programming

How Developers Coded in 1985

Programmer John Graham-Cumming tells a fascinating story about what coding like was back in 1985. Unlike today’s programmers who wear hoodies, down energy drinks and use a paper thin computer, programmers in 1985 had to code by hand… with actual paper. The story behind the handwritten code is fascinating. Graham-Cumming was tasked with making the…

Tech News Casey Chan Apr 29

Legendary Programmer Why The Lucky Stiff’s Strange, Fascinating Novel

Ruby programmer Why The Lucky Stiff (or _why for short) vanished in 2009, deleting his whole online identity. But the other day, his website (reborn in January) started serving up print spools, so your computers’ printer could produce a novel that I couldn’t stop reading. Actually, maybe it’s a novella, or novelette. Probably not the…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Apr 19

These Are the Best Programming Skills to Have if You Wanna Be Rich

Everyone knows that having tech expertise can net some big bucks. But what skills specificially will get you on the path to an early retirement? Better start learning how to code database and security software. Workspan conducted a study in which they rounded up the highest paying certified and non certified computer skills. Most of…

Tech News Adrian Covert Jul 13

Please Don’t Learn to Code

For a while now, we’ve heard how anyone who doesn’t know how to code will be resigned to a life of servitude in the technological underclass. Writer, developer, and Stack Overflow kingpin Jeff Atwood disagrees. The whole “everyone should learn programming” meme has gotten so out of control that the mayor of New York City…

Tech News Jeff Atwood - Coding Horror May 15

How Hulu Grew Into a Network TV Challenger

Compared to many TV streaming services, Hulu is a mature technology, created five years ago by some of TV’s biggest players. Now, the New York Times suggests it’s coming of age—and that events this week will see it truly become a network TV challenger. The Times reports that, this Thursday, Hulu will pitch advertisers on…

Television Jamie Condliffe Apr 17

A mesmerizing, real-time map of US wind patterns

This weekend you watched ocean currents turn the Earth into a continuously evolving, geophysical Van Gogh painting. https://gizmodo.com/watch-the-ocean-currents-turn-the-earth-into-a-living-v-5896210 Now, thanks to some smart programming and live weather data, you can witness swirling wind patterns from across the continental U.S. perform a similar trick. And best of all: you can watch it in real time. It’s…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Mar 29

There’s a New Version of the Stuxnet-esque Duqu Trojan Floating Around and Nobody Knows What It Does

A newly surfaced version of the Duqu trojan indicates that the authors of one of the most sophisticated computer worms in recent memory are aggressively trying to figure out how to attack their next target. Researchers at Symantec have analyzed the mysterious new file, W32.Duqu, which is one of the components of the of the…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Mar 23

Duqu Framework’s Mystery Language Identified as Custom C

When Kaspersky Labs revealed its analysis of the Duqu Trojan earlier this month they were stumped by a block of code that appeared to be a previously unseen programming language. With the help of the Internet, Kaspersky’s identified the code, not as a new computer language, but rather, an old one. https://gizmodo.com/whoever-wrote-the-duqu-trojans-framework-wrote-it-in-an-5891789 The block of…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Mar 19

Whoever Wrote the Duqu Trojan’s Framework Wrote It in an Unknown Programming Language

The Duqu Trojan is one nasty piece of code, rivaled in sophistication only by its relative, the Stuxnet Worm. A new analysis of the Trojan, however, has revealed just how advanced it really is. Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab performed the analysis and discovered that portions of the the suspiciously-named Payload DLL file were written…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Mar 8

Some Poor Kid’s Getting a Board Game About Programming This Christmas

You might think you’ve found a clever way to get them to learn, but kids see right through educational board games. And while some do a good job at hiding their true nature, c-Jump—which teaches programming concepts—does not. The $25 game has players racing to get down a mountain the fastest, hence c-Jump which is…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Dec 15

Researchers Build Logic Gates from Bacteria

Finally, E. coli is good for something other than making you regret not washing that lettuce better. Boffins at the Imperial College London have employed the bacteria as living Boolean logic gates—potential building blocks for bio-computers of the future. The research team, led by Baojun Wang, created the AND gate within a bacterial host using…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 27

Dennis Ritchie, Co-Creator of Unix and Founder of C, Has Died

In less than a week, the world has lost two tech pioneers. Last week, we mourned the passing of Steve Jobs, and now we say goodbye to computer scientist Dennis Ritchie who also recently died. https://gizmodo.com/steve-jobs-is-dead-5838847 Ritchie, or dmr as he was called in programming circles, worked most of his life at Bell Laboratories where…

Tech News Kelly Oct 13

Google Is Working on a New Programming Language Called Dart, but Will It Be a Javascript Killer?

