The Insider News

Troy Hunt[^]:

The world of forgotten passwords is actually a little murky. There are plenty of different perfectly legitimate angles and a bunch of pretty bad ones as well. Chances are you’ve experienced each many times as an end user so let me try and draw on some of these examples to see who’s doing it well, who’s not and what you need to focus on to get it right in your app.

Think Different[^]:

What does is mean to be an Agile Developer? Where does that path lead? I’m wondering how many developers out there have ever had the opportunity to find out. And for those – few, I suggest – who have, did they like it as much as I have?

.NET Code Geeks[^]:

We should plan for cheap code. Well how do we do that? In a word: reversibility. We always know more about what is needed near the end of the project than at the beginning and this is why reversibility is important. We want the freedom to change our minds and do so inexpensively. Reversibility is our ability to make mistakes, take the wrong path and then change our minds later.

Sanity Phailed.me[^]:

This series more or less mirrors the series of the same name for Python. It’s in my belief that the only way to learn the in and outs of a language is to learn by practice, and by that virtue, to practice as often as possible until you get the hang of the language.

TIME[^]:

I’m glad Microsoft is dumping Aero. When the company released Windows Vista to consumers in January of 2007, Aero was supposed to be the new operating system’s signature feature — the “wow” in Vista’s initial slogan, “The wow starts now.” Instead, it had a pernicious effect on Windows. It was bad for Microsoft customers and bad for Microsoft, and removing it from Windows 8 feels like an exorcism as much as a design refresh.

ZDNet[^]:

An essential Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X administration tool had a major security problem. It’s been fixed, and now you need to patch your system ASAP.

Abtin Forouzandeh[^]:

There is a lot of misguided chatter about how the FB IPO has gone horribly wrong. The situation is in fact the opposite: FB IPO is the most successful IPO in history.

Neowin[^]:

Here is an interesting problem, if you want to call it that, which Microsoft had to address when building Windows 8. We all want faster boot times and Windows 8 delivers on the front. The problem is that the boot times are so quick that when you need to enter the setup menu, by pressing F2/F8 during boot, there is literally no time to do it.

Hal's (Im)Perfect Vision[^]:

When queried about Windows Phone 8 upgrades for existing handsets both Microsoft and Nokia officials have deflected the question with comments about supporting existing customers and keeping their experience “fresh”. The most direct interpretation of these statements is that Windows Phone 8 is indeed coming to existing handsets, but that contradicts what people with good sources are hearing. So what is the truth?

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox[^]:

It's cheap but degrading to reuse content and design across diverging media forms like print vs. online or desktop vs. mobile. Superior UX requires tight platform integration.

Java Code Geeks[^]:

As software developers, one of our most important responsibilities is the protection of our users' personal information. Without technical knowledge of our applications, users have no choice but to trust that we're fulfilling this responsibility. Sadly, when it comes to passwords, the software development community has a spotty track record.

The Visual Studio Blog[^]:

Today, we want to share the final product lineup and specifications you can expect to see for the next release of Visual Studio. This also includes system requirements and platform you can develop for with Visual Studio 11.

Scriptol[^]:

It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to students that have had prior exposure to BASIC; as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.