Microsoft slashes prices on Windows 8.1 tablets, achieves near-parity with Android devices | ExtremeTech:
"significant slashes to prices on multiple devices in the Microsoft Store:
32GB Dell Venue Pro has dropped from $299 to $229,
32GB Lenovo Miix 2 and Toshiba Encore (also 32GB tablets) have fallen to $249, from $299."
head-to-head against the $229 Google Nexus 7 (16GB)
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Google: very expensive patents
Revenue and Profit Rise at Google, but Mobile Is a Persistent Challenge - NYTimes.com:
"Google announced that it would sell Motorola Mobility, which it bought less than two years ago for $12.5 billion, to Lenovo for $2.91 billion."
Google sold Motorola Home, the portion of the business that made set-top boxes, to Arris in 2012 for $2.35 billion. Motorola also had $2.9 billion cash on hand when Google bought it.
“(Google) makes their money from people watching YouTube ads and doing searches...They don’t necessarily need to be the hardware maker.”
Still, Google will retain about 15,000 of the 17,000 patents it acquired as part of its original deal for Motorola, and will grant Lenovo a license to use certain ones.
...last week Lenovo paid $2.3 billion for a big part of the computer server business of IBM.
So, after all, it was $(12.5 - 2.91 - 2.35 - 2.9) = $ 4.34 B for patents for Android...
At the same time Microsoft is making $1 B or more per year on licensing its patents to manufacturers of Android, and even considering Nokia phones that run Android... And even Samsung makes huge money on Android powered phones and tablets, and is filing many patents itself...
Patents are big and not quite fair business....
"Google announced that it would sell Motorola Mobility, which it bought less than two years ago for $12.5 billion, to Lenovo for $2.91 billion."
Google sold Motorola Home, the portion of the business that made set-top boxes, to Arris in 2012 for $2.35 billion. Motorola also had $2.9 billion cash on hand when Google bought it.
“(Google) makes their money from people watching YouTube ads and doing searches...They don’t necessarily need to be the hardware maker.”
Still, Google will retain about 15,000 of the 17,000 patents it acquired as part of its original deal for Motorola, and will grant Lenovo a license to use certain ones.
...last week Lenovo paid $2.3 billion for a big part of the computer server business of IBM.
So, after all, it was $(12.5 - 2.91 - 2.35 - 2.9) = $ 4.34 B for patents for Android...
That is $ 289 333 for each patent!
At the same time Microsoft is making $1 B or more per year on licensing its patents to manufacturers of Android, and even considering Nokia phones that run Android... And even Samsung makes huge money on Android powered phones and tablets, and is filing many patents itself...
Patents are big and not quite fair business....
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Mobile Chrome Apps with Apache Cordova
Chromium Blog: Run Chrome Apps on mobile using Apache Cordova:
Developers can run Chrome apps on Android and iOS with Apache Cordova - SD Times: Software Development News
Google launched Chrome apps for Android and iOS, available to mobile developers using the Apache Cordova tool chain.
Developers can run Chrome apps on Android and iOS with Apache Cordova - SD Times: Software Development News
Google launched Chrome apps for Android and iOS, available to mobile developers using the Apache Cordova tool chain.
It is interesting that they are providing this solution even for iOS,
where Chrome browser is (or was?) using Apple's WebView (Safari) engine
based on license restrictions...
Amazon.com: Interest-Based Ads, Configurable Preferences
Amazon.com: Interest-Based Ads:
"On both Amazon-owned and operated sites and unaffiliated sites, Amazon displays interest-based advertising using information you make available to us when you interact with our sites, content, or services...
Amazon offers you choices about receiving interest-based ads from us. You can choose not to receive interest-based ads from Amazon. You will still see ads but they will not be personalized. Please visit your Advertising Preferences page to learn how to set this preference.›
View or edit your browsing history
"On both Amazon-owned and operated sites and unaffiliated sites, Amazon displays interest-based advertising using information you make available to us when you interact with our sites, content, or services...
Amazon offers you choices about receiving interest-based ads from us. You can choose not to receive interest-based ads from Amazon. You will still see ads but they will not be personalized. Please visit your Advertising Preferences page to learn how to set this preference.›
View or edit your browsing history
REST API sample (Sun Cloud API)
The APIs for the Sun Cloud: Wiki: HelloCloud — Project Kenai:.
This walk-through uses the pure REST version of the API exclusively
This walk-through uses the pure REST version of the API exclusively
All the resources in the Virtual Data Center (machines, clusters, networks, storage volumes) are "Resources" in the Web sense: that is to say, they are identified by URIs, and operated on by HTTP requests, chiefly GET and POST. Whenever you GET one of these resources, you receive a representation encoded using JSON.
lorempixel - placeholder images for every case
lorempixel - placeholder images for every case:
"Placeholder Images for every case. Webdesign or Print. It's simple and absolutely free! Just put the custom url in your code like this:
<img src="http://lorempixel.com/400/200" />
to get your FPO / dummy image."
color or grayscale;
abstract, animals, business, cats,
"Placeholder Images for every case. Webdesign or Print. It's simple and absolutely free! Just put the custom url in your code like this:
<img src="http://lorempixel.com/400/200" />
to get your FPO / dummy image."
color or grayscale;
abstract, animals, business, cats,
city, food, nightlife, fashion, people,
nature, sports, technics, transport
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Internet.org
Internet.org:
"Internet.org is a global partnership between technology leaders, nonprofits, local communities and experts who are working together to bring the internet to the two thirds of the world’s population that doesn’t have it."
Facebook, Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm...
but not Google (yet)...
"Internet.org is a global partnership between technology leaders, nonprofits, local communities and experts who are working together to bring the internet to the two thirds of the world’s population that doesn’t have it."
Facebook, Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm...
but not Google (yet)...
Android PCs
Android PCs and other Windows-alternative desktops are for real | ZDNet:
In fact the only "app" needed on most personal devices is a good web browser...
with secured JavaScript APIs for sensors and isolated storage.
In fact the only "app" needed on most personal devices is a good web browser...
with secured JavaScript APIs for sensors and isolated storage.
Open Android => Closed Apps
Is Android Moving to a Closed Source Model?: @ InfoQ
"after Android became dominant, Google stopped actively developing a few parts of AOSP, including apps like Search, Music, and Calendar. The Ars Technica piece goes into details describing how those open source apps came to a development standstill after Google rebranded them, enhanced them, and made them available as closed source apps in Play Store. "
"after Android became dominant, Google stopped actively developing a few parts of AOSP, including apps like Search, Music, and Calendar. The Ars Technica piece goes into details describing how those open source apps came to a development standstill after Google rebranded them, enhanced them, and made them available as closed source apps in Play Store. "
Visual F# Tools
Visual F# Tools 3.1.1 Adds Visual Studio Express 2013 Desktop and Web Versions: "Visual F# Tools 3.1.1 has been released with support for both desktop and web versions of Visual Studio Express 2013 Express. It also provides support for installation in a system which doesn't have Visual Studio. In such a case, the compiler, runtime and F# interactive will be automatically deployed without IDE tooling."
Martin Fowler: Workflows of Refactoring
Nice web slides navigation (and useful information!)
Workflows of Refactoring by Martin Fowler
TDD "red-green-refactor cycle"
This is often referred to as the boy-scout rule.
Always leave the code better than when you found it.
