Friday, November 30, 2012

Watch the Game Film, Great Teachers

Made to Stick: Watch the Game Film, by DAN HEATH AND CHIP HEATH, @ Fast Company



... Doug Lemov, a consultant to school districts that were desperate to improve. Lemov, a former principal and teacher, was convinced that better teaching was the answer. Stanford research shows that in one year, the top 5% of teachers can raise students a grade level and a half. The bottom 5% put their kids a half-grade behind.

Five years later, having recorded and analyzed hundreds of hours of videotape, Lemov has some answers. In his new book, Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College, Lemov reveals what he learned.

As he expected, great teachers have a lot in common. For instance, star teachers circulate around the whole space of their classrooms. They are always within seconds of being at the shoulder of any student in the room. Less experienced teachers rarely "broke the plane," the imaginary line running between the blackboard and the first row of student desks.

Great teachers also start class before the opening bell rings with a "Do Now" assignment on the board. (Find the area of a triangle with a base of 3 inches and a height of 4 inches.) Their students are trained to come in, get settled, and begin working on it. The technique is powerful: If a teacher can transform five minutes of "transition time" into productive time, that's like adding 15 extra class periods to the school year.


Book:
The Complete Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College (K-12)
by Doug Lemov



This article in also included in free eBook and audio book (mp3) THE MYTH OF THE GARAGE from the same authors.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

PowerShell v3 everywhere

PowerShell v3 everywhere | I.T. Proctology:
...you can download and install the “Windows Management Framework 3.0” on your boxes that are not Server 2012 or Windows 8. As in the past this is more than just PowerShell, it includes WMI and WinRM compatibility updates.  (just not a big BITS update like v2 did)
...If you run an OS that is older.  I am sorry, MSFT does not look back.  You can be one version old, but XP / 2003 is way out. 

The creator of PowerShell, Jeffrey Snover, is now in charge of Windows Server and System Center (Architecture), so it is likely that there will be even more usage of PowerShell...

"Service Stack": Open source .NET and Mono web services framework

ServiceStack.net:
Open source .NET and Mono web services framework



Simpler alternative to WCF, MVC and WebApi
Code-first, convention-based, codegen-free
Best-practices, high-performance, cross-platform: Web, REST, RPC & MQ services

podcast @ The Tablet Show:

John Sonmez Builds with Service Stack and MonoGame

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Touchscreen Laptop

ASUS Q200E-BHI3T45 - Best Buy


Windows 8 is designed to both touch and keyboard/mouse.
For $500 this 11.6" i3 2.9lb 500GB laptop is a very nice solution.

So why the price is is much lower than in "Ultrabooks"? It does not have SSD.

C++11: Elements of Modern C++ Style

Elements of Modern C++ Style « Sutter’s Mill:

“C++11 feels like a new language.” – Bjarne Stroustrup (creator of C++)

Example: lambda expressions
// C++98: write a naked loop (using std::find_if is impractically difficult)
vector::iterator i = v.begin(); // because we need to use i later
for( ; i != v.end(); ++i ) {
    if( *i > x && *i < y ) break;
}
// C++11: use std::find_if
auto i = find_if( begin(v), end(v), [=](int i) { return i > x && i < y; } );
Podcast: Interview on Hanselminutes by Herb Sutter


So "the world runs on C++", and it must be very good, right?

The world also runs on oil/gasoline, and while it is convenient, it is not very good.
"Hybrid" maybe a good middle ground, as in case of automobiles.

The performance benefit of C/C++ is clear, but "domain specific languages"
that efficiently translate to C/C++ are better, I think.
It would be nice to have a simple restricted syntax that translates directly to C++11,
but does not require a VM to run, to preserve performance and portability...

In fact there are examples of such tools,
for example Facebook is using PHP for write web apps,
that that code is translated to C/C++ and compiled to run efficiently.
Apparently Facebook is measuring servers efficiency in Wats/User. Twice faster program, twice less servers required. For a site with a billion of users, that is a "big deal".

