Tableau launches free software to make data social

New product helps blogs and web sites start conversations with interactive visual data

Tableau Software launched a new product that brings public data to life on the web. Tableau Public, available for free, lets anyone who posts content to the web easily create interactive visualizations and publish them to blogs, web sites, Twitter feeds or anywhere online. Instead of viewing static charts or tables, Tableau Public lets people answer questions and share data interactively on the web.

“Imagine if online data was as fun and accessible as online video,” said Christian Chabot, Tableau’s CEO and co-founder. “We created this product because we want to make data a first class citizen on the web. We want to change the way people interact with data online by letting them tell stories with flexibility and beauty.”

Current alternatives for sharing data online are clumsy. Typically, data is pasted into tables and lists, or posted as files or catalogs that are difficult to use. Available at TableauPublic.com, Tableau Public is helping to solve this challenge – bringing data to life on the web for ordinary people. With its interactive visualizations and dashboards, Tableau Public helps people start conversations based on data that is useful, beautiful and shareable. No special plug-ins are required, all that’s needed to see and use the data is a web browser.

From bloggers and journalists to researchers and students, Tableau is already being used as a tool to create conversations with data. For example, Timothy Ellis at SeattleBubble.com, a community blog focused on the local housing market, is using Tableau to increase the depth of conversations about the changing real estate market.

Robert Kosara, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina, recently used Tableau Public to compare temperature data collected from 343 weather stations over twenty years, or 77,172 observations. He was able to show warming trends clearly and posted a blog about global warming. “I was impressed how Tableau helped me create a more analytical visualization that was easy to share on the web. It’s an amazing product, and I regularly use Tableau for my Visual Analytics class,” said Professor Kosara.

Tableau Version 5.1

In conjunction with the general availability of Tableau Public, the company is also releasing today Version 5.1 of its Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server product suite. Version 5.1 provides more analytic richness, better publishing, and increased scalability and performance. Analytical features include reference bands that provide context to a user’s analysis, bullet charts to evaluate related data, and intelligent data labels to call out the most critical data. New publishing features include rich formatting, streamlined toolbar design, more filter options, and a flexible layout.

Source: www.tableaupublic.com

Apple premieres iTunes 9

September 10, 2009 · Filed Under Downloads, Internet Software, Software News, iTunes and iPod Software · Comment 

Featuring iTunes LP, Home Sharing, Genius Mixes & Improved Syncing

Apple introduced iTunes 9, the latest version of the world’s most popular software application to purchase, manage and play media, packed with innovative features such as iTunes LP, Home Sharing and Genius Mixes, as well as a redesigned store and improved syncing. iTunes 9 makes it easier than ever to discover, purchase and enjoy your music, movies, TV shows, and apps for iPhone(TM) and iPod touch from Apple’s revolutionary App Store. Plus, Home Sharing now lets you easily transfer songs, movies and TV shows to other computers in your home.

iTunes 9 is a great iTunes release, with innovative features that make using iTunes better than ever and iTunes content richer than ever,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iTunes LP, for example, lets artists share more of their creativity with fans and gives music lovers the feeling of being immersed in an entire album with art, lyrics, liner notes, photos and videos.”

iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more. iTunes LP debuts today with albums including Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited,” Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me,” The Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” and Dave Matthews Band’s “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King: iTunes Pass.” The new iTunes Extras provides a similar experience for movies on iTunes with features including documentaries, deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes Extras is now available for select movies including “Twilight,” “Batman Begins,” “WALL-E,” “Iron Man” and “The Da Vinci Code.” Customers can enjoy iTunes LP and iTunes Extras on a Mac or PC.

iTunes 9 also introduces Home Sharing, which lets you easily transfer music, movies and TV shows among up to five authorized computers in your home. Family members can now view up to five iTunes libraries on their home network, see only the portion of these libraries they don’t already have, import their favorite content directly to their own libraries, and automatically add new purchases from other computers into their library.

The incredibly popular Genius feature gets even better with Genius Mixes which are created using the results of over 27 million music libraries with over 54 billion songs that have been submitted and analyzed by Genius. The new Genius Mixes feature is like having a “Genius” DJ that automatically generates up to 12 endless mixes of songs from your iTunes library that go great together.

With improved syncing in iTunes 9 and iPhone OS 3.1, you can now organize your iPhone apps right in iTunes and they will automatically appear on your iPhone with the same layout. Plus, syncing music, photos, movies and TV shows is easier than ever with the added ability to sync music by artist and genre and sync photos by Events and Faces. The iTunes Store on iPhone now features precut ringtone downloads with over 20,000 ringtones priced at just $1.29.

iTunes 9 is available immediately as a free download at www.itunes.com.

