Alpha Of Kapor's Open-Source PIM Due In Spring "Lotus founder Mitch Kapor said his open-source personal-information manager, "Chandler", will be released in an alpha version this April.
Kapor, who spoke to about seventy Stanford University students as part of the university's computer systems colloquium, said the project's goal was to do for application software what Linux had done for operating systems: begin life as essentially a group project, then later challenge proprietary systems and win.
"We think this is a good time to bring to use the OS model to bring to the world of applications software of uncompromising quality," Kapor said."
Friday, January 31, 2003
Microsoft to Alter Online System to Satisfy Europe
Microsoft to Alter Online System to Satisfy Europe "To avert a clash with European regulators over data privacy, Microsoft has agreed to make "radical" changes in the workings of .Net Passport, its online authentication system, regulators said today."
Great PR, but the changes hardly look "radical"
Great PR, but the changes hardly look "radical"
Critical Update for Microsoft .NET Framework SDK 1.0 Users
Critical Update for Microsoft .NET Framework SDK 1.0 Users "The .NET Framework SDK version 1.0 optionally installs an application-specific instance of MSDE 2000 as part of the QuickStart feature. Users of the .NET Framework SDK 1.0 or Visual Studio .NET 2002 who installed this feature need to apply a specially adapted SQL Server Service Pack 3 to protect MSDE 2000 from attack by the recent Slammer virus."
An instance of the type of challenge involved when every fat client is also a thin server...
An instance of the type of challenge involved when every fat client is also a thin server...
Forbes.com: Keynote Vs. PowerPoint
Forbes.com: Keynote Vs. PowerPoint "PowerPoint presentations are a boom and bane of business life. They are easier to prepare, particularly at the last minute, than overhead slides or notes scribbled on index cards. We now all sit through more but better-organized pitches. But Microsoft's ubiquitous PowerPoint software has also put some awesome power of bad design in the hands of millions of business people.
Enter the design divas at Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ). The company's latest foray in to the office-suite software market is its new standalone presentation program dubbed Keynote. Unbeknownst to his audience, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has, they say, been quietly beta-testing it for the past year in his own eponymous speeches."
You have to wonder about Apple's long-term commitment to the product, however; they have a history of being rather fickle with software products, and an entry in this category won't be easy to sustain.
Enter the design divas at Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ). The company's latest foray in to the office-suite software market is its new standalone presentation program dubbed Keynote. Unbeknownst to his audience, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has, they say, been quietly beta-testing it for the past year in his own eponymous speeches."
You have to wonder about Apple's long-term commitment to the product, however; they have a history of being rather fickle with software products, and an entry in this category won't be easy to sustain.
Boston Globe Online / Business / In a first, AOL loses US members
Boston Globe Online / Business / In a first, AOL loses US members "When AOL Time Warner Inc. reported financial results Wednesday, the record $98.7 billion loss posted by the giant company, and the surprise resignation of media maverick Ted Turner, garnered headlines around the world.
But beneath the surface, another figure marked a seminal moment for Northern Virginia-based America Online Inc., the media company's Internet unit: The number of US subscribers fell for the first time ever on a quarterly basis, dropping by 170,000 in the last three months of 2002. The dip occurred despite the aggressive launch last fall of the company's newest software, AOL 8.0; the distribution of millions of free AOL computer disks; and the outlay of more than $1 billion on advertising and promotion last year.
''The modest decline in AOL's subscriber base will spark renewed fears over AOL's long-term viability,'' investment firm J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. told investors."
Somehow I suspect there will be a Microsoft MSN press release touting gains in their subscriber base in a day or two...
But beneath the surface, another figure marked a seminal moment for Northern Virginia-based America Online Inc., the media company's Internet unit: The number of US subscribers fell for the first time ever on a quarterly basis, dropping by 170,000 in the last three months of 2002. The dip occurred despite the aggressive launch last fall of the company's newest software, AOL 8.0; the distribution of millions of free AOL computer disks; and the outlay of more than $1 billion on advertising and promotion last year.
''The modest decline in AOL's subscriber base will spark renewed fears over AOL's long-term viability,'' investment firm J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. told investors."
