Author: Dr. Bill

Our old buddy, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, at ZDnet has a great article on the announcement about Apache’s new version.

Apache releases first major new version of popular Web server in six years

“The Apache Software Foundation has just announced the release version 2.4 of its award-winning Apache HTTP Server. This is the first major release of the Apache Web server in more than six years. Long before the release of Apache 2.2 in December 1st, 2005 though, Apache was already the most popular Web server in the world. Today Apache powers almost 400 million Web sites.

‘It is with great pleasure that we announce the availability of Apache HTTP Server 2.4′, said Eric Covener, Vice President of the Apache HTTP Server Project in a statement. “This release delivers a host of evolutionary enhancements throughout the server that our users, administrators, and developers will welcome. We’ve added many new modules in this release, as well as broadened the capability and flexibility of existing features.’

The Foundation claims that numerous enhancements make Apache HTTP Server v2.4 ideally suited for Cloud environments. These include:

• Improved performance (lower resource utilization and better concurrency)
• Reduced memory usage
• Asyncronous I/O support
• Dynamic reverse proxy configuration
• Performance on par, or better, than pure event-driven Web servers
• More granular timeout and rate/resource limiting capability
• More finely-tuned caching support, tailored for high traffic servers and proxies.
Additional Apache 2.4 features include easier problem analysis, improved configuration flexibility, more powerful authentication and authorization, and documentation overhaul.

It’s that first point, improved performance, that most users have been waiting for. While Apache has remained very popular, many users have wanted a faster Web server.

This update has been long expected, but it couldn’t come at a better time for Apache. In recent months NGINX, a low-latency, high-performance Web server, has flown by Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) to become the world’s number two Web server. While it seems unlikely that NGINX could overcome Apache’s commanding lead, NGINX has recently started to offer commercial support and is growing in popularity compared to both Apache and IIS in recent months.”

Apple is integrating iCloud, their Cloud Computing platform, into OS/X “Mountain Lion”… and now, Microsoft is announcing that they will incorporate their SkyDrive into Windows 8!

Microsoft confirms SkyDrive app for Windows 8

“SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage product, will be get a Metro-style app with Windows 8, the company announced today.

SkyDrive will also get a desktop app for Internet Explorer and the ability to fetch remote files from the Web, the software giant revealed on its Building Window 8 blog.

Microsoft intends for SkyDrive to ‘evolve with Windows 8 from a website today into a true device cloud for Windows customers,’ Mike Torres and Omar Shahine, group program managers for SkyDrive, wrote in the post. ‘With Windows 8, we wanted to make sure that your files would be instantly available and up-to-date as you move between PCs–without configuring add-ons or using a USB drive.’

‘This will bring a file cloud to every Metro style app, allowing you to open files in your SkyDrive and save them right back to your SkyDrive just like you would on your local hard drive,’ the pair writes.

The desktop app will allow ‘easy drag-and-drop upload and download support for SkyDrive, anywhere access to your data, offline access, and the power of Windows Explorer to manage your files and folders.’”

The evolution of the Windows logo is interesting. I guess my originally being an Art major in college makes me more interested in this than some. But hey, it is kinda neat to see where we have been, and where we are going! See the full story at the link below to see the logos and the story!

Redesigning the Windows Logo

“We have said that Windows 8 is a complete reimagination of the Windows operating system. Nothing has been left unexplored, including the Windows logo, to evaluate how it held up to modern PC sensibilities. The Windows logo is a strong and widely recognized mark but when we stepped back and analyzed it, we realized an evolution of our logo would better reflect our Metro style design principles and we also felt there was an opportunity to reconnect with some of the powerful characteristics of previous incarnations.

We had a very short list of agencies that we wanted to work with on the redesign of the logo and were thrilled when Pentagram agreed to join us in the project. Pentagram’s illustrious history speaks for itself, but we were particularly attracted to their sense of classic graphic design which fit well with our Metro design principles.

Early in the development cycle for Windows 8, in a conference room on the Microsoft campus, we assembled a kick off meeting with Paula Scher, Michael Beirut and Daniel Weil from Pentagram and a few designers and marketing leaders from Windows and across the company. The team spent a full day sharing some of the Metro style design philosophy; the Windows brand history and values as well as graphic design and technology industry trends.”

YES! USA Today had an article that combines two of my favorite things, Space, and Angry Birds! How cool is that?

‘Angry Birds’ blast off into ‘Space’

“Having conquered smartphones and tablets, the hit casual title Angry Birds ventures off to a new frontier: Space.

Studio Rovio has announced they will launch the game Angry Birds Space on March 22.

According to a blog post on Rovio’s official website, Angry Birds Space is a “completely new game with innovative new gameplay, but with some of the familiar Angry Birds elements that fans already know and love.”

The post says the game will launch “simultaneously in mobile gaming, animation, retail and publishing,” but it does not provide details on which devices will support it.

Angry Birds Space already has an official website with an image of a slingshot on the Moon overlooking Earth.

With the game moving into space, it begs the question whether gravity will play a role in the physics-based game, which requires players to wipe out a group of enemy pigs by flinging birds with a slingshot.

And the shift in location seems appropriate considering its meteoric rise following launch in 2009 for Apple’s iOS platform. Last November, Rovio revealed the franchise had crossed a half-billion downloads.”

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