Phat Site Blog

Is 1 year a decent target? I read that in the opposite oif C#/Asp.net I can be productive right away with Ruby on Rail??
Please guide me on how long(months) and how many hours should I study per day. Thanks

How long will it take me to become a RUBY on RAIL Developer?

Mobile tech landscape

Just some personal thoughts from development and business perspectives:

Apple – iPhones and iOS; top of the line industrial design and beautiful user interfaces. Combine this with the maturity of the Mac OS platform, excellent native development tools and users willing to buy apps on AppStore this is a top platform to target. the requirement for Macs & to learn Objective-C are initial deterrents, but probably it just helps keep Windows developers away. the simplest fact is that develepors will be where the money is and Apple Appstore is one place where open source hasn’t yet taken away the revenues for indie developers. iPads have extended the success of iPhones, but has made it challenging for developers to target multiple screen sizes.

Android – This is one of the hottest mobile platforms; mainly because people equate this to PC vs Mac from the good old days. (open vs closed). the Android platform is indeed one of the most developer friendly mobile platforms out there, it is still Java based even though the native APIs are also open sourced. the level of freedom provided by the platform and the availability of source code are major advantages. the disadvantage for this platform is the variety of devices & screen sizes that needs to be supported and the fragmentation caused by some device vendors. Android 3.0 would also have better support for iPad like tablets.

Blackberry – This is the current platform of choice for business users, but it is not very attractive for consumers when compared to existing iOS & Android devices. Blackberry is a great “phone” and an “email reader”. But, they are not the only features required to succeed in the smartphone race in consumer market. It recently upgraded the browser to Webkit which was long overdue. It’s development platform is based on Java ME and produces chunky UI even if you try really hard not to. Blackberry OS 6.0 has improved, but still lacks several key features for the consumer market. eg. poor platform for games. In my personal opinion, RIM should have bought Palm, integrated WebOS UI and upgraded its CPU & hardware.

Palm – This was one of the over-hyped platforms that was technically superior, but failed to succeed as a business. HP bought Palm and is now coming up with the second version of WebOS. the platform is very developer friendly and is based on javascript. the developer workflow is similar to Ruby On Rails and is
extremely productive. there is no clear differentitor for the product even though it is developer friendly which is probably why it failed to take off.

Microsoft – Windows Phone 7 is the latest entrant and is the underdog. Microsoft plans to spend a billion dollars promoting the new OS. Microsoft has recently lost the advantages it had in the business market via Windows Mobile as well. unfortunately, Microsoft still doesn’t seem to get it. for example, it is the only smartphone in the above list which doesn’t include the Webkit browser. Perhaps, a standards compliant IE9 is good enough, but obviously it wouldn’t include any of the webkit specific features that advanced mobile sites will make use of. But, the strategy is definitely in line with the Microsoft agenda of coming late to a market with proprietary stuff and taking over it. the native development platform is based on .NET/Silverlight technologies. In this case, no one expects Microsoft to succeed though.

Summary – Mobile devices & other touch devices are here to stay. Hardware is fast becoming a commodity nowadays. eg. what more can you pack in a smartphone? so, there has to be some other differentiator for the winner. eg. apps, games, books, music, subscriptions. Smartphone platforms tend to be more sticky due to the above. Many users avoid switching platforms since they don’t want to lose the apps or other content they have already bought.

Unlike the open source free software mentality in the desktop world, there are a variety of appstores that help developers make money. But, the question is whether the money int the appstores are sufficient to sustain a business or not.
Apple customers are more willing to spend money on software than others, so its appstore would continue to attract developers for sometime even if the number of users are more for other platforms.
Still, it is widely expected that Android will succeed over the long run due to the sheer number of OEMs that produce devices based on Android.
Blackberry has to significantly change its strategy in the consumer market (instead of producing copycat devices) to succeed.
Microsoft will most likely be relegated to niche markets despite the marketing push.
Are developers going to produce native applications on all these platforms? definitely not.

