How does a building or temple with stone symbols send a message or communicate anything when it does not speak? Famous architects say that great buildings influence how you feel. How is that possible? Color, windows, light, large or small spaces, organization, and the architectural design of a building impact how you think and feel. Think about your experience and impressions in and around different buildings.
The Salt Lake Temple was commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and under the direction of the Prophet Brigham Young, it was designed by architect Truman O. Angell. Truman was very skilled and humble. His dedication and the details of his masterful designs and drawings were cited as an inspiration to every craftsman. The architectural design of the Salt Lake Temple is a unique composite of Romanesque modified by castellated style. Construction commenced in 1853 with the manual labor of cutting and carving granite stones and stone symbols. The exterior architecture of the Salt Lake Temple movingly uses the ethos, pathos, logos, repetition, contrast, and balance of stone symbols like the earth, moon, sun, and stars to invite all people to ponder the awesome universe and believe in God.
Webster defines “symbol” as an object used to represent something abstract with the example, “the dove is a symbol of peace.” In other words, symbols are something physical that represent something intellectual and intangible, or an idea. Regarding temple, “The Latin templum was the equivalent of the Hebrew beth Elohim and signified the abode of Deity; hence it meant literally the house of the Lord.” We know of several ancient temples including the Tabernacle of Israel, Solomon’s Temple, Zerubbabel’s Temple, Herod’s Temple, and temples in ancient America.
The Salt Lake Temple’s design includes 34 earth-stones with spheres 3 feet in diameter, 28” above the ground. These are the largest blocks at 5’6” x 4’6” x 1’8” tall and weigh about 3.5 tons each. It is very difficult to imagine hand carving a granite stone of this size, let alone transporting it by wagon pulled by oxen. This kind of manual labor and level of dedication, faith, and passion represents strong pathos, especially when we find out it took 40 backbreaking years to finish the Temple!
The Temple uses ethos, contrast, and repetition with 50 moon-stones, each representing a different lunar phase. How do you feel when you periodically recognize the moon in the night sky, the moon in the daytime sky and its changing shape from day to day or week to week? Its brightness at night is inspiring. Its contrast of lunar phases both at night and during the day is captivating.
There are 50 sun-stones, each with a perimeter edge of 52 points representing the sun’s hot ethos rays! The sun is the center of our solar system. Without the light of the sun, the earth and all people, plants, and animals would cease to exist. This idea had never come to mind before writing this essay. This is a good example of the teaching power of symbols because they can always bring new meaning and understanding to those who seek truth.
Five-point star-stones are numerous. There is one constellation of star stones, Ursa Major or Great Bear, commonly known as the Big Dipper - which actually points to the true North Star in heaven. Who says a constellation is not an excellent example of ethos? Nobody! Think about how the Big Dipper has helped men, from the beginning of time, navigate across the oceans of the earth. What happens to the pathos in our hearts when we see a clear night sky filled with billions and billions of stars? Even casual viewers love the moon and the stars. Some stars are like our sun, which is incredible. In addition, some suns are a part of solar systems something like ours. These ideas magnify our understanding of the idea of stars that look like a tiny speck of light in the night sky. The universe with galaxies and solar systems is wonderful and astonishing.
There are light rays piercing through cloud-stones, two record-stones, inscription-stones, one clasped-hands stone, and other symbols. If the idea of clouds is not spectacular enough with ethos-light¬ piercing rays, consider the contrast of ideas between clouds, which usually represent a cover or light inhibitor and the rays of light piercing trough the clouds.
We see repetition by the large number of stone symbols. Contrast and balance is evident with the different types of symbols and lunar variations. At the same time, the number and types of stone symbols may seem immense and overwhelming, yet that is not what people feel when looking at the temple. The stone symbols on the building are apparent but subtle and balanced. If you do not already know what to look for, or were not paying attention, you would not recognize all the different types of stone symbols. They do not intrusively jump out at you or shout, “Look at me.” Their appearance is like a calm voice, or a whisper. All these stone symbols on the Temple represent a masterful balance in Truman’s overall architectural design of the building.
The response is different from person to person, yet the stone symbols do make us think and feel. The stone symbols seem to say, “Remember.” Do you remember the excitement of seeing a shooting star? Remember how amazingly bright a full moon is at night? Remember a sunset on the beach? Remember a sky full of billions of stars on a clear night in the mountains or desert? Remember the beautiful plants, trees, flowers, rivers, oceans, mountains and valleys you have visited on the earth? Remember the birds, fish, insects, and animals? Remember the sun and the seasons of the year? How does it all function together?
The Salt Lake Temple stone symbols invite people to ponder life, the creation of the earth, our solar system, and the universe. Looking beyond the basic symbolic representation, the stone symbols cause us to ask deeper questions. Is there life after death? Is there a heaven? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Did life begin when I was born? Was I alive before I came to earth? Is God a real person?
There is no dispute about the existence of the physical objects that these stone symbols represent. The basic questions of the existence, credibility, trustworthiness, logic, and function of the earth, sun, moon, and stars is full of logos and is almost undisputable. At the same time, we know that historically people used to think the earth was flat, that the sun rotated around the earth, and that our solar system was the whole universe. Today most people believe that the earth rotates around the sun. Yet we keep discovering and learning more every year. The more we learn, the more we realize that we do not know. From experience, we know that some of today’s facts become tomorrow’s fallacies. Nevertheless, we cannot escape what we know today, or the basic questions about life.
Symbols are understandably open to individual interpretation and I personally do not claim any expertise on the subject, let alone provide a thorough list of possible meanings. Quite the contrary, I have intentionally limited my translation and definition of symbols. Like most words, symbols have multiple definitions and meanings. Their translation and interpretation may seem cryptographic. Their meaning is the context of personal and individual understanding, and can be intelligent and wise no matter if you are a PhD or in the first grade. Robert L. Millet wrote, “We do not see things as they really are; we see things as we really are.” What do the stone symbols mean to you? What do you think about and feel when you see a sunrise or beautiful sunset?
Although I have visited and gazed at the Salt Lake Temple, from my research on this essay, I have learned there are more symbols than I had previously recognized. I have been reminded that buildings do communicate. Buildings make us think and feel. Symbols have more meanings that I perceive, and are well worth pondering more about. For me, I certainly can learn more by pondering about stone symbols.
Finally, I heard that a California college president proposed that there are three questions every student should ask him or herself to be happy in life. One of those questions was something like, “Regardless of what religion you believe, how do you feel about God and what are you going to do about it?”
The Salt Lake Temple’s stone symbols’ claim the earth, moon, sun, and stars are awesome, and God lives. Buildings and temples can speak and send messages. Temples communicate by their architectural design and stone symbols. It is the meaning of what they represent that causes each of us to think and feel more deeply. More importantly, how do these Temple stone symbols make you feel about the awesome universe and God?
Works Cited
* Hamilton, Ph.D. & Cutrubus, C. Nina
“The Salt Lake Temple: A Monument to a People”
University Services Corporation, 1983
* Hansen, Gerald E.,
“Sacred Walls, Learning from Temple Symbols”
Covenant Communications, Inc, 2009
* Madsen, Truman G.,
“The Temple, Where Heaven Meets Earth”
Desert Book Company, 2008, p. 59
*McConkie, Bruce R.,
“Mormon Doctrine”
Bookcraft, 1966, Symbolism
* Packer, Boyd K.,
“The Holy Temple”
Bookcraft, 1980, p. 40
* Talmage, James E.,
“The House of the Lord”
Desert Book Company, 1971
---, ---, “Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”
Ensign, Special Issue, October 2010, p. 53
Copyright © 2010 Michael Rybin All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Federal Government IT Specialists earn almost as much as an IT Vice President
(updated December 18, 2010)
The following chart has a few Federal-government job announcements. Notice the IT Specialist job with a maximum salary up to 140k. Wow! It looks like some Federal Government IT Specialists earn almost as much as a Director or Vice President of a publicly traded company.
