My Blog Ate My Career - The Boston Globe

A timely reality check/snapshot of professional journalism at the blogosphere crossroads

If this were Facebook, my status update might read this way: "Linda is . . . terrified that her reckless blogging and social networking has rendered her utterly, irrevocably unemployable." In another life, I was a CNN head writer and senior producer. These days, Google my name, and in a few clickety clicks, you'll find a sorry list of intimate grotesqueries I've catalogued about myself for all the world to read.

My Blog Ate My Career - The Boston Globe

Twitter: You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder why - all in 140 characters - The Boston Globe

Now all we need is a word that starts with “tw” and connotes ridiculous levels of over-hyping – check the full article for a snapshot of planet Twitter

Krums's "man on the scene" report was one of the highest-profile moments yet for Twitter, the two-year-old Web service that has become explosively popular among the Web 2.0 set. Users can fire off tiny messages from their computers and cellphones, from wherever they are, and have them appear on the screens of whoever is keeping track of them. The messages answer the question "What are you doing?" to an audience of friends, family, or random strangers, or to no one at all.

Twitter has already birthed an entire ecosystem of other sites that extend its power or interact with it. But Twitter isn't just a platform for technological innovation: It's showing signs as an engine of creativity for the language, too.

My bet: Twitter will follow Pointcast and become a verb for crashing after building incredible market awareness for something without a robust business model – as well as for increasing entropy by wasting users’ time and attention.

Twitter: You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder why - all in 140 characters - The Boston Globe

Surveillance gets intelligent - The Boston Globe

Another economic inverse-function line of business (see the full post for context-setting)

The basic idea behind this new wrinkle in surveillance is that cameras bolted to walls, embedded in ceilings, and posted on light poles don't really do much. When they're monitored 24-7 by a human, that's expensive - and it's very easy for the person watching to get sensory overload and miss important events. When they're not monitored, all they're doing is recording crimes for later analysis: Let's see if we can identify who that hooded guy was who stole your car last Friday night.

But take high-resolution digital cameras, slather on some software to analyze the images they're capturing, add loudspeakers (more on that in a minute), and connect them to zippy data networks, and they can be monitored by off-site personnel, only when something unusual happens.

Surveillance gets intelligent - The Boston Globe

naked capitalism: IBM Offshoring Its North American Employees

Interesting times for IBM employees; see the full post for more context, and also see IBM's Palmisano: Tech's slumdog millionaire in InfoWorld

Apparently America is not becoming a banana republic quickly enough to suit some big US companies.
I heard last week that a friend's sister, 57 years old and a very long standing IBM employee, had been offered the choice of either losing her job, or being sent to India or Latin America. In the old days, an offshore posting was a perk, or at least not a bad thing financially, since the employer would provide various expat subsidies to make up for meaningful additional costs (such as filing extra tax returns, higher housing costs when applicable, etc.),. The general intent was to make them whole (and some used the subsidies as a way to sweeten the pot, since that sort of move is disruptive personally, particularly for employees with school-age children).
Clearly, those perks don't apply here. A CNN article describes that the jobs on offer are in third world countries, at local wages. IBM is proving only some assistance with moving and visas. Given the cost of hiring and getting new workers up to speed, IBM probably comes out ahead on those few who decide to participate.

naked capitalism: IBM Offshoring Its North American Employees

Ballmer: Microsoft to spend more than $9 billion on R&D this year - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source

See the full post for more context-setting

Despite Microsoft's recent cutbacks, the company still expects to spend more than $9 billion a year on research and development, CEO Steve Ballmer told Democratic leaders today at an event in Williamsburg, Va.
That's roughly in line with the spending Ballmer was predicting last fall. According to the Microsoft transcript of today's speech, Ballmer said the company has drawn inspiration from the way RCA weathered the Great Depression.

Ballmer: Microsoft to spend more than $9 billion on R&D this year - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source

Plug Pulled on Md. Legislature's Facebook, MySpace for Fear of Viruses - washingtonpost.com

See the full article for more details

This week, computer gurus with the state's legislative body announced that they were blocking access to Facebook and MySpace from all General Assembly computers, including those of lawmakers and their staffs.

They said the block was made necessary by an uptick in viruses and malicious software that were finding their way into the assembly's computer network through the popular social networking sites.

Plug Pulled on Md. Legislature's Facebook, MySpace for Fear of Viruses - washingtonpost.com

Marten Mickos to leave Sun in reorg | The Open Road - CNET News

Another big loss for Sun – the former MySQL AB CEO

What Mickos doesn't say in the staff letter, but which I sensed in my conversation with him, is frustration at Sun's bureaucracy. As one of the most foundational personalities in open-source business, Mickos should have been given free rein to change Sun's fortunes. I don't think that he was given that freedom, based on other conversations I've had with Sun executives, and this clearly led to his desire to leave Sun.

