General discussions

Why XP users will switch to Windows 7

Ron Barrett — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:08:56 -0500

In this second part of my Windows 7 series I will address why XP users who fought so hard to protect Windows XP will finally let it go and move to Windows 7. As I had said yesterday, the resistance to move to Vista came from two very prominent components: the enhanced security (or security that actually works as some people have expressed) and the new user interface.

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Despite challenges, EPA says recycled electronics programs are growing

Layer 8 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:50:43 -0500

We sure do throw out a lot of electronic junk. The Environmental Protection Agency today said its recycling program, eCycling, collected and recycled close to 67 million pounds of used electronics in 2008, nearly a 30% increase over 2007.

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Clearwire stake could pierce Google

Google Subnet — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:29:32 -0500

Major investors in Clearwire, the new firm that plans to build the first nationwide high-speed 4G wireless broadband network, are feeling the pain of the economic downturn, big time.

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Google loses two key search deals to Microsoft

Google Subnet — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:43:42 -0500

Maybe Microsoft's Steve Ballmer was really serious when he said Microsoft intended to truly compete with Google in the search arena. As the Wall St.

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Google layoff rumors are true, but numbers are sketchy

Google Subnet — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:18:25 -0500

The bad economy is hitting every company, and Google is no exception. It's seen its stock price fall from a high of more than $700 per share in October 2007 to just $322.01 per share yesterday. And not only did it forgo its traditional $1,000 holiday cash bonus (employees settled for a G1 phone instead), but it's also cut back on employee perks like free meals.

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Beyond the Hype - Macworld Keynote not a dissapointment at all

Yoni Heisler — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:03:03 -0500

Apple's final keynote presentation at Macworld is behind us, and some tech pundits are already calling it a 'snoozer' and a 'disappointment'. Wall St. also didn't respond to favorably to Apple's announcements, or lack thereof. But all of these critics are missing the bigger picture. The reason Apple has been so successful over the past few years is because it has adopted a strategy of releasing advanced and innovative products that it slowly but surely adds value to.

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FBI/DOJ warns of economic cybergeddon

Layer 8 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:54:20 -0500

A couple of speeches this week by FBI and Department of Justice executives are warning that if law enforcement and others connected with keeping the Internet a secure and safe place to do business and socialize the world could be headed toward a cyber-based economic meltdown -- cybergeddon.

Computer attacks pose the biggest risk "from a national security perspective, other than a weapon of mass destruction or a bomb in one of our major cities,"

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Why IT will adopt Windows 7

Ron Barrett — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:41:38 -0500

In the next few days, I want to take some time to address the coming release of Windows 7. As a person who was named a Windows Vista Master, I want to look at three areas where Windows 7 will make a difference when Windows Vista did not seem to make a dent, so to speak. Starting today, I will discuss the following topics: 1. Why IT will adopt Windows 7 2. Why XP users will switch to Windows 7 3. Why Windows 7 will crush Linux (that’s right -- I said CRUSH)

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NSF looking for wicked cool visual and data analysis algorithms

Layer 8 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:25:14 -0500

The National Science Foundation is furthering its search for highly interpretive technology to help all manner of government and private researchers evaluate the massive amounts of data generated in health care, computational biology, security and other fields.

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Top 8 Microsoft Research projects to improve our lives

Mitchell Ashley — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:42:53 -0500

I'm always fascinated by the ideas folks come up with for research projects when it comes to how we use computers and technologies in our daily lives. Microsoft Research has a Web site covering its socio-digital systems research projects. Much of the work is about unlocking the personal photos and information in our Documents folders to better connect with family members. Other projects are about how technologies and user interfaces can improve how we preceive and interact with our digital lives.

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Cloud-based e-mail is cheap, but Google is cheapest

Google Subnet — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:11:33 -0500

A new Forrester report detailed by ReadWriteWeb contains some interesting data for enterprises considering cloud-based applications. The first finding, that cloud-based e-mail is always cheaper than on-premises solutions for smaller companies with fewer than 15,000 users, may not be that much of a head-turner.

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Servers bog down "historic" FBI hiring spree

Layer 8 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:11:37 -0500

The FBI this week said it was embarking on a major hiring binge - almost 3,000 jobs - but the response to the openings has apparently overwhelmed to agency's servers.

Currently if you go to the FBI's Careers page you get this message: Based on the overwhelming response to our Hiring Initiative, the applicant hiring system is being enhanced to facilitate more efficient processing of your application and will be available shortly. The deadline for applications will be extended to accommodate this brief interruption.

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DRM-free iTunes: At last, I can play Funkytown wherever

Keith Shaw — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:20:06 -0500

As part of its Macworld announcements, Apple today announced that all of its music will soon be available in the iTunes Plus format, Apple's, DRM-free format that includes 256Kbps AAC encoding. In April, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three prices: $0.69, $0.99 or $1.29, based on what the music labels charge Apple. For those of us who bought a ton of music at $0.99 with the DRM attached will be able to "upgrade" to the new format, for either $0.30 extra per song, or 30% of the album price. Approximately 8 million of its songs are now available in the DRM-free format, with the remaining 2 million songs available by the end of March. However, apparently you can't upgrade to the new format on a per-song basis, it might be an "all-or-nothing" affair (I haven't checked personally yet, but I'm reading other blog posts / comments to that effect).

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Another Android netbook port, this time to HP

Google Subnet — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:05:38 -0500

Hot on the heels of Venture Beat's port of Android to an Asus EEEPC, Engadget reports that "some HP loving Canadians" at Netbooknews.de have done the same thing, this time on an HP Mini-Note 2133.

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Muglia Promotion Secures Windows Azure Future

Mitchell Ashley — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:14:53 -0500

We all think of the Windows desktop OS and Office apps when we think of the power houses at Microsoft, but there's a new sheriff in town ready to paint the place Windows Azure blue. Bob Muglia received the Microsoft exec equivalent of an at-a-boy, being promoted to president of the servers and tools division.

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Parting Thoughts

Martha Young — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:50:24 -0500

I was invited to blog here for a brief period of time to assist in promoting the concepts of virtual business processes. The window has come to a close and this is my last post at this site.

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Is the Google brand bigger than its leadership?

John Brandon — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:32:13 -0500

With new reports on the health of Steve Jobs appearing today (he has a hormone imbalance that has caused weight loss), it got me thinking about whether Google is so dependent on its leadership. (Oddly, the report on Jobs sparked a rebound in stock today, likely because investors realized the CEO would continue on and deal with his illness over the next few months.)

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Privacy isn't Chrome's Achilles' heel, features are

Google Subnet — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:33:47 -0500

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Strategize 2009: Virtualization Continues to Lead

Matthew Nickasch — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:45:36 -0500

Virtualization is not a new topic, however, it continues to be an emerging and quickly-adopted strategy for combating several enterprise technology problems. How does adopting a continual virtualization plan help an organization's bottom line? In many ways, actually. Believe it or not, many have been slow to adopt this strategy. They still have datacenters full of under-utilized hardware, consuming precious resources. Why should adopting a prominent virtual environment be a part of your 2009 strategy?

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Google responds to Prop 8 AdSense debacle

Google Subnet — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:41:19 -0500

Site owners who sign up for Google's AdSense program decide to trust Google and its ability to target ads contextually, based on keywords and general site content. In this way, sites devoted to analyzing the mobile phone industry, for example, don't end up with a lot of ads for mobile homes. The idea is to match the site with the ads to generate more clicks, and revenue.

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