Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows Home Server Preview

Missed this before.  I want one... 

When most people hear the phrase "Windows Home Server," they think of digital media files and sharing, and sure enough, WHS does offer these facilities via Windows Media Connect. That is, content on your home server can easily be shared with other compatible devices, including Media Center PCs, XP- and Vista-based PCs, and Xbox 360s. What's amazing about WHS, however, is that it also offers these facilities remotely, via the Internet. To make this work, Microsoft is providing WHS users with a free Internet address via Windows Live. This address will give you a remote interface into your entire home network, not just WHS. You will be able to access any shared folders remotely, or even control individual PCs remotely.

Source: Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows Home Server Preview

Hard-Luck Software - WSJ.com

Another review of Dreaming In Code -- excerpt: 

Software inventor Mitch Kapor is caught in a time warp. His self-funded project to create the ultimate organizer of personal information -- yours, mine and everyone else's -- has slipped further and further behind schedule since the first lines of code were written in 2002. Mr. Kapor's most famous program, the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, was one of the original killer apps that lured nontechies to buy personal computers in 1983. But Mr. Kapor's new project, dubbed Chandler, is a study in how programmers get sucked into "software time," a surreal and open-ended schedule-spiral where the harder you work, the faster the goal recedes.

To make things worse, the journalist who came onboard to document Mr. Kapor's innovative approach went away instead with field notes for a book on "why software is hard." Scott Rosenberg, a cofounder of the online magazine Salon.com, spent three years tagging along with Mr. Kapor's nonprofit team of programmers as they tried to build Chandler. "Dreaming in Code" interweaves the tale of the frustrated development crew with Mr. Rosenberg's quest to understand why Chandler's "slow-motion trainwreck" seems to be the most common result of ambitious software projects. Why does it take so much longer than anyone plans to develop a new program? Why doesn't it do what we expected? Why, why, why does it still crash?

I still look forward to reading the book...

Source: Hard-Luck Software - WSJ.com

Anytown, Online - New York Times

First time I've run across AmericanTowns -- interesting 

Pleasantville is one of thousands of municipalities on the AmericanTowns service, which is based in Fairfield, Conn. Like other community-oriented sites, AmericanTowns offers users the chance to post information free, to bolster postings by site editors.

Jim Maglione, the company’s co-president, said the Pleasantville site is like those of Huntington, N.Y., and Wilton, Conn., in that the information on the site is almost entirely from users. In addition to listing information about lost pets, users post scheduled meetings of religious and community organizations, suggestions for family activities and links to news from local papers, among other things. Community organizations can also create their own Web pages on the site for free.

Source: Anytown, Online - New York Times

RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service beats Apple's iPhone - Jan. 12, 2007

On a note related to the closing paragraphs of the Randall Stross article in the previous post (South Koreans have unlimited music for $5/month after the market for CD sales collapsed there), a timely reality check on RealNetworks. 

Yes, Apple's latest toy is seductive. But the iPhone does not represent the future of music. Fortune's David Kirkpatrick introduces the jukebox in the sky - RealNetworks' Rhapsody.

[...]

We're entering an era of ubiquitous wireless broadband, where data will be available to us wherever we go. In that kind of world, we will not need iTunes. I doubt most people will want to buy or "own" music at all. It will be far more useful to pick from a giant online library and listen to whatever we want wherever we are.

$10/month for Rhapsody at this point.

Source: RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service beats Apple's iPhone - Jan. 12, 2007

Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs - New York Times

Timely DRM reality check from Randall Stross -- covers both iPhone and Zune. 

STEVE JOBS, Apple’s showman nonpareil, provided the first public glimpse of the iPhone last week — gorgeous, feature-laden and pricey. While following the master magician’s gestures, it was easy to overlook a most disappointing aspect: like its slimmer iPod siblings, the iPhone’s music-playing function will be limited by factory-installed “crippleware.”

Source: Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs - New York Times

Pattern Finder: Open Text: Adjusting to the New Order

Timely enterprise content management reality check from my Burton Group colleague Guy Creese -- see the full post for more on OpenText's recent IT analyst day. 

Open Text is absolutely right: SharePoint has changed the ECM market. It won't happen overnight -- this year will be a year of mental adjustment, as enterprises start to realize just what SharePoint 2007 offers. Many MOSS/WSS 2007 implementations won't take place in 2007, but rather next year and beyond. Nevertheless, the ECM market will start moving away from content management application silos and migrating towards an infrastructure approach. To its credit, Open Text understands the new order.

Source: Pattern Finder: Open Text: Adjusting to the New Order

Knock, Knock, Microsoft. Its SanDisk - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

Hmmm 

In a standing-room-only press conference, Eli Harari, the chief executive of SanDisk, announced the introduction of its latest digital music player, the Sansa Connect, and set it on a head-to-head collision with the Zune.

Like the Zune, the Sansa Connect is WiFi–enabled, meaning that it, like the Zune, can wirelessly access music. Where it basically departs from the Zune is where you find many of its chief advantages. Whereas the Zune’s rather thick, rectangular body isn’t the easiest fit into a shirt pocket, the Connect is svelte and contoured and is swallowed up by most pockets.

Source: Knock, Knock, Microsoft. Its SanDisk - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

Good Morning Silicon Valley: With all due respect, sir, I don't think we can backdate the iPhone trademark

 Lots of speculation in the press this morning about whether this was some kind of brilliant free-advertising move on Apple's part.  If that was the intent, I think it's going to backfire -- as free advertising for Cisco rather than Apple.

Looks like Cisco's been iPh0wn3d. Apple has not agreed to license Cisco's iPhone mark, as the networking giant implied earlier this week (see "Keyboards across country shorted out by 'iPhone drool' "). Nor does it intend to, apparently.

Source: Good Morning Silicon Valley: With all due respect, sir, I don't think we can backdate the iPhone trademark

Business Filter - Business Weblog - The Boston Globe: Airport security bin ads

Sign of the times 

The next time you're waiting in line with your shoes, jacket and liquids in hand and your laptop bag gouging your shoulder, glance down at the plastic bin you're loading your stuff into. SecurityPoint Media is a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based company that is supplying bins covered with ads to the Transportation Security Administration.

Source: Business Filter - Business Weblog - The Boston Globe

At Heart of Cisco's iPhone Trademark Lawsuit: A Desire for Open Standards - WSJ.com

The plot thickens... 

Cisco also disclosed that it had been asking Apple, in exchange for using the name, to help Cisco's product work together with Apple's. Mark Chandler, Cisco's general counsel, summed up its account of what happened in a blog posting Wednesday night: "What were the issues at the table that kept us from an agreement? Was it money? No. Was it a royalty on every Apple phone? No. Was it an exchange for Cisco products or services? No.

"Fundamentally we wanted an open approach. We hoped our products could interoperate in the future."

Source: At Heart of Cisco's iPhone Trademark Lawsuit: A Desire for Open Standards - WSJ.com

U.S. Scrutinizes Grant to Jobs - WSJ.com

Reality check: this is not going to go away... 

Apple's backdated stock options are the subject of criminal and civil probes by the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco and the SEC. A decision on whether to bring criminal charges in the Apple case isn't expected for months.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment, except to repeat that the company has provided results of an internal options investigation to the SEC and U.S. attorney and that the investigation cleared Mr. Jobs of misconduct.

