What do enterprise software developers think about software quality within their organizations? We asked SD Times subscribers and the results may surprise you. The research project was conducted in July 2012 by BZ Research (like SD Times, a division of BZ Media). Here’s what we learned: Does your organization have separate development and test teams? […]
This is one of a series of articles I wrote for the monthly Bulletin of Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, Calif. Sermons are being written. Tiles are being laid. Tickets are being sorted. White neckties are being cleaned. Shofarot are being polished. Sermons are being rewritten. Amidst the myriad preparations for the High Holy Days, everyone at […]
The jury is in: Samsung was found to have infringed upon Apple’s numerous mobile patents. The jury’s verdict form, handed down in the United States District Court in San Jose, Calif., found that in many cases that the “Samsung entity has diluted any Apple trade dress(es).” What’s more, Apple proved “by a preponderance of the […]
The temptation to write about Microsoft’s brand-new logo is almost unbearable. I’ve been trying to resist but… okay. I can’t resist any longer. Microsoft has a new logo. It has color squares reminiscent of the four color blocks in Office, SharePoint, Visual Studio, and so-on, with the word “Microsoft” spelled out in type. The Pac-Man-like […]
This past week, I’ve started receiving messages from eFax telling me that I’ve received a fax, and to click on a link to download my document. As a heavy eFax user, this seemed perfectly normal… until I clicked one of the links. It took me to a malware site. Fortunately, the site was designed to target Windows […]
I remember searching for the perfect wordsI was hoping you might change your mindI remember a soldier sleeping next to meRiding on the Metro The group Berlin wrote the song The Metro in 1983. The lyrics evoke rail trips through London and Paris, walking along the Seine, and of course, a romantic breakup. It’s a great […]
Sous-vide is an interesting way of cooking. It’s not new – according to the Wikipedia, sous-vide (pronounced soo-veed, meaning “under vacuum”) was invented in 1799. Since we’re quoting from the Wikipedia, might as well keep going: Sous-vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for a long […]
This is one of a series of articles I wrote for the monthly Bulletin of Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, Calif. Dear Parents of the Children in Preschool and Religious School, Welcome to the beginning of a new year of exciting education at Peninsula Temple Sholom. Thank you for entrusting the Jewish education of your beloved children […]
Remember the old saying, “Everyone is talking about the weather, but nobody is doing anything about it?” That’s pretty much the case when it comes to using the cloud as part of a software QA process. In research conducted by SD Times in July, we asked, “At what stage is your company, or companies that […]
When it comes to writing code with advanced numerical functions, my advice is clear: Use libraries. Don’t roll your own algorithms. Generally speaking, I’m a fan of modular code reuse, especially for complex functions like UI controls, database access drivers, PDF generation or managing images. Most of the time, it’s a good idea to find […]
At the Google I/O 2012 conference, the Internet giant announced the availability for its Chrome browser for both Android and iOS devices – both tablets and handsets. The next day, I was able to install the Chrome browser for iOS immediately onto an iPhone 4 (a device released in June 2010), an iPhone 3GS (released June […]
Harmless kerfuffle? Abuse of corporate power? Enablement of Big Brother? No matter what you call it, Cisco’s recent firmware updates to its Linksys home routers is troubling. According to a story published on ExtremeTech by Joel Hruska, “Cisco’s cloud vision: Mandatory, monetized, and killed at their discretion,” Cisco pushed out a firmware update to some models […]
The past few weeks has seen a lot of excitement in the mobile space. This past week we had Google I/O, where we got a first look at Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean,” which offers solid improvements. The previous week Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 – a near-total relaunch that will excite future customers and ISVs, […]
This is one of a series of articles I wrote for the monthly Bulletin of Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, Calif. It all began in the PTS parking lot one sunny Sunday. I was waiting to pick up my son Michael from Religious School and a nice man approached and asked, “are you doing anything Monday night?” […]
Bet you never thought that AI would have tremendous applications to the field of computer security. AI’s challenge: Someone logs into your network or multi-user system using Dave’s userid and password. Can your computer be sure that it’s Dave logging in, and not someone who’s borrowed his password or cracked the system’s security measures? Can […]
