Before tackling a seemingly complex code problem with lots of functions and complex logic, Jeff Cogswell recommends trying a finite state machine - a set of states and appropriate rules and actions that go with those states - to greatly simplify your coding. Service oriented architectures sound complicated and daunting, but they're not so hard to implement. The concepts involved are actually fairly simple, and this article describes them by using examples drawn from the networking domain. Software consultant Stephen B. Morris describes some of the principles of service orientation in the down-to-earth contexts of C++ and networking.

"Why tune my system? This is probably the first thing you want to know. When a distribution is packaged and delivered to clients, it is designed to be fully compatible with most of the computers available in the market. This is a very heterogeneous set of hardware (hard disks, video cards, network cards, etc.). So distribution vendors like Red Hat, SuSe, Mandriva and the rest of them choose some conservative configuration options to assure a successful installation. For instance, probably you have a very advanced hard disk with some special features that are not being used due to standard configuration settings. To summarize: your Linux distribution goes well... But it can go even better!"

"Microsoft Vista Build 5365 has been released. We are downloading it at the moment, screenshots will follow in our spanking new image gallery. This is a Vista-only release, i.e. no Longhorn Server attached, which is a shame. According to Microsoft, this is another 'refresher' build, with bug fixes rather than new features. We have been informed that regional fixes for IME, time zones, etc., have not yet been implemented; those will ship in all post-5370 builds." Microsoft released a FAQ alongside this build, get it in .doc or .pdf format.

"For years now, the Linux and open-source desktop has had the benefit of multiple software projects pushing forward to create nicer-looking, more useful environments. One of the most prominent of those projects, GNOME, recently underwent one of its twice-yearly updates, and the result is a compelling set of refinements. The newest version of GNOME, 2.14, now graces the desktop of Red Hat's Fedora Core 5 and other shipping and soon-to-arrive Linux distributions."

"Being able to run RISC OS on Mac OS X would probably be the highlight of 2006 for many of the users who have picked up a Mac to sit alongside their RISC OS machines. When VirtualRiscPC for Mac OS X will arrive is best left to VirtualAcorn, although what we've discovered here might be the next best thing. Riding the coat tails of Apple's switch to using Intel processors, it's now possible to run Microsoft Windows applications on the shiny Mac OS X desktop - and this includes VirtualRiscPC."

"While explaining the new splice() and tee() buffer management system calls, Linus Torvalds made reference to some possible future extensions. This included vmsplice(), a system call since implemented by Jens Axboe "to basically do a 'write to the buffer', but using the reference counting and VM traversal to actually fill the buffer." Reviewing the implications of using such a system call lead to a comparison with FreeBSD's ZERO_COPY_SOCKET which uses COW (copy on write)."