The following chart has a few Federal-government job announcements. Notice the IT Specialist job with a maximum salary up to 140k. Wow! It looks like some Federal Government IT Specialists earn almost as much as a Director or Vice President of a publicly traded company.
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Demographic Details
The above government IT-Specialist salary ranges reminded me of the recent Computer World Salary survey. Computer World has been publishing their annual salary report for more than 12 years. It is more accurate and creditable than recently born Internet sites like salary.com.
The above government IT-Specialist salary ranges reminded me of the recent Computer World Salary survey. Computer World has been publishing their annual salary report for more than 12 years. It is more accurate and creditable than recently born Internet sites like salary.com.
This small government salary sample is not a face-to-face comparison to the Computer World salary report. Nor is this article intended to be a comprehensive analytical study, meaning, it does not include a job-to-job analysis, or a study of duties and skills. However, there are some insights in the following perspective.
Computer World's survey of IT-salaries do not include pay ranges that represent the entire career-life of an employee like the Federal government salary ranges. Yet, comparing the starting-salary of Federal government jobs to the entry-level job salary in the Computer World's salary report is equitable, particularly because the difference of averages was greater and therefore unsuitable. In addition, the lowest salary jobs were compared to each other, or highest to highest, not the lowest to the highest.
Apples to Apples
Apples to Apples
Computer World had six IT job titles including the term “Specialist.” In the government sample data, the lowest IT Specialist salary was $54k compared to the lowest Computer World IT Specialist salary at $50k, for a minor difference of $4k in favor of the government job. The highest government IT Specialist salary was $107 compared to the highest Computer World IT Specialist salary at $93k, for a difference of $14k in favor of the government job.
The maximum salary range of the best paying government IT Specialist job is $140k. No entry-level jobs or middle-management jobs, in the 2010 Computer World salary survey, matched the government IT Specialist salary of $140k. The closest comparison was in the Computer World Senior-management level of an “IT Architect / Strategist” at $143k, and a “Director / Vice President” at $146k.
When this article was published the first 24 government IT Specialist jobs listed paid over $100k, and the salary range for the top government IT Specialist was $127k to $210k USD per year. If you would like to see more detailed data, click on this link.
In the past, government jobs paid less but their retirement benefits were much better than most civilian company's. Today, at least for IT workers it looks like government pay, benefits and retirement are better than private companies salary and benefits, especially because many U.S. private IT jobs are now given to foreign citizens employees, overseas and here in the States.
In the past, government jobs paid less but their retirement benefits were much better than most civilian company's. Today, at least for IT workers it looks like government pay, benefits and retirement are better than private companies salary and benefits, especially because many U.S. private IT jobs are now given to foreign citizens employees, overseas and here in the States.
Here are some related questions. Will the Federal government offshore more jobs, in the future, like publicly traded companies today? However, does that mean that the Federal government salary for an IT Specialist job in India will be less or equal to the same U.S. based position? We know that public companies pay India employees much less. If we subcontracted our Federal Government jobs, could we expect a significant tax cut? On the other hand, are public companies paying enough today? Sorry, the complexities of these issues have generated more questions than answers for this short article.
On a side note, recently a friend told me that he went into the State government office and the person at the counter could barely speak English. Understandably, the service representative was unable to understand or help.
In conclusion, the sample government salary-data makes us question if we are reaching equality or just getting greedier like Enron executives. It would be interesting to see a comprehensive analytical study of government to private-company salary and benefits.
In conclusion, the sample government salary-data makes us question if we are reaching equality or just getting greedier like Enron executives. It would be interesting to see a comprehensive analytical study of government to private-company salary and benefits.
Copyright © 2010 Michael Rybin All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
NASA Software Engineering Laboratory
Updated Nov. 3, 2010
A Brief Overview of the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory (NASA SEL)
The goal of this paper is to prompt further investigation and study of the SEL resources and processes and their potential benefit to your organization. It provides a brief overview of the experience of the NASA's Software Engineering Laboratory (NASA SEL) and a basic understanding of its organization, process improvement approach, and its experimentation and operations -- including their "Keys to Software Development Success" and "Do's and Don'ts for Project Success" plus a list of some of their experiments and reports.
Foreword
The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) for the purpose of studying the effectiveness of software engineering technologies and improving the overall software process and products that are developed within the GSFC Flight Dynamics Division (FDD). The SEL was created in 1976 and has three primary organizational members:
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
* the user and manager of all of the relevant software systems
University of Maryland, Department of Computer Science
or Experimental Software Engineering Group (ESEG)
* with the focus of advanced concepts in software process and experimentation
Computer Sciences Corporation, Software Engineering Operation
* the major contractor responsible for building and maintaining the software used to support the NASA missions (note: the CSC recently won the milti-billion dollar IRS upgrade contract)
SEL Background
At the time the SEL was established, significant advances were being made in software engineering. However, very little empirical evidence existed for selecting and applying promising techniques and processes. In fact, little guidance was available regarding which approaches were of any value in software production. Additionally, there was very limited data available to qualify or quantify the existing software process and associated products, or to aid in understanding the impact of specific methods. Thus, the SEL staff developed a means by which the software process and products could be understood, measured, qualified, and objectively improved.
SEL Introduction
Since its inception, the SEL has conducted experiments on approximately 130 production software projects at NASA/GSFC, in which numerous software process changes have been applied, measured, and analyzed. Software engineering projects have approximately 250 personnel who, in roughly 1-2 years, develop and maintain complex products and systems with about 10K to 1.5 million software lines of code. The continual experimentation with software process and products has yielded an extensive set of empirical studies that has guided the evolution of standards, management practices, technologies, and training within the organization. Because of these studies, appropriate processes have been adopted and tailored within the environment, which has guided the SEL to improve the software products, significantly. Additionally, the SEL has produced over 200 reports that describe experiences from the experimentation process and its overall software process improvement approach.
Through experimentation and sustained study of software process and its resultant product, the SEL has been able to identify refinements to its software process and to improve product characteristics. This effort has been driven throughout by the goals of achieving significant overall improvement in three product measures:
Since a major GSFC reorganization in January 1998, GSFC sponsorship for the SEL has transferred from the FDD to the new Information Systems Center (ISC). The wider scope of the ISC's software responsibilities should lead to the SEL collecting data across more software domains and processes.
SEL Goals
SEL Organizational Structure
The SEL organization consists of three functional areas: software developers, software engineering process analysts, and data base support.
SEL Process Improvement Strategy - reuse of experience/tasks
Over the years, the SEL has selected from an array of evolving software technologies (e.g., new languages, tools, and processes) and applied the chosen ones in the FDD production environment during development, testing, and maintenance. It simultaneously measured the impact of these technologies on the products being created. In this way, the most beneficial approaches were identified through these empirical studies and then standardized, once improvements were identified.
SEL Bottom-Up Process Improvement Concept
The most significant changes to the SEL process improvement concept are being driven by experience at attempts to infuse process change and improvements within a "real" production organization. The SEL improvement concept can be described as a “bottom-up” software improvement approach, where the focus is process, defined and improved based on corporate knowledge that is extracted from the experiences of people at the lowest level or bottom of the project organization. This reuse of experience is the driving element for change and improvement in the software process. It is used with the more traditional top-down approach, or Capability Maturity Model, which focus is product changes. Each concept plays an important role in the goal of improving software development business.
