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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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Book Review: IT Manager Battles The Undead In The Atrocity Archive
You don't have many IT-manager action heroes in science fiction. Sure, you have a lot of hackers, breaking into networks and subverting authority. But not a lot of science-fiction heroes save the universe in between staff meetings, working the help desk, and rebooting the file server.
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Will Solid State Drives Ever Replace Hard Disk Drives?
Not according to In-Stat. Solid state flash drives may be lighter and more stable, but standard optical hard drives are simply cheaper. Solid state drives will only inch their way into about 6% of the PC market by 2011. Guess which types of devices they'll be found in?
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Networking Startup, Of Cisco Lineage, Nears Launch
XKL, led by Cisco Systems co-founder Len Bosack, is a few weeks from formal launch. The Redmond, Wash., company will bring to market fiber optic networking gear for business networks. It has been a long, long time in coming.
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Protecting The Enterprise From Your Own Employees
Mobile employees can be a pain in the neck. Whether it's preventing unauthorized use of thumb drives to take files home at night, or keeping tech-savvy workers from skirting network policies, keeping the rank and file in line while online can be a headache. But it doesn't have to be.
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Shocker: Mark Cuban Is Right, YouTube Is Doomed
It's not often you see something about Mark Cuban where you're inspired to read more, but that was the case today when I saw this just-posted IEEE Spectrum interview with the maverick Mavericks owner.
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Intel's Quad-Core Salvo Casts Light On Battle With AMD
Intel's announcement that it's going to release a new high-end quad core processor and cut pricing of its existing line up puts competitor AMD in a tough position.
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Drive Your Mac With Mouse Gestures Using FlyGesture
Mouse gestures are a means of controlling your computer by stepping your mouse through a series of movements. FlyGesture is free Mac software that lets you create your own mouse gestures to control the Mac.
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CIO Closes Data Barn Door
A year ago, Ohio University suffered an embarrassing incident of comprised personal data. Now the CIO brought in to clean up the mess is articulating the measures he's taking to beef up network security. They sound familiar.
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Adding Value Beyond 'Free'
Spiceworks' customer base has more than tripled since the beginning of the year, from 30,000 to 100,000 users, a testament to the promise of ad-supported software. Its next challenge: Going from free to indispensable.
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Why Do You Need Third-Party Software Just To Turn Off Your iMac Display?
Turning down or off the display isn't just a matter of saving energy for Mother Earth. It is also necessary to produce a condition known to interior designers as "darkness." And the iMac, for some reason, lacks that most simple of hardware amenities: An on-off switch that controls just the display.
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There’s A Linux Distro For Every User -- And Vice Versa
One common question I get asked about Linux, typically by people who are not themselves users of the operating system, is "What kinds of people use Linux?" The conventional wisdom among non-techies is that Linux is strictly for pros or the tech-geek set. But from what I've gathered, today's Linux users actually break down into four categories.
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Twitter Is The Future Of Presence And Collaboration
I admit it, I've been spending too much time with Twitter. But as a result of my growing Twitter addiction, I have discovered all kinds of cool things about it.
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Overseas Cell Phone Users: More Numerous--And More Courteous
Sitting in a London theatre last week waiting for the curtain to rise, we were startled to hear the loudest cell phone ringtone we'd ever heard broadcast over the theatre's loudspeaker--quickly followed by another, then another, then another until there was a virtual cacophony of conflicting bells, whistles, snippets of Europop and Beethoven echoing through the hall.
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Twitter As Business Tool
It was only a matter of time until bloggers and technologists began touting Twitter as a business tool. I can hear you already: How on earth can a blogging tool that restricts users to only 140 characters be useful for business? The answer is easy: Twitter is a communications tool. If your business needs to communicate, then it needs to Twitter.
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AT&T Wi-Fi Footprint Shrinks While Carrier Pushes Wi-Fi Access On iPhone
Glenn Fleishman at Wi-Fi Net News reports that UPS has dropped AT&T Wi-Fi service from both The UPS Store and Mailboxes Etc. locations. What's going on with AT&T's Wi-Fi network?
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Nokia Challenges Symbian Developers To Step Up To The Plate
Forum Nokia, the Finland cell phone maker's developer support program, has tossed its gauntlet into the ring and announced the 'Open C Challenge' developer contest. The basic idea is to spur creative program development for the Symbian S60 smartphone platform. Prize booty includes $20,000.
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Man Uses APC To Exact Revenge Against Cell Carrier
We've all had moments when we were frustrated with our cellular carriers for one reason or another. I doubt, though, that many of us commandeered an armored personnel carrier and used it to run down six of our carrier's cell towers in a fit of madness. That's exactly what one man did in Australia. He must have wanted to one up Russell Crowe.
