As the AppScan DE Architect, it became quickly known within the team that we needed to start creating technology that gives developers a stronger “confidence level”in the security issues reported to them.  We all know a developer’s job is tedious, and knowing which issues are the most critcal to fix is very important because in reality even if a tool reports 100 issues, only the top 10 may get fixed at development time - so its imparitive that we as tool creators let the developer know which are the 10 most critical issues to fix.

So we set out to do some innovation of our own!  We started engaging the idea of integration other forms of analysis with dynamic analysis, specifically static and runtime analysis, to help us get that confidence level we wanted.  Shortly after the new year, we spent the last 4 months creating value with this idea.

Last night, really late last night actually, we released a refresh to our official Beta 2 release (that went out on May 31, 2008, just before the IBM Rational Software Development Conference - RSDC 2008).  In addition to the delivery of 100 bug fixes, we released two versions of our product.  Yes you heard me, two versions - which is what the market has been asking for - believe it or not.

Our Beta 1 was released to be an extension ontop of the RAD 7.5 Open Beta; however, the uptake on that release wasn’t what we wanted.  In the new year I repeatedly asked management “What are customers saying? How many downloads do we have? Any feedback?” - in the true sense of Agile development I suppose I was just doing my job :)  The answer back was “urgghh”.  I quickly figured out that we needed something light-weight and quick and dirty for users to use, so I proposed the plain eclipse solution.  Eclipse has an integrated update mechanism known as the Classic Update Manager, and naturally integrating the delivery of our software through that mechanism was the path we needed to take.  Hence, our Beta 2 release now includes two installation routes, you can use whichever you prefer:

• RAD 7.5 (RC0) Open Beta, or
• Eclipse 3.4 Ganymede

So enough yammering from me, here is some product highlights for our new functionality in Beta 2:

Product Information (Click here to view the IBM product page)

• Integrated dynamic, runtime, and static analysis: In one scan, you can conduct these types of analyses -
  • Static analysis: Also known as white box analysis, this type of analysis allows you to check Java source code for security vulnerabilities.
  • Dynamic analysis: With dynamic analysis (also known as black box analysis), you step through your application from a hacker’s perspective, tampering with inputs to uncover security holes.
  • Runtime analysis: When you create a scan that includes dynamic analysis testing, you can set the scan to track the flow of execution for any security issues that are found.

Also a shout out to our team (Babita, Alexei, Jennifer, Jeff, and me) who made this beta possible, we all worked extremely hard!

CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2005 01:16:52 AM]

Scientists have mapped the rice genome. Researchers have devised drugs aimed at a specific ethnic population (BiDil, a drug for congestive heart failure, works exclusively on Blacks).

Somewhere between these developments I began to wonder if they will start studying the make up of ethnic types or communities renowned for specific skills — such as entrepreneurship.

My own favourites are Patels, a clan I am increasingly fascinated by and about whom I boned up a little bit recently following their remarkable success in East Africa, UK and now the US.

The name Patel, I gather, derives from ‘patedar’, the record-keeper named by princely rulers of Gujarat to keep track of crops,‘pat’ being a parcel of land. So obviously, they are good at numbers, but their area of interest now extends far beyond land. Infact, it appears to extend in almost every sphere of human endeavour.

According to the year 2000 census, there were 49,740 Patels in the US. The Patel surname ranked 591 in the list of most common last names, ahead of such notables as Dalton, Roth, and Nixon, and ahead of the Singh, which one would assume would be more common (there are only 22,383 Singhs in the US).

A majority of the Patels are entrepreneurial types, mostly in hotel, convenience store, and fast food franchise businesses. Of the 52,000 hotels and motels in America, roughly 18,000, nearly one-third, are owned by Indians, a majority by Gujaratis, and a majority among them Patels (hence the term Patel Motel). They are also muscling into gas stations, convenience stores, and liquor store business.

What gives here? Well, one if of course their legendary sense of clannishness (they are, after all, said to be descendants ofRam’s sons Lav and Kush). So one Patel brings his brother, who brings his brother-in-law, who brings his cousin etc. The result– low attrition, low overheads, no overtimes, no hand in till etc.

