tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32469395395458726522024-02-21T04:50:21.865+05:30Knowledge Base for ProgrammersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-81045606299023660252011-09-06T23:06:00.002+05:302011-09-06T23:28:25.823+05:30VirtualBox: A Clean Sandbox for Your Linux Desktop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #54555a; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Putting a virtual OS inside your Linux desktop is easy with Oracle's VirtualBox. Setup is a breeze, and the user is given plenty of options when setting up the new virtual environment. It has its limitations, but for the most part, VirtualBox can't be beat when it comes to running a completely different OS inside the one you use everyday.</span></div><br />
Constantly testing software and tinkering with a variety of Linux operating systems puts my multiple test-bench computers to constant use. Granted, Linux comes with a lot fewer security risks. But dealing with unknown factors and beta glitches can be time consuming to correct when they take down an entire box.<br />
<br />
A much safer and quicker way to deal with such potential harm is to spare the physical machines and run the new stuff in a virtual machine instead. Oracle's (Nasdaq: ORCL) VM VirtualBox 4.0 is a handy app for doing just that. It runs nicely in a variety of Linux distros.<br />
<br />
Oracle's VM software is not the only choice for running other OSes inside a particular Linux distro. But it is one of the easiest solutions. For example, you can install Parallels, Qemu, KVM (Kernel's Virtualization Machine) and VMWare.<br />
<br />
These options are not an equal fit. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. But if your goal is to run something else without having to shut down your currently running OS and dual boot or turn on a second computer, VirtualBox is a very solid option to choose.<br />
<br />
<b>Virtual Info</b><br />
<br />
VirtualBox runs on both x86 and AMD64/Intel64 systems and is suitable for enterprise or home use. Enterprise users will appreciate its feature-rich, high-quality performance. Home users will recognize its simplicity to use without poring over documentation.<br />
<br />
Besides being Linux-friendly, Oracle's VirtualBox runs on Windows, Macintosh and Solaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including, but not limited to, Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris, OS/2, and OpenBSD.<br />
<br />
It is a general-purpose full virtualizer that targets server, desktop and embedded use. VirtualBox 4.0.8 was released on May 16 as a maintenance upgrade. Version 4.0, released last December, was a big step forward in adding features to VirtualBox.<br />
<br />
The current 4.0 line introduced a two-fold product distribution to better address user needs. The base package is a fully functional release. Extension Packs add further feature refinements that provide more specialized solutions.<br />
<br />
<b>Download and Get Going</b><br />
<br />
I have used earlier versions of VirtualBox on other versions of the Ubuntu Linux OS. I put this latest version through its paces on Ubuntu 11.04 running the classic rather than Unity desktop option.<br />
<br />
Normally, I install software packages through the Ubuntu Software Center when it is available. VM VirtualBox is available through Ubuntu's repository.<br />
<br />
But I wanted to ensure that I had the latest version, so I downloaded the .deb package from the the virtualbox.org wiki site noted above. Not having to unarchive the package or compile it was much appreciated. It installed through the package manager with no issues.<br />
<br />
<b>The Setup Scenario</b><br />
<br />
Much like using word processors or spreadsheets, virtual machine apps are very similar in their look and feel. You follow the same basic process to run a VM app within a host OS.<br />
<br />
For instance, you first have to create the virtual environment and set certain parameters. The virtual machine must share processor and memory resources with the host.<br />
<br />
If you over-tax the VM app, the host's performance suffers. The goal is to be able to run programs or processes within the isolated VM environment while still being able to run the host's applications. So it becomes a balancing act.<br />
<br />
After setting up the virtual machine to run inside the physical computer, you then install one or more OSes to run inside the VM. VirtualBox does this very handily by suing two separate wizards.<br />
<br />
<b>Get Started</b><br />
<br />
The setup process is very straightforward with VirtualBox. Once you have the first run process completed, all you have to do is run the app and click on your installed options. Here is how it works.<br />
<br />
First, press the New button in the main tool bar at the upper left of the VirtualBox window. This loads the New Virtual Machine Wizard. Then press the Next button at the bottom of the window.<br />
<br />
Now enter a name for the VM session and select the OS Type from the drop-down windows. The choices are MS Windows, Linux, Solaris, BSD, IBM (NYSE: IBM) OS/2, Mac OS X or other.<br />
<br />
Next, select the amount of base memory (RAM) in megabytes you want to allocate to the virtual machine. The recommended amount is 256MB, which is the default setting on the slide bar. Then click Next.<br />
<br />
Finally, select the type of Virtual Hard Disk the virtual machine will use as the boot hard disk. You have two choices: create a new one or use an existing one. The default is create new. Then click Next again.<br />
<br />
<b>Moving On</b><br />
<br />
The second part of the first use process is creating the virtual disk on your physical system. The VirtualBox window now displays the Create New Virtual Disk Wizard window. Start it by clicking the Next button.<br />
<br />
Now you need to decide on the hard disk storage type. Again, you have two choices.<br />
<br />
The default is dynamically expanding storage. This lets the VM machine start out with a small storage area on the physical hard drive and expand it as needed.<br />
<br />
The other choice is a fixed-rate storage. This is a finite amount of storage stored. It consumes about the same size as the size of the virtual hard disk.<br />
<br />
Be careful here. The creation of a fixed-sized storage can take a long time depending on the storage size and the write performance of your hard disk. You can click the Back button or Next button to continue.<br />
<br />
<b>Almost There</b><br />
<br />
Next comes setting the Virtual Disk location and size. The Location window shows the name you already entered for the current VM session. You can change it or click the file manager-like button to select the desired location.<br />
<br />
Next you must use the sliding scale to set the virtual hard disk size in megabytes. This size will be reported to the Guest OS as the maximum size of this hard disk. When ready, click the Back or Next buttons.<br />
<br />
Carefully view the summary window. If you want to make changes, click the Back button. Otherwise, click the Finish button. A second summary window appears. Almost instantly, the VirtualBox Manager window replaces the previous summary window.<br />
<br />
<b>How to Use It</b><br />
<br />
The first use setup is now finished. All that remains to be done is putting the guest OS in the virtual machine.<br />
<br />
To start this installation, put the installation medium in the drive or find out its storage location on the physical hard drive. Then click the New button in the VM VirtualBox Manager window.<br />
<br />
Follow the prompts. The process repeats the steps of the second wizard above.<br />
<br />
To run the VM installation, click on the Guest OS label in the left panel of the VirtualBox Manager. The guest OS will run in its own self-contained sandbox window on the desktop. When you are finished, you can suspend the VM status to resume in a next session or quit that session.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the host environment returns to full resource capabilities once you exit the Virtual application. This sure is better than having to interrupt what you are doing in the host Linux desktop so you can reboot/dualboot the system two or three times.<br />
<br />
<b>Bottom Line</b><br />
<br />
The VM VirtualBox is close to being effortless. It is easy to set up and has a great failsafe mechanism. If you goof, just cancel the VM session. Nothing you do within the VM window affects the host installation.<br />
<br />
VirtualBox -- just as the other VM choices -- has its limitations. For example, you need the original installation disks to run commercial OSes such as Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) OS X and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows. And your hardware may not support all of the virtual app's features, such as USB access or mouse pointer integration.<br />
<br />
