DevTopics

Court Finds Non-Compete Clauses Invalid

timm — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:26:45 +0000

In a ruling that's likely to send shock waves throughout the technology industry, the California Supreme Court upheld a 136-year-old state law against non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The ruling says that employers cannot restrict employees from working for a competitor or soliciting former clients once they leave the company.

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Beerware Software License

timm — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:05:56 +0000

Beerware is software that is released under a very liberal license. The Beerware license provides the end user with the right to use a software program and its source code for any purpose. Should the user ever meet the program's author, the user is encouraged to buy the author a beer.

The term was invented by John Bristor in 1987. Many variations have been implemented, including the short and sweet Beerware license by Poul-Henning Kamp:

/*
 * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * "THE BEER-WARE LICENSE" (Revision 42):
 *  wrote this file. As long as you retain this notice you
 * can do whatever you want with this stuff. If we meet some day, and you think
 * this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return Poul-Henning Kamp
 * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 */

Source: Wikipedia

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Survey Says Enterprises Reject Windows Vista "Like New Coke"

timm — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:19:14 +0000

Forrester Research Inc. has released the results of a new survey which shows that fewer than 9% of the PCs being used in large enterprises run Windows Vista. Of the 50,000 enterprise users surveyed, 87.1% were still running Windows XP at the end of June, compared to 8.8% for Vista.

According to Forrester author Thomas Mendel, that statistic implies that the majority of enterprise PCs that upgraded to Vista were running older versions of Windows, such as Windows 98 or 2000, and there have been very few upgrades to Vista from XP.

"Vista is 'new Coke,'" Mendel wrote, comparing Microsoft's premier operating system to the soft drink marketing fiasco. Mendel added that enterprises still on the fence about Vista would be wise to "consider following the lead of Microsoft's important partner Intel and re-evaluate the case of Vista."

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Venture Capital Funding Flat

timm — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:03:16 +0000

No surprise given the sluggish economy, but venture capital (VC) funding for U.S. startup companies remained flat in the second quarter. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), venture capitalists invested $7.4 billion in 990 deals.

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D'oh! Hackers Take Over Simpson's Fans' PCs

timm — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:41:53 +0000

If you're one of thousands of Simpsons fans who added ChunkyLover53 as an AOL Instant Messenger buddy, your computer may be at risk from a Turkish botnet.

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Programmer's Creed

timm — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:49:05 +0000

A creed is a statement of belief or faith often recited as part of a religious service or organizational gathering. The word "creed" derives from the Latin credo (I believe) or credimus (we believe). Perhaps the oldest is Apostle's Creed cited in Christianity. However, the Rifleman's Creed is arguably the most famous, made popular by the Stanley Kubrick war movie "Full Metal Jacket" (warning: language). This has inspired me (with tongue planted firmly in cheek) to write a creed for our noble profession of software development.

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Software Engineer Hijacks San Francisco Computer Network

timm — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:44:00 +0000

A disgruntled computer engineer working for the City of San Francisco apparently seized control of a new multimillion-dollar computer system. Police arrested Terry Childs, 43, on four charges of computer tampering. Authorities say Childs hacked the city's new FiberWAN (Wide Area Network), which stores official emails, payroll records, confidential law enforcement documents, and jail bookings. Childs locked the entire system and created a password that gives him exclusive access.

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How Your Color Printer and Little Yellow Dots May Ruin Your Privacy

timm — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:36:15 +0000

In the "old days" of typewriters, forensic scientists could match a ransom note to the typewriter that produced it to apprehend the kidnappers. This was possible because microscopic differences in the metal letters produced a "typographical fingerprint" that could be identified from any page printed on that typewriter.

As a result, it became fashionable to produce ransom notes with disparate letters cut from a magazine, such as:

Today, computer printers are highly precise instruments that make it nearly impossible to distinguish between pages printed on the same brand printer. However, an article in USA Today describes how many color laser printers leave microscopic yellow dots on each printed page to identify the printer's serial number and ultimately, you.

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Software Millionaire Missing in Hawaii

timm — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:38:46 +0000

The millionaire founder of an Internet software security company has gone missing in Hawaii following months of bizarre behavior. Steven Thomas, 36, was last seen June 30 at a Waikiki hotel.

Thomas and ex-girlfiend Kirsten Talley founded Webroot Software in Boulder, Colorado in 1997. Thomas wrote Spy Sweeper and Window Washer programs. The pair sold their stake for $108 million to venture capitalists in December 2004. They split the proceeds and parted ways. Thomas then moved to O'ahu, where he bought a beachfront home. His net worth is estimated to be around $50 million.

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Goodbye, World

timm — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:15:21 +0000

From Dragon Tails by Tim Dawson

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