Friday, 8 March 2013

Research Blog: Learning from Big Data: 40 Million Entities in Context

Learning from Big Data: 40 Million Entities in Context

CodePlex - Open Source Project Hosting

Microsoft's open source project hosting web site. You can use CodePlex to find open source software or create new projects to share with the world.

Google App Engine Blog: Python 2.5, thanks for the good times

Python 2.5 has a special place in the heart of any A year ago we Google App Engine developer, as it was the first runtime we launched way back in 2008. Since then, both Python and App Engine have advanced a great deal.

Megaupload seizure led to higher digital sales, film rentals | ExtremeTech

A new study on the impact of the Megaupload seizure has found that digital movie purchases and rentals increased significantly in the months after the site went offline. The findings are sure to stir controversy, but the research is important. The study, conducted by Brett Danaher and Michael D.

Fridaygram: women in tech, buzzing bees, storytelling rules - Google Developers Blog

By Scott Knaster, Google Developers Blog Editor Today is International Women's Day, and one of the ways we're celebrating is by being part of the Voices Global Conference. The conference includes sessions focused on women in technology, including new Women Techmakers episodes. You can watch live streams and archived videos, all available on the conference site.

Coding Cloud Heroku May Face Lawsuit Over Bait-and-Switch Claims | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

Cloud computing company Heroku may soon face a class action lawsuit after a New York startup uncovered some big performance problems with the online service where the company helps software coders build and run their software applications.

Matterport (YC W12) launches a 3D interactive scanner for real world environments, announces $5.6M funding round Y Combinator Posthaven

Matterport's camera will allow you to scan whole rooms and let others explore them via a Web browser or iPad. Some of the uses for this could be to explore a home you're looking to buy or rent for a vacation, or to check out a restaurant you're thinking of visiting.

Announcing a New Preview of the LightSwitch HTML Client - Visual Studio LightSwitch Team Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Today we are announcing a new updated preview of the LightSwitch HTML Client, which is now available as part of Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 CTP 4. This update brings many new exciting features and improvements, many of which are a direct result of your feedback - thank you for being a part of this exciting release!

Now Available: Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 - Somasegar's blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

As I've written about previously, we've been developing tools for building the next-generation of apps for Office and SharePoint. These tools manifest both as an online experience known as "Napa", which we've been updating on a weekly basis, as well as a complete set of extensions to the rich Visual Studio client, extensions we've shared several times in preview form.

ET deals: $635 for loaded Dell Inspiron 15R SE Core i5 laptop with $200 gift card | ExtremeTech

Dell's Inspiron 15R Special Edition has always been a favorite among our deal hunting team. It offers a step-above-the-rest combination of features and performance at a price point that typically can't be beat. Today's deal takes that lineage and bumps it up a notch.The deals starts with the 15R SE and its wealth of standard...

Windows Azure Community News Roundup (Edition #57) - Windows Azure - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Editor's Note: This post comes from Mark Brown, Windows Azure Community Manager. Welcome to the newest edition of our weekly roundup of the latest community-driven news, content and conversations about cloud computing and Windows Azure.

robots.net - Get Ready for Brain Awareness Week

Posted 8 Mar 2013 at 21:35 UTC by steve Brain Awareness Week starts on 11 March and organizations all over the world are preparing educational activities to highlight the importance of continued research into one of the most advanced and complicated machines we know of.

It starts with your launcher icon | Code Blog

Continuing with the topic of icons... From the start, the appearance of your application in the app menu makes a difference in how people interpret your app. If your icon looks stylish, has the correct shape, and people can guess from the app's name what it does, your app is on the right track.

The Four Major Problems with CPAN | Brendan Byrd [blogs.perl.org]

Others that aren't immediately obvious are: Errr, I just want to open a TCP connection somewhere. Oh, and since ARIN is telling everybody that we're almost out of IPv4 addresses, I'd like to have something that is IPv6 compatible. Which one should I use?

Solr 4 Developer Community Resources & Documentation | SearchHub [blogs.perl.org]

Solr 4 Developer Community Resources & Documentation

Don't release experiments to CPAN | NeilB [blogs.perl.org]

I'm proposing an explicit community convention where experimental code isn't released to CPAN, but is shared on github, perhaps with an associated blog post, or discussion on PrePAN. This addresses just one of CPAN's problems, which have also been raised today by Brendan Byrd.

Rails Migration in Your CakePHP application. :: The Bakery: Everything CakePHP

Rails Less Migration ===================== Today I was wanted to use rails goodness inside of my php project. So, I searched online found a solution somewhere. Fixed it up for any project to use using composer. I assume you are using tools listed below and know how to use command line.

