Practical Technology

for practical people.

December 9, 2011
by sjvn01
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Android’s Revenge on Apple’s iPhone & iPad

I wonder if Apple is beginning to regret its world-wide war on Android and Samsung? After all, Apple’s just been hit in the chops by a German court injunction that blocks the sale of all iPhones and iPads in the European Union.

In yet another chapter in the mobile patent wars, this time around Android-power Motorola Mobility, soon to belong to Google, used a patent to smash the competition. Considering how Apple is using design and software patents to try to crush its rivals, I have to say I don’t think it could happen to a nicer company.

That said, the patent in question, Method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system is another perfect of a stupid software patent. Just like Apple is trying to block anyone from creating a phone or tablet that’s rectangular in shape because it would breech their “unique” designs, this bit of intellectual property (IP) blackmail material has nothing unique about it.

Read U.S. Patent No. 6,359,898 and its European Union equivalent, EP1010336 (B1) ? 2003-03-19 for yourself. It describes a way to perform a countdown function over a 3G connection. You know, “Ten seconds to complete your download, three, two, one, download complete.”

Oh yeah, that’s a unique idea alright.

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December 8, 2011
by sjvn01
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Red Hat moves into Big Data with Storage Software Appliance

One of the reasons why Red Hat will be the first billion dollar open-source company is that the company has also looked beyond just Linux to what you can do with Linux on the cloud and thin-client desktops; Java Enterprise Edition and now, with the release of Red Hat Storage Software Appliance, big data.

Big data you ask? Businesses have recently woken up to the fact that, according to IBM we’re being deluged with big data. “Everyday, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data-so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. This data comes from everywhere: from sensors used to gather climate information, posts to social media sites, digital pictures and videos posted online, transaction records of online purchases, and from cell phone GPS signals to name a few. This data is big data.”

So how do you manage that level of data? In Red Hat’s case, you buy Gluster, an open-source storage solutions, and use it to build a big data software product built on Linux. As Red Hat stated in its press release, Red Hat Storage Software Appliance “extends the Red Hat solution portfolio with industry-leading capability for managing the storage of unstructured data.”

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December 7, 2011
by sjvn01
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Opera 11.6: Better but not good enough (Review)

I want to like Opera. I really do. But, while this version is a step up from where it’s been, it’s still just not as good as its competition: Chrome, Internet Explorer, or even the beleaguered Firefox, are simply better.

On the plus side, Opera 11.6, which is available as a free download for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, has a new HTML5 parser, code-named Ragnarök. For users, this will mean that Opera does well with HTML5 encoded Web pages. Still, its HTML5 compatibility score, 325 out of a possible 450 lags behind Chrome 15.

The user interface also comes with a new default tab page: “Speed Dial.” This displays thumbnail images and link of your favorite sites. It’s nice, but Chrome and the latest versions of the other Web browsers already have it. In another similar “following the pack” move, Opera’s settings dialogs are now reached via the “wrench” button.

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December 6, 2011
by sjvn01
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The Ethernet Switch market explodes and Cisco wins

Before it disappeared into Oracle, Sun’s motto was “The network is the computer.” They didn’t know the half of it. According to IDC’s latest worldwide router market report, the worldwide Ethernet switch market reached record revenues of $5.9 billion in the third quarter of 2011. In particular, the 3Q11 results showed exceptional Ethernet switch market performance in the Asia/Pacific region, which increased 27.8% year over year and now accounts for 25.8% of worldwide revenue. Can you say explosive growth? I knew you could.

We’re used to think of North America and Europe as being the center of the Internet, but in a statement, Rohit Mehra, IDC’s director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure said, “After a weaker than expected first half of 2011, the Ethernet switch market rebounded strongly this quarter largely on the basis of healthy demand in the Asia/Pacific region. China experienced remarkable 44.1% year-over-year growth this quarter, but other countries in the region also showed exceptional growth. Australia, Korea, and India, for example, all ended the quarter with 27-30% annual gains, further reaffirming the continued relevance of network infrastructure within enterprise IT.”

In particular, 10Gibabit Ethernet (10GbE) growth has exploded. Since its standardization in 2002 10GbE has been becoming the high-speed interconnect of choice for Internet backbones and metropolitan and wide area networks (MANs and WANs). IDG’s numbers show this with 10GbE switch revenue having increased 29.9% year over year and 99.0% in port shipments due to continued adoption in datacenters and campus core deployments. 10GbE port shipments grew to a record 2.09 million ports in the quarter.

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December 6, 2011
by sjvn01
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Finding a Linux Job

So you want a Linux job do you? Well, according to The Linux Foundation, the jobs are out there. Specifically, Linux jobs are divided up almost evenly between developer, 53% and system administrator. 47%, jobs.

Amanda McPherson, the Linux Foundation’s vice president of marketing and developer programs, told me, “The Linux jobs market is booming, and we’re doing a variety of things to understand what skills are most in demand and how we can help address that opportunity for our corporate and individual members and with things like our Linux Training courses. The data we’ve surfaced from our Jobs Board really reflects the importance of common programming languages, as well as areas of great success for Linux–such as Android. Mobile and embedded development skills are extremely valuable in today’s market. If you can work on security, power management and integration at the device level, you’re well prepared for this burgeoning area of Linux development.”

In particular, Android, and Java, the language that goes with it, is in enormous demand.

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