Developers: Test your geek cred

Posted on July 28, 2008 by Neil McAllister

Check out InfoWorld today for some more fun. In keeping with some other, recent features, the editors there had me come up with twenty questions to test your app dev savvy. If you have some experience with programming, run through them and see how you score.

This isn’t a test like you took in college. You don’t need specific experience with any one technology or platform, but you should be well-grounded in a variety of development terms and procedures. It’s equal parts history and know-how. You don’t have to program in assembly language, for example, but you do need to know what it is. Think of it as Trivial Pursuit for the hacker set.

My favorite part about this feature was that I got to write a question that involves Forth, a language for which I will always have a soft spot. But that’s the only hint you’ll get from me! Now, off you go.

Linux for the business desktop

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Neil McAllister

I’m proud of my latest article, available now at InfoWorld.com. It seems like every few months that somebody publishes another article asking, “Is Linux ready for the desktop?” We’ve seen the same thing so many times now that it’s become almost a joke. (Is it “the year of desktop Linux” this year, again?)

My article is along a similar theme, but it skips all the familiar hand-wringing and prognosticating. Instead, I look at how a company that has decided to replace some of its Windows desktops with Linux can stop hemming and hawing, start making plans, and actually get down to business. » More... » →

Turning points in technology

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Neil McAllister

Every industry has crucial events that have changed the course of history. My feature article for InfoWorld this week looks at some of the most prominent ones for the tech industry.

Whether it’s Louis Gerstner’s famed turnaround of IBM or Apple ditching the PowerPC for Intel chips, each of the 15 turning points I cover has helped to craft the computing world we know and love today. There are probably countless more that I’ve missed, too, so if you think there’s an area that I’ve failed to cover, sound off about it here or on the InfoWorld message boards.

What’s happening to the browser?

Posted on May 12, 2008 by Neil McAllister

InfoWorld posted my latest feature this morning. This one is a look at some of the new technologies that are now appearing on the market aimed at developers of so-called rich Internet applications (RIAs), including Adobe AIR, Mozilla Prism, and Google Gears.

The title they chose to go with was “Is the browser going nowhere?” (or “Do new Web tools spell doom for the browser?”). I guess sensationalism is always a useful way to sell articles, but the actual article isn’t quite so melodramatic. The idea is that the traditional browser experience might not be ideal for every application on today’s Web, and that a number of companies are addressing the need for new tools. What tomorrow’s browser might look like — or to what extent it might disappear altogether — remains up in the air.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Unsung technology gets its day

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Neil McAllister

Over at PC World, my latest fun feature looks at some of the most important technologies you never think about.

Consider, for example, the humble battery. We all bemoan the fact that our portable devices don’t last long enough (or, occasionally, that they explode). But have you ever stopped to think how advances in battery technology have changed personal technology? Without modern lithium-ion batteries the iPod would hardly be possible, and your mobile phone would still look like a brick.

Among the other technologies given an airing are XML (it really is everywhere); managed code like Java and Microsoft .Net; and the mysterious world of digital signal processing, where incredibly complex mathematics gets packaged into chips to let you play your MP3s. Who knew?

Check it out and let know what you think.

Fatal Exception blog launched

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Neil McAllister

After a few technical glitches at the outset, my new InfoWorld blog is at last online. If you’re interested in the geekier aspects of computing, drop on by and take a gander at the first-ever installment of “Fatal Exception.”

Astute observers will recall that I’ve owned fatalexception.org for some time, so the choice of titles isn’t entirely a coincidence. But it also means something, which I’ve tried to explain in the first post. » More... » →

More bloggery to come

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Neil McAllister

As you’ve no doubt noticed, even though I’m no longer an employee at InfoWorld, I still do a fair amount of work for them. Now it looks like my role there is due to expand even further. Recently I’ve been in contact with the InfoWorld editorial staff, and they’ve extended me the opportunity to launch a new blog on the InfoWorld site.

Expect a bit of a departure from my Neil on Software blog at PC World. Instead, this one will take me back to my roots, looking at news, trends, and issues for software developers, with a particular emphasis on the new generation of “Web 2.0” technologies (hate that term). » More... » →

A strange news day at InfoWorld

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Neil McAllister

InfoWorld is covering a bevvy of bizarre news stories today … I’m really not sure what to make of it all. First, two of my own recent stories were really unexpected. First, it turns out that Dell and Intel will be collaborating on a new project to compete with the OLPC. Then I found out that IBM is expanding its mainframe line with a new product specifically for IBM Global Services customers.

But that’s not all. A lot of other reporters have posted really unusual stories this morning. It’s so confounding that the InfoWorld editors have organized the more dubious items into a special report.

A peek at Ubuntu 8.04

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Neil McAllister

InfoWorld is running my write-up of the beta release next edition of Ubuntu this morning. I’ve covered desktop Linux distributions several times for a number of different publications, and it’s no secret the Ubuntu remains my favorite, though it is still rough around the edges in some important areas.

I’ve avoided criticizing this release too harshly, since it is still only in beta. More than anything, though, I was pleasantly surprised with how generally stable and functional it is, even in this prerelease form. The new installer is particularly interesting, as it allows you to install Ubuntu onto an existing Windows box without re-partitioning your drive. Click on over to InfoWorld to read my full account.

Coming soon: A new PC World blog

Posted on March 12, 2008 by Neil McAllister

I’ll be trying something new, hopefully beginning in the next week or two. The good folks over at PC World’s Business Center are revamping the blogs on their site, and I’ve been tapped to helm a new blog about business software.

This will be a bit different from the hard enterprise-focused coverage I’ve done at InfoWorld in the past. Pitching more toward the PC World demographic, this new blog will aim to cover products of interest to small and midsize businesses, with maybe the occasional enterprise-focused story thrown in for good measure. Productivity applications, security, back office, collaboration and communication, storage software, and even lightweight development apps will all be grist for the mill. » More... » →

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