But Patels are also blessed with an extraordinary business sense. I now know of many Patels, including successful physicians, who are diversifying into other business (hotels, restaurants, real estate, packaged food etc), and the reason is not the high rate of medical malpractice insurance (which is driving other physicians out of private practice).

The most famous example is of course Florida cardiologist Dr Kiran Patel who parlayed a modest practice into a billion dollarhealthcare empire with interests so wide and varied that some months back he gave a $18.5 million donation to a little-known university to establish a centre for global solutions (that came on top of $5 million he gave for an arts centre.)

Last week, I came across another intriguing example of an entrepreneurial push by a professional Patel. Michigan physician Dr Asha Patel, from all accounts, has a successful internal medicine practice near Detroit. She and her psychiatrist husband Hiten Patel have two small kids, and lead a busy life.

Not busy enough, it seems. Inspired by a passion for food, and what she says are her ‘Patel genes’, she has just kicked off asha Foods, starting with a modest line of curry sauces which she herself delivered to some 40 stores.

In no time, it attracted the attention of the local Detroit Free Press, and a subsequent article by the paper’s food writer (under the headline ‘Curry in a Hurry’, which is fast becoming a fashionable name for new restaurants) has sparked off even more interest (the local TV station called next, Dr Patel said).

It won’t surprise me to see Asha’s Tasha on my supermarket shelf in Washington DC in a few weeks time because the good doctor is already set on growing her business — without giving up her medical practice. She’s banking on her family experience in the spice trade (they have been exporting for a century) and her own knowledge of medicine to crank up healthy sauces with less calories and less salt that what are currently on the shelves.

More importantly, she has vision. “Forty years ago, there were no pasta sauces in the US,” she told me over the phone. “Look now…there are dozens. The same thing is going to happen with curry sauce.” Yes, only if she can sell beyond Indian grocery stores, I remarked, recalling the growing Asian food section, including many curry sauces, in my local Whole Foods, which caters to mainly to Americans.

But Doc Patel was already on the ball. Among her first sales call was on Detroit’s Papa Joe, who bought into the product — which means it soon go out to the Average Joe, and not just the Desi Joe. I guess we can safely add another Patelite to the Indian business constellation.

I called Futureshop, where I purchased the oven back in August 2005, they told me the warranty was for 1 year from Panasonic - so tough luck.  In consideration that I may just end up getting a new oven if the repair costs were outrageous, I asked the fellow if he knows which oven has the lowest after-purchase claims; but I got no answer from the guy…useless.  Here I am talking to a Futureshop “warranty” expert and he apparently isn’t an expert.  My next question to him was if he could recommend any repair shops in Toronto where I could take the oven.  He tells me there aren’t any!  At this point he’s already earned a status lower than “idiot” and “jerk” whatever that may be - perhaps the opposite of “genius”?

At this point I decide to check out Panasonic’s website.  In 5 seconds I load up a list of 5 repair shops in my area using their customer support webpage!  I start off by calling each one.  The first one I get a Chinese lady who doesn’t apparently understand my English, so I tell her I’ll call back some other time.  The second person I call, I try to explain my problem but I get the feeling they aren’t listening to me because the fellow keeps saying “just bring it in, we’ll look at it”.  I get suspicious and ask him “is there a cost to just look at the oven?”.  The fellow says “$16″.  I’m thinking “gotcha, bugger”! The next, and last place I call, the lady on the phone explains to me that she’s seen the problem before and its about $40-60 to fix.  I mention to her that I might as well get a new one, she laughs and says “yeah, its probably a better idea”!  Now that I got her on my good side, I ask her what the Futureshop expert couldn’t answer, “is there any brand that you recommend I try other than Panasonic”.  She mentions that she’s had a General Electric (GE) microwave oven for over 7 years and she’s never had a problem!  I’m thinking bingo!  I search up GE microwaves on Futureshop, Bestbuy, Sears, and Wal-mart’s websites.  Futureshop and Bestbuy don’t carry anything other than Panasonic and Danby.  Sears carries some GE, but they appear to be high-end models.  Wal-mart has exactly what I’m looking for, 1.1 cu ft with 1100 watts and its ol sale for $85!

