TEAM Zarate Tarrani Notes From the Field

Tidbits. I'm playing catch-up today, so this entry is going to contain an eclectic collection of news items.

Maneuvering. A 25 February article in ZDNet Tech Update titled, BEA touts 'Visual Basic for Java' is an interesting twist on Microsoft's own tactics. The article extends a 12 February ZDNET Tech Update titled, Microsoft's Java jitters.

Stumbled Over This. McGee's Musings is an interesting weblog I recently discovered. It's an eclectic collection of business, social and technology issues, and one that I've bookmarked. It's maintained by Jim McGee, who is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Jim also maintains a companion weblog which contains references supporting his Tech-911 course.

Blame? Who, Me? eWeek has two thought-provoking articles:

1. Security: Time to Take Names, Lay Blame by Jody C. Patilla (25 February 2002)
2. Security Quandary: Who's Liable? By Dennis Fisher and Chris Gonsalves (25 February 2002)

In the "What Else is New?" department The Register's 22 February article reported Three new MS security holes - two nasty.

EU Muscle. The Register reported another indication of EU self-determination in the 21 February 2002 article titled, EU thumbs nose at US with software patent proposals. This one goes into the pile of citations for the part of my essay that asserts we are in an economic war. I'm sure the pile will grow.

Sad News. In my 19 February entry I reported that Process Dashboard v1.4 was available. I received an e-mail today with the following sad news:

Watts Humphrey, the creator of the Personal Software Process(SM), has requested that we not distribute the Process Dashboard until further notice.

Also, in accordance with Watts' direction, "anyone who has previously downloaded copies of the Dashboard is no longer authorized to use, copy, modify, distribute, or otherwise handle this material in any way."

Please direct questions to the development team.

I'm on the mailing list and will report any changes to the policy here.

End Note: The February 2002 issue of the Quality Techniques Newsletter is out. If you're a quality professional I strongly encourage you to get a free subscription. A highlight in the February issue is Testing Your Web Application: A Quick 10-Step Guide by Krishen Kota.