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The InformationWeek July 2007 Archive « June 2007 | Main | August 2007 » |
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I Loved My iPhone But I Had To Return It
As you may recall, I finally snagged an iPhone a few weeks ago. At the time, I was less than pleased with my experience. I had problems syncing my iPhone with my PCs. Many of you wrote in with some advice on how to better connect my Jesus-phone with my laptop and desktop. While I appreciated your help, it wasn't enough. After 10 days, I returned my iPhone.
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Google Almost Gets What It Wants From The FCC
The FCC set the ground rules today for the upcoming 700-MHz auction. While Google didn't get everything it asked for -- the FCC made progress toward opening up spectrum but stopped short of real open network access -- it came pretty close.
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7 Apple Briefs
Learn to control iTunes using keyboard shortcuts that work in any app, take decent photos with your iPhone, and make a Wi-Fi hotspot on the fly using just your MacBook and a hard Internet connection. Also: Eminem sues Apple (again), the Adium IM client reviewed, and more.
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Automakers Can Learn From Computer Industry's Mistakes
Software is bringing cool new things to the auto industry, advancing such features as telematics and safety. Automakers also are trying to collaborate more on software standards, but it may not all be great news.
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Terrorism In Second Life? Give Me A Break
Here in America, we have our share of stupid journalism, but we have trouble competing in the global market. For evidence, I point you to an article in The Australian about terrorists in Second Life.
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Amp'd Mobile Subscribers Get Reprieve. Sort Of.
Amp'd Mobile is still leaving the building, but Prexar Mobile has offered to step in and take over Amp'd's subscribers. Subscribers will be able to transition their service from Amp'd to Prexar by visiting Prexar's Web site and filling out some forms. Is this good news?
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Are Printers Hazardous To Your Health?
OK, now you have another reason to stay away from the office: According to the Queensland University of Technology, laser printers can be hazardous to your health.
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Foonz Offers Free Conference Calls To The Little Guy
Not all cell phones offer the ability to make conference calls on the fly, but a new service from foonzMobile lets anyone initiate a conference call for free. How well does it work?
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A Service Pack For Vista? Yes And No
Microsoft has been saying there is no trial version of a Service Pack 1 for Vista, but Ars Technica reports that The World's Largest Software Company has released a "sneak peek" of several patches on its Windows Connect download service for beta testers of Windows Server 2008 -- but the patches are intended for Vista as well.
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Twitter Turns Drivel To Cash
Web 2.0 ventures have discovered a simple formula for success: encourage users' conceit that what they say, do, and think is interesting enough to share with others. This is how Twitter, a hot startup, turns a stream of drivel into cold, hard cash.
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The CIO Role: Beware The Enabler
I'm in a un-PC mood, so I'm thinking of IT and its relationship to business in terms of a dysfunctional family.
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Post Pokes Pogue Over Positive iPhone Press
A tabloid tempest in a teapot may be brewing, following an item in Page Six of The New York Post, which is shocked (shocked!) to discover New York Times tech columnist David Pogue praising Apple's iPhone within the pages of the Old Gray Lady while writing a book on the side about how to use the device.
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My Custom Linux Distribution Chooser
A couple of columns back I talked about how many people are daunted by the sheer number of Linux distributions out there. I argued that the total number of distributions that you need to consider are actually fairly small, and that it probably wouldn't be too tough to create a road map or chooser. Here's my first attempt at doing exactly that.
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Daddy, I Want A Gold iPod!
For the geek who has everything: An 18K gold iPod Nano, with accompanying golden docking station, remote control, and earbuds. The vendor, Xexoo, removes the case of the device, and replaces it with one made from 100 g of gold.
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Just How Successful Are Google's Mobile Initiatives?
Japan's No. 2 carrier, KDDI, today said it plans to offer a new mobile e-mail service powered by Google's Gmail. This is the latest in a long line of Google-related mobile announcements. While Google's mobile onslaught continues, this question remains: Just how successful are the search giant's efforts?
