Convert Images to Text with Online OCR Software

Convert Images to Text with Online OCR Software:

SA,

OCR software let you easily convert images, such as digital photographs, scanned documents, printed books, etc. into text. Once you perform OCR on an image, you’ll be able to copy-paste or edit the text content of that image without any retyping and it also becomes more search-able.

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Print your own Stickers to Highlight Poor Journalism

Print your own Stickers to Highlight Poor Journalism

SA,

Tom Scott has created warning labels that you can print on your own and use them to highlight PR-driven and other poorly researched stories that are published in newspapers (and even online blogs).

The sticker template is available as PDF in standard A4 and Letter sizes.

This is both hilarious and a clever idea. If these stickers were real, they might just save some reading time.

Check the link above for more details

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Using advanced search - Gmail Help

Using advanced search - Gmail Help

SA,

Advanced search operators are query words or symbols that perform special actions in Gmail search. These operators allow you to find what you're looking for quickly and accurately. They can also be used to set up filters so you can organize your inbox automatically. Some of the most useful operators are listed in the link above.

You can also use advanced search operators by clicking on Show search options beneath the Gmail search box.

Happy time searching your Gmail box

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Microsoft Dynamics Site, Shame on you

SA,

Today I was reviewing my news in Google Reader and I ran across a post announcing the version of Microsoft AX for retail, I went to take a look at Microsoft Dynamics AX website to be faced by this Silverlight Error :)

Full screen shot

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Oracle Promises Integration of Disparate Wares -- Application Development Trends

Oracle Promises Integration of Disparate Wares -- Application Development Trends:

SA,

With its portfolio bulging with 3,000 disparate products based on 59 acquisitions, Oracle outlined some key updates on its efforts to make them work together

Read more at the link above

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How to Survive Saying No to a Client

SA,

When you’re working with clients, it’s important to have boundaries based on clear communication and mutual respect. Then, when you have established your boundaries comes the difficult task of enforcing them.

What happens when enforcing policies means saying no? In many cases, you may run the risk of losing an ally in the other party once the word “no” leaves your mouth. This is why it’s so important to figure out a way to honor your boundaries while making connections and developing relationships — even when you need to say no.

Read more here:
How to Survive Saying No to a Client

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10 Common Mistakes Made by Novice Web Developers

SA,

This article reminds with all the mistakes I used to make when I started web development 6 years ago, I like this article very much as it has summarized all the issues that any web developer can put in front of him in his desk as a check list to use it as QA check for his work

I believe also peer reviews can resolve this issue by using the same check list

I think every web developer (even advanced developers) need to read this article

Read more here:
10 Common Mistakes Made by Novice Web Developers

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Chart of Better food choices & their benefits

SA,

Good food choices are a must for a healthier lifestyle. Its not just a matter of meats vs. greens. A diet should be made up of a mix of fruits, veggies and meat at the same time. Since Ramadaan is coming up and we all will be indulging in all sorts of greasy foods, after fasting the entire the day, I’ve resolved to avoid all that. Instead I would be adding a lot of greens and fruits into the diet.

Read more here:

Chart of Better food choices & their benefits

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10 Keys To Becoming a Better Communicator - by Dumb Little Man

SA,

It's easy for us to accuse others of being poor communicators, poor listeners or poor speakers, but the thing about communication is that it's not one-sided - it's 2-way. You can't accuse someone of being a poor communicator without you being a poor communicator yourself.

Read more here:
10 Keys To Becoming a Better Communicator - by Dumb Little Man

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Depression Slideshow: Emotional Symptoms, Physical Symptoms, Depression Types, and More

Depression Slideshow: Emotional Symptoms, Physical Symptoms, Depression Types, and More

SA,

Nice slide show with good jargon free descriptions talking about depression, with some interesting facts

Read more at the link above

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Internet Overuse May Cause Depression

Internet Overuse May Cause Depression

SA,

Teenagers who are addicted to the Internet are more likely to develop depression or other psychiatric problems than teens who are classified as normal Internet users, a new study says.

Read more at the link above

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Find Out Which USB Devices Have Been Used on Your PC

Find Out Which USB Devices Have Been Used on Your PC

SA,

With USB sticks so common it's very easy for somebody to take information from your PC even if you are away from your desk for a just few minutes. Worse still, you'd never know your data was stolen.

