Archive

There's no denying the growing impact of open source software in today's business landscape, but for those who want additional proof of the open approach's viability, there's OpenStax College. Since 2012, the initiative has been producing peer-reviewed open source textbooks under a Creative Commons ...

When I absolutely must cross the Great Divide separating the Windows partition from Linuxland on a computer in the workplace, Paragon's Universal File System Driver in ExtFS comes to my rescue.

Voxer Pro Business turns your smartphone into a walkie-talkie. Smartphone walkie-talkies are not new, of course -- Nextel, which got swallowed by Sprint, used to offer a unique push-to-talk, or PTT, walkie-talkie cellphone feature called "Direct Connect." Nextel's simulated half-duplexing service mi...

Server-side Linux has been pushing into the enterprise for some years now, and 42 percent of respondents to a survey conducted on behalf of Linux vendor SUSE said it was either their primary server OS or one of their top server platforms. Perhaps more importantly, Linux is extending its reach beyond...

"Enigma" may be the nickname of the latest release of the Netrunner Linux distro, but there's actually nothing enigmatic about it. In fact, Netrunner 13.06 -- also known as "Netrunner 5" -- delivers one of the most satisfying out-of-the-box desktop experiences I have had in quite some time. I spend ...

Uber-industrialist Elon Musk on Monday released the alpha plans for his proposed Hyperloop high-speed travel system between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Hyperloop will consist of streamlined capsules riding like hovercraft on an air cushion in a steel tube with solar arrays on its roof to prov...

Cloud storage technologies and Big Data are driving rapid industry growth. Cloud storage developed around three model options: Infrastructure as a Service; Platform as a Service; and Software as a Service. Merging with these cloud service models are technologies providing cloud computing space and c...

If you find yourself bashing away on your Android device and maxing it to the hilt with numerous background-running apps, there's a good chance you've encountered freezes and slowdowns. As PC makers can attest, we're using our Android and other newer devices as laptop substitutes these days, and thr...

The discussion and debate over open source cloud software's compatibility with cloud leader Amazon's proprietary APIs was just beginning when the 451 Group released "The OpenStack Tipping Point" in April. With the advancement of the OpenStack software and community -- along with lingering questions ...

Looking for an everything-included Linux distro designed for people who are just transitioning to Linux? Need an OS specifically tailored for students? Then look no further than UberStudent. I have used countless Linux distros, many with features for specialty users such as writers, artists and musi...

For many database practitioners, Hadoop is turning the tables on the relational database model. The rise of Big Data is driving what some see as a much-needed change in the platforms that process the massive infusions of aggregated raw data. Take for example, Cloudera founder and Chief Strategy Offi...

If you read my columns regularly, you'll know that I'm a second-screen proponent. For those unfamiliar with the dual-screen concept, it suggests that tablet or phone often accompanies big-screen television watching, resting on the viewer's knee and acting as a two-way, interactive, Internet-connecte...

Politics may make for strange bedfellows, but there's no comparison to the match-ups that occur in the business world. Consider this: Mozilla, which has been flexing its muscles of late and pushing into the smartphone business and foreign markets, announced on Wednesday that it has teamed up with th...

Korora Linux has the potential to grow in popularity among users looking for a better, more user-friendly Linux distro that reaches beyond Fedora's enterprise appeal. Korora 19, released on July 2, is an interesting Linux OS based on Fedora, the community version of parent company Red Hat's Enterpri...

NoSQL might well be called "the little database engine that could." It is quietly proving it is on track as Big Data transitions to cloud-based data storage and management. NoSQL is increasingly considered a viable alternative to relational databases, but it is still a relatively small category in a...