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1. 
   Review - JavaScript IDE WebStorm

   4.0 (Jul 25, 2012)

   I have been using WebStorm/PHPStorm (collectively "WebIDE" products) for all my JavaScript development, and I absolutely love the editor. I find myself much more productive in this editor/IDE than in any others I have tried previously (be it Netbeans, etc.).
   
   Lately, I am also doing much of my Dart-language (Google Dart) editing inside this editor while Google puts the polish on their own free Dart Editor (an Ecliplse-based product). Fact is, the WebStorm editor is simply much more powerful than the Dart Editor, and I can get a LOT more done quickly in here.

2. 
   Review - ReactOS

   0.3.12 (Nov 30, 2010)

   I agree with every one else reviewing this operating system (attempt): it may have been interesting 5 years ago or more. Bluntly put, the developers behind this project are wasting an incredible amount of talent they could be directing elsewhere. There are so many wonderful open-source projects, including Linux derivations, the OpenJDK, and even things like more modern experimental OSs like Genode to work on... or heck, even Android OS.
   
   I understand, on a fundamental level, why software developers persist with projects like ReactOS; they simply can not let it die since they have so much invested in it emotionally and time-wise. But, there is a time to cut one's losses and move on. This is the last time I will ever even read the release-notes of ReactOS, as I have moved on to more interesting and modern projects like most others.

3. 
   Review - VariCAD for Windows

   2008 1.04 (Oct 15, 2008)

   I recently evaluated quite a selection of 3D CAD software in hopes of finding one that was 1) affordable, 2) powerful, and 3) intuitive. VariCAD (2008.3) is the one that came out on top when my evaluation was complete.
   
   When I started my evaluation of these packages, I was essentially CAD-naive, and I set as a very important criteria my desire to be able to QUICKLY learn the basics of the CAD GUI and commands. I found many other UIs anything but intuitive, and VariCAD was the first one that just "clicked" with me.
   
   Next, its pricing compares quite favorably to the "big guys" (AutoCAD, SolidWords, Pro-E, etc). It is under $1000 for the full product with 1year of upgrades and support. That is much better than others.
   
   It is definitely capable and powerful. Both the 2D and 3D functionality are excellent. It provides a great library of standard parts (be it bearings, screws, bolts, etc) in addition to all sorts of object-primitives. Rendering was smooth and didn't suffer from any screen-refresh issues (like some other CAD packages I tried, were I had to continually manually "refresh" the drawing to remove hanging pixels, line chunks, etc.) - VariCAD performed its rendering flawlessly in 2D and 3D. (NOTE: I tested all CAD packs inside a Win2003 Server VM using VMware Player, which *may* account for why some other CAD systems had issues with screen refresh?)
   
   I looked at and discarded a LOT of other CAD software. The only other ones I semi-considered were ViaCAD Pro V5 (good price, fast 3D rendering - though with artifacts at times, but not as powerful as VariCAD, and not very good online info on their site), Bricsys/BricsCAD V9 (good price, Powerful, and an IntelliCAD technology consortium derivation, but I found the UI god-awful difficult to use for whatever reason).
   
   So, I definitely found VariCAD to be the best for my own use. I recommend considering it for sure, but you also need to play with a few others if new to CAD and see what makes sense to you. VariCAD had some decent tutorials that helped me get up to speed quickly, plus their GUI really just made more "sense" to me.
   
   The only reason I give it a 4 instead of a 5 is that I see some area for improvement with the UI still, and I suspect it will definitely only get better. It's been around a long time, and continues to improve from what I can tell.

4. 
   Review - TempleOS (formerly LoseThos)

   4.15 (Sep 30, 2008)

   Although this operating-system has a few neat things going for it, it has a plethora of negatives that outweigh the positives, and essentially most any average modern computer user will find it beyond frustrating for many reasons. Here are some of my observations:
   
   Pros (Few)
   
   * Small, and perhaps small enough for the code to be understood, should someone wish to make the effort.
   * Responsive for most part, tough given the ridiculous limitations, it is not too surprising that what is there is responsive
   * 64-bit and multi-core ready, though not sure why even bother given how little that functionality can really be used.
   
   Cons (Many)
   
