What if a new version of Windows didn’t try to dazzle you? What if, instead, it tried to disappear except when you needed it? Such an operating system would dispense with glitzy effects in favor of low-key, useful new features. Rather than pelting you with alerts, warnings, and requests, it would try to stay out of your face. And if any bundled applications weren’t essential, it would Read more
Power of UNIX. Simplicity of the Mac. Mac OS X is both easy to use and incredibly powerful. Everything — from the desktop you see when you start up your Mac to the applications you use every day — is designed with simplicity and elegance in mind. So whether you’re browsing the web, checking your email, or video chatting with a friend on another continent,* getting things done is at once eas Read more
Admin HBase: A Database Fit for the Cloud HBase is a NoSQL database, which is similar in concept to Google’s Bigtable. A sub-project of the Apache Hadoop project, it is coded in Java and layered over HDFS (Hadoop file-system). It is column-oriented, semi-structured, tolerant to hardware failure, and provides high consistency. This article compares it to conventional RDBMS systems, and talks abo Read more
Why is managing technical people difficult? Some would say techies are socially inept and simply can’t communicate well. While that may be true in some cases, saying so doesn’t help managers deal with techies any better: It just defers the problem. Download this eBook for advice on how to bridge the communications gap Read more
Shedding some light on job prospects for tech writers is a new report recently released by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). The ITAA is a non-profit service organization supported by a membership of over five hundred information technology (IT) corporations in the United States. The report, When Can You Start?, is based on the results of close to 700 telephone interviews Read more
Driving games aren’t as popular as they used to be in this shooter-dominated world, but two of the biggest game publishers aim to put players behind the wheel soon, as EA revealed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Sony showed off Twisted Metal. This confluence of car-related events relegated a handful of racers to E3′s pit stop, but we’re hoping to shed a light on some of the sh Read more
Many professional photographers and serious hobbyists have been using Adobe Lightroom 2 as an integral part of their editing workflow. With Adobe Lightroom 3 ($299 for first-time buyers, $99 as an upgrade; prices as of June 25, 2010), even more photographers are likely to adopt it as a one-stop photo-editing resource. Lightroom’s core purpose has always been to provide tools for sorting, or Read more
The term “hack” was first used by US university computing centre staff in the mid-1960s. The context determined whether the complimentary or derogatory meanings were implied. Phrases such as “ugly hack” or “quick hack” generally referred to the latter meaning; phrases such as “cool hack” or “neat hack”, to the former. In modern computer Read more