Source: U.S. Scrutinizes Grant to Jobs - WSJ.com

At Mac-Less MacWorld, Apple Completes Transition to Consumer Electronics Company

Another timely reality check from Paul Thurrott 

No, Jobs has clearly sensed that there are changes brewing in the market. While Apple's yearly revenues for Macintosh computers have barely edged up in over five years, the company's revenues of iPods and related products and services have skyrocketed. In 2006, in fact, iPod-related revenues will almost certainly match those of the Mac for the first time. Apple, it seems, is becoming a consumer electronics company.

Jobs admitted as much indirectly. First, he announced that the company was changing its name from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple, Inc., a tacit admission that Macintosh is no longer the focus. Second, he said after his keynote that the company now has four major product categories: Mac, iPod, Apple TV, and iPhone. Two of those products were formally announced in the past six months, one yesterday.

Source: At Mac-Less MacWorld, Apple Completes Transition to Consumer Electronics Company

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . What's in a Name? | PBS

See the post for more analysis, including to 3G or not to 3G

So Apple changed its marketing, diluting its whole "iThis" and "iThat" naming strategy in deference to Elgato, a company they could buy with a weekend's earnings from the iTunes Store, but chose to go toe-to-toe with Cisco, a company that's bigger, richer, and just as mean as Apple any day.

If an iTV can become an Apple TV, why can't an iPhone become an Apple Phone?

I think it will.

Source: I, Cringely . The Pulpit . What's in a Name? | PBS

Steve Jobs Walks the Tightrope Again - New York Times

Timely reality check 

Indeed, when the Macintosh computer — which was also designed by a small group shrouded in secrecy — was introduced in January 1984, it was received with the same kind of wild hyperbole that greeted the iPhone this week. But a year later, the shortcomings of the first-generation Macintosh cost Mr. Jobs his job at the company he founded nine years earlier with a high school friend, Stephen Wozniak.

In light of the iPhone’s closed appliance-style design, it is worth recounting the Mac’s early history because of the potential parallel pitfalls that Mr. Jobs and his company may face.

Source: Steve Jobs Walks the Tightrope Again - New York Times

Demand Outpaced Supply for New Game Consoles - New York Times

Mixed blessing for Sony 

During December, Sony in particular turned in surprisingly strong sales — but not for its new PlayStation 3.

In a development that industry analysts said speaks to the strength of the video-game market and the lure of low prices, the nation’s best-selling console during the holiday season was Sony’s PlayStation 2, a six-year-old system.

Americans bought 1.4 million PlayStation 2s during the period. That was more than the Xbox 360, which sold 1.1 million units; the Nintendo Wii, which sold 604,000; and the PlayStation 3, which sold 491,000.

The sales figures for the PlayStation 3, and in particular the Wii, fell below the expectations of industry analysts.

Source: Demand Outpaced Supply for New Game Consoles - New York Times

20 things we don't know about the iPhone

Interesting list of questions 

However, I fear that the iPhone vision and the keynote were so flawlessly executed that Apple may have raised expectations that will be hard to fulfill. The things that might shatter this wonderful iPhone illusion are the things we do not know.

Here are 20 unanswered questions about the Apple iPhone:

Source: 20 things we don't know about the iPhone

Apple Chief Benefited From Options, Records Indicate - washingtonpost.com

Hmm  

But his signature performance at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo did not dispel the scandal swirling around Apple over its backdating of stock options. Despite the company's defense that Jobs never personally benefited from a pair of stock option grants he received -- he gave them up in 2003, long before allegations of wrongdoing surfaced -- filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that his options were exchanged for 5 million shares of restricted Apple stock.

Source: Apple Chief Benefited From Options, Records Indicate - washingtonpost.com

Business.view | Apples, good and bad | Economist.com

Okay, maybe he won't need the presidential pardon after all; we shall see... 

A statement by the board that Mr Jobs would be staying was greeted with a sharp rise in Apple's share price.

But whether the board can stick to its position may depend on the attitude of prosecutors and the media, neither of which has been inclined of late to forgive ethical lapses by business leaders.

Could that unforgiving mood be changing? So far, prosecutors have shown no interest in pursuing Mr Jobs, and there have been strikingly few calls in the press for him to go.

Source: Business.view | Apples, good and bad | Economist.com

Apple's new competitors react to iPhone's arrival | Chicago Tribune

Interesting reality check article.  This quote reminded me of Apple's 1981 "Welcome, IBM. Seriously." ad.

At Nokia's CES booth, Johan Eidhagen, head of North American marketing, welcomed Apple.
"I think it's good for the industry," he said. "It's confirming what we've been trying to do at Nokia. We've been saying for the last eight years this would change from a phone market into something else. It has become an Internet industry and Apple is just confirming that with this phone."

Source: Apple's new competitors react to iPhone's arrival | Chicago Tribune

Apple unveils long-awaited iPhone, set-top TV system - The Boston Globe

More details... 

Apple invented a new technology that accurately recognizes touches from human fingers. "It's far more accurate than any touch display that's ever been shipped," said Jobs. "And, boy, have we patented it." Jobs said Apple has filed 200 patents on technologies it invented for use in the iPhone, which will sell for $499 for a version with four gigabytes of memory, or $599 for eight gigabytes . Jobs said the iPhone will go on sale in June, pending testing and approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

Source: Apple unveils long-awaited iPhone, set-top TV system - The Boston Globe

Technology Review: Part III: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Meta

The rest of the Charles Simonyi profile

For now, sheltered by Simonyi's wealth, Intentional Software has no target date or shipping deadline. But one of its two main customers claims to be close to deploying Intentional tools. Capgemini--a Paris-based international IT services and consulting firm that serves large enterprises and whose CTO, Andy Mulholland, is an acquaintance of Simonyi's--began working with Intentional last March and is considering using Intentional's system for projects in the European pensions business. The field's "very complex rules, intertwined with complex business domain structure," make Simonyi's approach look attractive, says Henk Kolk, Capgemini's financial-services technology officer, who is leading the firm's work with Intentional. 

Link to Technology Review: Part III: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Meta

Apple Introduces Innovative Cellphone - New York Times

Interesting times 

Mr. Jobs showed a series of applications including e-mail, advanced voice mail, photo collections and visually appealing Web searching. He promoted the fact that the new iPhone is powered by the same core OS X operating system that the Macintosh computer is based on, offering power-management features and advanced graphics abilities.

Source: Apple Introduces Innovative Cellphone - New York Times

Wiki startup Wetpaint raises $9.5 million more

Busy times in wiki-land 

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Accel Partners -- an early investor in Facebook, RealNetworks and others -- just led a $9.5 million second round of funding in the 15-month-old company.

The investment, bringing total financing to $14.75 million, comes as the online collaboration tools known as wikis attract attention from Internet titans.

Last month, Amazon.com invested in Wikia -- a San Mateo, Calif.-based startup co-founded by Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales. In October, Google made a big push into the wiki arena with its purchase of JotSpot -- a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company whose online information sharing tools are primarily used in business collaboration.

Source: Wiki startup Wetpaint raises $9.5 million more

Console Sales Beat Goals, Makers’ Early Reports Say - New York Times

See the article for positive spin control from Sony; meanwhile, from Microsoft: 

For its part, Microsoft, which introduced its Xbox 360 in November 2005, said Sunday that by year’s end it had shipped 10.4 million of the consoles worldwide. That is 400,000 more than Microsoft had estimated it would ship over the last year.

