Mike Loukides

Mike Loukides is an editor for O'Reilly Media, Inc.. He is the author of System Performance Tuning and UNIX for FORTRAN Programmers. Mike's interests are system administration, networking, programming languages, and computer architecture. His academic background includes degrees in electrical engineering (B.S.) and English literature (Ph.D.).

How Data Science Is Transforming Health Care How Data Science Is Transforming Health Care
by Tim O'Reilly , Mike Loukides , Julie Steele , Colin Hill
August 2012
Ebook: $0.00

What is DevOps? What is DevOps?
by Mike Loukides
June 2012
Ebook: $0.00

The Evolution of Data Products The Evolution of Data Products
by Mike Loukides
September 2011
Ebook: $0.00

Unix Power Tools Unix Power Tools
by Shelley Powers , Jerry Peek , Tim O'Reilly , Mike Loukides
Third Edition October 2002
Print: $74.99
Ebook: $55.99

UNIX Power Tools UNIX Power Tools
by Jerry Peek , Mike Loukides , Tim O'Reilly , et al.
October 2002
OUT OF PRINT

System Performance Tuning System Performance Tuning
by Gian-Paolo D. Musumeci , Mike Loukides
Second Edition February 2002
Print: $44.99
Ebook: $35.99

UNIX  PowerTools UNIX PowerTools
by Jerry Peek , Tim O'Reilly , Mike Loukides
Second Edition August 1997
OUT OF PRINT

Programming with GNU Software Programming with GNU Software
by Andy Oram , Mike Loukides
December 1996
Print: $39.95

System Performance Tuning System Performance Tuning
by Mike Loukides
November 1990
OUT OF PRINT

UNIX for FORTRAN Programmers UNIX for FORTRAN Programmers
by Mike Loukides
August 1990
OUT OF PRINT

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Burning the silos

May 23 2013

If I’ve seen any theme come up repeatedly over the past year, it’s getting product cycle times down. It’s not the sexiest or most interesting theme, but it’s everywhere: if it’s not on the front burner, it’s always simmering in … read more

Yet another Kickstarter: Otherlabs’ Home Milling Machine

May 09 2013

If you have a good memory, you know that I’ve written about 3D printers. Technically, I grew up with the laser printer; my first computer industry job (part-time while getting an English PhD) was with Imagen, a startup that built … read more

Another serving of data skepticism

May 08 2013

I was thrilled to receive an invitation to a new meetup: the NYC Data Skeptics Meetup. If you’re in the New York area, and you’re interested in seeing data used honestly, stop by! That announcement pushed me to write another post … read more

Another Serving of Data Skepticism

May 06 2013

I was thrilled to receive an invitation to a new meetup: the NYC Data Skeptics Meetup. If you’re in the New York area, and you’re interested in seeing data used honestly, stop by! That announcement pushed me to write another … read more

Leading Indicators

May 02 2013

In a conversation with Q Ethan McCallum (who should be credited as co-author), we wondered how to evaluate data science groups. If you’re looking at an organization’s data science group from the outside, possibly as a potential employee, what can … read more

Leading Indicators

April 30 2013

In a conversation with Q Ethan McCallum (who should be credited as co-author), we wondered how to evaluate data science groups. If you’re looking at an organization’s data science group from the outside, possibly as a potential employee, what can … read more

Google Glass and the Future

April 29 2013

I just read a Forbes article about Glass, talking about the split between those who are “sure that it is the future of technology, and others who think society will push back against the technology.” I don’t see this as … read more

Glowing Plants

April 26 2013

I just invested in BioCurious’ Glowing Plants project on Kickstarter. I don’t watch Kickstarter closely, but this is about as fast as I’ve ever seen a project get funded. It went live on Wednesday; in the afternoon, I was backer … read more

Data skepticism

April 11 2013

A couple of months ago, I wrote that “big data” is heading toward the trough of a hype curve as a result of oversized hype and promises. That’s certainly true. I see more expressions of skepticism about the value of … read more

