Hasan Halabi Blog

كفى تجارة بزوجاتنا وأطفالنا

2014-03-21T18:28:00.002+02:00

أعلم أن الأطباء هم بشر مثلنا، يأكلون ويشربون، وينامون، ويعملون مثلنا ليتقاضوا الأجر، ولكن أليس من المفترض أن يكونوا هؤلاء من صفوة البشر وأن لا يكونوا جشعين للمال! كنت أفترض هذا، ولكن هذا ليس بصحيح، وأنا أتحدث هنا عن أطباء وطبيبات الحمل والولادة في الأردن، ولا أعمم، ولكن دعوني أطرح عليكم قصتي وقصة الأمهات الجديدات في عائلتي.

كفى تجارة بزوجاتنا وأطفالنا

قبل حوالي خمس سنوات براك الله لخمسة نسوة من بنات عائلتي وزوجات أبناء عائلتي بأن بدأن حملهن الأول مجتمعات، وهذا طبيعي حيث أنهم كلهم تزوجوا في نفس الفترة تقريباً، ولكن الغريب في الأمر أن أربعة من أصل الخمسة أنجبن أطفالهم بعملية قيصرية، والوحيدة التي أنجبت بشكل طبيعي لم تنجب في الأردن بل في ألمانيا! 100% نسبة الإنجاب بعملية قيصرية! وبعدهم بفترة حملت واحد منهم للمرة الثانية، وللمرة الثانية على التوالي كنت قيصرية، ثم تبعتها امرأة جديدة وكانت أيضا قيصرية، وقبل أقل من عام أنعم الله عليا بطفلي الأول، والمفاجئة أنها أيضا كانت قيصرية! 100% نسبة الولادة القيصرية لكل من أنجب في الأردن من نساء العائلة! ما هذه الصدفة!

مع اختلاف الأطباء والطبيبات، كلهن أنجبن من خلال عملية قيصرية، وللعلم كلهن راغبات في أن يلدن بشكل طبيعي بلا استثناء، وكلهن دفعن باتجاه أن تكون عملية الولادة بشلك طبيعي، ولكن لم يحدث هذا، بل تعددت الأسباب وكانت النتيجة واحدة، ومن الأسباب التي سمعتها:

رأس الطفل كبير!
نقص في ماء الرحم.
عدم وجود طلق.
التفاف الحبل السري حول رقبة الطفل.
ضعف نبض قلب الطفل.
الحوض لا يتسع للطفل!!!
الرحم صغير ولا يمكنه التمدد أكثر!
وغيرها الكثير......

حاولت زوجتي أن تلد بشكل طبيعي ولكن بعد طول انتظار أخبرتني الطبيبة ان هنالك خطر التهاب على الأم والطفل، وانه يجب أن تخرج الطفل من خلال عملية، وطبعا بعد عناء طول الليل، وعدم فهمي في الطب لأنني لست بطبيب، وقلقي على زوجتي وطفلي، فقط وافقت والدمع في عيني، كلما أتذكر منظر زوجتي وهي تتألم من الجرح ولا تستطيع أن تقف بمفردها بعد العملية أشعر بحزن شديد وأسى، وأصبح هنالك سؤال يراودني دائما، هل كانت زوجتي فعلاً بحاجة لعملية قيصرية أم لا؟! هل من الطبيعي هذه الزيادة الواضحة في حالات الولادة القيصرية؟! إذا كيف أنجبت جدتي تسعة أطفال في المنزل، وكيف أنجبت أمي خمسة أطفال بشكل طبيعي! هل أصبحت نسائنا ضعيفات لهذا الحد؟! أم أن الجشع تسرب إلى سفراء الرحمة!

إحساسي يقول لي أنهم ما عادوا بسفراء رحمة بل بسفراء مال، لا أملك دليلا على ذلك فلست بطبيب، ولكن هل لنا أن نقف وقفة رجل واحد ونقول لكل من تسول له نفسه العبث بصحة زوجاتنا كفى.

هل لكم أن تساعدوني في بدأ حملة لكشف الزيف الذي يحدث، ولنسمي هذه الحلمة "كفى تجارة بزوجاتنا وأطفالنا" للحد من ظاهرة تغول الأطباء علينا في أضعف حالتنا، لست بخبير في أمور الحملات سواء على الأرض أو من خلال الأنترنت، وأطلب من كل من له خبرة في هذا الأمر أن يساعدني للحفاظ على صحته زوجاتنا وأطفالنا.

بانتظار أراءكم وتعليقاتكم...

ساعدوني لتحقيق حُلم

2014-03-01T20:14:00.003+02:00

نعم يا أصدقائي، أني أطلب منكم المساعدة في تحقيق حُلم. بعضكم يعرفني من أيام المدرسة، وبعضكم من أيام الجامعة، وبعضكم من خلال عملي، وأني أخاطبكم جميعا بلا استثناء.

كنت دائما أحلم بأن يكون لي تأثير في حياة الناس ومن هم حولي، نجحت في هذا في أجزاءٍ من حياتي، ولكن ليس دائما، فعندما أختلط العمل ومشاغل الحياة بهذا الحلم، تصادم مع واقع عدم القدرة على التوفيق بينهما، فهنالك مشاغل الدنيا واستحقاقات أخر كل شهر من نحية، ومن ناحية أخرى تود أن تساعد غيرك، وهذا ليس بالأمر السهل.

قبل فترة عملت مع مراكز تعزيز الإنتاجية "إرادة" في دراسة ميدانية لواقع الحرف اليدوية في الأردن، وكانت الدراسة تغطي كافة مناطق المملكة بما فيها جيوب الفقر. وتكشف لي من خلال هذه الدراسة الكثير من مشاكل شعبنا.

وتتمثل أكبر هذه المشاكل بثقافة العمل، التي أصبحت في عتاد الماضي. يعتبر العمل هو المصدر الأساسي الطبيعي للدخل سواء للأفراد أو العائلات، ولكن هذا لا ينطبق عندنا، إذ أن الكثير من الشباب أصبح يتطلع للمنح المعطاة للجمعيات للحصول على الدخل، أو القروض التي تتحول إلى قروض معدومة التحصيل، أو السرقة، أو النصب، كل هذه الأبواب من الدخل غير المشروع بدأت بالتفشي فينا.

ومن ناحية أخرى يبقى الشباب النظيف يحاول أن يجد لقمة عيشة في خضم كل هذه الأعمال غير الشرعية من خلال البحث عن وظيفة، هذه الوظيفة التي أصبحت حلم كل خريج وهاجس كل صاحب أسرة، وأمل المراهقين، والتي أصبح الحصول عليها مثل الربح في "اليانصيب".

وهنا أرجع إلى حلمي في مساعدة غيري، ومشكلة تعارضها مع مشاغل حياتي، وفكرت لما لا أجعل الحلم هو نفسه مصدر إلهامي ودخلي ومعاشي! لهذا بدأت بمشروع صغير يحقق هذا الهدف.

يحاول الكثير من الشباب (وهنا أتكلم عن الذكور والإناث) الذين يطرقون الأبواب المشروعة للعيش بناء تجارة صغيرة تعينهم على مصاعب الحياة، ولكن أغلبهم يجد مشكلة كبرى في تسويق هذه التجارة أو الخدمات وخصوصا لقلة خبرتهم وقلة المصادر الناطقة بالعربية التي تعينهم على فهم أسس التجارة والتسويق وتقديم الخدمات.

وهنا نجد أن البعض منهم أتجه إلى الفيسبوك، إذ تجد العديد من المجموعات المختصة بالبيع والشراء داخل الأردن، منها ما هو ناجح ومنها لا يعلم عنه أي أحد، تجد في هذه المجموعات الكثير من أصحاب الأعمال الصغيرة وأغلبها منزلية والقليل من أعداد الزبائن المتابعين لهم، وتجد أيضا ما لا يحصى من الأخطاء التسويقية.

فكرة مشروعي ليست جديدة ولا فريدة، ولكنها مختصة في السوق الأردني فقط، قمنا ببناء منصة إلكترونية لعرض المنتجات (eCommerce Platform)*، يقوم المبدأ الأساسي لهذه المنصة على عرض منتجات أصحاب التجارة الصغيرة والمتوسطة ومحاولة ربطهم بالزبائن، على أن يتصل الزبون مباشرة بصاحب المنتج أو خدمة للحصول عليها، ونحن نقوم بمساعدة أصحاب المنتجات والخدمات بالتسويق لأعمالهم.

أعلم أن الفكرة مطروحة من قبل، وأن غيرنا حاول القيام بها، ولكننا نهدف لعدة نقاط من خلال هذه المنصة، ومنها:

توفير مساحة إعلانية لأصحاب المنتجات لعرض منتجاتهم مجانا ودون أي شروط.
توفير مصادر ناطقة باللغة العربية تساعد الأفراد ببناء تجارتهم والتسويق لها.
ينصب اهتمامنا على السوق الأردني فقط.
نركز على الأفراد وأصحاب الأعمال الصغيرة.
نحاول أن نقوم بتسويق المنتجات لمساعدة أصحابها.
نحاول أن نبني رابطا مباشر بين الزبون وأصحاب المنتجات والخدمات.

أطلقنا على الفكرة اسم "وسط البلد" (www.edowntown.me)، وقمنا بإطلاقها في بداية شهر شباط 2014، لا أنكر أنني أتطلع لمصالح شخصية من هذا المشروع، ولكني أرغب أيضا في مساعدة غيري من خلالها، وأنا أحتاج إلى مساعدتكم لتحقيق أهدافي من الفكرة، وتكمن مساعدتكم فيما يلي:

نشر الموقع بين الذين تعلمون أن لديهم تجارة صغيرة ويدون تسويقها، ويمكنكم زيارة الرابط (www.edowntown.me/openstore) لمعرفة كيفية الاشتراك. وأود أن أركز هنا أن كافة خدماتنا مجانية.
نشر الموقع قدر المستطاع بين أصدقائكم لبناء القاعدة الأساسية من الزبائن.
مساعدتي في إيجاد المصادر العربية التي تساعد أصحاب التجارة الصغيرة من مقالات أو أفلام تعليمية.

وأشكر لكم قراءتكم لما كتبت هنا، وأتطلع لرأيكم.

ملاحظة (*): أنا أتكلم هنا عن منصة إلكترونية (eCommerce Platform) وليس سوق إلكتروني (eCommerce Store).

نصائح لمنتجي المأكولات المنزلية في الأردن

2013-09-11T16:26:00.001+03:00

في ظل الوضع الاقتصادي السيء الذي يواجه المواطنين في المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية، بدأت ثقافة العيب التي كانت متأصلة في جذور وعادات الأردنيين بالانحلال شيئاً فشيئاً، وهذا يعتبر من المؤشرات الجيدة ومن حسنات الوضع الاقتصادي السيء.