Somehow I suspect there will be a Microsoft MSN press release touting gains in their subscriber base in a day or two...
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft brews up more competition at Oracle seminar
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft brews up more competition at Oracle seminar "The fierce rivalry between Microsoft and Oracle took a distinctly Seattle turn yesterday when the world's two largest software companies engaged in a coffee battle at the Westin hotel. ...
The Microsoft folks also brought a video camera to record the goings-on, even a reporter's conversation with Siroky.
Siroky said the video recordings will be shown to Microsoft software developers working on a new version of Exchange coming this summer."
The Microsoft folks also brought a video camera to record the goings-on, even a reporter's conversation with Siroky.
Siroky said the video recordings will be shown to Microsoft software developers working on a new version of Exchange coming this summer."
WSJ.com - Paul Allen's in Danger Of Losing His Charter
WSJ.com - Paul Allen's in Danger Of Losing His Charter "The lights are dimming in Paul Allen's wired world.
The Microsoft Corp. co-founder has invested billions of dollars in businesses tied to his vision that cable-television technology will lead U.S. households into a future of new interactive services and interconnected appliances. But results have ranged from lackluster to dismal for many of these ventures -- such as cable network Oxygen Media, telecommunications company RCN Corp. and Digeo Inc., a developer of digital-TV services.
Now, the centerpiece of the strategy is in danger of collapse.
That centerpiece is Charter Communications Inc., the country's third-largest cable company, in which Mr. Allen has invested $7.4 billion. Overleveraged and underperforming, the company's cash before interest and capital expenditures, among certain other items, isn't growing enough to service its debt, analysts say. The cash flow tallied about $2 billion last year, analysts estimate, while debt will rise to close to $20 billion by the end of this year."
The Microsoft Corp. co-founder has invested billions of dollars in businesses tied to his vision that cable-television technology will lead U.S. households into a future of new interactive services and interconnected appliances. But results have ranged from lackluster to dismal for many of these ventures -- such as cable network Oxygen Media, telecommunications company RCN Corp. and Digeo Inc., a developer of digital-TV services.
Now, the centerpiece of the strategy is in danger of collapse.
That centerpiece is Charter Communications Inc., the country's third-largest cable company, in which Mr. Allen has invested $7.4 billion. Overleveraged and underperforming, the company's cash before interest and capital expenditures, among certain other items, isn't growing enough to service its debt, analysts say. The cash flow tallied about $2 billion last year, analysts estimate, while debt will rise to close to $20 billion by the end of this year."
Boxes and Arrows: HTML's Time is Over. Let's Move On.
Boxes and Arrows: HTML's Time is Over. Let's Move On. "Ultimately, I don’t see a long term future for HTML as an application development solution. It is a misapplied tool that was never meant to be used for anything other than distributed publishing.
The reality is that we are trying to do too much with a language that was never meant for such heavy-duty applications. We have used incredible ingenuity to make up for the faults of HTML by putting all of the real processing effort on the server side, but the time has come to create a new system that is low bandwidth, utilizes a single code base for all platforms, and is componentized enough to make updating and customizations easy using internet-based distribution. Lastly, we need to develop these applications to run in their own space, without a web browser In the end, this may change the way we think of web browsers. It will also change the way platforms need to be developed, in order to support a wide array of thin-clients that are accessed and addressed directly from the operating system as opposed to from a browser."
The reality is that we are trying to do too much with a language that was never meant for such heavy-duty applications. We have used incredible ingenuity to make up for the faults of HTML by putting all of the real processing effort on the server side, but the time has come to create a new system that is low bandwidth, utilizes a single code base for all platforms, and is componentized enough to make updating and customizations easy using internet-based distribution. Lastly, we need to develop these applications to run in their own space, without a web browser In the end, this may change the way we think of web browsers. It will also change the way platforms need to be developed, in order to support a wide array of thin-clients that are accessed and addressed directly from the operating system as opposed to from a browser."
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
The Register: Windows NT 4.0 Server gets another year's life
The Register: Windows NT 4.0 Server gets another year's life "Although Microsoft would dearly have loved NT Server users to have started migrating shortly after (well, maybe about six months before, really) the introduction of Windows 2000 Server, many NT users have been hanging in splendidly. It's robust, they understand it, it does the job, so why switch?"
