Some Common Myths Against Domain by Richa Sinha
Lawyers eat nails for breakfast. Rap is Etch-a-Sketch set to music. The Law of Unintended Consequences governs the nation. These beliefs are part of a canon of urban folklore that we spread as truth among our friends. Applicants for domain names have developed their own myths. Some have been repeated so often, they sound true. Those untold information is what this paper is going to tell you.
Myth One: Always Pick .Com Domain Name
It is always asked a person to go for .com domain name. The domain ending with .com is easy to remember, as they are the most common name but not necessary the best. For one thing, there are many domain names ending in .com so it’s really hard to find a domain name ending with one. Picking a .com is good depending on how you are gaining traffic. If you are targeting people that are looking in search engines it can be pointless to just pick a .com domain. Though if you are advertising in Television, Newspapers or the Radio it might help somewhat.
Myth Two: Avoid Using Dashes Or Never Go For That
Once again, this all depends on what you are doing. Remember, search engines translate dashes as spaces, so if you are targeting a popular keyword and use dashes as spaces, than your page will be easier to get onto the top ten search results of that keyword. Some search engines put more emphasis on this than others. So avoiding dashes or not applying anywhere in the domain name can be a fruitful option for you.
Myth Three: Selecting A Domain Name
Choosing a domain name may be a pain, many may prefer domain names that are short but they are not necessarily better. Its true you don’t want a domain name that is extremely long but you don’t want it to be so short that nobody can remember it (unless you own a url forwarding service). There are many combinations of words you can use. It is highly suggested checking a domain name generator. They can be very useful, you enter a keyword and it displays possible combinations with other words and tells you if they’re available.
Myth Four: Domain Used Forever.
While it’s possible that you’ll keep your registered domain name forever, it is not guaranteed. Several things can happen that would cause you to lose your domain name. First, you have to register your domain name each year (or register it for multiple years up front) in order to keep your access to it. If you forget to renew your registration, you could lose your domain name, or someone else can register it and charge you a huge fee to have it transferred back to your name. Second, you could lose your domain name in a trademark dispute.
Myth Five: Domain Registration Through Company Name
You cannot use your company name for the domain registration; in fact, you don’t have the right to register any domain name, even if you have a trademark on the corresponding company name. The reason for this is that a trademark on a business name doesn’t give you exclusive access to use that name. It only gives you exclusive access to use that name for the particular products and / or services that you offer.
REPRINT RIGHTS statement: This article is free for republishing by visitors provided the Author Bio box is retained as usual so that all links are Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.
Author Richa Sinha is associated with Vexat Inc. Vexat provides the cheapest domain name registration and website hosting. View the services provided by Vexat Inc. Vexat deals with all kind of website domains.
Article Source: ArticleBazaar.net
How to Start Video Blogging?
How to Start Video Blogging?
by: Kanicen Nichathavan
Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.
A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.
Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.
People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.
Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.
If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.
Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.
Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.
Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.
Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.
Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.
But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.
Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.
About The Author
Kanicen Nichathavan is the owner of Kanicen's Blog, Kanicen's Blog welcomes everyone who intends to share knowledge, interesting products, ideas and those who want to start Internet Online Business. You will find all kind of Internet Marketing Tools and resources. For Newbie and Internet Marketers this blog will be the best option for lowest prices of all kind of Internet Marketing Tools at Kanicen.
by: Kanicen Nichathavan
Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.
A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.
Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.
People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.
Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.
If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.
Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.
Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.
Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.
Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.
Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.
But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.
Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.
About The Author
Kanicen Nichathavan is the owner of Kanicen's Blog, Kanicen's Blog welcomes everyone who intends to share knowledge, interesting products, ideas and those who want to start Internet Online Business. You will find all kind of Internet Marketing Tools and resources. For Newbie and Internet Marketers this blog will be the best option for lowest prices of all kind of Internet Marketing Tools at Kanicen.
SEO Tools and Services
Are you looking for SEO Tools and Services? Tyler DeWitt has started to get involved with website building at a very young age of 13, gained much experience along the way and now offers her talent to help you in
SEO Consulting,
Website Design,
Web directory submission service,
Content, and Article Writing,
E-Commerce Website Design and
E-Commerce Marketing / SEO Marketing
In addition to the services listed above, you can also find many useful information and tools at DeWitt's website such as
Dewitts Website Directories
Free Directory Listing,
Niche Directory Listing
and many other useful information, including DeWitt's explanation and speculation of the algorithm used by Google for determining the PageRank of a site at Google PageRank Explanation.