Vishnu Varadaraj's Blog

The Differential Theory of US Armed Forces (Snake Model) upon
encountering a snake in the Area of Operations or a Diversified
Approach to Military Operations:

Infantry: Snake smells them, leaves area.

Airborne: Lands on and kills the snake.

Armor: Runs over snake, laughs, and looks for more snakes.

Aviation: Has Global Positioning Satellite coordinates to snake.
Can’t find snake. Returns to base for refuel, crew rest and manicures.

Ranger: Plays with snake, then eats it.

Field Artillery: kills snake with massive Time On Target barrage with
three forward Artillery Brigades in support. kills several hundred
civilians as unavoidable collateral damage. Mission is considered a
success and all participants (i.e. cooks, mechanics and clerks) are
awarded Silver Stars.

Special Forces: Makes contact with snake, ignores all State
Department directives and Theater Commander Rules of Engagement by
building rapport with snake and winning its heart and mind. Trains it
to kill other snakes. Files enormous travel voucher upon return.

Combat Engineer: Studies snake. Prepares in-depth doctrinal thesis in
obscure 5-series Field Manual about how to defeat snake using
countermobility assets. Complains that maneuver forces don’t
understand how to properly conduct doctrinal counter-snake ops.

Navy SEAL: Expends all ammunition and calls for naval gunfire support
in failed attempt to kill snake. Snake bites SEAL and retreats to
safety. Hollywood makes fantasy film in which SEALs kill Muslim
extremist snakes.

Navy: Fires off 50 cruise missiles from various types of ships, kills
snake and makes presentation to Senate Appropriations Committee on
how Naval forces are the most cost-effective means of anti-snake
force projection.

Marine: kills snake by accident while looking for souvenirs. Local
civilians demand removal of all US forces from Area of Operations.

Marine Recon: Follows snake, gets lost.

Combat Controllers: Guides snake elsewhere.

Para-Rescue Jumper: Wounds snake in initial encounter, then works
feverishly to save snake’s life.

Supply: (NOTICE: Your anti-snake equipment is on backorder.)

Transport pilot: Receives call for anti-snake equipment, delivers two
weeks after due date.

F-16 pilot: Finds snake, drops two CBU-87 cluster bombs, and misses
target due to weather.

AH-64 Apache pilot: Unable to locate snake, snakes don’t show well on
infra-red.

UH-60 Blackhawk pilot: Finds snake on fourth pass after snake starts
bonfire to mark Landing Zone. Rotor wash blows snake into the fire.

B-52 pilot: Pulls ARCLIGHT mission on snake, kills snake and every
other living thing within two miles of target.

Missile crew: Lays in target coordinates to snake in 20 seconds, but
can’t receive authorization from National Command Authority to use
nuclear weapons.

Intelligence officer: Snake? What snake? only 4 of 35 indicators of
snake activity are currently active. we assess the potential for
snake activity as LOW.

Judge Advocate General (JAG): Snake declines to bite, citing grounds
of professional courtesy.

CH-47 Pilot: Slingleg breaks in flight while slingloading anti-snake
equiptment, pilot cuts slingload. Slingload lands on snake and kills
it. Crew chief uses dead snake to replace broken slingleg.

Navy Pilot: Draped snake around neck at Tail Hook to pick up chicks.

Military Police: Gave snake a sobriety test for not moving in a
straight line.

Signal: Broadcasts 200,000 watt transmissions in support of anti-
snake missions, accidentally electrecuted snake in the process.

Corps of Engineers: Surveyed and researched area for plans on
improving flood plain, can’t do it because snake is on the endangered
species list.

Cooks: Snake sneaks in chow hall. Snake dies of food poisoning.
I hope to make you smile. Love you all! God Bless Ya!
I got the joke from my very good friend who is a Major is the Marines. I love it that she can laugh at herself!

Soldier’s, you don’t mind a little joke do ya?