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Desktops (Apple)

Tim Cooks Wins Where Steve Jobs Failed: Java->

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GMGruman
GMGruman writes "As Woody Leonhard writes, the recent Flashback Trojan that infected nearly 700,000 Macs exposed a big rift between Apple and Oracle on who should take responsibility for keeping Java securely patched. Leonhard traces the history of Java's stewardship on the Mac and other platforms, and shows how by refusing to take on active responsibility for Java patches, new Apple CEO Tim Cook finally got what former CEO Steve Jobs long wanted: The ownership to go back to Oracle, just as Adobe takes responsibility for Flash and AIR vulnerabilities and Microsoft does for Office flaws."
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Open Source

Is GPL Licensing in Decline?->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "Simon Phipps writes, "As Apache licenses proliferate, two warring camps have formed over whether the GPL is or isn't falling out of favor in favor of the Apache License." But as he explores the issues on both sides, he shows how the binary thinking on the issue is misplaced, and that the truth is more nuanced, with Apache License gaining in commercially focused efforts but GPL appearing to increase in software-freedom-oriented efforts. In other words, it depends on the style of open source."
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Social Networks

Consumerization's millennial myth->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "A conventional wisdoms emerging is that the notion of consumerization — users taking charge of the technology at work — is driven by the millennial generation's unique characteristics. Companies are advised to define their technology strategy especially for the millennials. This blog argues that's a misreading of reality. The consumerization trend and the brng-your-own-device (BYOD) aspect that now gets so much attention are in fact phenomena instigated by the Baby Boomers, picked up by Gen-X, and natural to the millennials. All these generations are comfortable with technology and dissatisfied with being treated as untrustworthy, the blog argues, so making consumerization about the millennials misses the real point."
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IOS

The Hysteria over 'Overheating' iPads->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "For several days, reports have been running rampant about allegedly overheating third-gen iPads, released this past Friday. In typical fashion for all things Apple, passions run high, with people claiming several sorts of fears over the hotter iPads. Consumer Reports has thrown gas onto the fire with a report confirming the new iPad can run as much as 13 degrees hotter when used for intensive gaming for 45 minutes or more. Already, the conventional wisdom is that the new iPads are overheating. I even was asked about that claim by a local radio station today. Let's be very clear: The new iPads are not overheating, though they seem to run hotter when used for processor-intensive tasks, such as intense gaming, for an extended period — just like a laptop or desktop computer does. So why all the hysteria?"
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Patents

Mobile Patent Wars Explained (and Why Apple Should Win)->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "For more than a year, Apple, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Microsoft, and others have been engaged in hand-to-hand legal combat over patents used in mobile devices. At first, this seemed like standard corporate warfare, using patents as the equivalent of roadside bombs. But a series of court rulings over many months in several countries shows the war is about something much deeper: the abuse by (mainly) Android device makers of the patents used in standards, which are supposed to be open to all under fair licenses (called FRAND). Except this compromise between patent rights and open standards has been anything but honest, and the courts and even the E.U. and U.S. are beginning to take action. Ironically, although typically painted as the bad gut in the mobile patents fights, in the FRAND fight, it looks like Apple is the victim — one that hasn't been afraid to fight back."
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HP

Consumerization's 4 Threats to Dell, HP->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "If you thought that the "consumerization of IT" phenomenon would be good for the two top PC makers (HP and Dell), you're be wrong, this blog argues. It cites four reasons that these two companies will fare poorly as users drive tech choices. One is the fact that both have been shifting their business focus to business IT customers, who are losing influence over the devices users choose. Another factor will be Windows 8, which IT will hate and resist implementing — yet both companies are all-in on Windows 8 as a way to rekindle their PC sales to businesses,"
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Microsoft

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: 'Windows Frankenstein'->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "InfoWorld blogger J. Peter Bruzzese, a steadfast Microsoft loyalist and Microsoft-certified expert Windows admin, finds himself horrified by Windows 8, which he says is a monstrous, unnatural mix à la Frankenstein. He writes, "I was already familiar with the Windows 8 Developer Preview, but the changes Microsoft described in the Consumer Preview sounded truly exciting. I must have been among the first to download and install the new OS. To say that the experience was disheartening is an understatement." In his blog, Bruzzese describes an OS that is actively hard to use and suggests that Microsoft kill the dual Metro/legacy Win7 approach and release the new Metro portion only on tablets (without the Win7 portion), leaving PCs and laptops on Windows 7."
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Microsoft

Visual Studio 11 UI Sharper Than You Think->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "There's been a growing outcry among Microsoft developers over the user interface changes in the forthcoming Visual Studio 11 development environment, which has debuted in beta form. In his blog, Neil McAllister acknowledges the decidedly unpretty interface could turn off traditional developers — and why Microsoft is just fine with that: It's targeting a new type of developer."
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Android

Angry Birds: IT's Top BYOD Target->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "Who knew those pig-bombing cartoon birds were such a corporate threat? As InfoWorld reports today, Angry Birds, Facebook, and other entertainment apps are the most-blocked apps by IT using mobile management tools on iOS and Android devices, according to Zenprise's analysis of what its customers actually do. Yet only 29 percent of devices are required to have a passcode to protect all the corporate information on them. It makes you wonder what all the alleged mobile security fuss is really about."
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Idle

Practical jokes to play on pushy vendors->

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes "An anonynous correspondent shares the techniques he's used to do "vendor-dodging," that is, to get rid of the army of salespeople trying the latest tech product or service to the IT pro who just needs to get his or her work done. Effective techniques include mentioning a pending reorganization by corporate HQ in Ukraine and subjecting serial callers to an array of, shall we say, dissuasive responses on the phone."
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Programming

Stroustrup Reveals What's New in C++ 11->

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes "Bjarne Stroustrup discusses the latest version of C++, which, although not a major overhaul, offers many small upgrades to appeal to different areas of development. From the interview: 'I like the way move semantics will simplify the way we return large data structures from functions and improve the performance of standard-library types, such as string and vector. People in high-performance areas will appreciate the massive increase in the power of constant expressions (constexpr). Users of the standard library (and some GUI libraries) will probably find lambda expressions the most prominent feature. Everybody will use smaller new features, such as auto (deduce a variables type from its initializer) and the range-for loop, to simplify code.'"
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Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll invite himself over for dinner. -- Calvin Keegan