Whether it is on Twitter or GitHub, here are 10 of the best developers in Germany you should be following across the world wide web.
Whether you are a developer living in Germany or you would simply like to know what the German dev community is up to — Here are 10 of the best developers in Germany you should be following across the world wide web.
Discover 10 of the Best Developers in Germany to Follow Online
As the IT environment is constantly evolving, it is crucial, if not necessary, to connect with the brightest minds to keep up with innovation. In other words, the more contacts you get, the more likely you are to solve IT challenges. Therefore, we at Mindquest are pleased to provide you with a list of the best IT talents to follow.
Let’s start with a co-founder and digital product development lead at Foundsiders, Ilona. She is a coder and derivatives trader who helps developers become investors with financial tips and software tools.
Then, Amber Fronted Web Developer at Ableton, a German music software company. Former front-end engineer at financial services firm N26. This web dev is an avid blogger and serves as an organiser and coach at codebar Berlin, a series of workshops bridging the tech diversity gap.
A senior Fronted Developer at acb.studio, Stefan is an expert front-end developer who loves sharing his expertise in web development. He also helps maintain Tiny helpers and Random MDN.
Aaron is a creative developer specialising in UI and front-end development. He is currently busy working on several projects, including Done, Check and Shorticons.
Nikita then is a software developer at JetBrains an open source contributor focusing on PHP, LLVM and Rust. If you are looking for PHP tips, you can’t miss this dev.
An iOS developer at Volkswagen’s CARIAD and former SAP senior developer, Denise is always sharing Swift development tips and her adventures in software development.
Lara is a senior Android developer and Google Developer Expert working at Blinkist. She shares Flutter and Dart tips and talks about developer life on Sketchnoting and at the CodeCafeteria podcast.
Besides an expert web developer, Olena is a full-time mom and part-time runner who loves sharing advice on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and React development.
This software engineer at Novatec is an avid YouTuber with a passion for helping others advance their careers and hone their coding skills. She is a full-stack developer specialising in JavaScript and React.
Last but not least, an authority in PHP, Sebastian is the creator of PHPUnit, a standard framework for testing PHP applications and projects. He also co-founded The PHP Consulting Company.
An interview with Microsoft Azure MVP Karel De Winter to discuss his trajectory in IT and how to advance your cloud career.
Karel de Winter is a Belgian cloud solutions architect working at Azure Expert managed cloud services provider DexMach. He is passionate about helping others in the cloud community grow and develop their expertise. Whether it is on Twitter, on his blog, or at an industry event, Karel is constantly sharing news and resources that will help you make the most of the power of cloud.
Interview with Karel De Winter from Azure: How did you get started in technology?
I was about seven when I started to play around with some old computers.
The first things you learn are the basic commands like DIR and CD. And, from
that moment on, I just wanted to learn more about computers in general and what
you could do with them. So, getting into IT was all about doing what I love to
do and the things that I was playing around with. The hardware that was given
to me by family, by neighbours; I was looking to improve that hardware, making
all those things work together.
Then the Internet came and became this living thing. And a lot of things happened from there. I joined some local communities in Belgium and learned about a lot more besides computers. I learned a little bit of programming, I learned to build websites. It was just the beginning of the web, so it was all about playing around, building websites and making music and then putting the music on those websites.
That is how it all started. And now I have around 14 years of experience in IT. I have always worked with Microsoft partners, and every company I worked with had the possibility to try out the Microsoft products, to try new things, to test them, and then implement them together with customers.
Interview with Karel De Winter:What about Azure?
The same thing happened with Azure. The platform is about 10- or 11-years old right now, so I started to play with Azure in the very beginning. I got interested at a local community event. Somebody was showing something from Azure Storage; you could put your files on a storage account or you could run your SQL environments and servers on Azure.
I was curious about all those things and how they worked together. So, I got involved with the Azure community in Belgium and attended several sessions. And I immediately saw the benefit of cloud products. But I must say that, ten years ago, Azure was not the Microsoft Azure platform that we now know. A lot has changed since then. So, it was a lot of exploration and investigating what was possible, always learning new things through the process. That is how, throughout my career, I went from being a systems engineer to making cloud architectures and other related things.
Interview with Karel De Winter from Azure: And what are you up to these days?
My main focus so far has been on Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). But, since I started working at DexMach as a solutions architect, a lot of things have changed. Now I am focusing more on the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) side of things and everything around governance, making sure that we have a good landing zone and keep security in mind. Those are the things I now focus on.