Google apparently thinks parts of Javascript kinda suck because they’re now working on a new web programming language called Dart that’s meant to remedy and simplify the more problematic aspects of the coding process. Dart is being designed as a programming language that’s easy enough for any programmer to pick up and run with, but…

Tech News Adrian Covert Oct 10

Are Cable Companies Secretly Planning An “A La Carte” Option?

According to Reuters, cable companies are secretly discussing plans that’ll let customers choose what channels they want. Content providers won’t like this “a la carte” arrangement, but who cares. This is something customers wanted like yesterday. [Reuters via Tech Crunch; Image from IKO/Shutterstock]

Television Kelly Sep 27

Netflix Receives Dreamworks Animation Shot in the Arm

Observers are calling the move a first for a large Hollywood studio: Dreamworks Animation will stream its movies and other programming through Netflix instead of the traditional pay television route. The move ends a long-standing Dreamworks content deal with HBO. Also a first are remarks made by Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was confident that…

Movies Jack Loftus Sep 25

Google Could Make App Inventor Open Source

Google hinted its educational tool, App Inventor for Android, may become an open source project for classroom teachers. App Inventor was part of Google Labs, a group of research projects recently shut down by the search giant. Some of these projects will be moved into Google’s mainstream projects, but most will be shuttered. Because of…

Tech News Kelly Aug 9

Hacker Typer Makes You Look Like You Actually Know Something About Coding

So I’m sitting at my computer one day and you walk up and ask if I have such and such album on my computer. I say, no I don’t have it, BUT LET ME HACK INTO SOMEONES COMPUTER AND GET IT BECAUSE I LIKE PRETENDING THAT I LIVE IN A MID-90s CYBERPUNK MOVIE. I then…

Tech News Adrian Covert Apr 26

Jean Bartik, Pioneer Computer Programmer

When the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer was introduced in 1946 as a tool for calculating the trajectory of artillery shells, it made headlines nationwide as the first all-electronic computer. But there was little mention of Jean Jennings Bartik and the other women who programmed the machine, charting new territory by converting math into a…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert Apr 8

Comcast Injects 3,000 Hours of Streaming Video Into Xfinity TV iPad App

Comcast subscribers just got an unexpected Groundhog Day present: the cable provider’s Xfinity TV iPad app just got a 3,000 hour boost of on-demand shows and movies from HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and more. Giddyup. While the app itself is free, you’ll need to be a premium subscriber to access all that premium content. It’s open…

Tech News Brian Barrett Feb 2

This Man Is Now a Drum Machine, Whether He Likes It or Not

Fantastically weird artist/DJ/programmer Daito Manabe is at it again, this time outfitting a friend with his infamous electroshock visualizer and rigging it up to respond to music generated by playing that same friend. Like a big twitchy, fleshy drum machine. https://gizmodo.com/innovations-in-visualizer-technology-electroshock-your-5068772 The central paradox of friendship with Daito Manabe: you’re the first to get to…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert Dec 20

How Developers Coded in 1985

Legendary Programmer Why The Lucky Stiff’s Strange, Fascinating Novel

These Are the Best Programming Skills to Have if You Wanna Be Rich

Please Don’t Learn to Code

How Hulu Grew Into a Network TV Challenger

A mesmerizing, real-time map of US wind patterns

There’s a New Version of the Stuxnet-esque Duqu Trojan Floating Around and Nobody Knows What It Does

Duqu Framework’s Mystery Language Identified as Custom C

Whoever Wrote the Duqu Trojan’s Framework Wrote It in an Unknown Programming Language

Some Poor Kid’s Getting a Board Game About Programming This Christmas

Researchers Build Logic Gates from Bacteria

Dennis Ritchie, Co-Creator of Unix and Founder of C, Has Died

Google Is Working on a New Programming Language Called Dart, but Will It Be a Javascript Killer?

Are Cable Companies Secretly Planning An “A La Carte” Option?

Netflix Receives Dreamworks Animation Shot in the Arm

Google Could Make App Inventor Open Source

Hacker Typer Makes You Look Like You Actually Know Something About Coding

Jean Bartik, Pioneer Computer Programmer

Comcast Injects 3,000 Hours of Streaming Video Into Xfinity TV iPad App

This Man Is Now a Drum Machine, Whether He Likes It or Not

‘Good Omens’ Season 3 Is Still Just One Episode, Despite Being Called That

Steam Gaming Has Arrived on Apple Vision Pro, and It’s Unexpectedly Glorious

RFK Jr. Will Take on Joe Rogan for Podcaster Supremacy

The Spymaster’s Guide to the Secret Agencies of ‘Star Trek’

Uber Is Testing Driverless Volkswagen ID. Buzz Vans in Los Angeles

Cast Adrift, Meta Employees Have No Idea Who the ‘Token Legend’ Is Anymore

Microsoft Office 2024 and Windows 11 Pro Bundle Hits 76% Off, a Complete PC Setup for Less

You Can Add ‘Lamp That Folds Your Laundry’ to the List of Doomed Startups

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

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