December 2003 Archives
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Dec31
November Internet applications traffic
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 install Windows Messenger by default, asks you to sign into your computer with your Passport, and launches on startup. Yes I am comparing U.S. market numbers to world market numbers, but MSN Messenger seems to be used primarily at home by about the same population as Windows XP users. -
Dec30
FedEx to Buy Kinko's for $2.4 billion in cash
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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Dec30
Bill Gates Distributed Art Patent
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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Dec30
John Perry Barlow's new blog
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Dec30
FBI Issues Alert Against Almanac Carriers
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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Dec29
Wikimedia fundraising
Wikimedia put online a cry for help and gathered $20,000 in about 24 hours. Impressive. -
Dec29
Cheesecake Factory geek dinner
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.
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Dec29
NY Times : Weighing Yourself in the Car
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. -
Dec29
Fast Company : Steve Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of Innovation
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 dedicating myself to Java instead of C#. MacWorld's announcements in a few weeks may sway me. "No one knows the cost to Apple to manufacture and market the iPod, and estimates of its operating margin range widely: 2.5% to 18%. But even at iPod's lowest list price of $299--and using a conservative margin estimate of 8%--it's clear that the iPod contributed substantially all of Apple's 2003 estimated operating income of $24.8 million, excluding onetime charges. Without the iPod, Apple is in trouble." -
Dec28
Jakob Nielsen IM, Not IP (Information Pollution)
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? -
Dec25
What professional sports can learn from the 2004 Democratic campaign.
There have been many stories about how the 2004 presidential race in the U.S. is the first to embrace technology and therefore redefine democracy. When I look at the technology used by the Dean and Clark campaigns, I start to think about how similar technology can be used in the world of sports: specifically soccer. Imagine fans of the L.A. Galaxy both in southern California and around the world. They need to be connected and grassroots, similar to political campaign. The key players can only make so many appearances, but a conference call on a Meetup date could involve fans while not stretching player resources. Each player could have a weblog, authored personally or by the team marketing department. If the Oakland A’s, L.A. Galaxy, or San Jose Sharks were to go online with more fan involved software, what would you like to see? I may just start writing the code, and/or bind together existing components, to make it all work. -
Dec24
Sinulate - Wireless entertainment
Something new to add to your wireless device network at home. USB network controlled vibrators! -
Dec24
The Deadweight Loss of Christmas
As most of the Christian world prepares for the mass of Christ, modernly known as Christmas, there are always economists to examine the utility exchange of gift giving. I buy presents for my immediate family only. In my case that is six people. My siblings receive small gifts and my parents larger presents. I usually aim for a rarity or something I know the recipient would not buy on their own. I stay away from anything I could partially benefit from just in case my intentions are called into question. And of course anything with a cord comes with my lifetime tech support. -
Dec23
Pop-Ups Plague Philadelphia Police
Pop up ads for Viagra appeared on some Philadelphia Police's mobile data terminals. Yes, pop up ads are a terrorist threat to national security! -
Dec21
NY Times : eBay Trading Assistants
NY Times covers eBay trading assistants, businesses designed to place your gear on eBay for a 15-35% commission. -
Dec21
Business Week : The Rise Of India
Business Week reports on the rise of India in the services sector.
Venture capitalists say anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of the software, chip, and e-commerce startups they now back have Indian R&D teams from the get-go. "We can barely imagine investing in a company without at least asking what their plans are for India," says Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz.
Nandan M. Nilekani, managing director of Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies Ltd.: "Just like China drove down costs in manufacturing and Wal-Mart in retail, India will drive down costs in services."