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The Linus Files, Part Two: Torvalds Says GPLv3 Backers Full Of "Hot Air"
Last week I wrote that Linux creator Linus Torvalds called advocates of the Free Software Foundation's GPLv3 license "hypocrites." A few readers complained I had not provided a complete picture of Torvald's feelings. They were right. He also thinks FSF leaders are "controlling," "condescending," and full of "hot air." And he's got more choice words for GPLv3 itself.
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Intel Intros Core 2 Extreme QX6850 As Price War Looms
The news that Intel will launch its fastest quad-core processor yet, the 3.0-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850, comes just as a bruising price war is beginning between the chip behemoth and its smaller rival, AMD.
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Intel To Cut Quad-Core Processor Prices On July 22
Intel has sent a message to its 130,000+ resellers and white-box builders, informing them that it will cut the prices of its still-new, quad-core processors next week. From all appearances, the move is the chip giant's way of returning fire in a price war initiated by AMD.
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Google Tests Mobile Version Of AdSense For The U.S.
Last month I blogged that Google was testing mobile ads in South Korean. Now it looks like Google has expanded this trial to include mobile ads for U.S. partners. I told you mobile Google ads were on the way.
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View Today's Internet Using Vintage Browsers
The Deja Vu Browser Emulator has emulators that clone early 90s browsers such as NCSA Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, Lynx, Internet Explorer and more. View modern Web sites through 13-year-old lenses. For enhanced effect, wear grunge clothes and listen to Nirvana on the cassette deck.
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Download Speeds Of 300 Mbps Wirelessly? That's What NTT DoCoMo Is Up To
Verizon Wireless' and Sprint's high-speed EV-DO Revision A networks pale in comparison to what NTT DoCoMo is attempting to cook up in its labs. It has begun testing "Super 3G" and hopes to blast bits of data through the air at 300 Mbps. Will we ever see speeds like that in the United States?
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Join Us For Our Friday Geek Meet To Talk About Second Life Stock Exchanges
Just as in real life, stock exchanges in Second Life bring investors and entrepreneurs together. Today, we'll hear from several SL stock exchanges in a panel discussion moderated by a Cornell University professor.
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Open Source Is Dead, Long Live Open Patents?
I've been trying to make sense out of the new Version 3 of the General Public License and I've got to tell you, I can't yet. All I can see is that (1) in the short term, the GPLv3 has turned Microsoft's deal with Novell into a hairball Redmond is trying to cough up; (2) further out, unless the two ayatollahs of open source, Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds, kiss and make up, either Linux or the GPLv3 (or both) is dead, and (3) in the long run IBM's move to create a lawsuit-free zone with license terms for its patents just might provide an alternative. [This entry has been corrected.]
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Move Over Moto. No Way Nokia. Apple? Laughable. LG and Samsung Have Them All Beat
A new study from Parks Associates says that LG and Samsung lead the U.S. market for advanced entertainment features. You know, the stuff that the iPhone is supposed to be good at, like video, music and games. Interesting that both firms are from South Korea.
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CIOs Are A Frustrated Bunch
A new study says top tech execs are more unhappy at their jobs than any other group of execs surveyed. What do CIOs want?
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Ubuntu Aftermath: Puncturing The Linux 'Urban Legend'
Most of us, even confirmed Windows users, have accepted on some level the idea that Linux really is a better operating system, on a technical level. Not me; not anymore. After my long slog preparing Ubuntu Linux's Achilles' Heel: It's Tough To Install On Laptops, I'm now filing that one in the "urban legend" folder.
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Who's Fighting Identity Theft? You'd Be Surprised
I love a good scrap, and one of the more interesting ones I've been following this year involves the U.S. Justice Department and E-Gold, an organization that provides a payment system for online transactions. The government says that E-Gold facilitates cybercrime by allowing the criminal element to pay online for stolen goods. Yet E-Gold portrays itself as a fellow cybercrime fighter and asserts the government ignores its offers for assistance and is taking credit for E-Gold's investigative work.
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Network Operators' Worst Fears Realized: They Will Be Dumb Pipes
Research firm Analysys says that the wireless industry's walled gardens may come crumbling down within 5 years. In a new report, it notes that the likely outcome for carriers is loss of control over the services that flow through their networks, relegating them to commodities.
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Video: This Is What The Web Looked Like In 1994
Holy cow, this three-minute promotional video from Digital Equipment Corp. sure takes me back. I was online news editor for InformationWeek around then, we produced a flat Web site much like the ones shown here.