There is so much stuff on her website that I believe it is definately worth a visit for you.
SEO Consulting,
Website Design,
Web directory submission service,
Content, and Article Writing,
E-Commerce Website Design and
E-Commerce Marketing / SEO Marketing
In addition to the services listed above, you can also find many useful information and tools at DeWitt's website such as
Dewitts Website Directories
Free Directory Listing,
Niche Directory Listing
and many other useful information, including DeWitt's explanation and speculation of the algorithm used by Google for determining the PageRank of a site at Google PageRank Explanation.
There is so much stuff on her website that I believe it is definately worth a visit for you.
What Is RSS?
What Is RSS?
by: Madison Lockwood
RSS is technology - a simple software program - that allows you to access web and blog content automatically. The acronym's most popular translation is "Really Simple Syndication. Once your browser or computer has an RSS reader on board, you can subscribe to any number of RSS "feeds." A feed is simply a way in which a reader may subscribe to website content - most commonly blogs or news sites. A news site, for example, may list their latest headlines or entire articles in their feed every time a new article is published. A blog would publish this feed as a series of recent posts.
Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small individuals to large organizations like Newsweek. The value of a feed is that it brings the most current site content to you in a format that is easily scanned; further, you are spared the task of visiting each source site each day. This is typically done through the use of what is called an 'aggregator' or 'feed reader'.
Feed readers or RSS readers, are software programs that run on your computer (or PDA or phone); let you easily subscribe to feeds, and allow you to read through them efficiently. Some are relatively simple, showing the headline and summary. The fancier ones often work with (or in) your browser to make viewing the material look much like the source page. Once you have a reader on your computer, subscribing to a feed with is an easy click or drag from your browser. Sites that provide RSS feeds will usually have a button for that purpose.
There are several RSS feed formats as well as one with an entirely different methodology called Atom. Atom has become popular with some bloggers and blogging tools. Some aggregators can read both. The other acronyms you will see in "feedspeak" are XML, which stands for 'extensible markup language' and is the code standard for these simple text feeds. An 'OPML" file is a format for indexing hierarchical feed lists. If you dive into this web habit in a big way, your aggregator or reader may keep your subscription list in an OPML file.
An RSS feed is a great method for staying abreast of issues and topics that interest you. There are a number of feed "libraries," so to speak, from which you can learn what's out there in your areas of interest. Google has a built-in reader that makes the subscription process easy, as does Yahoo. Firefox has a downloadable extension for the purpose of aggregating RSS feeds, as well as a default ability to save RSS feeds as "live bookmarks" that update via the RSS feed. You can download a number of stand alone readers and aggregators; you can find them through a simple web search.
The whole RSS "movement" is a step towards utilizing the Internet more efficiently. The trick is to avoid overloading your email inbox with daily reports that you end up ignoring most of the time. For that purpose, there are sites like Feedster that will search millions of RSS feeds for articles that are relevant to your interests. Like any search tool, however, these services are hit and miss. They are still working off keywords and sometimes what they find is relevant, sometimes not. But if you want daily news broken into categories, it's great technology once you learn how to make it work for you.
About The Author
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for Apollo Hosting. She helps clients understand how a website may benefit them both personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, & VPS hosting to a wide range of customers.
by: Madison Lockwood
RSS is technology - a simple software program - that allows you to access web and blog content automatically. The acronym's most popular translation is "Really Simple Syndication. Once your browser or computer has an RSS reader on board, you can subscribe to any number of RSS "feeds." A feed is simply a way in which a reader may subscribe to website content - most commonly blogs or news sites. A news site, for example, may list their latest headlines or entire articles in their feed every time a new article is published. A blog would publish this feed as a series of recent posts.
Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small individuals to large organizations like Newsweek. The value of a feed is that it brings the most current site content to you in a format that is easily scanned; further, you are spared the task of visiting each source site each day. This is typically done through the use of what is called an 'aggregator' or 'feed reader'.