The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 7,500 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

Source: Apple

Open-E announces general availability of Open-E Data Storage Software V6

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Downloads, Productivity Software, Software News · Comment 

World recognized storage management software developer offers its latest storage management OS at a fraction of the cost of alternative storage offerings

Open-E, Inc. announced the general availability of its sixth generation Data Storage Software (DSS) V6 IP-Storage operating system. The new DSS V6 storage management software, with a new architecture, user interface and with more advanced functionality than previous versions, can be easily downloaded from Open-E’s website and installed to any media including internal HDD, RAID Array, USB, SATA and IDE DOM (Disk-On-Module), or any other bootable media.

The Open-E Data Storage Software V6 (DSS V6) is a unified file and block storage management operating system (OS) that offers Network Attached Storage (NAS), iSCSI, InfiniBand and Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) functionality, while providing superior performance, security, and scalability at a fraction of the cost of alternative storage offerings. Advanced features of Open-E DSS V6 include Data and Volume Replication, Volume Snapshot, Automatic Failover for iSCSI Volumes, WORM and NDMP and built-in virus protection. Designed to be versatile and flexible to support a wide variety of hardware RAID platforms from the industry’s leading vendors, Open-E DSS V6 allow users to combine NAS systems with iSCSI SAN systems, while enabling the connection of multiple Network Interface Controllers, including Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand. The Open-E DSS V6 supports logical volumes greater than 16TB. The software is available with standard license capacity of 4, 8, and 16TB. Extension keys can be purchased to add additional storage capacities from 2TB to 64TB.

In comparison to its legacy versions which already provides a rich feature set, Open-E DSS V6 adds advanced functionality including:

Powerful and Intuitive, new Web-based User Interface: The high performance web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the Open-E DSS V6 software makes remote management of the storage device a simple task. By using a web-browser, the DSS V6 can be easily managed from anywhere within the network.

Automatic Failover for iSCSI Volumes: Open-E DSS V6 provides fault tolerance via iSCSI Volume Replication. The real time data of the primary server is immediately mirrored to a secondary server. In the event of a failure of the primary server, Open-E DSS V6 automatically and transparently for user switches operations to the secondary server.

Volume Replication: Open-E DSS V6 provides both Synchronous and Asynchronous Volume Replication. Asynchronous Volume Replication is also supported over a WAN.

SCSI-3 Persistent Reservation: Open-E DSS V6 now supports persistent reservation commands. This enables support for Windows Server 2008 Cluster.

New SNMP based system monitoring: Open-E DSS V6 enables the user to check the performance of their system quickly and easily.

NDMP 4.0: Open-E DSS V6 integrates the latest Network Data Management Protocol 4.0, which defines a network-based mechanism and protocol for controlling backup, recovery, and other data transfers between primary and secondary storage devices.

“We’re very pleased to offer our new Open-E DSS V6, which is the culmination of eight years of development and feedback from thousands of our worldwide customers ranging from micro businesses to the SMB and SME markets,” said Krzysztof Franek, president and CEO of Open-E. “In keeping with our customer centric focus on providing a complete storage management application range that can easily install to solve their simplest to the most complex storage needs, all previous versions of our software can be easily upgraded to the full version of Open-E DSS V6 for a nominal charge. Further, to introduce the power of our software to a wider audience base, we’re also offering a fully functional Open-E Data Storage Software V6 Lite (DSS V6 Lite) trial version for free that integrates a unified file and block storage management operating system with NAS and SAN functionality.”

The free version Open-E DSS V6 Lite, licensed for 2TB of storage and up to 10 downloads per user, can be easily downloaded by simply registering and downloaded at Open-E’s portal. To accommodate growth, Open-E DSS V6 Lite is extendable with Capacity License and Support Keys and can be upgraded to the full working version of Open-E DSS V6.

Older Open-E DSS versions can be upgraded to Open-E DSS V6 for $420 USD end user price.

Mozilla advances the web with Firefox 3.5

Major update to browser delivers significant performance improvements, privacy enhancements, support for new Web standards, and greater customization options

Mozilla, a public-benefit organization dedicated to promoting choice and innovation on the Internet, today released Firefox(R) 3.5, a major update to its popular, free and open source Web browser. Coming one year after the launch of the critically acclaimed Firefox 3, Firefox 3.5 introduces cutting-edge features, as well as new support for a wide variety of Web standards.