Letting Mickos go is one of the worst decisions Sun has made. It is likely to lead to an exodus among MySQL's deep talent pool. Mickos was the backbone of MySQL's rising revenues, as an open-source pragmatist and visionary. He was the face of MySQL, but also of the rising open-source industry.

Marten Mickos to leave Sun in reorg | The Open Road - CNET News

FAQ: How Google Latitude locates you [Computerworld]

Intriguing but also kinda scary…

Google is using technology from Skyhook Wireless in the Latitude service. According to Nick Brachet, Skyhook's chief technology officer, the company's XPS hybrid-positioning system is "a software-only location solution that allows any mobile device with Wi-Fi, GPS or a cellular radio to determine its position with an accuracy of 10 to 20 meters. What sets XPS apart is that it uses land-based Wi-Fi access points, GPS satellites and cellular towers to determine location information."

In other words, Skyhook's software can use any of the three kinds of signals — Wi-Fi, 2G/3G/4G mobile or GPS satellite — that a device can pick up to work out its location. By leveraging these wireless capabilities, Skyhook's software can combine positioning data from satellites, carrier assistance servers and Wi-Fi base stations to significantly speed up positioning, or TTFF (time to first fix). TTFF for some devices can be up to a minute, but the addition of Skyhook's XPS can reduce TTFF to a few seconds.

FAQ: How Google Latitude locates you

BBC NEWS | Technology | Parking ticket leads to a virus

A malware innovator strikes in Grand Forks, North Dakota

Hackers have discovered a new way of duping users onto fraudulent websites: fake parking tickets.

Cars in the US had traffic violation tickets placed on the windscreen, which then directed users to a website.

Later in the article:

"Attackers continue to come up with creative ways of tricking potential victims into installing malicious software.

"Merging physical and virtual worlds via objects that point to websites is one way to do this. I imagine we'll be seeing such approaches more often."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Parking ticket leads to a virus

Monty says: Time to move on

Another MySQL co-founder checks out of Sun

The main reason for leaving was that I am not satisfied with the way the MySQL server has been developed, as can be seen on my previous blog post. In particular I would have like to see the server development to be moved to a true open development environment that would encourage outside participation and without any need of differentiation on the source code. Sun has been considering opening up the server development, but the pace has been too slow.

Excerpts from later in the post:

Some of the Maria team members will follow me and some will stay in Sun.

[…]

I am also working on opening a new kind of restaurant that will use databases to achieve a better customer experience. (Expect a special discount for database developers!). More about this later...

Monty says: Time to move on

Microsoft tightens Windows 7 security at behest of bloggers - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source

Interesting times…

Microsoft's top Windows engineers today promised to make a pair of changes to shore up Windows 7 security -- showing that it's possible for a pair of tech-savvy bloggers in their 20s to put a giant company on the right course, even if it initially balks.

In a post this afternoon on the Engineering Windows 7 blog, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky and Jon DeVaan said the company would make changes in Windows 7's User Account Control (UAC) feature to address problems pointed out by Windows enthusiast blogger Long Zheng and his "developer sidekick" Rafael Rivera.

Microsoft tightens Windows 7 security at behest of bloggers - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source

Google and Amazon to Put More Books on Cellphones - NYTimes.com

Glad to know Amazon.com isn’t going to keep its ebook service and Kindle 1:1

In a move that could bolster the growing popularity of e-books, Google said Thursday that the 1.5 million public domain books it had scanned and made available free on PCs were now accessible on mobile devices like the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1.

Also Thursday, Amazon said that it was working on making the titles for its popular e-book reader, the Kindle, available on a variety of mobile phones. The company, which is expected to unveil a new version of the Kindle next week, did not say when Kindle titles would be available on mobile phones.

Google and Amazon to Put More Books on Cellphones - NYTimes.com

OneNote and Education : OneNote and Learning Styles - Dr. Ole Lauridsen

An intriguing assessment of the potential for OneNote in education; see the full post for more details.  On a theme I’ll be blogging about regularly in 2009: I believe OneNote has quietly become the latest “killer app” in Microsoft Office, and that its role will become much clearer and larger, in the Office 14 time frame. 

Obviously OneNote is a learning tool of major importance. It is very compatible with the concept of learning styles, but there is more to it than that. The authoritative Horizon Report (2008) states that grassroots video, mobile broadband, data mashups, collective intelligence, and social operating systems are “emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within learning-focused organizations”.

OneNote delivers a perfect platform for these technologies, a platform that, due to its flexibility, brings together these “emerging technologies” under one hat. Perhaps OneNote needs some adjusting to meet the challenges of the years to come, but that would only be details. The whole basis is there. OneNote is a program of the future.

