27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 1
27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 2
27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 3
27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 4
27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 5
27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 6
27th June 2011 MNR HD Part 7
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Document Generation Software
I'm jazzed about – of all things – reporting software. (And yeah, friends say I need to get out of the basement more.) Because at my last company, we used the "market leader" in reporting and business intelligence. It sucked. It was tedious (individually formatted fields?! c'mon) and I kept getting interrupted by coworkers with question after question after question.
Big thanks to Santosh, my new boss who gave me the power to try out and ultimately choose reporting and document generation software for our company. There are a few things I'm looking for. It has to be able to work with XML reports AND SQL reports. Our data is everywhere, but mainly SQL databases and XML files. We're not about to waste time transferring everything into one data storage format although we try to avoid Excel data and reports.
Our company has a lot of different programmers, so it also has to handle Java reports, .net reports, C# reports, visual basic reports, and C++ reports. And it would be great if it could create Python reports, PHP reports and Ruby reports. (Not to sound too greedy, but that's my wish list. We have a cool new programmer who keeps bugging me about ruby on rails reports. Let me find something so I can dump a bunch of this work on someone else.)
I'm in the middle of demoing Windward Reports and so far it's WAY better than what I was used to. They talk about their reporting software and business intelligence and say they can be used for java reports, dotnet reports and csharp reports. In our initial testing it has handled everything we've thrown at it.
It's fast and strong. It didn't take long to design my first report. (Actually, I asked one of the HR people to design a template – she designed it in about 20 minutes. I just had to tweak the data tags.) And it looks like they're about to launch software that is programming language agnostic. But we haven't explored everything Windward is supposed to be able to do. And don't get me started on Excel reports...
Any experience with Windward's reporting software or business intelligence stuff? Let me know – especially if you think it sucks as much as the "rhymes with pistol" software. I don't want the headaches all over again.
Big thanks to Santosh, my new boss who gave me the power to try out and ultimately choose reporting and document generation software for our company. There are a few things I'm looking for. It has to be able to work with XML reports AND SQL reports. Our data is everywhere, but mainly SQL databases and XML files. We're not about to waste time transferring everything into one data storage format although we try to avoid Excel data and reports.
Our company has a lot of different programmers, so it also has to handle Java reports, .net reports, C# reports, visual basic reports, and C++ reports. And it would be great if it could create Python reports, PHP reports and Ruby reports. (Not to sound too greedy, but that's my wish list. We have a cool new programmer who keeps bugging me about ruby on rails reports. Let me find something so I can dump a bunch of this work on someone else.)
I'm in the middle of demoing Windward Reports and so far it's WAY better than what I was used to. They talk about their reporting software and business intelligence and say they can be used for java reports, dotnet reports and csharp reports. In our initial testing it has handled everything we've thrown at it.
It's fast and strong. It didn't take long to design my first report. (Actually, I asked one of the HR people to design a template – she designed it in about 20 minutes. I just had to tweak the data tags.) And it looks like they're about to launch software that is programming language agnostic. But we haven't explored everything Windward is supposed to be able to do. And don't get me started on Excel reports...
Any experience with Windward's reporting software or business intelligence stuff? Let me know – especially if you think it sucks as much as the "rhymes with pistol" software. I don't want the headaches all over again.
Reporting Software
Big thanks to Santosh, my new boss who gave me the power to try out and ultimately choose reporting and document generation software for our company. There are a few things I'm looking for. It has to be able to work with XML reports AND SQL reports. Our data is everywhere, but mainly SQL databases and XML files. We're not about to waste time transferring everything into one data storage format although we try to avoid Excel data and reports.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
WWE RAW | June 20th 2011 | 6/20/2011 | Watch Online
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 1
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 2
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 3
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 4
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 5
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 6
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 7
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 8
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 9
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 2
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 3
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 4
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 5
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 6
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 7
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 8
20th June 2011 MNR HD Part 9
Monday, June 20, 2011
Lost in renovation
Last updated: 6/17/2011 10:00
A famous village in the suburbs of Hanoi, with houses dating back hundreds of years, has decided to turn its back on history, aesthetics and healthy living
A man walks past a house under construction in Cu Da Village in the outskirts of Hanoi. Famed for its century old European-style houses, the village has lost its charm since its inhabitants began to build new, modern homes.
In most countries, the village would have been a well preserved site, proudly touted as a cultural heritage, tourist attraction and so on.
But residents of Cu Da Village in Cu Khe Commune, backed by local authorities, are destroying it in a hurry.
And amidst the dust and din of construction, wisps of nostalgia and regret expressed by some old-timers disappear into thin air.
Located some 20 kilometers from Hanoi, the village is famous for hosting more than 400 houses of old Vietnamese and French architecture built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many houses in the neighborhood had become the village’s trademark, like the one belonging to Trinh Dinh Sung in Dong Nhan Cat Hamlet.
Built in 1864, the house is well-known for its architecture characteristic of the Nguyen Dynasty (1804-1839): 35 columns of precious wood divide the house into five different spaces.