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Gmail integrated with Google Drive cloud storage


Google integrates Gmail, cloud storage service Drive - Computerworld



"Gmail users can now attach files up to 10GB in size by selecting them from the Google Drive cloud storage service.

Gmail announced the new capability on its blog today, stating that feature allows for attachments that are 400 times larger that Gmail users previously could have used.

"Also, because you're sending a file stored in the cloud, all your recipients will have access to the same, most-up-to-date version," wrote Phil Sharp, a Google product manager, in the blog post."

Note that this feature is rolling out over the next few days and is only available with Gmail's new compose experience, so you'll need to opt-in if you haven't already.


The new "experience" is another experiment with GUI, that may confuse users... It is not "web" and it is not "desktop-like"... Essentially, content is "floating" on the page... Those "windows" even have "header" (chrome), that is not abandoned by Windows 8/RT.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Inkscape: Free Vector Graphics (SVG) Editor

Inkscape. Draw Freely.



IBM Analytics: iPad online buying

10% of online purchases, and 88% of tablet purchases, were made on an iPad

Apple's iPad led Thanksgiving and Black Friday online buying - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech


"The highlights of IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark's findings:

  • The Mobile Factor: Mobile buying soared, with 24% of U.S. consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 14.3% in 2011.  Actual mobile sales hit 16.3%, up from 9.8% in 2011. 

  • The Apple Factor: The iPad generated more traffic than any other tablet or smartphone, accounting for nearly 10% of online shopping. This was followed by the iPhone at 8.7% and all Google (GOOG) Android devices combined at only 5.5%.

  • The iPad Factor: The iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3% followed by the Barnes and Noble (BKS) Nook at 3.1%, Amazon (AMZN) Kindle at 2.4% and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8%."
  • Saturday, November 24, 2012

    Microsoft Web Platform Installer, Web Deploy


    Deploying and updating web applications for Microsoft IIS could be complex.
    With tools, it could be relatively simple.
    This comes helpful in particular for Azure.

    Download the Microsoft Web Platform:

    The Microsoft Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a free tool that makes getting the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including Internet Information Services (IIS), SQL Server Express, .NET Framework and Visual Web Developer easy. The Web PI also makes it easy to install and run the most popular free web applications for blogging, content management and more with the built-in


    Web Deploy 3.0

    Web Deploy (msdeploy) simplifies deployment of Web applications and Web sites to IIS servers. Administrators can use Web Deploy to synchronize IIS servers or to migrate to newer versions of IIS. Web Deploy Tool also enables administrators and delegated users to use IIS Manager to deploy ASP.NET and PHP applications to an IIS server.

    podcast @RunAs Radio about managing Web Farms

    Friday, November 23, 2012

    Open Feedback Publishing System: O'Reilly books-in-progress

    Open Feedback Publishing System


    "The Open Feedback Publishing System (OFPS) is an O'Reilly experiment that tries to bridge the gap between private manuscripts and public blogs. Following on the let-them-comment-on-everything model established by the Django Book, Real World Haskell, and Mercurial: The Definitive Guide (among others), OFPS allows readers to read in-progress O'Reilly manuscripts, communicate suggestions with the authors, follow others' comments, and directly participate in the development of new books."

    While some other publishers (Manning MEAP for example) sell books that are in progress,
    in many cases that requires early commitment, and reduces feedback to authors.
    O'Reilly experiment provides public access, and broad feedback...

    Example book: Programming ASP.NET MVC 4

    The Myth of the Garage, by HeathBrothers

    a free eBook and audioBook from authors of "Made to Stick" and "Switch"

    The Myth of the Garage: And Other Minor Surprises | HeathBrothers

    "The Myth of the Garage: And Other Minor Surprises
    is a short collection of columns written by Dan and Chip Heath between 2007 and 2011"

    Thursday, November 22, 2012

    Einstein Quotes

    - Albert Einstein quotes | I ❤ Inspiration




    Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving

    Data => Information => Knowledge => Wisdom

    Daniel Burrus - Technology Trends and Business Strategy Speaker | Are You Formalizing, Capturing, and Leveraging Knowledge To Create Higher Value Assets?:

     tremendous opportunity and added value in going
    beyond the current activity of converting data into information,
    to higher levels of value by sharing, capturing, and delivering knowledge and wisdom 
    that both employees and clients can quickly act upon.

