Archive for July 2011

Top 10 features missing from Google Plus


Takeaway: Google+ has captured the attention and the imagination of the technology world. But, it’s easy to forget that it’s still in closed beta. Here are the top 10 things that need to be fixed or added.
There’s a lot to like about Google+ and it has the potential to make a major impact on the future of the Internet. After just two weeks in closed beta, it already has 10 million users. Still, it’s far from perfect. I’ve put together my list of the top 10 things Google needs to fix or add in Google+. Take a look at the list and then jump into the discussion and argue with me by adding the fixes that you think deserve more attention in Google+.

1. Let us mute someone from the Stream

On Google+ it is a lot easier to find friends and people to follow than any social network that has been built so far. And, with Circles, you can divided them into groups and then easily jump between the various streams of your Circles. However, there is also the big “Stream,” which aggregates all of the people you have in Circles and this is the default view you see on Google+. The one feature missing here is the ability to mute a person from the Stream (while still being able to see their updates in their Circle). You can mute individual posts from the Stream, but you can’t currently mute a person. This is badly needed so that you can stay connected to interesting people but not have the overly chatty people monopolize your Stream.

2. Show list of my +1 items from Google+

The +1 button allows you to gives the thumbs up to really good Google+ posts and updates. However, this should also work like a list of favorites or bookmarks. Right now, there’s no way to see a list of the things where I have clicked +1. If I go to my profile there is a +1 tab, but that’s the list of external items (from web sites or Google search results) where I’ve clicked +1. The items from Google+ itself need to be added to this list.

3. Fix the share and re-share issue

One of the stickiest issues Google needs to figure out is the Share functionality. If you’re familiar with Twitter, this is like a Retweet (RT). However, when you share a post on Google+, it removes all of the comments and +1s, allows you to add your own comments above the post, and then your followers can add their own plusses and comments. That can be pretty cool, except when a bunch of the people you follow all share and re-share the same post. With the approach Google has taken to sharing, there may not be an easy answer, but something will need to be done to sort this out, at least for stuff that gets shared more than 2-3 times in your stream.

4. Let us sort the stream by raw timeline

By default, the big Stream (and the Circle streams as well) are sorted by relevance and popularity, based on the number of +1 votes and shares, so that the most interesting stuff rises to the top of the Stream. However, Google should also give us the option to sort the stream based solely on timestamp, so that we can see the stuff from people who post interesting things but don’t have as many followers to buoy their posts.

5. Allow comments to be threaded

This is an issue of intense debate, but I think Google should allow threaded commenting on Google+ so that people can comment on and respond to comments, and not just the original post. That would make the threads a lot easier to follow when they get a lot of comments. And, comments on comments could be collapsed by default and users could simply click a plus sign to expand and view them. However, the threading would only need to go three layers deep to allow a response and a counterpoint.

6. Add more functionality to mobile

It’s impressive that Google had its Android app for Google+ ready to download the moment that it launched the “Field Trial” of the new service, and shortly thereafter it submitted an iPhone/iPad app to Apple for approval in the App Store. Even better, the Android app for Google+ is veyr well done. However, it’s not perfect and it could make the mobile Google+ experience a lot better by adding key functionality — e.g. the ability to +1 a comment, the ability to join a hangout, the ability to easily flip between the big stream and circle streams, etc. While they’re at it, Google should add more core functionality to its HTML app as well. That would be a great way to drive more participation and get a jump on Facebook, which still doesn’t have a great mobile experience.

7. Open it up to Google Apps users

In order to get into the Google+ beta you need a Gmail address (or a Google Account). It does not currently work for the Google Apps domains, which are business accounts where the company is using a corporate version of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other Google web apps. Google has stated that Google+ pages for businesses and brands are coming soon. Hopefully, Google+ for Google Apps users won’t be far behind. Since some people may end up having separate Google+ accounts for personal (Gmail) and business (Google Apps) use, Google should also consider options for letting those users log in to both accounts from different tabs in the Chrome web browser.