Comprehension Refactoring
clear code, like clear writing, is hard to do
"People should be always on the look-out for substandard code. Often as a team learns, code written a few months ago can now seem lacking, and should be fixed."
Preparatory Refactoring
Workflows of Refactoring by Martin Fowler
TDD "red-green-refactor cycle"
- Red: Add a Test
- Green: Make it work:
- Refactor: Make it Clean
- Adding code
- Refactoring
This is often referred to as the boy-scout rule.
Always leave the code better than when you found it.
clear code, like clear writing, is hard to do
"People should be always on the look-out for substandard code. Often as a team learns, code written a few months ago can now seem lacking, and should be fixed."
Preparatory Refactoring
A common analogy for this is prep work before painting.
Planned Refactoring
schedule refactoring as part of their planned work,
Long-Term Refactoring
AngularUI for AngularJS
AngularUI for AngularJS:
"The companion suite(s) to the AngularJS framework."
with Bootstrap look and feel
"The companion suite(s) to the AngularJS framework."
with Bootstrap look and feel
IE11 F12 Developer Tools Overview
Rachel Appel - Internet Explorer F12 Developer Tools Overview:
The F12 Developer Tools found in IE 11 are rebuilt from the ground up to enable the best experience for developers while debugging and producing websites.
The F12 Developer Tools found in IE 11 are rebuilt from the ground up to enable the best experience for developers while debugging and producing websites.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Design Decisions in AngularJS
▶ Google I/O 2013 - Design Decisions in AngularJS - YouTube:
Published on May 16, 2013
Brad Green (manager), Miško Hevery (father of AngularJS)
Misko Hevery | The Geek Talk
Published on May 16, 2013
Brad Green (manager), Miško Hevery (father of AngularJS)
Misko Hevery | The Geek Talk
Sunday, January 26, 2014
patents: Intellectual Ventures vs. Google
Google set to face Intellectual Ventures in landmark patent trial | Reuters:
patent litigation before a jury of non-expert citizens is akin to a lottery
The trial takes place amid an unfolding debate in Congress over patent reform, in which Intellectual Ventures and Google are on opposite sides. Google is backing attempts to curb software patents and make it easier to fight lawsuits, while IV has warned that Congress should not act too rashly to weaken patent owners' rights.
Since its founding in 2000, Intellectual Ventures has raised about $6 billion (3.6 billion pounds) from investors and has bought tens of thousands of intellectual property assets from a variety of sources. Google was an investor in IV's first patent acquisition fund, but did not join later vehicles.
patent litigation before a jury of non-expert citizens is akin to a lottery
Since its founding in 2000, Intellectual Ventures has raised about $6 billion (3.6 billion pounds) from investors and has bought tens of thousands of intellectual property assets from a variety of sources. Google was an investor in IV's first patent acquisition fund, but did not join later vehicles.
site: Flipboard
Flipboard:
use Flipboard to read and collect the news they care about, curating their favorite stories into their own magazines.
Web pages packaged to a "page turning" "magazine".
examples:
The AngularJS Magazine - Flipboard (by Dan Wahlin)
use Flipboard to read and collect the news they care about, curating their favorite stories into their own magazines.
Web pages packaged to a "page turning" "magazine".
examples:
The AngularJS Magazine - Flipboard (by Dan Wahlin)
JavaScript - King?
peter.michaux.ca - JavaScript is Dead. Long Live JavaScript!:
A detailed summary of good and bad features of JavaScript language...
A detailed summary of good and bad features of JavaScript language...
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Open source smart thermostats
What Google can really do with Nest, or really, Nest’s data
Open source smart thermostats rise to compete with Nest after Google acquisition | Ars Technica:
"open source version of a smart thermostat using their own Spark Core, an Arduino-compatible Wi-Fi development board. They added in a humidity and temperature sensor, IR motion detector, and some LEDs and LED matrices to put together and mount inside a custom wood and acrylic enclosure."
In all, the team completed its open source version in less than 20 hours for “about $70,” including their $39 Spark Core. The thermostat is still in the experimental stage and lacks much of the sophistication and “smartness" of the Nest, but it still constitutes a networked and remotely controllable thermostat that has a memory of its own work.
free ebooks from O'Reilly
LXC - Linux Containers
LXC - Linux Containers:
"LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features.
Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers."
LXC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LXC provides operating system-level virtualization not via a virtual machine, but rather provides a virtual environment that has its own process and network space. LXC relies on the Linux kernel cgroups functionality that was released in version 2.6.24. It also relies on other kinds of namespace-isolation functionality, which were developed and integrated into the mainline Linux kernel.
LXC is similar to other OS-level virtualization technologies on Linux such as OpenVZ and Linux-VServer, as well as those on other operating systems such as FreeBSD jails, AIX Workload Partitions and Solaris Containers.
"LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features.
Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers."
LXC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LXC provides operating system-level virtualization not via a virtual machine, but rather provides a virtual environment that has its own process and network space. LXC relies on the Linux kernel cgroups functionality that was released in version 2.6.24. It also relies on other kinds of namespace-isolation functionality, which were developed and integrated into the mainline Linux kernel.
LXC is similar to other OS-level virtualization technologies on Linux such as OpenVZ and Linux-VServer, as well as those on other operating systems such as FreeBSD jails, AIX Workload Partitions and Solaris Containers.
Friday, January 24, 2014
JavaScript most popular on GitHub & StackOverflow
The RedMonk Programming Language Rankings: January 2014 – tecosystems:
JavaScript (+1)
Java (-1)
PHP
C# (+2)
Python (-1)
C++ (+1)
Ruby (-2)
C
Objective-C
CSS (new)
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Target Security Breach
The Target Security Breach And Our Vulnerable Data | On Point with Tom Ashbrook:
"Credit and debit card data on 40 million Americans, stolen at the height of the holiday shopping season. Then Friday, Target let it be known that that number was in fact as high as 110 million Americans’ data stolen, out there, at risk. A third of the country. "
Maybe Target should consider changing name...
And credit cards must get "smarter"...
"Credit and debit card data on 40 million Americans, stolen at the height of the holiday shopping season. Then Friday, Target let it be known that that number was in fact as high as 110 million Americans’ data stolen, out there, at risk. A third of the country. "
Maybe Target should consider changing name...
And credit cards must get "smarter"...
IBM $1 Billion Watson supercomputer investment
IBM Invests $1 Billion to Grow Watson Supercomputer's Struggling Business - IEEE Spectrum:
The IBM Watson business unit has generated less than $100 million so far. But the slow start has not stopped IBM from aggressively investing in Watson as a cornerstone of its future business. The company recently announced it is investing more than $1 billion in its Watson business unit and setting up a $100-million venture capital fund to encourage apps built on Watson's technology.
...(with) target of having Watson generate $10 billion in annual revenue within 10 years...
Top-10 supercomputers in the world, November 2013:
Tianhe-2 Remains the Biggest of Computing’s Big Iron - IEEE Spectrum
#1. Tianhe-2 (“Milky Way 2”) supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology.
It is almost twice as powerful as the next runner up, the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
The IBM Watson business unit has generated less than $100 million so far. But the slow start has not stopped IBM from aggressively investing in Watson as a cornerstone of its future business. The company recently announced it is investing more than $1 billion in its Watson business unit and setting up a $100-million venture capital fund to encourage apps built on Watson's technology.
