Monthly Archive:: August 2006

Intel is expected to release on Monday development tools designed to help programmers at software companies take advantage of the added computing power available on multicore systems.

eWeek's review of the latest Vista build is pretty positive: "On Aug. 25, Microsoft released to testers Vista Build 5536, the latest in a long line of sneak peeks at Microsoft's forthcoming desktop operating system. eWEEK Labs' tests of Build 5536 show that the operating system is gaining speed and losing quirks as its release nears." They also made a pretty screenshot gallery. In addition, everybody's favourite Microsoft Apple Microsoft zealot is also positive about this build.

RPCEmu has been ported to the Mac OS X platform, allowing RISC OS 4 to run alongside Apple's shiny desktop. An experimental port of the open source RiscPC emulator was checked into its source code repository over the weekend after the emulator was adapted to run on Apple computers that use PowerPC processors. The port can run RISC OS 4 and 3.7 with mouse and keyboard support. The emulation of IDE hard discs and higher resolutions needs further testing, and the user interface needs more work. The emulator manages around 5 MIPS on a modest 800MHz G4 iBook - which makes the desktop fairly usable.

"How many distributions does the Linux world need? And what exactly is a distribution, as opposed to just an edition of another distribution? Why is it that there are so many developers who feel inclined to start their own project instead of joining another, more established one?"

A landmark study on Department of Justice network crime prosecutions reveals most attacks used stolen IDs and passwords, resulting in far greater damages to affected organizations than previously thought: up to USD 10 million per occurrence and on average more than USD 1.5 million per occurrence. The report, "Network Attacks: Analysis of Department of Justice Prosecutions 1999-2006", concludes that 84% of attacks could have been prevented if, in addition to checking the user ID and password, the organization had verified the identity of the computer connecting to their networks and accounts.

Web services have been around for a while, but the idea has yet to fully take off. Learn how that's about to change, particularly as Web services go private and mobile. Learn how the application builders of tomorrow will use simple, drag-and-drop techniques to build new applications out of existing services.

"Imagine if you will, a world where your ideas and perhaps, even your own creative works became part of the OS of tomorrow. Consider the obvious advantages to an operating system that actually adapted to the needs of the users instead of the other way around. Not only is there no such OS like this, the very idea goes against much of what we are currently seeing in the current OS options in the market."

Debian has without much fanfare released the beta 3 of Etch, the final release slated to take place sometime this year. This review looks at what Debian has for the Linux enthusiast with its latest offering.

Start learning about an important programming concept, namely objects. The more you work with Visual C#, the more you'll hear about objects. Visual C# 2005 is a true object-oriented language. This chapter isn't going to discuss object-oriented programming in any detail—object-oriented programming is a complex subject and well beyond the scope of this book. Instead, you'll learn about objects in a more general sense.

Do you think design patterns are academic nonsense, useless and elitist? If this is how you feel, the aim in this chapter is to show you the opposite, because nothing could be more wrong.

Ubuntu is developing the "upstart", a replacement for the init daemon, the process spawned by the kernel that is responsible for starting, supervising and stopping all other processes on the system. The article compares upstart to Solaris SMF, Apple's launchd, and initng.

"Can you imagine controlling your computer with a peripheral that resembles a fluffy bar of soap? Well hear us out, because the Soap pointing device from Microsoft Research offers to combine the accuracy of a traditional optical mouse with the freedom of a wireless, even desk-free peripheral." There are even instructions in the video to make one yourself.

iRex used Linux and an electronic paper display to build a portable reading device that 'reads just like paper, and is perceived as such by the human eye'. The device can save students from having to carry around heavy stacks of text books, and might also be popular with doctors, lawyers, and technicians.

Apple is already gearing up for a major marketing campaign for the holidays, and if they're able to ramp up demand, and then deliver the system when they say it will be delivered, it could trump Microsoft in a way that Apple's CEO Steve Jobs would crow about for years.