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Hacking The Vote
Anyone following the controversy over whether voting machines promote or threaten our ability to determine who, exactly, has won a particular election was probably not surprised by the initial results of California's review of voting systems released last week. The question is: will this latest evidence that such machines can be easily manipulated force much-needed changes before the next major election?
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Rumors Flying About Potential New Apple Products
Rumors are flying about products that Apple might introduce soon including a sixth-generation iPod, possibly as soon as early August. Other possibilities: A redesigned iMac, or ultrathin notebook. The rumors were triggered by two little words at last week's Apple earnings conference call: "Product transition."
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Caught In A Mosh: New MVNO Launches Beta Service
As Amp'd Mobile goes down in flames, another company is taking a shot at the MVNO model. Mosh Mobile, based in Indiana, will provide free services, including unlimited voice, SMS and data, for anyone willing to tolerate random advertising on their phones...and swear words in its marketing materials.
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AlarmPoint Matches Problems To Problem Solvers
AlarmPoint releases version 3.1 of its event management system. New in this release is integrated support for RIM, Avaya VoIP/SIP presence technology, and better reliability.
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'Buy It Now' Lives On – For Now
A Federal District Court judge in Virginia on Friday ruled against patent troll MercExchange's request for an injunction that would prohibit eBay from using its "Buy It Now" feature. It's a victory in the ongoing struggle to fix the badly broken patent system, but it doesn't address the real issue: MercExchange should never have gotten a patent for something as simplemindedly obvious as "Buy It Now" in the first place.
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Italian 'Writes' 384-Page Book With His Cell Phone
Science fiction author Roberto Bernocco wrote an entire novel in his downtime using only his Nokia 6630 cell phone. In case you're not familiar with that model, it does not have a QWERTY keyboard. He used T9 to write the entire thing, which took him 17 weeks. It was recently published.
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If AT&T Ran The Highway System...
If AT&T ran the highway system, things would be different. Only AT&T-approved cars would be allowed on the roads, all of which would be toll roads.
Drivers would have to prepay their tolls, based on the estimated number of miles they expected to drive. Those who drove fewer miles than estimated would get no refund; those who drove more would be charged for the overage at a higher rate.
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Are The Carriers Killing Business Mobility?
Welcome to Take 5, a regular feature on Over The Air where we sit down with a wireless industry insider to talk shop about mobility and business IT. This week's guest, Daniel Taylor, was the head of the Mobile Enterprise Alliance. Unfortunately, the MEA has decided to dissolve (more on that here) and Taylor is moving on to a new role. Earlier this week I sat down with Taylor to discuss the MEA's decision to close and how this move could impact the future of business mobility.
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Linux Distro Of The Week: 64 Studio
In 1989, a company called New England Digital demonstrated a $100,000+ all-digital audio workstation suite. Things are a bit cheaper now.
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Energy Star PCs: Not A Heap Of Green To Be Saved
Buying Energy Star PCs is the right thing to do for the environment. Some companies take that responsibility seriously. But at companies only concerned about saving money, the EPA's brand new energy-efficiency requirements won't dazzle the accountants.
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Is InfoSpace's New iPhone App Better Than Just Using Google Search?
InfoSpace made its Find It application available for the iPhone today. Using a screen with iPhone-esque buttons in the browser, users can search for restaurants, stores, health care providers and such. Are the results more useful than Google's?
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The Cleaning Up Of Second Life
Once upon a time, virtual environments weren't just places where you went in order to meet people in a more interesting environment than that of a chat room or an online whiteboard. They were places where you could reinvent yourself: slay dragons, look like Marilyn Monroe, be rude to your elders. Now, things are different -- at least, in Second Life.
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Tiny Projectors Are A Really Big Idea, Really
Motorola's announcement that it will work toward building tiny video projectors into its handhelds seems to have been widely misunderstood – at least by the commenters who have responded to the story. "Bad idea"? Come ON, people, this is huge! Who needs this? Everybody who has a cellphone, starting with me.