...(with) target of having Watson generate $10 billion in annual revenue within 10 years...
Top-10 supercomputers in the world, November 2013:
Tianhe-2 Remains the Biggest of Computing’s Big Iron - IEEE Spectrum
#1. Tianhe-2 (“Milky Way 2”) supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology.
It is almost twice as powerful as the next runner up, the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
IBM $1 Billion Watson investment
IBM Invests $1 Billion to Grow Watson Supercomputer's Struggling Business - IEEE Spectrum:
The IBM Watson business unit has generated less than $100 million so far. But the slow start has not stopped IBM from aggressively investing in Watson as a cornerstone of its future business. The company recently announced it is investing more than $1 billion in its Watson business unit and setting up a $100-million venture capital fund to encourage apps built on Watson's technology.
...(with) target of having Watson generate $10 billion in annual revenue within 10 years...
The IBM Watson business unit has generated less than $100 million so far. But the slow start has not stopped IBM from aggressively investing in Watson as a cornerstone of its future business. The company recently announced it is investing more than $1 billion in its Watson business unit and setting up a $100-million venture capital fund to encourage apps built on Watson's technology.
...(with) target of having Watson generate $10 billion in annual revenue within 10 years...
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
ideas: Liquid Cooling for Data Centers
Is There a Liquid Fix for the Cloud’s Heavy Energy Footprint? - IEEE Spectrum: "Because liquids are denser than gases, they are a more efficient medium to transport and remove unwanted heat.
Yet direct liquid cooling is a rarity in the corporate data centers that run bank transactions and the cloud facilities that serve data to smartphones. Data centers consume more than 1 percent of the world’s electricity and about 2 percent of the electricity in the United States. A third or more of that expenditure is for cooling."
example: Asicminer’s 500-kilowatt computing system uses 97 percent less energy on cooling than if it employed a conventional method.
Yet direct liquid cooling is a rarity in the corporate data centers that run bank transactions and the cloud facilities that serve data to smartphones. Data centers consume more than 1 percent of the world’s electricity and about 2 percent of the electricity in the United States. A third or more of that expenditure is for cooling."
example: Asicminer’s 500-kilowatt computing system uses 97 percent less energy on cooling than if it employed a conventional method.
Paxos protocols
Paxos (computer science) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Paxos is a family of protocols for solving consensus in a network of unreliable processors. Consensus is the process of agreeing on one result among a group of participants. This problem becomes difficult when the participants or their communication medium may experience failures.[1]
Consensus protocols are the basis for the state machine approach to distributed computing, as suggested by Leslie Lamport[2]and surveyed by Fred Schneider.[3] The state machine approach is a technique for converting an algorithm into a fault-tolerant, distributed implementation. Ad-hoc techniques may leave important cases of failures unresolved. The principled approach proposed by Lamport et al. ensures all cases are handled safely.
Paxos is a family of protocols for solving consensus in a network of unreliable processors. Consensus is the process of agreeing on one result among a group of participants. This problem becomes difficult when the participants or their communication medium may experience failures.[1]
Consensus protocols are the basis for the state machine approach to distributed computing, as suggested by Leslie Lamport[2]and surveyed by Fred Schneider.[3] The state machine approach is a technique for converting an algorithm into a fault-tolerant, distributed implementation. Ad-hoc techniques may leave important cases of failures unresolved. The principled approach proposed by Lamport et al. ensures all cases are handled safely.
REST, HATEOAS
Another (ugly) acronym:
HATEOAS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HATEOAS, an abbreviation for Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State, is a constraint of the REST application architecture that distinguishes it from most other network application architectures. The principle is that a client interacts with a network application entirely through hypermedia provided dynamically by application servers. A REST client needs no prior knowledge about how to interact with any particular application or server beyond a generic understanding of hypermedia. In aservice-oriented architecture (SOA), clients and servers interact through a fixed interface shared through documentation or aninterface description language (IDL).
RESTful service can be described as well to be available for the client code-generation, RSDL (RESTful Service Description Language) using dynamic metadata collection to achieve this goal.
The HATEOAS constraint serves to decouple client and server in a way that allows the server to evolve functionality independently.
REST APIs must be hypertext-driven » Untangled
(by inventor of REST, and co-author of HTTP)
if the engine of application state (and hence the API) is not being driven by hypertext, then it cannot be RESTful and cannot be a REST API. Period.
HATEOAS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HATEOAS, an abbreviation for Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State, is a constraint of the REST application architecture that distinguishes it from most other network application architectures. The principle is that a client interacts with a network application entirely through hypermedia provided dynamically by application servers. A REST client needs no prior knowledge about how to interact with any particular application or server beyond a generic understanding of hypermedia. In aservice-oriented architecture (SOA), clients and servers interact through a fixed interface shared through documentation or aninterface description language (IDL).
RESTful service can be described as well to be available for the client code-generation, RSDL (RESTful Service Description Language) using dynamic metadata collection to achieve this goal.
The HATEOAS constraint serves to decouple client and server in a way that allows the server to evolve functionality independently.
REST APIs must be hypertext-driven » Untangled
(by inventor of REST, and co-author of HTTP)
if the engine of application state (and hence the API) is not being driven by hypertext, then it cannot be RESTful and cannot be a REST API. Period.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
HTML5 Media Player Framework
HTML5 Player Framework by Microsoft (open source)
"The Player Framework for HTML5 is intended for use in browser-based applications. The framework has been tested in the latest versions of both desktop and mobile browsers that support the HTML5 video tag. It should be noted that the W3C does not currently have a standard for adaptive bitrate streaming so most browsers only support simple progressive download playback at this time. Microsoft, along with ninety other technology and media companies, is driving a standard called MPEG DASH that promises to become the industry-wide standard for adaptive streaming in the future. "
Original Silverlight & Win8/WinPhone player:
Player Framework by Microsoft - Home
"The Player Framework for HTML5 is intended for use in browser-based applications. The framework has been tested in the latest versions of both desktop and mobile browsers that support the HTML5 video tag. It should be noted that the W3C does not currently have a standard for adaptive bitrate streaming so most browsers only support simple progressive download playback at this time. Microsoft, along with ninety other technology and media companies, is driving a standard called MPEG DASH that promises to become the industry-wide standard for adaptive streaming in the future. "
Original Silverlight & Win8/WinPhone player:
Player Framework by Microsoft - Home
Kickstarter: "Brain Computer Interface" (BCI)
EMOTIV INSIGHT: Optimize your brain fitness & performance by Tan Le — Kickstarter
"A sleek, multi-channel, wireless headset that monitors your brain activity and translates EEG into meaningful data you can understand."
Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves @ TED
Extraordinary story of the person behind this innovation:
Tan Le: My immigration story | Video on TED.com
Other projects:
Tan Le — Kickstarter
Tan Le, Innovator and Entrepreneur Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic
Emotiv Insight (company web site)
Register for Insight
Another Kickstarter project for "Brain Computer Interface":
OpenBCI: An Open Source Brain-Computer Interface For Makers by Joel Murphy & Conor Russomanno — Kickstarter
"A sleek, multi-channel, wireless headset that monitors your brain activity and translates EEG into meaningful data you can understand."
Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves @ TED
Extraordinary story of the person behind this innovation:
Tan Le: My immigration story | Video on TED.com
Other projects:
Tan Le — Kickstarter
Tan Le, Innovator and Entrepreneur Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic
Emotiv Insight (company web site)
Register for Insight
Another Kickstarter project for "Brain Computer Interface":
OpenBCI: An Open Source Brain-Computer Interface For Makers by Joel Murphy & Conor Russomanno — Kickstarter
Monday, January 20, 2014
virtual reality weather in China
Smog So Bad in Beijing They Have to Rely on Video for Sunrises - weather.com:
The smog was so thick on January 16, 2014 the sunrise was not visible.
Instead, the country showed a video of a sunrise on the LED screen
in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
This came on the same day Beijing’s air quality registered
more than two dozen times the level considered safe.
The smog was so thick on January 16, 2014 the sunrise was not visible.
Instead, the country showed a video of a sunrise on the LED screen
in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
This came on the same day Beijing’s air quality registered
more than two dozen times the level considered safe.
Next step: pick your own desired weather and location. Nice.
And then, build huge domes to separate "people" from "factories".
There is already a script for that, from movie "Truman Show"
Linked Open Data
ERCIM News 96:
In 2014 we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the birth of the idea that became the World Wide Web. In March 1989, while working at CERN, Tim Berners-Lee wrote a document entitled “Information Management – a Proposal” which described his ideas for creating a hypertext system that worked over the internet to enable physicists and other researchers around the world to easily exchange documents [1]. I first heard about his ideas at the European Hypertext Conference (ECHT’90) in November 1990, where we presented our first paper on the Microcosm “open hypermedia system” that we had been developing at Southampton since 1989 [2]. I first saw Tim and his colleague Robert Cailliau demonstrate the system they had by then called the World Wide Web at the ACM Hypertext conference (HT’91) in December 1991. This was the conference that famously rejected their paper about the WWW but it also marked the beginning of the revolution that the Web has brought to all our lives – the killer application for the Internet, the disruptive technology that has changed the way we communicate and manage information forever.
Linked Data - Design Issues Tim Berners-Lee, 2006
The Semantic Web isn't just about putting data on the web. It is about making links, so that a person or machine can explore the web of data. With linked data, when you have some of it, you can find other, related, data.
Like the web of hypertext, the web of data is constructed with documents on the web. However, unlike the web of hypertext, where links are relationships anchors in hypertext documents written inHTML, for data they links between arbitrary things described by RDF,. The URIs identify any kind of object or concept. But for HTML or RDF, the same expectations apply to make the web grow:
Even 7 years later, linked data is not a web feature (yet).
And there is a simple reason why it is not: the proposed specs are not simple.
Instead of RDF syntax, HTML should get a few simple extensions, and provide a few clever JavaScript scripts to provide useful functionality to pages that have that...
In 2014 we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the birth of the idea that became the World Wide Web. In March 1989, while working at CERN, Tim Berners-Lee wrote a document entitled “Information Management – a Proposal” which described his ideas for creating a hypertext system that worked over the internet to enable physicists and other researchers around the world to easily exchange documents [1]. I first heard about his ideas at the European Hypertext Conference (ECHT’90) in November 1990, where we presented our first paper on the Microcosm “open hypermedia system” that we had been developing at Southampton since 1989 [2]. I first saw Tim and his colleague Robert Cailliau demonstrate the system they had by then called the World Wide Web at the ACM Hypertext conference (HT’91) in December 1991. This was the conference that famously rejected their paper about the WWW but it also marked the beginning of the revolution that the Web has brought to all our lives – the killer application for the Internet, the disruptive technology that has changed the way we communicate and manage information forever.
Linked Data - Design Issues Tim Berners-Lee, 2006
The Semantic Web isn't just about putting data on the web. It is about making links, so that a person or machine can explore the web of data. With linked data, when you have some of it, you can find other, related, data.
Like the web of hypertext, the web of data is constructed with documents on the web. However, unlike the web of hypertext, where links are relationships anchors in hypertext documents written inHTML, for data they links between arbitrary things described by RDF,. The URIs identify any kind of object or concept. But for HTML or RDF, the same expectations apply to make the web grow:
- Use URIs as names for things
- Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those names.
- When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (RDF*, SPARQL)
- Include links to other URIs. so that they can discover more things.
Even 7 years later, linked data is not a web feature (yet).
And there is a simple reason why it is not: the proposed specs are not simple.
Instead of RDF syntax, HTML should get a few simple extensions, and provide a few clever JavaScript scripts to provide useful functionality to pages that have that...
Sunday, January 19, 2014
maps: OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap:
"OpenStreetMap powers map data on hundreds of web sites, mobile apps, and hardware devices
OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world."
"OpenStreetMap powers map data on hundreds of web sites, mobile apps, and hardware devices
OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world."
patents: Amazon “Anticipatory” Shipping
Amazon Patents “Anticipatory” Shipping — To Start Sending Stuff Before You’ve Bought It | TechCrunch:
"Amazon has filed a patent for a shipping system designed to cut delivery times by predicting what buyers are going to buy before they buy it — and shipping products in their general direction, or even right to their door, before the sales click even (or ever) falls."
Anticipating Your Needs: The Benevolent Algorithm | LinkedIn
"Amazon has filed a patent for a shipping system designed to cut delivery times by predicting what buyers are going to buy before they buy it — and shipping products in their general direction, or even right to their door, before the sales click even (or ever) falls."
Anticipating Your Needs: The Benevolent Algorithm | LinkedIn
patents: Twitter "Innovator’s Patent Agreement"
Introducing the Innovator’s Patent Agreement | Twitter Blogs:
"The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation without their permission. What’s more, this control flows with the patents, so if we sold them to others, they could only use them as the inventor intended."
"The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation without their permission. What’s more, this control flows with the patents, so if we sold them to others, they could only use them as the inventor intended."
Saturday, January 18, 2014
typeahead.js
typeahead.js:
"a fast and fully-featured autocomplete library"
a complementary tool to bootstrap 3, also from Twitter
(it used to be integrated in bootstrap 2, now is a separate tool)
typeahead.js – examples
modes (can be combined!)
"a fast and fully-featured autocomplete library"
a complementary tool to bootstrap 3, also from Twitter
(it used to be integrated in bootstrap 2, now is a separate tool)
typeahead.js – examples
modes (can be combined!)
- local
- prefetch
- remote
CSS3: Text shadows
Mastering CSS3: Text shadows @ MSDN
12 Fun CSS Text Shadows You Can Copy and Paste | Design Shack
text-shadow: 0 0 2px 3px yellow, 0 0 2px 6px orange, 0 0 2px 9px red, 0 0 2px 12px lime, 0 0 2px 15px blue, 0 0 2px 18px violet;
12 Fun CSS Text Shadows You Can Copy and Paste | Design Shack
ideas: Tribes Leadership
Seth Godin: The tribes we lead | Video on TED.com
Can Ordinary People Become Leaders? : NPR
Seth Godin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seth Godin's TEDTalk
So three questions I'd offer you.
What would happen if, when you're using your Kindle, you could see the comments and quotes and notes from all the other people reading the same book as you in that moment. Or from your book group. Or from your friends, or from the circle you want. What would happen if authors, or people with ideas could use version two, which comes out on Monday, and use it to organize people who want to talk about something.
Seth Godin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seth Godin's TEDTalk
So three questions I'd offer you.