Microsoft also said that over the holidays it had sold 2.7 million copies of Gears of War, making the game the first major hit for the new generation of consoles, which also includes the Wii from Nintendo.

Source: Console Sales Beat Goals, Makers’ Early Reports Say - New York Times

Yahoo Introduces Mobile Service Software - New York Times

Interesting times 

After falling behind Google in Internet search and advertising, Yahoo is trying to remain No. 1 in the battle to deliver information and online services to mobile phones.

Source: Yahoo Introduces Mobile Service Software - New York Times

YouTube Is Considering Offline Video Distribution, Services for Rights Holders - WSJ.com

The fact that YouTube is built on Flash suggests Adobe's platform-centric strategy for Flash could make this straightforward. 

YouTube is considering bundling some of its videos and distributing them offline, possibly on television, a YouTube executive said Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show.

"We're looking at the options," said Kevin Donahue, vice president of content for YouTube, "but we're in more of a strategy mode right now."

Source: YouTube Is Considering Offline Video Distribution, Services for Rights Holders - WSJ.com

Great Expectations Juice Up Apple's Trade Show - WSJ.com

So maybe part of the immediate-term plan after all 

The image is classic Apple showmanship, a teaser for this week's Macworld conference in San Francisco, where the company is expected to put an end to months of speculation about the new products it has on deck for 2007. The anticipation for this year's Macworld -- the main trade show for Apple products -- has been unusually strong, stoked by a widening array of bloggers who constantly churn out Apple rumors.

On a less cheery note for Apple:

 

Source: Great Expectations Juice Up Apple's Trade Show - WSJ.com

Strategic News Service Blog » Blog Archives » Back to you, Steve

Read the full post.  Things are not looking good for Apple at the moment... 

While clearly biased Apple fans are hoping this filing will make the problem go away, I see it as having the opposite effect.  In fact, it suggests, unlike earlier filings, that Jobs had a direct hand in selecting backdating operations.  Earlier, the (totally unbelievable) explanation was that Jobs was involved, but didn’t clearly comprehend the accounting issues.

Now we have what seems to be a smoking gun: Steve is admitting that he was involved in backdating in specific options grants.  There is no more talk about being dumb about accounting.  And it appears that his hand is directly involved.

Source: Strategic News Service Blog » Blog Archives » Back to you, Steve

Gates sees a home server in your future | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

Interview includes Q&A about Apple, Xbox, and more.

I suspect many homes will opt for the virtual-server-in-the-cloud option, even if the on-prem permutation is ~$500 and low/no-admin.

As part of his keynote address Sunday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Gates is showing off Windows Home Server--a consumer device to serve as a central storage place for digital photos, music and other media. The first products are due out later this year from Hewlett-Packard and others. The goal is to get devices that can cost less than $500.

In the first of a two-part interview, Microsoft's chairman talks with CNET News.com about why the average person wants a server, why they won't need a degree in computer science to run it and what hurdles remain before consumers reach the true digital home.

Source: Gates sees a home server in your future | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

BBC NEWS | Technology | Teens 'turn to social websites'

Yikes 

The study for the Pew Internet Project involved 935 teenagers and found 55% of American youths aged 12-17 had accounts at sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Source: BBC NEWS | Technology | Teens 'turn to social websites'

BBC NEWS | Technology | Bill Gates hails 'digital decade'

 More CES perspectives

"Young people spend more time with their Windows PC than watching TV," he said.

In a speech with few concrete announcements, Mr Gates outlined how his firm's latest operating system Vista would be the tool to connect people.

[...]

Mr Gates also confirmed that next year would see his last keynote speech at CES as he steps down as head of Microsoft.

He said he had offered to come back the following year but that he might "talk more about infectious diseases than software", referring to his philanthropic work.

Source: BBC NEWS | Technology | Bill Gates hails 'digital decade'

New Deals Aim to Put The TV Into Internet TV - WSJ.com

The race for the living room continues... 

In a spate of deals that could undercut the role of cable and satellite companies, several TV networks including Nickelodeon, Showtime and Starz have reached agreements with Microsoft Corp. to let people watch their Web programming on TV sets.

Starz, a cable-movie service owned by Liberty Media Corp., has struck a deal giving viewers TV access to its movie-download services on the Web. Showtime, a premium-movie channel owned by CBS Corp., has agreed to a similar arrangement for its Showtime Interactive Web site. As with those two deals, Viacom's Nickelodeon cable channel has made arrangements with Microsoft to let people watch its Web-based TV programming on their TV sets via Microsoft's Xbox 360 or any computer equipped with its new Windows Vista operating system.

Source: New Deals Aim to Put The TV Into Internet TV - WSJ.com

NCR Plans to Spin Off Data-Warehousing Unit - WSJ.com

Ironic -- now the original AT&T + (NCR + Teradata) roll-up is completely undone.

NCR expects the spin off of Teradata to be tax free. Teradata had revenue of $1.5 billion and operating income of $309 million, excluding pension expenses, in 2005. The transaction is expected to close in six to nine months. Excluding Teradata, NCR had operating income of $251 million, excluding pension expenses, and revenue of $4.5 billion for 2005.

Teradata is where former NCR and current Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Mark Hurd made a name for himself, running the unit between 1998 and 2001. Teradata has been a strong performer of late, helping to offset weakness in other parts of NCR.

Source: NCR Plans to Spin Off Data-Warehousing Unit - WSJ.com

Is legendary Apple CEO on the way out? - The Boston Globe

Read the article for details.  Maybe iPod fan George W will pardon Jobs... 

But this year's show-and-tell is more keenly anticipated than most, and not just because Apple's expected to offer a combination cellphone-digital music player, along with a way to beam video and music from personal computers to home stereos and TV sets. Some industry-watchers think the appearance could be Jobs's last, because the company was caught back-dating stock options.

Source: Is legendary Apple CEO on the way out? - The Boston Globe

Technology Review: Part I: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Meta

Part 1 of 2 in an extensive review of Charles Simonyi's life and work. 

In a career spanning four decades, every time he has confronted some intractable problem in software or life, he has tried to solve it by stepping outside or above it. He even has a name for his favorite gambit: he calls it "going meta." In his youth in 1960s Hungary, he learned the basics of computing on an antiquated Soviet mainframe powered by vacuum tubes, then engineered his own escape to the West. In the 1970s, at Xerox's legendary Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), as part of the team that invented personal computing, ­Simonyi wrote the first modern application: a word processor that banished the complex codes then used to tag text and displayed a document as it would look on paper. Whether in his Stanford University doctoral dissertation on a "meta-­programming" approach to boosting programmer productivity, his career at Microsoft organizing legions of software developers and teaching them how to structure their code, or his planned voyage into Earth orbit this spring, moving beyond established ways of doing things has always been Simonyi's method. Now he is plotting what he hopes will be his most vaulting meta-move of all. Simonyi believes he can solve a host of stubborn problems that have always plagued computers by offering everyone who uses them, and the coders who program them, a higher-order view of software.

Source: Technology Review: Part I: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Meta

Vizio busts out a 60-inch plasma for $2,999 | Crave : The gadget blog

Alas, 1366x768 -- not ideal 

Vizio is at it again. The price-busting flat-panel TV specialist has set its sights on the huge-screen category with a 60-inch plasma TV, the VM60P HDTV, that will retail for $2,999 when it hits stores in February.