Want to know how avoid this? Check the link above

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Social Ties Can Add Years to Your Life

Social Ties Can Add Years to Your Life

SA,

"Our social relationships are important not only to our quality of life, but also our longevity"

Read more in the link above

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What BP Could Have Bought With All the Money They Lost |

What BP Could Have Bought With All the Money They Lost |

SA,

A nice visual representation, of what BP could have bought with their losses , I like Yahoo part :), I didn't know that Yahoo is that cheap

Take a look at the link above

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Microsoft releases Visual Studio Scrum 1.0 process template - TFS, Visual Studio ALM, and Team System by Neno Loje

Microsoft releases Visual Studio Scrum 1.0 process template - TFS, Visual Studio ALM, and Team System by Neno Loje:

SA,

Microsoft releases Visual Studio Scrum 1.0 process template, has been released, You can grab it from the link above

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EyeDefender - Home

EyeDefender - Home:

SA,

EyeDefender lets you avoid eyestrain and puts the sparkle back in your eyes

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What NOT to Virtualize in Your Data Center « IT Expert Voice

What NOT to Virtualize in Your Data Center « IT Expert Voice

SA,

Server virtualization saves money and power, but that doesn’t mean you should virtualize everything. Some resources should be left alone.

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Give your Eyes a Break to Reduce Computer Related Strain

Give your Eyes a Break to Reduce Computer Related Strain

SA,

If you spend a good part of your day using the computer, the 20-20-20 rule, that I recently learned recently from my doctor, might also help you relax your tired eyes.

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A CIO’s Quick Guide To Open Source Licenses « IT Expert Voice

A CIO’s Quick Guide To Open Source Licenses « IT Expert Voice

SA,
Very good article covering the risks CIOs and IT Managers should put into consideration while considering Open Source offerings

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What’s Taking So Long? How to Fight Slow Startup Times in Windows 7 « IT Expert Voice

What’s Taking So Long? How to Fight Slow Startup Times in Windows 7 « IT Expert Voice

SA,

I was having hard time troubleshooting the slow start-up time of MS Windows 7 Ultimate (which MS promised that they have done great job working on start-up times process improvement) and also even it is installed on a powerful laptop (2.6GHz Core2 Duo/6MB Cache/4 GB RAM/2046 MB ATI Radeon 4850HD ... )

I found this article really helpful, As i expected this terrible slowdown is due to a driver problem, I wanted to know which one and which process is taking the most time

I hope you can find this useful to you if you are facing the same issue

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Project Server 201 - Scott M. Wagner MCP, MVP: Project Success not Project Politics

Project Server 201 - Scott M. Wagner MCP, MVP: Project Success not Project Politics

Nice article .. I'm really suffering from politics in my company and my projects

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Home | Microsoft SharePoint Alternative: Compare SharePoint Alternatives

Home | Microsoft SharePoint Alternative: Compare SharePoint Alternatives

SA,

Nice article comparing MS SharePoint to its alternatives stating pros and cons of each solution

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Qualcomm starts shipping 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragons - GSMArena.com news

Qualcomm starts shipping 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragons - GSMArena.com news

SA,

It seems the smart-phones we are going to get for this year's holiday season will pack quite a lot more oomph than we are seeing now.

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From Traditional Project Development to Agile Project Management

SA,

The Story:

I've been working on a Middle-ware integration project using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 in a bank in Qatar, I've developed the project plan using my favorite iterative waterfall approach which worked fine with Software Development as I know the weakness of the theoretical waterfall model, but this what fits the market here best in the Middle-East as most of the clients want to know how much the full project will take time and cost them

The nature of this project was new to me, I a pproached with the same approach which pr oved that it is not working during the project implementation, I've met many times with my team leader to figure out how to manage this project the best, and we concluded that we should follow the agile methodology (which I realized that it is the most efficient way to manage integration project) and we finally agreed with the customer (after analyzing the project progress, costing, estimates vs. actual durati ons and delays) that he will be paying us by services, this way we can group tasks related to implement each services together as a use-case or a user story (according to the Scrum terminology) so we can have control over the implementation of services independently

Our development environment helped us as we where using Visual Studio Team System with Team Foundation Server that has a projec t template for Scrum

The Approach:

I did my research in Agile Scrum methodology and I ran into this nice PDF, "The Scrum Primer", and I read a very interesting paragraph that I wanted to share

Here we go:

Traditional Software Development

The traditional way to build software, used by companies big and small, is commonly known as “The Waterfall”. There are many variants, but it typically begins with a detailed planning phase, where the end product is carefully thought through, designed, and documented in great detail. The tasks necessary to execute the design are determined, and the work is planned using tools like Gantt charts and programs like Microsoft Project. The team arrives at an estimate of how long the project will take by adding up detailed estimates of the individual steps involved.

