Congrats to the Raspberry Pi, the little device that just keeps going and going. They've sold 3 million units so far and the demand shows no sign of slowing. And the creative new uses for it keep on coming:

• DIYer studio CowFish created an awesome little gadget that hacks his car's OBD ("on board diagnostics") data port to read real-time automotive data and display it on a screen while driving: turns out it was a pretty simple hack.
• Andy Felong mixed a Raspberry Pi, an Ipad, and a vintage 1942 radio to create ... an improved 1942 radio.
• Better still, Lon Steidman has used a Raspberry Pi to create and run a telnet Bulletin Board System (BBS) on (get this!) an Apple IIe!

Have a look at Her Majesty the Queen of England in that first link: she's gazing thoughtfully at a couple of Raspbis and some assorted hardware. What gadget do you think she'd build?
[Ed note: The steady stream of cool projects being built around Raspberry Pis is fascinating and captivating. Wish this damned day job didn't keep getting in my way of having all this fun.]

Alas, fair Orkut, we barely knew ye. Or barely used ye, something like that. Either way, Google has decided to retire Orkut, it's first foray into social networking, after ten years. Ten years is an eternity on the Internet, but Orkut has clearly been superceded by Google Plus, into which Google is investing increasingly important amounts of time, energy, and code.

From the announcement:

Ten years ago, Orkut was Google's first foray into social networking. Built as a "20 percent" project, Orkut communities started conversations, and forged connections, that had never existed before. Orkut helped shape life online before people really knew what "social networking" was. ...
Orkut, the service, may be going away, but all of those incredible communities Orkut users have created will live on. We are preserving an archive of all public communities, which will be available online starting September 30, 2014. If you don't want your posts or name to be included in the community archive, you can remove Orkut permanently from your Google account. Please visit our Help Center for further details.

Ed note: Anyone still using Orkut is requested to close their account and open up something at AOL, Geocities, or Myspace as soon as possible.

There's been tremendous evolution in the programming language space, as new coding philosophies and paradigms change over time to address old problems or new visions. But how to decide where to invest your time and energy?

Apple's new Swift language is the newborn on the block, and iOS developers seem to be impressed. Infoworld recommends nine languages that make writing Javascript a joy, if that's possible (coffeescript, gorillascript, typescript, and others). Venturebeat recommends you start with Javascript before moving onto something like Python or Ruby. The Google engineer who invented Dart, Gilad Bracha, deplores the dearth of viable programming languages that would allow the Web to compete with native code. CIO also recommends Javascript, but also suggests budding web designers also look into Opa, Scala, and Erlang, among others.

Or should you just throw in the towel, and have a little fun with something totally useless like Brainfuck, or the Arnold Schwartzenegger programming language?

Well, World Backup Day came and went on March 31. If you hadn't already spent some time and energy in a solution for backing up and archiving your personal digital resources, you've hopefully been inspired by this now annual event and cobbled together a solution that fits your needs. So, what is it?

There are now many competing solutions for local backup, no matter which operating system is your preference. Throw in the periodic burning of optical media, a dedication to offsite media and it gets more complicated. Add a NAS or SAN to the system and it gets thornier, since your typical NAS can now help you amass far more digital "stuff" than you can possibly archive without a second NAS.

No matter what you design, dedication, organization, and anticipation remain an important part of the mix.

How do you do it? Share your thoughts on our new, Monday poll.

This just in from the Reg, and it's not good: a massive botnet of 320 Command & Control servers placed in 40 countries, and being sold to law enforcement agencies to infiltrate and root cell phone systems.

The Milan-based firm that developed RCS boasts on its website that its malware can crack any mobile operating system and remain undetected while doing so. Based on documents leaked to Citizen Lab, the firm may be correct in its claims. ... Once a target is identified by cops or g-men the malware is sent out and installed, either by tricking the user with a spearphishing attack or by exploiting vulnerabilities in the target's operating system. ... Once on a target's mobile, the RCS software can intercept and record all phone calls, SMS messages, chat conversations from apps such as Viber, WhatsApp and Skype, grab any files or pictures on the handset, spy on the calendar, look up the user's location, and take screenshots whenever the operator specifies, as well as harvesting data from third-party applications like Facebook.