إذ تجد الأن الكثير من العائلات الأردنية تبحث عن مصادر جديدة للدخل لزيادة دخلها الذي كان في الأساس يعتمد على الراتب الوظيفي، سواء كان هذا الراتب يأتي من القطاع العام أو الخاص، ومن أكثر مصادر الدخل التي اصبح الأردنيين يتطلعون إلها هي المأكولات منزلية الصنع، وذلك لرواج المأكولات والأطايب عند جميع أفراد المجتمع الأردني.

وبما أن الشعب الأردني يعتبر جديد في هذا المجال، فإن الكثير من المنتجين يقعون في العديد من الأخطاء، وهذه الأخطاء لمستها في عملي حين شرعت في بيع هذه المنتجات، وفيما يلي بعض النصائح والملاحظات التي أود أن أضعها في يدي منتجي المأكولات المنزلية علها تساعدهم في تحسين منتجاتهم وزيادة دخلهم.

1. "أنا أصنع كل شيء"

هذه الجملة السحرية التي اسمعها من الكثير من البشر الذين يتصلون بي. "أنا أصنع كل شيء"، معنى هذه الجملة أنك تستطيع أن تصنع كافة أنواع المأكولات والمطبوخات بدأ من الألبان التي تحتاج إلى الحليب الطازج من المزارع، مرورا بالمجمدات والبهارات والحلويات والمحاشي والفواكه المجمدة والمخللات وخل والمربيات والدبس بأنواعه (كمان شوي يمكن تحكيلي إنك بتصنع طيارات!!).

من إين لك الوصول إلى كافة المصادر التي تحتاجها لصناعة كل هذه المنتجات! يمكن الوصول إلى المصادر، ولكن من إين لك رأس المال الكافي لتأتي بكافة المواد الأولية لمثل هذه المنتجات بأسعار منافسة، إن كنت تملك رأسمال بهذا الحجم فما حاجتك لعمل المنتوجات من المنزل!

ولنقل أنك تملك رأس المال الكافي لصناعة كل شيء، فمن إين لك الخبرة بصناعة كل شيء بجودة عالية، إلا أن تكون قد عشت مع الحجة أم محمد زوجة جدك السابع الذي كان يتوجب عليها القيام بكل شيء! أو أنك تمتلك فريق عمل ضخم للقيام بكافة هذه الأعمال!

وهنالك مثل يقول "من قال أنه يعلم كل شيء، فهو لا يعلم شيء".

2. التخصص وقائمة المنتجات والأسعار

تبعا للملاحظة الأولى التي أثبتنا فيها أنك لا تستطيع القيام بصناعة كافة المأكولات، فإنك بالتأكيد سوف تقوم بصناعة مواد غذائية معينة حيث أنك تمتلك الخبرة الكافية بكفية صناعتها وأماكن نواجد المواد الأولية التي تحتاجها.

وهنا أصدم عندما يقوم أحد بالاتصال بي ليبيعني منتجاته وأسئلة ماذا ينتج وما هي الأسعار، وتأتي الصدمة من الإجابة التي اسمعها! إذ تنوعت الإجابات ومنها ما كان منطقيا ولكن أكثرها كان كارثيا، وفيما يلي مجموعة من الاجابات التي سمعتها:

نحن نصنع كل شيء! وقد قمت بشرح تداعيات هذه الجملة.
جميع أنواع المخللات: هنالك العديد من أنواع المخللات التي لا يمكن حصرها، منها الموسمية ومنها ما هو متوفر طوال أيام السنه، ما هي الأنواع التي تصنعها، مثل هذه الإجابة مثل "جميع أنواع المعمول"، "جميع أنواع المجمدات"، أو "أطلب ما شئت"! لا يتمحور الأمر بما أريد أنا أن أشتريه، بل هو يتمحور حول ما تستطيع أنت تصنيعه، وما هو اختصاصك. يقول المثل "سبع صنايع والبخت ضايع"، والمثل يتكلم من واقع، يجب عليك ان تتخصص في إنتاجك لا أن تتشعب، وخصوصا أنك لا تملك رأس مال ضخم ولا فريق عمل كبير.
لا أدري ما هو السعر المناسب! أو حدد أنت السعر!: كيف لي أن أحدد السعر الذي يناسبك، لست أنا من قام بشراء المواد الأولية، ولست أنا من قام بعمليات التصنيع، ولم ادفع فاتورة الكهرباء في منزلك، ولا فاتورة المياه، كل هذا قمت به أنت، إذا أنت من يجب أن يحدد السعر الذي تود أن تبيع به، وفي نهاية الأمر إن كان السعر والجودة مناسبين سوف تتم عملية البيع، وغير ذلك فإن الرزق بيد الله سبحانه وتعالي وليس بيدي.

نصيحتي للجميع أكتب قائمة بالمنتجات التي تنتجها وسعر التكلفة لكل صنف وسعر البيع بحيث تكون جاهزة عند أي سؤال لك للأصناف التي تنتجها. عند سؤال أي شخص عن الأصناف التي لديك ما عليك إلا أن ترسل هذه القائمة (طبعا بدون إظهار سعر التكلفة) للزبون. هكذا أنت تبين للزبون أنك على دراية تامة في مقدراتك وماذا تفعل وما هي جودة منتجاتك.

3. تنويع المنتجات وحاجات السوق

السوق الأردني سوق صغير الحجم ولا يوجد في الكثير من فرص البيع، ولهذا يجب عليك أن تتميز في منتجاتك وأن تنوعها، وهنا لا أقصد أن تنتج كل شيء، بل أقصد أن تنتج ما لا ينتجه غيرك، فعلى سبيل المثال فإن ثلاثة من أصل كل خمس سيدات يقمن بالاتصال بي ينتجون الكبة! كأن الأردنيين لا يعلمون كيف يصنعون شيئاً سوى الكبة! هنالك العديد من المنتجات الأخرى التي يحتاجها السوق الأردني مثل المخللات، والألبان، والأجبان، وجميد، والأعشاب، وغيرها الكثير، فأنظر ما هو الشيء الذي فيه نقص بالإنتاج وتعلم إنتاجه.

4. الجودة ومنافسة الأسعار ومصادر المواد الأساسية

إلي كل من ينتج المأكولات في المنزل، لست أنت الوحيد (أو الوحيدة) الذي يقوم بالإنتاج! الثقة بالنفس شيء جيد ولكن لا تبخس عمل غيرك!

أتلقى الاتصالات بشكل يومي من المنتجين والمنتجات والكل يقول لي نفس الجملة "لن تجد بجودة منتجاتي!"، ولكن حقيقة الأمر مخالفة تماما، إذ أن سياستي في التعامل مع المنتجين تعتمد على التذوق في المقام الأول، وهذا يعني أني تذوقت العديد من الأصناف والكثير منها له نكهة طيبة جدا، مما يعني أنك لست الوحيد الذي ينتج طعاما لذيذاً.

وهذا يقودني للنقطة الثانية وهي السعر، لا ينبغي بأي حال من الأحوال أن تغتر بجودة منتجك لكي ترفع السعر بشكل مبالغ فيه، فمثلما أن طعامك مميز، فإن غيرك عنده طعامٌ مميز أيضا ولكن بسعر أقل منك، فيجب أن يكون سعرك في متناول اليد للزبائن والذي يأهلك لأن تبقى داخل المنافسة في السوق. ولا يعني أن يكون سعرك في متناول اليد أن تبيع بسعر قد تخسر به.

هنالك جملة سمعتها من أحد التجار وتقول "الشطارة في الشراء وليس في البيع"، ومعنى هذه الجملة أنه كلما وفرت في سعر المواد الأولية الداخلة في المنتج، كلما كان هامش الربح أكبر والسعر منافس أكثر.

ولا يعني أن رخص سعر المادة أنها سيئة الطعم، ولأقل لكم قصة من تجربة شخصية حيث أن أحد أفراد أسرتي تقوم بصناعة الحلويات. في بادئ الأمر كانت تتعامل مع أحد أنواع الزبدة الفاخرة المشهورة، والتي كانت بالضرورة مرتفعة السعر لشهرتها، مما كان يأثر على السعر النهائي للمنتج والذي لم يساعدني في تسويق هذا المنتج، وكانت على قناعة بأن هذه الزبدة هي الوحدة التي تصلح وذلك تبعا لشهرتها، ولكنها اقتنعت بأن تبدأ البحث عن غيرها من البدائل الأرخص ثمنا، وفعلا قامت بالتجربة وجلبت العديد من الأنواع، كان منها ما هو سيء الطعم فلم نتعامل معه مرة أخرى وكان منها ما هو لذيذ جدا، وكانت النتيجة النهائية أننا وجدا نوعا سعره ربع سعر النوع المشهور ولكنه ألذ منه في الحلويات. مما يعني انه قد تجد بدائل أرخص وذات جودة عالية للمواد الأولية.

ومن ناحية أخرى، لا تقوم بشراء المواد الأولية من أي محل أو بقالة، بل قم بالبحث عن المحل الذي يعطيك هذه المادة بأرخص سعر، وقم باستغلال العروض التي تقوم بها المولات والمحلات بالقالة الكبيرة، فإن هذه العروض قد توفر عليك ما يصل إلى 15% من تكلفة المنتج.

5. التغليف والملصق التعريفي

يستهين الكثير من المنتجين بأهمية التغليف والملصق التعريفي، خصوصا منتجي المأكولات المنزلية، حيث يسود اعتقاد لدى الكثيرين بأن لا حجه لغلاف مرتب وملصق تعرفي بما أن المنتج مصنوع في المنزل، وكأن كلمة "صناعة منزلية" عبارة عن سحر يغطي الأبصار ليقوم الزبون بشراء المنتجات دون أن يعلم تفاصيلها، وهذا أكبر خطء.

الزبون ليس بالشخص الغبي وخصوصا في موضوع المأكولات، وخصوصا إن كان سيطعم هذه المأكولات لعائلته، فإن أهم شيء عنده أن يتأكد من سلامة المأكولات قبل أن يشتريها، فمن الطبيعي أن يقوم بالتأكد من إحكام إغلاق التغليف للمواد الغذائية، وهذا يتطلب من المُنتج أن يكون على دراية بكيفية تغليف المنتجات بحيث لا تتلف خلال فترة التخزين.

وهذا لا يعني أيضا أن تهتم بالتغليف بشكل زائد عن الحد، إذ أن هذا أيضا يرفع التكلفة، وليس هذا المراد، فعلى سبيل المثال فإن أفضل وأرخص طريقة لتخزين الزعتر المكلف (الجاهز للأكل مع السمسم والسماق) هي وضعة بأكياس النايلون الشفافة من طبقتين، وأن يحكم إغلاق كل طبقة من خلال الكبس الحراري وليس الربط! إذ أن الربط يعطي فكرة للزبون بأن المُنتِج لا يعلم أهمية النظافة في الإنتاج، لذلك يجب أن تستخدم المكبس الحراري، والذي لا يعتبر ذا تكلفة عالية، إذ يمكن جلب الحجم الصغير منه بتكلفة لا تعدى الخمسة عشر دينار.