- The first one is, who exactly are you upsetting? Because if you're not upsetting anyone, you're not changing the status quo.
- The second question is, who are you connecting? Because for a lot of people, that's what they're in it for: the connections that are being made, one to the other.
- And the third one is, who are you leading? Because focusing on that part of it -- not the mechanics of what you're building,but the who, and the leading part -- is where change comes.
Discourse.org
Discourse - Buy:
it is so far deployed on 2 web sites....
podcast interview: Discourse and The Art of Discussion with Jeff Atwood on the Hanselminutes
it is so far deployed on 2 web sites....
podcast interview: Discourse and The Art of Discussion with Jeff Atwood on the Hanselminutes
Salman Khan - Harvard Business Review
Salman Khan - Harvard Business Review:
"In the traditional academic model, you’re passive. You sit in a chair, and the teacher tries to project knowledge at you; some of it sticks, some of it doesn’t. That’s not an effective way to learn. Worse, it creates a mind-set of “you need to teach me,” so when you’re on your own, you think, “I can’t learn.” Anyone in any industry will tell you there’s new stuff to learn every week these days. So you have to say, “What information and people do I have at my disposal? What questions do I need to ask? How do I gauge whether I’ve really understood it?”"
podcast interview: Salman Khan on the Online Learning Revolution - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review
"In the traditional academic model, you’re passive. You sit in a chair, and the teacher tries to project knowledge at you; some of it sticks, some of it doesn’t. That’s not an effective way to learn. Worse, it creates a mind-set of “you need to teach me,” so when you’re on your own, you think, “I can’t learn.” Anyone in any industry will tell you there’s new stuff to learn every week these days. So you have to say, “What information and people do I have at my disposal? What questions do I need to ask? How do I gauge whether I’ve really understood it?”"
podcast interview: Salman Khan on the Online Learning Revolution - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review
Silicon Valley Culture & Power
How Silicon Valley Became The Man - Justin Fox - Harvard Business Review:
interview with Fred Turner a professor of communications at Stanford, is the author of a book: From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism.
interview with Fred Turner a professor of communications at Stanford, is the author of a book: From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Moore's new law: "big data leads to big science"
Gordon Moore Giving Big to Big Data Scientists - IEEE Spectrum:
"Moore’s new law is that big data will lead to big science. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation plans to give US$1.5 million grants (in $200 000 to $300 000 yearly installments) to 15 worthy interdisciplinary scientists who can develop and use new algorithms, machine learning techniques, and other data-intensive science tricks to turn huge volumes of data into amazing scientific discoveries. "
"Moore’s new law is that big data will lead to big science. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation plans to give US$1.5 million grants (in $200 000 to $300 000 yearly installments) to 15 worthy interdisciplinary scientists who can develop and use new algorithms, machine learning techniques, and other data-intensive science tricks to turn huge volumes of data into amazing scientific discoveries. "
course: Introduction to Genetics - Udacity
Not only computing MOOCs anymore... is it all "big data" anyway...
Tales from the Genome, Introduction to Genetics - Udacity:
"This course is a journey into the biology of the human genome and will highlight the scientific, social, and personal perspectives of people living with a variety of traits"
23andMe and Udacity Launch ‘Massive Online Open Course’ in Human Genetics | Dark Daily
Tales from the Genome, Introduction to Genetics - Udacity:
"This course is a journey into the biology of the human genome and will highlight the scientific, social, and personal perspectives of people living with a variety of traits"
23andMe and Udacity Launch ‘Massive Online Open Course’ in Human Genetics | Dark Daily
Neo4j - Online Training Course
Neo4j - The World's Leading Graph Database - Online Course:
(free) 4 hours of interactive, engaging learning to get familiar with Neo4j. With this online course you can control your progress at your own leisure and pause and resume at any time.
(free) 4 hours of interactive, engaging learning to get familiar with Neo4j. With this online course you can control your progress at your own leisure and pause and resume at any time.
IBM DB2 NoSQL Graph Store
IBM DB2 NoSQL Support:
DB2_NoSQLGraphStore.pdf
It is interesting that while Neo4j declares RDF to be impractical, both IBM and Oracle have support for such "triple stores" in their mainstream databases.
NoSQL Graph Store
Graph data is becoming more commonplace thanks to developments like the adoption of the W3C's Resource Description Framework (RDF). There are many challenges associated with the traditional way graph data is mapped to a relation table, including the need for a significant number of self-joins and poor performance.
The NoSQL Graph Store feature addresses these challenges by providing you with an optimized way to store graph triples inside DB2, and is available for all editions of DB2.
Graph data is becoming more commonplace thanks to developments like the adoption of the W3C's Resource Description Framework (RDF). There are many challenges associated with the traditional way graph data is mapped to a relation table, including the need for a significant number of self-joins and poor performance.
The NoSQL Graph Store feature addresses these challenges by providing you with an optimized way to store graph triples inside DB2, and is available for all editions of DB2.
DB2_NoSQLGraphStore.pdf
It is interesting that while Neo4j declares RDF to be impractical, both IBM and Oracle have support for such "triple stores" in their mainstream databases.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
JavaScript "Promises'
Promises/A+:
"A promise represents the eventual result of an asynchronous operation. The primary way of interacting with a promise is through its then method, which registers callbacks to receive either a promise’s eventual value or the reason why the promise cannot be fulfilled"
What’s so great about JavaScript Promises? | Parse Blog
JavascriptPromise by Martin Fowler
Promise - JavaScript @ Mozila Developer Network
JavaScript Promises: There and back again - HTML5 Rocks
An Overview of JavaScript Promises - SitePoint
"A promise represents the eventual result of an asynchronous operation. The primary way of interacting with a promise is through its then method, which registers callbacks to receive either a promise’s eventual value or the reason why the promise cannot be fulfilled"
What’s so great about JavaScript Promises? | Parse Blog
JavascriptPromise by Martin Fowler
Promise - JavaScript @ Mozila Developer Network
JavaScript Promises: There and back again - HTML5 Rocks
An Overview of JavaScript Promises - SitePoint
ClojureScript vs JavaScript, Clojure code.async
Himera Synonym:
side-by-side examples in ClojureScript and "native" JavaSctipt.
(ClojureScript is Clojure complied to JavaScript)
clojure/clojurescript @ GitHub
Clojure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Core.async - Communicating Sequential Processes using Channels, in Clojure @ InfoQ
"Rich Hickey presents the motivation, design and use of the Clojure core.async library, the reasons for choosing the CSP approach and how it helps to structure applications"
Clojure core.async @ InfoQ
Instead of "syntactic sugar" like async/await in C# and similar concepts in Scala,
Clojure is being extended by macros for adding dedicated queuing of requests.
He claims that greatly simplifies code compared to typical "callback" based async handling.
ClojureScript 101
core.async/examples/walkthrough.clj at master · clojure/core.async @ GiHub
side-by-side examples in ClojureScript and "native" JavaSctipt.
(ClojureScript is Clojure complied to JavaScript)
clojure/clojurescript @ GitHub
Clojure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Core.async - Communicating Sequential Processes using Channels, in Clojure @ InfoQ
"Rich Hickey presents the motivation, design and use of the Clojure core.async library, the reasons for choosing the CSP approach and how it helps to structure applications"
Clojure core.async @ InfoQ
Instead of "syntactic sugar" like async/await in C# and similar concepts in Scala,
Clojure is being extended by macros for adding dedicated queuing of requests.