8. Integrate private messaging

One of the biggest things Google+ is missing compared to rivals Facebook and Twitter is the ability to send a private message to a mutual contact. Sure, there are a few workarounds and hacks that let you do it, but Google needs to make this part of the product’s primary functionality. It also wouldn’t hurt to integrate GoogleTalk (instant messaging) as well.
UPDATE: Google has added a “Send an email” button in Google+ profiles. So, you can now send an email to anyone with a Google+ profile (by default), even if they don’t have you in one of their circles. This is different than private messaging, which I still think would be useful.

9. Set up verified accounts

Since there are already celebrities showing up on Google+ — and a lot of people who are impersonating celebrities — Google needs to set up something similar to Twitter’s Verified Accounts. Just do a search for “Mark Zuckerberg” or “Lady Gaga” on Google+ and take a look at how many accounts there are. There are also plenty of sneaky imposters, like the person who pretended to be Apple’s Jony Ive (the account has been deleted).

10. Show list of interactions with each user

Another useful feature that Google should add is the ability to go to a user’s profile page and see all of that person’s interactions with you — their +1s and comments on your posts, as well as your +1s and comments on their posts. This would help figure out if you should add a person to your Circles, and if so, which Circles you should put them in or add them to.


By Jason Hiner
July 15, 2011, 10:01 PM PDT
Original Source
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
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Free Google+ Invitation


Google Plus (Google+) is a new social network developed by Google Inc. It pretty similiar with Facebook and Twitter, but have some other rich features.

For the first released, Google only accept new member based on invitation, Google called it as limited Field Trial. This strategy is very similiar with the launched of gmail and google wave before. On the mainpage there is an annocement:
Right now, we're testing with a small number of people, but it won't be long before the Google+ project is ready for everyone. Leave us your email address and we'll make sure you're the first to know when we're ready to invite more people.

How to get Google+ Invitation
There are two simple steps:
1. Tweet: Thanks for free #Google+ invitation http://xr.com/GooglePlus - [Your Email address], cc: @adypurnama
2. Done, wait for the invitation arrived at your mailbox

Note: if you don't have Twitter account (you must be kiddin me), leave a comment here
Monday, July 11, 2011

The pros and cons of tower, rack, and blade servers

There are three main choices when it comes to buying a new server: tower, rack, or blade. Here are some of the pros and cons about each kind of server, as well as some of my experiences with each one.

1. Tower servers

Tower servers seem dated and look more like desktops than servers, but these servers can pack a punch. In general, if you have a lot of servers, you’re probably not using a bunch of tower servers, because they can take up a lot of space and are tough to physically manage since you can’t easily stack them on one another. In some cases as organizations grow and move to rack servers, conversion kits can be purchased to turn a tower server into a rack-mount server.
As implied, tower servers are probably found more often in smaller environments than anywhere else, although you might find them in point solutions in larger places.
Tower servers are generally on the lower end price-wise, although they can expand pretty decently and become really expensive.
Tower servers take up a lot of space and require individual monitors, keyboards, and mice or a keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) switch that allows them to be managed with a single set of equipment. In addition, cabling can be no fun, especially if you have a lot of network adapters and other I/O needs. You’ll have cables everywhere.
I don’t buy a lot of tower servers these days, but they still have a place. My most recent tower server purchase was to serve as my backup system running Microsoft Data Protection Manager 2010.