ولا يجب أن ننسى أهمية الملصق التعريفي، إذ أن له أهمية كبيرة على الصعيدين التسويقي ومستوى تقبل الزبائن للمنتج، إذ أن المعلومات الموجودة على الملصق تزيد من اطمئنان الزبون للبضائع إذ أنه يتأكد من معرفة الصانع بأسرار صنعته ويساعده أيضا بمعرفة جودة المُنتَج، ومن ناحية أخرى يساعد الملصق الزبون على تحديد اصحاب المذاق الجيد والجودة العالية من المنتجين مما يجعله يبحث مرة أخرى عن نفس المُنتَج، مما يعني زيادة مبيعات المُنتِج.

ويمكن صناعة الملصق التعريفي بأبسط الأدوات وبدون أي تكاليف مرتفعة، إذ أن كل ما تحتاجه عبارة عن أوراق قابلة للالتصاق وهي متوفرة في المكتبات بأسعار زهيدة، ويمكنكم الكتابة عليها إما بخط اليد أو من خلال استخدام الطابعة المنزلية. ولكن المهم أن تحتوي على المعلومات التالية:

المُنتِج: هذه المعلومة هي أهم معلومة على الإطلاق في الملصق، فهي التي تعرف الزبون بصاحب هذه المنتجات، والتي إن أُعجب بها سوف يعود للبحث عنها مرة أخرى.
الصنف: أي ما هي المادة الغذائية الموجودة داخل هذا العبوة أو الكيس، فليس لكافة الزبائن المعرفة بكافة المواد الغذائية، وغير ذلك فإن الكثير من المواد متشابه الشكل ولا يدل على اختلافها إلا الاسم المذكور على الملصق، ومن الأمثلة على هذا السمبوسك، فهنالك سمبوسك محشي باللحمة، وهنالك ما هو محشي بالجبنة.
تاريخ الإنتاج والانتهاء: وهذه المعلومة مهمة جدا، إذ أنه من المعلوم لدى الجميع ومن كافة طبقات المجتمع أن الطعام منتهي الصلاحية يؤدي إلى مشاكل صحية الجميع في غنى عنها، لذا لا بد من ذكر تاريخ الإنتاج والانتهاء، ويجب أن تعلموا أن أغلب الزبائن لا يقومون بشراء المواد الغذائية إلا إن تأكدوا أن فترة صلاحيتها لم تنتهي بعد.
الوزن أو الكمية: إذ يتطلع الزبون دائما إلى الكمية التي يود شرائها، حيث أن المقارنة دائما تعتمد على السعر والوزن أو الكمية، فيجب أن تكون الكمية واضحة للزبون، ولا يجب أن تنسى ذكر الوزن القائم والصافي إن كانت العبوة المستخدمة ثقيلة الوزن مثل مرطبان الزجاج.
كيفية الحفظ: في الكثير من الأحيان تتلف المنتجات الغذائية بسبب سوء حفظ الزبون لها، مما يؤدي إلى إلقاء اللائمة على المُنتِج، مع أن الخطء قد صدر من الزبون، لذلك يجب أن تكون شروط الحفظ واضحة للمستهلك، ومن هذه الشروط أن تحفظ مجمدة أو بعيدة عن الرطوبة أو أن لا ينقص مستوى المياه وما إلى ذلك.
المكونات: ولا يطلب منك هنا كشف سرك، ولكن للزبون الحق في معرفة ماذا سوف يأكل، فهنا يتم ذكر المكونات دون ذكر النسب.
طريقة التحضير: وهذه المعلومة مهمة في حال أن المأكولات غير جاهزة للأكل مثل الكبة والسمبوسك المجمد، لأنها توضح أفضل طريقة للتحظير بحيث يحصل المستهلك على أفضل طعم، أما بالنسبة للمواد الغذائية الجاهزة للأكل مثل المخللات فلا داعي لذكر هذه المعلومة.

والصورة التالية توضح نموذج للاصق التعريفي مع بعض الشروحات (اضغط على الصورة لتكبيرها):

أرجو أن تكون هذه المعلومات قد فادتكم، وهذه نصائحي لكل من يعمل في مجال المأكولات المنزلية. ونحن في أيضا في بحث مستمر لمنتجين جدد لكي نضمهم إلى شبكتنا لبيع المنتجات المنزلية.

Post by ‎مأكولات صناعة منزلية في الأردن‎.

Things will make you lose you business (Part 1)

2013-05-19T15:43:00.000+03:00

This is not the first time to have a business for my own. I lost the last one for many reasons. Some of them were out of my hand. But there are man mistakes I made too. Losing your business is not the end of the world, yet you can go forward work for others or start another one. Here are few mistakes I want to advice anyone trying to establish a business to keep away from:

Mistake 1: Being a friend for your employees

You should communicate to your employee with respect and be open minded when you are talking to them. But don't make them your friends. When you become a friend to someone you keep trying to not heart him. This will lead you to the point where you cant tell them that they busted in the task you assigned to them. So always keep distance between you and them.

Mistake 2: High Running Costs

In general business which depends on services have a higher running cost. But this don't mean keeping it that high. When your share in the market is low and the income is very low, don't think that paying the salaries and the rent from your own pocket will solve the issue. The best way is to cut your expenses. Do a layoff, rent a smaller place, don't use the AC, do anything to cut the expenses, but don't pay them from your own pocket.

Mistake 3: The Loans

Keep away from them. Don't slip into that hole. Loans are dangerous, especially when your market share is very small. At the end of the month if you don't have enough money to pay your monthly payment, the bank will multiple it by 1.8 or 1.9. And if another month passed and you didn't pay. This means that you slipped into the tar pits.

When you take a loan, you should be sure 300% that your income will cover the monthly payment. If you have a doubt for 1% that your income will not cover it, don't take it. In case at the end of the month you have enough money for the salaries or the loan payment, pay for the bank and ask your employee to wait a little bit.

Mistake 4: Be Optimistic

Always take you decisions while you are calculating for the worst case scenario. This way you will be preparing for the worst. If when the good things come, this means you will be very happy.

Mistake 5: Trusting your partners more than the right limit

It is good to trust your partners. This is the thing which make the company going forward. When you lose the trust on them and you stop believing on them it is better to break the partnership before thing start to turn ugly.

And always keep everything on paper. In case some of the partners said he will take the risk of a certain decision, sign him/her on the responsibility of that decision.

On another post I will tell you more about things you have to be away from...

Tips for uncontrollable people - Part 1

2013-04-25T14:50:00.001+03:00

I am writing this article because I was on of these uncontrollable people. And this thing has ruin my life for so many years. And this article are directly for the creative people which no one can control.

Being a creative does not mean you are better than others. You as same as the others as good things and other bad things. But because you are good in few things that does not mean you are the best in everything.

We have a quote in Jordan says "X stand in the crowd where ever you through him". What we really mean is this man is good in everything he do, he is quick learner, creative, looking for the future, and in most cases uncontrollable.

When you work in organizations which contain a lot of people and regulations, being an uncontrollable person means not following these regulations. Your managers will pass for these unfollowing issue once, twice, three times, even ten or twenty times. But at the end of the day there cup will filled by the problems which your attitude made and say goodbye for you.

These regulations has been put for a reason, and I am sure the owners for these organizations are knowing there needs better than you. So don't be a smart ass and stick your nose in everything. Also please keep your mouth shut and don't share your opinion about people. Because later on years later, you will discover that they was right, not you!

This what I have to say now, and later on. I will tell you more. :)

The story of Farah Balcony & Jordanian Handicrafts White Book

2013-04-25T11:41:00.000+03:00

In 2012/2013 I made a career change. I decide to leave the technology behind me and move forward to use the technology and internet rather than working on building platforms and software. Jordan is not an easy place to do a career change on it, especially in this difficult economic time. For that I had to take the risk and change my career through establishing a new business for me.

I am not a single worker, I have to work through a team. For that I backed to my old friend +Ahmad Farah who I worked with many times before. Ahmad is a very good managerial person. He managed his multiple second hand clothes stores for years. And he is great in research, cash flow & resources management, understanding peoples, and figuring out how to build businesses.

Together we start thinking in our abilities, backgrounds, connections, available opportunities, passion, and so on. We discovered a new land we can invest our abilities in. This land is eCommerce. eCommerce is well known and used in the first world. But in the third world it is still not trust-able! But we are sure it will be in the next few years. On the other hand both of us are passion for wood, ancient things, recycling, art, and handmade products.

There is an old quote say "If you make what you love, you will never work". And after we looked for our abilities and passion we decide to make this quote a life style for us by selling handicrafts through eCommerce. This was the first step we made in our establishment +Farah Balcony.

Later on we start doing research about the handicrafts, its possibilities and limitations. We found a lot of things we can do especially that we decide to sell only Jordanian handicrafts. But this research was not enough to build the right business model.

If we want to sell handicrafts, we need to find craftsmen who make them! So we looked though our connections, and we found an organization which could help is in reaching these craftsmen. We went to IRADA, the largest arm for development and the most prevalent one in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in Jordan.

Together we start a project to make a white book for the reality, abilities, and problems of the artisans and craftsmen in Jordan. The project period was six months, within the project we visited more than 160 craftsmen in all regions of Jordan including crowded and remote areas. We documented all types of artisans such as individuals, shops, and associations.

The results we found by this field study was extraordinary. We got bad news in some aspects, but we also got much good news too. We found wonderful products which hard to find in anywhere else such as very beautiful traditional dress in modern designs, ancient pottery, and some unique wooden piece of art products.

Also we find a lot of natural resources that could make a great impact on the local society such as olive oil when you use it in soap and cosmetics, gemstones, and the wonderful dead sea.

If we used these resources and abilities, we could make a real change in the lives of many people who are working in this sector. I hope we find the help to market the Jordanian handicrafts world wide. And I am sure it will make change.

We will keep posting about the things we found and the things we will. And at the end let me say for all craftsmen and artisans "we are looking to sell you products, but please show us your best!".

Software building as Industry not handicraft

2012-10-18T09:19:00.000+03:00

As it is known for all the people who work in the software, programming is the main tool for building application, games, online tools, etc... Each application is a master piece and it requires the complexity of the human mind to craft its features and making it work in the right way.

A lot of tools these days are available for making the programming a simpler task. But programming is still programming. I managed a software house for two years and I know that at the end of the day if you don't have a smart developers, you will stuck and you will fail in deliver the application for the client even if you are the best manager in the world. You need the developer to write the code for you.

Development is not an easy task; especially that you relay on how the developer is thinking. And the developer is not always thinking in the right way. This is the nature of the human beans.