That said, VirtualBox is as close to hassle-free as running a virtual machine can get. It is an idiot-proof VM solution.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-89846484130306216952011-09-06T23:03:00.000+05:302011-09-06T23:03:18.072+05:30Microsoft defends use of ribbon in Windows 8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #2e2e30; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/09/06/Windows8-ribbon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/09/06/Windows8-ribbon.png" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Microsoft's choice to add the ribbon interface to Windows 8's Explorer has triggered some complaints, but the company is sticking by its decision.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Posting <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/02/reflecting-on-our-first-conversations-part-2.aspx" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0066a0; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">another installment of the "Building Windows 8" blog</a> last Friday, Windows and Windows Live Division president Steven Sinofsky responded to user feedback over some recent blogs, including one from August 29 in which the company revealed that <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20098807-1/microsoft-details-explorer-layout-for-windows-8/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0066a0; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Microsoft details Explorer layout for Windows 8 -- Monday, Aug 29, 2011">Windows Explorer would sport a ribbon interface</a>.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">That bit of news prompted a fair number of user comments, especially from many unhappy with the ribbon.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"We chose the ribbon mechanism, and to those that find that a flawed choice, there isn't much we can do other than disagree," Sinofsky wrote. "We were certain, and this proved out, that the dislike of the ribbon is most intense in the audience of this blog."</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite the complaints, Sinofsky claims that satisfaction with software that uses the ribbon is much higher and that its usage is broader and deeper. But still, the company seems to be resigned to the fact that some people just don't like it.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"We also know a very small set of people remain unhappy," Sinofsky said. "That was true in versions before the introduction of the Ribbon mechanism, though obviously for different reasons. It might be the case that no matter what we do, there will be a small set of people that are not satisfied?"</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Sinofsky did admit that there's been a lot of "back and forth" at Microsoft about the ribbon, specifically whether it's geared for beginners or more advanced users.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Looking at the history of how a user interfaces with Windows, menus used to be designed for beginners, while the keyboard was adopted by power users, according to Sinofsky. Context menus (popup menus triggered by a click of the right mouse button) were originally geared for advanced users but grew popular with everyone. And now Microsoft finds that menus and toolbars are favored by more advanced users.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The goal at Microsoft, says Sinofsky, has been try to unify all these different ways of interfacing with Windows to make things simpler and the screen less cluttered, one reason the company has gravitated toward the ribbon.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-4973168291491226652011-07-19T18:03:00.002+05:302011-07-19T18:03:58.395+05:30Google Buys G.Co To Create An Official URL Shortcut For Google ProductsGoogle joins Internet biggies Twitter (T.Co) , Overstock (O.co) and Amazon (A.Co, Z.Co and K.Co) today in taking over the G.Co domain name, buying the TLD in order to build the official URL shortcut for Google products like GMail, Documents and Photos. While representatives from the .Co registry wouldn’t comment on the specific pricing of the deal, .Co-founder Juan Diego Calle recently told Reuters that in general single letter domains costs more than $1.5 million.<br />
<br />
Google says it will use the domain in order to create a shortcut for all its products and services using the format g.co/[XYZproduct/service] and that the domain will be live sometime later in the afternoon today. ”You can visit a G.CO shortcut confident you will always end up at a page for a Google product or service,” said Google VP of consumer marketing Gary Briggs in a release.<br />
<br />
Run out of Colombia (and with the support of the Colombian government), the .Co domain is hard core targeting itself towards tech companies big and small. Also announced today is the 500 Startups‘ .Co rebranding; the incubator will be moving from 500Startups.com to 500.co this fall. While not as mainstream, the 500 Startups move is probably just as monumental as the Google news, as it give the domain street cred and solidifies that idea that the “Co” in .Co means companies.<br />
<br />
Emphasizing this point, 500 Startups co-founder Dave McClure said that he recommends the .Co domain to all his now 150 startups, ” “With .Co, startups can launch businesses and brands on a short, cool, credible domain name — without having to shell out a million bucks to do it.” “CO is quickly becoming the hot new geek TLD in Silicon Valley,” he said.<br />
<br />
The .Co domain registry is two days away from the first anniversary of its public launch and most recently hit 1 million registered domains after ten months of existence. Its marketing and advertising push has been aimed at tech companies who have thus far had to settle for a lame mainstream .com domains — i.e. no vowels, weird spelling, etc — or have had to shell out tons of VC cash for the domains that they want. The new enough .Co offers a viable alternative.<br />
<br />
“We want to be inspiring people with big dreams and big ideas to do it on a .Co.,” .Co Director Lori Anne Wardi told me about the registry’s aspirations on the phone earlier, “We want to be a platform for the world’s next great businesses.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-15600069570372665682010-09-25T13:24:00.000+05:302010-09-25T13:24:56.215+05:30Google Adds Another Brick to Its Communications Monolith<i>Google's latest addition to its communications lineup is a voice-calling feature that lets people call any number in the U.S. or Canada for free from their Gmail accounts. The familiar Gmail interface is likely to draw in consumers in larger numbers than Google Voice, which has a steeper learning curve, suggested Boston University business professor N. Venkatraman.</i><br />
<br />
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has rolled out a new service that allows Gmail account holders to make voice calls to any traditional phone number from their Gmail account. It will require the installation of a voice and video plug-in, but users won't need to have a special phone number assigned to them.<br />
<br />
Google already has a similar service -- Google Voice -- that lets users make and receive mobile phone calls in the U.S. and Canada for free, and internationally at relatively cheap rates.<br />
<br />
This new service targets people and businesses that want to make calls from their desktop -- or who find themselves without good phone reception, Google said.<br />
<br />
<b>The Google Experience</b><br />
<br />
Offering different options for communication has become Google's modus operandi.<br />
<br />
"Google wants to make itself as much of a household name as possible," Laura DiDio, principal of ITIC, told the E-Commerce Times. "It is already the de facto go-to search engine, and it has productivity applications such as Google Docs."<br />
<br />
With offerings such as Voice and Gmail calling, it is expanding even further.<br />
<br />
"What they are trying to do is embed themselves with the consumer and then move onto the corporate environment," DiDio said.<br />
<br />
No one uses laptops or computers just for work or just for pleasure anymore, she noted. Usually, they are all purpose machines.<br />
<br />
"If Google can get consumers to use this, I think they believe it will make inroads into the corporate community too," predicted DiDio.<br />
<br />
This all-encompassing approach means Google doesn't have any one particular vendor in mind for competition -- such as Skype, she said. "I think they are throwing down the gauntlet to all of the players in the communication market."<br />
<br />
<b>Unified Communications</b><br />
<br />
While Google's new service will clearly compete with Skype, Google is most likely eyeing the entire unified communications space with this offering, N. Venkatraman, a business professor at Boston University, told the E-Commerce Times.<br />
<br />
"That is where Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is with Sharepoint, and Google clearly wants to be there," he said. The Gmail-based phone functionality has the added appeal of pushing Google Voice further into the market.<br />
<br />
Google might even buy Skype if the price is right, Venkatraman speculated.<br />
<br />
"Not many have subscribed to Google Voice -- in large part, because they are unclear as to how it works," he noted. Gmail, though, anybody can understand.<br />