WSJ.com - AT&T Wireless Will Provide Wi-Fi in Hotels and Airports
WSJ.com - AT&T Wireless Will Provide Wi-Fi in Hotels and Airports "For AT&T Wireless Services Inc. subscribers who have grown frustrated with their carrier's pokey data speeds, there soon may be a better way.
Making a big push into the increasingly popular technology for accessing the Internet wirelessly called Wi-Fi, the mobile-phone carrier -- one of the nation's largest -- has signed an agreement with Wayport Inc. (www.wayport.com), a large, closely held Wi-Fi network provider based in Austin, Texas, to give subscribers high-speed, wireless Web access at more than 475 hotels and several airports.
AT&T Wireless customers will have to pay for Wi-Fi access, even if they already subscribe to the carrier's data service. The Wi-Fi service will range in price from $9.99 for unlimited use over a 24-hour period, to $69.99 for unlimited usage over 30 days.
AT&T Wireless's plans, which are expected to be announced Tuesday, come a month after the Redmond, Wash., carrier said it was scaling back its plans to build a so-called third-generation or 3G network, the industry term for offering services like Web browsing at high speeds over a traditional cellular network. The carrier currently offers data services across most of its network, but at speeds only comparable to dial-up Internet connections. A plan to upgrade its network to increase those speeds by roughly fivefold was reduced last month from to four cities from 13."
Note: I recently signed up for the "pokey" AT&T Wireless data service referenced above, with a spiffy SonyEricsson T68i; I'll post impressions here after I gain some experience with it.
Making a big push into the increasingly popular technology for accessing the Internet wirelessly called Wi-Fi, the mobile-phone carrier -- one of the nation's largest -- has signed an agreement with Wayport Inc. (www.wayport.com), a large, closely held Wi-Fi network provider based in Austin, Texas, to give subscribers high-speed, wireless Web access at more than 475 hotels and several airports.
AT&T Wireless customers will have to pay for Wi-Fi access, even if they already subscribe to the carrier's data service. The Wi-Fi service will range in price from $9.99 for unlimited use over a 24-hour period, to $69.99 for unlimited usage over 30 days.
AT&T Wireless's plans, which are expected to be announced Tuesday, come a month after the Redmond, Wash., carrier said it was scaling back its plans to build a so-called third-generation or 3G network, the industry term for offering services like Web browsing at high speeds over a traditional cellular network. The carrier currently offers data services across most of its network, but at speeds only comparable to dial-up Internet connections. A plan to upgrade its network to increase those speeds by roughly fivefold was reduced last month from to four cities from 13."
Note: I recently signed up for the "pokey" AT&T Wireless data service referenced above, with a spiffy SonyEricsson T68i; I'll post impressions here after I gain some experience with it.
Article: PDA Sales Decline in 2002
Article: PDA Sales Decline in 2002 "It was a tough year for the PDA industry, as global sales fell 9.1 percent from 2001 totals, according to research firm Gartner Dataquest.
The big three -- Palm, Hewett-Packard and Handspring -- each shipped about 600,000 fewer PDAs last year than in 2001. Gartner analyst Todd Kort pointed to poor economic conditions and a lack of compelling devices as reasons for the decline. In addition, Kort said the slow adoption of PDAs by enterprises has also hurt the industry.
Only about 30 percent of PDAs are purchased by business users, Kort said. Part of the reason for this is that the wireless PDAs that enterprises seek are still expensive and can be difficult to deploy."...
Palm still holds the lead in the operating system market, with 55.2 percent of worldwide shipments. Windows CE accounted for 25.7 percent of PDA sales, up about 7 percent from the previous year.
"I think Palm can maintain 50 percent or more of the PDA business in 2003," said Kort. He predicts the $99 Palm Zire, which comprised about a third of Palm's shipments in the fourth quarter, will be priced closer to $50 or $60 by Christmas, competing with basic calculators.
In the U.S. market, Sony jumped from the No. 6 position in 2001 to the No. 2 position in 2002, as its shipments increased 351.8 percent. Handspring, which slipped to the No. 4 position after being third in sales in 2001, is exiting the PDA market entirely to focus exclusively on smart phones, said Kort."