And what was killing me the most; that a lot of the developer time wasted in repeated tasks over and over, especially when you work in a standard database business solution such as HR, Payroll, or any business work flow. The developer is repeating the work over and over and all what he is doing is just data entry for the database layer code, business layer code, GUI code!

Of course there are a lot of code generators these days helping you in writing 60% of the code. But still you need to write code for a lot of things like style, validation, certain business roles, browser compatibility, efficiency, mobile devices, etc....

Also what will happen when the client asks for a simple change like new field in a certain form! You have to back into your development center, fix the database, run the code generator, fix the integration with the GUI, then compile the code and send it to the client another time! WAW, this looks as it will take a life time to finish!
Oh! And another big problem we have are the multi-languages interface. This is one of the worst things to deal with, especially if the client asked it after we deliver the application for him. And in my region this happen a lot and most clients asking for interfaces in both languages Arabic and English.

Another time there are solutions for all the problems I mentioned, but even it is very expensive or very hard to deal with. Such as RubyOnRails, SharePoint InfoPath, IceCode, Code Complete, PHP Cake, and much more.
But I am thinking in a totally new thing, what if we say that we have a certain type of application engine or builder which will be directly installed on the client machines or the development center machines. And we start build the application through the following steps:

Login to the Engine.
Determine the languages which interface will use.
Add new application by telling the engine to add it through one step dialog. (let us say add a new HR application)
Tell the engine using one page wizard that we have an object or business entity in the HR application called Employee and I care about his name, email, address, and phone number.
Use another wizard in the engine to tell it that we have two users one with read only privileges and another with full privileges. Let us say that now we have user1 and user2.

Now imagine login to this engine without compilation, deploying, or any other step using user1 login information and finding all the application is totally ready to be used including filtering, validation, browser computability, etc... Wouldn't this looking great!

Only 5 steps are what I need to build my application. Why I need a lot of steps to do that?! Why I have to focus on the coding problems rather than focusing on the business and application itself?! All of this time and money is wasted on writing millions and millions of code lines where I should focus on the business itself not the technical stuff!

This is how software development should be. The developer should focus on building the business rules not the technical stuff.

Ok, I know that there are a lot of application builders like LightSwitch, Aware IM, Apitfy RAD, etc... But nothing in the way I think of.

What I am thinking of, is something much simpler and has more potential and scalability than these available application builders.

In the software house I had, we start building this dream and we got wonderful start point. The engine I dreamed of is now a reality. The following video shows you how we used our engine to build a simple application using the 5 steps I mentioned before.

Now we shut down the software house which built this application for financial reasons. I was the architect of this dream and I don't want to see it die. So I will share with you how we built this engine and the technology behind it through several articles in my blog and other places.

For more information please don't hesitate contacting me on hasanhalabi@gmail.com.

مهمه إلى الجنوب - الجزء الأول

2012-08-12T16:01:00.000+03:00

في يوم الخميس تلقيت إتصالا من صديقي الذي يعمل في مراكز تعزير الإنتاجية إرادة يطلب مني القدوم معه في مهمة إلى الجنوب لتوثيق و تصوير أهم المنتجات التي تنتجها المشاريع و الجمعيات التي تقع تحت مظلتها.

إرادة إحدى أهم و أكثر مشاريع وزارة التخطيط نجاحا في دعم المشاريع الصغيرة و المتوسطة في المملكة، الدعم الذي تقدمة إرادة يتضمن الكثير من الميزات مثل التدريب و الدعم الفني و دراسات الجدوى و حديثا بدأ التسويق للمنتجات يدخل تحت مظلتها. و أحد أهم الأمور التي تجعل العمل مع إرادة فعالا هو عدم تعاملها المالي مع الشاريع فهي لا تعطي المنح و لا تقرض النقود و بالمقابل فإن خدماتها مجانية تماما، مما يجعلها الملاذ الأمن و الأفضل لجميع المشاريع الصغيرة و المتوسطة عند حاجتها للنصيحة و الدعم الفني و التقني.

كان للمهمة هدفين أساسين، الأول تصوير المنتجات و توثيقها لإستخدامها من قبل إرادة نفسها و لإطلاع الوزارة عليها، الهدف الثاني هو محاولة دعم المشاريع عن طريق بيع منتجاتها من خلال الموقع الإلكتروني "بلكونة فرح" Farah Balcony، المتخصص في بيع المنتجات الحرفية اليدوية.

في تمام السادسة و النصف من يوم السبت الذي لحق الإتصال كنا في طريقنا إلى الطفيلة و كانت معي كاميرتي، توقفنا في القطرانة لتناول الإفطار، ثم أكملنا الطريق، خلال المدة التي كنا نقطع فيها الطريق كنت اتأمل جوانب الطريق و الأبنية التي تحيط به، و هنا فهمت أمرا لم أكن أعلمة من قبل، وهو أن الحضارة و العمران في الأردن تتركز في العاصمة عمان. كنا نقطع مسافات طويلة دون أن نرى مباني أو بشر، فقط مركبات تسير معنا أو عكسنا متجة إلى عمان.

وصلنا الطفيلة في الساعة التاسعة صباحا، و هو يوم إجازة رسمية لمركز إرادة الموجود فيها، و لكنهم لم يتوانوا في جمع المنتجات من المشاريع لتصويرها و توثيقها، و نظرا للوقت الضيق الذي أعطي لهم لم يستطيعوا جلب الكثير من المنتجات، فكل ما جلبوه كان 110 منتجات من ثلاثة مشاريع.

من خلال ما صورته في ذاك اليوم كنت أرى منتجات يجب أن لا تصنع من الأصل إما لعدم وجود سوق لها أو لأن طريقة التصنيع سيئه، و في المقابل كنت أرى منتجات صالحة للتسويق مباشرة دون الحاجة لأي تعديل حيث أن لها سوق و طريقة التصنيع ممتازة حتى أخر التفاصيل، و كانت هنالك منتجات بين الفئتين، جيدة و لكن! و هذا قليل مما رأيت.

بيت موبيل

هذا المنتج من أوائل المنتجات التي يجيب إيقاف إنتاجها بشكلها الحالي، لم تعد الهواتف الخلوية مثل السابق متماثلة الحجم و المواصفات، و خصوصا بعد إنتشار الهاتف الذكي بين الناس بكثرة و كثرة إستخدام الكاميرا فيها، مثل هذا البيت مع ما فيه من جمال منظر و جودة صناعة، إلا أن فرص بيعة شبة معدومة لعدم توافق حجمة و تصميمة مع التصاميم التي ترتديها الصبايا هذه الأيام مع العلم بعدم رغبة الرجال بمثل هذا المنتج.

السؤال الذي يطرح نفسه هنا لمى لا يزال هذا البيت قيد الإنتاج؟! كيف لنا أن نوصل لصانعة و لغيره ما هي المنتجات المرغوب بها و ما هي المنتجات التي يجب إقافها، فليس من المعقول أن يضيع مثل هذا التعب و الجهد هباء الرياح!

و للحديث تتمه

حسن الحلبي

4 hot Microsoft technologies coming in 2012

2012-01-05T16:41:00.000+02:00

By J. Peter Bruzzese

Source: InfoWorld

The year 2012 brings with it prophecies (of doom, unfortunately -- thanks, Mayans), predictions, and promises in every industry. While I'm no seer of the future, there are four tools and toys I'm particularly anticipating from Microsoft this new year, after 2011's relative dearth of tools and toys from the company.

Microsoft technology No. 1: PST Capture tool

With a big push to get the PST Exchange mailbox archives off the desktop, Microsoft has added archiving to Exchange 2010. The reasons for getting rid of PSTs relate to legal compliance and discovery, which is much more complex -- if not downright impossible -- with PSTs out in the wild. The new archive feature in Exchange, although very much appreciated, still doesn't help us easily get the PST captured and imported into the Exchange Store.

[ Windows 8 is coming, and InfoWorld can help you get ready with the Windows 8 Deep Dive PDF special report, which explains Microsoft's bold new direction for Windows, the new Metro interface for tablet and desktop apps, the transition from Windows 7, and more. | Our Windows Server 8 Deep Dive shows you what to expect in the next-gen server version of Windows. | Stay abreast of key Microsoft technologies in our Technology: Microsoft newsletter. ]

Since July 2011, we have been waiting for Microsoft to release its PST Capture; it was supposed to have shipped by now, but it looks as if it will ship by April. It's true that third-party tools already offer similar archiving capabilities, but I prefer to get such tools for free from the Microsoft Exchange team, especially when budgets are tight.

Microsoft technology No. 2: Windows 8 tablets

After recently buying my wife an iPad 2 (and secretly admiring it), I keep saying, "Well, sure this is nice, but wait until Windows 8." The response I keep getting, even from some big names in IT: "Pete, it's over. Microsoft lost this one." I refuse to accept that.

Apple has to worry about both the tablet and the OS. Microsoft only has to worry about the OS. The viability of that approach is already proven in the Android market, where tablets enhanced by Samsung and others are challenging the iPad phenomenom. Microsoft has already done most of the work in Windows 8, and its success or failure will come down to three issues:

It must appeal to the masses, which means it has to be sleek and iCandy-oriented like the iPad
The marketing campaign has to be compelling (in other words, no Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates); Microsoft might want to see if Justin Long's contract has run out over at Apple
Developers will need to embrace it and create apps for it in much the same way the iPad and Android tablets gained thousands of apps

Microsoft technology No. 3: Windows Server 8

I've written several articles outlining all the great features (there are hundreds of them) coming with Windows Server 8, including Hyper-V enhancements, Active Directory changes, and PowerShell updates. It's probably the most exciting release of Windows Server since the 2000 edition, where we first saw Active Directory. Don't get me wrong, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2008 are both excellent, but there's something special about the enterprise-oriented features promised for Windows Server 8 that has me giggly.

Microsoft technology No. 4: Windows Azure updates

Microsoft has been enhancing its Azure cloud-based offering with lower prices and new features like an SDK. The big thing to look for is the connection via Hortonworks with Apache Hadoop. I'll be honest -- none of this was interesting to me until I read Mary Jo Foley's review, then checked out Microsoft's 10-minute Channel 9 video. The latter explains a bit more on how the integration will provide impressive access to both on-premise Windows Servers and Azure through tools with which admins are already familiar.

Wishful thinking: Office 2012 servers

I'll be honest -- though I hear buzz on the wire about Exchange 2012, SharePoint 2012, and Lync 2012, I don't think we'll see any of these this year. The 2010 flavor of each is still being deployed, and releasing new versions so soon could saturate the market for no reason. Based on Microsoft's history of server releases, three- or four-year gaps are the norm. But one can dream, and if 2012 versions of the Office servers appear, that'll be exciting.