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Dec19
Sun Java Desktop System
I just received my copy of Sun Java Desktop System, 2003. 5 software discs and 1 documentation. Version 2003. November 2003, Rev A. I will try out the install later, after I see The Lord of the Rings. -
Dec18
On Search, the Series
Tim Bray's On Search, the Series. -
Dec18
New York Times : Satellite Radio Extends Its Orbit
David Pogue of The New York Times covers the current state of satellite radio. What is most interesting is the gap in customers between XM and Sirius. "XM now has over a million subscribers; Sirius has 200,000." I remember reading that 2 million users is the break-even point for both companies. I listen mostly to NPR while I drive. I am not convinced that satellite radio could outperform a MP3 player hooked up to my stereo system. -
Dec17
Google Print Beta
Google has a beta version of its book search service, Google Print, online. Sample search. Standard book URL is http://print.google.com/print/doc?isbn=? . -
Dec17
PCWorld.com - Microsoft SPOT Watches Hit Stores
PC World reports that SPOT watches will hit stores in January. -
Dec17
Dallas News : Coffeehouse as your new office
Dallas Morning News has an article on the growing trend of a WiFi hotspot as a new home office. -
Dec17
LiveJournal Statistics
LiveJornal has posted some statistics on its users. 63.5% female, 94% unpaid. 27.7% updated within the last 7 days. -
Dec16
O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
I am thinking of attending the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, February 9-12, 2004. It will probably be $1200 out of my own pocket. ($766.50 for the conference plus Emergent Democracy Forum, $360 for four nights with shared room at Westin Horton Plaza, and I will be driving there and back from San Francisco) Have you been before? I am interested in learning new things and networking with really smart people not afraid to live life on the technological edge. I was one of the 230 proposals, but not one of the people accepted for the 45 slots. (Similar speaking topic to Robert Kaye) -
Dec16
Slashdot : Spidering Hacks
Slashdot reviewed Spidering Hacks, giving it good reviews. I even got a highly modded recommendation. Very cool.
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Dec16
RSS and BitTorrent
Steve Gillmor writes about how RSS and BitTorrent might be combined to share the bandwidth burden from a constantly pinged server. -
Dec15
FIFA Rankings
In the new FIFA World Ranking the U.S. outranks Germany. -
Dec12
Swastikas in the bookshelf
Steven Sinofsky apologizes for the inclusion of a clockwise swastika in Microsoft's Bookshelf Symbol 7 font. Character code 0x7E. Star of David is 0x74. Microsoft released a tool to take the offending character off of your system. Yes, the symbol was used by the Nazi party, but has a history of a few thousand years. It was also part of Rudyard Kipling's coat of arms! -
Dec12
Google Search by Number
You can now search for a UPS or FedEx tracking number on Google, a patent number, FAA registration, and FCC equipment IDs. Full feature details. -
Dec11
FeedDemon 1.0 going Gold
congratulations to Nick for FeedDemon 1.0 going gold! I downloaded RC4b and I look forward to the final product. -
Dec10
Java Desktop System
I just ordered the Java Desktop System from Sun. $54.25 shipped. Should be interesting to experiment with. -
Dec10
Pretty women scramble men's ability to assess the future
"Both male and female students at McMaster University were shown pictures of the opposite sex of varying attractiveness taken from the website 'Hot or Not'. The 209 students were then offered the chance to win a reward." "When male students were shown pictures of pretty women, they discounted the future value of the reward in an "irrational" way - they would opt for the smaller amount of money available the next day rather than wait for a much bigger reward." New Scientist article about the ability of men and women to think rationally after being presented with a picture of an attractive person. -
Dec10
Following around a Tablet PC user for a day
Scoble writes : "Maybe we should have a film crew follow a Tablet PC user around for a day." An entire day would not be necessary. Just a typical meeting I think. Microsoft aims at the information worker and increasing productivity. It would be cool to define the purpose of the device in infomercial style. Have someone walk into a meeting with a 17" PowerBook and someone with a Tablet PC. Both are very cool, but it is nice to compare functionality. The same method of questions you used to describe a sale at Best Buy could also apply here. The price difference needs to be thrown in early as well since people assume this tablet functionality adds a lot of cost to their purchase. Get corporations to earmark a Tablet for their laptops of choice and Microsoft and its OEMs are well on their way. The tablet can be sold as an intelligent note taking and free idea station, that also is a full blown computer when you choose to dock it. The first question people wonder about is whether the machine runs a full Windows OS or something like Windows CE. So where is the film crew? Even at Microsoft's offices at One Market here in San Francisco the Tablet is bolted down for a limited experience. -
