Real World Access (35)

One of a series of articles about where Microsoft Office Access applications have found a real-world niche.

 Graham Seach's Investment Banking

Many of the Access projects I develop are for very large organisations. One in particular was for a multi-national investment bank.

This $3.9M project was to develop a highly secure enterprise system that allowed the bank to meet its regulatory reporting requirements under both the BASEL I & II accords (similar to Sarbanes Oxley).

This project employed a Project Manager, a Systems Architect, 4 Access developers, a SQL Server DBA, 2 Business Analysts, 2 DataStage developers (data migration), 2 MicroStrategy developers (reports), 2 Test Engineers, plus team managers.

The long-term plan for the project was to create an enterprise-wide intranet solution in DotNet. Access 2OO3 was selected as the Version 1.0 frontend technology due to its flexibility, power, and its RAD (rapid application development) capability.

The SQL Server 2005 data store was designed as a data warehouse, so the front end had to be designed to cater for huge numbers of records (in excess of 100 million).

The Access application provided users with the ability to manage and analyse deals and exposures, capital deductions, limits, on/off balance sheets and collateral allocations, and to reconcile the GL (general ledger).

The Access application's user interface is fast, responsive and extremely stable, having been designed using the principles of human-computer interaction (HCI). The UI design focus is on usability and employs a direct manipulation model.

The system uses techniques not normally found in typical Access databases, for example:

• Extensibility (user customisation)
• Proactive integrity checking (the system actively prevents users from making mistakes rather than just responding to them)
• Screen update delay minimisation techniques
• Screen fading effects
• Graphical tooltips
• Full drag-n-drop facility throughout
• Dynamic list scrolling during drag operations
• Automatic user shutdown/lockout during data load operations
• Ad-hoc environment switching (using XML configuration files)
• User-defined security model (including screen/action permissions) tightly integrated with SQL Server security.

The project was delivered on-time, despite a highly aggressive schedule.

The intranet version has been delayed because the Access version works so well that it has quickly become the line-of-business application. Management now see no reason to replace Access.

Technorati tags: Microsoft+Access, Microsoft+MVP, software+development, investment+banking

Kids and the Internet

As a parent, as well an IT professional, I am very interested in the topic of safe computing practices for children.

A few days ago, a guy I know pointed out this article.

It caught my attention, especially since I have been managing a blog for some of the kids at my daughter's school, during their summer holidays.

Well, I found this article, and the website behind it, to be deficient.

The site is aimed towards teenagers.

It does not mention the appropriate role for parental guidance.

It does not provide them with an opportunity to evaluate or discuss the ideas presented.

It does not provide any justification for the claims and opinions presented.

To say stuff like "pose a risk to your privacy or even your personal safety" without explanation or example is not informing, it's scare-mongering.

The best threat they can come up with is the one about future employment prospects.  Give me a break!  It improves their future employment prospects.  It will help them to screen potential employers.  Any potential employer who is going to take into account what you posted to a blog when you were a kid, you don't want to work for, so there, you save yourself a wasted interview.  Doesn't the calibre of our kids ensure they will have a plethora of employment/business opportunities through life, without needing to suck up to bad employers?

On the other hand, if they post good and appropriate stuff online, there's no risk anyway.  And the way to increase that probability is to introduce them at any opportunity, within a very tight and safe environment (such as the one I provided with the blog), and teach them how to do it well.  Isn't that part of being a parent - to guide them as they learn (as they must) to distinguish what is fun from what is dangerous?

Anyway, listen, by the time our kids are old enough to get jobs, there won't be any such thing as the Internet - well, nothing like what we know it today anyway.

So let's dispense to where it belongs, this ridiculous idea that kids posting online will put their futures at risk.

So, what are the risks?  None mentioned on that website.

One possibility is that personal information will be provided, that will assist:
- a deranged non-custodial parent embroiled in a custody battle to kidnap the child
- a paedophile to conduct a targetted pre-meditated attack on the child

Do these things happen?  Yes.  Often enough to make good copy for the Women's Weekly.  But I couldn't agree that we should curtail life in case something bad happens.  In the final analysis, an extremely low risk here, and once again, the risk dramatically reduced by good parental guidance (which does not mean over-protection).

And of course, for those whose personal circumstances are such that they have to take extraordinary steps to stay incognito, well, they have to take extraordinary steps.

Another risk area is commercial exploitation, i.e. bombardment with advertising, spam, and other unsolicited marketing, because of personal information revealed.

Another risk is infecting your computer with malware via access to malicious websites.

Another risk is revealing information such as passwords, bank account numbers, etc, which can be exploited.

So yes, there are risks. Does this mean don't play?  No. It means learn to manage and minimise the risk.  It is not too soon for our kids to see the adults in their lives, their parents and teachers, managing and minimising the risk.

I like what Kimberly Moritz says:

As an adult, I have no problem discriminating, considering the source, looking at the possible bias. I have no problem avoiding the million and one websites out there that focus on nonsense.