More to anticipate from Redmond

I'm also looking forward to Windows 8, although I don't know how relevant it will be or how much of a dent it will make in enterprise deployments of Windows 7, which are doing well. (We'll finally be rid of XP soon, I hope.) The 2012 revamp of System Center should also be interesting. Rest assured that 2012 will be anything but a dry year for new Microsoft technology.

10 programming languages that could shake up IT

2012-01-04T12:37:00.000+02:00

Source: InfoWorld

Do we really need another programming language? There is certainly no shortage of choices already. Between imperative languages, functional languages, object-oriented languages, dynamic languages, compiled languages, interpreted languages, and scripting languages, no developer could ever learn all of the options available today.

And yet, new languages emerge with surprising frequency. Some are designed by students or hobbyists as personal projects. Others are the products of large IT vendors. Even small and midsize companies are getting in on the action, creating languages to serve the needs of their industries. Why do people keep reinventing the wheel?

The answer is that, as powerful and versatile as the current crop of languages may be, no single syntax is ideally suited for every purpose. What's more, programming itself is constantly evolving. The rise of multicore CPUs, cloud computing, mobility, and distributed architectures have created new challenges for developers. Adding support for the latest features, paradigms, and patterns to existing languages -- especially popular ones -- can be prohibitively difficult. Sometimes the best answer is to start from scratch.

Here, then, is a look at 10 cutting-edge programming languages, each of which approaches the art of software development from a fresh perspective, tackling a specific problem or a unique shortcoming of today's more popular languages. Some are mature projects, while others are in the early stages of development. Some are likely to remain obscure, but any one of them could become the breakthrough tool that changes programming for years to come -- at least, until the next batch of new languages arrives.

Experimental programming language No. 1: Dart

JavaScript is fine for adding basic interactivity to Web pages, but when your Web applications swell to thousands of lines of code, its weaknesses quickly become apparent. That's why Google created Dart, a language it hopes will become the new vernacular of Web programming.

Like JavaScript, Dart uses C-like syntax and keywords. One significant difference, however, is that while JavaScript is a prototype-based language, objects in Dart are defined using classes and interfaces, as in C++ or Java. Dart also allows programmers to optionally declare variables with static types. The idea is that Dart should be as familiar, dynamic, and fluid as JavaScript, yet allow developers to write code that is faster, easier to maintain, and less susceptible to subtle bugs.

You can't do much with Dart today. It's designed to run on either the client or the server (a la Node.js), but the only way to run client-side Dart code so far is to cross-compile it to JavaScript. Even then it doesn't work with every browser. But because Dart is released under a BSD-style open source license, any vendor that buys Google's vision is free to build the language into its products. Google only has an entire industry to convince.

Experimental programming language No. 2: Ceylon

Gavin King denies that Ceylon, the language he's developing at Red Hat, is meant to be a "Java killer." King is best known as the creator of the Hibernate object-relational mapping framework for Java. He likes Java, but he thinks it leaves lots of room for improvement.

Among King's gripes are Java's verbose syntax, its lack of first-class and higher-order functions, and its poor support for meta-programming. In particular, he's frustrated with the absence of a declarative syntax for structured data definition, which he says leaves Java "joined at the hip to XML." Ceylon aims to solve all these problems.

King and his team don't plan to reinvent the wheel completely. There will be no Ceylon virtual machine; the Ceylon compiler will output Java bytecode that runs on the JVM. But Ceylon will be more than just a compiler, too. A big goal of the project is to create a new Ceylon SDK to replace the Java SDK, which King says is bloated and clumsy, and it's never been "properly modernized."

That's a tall order, and Red Hat has released no Ceylon tools yet. King says to expect a compiler this year. Just don't expect software written in "100 percent pure Ceylon" any time soon.

Experimental programming language No. 3: Go

Interpreters, virtual machines, and managed code are all the rage these days. Do we really need another old-fashioned language that compiles to native binaries? A team of Google engineers -- led by Robert Griesemer and Bell Labs legends Ken Thompson and Rob Pike -- says yes.

Go is a general-purpose programming language suitable for everything from application development to systems programing. In that sense, it's more like C or C++ than Java or C#. But like the latter languages, Go includes modern features such as garbage collection, runtime reflection, and support for concurrency.

Equally important, Go is meant to be easy to program in. Its basic syntax is C-like, but it eliminates redundant syntax and boilerplate while streamlining operations such as object definition. The Go team's goal was to create a language that's as pleasant to code in as a dynamic scripting language yet offers the power of a compiled language.

Go is still a work in progress, and the language specification may change. That said, you can start working with it today. Google has made tools and compilers available along with copious documentation; for example, the Effective Go tutorial is a good place to learn how Go differs from earlier languages.

Experimental programming language No. 4: F#

Functional programming has long been popular with computer scientists and academia, but pure functional languages like Lisp and Haskell are often considered unworkable for real-world software development. One common complaint is that functional-style code can be difficult to integrate with code and libraries written in imperative languages like C++ and Java.

Enter F# (pronounced "F-sharp"), a Microsoft language designed to be both functional and practical. Because F# is a first-class language on the .Net Common Language Runtime (CLR), it can access all of the same libraries and features as other CLR languages, such as C# and Visual Basic.

F# code resembles OCaml somewhat, but it adds interesting syntax of its own. For example, numeric data types in F# can be assigned units of measure to aid scientific computation. F# also offers constructs to aid asynchronous I/O, CPU parallelization, and off-loading processing to the GPU.

After a long gestation period at Microsoft Research, F# now ships with Visual Studio 2010. Better still, in an unusual move, Microsoft has made the F# compiler and core library available under the Apache open source license; you can start working with it for free and even use it on Mac and Linux systems (via the Mono runtime).

Experimental programming language No. 5: Opa

Web development is too complicated. Even the simplest Web app requires countless lines of code in multiple languages: HTML and JavaScript on the client, Java or PHP on the server, SQL in the database, and so on.

Opa doesn't replace any of these languages individually. Rather, it seeks to eliminate them all at once, by proposing an entirely new paradigm for Web programming. In an Opa application, the client-side UI, server-side logic, and database I/O are all implemented in a single language, Opa.

Opa accomplishes this through a combination of client- and server-side frameworks. The Opa compiler decides whether a given routine should run on the client, server, or both, and it outputs code accordingly. For client-side routines, it translates Opa into the appropriate JavaScript code, including AJAX calls.

Naturally, a system this integrated requires some back-end magic. Opa's runtime environment bundles its own Web server and database management system, which can't be replaced with stand-alone alternatives. That may be a small price to pay, however, for the ability to prototype sophisticated, data-driven Web applications in just a few dozen lines of code. Opa is open source and available now for 64-bit Linux and Mac OS X platforms, with further ports in the works.

Experimental programming language No. 6: Fantom

Should you develop your applications for Java or .Net? If you code in Fantom, you can take your pick and even switch platforms midstream. That's because Fantom is designed from the ground up for cross-platform portability. The Fantom project includes not just a compiler that can output bytecode for either the JVM or the .Net CLI, but also a set of APIs that abstract away the Java and .Net APIs, creating an additional portability layer.

There are plans to extend Fantom's portability even further. A Fantom-to-JavaScript compiler is already available, and future targets might include the LLVM compiler project, the Parrot VM, and Objective-C for iOS.

But portability is not Fantom's sole raison d'être. While it remains inherently C-like, it is also meant to improve on the languages that inspired it. It tries to strike a middle ground in some of the more contentious syntax debates, such as strong versus dynamic typing, or interfaces versus classes. It adds easy syntax for declaring data structures and serializing objects. And it includes support for functional programming and concurrency built into the language.

Fantom is open source under the Academic Free License 3.0 and is available for Windows and Unix-like platforms (including Mac OS X).

Experimental programming language No. 7: Zimbu

Most programming languages borrow features and syntax from an earlier language. Zimbu takes bits and pieces from almost all of them. The brainchild of Bram Moolenaar, creator of the Vim text editor, Zimbu aims to be a fast, concise, portable, and easy-to-read language that can be used to code anything from a GUI application to an OS kernel.

Owing to its mongrel nature, Zimbu's syntax is unique and idiosyncratic, yet feature-rich. It uses C-like expressions and operators, but its own keywords, data types, and block structures. It supports memory management, threads, and pipes.

Portability is a key concern. Although Zimbu is a compiled language, the Zimbu compiler outputs ANSI C code, allowing binaries to be built only on platforms with a native C compiler.

Unfortunately, the Zimbu project is in its infancy. The compiler can build itself and some example programs, but not all valid Zimbu code will compile and run properly. Not all proposed features are implemented yet, and some are implemented in clumsy ways. The language specification is also expected to change over time, adding keywords, types, and syntax as necessary. Thus, documentation is spotty, too. Still, if you would like to experiment, preliminary tools are available under the Apache license.

Experimental programming language No. 8: X10

Parallel processing was once a specialized niche of software development, but with the rise of multicore CPUs and distributed computing, parallelism is going mainstream. Unfortunately, today's programming languages aren't keeping pace with the trend. That's why IBM Research is developing X10, a language designed specifically for modern parallel architectures, with the goal of increasing developer productivity "times 10."

X10 handles concurrency using the partitioned global address space (PGAS) programming model. Code and data are separated into units and distributed across one or more "places," making it easy to scale a program from a single-threaded prototype (a single place) to multiple threads running on one or more multicore processors (multiple places) in a high-performance cluster.

X10 code most resembles Java; in fact, the X10 runtime is available as a native executable and as class files for the JVM. The X10 compiler can output C++ or Java source code. Direct interoperability with Java is a future goal of the project.

For now, the language is evolving, yet fairly mature. The compiler and runtime are available for various platforms, including Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Additional tools include an Eclipse-based IDE and a debugger, all distributed under the Eclipse Public License.

Experimental programming language No. 9: haXe

Lots of languages can be used to write portable code. C compilers are available for virtually every CPU architecture, and Java bytecode will run wherever there's a JVM. But haXe (pronounced "hex") is more than just portable. It's a multiplatform language that can target diverse operating environments, ranging from native binaries to interpreters and virtual machines.

Developers can write programs in haXe, then compile them into object code, JavaScript, PHP, Flash/ActionScript, or NekoVM bytecode today; additional modules for outputting C# and Java are in the works. Complementing the core language is the haXe standard library, which functions identically on every target, plus target-specific libraries to expose the unique features of each platform.

The haXe syntax is C-like, with a rich feature set. Its chief advantage is that it negates problems inherent in each of the platforms it targets. For example, haXe has strict typing where JavaScript does not; it adds generics and type inference to ActionScript; and it obviates the poorly designed, haphazard syntax of PHP entirely.

Although still under development, haXe is used commercially by its creator, the gaming studio Motion Twin, so it's no toy. It's available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows under a combination of open source licenses.

Experimental programming language No. 10: Chapel

In the world of high-performance computing, few names loom larger than Cray. It should come as no surprise, then, that Chapel, Cray's first original programming language, was designed with supercomputing and clustering in mind.

