Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

I was never all that annoyed by the slight lag in the android ui, but this explains whats going on… and now I’m thinking maybe its a decent tradeoff…

It’s not GC pauses. It’s not because Android runs bytecode and iOS runs native code. It’s because on iOS all UI rendering occurs in a dedicated UI thread with real-time priority. On the other hand, Android follows the traditional PC model of rendering occurring on the main thread with normal priority.This is a not an abstract or academic difference. You can see it for yourself. Grab your closest iPad or iPhone and open Safari. Start loading a complex web page like Facebook. Half way through loading, put your finger on the screen and move it around. All rendering instantly stops. The website will literally never load until you remove your finger. This is because the UI thread is intercepting all events and rendering the UI at real-time priority.If you repeat this exercise on Android, you’ll notice that the browser will attempt to both animate the page and render the HTML, and do an ‘ok’ job at both. On Android, this a case where an efficient dual core processor really helps, which is why the Galaxy S II is famous for its smoothness.On iOS when an app is installing from the app store and you put your finger on the screen, the installation instantly pauses until all rendering is finished. Android tries to do both at the same priority, so the frame rate suffers. Once you notice this happening, you’ll see it everywhere on an Android phone. Why is scrolling in the Movies app slow? Because movie cover thumbnails are dynamically added to the movie list as you scroll down, while on iOS they are lazily added after all scrolling stops.

via Andrew Munn – Google+ – Follow up to “Android graphics true facts”, or The Reason….

I always had a hunch about this – now I know that privacy is an issue when you start putting your data in the cloud (or any service provider for that matter):

"IT security staff will be some of the most informed people at the office Christmas party this year. A full 26 per cent of them admit to using their privileged log in rights to look at confidential information they should not have had access to in the first place. It has proved just too tempting, and maybe just human nature, for them to rifle through redundancy lists, payroll information and other sensitive data including, for example, other people’s Christmas bonus details."

via IT Pros Can’t Resist Peeking At Privileged Info – Slashdot.

I had the privliledge of meeting Dr. Tyson a few years back and he’s a great guy… The video interview of him below truly captures the kind of man he is and the messages in his talk are very moving…

A discussion about science, society, and the universe with Stephen Colbert, who is out of character, at the Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey.

via Stephen Colbert Interview – Montclair Kimberley Academy | Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Looks like there’s no reason to keep pennies…

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Photo credit: @marc1919

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Only a ham radio nerd would appreciate this… 🙂

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Got mine here (free shipping!):

http://www.expansys-usa.com/google-nexus-prime-android-smartphone-unlocked-16gb-224148/

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

I’ve been impressed with the job growth in Houston despite the economic downturn…

Houston ahead of Austin, Dallas for high-tech jobs

A study by Forbes magazine places Houston ahead of Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth as a mecca for technology jobs.

via Houston ahead of Austin, Dallas for high-tech jobs – Houston Business Journal.

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Photo credit: @GroundUPHouston

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

I hope they don’t crush the company… looks like management is cashing out – and fast. 🙁

“Fanatical” Insider Sales

Maybe the company’s management team is seeing the same thing I am seeing because if you look at the SEC filings on RAX you’ll see some insiders with itchy trigger fingers. It appears that the only thing more “Fanatical” than their service is the insiders yearning to rid themselves of this company’s shares. In the last 6 months according to Yahoo finance there have been 60 transactions involving 3.5m shares sold. Zero shares have been bought. If you assume an average price of $35 that’s over $120m in six months extracted by management.

In Conclusion

The business model around outsourced Infrastructure Technology is severely flawed. RAX’s current stock valuation (91x tailing EPS and 53x forward, nearly 11x book value and 6x sales) makes this situation perilous. RAX is rapidly expanding and the returns do not justify the spending. The industry is growing more competitive which will relentlessly drive margins lower over long periods of time. This will prove especially deleterious in a down turn. In the short run the ramping up of cap-ex by RAX and competitors represents a dangerous new phase with much higher risks, and an even more inevitable outcome.

via Rackspace: A Poor Business Model That’s Severely Overvalued – Seeking Alpha.

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

I think its funny that if you have on the right gear and just act like you know what you’re doing – that nobody bothers you about it…

A quick glance at the above photo might have you believing that’s the site of a Microsoft Store being constructed; actually, it’s an Apple Store. Yesterday, in the Jungfernstieg section of Hamburg, Germany, a group going by the name of ".WAV Collective" apparently vandalized the soon-to-be Apple retail location. They casually went up to the building posing as a team of construction workers, cordoned off a work site, and proceeded to screw pre-made panels, forming a Windows logo, to the side of the store’s black veil — all in broad daylight. Looks like the old question of Mac vs. PC just got a bit more confusing over in Europe. Don’t believe us? Have a look at the collective’s own video recap of the events posted after the break.

via Windows logo planted on upcoming Apple Store in Germany (video) — Engadget.

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba

Posted by richardyoo on Natuba