Now I am designing architectures, but also doing a bit of pre-sales. Together with our team, we help to make proposals for customers so that they are having a clear understanding of the cost and architecture of the Azure environment. Aside from that, I’m also a competence lead, which means that I am responsible for all platform related projects and guidelines related to Azure. So, I am looking at, for example; how we can use Azure Stack HCI as a hybrid solution for our customers, or how we can standardize platform-as-a-service in Azure with Azure Functions, Logic Apps or Web Apps. Even Kubernetes comes into play when a customer wants to keep full control. I am making sure that everything is secure, that everyone who works in the team is on the same page (we have standards that we need to implement with every customer).
What is your advice for more junior Azure experts?
My number one piece of advice for junior Azure experts would be that
learning is important. It is so important that you have to do it for the rest
of your life. Especially because a lot is changing in cloud. It is going very,
very quickly. So, if you are not learning day by day, six months later you are behind
your competitors. You need to keep on learning and keep doing new things.
If you want to start with Azure, just go with Microsoft Learn. That’s a very good starting point. You have different paths you can follow. So, if you are a junior and you don’t know which area or which track you should go for, this is the way to go. You have the ability to sign up for free and have a complete Azure environment in a sandbox and see what is working for you. You can see if you are doing a lot of development things, or enjoying the web development part, or if you are an infrastructure guy like me. Or are maybe more into VMs, more into Kubernetes and managing all those things, networking, storage, etc. Just have a look at that.
What about official certifications, what would you recommend focusing on?
You can’t learn everything in these times of digital revolution, there is just too much information. But when preparing for an official Microsoft you should start by looking at the PDF that’s on the page of the exam. There you will find the exam skills outline. All the topics covered in the exam are listed with some percentage at the end. And you should aim to learn by that percentage. The skills measured with the highest percentage must be also your highest learning priority and the biggest investment in time. That’s something I always do. My main focus will be on the biggest parts, and then, if I have time to go into a really deep dive, I will look into the other parts.
What’s the best career advice you have been given?
Networking is important because, for example, if you are going for a job
interview and they have two people with a very similar resume (same
certificates and experience) but the one person knows somebody within the
company or knows somebody that knows somebody — you know, they will be picked
instead of the other one. I think networking is very important in every job.
But not only in it. If you want to work at another place or you want to take a
career step, it is very important that you know people and that you do some
extra networking as well. Yeah.
Secondly, as you are becoming an expert, you need to share your
knowledge and not just keep it to yourself. Sharing your expertise with people
in your company or even online is very important because you show that you are
doing things. You get on the radar of other people and other people. Create a
blog or do a podcast or make a YouTube video. Just explain something simple. Get
started sharing something you’ve learned, something you worked on, a project.
And the last thing: try to get involved in as many projects as you can.
And don’t be shy to do some complex projects. Mostly you will be working in
teams, so you will learn from other team members, from other people. Cloud is
still very new, so nobody has 20 or 25 years of experience with it, as it
happens with other technologies. Everybody is kind of new to the job. It is by
doing that you will learn a lot. Making sure you have complex projects in which
to get involved. That has worked very well for me in my career.
What would you do if you were not in IT?
That’s a good question. I think I would have a small company that gave mountain biking lessons because I love mountain biking. I imagine this little village in the mountains, where I would have a little shop full of mountain bikes. And I would give lessons, or give some tours. Yeah, that would be nice.
Computers will soon be faster thanks to the fusing of CPUs and RAM. This is accordingly to that’s what SK Hynix CEO Seok-Hee Lee thinks.
The head of the world’s second-largest memory maker behind Samsung made this prediction during his keynote address at IEEE’s International Reliability Physics Symposium. Assuring that the central processing unit and the memory will eventually be integrated within a single die to deliver higher performance computing systems.
To achieve this feat, Lee, whose company only produces memories and not CPUs, believes the chip manufacturing industry will need to come together and adopt a collaboration model focused on open innovation.
IDG’s annual State of the CIO survey clearly shows how the pandemic has affected IT spending. After a 2020 impacted by tightening budgets and a sole focus on mission-critical initiatives, the priorities for this year are somewhat widening.
This year’s three main business drivers for IT are transforming business processes, increasing cybersecurity protections and improving customer experience.
To do so, CIOs will be putting most of their money into technologies. This will include data and business analytics, security and risk management, cloud-based enterprise applications and customer experience technologies. Global budgets are expected to increase by 6.2% to cover this broader spectrum.