Chapel is part of Cray's Cascade Program, an ambitious high-performance computing initiative funded in part by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). Among its goals are abstracting parallel algorithms from the underlying hardware, improving their performance on architectures, and making parallel programs more portable.

Chapel's syntax draws from numerous sources. In addition to the usual suspects (C, C++, Java), it borrows concepts from scientific programming languages such as Fortran and Matlab. Its parallel-processing features are influenced by ZPL and High-Performance Fortran, as well as earlier Cray projects.

One of Chapel's more compelling features is its support for "multi-resolution programming," which allows developers to prototype applications with highly abstract code and fill in details as the implementation becomes more fully defined.

Work on Chapel is ongoing. At present, it can run on Cray supercomputers and various high-performance clusters, but it's portable to most Unix-style systems (including Mac OS X and Windows with Cygwin). The source code is available under a BSD-style open source license.

Microsoft to enable Linux on its Windows Azure cloud in 2012

2012-01-03T14:04:00.000+02:00

By: Mary Jo Foley

Summary: Microsoft is preparing to launch a new persistent virtual machine feature on its Azure cloud platform, enabling customers to host Linux, SharePoint and SQL Server there.

This headline is not an error. I didn’t have one too many craft brews over the New Year’s weekend.

Microsoft is poised to enable customers to make virtual machines (VMs) persistent on Windows Azure, I’ve heard from a handful of my contacts who’ve asked not to be identified.

What does this mean? Customers who want to run Windows or Linux “durably” (i.e., without losing state) in VMs on Microsoft’s Azure platform-as-a-service platform will be able to do so. Microsoft is planning to launch a Community Technology Preview (CTP) test-build of the persistent VM capability in the spring of 2012, according to partners briefed by the company.

The new persistent VM support also will allow customers to run SQL Server or SharePoint Server in VMs, as well. And it will enable customers to more easily move existing apps to the Azure platform.

Windows Azure already has support for a VM role, but it’s not very useful at the moment. (I guess that explains Microsoft officials’ reticence to comment on any of my questions about Azure’s VM role support, in spite of my repeated requests.)

“The current VM role when rebooted or randomly recycled by the Azure platform loses any data stored — any persistence. So for applications that rely on the machine name or files/config that constitute “state” not stored in SQL Azure (or externally), this is a problem. This is also one of the technical reasons why you wouldn’t try running SharePoint on the current Azure VM role,” explained one partner, who requested anonymity.

To date, Microsoft has been balking at customer requests to add persistent VMs to Azure, hoping to get customers to develop Azure apps from scratch instead. But the lack of the ability to host apps like SharePoint and other third-party business applications with persistence was a deal breaker for a number of business users who were unwilling to consider Azure until Microsoft added this support, one of my contacts said.

Running Linux on Azure has been a surprisingly big business-customer request, as well, my contacts said. Microsoft won’t be supporting Linux once the late-March persistent VM CTP launches; instead, it will be up to customers to provide uploads of their own Linux images, I heard from my contacts. Microsoft plans to tout the persistent VM capability on Azure as providing users with an easy on-ramp to its cloud platform, as they can start with the apps they already have and host them without a lot of reworking.

The Register reported earlier this year that Microsoft was testing the ability to run Linux on Azure in its own labs, and that the launch of such a capability was still months away.

I’ve asked Microsoft to confirm its upcoming persistent VM plans, but I’m not holding my breath. If you are still a doubter that this is coming, here’s a snippet from an Azure roadmap that one of my contacts shared with me which mentions the capability:

Microsoft cloud competitor Amazon already offers the ability to run different operating systems, including Windows, SQL Server, and Linux, on its EC2 infrastructure-as-a-service platform.

Does Microsoft’s pending infrastructure-as-a-service addition of a persistent VM make you any more interested in Windows Azure?

Source: ZDNet

Marketing Open Source Software

2011-12-27T13:47:00.001+02:00

Marketing Open Source Software

View more presentations from Sandro Groganz

10 reasons why this is a great time to be a developer

2011-12-23T20:11:00.000+02:00

Takeaway: After a long stretch of stagnation, the developer field is starting to open up — in a number of interesting, groundbreaking ways.

Ever since I was a kid, being a programmer looked fun and exciting. But in the last decade, the novelty of the Internet has worn off, and it seems like we’ve just been spinning our wheels. With an increasingly uninteresting workload and stagnation in pay, a lot of folks have either left for other pastures or have thought about it. Well, in the last year or two, things have really changed. Here are 10 reasons why now is a great time to be a developer.

1: HTML5

HTML5 has completely turned the world of development on its head. For years, we were locked into a limited set of applications, not because we couldn’t make magic happen, but because there were so many issues with getting our solutions to market. When the Web arrived, it unlocked a lot of new avenues, but its limitations were such that the really exciting things were still saddled with the native desktop application model. HTML5 takes off many of those shackles, and we are about to experience a boom time for new ideas.

2: Agile methodology

When I first encountered Agile methods, it was from the vantage point of seeing some really shoddy practices being called “Agile” out of laziness. And while I think there is still a use for more Waterfall-like techniques, Agile should be the default choice for teams going forward. With Agile, we’re given a lot more freedom to do what we love — deliver innovative, customer-satisfying solutions — whereas in the past, we were stuck guessing what users wanted and usually ended up developing what their managers or our managers assumed they wanted.

3: The move to SaaS

Why do I love the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model as a developer? Because for the first time ever, developers can monetize their products in a fashion that is fair to both sides of the transaction. Sure, developers always could just charge for development, which was fair enough. But if you are trying to make “shrink wrap apps,” the previous models are all awful. They usually lead to customers being force-fed upgrades or support they don’t want in order to keep a vendor in business or to having vendors charge too much so they can provide “free” support and upgrades. Thanks to SaaS, the shrink wrap model is profitable in a fashion that benefits everyone.

4: Low startup costs

Seriously, could it get any cheaper to start your own company now? I read press releases of companies getting off the ground with only a million dollars, where in the past it would be $10 million or more to get going. What’s changed? Various platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) vendors let you go from “project done on my weekends” to “deployed and ready for business” in literally minutes. You can have a flexible billing schedule that allows you to cover the costs out of pocket easily and have your costs scale with your money flow. Meanwhile, platforms like Ruby on Rails have emerged to make it easy to get off the ground without all of the monetary and technical overhead associated with developing in more traditional systems.

5: Mobile technology

Thanks to the explosion in the mobile markets, there are hundreds of millions of potential software customers who never existed before. Their bank accounts are directly tied to the software discovery system, and they are accustomed to paying (albeit, not very much) for software. And the mobile revolution has enabled all sorts of amazing new apps and games that really just could not exist before. Best of all, mobile applications and devices serve users in way that offers far more satisfaction than traditional desktop computing.

6: Job market of today

Talk about a seller’s market. Are there soft spots in the job market? Absolutely. I’d hate to be an entry-level programmer with no real-world job experience and no special skills competing against the overseas talent who can deliver more skills for less money. And yes, some intermediate developers are getting a squeeze as well. But you know what? The demand for talent overall is at a level that is nowhere near being met, and it will only get harder to find the right folks. And the pay scales are reflecting the lack of supply. While it can be tough to get your footing, once you have established a record of good work and a valuable, up-to-date skill set, it is pretty easy to stay employed at a fantastic pay rate.

7: Job market of the future

Until someone comes up with a reliable way of having applications write themselves, the job market will only improve for developers so long as they are willing to put in some effort with skills improvement. The graduation rates for development-related majors are not ramping up to even come close to meeting the demand. If you have a foothold in the industry today, and do not let your skills deteriorate or go out of date, the job market should treat you very well over the course of your career, and certainly much better than most jobs.

8: Computing penetration

Those mobile devices have done something amazing: They’ve allowed entire segments of the world’s population to have access to computing when before there was none. Not only does this create potential new users and customers, but it allows our work to have a positive influence on the world like never before. Some of the mobile applications I have seen do truly amazing things, like allowing farmers in Africa to determine whether there is a demand for crops before starting a long trek to market, or enabling doctors in poor parts of Asia to communicate with each other to share lifesaving information. Being able to be part of something more impactful than merely making a living is a great feeling!

9: The rise of “personal computing” devices

When the idea of a “personal computer” came about, most folks treated it as “my personal computer” in contrast to “the company’s computer” or “the shared mainframe.” Now, “personal computer” is becoming much more similar to what visionaries like Dr. Alan Kay imagined in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, a system that individuals can customize on the fly to meet their needs easily. Is this a reality yet? No. But for the first time in a long time, it looks like the industry is actually starting to move in that direction, and it can’t come soon enough. I look forward to being part of the revolution that allows people to leverage their computing devices to accomplish their goals, instead of the devices depending upon users to do what they need to do for the applications to meet their own goals.

10: The increasingly prominent role of developers

As things continue to shift and change in the IT industry, our networking and systems administration brethren are seeing their jobs become more routine and less exciting. Meanwhile, programmers are the fulcrum that the IT lever pivots on. Without us, companies are forced to accept solutions out-of-the-box and attempt to make their business processes match the solutions. Entire industries are experiencing unprecedented paradigm shifts, thanks to the recent innovations in software. Up until a few years ago, it was hard to make software that did more than replace filing cabinets and calculators. Now we’re making software do things that have never been done before, and the world depends on us to make it happen.

Other reasons?

Do the reasons cited here make the developer field seem more enticing and full of opportunity than in previous years? What other aspects of current tech trends make this a good time to pursue a career in development?

Source: TechRepublic

7 Things Highly Productive People Do

2011-12-22T16:58:00.002+02:00

You have more important things to focus on than, um, focusing. Get back on track with these tips.

You probably don’t want to admit it but you love distractions. In fact, just like monkeys, you get a shot of dopamine every time something pulls you in another direction. Why do you think you check your email so much?

Want to be more productive and get your focus back? There are no secret tricks here… do one thing at a time. Stop multitasking—it’s just another form of distraction.

Easier said than done, I know.

Recently I sat down with Tony Wong, a project management blackbelt whose client list includes Toyota, Honda, and Disney, to name a few. He’s an expert in keeping people on task, so I thought he’d be a good person to ask.