<br />
<b>Small Business</b><br />
<br />
If and when the Gmail service does wend its way into the corporate sector, it will no doubt go through small businesses. That has been Google's forte, said Fran Powell, SVP and managing director of interactive with Wahlstrom.<br />
<br />
These services add a level of sophistication and efficiency to Google's small business offerings. This means Google will continue to solidify SMB loyalty and drive interest in its advertising products -- "a fruitful end benefit," Powell told the E-Commerce Times.<br />
<br />
While increased ad revenues from more-engaged small businesses may be a side benefit, Venkatraman doesn't think that is Google's main financial goal for the service.<br />
<br />
"I see Google continuing to morph away from advertising based on search to monetizing different logics of interactions and collaboration," he said.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/70693.html">Original Source</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-78861523489337133772010-08-31T12:10:00.001+05:302010-08-31T12:11:25.844+05:30New test build of Windows 7 SP1 goes to select Microsoft partners<i>Microsoft has released a beta refresh of its Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack (SP) 1 to selected PC and Technology Adoption Program (TAP) partners, company officials confirmed on August 30.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i> <i></i></i><br />
<i><i><div style="display: inline !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Microsoft made the refresh build — the build number of which is said to be Build No. 7601.17077 — available to a select group of testers on August 27. There’s no word (so far) on whether there is anything new in that refresh.</span></div></i></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">“A private interim release went out Friday as part of our normal feedback loop with a small group of our testers – our TAP and OEMs,” a company spokesperson told me via e-mail when I asked about the refresh.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">The spokesperson said Microsoft would not comment on whether the company will release to the public another interim SP1 build before the first service pack is released to manufacturing. Microsoft officials said earlier this summer that the company is planning to deliver the final SP1 code in the first half of 2011, and the spokesperson said on August 30 that Microsoft is still on track with that stated release date.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Many Microsoft watchers, partners and customers had been expecting Microsoft to deliver the final SP1 bits before the end of calendar 2010. Microsoft officials have stressed that the client version of SP1 does not include any new features or funcitonality. (Windows 7 SP1 includes a few pieces of functionality that Microsoft hasn’t made available via Windows Update or through various security patches. Company officials said these are “enhancements,” rather than new features.These “enhancements” include things such as support for more third-party federation services; improved HDMI audio device support; and XPS printing fixes.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">The server version of SP1 includes two new virtualization-focused features: RemoteFX and a dynamic-memory adjustor for Hyper-V. I’ve heard speculation that the server version of SP1 is what’s holding back the delivery of the client version, but have not heard this from any Microsoft officials.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Microsoft released a public beta of SP1 in mid-July.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Microsoft officials have been adamant that consumers and business customers don’t need to wait for SP1 to deploy Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2. Still, a number of business customers use the release of SP1 as a milestone in terms of planning their deployments of a new operating system.</span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-16234725195529928152009-11-12T00:00:00.000+05:302009-11-12T00:00:47.955+05:30Windows 7 Gets a Bye on Latest Patch Tuesday<i>As usual, Microsoft pushed out a set of bug fixes for Windows on the second Tuesday of the month, but none of the security fixes were aimed at Windows 7, it's newest operating system. That may not last for long -- "Attackers will take more time to figure out ways of breaking into Windows 7," according to Symantec's Ben Greenbaum.</i><br />
<br />
Microsoft's newest computer operating system has survived its first few weeks on the market without needing any security fixes.<br />
<br />
Microsoft plugged several security holes Tuesday, but none are aimed at Windows 7, which was released Oct. 22.<br />
<br />
<b>Give It Time</b><br />
<br />
That's to be expected, said Ben Greenbaum, a researcher at the antivirus software company Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC). "Attackers will take more time to figure out ways of breaking into Windows 7," he said.<br />
Computer users can get the patches through Microsoft's automatic-update service, or by visiting microsoft.com/security.<br />
<br />
One of the fixes Microsoft marked "critical," its highest severity rating, would thwart an attacker from infecting all the PCs on a local network after gaining access to just one.<br />
<br />
In other words, even if most people in the office are good at avoiding clicking on unknown links or opening mysterious documents, if one person's computer is compromised the attacker could take over the rest.<br />
<br />
<b>Locking Down Attackers</b><br />
<br />
The software maker also fixed flaws in its Excel and Word software that would give an attacker control of a PC if its owner opened a tainted spreadsheet or document.<br />
<br />
It also patched problems in several older versions of Windows, including XP and Vista, that would give an attacker who already has control of a computer access to more of its functions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-11261006606771003602009-09-24T12:58:00.000+05:302009-09-24T12:58:41.053+05:30Tips for Buying digital cameras<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Choices</b><br />
</div>Digital cameras come in many sizes, shapes, and price ranges. Since you will be living with your decision to purchase a particular make and model for many years, it is a good idea to carefully weigh the various options available before buying a camera. Break the decision down into a checklist of factors to help determine which camera is best for you. Consider image quality, performance, ergonomics, features, and price. Also consider whether you will just be taking family snap shots or something more elaborate.<br />
<br />
First decide how much you are willing to pay for a digital camera. You may need to adjust this figure up if you want and need a lot of manual control and features. Decide on camera body size, and features that you may actually use. Then look for a camera in your price range.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Digital cameras can be grouped into four types: </b><br />
</div>Compact, Ultra compact, Super zoom, Enthusiast, and digital SLR, or D-SLR.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Compact</i></b><br />
This is by far the most popular camera category. It represents the best value for the average user. Cameras in this group take reasonable quality pictures and have a good set of features. However, these cameras don’t have many pre features or perform as well as more expensive cameras. Unless you need a higher-end or smaller camera, you should consider this type of camera first.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Ultra compacts</i></b><br />
Are small enough to fit into tiny bags or pockets but performance is usually sacrificed in the interest of style and size. Not a good choice if you want decent pictures.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Enthusiast</i></b><br />
These full-sized models offer more precise controls, better lenses, and more features. They produce better images, suitable for larger prints. They often include zoom lenses, faster performance, exposure bracketing, high resolution, and manual controls for shutter speed, f-stop, and white balance. This category is a good choice if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a more expensive camera but still want a fair number of advanced features.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Super zooms</b></i><br />
These cameras are the same as “enthusiast” except that they include at least 10X optical zoom lenses. Some of these cameras can correct for camera shake by using image stabilization software. This is a great feature for long zooms.<br />
<br />
<b><i>D-SLR</i></b><br />
D-SLRs are the high end of digital cameras, with true reflex through-the-lens viewfinders, interchangeable lenses, good control over exposure and color, and lots of accessories.<br />
<br />
The many professional features and functions these cameras possess almost match those of conventional 35-mm film cameras. They also produce the best images of any digital camera type.<br />