He claims that greatly simplifies code compared to typical "callback" based async handling.
ClojureScript 101
core.async/examples/walkthrough.clj at master · clojure/core.async @ GiHub
Chrome: new tab icons, browser-desktop
Chrome’s Windows 8 Chrome OS-lookalike gets a stable release | Ars Technica: "Chrome now has a trio of icons to help out. If a tab is making a noise, Chrome will put a little speaker in the tab itself. This gives instant, at-a-glance detection of noisy tabs. The other two icons are less important, but still useful. If one tab is accessing your webcam, it'll be adorned with a little red recording icon. A tab that's being cast to your TV with a Chromecast will show a little TV icon."
Chrome OS-like Metro mode browser... a Chrome "desktop." Along the bottom of the screen is a taskbar of sorts, used for launching Web apps of your choosing. Populating the main area of the screen are one or more browser windows.
Chrome OS-like Metro mode browser... a Chrome "desktop." Along the bottom of the screen is a taskbar of sorts, used for launching Web apps of your choosing. Populating the main area of the screen are one or more browser windows.
“next-gen” filesystems
Bitrot and atomic COWs: Inside “next-gen” filesystems | Ars Technica:
ZFS and btrfs
"bitrot," the silent corruption of data on disk or tape. One at a time, year by year, a random bit here or there gets flipped. If you have a malfunctioning drive or controller—or a loose/faulty cable—a lot of bits might get flipped. Bitrot is a real thing, and it affects you more than you probably realize.
Contrary to popular belief, conventional RAID won't help with bitrot, either. "But my raid5 array has parity and can reconstruct the missing data!" you might say. That only works if a drive completely and cleanly fails. If the drive instead starts spewing corrupted data, the array may or may not notice the corruption (most arrays don't check parity by default on every read). Even if it does notice... all the array knows is that something in the stripe is bad; it has no way of knowing which drive returned bad data—and therefore which one to rebuild from parity (or whether the parity block itself was corrupt)...
ZFS and btrfs
"bitrot," the silent corruption of data on disk or tape. One at a time, year by year, a random bit here or there gets flipped. If you have a malfunctioning drive or controller—or a loose/faulty cable—a lot of bits might get flipped. Bitrot is a real thing, and it affects you more than you probably realize.
Contrary to popular belief, conventional RAID won't help with bitrot, either. "But my raid5 array has parity and can reconstruct the missing data!" you might say. That only works if a drive completely and cleanly fails. If the drive instead starts spewing corrupted data, the array may or may not notice the corruption (most arrays don't check parity by default on every read). Even if it does notice... all the array knows is that something in the stripe is bad; it has no way of knowing which drive returned bad data—and therefore which one to rebuild from parity (or whether the parity block itself was corrupt)...
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
End of Net Neutrality? Start public internet.
Net Neutrality Quashing Will Mean New Pricing Schemes, Throttling, and Business Models | MIT Technology Review:
"Accepting much of a challenge by Verizon, the court killed the FCC’s policies that aimed to prevent data-discrimination or data blocking. But the ruling does require carriers to disclose when they block, slow, or expedite various kinds of traffic in the future."
It is time for "public" internet.
Same as there are public and paid roads,
there should be limited reasonable free internet for all,
and "premium" networks that are paid per usage, same as roads are.
There should be a easy way to use multiple networks in parallel,
both for wired and wireless connections.
In fact, public internet should focus on the roads first,
enabling internet connections for all vehicles to increase safety.
"Accepting much of a challenge by Verizon, the court killed the FCC’s policies that aimed to prevent data-discrimination or data blocking. But the ruling does require carriers to disclose when they block, slow, or expedite various kinds of traffic in the future."
It is time for "public" internet.
Same as there are public and paid roads,
there should be limited reasonable free internet for all,
and "premium" networks that are paid per usage, same as roads are.
There should be a easy way to use multiple networks in parallel,
both for wired and wireless connections.
In fact, public internet should focus on the roads first,
enabling internet connections for all vehicles to increase safety.
course: Mobile Website Development and Design @ Udacity
Mobile Website Development and Design Course - Udacity:
Instructors:
Instructors:
- Chris Wilson is an Open Web Platform Developer Advocate at Google working on Chrome. He began working on web browsers in 1993 when he co-authored the original Windows version of NCSA Mosaic, went on to Microsoft to work on Internet Explorer for fifteen years, and joined Google in 2010
- Peter Lubbers is a Program Manager at Google in the Chrome Developer Relations team and lives and breathes HTML5, co-author of Pro HTML5 Programming (Apress) and the founder of the San Francisco HTML5 User Group, the largest HTML5 User Group in the world.
So they is likely a real experts for web!
Interesting, they are teaching "mobile web," not "web based mobile apps."
The second could be created by "wrapping" web app to PhoneGap shell, but it is not the same approach to APIs, etc.
The second could be created by "wrapping" web app to PhoneGap shell, but it is not the same approach to APIs, etc.
Graph != Chart
Many people confuse terms "graph" for charts.
A chart is a graphical representation of data, but it is not a graph.
Alternative term for chart is "graphic"
Graph (mathematics) - Wikipedia
a graph is a representation of a set of objects where some pairs of objects are connected by links
A drawing of a labeled graph on 6 vertices and 7 edges.
Chart - Wikipedia
Four of the most common charts are:
A chart is a graphical representation of data, but it is not a graph.
Alternative term for chart is "graphic"
a graph is a representation of a set of objects where some pairs of objects are connected by links
A drawing of a labeled graph on 6 vertices and 7 edges.
Chart - Wikipedia
Four of the most common charts are:
MSCD 3-for-1
MSCD 3-for-1
"When you schedule and pay for the first exam using your personal voucher code, you’ll get the next 2 exams for free, valid on exams for any of the following certifications:
MCSD Windows Store Apps-HTML5
MCSD Web Applications
MCSD SharePoint Applications
MCSD Windows Store Apps-C#
MCSD Application Lifecycle Management"
The MCSD ‘3-for-1’ offer is available until May 31st, 2014*.
All exams must be scheduled and completed by May 31st, 2014.
"When you schedule and pay for the first exam using your personal voucher code, you’ll get the next 2 exams for free, valid on exams for any of the following certifications:
MCSD Windows Store Apps-HTML5
MCSD Web Applications
MCSD SharePoint Applications
MCSD Windows Store Apps-C#
MCSD Application Lifecycle Management"
The MCSD ‘3-for-1’ offer is available until May 31st, 2014*.
All exams must be scheduled and completed by May 31st, 2014.
event: Windows Azure Deep Dive
Windows Azure Deep Dive:
Windows Azure Week: Deep Dive Live!
In-depth training from the experts who built Azure:
Windows Azure Week: Deep Dive Live!
In-depth training from the experts who built Azure:
January 27-31
Monday, January 13, 2014
Sinclair QL: 30 years
Sinclair’s 1984 big shot at business: The QL is 30 years old • The Register:
Some nice memories about this device...
Some nice memories about this device...
Google to Acquire Nest
Google to Acquire Nest – Investor Relations – Google:
"Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash."
For Google, a Toehold Into Goods for a Home - NYTimes.com
"Nest, which was started in 2010 by Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, members of the teams that built the iPhone and iPod at Apple, will continue to operate independently under its own brand and expand its portfolio of connected versions of what it calls “unloved but important devices in the home.
"Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash."
For Google, a Toehold Into Goods for a Home - NYTimes.com
"Nest, which was started in 2010 by Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, members of the teams that built the iPhone and iPod at Apple, will continue to operate independently under its own brand and expand its portfolio of connected versions of what it calls “unloved but important devices in the home.
Mr. Fadell, Nest’s chief executive, will report to Larry Page, co-founder and chief executive of Google."
Getting even harder for Microsoft to compete in "Devices" space...
And even more motivation to do so...
ideas: Learning Technology
Learning Technology in the Information Age - Online Training Course for Developers: by Dan Appleman @ pluralsight
Dan Appleman: Kibitzing and Commentary » Blog Archive » The Most Common Question
Beginner’s don’t need learning resources – they need learning strategies.
A very interesting and provocative class / presentation.
It is almost a blueprint how to arrange an online school,
including training sites such as pluralsight itself!
It is introducing idea that due to "Information Revolution" (internet technology):
anyone can communicate with any other number of other people,
and get access to all human knowledge, for free and instantly.
And the result is:
where it is practical to invest time in learning, since technology gets obsolete,
and as mentioned information and "knowledge" is free or cheap?
He also introduces learning "branches"
In the "information age," usual problem is not availability of information, but filtering relevant information, and that is where training can help.
According to the author, the traditional schools provide "one stop shop" for:
Dan Appleman: Kibitzing and Commentary » Blog Archive » The Most Common Question
Beginner’s don’t need learning resources – they need learning strategies.
A very interesting and provocative class / presentation.
It is almost a blueprint how to arrange an online school,
including training sites such as pluralsight itself!
It is introducing idea that due to "Information Revolution" (internet technology):
anyone can communicate with any other number of other people,
and get access to all human knowledge, for free and instantly.
And the result is:
- Knowledge is "free" ("fundamentals", just search for it?)
- Information is "free" ("specific technologies", just search for it)
- Skills (ability to solve problems effectively) is NOT free (yet)
- Innovation is based on expertise, in Knowledge, Information and Skills
where it is practical to invest time in learning, since technology gets obsolete,
and as mentioned information and "knowledge" is free or cheap?
He also introduces learning "branches"
- Technology
- Business and Finance
- Leadership and Management
In the "information age," usual problem is not availability of information, but filtering relevant information, and that is where training can help.
According to the author, the traditional schools provide "one stop shop" for:
- Fundamentals
- Information
- Skills (labs, equipment)
- Curation (pre-selecting curriculum)
- Support (teachers, student study groups, exams as deadlines, etc)
- Certification (diploma)
- Expertise
While there are alternatives for each of mentioned aspects of school, most people don't take them in account when trying to learn something. And that is a problem.
- Books may be considered a "curation" of relevant information about a subject: what to learn, in what order, what to exclude. Good curation can drastically reduce time and cost of learning.
- Online classes are almost a video representation of a book.
- Web, blogs, search, product documentation, may be good sources of specific information, but is very unreliable for complete picture of a technology.
- Schools are good for teaching fundamentals and not so good for up-to-date product information. They could be very expensive.
- New technology is best learned from experts (i.e. conferences, classes etc.)
Learning requires practice to gain skills, the most useful result of learning, by using the information.
- Learn by solving real problems.
- If you can't find problems, solve somebody else's problems found on online forums.
- Open source projects are great way to practice and learn
Gaining "expertise" is not most efficient way to get usable skills, but it also could be effective by focusing the knowledge by solving tough problems.
Certificates could be a measure of competence, if done right. Its value greatly depends on who issues it. Requirements of certifications could also be a source of curation info (what is relevant to know in the domain)
...
Windows 9 is coming
Windows 9 is coming: Feels like Windows Phone all over again | ZDNet:
codename 'Threshold'
"Windows 8.1, which is a substantial and free upgrade with major improvements over the original release, is in use on less than 25 million PCs at the moment."
"It's not the post-PC era that Microsoft needs to be concerned with, it's the post-Windows era."
codename 'Threshold'
"Windows 8.1, which is a substantial and free upgrade with major improvements over the original release, is in use on less than 25 million PCs at the moment."
"It's not the post-PC era that Microsoft needs to be concerned with, it's the post-Windows era."
"Threshold" to be Called Windows 9, Ship in April 2015 | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows
Thurrott speculates that a windowed version of Metro will run on the desktop
Thurrott speculates that a windowed version of Metro will run on the desktop
That should have been from the start, and with same OS for phone and tablets.
Add an Android VM to the mix, and this would make a nice package.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
ideas: MIT's Visionary Founder
William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder: Exhibits: Institute Archives & Special Collections:MIT Libraries:
“The true and only practicable object of a polytechnic school is, as I conceive, the teaching, not of the minute details and manipulations of the arts, which can be done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of those scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of them, their leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws"
This idea worked very well for MIT and industry.
Now that MOOCs and online videos are used to re-invent education,
it is important to leverage sound principles.
And this is harder today than it was in the years past, because "quick money" is often an objective for both investors and entrepreneurs.
MIT remained supportive of entrepreneurship, but did little to actively foster it. Stanford, on the other hand, did. It created a licensing office that was a marketer, not just a straight patent office. The office actively pursued discoveries, then marketed them to interested companies and collected royalties."
Saturday, January 11, 2014
CSS Semi-Transparency
CSS Transparency for IE and Mozilla, Firebird and Firefox (-moz-opacity and filter: alpha) - DoMedia:
A working solution for transparency in web standards browser
Here's the CSS syntax:
p {color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);}
A working solution for transparency in web standards browser
Here's the CSS syntax:
p {color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);}
50% Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh eui
#bgNew2 {
width: 400px;
height: 300px;
background: url(http://www.domedia.org/oveklykken/leaf.gif) repeat;
border: 2px solid black;
padding: 40px;
}
#bgNew2 #bgNew2p {
padding: 40px;
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
}
YourLanguageSucks (Programming Languages)
YourLanguageSucks - Theory.org Wiki:
A nice list of features to avoid in popular programming languages.
A nice list of features to avoid in popular programming languages.
Mono CSharp Compiler as a Service
CSharp Compiler - Mono:
Starting with Mono 2.2 it supports a Compiler Service that applications can consume.
Starting with Mono 2.2 it supports a Compiler Service that applications can consume.
Microsoft is now re-writing C# compiler in C#, as a major (5 years) project Roslyn,
that enables using C# "compiler as a service"
Same (or similar) functionality is available in Mono (.NET clone) for a few years already...
Maps: Projections
Map projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Equirectangular projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The equirectangular projection (also called the equidistant cylindrical projection,
The equirectangular projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation
File:USA location map.svg - Wikimedia Commons
File:Blank US Map.svg - Wikimedia Commons
Equirectangular projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The equirectangular projection (also called the equidistant cylindrical projection,
The equirectangular projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation
File:USA location map.svg - Wikimedia Commons
File:Blank US Map.svg - Wikimedia Commons
Netflix: Big Movies Taxonomy
How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic:
"Netflix possesses a stockpile of data about Hollywood entertainment that is absolutely unprecedented"
Netflix possesses 76,897 unique ways to describe types of movies.
