Edge: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism By Jaron Lanier

Edge: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism By Jaron Lanier: "The problem I am concerned with here is not the Wikipedia in itself. It's been criticized quite a lot, especially in the last year, but the Wikipedia is just one experiment that still has room to change and grow. At the very least it's a success at revealing what the online people with the most determination and time on their hands are thinking, and that's actually interesting information.
No, the problem is in the way the Wikipedia has come to be regarded and used; how it's been elevated to such importance so quickly. And that is part of the larger pattern of the appeal of a new online collectivism that is nothing less than a resurgence of the idea that the collective is all-wise, that it is desirable to have influence concentrated in a bottleneck that can channel the collective with the most verity and force. This is different from representative democracy, or meritocracy. This idea has had dreadful consequences when thrust upon us from the extreme Right or the extreme Left in various historical periods. The fact that it's now being re-introduced today by prominent technologists and futurists, people who in many cases I know and like, doesn't make it any less dangerous."

Release 1.0 / Fresh Produce / The Community Site Gold Rush is Misguided

Release 1.0 / Fresh Produce / The Community Site Gold Rush is Misguided: "In the past few months, I have talked with the founders of far too many community sites. To each of them I ask the obvious question, 'How you will compete with MySpace?' All have an answer. Some are better than others. But what I am trying to figure out is this: Why is anybody bothering? All of these sites - MySpace included - are on the brink of falling apart. "

Timely reality check from Rafe Needleman

Google Watch : Google's Search Lead Widens, Reaches 50 Percent

Google Watch : Google's Search Lead Widens, Reaches 50 Percent: "Google accounted for a majority of all the Internet searches conducted in April, Nielsen/Netratings found in a report issued last week that may as well be a coronation.
This report, and another from ComScore that had Google at or near a majority, if anything shows that Google's Internet search market share lead may be insurmountable, in the near and distant future."

What are the official criteria for monopoly status these days?...

Gates Says It's Not the Motion

Gates Says It's Not the Motion: "As for those rumors of MS creating a handheld gaming system, Gates only offered a clue that the company may one day be a player in the portable market too. 'Over time you have to say, will you carry in your pocket a media device and a phone and a gaming device and, say, a tablet device for reading?' he asked. 'People have different blends of that now. The world isn't ready yet for a device that meets all of those needs. But go a few years out, the hardware gets a lot better, we'll be there with the software platform, and I think everybody will just take it for granted that there will be a better device.'"

Earn Cellphone Minutes by Watching Ads - New York Times

Earn Cellphone Minutes by Watching Ads - New York Times: "With the cost of mobile phone calls already dropping sharply, Virgin Mobile USA plans to announce a way that people can talk for no money at all. They will, however, have to pay with a chunk of their attention.
The program, called SugarMama, lets people earn one minute of talking time by watching 30-second commercials on a computer or receiving text messages on their phones, then answering questions to prove they were, in fact, paying attention."

Vonage Moves to Reassure Nervous Investors - New York Times

Vonage Moves to Reassure Nervous Investors - New York Times: "Vonage, tarred by a disastrous initial public offering last week, is scrambling to reassure investors. The company, which provides Internet phone service, said yesterday that it would reimburse the bankers who handled the sale if any Vonage customers refused to pay for shares that were allotted to them."

Apparently not a refund-on-demand scenario...

Vista revs up peer-to-peer engine | CNET News.com

Vista revs up peer-to-peer engine CNET News.com: "MeetingSpace is designed with a couple of situations in mind. First is the scenario where people meet up at a coffeehouse and want to share data with one another. The other, is say at a business, where several people are in a meeting and want to be able to view and edit a presentation together.
...
The feature requires the laptops to have built in Wi-Fi (though nearly all notebooks do these days), but does not require Internet access, since the technology uses peer-to-peer connections."

Vonage Has Customer Quandary

Vonage Has Customer Quandary: "In response to complaints like Shreiber's, the company said in a statement to CNBC Tuesday that it would make whole customers who bought the IPO. But the statement didn't make clear what the terms of any offer might be or how many buyers might be involved, and Vonage didn't respond to requests for additional information. "

CRN | VoIP, Telecommunications, Collaboration | Microsoft To Take On Cisco In Unified Communications

CRN VoIP, Telecommunications, Collaboration Microsoft To Take On Cisco In Unified Communications: "The public message will be one of collaboration between Microsoft and partners such as Cisco, Avaya and other makers of PBXes. Behind the scenes, though, all of those companies will compete for many of the same customer dollars.
'Do the math. The market for collaboration software is $4 billion. The market for voice is $40 billion. If you were Microsoft, where would you go?' asked a Microsoft source who requested anonymity. "

Technology and Easy Credit Give Identity Thieves an Edge - New York Times

Technology and Easy Credit Give Identity Thieves an Edge - New York Times: "According to a Federal Trade Commission survey in 2003, about 10 million Americans -- 1 in 30 -- had their identities stolen in the previous year, with losses to the economy of $48 billion. Subsequent surveys, by Javelin Strategy and Research, a private research company, found that the number of victims had declined to nine million last year but that the losses had risen to $56.6 billion."