Source: Vizio busts out a 60-inch plasma for $2,999 | Crave : The gadget blog

Microsoft Unveils Wave of New Products and Services at CES: Bill Gates and Robbie Bach hit play on new releases from Windows Vista, Xbox 360, Microsoft TV and more.

See the full press release for details 

Gates and Bach announced several new products and services that include new Windows Vista™-inspired PCs, never-before-seen Windows Vista features, an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)-enabled Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, and a new partnership with Ford Motor Co. that will extend digital experiences to the car. The company also unveiled Microsoft^® Windows^® Home Server, which provides a central place to help store, protect and access all the digital content in the home.

Source: Microsoft Unveils Wave of New Products and Services at CES: Bill Gates and Robbie Bach hit play on new releases from Windows Vista, Xbox 360, Microsoft TV and more.

Rob Pegoraro - Web-Mail Tests Without End - washingtonpost.com

Timely reality check -- continues with a Gmail review 

Gmail ( http://gmail.com) has now spent 33 months in this testing phase, while Yahoo Mail ( http://mail.yahoo.com) and the Hotmail successor Live Mail ( http://mail.live.com) have lasted about 16 and 14 months, respectively.

Apparently, it now takes more time to finish developing a Web site than a Web browser -- or even an entire operating system. (Not even Windows Vista has undergone such a lengthy public audition.)

Source: Rob Pegoraro - Web-Mail Tests Without End - washingtonpost.com

U.S. consumer electronics sales to hit record in 2007 - Boston.com

Yow 

U.S. consumer electronics sales are expected to hit a record $155 billion in 2007, fueled by consumers' fascination with video games, digital music, and flat-screen displays, an industry group said on Saturday.

Source: U.S. consumer electronics sales to hit record in 2007 - Boston.com

Attack of the Zombie Computers Is Growing Threat - New York Times

Stark reality check 

Security researchers have been concerned about botnets for some time because they automate and amplify the effects of viruses and other malicious programs.

What is new is the vastly escalating scale of the problem — and the precision with which some of the programs can scan computers for specific information, like corporate and personal data, to drain money from online bank accounts and stock brokerages.

Source: Attack of the Zombie Computers Is Growing Threat - New York Times

Zeros, Ones, And Headaches

Review of "Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software" 

The Good A fascinating look inside one software-development project.

The Bad The project has not yet been completed--and the book seems a tad unfinished, too.

The Bottom Line A worthwhile examination of how the sausage gets made.

Source: Zeros, Ones, And Headaches

Mind Games - washingtonpost.com

Oh joy... 

But if traditional neuroscience is disturbing, the really creepy stuff is on the horizon, reports neuroscientist Richard Restak in The Naked Brain. Marketers and politicians would like to literally get into our minds, using the results of brain scans and psychology experiments to alter perceptions of reality. They might use "backward framing" to mold people's memories. (In one experiment, 16 percent of adults remembered seeing Bugs Bunny at Disneyland, where, as a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes character, Bugs could never be.) Or a political party might take advantage of the fact that people trust candidates who resemble themselves. "It would not be all that complicated," Restak writes, "to send you a morphed picture of a political candidate incorporating elements from your own face drawn from, say, your driver's license photo." Each house, each voter, gets a slightly different contender.

Source: Mind Games - washingtonpost.com

Report: Apple fired lawyer who wrote Jobs option award | News.blog | CNET News.com

The plot thickens... 

Howell no longer works for Apple, according to the report. It identifies her as the attorney who conjured up the minutes of a board meeting that outlined the terms of Jobs' grant. That meeting never took place, Apple said in its annual report filed with the SEC.

Source: Report: Apple fired lawyer who wrote Jobs option award | News.blog | CNET News.com

San Francisco to Go Wireless - New York Times

Status update 

The Internet search giant Google will provide free service on the network at relatively low transmission speeds, while EarthLink and others will charge for faster service. The monthly fee will be $21.95, but 3,200 low-income residents will be charged $12.95.

“You can’t continue to rhetorically talk about the digital divide and not do anything about it,” Gavin Newsom, the city’s mayor, said in an interview.

Source: San Francisco to Go Wireless - New York Times

Is Steve Jobs Untouchable? [BW]

Subscription required for this one, I'm afraid; excerpt below.  The article subtitle: "An internal inquiry gives him a pass in Apple's backdating scandal -- but raises questions about whether he's getting special treatment" 

No big company has more of its success wrapped up in one person. Jobs is a master marketer whose 30 years of experience have sharpened his skill at creating stylish, breakthrough products. He combines not just hardware and software smarts but a sense for how all that technology must fit together with the music, movies, and other content consumers want. Jobs proved that in his stewardship of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. (DIS ) before it was sold to Walt Disney & Co. (DIS ) a year ago, and in forging agreements with music companies and Hollywood studios to create the iTunes marketplace. The reward for shareholders: Apple's stock price has climbed 1,025% since Jan. 1, 2001, just before the iPod era began, to a total market value of $72 billion.

That's why few expect Apple's board to push Jobs out even if the government does move against him. Some suggest that it would hang tough with him even if criminal charges were filed by the Justice Dept., which is a remote possibility for many reasons. So far, the government has found sufficient grounds to indict only five executives on backdating out of all those at the 200-plus companies involved in the scandal. It's not easy to prove that an executive intended to deceive shareholders rather than just engaged in sloppy paperwork, say lawyers. And there would be hell to pay for going after Jobs given the damage that could be done to Apple's investors, customers, and business partners. Says Harvard Business School management professor David B. Yoffie: "Obviously, these are inappropriate activities that anyone should be ashamed of. But it wouldn't be in shareholders' best interests to have Steve Jobs leave for something that happened four years ago that didn't have a material impact on their holdings."

Source: Is Steve Jobs Untouchable?

Vista: Upgrade—Or Trade Up? [BW]

Another generally positive, you-may-as-well-buy-a-new-PC Vista review.

After all the hype and delays, Windows Vista is finally here. Should you rush out and buy a copy when upgrade versions go on sale on Jan. 30? Probably not, given the odds against a satisfactory upgrade experience. But I'd certainly consider speeding up the purchase of a new computer when pcs loaded with Vista become available in a few more weeks.

Source: Vista: Upgrade—Or Trade Up?

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . Rupert Murdoch Doesn't Read This Column | PBS

Entertaining and insightful predictions for 2007 -- started with a review of last year's predictions (which turned out to be 40% wrong).  Excerpt: 

7) The Sony news is SO bad that it deserves two predictions. I would predict the fall of CEO Howard Stringer again if there were clearly somebody at Sony who wants his job. The business is in such difficulty that Microsoft is discussing internally how to help Sony from going under, since that would create a raft of antitrust problems for Redmond. I am not making this up.

Source: I, Cringely . The Pulpit . Rupert Murdoch Doesn't Read This Column | PBS

Pattern Finder: New Version of the Google Search Appliance

Snapshot/summary of Google's latest search appliance from my Burton Group colleague Guy Creese. 

Google announced new features to its Google Search Appliance today.

Source: Pattern Finder: New Version of the Google Search Appliance

BBC NEWS | Technology | Rivals battle for connected world

Timely snapshot/preview of what will likely be two industry milestone events 

Technology giants Microsoft and Apple will set out their rival visions of the digital future at two separate events in the coming days.

