House Passes Bills to Spur New Technology for Drilling, Cleaning Up Spills

The U.S. House of Representatives passed measures to develop new technologies for deep water drilling and cleaning up oil spills, the first legislation inspired by the BP Plc disaster to reach a floor vote.

One bill, passed on a voice vote today, aims to speed up the use of new technologies to limit the damage from oil spills and aid the cleanup. Lawmakers said the booms and skiffs BP is using after the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico are the same as units employed in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez tanker crashed off the coast of Alaska.

“We heard time and again the technology they were using was inadequate,” Representative Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat, said in floor debate, commenting on hearings the House Science & Technology Committee held in response to the Gulf spill.

BP is struggling to contain its damaged well after the Deepwater Horizon rig blew out April 20, killing 11 workers. The oil flow has been temporarily stopped by a cap, after spewing as many as 60,000 barrels a day, according to government estimates.

The House also passed on a voice vote a second BP-related bill, to fund research and development for safer oil and gas drilling at the Department of Energy.

Qantas trials new check-in technology

QANTAS has signalled it will tighten its excess baggage policy as it introduces futuristic new domestic check-in facilities.

The new facilities are designed to slash the time spent in airport queues.

The airline is also preparing to offer upper-tier frequent flyers a unique personal electronic bag tag that can automatically store details of up to four flights and will replace the traditional paper bar code.

A trial of some of the new technologies begins in Perth next week when the flying kangaroo issues new frequent flyer smart cards to a select group of its premium flyers.

The new technologies includes electronic baggage scales and automated excess baggage payment. Its introduction comes as airlines worldwide are discovering baggage charges as a revenue stream.

Qantas officials say the airline will remain flexible on excess baggage during trials but revealed yesterday a new baggage policy was due out towards the end of the year.

Asked whether this meant a crackdown on excess baggage, Qantas customer experience executive manager Alison Webster said: "We'll be making sure we're offering a fair system and our customers are clear on what that system of charges is."

Ms Webster said Qantas had an online capability that allowed people to pre-purchase excess baggage at a significant discount to airport charges and would be publicising this with the baggage policy changes.

Officials said duty managers would also retain the discretion to waive excess baggage charges.

The new smart cards contain chip technology that will allow flyers who have not already checked in online or by mobile phone to tap an airport card reader and complete the process within five seconds.

A 2D barcode would be sent to passengers' handsets to confirm their mobile check-in.

Passengers will eventually be able to combine the smart card, which can also be used as a boarding pass, with RFID bag tags to check their bags at an automated bag drop in seconds.

The tag will be distributed free to chairman's lounge members, platinum, gold and silver level frequent flyers and is expected to be launched when the new system is unveiled in Sydney at the end of November. The airline hopes that about 600,000 upper-tier frequent flyers will no longer need a paper bag tag on the Qantas network by the end of 2011.

The multi-million dollar project took two years to develop in conjunction with 15-odd partners including IBM, Fujitsu, Telstra, Optus and Amadeus, said David Hall, Qantas group executive, corporate services and technology.

IBM spearheaded program management and produced new check-in kiosks and card readers.

Fujitsu provided handheld scanners and other peripherals while Telstra and Unisys worked on the baggage reconciliation system.

For the mobile check-in service, Optus built the SMS gateway, New Media Innovation was responsible for the application and SecureDoc built the 2D barcode system.

Indian companies Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra Satyam were also involved in the project. TCS worked on enterprise integration and aspects of mobile check-in while Satyam covered off reporting and data warehouse integration.

Sky Assist will help Qantas staff quickly identify misallocated baggage and Amadeus continues to provide departure control smarts.

Tagsys and STMicroelectronics worked on the RFID tags, while the automatic bag drop offering was made possible by hardware provider ICM and software vendor SCL.

Comparison of Various Software Development Life Cycle

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) in software engineering is a methodology that defines the logical steps for developing a custom software product.

This methodology is used to structure, plan and control the software development process. In simple terms, we can define SDLC as a methodology that a developer can use to standardise the process of software development.

A number of SDLC models are available, choosing the right one is no easy task. In this article we'll try to highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of some commonly used SDLCs.

Waterfall Model

This is one of the simplest, classic life-cycle models, also known as the 'linear-sequential' life cycle model. In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed before moving onto the next. A review process is scheduled at the end of each phase to check that the project is on the right track. The steps are as follows:

Advantages of the waterfall model

1. Simple to understand and use.
2. Each phase is independent of other phases and is processed and completed separately.
3. Suitable for smaller projects, and for projects where the requirements are clearly outlined.

Disadvantages of the waterfall model

1. No output or working software is produced until late in the life cycle.
2. High degree of uncertainty and risks.
3. Not a good choice for big or ongoing projects.


Iterative Model

The Iterative model can be thought of as a “multi-waterfall” cycle. Cycles are divided into smaller and easily managed iterations. Each iteration passes through a series of phases, so after each cycle you will get working software.

Advantages of the iterative model

1. Produces working software early during the lifecycle.
2. More flexible as scope and requirement changes can be implemented at low cost.
3. Testing and debugging is easier, as the iterations are small.
4. Low risks factors as the risks can be identified and resolved during each iteration.