The big three -- Palm, Hewett-Packard and Handspring -- each shipped about 600,000 fewer PDAs last year than in 2001. Gartner analyst Todd Kort pointed to poor economic conditions and a lack of compelling devices as reasons for the decline. In addition, Kort said the slow adoption of PDAs by enterprises has also hurt the industry.
Only about 30 percent of PDAs are purchased by business users, Kort said. Part of the reason for this is that the wireless PDAs that enterprises seek are still expensive and can be difficult to deploy."...
Palm still holds the lead in the operating system market, with 55.2 percent of worldwide shipments. Windows CE accounted for 25.7 percent of PDA sales, up about 7 percent from the previous year.
"I think Palm can maintain 50 percent or more of the PDA business in 2003," said Kort. He predicts the $99 Palm Zire, which comprised about a third of Palm's shipments in the fourth quarter, will be priced closer to $50 or $60 by Christmas, competing with basic calculators.
In the U.S. market, Sony jumped from the No. 6 position in 2001 to the No. 2 position in 2002, as its shipments increased 351.8 percent. Handspring, which slipped to the No. 4 position after being third in sales in 2001, is exiting the PDA market entirely to focus exclusively on smart phones, said Kort."
LOTUS® SOFTWARE: IBM Lotus NextGen is Now - - ADVISOR.com - -
LOTUS® SOFTWARE: IBM Lotus NextGen is Now - - ADVISOR.com - - So the biggest headline is the resurrection of cc:Mail as "NextGen Mail" with a DB2 and LDAP back-end?
Monday, January 27, 2003
Borland, Microsoft tie .Net knot - Tech News - CNET.com
Borland, Microsoft tie .Net knot - Tech News - CNET.com "In October last year, Borland acquired TogetherSoft, which makes application modeling and design tools. The forthcoming Borland product that incorporates the .Net Framework SDK will be an enhancement to TogetherSoft's current .Net product, said Simon Thornhill, vice president and general manager of Borland's rapid application development business unit. The revamped TogetherSoft tools are scheduled for release later this year."
Microsoft Renames Palladium, Gives Up Trademark Hunt
Microsoft Renames Palladium, Gives Up Trademark Hunt "On Friday, Microsoft revealed that it had given up trying to trademark "Palladium," the term it had given to its secure computing initiative. The company says that the technologies once called Palladium will now go by the name Next Generation Secure Computing Base, which it feels is more accurate and mature. Also, another unnamed company had apparently applied for a trademark on the term Palladium, and Microsoft didn't want to be seen as strong-arming that company."
Microsoft PressPass: Microsoft Investigating Internet Worm
Microsoft PressPass: Microsoft Investigating Internet Worm "At approximately 9:30 P.M. Pacific Time Friday, January 24, Microsoft became aware of an Internet attack causing a dramatic increase in network traffic worldwide. Microsoft immediately began investigating the issue and learned of a worm targeting Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000-based and MSDE 2000-based systems not updated with the appropriate security patches. This worm does not appear to attack the data of infected systems."
Saturday, January 25, 2003
Quiet Desperation (washingtonpost.com) [Review of latest Po Bronson book]
Quiet Desperation (washingtonpost.com) (Review of latest Po Bronson book) "Bronson would like readers to believe that his book is deeper, more existential than a book about, say, career coaching, but it simply isn't. Like Audrey Hepburn, who plays a bohemian book clerk enamored of a philosophy called empatheticalism in the 1956 film "Funny Face," he has discovered that the true meaning of life is – yep, you guessed it – getting with the program. If you've suddenly realized that your high-powered job as a surgeon, a corporate lawyer, an investment banker or a dot-commer isn't fulfilling, there's no need to freak out. Quit your job – or, as Bronson puts it at one point, take a "gripless open-handed jump into the void," as though the void were nothing but life off the career track – and get a job you like better. Bronson, himself a former bond salesman, pats himself on the back early on in the book for helping one young man realize that what he really, really wanted was to become a golf pro; and he is proud of a friend who resigned his position as a vice president at Wells Fargo, drifted for a while, then ended up as a highly paid portfolio manager in the United Arab Emirates.