Once stakeholders have thoroughly reviewed the plan and provided their approvals, the team starts to build. Team members complete their specialized portion of the work, and then hand it off to others in production-line fashion. Once the work is complete, it is delivered to a Quality Assurance organization, which completes testing prior to the product reaching the customer.

Throughout the process, strict controls are placed on deviations from the plan, to ensure that what is produced is actually what was designed. This approach has strengths and weaknesses. Its great strength is that it is supremely logical: think before you build, write it all down, follow a plan, and keep everything as organized as possible. It has just one great weakness: humans are involved.
For example: this approach requires that the good ideas all come at the beginning of the development cycle, where they can be incorporated into the plan. But as we all know, good ideas appear spontaneously throughout the process – in the beginning, the middle, and sometimes even the day before launch, and a process that doesn’t permit change will stifle this innovation. With the Waterfall approach, a great idea late in the development cycle is not a gift, it’s a threat.

The Waterfall approach also places a great emphasis on writing things down as a primary method for communicating critical information. The very reasonable assumption is that if I can write down on paper as much as possible of what’s in my head, it will more reliably make it into the head of everyone else on the team; plus, if it’s on paper, there is tangible proof that I’ve done my job. The reality, though, is that most of the time, these highly detailed 50-page requirements documents just don’t get read. And that’s probably just as well, because when they do get read, the misunderstandings are often compounded. A written document is an incomplete abstraction of a picture I have in my head; when you read that document, you create yet another abstraction, which is now two steps away from what I’m really thinking of. It should come as no surprise that serious misunderstandings would occur.

Something else that happens when you have humans involved is the hands-on “aha” moment – the first time that you actually use the working product, and you immediately think of 20 ways you could have made it better. Unfortunately, these very valuable insights often come at the end of the development cycle, when changes are most difficult and disruptive – in other words, when doing the right thing is most expensive.

Humans also have a poor ability to predict the future. For example, the competition makes an announcement that wasn’t expected. Unanticipated technical problems crop up that force a change in direction. Furthermore, people tend to be particularly bad at planning things far into the future – guessing today how you’ll be spending your week eight months from now is something of a fallacy, and it’s been the downfall of many a Gantt chart.

In addition, the Waterfall also tends to foster an adversarial relationship between the team-members that are handing work off from one to the next. “He’s asking me to build something that’s not in the spec.” “She’s changing her mind about what she wants.” “I can’t be held responsible for something I don’t control.” And this gets us to another observation about the Waterfall – it’s not that much fun to work within. In fact, we’d go a step further and say that the Waterfall is a cause of great misery for the people who build products, and the resulting products fall well short of expressing the creativity, skill, and passion of their creators.

People aren’t robots, and a process that requires them to act like robots often results in unhappy people. A rigid, change-resistant process will also tend to produce mediocre products. Customers may get what they first ask for, but is it what they really want once they see the product begin to emerge? By gathering all the requirements up front and having them set in stone with little chance of change, the product is condemned to be only as good as the initial idea, instead of being the best it could be once the team knows more about the possibilities.

Many users of the Waterfall experience these shortcomings again and again, but it seems like such a logical approach, the natural reaction is to turn the blame inward: “If only we did it better, it would work” – if we just planned more, documented more, resisted change more, everything would work smoothly. Unfortunately, many teams find just the opposite: the harder they try, the worse it gets!

The Conclusion

I think this is piratical world experience, I feel the author pain as I'm facing the same pain everyday, but unfortunately most of the clients require the vendor to submit a proposal for the whole project with the estimated time and total cost in advance, they don't want to pay per feature as they need to have more control over the project due date and costing (they think this way will prevent the spiraling costs of the projects)

To be honest I know it is hard to convince the Agile Development approach to clients, which suits best for the projects that has frequent requirements changes (which happens most of the time), but hopefully cleints will change thier mindset regarding the classic project management by time

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References and Further readings:
Scrum Primer
Agile Principles and Values, by Jeff Sutherland
MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0

Coding Horror: Microsoft Project and the Gantt Waterfall

Coding Horror: Microsoft Project and the Gantt Waterfall

SA,

I'm facing this issue though out all my projects specially the large ones, It is really a big myth and that's why i'm starting to think to move to agile approach if i can find a client who can work this way (pay-per-feature)

Happy Reading!