Feed readers or RSS readers, are software programs that run on your computer (or PDA or phone); let you easily subscribe to feeds, and allow you to read through them efficiently. Some are relatively simple, showing the headline and summary. The fancier ones often work with (or in) your browser to make viewing the material look much like the source page. Once you have a reader on your computer, subscribing to a feed with is an easy click or drag from your browser. Sites that provide RSS feeds will usually have a button for that purpose.
There are several RSS feed formats as well as one with an entirely different methodology called Atom. Atom has become popular with some bloggers and blogging tools. Some aggregators can read both. The other acronyms you will see in "feedspeak" are XML, which stands for 'extensible markup language' and is the code standard for these simple text feeds. An 'OPML" file is a format for indexing hierarchical feed lists. If you dive into this web habit in a big way, your aggregator or reader may keep your subscription list in an OPML file.
An RSS feed is a great method for staying abreast of issues and topics that interest you. There are a number of feed "libraries," so to speak, from which you can learn what's out there in your areas of interest. Google has a built-in reader that makes the subscription process easy, as does Yahoo. Firefox has a downloadable extension for the purpose of aggregating RSS feeds, as well as a default ability to save RSS feeds as "live bookmarks" that update via the RSS feed. You can download a number of stand alone readers and aggregators; you can find them through a simple web search.
The whole RSS "movement" is a step towards utilizing the Internet more efficiently. The trick is to avoid overloading your email inbox with daily reports that you end up ignoring most of the time. For that purpose, there are sites like Feedster that will search millions of RSS feeds for articles that are relevant to your interests. Like any search tool, however, these services are hit and miss. They are still working off keywords and sometimes what they find is relevant, sometimes not. But if you want daily news broken into categories, it's great technology once you learn how to make it work for you.
About The Author
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for Apollo Hosting. She helps clients understand how a website may benefit them both personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, & VPS hosting to a wide range of customers.
Advanced Uses For Myspace
Advanced Uses For Myspace
by: David Riewe
MySpace members can generate a website quickly through templates. These templates enable users to create a generic website in very little time. For those who are just interested in making new friends or keeping in touch with old friends, this may be all the member needs. However, those who want to offer more on their website or those who simply want to create a more detailed website may require some more advanced knowledge to achieve the desired effects.
Adding Background Music in MySpace
The majority of websites on the Internet do not have background music. This may lead many novice MySpace members to believe adding music to the background is a difficult process but it really isn’t. In fact MySpace makes it incredibly simple for members to add music to their profiles. The steps to add music to a MySpace profile are as follows:
* Log into your MySpace account
* While logged in visit this web address: http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music
* Listen to the music available and select a suitable song for your profile
* Click on the link that says “Add” below the song title
* The music is then automatically added to your profile
It is important to note that users can only add one song at a time to their profile. Clicking the “Add” link on a second song will result in the original song being replaced on the profile by the new song. Songs can be removed from a profile at any time by going to the “Edit profile” section of your account and entering the “Profile songs” subcategory. Here you have the option to remove your chosen song.
Adding Videos to MySpace
Adding videos to MySpace is also not as difficult as it seems. Even those with no HTML skills can add videos produced by other members or even their own videos to their MySpace profile. The steps to add a video to your MySpace profile are as follows:
* Log into your MySpace Account
* From your MySpace homepage, click on the “Add/Change Videos” link
* You are then taken to another webpage where you can either search through a database of previously uploaded videos or upload your own video
* To search the database, click on the search videos button and browse through the available videos
* After watching a video you can add the video to your profile in a couple of ways. First you can click on the “Add to my profile” button or you can copy the source code provided and paste this code into the desired location on your profile.
Alternately you can add your own videos to your MySpace profile by first uploading them to MySpace and then adding them to your profile. When uploading a video care should be taken to ensure the video does not violate the terms of service.
Creating Interactive Features on MySpace
Creating interactive features on MySpace is a bit more involved. Members can create features which allow visitor interaction but these features require more extensive HTML knowledge. The best way to acquire the information necessary to design these types of features is to research the subject of HTML code in books or on the Internet. However, if you find a feature on another MySpace website you would like to include in your own profile you can contact the member and ask them how to add this feature.
About The Author
David Riewe is the webmaster of Dave's Inforama and Myspace.
by: David Riewe
MySpace members can generate a website quickly through templates. These templates enable users to create a generic website in very little time. For those who are just interested in making new friends or keeping in touch with old friends, this may be all the member needs. However, those who want to offer more on their website or those who simply want to create a more detailed website may require some more advanced knowledge to achieve the desired effects.