    To 20 Technology Trends for 2013

    Predictions form a  professional futurist, known to predict right.

    Daniel Burrus - Technology Trends and Business Strategy Speaker | Daniel Burrus’ Top Twenty Technology-Driven Trends for 2013:

    Big Data
    Cloud
    On Demand
    Virtualization
    Consumer IT
    Game - Edu
    Social
    Smart Phone & Tablet = PC
    3D Printing
    Intelligent Agents
    ...

    Fiber-neighborhoods: "Fiberhoods"

    Google’s Internet Service Might Actually Bring the U.S. Up to Speed
    Google’s gigabit Internet service is priced at $70 per month.
    When bundled with TV, the price rises to $120
    As a budget alternative, Internet at five megabits per second is available for a one-time fee of $300.

    Google Fiber reveals first neighborhoods in Kansas City

    Obama’s Moment - NYTimes.com:
    "...The majority of Chattanooga homes and businesses get 50 megabits per second, some 100 megabits, a few 250 and those with big needs opt for a full gigabit per second

    ...EPB, the city’s electric power and telecom provider, which built and operates the network. 

    ...The average around the country is 4.5 megabits per second.” So average Internet speed in Chattanooga is 10 times the national average. That doesn’t just mean faster downloads. The fiber grid means 150,000 Chattanooga homes now have smart electric meters to track their energy consumption in real time. 

    ... on July 5, Chattanooga got hit with an unusual storm that knocked out power to 80,000 homes. Thanks to intelligent power switching on the fiber network, he said, “42,000 homes had 
    their electricity restored in ... 2 seconds.” Old days: 17 hours..."

    iOS App Store is a Race to the Bottom

    Win8 Developers: Don’t Make the Terrible Mistake of Treating the Windows Store like the iOS App Store | MarkedUp - Analytics and Insights for Windows 8MarkedUp – Analytics and Insights for Windows 8



    1. The iOS app store is effectively a hit-driven market – if you’re not one of a small handful of winners, then you’re toast. That article was written in 2009 – it’s gotten only worse since.

    2. The App Store redesign introduced in iOS6 is a giant kick in the groin to developers – there’s not much visibility or discoverability for apps that are new and aren’t massively popular.

    3. It’s a race to the bottom when it comes to prices on the iOS app store – particularly for purchases made on iPhones.

    The article has a good point, while it is also promoting a product MarkedUp created by the author.

    Store-search is not a very good method to find, or promote an app.
    "Social" element is by far more influential, where specialized apps are found from friends.
    Certainly there is a plenty of space for innovation, so Windows Store has some chance,
    as well as Google Play...




    Wednesday, November 21, 2012

    The Microsoft design language

    The Microsoft design language | Build 2012 | Channel 9:



    5 Keys elements of "Metro" design


    1. Typography
    Metro is founded upon clean beautiful typography.
    Proper color, weight, and size can help eliminate all of the chrome, color, and graphically over manipulated design elements. Even hierarchy can be easily and cleanly shown with just typography. It is not just about typography, it is about the content.

    2. Authentically Digital (Inversion of Focus)
    With Metro, the user is not focused on the chrome elements such as menus, buttons, panels, and color images with in the chrome that are shaded, the user is focused on the content.
    With Metro, there has been an inversion of focus. Great interfaces get out of the way.

    3. Spacing with thoughtful reduction
    Spacing is important—and made possible with the removal of all of the chrome and over-manipulated design elements. Even if there is room for another button or feature, it certainly does not mean that you should add it. In fact the opposite, you should challenge every element. It takes focus. From a visual design perspective, no longer do we need chrome on top of chrome nested in chrome.