Looks like Android is more at risk here, but iOS can also be hacked, especially if it's been jailbroken. 'Scuze me while I go reinstall a landline and move into the basement with a tinfoil hat and a weapons cache :(

For a server OS, FreeBSD has certainly had what I'll affectionately call a "lousy" console for a long time. In fact, it was my first disappointment the first time I installed FreeBSD on a server. Fortunately, I'm not the only one who felt that way.

Phoronix now reports The FreeBSD "Newcons" effort to provide a new VT console driver continues making progress for its more proper debut in the next major FreeBSD release. The new code includes full Unicode support including wide characters (Chinese, Japanese), kernel mode setting, better font maps, and support for more graphical modes to provide prettier consoles during boot time etc. It is expected to be included in the next major release.

The FreeBSD wiki Newcons page has the details.

Where mainframe computers are concerned, the Technology Spectator says it better than I could:

In a world where IT continues to power forward, the longevity of the mainframe and its place in today's computing environment is increasingly being questioned. With 'change' often confused with 'progress', a mainframe's durability can work against it. As demand grows for more agile and innovative systems, it is difficult to reconcile a technology in its sixth decade with the technology we carry around in our pockets or use at home. But while dissenters continue to challenge the validity of the mainframe, the technology keeps on proving its worth.

Few consumers know or understand that "ancient" mainframe technology is working behind the scenes in the banking, travel, and insurance sectors, and that's unlikely to change. What is changing though is the insertion of start-up mentality and innovation into the mainframe ecosystem, like Splunk, a search specialist, teaming up with Syncsort to unlock some of the data being produced by mainframe systems. What does not change though, is the fact that mainframe systems require specialized skill sets, and those experts are getting hard to find. Not a good thing in an environment of ever-more-stringent compliance and regulatory requirements.

Nobody can quite pin down what Big Data is, but apparently everybody wants some. Or is afraid of it. Or both. Nevertheless, gains in processing power and decreases in hardware costs are permitting us to crunch numbers in a bigger way than ever thought possible. And there's a lot to show for it:

Not surprisingly, big data is being used to predict the outcome of the 2014 World Cup [video link]. It's increasingly being used to monitor and quantify social media behavior to inform credit and lending decisions. It's also being used to monitor and supervise conditions along the entire food chain, with obvious safety and health benefits. In fact, the folks at ITWeb would like to debunk the myth that Big Data is only being used to monitor your social media habits and sell you more junk. Although it's being used for that, too.

The medical field isn't exactly embracing the digital revolution, although it's quick to implement scientific progress in other areas. Trapped in a mess of legal, privacy, and insurance regulations and hampered by financial disincentives to implement digital record keeping, many medical centers still rely on voluminous paper records. But that's changing, and with change comes good news and bad.

First come the breaches of privacy. In Cincinnati, a woman is suing the University of Cincinatti Medical Center after a medical clerk posted the woman's medical records (showing name and diagnosis of syphilis) to Facebook's page "Team No Hoes." Privacy is also compromised when medical records become part of court hearings, as many legal cases become part of public record and are searchable online.

But these risks were part of the paper system as well. Recently, a huge number of paper medical records turned up in York, UK, and Michael Schumacher's paper records seem to have been stolen and put up for sale.

So what do we need to keep sensitive, personal, medical information private? Think quickly, because already some doctors can access your medical records via Google Glass as they talk to you.

Stick around long enough in the tech sector and the "news" starts to look old: thin clients get fat, then slim down again. We do our processing on the server, then the desktop, then the server again. That doesn't mean progress is always for the better, except when it is.

Still have fond memories of a tech era other than present, even if you recognize time marches on? This poll is "approval voting" so select one or more, anything that makes you nostalgic. Obviously it was impossible to get all the choices on the list, so if we've forgotten anything, add it into the comments. Happy Monday, everybody.

Start here: http://pipedot.org/poll/17/tech-that-im-nostalgic-for