Which cloud models are developers working with? The short answer is – many different models are in play. In May, we enlisted subscribers to SD Times and News on Monday to help us understand how they are building and testing applications using the cloud, and how they are deploying completed applications into the cloud. We […]
The temperature is rising, at least when it comes to developing and deploying in the cloud. In a survey of SD Times subscribers, 44.0% said that they are currently using the cloud to build or test applications, or to deploy applications. Another 24.9% said that they are not currently using the cloud, but expect to […]
Every year, I look forward to the judging and unveiling of the SD Times 100. The editors of SD Times and SDTimes.com spend literally months discussing the state of the industry, talking about leaders and innovators, where things are heading, who made the most impact, and which companies and projects truly made a difference. We […]
Remember Microsoft’s Windows Live brand? To be honest, I’d forgotten all about it. Randall Stross, a writer for the New York Times, noted its demise in “Goodbye to Windows Live (and Whatever It Meant),” and that sparked some vague memories. Windows Live was launched by Microsoft about a million years ago — November 2005, to […]
According the jury, Google did not infringe on two Oracle patents. That news came the same day, May 22, that Google closed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The acquisition sailed through smoothly, and Google was quick to try to assure other Android handset makers – who are now both partners and competitors – that they […]
Let’s talk about the HP-67 and HP-97 programmable calculators. Introduced in 1976, both those models hold place of pride in my collection of vintage computation devices – which consists of a tremendous number of older Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments calculators, as well as dozens of slide rules going back to the late 1800s. The four-function […]
I don’t like the trend toward ‘brogrammers’ – that is, a very chauvinistic, juvenile attitude that seems to be creating a male-centric, female-exclusionary culture in software development departments – and across IT. It’s time to put an end to the put-downs, pin-ups, constant sports in-jokes and warfare metaphors, management by belittlement, and insulting locker-room attitude. […]
Holy Sellouts, Batman! I received an email from Apple at 6:44am Pacific time on Wednesday, April 25: WWDC2012. Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. June 11-15 in San Francisco. It’s the week we’ve all been waiting for. Register now! A little more than an hour later, I clicked the link. On the WWDC page, a box said […]
Get ready for an onslaught of high-resolution displays, coming to everyone from smartphones to tablets to laptops to desktops. As I wrote about last month in “In the iPad 3 era, pay attention to the pixels-per-inch,”, Apple computers users are enjoying screens with much higher PPI (pixels per inch) than has been the industry norm. […]
I wish a fond farewell to Embedded Systems Programming magazine. ESP was launched by my friends Don Pazour (publisher), Ted Bahr (associate publisher) Regina Starr Ridley (executive editor) and J.D. Hildebrand (editor) in 1988. ESP was renamed as Embedded Systems Design a few years ago. According to a newsletter published by embedded guru Jack Ganssle, […]
Once upon a time, IBM’s OS/2 operating system was the future. As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of its April 1987 launch, it’s instructive to look back on OS/2’s failure in the market. OS/2 played a large part in my own history. Ted Bahr (the other founder of BZ Media and SD Times) launched OS/2 […]
Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
The good guys aren’t winning. In the battle to keep our software safe, we are outgunned. To take a minor example: We set up a captcha system to filter out garbage comments on sdtimes.com stories and blog posts. It didn’t take long for hackers to find a way around it – and now our system […]
Android forked out from Linux. And now, with Linux 3.3 (released on Mar. 18) it has been sucked back into the mainline. The description on KernelNewbies is succinct and clear: For a long time, code from the Android project has not been merged back to the Linux repositories due to disagreement between developers from both […]
I love, love, love my Dell 3007WFP monitor. The 30” beast – showing 2560 x 1600 pixels – has been on my desk since January 2007, when I bought it (refurbished) from the Dell Outlet Store for $1,162.60. Clearly, I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of this display, which has been variously connected to Windows […]