    4. Motion (fast and fluid)
    Motion, used properly, can create a fun fluid interface. It brings the experience to life. In my view, motion is more important than graphic design. Metro uses animation in the right places and for the right reasons:

    5. Asynchrony and intelligence
    It is easy to overlook the importance of this element just as Steve Jobs admittedly missed object-oriented programming when he visited Xerox Parc where he became inspired to produce the Mac. It is easy to miss Async Programming in the same way.

    Windows Azure Training Kit

    Windows Azure Training Kit - Windows Azure resources:

    A 350+ MB package with dev learning materials for Azure


    MSDN members: Get up to $3700 in annual Windows Azure benefits at no charge

    Sunday, November 18, 2012

    "Popcorn" Video integrated to Web @ TED

    Ryan Merkley: Online video -- annotated, remixed and popped | Video on TED.com:
    '


    Videos on the web should work like the web itself: Dynamic, full of links, maps and information that can be edited and updated live, says Mozilla Foundation COO Ryan Merkley. On the TED stage he demos Popcorn Maker, a new web-based tool for easy video remixing. (Watch a remixed TEDTalk using Popcorn Maker -- and remix it yourself.)

    popcorn.webmaker.org

    Windows Phone 8.0 SDK

    Download WPSDK 8.0 from Official Microsoft Download Center:

    "Modest" requirement: "6.5 GB of free hard disk space"

    A HTML5/Javascript editor can be done (and are available) as single web page...
    kilobytes, not megabytes or gigabytes. And in 80% of cases it may be sufficient...

    Online editor, plus online PhoneGap Builder (or similar),
    it is time for "unified mobile web platform"

    Windows Phone 8: "Compiler in the Cloud"

    Finally, the obvious optimization is done for .NET, in this case for Windows Phone 8 (only).

    Programs build on Microsoft .NET platform are deployed in "IL" code,
    and "JIT" (Just In Time) compiled on the computer where are running.
    That takes (sometimes long) time, and and most computers identical anyway...
    Maybe a good idea when Java was used for small applets and slow connections, not anymore...

    Announcing the release of the .NET Framework for Windows Phone 8 - .NET Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
    "For Windows Phone 8, we adopted a new code generation approach that is much better suited to the phone, both to deliver higher performance and to save battery life. Windows Phone 8 apps are compiled to high-quality ARM code before they are downloaded and deployed on end-user devices. They are compiled in the Windows Phone Store, with an optimizing compiler that does not have to satisfy the time and power constraints of a just-in-time (JIT) compiler. As a result, end-users will enjoy very fast app launch times on Windows Phone 8."


    Microsoft is not Apple...

    Chris Sells used to work for Microsoft, and he is well respected and opinionated software developer.

    Microsoft will never be Apple, and they should stop trying - SD Times: Software Development News:

    The way Microsoft is currently trying to do it is by imitating Apple with secrecy, flash and thrills, all of the things that it has spent the last decade weaning out of its culture; enterprises hate those qualities. Unfortunately, while Microsoft is trying to be the next Apple to regain the traction it lost in the consumer space, Apple is busy increasing its foothold into the enterprise.
    ...
    Apple has consistently failed to beat Microsoft on the desktop or in the server room, so Apple changed the game. Instead of imitating Apple to get back into the game, Microsoft needs to embrace its enterprise focus. Don’t be secret, be open. Don’t be flashy, be solid. Don’t be thrilling, be trustworthy.

    Don’t be Apple. Be Microsoft.

    Friday, November 16, 2012

    Apptivate.MS: Windows 8 App Contest by StackOverflow

    Contest - Apptivate.MS



    StackOverflow, a great developers forum, has a contest for best Windows 8 apps,
    with many Windows RT devices and cash prizes.

    Microsoft is smartly leveraging "Social" for promoting development of Windows 8 apps...