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Scrivener: Writing Software For The Mac
Careful readers of the InformationWeek blog know that I write science-fiction in my spare time, and inflict it on science-fiction magazine editors, who giggle merrily as they reject it. Recently, I've been playing around with various writing software, as a way of both enhancing my writing experience, and procrastinating from actual writing. I've been using software called Scrivener for the past couple of days, and I like it a lot.
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If The iPhone's Not A Business Tool, How Come It Runs Etelos CRM Suite?
Well, is it or isn't it? A lively discussion is brewing over that question in our discussion forum, with some iPhone lovers saying it was NEVER intended to be a business tool, while other equally devoted iPhoners are saying it's a PERFECT business tool.
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Use Your iPhone As External Storage
Smartphones are the multi-tools of electronic gadgetry. I used to use my Palm Treo as a memo pad, storage device for my electronic passwords, shopping list, and of course an Internet access device and PDA. That kind of versatility is the iPhone's big lack. It's great at what it does, but you can't even transfer memos from the iPhone to your desktop.
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Will EDGE Kill The iPhone In Europe?
Prior to the launch of the iPhone in the U.S., there was speculation that the slow data speeds of AT&T's EDGE network could impact sales of the iPhone. Obviously, that didn't happen. Now it's seems almost certain that the iPhone will launch in Europe, with rumors of an announcement next week in London. There is one catch. It appears that the European edition of the iPhone will also run on EDGE. This could raise a problem since there is very little EDGE coverage in Europe. So what networks will the European iPhone use?
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Will Steve Jobs Launch The iPhone In Europe Next Week?
Earlier this week my colleague Richard Martin blogged about a possible iPhone launch in Europe. His post was triggered in part by a set of rumors that claim Steve Jobs has been hanging around London, especially in the Apple store. What's Steve up to?
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An iPhone For Hackers: The OpenMoko 'LPhone'
You would have to be deaf (or at least real busy with wax and cotton balls) to ignore the screaming about the iPhone that's been filling the air for the past few weeks. It's a slick piece of hardware, sure, but the amount of vendor lock-in that you have to accept to use it has alienated many people. Meanwhile, another company has been quietly gearing up to offer a completely different kind of phone -- one that's as open to hardware and software hackery as the iPhone is closed.
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For Microsoft, "Launch" Doesn't Mean "Release"
Earlier this week, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner announced SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 would all be launched on February 27, 2008. "It's the biggest single launch we've got in Microsoft on one day," he said to loud cheers. Not so fast.
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Why Are Ad Click-Throughs On Facebook So Bad?
Facebook may be the hottest thing without the name iPhone, but ads on the social networking site are not. According to a post on the "Welcome to Reach Students Blog," ad click-throughs on Facebook are pretty low, even with precise targeting. Why are ads on Facebook flopping?
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Uh oh. MOTO's ZNDR Is In TRBL
Are we really surprised to see news that Motorola CEO Ed Zander may be forced out of the top chair? With the profit warning issued yesterday that Motorola's handset business will be in the red for the entire year, now is probably a good time to oust the CMDR of MOTO.
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Merriam-Webster's Validates DVR, RPG To Lexicon
It's the "perfect storm" of technology and "gray literature." So much so, that "Bollywood" should produce a "ginormous" movie spectacular about the changes to this year's dictionary.
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Hell Hath No Fury Like An Apple Fanatic Tweaked
Since the iPhone is one of the most hyped, overanalyzed, and lathered-up technology products ever introduced, and since InformationWeek reaches millions of people who buy and use technology products for a living, we asked one of the top CIOs in the world to assess the iPhone's viability as a business tool. And boy oh boyzee, were the Apple faithful agitated by what that CIO wrote.
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Just How Productive Can You Be With An iPhone? A Day In The Life Of A Former CrackBerry Addict, Part 2: Internet
This is the second half of my one-day miniseries on whether or not the iPhone leads to business productivity compared to a BlackBerry. Here is my take on how the iPhone does with the Internet versus the BlackBerry Pearl. Is it a waste of time, or a time saver?
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Are You Spending Your IT Security Dollars Wisely? If You Don't Know, You're Not Alone
How do companies know they're getting their money's worth when they invest in IT security products and services? InformationWeek's upcoming 10th Annual Global Security Survey indicates that a surprising number of companies don't measure the value of their security investments at all. (Hint: it's up from last year).
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To Microsoft, Or Not To Microsoft?
Dave Robinson has an autographed photo of Bill Gates in his office.
