Gartner believes that software and hardware companies do better in 2013 than last year. I hope so this happens, it would be good for the industry. Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending Forecast to Reach $3.7 Trillion in 2013. That would be 4.2 percent increase from 2012 spending. At the moment uncertainties surrounding prospects for an upturn in global economic growth are the major retardants to IT growth. According to the IT market research form Forrester IT market will grow globally by 3.3 per cent this year in U.S. dollar terms. Europe continues to decline (except Nordic countries, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), and growth is slower in Japan and India.
Worldwide IT spending increases were pretty anemic as IT and telecom services spending were seriously curtailed last year. Gartner believes that this uncertainty is nearing resolution and thus Earth’s anemic IT budgets to bounce back in 2013. Wall Street Beat: 2013 IT Spending Forecasts Look Upbeat article mentions that fiscal cliff deal will help unlock spending on mobility, analytics, collaboration and security technology.
According to the EPA, the average office worker uses about 10,000 sheets of paper each year. There is again a Campaign To Remove Paper From Offices. A campaign started by HelloFax, Google, Expensify, and others has challenged businesses to get rid of physical paper from their office environment in 2013. The Paperless 2013 project wants to move all documents online. The digital tools that are available today. The paperless office technology is here – we just need to use it more than our printers.
Intel x86 and ARM duopoly will continue to dominate this year. Both of the processor will sell well on their own main application fields, and they try to push to each others territories. This means that ARM tries to push to servers and x86 is trying to push more heavily to mobile devices.
Software manufacturers aim to hardware business: Microsoft, Valve, Google etc..
Still IT buyers expect too much from software they buy. This has happened earlier for long time and I expect that to continue. IT systems are easier to develop than user brains, but still system that are hard to learn are pushed to users.
IT service companies sill “sell air”. It is a good business to sell promises first and then when you get money try to do make the promised product with it. And are you sure that the backups your service provider makes can really be restored?
This year will not be a year for Linux on desktop. The fact that currently Amazon’s top selling laptop runs on Linux does not change that. Linux is more heading to smart phones and tablets that to win normal desktop.
Gaming on Linux gets boost. Valve released Steam gaming system for LinuxUbuntu users have run to use Steam game service (at the moment 0.8% of Steam users use Ubuntu, the service was started to as beta on December 2012). Valve will release this year it’s own Linux based Steam Box gaming console. Exclusive interview: Valve’s Gabe Newell on Steam Box, biometrics, and the future of gaming.
Windows 8 slow start continues. Windows 8 sales are well below projections. Computer sales dropped after release of Windows 8. U.S. consumers hesitant to make switch to Windows 8. Uncertainty could turn Windows 8 into the next Vista. Independent report says that Windows 8 Even Less Popular Than Vista and Microsoft voice says that its new OS are chugging along quite nicely, thank you very much, in much the same fashion as Windows 7 before it. Who to believe? Let’s wait and see what happens. I expect that some users will get Significant booting challenges on EFI systems when upgrading to Windows 8.
Interest in Java will decrease compared to other languages for various reasons, recent security issues playing part on that. C Beats Java As Number One Language According To TIOBE Index. It happened already.
Software optimization becomes again talked about when CPU usage on cloud system is easily measured and costs money. Cost-Aware Architectures will be talked bout. Keeping control over cost, architecturally, is just plain hard. Usually engineers we are remarkably badly trained in thinking about cost, but corporate bean counters can now start to ask how we save cost in running the software in cloud. Pinterest Cut Costs from $54 to $20 Per Hour by Automatically Shutting Down Systems.
The world of smart connected devices (desktops, notebook, tabs and smartphones) is becoming bigger and bigger on the expense of traditional PC manufacturers. At the end of 2012 HP is still top of PC league, but trailing fourth in all-devices rankings. Samsung leads the pack in terms of device shipments and Apple is next. Lenovo is the third biggest shifter of devices on the planet. The bets for increased sales are being placed behind smartphones and tablets.
It’s deja vu all over again. You see the phrase “any time, any place, anywhere” in relation to mobile access. Mobile devices bring back that old client-server feeling. The realization dawned that client-server brought with it as many problems as it solved. Following a period of re-centralisation using Web-based architectures, it looks as if we are beginning to come full circle. When the next generation is getting all excited about using mobile apps as front-ends for accessing services across the network, we can’t help noticing parallels with the past. Are HTML5 and cross-platform development and execution environments are now with us to save us? In the real world, the fast and reliable connectivity upon which this model depends just isn’t there in most countries at the moment.
End of netbooks as we know it. Netbook sales go to zero. All major manufacturers in this category has ended making netbooks. They have been replaced with booming tablet sales.
Tablet PC shipments are expected to reach more than 240 million units worldwide in 2013, easily exceeding the 207 million notebook PCs that are projected to ship, according to NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report. The market that has been dominated by one major player, Apple, but Android tablets are quickly getting more market share.
Thin client devices seem to be popping up here and there. Dell introduces HDMI stick that turns any screen into a thin client PC. And so will several other small stick computers coming. Raspberry Pi pocket computer is selling like hot pies (nears one million milestone).
Directly soldered to board CPUs are already norm on smart phone, tablets and some laptops. There will be more and more questions when manufacturers start to drop CPU sockets on the computers. Rumors about Intel Corp.’s plan to abandon microprocessor sockets in the future has been flowing and official response has been:
Intel to Support CPU Sockets for Foreseeable Future. AMD Vows Not to Drop Microprocessor Sockets in Next Two Years. Question is still when transition to BGA starts to happen on desktop PCs.
USB speed will increase again this year. So there is again a new USB version. The future of USB 3.0 coming mid-year with data speeds doubling to 10Gbps. USB 3.0 speed to DOUBLE in 2013 article tells that USB 3.0 – aka SuperSpeed USB – is set to become 10 gigabits per second super-speedy, with a new specification scheduled for a mid-2013 release. The aim is to brings USB closer to the class-leading Thunderbolt standard. It is expected that the new specification ends to consumer hardware a year later.