Data skepticism

April 11 2013

A couple of months ago, I wrote that “big data” is heading toward the trough of a hype curve as a result of oversized hype and promises. That’s certainly true. I see more expressions of skepticism about the value of … read more

The demise of Google Reader: Stability as a service

March 21 2013

Om Malik’s brief post on the demise of Google Reader raises a good point: If we can’t trust Google to keep successful applications around, why should we bother trying to use their new applications, such as Google Keep? Given the … read more

Rethinking games

March 20 2013

At a recent board games night hosted by Greg Brown (@practicingruby), we played a game called “Pandemic” that made me rethink the meaning of games. I won’t bother you with a detailed description; it’s enough to say that there are … read more

Big data is dead, long live big data: Thoughts heading to Strata

February 25 2013

A recent VentureBeat article argues that “Big Data” is dead. It’s been killed by marketers. That’s an understandable frustration (and a little ironic to read about it in that particular venue). As I said sarcastically the other day, “Put your … read more

Big data is dead, long live big data: Thoughts heading to Strata

February 25 2013

A recent VentureBeat article argues that “Big Data” is dead. It’s been killed by marketers. That’s an understandable frustration (and a little ironic to read about it in that particular venue). As I said sarcastically the other day, “Put your … read more

Investigating the growth and influence of professional Makers

February 21 2013

The growth of the Maker movement has been nothing if not amazing. We’ve had more than 100,000 people at Maker Faire in San Francisco, and more than 50,000 at the New York event, with mini-Maker Faires in many other cities. … read more

Instagram: On being the product

December 18 2012

Let me start by saying that I’m not an Instagram user, and never have been. So I thought I could be somewhat dispassionate. But I’m finding that hard. The latest change to their terms of service is outrageous: their statement … read more

Interoperating the industrial Internet

December 17 2012

One of the most interesting points made in GE’s “Unleashing the Industrial Internet” event was GE CEO Jeff Immelt’s statement that only 10% of the value of Internet-enabled products is in the connectivity layer; the remaining 90% is in the … read more

To eat or be eaten?

November 30 2012

One of Marc Andreessen’s many accomplishments was the seminal essay “Why Software is Eating the World.” In it, the creator of Mosaic and Netscape argues for his investment thesis: everything is becoming software. Music and movies led the way, Skype … read more

The Narwhal and the Orca

November 26 2012

Leaving politics aside, there’s a lot that can be learned from the technical efforts of the Obama and Romney campaigns. Just about everyone agrees that the Obama campaign’s Narwhal project was a great success, and that Romney’s Orca was a … read more

George Church and the potential of synthetic biology

November 09 2012

A few weeks ago, I explained why I thought biohacking was one of the most important new trends in technology. If I didn’t convince you, Derek Jacoby’s review (below) of George Church’s new book, Regenesis, will. Church is no stranger … read more

Biohacking: The next great wave of innovation

October 03 2012

I’ve been following synthetic biology for the past year or so, and we’re about to see some big changes. Synthetic bio seems to be now where the computer industry was in the late 1970s: still nascent, but about to explode. … read more

Apple’s maps

September 29 2012

I promise not to make any snarky remarks about Apple’s maps disaster, and the mistakes of letting a corporate vendetta get in the way of good business decisions. Oops, I lied. But it’s good to see that Tim Cook agrees, … read more

Phished

September 24 2012

Maybe I’m the last person to know this, but phishing has spread beyond email. And it’s not really pretty. Here’s the story: A few nights ago, I got a Twitter direct message (DM) from a friend saying that someone was … read more

StrataRx: Data science and health(care)

August 03 2012

By Mike Loukides and Jim Stogdill We are launching a conference at the intersection of health, health care, and data. Why? Our health care system is in crisis. We are experiencing epidemic levels of obesity, diabetes, and other preventable conditions … read more

