|
The Chinese government has begun the process of picking a national computer chip instruction set architecture (ISA). This ISA would have to be used for any projects backed with government money — which, in a communist country such as China, is a fairly long list of public and private enterprises and institutions, including China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world. The primary reason for this move is to lessen China’s reliance on western intellectual property. Will it be MIPS, Alpha, ARM, Power... or a homegrown CPU?
|
|
|
|
|
In this, the age of cloud computing, Amazon’s service is so popular, it now runs about 1 percent of the entire internet. But despite some strong reviews from those who have actually used it, Microsoft Azure — more than two years after its debut — is often on the edge of the conversation. Those folks from Washington really know something about clouds.
|
|
|
|
|
Terrence Dorsey wrote: Those folks from Washington really know something about clouds.
They should.
It rains all the time in Seattle.
|
|
|
|
|
It does seem misunderstood. Here are a few misconceptions I've noticed, and the reality:
- You can't put a cap on costs... actually, you now can (services that exceed their quota will be disabled, or you can disable the quota).
- There are hidden transfer fees... they're not really hidden (perhaps poorly emphasized), and there are built-in ways to avoid them (e.g., affinity groups).
- You are stuck with Microsoft technologies... nope, you can use most technologies on Azure.
- You are locked into Azure... actually, it's not much different than hosting with GoDaddy (from a technical perspective), so long as you remember to avoid using local file storage as a permanent medium.
|
|
|
|
|
It looks like Google has finally pulled the plug on the old GMail UI. There’s no more “revert to the old look temporarily” button, so I guess they’re finally forcing us laggards onto the new theme. As far as i can tell, this redesign is just change for the sake of change. I can’t see a single improvement! But I can spot three distinct un-provements. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
|
|
|
|
|
I m not comfortable with new look of Gmail. Is this temporary or permanent?
|
|
|
|
|
Is not only permanent, but also unnecessary, f***ed up, and then some. And they whine on MS Office that changes toolbars every version. At least in every Office x+1 you get 100 more buttons. Not 100 more colors.
Someone said "you can make Android in any color as long as is black"? So true.
Nuclear launch detected
modified 20-May-12 3:31am.
|
|
|
|
|
Richard Garriott speaking to a class taught by Warren Spector about... well... ”the stuff that typically doesn’t get talked about,” and the real history of the video game industry. It's almost 3 hours long, but well worth your time if you're interested in the history of gaming. An oral history project for the video game industry.
|
|
|
|
|
With Windows 8, Microsoft is going to potentially install their new design language called Metro on a massive amount of computers of all shapes, from thin low-powered slates to full scale PCs. However Metro was not born overnight and in fact a lot of research was put into it. In this article we will discuss the origins of the Metro design language, the inspiration that was the source of it all. From Bauhaus to your house.
|
|
|
|
|
|
House Passes CISPA. Hopefully Obama vetoes it.
An interesting side-note is that, according to Wikipedia, Franklin Roosevelt made the most vetoes at 635, while Obama has so far made only 2. Also interesting is that Gover Cleveland has the highest veto density, as he made an average of 282 vetoes per term.
|
|
|
|
|
Ask the senate to reject CISPA here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What do games have that we miss in UX and Web design? Games have stunning graphics, missions, high scores, etc.. But adding any of those to our designs does not necessarily provide a better user experience — in many cases they’re frippery. What we are really looking for is what those elements bring to the games. Gamification is here to stay, and unfortunately many people will continue to use it the wrong way.
|
|
|
|
|
When all you know is SQL Server, it’s tempting to try and solve every problem with a relational database, but often it’s not the best tool for the job. Today I want to introduce you to an excellent example of this, the ‘Database As Queue’ anti-pattern. It’s a common specimen that you’ll find in the wild in many enterprise development shops. “When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
|
|
|
|
|
"Use the right tool for the right job." -- Scotty et al
Many times a database-based queue is the right tool and I would consider it before resorting to message queueing.
I know very little about message queueing (I've never developed such a system, but I've had to maintain some), but they seem much less flexible and more brittle than database-based systems.
Perhaps the systems he's seen have other problems. Or message queues are the only hammer he has.
|
|
|
|
|
Message queuing through shared memory is very fast and can be flexible. I have seen this work well and would recommend it over a database solution.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
In most cases the only difference between disappointment and depression is your level of commitment. -- Marc Maron
I am not a chatbot
|
|
|
|
|
But it duplicates data and in a database-based system you can have a dynamic set of listeners.
Shared memory can't be used between servers, can it?
|
|
|
|
|
PIEBALDconsult wrote: But it duplicates data and in a database-based system you can have a dynamic set of listeners.
With multiple applications on a single server, no the data is not duplicated. I don't see why you cannot have a dynamic set of listeners watching shared memory.
PIEBALDconsult wrote: Shared memory can't be used between servers, can it?
No, of course not. However, you could use a publish/subscribe pattern. You could use Apache's HTTPComponents to build a transport system or you could build the system using named pipes which is one of the methods SQLServer uses.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
In most cases the only difference between disappointment and depression is your level of commitment. -- Marc Maron
I am not a chatbot
|
|
|
|
|
Michael Bergman wrote: no the data is not duplicated
Yes, it is. It's in the database and in the queueing system.
|
|
|
|
|
PIEBALDconsult wrote: Shared memory can't be used between servers, can it?
Also, you could use MSMQ on Windows systems to handle messaging or IBM Websphere MQ on Linux.
m.bergman
For Bruce Schneier, quanta only have one state : afraid.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. -- Voltaire
In most cases the only difference between disappointment and depression is your level of commitment. -- Marc Maron
I am not a chatbot
|
|
|
|
|
A hacker can put a lot of code together in a hurry but if a change is needed the code has to be completely rewritten. A programmer may take a little longer but if changes are needed they are more quickly and easily installed without the need for a complete rewrite. But is that the only way to express the difference? Or is there a real difference at all? What is the difference between Hacking and programming?
|
|
|
|
|
I think "quick and dirty" fits well...there's a reason VS groups comments starting with "HACK" with those starting with "TODO".
|
|
|
|
|
Hear hear!
Slow and steady wins the race.
|
|
|
|