Source: BBC NEWS | Technology | Rivals battle for connected world

Democrat politico ventures into 'Second Life' | CNET News.com

Why does this make me wonder if Second Life has jumped the shark?... 

Miller appears to be the first member of Congress to hold something akin to a press conference in this virtual world, which is operated by Linden Lab and boasts its own currency and a population of more than 2 million registered users.

The event, which lasted about half an hour, took place in a virtual adaptation of the Capitol building on an island in Second Life. Instead of a neo-classical dome, the virtual equivalent featured an open-air amphitheater, mammoth video screens and an orange sky above.

Source: Democrat politico ventures into 'Second Life' | CNET News.com

Microsoft Word Grows Up: Q&A: As Microsoft Corporate Vice President Peter Pathe prepares to retire, he discusses the lasting legacy of a product he’s overseen for more than a decade.

Interesting snapshot and interview 

With the release of Microsoft’s new generation of technologies in 2007 comes an interesting highlight about a venerable program. Microsoft Word for Windows, the flagship word-processing program so popular around the globe, is turning 18.

Word was originally the "Bravo" product, brought to Microsoft from IBM’s Palo Alto Research Center by Charles Simonyi in 1981. The following year, Microsoft officially launched Word's development team. When the first version was released in 1983, it was the first word-processing product to feature the “WYSIWYG” design philosophy that what appears on screen should appear in print. It was the first program to feature line breaks, bold-faced and italic fonts on screen, and typeset-quality printing.

Source: Microsoft Word Grows Up: Q&A: As Microsoft Corporate Vice President Peter Pathe prepares to retire, he discusses the lasting legacy of a product he’s overseen for more than a decade.

Disk-Drive Milestone: Terabyte - WSJ.com

Yow 

A unit of Hitachi Ltd. today is announcing plans to deliver what could be the first drive that stores a trillion bytes of data, known as a terabyte. That capacity -- equal to about 250 hours of high-definition video -- is a big step up from the current limit of 750 billion bytes, or gigabytes, for high-end drives on the market now.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, which includes former drive operations of International Business Machines Corp., previously offered a maximum capacity of 500 gigabytes. The company predicted customers will market retail versions of its one-terabyte drives in the first quarter with a suggested price of $399. Hitachi expects them to be installed in personal computers and digital video recorders, as well as sold as external accessories.

Source: Disk-Drive Milestone: Terabyte - WSJ.com

Study Finds Apple iPhone Has "Huge Potential" :: Street Tech :: hardware beyond the hype

Hmmm... 

The rumor mill going into this month's Macworld Expo seems to have largely stopped turning on the iPhone. A large number of pundits, soothsayers, techno-shaman, and others who are supposed to know something about such things seem to think that the rumored Apple mobile phone (dubbed the iPhone) will be a no-show, maybe not only at Macworld, but for the foreseeable future.

BTW one of my New Year's resolutions, after reading the classic Ambient Findability last year, is to focus on information literacy; this means, for example, that I'll be more stringent about what I reference in my blog, in order to avoid inadvertently contributing to the worsening overall signal-to-noise ratio in the blogosphere.  On that note, incidentally, Infotopia is definitely on the recommended reading list in this context; book review to follow "real soon now"...

Source: Study Finds Apple iPhone Has "Huge Potential" :: Street Tech :: hardware beyond the hype

Apple Sees Mac Sales Surge - CRN

 At this rate, Apple should be back to double-digit market share in only another year or two...

Nearly lost among the results of Apple Computer's stock option investigation in the Cupertino, Calif., computer maker's annual 10-K report was news that revenue from sales of its Mac computers increased 19% during the second quarter over the same period in 2005 and climbed 18% for the year ending Sept. 30.

Source: Apple Sees Mac Sales Surge - CRN

Sandisk Launches 32-Gigabyte Solid State Drive Targeting Hard Disk Replacement In Notebook Computers

The good news: see performance etc. details below.

The bad news: expected to add ~$600 to a laptop price, for the first half of 2007

Nonetheless a fascinating milestone, and the cost will drop as the capacity and performance improve...

“This is an important milestone for SanDisk in our relentless quest to create new large-scale markets for flash storage solutions for consumers in the personal computing space,” said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “The 32-gigabyte SSD that we are announcing today represents the fifth generation of flash-based solid state drives developed by msystems, which we recently acquired. The 32GB SSD has been made commercially viable through SanDisk’s technology leadership coupled with msystems’ tremendous experience and IP, which are captured in the high-performance, low-cost system controllers that distinguish this  product.

[...]

The SanDisk SSD announced today achieves a sustained read rate of 62 megabytes (MB)[ii] per second and a random read rate of 7,000 inputs/outputs per second (IOPS) for a 512-byte transfer[iii] – more than 100 times faster than most hard disk drives. Taking advantage of this performance, a laptop PC equipped with SanDisk SSD can boot Microsoft Windows^® Vista^™ Enterprise in as little as 35 seconds [iv].  It also can achieve an average file access rate of 0.12 milliseconds, compared with 55 seconds and 19 milliseconds, respectively, for a laptop PC with a hard disk drive[v].

 

Another advantage of SanDisk SSD is its extremely low power consumption rate compared to the hard disk drive: 0.4 watt during active operation versus 1.0 watt [vi]. This is particularly important to extend the battery life for the benefit of enterprise road warriors. These results enable new operating systems, such as Microsoft^® Vista^™, to provide mobile PC users with a superior overall system experience.

p.s. in an interesting vertical integration example, SanDisk was reportedly the #2 portable media player vendor during the recent holiday season, with its Sansa player family.

 

Source: SanDisk | Corporate | Press Room | Press Releases

Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check: A couple more XML syndication notes

1.  The Atom feed seems to update faster

2.  Both of the feeds have been working well in Outlook 2007 -- that's how I determined it was an issue with NewsGator rather than Blogger -- although Outlook 2007 weirdly shows the timestamps as all 12:00 AM.

Link to Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check: XML Syndication update

 An update:

1.  To assign blame where due, it appears my problems with the Google/Blogger update were more with NewsGator and FeedDemon than Google/Blogger.  My RSS feed wasn't updating in FeedDemon, and my new (default) Atom feed couldn't be added to a FeedDemon (or NewsGator on-line) sync'd folder.

2.  The NewsGator support team was very responsive and, as of this morning, the RSS feed is again working correctly in FeedDemon.  (I still can't get the Atom feed to work in a sync'd NewsGator folder, however.)

3.  I apologize to the Google/Blogger gang for jumping to conclusions about what got broken, and by whom, in the Blogger update.

Link to Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Bezos opens door to spacecraft

Interesting hobby... 

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is looking for a few good rocketeers and has broken a long silence to get their attention.

After several years of nearly fanatical secrecy, Bezos posted a chatty letter on the Web site of Blue Origin 9 (www.blueorigin.com), the Kent-based spaceship company he's bankrolling.

