Intro to Amazon DynamoDB

This article presents a nice intro to Amazon DynamoDB. And, you'll also learn that "NoSQL" doesn't mean "Not SQL" but "Not Only SQL" :-D

Windows 10 Pro SP 1511 upgrade warning

Heads up! If you have the built-in Administrator account enabled, make sure you add a standard account on the PC to the Administrators group before upgrading to Windows Service Pack 1511 (Build 10586.318). The SP doesn't respect the existing Administrator account status, and resets it to the default of "disabled", potentially locking you out of Administrative access to the PC! However, if you have another account added to the Administrators group beforehand, you can correct this after the fact. But if not, you are up the proverbial creek! This only applies to Windows 10 Professional Edition, not the Home Edition, which has no built-in Administrator account anyway.

Note: I've heard it said that it may be possible to boot into Safe Mode and logon as Administrator that way, regardless of whether the account's disabled or not, but I haven't personally tried it out to confirm.

New approaches to Unified Network Management

I've noticed a recent trend among wireless equipment companies to provide both cloud-based and premises-based management mechanisms for campus wireless networks. There are advantages and disadvantages to both; cloud offering "easy management from anywhere" and easy scaling and support, on-premises providing direct control to the network should cloud access drop or become otherwise unavailable.

Now, Netgear has taken the bull by the horns and is offering networking management that will use whatever model, or combination of models, the customer prefers. They obviously "get it!" I expect to see more vendors moving in this direction, too.

Upgrading to Windows 10? View this first!

If you'll be doing an on-line upgrade to Windows 10, make sure you view this video produced by the Mozilla team with tips on how to configure Win 10 to protect your privacy, reduce unnecessary use of system resources, and to specify which default apps and services you prefer.

The evolution of human-machine interaction

Anyone who's used a mouse & keyboard for over a decade knows that this method of human-machine interaction is growing more clunky and burdensome with each passing year. It's only a matter of time before better (or at least complementary) systems emerge, sort of like when drawing tablets, handwriting / speech detection, and optical character recognition systems first appeared on the scene.

So what will the future of human-machine interaction (HMI) look like?

We already have some possible prognostications available. Wearable Tech being one (e.g., Google Glass and Apple Watch), and gesture-based technology being another. And given that the Big G and the Big A are researching, investing in, and developing both, it's not a stretch to conclude that we will see both emerging alongside conventional keyboard & mouse interaction soon.

Other technologies that will likely influence HMI refinement: Natural Language recognition (speech) and immersive Virtual Reality (VR).

Meshed up

Here's an interesting article about the development of low-power wide area networks for monitoring water conservation and facilitating irrigation management. I just hope they don't directly feed it back to the grid controllers, since if someone or something hacks it, it could literally unleash a flood - not to mention wasting valuable water on a grand scale.

Net fragged!

I've invented a new term, "Net fragged".

There's a site for this, and a site for that. And now, there's a site for that, too! I can't even remember where I bookmarked that site I was doing something on last month?! Sheesh. Net fragged!
 
You heard it here, first :-)

New Programming Paradigms

Functional Programming and Reactive Programming are new paradigms that are taking the software community by storm. The use of functional programming languages such as Scala have moved well beyond "research only" circles within the academic community to growing adoption for special tasks in industry.  Functional programming techniques and languages are sort of like "a new wave" following Object Oriented Programming (although the two paradigms are complementary, not competitive).

Use rsync on Linux/Mac to move data fast

Here's how to use rsync(1) on a Mac or Linux to move data fast:

rsync –achv[n] {local-dir} {remote-hostname}:{remote-dir}

This will sync the contents of {local-dir} to remote-hostname, {remote-dir}. If you supply the –n option (noted in the square brackets above), it will do a *dry-run only* showing you what will be done – but not yet doing it (very handy to confirm you will be copying the desired stuff to the desired remote location first).

Works for git clones, and any other directories, too. If you want to delete files that exist on {remote-dir} but not {local-dir}, add the delete-after parameter (with two leading dashes), like this:

rsync –achv[n] —delete-after {local-dir} {remote-hostname}:{remote-dir}

Transfers are generally done over ssh, so you’ll have to supply your password when prompted for it.

Rsync can pull as well as push, meaning you can reverse the positions of {local-dir} and {remote-hostname}:{remote-dir}, too. You can even use it to copy files to a different location on the local host if desired, too. Plus it’s very efficient at moving data quickly :-)

2014 Disruptors from CNBC

Some interesting and disruptive companies profiled in this CNBC article.