The Insider News

Ntdebugging Blog[^]:

Recently I had the opportunity to debug the clipboard in Windows, and I thought I’d share some of the things I learned. The clipboard is one of those parts of Windows that many of us use dozens (hundreds?) of times a day and don’t really think about. Before working on this case, I had never even considered how it works under the hood. It turns out that there’s more to it than you might think.

Computerworld UK[^]:

Rice has floated include the notion of a Pigovian tax designed to correct the current "broken" market outcome in the software industry. That's to say, end users pay the price for shoddy software through attacks, bolted-on security solutions, and the never-ending patching process. If security related vulnerabilities were somehow taxed, the cost burden would be shifted more from the consumer of software to the software manufacturer.

rachelandrew.co.uk[^]:

Despite us entering a seemingly golden age of browser consistency, what I am seeing is an increasing reliance on a whole slew of polyfills, CSS frameworks and boilerplate starting points. I am concerned that these things are being promoted as something everyone should include from the outset, rather than being a toolkit you draw on to deal with problems once they have arisen.

Design Staff[^]:

When I first started designing interactive products, it was a struggle. Small projects were fine. But when the interactions got more complex, I noticed that tools, team communication, and even my own thinking started breaking down. I see many startups facing these same problems today. So I wanted to share some of the ways that I’ve changed my design process over the years to handle the complexity of large products.

The Ecobot Project[^]:

Most mobile robots are not truly autonomous; most operate in simplified environments. Almost all non-industrial robots still require a helping hand from humans. However, we are interested in building robots which will be self-sufficient in terms of decision making and energy - robots which can be left unsupervised to organize their work and nourishment.

The Tech Report[^]:

Yes, Commodore is still around and selling computers. And believe it or not, the firm has just unveiled a small-form-factor PC that's purportedly fit for use as a home-theater system, a workstation, and a gaming machine — whatever tickles your fancy. It sure is tiny, and it might be attractive (beauty is in the eye of the beholder), but is it a powerhouse?

Education Is My Life[^]:

Teachers and researchers in the field of online education have recently published the Manifesto for Teaching Online in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh. I really like this document because it makes you question what you believe about teaching and learning spaces.

Ars Technica[^]:

The Windows 8 user interface is designed to scale to systems of all sizes. Like Windows versions of old, it will have to scale all the way from 1366×768 10-inch tablets up to 2560×1440 30-inch desktop monitors and beyond. But it's not just different numbers of pixels that Windows 8 will have to cope with: different sizes of pixels matter too. Windows 8 will have to scale from screens with around 96 dots per inch all the way to screens with almost 300 dpi.

Greg Duncan[^]:

With SUA, aka "Subsystem for Unix based Applications," being deprecated - marked for death, likely not being included in a future Windows version - it's a good time to look at the other options available, many that have been around for a while and have a very loyal and thriving community.

Quote:

A blog posting on the Pirate Bay site said the service had gone offline for a few hours on 18th March to move its front machines (which redirect a user’s traffic to a masked location). "We have now decided to try to build something extraordinary," it said.

What this means is that it could use small GPS-controlled drones – availing of low-price radio equipment and small computers, citing the Raspberry Pi as an example – “that will float some kilometers up in the air”

The Code Project[^]:

In this installment we talk to Sebastien Lambla, consultant, blogger, teacher and open-source developer.

Mike Cane[^]:

Woz’s leaving Apple Computer was a watershed event. There is more here than Wozniak’s falling out with a buddy who had metamorphosed from a Yippie to a Yuppie. Wozniak felt uncomfortable, no longer free to do what he wanted to do. and reportedly, even betrayed.

Matt Wilcox[^]:

The web is such an exciting place. It lulled for a while in the last few years, but major upheavals are afoot again. And every time it’s passionate, clever, generous, and thoroughly nice people at the forefront. It’s what I love about the web. Even when I moan.

.NET Blog[^]:

Application performance is something we hear about all the time. It almost always falls into one of the top three issues when we aggregate all of the feedback channels from .NET developers. While performance has many characteristics, application startup time is something that everyone can easily relate to. Here are some of the ways the .NET Framework 4.5 beta helps speed things up for you.

Ted Neward[^]:

Programmers come out of college in one of two modes: either they are full of fire and initiative, ready to change the world with their “mad h@x0r skillz” and energy, or they are timid and tentative, completely afraid to take any chance or risk that might possibly lead them to getting fired from their job. The first are the ones that scare me.

A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering[^]:

Random number generation is one of the most fascinating subjects in cryptography -- mostly because of how terrible things get when people screw it up. And oh boy, do people screw it up. When this happens, people get nervous. They start to wonder: am I at risk? And if so, what can I do to protect myself? Answering this question is easy. Answering it in detail is hard.

Co.Design[^]:

The Free Universal Construction Kit - a 3-D-printable collection of 80 parts that function as a a Rosetta Stone for young builders - connects lego to lincoln logs to tinkertoys, with the aim of making those systems spark truly unlimited creativity.

Encosia[^]:

The IE team published an in-depth post over the weekend, raising a few concerns about StatCounter’s methodology (or lack thereof) for reporting browser market share. Their points were interesting to consider, but what’s the use in splitting hairs about this?

VentureBeat[^]:

Seattle. Cost of gas, energy, and real estate (not to mention natural beauty) are just some of the reasons why the Emerald city is not only one of the best places in the country to live, but also one of the most attractive places for startups to bootstrap or for bigger companies to make the hires necessary to scale their operations.

Wired[^]:

Linus Torvalds has reached middle age, and so has Linux. Nowadays, it’s easy to take both of them for granted. But both are still going strong — very strong. Linus still runs the Linux kernel with his unique brand of no-nonsense attitude. But he's also a regular guy.

Dan's Data[^]:

In days of yore, when memory was measured in kilobytes, games used to come with manuals. Made out of paper. Sometimes quite a lot of paper. That was then, this is now. Today most games don't even come in a box, and we gladly pay extra for "deluxe editions" and pre-order swag. Have the games become better as a result?

The Code Project[^]:

The company I work for has seen a big 'cultural change' over the last couple of years instigated mainly by the HR department. One of the things that is now valued almost more than anything else is positiveness. EVERYTHING here is awesome now.

Therefore Systems[^]:

If you are game to learn a new language then I highly recommend looking at Python. You will find it both fun and productive. Basic tenets of the language can be summarized in what is called “The Zen of Python”.

jacquesmattheij.com[^]:

I know people that are great at starting projects, they are always on to something new and great. But it's not the same 'new and great' thing they were doing last week, they already lost interest because the 'hard' parts are finished and so they've moved on to the next challenge. Never mind that nothing ever gets finished that way!