<br />
Avid amatures and pros are the typical users for this class of camera. However, unless you plan to use the many manual features you will not get your moneys worth. Choose a camera in this class if you want the best print quality at 8x10 or higher.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Features</b><br />
</div><br />
<i><b>Mega pixels</b></i><br />
You would think that a 6MP camera would produce better images than a 5MP one but that is not always the case.<br />
<br />
Mega pixels are a measure of quantity (the amount of data captured), not quality. A digital camera's image quality is not based solely on mega pixels, but on an entire system. More important than the number of pixels is the actual pixel size. The bigger the pixel size the better they can record detail in the shadows and highlights. Larger sensors generally produce greater dynamic range, higher sensitivity, and better signal-to-noise ratio, mostly because they have room for bigger, more light-sensitive pixels.<br />
<br />
So instead of just going for the largest mega pixel count when comparing cameras, ask about other important factors such as image quality.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Image quality</i></b><br />
Image quality is a more useful measure than the number of mega pixels. Most digital cameras will produce good images, with color, sharpness, and dynamic range that will satisfy most people.<br />
<br />
If all you want to do is e-mail your photos or make small or low quality prints at home then any digital camera will do. However, if you want good quality professionally looking 8x10 prints or larger, then the camera’s image quality is very important. Make sure you tell the sales person what you intend to do with the images so that you will be shown the most appropriate camera for your needs. A good guide is to go for at least 3MP or better and ask about image quality.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Digital cameras are slow</i></b><br />
Most digital cameras take time to start up and be ready to shoot. They also have a recycle time between each shot. This can be annoying if you need to react fast and shoot a number of frames quickly. Make sure you can live with a camera's picture taking speed by testing it out in the store before buying.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Is the feature set right for your needs?</i></b><br />
Taking digital pictures can be as simple as pointing the camera and pressing the shutter button. But digital camera models are available that provide as much control over exposure, color, dynamic range, and so on as you choose to use. It is recommended that you choose a camera that has the key features that you might actually use and takes better images, rather then one that has a ton of features but takes poorer quality images.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Ergonomics and style</i></b><br />
Take time to practice holding and using a camera in the store to get a feel for how easy and comfortable it is to use. How does it feel to hold? How about the size and weight? Does it feel sturdy or flimsy? Are the controls easy to reach and understand? Are menus easy to understand and navigate? And finally, how stylish does the camera look?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Top 10 buying tips when buying digital cameras</b><br />
</div><br />
Deciding which digital camera to buy can be difficult because of the vast array of features available. Here are some tips that should help you find a camera that meets your needs, budget, and level of photo taking experience.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Select a digital camera recommended for the largest print size you're likely to print at. If you want to make 8x10 inch prints, choose a 4-mega-pixel model, though a 3MP camera will do a fair job. If you need up to 16x20 inch prints you will need an 8MP camera. If all you want is to send images by e-mail or Web posting, even a 2MP camera will do. Remember, mega pixels correspond only to image size, not quality.</li>
<li>Make sure the camera has the right features for your needs, such as an optical zoom lens and a certain amount of useful manual controls. If you wear glasses but prefer to take pictures without them, make sure that your camera has an adjustable dioptre. This will allow you adjust the focus of the viewfinder so that you can see your subject clearly.</li>
<li>Choose a camera with a bright LCD. This will allow you to better see the LCD image in bright sunlight. Having a large LCD screen will help you compose and review your images on the camera.</li>
<li>When comparing costs, be sure to calculate extras that may or may not be included, such as rechargeable batteries and charger, and a large enough memory card that can hold all your pictures until you can download them to a computer.</li>
<li>Most digital cameras come with a USB interface to transfer digital photos from camera to computer. If you will be transferring large high quality photo files, try to get USB 2.0 to speed things up.</li>
<li>When considering digital cameras with a zoom lens, what’s important is the optical zoom distance and not the digital zoom distance. Digital zoom uses software to crop and magnify an image, resulting in a loss of image quality.</li>
<li>If you don't know a lot about cameras, a digital camera with lots of modes and manual settings will be overkill. Don’t buy a camera that is higher in price and more difficult to use if all you really want to do is point-and-shoot.</li>
<li>A good option, if available, is a pocket-sized instruction manual instead of one on CD. You can take it with you when you're out shooting.</li>
<li>If you have difficulty using your hands, look for a camera with a limited number of large buttons that are easy to reach and press.</li>
<li>Test how fast the camera performs. Look for a camera that takes 4 seconds or less to get ready to shoot and 6 seconds or less between shots.</li>
</ol><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Glossary of terms</b><br />
</div><b><i>Aperture</i></b><br />
An adjustable opening through which light enters through the camera’s lens. The larger the aperture is, the greater the camera's photosensitivity. A smaller aperture, however, gives greater depth of field to a picture. The aperture setting is called the f-stop. A small aperture has a relatively high f-number, such as f8 or f11, and a larger aperture has a smaller number, such as f2.8. The aperture setting must be balanced against the shutter speed. The faster the shutter speed, the larger the aperture must be, and vice versa, to admit the right amount of light to the image sensor for proper exposure. These adjustments are done automatically by the camera or manually by the operator.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Compression</i></b><br />
A process that reduces the amount of data representing an image so that the file takes up less space in your camera, memory card, or computer. Smaller files are quicker to use for e-mail and on the Web. When a file is too compressed, however, image quality can seriously suffer.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Depth of field</i></b><br />
Indicates how much of a scene will be sharp and in focus. A greater depth of field implies an increased distance between well-focused background and foreground, with everything in between properly focused. A narrow depth of field concentrates the area of sharp focus within a small range, based on the main subject's distance from the camera.<br />
<br />
For instance, if your subject is standing in an open field, using a narrow depth of field will make most of the scene in front and behind look blurry; only the main subject will be focused. This effect is achieved when using long zoom lens. Using a wide-angle lens will produce a greater depth of field, thereby keeping the whole scene in focus.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Image sensor</i></b><br />
The semiconductor chip or Image Sensor is what captures the photographic image. It collects the light of a scene or subject, which it turns into digital data that we see as a photo in the camera or on the computer. There are two main types of image sensors CCD (charge-coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor). The CCD is the most popular. CMOS is used in very low and high end cameras.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Interpolation</i></b><br />
A process that increases image file size and can take place either in the camera or by computer software. Interpolation is used to magnify a picture but does not improve image quality and in fact it can decrease sharpness.<br />
<br />
<b><i>LCD viewfinder</i></b><br />
A small screen on the back of a camera that displays what the lens sees. It is used to compose the picture, choose settings, focus and frame an image in macro mode. It is also used to view photos stored on the memory card.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Mega pixel </i></b><br />