Discovering science

July 31 2012

The discovery of the Higgs boson gave us a window into the way science works. We’re over the hype and the high expectations kindled by last year’s pre-announcement. We’ve seen the moving personal interest story about Peter Higgs and how … read more

The dark side of data

July 23 2012

A few weeks ago, Tom Slee published “Seeing Like a Geek,” a thoughtful article on the dark side of open data. He starts with the story of a Dalit community in India, whose land was transferred to a group of … read more

Overfocus on tech skills could exclude the best candidates for jobs

July 20 2012

The requirement that candidates must have worked with a corporate API might seem logical to an unseasoned executive or non-technical HR person but it's as wrong as you can get. read more

Faster and stronger: Looking back on Velocity 2012

July 10 2012

Mike Loukides highlights talks from Velocity 2012, including: Bryan McQuade on the importance of understanding the full stack, Dr. Richard Cook on failures and complex systems, Mike Christian on redundant data centers, and John Rauser on the value of outliers. read more

What is DevOps?

June 07 2012

NoOps, DevOps — no matter what you call it, operations won't go away. Ops experts and development teams will jointly evolve to meet the challenges of delivering reliable software to customers. read more

The software professional vs the software artist

June 05 2012

Developer "artists" who think they're too good to address vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications must shoulder blame for insecure systems. read more

End of a fishing expedition

June 01 2012

As the Oracle v Google trial shows, we get proper rulings on copyrights and patents when judges and jurors understand the technology they're ruling on. read more

A federal judge learned to code

May 16 2012

The judge presiding over the Oracle/Google case learned Java, and that skill came in handy when coding specifics arose during the trial. It's proof that coding is a part of cultural competence, even if you never do it professionally. read more

Operations, machine learning and premature babies

April 09 2012

Machine learning and access to huge amounts of data allowed IBM to make an important discovery about premature infants. If web operations teams could capture everything — network data, environmental data, I/O subsystem data, etc. — what would they find out? read more

Privacy, contexts and Girls Around Me

April 04 2012

The application of user data is pushing at the edges of cultural norms. That can be a positive, but finding "the line" requires adherence to a few simple and clear guidelines. read more

Passwords and interviews

March 26 2012

A candidate that forks over a social media password during an interview could become an employee that gives out a pasword in other situations. Employers aren't making that connection. read more

The unreasonable necessity of subject experts

March 20 2012

We can't forget that data is ultimately about insight, and insight is inextricably tied to the stories we build from the data. Subject experts are the ones who find the stories data wants to tell. read more

The privacy arc

February 28 2012

We're at a point in privacy's evolution where sanitized tech solutions are clumsily attempting to introduce (or reintroduce) human connections into our experiences. read more

The NoSQL movement

February 08 2012

A relational database is no longer the default choice. Mike Loukides charts the rise of the NoSQL movement and explains how to choose the right database for your application. read more

On pirates and piracy

January 23 2012

Mike Loukides: "I'm not willing to have the next Bach, Beethoven, or Shakespeare post their work online, only to have it taken down because they haven't paid off a bunch of executives who think they own creativity." read more

Don't expect the end of electronics obsolescence anytime soon

January 20 2012

Software updates for consumer electronics sound great in theory. But over time, the discrepancy between what the software is supposed to do and what your devices are capable of will rub obsolescence in your face. read more

From SOPA to speech: Seven tech trends to monitor

January 19 2012

Mike Loukides weighs in on the tech trends — good and bad — that will exert considerable influence in 2012. read more

Putting money where our mouths are

January 17 2012

SOPA and PIPA are attempts by established companies to preserve an industry that has been fundamentally unchanged since the 1950s, if not the 40s. read more

Understanding randomness is a double-edged sword

January 05 2012

While Leonard Mlodinow's book offers a good introduction to probabilistic thinking, it carries two problems: First, it doesn't uniformly account for skill. Second, when we're talking probability and statistics, we're talking about interchangeable events. read more

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Mike Loukides