I just picked up the GE oven and we’ll see how it compares to the Panasonic over the next few weeks!

My contribution was Chapters 8 and 9 in the book. These are primarily based on the component “formerly known as” IBM Performance Optimization Toolkit and its integration into the IBM Rational Performance Tester product.

The draft version is available in PDF (about 8MB) and for more information please visit the IBM Redbook website.  The final publication is slated for printing on January 31, 2008.

Product Information (Click here to view the IBM product page)

Rational AppScan Developer Edition software extends Rational Application Developer for WebSphere® with support for Web application security testing that automates vulnerability assessments.

This first release of Rational AppScan Developer Edition expands IBM’s industry leading application development platform focusing on the following themes and capabilities:

• Early detection and remediation of vulnerabilities: Automates application vulnerability scanning. Security testing takes place during development without requiring the involvement of a security expert. Vulnerabilities are found early in the process and intelligent fix recommendations allow you to quickly resolve security issues.
• AppScan Enterprise Edition integration: AppScan Enterprise Edition is a separately-purchased Web-based, multi-user application vulnerability testing and reporting solution. AppScan Developer Edition can be used as a part of the AppScan Enterprise solution, combining early detection of security issues by each developer with enterprise-scale control and reporting tools.
• IBM Rational ClearQuest integration: Application vulnerabilites can be submitted and tracked seamlessly with ClearQuest. Rational AppScan Developer Edition provides support for logging discovered security issues as ClearQuest defects, automatically including the title, severity, advisory, remediation information, and any other information required to easily prioritize and remediate these issues within your regular defect management process. Note: IBM Rational ClearQuest is a separately-purchased product.

Around the world amazing things have happened, from historic monuments to once-in-a-lifetime astronomical events. We are definitely witnessing a historical monument here in Toronto. On Highway 427 and Finch Avenue, a Swaminarayan Mandir is nearly complete. In basic english terms a Mandir is a temple and Swaminarayan is one who is a devotee of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. I love architecture because its amazing what the hands of man can build given some time and care. This temple was build completely using hammers and chisels, thats right folks, it is hand-made.

Walls and ceilings are embellished with carved figures, both human and animal – everything from dancing women to elephants and peacocks. These are images of welcome, sensual but also serene. The fact that every element, big and small, is carved in stone, only makes the effect that much more astonishing. Indeed, the temple is a monument to skills largely lost in our mechanized age.
The materials – marble from India and Italy, limestone from Turkey – were shipped first to a series of villages in India where they were sculpted into their final form. The pieces were then transported to Toronto to be assembled. Given that there were more than 24,000 individual parts, this was no mean feat.

Here are some facts about the project:

• The project started in 2005 and opens officially in two weeks. Because work stopped during winter, actual construction time was only 18 months.
• The local Hindu community (there are 191,305 Hindus in Toronto, according to Statistics Canada), which paid for the $40 million building without any public or foundation funding and provided 400 volunteer workers, wants the world to know it has arrived.
• Despite the use of computers and high-tech equipment, the building itself could have been constructed several millennia ago. That is said because structures very similar, down to the detail, have been carved in India long time ago.
• The walls, for example, are all load-bearing; there’s no steel skeleton here holding the whole thing up. In fact, no steel was used at all, it’s stone piled on stone. The columns, of which there are 340, are solid rock (and rock solid). Even the delicately curved interiors of the domes are sculpted from marble and held in place with stone keys.
• “The cost has been kept down by a lot of in-kind labour offered by volunteers,” says volunteer Roy Patel. “We had to bring as many as 100 stone artisans and sompura (architects) from India to work on the project. We would appreciate any government financing, but so far none has been forthcoming.”

Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/233400

The object of the game is to move all seven diamonds from the far left to the far right tower. See how you do!