India tech firms seek US talent in offshoring twist - The Boston Globe

India tech firms seek US talent in offshoring twist - The Boston Globe: "In a case of reverse offshoring, Indian tech companies are beefing up their staffs by hiring Americans and foreigners to work in India. They also are opening offices around the world and recruiting local staff. The firms are launching the global recruiting effort because of labor shortages in India. Indian companies are expanding beyond data entry and back-office processes into areas such as design, research and development, and sophisticated business applications that require highly skilled workers."

Globe to shift stock data to its website - The Boston Globe

Globe to shift stock data to its website - The Boston Globe: "In eliminating daily publication of stock and fund listings, the [Boston] Globe joins a growing number of large newspapers, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, that have moved those tables from the newspaper to other platforms to reduce costs and provide a more compelling package of financial news and information."

Sign of the times...

Software to Look for Experts Among Your Friends - New York Times

Software to Look for Experts Among Your Friends - New York Times: "Tacit plans to start testing the service, called Illumio, next month. The service allows the user to mine the data on the computers of friends, business associates and others with shared interests on any subjects.
However, Illumio is not a search engine, like Google or Yahoo. The system works by transparently distributing a request for information on questions like 'Who knows John Smith?' and 'Are Nikon digital cameras better than Olympus?' to the computers in a network of users. The questions can then be answered locally based on a novel reverse auction system that Illumio uses to determine who the experts are."

Demand grows for fast Net service - The Boston Globe

Demand grows for fast Net service - The Boston Globe: "Middle- and lower-income households still lag when it comes to broadband adoption. Among $30,000-$50,000 households, 43 percent have broadband, compared to 68 percent for those making more than $75,000.
Overall, 42 percent of adult Americans, or 84 million people, have broadband, compared to 30 percent a year ago."

Why Google makes everyone else nervous - The Boston Globe

Why Google makes everyone else nervous - The Boston Globe: "With its profits enjoying double-digit growth, up 26 percent in the first quarter, Google has grown into a financial juggernaut. Last year, its operating income climbed 33 percent to $2 billion, its revenue 92 percent to $6.1 billion, and its employee rolls 88 percent to 5,680."

From a Small Stream, a Gusher of Movie Facts - New York Times

From a Small Stream, a Gusher of Movie Facts - New York Times: "Mr. Needham, a boyish, closely-shorn 39-year-old walked to the kitchen, put on the kettle and made tea. Part of what makes him a curiosity -- beyond his enviable work setup -- is that Internet Movie Database, or Imdb for short, has become a classic example of a hobby that turns out to be a powerful media asset. For years, it has quietly gone about its business almost entirely separately from its parent, and only subtly does it encourage users to go to the Amazon site to buy videos. "

Interesting reality check.

WSJ.com - Symphony to Buy Hummingbird

WSJ.com - Symphony to Buy Hummingbird: "Canadian software developer Hummingbird Ltd. agreed to be bought by Symphony Technology Group, a Silicon Valley investment company, for $465 million in cash.
The Toronto-based company, which specializes in content-management and computer-connectivity tools, said Friday it had entered a 'definitive agreement' to be acquired by Symphony, Palo Alto, Calif., for $26.75 a share, above Hummingbird's Thursday closing price of $23.77. The deal is expected to close in July."

PCWorld.com - The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time

PCWorld.com - The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time: "At PC World, we spend most of our time talking about products that make your life easier or your work more productive. But it's the lousy ones that linger in our memory long after their shrinkwrap has shriveled, and that make tech editors cry out, 'What have I done to deserve this?'
Still, even the worst products deserve recognition (or deprecation). So as we put together our list of World Class winners for 2006, we decided also to spotlight the 25 worst tech products that have been released since PC World began publishing nearly a quarter-century ago."

Check at least the top 5...