Disadvantages of the iterative model

1. This model has phases that are very rigid and do not overlap.
2. Not all the requirements are gathered before starting the development; this could lead to problems related to system architecture at later iterations.

Spiral Model

The spiral model is similar to the iterative model, but places more emphasis on risk analysis. The steps involved in this model can be generalised as follows:

System requirements are defined in as much detail as possible by involving various users, so as identify the various aspects of the system.

A preliminary design of the system is created. This is the most crucial step in the spiral model, as it helps in developing cost-effective strategies for working on a project.

Using the preliminary design, a prototype for the new system is developed. This is generally a scaled down system, which represents an approximate characteristics of the final output.

Consecutive prototypes are then evolved through a fourfold procedure
o Strengths, weaknesses and risks of the previous prototype are evaluated
o Requirements for the new prototype are defined
o Planning and design of the new prototype begins
o Developing and testing the new prototype are carried out

Advantages of the spiral model

1. Good for large and critical projects
2. Working software is produced early during the lifecycle.
3. Large amount of risk analysis.

Disadvantages of the spiral model

1. Involves higher cost.
2. Not suitable for smaller projects.
3. Project success depends on the risk analysis phase - hence, it requires highly specific expertise in risk analysis.

Prototype Model

The prototype model is used to overcome the limitations of waterfall model. In this model, instead of freezing the requirements before coding or design, a prototype is built to clearly understand the requirements. This prototype is built based on the current requirements. Through examining this prototype, the client gets a better understanding of the features of the final product. The processes involved in the prototyping approach are shown in the figure below.

Advantages of the prototype model

1. Benefits from user input.
2. As a working model of the system is provided, users get a better understanding of the system that is being developed.
3. Errors and risks can be detected at a much earlier stage, as the system is developed using prototypes.

Disadvantages of the prototype

1. Increases complexity of the overall system.
2. Involves exploratory methodology and therefore involves higher risk.
3. Involves implementing and then repairing the way a system is built, so errors are an inherent part of the development process.

B'lore IT firms shut for Bharat Bandh

Hundreds of IT firms, including Indian bellwethers Infosys Technologies and Wipro will remain closed on Monday due to the nationwide shutdown against the hike in fuel prices.

The global software major, however, made arrangements for employees working on essential projects and business process outsourcing (BPO) services to work during the day, when the shutdown will be observed from dawn to dusk.

The $4.8-billion Infosys has its largest software development park in the electronics city, about 30 km from here, where about 16,000 employees work in its sprawling campus.

Similarly, Wipro, which has two software development parks in the electronics city and on the city's outskirts, declared a holiday, directing its employees to report for duty July 10 in lieu of Monday.

The country's largest IT bellwether -- Tata Consulting Services (TCS) was yet to decide whether to give off or not to its employees working in the Bangalore software development centre at Whitefield, about 20 km from the city.

Due to uncertainty of public transport by the state-run Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation (BMTC), hundreds of small and medium enterprises in IT and biotech sectors have extended the weekend holiday to their employees up to Monday.

As a precautionary measure, several multinational firms have also decided to give an off on Monday and ask their employees to compensate by working on a Saturday.

The nationwide shutdown has been called by the leading opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the ruling party in this southern state for the first time, the Janata Dal-United and the Left parties.

Indian ISP are offering cloud computing to everybody

According to a recent news, Sify Technologies, the large Indian Internet service provider, has launched a suite of cloud computing-based applications targeting the large number of people in India who do not own computers or have access to the Internet.

Key to Sify's strategy are the 1,200 Sify-branded Internet cafes spread across the country. These cafes, called Sify e-ports, operate as franchisees and use the company's broadband connections for Internet access. Sify plans to expand this base of cyber cafes by marketing a device to other cafe owners that will link them to the Sify cloud, enabling enable them to offer services from the cloud computing to their customers.

Sify is also launching a program that will allow people to purchase travel tickets, entertainment and educational services, as well as pay utility bills online without using their credit cards. Customers will instead pay in cash to the person running the cyber cafe, for services received through the new consumer cloud computing platform. The service is targeted at the large number of people who do not have credit cards or aren't comfortable making credit card payments online.

A large number of people in India's cities and small towns do not own computers or have Internet access, and they turn to shared facilities like cyber cafes. About 52 million urban Indians were active Internet users in September last year. Active users are defined as those who used the Internet at least once a month. About 37% of these users accessed the Internet through cyber cafes. The percentage of people who use cyber cafes is expected to be higher in rural areas.

Owners of cyber cafes are looking for revenue streams beyond just offering browsing facilities. Browsing rates have gone down even as real estate prices are going up. Besides current tie-ups with travel, education, and utility companies. There are a large number of infrequent users of applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and page layout software who would prefer to use the software in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, rather than buy a license themselves.

Sify also plans to offer the applications and other services on its consumer cloud to its broadband Internet customers, who would typically own a computer besides the connectivity. The company currently has about 100,000 broadband customers.