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The 72-Hour Startup
Last weekend in Boulder, Colo., home of InformationWeek's Rocky Mountain Bureau, a group of about 70 or so entrepeneurs, investors, software developers, Web designers and marketing geniuses, plus at least one massage therapist, got together with an audacious goal: create and launch a new online business in 72 hours. Conceived by 23-year-old graphic designer Andrew Hyde, Startup Weekend was an experiment in company creation and an attempt to set the land-speed record for entrepreneurialism.
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A Tale Of Two Browsers
Internet Explorer and Firefox are sitting on a bench, enjoying the warm summer sun. Suddenly, Firefox sneezes, reaches for its handkerchief, grabs its cell phone, and calls its doctor. "I think I'm coming down with something," it says. "Is there something I can do to get rid of this problem?" Then IE sneezes. What does it do?
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Introducing The "Apple Unvarnished" Blog
Apple is white-hot. Mac sales are outstripping Windows at a time when rival Microsoft is stumbling with Vista. iTunes has roared into the marketplace to become the third-largest music retailer in the U.S. And then there's this thing called the "iPhone" -- perhaps you've heard of it?
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No Skype on iPhone? Not So!
This just in to our All-iPhone-All-The-Time Desk: If you were bummed because you couldn't run Skype on your iPhone, weep no more. There's a work-around-around. You can install and run SoonR Talk, an AJAX app that works on the Opera Mobile browser version 8.6 (which you presumably also have to install and run) on your iPhone. At least that's Tom Keating's story in his VoIP & Gadgets Blog entry on TMCnet, and he's sticking to it.
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Second Life Usage Declines In June
Second Life's population growth didn't just slow in June -- it declined in one key metric. The number of active users -- people who have spent more than an hour per month in-world -- declined 2.5 percent to 495,000 in June, and the growth in total user hours slowed to the lowest rate in six months, Reuters reported.
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Being Mobile Doesn't Necessarily Make You Work Smarter
While I never question the value of being connected 24/7, I do wonder if it makes me work smarter. Almost everyone is familiar with the notion that we should "work smarter, not harder," but how many of us actually work smarter because of our smartphones and wireless laptops?
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Ubuntu Linux Ain't Easy As Dell
It's tough to challenge conventional wisdom, especially when that challenge raises doubts about the wildly popular version of Linux called Ubuntu. But doubts are exactly what I had after finishing my Ubuntu "safari", in which I worked through numerous glitches to get laptop and desktop installs up and running.
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Microsoft's Ginormous Software Business
At Microsoft's annual partners conference Tuesday, attendees were barraged with numbers meant to impress them about the sheer size of Microsoft's business and the market opportunities its scale represents for them. Merriam-Webster just added "ginormous," a combination of gigantic and enormous, to its dictionary. It's a word befitting the world of Microsoft.
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Forget MySpace, Facebook Is A Bigger Threat To LinkedIn
When it comes to social networking, it seems everyone is obsessed with Facebook. The big meme du jour is that Facebook will soon surpass MySpace as the biggest social networking site on the Web. Frankly, I don't think this is an interesting question. Regardless of who wins this race, both sites have amazing growth numbers and don't seem poised for a downturn anytime soon. The more interesting question is this: Will Facebook kill LinkedIn to become the primary career networking site on the Web?
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Just How Productive Can You Be With An iPhone? A Day In The Life Of A Former CrackBerry Addict, Part 1: Email
The only true measure of the iPhone's enterprise productivity capabilities is to go out and use the darned thing in the wild, wild world of work. So I did exactly that, and compared it to how productive I would have been in the same situation with my BlackBerry.
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Paying Too Much For Long Distance (I.E., More Than Zero) ?
When I wrote about a gaggle of new VoIP services recently (see Review: 6 Skype Alternatives Offer New Services I stumbled into one of those subcultures that proliferate around the Web. You know, like The People Who Collect Old Coffee Cans and so on. This one was The People Who Make Free International Calls. Comments added to the article and emails I've gotten have added several services that offer free or cheap VoIP calling to my list.
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The First Eight Things I Did With My Neighbor's iPhone
Somehow, I utterly failed to snag an iPhone. On the fated date of June 29, I waited in line at several AT&T stores as well as one Apple store, but to no avail. While everyone else in the mobile blogosphere played with their iPhones, I waited and sulked with envy. In fact, I am still waiting. I have one on order and soon I will taste the sweet, sweet joys that come from owning the it phone of 2007. However, I did get my hands on one last night. So now I get to tell you about the first eight things I did with it.
