Stories by: Sharon Machlis

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8 cool tools for data analysis, visualization and presentation 28 March, 2012 01:32:02

Reporters wrangle all sorts of data, from analyzing property tax valuations to mapping fatal accidents -- and, here at Computerworld, for stories about IT salaries and H-1B visas. In fact, tools used by data-crunching journalists are generally useful for a wide range of other, non-journalistic tasks -- and that includes software that's been specifically designed for newsroom use. And, given the generally thrifty culture of your average newsroom, these tools often have the added appeal of little or no cost.
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Weave open-source data visualization offers power, flexibility 09 February, 2012 03:03:51

When two Boston-area organizations rolled out an interactive data visualization website last month, it represented one of the largest public uses yet for the open-source project Weave -- and more are on the way.
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Hands-on: Zaggfolio Bluetooth keyboard case for the iPad 2 05 November, 2011 02:12:25

The Zaggfolio for iPad 2 is a well-designed case that includes a removable Bluetooth mobile keyboard. As a result, it can be used as just a case (by removing the keyboard), as just a keyboard (by pulling the keyboard out of the case and slipping your iPad into a groove just above the top row of keys) or as a combined case/keyboard.
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Hands-on: 5 wireless keyboards for the iPad 22 September, 2011 00:46:00

Even if you're comfortable with the iPad 2's on-screen keyboard and can happily tap out a status update or quick email, you might not want to use it for tasks like writing a lengthy report. One option is to ditch the tablet for a full-fledged laptop -- but it might be just as easy to add a wireless Bluetooth keyboard to the iPad.
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HP's PC division, by the (profit and growth) numbers 24 August, 2011 20:15:00

Why would a company give up its market-leading position in a major hardware segment -- especially if that business is still profitable? That was one question a number of customers were asking after Hewlett-Packard (HP) said it's looking to sell its Personal Systems Group and get out of the PC business -- despite being the top vendor of personal computers worldwide.
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Android vs. iPhone and iPad by the numbers 10 June, 2011 00:56:00

It looks increasingly like Android will be the major challenger to both Apple's iPhone and iPad.
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22 free tools for data visualization and analysis 21 April, 2011 03:53:00

You may not think you've got much in common with an investigative journalist or an academic medical researcher. But if you're trying to extract useful information from an ever-increasing inflow of data, you'll likely find visualization useful - whether it's to show patterns or trends with graphics instead of mountains of text, or to try to explain complex issues to a nontechnical audience.
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Apple vs. Microsoft by the numbers 20 April, 2011 04:10:00

A little less than a year ago, Wall Street reached a Microsoft vs. Apple milestone: for the first time, Apple's corporate value surpassed Microsoft's.
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Facebook ends end-run around U.S. securities laws 18 January, 2011 06:24:00

There was another question about the planned Facebook stock offering that went beyond whether the social media leader is a good investment now or if it's overpriced. A more serious issue was how investment banker Goldman Sachs was structuring a "private placement" deal to skirt U.S. securities law.
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NASA: Key antenna fails as Discovery enters orbit 06 April, 2010 04:04:00

After a successful launch early this morning, NASA officials later discovered a snag when the space shuttle Discovery entered its orbit around the earth.
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Must-have keyboard shortcut apps for Windows 20 February, 2010 08:44:00

I've been a keyboard shortcut fan for a long time. Sure, icons and eye candy have their place -- I'd rather double-click an icon than, say, type run c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 12\Winword.exe. On the other hand, I'd sure rather click a file name and hit delete than drag an icon to my Recycle Bin (assuming I can even find it on my cluttered desktop).