Higher resolutions will become commonplace. Earlier full HD was a target. Now high end devices are aiming to “retina” and 4K resolutions. Panasonic shows off 20-inch Windows 8 tablet with insane 4K resolution Qualcomm outs Snapdragon 800 and 600: up to 2.3GHz quad-core, 4K video, due by mid 2013.
Solid state storage becomes cheaper and cheaper. You can get ssd-storage at as low as less than one dollar per gigabyte. Moore’s Law may not be running out of steam in memory as we have an insatiable appetite for memory these days. Nowadays our tastes are changing from DRAM to nonvolatile flash memory used in SSD device. For example Kingston just unveiled the world’s first 1TB USB stick and SSD drives are also getting bigger every day. We are already encountering floating-gate scaling problems for NAND flash and answer to the scaling problem appears to be growing devices “up”.
2013 in storage is dominated by flash and file systems. We will finally see some all-flash arrays starting to ship from the big boys – and this will bring credibility to some of the smaller players. Management tools are going to be big again. Expect a lot of pain as infrastructure teams try to make things just work.
1,455 Comments
Tomi says:
No business cares about which database performs how well per unit of clock cycle. They care about how well does it perform per dollar. The fact that you are paying about 3-10x the hardware price in licensing costs means that you can come in and throw a lot more hardware at a problem and solve it for less money simply because the database technology is ‘free’. This is the dominant reason people go with FOSS. Not because it’s better but because it’s good-enough and they can spend a few extra integrating it and having consultants for support and not be strapped over a barrel when Balmer or Ellison decide they need to buy another sports team or yacht respectively.
Source: http://ask.slashdot.org/story/13/07/13/1559225/ask-slashdot-learning-db-the-right-way-books-tutorials-or-what
Tomi says:
Say What? Wading Through the Nonsense In Microsoft’s Re-Org Memo
http://slashdot.org/story/13/07/13/1644205/say-what-wading-through-the-nonsense-in-microsofts-re-org-memo
Ballmer’s big, gung-ho memo to Microsofties, posted on the company’s website, is chock full of nonsense and corporate executive doublespeak
Tomi says:
Casting a Jaundiced Eye On AnTuTu Benchmark Claims Favoring Intel
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/07/13/1729223/casting-a-jaundiced-eye-on-antutu-benchmark-claims-favoring-intel
“Recently, industry analysts came forward with the dubious claim that Intel’s Clover Trail+ low power processor for mobile devices had somehow seized a massive lead over ARM’s products, though there were suspicious discrepancies in the popular AnTuTu benchmark that was utilized to showcase performance. It turns out that the situation is far shadier than initially thought.”
“The version used in testing with the benchmark isn’t just tilted to favor Intel — it seems to flat-out cheat to accomplish it.”
“The new 3.3 version of AnTuTu was compiled using Intel’s C++ Compiler, while GCC was used for the ARM variants.”
“But compiler optimizations are just the beginning.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s Thunderbolt remains high-end rarity as Acer drops out
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57593706-76/intels-thunderbolt-remains-high-end-rarity-as-acer-drops-out/
Windows computer maker Acer decides USB 3.0 is a better deal than Intel’s high-speed communications technology. And despite notable newer fans, including Dell, HP, and Asus, Thunderbolt remains scarce.
Tomi says:
Windows NT Turns 20
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07/26/2326258/windows-nt-turns-20
An anonymous reader writes with a link to the observation from ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley of Windows NT’s 20th birthday (it came out on July 27th, 1993):
Tomi says:
Android stick mutates into a home server
http://hackaday.com/2013/07/25/android-stick-mutates-into-a-home-server/
Kiss that energy hungry PC you’ve been using as a home server goodbye. [Vince Loschiavo] shows us how he squeezed a remarkable amount of functionality out of an inexpensive Android stick which manages his home’s digital empire.
He started off just wanting some network attached storage. For this he grabbed an MK802 Android Stick which you can get for a song if you find the right deal. To bend it to his will he said goodbye to the Android OS, installing Ubuntu for ARM instead.
Tomi says:
Sony and Panasonic team up to create 300GB discs of the future
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/29/4567068/sony-panasonic-optical-disc-storage-future
Believing there is a future for optical discs, Sony and Panasonic have said they will jointly develop a new next-generation standard capable of storing a minimum of 300GB on a single piece of media. While both companies have released their own high-capacity optical solutions in the past, they will now work together to develop a new format that will target professionals, but may also come in handy for regular consumers as well.
Professional industries use high-capacity discs to store things like high-definition film and move large amounts of data.
Tomi says:
Strategy Analytics: Android tablet shipments up to 67% in Q2 2013, iOS fell to 28.3%, and Windows secured 4.5%
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/07/29/strategy-analytics-androids-tablet-shipments-up-to-67-in-q2-2013-ios-fell-to-28-3-and-windows-secured-4-5/
Global tablet shipments in Q2 2013 reached 51.7 million units, up 43 percent from 36.1 million in Q2 2012. Breaking those numbers down, Android secured a whopping 67 percent global share, Apple’s iOS grabbed 28.3 percent, and Windows secured 4.5 percent.
Tomi says:
Software-Defined Data Centers Might Cost Companies More Than They Save
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/07/29/0247253/software-defined-data-centers-might-cost-companies-more-than-they-save
“As more and more companies move to virtualized, or software-defined, data centers, cost savings might not be one of the benefits. Sure, utilization rates might go up as resources are pooled, but if the end result is that IT resources become easier for end users to access and provision, they might end up using more resources, not less.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kindergarten coders can program before they can read
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929275.800-kindergarten-coders-can-program-before-they-can-read.html?full=true&print=true#.UfdR-qz_RtF
Going back to school to meet the 4-year-olds who are learning to program computers thanks to a new graphics-based coding language
Lorna and her classmates, who range in age from 4 to 7, are taking part in a pilot study here at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, to see how young children respond to ScratchJr, a spin-off of the Scratch programming language. Scratch was invented to teach students as young as 8 how to program using graphical blocks instead of text. Now even children who haven’t yet learned to read or write are getting in on the act.
