The Insider News

ACM Queue[^]:

Among the hottest buzzwords in the IT industry these days is "big data," but the "big" is something of a misnomer: big data is not just about volume, but also about velocity and variety.... If we draw a picture of the design space for big data along these three dimensions of volume, velocity, and variety, then we get the big-data cube.

m. libby's above average software site[^]:

One thing I run into when working with legacy code that I haven't really seen addressed anywhere else: how to assess the difficulty of working with a particular code base. Why is this important? Because we are going to be asked to estimate the amount of time it will take to fix a bug or add a feature to said code base.

Wired.com[^]:

Nick Holonyak was sure the LED would replace the incandescent light bulb when he presented it to GE executives 50 years ago. While the incandescent is still king in homes across the nation, the LED has transformed lighting in more ways than Holonyak could have imagined. From those first dim red diodes to powerful streetlights in major cities, the LED has made its mark on the world.

Retro Thing[^]:

You may not know his name, but you've encountered Hans Camenzind's designs countless times. He was also one of the first independent semiconductor designers, famed for hitting a home run with his first solo design–the 555 timer chip that has been incorporated into countless inexpensive electronic devices. Incredibly, over one billion 555 timer chips are sold each year. It's a simple little 10 cent device that makes it possible to build devices that flash, buzz or turn on and off at variable intervals. Incredibly, he created the chip alone, spending a year designing it by hand as a freelancer.

Bitbucket Blog[^]:

It’s a big day here at Bitbucket HQ. The Bitbucket team is unveiling a brand new, redesigned Bitbucket. Our goal for this huge release was to rethink and rebuild the Bitbucket web experience from the ground up. Today, we’re are excited to introduce the new Bitbucket – faster, easier and more beautiful than ever.

DVICE[^]:

Once a year we are given carte blanche to commune with the dead, to cast spells and to become the evil that we otherwise fear in the world. We let the fear in, let it dance around in our heads and give us nightmares. This year, we're digging up a few buried horrors for you, and we've called upon the spirit of the NES to conjure up some newer scares as well. From the sublimely terrifying to the ridiculous, here are 15 games full of 8-bit scares to fill your Octoberween. Click through the links to get in the spirit and play, purchase or download each of these retro scare-fests.

ZDNet[^]:

Microsoft has been working for the past few years to convince users, especially business users, they don't need to wait until the first service pack to deploy a new Windows release. With Windows 8, Microsoft officials believe they've gotten a step closer, by rolling out via Windows Update on October 9 the “Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 General Availability Cumulative Update.” This update provides post-RTM (release to manufacturing) updates around performance, power management and battery efficiency, media playback, and compatibility.