Source: The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Bezos opens door to spacecraft

Catch the Next Chapter on Your iPod (It’s Even Cheaper) - New York Times

 Read the full article for details, e.g., on what appears to be commuter audio porn

According to the Audio Publishers Association, downloads have grown sharply, rising to 9 percent of audio book sales in 2005; that is a 50 percent increase over the previous year. Audible .com, which pioneered downloadable audio books nine years ago, also sells them through iTunes and Amazon and has a membership model similar to that of NetFlix; its membership has grown 54 percent over the last year, to 345,200. Going exclusively to a downloadable format saves publishers the expense of duplication, packaging and distribution. And the savings are often passed along. Audible’s full-price version of “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama costs $20.97 (although various discounts are available), while the CD version retails for $29.95; undiscounted, unabridged versions of Michael Crichton’s “Next” are $34.97 by download and $49.95 on CD.

p.s. The Audacity of Hope is definitely on the recommended reading list; Next is okay but not outstanding.

Source: Catch the Next Chapter on Your iPod (It’s Even Cheaper) - New York Times

Fewer Excuses for Not Doing a PC Backup - New York Times

Timely snapshot 

Nobody offers unlimited free storage, but lately, they’ve gotten a lot closer. Two companies, Xdrive and MediaMax, offer as much as 25 gigabytes of free backups; two others, Mozy and Carbonite, offer unlimited storage for less than $55 a year.

Source: Fewer Excuses for Not Doing a PC Backup - New York Times

Personal Technology -- Bold Redesign Improves Office 2007

Walt Mossberg's assessment of Office 2007 (no WSJ subscription required)

If you'd like to get more out of Office, especially in the area of how your documents look, Office 2007 is a big step forward, and worth the steep learning curve it imposes. If you're happy with Office now, or you mostly create plain documents where formatting and design aren't high priorities, it may not be worth the effort to buy and learn the new version.

Source: Personal Technology -- Personal Technology from The Wall Street Journal.

Mozilla Rakes in $53M

Interesting times...

Baker reported that the bulk of Mozilla's 2005 revenue came from search engine relationships. She did not disclose or name the search engine vendor in her official report, though it is widely known that Mozilla has a strategic relationship with Google.

Source: Mozilla Rakes in $53M

Apple Faces Federal Monopoly Suit

More analysis 

The big question, of course, is whether the plaintiffs in this complaint can succeed in court. Currently, Apple controls about 83 percent of the online music market, 75 percent of the online video market, more than 90 percent of the hard drive-based MP3 player market, and more than 70 percent of the flash memory-based MP3 player market. Those are heady numbers, similar to those Microsoft enjoys in the OS market. And certainly, Apple has actively worked to ensure that its products work only with each other and not with competing solutions. Is that illegal? We might just get the chance to find out.

Source: Apple Faces Federal Monopoly Suit

Edge Perspectives with John Hagel: Gaming and Learning

Read the full post for a timely reality check 

Educational institutions are becoming progressively marginalized as it becomes apparent that learning is a life-long undertaking and that the success of all of our institutions hinges on the ability to support learning activity.  As the working paper makes clear, the most valuable learning is certainly not at the level of compartmentalized skills; it is much more about developing and evolving appropriate dispositions and the ability to integrate in new ways, as suggested by the notion of conceptual blending.

The irony, and the tragedy, is that MMOGs may promote this kind of learning far better than our educational institutions.  These institutions may be so broken that it may be much more productive to design and deploy new institutional frameworks and practices to foster this different form of learning rather than trying to implant it into existing institutions.

Source: Edge Perspectives with John Hagel

rebelutionary: Whither wiki.com?

Hmmm... 

Someone pointed out to me over the weekend that wiki.com now redirects to wikia rather than any MindTouch powered service.

[...]

Assuming the domain hasn't been hijacked, did Mr Gotts not pay up? Was the traffic coming to the site just not worth the $3m price? Did Wikia bid more for the rights? Time will tell.

Source: rebelutionary: Whither wiki.com?

Telelogic Giving Away Software Modeling Tool - Yahoo! News

 Sign of the times

Telelogic, one of the few surviving high end suppliers of commercial software development tools, is offering its new modeling tool, Telelogic Modeler, for free.

[...]

The software giveaway will also boost the potential market for follow-on tools from Telelogic priced at $1,200 to $1,500 per seat, such as Telelogic Rhapsody, which automatically generate codes from models and manages the development and test process, or Telelogic Tau, which provides analysis of complex systems and is used for code development. These tools tend to be used in large telecommunications, defense and aerospace companies, says McKorkle.

Source: Telelogic Giving Away Software Modeling Tool - Yahoo! News

Apple's Jobs Keeps His Job, But Legal Perils Remain - Yahoo! News

Useful snapshot/summary article. 

TechWeb - While Steve Jobs retains control of the Apple helm, the company faces other legal challenges this year, over patents and monopoly law.

Link to Apple's Jobs Keeps His Job, But Legal Perils Remain - Yahoo! News

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Patent suit filed against cellphone makers over Bluetooth

More from the lawyer-full-employment dept... 

Research conducted by a University of Washington undergraduate more than a decade ago has become the subject of a lawsuit filed against some of the largest cellphone manufacturers in the world.

The suit claims that consumer electronics giant Matsushita and its Panasonic unit, as well as Samsung and Nokia, are infringing on four patents sold under the "Bluetooth" name.

Source: The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Patent suit filed against cellphone makers over Bluetooth

Microsoft Watch - Business Applications - A Lesson in Office Student and Teacher Edition

Read the full article for some analysis of the OneNote-for-Outlook swap in the latest edition. 

According to NPD, productivity suites are one of the strongest software sales categories at retail. Overall, retail software sales were flat through the end of November. By contrast, sales of productivity suites rose 12.8 percent year over year. One product--Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition--made up 80 percent of the category's sales.

The product's success--and nearly singular office productivity category dominance--means that many more buyers than those qualified to purchase the software do so. There is no check to ensure that buyers really are teachers, students or in households with either.

Source: Microsoft Watch - Business Applications - A Lesson in Office Student and Teacher Edition

Patent Lawsuit Names Leading Technology Firms - New York Times

Another good example of why the current patent model needs a radical change. 

In 1997, Jonathan T. Taplin, a veteran film and television producer, stood up at a cable industry convention and asserted that in the future all movies would be distributed over the Internet. He recalls being laughed out of the room.

Mr. Taplin may laugh last. Online distribution of movies has arrived, at places like Apple Computer’s iTunes Store. And even though Mr. Taplin’s own video-on-demand company, Intertainer, shut down operations five years ago, it says it deserves some credit — and cash.

Source: Patent Lawsuit Names Leading Technology Firms - New York Times

Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm - New York Times

What, no DNA testing?... 

Desperate to hire more engineers and sales representatives to staff its rapidly growing search and advertising business, Google — in typical eccentric fashion — has created an automated way to search for talent among the more than 100,000 job applications it receives each month. It is starting to ask job applicants to fill out an elaborate online survey that explores their attitudes, behavior, personality and biographical details going back to high school.

The questions range from the age when applicants first got excited about computers to whether they have ever tutored or ever established a nonprofit organization.

The answers are fed into a series of formulas created by Google’s mathematicians that calculate a score — from zero to 100 — meant to predict how well a person will fit into its chaotic and competitive culture.

Source: Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm - New York Times

Find It on the Web, Watch It on TV - WSJ.com

Timely WSJ reality check 

A more capable crop of gadgets is emerging to bring video from the Internet to television sets. The question is -- will consumers care?

That topic will be one of the hottest at the Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off Sunday night in Las Vegas. It could also hang over next week's Macworld conference; Apple Computer Inc. may say more about a $299 device -- first discussed in September under the code name iTV -- that allows TVs to wirelessly retrieve movies and other digital content that users have downloaded onto personal computers.