Unlike typical programming languages, which require users to type in complicated text commands, Scratch uses coloured blocks that are strung together to create lines of code. ScratchJr is similar, only the commands are even simpler. After assembling a rudimentary program, the child clicks a green flag at the beginning of the list of commands to run it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ScratchJr Research Project!
http://ase.tufts.edu/DevTech/ScratchJr/ScratchJrHome.asp
The ScratchJr project aims to develop and study the next generation of innovative technologies and curricular materials to support integrated STEM learning in early childhood education. We will develop, implement, and evaluate a new version of the Scratch programming language, ScratchJr, designed specifically for early childhood education (K-2).
Tomi Engdahl says:
19 percent of the web runs on WordPress
http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/27/19-percent-of-the-web-runs-on-wordpress/
At the annual San Francisco WordCamp, WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg told the audience a fascinating stat about the service.
“We’re now up to 18.9 percent of the web running WordPress. … We’re going to see the number of people who have WordPress as part of their daily habits grow exponentially.”
Around 66 percent of those sites and blogs are in English. Monthly pageviews for all WordPress sites and blogs rose to a massive 4 billion in 2013.
Mullenweg also said around 30 percent of respondents in a recent survey from WP Engine were aware of WordPress as an entity or brand.
A lot of WordPress’ growth is centered around its mobile apps. Automattic rolled out a total of 15 mobile app updates for WordPress in the past 12 months. According to a company-conducted survey, around 18 percent of WordPress users access the service from an Android tablet; 31 percent come to the service from an iOS device; and 30 percent find their way to WordPress on Android smartphones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ballmer admits Microsoft built too many Surface RTs, disappointed with Windows sales
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/26/4559074/steve-ballmer-microsoft-townhall-surface-sales-windows-devices
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has admitted that the company built too many Surface tablets, and it’s not selling as many Windows devices as it wants. During an internal town hall event earlier this week, Ballmer and COO Kevin Turner both addressed the recent $900 million hit for Surface RT and the sales pace of Windows across various devices.
Ballmer also briefly discussed the performance of Windows. “We’re not selling as many Windows devices as we want to,” he said, referring to phones, tablets, and PCs
Tomi Engdahl says:
When Lousy Code Strikes, Google Dispatches Its Elite ‘Gopher Team’
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/07/gopher/
The problem was the software underpinning the file server system was more than five years old. It had simply languished.
“If code doesn’t receive constant love it turns to shit,” Fitzpatrick said.
The original C++ code wasn’t well documented, its automated tests weren’t up to snuff and no one really knew how it was supposed to work. People kept making incremental changes, resulting in a patchwork programmers refer to as “spaghetti code.” The unreliability was driving the server operations team crazy, but no one had time to rewrite something that technically worked. So Fitzpatrick volunteered to do it. That’s the kind of thing he does at Google, where he’s part of an team of about 25 engineers creating a custom programming language called Go.
“It took them a while to realize I wasn’t being flippant,” he said.
Fitzpatrick was only too happy to spend time re-writing something that technically worked — for another team, no less — because he needs guinea pigs. Fixing that bit of a code was a great opportunity to use Go and test it in a real-world system.
The new dl.google.com software contains fewer lines of code, uses less memory and, most importantly, is more reliable, he says.
“Our primary job with Go is make Google more efficient,” he says.
The language still isn’t widely used outside of Google, but it’s notched a few converts.
Couchbase, an open source database that powers applications for companies like Zynga and NTT DoCoMo, is written partially in Go. Its developers have also written parts of the system in Erlang, C and C++.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony and Panasonic team up to create 300GB discs of the future
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/29/4567068/sony-panasonic-optical-disc-storage-future
Believing there is a future for optical discs, Sony and Panasonic have said they will jointly develop a new next-generation standard capable of storing a minimum of 300GB on a single piece of media.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why your next laptop could use Gorilla Glass just like your smartphone does
http://gigaom.com/2013/07/29/why-your-next-laptop-could-use-gorilla-glass-just-like-your-smartphone-does/
Corning made a big splash in mobile devices with its strong, scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass for smartphones and tablets. Now, the company is positioning itself to repeat its success on touchscreen laptops with its new Gorilla Glass NBT panels.
Corning is pitching the new glass as cost-effective, suggesting it would only account for one to two percent of a laptop’s price tag.
Margins on those devices are pretty slim already but I suspect laptop makers will still adopt the new glass. The Gorilla Glass product is becoming well-known and desirable on smartphones and tablets; it could be differentiating factor when choosing two similar notebooks in the future.
Tomi says:
Why no one is looking for ‘rockstar programmers’
http://blog.netguru.co/post/56860239654/no-one-is-looking-for-rockstar-programmers
Tomi says:
Why no one is looking for ‘rockstar programmers’ (netguru.co) discussion
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6126400
Tomi says:
Microsoft Surface revenue so far: $853 million
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/microsoft-surface-revenue-853-million/
Microsoft just filed its annual Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and deep in the filing is the first public disclosure of the company’s revenue from its Surface tablet lineup: $853 million.
That covers the period from the fall launch of the Surface to the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year on June 30. The company doesn’t disclose the number of units sold, and the range of products from the Surface RT to the Surface Pro makes it difficult to derive an average selling price.
To put the Surface revenue in perspective, the $853 million amounts to roughly 4.4 percent of the total Windows Division revenue of $19.2 billion for the fiscal year. It’s also less than the $900 million charge that Microsoft took against earnings two weeks ago to reflect a $150 price drop in the Surface RT, attempting to clear inventory due to slow sales.