News story #3: Cloud spending (finally) surpasses on-prem
And speaking of spending — enterprise cloud spending topped that made on data centers for the first time last year. Nothing too unexpected in terms of IT news of the week. But one thing is to know change is coming, and a whole different story is to have confirmation.
A global report by the Synergy Research Group reveals businesses spent 35 percent more on cloud-based solutions, taking the total up to almost $130 billion. Conversely, spending for on-premise solutions went down six percent to less than $90 billion.
CIOs are spending most of their cloud budget on servers storage, security and software. When it comes to software, however, it is important to mention that the report mainly looked at server OS and virtualisation software — comparing software-as-a-service with on-prem business apps software would render way different results.
What is the role of the Cisco Network Engineer? In this job description, you will learn about their missions, skills, and salary of these professionals.
Almost half of companies today use Cisco solutions. Cisco Systems, or Cisco is an American IT company specialising in the production and sale of network equipment (routers, Ethernet switches and servers, etc.).
All Cisco solutions use the proprietary IOS ( Internetwork Operating System) operating system. Founded in 1984, the company has been at the heart of networks since the beginnings of the Internet and was notably the first to market multi-protocol routers. Today, the company offers VoIP, security and network storage solutions, IP telephones, software, switches, routers …
Cisco Systems also offers many certifications that companies value highly. The company is thus a key player in the IT market for both SMEs and large groups.
The mission of Cisco Network Engineers is to share their expertise in Cisco solutions to the needs of a company. This professional has different levels of intervention, participating in the development of the network architecture and its deployment as well as during its operation.
They are also involved in the analysis of the network and the diagnosis of problems related to the latter. To facilitate the operation of the network, this Cisco expert is also responsible for the production of documentation related, for example, to architectural designs or migration plans.
The Cisco Network Engineer is responsible for implementing, managing and improving all Cisco communication networks within a company. They also ensure the perfect adaptation of hardware and software, their efficiency, as well as their constant development. To do this, these experts regularly install new high-performance tools (antivirus servers, etc.).
The job of Cisco Network Engineers is a very versatile job with varied and diversified missions. It is a profession of contact and expertise which offers real prospects for employment and career development due to the sector which is very promising.
The Cisco Network Engineer is an expert in the administration of Cisco networks. These professionals are often required to have one or more Cisco certifications. They must also have a good knowledge of network and telecommunications protocols as well as telecommunications and Internet technologies.
Good computer skills
The Cisco Network Engineer must have broad knowledge in the IT field. They must master administration and management tools and infrastructure software such as operating systems or mail servers. They must also know how to work with databases. Finally, the Cisco Network Engineer must have a broad scientific culture and constantly update their knowledge according to the evolution of the sector.
Adaptability and versatility
The Cisco Network Engineer must be versatile and able to assist all types of users. They must have good adaptability to cope with their interlocutors and new technological developments. Contact with different partners requires this engineer to have very good interpersonal skills. They must also be rigorous, organised and methodical and have a perfect command of professional English. In view of the risks associated with possible breakdowns or technical incidents, it is also important that this professional has good stress resistance capacities.
Salary of a Cisco Network Engineer
The average daily rate for a Cisco Network Engineer is generally between $400 and $600. This amount may change depending on the characteristics of the assignment and the professional’s level of experience.
Training
To become a Cisco Network Engineer, university level is generally required. The main way to access this profession is therefore to go through an engineering school and obtain an engineering degree specialising in telecommunications.
It is also possible to enrol on courses offered by a specialized school or to follow a professional computer science master’s degree focusing on this specialty.
Are you looking for IT mission opportunities in the Tech and IT sectors on a freelance or permanent basis? Mindquest can help you find your next IT mission opportunity. Find your next mission by browsing our freelance and permanent vacancies available on our digital recruitment platform.
Offboarding is often overlooked. In the case of the offboarding of independent IT contractors, the process downright nonexistent in most cases.
Offboarding is the set of initiatives put in place by an organisation to support an employee when they leave the company. While companies generally now have a well-defined onboarding process to make the best start of everyone’s time; offboarding is often overlooked. And, in the case of the offboarding of independent IT contractors, the process downright nonexistent in most cases.
However, the IT departments of large companies often call on a multitude of independent consultants. And it is strategic to manage their departure well. Especially since many IT freelancers work on long assignments. Sometimes under management, and they are therefore an integral part of the team in place.
It is very important to take care of the offboarding of an IT consultant, but how do you do it? What actions should be put in place to create an appropriate offboarding process for its IT freelancers? Here are the 7 key steps for a successful offboarding.