SEL Reuse of Experience
Historically, a significant shortcoming in software development organizations has been their failure to capitalize on experience gained from similar completed projects. Most of the insight gained has been passively obtained instead of being aggressively pursued. One example, the SEL conducts post phase analysis compared with the more traditional post project analysis. Software developers and managers generally do not have the time or resources to focus on building corporate knowledge or planning organizational process improvements. They have projects to run and software to deliver. Thus, reuse of experience and collective learning must become a corporate priority and asset. Reuse of experience and collective learning must be supported by an organizational infrastructure dedicated to developing, updating, and supplying regular synthesized experiences and competencies. This organizational infrastructure emphasizes achieving continuous sustained improvement over identifying possible technology breakthroughs.
SEL Experimentation and Analysis
For each project, detailed measurements were provided toward the end goal of analyzing the impact that any change to software process had on the resultant software product. If a new process experiment did not prove beneficial to the product, it is not incorporated into the SEL standards.
SEL Analyzing Data
"One of the most important facts that the SEL has learned from its experience with analysis of software data is that the actual measurement data represent only one small element of experimental software engineering. Too often, data can be misinterpreted, used out of context, or weighted too heavily even when the quality of the information may be suspect." One of several key rules: "Software measures will be flawed, inconsistent, and incomplete; the analysis must take this into account. Do not place unfounded confidence in raw measurement data." Note: SEL data can be acquired for independent studies, research, and analyses.
SEL Data Collection Categories
The SEL conducts three general types of analysis, all of which are active continually in the environment:
SEL Improvement Cycles
"During the understanding phase of the SEL paradigm, the goal is to produce a baseline of development practices and products attributes against which change can be measured as process modifications are applied. . . . The most critical element of the SEL’s process improvement program is the understanding step -- where the only goal is to gain insight into the local software business."
The two most critical core measures that the SEL has found are:
Assessing / Experiments
Of all the models and relations that the SEL has developed during the understanding phase, the most useful for project planning and management and for observing change have been:
The primary products of the packaging step are standards, tools, and training that give practical guidance on how to apply the new techniques in the context of the local process. See the following sections titled "Recent SEL Technology Case Studies" and "Short SEL Documentation List" for a list of public documents.
Although the technology reports are valuable, the full value of the process analysis is felt when modifications and enhancements are made to the instruments that actually guide the way the development/maintenance organization carries out its business. These include standards, tools, and training classes.
Probably the most important lesson that has been derived from the studies is that specific techniques can help the overall goals of process improvement when appropriately selected and tailored. However, the most effective element of the improvement paradigm is the continuous analysis of the software business and the continuous expansion of the understanding of the software process and product.
SEL Tools
An important packaging concept is the infusion of technology in the form of support tools for use by project personnel. The SEL developed a project management tool called the Software Management Environment (SME). SME provides project managers access to the SEL database of previous project data and access to the baseline set of SEL process models. The SEL also provides tools to automate parts of the software measurement process, working forms and a detailed training plan.
SEL Standards
Although the initial plan was to begin experimenting with various techniques, the SEL soon learned that without a firm, well-understood baseline of process and product characteristics, valid experimentation was impossible. However, most important is the process by which the SEL gathers the information and ensures that the standards reflect the actual process -- process that experiments, analyses and more importantly experience, proved measurably beneficial to the product.
The SEL development organization uses a standard set of policies that is updated on a periodic basis to reflect new experimentation results. It comprises a set of guidebooks that describe the SEL’s baseline methodology and several guidebooks that define major tailoring instances of the baseline process.
The SEL has evolved its approach to standards over the years. The SEL has found that the baseline process is best presented at a medium level of detail (between principles and detailed procedures); it is more important to communicate the rationale and guidance for applying the methods on projects rather than providing detailed procedures for them. This allows the detailed procedures to evolve as improvements are made and specific project needs change, without requiring waivers or continual updates to the formal standards. The SEL typically updates its baseline standards every 5 years.
SEL Baseline Standards
The total investment that the SEL has made in the improvement of process and products has been approximately 11 percent of the total software development cost.
SEL Results on Process
Although specific techniques or methodologies may have measurable impact on a class of projects, significant improvement to the software development process occurs where the sustained, continuous incorporation of detailed techniques into higher-level organizational process effects an overall change in the environment. The most significant process attributes that distinguish the current SEL production environment from the environment of a decade ago include:
1. Process change has been infused as a standard business practice
All standards and training material now contain elements of the continuous improvement approach to experimentation that has been promoted by the SEL.
2. Measurement is now our way of doing business
The measurement activity is as common a part of the software standards as documentation.
3. Change is now driven by product and process, not merely process alone
A set of product goals is always defined before process change is infused, and because of this, measures of product are as important as (and probably more important than) those of process.
4. Change is now bottom-up
Direct input from developers as well as measures extracted from development activities are essential factors in change.
5. “People-oriented” technologies are emphasized rather than automation
Automation techniques have sometimes provided improvement, but people-driven approaches, leverage the thinking ability of the developers, have had farther-reaching effects.
6. Focus on a single goal for each process/technology change
Provide a clear definition of the expected change and measure its effect, rather than overload a single project with multiple changes hoping that at least one will work.
7. Deploy a subset of the changes as soon as the benefit is shown
Often it is clear that certain sub-processes or techniques, deployed early, are very beneficial even though the entire new process/technology may not yet be proven.
8. Allocate sufficient experimental time for iterative application/learning of new concepts
The SEL’s experience shows the benefit of taking a little more time to develop a more usable product rather than deploying the more abstract concepts first.
9. Set improvement time expectations appropriately
The more familiar the organization is with the process being changed, the faster it can be tuned and deployed, and its impact realized.
SEL Results on Products
The SEL process produces systems with about 50 bugs compared to 850 bugs without the SEL process, with approximately the same software lines of code, resources, cost, and schedule. The metrics collected have been critical for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of new modifications to the software development process that are frequently incorporated within special experiments or standard projects. Such evaluations of new techniques have allowed the SEL to tailor the techniques to the best advantage of the environment. The SEL was able to document these achievements through its rigorous Data Collection and Reporting System (DC&RS).
The SEL reports the following results over the long term. The baseline measurements to evaluate improvement include total cost, total duration, development error rate, reuse percentage, cost per new line of code, and cost per delivered line of code.
Because of its history of achievement, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in 1994 recognized the NASA SEL as the inaugural recipient of the IEEE Computer Society Award for Software Process Achievement.
SEL Technology Case Studies
Publications are available to the public at no charge. The entire collection of SEL literature is described in the Annotated Bibliography of SEL Literature. See also the “Standard Bibliography of SEL Literature”, which lists all current SEL titles.
The SEL has packaged its process improvement experience (methods) in the form of guidebooks, such as the Software Measurement Guidebook, that are designed to be used outside, as well as inside, the SEL. Many of these results are published in software engineering journals and presented at major international conferences.
SEL Workshops
To facilitate the sharing of software engineering experiences among practitioners, the SEL sponsors an annual Software Engineering Workshop, with paper sessions, panels, and tutorials -- which has been rated as the best conference for software practitioners.
Conclusion
The SEL’s success with incremental process change, as opposed to leading edge technology adoption, has led them to select the experimental approach to changing process gradually. The improvements in product characteristics and development process standards illustrate the impact of the SEL improvement program and it is value to other organizations. Today, software developers in this organization are building better software more efficiently using many techniques and methods considered experimental only a few years ago because of the SEL.
For a comprehensive overview see "The Improvement Cycle: Analyzing Our Experience" and An Overview of the Software Engineering Laboratory and other reports and forms go to The NASA Software Engineering Laboratory Database or The Goddard Library.