2. Rack servers

If you run a data center of any reasonable size, you’ve probably used a lot of industry standard 19″ wide rack servers. Sized in Us (which is a single 1.75″ rack unit), rack servers can range from 1U “pizza boxes” to 5U, 8U, and more. In general, the bigger the server, the more expansion opportunities are available.
Rack servers are extremely common and make their home inside these racks along with other critical data center equipment such as backup batteries, switches, and storage arrays. Rack servers make it easy to keep things neat and orderly since most racks include cable management of some kind. However, rack servers don’t really simplify the cabling morass since you still need a lot of cabling to make everything work — it’s just neater. I once worked in a data center in which I had to deploy 42 2U Dell servers into three racks. Each server had to have dual power cables, keyboard, video, and mouse cables and six (yes, six) network cables (six colors with each color denoting a specific network). It was a tough task to keep the cabling under control, to put it mildly. Because everything was racked, there was built-in cable management that made this easier.
Like tower servers, rack servers often need KVM capability in order to be managed, although some organizations simply push a monitor cart around and connect to video and USB ports on the front of the server so that they don’t need to worry about KVM.
Rack servers are very expandable; some include 12 or more disks right in the chassis and support for four or more processors, each with multiple cores. In addition, many rack servers support large amounts of RAM, so these devices can be computing powerhouses.

3. Blade servers

There was a day when buying individual blade servers meant trading expansion possibilities for compactness. Although this is still true to some extent, today’s blade servers pack quite a wallop. I recently purchased a half-height Dell M610 blade server with 96 GB of RAM and two six-core processors.
There is still some truth to the fact that blade servers have expansion challenges when compared to the tower and rack-based options. For example, most tower servers have pretty significant expansion options when it comes to PCI/PCI Express slots and more disk drives. Many blade servers are limited to two to four internal hard drives, although organizations that use blade servers are likely to have shared storage of some kind backing the blade system.
Further, when it comes to I/O expansion options, blade servers are a bit limited by their lack of expansion slots. Some blade servers boast PCI or PCI Express expansion slots, but for most blade servers, expansion is achieved through the use of specially designed expansion cards. In my case, the Dell M600 and M610 blades have three mezzanines. The first mezzanine consists of dual Gigabit Ethernet adapters. The remaining mezzanines are populated based on organizational need. In my case, our blades have a second set of Gigabit Ethernet adapters housed in the second mezzanine and Fibre Channel adapters in the third. If necessary, I could also choose to use mezzanine cards with four ports in some configurations. So, although the blade server doesn’t have quite the I/O selection of other server form factors, it’s no slouch, either.
When raw computing power and server density is the key drive, blade servers meet the need. For example, in my environment, I have a 10U Dell M1000e blade chassis that can support up to 16 servers. So, each server uses the equivalent of 0.625U of rack space. On top of that, the blade chassis holds four gigabit Ethernet switches and two Fibre Channel switches, so there is additional rack space savings since I don’t need to rack mount these devices to support different connectivity options. In addition, the blade chassis has a built-in KVM switch so I don’t need to buy a third party and cable it up.
Speaking of cabling, a blade environment generally has much less of it than tower or rack environments since a lot of the connectivity is handled internally. You’ll end up with a neater server room as a result.
Another point is adding a new server consists of simply sliding it into an available slot in the chassis. There is no need to rack a new server and deal with a bunch of new cabling. This small size makes heat dissipation a challenge. Blade chassis can put out a lot of heat.
From a cost perspective, blade servers require some initial infrastructure, such as the chassis, so the upfront cost is often higher than for servers of other types.

Bottom line

If you need one or two servers, a tower solution probably makes sense. If you need three to 24 servers or massive scalability, then rack servers are for you. When you go need more than 24 servers, I advise you to consider a blade solution to meet your data center needs.


Original Source
By Scott Lowe
July 6, 2011, 5:37 AM PDT
Thursday, July 7, 2011

Who needs a Free Quora Invitation?

Based on TechRadar.com review, the Quora website hopes to be the place you go for definitive answers on everything from tech startups to which TV to buy, and it's already raised sacks of cash from excited venture capitalists.

The site combines Q&As with social networking, so you can search for people and follow them to see what topics they're interested in. For example you can follow Twitter's Evan Williams, who is currently tracking topics including Twitter, Facebook, startups and bacon.

When somebody answers a question, you can 'vote up' their answer, just like you would on Digg, and you can endorse users in much the same way as you can hit 'Like' on Facebook or say something nice about a colleague on LinkedIn.

Quora can be accessed based on invitation only. If you try to sign up, this message wil appear:
Sorry, you must have an invitation to create an account on Quora. Already have an account? Login here.