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Official Google Australia Blog: Maps Just Got OCCA

Official Google Australia Blog: Maps Just Got OCCA

SA,

Wish they can do the same in Egypt and other countries, let guess if they implemented this in Kuwait, You will find the GPS saying "seeda" for go forward :D

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50 Beautiful Business Card Designs - Noupe

50 Beautiful Business Card Designs - Noupe

SA,

A nice collection of innovative business cards design

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Microsoft SOA and BPM

In the process of my learning activities for my current project which is building middle-ware solution using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 for Bank, I've collected nice learning topics that that thought to share

Since I care much about the concepts and real-world practices before applying them to a tool, I found Microsoft SOA and BPM site quite informative, simple and elegant, I liked the real world approach and the people-ready vision in implementing a complex approach of SOA

1. SOA,BPM and BizTalk
   
   1. http://www.microsoft.com/soa/resources/whitepapers.aspx
   2. http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/soa.aspx
   3. SOA & BPM FAQ
      
      1. http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/8/1/681D477D-8DBB-48BD-81A9-7E167570D98C/SOA%20and%20BPM%20FAQ.docx
   4. BPM Demo
      
      1. http://www.microsoft.com/soa/BPM_Demo_Web/default.html
   5. Real World SOA through the Microsoft Platform
      
      1. http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/4/d/b4db580a-0361-4907-9a6e-9d2866d8b581/Real%20World%20SOA.doc
   6. Microsoft and Business Process Management: A Technology Overview
      
      1. http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/1/f/e1f30631-482e-43b5-a69f-036e31df0c81/Whitepaper%20-%20Microsoft%20and%20BPM%20-%20Technical.doc
2. Enterprise Service Bus
   
   1. http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/esb-guidance.aspx
3. Video BizTalk Server 2009 Click-Through Demo:
   
   1. http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/click-through-demo/hol.htm
4. Introduction to Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009
   
   1. Introduction to Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009
5. BizTalk Server 2009 Technical Overview
   
   1. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1F839374-17DF-43B9-840E-60C11F20F42B&displaylang=en&displaylang=en

Happy Reading :)

BPM SaaS breaks out … « BPM Focus

BPM SaaS breaks out … « BPM Focus

SA,

Since I'm trying to focus more on BPM, I realized the importance of having BPM to be developed as SaaS, Yet the current solution are not mature but they are promising, Read more at the link above

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Digite Product Management

Digite Product Management: "experience is the product"

SA,

A very nice article talking about product design

Happy reading!


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Testing Windows Live Writer

This post is written in Microsoft Windows Live Writer, I’m comparing it to the web UI of blogger to see if this software can provide me with better user experience and functionalities that will help me to write blog posts faster and with better look and richer content

First the software uses (or imports to be more correct technically) the same personalized theme I’m suing in Blogger which is a good feature

The GUI is much better and more stable than the Blogger buggy UI

Lets take a look at the features that is not available (or hard to use in Blogger):

Photo Albums

• Albums from your computer

View Full Album

• Integration with Microsoft Albums

View Full Album

Tables

Name	Ahmad Salah
Job	IT Consultant

Bing Maps

Where I stay in Qatar right now

Technorati Tags: motagaly,live writer,trest

Video

ATB - Ecstacy

So far the product is still simple and doesn’t have many powerful authoring tools and features

But that’s for now …

Neowin.net - Where do Microsoft's profits come from?

Neowin.net - Where do Microsoft's profits come from?

SA,

Interesting article shows from where Micro$oft gains its profits

Keep reading


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Neowin.net - Microsoft: Next version of Windows will be completely different

Neowin.net - Microsoft: Next version of Windows will be completely different

SA,

Hmm, Let's see what in MS bag this time, they said the same thing about Vista, but I find it not that much diff. than Windows XP in terms of features and usability


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Applying Mathematics To Web Design - Smashing Magazine

Applying Mathematics To Web Design - Smashing Magazine

SA,

Nice article talking about a subject that i never thought it can be useful in web design :)

Enjoy!


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Neowin.net - A brief history of technology

Neowin.net - A brief history of technology

SA,

A nice review on the emerging technologies that started to be practical at the beginning of this decade

Happy Reading!


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Dailymotion - Des soldats américains partagent leur prise de conscience - une vidéo Expression Libre

Dailymotion - Des soldats américains partagent leur prise de conscience - une vidéo Expression Libre

SA,

American soldiers share their awareness!!!! WAKE UP !!!!


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News: Sony plans dedicated 3D TV network - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

News: Sony plans dedicated 3D TV network - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

SA,

Finally they are moving forward to 3D, hopefully they will perform an effective implementation of 3D on TVs and avoid all the issues in the current implementation (blur, eye-strain , ... ), I Personally tried the IMAX 3D experience and it wasn't that good, i felt i have a headache and I want to throw-up at the end of the movie (AVATAR), i read many sources that claim that all these issues will be resolved in the new technologies

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