Tomi says:
Dropbox Wants To Replace Your Hard Disk
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/07/10/2210208/dropbox-wants-to-replace-your-hard-disk?sdsrc=popbyskid
“Dropbox has kicked off its first developer conference with the stated goal of replacing the hard disk. ‘We are replacing the hard drive,’ said Dropbox CEO Drew Houston.
“The company’s new APIs will also make it easier for app developers to include plugins that save to Dropbox, or choose files stored in the service for use within apps.”
Tomi says:
Microsoft Is Sitting On Six Million Unsold Surface Tablets
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/07/19/0122223/microsoft-is-sitting-on-six-million-unsold-surface-tablets?sdsrc=popbyskid
“Thursday revealed it has taken a $900 million write down on the Surface RT tablets, leading David Gilbert in IBTimes to estimate it is sitting on a stockpile of six million unsold tablets.”
Tomi says:
USB accelerates to 10 Gbps
Version 3.1 signed off, Intel doesn’t see it as unwelcome thunderbolt
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/01/usb_accelerates_to_10_gbps/
Universal Serial Bus, the connectivity standard so ubiquitous the world has long stopped caring about the derivation of the USB acronym, has just been upgraded to 10 Gbps.
The upgrade comes in the form of a .1 release, USB 3.1, that is backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and 2.0 kit. The new speed will only be achievable with kit using USB 3.1, but such products will work just fine in older USB ports.
The move to USB 3.1 was foreshadowed back in January 2013, so is no surprise, not even to Intel, whose Architecture Group veep Alex Peleg says in the canned statement (PDF) noting the new spec that “The industry has affirmed the strong demand for higher through-put, for user-connected peripherals and docks” and “Intel is fully committed to deliver on this request.”
Thunderbolt’s still faster than USB 3.1 – the second version of Intel’s baby hums along at 20 Gbps – and it has daisy chaining tricks that USB doesn’t match.
Tomi says:
Why talent for tech is different than skill
http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-center/why-talent-tech-different-skill-223484
Taming technology is sometimes more art than science, but the difference can sometimes be hard to discern
Tomi says:
The coming push for open source everything
http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-center/the-coming-push-open-source-everything-223011
When we can no longer trust proprietary hardware or software, open source becomes the only option
Tomi says:
Love and hate for Java 8
http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/love-and-hate-java-8-223200
Java 8 brings exciting developments, but as with any new technology, you can count on the good, the bad, and the headaches
Java 8 may be the most anticipated version of Java ever. Originally slated for release in September, Java 8 has been delayed until March of next year, supposedly to buy time to make security fixes aimed mainly at client-side Java (JavaFX/Swing).
Since I, like most of you, stopped caring about client-side Java shortly after Duke finally finished jumping rope, we won’t address any of that.
Java 8 is trying to “innovate,” according to the Microsoft meaning of the word. This means stealing a lot of things that have typically been handled by other frameworks and languages, then incorporating them into the language or runtime (aka standardization).
Ahead of the next release, the Java community is talking about Project Lambda, streams, functional interfaces, and all sorts of other goodies.
Tomi says:
12 free Microsoft Exchange tools every IT admin will love
http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/111754/12-free-microsoft-exchange-tools-every-it-admin-will-love-223321
Configuring, deploying, and maintaining Exchange just got a little easier thanks to these 12 essential free tools
Tomi says:
The coming push for open source everything
http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-center/the-coming-push-open-source-everything-223011
When we can no longer trust proprietary hardware or software, open source becomes the only option
With the news about PRISM and other clandestine data-vacuuming operations in place all over the world, it’s clear there’s a problem. It’s not just about hoovering up information from millions of people — it’s the vast number of devices that can no longer be trusted for use in business and government. When the code running anywhere along a data path is not open source, there’s a chance it’s doing something you can’t know about and potentially transmitting data to someone who shouldn’t have it. That possibility should serve to upset even nontechnical executives, to say nothing about governments all over the world.
Open source closes the backdoors
With open source, the veil is already lifted, and an army of developers inspects the code all the time. The potential for hidden backdoors is dramatically reduced. But that doesn’t really matter if you go deep enough.
Sure, you can install pfSense on a server and know it’s not backdoored, but what about the hardware within the server itself? What about the TCP offloading code in the NICs? Or the BIOS? It could contain a nefarious element that you simply can’t trust — unless, of course, all that code were open source as well.
Options for open source
At some point in the near future, concerns over this type of corporate and governmental espionage may force larger organizations to make hard decisions. There would seem to be three options.
Companies could increase their IT budgets dramatically to counter this threat by validating every since piece of commercial code in use anywhere on the network.
They could start building their own hardware and writing their own software, from desktop OS through to the ICs in their routers.
They could turn to open source solutions the whole way around.
The first two options are not possible for the vast majority of organizations, but the last one certainly is. If significant dollars start flowing in that direction, there will be a bumper crop of companies that will mold and develop open source solutions and sell the hardware and support for them, while giving away the code for free.
Tomi says:
“SkyDrive” in violation of the trade mark – Microsoft will have to change the service name
Microsoft has to move SkyDrive storage service name, trade mark, losing Following the controversial British Sky Broadcasting.
Name of the dispute Microsoft had been another setback in trade mark matters in a couple of years. Previously, the company lost the right to appoint a Windows 8 user interface Metroksi, when the German retail chain Metro AG disputed it.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/quotskydrivequot+rikkoo+tavaramerkkia++microsoft+joutuu+muuttamaan+palvelunsa+nimen/a918109
Tomi says:
NoFlo Development Environment
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/noflo/noflo-development-environment
Software begins as boxes & arrows on a whiteboard, let’s keep it that way! Imagine, a platform that eliminates spaghetti code…
Currently, NoFlo is a Flow-Based Programming Environment used by programmers to create JavaScript applications for the browser and Node.js. With your support, we will complete the NoFlo Environment so doers can visually craft apps in the cloud. And, if we hit our stretch goals, we will support native Android and iOS app development!
