VMware has launched its long-anticipated public IaaS (infrastructure as a service), touting its virtual networking capabilities as a differentiator from other established hybrid cloud offerings. VMware's vCloud Hybrid Service will be based on the company's vCloud architecture, allowing customers to shift their VMware encoded workloads between in-house and the VMware hosted service, a practice known as running a hybrid cloud.

With Windows PC sales falling like Steven Tyler at an Aerosmith concert, all the major PC manufacturers are unleashing a brace of innovative, competitive products based on Google's Android platform.

Linus has dived in to save the day. Where did the robot come from? What is its purpose? Can the Iron Penguin stand against it?

Find out next time. Same penguin-time, same penguin-channel.

P.S. I wasn't too keen on inserting Google glass into another comic so close on the heels of the last one, but it made the most sense to slip it in to replace Jarvis from the Iron Man movies.

Also, credit where it is due:

The basic idea for the suit came from a photoshop entry on freakingnews.com.

I freely admit to having shamelessly cherry picked quotes from IM1 and 2 and mashed them together. Just thought I would throw those out there before someone tries to troll me about it. :)

As with any API that is under active development, sometimes as an Android developer you'll come across a really neat feature which, it turns out, doesn't exist in earlier versions of the API and isn't backwards-compatible. There are a couple of ways to deal with this. One is simply to insist that users must have a given version, and to limit your app to that version. However, that can also limit the reach of your app – there are still plenty of people out there using older versions of Android. Another option, for certain features, is to make use of the Android Support Library.

Apple has announced that customers have now downloaded over 50 billion apps from the App Store. The 50 billionth app — Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, LLC — was downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, who received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to commemorate the milestone. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.”

A new video profiles Essa Academy, a once struggling school in one of the most disadvantaged areas of England. New principal Showkat Badat has reinvented the school as a hub of technology-assisted learning, and helped incorporate an ecosystem of Apple products, including iPad, Mac, and iTunes U, into the classrooms. The students’ excitement about the technology and direct access to information is reflected in dramatically improved test scores. Since adopting the technology, Essa went from a 28 percent pass rate to 100 percent. “I don’t see technology as an add-on, a nice option to have,” says Badat. “It’s what enables learning and creates an environment that sparks creativity.”