   * JUST PLAIN STRANGE ON SO MANY LEVELS
   * It could not get much more unintuitive (perhaps it is the only OS nearly as bad as BlueBottle Oberon in this regard!)
   * Will not work in VMWARE because it is so completely non-standard in every regard, like...
   * Proprietary file format with embedded binary data (like graphics, etc) that nothing else can read. Thus, even though you can "see" files from FAT system, you can't open/read them without problems (to say the least -- EOF is meaningless to FAT due to how this Losethos uses the characters.)
   * File system is compressed!? And I do not mean ZIP or anything obvious or standard (surprise, surprise)! This requires a custom "tool" program to transfer files from other computers via a "partition", and special tools to decompress, etc. Every file extension ending in "Z" is compressed version of normal. ASZ (ASM compressed), CPZ (CPP file compressed), etc. Basically, the developer feels that you should install this on a dedicated computer, and only use the tools contained in this "OS" to edit anything, etc.
   * Even the bootloader is fricking proprietary weirdness and lameness!
   * Language(s) and compiler-directives, etc are all non-standard!! In fact, it implements its own proprietary C and ASM code and compilers. This is just plain weird, especially given the abundanace of open-source options (gnu, fasm, etc.)
   * No real "GUI" (welcome to the 1980s text-mode 640x480 x4 color!). And, of all whacky things to implement, the "windows" that are drawn using text essentially, also have these insanely annoying Marquee banners at the top showing the file-name you have open or such. I can not imagine what inspired this aside from "look what I could do different" when writing it.
   * No drivers for anything beyond keyboard and mouse essentially.
   * No networking, thus making it impossible to easily move anything to/from the OS.
   * Download is HUGE for what it is (18.6Meg), as compared to a full-featured tight windowing operating system like KolibriOS (MenuetOS fork) that fits on a 1.44Meg floppy.
   
   I give credit to anyone that writes an OS, as it is not an easy task. But, I can not help thinking that the effort is a total waste if it is made into something completely inaccessible to others. If it would just run in a VM easily, and have a non-compressed (e.g., standard FAT) filesystem that would allow for modifications to be easily moved to/from the system, it would be perhaps worth further examination. But, as it is now, I consider the code like the bootloader to be essentially one step above being a virus, as you can not really dive into the code to see what is going on in there without editing it on a Losethos installation.
   
   So, to the author I say: you have great skill writing an OS, but why publish something that is going to be close to useless for so many? It is an interesting piece of work, and may be useful to someone learning how to write an OS, though there are certainly more "main stream" ones out there to learn from.

5. 
   Review - VisualCron

   4.8.4 (Mar 3, 2008)

   I really like this application. I purchased it for the simple purpose of hitting a web-site-page on a schedule, since I found the price so much less than my time is worth to try perfecting such code. And, ever since, I keep finding more use for it. Neat product, and full of features for scheduled tasks of all varieties.

6. Comment - House votes to delay DTV transition, President likely to sign

   4.8.4 (Feb 4, 2009 - 8:31 PM)

   If Congress could have delayed Y2K, we would still be working on Y2K fixes.
   
   I can not help seeing this DTV delay as one that will inevitably be followed by another, and another. I hope I am wrong.
   
   And, regarding the coupons - what an idiotic program! Why JUST converter boxes? Why not let people put the $40 toward a new DTV-capable TV also, should they choose? I have seen smaller LCD TVs - full 1080p - for $300; and, forty is a rather decent percentage-off that.
   
   I also can not help thinking that there are *probably* some massive government-DTV-Coupon-cashing scams going on. I can almost bet we will someday hear about how much the taxpayers got ripped off by this coupon program. And, these coupons have done nothing but SET the price of a converter at $40, essentially, when had the market just set prices based on how many were produced and how cheap the circuitry is in them, these things would have been selling for $10-20 instead. So much for "free markets".

7. Comment - AMD quad-core Opteron servers claim performance records

   4.8.4 (Apr 9, 2008 - 10:52 PM)

   Yeah, I want to see how the new Intel 54xx series of 45nm processors performs against this - both in raw processing power, and power consumption. I'm thinking about a new server this year, and I am open to AMD if it is a good value proposition against the new 54xx Intel CPUs. Looking forward to such test results.

8. Comment - Federally funded Internet access to be cut off for Navajo Nation

   4.8.4 (Apr 4, 2008 - 10:11 PM)

   Unreal: do the math... $2.1million for serving 70 tribe chapter houses with internet. That's $30,000 PER HOUSE (yes, THIRTY-THOUSAND each location!).
   
   Only this government could figure out how to justify spending that kind of money delivering satellite Internet that anyone else could certainly find a way to get for $100/month or LESS. Sounds like some serious profit margins - god, how it must be nice to land contracts like this (though, I simply find it sick!)

9. Comment - Census Bureau to drop problematic PDAs, return to trusty paper

   4.8.4 (Apr 4, 2008 - 1:28 PM)

   I see the census as no more than a taxpayer-funded marketing-research scheme for Corporate America these days. Sure, the information is used for political/gov things like apportionment of Congressional seats, etc., but so much of what collected is minutia that would be most relevant to corporations and their marketing departments. So, charge them for it.
   
   The Commerce Dept is estimating this census will cost us $14BILLION. That's FIFTY BUCKS FOR EACH PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY. How can it cost $50 per head to count us and collect some stats, especially when the bulk of it is done by us filling out forms and mailing them in (hey gov: ever hear of web technology?) Either way, this is a giant waste of money - these stupid handhelds that people can't figure out how to use, and this $50/person to count us all!

10. Comment - Gibson to Activision: We made fake guitars first

    4.8.4 (Mar 14, 2008 - 12:31 AM)

    "... claiming it patented the idea first."
    
    Well, there's the first MAJOR problem. In theory (pre-business-process patents) you couldn't patent an IDEA.