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8 iPhone Briefs
Here are some of the best information, tips, and links about the HarryPotter-phone. Learn how to troubleshoot problems, customize ringtones, use non-Apple headphones with the iPhone, and more.
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AMD Promises Aggressive Quad-Core Road Map
Promising quad-core processors soon and an aggressive technology road map aimed squarely at beating back Intel, AMD chairman Hector Ruiz yesterday positioning himself as the calm at the center of his company's recent financial storm, which saw $600 million in second-quarter losses. But AMD's commitment to ship Barcelona and Phenom this year, coupled with an aggressive processor road map, could put the scrappy semiconductor maker back on an even keel soon.
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Second Life Geek Meet With Voice
Our first Geek Meet using the native Second Life voice technology exceeded expectations two-fold: Keystone Bouchard gave a fascinating presentation on architecture in virtual worlds. And the voice technology worked like gangbusters.
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Case Study: Field Force Automation Saves The Day For Mac-Gray
Welcome to Over The Air's first Friday case study. We'd like to make case studies a regular part of the blog and we're kicking things off with a look at how Mac-Gray's coin collectors used standard field force gear to reduce expenses, reduce wear and tear on its fleet and boost worker productivity.
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Will Dual-Mode Smartphones Become The Device De Rigueur?
Not only did revenue from smartphones leap 10% in the first quarter of 2007 compared with the fourth quarter of 2006, sales of Wi-Fi-enabled handsets are on track to top $145 billion in the next three years. Is Wi-Fi the key to spurring smartphone adoption?
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$28 Million For An Old Idea—Part 2
We have to kill the firewall in order to save it. That's the essential message from startup Palo Alto Networks.
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More Copies Of Windows Than Cars?
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today said that by the end of this fiscal year, which began July 1, there will be more than a billion Windows PCs worldwide. "There will be more PCs running Windows in the world than there are automobiles, which is, at least to me, a mind-numbing concept," Ballmer said. That hasn't been the only number thrown out so far.
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Microsoft Creates New Ad And Search Research Group
Microsoft's been criticized repeatedly for arriving late to the game in some technologies, and the Web is no exception. Today, company chairman Bill Gates announced a new group called the Internet Services Research Center to help close the gap between research and productization for services Microsoft is investing in, especially advertising and search.
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Will Microsoft Get Into Intentional Programming?
At Microsoft's annual Financial Analyst Meeting this morning, chairman Bill Gates said he wants to "make programming easy for information workers and professionals." It's possible Gates is talking about intentional programming, a method that allows subject matter experts like insurance adjusters or doctors to describe what they want programs to do as part of the development process.
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iPhone Problem No. 2: This Time The Hardware Went Kaput
It was just two days after last week's failed network connectivity issues that the speaker on my iPhone died. How did Apple respond?
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Cybercriminal Innovation Will Continue To Drive The IT Security Market
The creativity and ambition of cybercriminals all but ensure for years to come there will be a market not only for security technology but for individual security components provided by a multiplicity of vendors.
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What Do We Really Want From Linux?
In my last blog post about the real-world cost of Linux, I was struck by the contrast between my words and fellow InformationWeek blogger Alexander Wolfe’s take on all this. He’s lamented the broad variety of distributions out there, and found fault with the way those who create Linux distributions seem unwilling to accept what users really want. I figured I should lay out my own arguments.
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Is The Network A Pipe Or A Platform?
Web 2.0 has brought Sun's old slogan that The Network Is The Computer back into fashion, but few take it quite as literally as Cisco Systems. If Cisco gets its way, components like memory and processors will be linked by IP networks, not circuit boards.
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Crackpot Analysts Way Off On iPhone Sales
Now that real numbers are in, it's clear that estimates of the number of iPhones sold in the first few days after the launch were wildly inflated. So, it's worth asking, where did the crazy off-the-mark numbers come from? It turns out that most of the high-end analyst estimates were based on, well, analyst estimates.
