EAI Blog

I threw out my back a couple of days ago and it still hurts to sit, let alone stand. As such, I have been putting off doing part b of lab 3. I have been having some issues with it at home, so I plan to try it at school tomorrow in one of the campus labs. Other than that chapter 16 was a good read on webservices and the various security methods used to protect the information. I guess for now, I am heading to bed.

I am taking the week off as it is spring break. I will be back by Sunday with a new entry though.

So I just finished the exam, and I am reasonably confident in my work. I have to say though I was a more lax with my time usage than I should have been. When taking open book exams, I always feel like more information needs to be added (especially for open ended questions) as all the information is available. In essence, I feel like I rely less on my knowledge and more on my ability to verify the information I am putting down. For me this leads me to spend more time on each question to make sure I have all the required information. I guess that I will just have to adjust my strategy for taking the next exam.

Oh, well, at least I am past this hurdle.

I submitted my paper proposal and I plan to write my term paper on the ‘grid’. Computer hardware has always been of high interest to me. For my own personal use, building the fastest computer at the lowest cost has always been a fun and interesting process. I have fooled around with over-clocking, over-volting, and water-cooling trying to eek out as much power as I can per set price point. Grid computing so far in concept seems to be an extension of my desire to learn more about how to utilize components to the best of their ability.

The IBM definition of grid computing is, "the ability, using a set of open standards and protocols, to gain access to applications and data, processing power, storage capacity and a vast array of other computing resources over the Internet. A grid is a type of parallel and distributed system that enables the sharing, selection, and aggregation of resources distributed across 'multiple' administrative domains based on their (resources) availability, capacity, performance, cost and users' quality-of-service requirements".

My paper will include (,but is not limited to), definitions, current technology/implementations, standardizations, security, and current projects.

I have to say, I was apprehensive about this project before I started looking into the various topics, but once I chose my topic, I was excited to learn more. I think this paper will be a great learning experience into a great topic.

So, I was slightly confused as to what is due tomorrow***. The class website indicates that the next reading is due a week from today, while the syllabus states that reading #2 is due tomorrow. To be on the safe side, I decided I would do the reading tonight.

I thought that in general the article was interesting and well written. I really had no idea the medically based software companies were so cutthroat about doing business. I guess it kind of makes sense, especially if a healthcare provider will only be willing to purchase from 2-3 vendors to ensure proper integration and functionality.

My experience using and writing web services is very limited, so I found it very interesting to find out how powerful they could be. The article talked about how integration of disparate systems was possible through the use of web services and about how such integration made it possible for the information to be accessed through a variety of means and locations. Now that I think of it though… I don’t remember that article talking about the downside of this choice for integration. Nearly every chapter in the book indicated that each type of integration method had both an upside and a downside. The article mentions very little of the downside of this type of integration method. If I hadn’t already submitted my questions, this would now be one of them.

In general though, I liked the article as it highlighted yet another method of integration, in a field we have had yet to talk about.

Well I guess that is if for this week. Have a good one.

*** Edit - I was thinking the syllabus was written like that of another class I have... Oh well, the article is decent and you will have fun reading it when it is actually due... Maybe a little more sleep is in order for me.

Since I have not read any additional articles of interest which would pertain to this class, I guess I will write about the required chapters due for this week.

For tthis week, we were supposed to read chapters six and seven. Chapter Six was the interoductory chapter in the use of middleware in the integreation process. The chapter outlined the basics of middleware including is use, funtionality and the types of middleware modles which are being utilized today.

Some of this basic overview included a discussion of communication methods (synchonous vs asynchronous, direct vs queued etc.). The chapter then goes on to describe types of middleware. For the sake a brevity, and because this topic is covered in more detail in chapter 7, I will talk about this later in this blogging.

As stated above, chapter seven flushes out the details of the specific types of middleware. These types include:

·         RCPs

·         MOM

·         Distributed objects

·         Database oriented middleware

·         Transactional middleware

·         Integration servers (not covered in chapter 7)

Chapter 7 does a good job of describing each of the pros and cons of each tpe of system. I thought it did a nice job of also laying out potential questions the reader might have had and their solutions which have been described in detail using real world examples. Specifically, I really liked the chapter’s description IBM’s Mqseries enviroment and the inovation it has brought to the market.

So yeah, that is about it. Till next time folks.

Also as a short note. Professor Haines sent me a link to the document I refernced in my last blog. I have updated the previous blog with the link for anyone who might want to read it.

I figure that because there are enough blogs written on the assigned chapters, I will write about a paper I read which directly pertains to our discussion of data scraping in the last class.

For BUS ADM 814 I read a paper entitled "Competitor Analysis and Its Defense in the E-Marketplace". Specifically, this paper talked about the use of Intelligent Agents (IAs) which were described to be automated bots which could utilize data scraping in order to obtain information about a competitor's company though information posted on their website. The data which had been scraped could then be mined for useful information, and in the example of price aggregators, could be reused to set price standards for their own online company.

Using data scraping in this fashion allows for competitor analysis and in the case of price aggregators, allows for fewer man-hours to be charged as the system becomes self automated (providing your competitors don't block your ip).

The rest of the article talked about how bots could be used aggressively against a company, and how to potentially defend against an attack. All in all I thought it was a good article and I enjoyed learning how the functionality of tools written for the purpose of Enterprise integration could be used for Business Intelligence.

Addendum -  This article can be found at (thanks to Professor Haines):

"The Internet, Intelligent Agents, Competitor Analysis and Its Defense in the

 E-Marketplace," with Yihua Sheng and Charles Litecky. Communications of the ACM,

 August 2005, Vol. 48, No. 8, pp. 107-112.