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Four short links: 21 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 21, 2012

Objectivist C -- very clever. In Objectivist-C, each program is free to acquire as many resources as it can, without interference from the operating system. (via Tim O'Reilly) Zynga and Facebook Stock Oddities (The Atlantic) -- signs of robotrading, a reminder that we're surrounded by algorithms and only notice them when they go awry. The Final ROFLcon and Mobile's...

Social reading should focus on common interests rather than friend status

Social reading should focus on common interests rather than friend status
By Joe Wikert
May 21, 2012

In this TOC podcast, we hear from ReadSocial co-founder Travis Alber on why they're building their platform without tying it to your social graph.

Health Information Technology: putting the patient back into health care

By Andy Oram
May 21, 2012

In health information technology, we have a rare chance to ensure that the most affected members of the public actually have their own direct representative. A letter in support of Regina Holliday.

What do mHealth, eHealth and behavioral science mean for the future of healthcare?

By Alex Howard
May 21, 2012

We're just at the beginning of discovering how to best develop and utilize mobile technology to improve the health of individuals and the public, says Dr. Audie Atienza.

The Russians Are Coming: A First Look At Rosa 2012 Marathon

The Russians Are Coming: A First Look At Rosa 2012 Marathon
By Caitlyn Martin
May 21, 2012

ROSA Labs has forked the Mandriva distribution, creating a distribution that, while still resembling Mandriva 2011 at first glance, actually has gone its own way in many important respects. The first post-Mandriva release, ROSA 2012 Marathon, was officially unveiled last Monday. This is also the first ROSA LTS (long term support) release, offering security and software updates for five years.

Cloud Music: The Zombie Dinosaur Report

By Peter Drescher
May 20, 2012

Last year, a bunch of really smart people got together at a haunted mansion outside of San Antonio, Texas, to discuss audio trends and mobile technologies. Our group wrote a report describing a Utopian vision of what cloud music might look like.

Top Stories: May 14-18, 2012

Top Stories: May 14-18, 2012
By Mac Slocum
May 18, 2012

This week on O'Reilly: Coding is tied to cultural competence, not just a profession; Jim Stogdill wondered if solution vendors are waiting for broad Hadoop adoption before jumping in; and we learned how Schoolers, Edupunks and Makers are reshaping education.

Publishing News: No dismissal for Apple, Macmillan and Penguin

Publishing News: No dismissal for Apple, Macmillan and Penguin
By Jenn Webb
May 18, 2012

Updates on the DOJ and antitrust lawsuits against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin; Russian startup Pirate Pay targets BitTorrent file sharing; and Steve Rubel muses on digital media, social sharing and news consumption.

Why I haven't caught ereader fever

Why I haven't caught ereader fever
By Jenn Webb
May 18, 2012

Ereaders may have their place now, but shifts toward the web and HTML5 make the iPad a wiser and more enduring choice for digital reading.

Visualization of the Week: Urban metabolism

Visualization of the Week: Urban metabolism
By Audrey Watters
May 18, 2012

This week's visualization is an interactive web-mapping tool that lets you explore energy usage, material intensity and the overall "urban metabolism" of major U.S. cities.

Four short links: 18 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 18, 2012

Overlapping S-Curves of Various Products (PNG) -- product adoption speed over time. (via Beta Knowledge) High School Makerspaces Q&A with Dale Dougherty (Radioshack) -- Experimentation is one of the things we’re trying to promote. If you do experiments, a number of them fail and you learn from that failure and say, “Gee, I could have done that differently.” It’s...

Commerce Weekly: Another mobile wallet is on the way

Commerce Weekly: Another mobile wallet is on the way
By Jenn Webb
May 17, 2012

Isis announces Mobile Wallet partners and a rollout plan, Rogers Communication and CIBC partner to bring a mobile wallet to Canada, and a look at the theoretical benefits of NFC. (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O'Reilly and PayPal.)

Strata Week: Google unveils its Knowledge Graph

Strata Week: Google unveils its Knowledge Graph
By Audrey Watters
May 17, 2012

In this week's data news, Google updates its search features with a Knowledge Graph, while the U.S. House of Representatives de-funds surveys that helped businesses construct theirs.

Four short links: 17 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 17, 2012

The Mythology of Big Data (PDF) -- slides from a Strata keynote by Mark R. Madsen. A lovely explanation of the social impediments to the rational use of data. (via Hamish MacEwan) Scamworld -- amazing deconstruction of the online "get rich quick" scam business. (via Andy Baio) Ceres: Solving Complex Problems with Computing Muscle -- Johnny Lee Chung explains...

JavaScript and Dart: Can we do better?

JavaScript and Dart: Can we do better?
By Simon St. Laurent
May 17, 2012

O'Reilly editor Simon St. Laurent talked with Google's Seth Ladd about the challenges of improving the web.  How can we build on JavaScript's ubiquity while addressing performance, team, and scale issues?