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Smartphone Plus Projector Equals Road Warrior Heaven
Imagine you're on the final legs of a never-ending road trip. You arrive at the 100th client meeting that week to deliver the PowerPoint you slaved over for weeks. Just as you set up, the projector in the room goes dead. What do you do? Why not use the projector on your smartphone?
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Carriers At Risk Of Losing Enterprise Customers?
Upstart Wi-Fi vendors could potentially pilfer certain enterprise business segments from wireless network operators, according to a new report from Analysys. Well, maybe.
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AT&T's iPhone Sales Disappoint Stockholders -- EVERYBODY PANIC!
AT&T yesterday reported robust early sales for the iPhone -- but not robust enough. Investors expected more, and the price of Apple stock dropped as a result. But the figures represent a single datapoint, with no bearing on the long-term outlook for the iPhone.
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Make Your Own iPhone From Paper Or Sand
Like to have an iPhone of your own, but think they're too expensive? You can wait until the price comes down. (We'll call this the "less desirable" or "not crazy") option. Or you can do as these hobbyists have done and make your own, from paper or from sand.
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Microsoft Office 2003 SP3 May Be Here Soon
Be on the lookout for a free upgrade to Office 2003 in the form of another service pack.
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Helio Launches Support For Exchange
The forward-thinking MVNO has added the ability to retrieve email from Microsoft Exchange to its Ocean messaging device. The free 60-day beta trial is available immediately to Helio subscribers and will run $9.99 per month for All-In members after the trial expires. Is Helio trying to court the enterprise?
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Intel Quad-Core Xeon MP To Fuel Blade Server Consolidation
Let's admit that most of us are interested in quad-core processors because they're buzzworthy, and because we'd all like to own a really hot desktop PC. The truth is, where quad is really important is in servers, and that's why today's announcement by Intel of its Xeon 7300 Series MP processor (aka Tigerton) is so significant.
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Search's Dirty Money
Dirty money is a quaint concept because it's hard to imagine any other kind. Money is literally dirty -- some 18% of coins harbor pathogens, according to a 1998 study by Shirley Lowe, an assistant professor at the University of California -- and many great fortunes were made out of less-than-honorable work.
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And The Mobile-Phone Leader Is ... Luxembourg?!
The OECD Communications Outlook 2007 is now out, and available for reading online. It has a wealth of useful telecom statistics, including the numbers of mobile-phone subscribers in the 30 OECD countries. The country with the highest penetration rate is (drum roll, please) Luxembourg, believe it or not, with 157.3 mobile subscribers for every 100 people.
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What's The Difference Between A CIO And A CTO?
I mean, besides that middle letter. Or is that the only difference?
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Where Is 'Above The Fold' In A Web 2.0 World?
Blogger Milissa Tarquini at Boxes and Arrows questions the nature of the so-called "fold" in a Web 2.0 world. Tarquini asks a really great question: Where is the fold?
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Marc Andreessen's Next Big Thing? Cover Your Eyes
Now that Hewlett-Packard is buying Opsware for $1.65 billion (some $138 million of which goes into his pocket), Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen will be devoting more time to Ning, a Web startup for creating your own social networks. My first visit to the site was an eye opener -- as in, I couldn't believe what I saw there.
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Verizon Wireless Subscribers Send 10 Billion SMSs In June, Probably Have Carpal Tunnel
My thumbs hurt just thinking about it. While I am sure the bulk of those text messages were sent by teenagers, I contributed my fair share. The 10 billion figure represents a 100% increase in the amount of SMS traffic since September 2006. So, do you think text messaging has finally caught on?
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Americans Use The Mobile Web For Weather While Europeans Prefer Sports Scores
When it comes to using the mobile Web, Americans prefer to use their smartphones to check the weather while Europeans opt to keep up with sports scores. That's according to the latest mobile Web data from researcher M:Metrics.
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Sprint Donating Smartphones For Wireless Electronic Prescription Program
Does your physician still use a pad and pen to write out prescriptions? Mine actually uses a tablet PC, and has a wireless system in place to send prescriptions directly to my pharmacy. Sprint and Allscript's new initiative doesn't quite go that far, but it comes pretty close by using Windows Mobile smartphones instead.