How to get Quora invitation
There are two simple steps:
1. Tweet: Thanks for free #Quora invitation http://bit.ly/FreeQuora - [Your Email address], cc: @adypurnama
2. Done, wait for the invitation arrived at your mailbox

Note: if you don't have Twitter account (you must be kiddin me), leave a comment here
Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Google spy on me?


That words across my mine during web-surfing, while my gmail and iGoogle account still logged in. Moreover I like Chrome to get any information through internet. Does Google really spy on me?

If you open History in Chrome, you will be amazed by how well-organize Chrome doing it. You can re-find the websites you've been seen by only typing the keywords. For an example I type analytic, than it will show all websites that I've been came by, with analytic within it! Even I can't find it in Internet Explorer 9!


But again, does Google stored history of all websites I've been seen?
  1. With the credibility of Google, my simple answer is NO. I'm sure Google will keep privacy of it's users.
  2. Proven also when you open Chrome in other computer, logon to the same gmail / iGoogle, you will see that the history is empty

But, am I right? What do you think?

Two of top five fastest growing careers are in IT


Two of top five fastest growing careers are in IT


By Toni Bowers
February 8, 2011, 4:09 AM PST
Takeaway: According to one report, in terms of numbers hired through 2016, two IT jobs top the list.
In a look at five of the fastest growing occupations, in terms of numbers hired, through 2016, the CareerGuide site reports that the top two are in IT.
According to the article, these are the top two fastest growing IT careers through 2016:
Network systems and data communications analysts. This specialty includes a number of tasks in relation to data communications systems, like designing, analyzing, testing, and assessing systems and their performance. The rise from 262,000 employees in 2006 to 402,000 in 2016 represents a 53.4 percent increase over that span - that’s 140,000 new jobs. The average salary for a network systems analyst is $73,800 a year. Many jobs in this field require a bachelor’s degree, but some might only require a two-year degree in computer science or an information technology-related field.
Computer software engineers (I covered software engineers before in this blog): Those in this specialty develop, design, test, and evaluate the software and systems that operate computers. It shows a 44.6 percent increase in jobs from 2006-2016. According to CareerGuide, the prospects are very good for job applicants with at least a bachelor’s degree in software engineering or computer science and with some work experience. The average salary is $87,900.

Top 10 reasons to stay in IT


In Alan Norton's article 10 reasons for quitting IT, Jack Wallen listed some rationales for leaving the IT profession. I would like to offer a different viewpoint, with a few thoughts of my own that may help elucidate why you should stay in IT.

1: Money, money, money

While it is true that you work hard for your money, IT professionals are well compensated for that hard work. The pay isn’t just good, it’s great. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ An Overview of U.S. Occupational Employment and Wages in 2010 (Chart 6, PDF), computer and mathematical sciences ranked third in 2010 of all major occupational groups with an annual mean salary of $77,230. Only the management and legal occupations had higher earnings.

2: The professionals

If you are like me, who you work with is extremely important. After all, more than one quarter of your working life will be spent with them. I have worked with professionals and those who weren’t so professional. I prefer the former and run from the latter. I have met professionals in other occupations, the defense industry to name one, but the professionalism of IT workers ranks right up there at the top.

3: Career continuity

The second time I left IT, I wanted to take time off and do nothing. I found out, too late, that being away from your career can make it harder to return. The biggest problem is how you are perceived by a potential employer. Employers don’t like gaps in your resume. You may have the unfortunate opportunity to discover the hard way that discrimination of the unemployed is real.

4: The challenges

One reason I chose to write computer programs was that I found it challenging. When coding, not a day that went by that I didn’t run into at least one obstacle in my path. IT professionals thrive on solving puzzles and problems. With the right mindset (which is necessary to be successful in IT), obstacles become challenges. Information technology is challenging, but you won’t find it boring. No matter what your role is in IT, the challenges you encounter tomorrow will likely be different from those you experience today.