Dec10
America West Airlines tray table advertisements
America West airlines now has advertisements on its tray tables. 4 week showings, minimum 8 week purchase, and design changes every 8 weeks. -
Dec10
Tablet PC on a daily basis
Mark's post promted me to write about my daily experience with my Tablet PC. I use the Compaq Tablet PC TC1000. First generation, convertible design, 3 pounds, integrated 802.11b, and powered by a 1GHz Crusoe 5800 with 512 MB of RAM. The power of a Tablet is the same as you would find for a regular laptop. I am sure some extra power is needed for the inking input, but I have not noticed a difference. Most tablets now use Intel’s Centrino chips. I am not running Lonestar. I bring my tablet with me to business meetings. A laptop screen sticking up at a conference table would not go over well, and I would feel isolated from the rest of the people at the meeting if I were using one. The tablet allows me to scan through PDF files in portrait format, and ink any notes I may have in Journal or OneNote. For reoccurring meetings I have set up a OneNote template. This setup makes it very easy for me to go back and review my notes sequentially, and I can even pull up what was said in the last meeting. I can ink a diagram and transfer it into Visio for UML extraction. The flat, notepad type surface allows me to take notes flat against the table and I can choose to keep my handwriting or translate into text. Another advantage of the Tablet is you can take a presentation platform with you. Want to show someone a data model you just created or a flow diagram of how a new system might work? Ink it up and hand them your slate tablet. Software compatibility is not an issue to me. Office 2003 has a lot of inking capability, which I use all the time. To skip a page in PDF I will highlight a page number, pop open the input panel, and write a number. I have hardware hot buttons for Microsoft Journal and the input panel so I am never far away from ink. The novelty of the tablet has not worn off for me. One limiting factor you may want to consider is screen size. My tablet has a 10.4� screen. I am used to my 19� LCD on my desktop machine, so this is definitely a change for me. With a smaller screen comes a longer battery life and a closer replica of a notepad’s form factor. I have been happy with the convertible design, especially for easy use on cramped airline flights. -
Dec09
United States Patent: 6,662,341
Today Microsoft was granted a patent for writing an application in HTML.
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Dec09
NY Times : Starbucks WiFi flavors
Starbucks is offering content at its WiFi locations, regardless of your paid access to the outside Internet. -
Dec08
Longhorn and Mozilla: Birds of a Feather
Nigel McFarlane wrote a piece for DevX about the architectural similarities between Longhorn and Mozilla. Write down to the XAML vs. XUL comparison. -
Dec08
HBS Working Knowledge : Employee Retention
HBS Working Knowledge has a good article on the importance of employee retention.
In an August 2003 study by Accenture, 48 percent of U.S. middle managers surveyed said they were looking for another job or planned to do so when the economy recovered.
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Dec08
HBS Working Knowledge: Innovation
HBS Working Knowledge has selected its first weblog, Techdirt, as its featured Web site recommendation. -
Dec08
Licence fees and GDP per capita
How many months' salary is Windows XP around the world? 10 month average in Africa. -
Dec04
NY Times : Stealth Inflation
Are companies now preying on busy lifestyles? NY Times writer David Pogue examines overbilling and miscellaneous fees creeping into monthly bills. My $39.99 cellular service plan comes to about $46 with all the line item fees. I am not sure if these fees are government mandated or something invented by my service provider for a quick buck. -
Dec02
Finance for Geeks (The Business of Software)
Eric Sink has put together a column named Finance for Geeks (The Business of Software). -
Dec01
Linux Tablet
Element Computer has released the Helium 2100, a new 14.1" tablet running Lycoris Desktop/LX Tablet Edition. It costs only $999. The first device I have seen using a Via CPU. -
Dec01
Longhorn sold in Malaysia for $1.58
Longhorn alpha is on sale in Malaysia for six ringgit ($1.58) in Malaysia. The alpha is so hyped it is actually being bought!