Adding Background Music in MySpace
The majority of websites on the Internet do not have background music. This may lead many novice MySpace members to believe adding music to the background is a difficult process but it really isn’t. In fact MySpace makes it incredibly simple for members to add music to their profiles. The steps to add music to a MySpace profile are as follows:
* Log into your MySpace account
* While logged in visit this web address: http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music
* Listen to the music available and select a suitable song for your profile
* Click on the link that says “Add” below the song title
* The music is then automatically added to your profile
It is important to note that users can only add one song at a time to their profile. Clicking the “Add” link on a second song will result in the original song being replaced on the profile by the new song. Songs can be removed from a profile at any time by going to the “Edit profile” section of your account and entering the “Profile songs” subcategory. Here you have the option to remove your chosen song.
Adding Videos to MySpace
Adding videos to MySpace is also not as difficult as it seems. Even those with no HTML skills can add videos produced by other members or even their own videos to their MySpace profile. The steps to add a video to your MySpace profile are as follows:
* Log into your MySpace Account
* From your MySpace homepage, click on the “Add/Change Videos” link
* You are then taken to another webpage where you can either search through a database of previously uploaded videos or upload your own video
* To search the database, click on the search videos button and browse through the available videos
* After watching a video you can add the video to your profile in a couple of ways. First you can click on the “Add to my profile” button or you can copy the source code provided and paste this code into the desired location on your profile.
Alternately you can add your own videos to your MySpace profile by first uploading them to MySpace and then adding them to your profile. When uploading a video care should be taken to ensure the video does not violate the terms of service.
Creating Interactive Features on MySpace
Creating interactive features on MySpace is a bit more involved. Members can create features which allow visitor interaction but these features require more extensive HTML knowledge. The best way to acquire the information necessary to design these types of features is to research the subject of HTML code in books or on the Internet. However, if you find a feature on another MySpace website you would like to include in your own profile you can contact the member and ask them how to add this feature.
About The Author
David Riewe is the webmaster of Dave's Inforama and Myspace.
Issues with implementing Software Quality Assurance (SQA)
Issues with implementing Software Quality Assurance (SQA)
by: Ian Fleming
Issues with implementing Software Quality Assurance (SQA).
Software Quality Assurance SQA Definition:-
"The function of software quality that assures that the standards, processes, and procedures are appropriate
for the project and are correctly implemented." From software definitions at NASA.
This definition comes directly from the Quality Movement that was first established in Japan in 1946 by the U.S. Occupation Force's. The only difference between QA of the Quality Movement and SQA is the term software is introduced to both the term and the definition.
It is understandable that many attempts have been made to metamorphous the manufacturing QA definition (and practice) into software QA, due to the overwhelming success of the quality movement as demonstrated in Japanese manufacturing. Some 60 years later, however, the only aspect of QA that has been successfully transformed to SQA is the goals, namely Fujitsu’s slogan of “Quality built-in, with cost and performance as prime consideration”.
The main issue with basing SQA on QA is due to the intangible nature of the software product.
As stated by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. in his No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering
“The essence of a software entity is a construct of interlocking concepts: data sets, relationships among data items, algorithms, and invocations of functions. This essence is abstract in that such a conceptual construct is the same under many different representations. It is nonetheless highly precise and richly detailed”.
It is the abstract nature of software that impedes the manufacturing QA definition being applied directly to software. To be more precise it is actually Quality Control (QC) that is problematic for software. In manufacturing there would be a separate group Quality Control (QC) that would measure the components, at various manufacturing stages. QC would make sure the components were within acceptable “tolerances”, i.e. they did not vary from agreed specifications. Within software production, however, the intangible nature of software makes it difficult to set up a Test and Measurement QC department that follows the manufacturing model.