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : Ultimate OneNote 2007

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : Ultimate OneNote 2007: "Ultimate is designed to let regular consumers and small businesses get all the software we offer to volume license customers. It's a lot of stuff: Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook/Publisher/Groove/Access/InfoPath, and of course, OneNote. Given that it has quite a bit more in it than the current top of the line 'Professional', it costs more (theoretically $679 retail, although no one ever pays the full price - duh). "

Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply - New York Times

Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply - New York Times: "Most experienced employees know: Thou Shalt Not Blab About the Company's Internal Business. But the line between what is public and what is private is increasingly fuzzy for young people comfortable with broadcasting nearly every aspect of their lives on the Web, posting pictures of their grandmother at graduation next to one of them eating whipped cream off a woman's belly. For them, shifting from a like-minded audience of peers to an intergenerational, hierarchical workplace can be jarring. "

Google Reaches Agreement to Have Its Software Installed on New Dell Computers - New York Times

Google Reaches Agreement to Have Its Software Installed on New Dell Computers - New York Times: "Mr. Schmidt said that this would be first of several agreements with Dell. The time period of the deal was not disclosed.
The software, Dell said, would be put only on machines sold to consumers and to small and medium-size businesses. While the consumer market accounted for roughly 14 percent of Dell's revenue last quarter, the deal would nonetheless involve millions of new computers over time. "

WSJ.com - New Tech Alliances Signal More Scrambling Ahead

WSJ.com - New Tech Alliances Signal More Scrambling Ahead: "The Dell-Google alliance potentially cuts into Microsoft's most coveted and important partnership with a computer maker. By increasing the amount of its software in Dell PCs, Google squeezes onto a stage where Microsoft has long been the lead player. As the world's largest PC maker by number of machines, Dell has been arguably Microsoft's most important distribution channel for its most important software, the Windows operating system and Office business applications. Those two products are Microsoft's largest source of profit and revenue.
Microsoft says it sees the Google and Dell deal as an expansion of options for PC users. 'Customers are going to have choice,' Mr. Varma says, when asked if the deal threatens Microsoft's position in PC software."

Flaws seen in Symantec antivirus software - The Boston Globe

Flaws seen in Symantec antivirus software - The Boston Globe: "Symantec Corp.'s leading antivirus software, which protects some of the world's largest corporations and US government agencies, suffers from a flaw that lets hackers seize control of computers to steal sensitive data, delete files, or implant malicious programs, researchers said yesterday."

Worldwide Relational Database Management Systems Post Steady Growth, Says IDC | Tekrati Research News

Worldwide Relational Database Management Systems Post Steady Growth, Says IDC Tekrati Research News: "The worldwide market for relational database management systems (RDBMS) grew by 9.4 percent to $14.6 billion in 2005, according to preliminary figures released by IDC. These numbers reflect steady growth for the RDBMS software market, indicating a continued increase in the deployment of relational databases.
...
IDC said there were no changes among the top 5 RDBMS vendors from 2004 to 2005, in terms of share of worldwide market revenue.
Oracle: 44.6%
IBM: 21.4%
Microsoft : 16.8%
Sybase: 3.5%
NCR Teradata: 2.9%"

What's My Line: Analyst, Blogger, or Analyst Blogger? | Tekrati Opinion & Editorial

What's My Line: Analyst, Blogger, or Analyst Blogger? Tekrati Opinion & Editorial: "Richard Stiennon raises an interesting point in his Threat Chaos post, Finding Cool Companies: should analysts who blog at online media networks -- in this case, ZDNet -- be given media passes to competitor's events -- in this case, Gartner Symposium? I don't think so, but it does raise an amusing question of ethics."

Fouled By Vonage - Forbes.com

Fouled By Vonage - Forbes.com: "Some of Vonage's 1.6 million subscribers were given a fairly unique opportunity to participate in the IPO through a Vonage program that would distribute some 4 million shares to subscribers who asked for them."

I'm still relatively happy as a Vonage customer, but I'm glad I didn't opt to also become a VG investor...

Brian Jones: Open XML Formats : 4000 pages of documentation

Brian Jones: Open XML Formats : 4000 pages of documentation "There has been a great overall reaction to the news last week of Ecma's first public draft for the Office Open XML formats. One thing that is now absolutely clear to everyone that we are talking about an extremely rich and powerful set of file formats."

[print version] Allchin: Still worried about Vista | CNET News.com

[print version] Allchin: Still worried about Vista CNET News.com: "If you had to offer a list of a few lessons that the whole Vista development process has given you, what would be at the top?
Allchin: Well, since about August or whatever--the middle of 2004--when we reset, I think we did most everything right. Before then, there has been a large postmortem on paper that I personally wrote on all the things that we needed to improve, which dealt with changing the engineering process, that had to do with dependencies, what dependencies you take at what levels and the projects at what level in the system, layering. Of all of the issues, I really think dependencies are probably the biggest one. I think it's an illusion and a mirage to say, 'Oh, there's a better way to do this, we'll just ship software on the Internet, somehow the quality will improve and we'll do it faster.' It doesn't work that way."

