"The magic in CheckInstall is that it learns everything your new app or package will add to your system, and then creates a binary installable package geared to the package manager you use, whether that be Slackware, RPM, or Debian. Optionally, it will also install the newly created package. But whether you install then or later, when the time comes that you want to remove the package from your system, all you need to do is run the appropriate command for your package manager."

Spotlight is a rather neat feature once you get beyond the simple text search interface and use the more advanced search in the Finder. However, Apple don't allow users to add their own metadata to files, so you're limited to searching for data which exists within the files and is exposed by the importers. Ben Summers did some investigation and worked out how to add arbitrary and independent metadata to the Spotlight store.

Is your IT team conducting an internal feud, with team members struggling against each other instead of fighting the real problems of limited time, money, and manpower to support your organization's technology needs? Buck Woody argues that you can't afford to become the Hatfields and McCoys. Also, both developers and DBAs have merit in the IT team. Although different, both jobs are crucial for a successful enterprise. However, conflicting responsibilities sometimes trigger members of the two related professions to face off. Baya Pavliashvili points out a few common situations that can cause tension between the two groups and provides some advice for working your way out of an argument before it leads to a war.

Donn Cave has updated his port of Python to BeOS, as well as the Bethon BeOS API interface library. This brings BeOS up to date with other platforms with regards to Python, and merges some independent patchsets into Bethon. Both are for R5.03, meaning that pretty much any BeOS system out there can use them.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has quashed speculation that the giant ad broker is to introduce a web-based Office suite. "We don't have any plans," he told Web 2.0 conference organizer John Battelle. However Brin left the door open a little. Documents would be easier to work with in the future, he promised, but he didn't think a fat client was the way to go.

Programmers agonize over whether to allocate on the stack or on the heap. Some people think garbage collection will never be as efficient as direct memory management, and others feel it is easier to clean up a mess in one big batch than to pick up individual pieces of dust throughout the day. This article pokes some holes in the oft-repeated performance myth of slow allocation in JVMs.