References, Updates, Forms, and Studies
Old links were updated and connected to archives where the original source was no longer available. There was simply not enough time to post all the original reference documents to my Scribd archive. So if you are interested in a referenced document that has no link, let me know. If I have a copy, I will post it.
Some reference links to forms and studies were removed because the original source was not maintained and no archive was available at the time of this publication. If you know of a link to an original reference or archive, please let me know and I will add a link. In addition, where links or documents are no long available, I can add copies to my Scribd archive, if you would like to share copies.
Additional References
Software Process Improvement In the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory
Copyright © 2010 Michael Rybin All Rights Reserved.
Originally published and Copyright © 1999 Michael Rybin All Rights Reserved.
Many direct and indirect references to NASA SEL information are included. Copyright information, documents, graphics, brand names, and trademarks from NASA and SEL affiliates are open-source, public domain, or the property of the respective owners. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Preface to the 2010 Edition
The following article was presented in 1999 to introduce the value of measurable software process improvement to commercial and publicly traded software development companies. These ideas are vital today, so I am publishing it again.
Executive Summary
The cost to "implement measurable software process improvement" is 11 percent of the total software development cost. Some argue that is too expensive or the following results are not accurate. The question is, how much do you pay for current improvements and do your results show a return on investment? In addition, are there any SEL ideas that are worth the investment and testing in your company?
The SEL reports the following results over the long term.
- 85-percent reduction in software errors
- 35-percent reduction in cost to develop a new line of code
- 60-percent reduction in development cost
- 340-percent increase in overall improvement reuse
- 25-percent reduction in cycle time
The goal of this paper is to prompt further investigation and study of the SEL resources and processes and their potential benefit to your organization. It provides a brief overview of the experience of the NASA's Software Engineering Laboratory (NASA SEL) and a basic understanding of its organization, process improvement approach, and its experimentation and operations -- including their "Keys to Software Development Success" and "Do's and Don'ts for Project Success" plus a list of some of their experiments and reports.
Foreword
The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) for the purpose of studying the effectiveness of software engineering technologies and improving the overall software process and products that are developed within the GSFC Flight Dynamics Division (FDD). The SEL was created in 1976 and has three primary organizational members:
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
* the user and manager of all of the relevant software systems
University of Maryland, Department of Computer Science
or Experimental Software Engineering Group (ESEG)
* with the focus of advanced concepts in software process and experimentation
Computer Sciences Corporation, Software Engineering Operation
* the major contractor responsible for building and maintaining the software used to support the NASA missions (note: the CSC recently won the milti-billion dollar IRS upgrade contract)
SEL Background
At the time the SEL was established, significant advances were being made in software engineering. However, very little empirical evidence existed for selecting and applying promising techniques and processes. In fact, little guidance was available regarding which approaches were of any value in software production. Additionally, there was very limited data available to qualify or quantify the existing software process and associated products, or to aid in understanding the impact of specific methods. Thus, the SEL staff developed a means by which the software process and products could be understood, measured, qualified, and objectively improved.
SEL Introduction
Since its inception, the SEL has conducted experiments on approximately 130 production software projects at NASA/GSFC, in which numerous software process changes have been applied, measured, and analyzed. Software engineering projects have approximately 250 personnel who, in roughly 1-2 years, develop and maintain complex products and systems with about 10K to 1.5 million software lines of code. The continual experimentation with software process and products has yielded an extensive set of empirical studies that has guided the evolution of standards, management practices, technologies, and training within the organization. Because of these studies, appropriate processes have been adopted and tailored within the environment, which has guided the SEL to improve the software products, significantly. Additionally, the SEL has produced over 200 reports that describe experiences from the experimentation process and its overall software process improvement approach.
Through experimentation and sustained study of software process and its resultant product, the SEL has been able to identify refinements to its software process and to improve product characteristics. This effort has been driven throughout by the goals of achieving significant overall improvement in three product measures:
- Reduction in defect rate of delivered software
- Reduction in cost of software to support similar missions
- Reduction in average cycle time to produce mission support software
Since a major GSFC reorganization in January 1998, GSFC sponsorship for the SEL has transferred from the FDD to the new Information Systems Center (ISC). The wider scope of the ISC's software responsibilities should lead to the SEL collecting data across more software domains and processes.
SEL Goals
- Understand the software development process in the GSFC environment
- Measure the effect of various methodologies and tools on the process and product during development
- Identify, publish, standardize, and apply successful development practices
SEL Organizational Structure
SEL Process Improvement Strategy - reuse of experience/tasks
Over the years, the SEL has selected from an array of evolving software technologies (e.g., new languages, tools, and processes) and applied the chosen ones in the FDD production environment during development, testing, and maintenance. It simultaneously measured the impact of these technologies on the products being created. In this way, the most beneficial approaches were identified through these empirical studies and then standardized, once improvements were identified.
SEL Bottom-Up Process Improvement Concept
The most significant changes to the SEL process improvement concept are being driven by experience at attempts to infuse process change and improvements within a "real" production organization. The SEL improvement concept can be described as a “bottom-up” software improvement approach, where the focus is process, defined and improved based on corporate knowledge that is extracted from the experiences of people at the lowest level or bottom of the project organization. This reuse of experience is the driving element for change and improvement in the software process. It is used with the more traditional top-down approach, or Capability Maturity Model, which focus is product changes. Each concept plays an important role in the goal of improving software development business.
SEL Reuse of Experience
Historically, a significant shortcoming in software development organizations has been their failure to capitalize on experience gained from similar completed projects. Most of the insight gained has been passively obtained instead of being aggressively pursued. One example, the SEL conducts post phase analysis compared with the more traditional post project analysis. Software developers and managers generally do not have the time or resources to focus on building corporate knowledge or planning organizational process improvements. They have projects to run and software to deliver. Thus, reuse of experience and collective learning must become a corporate priority and asset. Reuse of experience and collective learning must be supported by an organizational infrastructure dedicated to developing, updating, and supplying regular synthesized experiences and competencies. This organizational infrastructure emphasizes achieving continuous sustained improvement over identifying possible technology breakthroughs.
SEL Experimentation and Analysis
For each project, detailed measurements were provided toward the end goal of analyzing the impact that any change to software process had on the resultant software product. If a new process experiment did not prove beneficial to the product, it is not incorporated into the SEL standards.
SEL Analyzing Data
"One of the most important facts that the SEL has learned from its experience with analysis of software data is that the actual measurement data represent only one small element of experimental software engineering. Too often, data can be misinterpreted, used out of context, or weighted too heavily even when the quality of the information may be suspect." One of several key rules: "Software measures will be flawed, inconsistent, and incomplete; the analysis must take this into account. Do not place unfounded confidence in raw measurement data." Note: SEL data can be acquired for independent studies, research, and analyses.
SEL Data Collection Categories
- Project information high-level information about projects and personnel.
- Product information estimated and actual counts of components, applications, and source lines of code (SLOC).
- Process information effort estimates, test estimates, actual effort data, inspection data, change data, and testing data.
- Schedule information actual and estimated phase start and end dates, build start and end dates, and milestone dates.
- Metadata data about data or the database, form status, SEL terminology and database table descriptions.
- Application/Subsystem Information
- Component Name Change
- Component Origination
- Change Request
- Development Completion
- Development Estimates
- Development Status
- Inspection Data Collection
- Independent Testing Status
- Project Information
- Project Messages
- Project Startup
- Reuse Information
- Software Release Estimates
- Weekly Effort & Help
- Weekly Services
- Weekly Independent Testing Effort
- Instructions for the COTS & Tool Information
The SEL conducts three general types of analysis, all of which are active continually in the environment:
- Pilot Studies of specific techniques and technologies on a project(s)
- Studies of completed projects for development and refinement of local process and product models
- Trend analysis of completed projects to track impact of specific process changes on whole environment
- Each improvement cycle begins with setting improvement goals based on the current business needs and strategic direction of the organization.
