| Subscribe via RSS
Some people call me paranoid, some people call me insightful. Whatever you call me, you can’t really dispute that the next form of terrorism would likely take place over the Internet. In this piece, I will describe how a terrorist attack on the Internet could take place as well as have a much higher impact than blowing up a building or hijacking an airplane.
From the “WTF-am-I-Dept,” Dash is a new GPS unit which offers wireless connectivity (and cellular for a nominal monthly fee) to obtain traffic notices and obtain gas prices among other capabilities all in one. This is another fine example of the power of a mashup of existing technology. More »
Tags: Automotive, internet, technology, Yahoo
One of the frustrations for legitimate movie buying consumers, “Which do I get, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?” Despite the familiar “DVD” acronym, Toshiba’s HD-DVD will be officially replaced with the growing Sony Blu-Ray format.
HD-DVD started out to address the need to store more data on a disc. It emerged when Sony deployed a new format with a blue laser (shorter wavelength), but it required new hardware. During the format war, the HD-DVD decryption key was posted on Digg, resulting in the claims for “uncrackable DRM” to be proven false. Since then, HD-DVD lost a lot of momentum in favor of Sony’s Blu-Ray format.
There has been a lot of news about HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Basically, consider HD-DVD obsolete. Here are some useful news articles related recently:
Thankfully, I didn’t get a HD-DVD player. Good call on that. 
QTrax is a startup that allegedly had agreements with three large record labels to allow legitimate, free and legal music downloads for users via Peer to Peer (P2P) technology. The blogosphere buzzed about it, then once they found out the deals fell through, the recanted twice as fast.
[Qtrax Really Blows Its Launch, Link via Techmeme]
However, this small battle doesn’t justify declaring a total loss on the war against consumers with digital media. I think this illustrates that there’s still a strong interest among internet users to acquire legally-obtained music for free, in exchange for advertisements being shown. This service would be a direct threat to Apple’s iTunes, but I imagine that it would allow music companies to capture lost revenue from otherwise illegal downloads.
The main problem, which I can understand, is lack of accountability. Most numbers that are tossed around are purely anecdotal and speculative — think of “cooking the books” — in favor of getting deals from record companies. From the record company’s perspective, they’re spending money to “invest” into a new media with minimal proof that it made profit. At least with iTunes, they can keep track of inventory. Much like in court, prosecutors can’t prove that you didn’t do something, only that you did beyond a reasonable doubt.
I conclude with the fact that consumers are still in control. Music lovers will declare whether it’s profitable to go free. Users are ultimately the ones who pay. Is free P2P music sharing doomed, or is there still an opportunity yet to be seized?
Tags: consumers, music, News, Social Networking, technologyRobert Scoble going to FastCompany.tv — Before you say he ’sold out,’ he lists his well-thought decision as well as addressing the benefits to his career change. Congrats, Scoblizer.
Gawker Media (the network of blogs like Valleywag, Gizmodo, etc.) Gets Owned by the Blogosphere. Denton still has a smile for his page views earned. Facebook threatens to delete Denton’s account, Blogger from Gizmodo banned from CES, Denton gets owned when former staffer posts his IM conversation interview, Adverse feedback to Denton changing the incentives (raising the stakes) for posts that earn more page views.
Apple improved some products, released the new Mac Book Air.
Sun Microsystems purchased MySQL, in an effort to target enterprise solutions. Look out, Oracle.
Yahoo implements OpenID, big win for the project.
Library of Congress embraces Web 2.0, partners with Flickr to bring historical photos to the Web.
As the Internet grows larger, Ars Technica looks at the growth problems and solutions to address them at it pertains to Internet traffic and routing.
Tags: News, technology, web 2.0Perhaps you’ve replied to a text message to a friend or family member, but soon that will be illegal in Virginia. Law makers are considering completely banning the use of text messaging while driving in an effort to make driving safer. I have a few thoughts on this legislation.
How can a police officer enforce this?
One of the most challenging pieces of this, is the fact that law enforcement has very few tools to actually enforce this. The technology involved is easy controlled by mobile phone users. When a person sees a cop, all they need to do is hit the End button. No message, no drafts, nothing. Nothing that would ever stand up in court. How would an officer witness texting? I know I hold my phone in my car like I’m texting when I am making a speakerphone call. Smartphone discrimination? I can see it now.
It’s already illegal to talk on cell phones (as a minor), use radar detectors, and additional penalties are sanctioned against VA drivers … how much more legislation does VA residents need against them?
While this is very conservative of me, law makers need to stop trying to protect and regulate every aspect of driving. I strongly doubt that text messaging on a cell phone is the highest cause of accidents, so “safety” is just a cover for revenue, just as it was for the ‘abusive driver fees,’ which has now been under more criticism since it had no effect on traffic fatalities.
“But how do we stop people from texting while driving, who risk everyone’s life when they get on the roads?”
First, you’re probably the problem when it comes to traffic safety; as you read your newspaper, brush your teeth, fail to turn your headlights on, tailgate and speed when you drive. Not only that, I’ve personally avoided several accidents because of driver’s lack of experience when merging lanes. Further, depending on the state to provide a false sense of safety isn’t the answer. If you can tell me one time the state has enacted a law that actually resulted in fewer deaths, then please correct me. The only one who is responsible for your safety on the road is you, not the cops, not the legislators, not the courts. You should be an active, defensive driver who takes responsibility for the circumstances around them and not be a victim.
