While "software reviewer" isn't normally part of his job description, Allen has seen fit to dissect Microsoft's Windows 8 interface and learn how the company he co-founded is getting along without him.

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Certainly, the best part of the book is Mr Grand's description of the inner workings of his artificial-life software, and the way it mimics biological processes to give rise to all kinds of life-like behaviour.

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Then some computer program takes this description and does all the fancy computer science needed to create the software that does what you want.

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Since its incorporation three decades ago, Adobe has set its sights on creating software applications that were ahead of their time, starting with the PostScript page description language that was immediately picked up by Apple for use in its printers.

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Later units will have Global Positioning System chips to eliminate the common mistake--caught by software on Bolofsky's site--of failing to match the street address to a written description of where a car was parked.

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