- The next step is to identify software engineering technologies (processes, methods, and/or tools) that are likely to affect the leverage area.
- The third and longest step of the improvement cycle is to conduct experiments to understand the value and applicability of the new technology in the local organization.
- The final step in an improvement cycle is to deploy the beneficial process/technology throughout the organization.
"During the understanding phase of the SEL paradigm, the goal is to produce a baseline of development practices and products attributes against which change can be measured as process modifications are applied. . . . The most critical element of the SEL’s process improvement program is the understanding step -- where the only goal is to gain insight into the local software business."
The two most critical core measures that the SEL has found are:
- error data including numbers and five types of errors (Computational, Initialization, Logic/control, Interface, and Calculation); and
- effort data including total weekly hours by life-cycle phase and by activity.
Assessing / Experiments
Of all the models and relations that the SEL has developed during the understanding phase, the most useful for project planning and management and for observing change have been:
- Effort distribution (cost characteristics).
- Error characteristics (numbers, types, origins).
- Change and growth rates (of the source code during development).
The primary products of the packaging step are standards, tools, and training that give practical guidance on how to apply the new techniques in the context of the local process. See the following sections titled "Recent SEL Technology Case Studies" and "Short SEL Documentation List" for a list of public documents.
Although the technology reports are valuable, the full value of the process analysis is felt when modifications and enhancements are made to the instruments that actually guide the way the development/maintenance organization carries out its business. These include standards, tools, and training classes.
Probably the most important lesson that has been derived from the studies is that specific techniques can help the overall goals of process improvement when appropriately selected and tailored. However, the most effective element of the improvement paradigm is the continuous analysis of the software business and the continuous expansion of the understanding of the software process and product.
SEL Tools
An important packaging concept is the infusion of technology in the form of support tools for use by project personnel. The SEL developed a project management tool called the Software Management Environment (SME). SME provides project managers access to the SEL database of previous project data and access to the baseline set of SEL process models. The SEL also provides tools to automate parts of the software measurement process, working forms and a detailed training plan.
SEL Standards
Although the initial plan was to begin experimenting with various techniques, the SEL soon learned that without a firm, well-understood baseline of process and product characteristics, valid experimentation was impossible. However, most important is the process by which the SEL gathers the information and ensures that the standards reflect the actual process -- process that experiments, analyses and more importantly experience, proved measurably beneficial to the product.
The SEL development organization uses a standard set of policies that is updated on a periodic basis to reflect new experimentation results. It comprises a set of guidebooks that describe the SEL’s baseline methodology and several guidebooks that define major tailoring instances of the baseline process.
The SEL has evolved its approach to standards over the years. The SEL has found that the baseline process is best presented at a medium level of detail (between principles and detailed procedures); it is more important to communicate the rationale and guidance for applying the methods on projects rather than providing detailed procedures for them. This allows the detailed procedures to evolve as improvements are made and specific project needs change, without requiring waivers or continual updates to the formal standards. The SEL typically updates its baseline standards every 5 years.
SEL Baseline Standards
- Manager’s Handbook for Software Development
- Recommended Approach to Software Development
- Operational Software Maintenance Procedures
- Cost and Schedule Estimation Study Report
- Data Collection Procedures for the SEL Database
- Ada Developer’s Supplement to the Recommended Approach
- C Style Guide
- Cleanroom Process Model
The total investment that the SEL has made in the improvement of process and products has been approximately 11 percent of the total software development cost.
SEL Results on Process
Although specific techniques or methodologies may have measurable impact on a class of projects, significant improvement to the software development process occurs where the sustained, continuous incorporation of detailed techniques into higher-level organizational process effects an overall change in the environment. The most significant process attributes that distinguish the current SEL production environment from the environment of a decade ago include:
1. Process change has been infused as a standard business practice
All standards and training material now contain elements of the continuous improvement approach to experimentation that has been promoted by the SEL.
2. Measurement is now our way of doing business
The measurement activity is as common a part of the software standards as documentation.
3. Change is now driven by product and process, not merely process alone
A set of product goals is always defined before process change is infused, and because of this, measures of product are as important as (and probably more important than) those of process.
4. Change is now bottom-up
Direct input from developers as well as measures extracted from development activities are essential factors in change.
5. “People-oriented” technologies are emphasized rather than automation
Automation techniques have sometimes provided improvement, but people-driven approaches, leverage the thinking ability of the developers, have had farther-reaching effects.
6. Focus on a single goal for each process/technology change
Provide a clear definition of the expected change and measure its effect, rather than overload a single project with multiple changes hoping that at least one will work.
7. Deploy a subset of the changes as soon as the benefit is shown
Often it is clear that certain sub-processes or techniques, deployed early, are very beneficial even though the entire new process/technology may not yet be proven.
8. Allocate sufficient experimental time for iterative application/learning of new concepts
The SEL’s experience shows the benefit of taking a little more time to develop a more usable product rather than deploying the more abstract concepts first.
9. Set improvement time expectations appropriately
The more familiar the organization is with the process being changed, the faster it can be tuned and deployed, and its impact realized.
SEL Results on Products
The SEL process produces systems with about 50 bugs compared to 850 bugs without the SEL process, with approximately the same software lines of code, resources, cost, and schedule. The metrics collected have been critical for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of new modifications to the software development process that are frequently incorporated within special experiments or standard projects. Such evaluations of new techniques have allowed the SEL to tailor the techniques to the best advantage of the environment. The SEL was able to document these achievements through its rigorous Data Collection and Reporting System (DC&RS).
The SEL reports the following results over the long term. The baseline measurements to evaluate improvement include total cost, total duration, development error rate, reuse percentage, cost per new line of code, and cost per delivered line of code.
- 85-percent reduction in software errors
- 35-percent reduction in cost to develop a new line of code
- 60-percent reduction in development cost
- 340-percent increase in overall improvement reuse
- 25-percent reduction in cycle time
- Also a measure of predictability, a subjective measure difficult to quantify
Because of its history of achievement, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in 1994 recognized the NASA SEL as the inaugural recipient of the IEEE Computer Society Award for Software Process Achievement.
SEL Technology Case Studies
- Requirement Metrics for Risk Identification
- Baselining the New GSFC Information Systems Center
- The SEL Adapts to Meet Changing Times
- Packaged-Based Development Process in the FDD
- The Web Measurement Environment: A Tool for Combining and Modeling Distributed Data
- The Improvement Cycle: Analyzing Our Experience
- Evolving the Reuse Process
- Studies on Reading Techniques
- Risk Knowledge Capture in the Riskit Method
- Package-Based System Development
- Development Process for Generic Reusable Systems
- Perspective-Based Requirements Reading
- Recent Research Results for Software Maintenance
- Improving the Software Testing Process in the SEL
Publications are available to the public at no charge. The entire collection of SEL literature is described in the Annotated Bibliography of SEL Literature. See also the “Standard Bibliography of SEL Literature”, which lists all current SEL titles.
- Recommended Approach to Software Development
- Ada Developers' Supplement to the Recommended Approach
- Manager's Handbook for Software Development
- Cost and Schedule Estimation Study Report
- C Style Guide
- An Overview of the Software Engineering Laboratory
- Software Measurement Guidebook
- Impact of Ada and Object-Oriented Design in the Flight Dynamics Division at NASA/GSFC
- Software Process Improvement Guide
- SEL COTS Study, Phase 1 - Initial Characterization Study Report
The SEL has packaged its process improvement experience (methods) in the form of guidebooks, such as the Software Measurement Guidebook, that are designed to be used outside, as well as inside, the SEL. Many of these results are published in software engineering journals and presented at major international conferences.