    Mobile devices sales chart

    Samsung's Android success story | ZDNet

    Samsung is growing faster than all others (maybe even together)

    This Trend Is Very Worrisome For Apple

    Thursday, November 15, 2012

    WikiSpeed: build 100mpg car in 3 months

    wikispeed.com
  • 109 miles per gallon combined (US EPA cycle simulation), w
  • five-star equivalency rating for front-, side-, and rear-impact tests.
  • 0 to 60 MPH comes in 5 seconds
  • Current top speed of 149 MPH.
  • It's available for only $25,000.

    SDEC 12: Keynote @ InfoQ

    "using Agile methodology based on his experience building a 100mpg car in 3 months.

    Joe Justice is a Seattle-area agile business process consultant and entrepreneur.
    He has been a full time client-facing software consultant all of his professional life,
    building Agile teams and practices enterprise-wide.
    He is the founder and CEO of WIKISPEED,
    a green automotive prototyping company that uses Agile methods to build cars. "

    Team Wikispeed @ infoq

    Wikispeed

    @Forbes

    @Money

  • Wednesday, November 14, 2012

    Google Launches $199 Acer C7 Chromebook

    Google Launches $199 Acer C7 Chromebook



    11.6", 1366 x 768 resolution screen, but no SSD, using regular 320GB hard drive.

    Essentially a decent netbook, with a very competitive price,
    and based on pure web technology.

    Tuesday, November 13, 2012

    Steven Sinofsky leaving Microsoft

    Steve Ballmer's Memo on Windows President's Departure



    Apparently first in line for Microsoft's next CEO is leaving Microsoft,
    just after very successful launch of Windows 8.

    Just a few weeks ago, a very similar situation happened in Apple:
    just days after a massive release of new products,
    a head of iOS and MacOS, seen as possible next CEO, was replaced.

    Interestingly enough, in case of Apple that was a start of 20% stock price drop,
    after a long time of steady growth.

    Steven Sinofsky leaves Microsoft, Julie Larson-Green and Tami Reller take the Windows reins (update: Sinofsky email) @ engadget

    Tesla Model S: Motor Trend car of the year

    Teslas on Video: From Model S Road Trips to Roadster vs. Porsche Boxster Comparo - WOT on Motor Trend


    Pure (AC) electric

    0-60 in 4 seconds!

    Equivalent of 100 mpg

    Space for 7 passengers

    @ PCMag.com

    Not just best electric car, the best car.

    The future includes self-driving cars, in collaboration with Google.

    Google Apps in Windows 8/RT Store

    Windows Store app, that works not Windows RT also.
    Besides Google search it also has links to many Google online services.
    Besides "Search" app, there is also Chrome browser as an RT app.
    Google on Windows 8



    Monday, November 12, 2012

    Cloud-Controlled Remote Pan Tilt Zoom Camera

    Cloud-Controlled Remote Pan Tilt Zoom Camera API for a Logitech BCC950 Camera with Azure and SignalR - Scott Hanselman



    Windows 8: File History backup

    Windows 8, Step 0 - Turn on continuous backups via File History - Scott Hanselman



    Time Machine, Microsoft style...

    New York Sea Wall

    Sea Walls | On Point with Tom Ashbrook



    Before becoming New York, Manhattan was called "New Amsterdam".
    Amsterdam, as most of Nederlands is protected by massive sea wall.
    New York is considering the same, to avoid another Sandy-like damage...

    47 minutes!

    Free online Windows AzureConf, 2012-11-14

    Free online Windows AzureConf this Wednesday - ScottGu's Blog



    @Channel 9 8:30a AM -> 5:00 PM PST = 11:30 AM -> 8:00 PM EST

    Samsung Galaxy Camera

    Samsung Galaxy Camera available on AT&T Nov. 16 - CBS News




    "The tablet-camera hybrid, of sorts, will be available through AT&T for about $500, with or without a data plan.