Firefox 3.5 is the best performing browser Mozilla has ever released and delivers radically improved JavaScript performance, a new Private Browsing mode, native support for open video and audio, and Location Aware Browsing. The newest version of Firefox is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2 on complex websites. With extensive under the hood work to support new technologies, Firefox 3.5 is the most powerful and complete modern browser and helps upgrade the Web experience.

Firefox 3.5 was built through Mozilla’s global, open source development process. The Mozilla community comprises thousands of passionate contributors, including experienced developers, security experts, localization and support communities in more than 60 countries, and tens of thousands of active testers. With more than 300 million active users, Firefox is the only popular Web browser created by a non-profit organization.

“So much is happening on the Web right now, it’s a great time for browsers. Firefox 3.5 brings together the most innovative Web technologies and delivers them in the most complete and powerful modern browser,” said John Lilly, CEO, Mozilla.

What’s New in Firefox 3.5:

Firefox 3.5 makes surfing the Web easier and more enjoyable with exciting new features and platform updates that allow Web developers to create the next generation of Web content. Native support for open video and audio, private browsing, and support for the newest Web technologies will enable richer, more interactive online experiences.

Performance. Firefox 3.5 includes the powerful new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which delivers unprecedented performance with today’s complex Web applications. Firefox 3.5 is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2.

Open Video and Audio. Enjoy video and audio content from within your browser, without the need for plugins. Video is a vital part of the modern Web, whether it’s used to communicate, educate, or entertain. Firefox 3.5 delivers the first native integration of audio and video directly into the browser. Now everyone can easily watch open format Ogg Theora videos.

Web developers can use these technologies to design pages that interact with video content in new and exciting ways, offering richer interactive experiences beyond controlling playback and volume.

Privacy Controls. Firefox 3.5 includes features designed to protect your privacy online and provide greater control over your personal data.

While using the new Private Browsing mode in Firefox 3.5, nothing you encounter on the Web will be stored from that moment on during your browsing session. Unique to Firefox 3.5, the new Forget this Site feature can remove every trace of a site from your browser. If you want to remove all private data or activity from the past few hours, Clear Recent History, another Firefox-only feature, gives you full control over what stays and what goes.

Location Aware Browsing. Location Aware Browsing saves you time by allowing websites to ask you where you are located. If you choose to share your location with a website, it can use that information to find nearby points of interest and return additional, useful data like maps of your area. It’s all optional – Firefox doesn’t share your location without your permission.

How to get Mozilla Firefox 3.5:

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems as a free download from http://www.getfirefox.com/. It is also available in more than 70 languages at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html.

Two free HyperStudio 5 players for Windows and Internet Explorer

July 1, 2009 · Filed Under Downloads, Home Software, Internet Software, Software News · Comment 

Software MacKiev, an award-winning software developer and publisher, and Roger Wagner, the creator and designer of HyperStudio(R), announced today the debut of HyperStudio 5 for Windows and the release of HyperStudio 5 Players for Windows and Internet Explorer.

The Windows and Mac version of HyperStudio are being presented at the NECC conference in the Software MacKiev Booth # 1412 in several different venues – from informal presentations in “Roger’s Bistro” by Roger Wagner, creator and designer of HyperStudio, to educators and middle school students showing classroom projects in the HyperStudio Theatre.

HyperStudio(R) is media fusion software for making digital creations. From animated art forms and comics, digital storytelling to virtual visits, to podcasting of school projects, HyperStudio has been used worldwide by millions of students, teachers, engineers, musicians, film-makers, and even a few rock bands. The program is accessible for the youngest users but also has the depth and professional quality that more sophisticated users make exemplary use of. In an environment where any element can be created or added within seconds, HyperStudio is the elegantly simple solution that lets users do it all in one well designed program.

The HyperStudio 5 Windows Player allows projects created in HyperStudio 5 for Windows to run on PCs while the Internet Explorer Player allows projects made in HyperStudio 5 to run on Internet Explorer 6 or higher. The release of these two players is now available by download from the Software MacKiev website.

Pricing and Availability

HyperStudio 5 for Windows and Mac OSX is available for purchase from the Software MacKiev Web store starting at $89.95 for a single computer license. Volume license discounts are available. The HyperStudio 5 Players for Windows and Internet Explorer are available immediately free of charge from the Software MacKiev Web site. Go to www.mackiev.com and follow the links to Support. The Windows Player allows users to enjoy HyperStudio 5 Windows projects on Microsoft Windows computers and works with Windows XP SP2 or later, including Windows Vista. The Internet Explorer Player lets you view HyperStudio 5 projects on Internet Explorer 6 or later.

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