The Insider News

CNET News[^]:

In the common retelling of Apple's history, it was Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's second computer, the Apple II, that launched their fledgling company toward stratospheric growth and financial success. The machine's triumph as a single platform for business software, games, artistic tools -- and more -- set the stage for the later debut of the first Mac, and later OS X and iDevices. What many forget -- or may not even know -- is that when the Apple II was introduced at the inaugural West Coast Computer Faire in April, 1977, it suffered from what, in retrospect, was a glaring shortcoming: It had no disk drive.

net-security.org[^]:

The arrival of widespread public Wi-Fi access across London Underground has been broadly welcomed by the general public, particularly those with smartphones and tablets who want to maintain internet access inside stations in order to continue to use their devices.... However, the use of any open, public Wi-Fi connection poses substantial risks to data and device security. The advent of Bluetooth a few years ago saw the growth of Bluejacking, where open Bluetooth connections on handsets were hijacked or bombarded with unwanted messages. Widespread use of Wi-Fi-enabled devices in a small enclosed area such as a Tube platform risks the devices and their related data traffic being targeted by opportunist hackers.

Joel on Software[^]:

The fastest growing industry in the US right now, even during this time of slow economic growth, is probably the patent troll protection racket industry. Lawsuits surrounding software patents have more than tripled since 1999.... What does this sound like? Yes, it’s a textbook case of a protection racket. It is organized crime, plain and simple. It is an abuse of the legal system, an abuse of the patent system, and a moral affront.

Wired.com[^]:

Everybody knows a computer is a machine made of metal and plastic, with microchip cores turning streams of electrons into digital reality. A century from now, though, computers could look quite different. They might be made from neurons and chemical baths, from bacterial colonies and pure light, unrecognizable to our old-fashioned 21st century eyes. Far-fetched? A little bit. But a computer is just a tool for manipulating information. That's not a task wedded to some particular material form. After all, the first computers were people, and many people alive today knew a time when fingernail-sized transistors, each representing a single bit of information, were a great improvement on unreliable vacuum tubes.

Henri Bergius in Berlin, Germany[^]:

iPad is three years old now, and many tech blogs are writing stories to reflect what has changed. More than 100 million of them have been sold, alongside other popular tablets like the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. But originally the reception was quite sceptical. Many made the argument that the tablet was "just a big iPod Touch or iPhone"... The funny thing about this argument is that — while the skepticism was misplaced — the core point was true: The iPad is just a big iPhone. Or to put it the other way, the iPhone is just a pocket-sized iPad.

CodeProject[^]:

CodeProject.TV is the video training arm of CodeProject and a technical training marketplace that enables trainers, authors and educators to share their knowledge through bite-sized, high-quality videos. Start watching today.

Jayway[^]:

What I consider to be the three most powerful features of JSON are little-known. The main reason for this is probably that they are pretty much undocumented, and therefore not widely used. This article will explain these features. It will show that JSON in itself, without any of the complicated hacks in JavaScript, is in fact a powerful, extensible and dynamic programming language, and not just a dumb, closed data format containing the least common denominator of all C-based programming languages. Since most developers have a limited view of what JSON is, I will call JSON with these three features JSON++.

Learning by Shipping[^]:

Legacy code is everywhere. Every bit of software we use, whether in an app on a phone, in the cloud, or installed on our PC is legacy code. Every bit of that code is being managed by a team of people who need to do something with it: improve it, maintain it, age it out. The process of evolving code over time is much more challenging than it appears on the face of it. Much like urban planning, it is easy to declare there should be mass transit, a new bridge, or a new exit, but figuring out how to design and engineer a solution free of disruptions or worse is extremely challenging. While one might think software is not concrete and steel, it has a structural integrity well beyond the obvious.

CaitieM[^]:

To be successful as a Game Developer first and foremost you have to be passionate about what you do, whether it is programming, art, design, writing, or something else. You need to be passionate about games and your chosen field. In addition I believe my love of learning has been a huge asset in my career development and growth. I am not afraid to dive into new technologies, or get my hands dirty in a code base I do not understand. I believe doing this helped me get into the industry, and continuing to do so makes me valuable.

Creative Bloq[^]:

Adobe's Flash Player was once the best way to add animation, video and interactivity to your websites. That's all changed in the last few years.... But reports of Flash's death have been exaggerated. While it's no longer the catch-all behemoth it once was, it continues to be a useful tool that's used throughout industry for specific tasks, especially gaming. And nor has it been abadoned by Adobe, which has been hard at work over the last few years on the next generation of Flash Professional, codenamed Hellcat.

MSDN Magazine[^]:

Ready to write your first Windows Store app? Or have you already been writing Windows Store apps using HTML/JavaScript, C# or Visual Basic, and you’re curious about the C++ story? With Visual C++ component extensions (C++/CX), you can take your existing skills to new heights by combining C++ code with the rich set of controls and libraries provided by the Windows Runtime (WinRT). And if you’re using Direct3D, you can really make your apps stand out in the Windows Store.

Hack a Day[^]:

Adafruit Industries just posted the first episode in a new educational series aimed at teaching kids about electronics. The episode is entitled “A is for Ampere” and teaches the basic theory behind electrical current. The subject seems like a common one for A-to-Z themed electrical tutorials.... After demonstrating a mains circuit breaker tripping the episode goes on to discuss electron flow and how current is measured.

Giant Bomb[^]:

As of this Tuesday, Rock Band DLC support will be done, and so too will end this generation of music games. There is always the possibility Harmonix or Activision could resurrect their dormant music franchises somewhere down the road, but it seems readily apparent that that won't happen for some time, if at all.... Given all these nostalgic feelings I'm having, what say we go back through the last five-or-so years and pick out some of the highlights (and a few of the lowlights) of Rock Band's brief, but memorable existence?