keeping the community informed…

This month our sponsor is IBM developerWorks, and it has made a whole lot of new and entirely free downloads available to DaniWeb members which we hope will be of interest to many of you. Remember, by supporting our sponsors you are supporting DaniWeb and ensuring that it remains a free service.

Here are the links for those IBM developerWorks downloads:

Lotus Web 2.0 Developer Kit

Learn how to leverage ideas and better enable collaboration in your organization using Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking, Find out how Lotus software brings social networking to the enterprise in this Lotus Web 2.0 Developer kit that includes podcasts, articles, demos, and webcasts.

IBM Rational Systems Development e-Kit

As systems increase in complexity, communication between systems and software teams becomes more and more difficult. Now, there's a way to improve product quality and communication. Read the "Model Driven Systems Development" white paper to see how. Also included in this kit are more educational white papers, customer examples, tutorials, informative Webcasts, and best practices for designing, building and managing systems.

Rational AppScan Security eKit

Learn how the new IBM Rational AppScan Standard Edition can help you discover vulnerabilities in your Web applications. You'll receive whitepapers, demos and additional information on the benefits of testing your Web applications. And after testing is complete, IBM can recommend ways to make them more secure.

Webcast: Calling All Testers! Find Application Vulnerabilities Early in the Development Process Where they are Easier to Fix and Less Risky to your Business

In this webcast, IBM Rational will discuss the importance of Web application security and will share techniques and best practices to introduce application security testing into current QA processes including: understanding common security vulnerabilities and techniques to integrate security testing with defect tracking and remediation systems in an effort to safeguard sensitive online information.

Achieving True Agility -- How process can change the behavior of your tools

Achieving true agility is a never-ending effort. In this webcast we will showcase how you can become agile incrementally, a few practices at the time. Which practices should any agile team strive to adopt? What additional practices should you consider based on your needs to scale? Adopting practices are however made much easier with the right tool support. What about if your tools adapt to your practices? We will take a look at how the Jazz technology can be leveraged to make your process change the behavior of your tools.

Info 2.0: Harnessing the power of Web 2.0 and Enterprise Mashups

Listen to this webcast to get an overview of Info 2.0 and a technical demo of how to quickly build an enterprise mashup. IBM's Info 2.0 technology leverages emerging Web 2.0 technologies such as mashups, feeds, AJAX, and JSON in order to simplify assembly of information using feeds and services. Come learn about the technical elements of Info 2.0 including the Feed Generation framework, Mashup Engine, and mashup assembly components. Learn how to pull information from databases, departmental information, and the Web to create mashups critical to your company's success. We will also discuss best practices to help you get started.

Evaluate WebSphere Extended Deployment Compute Grid V6.1

Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial version of WebSphere Extended Deployment Compute Grid, which lets you schedule, execute, and monitor batch jobs. Because online transaction processing and batch jobs execute simultaneously on the same server resources, you can avoid costly duplication of resources. Compute Grid supports job types of Java transactional batch, compute-intensive and a new type called "native execution", which enables non-Java workloads to run on distributed end points

Download DB2 Express-C 9.5

Visit IBM developerWorks to download IBM DB2 Express-C 9.5, a no-charge version of DB2 Express 9 database server. DB2 Express-C offers the same core data server base features as other DB2 Express editions and provides a solid base to build and deploy applications developed using C/C++, Java, .NET, PHP, and other programming languages.

Download DB2 9.5 for Linux, Unix, and Windows

Download a free trial version of IBM DB2 9.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. DB2 9 is the result of a five-year development project that transformed traditional (static) database technology into an interactive data server that merges the high performance and ease of use of DB2 with the self-describing benefits of XML.

Hello World: Monitor a simple business process using WebSphere Business Monitor V6.0.2

This tutorial shows new users of IBM WebSphere Business Monitor Version 6.0.2 how to perform the "Hello World" equivalent for monitoring business process applications. It is intended to help you get familiar with the capabilities of the product.

Hello World: Learn how to install and use the Rational Asset Manager Eclipse client

In this tutorial, you can learn how to install and configure the IBM Rational Asset Manager Eclipse client, explore the different views in the Asset Management perspective, learn various search techniques, work with existing assets, and submit a new asset.

no sleep for Dani...