"Netflix possesses a stockpile of data about Hollywood entertainment that is absolutely unprecedented"
Netflix possesses 76,897 unique ways to describe types of movies.
Friday, January 10, 2014
online book: Distributed systems
Distributed systems for fun and profit:
text that would bring together the ideas behind many of the more recent distributed systems - systems such as Amazon's Dynamo, Google's BigTable and MapReduce, Apache's Hadoop and so on.
text that would bring together the ideas behind many of the more recent distributed systems - systems such as Amazon's Dynamo, Google's BigTable and MapReduce, Apache's Hadoop and so on.
Software in 2014
ongoing by Tim Bray · Software in 2014:
"We’re at an inflection point in the practice of constructing software. Our tools are good, our server developers are happy, but when it comes to building client-side software, we really don’t know where we’re going or how to get there."
The client-side mess · Things are bad. You have to build everything three times: Web, iOS, Android. (No Windows?)
JavaScript is horrible.
> [5, 10, 1].sort();
[ 1, 10, 5 ]
"We’re at an inflection point in the practice of constructing software. Our tools are good, our server developers are happy, but when it comes to building client-side software, we really don’t know where we’re going or how to get there."
The client-side mess · Things are bad. You have to build everything three times: Web, iOS, Android. (No Windows?)
JavaScript is horrible.
> [5, 10, 1].sort();
[ 1, 10, 5 ]
IBM: Watson Big Business?
IBM Struggles to Turn Watson Computer Into Big Business - WSJ.com: " hopes
Watson will generate $10 billion in annual revenue within 10 years,
But Watson had total revenue of less than $100 million as of late October
Watson will generate $10 billion in annual revenue within 10 years,
But Watson had total revenue of less than $100 million as of late October
Thursday, January 09, 2014
Introduction to Algorithms (MIT)
Introduction to Algorithms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"Introduction to Algorithms is a book by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein. It is used as the textbook for algorithms courses at many universities. It is also one of the most commonly cited references for algorithms in published papers"
Introduction to Algorithms | The MIT Press
MIT 6.046J / 18.410J Introduction to Algorithms - Fall 2005 - VideoLectures - VideoLectures.NET
Gift wrapping algorithm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Convex hull - Gift wrapping algorithm in C# - Michalis Zervos
"Introduction to Algorithms is a book by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein. It is used as the textbook for algorithms courses at many universities. It is also one of the most commonly cited references for algorithms in published papers"
Introduction to Algorithms | The MIT Press
MIT 6.046J / 18.410J Introduction to Algorithms - Fall 2005 - VideoLectures - VideoLectures.NET
Gift wrapping algorithm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Convex hull - Gift wrapping algorithm in C# - Michalis Zervos
uservoice: Customer Feedback (website)
Feedback & Online Help Desk Software | UserVoice
(interesting: they have logo on web page as SVG :)
Customer Feedback for Microsoft:
Feature Suggestions: Top (43343 ideas) – Feature Suggestions for Windows Phone
Visual Studio: Hot (7582 ideas) – Customer Feedback for Microsoft
Customer Feedback for Windows Azure Mobile Services
mentioned @ .NET Rocks!
(interesting: they have logo on web page as SVG :)
Customer Feedback for Microsoft:
Feature Suggestions: Top (43343 ideas) – Feature Suggestions for Windows Phone
Visual Studio: Hot (7582 ideas) – Customer Feedback for Microsoft
Customer Feedback for Windows Azure Mobile Services
mentioned @ .NET Rocks!
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Seagate Tablet with 500 GB HD
Seagate Crams 500 GB of Storage into Prototype Tablet - IEEE Spectrum:
Seagate's solution in this prototype was to hybridize the storage with the addition of 8GB of flash memory. The vast majority of the time, the tablet is just running on flash, and the magnetic drive is powered off. If you want to play a movie, though, the drive will spin up, swap the movie onto the flash memory through a fast 6 gb/s SATA interface, and then spin down again. The upshot of this is that you have 500GB that you can access whenever you want, but you're not paying for it in battery life, because it's almost never running.
The hard drive in question is Seagate's impressively skinny "Ultra Mobile HDD," a five-millimeter-thick single system with 500GB of storage, robust power management, and drop protection
Seagate's solution in this prototype was to hybridize the storage with the addition of 8GB of flash memory. The vast majority of the time, the tablet is just running on flash, and the magnetic drive is powered off. If you want to play a movie, though, the drive will spin up, swap the movie onto the flash memory through a fast 6 gb/s SATA interface, and then spin down again. The upshot of this is that you have 500GB that you can access whenever you want, but you're not paying for it in battery life, because it's almost never running.
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
OWIN Self Host
NuGet Gallery | Microsoft ASP.NET Web API 2 OWIN Self Host 5.0.0:
"This package allows you to host ASP.NET Web API within your own process using the OWIN HttpListener server. ASP.NET Web API is a framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that reach a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices. ASP.NET Web API is an ideal platform for building RESTful applications on the .NET Framework."
C# code generation and Roslyn @ .NET Rocks!
"This package allows you to host ASP.NET Web API within your own process using the OWIN HttpListener server. ASP.NET Web API is a framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that reach a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices. ASP.NET Web API is an ideal platform for building RESTful applications on the .NET Framework."
C# code generation and Roslyn @ .NET Rocks!
Audi Self-Driving Cars @ CES
Audi Shows Off Self-Driving Cars, Lasers at CES | News & Opinion | PCMag.com:
A7 drove itself onto the stage
Audi Sport quattro laserlight concept, which combines a 110-kilowatt electric engine with a V8 engine to go more than 90 miles on a single gallon of gas.
A7 drove itself onto the stage
Audi Sport quattro laserlight concept, which combines a 110-kilowatt electric engine with a V8 engine to go more than 90 miles on a single gallon of gas.
Android: Open Automotive Alliance
Google launches the Android-based Open Automotive Alliance with Audi, Honda, GM, and more | The Verge:
"Google and a number of automakers are planning to bring Android to cars with the launch of a new group called the Open Automotive Alliance. The alliance consists of Google, GM, Honda, Audi, Hyundai, and chipmaker Nvidia, and will focus on bringing the successful mobile operating system to in-car entertainment systems "in a way that is purpose built for cars." The first cars with Android integration are planned for launch by the end of 2014."
"Google and a number of automakers are planning to bring Android to cars with the launch of a new group called the Open Automotive Alliance. The alliance consists of Google, GM, Honda, Audi, Hyundai, and chipmaker Nvidia, and will focus on bringing the successful mobile operating system to in-car entertainment systems "in a way that is purpose built for cars." The first cars with Android integration are planned for launch by the end of 2014."
Monday, January 06, 2014
Bing Image Archive
Bing search has some beautiful images changed each day on the first page.
Here is a link to collection of those images (they are different for most countries)
Some are also packaged as "themes" for Windows.
Bing Image Archive: http://www.istartedsomething.com/bingimages/
Still, could not find this one:
Windows 8.1 : How to use Near-Field Proximity API without NFC hardware - Stéphanie Hertrich - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
Here is a link to collection of those images (they are different for most countries)
Some are also packaged as "themes" for Windows.
Bing Image Archive: http://www.istartedsomething.com/bingimages/
Still, could not find this one:
Windows 8.1 : How to use Near-Field Proximity API without NFC hardware - Stéphanie Hertrich - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
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