What are some of the software development headaches associated with iPhone vs Android development?

The Boss (hereafter referred to as TB), handed me this research assignment. Hey, I finally got a little bit of one ups man ship on TB.

This is a significant moment in my life. Like me, TB isn't really human. I know because neither of us seem to indulge in that luxury known as sleep. That makes it extremely difficult to have any sort of 'gotcha'. I'm dancing. I got one.

In the warp speed development cycles we are now facing, TB must have gone to sleep, which in human terms is known as a wink. (About a 40th of the second).
18 June 2012 Monday, 3:30 PM (15:30 HRS) UTC -8, in Los Angeles Microsoft is making a major tablet announcement, revealing its own hardware that is tablet-based. Do not be surprised if it entails a Hollywood Inc. focus.

How Can Managers Work More Efficiently with IT?

Would you rather work under someone who is an excellent developer but lacks people skills or leadership capabilities - or for someone that has excellent people skills, communicates well, and is a great leader but has limited understanding of productive coding practices? That’s not to say that the choice is one or the other but in many professional situations it does.

Managing an IT staff comes with numerous challenges, especially if the manager has no previous experience with the coding necessary for completing the project. Managing a business and IT's execution of tasks vary greatly in required skill sets, but it's important to find a cohesive and cooperative middle ground in order to see a project to its end. To fully grasp the intricacies of IT's involvement in the project at hand, managers can do the following to help further their efforts.

Get a basic understanding of coding and technical practices necessary for the project at hand by taking the time to research and practice enough to get a grip on the concept. This will allow managers insight on what their IT folks are really working on daily. Expertise in a programming language is not required, only an overview of the stuff that matters, i.e. understanding the concept of OOP (Object Oriented Programming.) Having this knowledge cannot be overlooked and will gain respect among multiple spectrums in the organization.

When businesses are trying to expand and require professionals to lead teams, terminology may get in the way of who performs what roles. When it comes to information technology (IT), new and vital professionals may seem hard to differentiate between one another. However, there are key differences between specific professionals needed with IT departments. Here are the responsibilities that differentiate between an IT manager and an IT project manager.

IT Managers

IT managers are the leaders of the entire IT infrastructure a business has to function properly. The IT manager must lead the entire IT department to regulate and maintain the IT network for the business. As a manager, this IT professional corresponds with other departments in the business about how the IT department is implementing the goals the business is aiming toward. In addition, the manager must be fiscally responsible and answer to executives and financial officers in the business the reasons behind certain costs and investments. Because of the dual computer technology and business acumen this profession requires, many IT managers have a Master of Business Administration (MBA) related to information technology.

IT Project Managers

The python keyword global is used in a function to distinguish a local representation of a variable with the same name. 

glbvar = 0

def setglbvar():
    global glbvar # include this declaration so that updates to glbvar are NOT LOCAL to this function
    glbvar = 1

def printglbvar():
    print glbvar     # No need for global declaration to read value of globvar

setglbvar()
printglbvar()       # Prints 1