SEL Workshops
To facilitate the sharing of software engineering experiences among practitioners, the SEL sponsors an annual Software Engineering Workshop, with paper sessions, panels, and tutorials -- which has been rated as the best conference for software practitioners.
Conclusion
The SEL’s success with incremental process change, as opposed to leading edge technology adoption, has led them to select the experimental approach to changing process gradually. The improvements in product characteristics and development process standards illustrate the impact of the SEL improvement program and it is value to other organizations. Today, software developers in this organization are building better software more efficiently using many techniques and methods considered experimental only a few years ago because of the SEL.
For a comprehensive overview see "The Improvement Cycle: Analyzing Our Experience" and An Overview of the Software Engineering Laboratory and other reports and forms go to The NASA Software Engineering Laboratory Database or The Goddard Library.
References, Updates, Forms, and Studies
Old links were updated and connected to archives where the original source was no longer available. There was simply not enough time to post all the original reference documents to my Scribd archive. So if you are interested in a referenced document that has no link, let me know. If I have a copy, I will post it.
Some reference links to forms and studies were removed because the original source was not maintained and no archive was available at the time of this publication. If you know of a link to an original reference or archive, please let me know and I will add a link. In addition, where links or documents are no long available, I can add copies to my Scribd archive, if you would like to share copies.
Additional References
Software Process Improvement In the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory
Copyright © 2010 Michael Rybin All Rights Reserved.
Originally published and Copyright © 1999 Michael Rybin All Rights Reserved.
Many direct and indirect references to NASA SEL information are included. Copyright information, documents, graphics, brand names, and trademarks from NASA and SEL affiliates are open-source, public domain, or the property of the respective owners. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Rate My Professors
Last updated Aug. 9, 2010
Rate My Professors is a great website to check out college professors. You do not need an account to post. I am keeping a copy of all my ratings of professors here because there does not seem to be a way to filter and quickly find just my ratings. I will updated this particular blog periodically.
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC)
SLCC Math 1010, Summer Semester 2010
Penny Allison is fantastic! Pretest are a very helpful review. Finish 80% of homework and you can rework missed test questions. She will answer questions if you freeze on the test. Penny is genuinely humble and welcomes correction when she makes math mistakes on the whiteboard. Additional opinions about Penny on Rate My Professors
SLCC Arch 1010, Summer Semester 2010
Kevin King is WOW! Thoughtfully designed assignments: e.g., talk with professional architects. Diverse teaching methods: exhibits, professional guests, interesting movies about architects. Clear assignment requirements for C with "flexible" but real challenge to "go beyond" for an A. Reaches out to student with difficulties. Additional opinions about Kevin on Rate My Professors
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Rate My Professors is a great website to check out college professors. You do not need an account to post. I am keeping a copy of all my ratings of professors here because there does not seem to be a way to filter and quickly find just my ratings. I will updated this particular blog periodically.
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC)
SLCC Math 1010, Summer Semester 2010
Penny Allison is fantastic! Pretest are a very helpful review. Finish 80% of homework and you can rework missed test questions. She will answer questions if you freeze on the test. Penny is genuinely humble and welcomes correction when she makes math mistakes on the whiteboard. Additional opinions about Penny on Rate My Professors
SLCC Arch 1010, Summer Semester 2010
Kevin King is WOW! Thoughtfully designed assignments: e.g., talk with professional architects. Diverse teaching methods: exhibits, professional guests, interesting movies about architects. Clear assignment requirements for C with "flexible" but real challenge to "go beyond" for an A. Reaches out to student with difficulties. Additional opinions about Kevin on Rate My Professors
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Copyright, Anthology, Quotes, and References
Updated Dec. 23, 2010
Many links, quotes, and indirect references are included in my blog articles. Copyright information, graphics, pictures, brand names, and trademarks of various sources are the property of the respective owners.
No part of this blog site may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, screen shots, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the copyright owner, Michael Rybin.
As a fellow author and publisher or blogger, I have tried to document acknowledgments, references, and citations bibliographically, though not all are formally listed as such. I have made an effort to trace ownership of copyrighted material contained in my articles and to formally reference, or secure the necessary permission to use or republish specific information as-needed. In addition, documents in my Scribd archive are believed to be open-source, or public domain.
In the event that any acknowledgment or copyrighted reference has been inadvertently omitted, I express my regrets and will make all necessary corrections to current and future publications. This includes documents in this blog or in my Scribd archive. Please let me know.
Thank you,
Michael Rybin
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
~۩~
Architecture is a wonderful life.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
As part of an architecture drawing course, here is my hand drawing the Rubik’s Cube
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Many links, quotes, and indirect references are included in my blog articles. Copyright information, graphics, pictures, brand names, and trademarks of various sources are the property of the respective owners.
No part of this blog site may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, screen shots, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the copyright owner, Michael Rybin.
As a fellow author and publisher or blogger, I have tried to document acknowledgments, references, and citations bibliographically, though not all are formally listed as such. I have made an effort to trace ownership of copyrighted material contained in my articles and to formally reference, or secure the necessary permission to use or republish specific information as-needed. In addition, documents in my Scribd archive are believed to be open-source, or public domain.
In the event that any acknowledgment or copyrighted reference has been inadvertently omitted, I express my regrets and will make all necessary corrections to current and future publications. This includes documents in this blog or in my Scribd archive. Please let me know.
Thank you,
Michael Rybin
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
~۩~
Architecture is a wonderful life.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
As part of an architecture drawing course, here is my hand drawing the Rubik’s Cube
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Career Development Resources
In architecture class today, we discussed 'what we would like to do' as a career in architecture. We received an assignment to make a list or take an online career interest assessment. Having taken a bunch of career interest and skill assessments before, I was asked to share my resources. For those who may be uncertain about a career in architecture, or any other field for that matter, here are a few excellent career development resources.
The official website of "What Color Is Your Parachute" by Richard Bolles -- the undisputed best book on career development. For specific Counseling, Testing & Advice go to these links on his website. Inside each of the following links is a brief description of several excellent resources (some free).
Alternatively, if you setup an account at http://utahfutures.org/ you can access the following career development resources:
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
The official website of "What Color Is Your Parachute" by Richard Bolles -- the undisputed best book on career development. For specific Counseling, Testing & Advice go to these links on his website. Inside each of the following links is a brief description of several excellent resources (some free).
- Online Job-Hunting Articles
- Online Job-Hunting Guides
- The Gateway Sites & More
- Online Personality & Traits Tests
- Online Careers Tests
- Transferable Skills
- Education
- More Help: Career Counseling Offices
- One-on-One Career Counseling
- Offline Career Counseling
- E-mail a Counselor
Alternatively, if you setup an account at http://utahfutures.org/ you can access the following career development resources:
- Reality Check
- Career Cluster Inventory
- IDEAS
- Interest Profiler
- SKILLS Assessment
- Work Importance Locator
- Entrepreneurs Assessment
- Assessment Link
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Top 10 Greenest Homes, Comcast shows
Last updated July 20, 2010
When I jog on the mini-trampoline, I watch Comcast 'history', 'science' or 'how it was made', etc. A couple of weeks ago I discovered this Comcast 'planet green' group of shows.
After the original post - I discovered that you can view the world's greenest homes videos online at Planet Green.
If you are interested in green building and have Comcast cable, check out the "Top 10 Greenest Homes." These programs are about 12 minutes each. Honestly, they are not the "top 10 greenest" homes, but they are a real representation of actual green building ideas, each with more or less green. Also, they have added new shows beyond the original 10.