 

Source: Find It on the Web, Watch It on TV - WSJ.com

Fractals of Change: at&t's Trojan Horse

A timely reality check from Tom Evslin 

SavetheInternet.com calls the at&t “concessions” and the FCC’s consequent acquiescence in the at&t/BellSouth merger a “striking victory for Internet freedom advocates”. Although this group deserves great credit for getting the Democratic Commissioners of the FCC to take a harder line initially than their Republican colleagues, a better description of the definition of Internet neutrality crafted by at&t would be a “Trojan Horse”. It is a dangerous mistake for us Trojans (advocates of a neutral Internet) to wheel the at&t definition of net neutrality through the walls of the city and more particularly into the halls of Congress; it could turn into law. It is better to recognize tactical defeat than claim a false victory.

Source: Fractals of Change: at&t's Trojan Horse

BBC NEWS | Technology | $100 laptop project eyes launch

I look forward to learning more about the journaling software model 

The computer runs on a cut-down version of the open source Linux operating system and has been designed to work differently to a Microsoft Windows or Apple machine from a usability perspective.

Instead of information being stored along the organising principle of folders and a desktop, users of the XO machine are encouraged to work on an electronic journal, a log of everything the user has done on the laptop.

Source: BBC NEWS | Technology | $100 laptop project eyes launch

2007 Technology of the Year Awards: Data Management

Congrats to the Traction gang on this InfoWorld award 

Traction TeamPage, built on 100 percent Java technology, combines the group editing of a wiki with project blogs. Labels organize posts within users' projects, and robust permissioning ensures that pages are delivered dynamically based on a user's rights. Maybe best of all, widgets can present links or content driven by any Traction query.

Source: 2007 Technology of the Year Awards: Data Management

Wi-Fi Is Hitting the Road in Cars From Avis, but Technical and Legal Bumps Lie Ahead - New York Times

Hmm 

Autonet Mobile, a start-up wireless technology company based in San Francisco, is expected to announce this week that it has reached an agreement with Avis Rent A Car System to provide a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot to Avis customers by March. For $10.95 a day, Avis will issue motorists a notebook-size portable device that plugs into a car’s power supply and delivers a high-speed Internet connection.

Source: Wi-Fi Is Hitting the Road in Cars From Avis, but Technical and Legal Bumps Lie Ahead - New York Times

Using Web Cams but Few Inhibitions, the Young Turn to Risky Social Sites - New York Times

Very disturbing reality check about new sites/services 

Popular Web sites like YouTube and MySpace have hired the equivalent of school hallway monitors to police what visitors to their sites can see and do by cracking down on piracy and depictions of nudity and violence.

So where do the young thrill-seekers go?

Source: Using Web Cams but Few Inhibitions, the Young Turn to Risky Social Sites - New York Times

Industry Braces for Net-Neutrality Fallout - WSJ.com

Glad to see this 

AT&T Inc.'s capitulation on the issue of "net neutrality," which led U.S. regulators to approve its $86 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp., may have consequences far beyond the company.

Supporters of net-neutrality rules, which require equal treatment of all traffic from the Internet backbone to a consumer's PC, say AT&T's agreement provides a template for future legislation and may at least temporarily hinder hopes of other telecom and cable companies from monetizing their Internet lines by charging companies such as Google Inc. or Amazon.com Inc. to give their traffic priority and faster service.

Source: Industry Braces for Net-Neutrality Fallout - WSJ.com

AT&T Plans Push in Wireless, Ads - WSJ.com

The new AT&T (again...) 

Consumers will have a choice of signing up for a new package of cellphone and Internet service rather than just the traditional bundle of land-line phone and Internet service, the company says. Until now AT&T had worried about cannibalizing its land-line phone business. AT&T has also been testing cellphones that can run on Wi-Fi networks when at home, letting consumers save money on their cellphone bills and potentially get better reception indoors.

"The biggest asset we bought here was Cingular," said Mr. Whitacre. "We're about to become a company with wireless at its heart."

Source: AT&T Plans Push in Wireless, Ads - WSJ.com

Something Wiki Is Coming to the Web Search Market - New York Times

Also see this article for an overview of some other potential  search disruptors

The project, called Wikiasari for now, was announced in December by Wikia, a for-profit company co-founded by Jimmy Wales, the former options trader who has been the public face of Wikipedia. Like Wikipedia, a wiki search engine would be based on the idea that volunteers can do the work of paid specialists — in the case of search engines, the work of sophisticated computers that evaluate Web sites for relevance using secret criteria.

Source: Something Wiki Is Coming to the Web Search Market - New York Times

Microsoft: Vistagami Rising [BusinessWeek]

 I expect this form factor will be quite popular at some point, especially with eyewear products such as those from MicroOptical

Next month, at CES, Microsoft will be back with another round of the tiny computers. The latest tablets, code-named Vistagami because of their Windows Vista support, also will come in a wider range of looks, including some models with keyboards. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is expected to mention some of the new devices in his CES keynote as part of a broader discussion of the new types of computers that will be enabled with Vista, including new all-in-one PCs and other esoteric designs.

Source: Microsoft: Vistagami Rising

Microsoft's Remodeled Office [BusinessWeek]

 Another on-balance-ambivalent review of Office 2007.  The $149 (for 3 PCs) part is an important reality check, but of course that edition doesn't include Outlook, and Exchange Server reportedly no longer includes an Outlook CAL.

You'll have to decide if ribbons and other improvements are worth the learning curve—and the money. The cheapest version of Office 2007 is the $149 Home & Student Edition. It can be installed on up to three PCs, and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, an application for taking notes. More extensive packages range from $239 to $679. If you are happy with your current version of Office, there's no compelling reason to rush out and buy Office 2007.

Source: Microsoft's Remodeled Office

For Saddam's Page in History, A Final Link On YouTube - washingtonpost.com

Sign of the times... 

The public will find exactly as much of the death of Hussein as it wants, and people will watch for as long as it holds any novelty or fascination. Taste is a collective worry, but in this new world of viral videos, you can construct your own war, personally tailored to your personal bloodlust. Saddam Hussein is dead, the video is out there. Enjoy.

Source: For Saddam's Page in History, A Final Link On YouTube - washingtonpost.com

Apple Panel on Options Backs Chief - New York Times

IANAL, but I think this cheer is premature. 

Investors were cheered by the news, which was contained in the annual report Apple filed with securities regulators; Apple’s stock rose 4.9 percent to close at $84.84. But the report failed to completely remove a cloud hanging over the company as a result of the backdating of options and improper record keeping, especially concerning two large option grants made to Mr. Jobs in 2000 and 2001.

Source: Apple Panel on Options Backs Chief - New York Times

Apple Admits Wrongdoing But Rallies Around Leader - washingtonpost.com

Why do I get the sense this episode is ultimately going to be bad news for Jobs, and now for Gore as well?  See the article for an event time line and other details. 

Apple's board, which includes former vice president Al Gore, gave Jobs its full support. "The board of directors is confident that the Company has corrected the problems that led to the restatement, and it has complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team," said the statement by Gore and Jerome York, who heads Apple's audit and finance committee.

Source: Apple Admits Wrongdoing But Rallies Around Leader - washingtonpost.com

BBC NEWS | Technology | Wikipedia creator turns to search

Back to basics... 