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YouTube's Reign of Terror
The next leader of the free world may have stood on stage at The Citadel last night, but the real power in the room was YouTube. Politicians are terrified of the video sharing site. How else to explain their participation in a 90-minute YouTube infomercial masquerading as a debate?
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Join Us In Second Life For A Geek Meet Presentation On Virtual Architecture
Tuesday morning's Geek Meet in Second Life will be special for two reasons: First, the subject: Keystone Bouchard will speak on virtual architecture -- how design principles in the virtual world will evolve to be be different from real-world architecture.
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Blindness To Perceptions Of Average User Is Real Linux Handicap
I've beaten up on Linux in a couple of recent posts, arguing that there are too many distros and that it's a myth that Linux is technically superior to Windows. From the 300+ responses I received, a new thread emerges: Linux supporters seem more interested in preaching to the converted than in doing the hard work required to make the open-source operating system attractive to Windows users.
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Where Will Businesses Look For Help With Mobile Device Management?
According to a new survey, use of mobile business applications in top enterprises is set to skyrocket through 2009. The survey, sponsored by a vendor (in this case Mformation), claims that almost 60 percent of managers in top U.S. enterprises already use smartphones as strategic devices. But does this mean CIOs will actually pay for more mobile device management?
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25 Days With An iPhone
Like our reviewer John Welch, I've been living with the iPhone since it first came out, so I was very eager to read his in-depth review of the device "Review: Two Weeks With An iPhone," which was a follow-up to my earlier iPhone review, written after living with the device for just one weekend.
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The Promise Of Data Warehousing Made Easy
Is it possible to build a multi-terabyte data warehouse in less than an hour? That's the pitch made by two-year-old Dataupia, which today revealed partnerships with AMD, Informatica, and a dozen other tech companies. But if it sounds too good to be true, well, you know.
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What's Linux Gonna Cost You?
If there's one thing about Linux that everyone, even detractors, must admit is a good thing, it's the price tag. Linux is free -- free to download, free to run on as many PCs as you like, free to modify as needed and redistribute under similar conditions. This doesn't mean it's not going to cost you anything, though.
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Will Automation Be An IT Job Killer?
We've shared ways that U.S. IT pros are planning their careers with one eye on offshoring as a risk factor. We haven't spent enough time on the automation risk. Today's news of Hewlett-Packard buying Opsware for $1.6 billion cash shows how a lot of companies will look to automation to cut IT people, regardless of where in the world they work.
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iPhone Unfairly Blamed For Network Hiccups
Along with Investor's Business Daily, the Associated Press, and several dozen other journalists, I got suckered late last week by reports that the Wi-Fi network at Duke University had been overwhelmed by iPhones automatically seeking an Internet connection. Turns out that the problem lay not in the iPhone but in the network itself. Late on Friday (after our print edition had shipped), Duke posted a statement on its Web site saying that "A particular set of conditions made the Duke wireless network experience some minor and temporary disruptions in service."
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Dark Linings In Those Municipal Wi-Fi Clouds
More news that the already controversial municipal Wi-Fi projects are getting bogged down by technical, administrative, and political challenges came in the form of reports that the Wireless Silicon Valley project is in big trouble.
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Research: Chinese Beginning To Love Smartphones
According to a new report from In-Stat, smartphones are about to become the new it device over in China. In-Stat attributes the upsurge in smartphone use to a host of factors, including the availability of third-party applications. The funny thing is, most Chinese users don't give a whit about the operating system, or productivity.
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VideoJug: Video With Veracity
It's a lot of fun to catch the latest user videos on YouTube, but you can never be certain about the verisimilitude of the information you're getting. A new site called VideoJug is determined to become the expert version of YouTube -- a place where you can find how-to videos from various experts for everything from etiquette to eBay to earthquake survival.
