News

RSS Reader As Appliance - Easy Google Reader Replacement   Wednesday 12 June

BitNami has added Tiny Tiny RSS server to its collection of LAMP appliances. This makes it very easy to replace Google Reader with something you can rely on. Perhaps this is the way all software should transition to the cloud.

Google Cloud SQL API   Wednesday 12 June

Google has launched an API to enable users of its Cloud SQL to manage their databases programmatically.

Apple Goes Flat - Where's The Logic In That?   Tuesday 11 June

Apple's dev conference, WWDC, has been light on any real announcements that actually affect developers, but the news that the UI has been "made over" in iOS7 gives programmers a lot of work -  for what?

Google Provides Backend Services With App Engine   Tuesday 11 June

After launching its own Mobile Backend Starter, Google has announced it is partnering with Kinvey to provide even more Backend-as-a-Service options.

HeidiSQL 8.0 Released   Tuesday 11 June

A new version of HeidiSQL, the Windows open source SQL client, has been released, with changes including support for using search and replace in data and query results.

JavaZone Back On Form With Javapocalypse   Tuesday 11 June

Updated June 11.  This year's JavaZone Norway's video trailers are worth viewing. So far it has only reached the short teaser version. Can we wait for the full trailer? What is the mysterious countdown all about? Is this Nordic noir or a straight zombie apocalypse. 

Enhancements for Windows Azure   Monday 10 June

Microsoft has announced several enhancements to Windows Windows Azure has a new billing model intended to make it a more attractive option as a Dev/Test environment, particularly to MSDN subscribers. Its Free Trial has also become more flexible.

T-SQL Join Types In SQL Server Pro's June Issue   Monday 10 June

Now you have no excuse not to know about the common T-SQL join types! The June issue of the online subscription magazine provides a comprehensive introduction to the commonly used join types.

Robots Walking   Sunday 09 June

There seems to be some sort of revolution going on in the walking abilities of small humanoid robots. The why and how isn't exactly clear, but watch the videos and you will see what I mean. 

Hi Tech Rubik's Cube Gets SDK   Sunday 09 June

Rubik's cube as computer game isn't a new idea, but in this case it is more a Rubik's cube that is a computer. The Rubik's Futuro Cube is a complete ARM-based machine with a form of touch input, wireless links and more. There is also an SDK that you can use to develop games. 

BookSmash Challenge   Saturday 08 June

Book publisher HarperCollins has launched a competition with a top prize of $15,000 for an app related to reading and discovering books and authors that uses its OpenBook API.

JDK 8 Feature Complete - Well Almost   Friday 07 June

JDK 8 has reached its feature complete milestone, though in fact some features were still not quite completed.

SQL Server 2014 Preview   Friday 07 June

Microsoft has shown off SQL Server 2014 at this year’s TechEd conference. Highlights of the new version are the ability to do in-memory OLTP, and to analyze Big Data in real time.

Learn Scratch With Creative Computing Online Workshop   Friday 07 June

A free online course that introduces computational thinking and the Scratch programming language has just started. Aimed primarily at K-12 educators it is open to anyone who wants to join in. 

Processing Version 2.0 Released   Thursday 06 June

Initially envisaged to teach computer programming fundamentals within a visual context, Processing is a free, open source language based on Java, designed to be easy to use and to provide near instant gratification to the beginner. Processing 2.0 has now been released together with a revamped website.

Finding Solutions To Diophantine Equations By Smell   Thursday 06 June

Yes - smell. Diophantine equations are just polynomial equations that use nothing but integers for their coefficients and solutions. They are very hard to solve and often very important.

Google CalDAV and CardDAV To Stay   Thursday 06 June

Credit where it is due - Google has changed its mind about dropping an open standard and has added one to its list of publicly accessible APIs. 

The Core

Android Adventures - Lifecycle And State   Monday 10 June

One of the things that you have to get used to when programming for a mobile platform is that your app can be shut down and restarted without much warning. You have to learn how to cope with this start-stop existence and that, for an Android app, its a tough life just trying to stay alive.

Getting Started with Firefox OS - The UX Building Blocks   Friday 07 June

The great thing about Firefox OS is that you can build apps without knowing anything much about it. All you need is some HTML, CSS and JavaScript. While this is true, it is also worth finding out how to create a UX that looks and feels like official Firefox programs. To do this you need to find out about the UX Building Blocks. 

Babbage's Bag

Processor Design - RISC,CISC & ROPS   Wednesday 12 June

When it comes to processor architecture we still don’t  have a clear agreement on what sort of design philosophies should be followed. How do you make a faster general purpose processor? This is a question about architecture.