Brits Beat Yanks In Google Android Space Race | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

Last year, NASA's Ames Research Center announced plans to launch an Google-Android-powered nano-satellite into space. A test unit has already been sent into suborbit, and a space launch is set for April 4. But a team of British researchers has quietly beat Ames to the punch.

DailyJS: Validatr, pointeraccuracy.js, Testacular Updates

Validatr (GitHub: jaymorrow / validatr, License: MIT, jquery: validatr) by Jay Morrow is a cross-browser HTML5 form validation library. That means it provides validators for the new native widgets, like color and date. The Validatr fields documentation lists all of the supported inputs and also features demos.

2013 Chevrolet Volt review: Great daily commuter car, but sticker price remains too high | ExtremeTech

Fame is fleeting. The Chevrolet Volt that stopped people in their tracks in late 2010 now elicits fewer sideways glances. This despite a constant stream of improvements, some cool smartphone apps, and a bit more range for the 2013 model. It's also not the only plug-in on the block any more.

NASA - NASA TV Briefing Discusses Curiosity Rover Analysis of Mars Rock

NASA will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, March 12, to discuss the Curiosity rover's analysis of the first sample of rock powder ever collected on Mars.

NASA - NASA Mission Helps Craft 3-D Image Of Buried Mars Flood Channels

NASA Mission Helps Craft 3-D Image Of Buried Mars Flood Channels WASHINGTON -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has provided images allowing scientists for the first time to create a 3-D reconstruction of ancient water channels below the Martian surface.

Opera News - Browsing Survey Results

A few weeks ago, we invited you to participate in our first-ever browsing survey. Lots of you responded at that time, and the answers keep coming in.

Your BlackBerry 10 app Menu just got serious! (with Sheet, NavigationPane & Tabs)

Guest post from Shadab R. - Ed. Many applications require the Menu UI component. This is the global menu within the app which is visible when the user swipes down on the top edge of the screen. It is the place to keep global ActionItem objects like Info, Settings or Help.

Amazon DynamoDB Reduces Prices

Amazon DynamoDB Reduces Prices We are excited to announce a reduction in Amazon DynamoDB pricing in all AWS regions. The price of indexed data storage has decreased by up to 75%. The price of provisioned throughput capacity has decreased by up to 35%. We have also introduced a new Reserved Capacity offering.

Riding Rails: [ANN] Rails 3.2.13.rc2 has been released!

I'd like to announce that Rails 3.2.13.rc2 has been released.

Get to Know the New Design for News Feed

Get to Know the New Design for News Feed

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

The PHP development team announces the release of PHP 5.5.0alpha5. This release fixe some bugs from alpha4 and add some new features. All users of PHP are encouraged to test this version carefully, and report any bugs in the bug tracking system. THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT PREVIEW - DO NOT USE IT IN PRODUCTION!

Fancy Input, Better Collaboration in 3 Steps and more · YDN Blog

Every Thursday is Tech Thursday where we share a random assortment of technical links we found and liked. You can propose links to us on Twitter (@YDN) or try bookmarking them on delicious with the tag "forydntt".

New flex-grid system prevents optical network 'traffic jams'

Services like Google Maps use algorithms to determine the fastest route from point A to point B -- even factoring in real-time traffic information as you travel to redirect you if, for example, a parade is blocking part of your route.

Spot the difference -- oranges and lemons

A computer recognition system that is 99-percent accurate can identify different fruits and vegetables, even the particular strain of apples or plums, for instance. New research explains how challenging this issue has been until now and shows how it could be used in agricultural science and perhaps to improve efficiency in the growing and food industries as well as at the supermarket.

Will it ever be possible to compute the human brain? | ExtremeTech

In the video below, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria is seen to make a spectacular grab to save a reporter from certain death - or at least serious injury. Granted, Evan may have had a little help from video editing, but at the professional level at least, comparable performances no doubt occur every time an umpire gives the command to play ball.

The BlackBerry House and Blog Bounty

It's March. The smell of Korean tacos and PBR is in the air and that can only mean one thing - it's time for SXSW 2013. BlackBerry is excited to be back in Austin and you're invited to stop by The BlackBerry House and see how BlackBerry 10 can keep you moving.

High Scalability - High Scalability - It's a VM Wasteland - A Near Optimal Packing of VMs to Machines Reduces TCO by 22%

Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 9:31AM In Algorithm Design for Performance Aware VM Consolidation we learn some shocking facts (gambling in Casablanca?): Average server utilization in many data centers is low, estimated between 5% and 15%. This is wasteful because an idle server often consumes more than 50% of peak power.