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Microsoft Gets No Kick From Vista
Fifty-one billion dollars is a number so big it's hard to get your mind around -- a number-of-galaxies-in-the-sky number, a Halliburton-no-bid-contract number. Still, I'm willing to believe Microsoft took in that much in its just-ended fiscal year. But Microsoft says that huge number was in some way helped by "solid customer acceptance" of Vista? Come on, I wasn't born yesterday.
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Linux For Writers
Mitch Wagner's post about writer's tools for the Mac got me thinking about whether or not similar things exist for Linux. Like Mitch, I'm also an aspiring fiction writer (emphasis on the "aspiring") and after some digging I found entire distributions devoted to writers and writing.
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It's Over. Amp'd To Sell Assets, Cease Operations
As of tomorrow, Amp'd Mobile will be no more. It failed to find anyone willing to fund its debt and will begin selling its assets in pieces within the next week. Rather than play "Taps," I think we should fire up Jimi Hendrix's version of the "Star Spangled Banner" in honor of Amp'd's passing.
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Forget Harry Potter: Books We'd Really Like To See
Can you tell a book by its cover? In a post-literate society, the wrapper's beside the point. Indeed, if the prerelease Web leak of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" proved anything, it's that a little bit of content is king (or wizard). Whether most people actually read complete books anymore is a separate question.
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Open Sources, Open Notebook: Why Oracle Should Worry
Will open source databases make incursions into Oracle? Not likely. That's the view that extends far outside the circular towers of the Oracle campus. Consider, then, the experience of Jason Weiss, software architect at national florist supplier FTD. He thinks Oracle should be worried. Actually, he said, "terrified."
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China Weighs In On Its IT Security Challenges
A blog by my InformationWeek China colleague Jon Tian entitled "Borders of Information Security" provides some cultural perspective for several key findings in InformationWeek Research's 10th annual Global Information Security Survey.
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Should Google Buy Yahoo?
Robert Young at Publishing 2.0 argues that Google needs to face facts and finally kick down for Yahoo. Why would Google pay for a second rate search engine and a bunch of Web 1.0 apps?
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Can Google, The FCC, And AT&T Turn Wireless Carriers Into Dumb Pipes?
As my colleague Eric Zeman pointed out earlier today, Google is ready to bid in the FCC's upcoming auction of 700-MHz spectrum. Google is using its clout to push for an open access plan to spectrum, something that could turn the wireless carriers into dumb pipes -- and Google into one of those pipes.
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$28 Million For An Old Idea—Part 1
You have to admire the chutzpah of startup Palo Alto Networks. The company has raised $28 million to sell a "next-generation" firewall based on ideas that are 20 years old.
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Google Has $4.6 Billion Ready For FCC Auction
Google has been issuing statements over the last several weeks about the upcoming FCC 700 MHz auction. This morning, it formally declared its interest in participating in the auction if the FCC sticks to Chairman Kevin Martin's open access plan.
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Verizon Wireless Kinda Sorta Stabs Qualcomm In The Back
Not that it had much choice in the matter. With the ITC's ban on importing 3G chips from Qualcomm mere weeks from taking effect, Verizon needed to take steps to ensure it could continue to sell new phones. So it struck a licensing deal with Qualcomm competitor Broadcom.
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Is Your E-Mail Program Too Boring? Why Not Combine E-Mail With Video Gaming?
The guys at TechCrunch pointed out what has to be the silliest looking application ever: 3D Mailbox. 3D Mailbox combines e-mail with 3-D graphics. Think of it as Outlook meets Second Life. Wait. It gets better. 3D Mailbox has a movie trailer.
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Case Dismissed: IT Worker, Fired After Reporting Child Porn, Vows To Fight On
Dorothea Perry, the help desk technician who got fired after finding and reporting child pornography on a law professor's workplace PC, has suffered another setback. A state court judge has dismissed Perry's wrongful termination suit against New York Law School.
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Is Amp'd Mobile's Gig Coming To An End?