OneNote and Education : OneNote and Learning Styles - Dr. Ole Lauridsen

Three Reasons Why I Won't Be Using Google Latitude (PC World) by : Yahoo! Tech

A timely reality check

While Google Latitude isn’t the first mobile location tracking service to hit the market, it may be the first with the potential for mainstream and widespread adoption. Here are three reasons why I won’t be hopping on the bandwagon.

See the full article for details; here’s a list of the three reasons:

1. It’s just a little too friendly.

2. Google already has enough dirt on me.

3. Who knows who could end up getting the data?

Three Reasons Why I Won't Be Using Google Latitude (PC World) by : Yahoo! Tech

Engineering Windows 7 : Update on UAC

Read this post if you find any of the recent stories suggesting Windows 7  may be a step backward on security plausible

As people have commented on our current UAC design (and people have commented on those comments) it is clear that there is conflation of a few things, and a set of misperceptions that need to be cleared up before we talk about the engineering decisions made on UAC. These engineering decisions have been made while we carry forth our secure development lifecycle principles pioneered in Windows XP SP2, and most importantly the principle of “secure by default” as part of SD3+C. Windows 7 upholds those principles and does so with a renewed focus on making sure everyone feels they are in control of their PC experience as we have talked about in many posts.

Engineering Windows 7 : Update on UAC

Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios - NYTimes.com

A stark studio snapshot

The culprits, in this case, are the anonymous pirates who put the film online and enabled millions of Internet users to view it. Because of widely available broadband access and a new wave of streaming sites, it has become surprisingly easy to watch pirated video online — a troubling development for entertainment executives and copyright lawyers.

Hollywood may at last be having its Napster moment — struggling against the video version of the digital looting that capsized the music business. Media companies say that piracy — some prefer to call it “digital theft” to emphasize the criminal nature of the act — is an increasingly mainstream pursuit. At the same time, DVD sales, a huge source of revenue for film studios, are sagging.

Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios - NYTimes.com

One Million Xbox LIVE Members Download and Activate Netflix on Xbox360

See the full press release for more details

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) and Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: “NFLX”) today announced that 1 million Xbox LIVE Gold members have downloaded and activated the groundbreaking Xbox LIVE application from Netflix since the alliance launched last November. In less than three months the Xbox LIVE community has watched instantly 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV episodes.

One Million Xbox LIVE Members Download and Activate Netflix on Xbox360: 1.5 billion minutes watched instantly by Xbox LIVE community.

Data Center Strategies: Ticket to Ride (REDUX)

Another timely Burton Group snapshot – see the full post for context-setting

So bearing all this in mind, I was interested to see a video on MSDN from Mark Russinovich which details the changes to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008R2 kernel (view it here if you are an OS geek like me.) In the video, Mark describes a number of significant changes in the kernel, such as the virtual elimination of spinlocks that control access to global kernel data structures (AKA global spinlocks.) The changes that Mark outlines are all designed to improve scalability of the Windows kernel in an increasingly multi-core and 64-bit world. It will be interesting to see  how these changes improve Windows scalability in the future, and I wait for things like TPC benchmark numbers with bated breath.

Data Center Strategies: Ticket to Ride (REDUX)

Collaboration and Content Strategies Blog: Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Launched

A Burton Group perspective on the latest OCS release

Microsoft launched OCS 2007 R2 today. Check out the launch site for more information. While some are indicating that this release might be the beginning of the death of the IP-PBX, I will leave that discussion to my colleagues in our Network and Telecom group.

R2 has many new features - What's new in OCS 2007 R2 provides the details.

Of all the features, I think the persistent group chat is one of the most interesting. Through setting up topic-based, persistent discussions, teams can work together regardless of location or time zone. Users are provided with a list of all available chat rooms and topics. Discussions can be archived in an XML format and the discussions are searchable. Alerts are also available to notify users of new posts.

It’s interesting to think about scenarios for which persistent group chat may be more effective than traditional discussion forums (in async collab tools such as Notes, Groove, and SharePoint).

Collaboration and Content Strategies Blog: Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Launched

Official Google Blog: See where your friends are with Google Latitude

A snapshot of new Google capabilities that are likely to be controversial

Fun aside, we recognize the sensitivity of location data, so we've built fine-grained privacy controls right into the application. Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You not only control exactly who gets to see your location, but you also decide the location that they see. For instance, let's say you are in Rome. Instead of having your approximate location detected and shared automatically, you can manually set your location for elsewhere — perhaps a visit to Niagara Falls . Since you may not want to share the same information with everyone, Latitude lets you change the settings on a friend-by-friend basis. So for each person, you can choose to share your best available location or your city-level location, or you can hide. Everything is under your control and, of course, you can sign out of Latitude at any time

Official Google Blog: See where your friends are with Google Latitude