A measure of a digital camera's resolution. A three-mega pixel rating means that the camera can capture up to 3 million pixels, or points of data.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Memory card </i></b><br />
A removable storage device that holds the images a digital camera captures. It is a good idea to have an extra one on hand so that when one card is full it can be swapped for another allowing you to continue shooting.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Pixel</i></b><br />
A point of data in a digital image; the word is short for picture element. A digital camera's resolution is a measure of the number of pixels it can capture on its image sensor.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Shutter speed </i></b><br />
A measure of how long a camera allows light to fall on the image sensor (expressed as a fraction of a second). Though some digital cameras have both electronic and mechanical shutters, inexpensive models will utilize an electronic shutter to turn off the photosensitivity of the image sensors.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-37520808005110499172009-09-22T16:09:00.000+05:302009-09-22T16:11:03.454+05:30Microsoft's Latest Threat: VMware<strong>VMware will make a big push into the desktop and notebook market, with technology to allow users to do work even when not connected to a network. In data centers, VMware wants to demonstrate that the next frontier beyond hardware savings is the reduced operating costs that result from increasing the number of servers that are "virtualized."</strong><br /><br />Microsoft 's No. 1 rival is a household name, Google. But a strong candidate for No. 2 is a company scarcely known outside the technology industry: VMware.<br />"VMware is definitely a threat," said Gary Chen, an analyst at IDC, a research firm. "After Google, it is the company Microsoft fears most."<br /><br />Google and VMware, which is based in Palo Alto, California, pose a broadly similar challenge to Microsoft, by potentially undermining the dominance of its most lucrative desktop software and operating systems. Google represents the attack from above, while VMware is the assault from beneath.<br /><br />Google, the search giant, is offering free and advertising-supported software for e-mail, word processing, calendars and spreadsheets online as alternatives to Microsoft's popular Office products. For Web-based programs like these, it is the browser -- not an operating system like Windows -- that is the vital layer of software on the computer.<br /><br />VMware is the leader in so-called virtual machine software, which allows a computer to run two or more operating systems at once. Its software resides on top of the hardware and beneath the operating system.<br /><br />But as VMware's technology becomes more powerful and adds more features to its products, it is starting to supplant the operating system from below -- just as the browser can from above.<br /><br />VMware's leadership adds an edge to its challenge. A year ago, Paul Maritz, a former senior executive at Microsoft, took over as chief executive. In the late 1990s, he was regarded as Microsoft's third-ranked executive, the person with the most responsibility and authority after Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer.<br /><br />Mr. Maritz walked away from Microsoft in 2000 a very wealthy man, and he focused mainly on philanthropic work like microfinance, conservation and rural development, especially in Africa (he was born and raised in Zimbabwe). In 2003, he founded a small Web start-up company, but his business interests were a far cry from the mainstream of corporate combat.<br /><br />The lure at VMware, Mr. Maritz explained, was the chance to lead a company riding a wave of disruptive, game-changing technology. "It's a rare opportunity to be part of a paradigm shift," he said. "That's what attracted me."<br /><br />In January, Mr. Maritz was joined by Tod Nielsen, another former Microsoft executive, who became VMware's chief operating officer.<br /><br />As 11,000 business partners, developers and customers gather in San Francisco for the start of the company's VMworld conference on Monday, the strategy under Mr. Maritz is clearly taking shape. This month, the company said it planned to pay $420 million to acquire SpringSource, a maker of open-source software development tools, some of which analyze and tweak the performance of software applications. Adding such features could allow VMware's technology to essentially sidestep an operating system like Windows.<br /><br />So far, virtualization technology has been used mainly to achieve cost savings in data centers, where it lets companies handle computing chores with fewer machines, using less energy and floor space. Now, companies are increasingly starting to use virtual software to manage desktop software that is being delivered to their workers on PCs across the corporate network.<br /><br />VMware plans to make a big push into the desktop and notebook market, introducing technology next year to better handle high-end graphics and allow users to do work even when not connected to a network.<br /><br />In data centers, VMware wants to demonstrate that the next frontier beyond hardware savings is the reduced operating costs that result from increasing the number of servers that are "virtualized."<br /><br />Today, VMware says companies typically have one human administrator for every 50 server computers, while data centers with more than half of their machines virtualized can fairly quickly increase that to one to 200.<br /><br />"We have to go beyond capital costs to speak to doing more for our customers by using virtualization to reduce operating costs and operational complexity," Mr. Maritz said. "We are entering a significant turn in this market."<br /><br />And, he observed, "We do have the footsteps of Microsoft behind us."<br /><br />Indeed, Microsoft is coming. And its game plan is a rerun of the strategy it used in the Web browser market -- bundle its free virtual machine software into its operating system. Last July, Microsoft introduced its HyperV virtual machine in Windows Server 2008. New features that help it catch up to VMware will be introduced in October.<br /><br />"Our strategy is to integrate virtualization into our product line in Windows, with our management software and the familiar Microsoft developer tools," said Mike Neil, a general manager in the Windows server division.<br /><br />Microsoft has a long way to go. At the end of last year, more than 80 percent of virtualized computing workloads ran on VMware, analysts estimate, with the remainder shared by Microsoft, Citrix Systems' Xen, Virtual Iron and others. But only 15 percent of servers have been virtualized, and with that percentage likely to at least double or more over the next five years, there is still plenty of opportunity in the market.<br /><br />There is considerable interest in Microsoft's bundled offering, analysts say. A recent report by Gartner projected that Microsoft's share of installed virtual machine software would increase to 29 percent by the end of 2012 from 8 percent at the end of last year.<br /><br />"Microsoft is going to be very formidable in this space," said Stephen F. Shuckenbrock, president of Dell's large enterprise division, which is a partner of both VMware and Microsoft. "Many customers, at the very least, are intrigued by the free virtualization software bundled by Microsoft."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-85868418960485607542009-09-22T16:08:00.000+05:302009-09-22T16:09:25.385+05:30Adobe Hosts Platform Services To Distribute Flash Apps<strong>Adobe Systems is hosting Flash Platform Services to distribute Flash-based applications to social networks, desktops and mobile devices. Adobe announced the services at an Interactive Advertising Bureau conference. Adobe is partnering with Gigya for social distribution and will likely use analytics from its recent acquisition of Omniture.</strong><br /><br />Adobe Systems announced Monday new services that will allow advertisers and content publishers to "promote, measure and monetize" Flash-based applications over "social networks, desktops and mobile devices."<br />Called Flash Platform Services, the hosted set of offerings is intended to provide advertisers, game makers, publishers and others with a distribution solution and a management tool for measuring, distributing and creating revenue streams from Flash applications and games. In particular, the services will make it easier to share, track, and monetize the Flash-created content through social media, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others.<br /><br /><strong>Partnering with Gigya </strong><br /><br />The new service was announced at the Interactive Advertising Bureau MiXX Conference and Expo, currently taking place in New York. Adobe is partnering with Gigya, a social media-distribution platform, to provide the services.<br /><br />The growth of application use and distribution through social networks is a key driver. Adobe said later this year it will release its Social service, which will allow developers to write a single application. Users will be given a choice of which social network they want to access through the app.