April 26, 2007
MySpace in China
The Tech Chronicles
Ellen Lee looks at what MySpace is doing in China. Those who sign up get one friend, except it will not be Tom from the U.S., but Wu Kong, whose English translation is MySpace.
“MySpace China will be locally owned and operated, funded by IDG, MySpace and China Broadband Capital Partners LP. Chuan Luo, MySpace China’s CEO, said in a press release that the site is still in beta and that it was adapted from the U.S. version of MySpace.”
What’s your opinion?
Lawmakers attack Webcasters
Bit Player
John Healey says two members of the U.S. Congress introduced a bill that will concern Webcasters and royalties.
“The proposal by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Don Manzullo (R-IL) would give a new lease on life to small and non-commercial webcasters, as well as a potentially huge discount to large webcasters. But it would also force performing artists and their record companies to accept smaller amounts per song played than they received under the previous royalty regime, something they’re not likely to do without a fight.”
What’s your opinion?
Cybersurfers will go virtual
TechWeb
Mitch Wagner posts that according to Gartner research 80 per cent of Internet users will be active in virtual worlds.
“An interesting report by Gartner this week adds evidence that virtual worlds are here to stay. Gartner says 80 per cent of Internet users will be active in virtual worlds within four years. They also gave advice on how big business should get on top of virtual worlds.”
What’s your opinion?
April 26, 2007
University blocks P2P
Daily Tech
Michael Hoffman does a little digging to find out why The Ohio State University decided to ban students from using P2P programs. The blog includes an interview with the University CIO. His name is Brice Bible.
“After receiving more than 1,200 notices from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Ohio University has decided to restrict use of all peer-to-peer file sharing programs on the school network. Anyone caught using a P2P program will likely lose Internet access privileges.”
What’s your opinion?
Adobe open sources parts of flex platform
Tech Crunch
Nik Cubrilovic says Adobe announced, through Robert Scoble and the Scoble Show that they are opening up the Flex platform under a Mozilla Public Licence (an Open Source licence). Flex is a group of technologies (much similar to .NET or J2EE etc.) that provides a more programmer-friendly development environment for Flash, rather than a graphics-driven environment that Flash was associated with.
“This announcement can be taken out of context, and it is important to understand that Adobe are opening up tools that help developers build applications – the runtime will remain closed (Flash itself). I actually can’t imagine a platform being able to survive without all the developer tools and class libraries being completely open, and perhaps this is what has spurred Adobe to open up Flex. If you look at other popular development platforms such as even Win32, the analogous tools to Flex have usually always been open or at least accessible, as it greatly assists developers.”
What’s your opinion?
Video games do affect people
Tech Dirt
A poster named Carlo finds out that indeed video games do affect people, but hardly at all according to a study.
“The overall issue here is that plenty of people want to eliminate responsibility for violent behavior by blaming it on video games, and saying they make people killers. Studies that claim to prove a link between games and violent or aggressive behavior generally fail miserably, with all that can really be agreed on is that video games do cause some sort of mental reaction in players — as you might expect. Still, it’s quite a leap to go from that to saying that video games make people behave a certain way after they’re done playing. That’s the general point made by the author of the latest study in the field, who says that games do create aggression in some people, but that the overall effect on people is very small, and has been exaggerated by activists, politicians and the media (it’s probably worth noting that the title of the article about the study does this, by saying “Games Do Cause Violent Behavior (But Not Much)”, when the study didn’t look at violent behavior, just feelings of aggression).”
What’s your opinion?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Microsoft to stay focused on Windows Mobile
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Todd Bishop blogs about the rumours surrounding the Zune phone.
“But based on Ballmer’s response last week, it’s possible — just possible — that some of the widely held assumptions about the Zune phone might be premature, or not exactly in line with Microsoft’s plans. Of course, going from past experience, it’s never safe to assume that Microsoft is ruling anything out. And it’s tough to draw definitive conclusions from what Ballmer said. However, when asked about a Zune phone, he specifically replied that it’s not a concept you’ll ever get from us. Instead, he said Microsoft is thinking about Zune in the context of multi-functioned Windows Mobile devices.”
What’s your opinion?
IBM to sell managed security through channel
Channel Marker
Someone from Tech Target has the scoop on Big Blue’s security plans.
“The company hopes to take advantage of the relationships that its partner value-added resellers (VARs) and managed service providers (MSPs) already have with small- and medium-sized businesses, according to sources close to the deal. In return, partners will have new opportunities to receive recurring revenue from clients and to incorporate IBM services into their existing managed security offerings, the sources said.”
What’s your opinion?
Fixing your career
Pink Slip
Maureen Rogers is a Boston-area blogger with expertise in high tech layoffs.
“You need to read Scott (Baradell) for the full deal here, but in quick summary, Scott suggests that hairdressers are happy because it’s a profession that let’s you: 1. Be yourself, 2. Be creative, 3. Set short term goals, 4. Be social, 5. Form relationships, 6. Take ownership, and 7. Not make work about the money. On that final point, it’s worth quoting Scott: Once you start making career decisions based on where the dollars are, rather than where your heart is, you’ve pretty much guaranteed yourself a life of unhappiness at work.”
What’s your opinion?
Monday, April 23Where is project blackbox?
Sun Microsystems
This blogger writes about the concerns over project blackbox, a prototype of the world’s first virtualized data centre – built into a shipping container and optimized to deliver extreme energy, space, and performance efficiencies.
“The Project Blackbox Virtualized Datacenter semi-truck pulled into the Broomfield campus a few hours ago undeterred by the weather. Tomorrow’s schedule will move forward in full swing. There is plenty of room to bring non-registered co-workers. Drive safely and we look forward to seeing you!”
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Synnex makes the Fortune list
Channel Insider
John Hazard compiles the many distributors who have cracked the Fortune 500 list. The latest one is Synnex.
“Distributor Synnex made its first appearance in the Fortune 500, Fortune Magazine’s venerable list of the largest companies in the world, holding the spot as the 360th biggest company. Synnex had $6.34 billion in revenue in 2006, a 12.5 percent rise from 2005. The list proved good news for channel companies, with all but Tech Data gaining on last year’s position. Tech Data dropped two spots to No. 109 on the list, despite its strongest annual revenue yet, $21.46 billion. Ingram Micro, the channel delegate to the distinguished Fortune 100, led the channel pack, rising two spots to No. 70 with $31.35 billion.”
What’s your opinion?
MS files patent for possible iPhone killer
News.com
Caroline McCarthy finds out that Microsoft has filed what appears to be a patent application for a smart phone.
“Maybe it was for a Zune phone (for better or for worse) something that’s been talked about for some time now. The images in the application, showing a tiled graphical interface, definitely look somewhat iPhone-ish, and plenty of buzz arose that perhaps Microsoft was trying to develop an iPhone killer.”
What’s your opinion?