OmniNerd

Compiled PHP for Speed

VnutZ — Mon Feb 08 11:25:56 -0600 2010

Every programmer knows (should know) that interpreted languages are the poorest performers in the speed game. Unfortunately, just about all of the web these days is powered by interpreted languages like Ruby and PHP. Their performance hit is a fact hidden to most users because CPU’s interpreting text is still generally faster than the Internet lag between user and host. One of the most dominant sites out there these days has attempted to do something about that, by creating HipHop, a compiler for PHP that converts logic into C++ whereupon a compiler/linker generates binary code. The company claims that performance gains cut server loads by nearly 50%, a factor that can allow smaller server farms to handle the same load (a reduction in energy, hardware and support personnel).

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Google Cozying up with the NSA

VnutZ — Thu Feb 04 16:04:47 -0600 2010

China has been a thorn in the cyberdefense of the United States for quite some time – (refer to various leaks about Titan Rain case studies). While the tit for tat between the governments has been going on for years, public companies like Google are now beginning to feel the heat from Chinese hackers. The mega-giant search engine has already announced plans to change their policies towards business with China; it’s their latest move that has watchdogs scratching their heads over the lesser evil. If Google had done nothing and maintained business as usual with China, people would cry foul over violating their “do no evil” policy. However, in taking a stand against China, Google tempts privacy advocates by partnering with the National Security Agency to use their computing professionals to improve security for the company and its users. This wouldn’t be the NSA’s first partnership with the search and email datacenters of a software giant. In The Shadow Factory, author James Bamford outlines a facility partnership between the NSA and Microsoft for information awareness programs, an arrangement Google was hesitant to enter into before without safeguards.

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Apple and Microsoft: A Tale of Two Companies

Jackson — Wed Feb 03 15:54:33 -0600 2010

Background

In the 80s, we had Apples at school and a PC (186, baby) at home. I remember loving the games I played on the Apple ][’s at school and enjoying the experience of a windows-based environment as opposed to the command line DOS I was using at home.

Then things changed. Steve Jobs left, Apple went to hell ¹ and Microsoft went to… what do you call a place where Microsoft is really happy, but no one else is? I think I’ll call it the 90s.

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Finally, the Death of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6?

markmcb — Tue Feb 02 15:23:41 -0600 2010

I just received an email from Google that brought a tear to my web-developer-eye:

“In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. … As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

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Chimpanzee Movies

VnutZ — Mon Feb 01 11:48:01 -0600 2010

CritterCams are usually entertaining ventures for owners to know what their pets are up to. (I know I’m intrigued to use this to figure out where my stupid cat goes all day). But primatologist Betsy Herrelko is taking the concept into the professional domain by teaching chimpanzees to use hardened, chimp-proof video equipment and then allow them to carry it about in order to learn about their behaviors from the inside. She noted their behavior towards the equipment changed over time with their fascinations ranging from watching each other play with it to their selection of video feeds on a touchscreen. But eventually they began to carry the camera around and would periodically watch it’s own playback; Herrelko doubts they understood it was a replay of their world but hopes that getting the chimp’s eye view will bring new insights into their world. A compilation of the videos were aired on BBC’s Natural World program in late January.

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Preferred video entertainment vector?

mikeforbes — Mon Feb 01 05:47:05 -0600 2010

Cast Your Vote - Preferred video entertainment vector?

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OmniNerd Version 5

markmcb — Sun Jan 31 17:45:22 -0600 2010

Welcome to OmniNerd Version 5. We’ve implemented a completely new color scheme, changed the header and front page layout, and even added a little dose of Twitter into the mix. We got a lot of negative feedback regarding the v4 layout to include things like “not intuitive,” “too blue,” and “too much going on.” Our response is v5, which we hope is more intuitive, color balanced, and simple.

Shades of Orange and Brown

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NTVDM Flaw Allows Takeover of all 32bit Windows Systems

VnutZ — Sun Jan 31 04:52:47 -0600 2010

Virtualization is all the rage in computing these days, but it’s a very old concept. On consumer PCs, hardware support for 16bit virtualization goes back as far as the 80s when the i386 chips were introduced by Intel. There were applications that took advantage of the subsystem but it wasn’t until the launch of the 32bit versions of the Windows operating system that the mode was really used – for emulating a 16bit environment virtually to support old DOS applications. Apparently not much has changed in the code for VDM (Virtual DOS Mode) within Windows as a recently discovered stack manipulation bug allows a console application to spawn new processes with full system privileges. Affecting everything from NT through Windows 7, the bug is easy to avoid by disabling the ability to use NTVDM.

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Bin Laden weighs in on Climate Change

Jackson — Fri Jan 29 12:21:33 -0600 2010

Well, the argument can now be settled. Osama bin Laden has released a new audiotape criticizing the US for its failure to halt climate change. He said:

All of the industrialized countries, especially the big ones, bear responsibility for the global warming crisis

Asked for his reasons in entering the climate change fray, he responded “it’s getting pretty hot running around the mountains in these robes all the time.”

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DirecTV vs Comcast: Economic Analysis

Brandon — Thu Jan 28 23:36:46 -0600 2010

Like millions of others, I was recently involved in the cable vs satellite TV debacle. I’ve never had satellite TV before, but a glossy ad from DirecTV was promoting a deal that could give me much more than what I was getting with the budget, local cable company I was using – and for less money.

Before I made the full-out change, however, I looked up the High Definition (HD) service competition (at least for my area): Comcast. My basis of comparison is was one HD Digital Video Recorder (DVR), one Standard Definition (SD) receiver (not a DVR), and no non-free movie channels. Here are the two offers:

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Apple iPad

VnutZ — Thu Jan 28 11:04:47 -0600 2010

So what are people’s thoughts on the Apple’s unveiling of their new product, the iPad? The company focused it’s presentation around the simplicity of the device to just integrate itself into your daily life. Highlights included their book reader software along with newer versions of their mail, calendar and “life” apps designed to be used with natural multi-touch gestures.

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I adhere to the urinal code of Man Law?

VnutZ — Mon Dec 14 04:27:29 -0600 2009

Cast Your Vote - I adhere to the urinal code of Man Law?

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Most common method for software installation?

markmcb — Sun Nov 29 23:08:08 -0600 2009

Cast Your Vote - Most common method for software installation?

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Best part of Thanksgiving?

VnutZ — Mon Nov 23 09:07:27 -0600 2009

Cast Your Vote - Best part of Thanksgiving?

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OmniNerd should have more content about?

VnutZ — Mon Nov 02 04:29:04 -0600 2009

Cast Your Vote - OmniNerd should have more content about?

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