In order to overcome the essential difficulties of implementing Software Quality Control SQC procedures two strategies have evolved. These strategies are typically used together in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
The first strategy involves a pragmatic characterization of software attributes that can be measured, thereby subjecting them to SQC. The idea here is to make visible the costs and benefits of software by using a set of attributes. These attributes include Functionality, Usability, Supportability, Adaptability, Reliability, Performance etc. Then Quality Control can be set up to ensure that procedures and guidelines are followed and these procedures and guidelines exist in order to achieve the desired software characteristic. The adage, "what can be measured can be controlled" applies here. This means that when these characteristics are measured the effectiveness of the procedures and guidelines can be determined. The software production process can then be subjected to SQA (audits to make sure procedures and guidelines are followed) as well as continuous process improvement.
SQA is only a part of continuous improvement (see CMMI); however continuous improvement cannot be achieved without the measurements of SQC and the audits of SQA.
A number of models, and references, for software characterization can be found on the internet. One such model is called the FURPS model which was developed by Robert Grady at Hewlett Packard. If a pure implementation of the FURPS model, or similar, was possible then QC and QA, from manufacturing, could be applied to software production.
The second strategy, to overcome the essential difficulties of software production, is prototyping.
With this approach a risk (or immeasurable characteristic) is identified, i.e. Usability, and a prototype that addresses that risk is built. In this way a given aspect of the software product can be measured. The prototype itself could evolve into the end product or it could be 'thrown away'. This approach takes an interactive path as it is quite possible the software requirements (which should include all the software characteristics) may need to be revisited.
Whilst SQA and SQC, definitions, can be traced to their manufacturing counter parts, the implementation of SQA and SQC continues to find their own unique paths. The goal of SQA and QA, however, still remain the same and that is Fujitsu’s slogan "Quality built-in, with cost and performance as prime consideration". It is the actual measurement of the "cost and performance" of software that make SQA and SQC so problematic.
About The Author
Ian Fleming
25 years IT experience, including HP Labs Inc. and SAP Labs inc. Founder of SQA (close new window/tab to return to this page).
by: Ian Fleming
Issues with implementing Software Quality Assurance (SQA).
Software Quality Assurance SQA Definition:-
"The function of software quality that assures that the standards, processes, and procedures are appropriate
for the project and are correctly implemented." From software definitions at NASA.
This definition comes directly from the Quality Movement that was first established in Japan in 1946 by the U.S. Occupation Force's. The only difference between QA of the Quality Movement and SQA is the term software is introduced to both the term and the definition.
It is understandable that many attempts have been made to metamorphous the manufacturing QA definition (and practice) into software QA, due to the overwhelming success of the quality movement as demonstrated in Japanese manufacturing. Some 60 years later, however, the only aspect of QA that has been successfully transformed to SQA is the goals, namely Fujitsu’s slogan of “Quality built-in, with cost and performance as prime consideration”.
The main issue with basing SQA on QA is due to the intangible nature of the software product.
As stated by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. in his No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering
“The essence of a software entity is a construct of interlocking concepts: data sets, relationships among data items, algorithms, and invocations of functions. This essence is abstract in that such a conceptual construct is the same under many different representations. It is nonetheless highly precise and richly detailed”.
It is the abstract nature of software that impedes the manufacturing QA definition being applied directly to software. To be more precise it is actually Quality Control (QC) that is problematic for software. In manufacturing there would be a separate group Quality Control (QC) that would measure the components, at various manufacturing stages. QC would make sure the components were within acceptable “tolerances”, i.e. they did not vary from agreed specifications. Within software production, however, the intangible nature of software makes it difficult to set up a Test and Measurement QC department that follows the manufacturing model.
In order to overcome the essential difficulties of implementing Software Quality Control SQC procedures two strategies have evolved. These strategies are typically used together in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
The first strategy involves a pragmatic characterization of software attributes that can be measured, thereby subjecting them to SQC. The idea here is to make visible the costs and benefits of software by using a set of attributes. These attributes include Functionality, Usability, Supportability, Adaptability, Reliability, Performance etc. Then Quality Control can be set up to ensure that procedures and guidelines are followed and these procedures and guidelines exist in order to achieve the desired software characteristic. The adage, "what can be measured can be controlled" applies here. This means that when these characteristics are measured the effectiveness of the procedures and guidelines can be determined. The software production process can then be subjected to SQA (audits to make sure procedures and guidelines are followed) as well as continuous process improvement.
SQA is only a part of continuous improvement (see CMMI); however continuous improvement cannot be achieved without the measurements of SQC and the audits of SQA.