I don't think blocking access to the web is going to teach our kids how to do those things. I'm certain that opening it up completely to students who are still developing their good sense and judgment isn't the answer either.

Good parents pay attention to what their kids are doing on-line, just like they pay attention to every other aspect of their lives.

I also like what Mary McCallum says:

Cue the 'terrorist' parent who trusts his/her children but also expects the worst and makes sure s/he is knowledgeable and curious about the things children are into, is tolerant, is non-judgemental when there are 'hiccups', and is always ready and willing to dive in unexpectedly to check on the children and their activities AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE!!

This discussion would not be complete without mention of some software!

Have a look at PC TimeWatch. It is an excellent, easy to use tool for managing computer use. It is probably more applicable for older children, who are starting to have independent access to a computer.

I have noticed that Windows Live OneCare includes a monitoring module which looks interesting.

And I understand that Windows Vista includes parental control and content managing tools, which I confess I have not checked out, but their existence is certainly indicative of a trend.

I expect tools like this will become more available and more powerful in the near future.

Technorati tags: family+safe+computing, parenting, internet+privacy, children+and+internet

Mouse Parade

This week has seen the opening of another chapter in my long-term process of caring for the tendons in my hand and arm.

I am referring to my acquisition of a new Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 (#4 in the picture).

When I first experienced problems because of mouse damage (RSI, OOS, whatever you call it), the only effective solution I found was the 3M Ergonomic Mouse (#1 in the picture).

Well, originally I got an Anir Vertical Mouse, which was the predecessor of the 3M edition, same basic design.

Over a period of a few years, I think I had a total of 4 of these upright mice.  This was a lifesaver.  This design has it's limitations, for example even the latest versions do not have wheels.  And they seem to wear out pretty quickly.  But they force your hand and arm to a position they naturally fall to by default, preventing further damage, which was critically important for me at the time.

Here is a nice picture of how to use it.

Eventually I found that my hand had strengthened, and I decided to give another product a try.  Enter the Evoluent Vertical Mouse (#2 in the picture).

Well, I used a couple of these over a couple of years, and I must say they are excellent.  It took a while to get used to initially, but after that, it certainly fit the bill.  Includes a mouse wheel, and ancillary buttons.  The only real problem we had was that occasionally they would just stop, until you re-plug it in to the USB port.  Some technical glitch, but it happened on both the units I had.

Then, last year, I got a desktop set.  I mainly wanted it for the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard (which, by the way, are magnificent beasts).  But since it came with a Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer (#3 in the picture), I decided to give this a go, given that it had some nice additional features, such as wireless, and a zoom button, and horizontal scrolling - stuff I had never had before.

This mouse (and it's current successor the Wireless Optical Mouse 5000), require you to twist your arm inwards to an unnatural position.  But there is enough of a lateral angle on it to provide a significant advantage over a standard horizontal design.  And the rest of the body of the unit is so nicely streamlined that it allows a very comfortable grip.  So much so, that I have been using it for normal daily use, with only occasional discomfort.

But then, when I heard about the new Natural Mouse, I just had to have one.  And so far it's working out very well.

In fact, I think they have come up with a winner this time.  This mouse seems to combine the best features of all the ergonomic products mentioned above.

It is a fully featured desktop mouse, with 5 button programmable functionality, scroll and tilt wheel and click the wheel.  The wheel action is very satisfyingly positive.  The zoom button (unlike the one on the Optical mouse) does not keep getting accidentally activated by coming in contact with the edge of the keyboard.

The lateral angle of the "top" of the mouse is only slightly "off" the natural position.  The height of the mouse, at least for my hand size, allows the pressure on the desk to be comfortable.  The contours of the base lend themselves to horizontal wrist movement as well as full arm control.  The width of the mouse, and the angle of the grips, mean you can control it without needing to squeeze inwards with the thumb, which makes it more comfortable in this regard than the Evoluent.

It did take some getting used to, of course, just because it's different.  Something slightly disconcerting at first was that the angle of movement of the mouse did not "line up" for me with what I felt were the horizontal and vertical coordinates.  There is no provision to adjust this tracking angle, which was one of the nice features of the Anir/3M mouse.

So, it's recommended.  And not just for those who need an ergonomic solution because of existing injury problems - I believe all regular computer users should use safe as possible tools.

Technorati tags: ergonomic+mouse, safe+computing, product+review, Microsoft+mouse

Bill Gates talks about Office

Thanks to Access MVP Thomas Möller for pointing out this very interesting recent interview with Bill Gates.

We know that Bill has always been very fond of Access, and it is good to see this is still the case.

In this interview, Bill gives some interesting hints about what might be coming in Access 14.

Given that, plus the continued high level of input within Microsoft to the development of future versions of Access, we can be confident of a rosy and exciting future.

We also hear some great comments about where we are going with Microsoft Office in general, and the future of computer technology.

Technorati tags: Bill+Gates, Microsoft+Access, Microsoft+Office, software+development