Here are his tips for staying productive:

Work backwards from goals to milestones to tasks. Writing “launch company website” at the top of your to-do list is a sure way to make sure you never get it done. Break down the work into smaller and smaller chunks until you have specific tasks that can be accomplished in a few hours or less: Sketch a wireframe, outline an introduction for the homepage video, etc. That’s how you set goals and actually succeed in crossing them off your list.
Stop multi-tasking. No, seriously—stop. Switching from task to task quickly does not work. In fact, changing tasks more than 10 times in a day makes you dumber than being stoned. When you’re stoned, your IQ drops by five points. When you multitask, it drops by an average of 10 points, 15 for men, five for women (yes, men are three times as bad at multitasking than women).
Be militant about eliminating distractions. Lock your door, put a sign up, turn off your phone, texts, email, and instant messaging. In fact, if you know you may sneak a peek at your email, set it to offline mode, or even turn off your Internet connection. Go to a quiet area and focus on completing one task.
Schedule your email. Pick two or three times during the day when you’re going to use your email. Checking your email constantly throughout the day creates a ton of noise and kills your productivity.
Use the phone. Email isn’t meant for conversations. Don’t reply more than twice to an email. Pick up the phone instead.
Work on your own agenda. Don’t let something else set your day. Most people go right to their emails and start freaking out. You will end up at inbox-zero, but accomplish nothing. After you wake up, drink water so you rehydrate, eat a good breakfast to replenish your glucose, then set prioritized goals for the rest of your day.
Work in 60 to 90 minute intervals. Your brain uses up more glucose than any other bodily activity. Typically you will have spent most of it after 60-90 minutes. (That’s why you feel so burned out after super long meetings.) So take a break: Get up, go for a walk, have a snack, do something completely different to recharge. And yes, that means you need an extra hour for breaks, not including lunch, so if you’re required to get eight hours of work done each day, plan to be there for 9.5-10 hours.

Source: Inc.

Why programmers work at night

2011-12-21T16:13:00.002+02:00

A popular saying goes that Programmers are machines that turn caffeine into code.

And sure enough, ask a random programmer when they do their best work and there’s a high chance they will admit to a lot of late nights. Some earlier, some later. A popular trend is to get up at 4am and get some work done before the day’s craziness begins. Others like going to bed at 4am.

At the gist of all this is avoiding distractions. But you could just lock the door, what’s so special about the night?

I think it boils down to three things: the maker’s schedule, the sleepy brain and bright computer screens.

The maker’s schedule

Paul Graham wrote about the maker’s schedule in 2009 – basically that there are two types of schedules in this world (primarily?). The traditional manager’s schedule where your day is cut up into hours and a ten minute distraction costs you, at most, an hour’s worth of time.

On the other hand you have something PG calls the maker’s schedule – a schedule for those of us who produce stuff. Working on large abstract systems involves fitting the whole thing into your mind – somebody once likened this to constructing a house out of expensive crystal glassand as soon as someone distracts you, it all comes barreling down and shatters into a thousand pieces.

This is why programmers are so annoyed when you distract them.

Because of this huge mental investment, we simply can’t start working until we can expect a couple of hours without being distracted. It’s just not worth constructing the whole model in your head and then having it torn down half an hour later.

In fact, talking to a lot of founders you’ll find out they feel like they simply can’t get any work done during the day. The constant barrage of interruptions, important stuff ™ to tend to and emails to answer simply don’t allow it. So they get most of their “work work” done during the night when everyone else is sleeping.

The sleepy brain

But even programmers should be sleeping at night. We are not some race of super humans. Even programmers feel more alert during the day.

Why then do we perform our most mentally complex work work when the brain wants to sleep and we do simpler tasks when our brain is at its sharpest and brightest?

Because being tired makes us better coders.

Similar to the ballmer peak, being tired can make us focus better simply because when your brain is tired it has to focus! There isn’t enough left-over brainpower to afford losing concentration.

I seem to get the least work done right after drinking too much tea or having a poorly timed energy drink. Makes me hyperactive and one second I’m checking twitter, the next I’m looking at hacker news and I just seem to be buzzing all over the place..

You’d think I’d work better – so much energy, so much infinite overclocked brainpower. But instead I keep tripping over myself because I can’t focus for more than two seconds at a time.

Conversely, when I’m slightly tired, I just plomp my arse down and code. With a slightly tired brain I can code for hours and hours without even thinking about checking twitter or facebook. It’s like the internet stops existing.

I feel like this holds true for most programmers out there. We have too much brainpower for ~80% of the tasks we work on – face it, writing that one juicy algorithm, requires ten times as much code to produce an environment in which it can run. Even if you’re doing the most advanced machine learning (or something) imaginable, a lot of the work is simply cleaning up the data and presenting results in a lovely manner.

And when your brain isn’t working at full capacity it looks for something to do. Being tired makes you dumb enough that the task at hand is enough.

Bright computer screens

This one is pretty simple. Keep staring at a bright source of light in the evening and your sleep cyclegets delayed. You forget to be tired until 3am. Then you wake up at 11am and when the evening rolls around you simply aren’t tired because hey, you’ve only been up since 11am!

Given enough iterations this can essentially drag you into a different timezone. What’s more interesting is that it doesn’t seem to keep rolling, once you get into that equilibrium of going to bed between 3am and 4am you tend to stay there.

Or maybe that’s just the alarm clocks doing their thing because society tells us we’re dirty dirty slobs if we have breakfast at 2pm.

Fin

To conclude, programmers work at night because it doesn’t impose a time limit on when you have to stop working, which gives you a more relaxed approach, your brain doesn’t keep looking for distractions and a bright screen keeps you awake.

Source: A Geek With a Hat

Open Source, Open Market for Ideas

2011-12-18T10:56:00.004+02:00

Open source isn't just about better software, says Berkeley political scientist Steven Weber. It's about fostering creativity and challenging the status quo.

Why would a professional political scientist be interested in the open-source movement? For Steven Weber, a professor of political science and director of the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, it was the chance to investigate a technological issue that had what he saw as political ramifications. "In the political science world, I work on large-scale political action problems. And when I first learned about what was happening in the open-source community, I thought, 'That's a problem I recognize. I ought to see if I can understand what's going on there,'" says Weber. Better yet, he observes, "The best part of it for a researcher—it's really profoundly, astoundingly wonderful—is that your data is all archived. It's like having access to every classified document you could ever imagine."

How does Weber define open source? In the introduction to his book The Success of Open Source (Harvard University Press, 2004), he writes, "Open source is an experiment in social organization for production around a distinctive notion of property." As academic as that might sound, Weber says the movement's distinguishing characteristic is its concept of intellectual property, which is centered, in his view, on "the right to distribute, not the right to exclude." This spring, Editor Edward Baker spoke with Weber about the open-source movement and what it means for intellectual property rights, corporate management theory and globalization.

CIO Insight: Why does the open-source movement matter?

Steven Weber: I would make two claims about that. One is that in the IT space per se, open source is changing the economics of information technology at the software level rather than the hardware level. And that's a big deal. Because whether or not you believe that information technology or information processing is a core piece of competitive advantage for many companies, what happens in that space really does matter a lot. So I think the commoditization of a big piece of that infrastructure is pretty significant, for lots of different industries.

The second claim I would make, which is a little more speculative, is that it puts a significant question mark over the claims made by companies like Microsoft Corp., and by industries such as the pharmaceutical sector, that the only way to have a sustainable value-creation system, whether you're dealing with software code or white powder, is to tightly protect the underlying intellectual property.

The argument they make is that if we experiment at all with the patent system for drug molecules, innovation in the pharmaceutical sector will drop to zero. I don't think the success of the open-source movement has proved that argument to be wrong, but I think it certainly places a pretty big question mark over that argument. And that is probably of broader significance.

Let's begin with the first claim. Is open source really posing a competitive threat?

Consider the Firefox browser. As you know, the Mozilla.org project, which led to Firefox, grew out of an attempt to turn the innovation ecology around and undermine Microsoft by making Netscape an open-source product. And Firefox is a good product—20 million people [now 64 million] have downloaded it, right?

Meanwhile, Microsoft had not released a significant update of Internet Explorer in some time, because there was no competition. Well, Firefox comes out and suddenly Microsoft has started to goose up the amount of effort it puts into IE. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think this is a good thing.

And that's my response to guys who say the open-source stuff is a cancer on the software innovation ecology. If open source didn't work, then you wouldn't have to fight it. It's quite common for incumbents to say new entrants in the marketplace are playing unfair. Of course, some people call that competition. And competition is good, right? It may not be comfortable for Microsoft, but it's good for the industry. And in the end, I believe it's good for Microsoft too.

Do you expect competition for the desktop to increase with the advent of open-source desktop software?

Despite what some people say, the open-source folks aren't all that interested in fighting to take over the desktop. That's because desktop software is very much a personal thing. Once they learn Windows or Apple, most people don't want to switch to a new system.

What the open-source community does see as being the next real big growth market for IT infrastructure is embedded software and devices and utility grid computing. And they feel they have a real advantage in that space, because it's about the underlying engineering guts, rather than the user interface piece.

But there are large, powerful proprietary organizations that have their eyes on these areas, too.

Well, we'll see how that plays out. But the battle is joined and the market should be allowed to sort it out.

Let's return to the second claim. What makes the pharmaceutical industry so interesting?

The underlying economics of the business are in some ways very much like the software business. Enormous amounts of research and development money are poured in. But at the same time, much of the budgets of the big pharma companies go to marketing and packaging and so on. And, increasingly, the actual innovation infrastructure is similar in that more and more of the pharma sector work is getting done in silico, as opposed to in vivo, yet not a lot of new molecules are coming out.

But what if we were to think about developing therapeutic molecules in an open-source-style innovation ecology? How would that work? How would we license it? Who would own what? And how would companies make money? Where in the value chain would they be able to extract rent if not from the molecule?

Could you, within a proprietary system of distribution such as the pharmaceutical industry, create an open-source innovation process?

Sure. Just like any infrastructure can have commodity elements as well as value-added controlled and owned elements. The fact that the fiber in the ground is infrastructure, and is open to everyone to access on equal terms, doesn't mean that the movie that gets piped over that fiber into my house is open to everyone on equal terms.

Then is it a question of centralized versus decentralized innovation processes?

I don't think so. I think the open-source community operates most effectively in a decentralized way, but you can imagine having proprietary decentralized innovation systems. In fact, lots of companies do that now.

Can you imagine a centralized open-source-style innovation community? I think it's hard, because basically what the open-source system does is lower barriers by saying that anybody who feels like they have something to contribute can come and play. And that naturally becomes decentralized. If it's interesting enough that people want to play, then it naturally becomes decentralized.

But the real issue is the challenge open source presents to intellectual property rights.

Exactly. We don't know yet to what degree these closely held innovation processes might work better if increasing elements of the underlying infrastructure were a little bit commoditized, as in an open-source environment. But I can give you one example that friends of mine who work in the biotechnology industry would cite on the downside of holding lots of this stuff in proprietary IP rights.

They call it "the tragedy of the anti-commons." Let's say I'm a researcher working at a small biotech firm here in the Bay Area. And I think there's something interesting I would like to do with a particular molecule and its interaction with a particular gene. Much of this stuff is now patented, and there are so many competing patent claims on so many different parts of the things I would need to work on, that the cost of actually figuring out what permissions I need are astronomical. So lots of small companies simply can't work on it.

