

 

  HTML clipboard/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; line-height:115%; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; }

Most striking is ; along with these new challenges also come a whole new world of connected new business opportunities; which to encash means, move in fast and stay ahead of your competition. In fact these changes and disruptions provide redefinition to how business in general will operate in the future ; are most liked by SI and ISVs because this allows their business to thrive and reach newer heights ; gain newer clients with a refined set of new value propositions and new solutions.

For Software Services organizations i.e. SIs::System Integrators and ISVs ::Independent Software Vendors the primary challenge is to 1st identify and then adopt the most relevant technology/products/paradigm for its solutions spectrum, for its value propositions and for its client base.

They essentially need an unbiased opinion on the value of a technology and its business value propositions.

Identification of suitability of a particular technology is most crucial as Vendors create unprecedented Hype / Initial demand over each and every technology offerings and attempt to drive adoption even in the technology’s infancy stages putting the ISV / SIs in a quandary “ To adopt or Not to adopt ”. Early adoption gives First movers advantage which no software development organization wishes to miss. Business Drivers create Business Pressure.

The Vision v/s Hype kind of evaluation starts with getting to know Primary Feature / Functionality [FF] then getting to know What and Why aspects in the initial stages leading to the When and How then to Do’s and Don’ts and eventually to the Best and Next practices [BNP] aspects. The premium knowledgebase is the one that enables architecture and architecting of a solutions in these new technology space.

These changes and disruptions induce a redefinition as to how business in general will operate in the future.

This opens up opportunities for SI and ISVs, as:

• This allows their business to thrive and reach newer heights

• It provides them the basis for acquiring newer clients and/or providing refined set of value propositions and solutions.

The SI and ISVs hence need to 1^st identify and then adopt the most relevant technology / products / paradigm for its solutions spectrum, for its value propositions and for its client base.

They essentially need:

• An unbiased opinion on the value of a technology and its business value propositions.

• Identification of suitability of a particular technology is most crucial as Vendors create unprecedented Hype / Initial demand over each and every technology offerings

• undertaking early adoption, as it gives a First mover advantage which no software development organization wishes to miss.

The Vision v/s Hype kind of evaluation starts with Getting to know Primary Feature / Functionality

• Then getting to know What and Why aspects in the initial stages

• Leading to the When and How 

• Then to Do’s and Don’ts and

• Eventually to the Best and Next practices aspects.

This premium knowledgebase is the one that enables the architecture and architecting of the solutions in the new technology space.

Knowledge acquisition for various spectrum of professionals in a software development organization eventually followed by Skills Development for its front line staff that produces results is paramount.

Our Core Training interventions

• Deliver on Peoples Technology Competency roadmap / Certification roadmap as defined by the organization .—“build competitive edge”

• Deliver Customized program for on-Bench people

• Deliver Customized program for people in technical transition

Our Specialized New Services have offerings:   

1.     Custom Solutions

2.     Products

3.     Events

Custom Solutions:

The objective of this service is to provide expertise in Building Custom Solutions/Products, Cater to Resolving Customer Pain Points across Organizational Processes/Adoption, and Improving Functional Areas.

The offerings that are classified as Custom Solutions are:

• On Boarding

  • To Build Competitive Advantage for Business through Process Effectiveness, Innovation & Project Readiness of Fresher

• Project Readiness

  • Allow key stakeholders to define their requirements and close important gaps before any significant work and investments begin

• Evangelism

  • Partner with Customers/Vendors in Product Pre Launch Activities

Products:

Products are aimed at bridging technology and skills gaps, by publishing innovative content designed and delivered by our experienced consultants, with an average industry experience of 10 years.

The offerings published are:

• Theme Based Program

  • Conduct workshops framed around topics / rhythms prevalent or addressing community needs.

• Webinar

  • Host Live Web Sessions for current & emerging technologies; showcasing integration, interoperability, and development knowledgebase.

• Video

  • Publish Current Technology Multimedia Content for far reaching aspiring developers.

• Real World Project

  • Provide competency building deep dive, end to end hands on workshops for aspiring and experienced developers.

Events

Synergetics, would like to engage and reach out far and wide to existing customers and beyond, to the entire community of the I.T. industry. Events will create the forums which will allow for exchange of ideas and information, and enable the community, to scale up and reach out to each other.

The forums will be targeted at:

• Developer

A forum for Developer Oriented Knowledge Transfer of emerging technologies

• Vendor

Participate in Various Annual Events of Vendors and ISV/SI

• Wisdom

A forum showcasing WOW sessions across ISV/SI community for extending existing product knowledge and capabilities

HTML clipboard/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; line-height:115%; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; } Our 15+ years to deep connection with the Developer community  as listed below; we get to see that they desire knowledge and skills on different levels as per their role.