With your TV and Comcast cable on ... Go to, steps:
1. on demand
2. life & home
3. planet green
4. top 10 greenest homes
As you probably know, the “On Demand” programs are available anytime you want to watch them. Therefore, you do not have to plan your schedule around a favorite weekly show. One disadvantage is that individual shows are only available for about two weeks, and then they are replaced by new shows.
P.S. Although Comcast has upgraded their internet infrastructure and their internet connection speed is a little faster than it used to be, it is not as fast as some other internet service providers. An objective technical analysis and comparison between Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is recommended before you switch to Comcast.
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
When I jog on the mini-trampoline, I watch Comcast 'history', 'science' or 'how it was made', etc. A couple of weeks ago I discovered this Comcast 'planet green' group of shows.
After the original post - I discovered that you can view the world's greenest homes videos online at Planet Green.
If you are interested in green building and have Comcast cable, check out the "Top 10 Greenest Homes." These programs are about 12 minutes each. Honestly, they are not the "top 10 greenest" homes, but they are a real representation of actual green building ideas, each with more or less green. Also, they have added new shows beyond the original 10.
With your TV and Comcast cable on ... Go to, steps:
1. on demand
2. life & home
3. planet green
4. top 10 greenest homes
As you probably know, the “On Demand” programs are available anytime you want to watch them. Therefore, you do not have to plan your schedule around a favorite weekly show. One disadvantage is that individual shows are only available for about two weeks, and then they are replaced by new shows.
P.S. Although Comcast has upgraded their internet infrastructure and their internet connection speed is a little faster than it used to be, it is not as fast as some other internet service providers. An objective technical analysis and comparison between Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is recommended before you switch to Comcast.
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Architecture Resources ~ Architects USA and Archiplanet
Tonight I was reading information on each architecture firm’s official website, to better prepare for my college report. Outside of the Architects USA website - I was Googling for specific architecture firms by company name, when I discovered Archiplanet. They have one of the longest lists of architecture firms I have found, organized by state and city, e.g., Architecture Firms in Utah. The opening paragraph on their main page states, “Find, browse, read, view, post, and edit the facts, photos, and drawings here on your favorite structures of all kinds, anywhere, from your own cottage to the latest skyscraper to your nation's capitol.”
Archiplanet Highlights:
· "Community-constructed" like Wikipedia
· 118,737 pages
· Viewed more than 76 million times to date
· Thousands of registered contributors
· Several hundred thousand visitors each month
· 100,000 buildings
· 25,000 architects and firms
· Sponsored by ArchitectureWeek
Archiplanet Categories
· Buildings
· Houses
· Images
· Skyscrapers
· Architects
· Architecture Firms
· Architecture Firms in USA
· Construction Firms
· Countries
· Cities
· Great Buildings
· Historic Buildings
· Buildings by Country
· Buildings in England
· Buildings in the United Kingdom
I have many other architecture bookmarks and thought these would be good sites to begin a resource list. I will probably update this blog page with more architecture resources later. I would be interested in your favorite architecture websites, books, and other resources. Please send the URL and tell me about them.
Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Career Paradigm Shift from Software Engineering Architect to Building Architect
I was/am a Software Engineering Architect (aka Project, Program, or Product Manager depending on the company) leading the user-centered design and architecture of profitable websites and products through contextual inquiry, heuristic evaluations, and human-computer interaction research. My peers say I am self-motivated to seek product improvements that have delivered a ROI at every previous company.
My Expert Skills
~ Ownership of customers’ and company goals
~ Keen understanding and listener of the “Voice of the Customer”
~ Thorough competitors’ research and comparative analysis
~ Envision and architect insightful products that are easy-to-use
~ Translate and communicate requirements between stakeholders
~ Identify unforeseen website and business process inefficiencies
~ Tenacious discoverer of the root-cause and their solutions
After a lot of soul searching, I decided to change careers and become a licensed building architect. My preliminary research shows the University of Utah Master of Architecture program is required for the State License. The U of U Bachelor of Architecture Studies is a prerequisite and is also articulated with the AS Architecture Technology program at Salt Lake Community College. To maximize the transferability of my past college credits, SLCC is where I will begin this journey. To start I aced the college math placement exam. Also, I earned an A on my first architecture project.
Granted I have only just begun, yet I don’t feel this is a paradigm shift. After reading a few chapters in “Architect?” by Roger K. Lewis and in comparison to my past professional experience, I already have some architect skills plus transferable skills. Also, I absolutely breathe LEED. With my past interest in NASA SEL, the LEED Green Building Facts make me feel right at home.
So now I am a full-time architecture student searching for a job. Considering my background I applied for an intern product manager job at Autodesk, the owner of AutoCAD and Revit Architecture software.
Life is wonderful
~۩~
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Years ago I wrote a paper about the NASA SEL
Years ago I wrote a paper about the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) that included several lists referencing other research papers. I would like to update the paper, and post it on my blog, later.
Most of the links required repair and I could not find a website with all the old NASA SEL studies -- email me the URL if you know where they are. In the meantime, since I kept a copy of all referenced research reports, I decided to try uploading them to Scribd and create links inside my new NASA SEL article.
This post is to test the embedded capability of an uploaded pdf (not my paper) that I put on my Scribd.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Most of the links required repair and I could not find a website with all the old NASA SEL studies -- email me the URL if you know where they are. In the meantime, since I kept a copy of all referenced research reports, I decided to try uploading them to Scribd and create links inside my new NASA SEL article.
This post is to test the embedded capability of an uploaded pdf (not my paper) that I put on my Scribd.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Elliott's purchase and sell of Novell
Would this be the best thing for SUSE and Novell? As a former Novell employee, this may save SUSE and Novell or at least the technology. Here is one paragraph of an intelligent commentary by Andy Updegrove.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
"The net result is that what happens next will be fascinating to watch. I expect that there will be a great deal of activity behind the scenes as well as in plain view. Want an example of a behind the scenes possibility? An IBM, an Oracle or an SAP wouldn't have to buy Novell outright to remove Novell's Linux distro from the risk category - they could simply approach Elliot even before the sale, and arrange to buy it simultaneous with the close of the purchase of the Novell shares by Elliott. Between the near-$1 billion in Novell's account and the proceeds of such a sale, Elliott would be buying the rest of Novell for pennies on the dollar."
For the full article go to Elliott Associates and Novell: All About a Game of Cat and Mouse
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
"The net result is that what happens next will be fascinating to watch. I expect that there will be a great deal of activity behind the scenes as well as in plain view. Want an example of a behind the scenes possibility? An IBM, an Oracle or an SAP wouldn't have to buy Novell outright to remove Novell's Linux distro from the risk category - they could simply approach Elliot even before the sale, and arrange to buy it simultaneous with the close of the purchase of the Novell shares by Elliott. Between the near-$1 billion in Novell's account and the proceeds of such a sale, Elliott would be buying the rest of Novell for pennies on the dollar."
For the full article go to Elliott Associates and Novell: All About a Game of Cat and Mouse
Monday, February 22, 2010
I love this website: LibraryThing
For my favorite books go to LibraryThing
... I love this library thing website.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
... I love this library thing website.
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Fusion-io "holy grail of database performance"
This week I am attending a great boot camp for FileMaker database developers
One of the speakers, Kirk Bowman from MightyData mentioned econnectix server when talking about enterprise hard drive and database performance. This triggered my memory about the following technology and question. Is Fusion IO a good alternative for FileMaker and the requirement to backup frequently?
I have been watching for a new paradigm shifting technology to overcome what is probably the oldest bottle neck in computer hardware, the hard drive. Here is a copy of a testimony from one of their customers -- check it out ...