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: An easier upgrade to Vista is foreseen

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: An easier upgrade to Vista is foreseen: "With previous Windows operating systems, fewer than 10 percent actually upgrade their PC to the next version, said Greg Sullivan, group product manager with Windows Marketing Communications.
'The vast majority get their copy of Windows on a new PC, or through a volume licensing agreement,' he said.
Still, Microsoft has upgraded versions of its operating systems to serve the technology enthusiasts who want to put a new version on an old machine. Even though it's a small market, this group is strategically important to the company, Sullivan said, because they influence their friends and associates."

MSN Spaces Now Largest Blogging Service Worldwide

MSN Spaces Now Largest Blogging Service Worldwide: "MSN® Spaces is the most widely used blogging service worldwide with more than 100 million unique visitors, according to data released today by comScore Networks Inc. of Reston, Va., an independent Internet audience measurement and consulting company.
...
Now available in 30 markets and 16 languages, the next version of MSN Spaces, called Windows Live™ Spaces, is expected to launch later this year with additional functionality including a social networking service and the ability for developers to create gadgets, new features developed by hobbyists and partners, that can be added to a Space by users."

WSJ.com - Vonage Lacks Voltage in Its IPO, With Weakest Debut in 2 Years

WSJ.com - Vonage Lacks Voltage in Its IPO, With Weakest Debut in 2 Years: "Internet phone-service provider Vonage Holdings Corp.'s initial public offering Wednesday marked the worst IPO debut in nearly two years, a reception that suggested that the excitement over unprofitable Internet calling start-ups has cooled."

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : OneNote 2007 and Outlook: Best Buddies

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : OneNote 2007 and Outlook: Best Buddies: "From the beginning of OneNote we've had a lot of requests to deepen our integration with Outlook. In 2003 we had several connection points: you could email notes directly from OneNote if you had Outlook 2003, and you could create tasks from OneNote items. With SP1 of OneNote 2003 we added more Outlook integration features, such as 'Insert Meeting Details', and the ability to create Outlook Appointments and Contacts.
When we did 2007 planning, it was clear from our user surveys that anything we could do to integrate better with Outlook would be most welcome. So here it is, my long-awaited post on all the great things OneNote can do with Outlook (and some additional goodies at the end).
First let me says that unless noted otherwise, all the features below work with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. Some features may also work with older versions of Outlook but we don't support that. And a couple of things work with any mail program as noted below."

Read the full post for details and screen shots.

Common code base for Vista, Longhorn Server | CNET News.com

Common code base for Vista, Longhorn Server CNET News.com: "'The plan is unlike (Windows) XP and (Windows Server) 2003, where we had separate code bases. We'll have one code base,' Muglia said. 'That will all converge next fall, roughly...when Longhorn Server ships.'
As the Vista team patches bugs in the desktop operating system, those changes will be folded into the Server code. Meanwhile, the changes to the Server code will be added back into Vista in a service pack for the desktop operating system, currently slated for delivery next fall. "

Shoes Are Made for Talking: Telling Your iPod About You - New York Times

Shoes Are Made for Talking: Telling Your iPod About You - New York Times: "Using a Nike+iPod Sports Kit, expected to retail for about $29, consumers will get information on time, distance, pace and calories burned through the earphones of an iPod Nano via a sensor in the insole of special shoes that communicate with the digital music player.
Consumers can transfer collected data onto a Nike Web site, nikeplus.com."

What, no automatic personal training blog updates?...

Martha Stewart plans online women's social network - Yahoo! News

Martha Stewart plans online women's social network - Yahoo! News: "Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to start an online social network similar to MySpace.com, but aimed at adult women. "

More evidence "social networking" has jumped the shark...

WSJ.com - When Nike Met iPod

WSJ.com - When Nike Met iPod: "Apple Computer Inc. and Nike Inc. yesterday said they have teamed up to create a wireless system that connects Apple's iPod nano digital music player to certain Nike-compatible sneakers. Using a small sensor that's inserted into the sole of a new Nike running shoe -- the $100 Air Zoom Moire -- the system lets runners record the distance, time, pace and calories burned during each workout. Nike is also rolling out workout clothes that are made to carry iPods, and other compatible shoes will be launched later in the summer.
...
In an interview, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he believes the Nike fitness device is in keeping with the iPod's heritage in entertainment. 'I don't think we're straying too far from home,' Mr. Jobs said. 'I would like it if iPods were indispensable throughout daily life.'"

