Radical Development | Software

March 24, 2011
by Steven Swafford
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QuickPick Is A Launchpad Clone Of OSX Lion

In the event you have not heard of the LaunchPad to be released within OSX Lion it is a nice feature that bring the iPad style of accessing your application to your MacBook. Apple says, “Launchpad gives you instant access to your apps — iPad style. Just click the Launchpad icon in your Dock. Your open windows fade away, replaced by an elegant, full-screen display of all the apps on your Mac. It takes just a swipe to see multiple pages of apps, and you can arrange them any way you like by dragging icons to different locations or by …

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March 19, 2011
by Steven Swafford
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How To Use ScreenFlow To Capture Netflix Streaming Media

First things first, I am not advocating violating copyright laws and you should clearly understand the Digital Millennium Copyright Act surrounding digital media before you try capturing media. Previously I wrote about How to Backup DVDs with Handbrake and this article is very different in nature. Because you do not own the content that you wish to capture you will likely find yourself in a legal battle should you distribute such content. That being said since I am a paying NetFlix subscriber there are often times that I may be traveling and I don’t have access to the internet. Because …

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March 17, 2011
by Steven Swafford
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Diskeeper 2011 Product Contest

If you recall my Product Review: Diskeeper 2010 from the past it is worth stating that the Diskeeper Corporation has revealed the near future release Diskeeper 2011 which bring a number of great feature to the table that goes a long way in assisting you in keeping those fragmented hard drives under control. The fine folks at the Diskeeper Corporation has graciously provided three FREE licenses of Diskeeper 2011 Home, just continue reading for details on how to win. Diskeeper has always been the de facto standard for tooling surrounding fragmentation in my book and while there are a number …

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February 21, 2011
by Steven Swafford
12 Comments

N-Tier Architecture Example

In software engineering, multi-tier architecture (often referred to as n-tier architecture) is a client–server architecture in which the presentation, the application processing, and the data management are logically separate processes. For example, an application that uses middleware to service data requests between a user and a database employs multi-tier architecture. The most widespread use of multi-tier architecture is the three-tier architecture. N-tier application architecture provides a model for developers to create a flexible and reusable application. By breaking up an application into tiers, developers only have to modify or add a specific layer, rather than have to rewrite the entire …

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January 8, 2011
by Steven Swafford
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Microsoft Academic Software Discounts And Programs

If you’re currently a student pursuing your education in hopes of landing the job of your dreams then pay attention. Microsoft provides a number of wonderful programs that will help you to purchase much needed software such as Word that might otherwise be to expensive for you to purchase at you local computer store, obtain certifications, and even participate in a program that allows you access to development tools for free. If you’ve been in need of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office products you may be surprised to learn that you can grab Office Professional Academic 2010 for a …

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December 30, 2010
by Steven Swafford
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Is Facebook’s Facial Recognition Going Too Far?

The facial recognition feature is technology you may take for granted when you upload images on Facebook. The point of view that I take is technology is only as good as those that use it. What am I saying you may ask? All technology has good and bad points and the individual behind the use of the technology makes the difference. For example, just because I have the freedom to publish my thoughts that does not give me the right to do so should it cause harm to another. Using common sense should always be the focal point and as …

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December 8, 2010
by Steven Swafford
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Running Win7 On MacBook Pro With Parallels Desktop 6 Or VMware Fusion3

Today I want to take about my experience with Parallels Desktop 6. Just a few short days ago upon purchasing a MacBook Pro, I installed VirtualBox in order to run Windows 7 and the development tools that I need to do my job. While VirtualBox worked, it just seemed a little clunky in my opinion. My biggest complaint was full screen mode well was not entirely full screen. Other than this issue everything else seemed to operate as I expected, but it just was not an ideal solution for me. What I was really seeking was the experience that I …

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November 20, 2010
by Steven Swafford
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VMware Player Makes It Possible To Stand Up Sandboxes

As a software engineer I find that I want the capability to run several operating systems such as Windows XP , Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008, Ubuntu and others. The problems from my point of view is I do not want to dual boot into any operating system and I want to keep my primary host operating system as clean as possible. Typically I use my host operating system for task such as email, document generation, and web browsing. By doing so, I am able to prevent many issues that could arise from installing the latest and greatest software …

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