1. Offboarding of IT contractors: Communicate the departure of the consultant
Successful offboarding begins with thoughtful communication. When the mission of your independent IT consultant comes to an end; it is important to announce their departure to all the teams involved. It is important to announce it as quickly as possible. Especially to the teams who will be most impacted by its departure. This gives the IT freelancer the feeling of having been fully integrated into the teams in the same way as a permanent employee, as well as the feeling of having been recognized as a full member of the project.
This step allows the contractor’s interlocutors to say goodbye to him or her and create a starting human environment. It is also important to announce the departure of the IT consultant to any external service providers with whom he was in contact.
2. Recognise the work done and thank IT contractor
After communicating the departure of the independent IT consultant, it is important to thank them for the work done. It is also important to highlight their time investment and skills development. Give them frank and constructive feedback so that they can improve in future missions. In most cases, a reference letter will be highly appreciated and will allow the IT freelancer to highlight their collaboration with you to land new assignments.
The freelancer will feel all the more recognized and valued for the work they have done while working for you. Do not hesitate to express your best wishes for the future as well as to have personal attention, the consultant will leave with the feeling of being appreciated.
3. Organise and manage the handover during offboarding of the IT contractor
If your independent IT consultant leaves you to make way for a new consultant or passes the baton to someone in-house, it is crucial to organise the handover so that the freelancer can transmit all key information about their work and on the processes in progress to their replacement.
It may be wise to ask them to write a file with the missions and tasks they have carried out, the best practices, etc. This step of documentation and transfer of skills is essential to ensure a good transition. This also allows the work of the independent IT contractor to be valued.
4. Get constructive feedback during offboarding of IT contractors
Organising a final interview or an “exit interview” with your independent IT consultant is very important. This will allow you to know how you are perceived by an outsider who has worked in your company.
Do not hesitate to ask them if they felt welcome; if they had all the access and information necessary to perform their services; if he or her was able to achieve all the objectives they had set for themselves; how they carried out their mission; how this mission will serve them in future projects; if they would recommend your company to other IT professionals; if they would agree to work again on a new mission for you, etc.
This interview with your IT contractor will give you essential information to improve your onboarding and offboarding strategy. It is important to adopt a constructive approach, focused on listening. This interview will be beneficial for the IT freelancer, who will appreciate having been able to express their opinion. IT freelancers talk to each other a lot, and the bad reputation of some client companies can dissuade them from taking an interest in them. If you take the time to value and listen to your IT consultants until the end, they are sure to let their network know.
5. Close the practical and administrative aspects during offboarding of IT contractors
For successful offboarding, every detail needs to be considered. Before departure, it is important to ensure that the IT freelance employee returns all the material that have been loaned to them (computer, badge, etc.). The most practical strategy is to establish a list of the loaned equipment beforehand, at the time of onboarding. Also, don’t forget to check the material for wear.
Remember to remove all access to accounts of the former IT consultant for all networks, software, resources and collaborative tools of the company to prevent potential risks of cyber hacking or information leaks that could be detrimental to your business. This preparation is important for maintaining safety, preserving the efficiency of the internal organisation and maintaining good working relations.
In order for the IT freelancer to leave your company with confidence, it is also important to close all administrative aspects.
6. Keep in touch and leave the door open
It is advisable to keep in touch with your former IT freelancers. Especially if you want to work with them again later for new missions. In addition, keeping in touch at least via professional social networks with your former independent IT contractors will allow you to access their network of freelancers, which can be very beneficial for you. You will also be able to follow their news on social media and keep you informed of the evolution of their skills as well as their services.
Likewise, it is interesting for the IT freelancer to be part of your network because it represents a form of valuable recommendation for it. Keeping in touch with your IT contractors will also allow you to convey the strong values of your company.
7. Use digital tools to facilitate the offboarding of IT contractors
Nowadays there are many tools to deal effectively with offboarding processes. Just like with onboarding, some specialized platforms offer to manage all the tasks related to offboarding in the same place. These solutions make it possible in particular to disconnect the IT consultant with one click from all the company’s resources, to collect their feedback, to take care of the handover, etc.
It may be interesting to discuss with your HR department how you can adapt any existing offboarding processes and tools for internal employees to your external collaborators. And remember: an IT contractor’s offboarding process shouldn’t be overlooked. Just as important as onboarding, a successful and efficient offboarding process should be strategic for your IT department. The independent IT consultant will keep fond memories of your collaboration after their departure and will be sure to spread the word.
With the manifesto for Agile software
development turning 20 this year, industry insiders are looking back at the
philosophy’s two decades of existence to see how deeply embedded it actually is
among the world’s businesses.