<br /><br />Using the platform service, apps can be distributed to multiple mobile platforms. Users wanting to install the app can click on a link in a SMS message, and Adobe's distribution service can determine which device is making the request and provide the application for that device.<br /><br />The platform also offers various analytical tools for measuring customer usage and distribution of a given application or mini-application. And cross-promotion of other Web applications is provided, so downloading one application could lead to another being offered.<br /><br />The services include ad hosting for shared applications, using either ads available through other providers or through Adobe. Distribution, tracking, creating campaigns, and enabling ad hosting can all be managed through the service's Distribution Manager.<br /><br />To use the service, applications will be built in Flash Professional or Flex Builder. Dreamweaver can be used to place the Share menu adjacent to the application on a Web page.<br /><br /><strong>Why Not 'Get Into This Game?' </strong><br /><br />Jeffrey Hammond, an analyst with industry research firm Forrester, said Flash Platform Services makes sense for Adobe, especially in light of its recent acquisition of Web analytics provider Omniture.<br /><br />He noted that, as the platform allows companies and developers to track and monetize their Flash widgets, Adobe is essentially getting into a viral market that its technology has helped to create.<br /><br />Adobe had to be asking themselves, Hammond said, "'Why don't we get into this game ourselves?'" Some of the services, he noted, have been offered by companies like Clearspring.<br /><br />One company working with the Adobe platform is The Wall Street Journal. The Journal's WSJ Radio Network will provide a widget with Web tools for its 370 radio station affiliates to use on their own sites. The widget will offer content from WSJ Radio and the Journal, including podcasts and live audio business updates, and users can share the widget through social-networking sites and through blogs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-23047328515806826362009-09-22T16:05:00.000+05:302009-09-22T16:08:30.739+05:30Microsoft's New Zune Tries to Catch Up<strong>Of course, there's an elephant in this particular room, and it's called the Apple's App Store. Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Microsoft says that more are coming. It promises, furthermore, that they will all be free.</strong><br /><br />Over the years, mention of the word "Microsoft " has triggered a variety of emotions. Some consider how Microsoft achieved its success and feel anger. Some consider how Microsoft borrows other companies' ideas and feel indignant. Some consider some recent battle with Windows and feel frustration.<br />But when you try out Microsoft's new Zune HD music/video player, you may feel a whole new emotion that most people don't associate with Microsoft: sympathy.<br /><br /><strong>Why? We'll get to that. </strong><br /><br />The Zune, which replaces the old models, is Microsoft's version of the iPod Touch -- a gorgeous multi-touch screen dominates the front. Its handsome, beveled metal case weighs next to nothing yet still feels expensive and solid in the hand. It is nearly buttonless: You operate it as you do the iPod Touch -- you navigate by tapping things on the screen, magnify photos or Web pages by spreading two fingers apart, rotate images by turning the player 90 degrees, and so on. The software design is fluid, beautiful and incredibly responsive.<br /><br />The new Zune has an incredibly bright, sharp and colorful OLED screen (organic light-emitting diode, not that that helps). Finger-grease streaks are an ugly problem, at least when the screen is off.<br /><br />The Zune HD is narrower and shorter than the Touch, and a hair thicker. It's available in black or silver; online, you can order a Zune HD with any of several fancy artist-designed back panels. The 16-gig model is $220; the 32-gig model is $290. The "HD" means two things. First, like its predecessors, this Zune can tune into FM radio, but now it can tune into HD radio stations, too.<br /><br />The Zune HD's name also refers to the hi-def (720p) movies that you can buy on Microsoft's online store. The store is a big new push for Microsoft; the same music, television shows and movies will eventually be available for Xbox, Zune and even Windows Mobile cell phones. Buy a movie on one gadget, watch it on another. Alas, for now, the selection is relatively puny. The store offers a choice of six million songs, 10,000 television shows and 500 movies.<br /><br />The Zune's own screen isn't fine enough to show you hi-def video. But when you set the player into the $90 Zune Dock, you can play your hi-def Zune movies in hi-def on your television. The Dock can also play your photos, music and radio stations through your home-entertainment system. All of it looks and sounds great, and is effortless to control with the included remote.<br /><br />Music is still at the Zune's heart, especially if you sign up for Microsoft's $15-a-month, all-you-can-download music-store plan. Now, you could argue that those subscriptions are something of a rip-off; the day you stop paying that monthly fee, you lose your entire music collection.<br /><br />The Zune Pass, though, eases the sting: You get to keep 10 songs a month forever (90 percent of Microsoft's songs are not copy -protected). Better yet, you can listen to your infinite playlist by logging into Zune.net from any Mac or PC, anywhere you go.<br /><br />The Wi-Fi Web browser, and its accompanying iPhone-style on-screen keyboard, is new to the Zune. When you are in an Internet hot spot, you can call up Web sites, zoom in to magnify text and so on, just as on the iPod Touch or iPhone. It generally works well, though it is basic: You can open only one page at a time, and it can't play YouTube videos, Flash animations or Pandora radio stations. There is no e-mail program on the Zune, either.<br /><br />Of course, there's an elephant in this particular room, and it's called the Apple's App Store. Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Microsoft says that more are coming. It promises, furthermore, that they will all be free, which is nice. Unfortunately, for now, Microsoft intends to write all of these programs itself -- it isn't inviting the world's programmers to participate -- so the Zune app store will remain relatively tiny.<br /><br />There are other minor disappointments. For example, adjusting the volume requires a step too many: You have to press a side button to bring up on-screen controls. There are 1.0-style bugs and glitches, as when my PC wouldn't see the Zune until after a couple of restarts. When you're playing a movie, there's no Rewind to Start button. And there is no speaker at all, not even a feeble one. But overall, Microsoft has done a truly beautiful job with this player and its software.<br /><br />All right, then: So why sympathy? Because, after three years, hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, and, yes, a lot of real innovation , the Zune has managed to claim a measly 1.1 percent of the music-player market.<br /><br />The problem is the iPod's head start: Its catalogs of music, movies, apps and accessories are ridiculously superior to the Zune's -- and the Zune's reputation as the player for weirdos and losers. Among the under-25 set, "Zune" is a punch line.<br /><br />It's an outdated joke. The Zune HD player itself is every bit as joyful, polished and satisfying as its rival. The question is whether Microsoft will stick it out long enough to close the catalog gap, the ecosystem gap and the image gap.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-78930282149154756912009-09-22T16:04:00.001+05:302009-09-22T16:04:49.444+05:30Motion-Detecting Earphones Offered by Sony Ericsson<strong>Motion-detecting MH907 earphones from Sony Ericsson let mobile-phone users listen to music and take calls by removing an earbud. Sony Ericsson's MH907 earphones turn on music when both earbuds are inserted. The MH907 earphones use Sony Ericsson's SenseMe technology and only work with newer Sony Ericsson phones.</strong><br /><br />Sony Ericsson is giving consumers a way to talk and bee-bop to their favorite song. The handset maker has developed motion-detecting earphones that allow mobile -phone users to listen to music and take mobile calls by placing and removing earbuds.<br />The London-based company has created marketing materials to promote its MH907 earphones, including a cartoon step-by-step demonstration of a barefoot boy sitting on a bus listening to music, receiving and ending a call, then popping the earbuds in again to resume listening to music.<br /><br />The earphones turn on music once the user inserts both earbuds. The user can pause the music by removing one of the earbuds.<br /><br />What happens when a user is listening to music and the phone rings? The user needs only to remove one earbud to answer the call, according to Sony.