In the end, Bronson sums up what he has learned, not for the sake of the average reader, but for a group of CEOs "from some of the biggest companies in the country. Together, they pretty much are the economy." He's been invited to speak to these folks about What People Really Want, we learn in the book's final chapter; although he's nervous, he thinks it's a great opportunity to speak truth to power. When it's his turn to speak, he tells the assembled head honchos that most people don't care so much about benefits, flex time, day care or stock options. "We need to encourage people to find their sweet spot," he says. "Productivity explodes when people love what they do. We're sitting on a huge potential boom in productivity, which we could tap into if we got all the square pegs in the square holes and round pegs in round holes." This, apparently, is what life is really all about: improving productivity. If you don't love the job you've got, get a job you'll love. This is existentialism, American style."
I wasn't looking for deep existential insights from Po Bronson, and I'm enjoying the book...
In the end, Bronson sums up what he has learned, not for the sake of the average reader, but for a group of CEOs "from some of the biggest companies in the country. Together, they pretty much are the economy." He's been invited to speak to these folks about What People Really Want, we learn in the book's final chapter; although he's nervous, he thinks it's a great opportunity to speak truth to power. When it's his turn to speak, he tells the assembled head honchos that most people don't care so much about benefits, flex time, day care or stock options. "We need to encourage people to find their sweet spot," he says. "Productivity explodes when people love what they do. We're sitting on a huge potential boom in productivity, which we could tap into if we got all the square pegs in the square holes and round pegs in round holes." This, apparently, is what life is really all about: improving productivity. If you don't love the job you've got, get a job you'll love. This is existentialism, American style."
I wasn't looking for deep existential insights from Po Bronson, and I'm enjoying the book...
Friday, January 24, 2003
Xbox Celebrates Successful Holiday Season, Gaining Share and Solidifying No. 2 Position Across North America and Europe
Xbox Celebrates Successful Holiday Season, Gaining Share and Solidifying No. 2 Position Across North America and Europe Some impressive stats in the press release (despite Sony's large lead)
Thursday, January 23, 2003
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft realigns Windows operation
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft realigns Windows operation "In his new role, Poole will have extensive oversight of a range of Microsoft operations, including development of Windows in desktops and laptops, the Windows eHome division and Microsoft's digital media player. He will report to Brian Valentine, senior vice president of the Windows division.
Microsoft also moved its Tablet PC business to Poole's jurisdiction from that of Jeff Raikes, its group vice president in charge of productivity and business services.
"This basically reflects Microsoft's contention that digital media is going to drive the next generation of consumer PC sales," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a Kirkland research company that closely monitors the company's internal maneuverings."
Microsoft also moved its Tablet PC business to Poole's jurisdiction from that of Jeff Raikes, its group vice president in charge of productivity and business services.
"This basically reflects Microsoft's contention that digital media is going to drive the next generation of consumer PC sales," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a Kirkland research company that closely monitors the company's internal maneuverings."
Identity Theft Complaints Double in '02
Identity Theft Complaints Double in '02 "The number of identity theft complaints nearly doubled in 2002, continuing to make it the Federal Trade Commission's most widely reported consumer crime since the agency started issuing reports three years ago.
The F.T.C. said that in the last year it had received 162,000 reports of identity theft, compared with 86,000 a year ago. They make up 43 percent of complaints. Auction fraud, an almost nonexistent crime six years ago, ranked second with 13 percent of the total. Internet-related fraud, which includes auction fraud, generated slightly more than 100,000 complaints. The rise in identity theft complaints partly reflects greater consumer awareness about reporting and does not necessarily indicate an increase in the crime."
The F.T.C. said that in the last year it had received 162,000 reports of identity theft, compared with 86,000 a year ago. They make up 43 percent of complaints. Auction fraud, an almost nonexistent crime six years ago, ranked second with 13 percent of the total. Internet-related fraud, which includes auction fraud, generated slightly more than 100,000 complaints. The rise in identity theft complaints partly reflects greater consumer awareness about reporting and does not necessarily indicate an increase in the crime."
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