Posts from December 2003

According to Nielsen//NetRatings (PDF) Windows Media Player is the top non-browser based Internet application for the month of November. 48 million unique users. AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger are surprisingly close at 28.3 million and 27 million respectively. Why is Yahoo! the top instant messaging program in the workplace? It installs without administrative privileges and easily bypasses the corporate firewall. Why does MSN Messenger have 37% market share? According to WebSideStory Windows XP is used by about 35% of Web users worldwide. 42% of Google users in October and November 2003 used Windows XP. Windows XP just happens to...

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FedEx announced the purchase of Kinko's for $2.4 billion in cash. This move seemed inevitable if FedEx is to compete with UPS and its UPS Store footprint after the Mail Boxes Etc. purchase in 2001....

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Bill Gates today received Patent 6,670,934 for a method and system for distributing art to "multiple display devices within an environment."...

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John Perry Barlow, songwriter and EFF co-founder, now has a blog. He chose TypePad as his publishing system....

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According the the Associated Press, the FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that they could be used for terrorist planning. What does that say about my copy of Mein Kampf and Art of War?...

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Wikimedia put online a cry for help and gathered $20,000 in about 24 hours. Impressive....

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Robert Scoble and Ross Mayfield put together a geek dinner tonight at the Palo Alto Cheesecake Factory. We all braved the rain and even as our party grew from 8 to 12 to 20 we still were able to stay as one long table. Below is a list of all attendees, approximately in the order they were sitting, starting to my left. Niall KennedyScott RaferPeter KaminskiPatrick ScobleAlex ScobleGretchen HundlingCourtney PatuboLisa CanterMarc CanterMimi CanterAndy RuffSteve SloanRoss MayfieldMike MasnickMark FinnernWendy SeltzerEnoch ChoiRobert ScobleMaryam ScobleTantek...

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Yefim G. Kriger was rewarded patent No. 6,649,848 for a vehicle system that will regularly weigh drivers and scold them for being overweight....

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Great article at Fast Company about Apple Computer, where it has been and where it is going. Interesting that the new store in Burlingame has Tuscan stone floors instead of the usual hardwood. The next step for Apple now that the G5 is out and doing well is to introduce a 64-bit OS. It needs to happen soon before Microsoft sounds off another "wait until Longhorn" trumpet. The G5 and Panther are tempting me to switch to a Mac. If I switch I would be giving up free software from Microsoft (I have free copies of Windows, Office, etc.) and...

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Jakob Nielsen wrote an article about the cost of unwanted interruptions. "One of the best ways of increasing the productivity of programmers is to give them individual offices." Contract and overseas programmers do not have line of business interruptions of a phone ringing or a co-worker walking into a cubicle demanding immediate attention. Can U.S. companies whose primary business is not software handle a queue?...

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