<br /><br />"With the MH907, consumers can pocket their phone but still stay connected all day, every day by simply plugging in or removing their earbuds -- there is no need for a remote control or any buttons," said Jacob Sten, senior vice president of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. "At Sony Ericsson we believe it is important to listen to what our customers need, and introducing the world's first-ever motion-activated headphones highlights our commitment to offer our customers a complete communications experience."<br /><br /><strong>Motion Detection </strong><br /><br />The company uses its SenseMe technology to detect when an earbud has been placed in the user's ear, so a user cannot accidentally answer a call when the earbud is in a pocket or purse because it is only activated by body contact.<br /><br />SenseMe is the same technology used in Sony Ericsson's W910i device, which feels its owner's mood and suggests music.<br /><br />Overall, blog posters are happy with Sony's innovation . Some, however, have pointed out that keeping both earbuds in creates safety issues for runners or walkers not listening for beeping horns or other emergency sounds.<br /><br />Others have pointed out that the device is only compatible with newer Sony Ericsson phones, which leaves out users with older phones.<br /><br /><strong>Fun Interaction </strong><br /><br />The new device fits with Sony Ericsson's realigned brand strategy to build fun and inclusive interaction for customers, according to Sten.<br /><br />Color choices for the earphones are yellow/white and titan chrome. They can only be used with Sony Ericsson phones that have a fast port connector.<br /><br />Sony Ericsson has not released any details on when the device will be available or how much it will cost, but some reports place the cost at about $55.<br /><br />"As of this time a carrier has not been announced and we can't comment on price," said Lauren Haralson, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-30298147281614729372009-09-22T16:03:00.001+05:302009-09-22T16:03:51.789+05:30Netflix Launches Second $1 Million Search Contest<strong>Just after announcing the winner of its $1 million Netflix Prize for improving Netflix search, Netflix announced a second challenge. The first Netflix Prize went to a team that improved the Netflix movie-recommendation system. Netflix Prize 2 focuses on a tough challenge: Predicting movie enjoyment by members who don't rate movies often. </strong><br /><br /><br />Netflix on Monday announced the winner of its $1 million search contest. Just moments later, Netflix launched a new million-dollar challenge to encourage engineers, computer scientists, and machine-learning communities to keep working on improvements.<br /><br />After three years and submissions by more than 40,000 teams from 186 countries, Netflix awarded the $1 million prize to the team that most improved the Netflix movie-recommendation system. Specifically, the teams set out to improve upon the company's ability to accurately predict Netflix members' movie tastes by 10 percent -- a hurdle Netflix scientists were not able to overcome on their own over the last decade.<br /><br />Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings said it was a bona fide race to the end, with teams that had previously battled it out independently joining forces to surpass the 10 percent barrier. "New submissions arrived fast and furious in the closing hours," Hastings said, "and the competition had more twists and turns than The Crying Game, The Usual Suspects, and all the Bourne movies wrapped into one."<br /><br /><strong>Improving Netflix </strong><br /><br />When Netflix launched the Netflix Prize in October 2006, it made 100 million anonymous movie ratings -- ranging from one star to five stars -- available to contestants. All personal information that could identify individual Netflix members was removed from the prize data. The data contained movie titles, star ratings, and dates, but no text reviews.<br /><br />Accurately predicting the movies Netflix members will love is a key component of the Netflix service. Neil Hunt, Netflix chief product officer, said this extreme level of personalization is "like entering a video store with 100,000 titles and having those that are most interesting to you fly off the shelves and line up in front of you."<br /><br />Netflix Prize 2 focuses on a much tougher problem: Predicting movie enjoyment by members who don't rate movies often, or at all, by taking advantage of demographic and behavioral data carrying signals about the individuals' taste profiles.<br /><br /><strong>Netflix's Five-Star Move </strong><br /><br />Unlike the first challenge, the new contest has no specific accuracy target. That's because Netflix and contest judges have little idea how far experts can push the data to drive useful predictions. For this reason, $500,000 will be awarded to the team judged to be leading after six months, and an additional $500,000 will be given to the team in the lead at the 18-month mark, when the contest is wrapped up.<br /><br />Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, called the Netflix contest a great move all the way around.<br /><br />"Crowdsourcing the Netflix algorithm, getting a better user experience as a result, and all the positive PR from the contest. It's an example of Web 2.0 best practices, although that term is now passé," Sterling said. "One million dollars is nothing to Netflix, and it's a big enough prize to get some top-notch folks involved. It could potentially even result in some engineering hires down the line."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-60934551947306309582009-09-22T16:01:00.000+05:302009-09-22T16:02:10.801+05:30Windows 7: Will Its Features Impress You?<strong>One completely new feature you'll be confronted with in Windows 7 is Libraries. In essence, libraries are folders that can point to files or resources in a number of separate physical locations. You can create a library called "my documents," for instance, that aggregates files from your local C drive as well as from external or network drives.</strong><br /><br /><br />Now less than two months from world-wide release, Microsoft 's Windows 7 is bound to make the legions of existing Windows users wonder whether they should upgrade. And it will make those who have put off hardware purchases in anticipation of the new operating system wonder whether the time is right to hand over their hard-earned cash. Windows 7 has already won over the majority of those who have been beta testing the product for over a year now. So there's really just one question that remains: will it impress you? To give you a head start on deciding, here's an overview of what are likely to be the most talked-about new features of Windows 7.<br />Speed and Stability<br /><br />Promises of greater speed and stability are likely to interest the majority of Windows users. But it's helpful to remember that every major release of Windows in memory has arrived with similar assurances. And each time, the reality of the operating system, once unleashed onto the millions of computers around the world, has fallen short of expectations.<br /><br />Will Windows 7 actually be different? In terms of performance, most benchmarks put the release-to-manufacturing version of Windows 7 roughly on a par with both Windows XP and the first service pack release of Windows Vista. But Windows 7 is noticeably speedier in areas that matter a lot to most users: startup is faster, as is Windows shutdown, and most disk-intensive tasks are at least on a par with the speed of Windows XP.<br /><br />In terms of stability, only time will tell. Anecdotal reports of Windows 7 running nonstop for a month or more without requiring a reboot are rampant around the Web, which is good. But there are also plenty of reported incidences of Explorer crashes and other glitches occurring in the new operating system, just as with Windows Vista. Do not, in short, expect miracles out of Windows 7 in either speed or stability. The good news is that in neither of these areas does the new operating system appear to be worse than the ones it will replace.<br /><br /><strong>Installation</strong><br /><br />Installation is much improved in Windows 7 over any previous version of Windows. If you purchase an upgrade or a full retail version of the new operating system, you'll likely be delighted at how seldom the operating system interrupts the installation process for input from you. And you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many components of your PC Windows 7 recognizes automatically, finding and installing the correct device drivers in the process.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Compatibility</strong><br /><br />Microsoft took backward compatibility seriously with Windows 7, and the result is an operating system that will be compatible with the majority of existing Windows applications, regardless of which version of Windows they were originally designed to run under.<br /><br />One of the secrets to Windows 7's impressive compatibility is the new Windows XP compatibility mode. With this feature, you can run any application that works under Windows XP within Windows 7 by using what amounts to a virtual Windows XP machine within the confines of Windows 7 itself.