While
most companies have fully bought into the idea of Agile and are on board with
its values and principles, the term “agile” is still a buzzword
rather than a true practice in many cases.
According
to experts, organisations often resort to Agile methodologies as a simple
solution to accelerate their digital transformation projects. In doing so, they
fail to implement the development framework as a wholistic philosophy that ties
IT with business objectives.
Automated testing and deployment and rapid feedback loops have been widely adopted by industry players, but better value stream mapping and new business-oriented performance metrics will be needed if we are to unleash the full potential of Agile.
Just like Warren Buffett, Tim Berners-Lee
(a.k.a. the father of the world wide web) has made a habit out of sending an
annual letter reflecting on the state of the Internet world.
Last
Friday, March 12th, marked the 30th anniversary of the web, and Berners-Lee,
who has always been adamant about making the Internet a more inclusive medium,
turned his attention to universal access to the Internet, web-based
environmental initiatives and curbing online abuse. According to Berners-Lee,
the pandemic has accentuated the difference between the 2.2 billion young
people who lack stable Internet access and those who don’t. But it is the web’s
hostility towards minorities that worries him the most.
Yet, despite his concerns regarding “the toxic Internet,” Berners-lee is optimistic about our ability to make online forums a safer place. Specifically, he points towards big social media platforms as the ones who should be implementing the changes to make that happen. The way forward, says Berners-Lee, should be building “social networks where bad things happen less.”
The end the week in IT news — While quantum computing is the alternative to traditional computers that gets the most attention these days, it is not the only new kid in the block.
Researchers
are also exploring ways to make standard bit-based computation faster and more
efficient — and we are not talking about cramming more transistors into a
silicon chip. It’s more about re-inventing the traditional transistor
altogether. After all, we don’t need all future computers to be quantum; faster
traditional PCs should suffice for most tasks. Enter light-based computing.
University of Cambridge researchers have discovered a way of making a material switch between glass and mirror with a short laser pulse. This type of optical switching is way faster than current computer switches — about a million times faster. It also consumes a fraction of the energy. Plus, the switch could be applied to quantum computing as well.
A look at the role of the C/C++ Developer. Mindquest's IT's Who is Who is a directory of all IT functions. Find the perfect career for you.
Use our template to create a compelling and comprehensive C/C++ Developer job description to attract top talent.
The C/C++ Developer is an expert in these essential computer languages: C and its C++ heir. Widely used in the industry, these programming languages are a skill highly sought after by companies.
C is a general-purpose language from the 1970s, and still in use in systems programming and robotics. C++ was born in the 1980s. It is the language of choice for those looking for performance, as it can execute complex code very fast. For example, for the design of mobile applications, for the programming of operating systems or video games, as well as in the creation of certain military programs.
The missions of a C/C++ Developer revolve around there main areas:
Drafting specifications
The first step in the work of a C/C ++ Developer is that of writing the specifications. Indispensable to the start of any IT project, this step is done in agreement with the internal or external customer. These specifications include the specific needs of the project, the available resources, the budget, the feasibility and many other criteria intended to ensure the smooth running of the project.
This construction is done after an analysis of the customer’s expectations and the needs of the users of the future product.
Architectural design
Once the specifications have been drawn up, it is time to start building the architecture. This involves starting to program the software through lines of computer code.
This part of the job can also be done on the basis of existing code, usually to incorporate new features.
Test and maintenance phase
The third step in the work of the C/C ++ Developer is to monitor the work done so far, through many phases of testing. The objective is to measure the proper functioning of the program or application and to anticipate possible failures.
To facilitate understanding of their work and facilitate a potential handover, the developer must provide a technical installation manual and a user guide that they will have written at the end of the project. They often also have to provide maintenance to respond to any bugs.
Required skills of the C/C++ Developer
Perfect knowledge of programming tools and languages
The C/C ++ Developer must have a perfect knowledge of programming languages, and more particularly C / C ++ languages, essential for the exercise of this profession. They must also be proficient in English to be able to fully develop their technical skills.
Autonomous and particularly rigorous
Watchdogs of their own work, C/C ++ Developers must be rigorous. Not only to stay abreast of updates to the computer languages they use but also to manage the progress of their projects. They must organise themselves in such a way as to respect the deadlines, the budget and all the other conditions of the project.
Available and attentive to its customers
The C/C ++ Developer doesn’t sit behind a screen all day writing lines of code. They meet various interlocutors. This is why a great sense of listening and of pedagogy are also key skills for this function.