    The Samsung Galaxy Camera is essentially a 16 megapixel point-and-shoot camera that runs Google's mobile operating system Android Jelly Bean. Users can use the camera like a mini tablet, emailing or posting photos straight to social networks.

    The device features a 21x optical zoom lens, a quad core 1.4 gigahertz processor and 4.8-inch HD LCD screen."

    HTML5 JavaScript Piano - with Data URIs

    HTML5 JavaScript Piano - with Data URIs


    This synth piano is written solely using HTML, JS, and CSS. It contains a small handful of synths with configurable decays, a looper, demo mode, visual mode, and a variety of colors. View controls by hitting the top-right button on the piano.

    It doesn't use a single static audio file, instead it generates them on the fly at the byte level and then converts them to files using the data URI schema. On a similar note, it doesn't use a single image either, just CSS. You can make pretty much any kind of file with a data URI

    audio.js

    piano.js

    Microsoft BizSpark

    BizSpark | Offers and Promotions for Microsoft BizSpark members



    The Future of C++ | Build 2012 | Channel 9

    The Future of C++ | Build 2012 | Channel 9 by Herb Sutter



    Bottom line: C++ produces more efficient programs,
    that extends battery life on mobile devices
    and can reduce number of required servers on cloud farms.
    The C++ language getting more friendly for developers, so that is a bright future :)

    Just don't say that to javascript, html5 and node.js developers,
    that are using in best case 5 times less efficient platform
    to take the server world by storm, including Mobile and Azure...

    A Future So Bright You'll Need to Wear Sunglasses


    Sunday, November 11, 2012

    Microsoft HDInsight for Big Data

    Big Data | Microsoft SQL Server:
    "HDInsight is Microsoft’s 100% Apache compatible Hadoop distribution, supported by Microsoft. HDInsight, available both on Windows Server or as an Windows Azure service, empowers organizations with new insights on previously untouched unstructured data, while connecting to the most widely used Business Intelligence (BI) tools on the planet."

    Thank you for another puzzle, Microsoft marketing...
    What exactly it is, Hadoop installer for Windows or something else?
    And what exactly is has to do with SQL Server, expect it is about data.
    Even more, what happened with "Insight" tool for BI.



    Amazing View of Earth and Aurora Borealis from ISS - YouTube

    Amazing View of Earth and Aurora Borealis from ISS - YouTube: ""

    'via Blog this'

    Saturday, November 10, 2012

    Election 2012 Results @ Google Maps

    Election 2012 Results Map : NPR:

    Very nice integration with Google Maps

    50 HTML5 performance tricks @ Build 2012

    Excellent and very useful presentation from Microsoft Build 2012

    50 performance tricks to make your HTML5 apps and sites faster | Build 2012 | Channel 9:

    Raphaël: JavaScript Library for vector graphics

    Raphaël—JavaScript Library:

    "Raphaël is a small JavaScript library that should simplify your work with vector graphics on the web. If you want to create your own specific chart or image crop and rotate widget, for example, you can achieve it simply and easily with this library.

    Raphaël ['ræfeɪəl] uses the SVG W3C Recommendation and VML as a base for creating graphics. This means every graphical object you create is also a DOM object, so you can attach JavaScript event handlers or modify them later. Raphaël’s goal is to provide an adapter that will make drawing vector art compatible cross-browser and easy.

    Raphaël currently supports Firefox 3.0+, Safari 3.0+, Chrome 5.0+, Opera 9.5+ and Internet Explorer 6.0+."


    d-maps.com : free maps

    d-maps.com : free maps, free blank maps, free outline maps, free base maps


    Friday, November 09, 2012

    Visual Data Map US Elections 2012

    File:ElectoralCollege2012.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



    The size of state on map is not proportional to number of votes,
    so it is not a very good visualization of data.
    It is quite strange that nobody created "dot map" with the same data,
    that is much better for understanding the data visually...





    United States of America: Presidential elections since 1789 (Maps)
    @Wikipedia, by county

    This picture is even more misleading, since most Democrats-wins are in urban centers that are much more populated...

