perl
When I started this blog, way back in the dark ages of 2004, the best of the options I had was Movable Type. A Perl and MySQL based blogging platform may seem like an odd choice for a Windows-centric developer like me, but I felt it was the best of
windows
While I haven’t been unhappy with Windows Vista, it had a lot of rough edges: This is why the screenshot of the Windows 7 Calculator, although seemingly trivial, is so exciting to me. It’s evidence that Microsoft is going to pay attention to the visible parts of the
technology trends
The original iPhone was for suckers hard-core gadget enthusiasts only. But as I predicted, 12 months later, the iPhone 3G rectified all the shortcomings of the first version. And now, with the iPhone 3GS, we’ve reached the mythical third version: A computer industry adage is that Microsoft does not
programming languages
It’s pop quiz time! Put away your notes, and let’s begin. a) Do you own this book?* b) Do you know who this man is? c) Does this FAQ look familiar to you? 3) OUR LITTLE FRIEND, THE COMPUTER 3.1) Are there any OSes that don’t
search engines
Google’s Chrome browser passes anything you type into the address bar that isn’t an obvious URI on to the default search engine. While web browsers should have some built-in smarts, they can never match the collective intelligence of a worldwide search engine. For example: weather San Francisco CSCO
software development
I’ll always remember WordPerfect as the quintessential white text on blue screen application. For a period from about 1985 to 1992, WordPerfect was the most popular word processing program in the world on virtually every computing platform. I remember it well; the very concept of word processing was synonymous
programming languages
I’ve been following Michael Abrash for more than 10 years now; he’s one of my programming heroes. So I was fascinated to discover that Mr. Abrash wrote an article extolling the virtues of Intel’s upcoming Larrabee. What’s Larrabee? It’s a weird little unreleased beast that
networking
We sit at the intersection of two trends: 1. Most home networking gear, including routers, has safely transitioned to gigabit ethernet. 2. The generation, storage, and transmission of large high definition video files is becoming commonplace. If that sounds like you, or someone you know, there’s one tweak you
search engines
I was browsing the sessions at an upcoming Search Conference, which describes itself thusly: The way to online success is through being easily found in search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft Live Search. While developers have historically thought of search as a marketing activity, technical architecture has now
keyboard
My beloved Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 has succumbed to the relentless pounding of my fingers. A moment of silence, please. OK, it still works, technically, but certain keys have become... unreliable. In particular, the semicolon key is now infuriatingly difficult to use. I don’t know if this is God’
microsoft
In software circles, dogfooding refers to the practice of using your own products. It was apparently popularized by Microsoft: The idea originated in television commercials for Alpo brand dog food; actor Lorne Greene would tout the benefits of the dog food, and then would say it’s so good that
programming languages
In my previous post, a commenter asked this question: So many of the best minds I have met in computing have a love for music. Is it something to do with being able to see beauty in complex numerical systems? I adore music. I have a vast music collection and