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Great Moments In Customer Service: Sprint Cans 1,200 Subscribers For Complaining
Do you ever feel like your wireless carrier just doesn't care about you? Well, get a load of this. Sprint this week said it plans to cut off 1,200 subscribers for making too many calls to customer service. What is the real problem here? That these customers were making too many calls? Or that Sprint cared more about the bottom line than providing quality service?
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Microsoft Avoids GPL Trap To Step Into Snare
Microsoft sought to avoid tangling itself up in the GPL license when it struck a deal with Novell. Rather than pay Novell, it agreed to hand out SUSE Linux coupons to consumers. It stayed at arms length from distributing the code… But did Microsoft circumvent the trap of GPLv2 by stepping into the snare of GPLv3?
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No iPhone Nano for You
J.P. Morgan, the source of the rumor that a low-end iPhone based on Apple's iPod Nano is being developed, today issued a research note distancing itself from that claim.
If you didn't see that denial coming, you were probably too busy admiring your reflection in your iPhone's lustrous screen.
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iPhone Vs. Blender (Guess Who Wins?)
I've seen fire and I've seen rain. And now after watching videotape of the "Will It Blend?" guys dismantling an iPhone, I've seen a good waste of $500.
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Second Life Growth Slowing Down
Second Life is still growing -- it's just growing at a slower rate than it was. Total signups grew at a rate of 12.6% in June, down from 15% in May. Growth in premium accounts -- accounts people pay to use -- was 5.3%, down from 8.1% in May. Is this a temporary lull? Or a sign of coming doom?
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New Tool For Snooping On Employees Who Blog
A small company in the Rochester, N.Y., area is about to launch Web monitoring technology that's touted as a way to keep companies out of hot water as more employees author Weblogs and wikis. Experience shows that businesses are well advised to pay attention to what employees post online, but Techrigy's technology (part software, part service) sounds like corporate oversight taken a step too far.
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Is Mobile Access To YouTube The New Must-Have Feature?
We all know the iPhone is in bed with YouTube, and apparently Helio, LG, and Samsung are looking to make it a ménage à cinq. A spate of announcements from the latter three companies over the course of the last week shows that there is a lot of interest in mobile YouTube.
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7 Applications You Can Run On Your iPhone
I've got my eye out for applications for the iPhone. These are Web sites that have been optimized for the phone's tiny display and AJAX implementation. Read on for bookmarks to apps that find cheap gas near you, locate movie times, and even a full-fledged word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation suite.
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Linux Creator Calls GPLv3 Authors 'Hypocrites' As Open Source Debate Turns Nasty
Linux creator Linus Torvalds said the authors of a new software license expected to be used by thousands of open source programmers are a bunch of hypocrites and likened them to religious fanatics -- the latest sign of a growing schism in the open source community between business-minded developers like Torvalds and free software purists.
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Mobile Phones Closer To Becoming Full Digital Wallets, Cows Rejoice
With a new mobile payment program from PayPal and the rise of near field communications-enabled phones in developing countries, cell phones are quickly becoming the method of payment du jour. But will they ever really replace the cowhide in our pockets?
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Prototype Software Lets You Run Second Life In A Web Browser
AjaxLife lets you run Second Life without the need to install or run the service's resource-intensive client. AjaxLife is quite primitive, but as a proof-of-concept, it's remarkable.
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If I Were CIO For A Day: The Top 10 Things I'd Do
My colleague and friend, Bob Evans, editorial director of the Business Technology Group at CMP Technology, the publisher of InformationWeek, sent me this entry.
By Bob Evans
In the song "If I Were the King of the Forest" from "The Wizard of Oz," the Cowardly Lion promises that "As I'd click my heel, all the trees would kneel. And the mountains bow and the bulls kowtow." While I surely can't match such regal and grand aspirations, here's my Top 10 List of what I'd do if I were CIO for a day.
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William Gibson To Appear In Second Life
William Gibson, whose 1984 novel Neuromancer was a bible for Internet pioneers, is making an appearance in Second Life. Gibson wasn't the first person to use the idea of "cyberspace," but he coined the word and popularized it.
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Next For The iPhone: Invading Europe
Hear the one about the intrepid explorer who, after months of searching, finally stumbles into a remote Tibetan monastery that clings to a cliff face in the Himalayas? Granted an audience with the head lama, who appears to be about 120, the explorer asks, "O lama, through decades of fasting and meditation you have reached the highest spiritual plane accessible to humans in this world. What is there to wish for or achieve when you have reached your level of enlightenment?" The lama replies, "Well, an iPhone would be nice."