Dani has been burning the candle at both ends to implement a major trio of usability upgrades to DaniWeb that will be of benefit to the entire community. Be sure to check them out, we think you will like them:

1. A new search algorithm to sharpen those site-wide searches and produce more targeted and relevant results than ever before.
2. A new navigation bar which has brought a new feeling of consistency as you travel around the site, and helps members new and old get to where they need to be with speed and certainty.
3. The new subscription spy feature which brings a real time overview of what is happening right now on DaniWeb, enabling you to dip into areas of the community you might not have visited otherwise.

helping us to help you…

Ever wondered who is online at DaniWeb and what they are doing right now? Well you could use the Subscription Spy to get that real time overview we mentioned before, or you could glance down at the Statistics section of the sidebar on the right hand side of the screen and click on the number of Users Online Now which will provide you with a structured list showing exactly who is online and what they are doing. Click on the username for more information from their profile, or click on the forum link to jump to whatever thread they are participating in at the moment. If you go back to the Statistics section of the sidebar you can also click on the running total of DaniWeb members to be taken to the Advanced member search screen from where you can look for friends old and new.

every month one member makes the DaniWeb hall of fame…

Please welcome our newest member of the DaniWeb hall of fame, RamyMahrous who has been a member of the community since the Summer of 2006. You will find him most often helping folk out in development forums such as C#, VB.NET, MS.SQL and the Computer Science and Software Design. He also maintains an occasional blog for good measure. And now, without further ado, let's find out what makes the latest recipient of the DaniWeb Featured Poster badge of honor, RamyMahrous, tick:


Where are you from?

Egypt

What is your occupation?

I was a Software Engineer, but now I am spending my obligation service in Egyptian army as a solider for one year and I'll back again as software engineer.

What is your favorite computer and why?

Dell, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003, Dell tolerates heavy work and windows because it's from Microsoft my beloved company!

What first brought you to DaniWeb?

I was searching Google for something and I found the answer on a DaniWeb forum!

What were your initial impressions of DaniWeb, and have they changed during the time you have been with us?

It's the true meaning of technical forum, it is what a technical forum must be. Things have changed a lot, but all for the best.

What makes you stay here?

Enjoying answering questions and feeling true happiness that you have tried to help people understand something or help them do their projects.

What are your interests outside of IT and outside of DaniWeb?

Playing football and staying with my family is my best hobby, but I also like going out with my friends and checking my Facebook.

Name the best thing about DaniWeb, and one thing you would change if it were in your power?

It so organized I always enjoy being there. I honestly don't have anything in my mind that I would change right now!

How long do you spend, on average, on DaniWeb every day?

I keep a DaniWeb page open once I open my computer and I close it when I need to sleep, so about 3 or 4 hours on average as I am spending most time in Army and there isn't Internet there!!!

by newsguy

Who could forget DVD Jon, the Linux guru who was co-author of DeCSS? This Linux application 'unlocked' DVDs with content otherwise protected by Content Scrambling System (CSS) encryption and landed DVD Jon in front of a judge. Which did not stop him from continuing his quest to free audiovisual content from the chains of whatever encryption is being used to tie it to the original format. Perhaps most notoriously with his uncanny ability to quickly break new DRM systems such as the Fairplay wrapper for iTunes music for example.

DVD Jon has now moved on from his Linux PC and has established a new company called DoubleTwist which has just released a desktop application that makes the movement and management of these DRM-protected AAC format files literally child's play. Sure, it is not the first to find a workaround to iTunes device sharing, and those with enough time on their hands will burn tracks to CD and then re-rip them off again in a different format. DoubleTwist takes iTunes purchased AAC files and turns them into MP3s that will play on any device, not just the 'authorised' PC, all at the press of a button.

Interestingly, a Facebook app called Twist me has also been released today, adopting a different approach: that of sharing audio and video content on their profile pages with other users. In fact, it provides a sync ability between a number of devices such as the Nokia N Series, Sony Ericsson Walkman & Cybershot phones plus Sony PSP, LG Viewty and Windows Mobile smart phones. Notably missing from the list at the moment is the Apple iPhone, but DVD Jon is already working on that.

It is DoubleTwist that is likely to get most music industry knickers in just that predicament, although the company reckons it is simply giving consumers the choice to enjoy the music that they have after all purchased on any device they like, something it insists is 'fair use.' Monique Farantzos, doubleTwist's co-founder and CEO argues that "Users can only play back the music they have already purchased and they are authorised to play." Given that DVD Jon was acquitted in December 2003, albeit in Norway, over the DCeCSS affair and has not faced any further serious legal challenges despite developing numerous DRM evading technologies, it looks like she has a point.

The real issue is just how relevant such workarounds to DRM remain to the music buying public though. Legal arguments could put paid to it all, of course, but I have a funny feeling that the nature of commerce in the online music industry will solve the problem first. We are already seeing a backlash from within the digital music industry against draconian DRM measures, in response to popular public pressure, and Apple itself reports that half of its iTunes music is available in a better quality format without the DRM restrictions. Others, such as Amazon and EMusic, have scrapped the DRM altogether and sell their audio wares in unrestricted MP3 format.