    This is much more accurate 'cartogram', but much less pretty

    Thursday, November 08, 2012

    Getting Started with TypeScript

    Getting Started with TypeScript – Classes, Static Types and Interfaces - Dan Wahlin's WebLog




    Visual Studio 3D: Towers of Hanoi 3D

    Towers of Hanoi 3D - Home




    What is "next" for GUI? 3D

    I used to experiment with "VRML" many years ago (1995), and it looked as inevitable future...
    Apparently it required many cycles of Moore's law to get performance of mainstream computers
    to level where 3D is generally usable...

    It would be nice if web start providing generic infrastructure for 3D (WebGL based?)
    to avoid too much platform specific development... again...



    Wednesday, November 07, 2012

    Desktop Web Apps with Sencha Desktop Packager

    Creating Native Applications with Sencha Desktop Packager | Blog | Sencha




    Like PhoneGap, but for desktop apps...

    Since both Mac and Windows 8 have app stores, PhoneGap makes more sense there.

    On the other side, a simple generic "App Shell" and "Web App Store" may be more useful for general purpose apps...

    There will be much more action in this space...


    The Packager leverages Chromium, an open-source project from Google that also powers the Google Chrome browser. Not only does the Packager make it easy to transform web apps to native, it also makes it easy to integrate with native APIs. We provide APIs that the application can use to integrate with the desktop, including but not limited to window and menu management, file system access and native dialogs.

    Using Sencha Desktop Packager is easy. It’s distributed as a simple ZIP archive, requiring no installation; simply unpack the archive to a working directory. The archive also includes the documentation and a collection of ready-made examples.

    Monday, November 05, 2012

    Draw a Stickman: Portable Mobile Game, with MonoGame

    Hanselminutes Technology Podcast - Draw a Stickman EPIC - An iPhone, Android and Windows 8 Game with MonoGame

    Xbox games are created by XNA .NET based framework.
    But XNA is not ported to any other platform by Microsoft.

    MonoGame is open source clone of XNA,
    based on Mono, an open source clone of .NET.
    MonoGame works on Android, iOS, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8...

    ScottHa has interviewed developers of a popular game that is using MonoGame,
    with 'code reuse' between mobile platforms of 95% !!

    Even more interesting is that original animation is created in Flash,
    and then converted in C#.

    Before developing mobile game, original game was created for web in SVG and VML,
    that was also converted from Flash... Real 'cool' technology...

    Draw a Stickman (Web)

    Draw a Stickman Epic (Mobile)

    Microsoft Build 2012

    Build 2012


    "October 30 - November 2, 2012 Redmond, Washington, USA"

    Microsoft's main developers conference (used to be called PDC),
    is now available as recorded Videos.

    You don't get Surface RT tablet and Nokia Lumia 920 phone
    as those who attended conference,
    but at lest the content is great, and it is free :)

    Windows Server 2012 Essentials

    Windows Server 2012 Essentials Available, With Hardware Yet To Come -- Redmondmag.com

    Essentials is based on Microsoft's flagship Windows Server 2012 product, which has lots of advanced features for organizations with experienced IT pros. The Essentials version is billed by Microsoft as being more simplified in terms of management and connecting to cloud-based services. Essentials is designed for organizations with about 25 users and 50 devices max, and it doesn't require paying for Client Access Licenses, which is a license for each PC that grants access to the server. The Essentials software alone, without the hardware, is priced at $501 

    jqMobi

    jqMobi



    jQuery is great, but to be able to support older browsers (including IE6),
    it is bigger and slower than necessary for "modern" web browsers based on WebKit.

    jqMobi is a new JavaScript library optimized for WebKit (Chrome, Safari),
    and it now also supports IE10 (Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8).



    Sunday, November 04, 2012

    Internet Explorer 10 Test Drive

    Internet Explorer 10 Test Drive


    A good set of HTML5 test pages / web apps for comparing web browsers and computers.

