Open Source

Rogers Wireless is bringing the HTC Dream and Magic to Canada on June 2, the first phones to support Google's Android OS. With it comes yet another mobile application store, the Android Market. The phone could cost less than the iPhone, but offer the same kind of access to the mobile Web through Google's services. INCLUDES VIDEO.

A normally garrulous Steve Ballmer couldn't provide much of a sound byte yesterday when reporters asked him for a reaction to Oracle's plans to buy Sun Microsystems. Unlike the Microsoft CEO, though, SMB market watchers in Canada had a lot to say about the proposed acquisition ... and it was mostly positive.

Let's reflect on the bad old days of operating systems. After all, the bad times are still with us -- even in 2009, there are still some wretched operating systems out there. In historical order, from oldest to newest, here's my own personal list of the top (bottom?) 10 OS stinkers.

Among the open source apps we'll see this year are browsers and operating systems, mobile platforms, productivity applications, and IT admin tools -- and a few hard-to-classify items. Many will give you the wriggly "Oooh, cool!" sense of discovery.

Creating a rich, full-featured Web site complete with user-added content doesn't have to be difficult or expensive any more. There are several key Web services out there that will help you make your business or personal Web site look like the work of a professional developer, even if you're only an amateur. Add a YouTube-style video sharing feature to your site, share photos with ease, create polls and forms or even install a full-fledged Content Management System. It's all here.

For job seekers who need to save money (who doesn't these days) these eight tools are just what the doctor ordered. They're user friendly and help you get the job done

Why RightSleeve.com is delighted it moved to Open Source software

Canada's National Film Board is marking 70 years as a Canadian institution with an online Screening Room that provides free video streaming of more than 700 films. The new Web site at NFB.ca went live yesterday. Not only are the videos free, but so is the video player used to showcase them

It's something of an open secret that Mozilla, the organization behind the open source Firefox Web browser, gets most of its funding from Google -- 91 percent, to be exact.

Technology costs can easily eat away any budget--a few software upgrades and new systems here, another IT person to manage your network there--and before you know it, you've completely eroded your profits.

With open source components rapidly seeping into applications by way of offshore developers on in-house coders seeking shortcuts, perhaps its time to investigate if some licensing licensing violations may be lurking under your code.rn

Web-based applications, many of them available for free, can help small businesses operate and appear like large organizations in the online world. Here are five strategies SMBs can adopt to take advantage of some of the tools available on the Internet today.rn

The Information and Communications Technology Council credits a new content management system based on Microsoft .Net for timely and cost-effective updates to its Web site without IT help.

The answer depends on who you ask. Some say because software developers use Linux and Windows far more than Mac operating systems, they're more inclined to develop for platforms with which they're already familiar.

When shopping for an OS, technology experts say it's all about the apps. First consider the tools that prop your business processes and then pick an OS that supports the applications you need.