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Net Neutrality Deserves Some Fairness, Too
A new paper by authors associated with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Nevada Reno concludes that net neutrality is a bad idea. This isn't surprising – not because it makes sense, but because it was largely underwritten by AT&T, which hopes to make billions of dollars from throttling the free flow of traffic on the Internet.
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The Elusive Mr. Phillips
I had my plane ticket to fly to Boston tomorrow for a press lunch with Oracle president Charles Phillips, who was going to talk about the release of Oracle Database 11g. Oracle just canceled the lunch last minute without explanation. Darn it! The elusive Mr. Phillips slips through my fingers once again.
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Microsoft Vs. GPLv3: How To Trip Over Your Own Feet
One news article that caught my eye and which definitely got everyone talking was Microsoft claiming that the GPLv3 license doesn't apply to them vis-a-vis their partnership with Novell -- and going further to declare that they won't support any software distributed under the GPLv3 license. The whole thing has turned into what looks like yet another test of the way software licensing can be interpreted in the real world -- something that might turn real sour for Microsoft in the future.
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Will The Enterprise Ever Take SMS Seriously?
While text messages are a simple and direct method to communicate, they can be a way to skirt official, IT-monitored channels. And a potentially unsafe one, to boot. Vodafone is offering its enterprise customers a chance to take back a small degree of control.
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Adorable Video Of Seniors Learning To Send E-Mail
Seniors learn to use e-mail at the Tunbridge, Vt., public library. This video comes from librarian/bloggger Jessamyn West, who also created the cutest video on installing Ubuntu Linux done by a librarian in Washington, Vt., that you ever saw.
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Protecting Info One File At A Time
Enterprise security problems and regulatory requirements give rise to startups the way cow pies give rise to mushrooms. That's certainly the case in the nascent information leak prevention (ILP) market, where a handful of startups aim to help enterprises stop sensitive data from leaving the enterprise.
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First Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry Cleared By The FCC
Late last week, the Federal Communications Commission gave the green light for a brand new BlackBerry. Normally, that wouldn't be overly important. But this bad boy BlackBerry was approved for 802.11a/b/g. Yup, that would be Wi-Fi, folks. What we've all been waiting for!
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Why Windows Vista Shouldn't Crash In 10 Seconds Or Less
My recent blog post, How To Crash Windows Vista In 10 Seconds Or Less, provoked a firestorm of responses, mostly from people calling me an idiot for daring to suggest that the operating system shouldn't tank if you persist in holding down the Windows key and the letter "E." That sequence will open up Windows Explorer windows ad infinitum and in short order your system will stop responding.
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Microsoft's Canada Plan Highlights Need For Immigration Reform
Microsoft for years has sought an end to limits on the number of visas granted to foreign high-tech workers. But the demise of the immigration reform bill appears to have the company taking a different tack: It now wants to park overseas talent in Canada.
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Can The iPhone Break The Carriers' Death Grip?
At first glance the conclusion reached by IDC mobile and wireless analyst Shiv Bakhshi, in his report this week titled "Apple's iPhone Hits the Market, But Can It Change the Game?" is absurd: Bakhshi argues that the arrival of the iPhone -- which is tied exclusively to AT&T's Edge network and carries a hefty service premium, will help break the stranglehold the Big Four wireless carriers have on the mobile telecommunications market in this country.
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As Specialized A Linux Distro As You're Likely to Find
You want proof there's a Linux distribution for absolutely every possible application? Here's one for you: Hikarunix, a distro dedicated to Go players and based on the ever-versatile Damn Small Linux (DSL).
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Review: Indestructible USB Drive Saves The Day
Ever have a bad IT day? You know, the kind of day where you accidentally crash the server and lose terabytes of your coworkers' files? Or the kind of day when you accidentally drop your thumb drive containing a vital PowerPoint presentation into your morning coffee? Believe it or not, I've had such days. Good thing I was field testing a new rugged (and thankfully water resistant) flash thumb drive, or I'd have been in trouble.
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The Startup Cycle
I agree with John that corporate attitudes about startups have shifted somewhat. But at least to the same degree, the venture community has hit on a formula for success. Here's my take on that formula.
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IT Rediscovers Novelty, The Venture-Backed Muse
Bright ideas are easy to come by in the tech industry. Wrapping business models around them, and getting budget-pinched, risk-averse IT pros to buy in—that's been much harder. But after years of slamming the door on tech entrepreneurs, IT execs are once again warming up to their pitches. What's changed? Businesses, it turns out, can't live on legacy systems and cost cutting alone.
