Rack is an interface between web servers and Ruby web frameworks. The HTTP protocol, amongst other things, defines requirements on HTTP caches in terms of header fields that control cache behavior. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a possible implementation of a piece of Rack Middleware which enables web application developers to configure a web application’s resource cache related headers in a non obtrusive, centralized manner. Rack supports the notion of Middleware, pieces of code that sit between the HTTP request and response life...Read More »

The use of an HTTP accelerator such as Varnish or Squid in reverse proxy/accelerator mode can drastically improve a web application’s content delivery capabilities. Successfully implementing caching comes with numerous challenges but the fundamental goal is straightforward: A stack’s dynamic content generating layer should ideally not have to generate the same content more than once. require "rubygems" require "sinatra" def guitars @@guitars ||= ['Les Paul', 'SG'] end get "/guitars" do guitars * ', ' end This application exposes a /guitars resource, a request for which will always hit the application server if no caching has...Read More »

Performing computations in parallel is a popular technique for improving application performance and can be achieved in a number of ways, most commonly by employing threads or by splitting workload in a number of concurrent processes. Memory usage is often a headache with large dataset computations. While memory optimization is something to be sought after, tracking down memory leaks can become tedious and time consuming. We can decrease the chances of a heavy job running a system’s memory dry by coming up with a strategy for fragmenting the job into a number of shorter running processes. By doing so, any memory...Read More »

Twitter will trial Account Verification for celebs and other individuals, but businesses will have to wait for the service. Full published article at: Read More »

Fujitsu updates SMB range Fujitsu is applying the ETERNUS brand to the CentricStor and FibreCat storage products from the now-ended Fujitsu/Siemens Computers joint venture, and introducing an Eternus DX array for small and medium enterprises.… Full published article at: Read More »

Not content with introducing a version of the M8.2 for the great outdoors, Leica has also produced a camouflaged take on one of its lower-priced models too, the Leica D-Lux 4 Safari Edition. Cheaper than the recent D-Lux 4 Titan limited edition, the 10.1-megpixel Safari Edition has much the same by way of features (except for the titanium case of course), so expect an overlarge 1/1.63" CCD image sensor, 3-inch LCD screen, manual and automatic operation, various scene modes, and the option to capture both RAW images and do a spot of movie recording. Perfect for capturing...Read More »

The Palm Pre is the Boston Red Sox of smartphones. The Red Sox won the first “World Series” championship in 1903. Palm’s first product, the Palm Pilot 1000, was the first populist handheld device. Then what happened? The Red Sox closed an 86-year losing streak by barely squeezing out a championship to the dominant New York Yankees. Palm finally ended a seven-year drought (essentially 86 tech years) from their last major OS release, Palm OS 5 in 2002, by releasing the Palm Pre, a phone that may be the most exciting device this year.   Palm Pre hotlinks: - Photo...Read More »

Dave Bailey, Computing, Monday 8 June 2009 at 16:54:00 Hosted media environment keeps fans in the picture – and referees on the ball As ICT senior manager for the Union of European Football Association's (UEFA) media technologies, Daniel Marion has the task of ensuring a compelling online football service is delivered to both fans and broadcasters. Computing talked to Marion about how UEFA delivers content to the fanatical masses of European football supporters, and his take on the technology behind its services. What requirements does UEFA have from its IT function? Daniel Marion: Like every...Read More »

Chinese gadget maker In Technology Group has scored a rather impressive World’s First with its XPPhone handset.   As bright sparks amongst you may have guessed from the name and this article’s header, XPPhone run Windows XP. And it’s a phone. With OQO now out of the runnings, we’ve had an absurdly small computer shaped hole in our lives; one which XPPhone can now fill, throwing in voice calls and text messages into the bargain.   So just what kind of performance can you expect from this pocketable XP machine? Well, XPPhone has an AMD Super Mobile CPU, up to 1GB of...Read More »

We'll admit it, we expected to be knee-deep in Android gear by now. However, it seems like the consumer electronics industry wanted to build more mature products around versions 1.5 and 2.0 of Google's open source OS instead. Regardless, we're in the thick of it now having just witnessed a deluge of Android-based smartbooks / netbooks (expected before October) at Computex and Google's own announcement that at least 18 new Android handsets will launch this year. Building upon Sony Ericsson's plan to launch its first handset based on Android 2.0, we're now hearing that...Read More »