DrDobbs Portal Blog

Communitites and the Networks that Define Them

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:11:18 -0500

That place where people, places, and things intersect is usually referred to as a "community." It doesn't matter what kind of people, places, and things we're talking about, it's still a community, and social networks are simply the most recent incarnation. One thing disparate communities share, at least according to Weixiong Zhang, a Washington University associate professor of computer science and engineering and of genetics, and Jianhua Ruan, a faculty member in Department of Computer Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, are networks within communities that define the community's structure.

Communities and the Networks That Define Them

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:07:34 -0500

That place where people, places, and things intersect is usually referred to as a "community." It doesn't matter what kind people, places, and things we're talking about, it's still a community, and social networks are simply the most recent incarnation. One thing disparate communities share, at least according to , Weixiong Zhang, a Washington University associate professor of computer science and engineering and of genetics, and Jianhua Ruan, a faculty member in Department of Computer Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, are networks within communities that define the community's structure.

BEE3: Microsoft, FPGAs, and the Future of Computer Architectures

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:03:26 -0500

Microsoft is supposed to be all about software, right?. After all, Gates and Allen didn't start off by calling the company "Microhard". But from time to time, hardware still pops up. The Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft Keyboard, and other devices come to mind. But this time around, Microsoft is going big-time hardware with a hardware platform called BEE3.

Jolt Award Winners Announced

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:25:45 -0500

Dr. Dobb's has announced the winners of the 18th annual Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards at the SD West 2008 conference. The Jolt Awards recognize those products, books, and websites that have "jolted" the industry in the past year. Winners are selected by a panel of judges consisting of industry insiders, columnists, and technology leaders. This year's winners include:

SD West 2008 Underway; Beautiful Code First Up

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:51:31 -0500

SD West 2008 is underway for me this evening. Actually, if I had gotten up earlier this morning, it might have been underway for me a lot sooner. However, sleeping-in made it possible for me to save up all my energy for this evening's panel discussion on "Beautiful Code." Not that I needed a lot of energy -- the panel participants did all the heavy lifting for me, which means that I didn't have to do a whole lot once I had them introduce themselves.

ROBOTC: A Programming Environment for Robotics

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:53:04 -0500

Does robotics need or require a special-purpose development environment? Apparently the folks at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Academy think so. Which is why they developed ROBOTC, a programming environment optimized for educational robots.

Taking Care of Business, or I'll Be the One With the Hang-dog Look

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:46:22 -0500

There are two things to cover today:

Cars and Cell Phones: Maybe They're Not So Bad After All

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:49:47 -0500

Wait a minute! Make up your mind! For years now, we've been hearing that cell phones and automobiles don't mix (or, as Microsoft might say, they don't Sync up). Now all of a sudden, its okay to have cell phones in your car, at least according to researchers at Nokia and the University of California at Berkeley.

Python In the News

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:32:37 -0500

There's been a lot going on with Python--and a lot yet to come. For instance:

China Moving Up? I Wish I Had Read this First

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:40:41 -0500

I wish I had read this first. Not that it would have changed anything about my recent Coffee, Tea, or C++ editorial. No, but it might have given me more grist for the mill.

Craigslist Returns a Favor, or Another Programmer Heard From

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:33:42 -0500

It's not every day that a famous person crosses my path, but about a year ago I was able to shake hands with Craig Newmark, as in "Craigslist." The event was the SD West 2007 conference, where Craig was co-hosting the Jolt Awards and I was backstage going crazy trying to set a Second Life session with Grady Booch. Alas, with all the craziness, I didn't get the opportunity to sit down and smell the coffee with Craig and I've regretted it ever since.

Snowflakes, Snowfakes, and Boy Am I In Trouble Again

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:25:27 -0500

Sitting here watching my wife shovel snow, I'm wondering why Janko Gravner, a mathematics professor at the University of California-Davis, and David Griffeath, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, went to all of the trouble of simulating 3-dimensional snowflakes (they call them "snowfakes") when there's plenty of the real stuff being shoveled outside.

Accidental Algorithms, Or Do We Have Time for Another Cup of Coffee?

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:25:14 -0500

Always one for a cup of joe, it was the headline "coffee-break criterion" that led me to stop and read Brian Hayes' article Accidental Algorithms in the current issue of American Scientist. You know what the coffee-break criterion is, right? According to Brian "a computation is slow if it's not finished when you come back from a coffee break." Clearly Brian has never gone on a coffee break with me.

Dr. Dobb's Process Framework Survey: Come On In, the Water's Fine!

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:26:16 -0500

Everybody loves a survey, right? And that's just one reason why we're inviting you to participate in Dr. Dobb's 2008 Process Framework Survey on or before January 15, 2008.

And Be Sure to Turn Off the Lights...

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:55:51 -0500

It's common knowledge that datacenters are hogs, at least when it comes to energy consumption. But it is only recently that we're finding out how big a hog they really are.