Tomi says:
Windows 8.1: The Business Edition is promised ten-year life cycle
Microsoft released the upcoming Windows 8.1 updates in the Enterprise version of the preview on Tuesday.
The company promised to support future versions of the company in operation until 2023. Windows 8 users of Microsoft promises two years to update the system to version 8.1, before the casino support ceases.
Enterprise Edition upgrade will be a new option to lock the device to use a specific program, which is beneficial to the client terminal operation. Actually in use of the information contained in the machine can also be wiped remotely if the machine falls into the wrong hands.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/windows+81n+yritysversiolle+luvataan+kymmenen+vuoden+elinkaari/a918368
Tomi says:
Why does Yahoo! buy failed startups? It’s the only way it can get good developers
The acqui-hire isn’t bad business
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/2/4583284/marissa-mayer-buys-failed-startups-yahoo
Mayer had taken a lot of flack in the press for purchasing startups with little traction, many of whom did not even build or invent the technology for which they were praised in the acquisition announcements. But Mayer isn’t buying these companies for what they built; she’s buying the engineers who built them.
As Bloomberg Businessweek noted in its recent profile of Mayer, every time she’s bought a startup, “Yahoo has locked up engineers with two- to four-year contracts and set them loose to build apps and hire more mobile developers, according to two people familiar with Yahoo’s deals who weren’t authorized to speak for the company.”
Wouldn’t it just be cheaper and easier to hire programmers on the open market or right out of college? Actually, no. The competition for developer talent in Silicon Valley today is insane.
Things are especially hard on the hiring front for a company like Yahoo, which still has a reputation as a dot-com dinosaur that has been bested by a new breed of tech titan. What Mayer needs most of all is mobile talent, and with Yahoo flush from cash thanks to its Alibaba holdings, she is finding it without having to recruit directly.
here is a peculiar ecosystem in Silicon Valley. The best programmers often want to be entrepreneurs, so they go out and raise venture capital funding. If their startup fails, the VCs who backed them want to recoup as much of their investment as possible. They work to find a soft landing at a big tech company, which is mostly interested in the talent. This exchange, dubbed the acqui-hire, is what keeps the wheels turning in Silicon Valley.
Tomi says:
A month after Google killed its beloved Reader, the market for paid RSS tools is booming
Without the search giant strangling the market, will RSS actually evolve?
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/2/4582276/google-reader-rss-replacements-feedly-digg-newsblur
It’s been a month since Google Reader shut down, breaking users’ hearts and bringing an end to a nearly eight-year run of RSS dominance. As soon as word came of Reader’s impending doom, third parties like Digg, Feedly, and others sprung into action, eager to replace the old guard. At the time, they looked like a rescue team, gallantly swooping in to save us from regular old web browsing. But after a month, the squad of reader replacements has turned into a set of regular products trying to keep up with user demands.
Tomi says:
Why Microsoft isn’t going to dump Windows RT
http://www.zdnet.com/why-microsoft-isnt-going-to-dump-windows-rt-7000018918/
Summary: Is there any chance Microsoft is going to do a 180 and dump its Windows RT operating system? My bet is no, and here’s why.
Back in March, Microsoft officials insisted that Windows RT, Microsoft’s port of Windows to the ARM processor, was a necessary disruption. Corporate Vice President Michael Angiulo said it was Windows RT on ARM that gave Microsoft the ability to offer tablets that were “really competitive with a full-sized iPad.”
Angiulo also said that he believed the future of ARM chips was bright. And he played up the value of Metro-Style/Windows Store apps — installed via the Windows Store and controlled by users — as being a big selling point. “On Windows RT, the user experience stays consistent over time,” he noted.
While Microsoft officials have played up user control of Windows RT devices, the reality is that Microsoft is the one that’s really in control of these kinds of machines. There’s likely to be less/no crapware, viruses and piracy (in theory, at least) on Windows RT machines because of how they’re so locked down. Metro-Style apps are installed via the Windows Store, and Microsoft is the gatekeeper.
Tomi says:
Win XP alive and kicking despite 2014 kill switch (Don’t ask about Win 8)
On track to be world’s second most used desktop OS when security patches cease
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/02/windows_8_v_windows_xp_july_data/
Uptake of Windows 8 for desktop computers – which was never particularly fast – has slowed, according to stats for July from web traffic pollsters Net Applications.
Microsoft’s latest operating system held a 5.4 per cent of the global desktop OS market last month
Officially released in October 2012, Windows 8 has been growing at less than one per cent a month in the desktop arena
hat’s sobering news for Microsoft.
But a disturbing fact for everybody else is that Windows XP – enjoying second place in the stats – had a minor resurgence during July. Net Applications found XP, first released in 2001, clawed back 37.19 of the market versus 37.17 in the month before, pausing its long-term downward trend towards its demise. Many companies moving off Windows XP are going to Windows 7, the number one most used desktop OS
before Windows XP’s July bump its use has been falling rather too slowly for the industry to realistically hit the goal of zero Windows XP by April 2014. That’s the date when Microsoft officially turns off extended support for the operating system, so there will be no more security updates. Customers will be on their own.
“There’s clearly a lot of work ahead for enterprise IT.”
Tomi says:
Android Dominates the Tablet Market in 2013 Q2
Strategy Analytics: Android Dominates the Tablet Market in 2013 Q2 with 67 Percent Share of Global Tablet Shipments.
http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=pressreleaseviewer&a0=5403
“Global Branded Tablet shipments reached 36.2 million units in Q2 2013, up 47 percent from 24.6 million in Q2 2012″
ndroid is now making steady progress due to hardware partners like Samsung, Amazon, Google and White-Box tablets which, despite the fact that branded OEMs are lowering price-points and putting pressure on the White-Box manufacturers, are still performing well
Apple iOS shipments were 14.6 million iPads in Q2 2013 which declined 14 percent annually
Microsoft captured a niche 4.5 percent global tablet share in Q2 2013.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android is the new Windows – revolution in information technology
The era of the world’s most popular Windows operating system has passed. It has taken the position of Google’s Android – both good and bad. Disaster similar to the Windows start time, and the consequences are great.