The salary of the C/C++ Developer
The average daily rate of a C/C++ Developer ranges between €300 and €700 depending on the level of seniority.
In conclusion, to become a C/C++ Developer a specialised degree is required. Although some are self-taught, most developers in this function have a university-level diploma in computer science or programming.
The first part of the interview with Microsoft cloud solution architect Wesley Backelant to discuss his career trajectory and share some tips on how you can gain new skills and become a self-made IT pro like him.
A Microsoft insider, Wesley Backelant is a Belgian cloud solutions architect who works together with the company’s customers to engineer and deploy impactful data and advanced analytics projects. Among other things, Wesley is an expert on the various components of the Azure AI platform. He is also a frequent speaker at numerous community events and regularly shares Azure news and tips.
So, Wesley, tell us a bit about your professional
trajectory. How did you get started in your career?
I’m actually what they call a self-made man. I started studying ICT or IT, but I had been doing an internship at a company during high school, and that’s the company I got started in. They were looking for someone to help them and support them with software development and, because I worked there as an intern, they asked me to go work with them in my first year of university. They offered to teach me. There were some very senior people working there, who knew everything about development and so on. So, I left my studies and joined the company.
I decided to do
that the first year because, to be honest, the education system in Belgium at
the moment was not that strong at this level, so I was kind of frustrated. I
finished high school and I thought, okay, now I am going to study IT stuff, I
am going to learn how to program, and when I got there, there was a lot of
stuff that I had to do that was completely unrelated to IT. There was
accounting, economics, different languages. It was all super interesting, of
course, but I was there to learn how to develop, and even when we did that, it
was only old school stuff that we learnt, COBOL, and so on.
When I got that opportunity to get hands-on, I said, okay, let’s do this. It was a leap of faith too, but it turned out to be okay! A small company, so I was the IT department together with a few colleagues. We did a bit of everything.
Interview with Wesley Backelant from microsoft: What sort of career path eventually took you to become a cloud architect at Microsoft?
Well, sometime after that, I started getting interested in the database side of things, more than on development. I needed bigger challenges, so I got into outsourcing to have more variation, customers and technologies to get in touch with.
I then had the opportunity to become a database architect at a large enterprise in Belgium, and I took it because I knew they were hosting one of the most transaction-intensive SQL environments in Belgium at that moment. I thought it would be a great learning opportunity, which kind of proved to be true, because it put me on the next level of data, focusing on database design, performance tuning, and so on. They were also looking into some business intelligence solutions and, given my passion for data, I had been doing some reporting services work. We implemented together with a colleague the first reporting solution there, and that’s how I got into contact with some people at Microsoft. I figured that, with that experience, it was the right time to apply for a position at Microsoft, as they were looking for a pre-sales for their data and BI.
Back then I was not really a BI specialist, I was more focused on the database engine, but I figured, hey, new stuff to learn, fantastic, let’s take that leap. It was the same year I first saw the demo for what back then was called Red Dog, which is now known as Azure, at an internal event. Looking back, it was hard to imagine. It was the early, early days of Azure, and, seeing that demo, it was still hard to grasp what cloud would mean nowadays.
It was fun being there. Being at the birth of Azure, so to speak, put me in a nice position. I actually grew up and worked together with Azure at Microsoft, meaning that I was blessed to be able to go through this whole cycle of innovation and new services coming up. You know, looking back at something like SQL Server 6.5 and what keeps me awake at night today, it’s really amazing. We are so far from the traditional idea of the database now.
What educational resources do you turn to as someone who
is constantly learning new things?
Well, at Microsoft there’s a huge focus on learning these days. It’s one of the key priorities to make sure everyone is up-to-speed with technology. Especially with our roles as cloud architects, we need to be ahead of the curve in many ways. But it’s a broader concept, of course. Everyone at Microsoft needs to at least have some part of technical knowledge, and there’s a strong push for that. Most of that is coming from Microsoft learn these days, which is also open for external people, so I really would encourage people to look at it, as there is great content on the platform.
Additionally, I
like to look at blogs, from the official Microsoft blogs to the heroes in the
industry. For me that’s actually the queue, when I see something on a blog
post, I say, okay, let’s see how can I learn this, how can I get my hands dirty
with this.
Is that what you tend to favour, a more practical
approach to education?
What I’ve noticed works best for me — I have these “production-like” pet projects. It could be something you do at home, but where you try to have a scenario in mind. Playing with technology is one thing, but you only start to learn when you have requirements, I think.