A number of models, and references, for software characterization can be found on the internet. One such model is called the FURPS model which was developed by Robert Grady at Hewlett Packard. If a pure implementation of the FURPS model, or similar, was possible then QC and QA, from manufacturing, could be applied to software production.
The second strategy, to overcome the essential difficulties of software production, is prototyping.
With this approach a risk (or immeasurable characteristic) is identified, i.e. Usability, and a prototype that addresses that risk is built. In this way a given aspect of the software product can be measured. The prototype itself could evolve into the end product or it could be 'thrown away'. This approach takes an interactive path as it is quite possible the software requirements (which should include all the software characteristics) may need to be revisited.
Whilst SQA and SQC, definitions, can be traced to their manufacturing counter parts, the implementation of SQA and SQC continues to find their own unique paths. The goal of SQA and QA, however, still remain the same and that is Fujitsu’s slogan "Quality built-in, with cost and performance as prime consideration". It is the actual measurement of the "cost and performance" of software that make SQA and SQC so problematic.
About The Author
Ian Fleming
25 years IT experience, including HP Labs Inc. and SAP Labs inc. Founder of SQA (close new window/tab to return to this page).
Computer Security - Startling Facts
Computer Security - Startling Facts
by: Peter Crest
Working on the Internet provides Internet marketers with the opportunity to make a living in the comfort of their own home. Computer Security includes threats such as viruses, identity theft, spyware, adware to name but a few. The latest statistics show that at least over 900 new viruses are created each month which makes keeping track of them really quite difficult. This article would cover three (3) subtopics namely: The Internet, Spyware and Antivirus.
Internet
If you use your computer on the internet, you need (at minimum) anti virus software. The problem of computer security is the number one problem in todays networks and Internet engineering. As hackers use different means to crack the security systems it often happens to be impossible to resist and computer security system fail.
Computer Security on the internet is vital for home and business use as there are increasingly hostile environments when users surf the net. It is very important for users to be educated on the dangers they may face while on the internet. Your computer connected to the internet is similar to your house in many ways. Users search on the internet for free computer security software which they dump into their computers and hope for the best.
The Internet is a wonderful place. Anyone with an Internet connection can stay in touch with family and friends via email. Computer security is growing rapidly by the minute and the only one who has control over their files of information is the user. It is strongly suggested that users equip their pc with an armed fire wall for vital protection.
An advice is to use Microsoft Windows Update to keep your operating system and Internet Explorer patched. Other advice could be to only conduct Internet transactions that have secured processing. Even if you have a computer connected to the Internet only to play the latest games or to send email to friends and family, your computer could be a target.
Although confidentiality, integrity and authenticity are the most important things when it comes to computer security in general, for everyday internet users, privacy is the most important one, because many people think that they have nothing to hide or the information they give doesn't seem sensitive when they register with an internet service/site.
Spyware
An avenue for Spyware to infect your machine is through popular Peer-to-Peer File Sharing software such as Kazaa. Extreme spyware like Rootkits and other advanced spyware have fundamentally changed the playing field in todays computer security.
While it may seem to be common sense, many of the most widely-spread attacks have involved spyware and email attachment worms. Often these packages come as “suites” including a firewall and Spyware scanner. They scan and destroy spyware as it’s found in the user’s computer.
Regardless of the type of spyware, it can slow your computer to a crawl and needs to be removed from your computer. Spyware occurs when certain websites run programs in the back ground of your computer while gleaning information from it. There is now a bill in the US Congress to make Spyware illegal.
Anti-spyware tools will greatly assist in protecting your privacy and restoring full computer functions that spyware may have taken over. In the internet world it is vital for users to have a good spyware scan (a recommended and reliable one can be found in the Author Resource Box below) and removal tool because of the multitude of different spyware, adware, Trojans and other malware constantly looking to attack your system. Spyware can slow down your computer, and would have to be removed.
There are tools available which include good free Spyware removal software among other security measures the user can take to protect the computer from malicious attack such as Viruses, Spyware and Adware. The recommended one is staed below. Spyware not only covertly runs in the background and steals personal information of the user it is a potential security threat of which the extent of the damage cannot be determined.
Antivirus
With all of the marketing commotion that surrounds viruses, you should already have antivirus software on all of your computers. Let me explain something, just because you have a antivirus software program on your computer you are not cured. Until recently could one install a firewall and an antivirus program and feel quite secure.
