The Insider News

InfoWorld[^]:

Writing secure code begins long before the first loop is formed -- and is no easy task. To even approximate bulletproof code, architects, engineers, auditors, and managers must try to imagine everything that could go wrong with every aspect of the code. Although it's impossible to anticipate every nasty curve the attackers will throw, you have to do all you can to reduce your attack surface, plug holes, and guard against the fallout of a potential breach.

Topaz[^]:

I’m extraordinarily pleased to today announce Topaz, a project I started 10 months ago, to create a brand new implementation of the Ruby programming language (version 1.9.3). Topaz is written in Python on top of the RPython translation toolchain (the same one that powers PyPy). Its primary goals are simplicity and performance. Because Topaz builds on RPython, and thus much of the fantastic work of the PyPy developers, it comes out of the box with a high performance garbage collector, and a state of the art JIT (just-in-time) compiler. What does this mean? Out of the box Topaz is extremely fast.

AnandTech[^]:

There's clearly interest in a device that converges the tablet and notebook. ASUS saw some of the earliest success in this department with its Transformer line of Android tablets. Once the first Windows RT/8 designs started appearing, it became clear that everyone was aiming to deliver something that delivered the best of both worlds. Even listening to Intel's description of Haswell you can get a good idea for where part of the industry is headed: everyone is working towards delivering a platform/device that has the battery life and portability of a tablet, but with the performance and flexibility of a notebook PC. Apple has remained curiously quiet on this front, but I suspect that too will change in good time.

The Verge[^]:

It's no secret why Dell's struggling so badly it just took a $2b loan from Microsoft and bought itself back from shareholders to become a private company: after more than a decade of effort, the company never figured out what consumers actually want beyond low prices, or why they might want it. You might laugh, but it's true — a look back at Dell's biggest attempts to crack the consumer market and compete with Apple over the past 10 years reveals an embarrassing series of missteps, mistakes, and flat-out bad software, culminating in a flurry of poorly-executed mobile devices in 2010 that sealed the company's fate.

TechCrunch[^]:

A while ago, Google took its Street View cameras to the slopes and started documenting ski runs at a few select resorts. Today, Google is expanding its mapping options for skiers by adding 38 new run and lifts maps to Google Maps, including its apps for Android and iPhone. These include well-known ski resorts like Squaw Valley, Big Sky and Whistler Blackcomb.

GigaOm[^]:

BitTorrent Inc. is working on an application called Sync that uses P2P technology to sync your files between your devices.... The announcement blog post is somewhat scarce on details, but here’s what I’ve been told by the company: Sync will enable direct synchronization between your machines without any cloud caching. File transfers will be protected via 256 bit AES encryption. There are native apps for Mac OS, Windows and Linux, as well as a native NAS integration.

Glen Stansberry[^]

There is nothing more frustrating for a web developer than spending hours at a time fixing a bug that should just work. Often I’ll get stuck in a programming state that feels like I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, as if the language I’m using (CSS, PHP, whatever), is actually a foreign language.