Too Much Change?

Dealing with Change …my friend told me we were going through too many changes in our lives. I felt overwhelmed and confused by his words. So I did something silly and reverted my fb profile picture to an old one. I guess I was trying to hold on to something familiar and stable. But I don’t think that really helped me cope with change. Maybe I need to find a better way to embrace it.

15 November 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Go Programming Language - What's the Deal?

Google came up with a new programming language called Go, which is supposed to be super fast and awesome and stuff. But do we really need another language? I mean, come on. It’s hard enough to keep up with the ones we already have. Go has some cool things going on, like goroutines, channels and interfaces. But it also has some weird things, like no generics, no exceptions and no inheritance. So it’s not for everyone. ...

13 November 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Lessons Learned – from a cms developer

As a CMS developer, I have learned some valuable lessons over the years. Here are some of the most important ones that I want to share with you: Never use the Root directory for your website; “forward” requests to a secondary directory. This will make your website more secure and easier to manage. You can use .htaccess files or other methods to redirect requests from the root directory to a subdirectory where your CMS files are located. Giving credit is nice; hackers will love you! While it is good to acknowledge the developers and contributors of the CMS you are using, you should avoid displaying their names and links on your website. This will only attract hackers who can exploit the vulnerabilities of your CMS or plugins. You can still give credit in your source code or in a private page that only you can access. “Everything isn’t always BETA.” STABLE works. It is tempting to use the latest and greatest features of your CMS, but sometimes they are not fully tested or compatible with your existing setup. You should always backup your website before updating or installing new plugins, and stick to stable versions that have been proven to work well. CMS do not equate to no web-editing or scripting—just less of it! A CMS can make your life easier by providing you with a user-friendly interface and ready-made templates for creating and managing your website content. However, you still need some basic web-editing and scripting skills to customise your website according to your needs and preferences. You should also learn how to troubleshoot and fix any errors or issues that may arise with your CMS or plugins. Commercial Hosting Services offer the Fantastico program for installing OS Applications. Why not? Fantastico is a convenient tool that allows you to install various open source applications, including CMS, with just a few clicks. However, it may not always be the best option for your website. Some of the drawbacks of using Fantastico are: it may not install the latest version of the application, it may not allow you to choose your own database name or prefix, it may not update the application automatically, and it may not be compatible with some plugins or themes. You should always check the compatibility and requirements of the application before using Fantastico, and consider installing it manually if possible.

9 October 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

The launch of Mandriva Linux 2010

Scheduled for November 3rd, 2009, the new release of Mandriva Linux 2010 offers exceptional innovations. As simple to use as usual, you will find applications such as: KDE 4.3.1, GNOME 2.28, kernel 2.6.31.1, Xorg 1.6.4 RC 1 with the last driver for Intel graphical card. Moblin 2 can be tested on the new Mandriva’s distribution.

4 October 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Basic Software Development Process – Points

Basic Software Development Process: Defining the requirements. Approval. Template designs. Template approval. Coding. Internal release. Testing. Alpha release. Beta release. Project goes live. This is the process I follow.

1 October 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Sales and Distribution module (SAP)

SALES & DISTRIBUTION (SD) Table of Contents Definition of Sales & Distribution. 2 Enterprise Structure. 3 Client 5 Company. 5 Company Code. 6 Create a Fiscal Year Variant 7 Maintain Fiscal Year Variant 7 Assign Company Code to Fiscal Year Variant 8 Posting Periods. 9 Define Variants for Open Posting Periods. 9 Open and Close Posting Periods. 9 Assign Variants to Company Code. 10 Define Document Number Ranges. 10 Define Document Types. 11 Define Tolerance Groups for Employees. 12 Assign User/Tolerance Group. 13 Plant 13 Assign plant to Company Code. 14 Location. 14 Division. 15 Sales Organisation. 15 Assign Sales Organisation to Company Code. 16 Distribution Channel 16 Assign Distribution Channel to Sales Organisation. 17 Set up Sales Area. 18 Assign sales organisation - distribution channel – plant 19 Define Shipping Points. 20 Assign Shipping point to plant 20 Shipping point and goods receiving point determination: Assign Shipping Point 3. Customer Master Creation of Customer Account Group. Create Number Ranges for Customer Accounts. Assign Number Ranges to Customer Account Groups. Define Incompleteness Procedures. Define Order Type. Define Item Category. Definition of Sales & Distribution For the representation of your company structures in the SAP System, different organizational units are available for the areas of sales, shipping and billing. First analyse the structure and process organisation in your company and then compare them with the SAP structures. In the standard version, different organizational elements are defined as examples. In general, these elements are not sufficient for individual demands. Extend the elements accordingly. ...

6 August 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Designer Blue Page Website Template

2 August 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Some Questions to Ask Before You Join a Startup

IP job market job offer Management outflow page views promise sed ships tens Joining a startup can be an exciting and rewarding career move, but it also comes with risks and challenges. You need to do your homework and understand what you’re signing up for. Here are 10 questions you should ask before accepting a job offer from a startup. How much cash do you have on hand? This is a straightforward question that requires a clear answer. You want to know how much money the startup has in the bank, not how much it expects to raise or borrow. A promise of money is not the same as money in the bank. If the startup runs out of cash, it will go out of business. ...

22 July 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

9 skills developers will need in the next five years

The economy is changing rapidly, and developers need to keep up with the latest trends and skills to stay relevant and competitive. Here is a list of 9 skills that every developer should master or at least be familiar with in the next five years. This list is not comprehensive, and it does not cover every niche or specialty in the industry. However, for most mainstream development scenarios, these skills will give you an edge over others and help you create better solutions. You should aim to learn at least seven of these skills well enough to use them confidently on the job and to demonstrate them in an interview. ...

12 July 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai

Flash z-order — always on top?

I had a problem with a javascript pull-down menu that overlapped with a flash movie. The menu always appeared BEHIND the flash movie, regardless of the z-order. I solved it by: Adding the parameter <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> to the OBJECT tag. Adding the parameter wmode="transparent" to the EMBED tag. These parameters made the menu display correctly over the flash movie.

1 July 2009 · Shafiq Alibhai