    Beware that "Fish Bowl" test is using Canvas 2D, and there are other web technologies,
    such as WebGL and SVG that could result in different performance results.

    Firefox: Something fishy about Microsoft’s IE9 aquarium

    Google WebGL Aquarium performance test

    Tablets Proffit = Price - Cost

    Gizmodo.com Updates: The iPad Mini Costs $141 More Than Its Components...




    "the 16GB (Google) Nexus 7 carries a $159.25 material cost and a $200 price tag.
    And Amazon has been very candid that it loses money on every Kindle Fire HD it sells.
    By contrast, there’s a $141 gap between the 16GB iPad mini’s asking price and its component value.

    iPad mini teardown shows cost to manufacture of $188

    Suppli’s report doesn’t take things like marketing and research and development into account, so Apple isn’t exactly making $141 on each 16GB iPad mini sold.

    Saturday, November 03, 2012

    Elon Musk's Mission to Mars @ Wired.com

    Elon Musk's Mission to Mars | Wired Science | Wired.com

    Musk: We’ve begun testing reusability with something called the Grasshopper Project, which is a Falcon 9 first stage with landing gear that can take off and land vertically.

    Anderson: A huge rocket, landing on its feet? Holy shit.

    Musk: Yeah, holy shit. The stages go to orbit, then the first stage turns around, restarts the engines, boosts back to the launch site, reorients, deploys landing gear, and lands vertically.

    What Is Web 3.0?

    What Is Web 3.0, Really, and What Does It Mean for Education? | EdTech Magazine:

    According to O'Reilly, whose media company is credited with coining the term Web 2.0, "it was never meant as a version number." Rather, the expression "was about the return of the web after the dot-com bust," he explains. "There won't be a Web 3.0 until everybody says, 'OK, the web died again,' and we rediscover it.""

    The mobile apps are now trying to do what desktop applications did during early web.
    So the Web 3.0 will be a comeback of Web to mobile devices in form of "web apps".
    This is likely and almost inevitable.  

    Now, question is why did Google select Java based platform for Android,
    when they are in fact promoting web/internet usage?
    Performance. JavaScript was just not fast enough a few years ago.
    With ChromeOS, and intent to eventually "merge" Android and ChromeOS
    Web could finally become a mainstream mobile platform.

    The year of the MOOC: Massive Open Online Courses

    Massive Open Online Courses Are Multiplying at a Rapid Pace - NYTimes.com
    "MOOCs, or massive open online courses"

    edX, the nonprofit start-up from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has 370,000 students this fall in its first official courses. That’s nothing. Coursera, founded just last January, has reached more than 1.7 million — growing “faster than Facebook,” boasts Andrew Ng, on leave from Stanford to run his for-profit MOOC provider.

    "This has caught all of us by surprise,” says David Stavens, who formed a company called Udacity with Sebastian Thrun and Mike Sokolosky after more than 150,000 signed up for Dr. Thrun’s “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” last fall, starting the revolution that has higher education gasping. A year ago, he marvels, “we were three guys in Sebastian’s living room and now we have 40 employees full time.”

    Superstorm Sandy: destructive sand

    Potential for Sandy scams prompts warnings | timesfreepress.com


    This aerial photo shows destruction in the wake of superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, N.J.
    Photo by Associated Press /Chattanooga Times Free Press.

    $AAPL Up and Down

    $AAPL Slips Below $580 to Close Down 3.3% - The Mac Observer


    "Shares of Apple Inc. closed below US$580 on Friday Nov 2nd, 2012.

    $AAPL is well off of its all-time closing high of $702.10 on September 19th, 2012, having declined 17.9 percent since then. The full year's picture is more flattering, however; AAPL is up 42.4 percent on the year from its $405 per share closing price on December 30th"


    If iPad Mini was priced $299 or less, the decline could be less.
    This high-end pricing keeps Apple market limited,
    and could not justify very high valuation...