Android’s position has been strong for quite some time. In recent months, it has gained a decisive upper hand.
Smart phones using Google Android captured the beginning of the year about 80 per cent share of the market. In the spring of Android seems to have taken a dominant share of the tablets. According to Strategy Analytics, Android accounted for almost 70 per cent, in spite of the popularity of Apple’s iPad.
Windows and Android, the benefits are the same. Android creates a common large ecosystem, open to all interested manufacturers can come up with. This has created a Windows-like a huge range of applications. Spectrum of the equipment is high. Android ecosystem, for example, offers all kinds of smart phones and tablets screen sizes.
Android also appear in the proliferation of the same disadvantages than in Windows. Software development and distribution of freedom is brought to malware problems. Pests are frequently distributed in Google’s own app store.
Another problem is the hardware and software fragmentation. The Windows world is broken in many different versions and different devices jungle. Equipment manufacturers add additional software on their PCs, which increase and even reduce the load on the user experience. The same problems plaguing the Android world.
Android triumph of the biggest losers of Microsoft and Apple.
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/android_on_uusi_windows_mullistus_tietotekniikassa
Tomi Engdahl says:
How you know if you’re a competent software engineer
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/systems-interface/4418175/How-you-know-if-you-re-a-competent-software-engineer
Not too long ago, a computer science and engineering 4-year graduate could expect to find an entry level position within a professional software engineering organization
Today, the combination of a tremendous demand for software programmers to deal with a massive and fragmented workload makes the de facto apprenticeship approach to software engineering rare or nonexistent — a luxury in the face of shrinking delivery schedules. Outside of mission-critical applications such as those in mil/aero, medical, and transportation, fewer companies have the resources to bring a promising engineer along slowly, fewer managers have the experience and skills to do so, and fewer grads have the patience to endure anything less than a head-first plunge into the malestrom of opportunities. You can’t blame them.
Eventually, however, all the enthusiasm, hackathons, and sprints can’t make up for lack of know-how. Software teams can often hide individual shortfalls in skills, but only because others are somehow making up for the low productivity of less skilled engineers.
“The Net Negative Producing Programmer,” Schulmeyer writes:
“This negative production does not merely apply to extreme cases. In a team of ten, expect as many as three people to have a defect rate high enough to make them NNPPs. With a normal distribution of skills, the probability that there is not even one NNPP out of ten is virtually nil.”
Comments:
A large percentage of IT projects fail. Here are two references which suggest 37% and 68% of them fail
If other engineering projects (bridges, power plants, sewer systems, etc.) failed at this rate, we would have serious problems.
In most states in the US–if not all–more education and qualification (certification/licensing) is required for hair dressers than for software developers. How much damage can a hair dresser do? Seriously…
A company of young people was talking in a bar.
One girl said: ” I would like to marry a competent software engineer.”
A guy asked: “You have no clue about software development. How could you possibly know if he is competent or not?”
Girl answered: “$150K and up will do.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud corporations to go up to 35 000 $ 000 000 over the mouth of the United States
U.S. National Security Agency NSA carried out phishing is up to 35 billion dollar blow to the U.S. for business to the cloud. The committee reported on the Financial Times .
A Washington DC think tank Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) calculations, the three-year cloud business generated net sales of narrowing in the 21.5 to 35,000,000,000 U.S. dollars a stir because of spyware.
Sufferers, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Think-tank, the network of espionage impact the competitiveness of U.S. cloud providers is long. Moreover, it is a big and growing business. Global sales of the cloud is estimated to be $ 207 billion in 2016.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/pilvifirmoilta+menee+jopa+35+000+000+000+dollaria+ohi+suun+yhdysvalloissa/a919000
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using OpenCL for Network Acceleration
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103209
Investigating the practicality of using OpenCL to accelerate AES and DES Encryption and Decryption by leveraging the GPU engines of the APU, reveals a realm of possibilities for exploiting parallelism on hybrid processors.
Microprocessor designs are trending in favor of a higher number of cores per socket versus increased clock speed. Increasingly, more cores are being integrated on the same die to fully take advantage of high-speed interconnects for interprocessor communications. Companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are innovating high-performance computing by integrating graphics with x86 CPUs to create what AMD refers to as Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).
The advent of the APU creates opportunities for designers to develop solutions not possible a few years ago. These solutions utilize multiple languages and execute across hardware execution domain to enable a wide variety of new applications. One such application is the use of GPU resources as a massively parallel “off-load” engine for computationally intense algorithms in security and networking.
While the results for each of the algorithms differed slightly on both the CPU (blue lines) and GPU (red lines), the overall trend for each was very consistent. It is clear that when the network traffic load was relatively light—meaning that there were not many concurrent threads required to support the algorithm—the CPUs were more than adequate and in fact more efficient than using OpenCL and the GPU cores. However, as the workload and number of concurrent threads increased, the OpenCL and GPU proved to be a significantly better solution.
The beauty of the APU-based architecture is that it allows the designer to decide when and if to use the GPU resources and how.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Seagate goes back to ASICs, slurps upstart’s brains in return for cash
Spinning rust merchants eye up flashy future
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/06/seagates_asic_amour/
Seagate has invested in a bespoke chip designer that can whack new interfaces to the hard disk giant’s products.
The silicon slinger is privately-held eASIC, which was tapped up for its “expertise in fast time-to-market, low-cost and low-power” custom chip knowhow, we’re told.