Protection services could commonly include the ability of an administrator to monitor activity throughout the system as well as potentially block hazardous material on the internet from being viewed by other users, the ability to manage automatic updates and what's more the ability to enquire about the status of antivirus software. These include firewall, spyware scanning software and antivirus software.
Everyone needs to have proper computer security measures in place to make sure they are consistently free from all these malicious software. Urgent action should be taken now.
About The Author
Peter Crest is a Webmaster at PC Matters (close new window/tab to return to this page). Check out other Computer Security Articles there.
by: Peter Crest
Working on the Internet provides Internet marketers with the opportunity to make a living in the comfort of their own home. Computer Security includes threats such as viruses, identity theft, spyware, adware to name but a few. The latest statistics show that at least over 900 new viruses are created each month which makes keeping track of them really quite difficult. This article would cover three (3) subtopics namely: The Internet, Spyware and Antivirus.
Internet
If you use your computer on the internet, you need (at minimum) anti virus software. The problem of computer security is the number one problem in todays networks and Internet engineering. As hackers use different means to crack the security systems it often happens to be impossible to resist and computer security system fail.
Computer Security on the internet is vital for home and business use as there are increasingly hostile environments when users surf the net. It is very important for users to be educated on the dangers they may face while on the internet. Your computer connected to the internet is similar to your house in many ways. Users search on the internet for free computer security software which they dump into their computers and hope for the best.
The Internet is a wonderful place. Anyone with an Internet connection can stay in touch with family and friends via email. Computer security is growing rapidly by the minute and the only one who has control over their files of information is the user. It is strongly suggested that users equip their pc with an armed fire wall for vital protection.
An advice is to use Microsoft Windows Update to keep your operating system and Internet Explorer patched. Other advice could be to only conduct Internet transactions that have secured processing. Even if you have a computer connected to the Internet only to play the latest games or to send email to friends and family, your computer could be a target.
Although confidentiality, integrity and authenticity are the most important things when it comes to computer security in general, for everyday internet users, privacy is the most important one, because many people think that they have nothing to hide or the information they give doesn't seem sensitive when they register with an internet service/site.
Spyware
An avenue for Spyware to infect your machine is through popular Peer-to-Peer File Sharing software such as Kazaa. Extreme spyware like Rootkits and other advanced spyware have fundamentally changed the playing field in todays computer security.
While it may seem to be common sense, many of the most widely-spread attacks have involved spyware and email attachment worms. Often these packages come as “suites” including a firewall and Spyware scanner. They scan and destroy spyware as it’s found in the user’s computer.
Regardless of the type of spyware, it can slow your computer to a crawl and needs to be removed from your computer. Spyware occurs when certain websites run programs in the back ground of your computer while gleaning information from it. There is now a bill in the US Congress to make Spyware illegal.
Anti-spyware tools will greatly assist in protecting your privacy and restoring full computer functions that spyware may have taken over. In the internet world it is vital for users to have a good spyware scan (a recommended and reliable one can be found in the Author Resource Box below) and removal tool because of the multitude of different spyware, adware, Trojans and other malware constantly looking to attack your system. Spyware can slow down your computer, and would have to be removed.
There are tools available which include good free Spyware removal software among other security measures the user can take to protect the computer from malicious attack such as Viruses, Spyware and Adware. The recommended one is staed below. Spyware not only covertly runs in the background and steals personal information of the user it is a potential security threat of which the extent of the damage cannot be determined.
Antivirus
With all of the marketing commotion that surrounds viruses, you should already have antivirus software on all of your computers. Let me explain something, just because you have a antivirus software program on your computer you are not cured. Until recently could one install a firewall and an antivirus program and feel quite secure.
Protection services could commonly include the ability of an administrator to monitor activity throughout the system as well as potentially block hazardous material on the internet from being viewed by other users, the ability to manage automatic updates and what's more the ability to enquire about the status of antivirus software. These include firewall, spyware scanning software and antivirus software.
Everyone needs to have proper computer security measures in place to make sure they are consistently free from all these malicious software. Urgent action should be taken now.
About The Author
Peter Crest is a Webmaster at PC Matters (close new window/tab to return to this page). Check out other Computer Security Articles there.
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