At first, I had zero knowledge of Linux, for example. I saw it was going to become important. Since I had a server at home running Windows, I decided to make it a Linux server – that was before cloud, to be clear – so I said, okay, let’s use Linux, let’s start building RAID arrays, save some pictures on a central server, etc. I broke the server several times. Luckily, I had backups, thanks to experience. I think I had to re-install it like 3 times because I did something wrong with permissions and partitions in Linux, but that’s learning.
The point is that you need something that has real requirements so that you challenge yourself to try new things. And for me that’s what works best, getting your hands dirty with technology. It, of course, starts by reading and learning the basics. But then you need to start pushing yourself.
News story #1: Data centers to curb carbon emissions
One of the main arguments against the
expansion of cloud computing could turn out to be one of the strongest reasons
for the technology’s wider adoption.
Data
centers have long been known to need vast amounts of power to keep their
servers cold and operational. Basic logic dictates more data centers will
translate into greater electricity consumption, but, as is often the case with
global issues, basic logic is not always enough.
For each
centralised data center in a cloud network, fewer, discrete computing resources
will be needed to sustain the productive ecosystem. And that means energy
savings. Additionally, smarter data centers can reduce electricity consumption
by optimising power distribution and the cooling of servers.
Well, according to new research by IDC, a combination of these two strategies could save the planet 1B metric tons of carbon emissions by 2024.
Problems keep piling up for American
cybersecurity experts. And, consequently, for everyone else. On the heels of
the SolarWinds hack that left thousands of companies and government bodies open
to vulnerability exploits, Microsoft announced on March 2 that suspected
Chinese-sponsored attackers had identified 4 zero-day exploits in the company’s
Exchange business email solution.
While Microsoft immediately released a patch, other hackers have since been busy at work looking for users who have yet to install the update. But even those who patched the issue might still be at risk, as some hackers are targeting backdoors that were put in place during the original attack and never discovered.
Organisations around the globe experienced issues as a result of the breach, including the European Banking Authority. Given how widely used Miscrosoft Exhange is, we can expect other prominent institutions to come forward in the coming days.
Finally, the European Union unveiled on
Tuesday a plan to double its chip manufacturing capacity by 2030.
The
so-called Digital Compass plan aims to advance the eurozone’s digital
sovereignty by funding a series of technology initiatives that grant the region
greater autonomy.
In
addition to scaling up the production of semiconductor processors to 20% of the
global market, the EU wants 5G access for all houses, the online availability
of all key public services, and also to build the union’s first quantum
computer.
Although vital to Europe’s geopolitical position in a tech-powered future, the chip-manufacturing part of the plan will prove challenging. Making chips is very expensive, and the European industry will have to pivot from building the machines needed to fabricate chips to making the chips themselves.
Enter Edna's Garden Chapter 2. How an 8-year-old girl with a passion for nature turns the world upside down with her data experiments. By Horizon 2050.
Edna’s Garden: An 8-year-old girl with a passion for nature will turn the world upside down with her data experiments
The lift swooshed up the Manhattan building where Edna had been living for the eight years of her life. The elevator shaft looked much like a tree of glass growing along the exterior of the building, with a central vertical trunk and smaller shafts branching out to the sides connecting to each apartment. Almost all new elevators were built like this nowadays — historical architecture was one of the few last bastions against urban overdevelopment in a New York that simply had run out of place after the 2040s economic boom. Edna looked at the crowded city skyline with tired eyes. Delivery drones crossed the space in between buildings, avoiding each other by just a few millimetres.This place definitely needsmore green.
“Let’s hope we can sneak you through the service door and get you cleaned up without your parents seeing us, young lady,” said Peter with a long sigh.
“My father, Peter. She is not my mom. Plus, I don’t care what happens with her stupid dinner.” Her stepmother was throwing a party this evening to showcase her horrible paintings. She had convinced Dad to invite a renowned art critic he had once met at a corporate event. Classic Bianca, to use others’ influence for her petty little projects of self-aggrandising.
“You might not, but your father surely does. He’s got enough on his plate as it is with work to be mediating between the two of you. Plus, we are more than an hour late.”
The elevator door opened with a beep and Edna and Peter found themselves in the storage room behind the kitchen. Animated chatting and clinking glasses could be heard coming from the living room at the opposite side of the building floor the apartment fully occupied.
“Quick, let’s get you cleaned up and changed into more appropriate garments,” said Peter while pulling her towards one of the many bathrooms. A voice startled them right as he was opening the door for Edna to go in.