5: The rewards

Challenges, when met, are rewarding — another reason to choose and stay in IT. I have never been more professionally satisfied than when a program I wrote actually worked as designed, without errors, or when a long-term systems project was successfully completed on time. Okay, so you’re probably not saving lives. But if you support the medical profession you arehelping to save lives. And you’re saving blue- and white-collar workers the drudgery of tasks that can and should be done by a machine. Few people enjoy doing the grunt work. The systems I built during my career replaced numerous menial tasks. I can honestly say that except for a few rough patches, I left work at the end of the week satisfied, knowing that I was helping others do their jobs better. No matter what role you play in IT, helping people and a job well done create self-esteem and a sense of achievement that are highly rewarding.
As TR member Chronological put it, “Most challenging jobs ever? Maybe. Most enriching jobs? — 100% sure.”

6: Marketability

IT professionals have a much better chance of finding and keeping a job. The future looks bright for IT pros — at least in the United States. Five of the top 20 and 14 of the top 50 highest paying jobs with the most growth potential are IT jobs, as ranked by CNN Money and PayScale.

7: The skills

Those who want to work in IT are typically quite intelligent with unique attributes and skills. IT attracts the analytical thinkers and technically inclined of the world. If you have these qualities and skills, you can find a home in IT.
Another good reason to stay in IT is to keep your skills up to date. Leave IT for too long, and your skills will become rusty or even obsolete. Before you leave IT, consider that your employer is paying for you to learn new skills and keep your existing skills current. Those skills are an investment in your future.

8: The respect

Jack mentioned in his article that IT professionals get no respect from the general public. I know from your feedback in the forums that many of you agree and feel that you aren’t getting the prestige and respect that you deserve. If you are doing your job well, your perceived lack of respect may be due to the ignorance of the beholder and not through any fault of your own.
The general public may well be a tough sell, but you can find respect from your peers. The knowledgeable and wise professional values the contributions of others and shows respect for his or her peers. IT is a great place to earn respect. If you can’t earn respect in IT, you probably won’t be able to earn it in any profession.
Perhaps I have just been lucky or naïve, but I have always believed that I had the respect of my managers, associates, and clients. Perhaps most important, respect is a matter of attitude, your attitude, and your perception of how others see you.

9: The geek factor

IT is the perfect place to satisfy your craving for cutting-edge technology. Where else are you going to meet your geeky needs and get paid for it? If you enjoy thinking in bytes, gigahertz, flowcharts, milestones, and IF THEN ELSE statements, you will like working with others who share your interests and unique language.

10: The love of IT

Most people who choose to work in IT love what they do. Come on, admit it. Deep down you love your work. For those who don’t, it’s all relative. When you consider the other jobs available to the masses, and their pay, you just gotta love IT. If you can find nothing you like about you and your IT job, perhaps it is time you parted ways.
In one discussion thread, IT_Goddess may have said it best: “How many peeps can say they really like/love their jobs? So many people I know, outside of IT, dread going into work. Most IT folk I know love their jobs, as long as they are getting fairly compensated for what they actually do.”

The bottom line

I have been away from “formal” IT for quite some time now. I have learned from the school of hard knocks the many reasons for staying. Truth be told, I miss each of the above items, more or less in the order listed. When you get right down to the basic reasons for working in IT, more needs of the technically minded are met by IT than by other professions. And the jobs are good jobs. According to the Wall Street Journal, Two of the top five jobs for 2011 were IT jobs: software engineer and systems analyst.
I understand the grueling daily grind all too well, the stress of shouldering responsibilities day in and day out, the long, tiring hours, and the many never-ending frustrations. When your focus is on checking off one more to-do item and answering one more email, it’s not hard to understand why you can’t see the forest for the trees. I guess it is often human nature not to recognize the positive aspects of where you are in the here and now. As Joni Mitchell once sang, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” It’s not really necessary to leave IT, like I had to, to appreciate its many benefits.

By Alan Norton
Takeaway: Thinking about quitting IT? Alan Norton did — more than once. See why he says there are 10 good reasons to hang in there.


Original source
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
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