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Nokia Skype-ifies The N800 Internet Tablet
Fans of the Linux-based N800 Internet tablet from Nokia rejoice! Nokia recently published an update to the device's operating system and one of the upgrades includes support for the Skype client. But that's not all...
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Apache Foundation Co-Founder Likes GPLv3
One of the unsung features of GPLv3 is its grant of compatibility to the Apache and Eclipse open source licenses. Apache or Eclipse licensed code can now be combined with GPL code without creating a violation of the GPL. That wasn't possible in the past, or at least, not sanctioned by the Free Software Foundation.
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Dan's Adventures In iPhone Land
Hello, and welcome to CIOs Uncensored. Here you’ll find a forum for the concerns of the CIO community, voiced by the CIO community.
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Apple Puts a Camera Where Its Mouse Is
Apple just can't bring itself to make a two-button mouse. Partly it's an issue of aesthetics. "Unlike the conventional mouse, the unibody mouse does not include any mechanical buttons thereby making it more elegant than the conventional mouse (e.g., no surface breaks or lines)," a newly published Apple patent application explains.
It may also have something to do with the fact that Microsoft favors dual-button rodents.
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That 'Hallmark' E-Card May Contain Malware Tidings
"Recieved" was the giveaway; one of the few spelling rules I've retained is "I before e, except after c." So when I my e-mail read, "You have recieved A Hallmark E-Card," I was immediately suspicious. The random capitalization made me wary, too.
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How Much Used IT Gear Is Counterfeit?
Counterfeit gear casts a shadow over the used IT equipment market. Just how long a shadow is difficult to judge, however. Cisco—a popular target of counterfeiters—wouldn't provide any information on the amount of fake gear it thinks is on the market, or how much it has recovered.
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Dell's Open Source PC Gambit
You've probably heard by now that Dell's started selling desktop systems preloaded with Ubuntu Linux -- a big step forward for Linux as a whole, since Dell's PCs are, for many people (and organizations), something of a default choice. But there are a few things about the way Dell assembles their open-source PCs that caught my eye -- reminders that their business, for the most part, is and will continue to be driven by Windows sales.
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RIM Gets Clearance To Sell BlackBerrys In China
The road from Waterloo to Beijing has been a long, eight-year journey for Research in Motion that has finally come to an end. The maker of BlackBerry smartphones recently received permission to sell the devices to corporate customers in China. The move will only add to RIM's surging subscriber base.
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iPhone Sells Out Across U.S.
Despite a serious number of iPhone haters out there (and man are you guys a vocal bunch), it looks like the number of iPhone fans (iPhans?) has spoken loud and clear. The Apple web site is reporting that only two retail stores (one in Oregon, one is Pennsylvania) have any stock left of the device.
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Top 8 iPhone Videos Reveal Apple's Inside Secrets, More
Maybe you can't get ahold of an iPhone, because 700,000 customers got in line ahead of you. Or perhaps you don't want one, put off by the hefty price tag and lack of a hard keyboard. Still, you're curious, right? So join me in viewing the following collection of videos, which reveal not only the detailed innards of the iPhone, but also--yes, it's a Conan O'Brien parody--how the iPhone can double-duty as an electric shaver with a Web interface.
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July Fourth Is Time To Hail America's Tech Heroes
Independence Day typically revolves around fireworks, beaches, and picnics, with a little patriotism thrown in for good measure. It strikes me that nothing affirms the truth about the freedoms we enjoy more than the realization that the vast majority of technological innovations we enjoy--from radio and television to computers and the Internet--came to us by way of talented Americans, people who weren't always recognized in their own time for the heroes they were. So let's honor them this July Fourth.
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We Still Need Net Neutrality Legislation
We haven't heard much about net neutrality legislation lately. That could be because the current Congress might actually be able to pass it, and opponents like AT&T and Verizon are laying low, spreading lobbying money, and trying to wait out that shocking possibility. That makes the Federal Trade Commission's anti-net neutrality announcement last week even more puzzling. Was it intended as a warning from the Bush administration to Congress to back off, or was it yet another shake of the money tree?
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Google Gets Green(er)
Google's been busy with a lot of environmental initiatives lately: The company just completed its 1.6 megawatt photovoltaic system, enabling it to power 1/3 of its corporate headquarters using solar energy.
Continue reading "Google Gets Green(er)..."
The iPhone Makes Watching Video More Like Reading A Book
The novelist John Irving made that observation years ago about the VCR, and each generation of video technology brings watching and reading closer together, making video more private and more under the user's control.
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The iPhone Is Actually Pretty Inexpensive
Most of the press about the iPhone talks about its high price. Even my iPhone review describes it as pricey. But if you actually think about all the things it can do, it's a bargain.
