If this is done very well and very carefully, it could be really good. If it isn’t, it could be really, really bad. Good luck, Canonical, you’re going to need it.
Archive of posts filed under the Software and Software Development category.
Linux compiles and massive IOWait delays
As mentioned previously, I use a 13″ mid-2009 MacBook Pro as my development machine, with virtual Linux and Windows machines running under Parallels. All was mostly well, except that I’m doing a lot more compiling in the last few months than I had been previously, and the IOWait problem on the Linux VM — always [...]
“New York City gets a Software Engineering High School”
This sounds like an awesome idea. It’s a “limited, unscreened” school. [...] It means that any student who is interested can apply–their grades and attendence record are not taken into account in deciding whether or not to admit them, only their interest. I think this is the best thing about the school. A lot of [...]
“A Very Portal Christmas Tree”
For those of you who don’t know, there’s a rather famous game called Portal. From the Wikipedia entry: [...] The game primarily comprises a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player’s character and simple objects using “the handheld portal device”, a device that can create inter-spatial portals between two flat planes. [...]
“Technology confuse lizard! Lizard no like!”
I can’t figure out whether this is EPIC LIZARD-BRAIN FAIL or simply hilarious. Maybe I’ll settle for both. I especially find it amusing when, between rounds, the lizard looks up at the guy behind the camera, as if he really wants to convey his disgust at the proceedings. Here is a short clip of a [...]
“New Apple ad says Siri-reliant Santa is a slob”
The ad is funny enough on its own, but this take on it had me laughing aloud.
“US spy drone hijacked with GPS spoof hack, report says”
Ever since I heard the report about the captured US spy-drone earlier this week, I wondered how it could possibly have happened. Well, my curiosity was satisfied today: it was reputedly caught by sending it false GPS signals — a vulnerability that military officials have apparently been aware of since at least 2003, and one [...]
“One week playing violent video games alters brain activity”
More news on the effects of violent video games. Only preliminary results, but it’s something to keep an eye on. As a somewhat-related item: most of us figure out the difference between reality and make-believe when we’re very young. Apparently those who don’t end up in organizations like the Red Cross, which is considering accusing [...]
“Microsoft researchers build spam filter for HIV”
Speaking of unpredictable consequences, here’s another one: techniques developed to combat spam turn out to be useful against HIV. I always thought that spammers had a lot in common with viruses, in that both are annoying and potentially dangerous, but I didn’t expect the metaphor to stretch that far!
“As the Internet evolves, is there a place for spam?”
Apparently not: In the late 1990s Robert Soloway made $20,000 a day as a spammer. He drove fancy cars. He wore Armani clothes. He was, by all accounts, one of the most successful spammers on the planet. But if he were starting out today, he’d find some other line of work. In 2011, spamming just [...]