The draw for Seagate seems to be the ability to add new interfaces to its hybrid flash-disk and flash products at a faster clip; interfaces such as NVMe and SoP (SCSI over PCIe).
Tomi Engdahl says:
KingSpec’s 2TB Multicore PCI-E SSD whopper vs the rest
Scorching speeds shootout, if you’ve money to burn
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/06/kingspec_multicore_mc1s81m2t_2tb_pcie_ssd/
Earlier this year we took a look at SSD caching, an alternative way of getting some SSD performance added to a system without too much strain put on the finances. So how about a gander at the other end of the spectrum – huge capacity and performance and a total disregard for the budget
Enter the KingSpec Multicore MC1S81M2T, a 2TB PCI-Express SSD costing a mere three-and-a-half grand.
This SSD is a monster of a card with eight of the company’s 240GB mSATA drives (each drive using 25nm MLC NAND) bolted on to a PCB and then built into a RAID 0 array to deliver its 2TB capacity.
Ignoring for a moment the quoted sustained read speed of 4GB/s, which is the theoretical read speed, the actual read speed achieved in tests is still pretty mind-blowing: a whopping 2.59GB/s (yes that’s GB/s not MB/s) reads and 2.36GB/s writes.
So why go down the PCI-Express bus route? Well, the figures speak for themselves. And yet for really large capacity coupled with high speed transfer rates, good old SATA interface doesn’t quite cut the mustard anymore.
Using the PCI-E bus will allow drive interface speeds of up to 1GB/s per lane as opposed to the 0.6GB/s of the current SATA interface. Eventually the technology should see storage devices with up to 16Gb/s interfaces.
you have to read up on what speeds your motherboard PCI-E slots supports
These days a motherboard that supports either CrossFire or SLI graphics setups will have at least two PCI-E slots running at x16 speed.
The Reg Verdict
So in the niche market of high capacity SSDs, the KingSpec MC1S81M2T sits in the even smaller niche of high capacity PCI-E based SSDs. It’s hugely expensive and very, very quick but — and it’s a very important but — it’s only properly fast when it comes to handling the type of large file sizes it has been designed to handle, in the market segment it’s aimed at, not the everyday bitty type of file the majority of us use. That aside, the KingSpec MC1S81M2T delivers a glimpse into the future regarding the performance of SATA-Express drives appearing in years to come with notably lower price tags.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft cuts Surface Pro price by $100 following Surface RT reductions
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/4/4587228/microsoft-surface-pro-price-cut
Microsoft is discounting its Surface Pro tablet this weekend, following heavy reductions to its Surface RT costs recently.
The Surface Pro pricing follows a 30 percent price cut on Microsoft’s Surface RT tablets recently.
“Surface 2 on the way?”
Microsoft recently hinted at refreshed Surface RT and Surface Pro models. The company is expected to refresh Surface Pro with a Haswell processor, and Microsoft has been testing Surface devices with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SequenceL: An Elegant and Efficient Approach to Exploiting the Power of Parallelism
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103079
Parallelizing complex code efficiently across multiple processor cores gets to be a task beyond human ability. SequenceL is a high-level language that can automatically analyze and output parallel code as C++ and OpenCL to run on a variety of today’s multicore processors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Architecture Offers Challenges Along with Features to Help Meet Them
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103006
The ARM processor architecture offers a number of hardware features, which, in conjunction with tools that are able to take advantage of them, can greatly enhance understanding, bug avoidance and bug fixing during the development process.
Embedded developers who create systems using the ARM architecture face challenges similar to developers who use other architectures. Some of these challenges involve initializing the device and its peripherals while others involve the ability to write to peripherals that are attached to the microcontroller core. Moreover, debugging software written for any device can be a daunting affair if the application is complex. Fortunately, ARM Ltd. has worked diligently to foster an ecosystem of partners and services that mitigate many of the difficulties in developing embedded software, both on the software development and the debugging aspects of product development. This ecosystem helps a developer write an application quickly and efficiently, all while minimizing the potential for defects in the code.
Semiconductor companies generally have different ways to initialize and utilize parts of the core, such as interrupts and condition registers. Because of this, it can be difficult for an embedded developer to learn how to use these parts of the microcontroller effectively and correctly, especially if their organization is using parts from several different silicon vendors. ARM has a unique solution to this problem via their Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) interface. CMSIS defines an API that an embedded developer can use to set up timers, ITM registers, the Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC) and many other things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Parents worry: the display damages child’s eye view
It is a published study, half of the parents alone, that computers and game consoles undermine children’s eye health.
The study was commissioned optician chain Specsavers TNS Gallup. It examined 7 to 12-year-old children’s perceptions of parents’ use of information technology and the resulting visual handicaps.
Specsavers mentioned in a statement that academic studies have shown that excessive computers and game consoles may impair your vision.
“One-sided load of strain on the eyes. Game consoles, and staring at a computer screen requiring a child eye muscle great efforts, rather than the eye motor skills not fully developed yet. Computer ergonomics is designed for adults, which may lead children back and neck pain. Children do not yet comprehend how prolonged periods of time they spend in front of computers, “says optician Anni Käppi.
The survey found that 48 percent of parents are concerned that computers and gambling can have negative effects on the child’s vision and eye health. Almost as many (41 per cent) has been trying to reduce the use of a computer.
“A child’s vision should be checked regularly, because vision problems are often hidden, and not always recognize the child is suffering from poor vision. For example, difficulty in concentrating, fatigue, headache, and impaired school grades can tell the problems with your vision”
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/vanhempien_huoli_naytto_pilaa_lapsen_naon
Tomi says:
Microsoft Office Comes to Android, Linus Torvalds’ Dream Realized
http://hothardware.com/News/Microsoft-Office-Comes-to-Android-Linus-Torvalds-Dream-Realized/
Linus Torvalds once said that if Microsoft ever made applications for Linux “it means I’ve won”. Now that Microsoft has released a version of Office for Android, Torvalds’ dream has come true. Sort of.