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Security Star Shares Top 5 Most Popular Web 2.0 Services Sure To Be A Hit With Hackers
As I was checking out what's going on today (and, let's be honest, thinking about my July 4 plans), I came across a blog posting that I couldn't resist sharing with InformationWeek readers. It's entitled "The Top 5 most Popular Web2.0 Services Hackers Cannot live Without," and it includes mashups, RSS readers, and an online database app.
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Research: 65 Million Users To Adopt UMA By 2012
According to a new report from ABI Research, at least seven handset makers have Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA)-enabled handsets on the market and network operators are itching to deploy the technology. Just last week T-Mobile launched its UMA-powered T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service. With the number of UMA adopters set to climb to 65 million, UMA's future is looking brighter.
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Nokia To Make Touch Screen Devices?
There was some confusion a couple of weeks ago about the future of Nokia and touch screen technology. In the end, Nokia CTO Tero Ojanpera made a public statement that, "Optical sensors and touch will be the next big things." Backing up that claim is news that Nokia has licensed Immersion Corporation's VibeTonz tactile feedback technology.
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Google's Desktop Search For Linux Is A Boon For Data Packrats
You know what the worst thing is about having incredibly cheap storage technology? You find endless excuses to be a digital packrat. I didn't need to have an excuse before; I've just saved everything anyway, compulsively. What I've always needed is some way to plow through it all -- a magnet for the needles in my haystack -- and now Google has once again come to the rescue with a version of their Desktop Search product for Linux.
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Universal iTunes Dispute Spotlights Better Ways To Sell Online Music
It's shaping up as a good news, bad news kind of week for Steve Jobs. On the plus side, he's launched the most popular modestly featured smartphone ever. (I can't say I was surprised that the iPhone we were ogling at my office today feels heavier than my trusty BlackBerry.) In contrast, it couldn't have come as good news that the world's biggest record company, which has been selling its songs through the only online music store that matters, finally told Jobs to take the metaphorical gun away from its head.
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Is Google's Spam Fight a Sham?
Google may say it fights spam but I'm beginning to have my doubts. A recent post on Google's Webmaster Central blog offers advice on how to build "startpages."
What is a "startpage"? "Basically, it's a Web page with a lot of links about a specific topic," explain Selina & Jos, two members of Google's Search Quality Team in Dublin.
So here's the question: How is a "startpage" different from a "doorway page"?
Continue reading "Is Google's Spam Fight a Sham?..."
Palm Pushes OS II To 2008
Just two months ago, Palm spoke of its forthcoming operating system that will be a marriage of Linux and parts of the Garnet OS. Palm CEO Ed Colligan went as far as saying products with the new OS would be available later this year. Looks like Colligan spoke too soon. He was recently quoted saying that the OS is not going to be available until 2008.
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I Bought An iPhone… Now What?
You're probably sick of hearing about the iPhone already. How can you not be? It's on the Internet, on TV, on the radio—basically taking over mainstream news. But I'm guilty of giving into all the hype. I bought an iPhone on Friday. My excuse to others is that I needed a new phone and I've always wanted an iPod, so the iPhone made sense for me. In reality, it's a really cool gadget that I just had to have.
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Microsoft Fan Names Daughter 'Vista'
Where are all the Microsoft fanatics? Oh, they're around, and one of them has just named his daughter "Vista." If she had been a boy, she was going to have the initials DOS. No kidding.
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Report: Google Announcing GrandCentral Acquisition Today Or Tomorrow
TechCrunch is reporting that Google will announce it's acquired Internet telephony company GrandCentral, which offers users one phone number for work, home, and cell. Google will pay $50 million or more, TechCrunch says.
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My iPhone Odyssey
Of course, I've wanted an iPhone since it was first announced back in January, but I hadn't made up my mind to actually go out and buy one ... until 5 p.m. Friday. Here's what happened.
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iPhone: Now The Work Begins
Okay, the iPhone?s here. Now what?
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Flip Your Text Upside Down
(¡buıoq buıoq 'sʞuɐɥʇ) .uʍop ǝpısdn ʇxǝʇ ɹnoʎ sdı1ɟ ǝʇıs qǝʍ sıɥʇ -- ʎɐpı1oɥ ɹǝɯɯns ɐ ǝɹoɟǝq ʎɐpuoɯ ɐ uo ǝɯıʇ ǝ1ʇʇı1 ɐ ǝʇsɐʍ oʇ ʎɐʍ unɟ ɐ s,ǝɹǝɥ
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