The Insider News

Computer Business Review[^]:

"For many years I've been saying that from a security point of view there is no big difference between Mac and Windows. It's always been possible to develop Mac malware, but this one was a bit different. For example it was asking questions about being installed on the system and, using vulnerabilities, it was able to get to the user mode without any alarms."

Mother Jones[^]:

A bros-only atmosphere will hurt no one more than the startups that foster it. Beyond the obvious workplace consequences—and potential legal fallout—of this imbalance, testosterone-fueled boneheadedness can also turn into a PR nightmare, especially in an industry awash in social media.

The Code Project[^]:

In this installment we talk to Michael Hopke, who helped launch a game and a game development company while still in college.

The Little Calculist[^]:

Here’s the deal: typed arrays are not fully portable. On the other hand, can we really trust that web applications will write portable code? For now, we should let browser vendors on big-endian systems make that decision, and not force the decision through the spec. If they end up all choosing to emulate little-endian, I’ll be happy to codify that in the standards.

Less Than Dot[^]:

When we're producing code, we have to be mindful that there will be a person consuming our code and stop focusing on just getting it out of our head. When we come back to this code in 6 months we want to be able to read it easily, be able to safely make assumptions about elements in it, understand the intent as well as the concrete implementation, and do so with the least amount of re-reading possible.

mir.aculo.us[^]:

My recommendation: learn the language, and use it to your liking; and don’t rely or blindly accept what any “wise elders” tell you. Try to do something new and crazy every day. You might not end up using the crazy, but it’s the best way to master JavaScript. Develop your own style that you are comfortable with. Experiment.

VIM Adventures[^]:

VIM Adventures is an online game based on VIM's keyboard shortcuts (commands, motions and operators). It's the "Zelda meets text editing" game. It's a puzzle game for practicing and memorizing VIM commands (good old VI is also covered, of course). It's an easy way to learn VIM without a steep learning curve.

Karl Seguin[^]:

Over the years I've written a lot about the evolution I've taken with testing. I've also written about the frustration of testing within the confines of static languages. More briefly, I've discussed testing in dynamic languages, and what benefits developers get from that. I think talking about how far dynamic languages can be taken, from a testing point of view, deserves more attention.

Xato[^]:

Some of you out there know that I have been collecting passwords for quite some time. Since 1998 to be exact. Originally I did it just to have big wordlists for password cracking, then I started gathering them for research on my Perfect Passwords book, finally it became like a big ball of string where you just do it because it makes no sense to stop now. So I thought that some people might be interested in how I collect these passwords.

bitly[^]:

As bitly usage has grown, one of the systems that has evolved several times along the way is our metrics platform. Originally implemented as log files with a hierarchical timestamp key, by early 2011 we were using 3 different metrics systems, and had outgrown 3 others. We started with a set of goals to build a scalable time series database application, which we now call Clickatron. Here's how it works.

Ibiblio[^]:

Here you'll find a collection of all the AGC, AGS, LVDC, and Gemini spacecraft computer documentation and software that I've managed to find. My intention is to eventually provide one-stop-shopping for all of your Apollo and Gemini computing-system documentation needs.

Ars Technica[^]:

While few are concerned about Windows 8's usability as a tablet operating system, desktop users remain wary. Will the new operating system take a huge step back in terms of both productivity and usability? Ars Technica takes a closer look.

Global Nerdy[^]:

Geeks don't like repetitive tasks, and will go to great lengths to avoid repeating themselves. Whether that evolutionary impetus actually saves time is addressed by this helpful chart. Which may have been created automatically.

The Code Project[^]:

Nominations are now open for the CodeProject Readers Choice Awards 2012. Nominate your favourite Products and Services for them to be in the running. Be quick - the nomination period is strictly 7 days.

don't code today what you can't debug tomorrow[^]:

There have been various recent events which showed how dangerous it is to pass the control to a proprietary binary, especially the one with a rather disastrous security track record. Zero-day Flash exploit was used to attack the big security firm, RSA. At the last Pwn2own, Chrome was exploited likely through the included Flash plugin, even with Chrome having its plugin sandboxed.

Shawn Blanc[^]:

As someone who writes for a living it befuddles me why I never thought to research a proper keyboard. As a computer-nerd-slash-writer, I am always looking and advocating for the right tools. But for years, I have always equated “writing tools” with “software” — I own more text editors than I have fingers to type with — but it never dawned on me until recently that a good keyboard could be equally as important as a good text editor.