The Search Wikia project will not rely on computer algorithms to determine how relevant webpages are to keywords.

Instead the results generated by the search engine will be decided and edited by humans.

Source: BBC NEWS | Technology | Wikipedia creator turns to search

Ford Aims to Jazz Up Its Fleet With Microsoft Pact - WSJ.com

Fascinating to see automobile manufacturers competing in this context 

The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker will unveil next month a hands-free Bluetooth wireless system and in-vehicle operating system developed by Microsoft that will eventually be an option for its entire Ford brand lineup, according to people familiar with the matter. The new system, to be dubbed Sync, will allow for hands-free cellphone communication and other wireless information transfers inside the car, including the ability to receive email and download music, these people said.

Source: Ford Aims to Jazz Up Its Fleet With Microsoft Pact - WSJ.com

Computing | Work-life balance | Economist.com

Timely snapshot 

In the past, innovation was driven by the military or corporate markets. But now the consumer market, with its vast economies of scale and appetite for novelty, leads the way. Compared with the staid corporate-software industry, using these services is like “receiving technology from an advanced civilisation”, says Mr Sannier. He is now looking at other consumer technologies for ideas. He is already using Apple's iTunes, a popular online-music service, to store the university's podcasts.

Source: Computing | Work-life balance | Economist.com

Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check: more fun with XML syndication

It seems now my old and new feeds are both working, but for some mysterious reason I had to unsubscribe and re-add the old feed (in FeedDemon, to be specific) before it started showing updates again.

Link to Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Tech.view | Hasta la Vista | Economist.com

Timely snapshot; read the full article for more details. 

FROM the end of January any Windows-based personal computer that you buy will come with a new version of Microsoft's operating system, called Vista. Make no mistake, this is more than just a slicker, prettier version of Microsoft’s current operating system for desktop computers, Windows XP. Vista is considerably quicker, easier and more pleasant to use, and far more stable and secure, than was its predecessor. One of its particular attractions is its more intuitive way of storing, organising and locating files. Included too are better parental controls, a built-in DVD maker, and lots of other improvements. In many ways, especially in its look and feel and ease of use, Vista out-Macs the Mac’s latest operating system—the Tiger version of OS X. However, that could change when Apple releases its Leopard version of OS X in spring.

Source: Tech.view | Hasta la Vista | Economist.com

Open-source leader leaving Novell for Google | CNET News.com

Lose some, win some... 

Jeremy Allison, a high-profile open-source programmer, has resigned from Novell because of objections over its patent deal with Microsoft and is moving to Google.

[...]

Meanwhile, Novell has rehired another open-source figure, Hubert Mantel, a co-founder of Suse Linux. He left the company in November 2005, but returned in December of this year. "I had more than one year of time to think about my future and came to the conclusion that the thing I'm most interested in still is Linux," he said in an interview with the online magazine Data Manager.

Source: Open-source leader leaving Novell for Google | CNET News.com

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Google exec heaps praise on local office

 Interesting approach -- tbd if this will scale better than the everybody-in-Redmond Microsoft model.

[Google Engineering Vice President Douglas Merrill:] Google's unusual in a couple of ways. We open engineering offices where the talent is, rather than bringing talent to a location. ... [In Kirkland] we have north of 250 employees, and we're approaching 200 engineers. It's just an incredible growth rate in two years.

We don't have specialized engineering offices... Each of our engineering offices have a personality, a flavor. But fundamentally each office works on the entire panoply of Google products and services

Source: The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Google exec heaps praise on local office

Waiting on Apple Cellphone Call - WSJ.com

 I think it'd take Apple at least two or three releases to get a phone right, and it will likely take years to catch up to the level of scope and stability that Windows Mobile and Symbian have achieved. 

Entering the cellphone business likely would give Apple a huge revenue boost, which would be good for current shareholders over the long term. For the moment, however, the stock is trading at lofty prices, so now might not be the right time to jump in, especially if Apple disappoints Wall Street by not unveiling the phone next month or stumbles in rolling it out.

Source: Heard on the Street - WSJ.com

Blogger's sloppy stumble out of beta | Webware : Cool web apps for everyone

Apparently I have a lot of company, wedged between Blogger versions... 

But things don't appear to have gone entirely smoothly. According to some Blogger readers, the software exited beta in the manner of an egg nog-filled guest leaving a Christmas party.

We received a tip this morning from a reader who claimed that her Blogger account had been more or less frozen: she could not post to her blog or read comments. "The Blogger Help Group is littered with increasingly desperate postings from people like myself," she added.

Source: Blogger's sloppy stumble out of beta | Webware : Cool web apps for everyone

PC World calls PS3 a top tech mistake of 2006 | PS3 News | GamePro.com

Ouch...  See the full list (full list link) for more, and this snapshot for the PS3-specific assessment. 

PC World's Dan Tynan has released a new article titled "The 21 biggest technology mistakes of 2006." The number eight entry? The PlayStation 3.

Zune: #17

(Thanks, Andrew)

Source: PC World calls PS3 a top tech mistake of 2006 | PS3 News | GamePro.com

Analyst: Zune finding some willing ears | CNET News.com

 Another Zune progress update

Also, while the Zune has a double-digit share among similarly priced models, it has a far smaller slice of the overall market, Bhavnani said. He noted that although the Zune is in a strong part of the market, the bulk of sales are for cheaper products such as Apple's $79 iPod Shuffle, which he said is "flying off the shelves."

Still, he said it is an impressive start for the company, which has acknowledged that trying to catch up with the iPod is likely to be an expensive, multi-year effort.

Source: Analyst: Zune finding some willing ears | CNET News.com

Argh! Blogger broke my blog

The new Blogger model has switched my site feed and I can't find a way to switch it back. In the meantime, try this feed. Any pointers from other Blogger "upgrade" victims would be appreciated...

Nintendo slapped with suit over Wii strap | News.blog | CNET News.com

Inevitable...

File this under "c'mon, you had to see this one coming." Just days after Nintendo announced that it would voluntarily exchange 3.2 million Wii remote straps due to reports of the parts breaking and even causing bodily harm comes news of a lawsuit against the company.

Source: Nintendo slapped with suit over Wii strap News.blog CNET News.com

At the Heart of the Wii, Micron-Size Machines - New York Times

Cool -- read the article for more details 

The controllers communicate with the Wii console, a $250 box no larger than a child’s lunchbox, with the wireless technology known as Bluetooth. It is the means commonly used to link cellphones with their wireless headsets. The Wii remote also uses infrared, the same technology that links television sets with their remote controllers, to track where the controller is pointed.

Source: At the Heart of the Wii, Micron-Size Machines - New York Times

Stars Find Privacy Breached In Aspen by Phone Book - WSJ.com

Privacy violations, the old-fashioned way... 

When the Yellow Book directory for Aspen, Colo. came out recently, residents of this ultra-chic ski town found it contained more than the usual list of local bars, hair salons and ski shops.

It also included the previously unpublished addresses of actor Jack Nicholson, former Walt Disney Co. boss Michael Eisner and the deceased ex-chairman of Enron Corp. Kenneth Lay, among other celebrities and executives accustomed to keeping their contact information unpublished. The incident was first reported in the Aspen Daily News.

Source: Stars Find Privacy Breached In Aspen by Phone Book - WSJ.com