According to AP reports, Verizon Wireless is really ready to pull the plug on MVNO partner Amp'd this time. Verizon says Amp'd is using $370,000 worth of Verizon's services every day and that Amp'd will have just $9,000 in the bank by Monday. Time to dial Amp'd down to "0"?
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Why I Really Need A Mac To Enjoy My iPhone
After weeks of waiting, I finally got my hands on my very own iPhone. Playing with my iPhone has been so much more satisfying than using my neighbor's iPhone. I have one big problem with my new toy, though. It doesn't sync very well with my personal PC.
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China's Security Syndrome
InformationWeek Research's 10th annual Global Information Security Survey highlights some very different security concerns facing Chinese businesses as compared with their U.S. counterparts.
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Video: Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' Re-Created In 3-D In Second Life
This hauntingly beautiful video shows construction of a 3-D re-creation of the famous painting by Vincent Van Gogh. The soundtrack is the lovely "Starry, Starry Night," by Don McLean. I think everybody will like this video, but you can appreciate it a little more if you've actually done some building in Second Life.
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National WiMax Network Under Development From Sprint And Clearwire
Sprint and Clearwire confirmed rumors they plan to work together on a WiMax network that will reach across the U.S. Though Clearwire has a few dozen WiMax networks up and running in several Western states, Sprint has yet to launch its first test markets. Who will benefit from this new, larger WiMax network?
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Needleworkers Knit iPhone, Nintendo, And Sew Full-Sized Ferrari
Why shell out big bucks for a real iPhone, Nintendo, or Ferrari, when a homemade replica that you knit or sew is just as good in every way? Except of course, for the minor point of being completely useless?
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The iPhone Is Breaking Down The Dual-Mode Access Wall For The Enterprise, Too
Tim Ferguson at silicon.com argues that carriers need to do a better job of catering to the enterprise and other business customers. Before that happens, though, carriers need to open up to Wi-Fi and dual-mode smartphones.
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10 Rules For Avoiding Identity Theft 'Mistakes'
The federal government is trying to clean up its act when it comes to ID theft. That includes lecturing CIOs on the basics of information security.
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Are There Really Too Many Linux Distros?
How are Linux distributions like digital cameras? It sounds like a joke on the order of, "What's the difference between a compulsive gambler and a revolving door?" (Answer: The revolving door knows when to stop.) But the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that Linux distros are as varied as digital cameras, and for some of the same reasons.
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My First Call To AT&T/Apple Tech Support. Yay!
So last night I decided to Google something and, rather than trudge upstairs and fire up my PC, I grabbed my iPhone instead. When I tapped on the Safari button it stalled and I was greeted with a "Cannot Activate EDGE" error message. Eep. I tried again. Same message. Tried again several hours later. Same message. Oh, great...
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Too Many Linux Distros Make For Open Source Mess
Remember the 1980s worries about how the "forking" of Unix could hurt that operating system's chances for adoption? That was nothing compared to the mess we've got today with Linux, where upwards of 300 distributions vie for the attention of computer users seeking an alternative to Windows.
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As Expected, RIM Announces Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry
Late yesterday, Research in Motion officially announced the newest business BlackBerry, the 8820. What makes it unique is that it includes Wi-Fi, as well as an unlicensed mobile access client so users can take advantage of fixed-mobile convergence services. But that's not all.
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Google Finds Mobile Search More Challenging Than Expected
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Google is working on a search service designed to help consumers find mobile content such as ringtones, games, and other paid content. But the project isn't going that well. It looks like Google has discovered mobile search is tough.
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Borders Opens New CIO Chapter
The book industry is a fickle one. Ask Judith Regan. Or Cedric Vanzura, who just got written out of the technology strategy at Borders.
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Meet The New Boss
Yesterday AT&T said it is ramping up and expanding its bundled landline-plus-wireless service -- known as the Unity Plan, which sounds like the latest Iraq strategy from the Bush White House -- to add more rollover minutes and decrease the service requirements on the plan. That sounds great, but a quick look at the week's news indicates that "the new AT&T" looks a lot like the old Ma Bell in terms of crappy customer service.
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