First production hydrogen fuel cell cars hit the market, from Hyundai | ExtremeTech

Mass-produced, hydrogen-powered cars were once called the wave of the distant future. Hyundai just advanced the timetable as the first production Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell crossovers rolled off the production line in Ulsan, Korea, earlier this year. It's based on the small crossover called the Hyundai Tucson in the US.

Fuel of the future: How fiery ice could power Asia - environment - 07 March 2013 - New Scientist

A special selection of content every week, giving you access to the latest news in science

CodePlex - Open Source Project Hosting

Microsoft's open source project hosting web site. You can use CodePlex to find open source software or create new projects to share with the world.

robots.net - Android-Based Satellite Sports Nexus 1 Phone

Posted 7 Mar 2013 at 19:06 UTC by steve First the Japanese send a humanoid robot into space and now Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. have announced the successful launch of the STRaND-1 nanosatellite, a small robotic spacecraft that's based on a Nexus One phone running the Linux-based Google Android operating system.

Google Glass app identifies you by your fashion sense - tech - 07 March 2013 - New Scientist

CAN'T find a face in the crowd? Not to worry, a human recognition system can spot people for you - even when their faces aren't visible. Designed for Google's forthcoming Glass headset, it recognises people by the clothes they are wearing. Their name is then overlaid on the headset's video.

Digital Thieves Pull Off $12,000 Bitcoin Heist | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

A Bitcoin transaction services company says that hackers broke into one of its brokerage accounts last week, nabbing more than $12,000 worth of the digital currency. That attack knocked Bitinstant offline over the weekend. The company says that while it lost Bitcoins, no customers were affected by the hack.

Stomach-twisting fuel storage for gas-powered cars - tech - 07 March 2013 - New Scientist

A FUEL tank inspired by the serpentine tubes of the human gut could make cars running on natural gas more attractive to motorists. Emissions from engines fuelled by compressed natural gas are 10 per cent lower than those from a petrol engine.

Thames Valley Perl Mongers are Meeting! | Oliver Gorwits [blogs.perl.org]

A couple of weeks ago I asked for a show of hands to gather interest in restarting the Thames Valley Perl Mongers. The positive response we received is an encouraging sign that TVPMs are still out there (at least 30 of you) and interested in meeting up!

Orchard

When working in a team you naturally need source control but it's strongly advised even if you develop individually. So how to do this when working with Orchard? There are a few good options.

Google and MPEG LA Agree, Free VP8 ✩ Mozilla Hacks - the Web developer blog

Today Google and the MPEG LA jointly announced a licensing agreement with 11 companies to protect all users of the VP8 video codec. With the agreement in place, developers can make great sites with WebM without fear of legal retribution. As a quick refresher, MPEG LA licenses the patents needed for many common, proprietary video codecs, like H.264.

Save 15% on SpringSource Tool Suite Training | SpringSource.org

Discount Terms and Conditions: The 15% discount applies to the original list price of SpringSource Training Courses. The 15% discount can also be used to register for a Spring class provided by one of our official Spring VATC Partners in EMEA.

Tech Time Warp of the Week: Bell Labs Computer Center, 1973 | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

That iPhone in your hand? You can trace its roots all the way back to the late '60s, when two researchers at the famed Bell Labs built a computer operating system they called UNIX.

Ubuntu Mir: Is This the Future of Linux Everywhere? | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

Ubuntu -- possibly the most popular distribution of the open-source Linux operating system -- is striking out on its own. Canonical, the commercial company that oversees Ubuntu, has made a habit of building new Linux components from scratch, moving away from tools built and used by the larger open source community.

Sphinx @ Percona Live: MySQL User Conference " full-text diary | Sphinx | Open Source Search Server

It's that time of year again. The annual migration of MySQL users will soon begin! In a little more than one month's time, much of the MySQL ecosystem will be gathered at Percona Live: MySQL User Conference and, as usual, you can expect an appearance from the Sphinx Team.

Phys.Org Mobile: 'Cheetah' robot rivals running animals in efficiency (w/ video)

08:00, Electronics/Robotics Assistant Professor Sangbae Kim works on the 70-pound 'cheetah' robot designed at MIT. Credit: M. Scott BauerA 70-pound "cheetah" robot designed by MIT researchers may soon outpace its animal counterparts in running efficiency: In treadmill tests, the researchers have found that the robot-about the size and weight of an actual cheetah-wastes very little energy as it trots continuously for up to an hour and a half at 5 mph.

Call for Venue for YAPC::Europe::2014 | tobez [blogs.perl.org]

Although YAPC::Europe::2013 preparations are well underway in Kiev, it is time for the venue committee of the YAPC::Europe Foundation (YEF) to think about the location of the 2014 conference. YAPC::Europe wouldn't exist without dedicated teams of volunteers, and we are always excited to see the enthusiasm and learn about the new ideas the community has to offer.