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Wine.com Powers Up Performance with Fusion-io
Wine.com is the top online wine retailer in the world, a title it has held for years. Consequently, its rapidly expanding clientele posed a positive yet formative challenge in regard to getting sufficient performance from its web site and business system servers. Traditionally Wine.com has used a complex SAN architecture but the solution couldn't keep up with the business growth. Wine.com considered upgrading, but learned that the upgrade that fit their budget would only improve their business system by 30% and would do nothing for their web site. Wine.com knew it needed a better solution, but had no idea where to find it.
Then Wine.com’s Vice President of IT saw a demo of the Fuision-io ioDrive. He knew immediately that he had found the "holy grail of database performance." He ordered one as soon as it was available. Happily, it was exactly the solution he was hoping for.
The ioDrive improved Wine.com’s performance exponentially. SQL transactions ran four times faster, while backups, restores, and other jobs ran from twelve to 20 times faster. Additionally, the web site performed more smoothly and Customer Satisfaction increased measurably as a result.
One of the speakers, Kirk Bowman from MightyData mentioned econnectix server when talking about enterprise hard drive and database performance. This triggered my memory about the following technology and question. Is Fusion IO a good alternative for FileMaker and the requirement to backup frequently?
I have been watching for a new paradigm shifting technology to overcome what is probably the oldest bottle neck in computer hardware, the hard drive. Here is a copy of a testimony from one of their customers -- check it out ...
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Wine.com Powers Up Performance with Fusion-io
Wine.com is the top online wine retailer in the world, a title it has held for years. Consequently, its rapidly expanding clientele posed a positive yet formative challenge in regard to getting sufficient performance from its web site and business system servers. Traditionally Wine.com has used a complex SAN architecture but the solution couldn't keep up with the business growth. Wine.com considered upgrading, but learned that the upgrade that fit their budget would only improve their business system by 30% and would do nothing for their web site. Wine.com knew it needed a better solution, but had no idea where to find it.
Then Wine.com’s Vice President of IT saw a demo of the Fuision-io ioDrive. He knew immediately that he had found the "holy grail of database performance." He ordered one as soon as it was available. Happily, it was exactly the solution he was hoping for.
The ioDrive improved Wine.com’s performance exponentially. SQL transactions ran four times faster, while backups, restores, and other jobs ran from twelve to 20 times faster. Additionally, the web site performed more smoothly and Customer Satisfaction increased measurably as a result.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
FileMaker Training Series Offer
Jonn Howell was a database consultant for Novell’s Advanced Development Group. Since then he has worked for many other companies. He hosts the FileMaker Bootcamp -- a database developer conference in sunny California -- for the 5th year now.
Although this just came yesterday, he asked me to share it with a few friends, as a favor (he is a good friend). So, I thought you or someone you know may be interested . . .
--
Creating a great day!
Michael
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
= = = = = = =
Register for Bootcamp and get the 5 day FileMaker Training Series (2/22-2/26) for ONLY $749!
* Cris Ippolite of iSolutions, Inc is offering a special package deal to anyone who registers for Bootcamp for FileMaker after 2/9/2010.
* Register for Bootcamp and get the 5 day FileMaker Training Series (2/22-2/26) for ONLY $749! This class is normally offered for $1499 + training materials. (Save $849)
* This offer is also transferrable, so if you can't make it to the class, send a colleague or client in your place! Just give them your name as the Bootcamp registrant and they can enjoy the discount on your behalf.
* Includes: 5 Days of FileMaker Training Series LIVE training in Los Angeles Monday 2/22- Friday 2/26 ($1499 value)
* Includes: 1 copy of the FileMaker Training Series Materials ($99 value)
* Bootcamp for FileMaker will also offer a special discount if you sign up for BOTH events!
* For more details on the class and location: FileMaker Training Series
What is Bootcamp?
* A week long intensive immersion in FileMaker development. Bootcamp for FileMaker was started 5 years ago as a homegrown, grassroots event where people could come and discuss the fundamentals of database development as it pertains to FileMaker. It is an opportunity to spend a concentrated period of time in an intensive learning environment filled with unique educational resources. Bootcamp offers a broad range of sessions that extend beyond simply learning how to use FileMaker as a tool. The concept of the Bootcamp event is to experience the System Development Lifecycle and put FileMaker into a larger context, while providing resources for a solid foundation of database development.
Dates
* Feb 15th to Feb 19th (Opening Dinner on Feb 14th)
Location
* A University Campus in Westlake Village, CA
Enrollment
* Limited enrollment to preserve the intimacy and intensity of the Bootcamp experience.Hotel Arrangements: A room package has been arranged with the recently remodeled Hyatt Westlake Plaza in Thousand Oaks. The hotel is located in the same parking lot as the Pepperdine campus, and will be the location of evening case study groups that will be coached by the Bootcamp staff. The Sunday night Welcome Dinner is also hosted at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel.
Contact information
* Our website will be updated with revised information often, as the sessions get confirmed.
* Please visit our website: FileMakerBootcamp
* Contact us at: info@FileMakerBootcamp.com
Although this just came yesterday, he asked me to share it with a few friends, as a favor (he is a good friend). So, I thought you or someone you know may be interested . . .
--
Creating a great day!
Michael
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
= = = = = = =
Register for Bootcamp and get the 5 day FileMaker Training Series (2/22-2/26) for ONLY $749!
* Cris Ippolite of iSolutions, Inc is offering a special package deal to anyone who registers for Bootcamp for FileMaker after 2/9/2010.
* Register for Bootcamp and get the 5 day FileMaker Training Series (2/22-2/26) for ONLY $749! This class is normally offered for $1499 + training materials. (Save $849)
* This offer is also transferrable, so if you can't make it to the class, send a colleague or client in your place! Just give them your name as the Bootcamp registrant and they can enjoy the discount on your behalf.
* Includes: 5 Days of FileMaker Training Series LIVE training in Los Angeles Monday 2/22- Friday 2/26 ($1499 value)
* Includes: 1 copy of the FileMaker Training Series Materials ($99 value)
* Bootcamp for FileMaker will also offer a special discount if you sign up for BOTH events!
* For more details on the class and location: FileMaker Training Series
What is Bootcamp?
* A week long intensive immersion in FileMaker development. Bootcamp for FileMaker was started 5 years ago as a homegrown, grassroots event where people could come and discuss the fundamentals of database development as it pertains to FileMaker. It is an opportunity to spend a concentrated period of time in an intensive learning environment filled with unique educational resources. Bootcamp offers a broad range of sessions that extend beyond simply learning how to use FileMaker as a tool. The concept of the Bootcamp event is to experience the System Development Lifecycle and put FileMaker into a larger context, while providing resources for a solid foundation of database development.
Dates
* Feb 15th to Feb 19th (Opening Dinner on Feb 14th)
Location
* A University Campus in Westlake Village, CA
Enrollment
* Limited enrollment to preserve the intimacy and intensity of the Bootcamp experience.Hotel Arrangements: A room package has been arranged with the recently remodeled Hyatt Westlake Plaza in Thousand Oaks. The hotel is located in the same parking lot as the Pepperdine campus, and will be the location of evening case study groups that will be coached by the Bootcamp staff. The Sunday night Welcome Dinner is also hosted at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel.
Contact information
* Our website will be updated with revised information often, as the sessions get confirmed.
* Please visit our website: FileMakerBootcamp
* Contact us at: info@FileMakerBootcamp.com
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Carolyn Carey's Article "Writing It Right: Avoiding the Alluring Adjective"
I was bumping into different words and meanings when I found this great little article by Carolyn Carey.
Writing It Right: Avoiding the Alluring Adjective
I found it insightful and informatively referenced.
Sincerely,
Michael Rybin
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
Writing It Right: Avoiding the Alluring Adjective
I found it insightful and informatively referenced.
Sincerely,
Michael Rybin
© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.
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