“Playing with dirt again, huh, Ed?” Her older sister was standing in the hallway with her arms crossed. Edna and her sister generally liked each other, but puberty was taking a toll on the way her sister treated her. They no longer shared the afternoons after school exploring alien worlds in virtual reality or fantasising about moving to a small village in the Canadian mountains where bird sounds replaced car horns. They still, however, agreed on the fact that Bianca Salazar had been a terrible addition to the family and that she had to go. At least on that, they stuck together.
“Peter, could you please help her with those shoes full of mud? I’ll go get her clean clothes.”
The party was, as per usual, a bit too much to say the least. Edna was trying to find a quiet corner of the living room in which she could remain unnoticed and wait for the whole thing to be over. Her sister would be of no help here – she was too busy with the friends she had invited over, one of whom, Edna thought, it was pretty obvious she liked. Edna could have invited Jahmil, her school buddy and a fellow admirer of the wonders of the natural world. But she had decided to spare him the pain.
One thing was to have him sit through one of her long-winded speeches in between classes, the other one was to have him join a party of NY socialites whose level of disregard for all things fun was only comparable to how easy it seemed for them to ignore the fact that they were surrounded by the grotesque paintings of an egomaniac they didn’t even like. Edna couldn’t wait for the whole thing to be over so that she could go back to her computer model of the pond and implement the updates she had come up with that day during business class.
At least the catering was good. Little pastries and cold canapés from Martinelli’s on 5th, her favourite café in town. Peter was busy carrying trays full of them up and down the room with his usual mix of warmth and sophistication. It almost pained her to think it had been Bianca who proposed getting the food for the showcasing from Martinelli’s. She had tried to sell it as a gesture to Edna and her sister, but Edna wasn’t buying it. Too nice of a gesture for Bianca Salazar.
“And you must be Edna,” a man’s voice said from behind. A bespectacled man wearing a flat cap and a shinny blazer was filling his plate with tiny savoury croissants and way too many olives. Definitely the art critic. A blue glow on the surface of his glasses informed Edna that he was looking something up in his augmented reality display – a kind of multitasking very popular in those days. “Your father has told me a lot about you, you know? Too bad he wasn’t able to make it today.” Unsurprisingly, her father had got caught up with one of his board meetings. Something about an activist investor. Probably nothing to do with the kind of activists that fight to save entire Amazonian ecosystems and that Edna admired so much. “So, what do you think of the paintings?” He pointed at the nearest one with a sausage-stuffed croissant.
Edna hesitated. “Eh, you know… the colour is kind of nice?”
“Relax,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m only here as a favour to your dad. Even he knows it’s painful to look at these things. But it’s important for Bianca. And so, it is to him. You know, your dad’s a good man. Nothing to do with the suits you tend to meet at these corporate things.
“Yeah, he’s cool,” she said quietly, wishing her father had as much time to spend with her as he apparently had to go around making friends with artistic types.
“Take that one, for example,” he said pointing at a big square painting across the room. It was an undecipherable pastiche of colours and shapes. “What do you think that actually is?”
Edna smiled. All things considered; she was starting to like the man.
“Hmmm. An eggplant fighting a chihuahua? No! Wait. Actually, I think it is a self-portrait of Bianca. See? You can recognise her silly hat and witch-like face. And that mouth that…”
Too late. Edna felt the presence of Bianca, who had approached the couple in the hopes of squeezing some feedback out of the art critic. Despite her apparently perfect smile, Edna could tell in her eyes that she had perfectly heard what she had just said. The rest, as they say, is history.
Back in her bedroom, Edna finished changing her clothes and sat at her desk. It was kind of comforting to be spared the rest of the evening. She wasn’t looking forward to the “honest chat” his dad would have with her when he got home later that day. Undoubtedly, Bianca would have told him how Edna had ruined her only chance at becoming a self-sufficient artist. As if she could have sold a single one of those paintings anyway. But at least she could go back to what mattered: the pond model.
She started by inputting the new data and variables she had collected at the park that day and then went on to fix the code with the new approach she had come up with. It took her a while to put it all together, but her face was glowing with excitement when she was done. She hit the compile button. A message appeared: insufficient power. Darn it. There was only one thing left to do. After some tweaking, she managed to connect her computing station to the apartments main power network. According to Tim345 on Reddit, it was not something a certified electrician would advise anyone to do. But what the heck. Not that anyone in that house put too much care on her anyway.
Edna pressed the compile button again.
The power went out with a low hum. In the absolute darkness of her room, Edna could hear Bianca’s howl piercing through the walls.