What do you think of this law? Will this actually save lives, protect others; or is it just infringing on the rights of all drivers in VA?
Tags: Government, laws, Rants, technology, virginiaWhat do you do when you’ve got an additional $27,340 laying around? Buy the best of the best of Mac Pros. [Link via StumbleUpon]
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of enterprise software? Probably user-friendly isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Robert Scoble ignited the discussion on why bloggers generally don’t write about enterprise software.
I should preface this entry with the fact that I haven’t had a lot of hands-on experience with enterprise software from popular vendors Oracle, Sybase or other applications that falls under this umbrella. Despite this, I have used SAP and other enterprise applications so I have some insight into them.
Typically, enterprise software attempts to solve problems across an organization (hence, enterprise), but also allows flexibility to adapt to the specific needs in the organization like “Accounts Payable.”
From my experience, enterprise software sucks (for end-users). The goal of enterprise software is to address the needs of the enterprise — not the end-user. This is understandable, otherwise why would the organization purchase it?
Scoble’s reasoning on why enterprise software isn’t sexy, is that it was only deployed at the request of the a minority in the organization, not the people who are mandated to use it:
[Regarding SAP] … But I didn’t have any say in that matter. Some CIO somewhere else made that decision and forced us all to use SAP. That doesn’t exactly make us warm and fuzzy about the computer sitting in front of us on the desk.
I understand where he’s coming from, but I find this point flawed. Just because the employee wasn’t a decision maker in the usage of enterprise software, doesn’t automatically make it unattractive. I’d think that the employees don’t mind doing the tasks asked of them; rather, I think the frustration is in the software itself. However, since bloggers thrive on their audience who constantly make choices, I totally agree with Scoble’s statement that “consumer software” unquestionably pays the bills for bloggers.
I think in many cases enterprise software is underrated. The purpose of the software is to be functional for the company, not to be friendly for end-users. On the contrary, I feel the end-user experience (the employee) is generally undervalued in the software industry.
What’s the solution?
We all use computers differently. I think that enterprise software manufacturers should offer open flexible APIs so that a user-friendly front-end could be developed for it. Essentially, as long as you have authentication, replication and programmed access rights/rules for the data, then everyone wins. Using enterprise software shouldn’t be a hassle. Front-ends can still be sold to clients, while allowing them to develop them in-house if they wanted. The only challenge is getting enterprise software vendors to agree on an open format.
There you have it with my sentiments about enterprise software. Perhaps you disagree, share your thoughts in the comments below.
Tags: Blogging, business, discussion, Software, technology, Usability
CompUSA, one of the computer retailers who often gave Best Buy and Circuit City a run for their money, will be closing their retail operations. Previously this year, CompUSA closed more than 50% of their stores to attempt to cut operating costs.
This is a disappointment for me because every time I shopped at CompUSA I walked out with several computer parts, peripherals and accessories usually totaling over a hundred dollars each time. They were they only brick-and-mortar retailer who stocked the brands and parts that computer enthusiasts like me enjoyed. Their stores were clean, well-stocked and had a lot of variety between competing brands in their products.
Ars Technica covers the news on the recent changes with CompUSA and did offer one anecdote of hope for shoppers (and the company):
[...] The upside, if there is one, is that we will see some great deals at the remaining stores, just as we did in February during the closure of 126 stores. Gordon Brothers Group promises that consumers will be able to find “attractive holiday bargains” as part of the sale process—I know a good number of geeks who will be making a mass exodus to the soon-to-be-extinct stores over the weekend to get some holiday shopping for themselves done, for sure. [...]
No shopper can turn down a good sale; no geek can turn down gadgets at a good price.
I’d like to share that I’ve never had a poor experience in their stores and their staff were always friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Their products were always reasonable and fairly priced. While they were the underdog, they have put Best Buy and Circuit City in their paces as they carried some awesome sales throughout the year.
I have a suggestion for them before they go:
Instead of closing the whole business, simply change it. Clearly the brick-and-mortar computer retail businesses have been dominated by Best Buy, but why not take it to the Web? I envision that CompUSA could have a viable chance to compete against the highly evangelized NewEgg. If they could adopt a model like Woot (short-term fire sales) but offer the same superb customer service similar to NewEgg, they would do pretty well.
Whatever path they take, I thank them for being such an awesome computer hardware retailer for all these years. What was your experience like with CompUSA?
Tags: business, change, compusa, customer service, internet, News, technologyMany innovators could tell you about the challenges Apple faced some time ago and how they overcame them to be one of the best-known computer manufacturers. Just as important as the strength of a company, are their weaknesses that people tend to forget.
What they do right:
What they do wrong:
That’s pretty much it on what I believe Apple does well and what obstacles they face as they go forward. I presume that as an elitist technology company, a bit of mystery is good which is why they probably keep their mouth shut about their products as it drive bloggers and columnists wild when they release innovative technologies.
Surely that can’t be all the things Apple does right and wrong … share your thoughts in the comments. 