Three Beeps = Cell Phone Dial Tone

By Peter Drescher
May 16, 2012

"Cell Phone Dial Tone" is an oxymoron, like "jumbo shrimp". Dial tones are analog, cell phones are digital. A dial tone signals an open connection to a landline telephone network. A cell phone sends packets of voice data back and forth via wireless network. The technologies don't intersect ... except in the movies

Velocity Profile: Justin Huff

By Mac Slocum
May 16, 2012

A profile of web operations and performance expert Justin Huff, software engineer at PicMonkey and formerly of Google/Picnik.

A federal judge learned to code

By Mike Loukides
May 16, 2012

The judge presiding over the Oracle/Google case learned Java, and that skill came in handy when coding specifics arose during the trial. It's proof that coding is a part of cultural competence, even if you never do it professionally.

How to start a successful business in health care at Health 2.0 conference

By Andy Oram
May 16, 2012

Great piles of cash are descending on entrepreneurs who develop health care apps, but that doesn't make it any easier to create a useful one that your audience will adopt. About the Spring Fling conference, enterpreneurship, and open data.

The chicken and egg of big data solutions

The chicken and egg of big data solutions
By Jim Stogdill
May 16, 2012

So, here we are with all of this disruptive big data technology, but we seem to have lost the institutional wherewithal to do anything with it in a lot of large companies, at least until package solutions come along.

Four short links: 16 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 16, 2012

Many Old Periodicals -- I'm working my way through the back issues of "Thrilling Love". Sample story, Moonmist for Mary by Dorothy Daniels, from Feb 1950. Filing clerk Mary wins the heart of her secret coworker romance AND closes the sale AND is promised stock. It's torn from the pages of real life, I tell ya! Please Don't Learn...

John Allspaw on DevOps

John Allspaw on DevOps
By Mike Hendrickson
May 15, 2012

John Allspaw discusses DevOps in high-volume web companies and the importance of cooperation between development and operations.

DIY learning: Schoolers, Edupunks, and Makers challenge education as we know it

DIY learning: Schoolers, Edupunks, and Makers challenge education as we know it
By Marie Bjerede
May 15, 2012

Schoolers, Edupunks and Makers are showing us what's possible when learners, not institutions, own the education that will define their lives.

Profile of the Data Journalist: The Data News Editor

By Alex Howard
May 15, 2012

John Keefe (@jkeefe) is a senior editor for data news and journalism technology at WNYC public radio, based in New York City, NY. He attracted widespread attention when an online map he built using available data beat the Associated Press with Iowa caucus results earlier this year.

Four short links: 15 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 15, 2012

Mobile Money (The Economist) -- Many people know that "mobile money"—financial transactions on mobile phones—has taken off in Africa. How far it has gone, though, still comes as a bit of a shock. Three-quarters of the countries that use mobile money most frequently are in Africa, and mobile banking in some of them has reached extraordinary levels. Akka --...

Why I can't shake my ereader

By Joe Wikert
May 14, 2012

Ereaders are now commodities — improvements are incremental at best — but the fundamental qualities of these devices still make them compelling.

Four short links: 14 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 14, 2012

Shiri = Japanese Robotic Ass (YouTube) -- I couldn't watch after 2m30s or so when he starts slapping the robot ass. I never imagined a butt as UI. I eagerly await the hobbyist version, the Arduino Ass Shield. (via Ed Yong) Facebook Tests 'Pay to Promote' Tool (BBC) -- pay to raise prominence of your message, feature being tested...

Making innovation: Open hardware, personal fab and collaborative design

Making innovation: Open hardware, personal fab and collaborative design
By Dale Dougherty
May 11, 2012

Being held May 15-16, MAKE's Hardware Innovation Workshop is an intensive introduction to the business of making and the makers who are creating these businesses.

Publishing News: Another publisher ends its app fling

Publishing News: Another publisher ends its app fling
By Jenn Webb
May 11, 2012

The publisher of MIT's Technology Review talks apps and HTML5, RWW's Antone Gonsalves reviews B&N's chances of survival, and Amazon hires Sara Nelson.

Top Stories: May 7-11, 2012

Top Stories: May 7-11, 2012
By Mac Slocum
May 11, 2012

This week on O'Reilly: We learned how the Velocity Conference site got a big makeover thanks to Velocity practices, Liliana Bounegru offered a brief history of data journalism, and Joe Wikert explained how booksellers can reinvent themselves.

Lucene conference touches many areas of growth in search

By Andy Oram
May 11, 2012

With a modern search engine and smart planning, web sites can provide visitors with a better search experience than Google. Why turn-out for the new "big data" track was lower than I expected, and other news from this week's conference about using Lucene big and small.

Jesse Robbins on the state of infrastructure automation

By Timothy M. O'Brien
May 11, 2012

OpsCode chief community officer Jesse Robbins discusses cloud infrastructure automation and the most surprising use of Chef he's seen so far.

Developer Week in Review: Java on trial

Developer Week in Review: Java on trial
By James Turner
May 11, 2012

Google and Oracle continue to duke it out in court, with more than just Android at risk. One developer uses cat feeders as a way to look at good software, and the PHP developers take a second try at fixing a critical bug.