Several dozen houses are as old as Sung’s, while around the same number are two-storied buildings boasting French architecture.
Dinh Van Tuong’s house at the entrance to An Lac alley has eye-catching highlights like Western-styled reliefs. The house, nearly 100 years old, also holds historic significance as the scene of a fight between Vietnamese soldiers and 200 troops of the French Foreign Legion in 1947.
Moreover, Cu Da is also the oldest, if not the only village to have its house numbered in order like urban administrative units when numbering started in 1929, according to historical records.
Its unique characteristics had made the ancient village a well-known destination for tourists.
However, Cu Da is now at risk of losing its originality and yesteryear atmosphere.
An almost tectonic shift seems to have occurred in the village after this year’s Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year festival, which fell in February) when many locals decided to start building new houses.
The rush built up so quickly that the venerable place now looks like a big construction site.
Every day, cyclos carrying bricks, concrete, iron and other materials keep going in and out of the village hundreds of times. Several shops selling construction materials and real estate agencies have opened around the small neighborhood.
The leaders of Cu Khe Commune told newswire VietnamNet that it was understandable that people want to build new houses, because the population was increasing and the condition of their old houses had worsened.
With the compensation they received after their agricultural lands were withdrawn for site clearance for an urban area project late last year, many people have been encouraged to renovate their homes, Vu Thanh Ngoc, chairman of the Cu Khe Commune People’s Committee, was quoted as saying.
According to the news source, under the site clearance plan, for every 360 square meters of land taken, affected locals would receive VND351 million (US$17,076), so a family on average got between VND1.5-2 billion ($72,974-97,299). Some received compensation of nearly VND6 billion ($291,899).
With this kind of money, it was not surprising residents are scrambling to build new houses, Ngoc said, adding that local authorities have no right to stop them.
Nearly 100 families are building new houses in the area, he said.
Trinh Dinh Binh, who has just seen his 200-year-old house replaced with a modern three-storied one, said: “With over VND3 billion ($45,701), my son wanted to build a new house although I tried to convince him not to do it.
“My son didn’t want to stay in the old house, because its condition had worsened over years. […] Actually, even if we had kept it, it would have collapsed by now,” said the man whose house was once considered one of the two oldest and most beautiful in the village.
Other residents who actually did not plan to build new homes for themselves seem unable to resist the current trend.
Vu Van Bang, who owns a house built in the 18th century, said his family never wanted to destroy their house, even though it was getting smaller as the family grew bigger.
While many people like multi-storied houses equipped with air-conditioners, Bang said, it was airier and healthier to live in old houses during the summer thanks to their smart architecture and design.
However, as many of his neighbors are building multi-storied houses, stopping the wind and cool air coming in from the fields and the river nearby, he will probably build a new house as well.
“It will be very sad if I have to destroy my present house some day in the future, but it can’t be helped,” Bang said with a sigh.
Sung, who owns a famous old house in the village, also said he didn’t plan to build a new house, because the one he has now is large enough for himself, his wife and his aunt, while all his children were working far away from home.
Still, the septuagenarian said he probably won’t be able to go against the trend, because his house might be at the risk of collapsing when people all around him built new houses.
“I’ll feel sorry if I have to destroy the house which I love and have preserved for my whole life. But I don’t know how long I will be able to keep it,” Sung said. “Even if I can keep it until the day I die, I’m not sure if my children will be able to do the same.”
Sung said his children don’t like the house, because “they gain nothing from it.”
“My house is famous, so many people come to visit it every day. But we can’t quit our work to welcome them all the time, because it takes time and gives us nothing in return,” he said.
Sung isn’t the only one who feels demotivated by the lack of financial return from preserving their old houses.
Vu Van Chung, vice chairman of Cu Khe People’s Committee, said it’s difficult to convince people to keep their houses intact because they “see no future” in doing so.
The condition of their houses has worsened, but residents have received no support to preserve them, Chung said.
Even if they can keep their houses intact, tourism in the area was not being managed properly, so the bottom line is that residents have gained no benefit from it, he added.
Village boys walk through an old gate at the hundred-year-old village of Cu Da
Reported by Minh Ha
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
WWE RAW | June 13th 2011 | 6/13/2011 | HDTV | Watch Online
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 1
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 2
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 3
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 4
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 5
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 6
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 7
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 8
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 9
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 2
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 3
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 4
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 5
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 6
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 7
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 8
13th June 2011 MNR HD Part 9
Monday, June 13, 2011
WWE RAW | May 30th 2011 | 5/30/2011 | HDTV | Watch Online
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 1
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 2
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 3
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 4
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 5
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 6
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 2
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 3
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 4
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 5
WWE RAW May/30th/2011 Part 6
Sunday, June 12, 2011
WWE RAW | June 6th 2011 | 6/6/2011 | HDTV | Watch Online
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 1
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 2
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 3
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 4
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 5
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 6
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 7
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 2
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 3
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 4
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 5
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 6
WWE RAW June/6th/2011 Part 7
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)