They call it the tragedy of the anti-commons in the sense that in order to work on this, they've got to get a permission to use this molecule and a license to play with this gene. That's just too expensive, so they walk away from it.

I don't have a quantitative model that can describe for you how much wasted effort or dead weight results from this problem. But I can tell you, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence. There are companies that patent gene sequences, knowing full well that these patents would never be upheld in court, because they haven't added any value. They also know full well that if a pharmaceutical company decides it wants to do something with that gene, it's more likely just to pay the company $150,000 or $200,000, rather than spend a year or 18 months fighting the patent in court. It's kind of tragic.

And open source can change that?

I think it can help. I think what technology does (which looks like a problem at first but ultimately is a good thing) is to force people to—excuse the jargon—problematize in their minds what they think ought to be owned by whom and how. And that's a healthy thing. Napster Inc., for instance, made a generation of people say, "Wait a minute. Who really owns what in the music business and why should it be that way?" And open-source software is doing that around software. Who really owns source code and why should they keep it secret and what does that mean? The human genome project started that discussion around the knowledge of the genome and the molecules that interact with it.

This is one of the things technology does—wipes away these notions that it is inevitable that ownership has to be a certain way.

All of a sudden, these questions are emerging from the narrow focus of IP lawyers and the Patent and Trademark Office and are showing up on the front page of the business section. I think we're in a period of real ferment around these questions.

Does the open-source movement have much to offer the area of management theory?

I've been asked this question a number of times. Economists are shocked at the notion that people engage in behavior in many parts of their lives for nonmonetary reasons. And then, I'm always a little bit surprised at the degree to which, you know, people say, "Wow, look, these people are working for the open-source community." There's not a clear connection in a direct fashion from the code they write to their salaries.

In some cases there is, of course. If you work for IBM Corp. and you write code for Apache, you get credit for writing that code. But lots of people put in significant amounts of their own time, because they have a little software problem they want to solve at home or at work, or at the end of the day they're interested in trying to work on developing an algorithm, or something like that.

It's an interesting reminder that human motivation is a really complex thing. Monetary rewards are one piece of that. Very few people I know hate monetary rewards. But there are a lot of other things people get out of their work experience as well. It's fundamentally sort of erotic in the Freudian sense. Creativity is really important to people. And taking the opportunity to engage in these open-source communities allows people to stretch their creativity and learn while they're doing it. It's an important reminder to managers that there's a lot of motivation out there that most organizations don't tap into very well.

Some people have compared blogs and wikis to open source. Do you agree?

I think they are different. They tap into similar motivations. But what's unique about the open-source process is the property rights and editing function that surround it. So I don't like using the term "open source" to describe those kinds of things. They're more like high-tech volunteer organizations. So these are diverse phenomena, all of which have been facilitated by low-cost communications technology.

On the other hand, like open source, blogs and wikis challenge incumbents by allowing people to distribute stuff outside of existing channels. They force newspapers, for instance, to ask, "What is the blogosphere providing that we are not?" And that's good.

Might that suggest a larger political context for open source?

Good ideas and innovative thoughts are randomly distributed throughout the human population. It's critical to recognize that if you give people the infrastructure to create their own products, they're likely to figure some out, because they know what they need better than you do. I think the open-source community, at least at the level of underlying operating systems, has done that, not necessarily because that was what they intended to do, but they created an ecology in which that's possible.

So if you go to South Africa, Morocco, Chile, Brazil, you find that the penetration of open source is much greater than it is in the U.S. That's partly a pricing issue and it's partly a customization issue. And it's empowering to folks who have the capability and energy to build products for those particular markets, because they live in those particular markets and they understand what people need. I think that is a significant thing, and I think we're going to see it develop further. But it won't capture people's attention until something interesting and unique that's developed in a developing country, in the IT space, finds its way back into the U.S. market. But that will happen.

Source: CIO Insight

Programming Without Programmers: towards an industrial revolution for software?

2011-12-18T09:00:00.002+02:00

The challenge presented in this document is simple to state: to make the production of software possible without any need for people to hand-write any code at all.

Careful craft versus throw-away caprice: an analogy from data mining

Programs, at present, are seen as a large works of craft, often involving many people working on a single object for many months.

It has been commented that a revolution in data mining occurred when it was realized that models of data could be thought of as "throw away" things, created as and when needed, used for a particular purpose, and then discarded. Previously models were seen as something to be carefully built up over several weeks/months of delicate work. Clearly the availability of inductive techniques such as neural networks and e cient algorithms for building decision trees were important technological requirements/drivers for this process.

Might there be a similar revolution in the production of computer software? What technological requirements are needed before ordinary software can be created in such a "throw away" fashion? Or is there something in the complexity of software-tackled problems which makes this impossible?

Towards an industrial revolution for software

The phrase "the software industry" is in common parlance. However it might be argued that software is currently in a pre-industrial stage of development.

Individual pieces of software are produced by individuals or teams working in a craft-like fashion rather than by any kind of industrial process.

Is there any meaning in the idea of an "industrial revolution" for software? After such a revolution the vast majority of software would be produced by "software factories" (inside our own computers) which take problem descriptions and automatically output software to tackle those problem descriptions. Occasionally "bespoke" software might be produced; but this will be an obscure and rather erudite a air, whose practitioners will be viewed with the same mixture of admiration and pity currently heaped upon practitioners assembly-language programming.

What might post-industrial-revolution software look like? The remainder of this document suggests a number of directions.

Software as sculpture: clay, stone and meccano

Traditionally software is a process of accretion. A problem is taken into the programmer's mind (possibly supported by notations, tools and methodologies) and the programmer creates an accretion of programming language statements which solve this problem. This is like sculpting with clay.

Another view, which might tie in nicely with ideas of object-orientation, is that of assembly. In such a process existing components are assembled together in ways which tackle the problem. This is like building from meccano. Nonetheless this might still seem to be accretion at a higher level of generality.

A third attitude is rarely adopted, which is the idea of specialization or removal of irrelevant detail. Might there be a way of programming which works not by accretion but by removal; starting from some large, general structure and deciding what is to be removed in order to create something which solves just the problem at hand. This is like sculpting in stone. Sculptors talk of an intuitive feeling of there being the stone sculpture "hidden" inside a lump of rock.

There are a couple of places where this peeps into current computer science. One is in the application of meta-heuristics, where a general "problem solving algorithm" (e.g. an optimization algorithm) is made speci c for a particular application. There are nice analogies with the biological immune system (and attempts to create computer systems inspired thereby) too. The body learns what is self (so that the immune system doesn't attack the body) by a "negative selection" whereby matching objects are deleted leaving a repertoire of objects which match everything other than what has been deleted.

The second area is in partial evaluation of programs, where a general program is made more speci c by specializing it on a certain subset of its input data, or by fixing certain internal parameters. It is perhaps bizarre that these two extreme ends of the computer science spectrum have produced almost the same solution.

A fourth attitude takes us out of our analogy. A fourth way of fashioning software is via the distortion of prototypes rather than the specialization of idealized programs. This might be likened to "distorted photography", or a "hall of mirrors".

Do any of these approaches support the industrial-scale production of software? Can specialization produce anything more profound than the "personalization" which current industrial processes produce ("any colour as long as it is black"; "the product can be personalized with up to three initials" (26³ possibilities seems rather thin)).

Inductive and deductive program creation

We might want to say that there are two main ways in which the goal of eliminating programmers from the programming process might be achieved. Firstly there is a deductive approach. In such an approach we see programming vanishing because the process of going from requirements (\what") to concrete statements of \how" becomes automated. Secondly there is an inductive approach. This automates the process of going from an \oversimple" or \incorrect" or \partial" program to a program which is more comprehensive, correct or complete, by using some measure to decide when an automated process of moving through program space is \going in the right direction".

There are prototypes for both of these out there already. For the deductive approach, the process of refining a formal specification of some program is a prototype of the kind of approach which could lead to a deductive approach to eliminating the need for programmers. For the inductive approach, search-based program creation methods such as genetic programming (the use of genetic algorithms to search a program-space) provide a similar prototype.

Heuristics and theory are part of the same discipline

It is interesting that both very "high church" computer science (such as the theory of program transformation) and the "suck it and see" opposite extreme (e.g. the pragmatic end of genetic programming) both have a similar attitude towards program code. At both of these extremes code is seen as malleable stu , capable of being transformed and combined under a certain set of rules and working fine at the end. By contrast programmers could be said to take a very brittle view of code. It is common to read in commentaries on the programming process of bugs being small, well hidden things with the implication that small changes to code can take it from being a stable, working thing to being something completely broken.

The former attitude suggests an area of commonality where previously there was none. It seems feasible (with care) for heuristics and theory to co-exist without the heuristics breaking the rigour of the theory and without the theory constraining the search capacity of the heuristics.

"Its d ej a vu all over again."

It is interesting to note that during the early development of what we now call programming languages such languages were occasionally referred to with phrases such as "automated program production systems". The view (this is a deliberately facetious exaggeration) is that once high level languages were available problems with programming would be eliminated; you would just
"tell the computer what to do" in some approximation to natural language. Of course things are not as simple.

Perhaps what is being proposed here is similar. There is an important difference however; in the ideas proposed above there is a clear change of mode from "how the computer should do it" to "what the computer should do".

This may be the biggest threat to the achievement of this challenge. Perhaps it is just as hard to write accurate descriptions of desired functionality as is it to describe how to achieve that functionality?

Colin G. Johnson

University of Kent at Canterbury

October 18, 2002

هل سأكون حبيسة تلك الجدران؟

2011-08-15T09:20:00.002+03:00

وضعت يديها على مشاعرة تتحسسها، فوجدتها صلبة و خشنة كالحجارة المختبئة تحت أتربة الغابات، فجفلت قليلا ثم أتبعت سائلةً، ما فعل بك هذا؟ قال، مع كل ضربة لوفائي و حناني و كبريائي يبني قلبي جدار حماية جديد فوق الذي قبلة و يحصنة، فيقوم بتخشينة و تصليبة حتى لا يقترب أحد.

فبتعدت دون أن تحاول الإلتفات إلى الخلف، و مرت الأيام و خيال كلماتة يداعب عينيها و ملمس مشاعرة الخشنة يحك بيديها، ثم قالت لنفسها لما لا أحفر تللك الجدران و أدخل هنالك بين ضلوعة؟! ألن أكون محمية داخل تلك الجدران من مصاعب و أهول الدنيا؟! ألن يكون ذلك هو المئوى؟!

فقامت و أرتدت أحلى ما عندها من حُلل الهجوم على الرجال مدرعتا بثقتها على كسر أي جدار و إختراقة بما عندها من أنوثة و دهاء بنات حواء، و فيما هي على مشارف مشاعرة تهم بأن تباشر الهجوم، أستوقفتها فكرة، هل سأكون حبيسة تلك الجدران؟!!!!!!