You'll be live in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

You'll be live in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
By Mac Slocum
May 11, 2012

The introduction of Google+ Hangouts On Air marks the beginning of live video's disruption. Here's two reasons why this is a big deal.

Visualization of the Week: Avengers Assemble

Visualization of the Week: Avengers Assemble
By Audrey Watters
May 11, 2012

In this week's visualization, The New York Times' data artist Jer Thorp visualizes the appearances of "The Avengers" in the comic book series.

[Kickstarter:Wow!] Oh The Tangled Webs Once Wove: Wovyn Weaves Wireless Web, Untangles Internet of Things

By M. David Peterson
May 11, 2012

Quite possibly the most tangled titled I've ever chosen. But what it represents is the exact opposite; at least as it relates to those "Things" on the Internet which at present time have had very little opportunity for categorical refinement...

Four short links: 11 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 11, 2012

Stanford Med School Contemplates Flipped Classroom -- the real challenge isn't sending kids home with videos to watch, it's using tools like OceanBrowser to keep on top of what they're doing. Few profs at universities have cared whether students learned or not. Inclusive Tech Companies Win The Talent War (Gina Trapani) -- she speaks the truth, and gently. The...

O'Reilly Radar Show 5/10/12: The surprising rise of JavaScript

O'Reilly Radar Show 5/10/12: The surprising rise of JavaScript
By Mac Slocum
May 10, 2012

Fluent Conference co-chair Peter Cooper explains why and how JavaScript rose to prominence. Also, Steve Souders points the way to web performance tools and techniques.

Strata Week: Big data boom and big data gaps

Strata Week: Big data boom and big data gaps
By Audrey Watters
May 10, 2012

In this week's big data news, an IDC report points to the booming market for Hadoop and MapReduce (and if proposals for Strata are any indication, this is indeed a good time for big data).

The reinvention of the bookseller

The reinvention of the bookseller
By Joe Wikert
May 10, 2012

Once booksellers accept the reality they can no longer just sell books, they can begin evolving into something dynamic and unique.

I'm joining O'Reilly

By Jim Stogdill
May 10, 2012

Radar isn't just this blog, and it isn't a passive thing. We'll make some noise and listen for echoes.

Commerce Weekly: The competitive push toward mobile payment

Commerce Weekly: The competitive push toward mobile payment
By Jenn Webb
May 10, 2012

The New York Times takes a look at the different mobile payment solutions, MasterCard surveys the globe to see who's ready for mobile payments, and the CEO of i-Cue Design suggests a faster mobile shopping solution. (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O'Reilly and PayPal.)

Four short links: 10 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 10, 2012

Gravity in the Margins (Got Medieval) -- illuminating illuminated manuscripts with Mario. (via BoingBoing) Hours Days, Who's Counting? (Jon Udell) -- What prompted me to check? My friend Mike Caulfield, who’s been teaching and writing about quantitative literacy, says it’s because in this case I did have some touchstone facts parked in my head, including the number 10 million...

Understanding Mojito

Understanding Mojito
By Simon St. Laurent
May 10, 2012

O'Reilly editor Simon St. Laurent talked with Yahoo's Bruno Fernandez-Ruiz about the possibilities Node opened and Mojito exploits. Yahoo's Mojito is a different kind of framework: all JavaScript, but running on both the client and the server.

Linux Hardware Support Myths and Legends

By Caitlyn Martin
May 10, 2012

With a new major Windows release just around the corner we are being treated to an onslaught of articles proclaiming the failings of Linux on the desktop. You'd think that such articles wouldn't be necessary if the Linux desktop had indeed failed. One recurring theme is the idea that Linux has terrible hardware support. The premise is always that Linux is impossibly difficult to install and that lots of hardware just doesn't work with Linux.

Theo Schlossnagle on DevOps as a career

Theo Schlossnagle on DevOps as a career
By Mike Hendrickson
May 9, 2012

In this Velocity podcast, OmniTI CEO Theo Schlossnagle discusses the skills of DevOps professionals and knowing how you've achieved excellence in the field.

Velocity Profile: Nicole Sullivan

By Mac Slocum
May 9, 2012

Nicole Sullivan discusses her favorite CSS tools and who she follows in the web ops & performance world.

Giving the Velocity website a performance makeover

Giving the Velocity website a performance makeover
By Tony Quartarolo
May 9, 2012

Learn how producers slimmed down the Velocity conference site, cutting the site's load time by 3.5 seconds and dropping 49% of the page weight.

Four short links: 9 May 2012

By Nat Torkington
May 9, 2012

We Need Version Control for Real Stuff (Chris Anderson) -- This is pointing us toward the next step, a GitHub for stuff. If open source hardware is going to take off like open source software, we need this. (via Evil Mad Scientist) Graduates and Post-Graduates on Food Stamps (Chronicle of Higher Education) -- two points for me here: the...

jQuery took on a common problem and then grew through support

By Mac Slocum
May 8, 2012

Rather than accept the deep flaws of cross-browser functionality, John Resig did something about them. In this video interview from Velocity 2011, Resig discusses his initial goals for jQuery, the complexity of mobile, and why JavaScript has become a critical development tool.


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