The Insider News

O'Reilly Media[^]:

So how can we optimize mobile web development? The first answer is pretty simple: don’t try to use JavaScript for tasks (like photo or video editing) that push it past its limits. As far as JavaScript has come, it wasn’t built for that. Native apps are indeed good for more than building browsers. The second answer is trickier: it means recognizing that web applications include much more than JavaScript.

Ankur Sethi's Blog[^]:

I am currently working on a single page web application written with AngularJS that communicates with a REST API written with Django and Tastypie. Since I run both the client and the server locally on my machine, every HTTP request that my AngularJS application makes receives a response from the REST API in tens of milliseconds. This is not ideal.

Superfeedr[^]:

RSS is dead has been the motto of several tech publications (none of whom actually deleted their feeds… but that’s another story!). The truth is these people were right in the sense that RSS has seen very little innovation, because one player was incredibly dominant and no-one could really distinguish from it. Now, that player is gone, but if we only use new readers who provide the same experience, we’re probably not going to see this ecosystem explode again.

reactivemanifesto.org[^]:

A new architecture has evolved to let developers conceptualize and build applications that satisfy today’s demands. We call these Reactive Applications. This architecture allows developers to build systems that are event-driven, scalable, resilient and interactive: delivering highly interactive user experiences with a real-time feel, backed by a scalable and resilient application stack, ready to be deployed on multicore and cloud computing architectures. The Reactive Manifesto describes these critical traits which are needed for going reactive.

AnandTech[^]:

If we limit our discussion to personal computing devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops), where Intel uses two microarchitectures ARM uses three.... If we look at currently available cores, there’s the Cortex A15 on the high end, Cortex A9 for the mainstream and Cortex A7 for entry/low cost markets. If we’re to draw parallels with Intel’s product lineup, the Cortex A15 is best aligned with ultra low power/low frequency Core parts (think Y-series SKUs), while the Cortex A9 vector parallels Atom. Cortex A7 on the other hand targets a core size/cost/power level that Intel doesn’t presently address.

CNET News[^]:

Google has patched a security vulnerability that could have left Glass users with some major issues. Lookout Security discovered a flaw in Google Glass back in May that would allow a hacker to create a QR Code that -- once scanned by Glass -- could see all of the connections running through the glasses-mounted computer. A hacker could also deliver a payload over the Internet that would wreak havoc on Google Glass and possibly steal information.

Sucuri Blog[^]:

A few days ago, Peter Gramantik from our research team found a very interesting backdoor on a compromised site. This backdoor didn’t rely on the normal patterns to hide its content (like base64/gzip encoding), but stored its data in the EXIF headers of a JPEG image. It also used the exif_read_data and preg_replace PHP functions to read the headers and execute itself.

Visual Studio Magazine[^]:

More than 40 percent of software developers globally say that security isn't a top priority for them, and a similar percentage don't use a secure application program process, according to a new study.... On the development side, only about 62 percent "always" take security into account when developing or contracting for software applications. Thirty-one percent "usually" do, and 7 percent "never" do, the survey found.

Scott Hanselman[^]:

I've blogged before, in fact in 2004, (!) that Windows is missing the text mode boat. There is a massive opportunity for a great, nay, awesome and pretty, command line on Windows. If someone cracks this problem, they're gonna be heroes.... Here's some command line utilities that augment and help - but don't yet complete save - the Windows Command Line.

Ars Technica[^]:

A couple of years ago, Linus Torvalds was discussing Linux version numbers and said, "I think I will call 3.11 Linux for Workgroups." It turns out he wasn't joking. With a release candidate of Linux 3.11 now available, Torvalds has actually named the new version of the kernel "Linux for Workgroups." He even gave it a Windows-themed boot icon featuring Linux's mascot penguin, Tux, holding a flag emblazoned with an old Windows logo.

Eli Bendersky's website[^]:

A few weeks ago I wrote about the comparison between regex-based lexers in Python and Javascript. Javascript running on Node.js (V8) ended up being much faster than Python, and in both languages a speed improvement could be gained by switching to a single regex and letting the regex engine do the hard work. However, in the real world you’ll find that most lexers (particularly lexers for real programming languages) are not written that way.

Software Sustainability Institute[^]:

The current state of experimental reproducibility in computer science is lamentable. The result is inevitable: experimental results enter the literature which are just wrong. I don’t mean that the results don’t generalise. I mean that an algorithm which was claimed to do something just does not do that thing.

Dan Grover[^]:

I was feeling miffed a few months ago because a product I was managing at a startup got cancelled just as it was ready to ship. The company made a big strategy change and ten months' hard work from my team went down the drain.... Whenever something like this happens, it gets me thinking about how quickly most of the things I’ve worked on have become obsolete. Everything from one-off tools I worked on as an intern in college, to more successful pursuits like apps or businesses that I've sold. It's all gone down the drain eventually.

Unchartered Waters[^]:

The document is not something someone leaked, a half-baked message sent off in a moment when a quick decision was needed. Nor is it an insiders document, full of shorthand terms and abbreviations that make complete sense, but only to insiders. No, this was actually designed for everyone to read, for all employees to read. It is on the web now, hosted on a Microsoft Website; you can read the full memo yourself. I’ve got a lot to say here, but I’m going to start by answering Joel’s question (‘what the heck does all this mean?’) with a little bit of commentary, leaving conclusions for next time.

The H Security[^]:

According to a report by security expert Kyle Lovett on the Bugtraq mailing list, critical security vulnerabilities exist in numerous ASUS routers and can be remotely exploited to take complete control of the router. The weak point is the AiCloud media server. If AiCloud is activated, unauthorised users can access critical system files over the internet – including files containing access credentials for the router in plain text format.

Polygon[^]:

In two years, mobile and tablet games will be predominantly hardcore. I understand why you might be skeptical: You, a hardcore gamer who just so happens to own a mobile device, have been hurt before.... But hear me now: The future is all but guaranteed. Why so confident? Simple. Every media platform optimized for games eventually ends up going hardcore. Mobile will not be different.

TechRadar[^]:

Ten years ago, the Linux world was very different from today. Back then, the idea of using Linux if you weren't a hard-core computer geek was laughable. Mark Shuttleworth changed all that. He came along with an idea that Linux could be easy to use, and he made it so.... Canonical's contribution to the Linux ecosystem wasn't new code, but a new mindset. A mindset that said "Hey, Linux is for everyone." And, interestingly, that mindset was what Linux needed then. There were already hundreds of developers working on the kernel, but very few working on making it friendly.