OpenCL gets touted in Texas

Attendees at the SC08 high-performance computing conference in Austin got a progress report on OpenCL, the the Apple-spearheaded parallel computing API that figures to be a prominent new feature in the upcoming Snow Leopard update to OS X.

Why developers prefer MacsDevelopers are taking advantage of virtualization on Intel-based Macs to test on multiple operating systems.
GarageGames’ Torque Game Engine Advanced goes beta for MacTorque Game Engine Advanced, a 3D game engine creation tool, is for the first time being released on the Mac.

Geek Factor: 8 great Automator downloads You don't have to stick with the Automator actions that came with OS X. Ben Waldie lists his favorite third-party Automator downloads.
AppleScript versus Alameda County Jason Snell battles a wonky Java applet to get a readable version of a court case.
Geek Factor: Automating Word with AppleScript Unfortunately, Word 2008 doesn’t support VBA. The good news is that, with a little tinkering, almost anything you could do with a VBA macro in previous versions of Word, you can now do with AppleScript in Word 2008.
Geek Factor: Leopard’s Unix tricks Mac OS X 10.5 includes a number of changes to its Unix core, perhaps more than in any prior OS X release. Here are my picks for the five most interesting and useful ones.
Geek Factor: Automating Word 2008 We didn’t have for all of Joe Kissell’s AppleScripts for Word 2008 in the magazine. Here are three more. These scripts are all in the enclosed download file.

Why developers prefer Macs Developers are taking advantage of virtualization on Intel-based Macs to test on multiple operating systems.
Why go to WWDC when you can go to C4? The third annual C4 independent Mac developer conference has come to a close and Dan Moren tells you what you missed.
Basic lesson: Microsoft listens to its users Visual Basic for Applications is headed back to Office for the Mac in a future release. So what does that mean for the VBA-using Office user of today?
Opinion: What Microsoft’s Yahoo bid means for Mac IT John C. Welch looks at two Yahoo products used by Mac IT administrators that face an uncertain future if Microsoft is successful in its bid to buy Yahoo.
Opinion: Xcode is Apple’s not-so-secret weapon Apple’s decision to give away its development tools with every copy of Mac OS X has opened up new horizons for Mac users, particularly systems administrators.