The mainstay of a corporation is the data that it possesses. By data, I mean its customer base, information about the use of its products, employee roles and responsibilities, the development and maintenance of its product lines, demographics of supporters and naysayers, financial records, projected sales ... It is in the organization of this data that advancements to the bottom line are often realized i.e. the nuggets of gold are found. Defining what is important, properly cataloging the information, developing a comprehensive protocol to access and update this information and discerning how this data fits into the corporate venacular is basis of this data organization and may be the difference between moving ahead of the competition or being the one to fall behind.

Whenever we attempt to develop an Enterprise Rule Application, we must begin by harvesting the data upon which those rules are built. This is by no means an easy feat as it requires a thorough understanding of the business, industry, the players and their respective roles and the intent of the application. Depending upon the scope of this undertaking, it is almost always safe to say that no one individual is completely knowledgeable to all facets needed to comprise the entire application.

The intial stage of this endeavor is, obviously, to decide upon the intent of the application. This requires knowledge of what is essential, what is an add-on and which of all these requirements/options can be successfully implemented in the allotted period of time. The importance of this stage cannot be stressed enough; if the vision/goal cannot be articulated in a manner that all can understand, the knowledge tap will be opened to become the money drain. Different departments may compete for the same financial resources; management may be jockeying for their day in the sun; consulting corporations, eager to win the bid, may exaggerate their level of competency. These types of endeavors require those special skills of an individual or a team of very competent members to be/have a software architect, subject matter expert and business analyst.

Once the decision has been made and the application development stages have been defined, the next step is to determine which software development tools to employ. For the sake of this article, we will assume that the team has chosen an object oriented language such as Java and a variety of J EE components, a relationsional database and a vendor specific BRMS such as Blaze Advisor. Now, onto the point of this article.

It is hard not to wonder how current technology would have altered the events surrounding the tragic death of John F. Kennedy. On the afternoon of November 22, 1963, shots rang out in Dallas, TX, taking the life of JFK, one of the most beloved Americans. Given the same circumstances today, surely the advances in IT alone, would have drastically changed the outcome of that horrible day. Would the government have recognized that there was a viable threat looming over JFK? Would local and government agencies have been more prepared for a possible assassination attempt? Would the assortment of everyday communication devices assisted in the prevention of the assassination, not to mention, provided greater resources into the investigation? With all that the IT world has to offer today, how would it have altered the JFK tragedy?

As many conspiracy theories have rocked the foundation of the official story presented by government agencies, realization of the expansive nature of technology provides equal consideration as to how the event would have been changed had this technology been available during the time of the shooting. There were T.V. cameras, home 8mm recorders, even single shot-hand held cameras snapping away as the car caravan approached. Yet, there remains little documentation of the shooting and even less information pertaining to the precautions taken by officials prior to JFK's arrival. Theorists consider these possibilities along with how the world would have turned out had the great John F. Kennedynever been assassinated on that day.

The job market is extremely tight these days, with several qualified workers being available for each empty position. That means that should you find yourself looking for work, for whatever reason, you need to make sure your interview skills are up to snuff. We will be taking a look at a variety of different tips that will help ensure your success during the interview process, including how to make sure your employers know about your C training experience. Here are some others:

• Do your own research in advance – Before you even step through the doorway to initiate the application process with a company, you should already know quite a bit about it. Investigate the corporate culture, speak with contacts who have experience with the firm, or search online; however you do it, having as much information as possible can really help you get an advantage during the hiring process. If you have specific experience, such as C training, that is of exceptional value to the firm you are applying to you can market yourself more effectively to the hiring agent.
• Dress Appropriately – In a perfect world, programming skill and experience such as C training should be the only factors in consideration when looking at a prospective hire; in real life this is often not the case. Don’t miss out because you gave a bad impression to someone, and strive to look your absolute best during your job interview. It is unfortunate, but the IT industry in particular tends to have a reputation for lacking in this department, so breaking the mold can be of great benefit to you.
• Be ready to interview at all times – You may be surprised how often job candidates are asked to participate in an off-the-cuff phone interview on the spot. Same-day in person interviews also are rising in popularity. Make sure you are always able to respond quickly if these situations come up and you get a fast interview. Memorize a few points in advance you can use to pump yourself up, such as an anecdote about your C training or other particular skills you may possess.

Job interviews are notoriously stressful for many people. Using simple tips like these can help you to prepare in advance for situations you may encounter during the interview process, and help you ultimately secure that new job. Make sure to emphasize whatever makes you special as an individual, such as your extensive C training.

Facebook has recently released a collection of C++ software modules that it uses to run the popular website.  With Facebook releasing Folly (the name it designated for the collection), more of the internal programs could become open source since they need different parts of the collection.

Jordan DeLong, a Facebook software engineer, said one concerning holdup to releasing additional work is that any open source project had to cut away from the dependencies on non-released internal collection code.