WSJ.com - Vonage Expects Its Stock to Debut At $17 a Share

WSJ.com - Vonage Expects Its Stock to Debut At $17 a Share: "Vonage, which said in April it planned to offer as many as 31.3 million shares, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange and use the stock symbol VG.
Vonage is offering a 20% stake in the IPO, which values the whole company at roughly $2.6 billion. That is in the same realm eBay Inc. paid last year for Internet-calling company Skype Technologies Inc."

Microsoft Plans to Acquire Softricity. What does this mean to Citrix?

Microsoft Plans to Acquire Softricity. What does this mean to Citrix?: "Why did Microsoft acquire Softricity?
According to Alex Balcanquall, a Technical Product Manager for Terminal Services at Microsoft, it was for three reasons:
It compliments [sic] their overall virtualization strategy by bringing more virtualization technologies into their portfolio.
It helps lower client TCO by allowing applications to run on client workstations with less administrative work, deployment effort, and testing.
It helps lower Terminal Server TCO by allowing more application to be served from single servers, thereby reducing wasted overhead associated with building server silos and lessening the amount of time to deploy new and updated applications."

Stats Say Google Losing Something

Stats Say Google Losing Something: "Google scored a small gain in market share in April, moving from 42.7 percent to 43.1 percent, according to comScore Networks.
But a study from the Hitwise Research Group showed that Google still trails Yahoo by large margins in portal services, such as e-mail (42.4 percent to 2.54 percent), news (6.3 percent to 1.9 percent), finance (34.9 percent to .29 percent) and maps (20.5 percent to 7.5 percent). "

FT.com / By industry / Financial services - Stock options investigation widens

FT.com / By industry / Financial services - Stock options investigation widens: "Concern about the questionable timing of executive stock options spread across the US technology sector on Monday as two more companies revealed that they had been approached by authorities investigating option-award practices."

Also see this summary from Dan Gillmor

Federated Media / Tech: Google Insiders Sell off $6.5 Billion in Stock

Federated Media / Tech: Google Insiders Sell off $6.5 Billion in Stock: "If you take a look at Google's insider trading sheet you will note that company insiders have sold off $6.5 Bn worth of stock while not buying a single share (some insiders have sold every last share). With rumors of click fraud running rampant one has to wonder if these people know something the rest of us don't... "

(See the post for links to related stories)

'JPod,' by Douglas Coupland - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

'JPod,' by Douglas Coupland - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "The attentive reader may ask: Isn't this more or less the same thing Coupland did in his 1995 novel 'Microserfs'? Hasn't he simply upgraded an earlier work by relocating it from a real-life software company to a fictitious one, replacing mentions of Sega Genesis and the English Beat's cover of 'Tears of a Clown' with references to Xbox and Razormaid's remix of 'Copacabana,' and turning its rants against the Gap into tirades against Zima? The attentive reader is advised to be quiet."

I thoroughly enjoyed "Microserfs" and am about half-way through "jPod"; recommended...

Microsoft Extends Virtualization Strategy, Outlines Product Road Map

Microsoft Extends Virtualization Strategy, Outlines Product Road Map: "Microsoft puts Windows Server virtualization and System Center Virtual Machine Manager on the fast track, and announces the intent to acquire Softricity Inc., a leader in application virtualization solutions within the virtualization space."

Congrats to Bill, Stuart, and the rest of the Softricity gang.

Software Notebook: Mystery deal is high-security chip for 'FlexGo'

Software Notebook: Mystery deal is high-security chip for 'FlexGo': "The details of Microsoft Corp.'s mysterious deal with Transmeta Corp. have finally been revealed. And none of the speculation was even close.
The microprocessor company has been working for the past year on a high-security, power-efficient chip for Microsoft's new 'FlexGo' pay-as-you-go PC initiative in developing nations."

Time Warner and AOL | From :-) to :-( | Economist.com

Time Warner and AOL From :-) to :-( Economist.com: "Once the darling of the internet, AOL is struggling to remain relevant"

Stark assessment of AOL's trajectory

New Media Player: Nice Features, but It's No ITunes

New Media Player: Nice Features, but It's No ITunes: "Apple needs -- and customers deserve -- vigorous competition. But that's not going to happen if the best Apple's rivals can manage is a combination of beta software of dubious reliability and a tie-in to a music TV channel that devotes most of its airtime to things besides music."

Looks like I'll be sticking with Yahoo! Music Unlimited for a while...

Warning from Apple: don't put our laptops on your lap - Engadget

Warning from Apple: don't put our laptops on your lap - Engadget: "'Do not leave the bottom of your MacBook Pro in contact with your lap or any surface of your body for extended periods. Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn' "