It’s likely that Torvalds envisioned Microsoft Office on a desktop build of Linux, but that’s not exactly what has transpired. First, “Linux” in this case is Android, which is of course built on Linux but has been heavily Google-ized. Second, this isn’t a full version of Office by any means; instead, it’s more of a front end for users with an Office 365 subscription—a companion app.
Tomi says:
IBM expands Penguin-loving Power server lineup
Pre-emptive four-socket Power7+ Linux strike ahead of Intel Xeon E7 assault
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/30/ibm_powerlinux_7r4_linux_server/
Big Blue is adding to its Linux-only Power Systems server line, including a four-socket machine based on its Power7+ processors. These PowerLinux machines have a lower cost than plain vanilla Power Systems machines that are capable of also running its AIX Unix or IBM i proprietary operating system as well as Linux.
IBM is also making promises that it will eventually offer Linux-only big iron boxes, presumably also at aggressive prices to thwart its server rivals who also have Linux aspirations, particularly for database and analytics work.
With the Unix server business crashing across all the three major players – IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Oracle – and its proprietary IBM i operating system not generating sales like it did a decade ago, Big Blue is under pressure to ramp up sales in its Power Systems line by appealing to customers deploying workloads on Linux.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IT departments are threatening with extinction?
Consumerization of IT and the idea of how to obtain a self-service put the current form of IT departments in any case, a major overhaul. Development is moving toward a hybrid model in which gamblers are the key technology consultants and integrators.
Among other things, this flammable views Cite increased speech topics for the conference a panel of experts in mid-June, Computerworld writes.
Defence Equipment giant Northrop Grumman, Chief Technology Officer Brandon Porco thought the other business departments to take over more and more IT functions.
“Business Departments are the future of the IT department. Technology professionals will only service providers,” Porco compounded.
The generation gap between old and young IT professionals has grown as and when new technologies are favored by young people are progressing.
“When I ask kesätyöläisiltä, whether they are aware of Google Apps backwoods of, they are responsible for the course. Then we have other companies come, more experienced people. When they called Outlook, we have to face that we do not use it anymore”
According to him, 75 percent of Fortune 100 companies and large most of the East Coast’s top universities use Google Apps. Because of this, the next generation of IT professionals no longer have Microsoft Exchange or Office.
“In the next five years, the companies must ensure that their technology to meet the needs of the rising generation,” McBride said.
The research house IDC’s vice president Kathleen Schaub confirmed that today more and more companies IT departments must operate under the auspices of the various business units.
The idea is that IT departments are responsible for the activities for which they have been moved to the side.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/cio/uhkaako+itosastoja+sukupuutto/a919221
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung’s “3D Vertical” NAND crams a terabit on a single chip
Longer life, higher reliability, more performance—what’s not to like?
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/08/samsungs-3d-vertical-nand-crams-a-terabit-on-a-single-chip/
SSD enthusiasts know all about SLC, MLC, and TLC, but there are some new acronyms in SSD town: V-NAND and CTF. Samsung announced in a press release last night that it has begun mass production of “3D Vertical NAND,” a type of flash that it claims overcomes the existing limits on the design and production of existing NAND types. When we looked at those limits about a year ago, they seemed pretty significant; Samsung’s V-NAND aims to neatly sidestep most of the issues.
The new V-NAND is manufactured at a 10nm process size, and it starts at a density of 128Gb per NAND chip. The NAND chips are constructed in layers, stacking up to 24 individual NAND cells on top of each other. This lets Samsung scale the chip’s capacity up without having to add more NAND cells in a series, or “planar scaling,” as the traditional “just shrink ‘em and add more cells” method is called.
The other acronym, CTF, stands for “Charge Trap Flash.” Traditional NAND flash records zeros and ones by storing charge in a set of floating gate transistors, with the presence or absence of charge corresponding to a 0 or a 1 in single-level cell NAND, and the amount of charge corresponding to different multibit values in multi- and triple-level cell NAND (we have an extremely in-depth primer on the inner workings of SSDs if you want more details). However, Samsung’s new V-NAND dispenses with floating gate transistors and uses a different method:
Samsung’s CTF-based NAND flash architecture, an electric charge is temporarily placed in a holding chamber of the non-conductive layer of flash that is composed of silicon nitride (SiN), instead of using a floating gate to prevent interference between neighboring cells.
Samsung predicts that V-NAND will scale up to 1Tb per individual NAND chip. Most SSDs use at least eight NAND chips in parallel, so V-NAND could lead directly to low dollar-per-GB 2.5-inch form factor SSDs of 1TB and beyond—capacities which many Ars commenters have said repeatedly that they desperately want.
Tomi Engdahl says:
With the recent talk of last year PC sales slump, start to run out of descriptive words. Noistakin bleak figures has fallen sharply since the Western European PC sales has declined a fifth time.
Market researcher Gartner reported that in the second quarter of the Western European PC sales fell 19.8 percent to be exact. Compared to last year remained unsold, therefore, in practice, every five pc – nearly three million machines. Total sales were slim margin of less than 11 million units.
Development darkness of the image of a dark thought experiment: if sales drop more and more from one year to three million, four years here will not be sold for even one pc’s.
The most strongest terms has fallen to the consumer sales (25.8 percent), and sales of portable device groups (23.9 per cent).
However, Gartner believes that the end of the year will be like market sentiment.
“We can expect an attractive new hardware stores in the fourth quarter. They have a new Windows 8.1, they are thinner and their battery life is better than Intel’s new Haswell processors, thanks, “the analyst Meike Escherich said.
The highest proportion of manufacturers have lost ground Acer and Asus, with sales almost halved. Lenovo on the other hand sails still a strong tailwind. It has increased its sales by almost as much as the overall market has shrunk.
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/totaaliromahdus_euroopan_pc_myynnissa