<br /><br /><strong>Simplicity</strong><br /><br />Windows 7 has done away with much of the most annoying clutter and intrusiveness of the Vista interface. Gone are the gadgets bar, the Welcome screen, and many of the most objectionable aspects of the User Account Control (UAC), which in Vista impeded users at almost every turn. It's also very easy to turn off UAC altogether in Windows 7.<br /><br />The taskbar has been impressively improved in Windows 7. Right away you'll see that Windows 7 groups multiple windows of the same application by default on the taskbar, so your taskbar won't be cluttered by, say, eight instances of Internet Explorer. Also nice about the automatic grouping feature is that allowing your mouse cursor to hover over a taskbar icon will result in pop-up thumbnails of the contents of the open applications, so you can move to the window you want without any guessing.<br /><br />Some taskbar icons are also graced with a built-in status indicator in those cases where minimized applications are performing some time-consuming functions. For instance, the taskbar icon for a minimized Windows Explorer that is busy copying files will get progressively greener as the file copying proceeds.<br /><br />The new operating system is by no means as uncluttered and workmanlike as the Windows XP interface. But Windows 7 does a decent job of merging Windows XP's utilitarian bent with the conveniences that emerged along with the interface changes unveiled first in Windows Vista.<br /><br /><strong>Libraries</strong><br /><br />One completely new feature you'll be confronted with in Windows 7 is Libraries. In essence, libraries are folders that can point to files or resources in a number of separate physical locations. You can create a library called "my documents," for instance, that aggregates files from your local C drive as well as from external or network drives. You tell the library container where to look, and it does the job of assembling the files. You can access libraries directly from Windows Explorer. Merely double-clicking a library name accesses the underlying files.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Improved Search</strong><br /><br />Searching for existing data is every bit as important on the desktop as it is on the Internet. And Windows 7 improves on the strides made by Windows Vista in the search arena, thanks to a feature dubbed Federated Search. In essence, with Federated Search, the near real-time search capability unveiled in Windows Vista now extends to network drives and other remote storage repositories in Windows 7. Search in Windows 7 is also quite customizable. With so-called search connectors, for example, you can even perform searches on Web sites such as Twitter right from your Windows 7 desktop.<br /><br />There are plenty of other pleasant surprises hidden within Windows 7, but these headline features are likely to be what tempts you to give Microsoft's new operating system a try. Just remember that a good deal of hype always precedes the release of a new Microsoft operating system. While Windows 7 makes some significant strides in important areas, there's no law against sticking with Windows Vista or even XP if those operating systems are serving you well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-64337943812938698982009-09-22T15:58:00.001+05:302009-09-22T16:00:54.954+05:3010 Critical Trends for Cybersecurity<strong>The Internet, private networks, VPNs, and a host of other technologies are quickly weaving the planet into a single, massively complex "infosphere." These connections cannot be severed without overwhelming damage to companies and even economies. Yet, they represent unprecedented vulnerabilities to espionage and covert attack. </strong><br /><br /><br />"Cybersecurity is the soft underbelly of this country," outgoing U.S. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell declared in a valedictory address to reporters in mid-January. He rated this problem equal in significance to the potential development of atomic weapons by Iran. <br />McConnell does not worry so much that hackers or spies will steal classified information from computers owned by government or the military, or by contractors working for them on secret projects. He is afraid they will erase it and thereby deprive the United States of critical data. "It could have a debilitating effect on the country," he said. <br /><br />With this concern in mind, Forecasting International undertook a study of factors likely to influence the future development of information warfare. <br /><br />Real-world attacks over the Internet also are possible. In March 2007, the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory conducted an experiment to determine whether a power plant could be compromised by hacking alone. The result was a diesel generator smoking and on fire due to some malicious data that could easily have been sent to it over the Internet from anywhere in the world. In January 2008, a CIA analyst told American utilities that hackers had infiltrated electric companies in several locations outside the United States. In at least one case, they had managed to shut off power to multiple cities. <br /><br />We conclude that information warfare will be a significant component in most future conflicts. This position is in line with both U.S. military doctrine and white papers published by the Chinese People's Army. One study affirms that as many as 120 governments already are pursuing information warfare programs. <br /><br />Repeated reports that Chinese computer specialists have hacked into government networks in Germany, the United States, and other countries show that the threat is not limited to relatively unsophisticated lands. A 2007 estimate suggested that hackers sponsored by the Chinese government had downloaded more than 3.5 terabytes of information from NIPRNet, a U.S. government network that handles mostly unclassified material. More disturbingly, The Joint Operating Environment 2008: Challenges and Implications for the Future Joint Force (the JOE) comments that "our adversaries have often taken advantage of computer networks and the power of information technology not only to directly influence the perceptions and will of the United States, its decision-makers, and population, but also to plan and execute savage acts of terrorism." <br /><br />Many factors guarantee that the role of information warfare in military planning and operations will expand greatly in the next two to three decades. These include the spread of new information technologies such as Internet telephony , wireless broadband, and radio-frequency identification (RFID); the cost and negative publicity of real-world warfare; and the possibility that many information operations can be carried out in secret, allowing successful hackers to stage repeated intrusions into adversaries' computer networks.<br /><br /><br />10 Critical Trends for Cyberwar <br /><br />Forecasting International [rates] the following as the 10 most significant trends that will shape the future of information warfare. This ranking is based largely on the responses of our expert panelists, but also on our own judgment, developed over 50 years of trend analysis and extrapolation in military and national-security contexts. In nearly all cases, these two inputs agreed. <br /><br />1. Technology Increasingly Dominates Both the Economy and Society <br /><br />New technologies are surpassing the previous state of the art in all fields. Laptop computers and Internet- equipped cell phones provide 24/7 access to e-mail and Web sites. <br /><br />New materials are bringing stronger, lighter structures that can monitor their own wear. By 2015, artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, and virtual reality will help most organizations to assimilate data and solve problems beyond the range of today's computers. The promise of nanotechnology is just beginning to emerge. <br /><br />Ultimately, speculations may prove correct that we are approaching the "Singularity's event horizon." At that time, our artifacts will be so intelligent that they can design themselves, and we will not understand how they work. Humanity will be largely a passenger in its own evolution as a technological species. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: The growing domination of technology is the ultimate foundation for cyberwar. Complex, often delicate technologies make the world a richer, more-efficient place. However, they also make it relatively fragile, as it becomes difficult to keep industries and support systems functioning when something disrupts computer controls and monitors, and the opportunities for disruption proliferate rapidly. <br /><br />A frequently overlooked scenario is the use of infotech by organized crime, according to consulting futurist Joseph F. Coates. "It is 2015, and the Mafia electronically wipes out the records of a modest-sized bank in Texas or Nebraska, and then quietly visits a small group of large financial services organizations with a simple message: 'We did it-you could be next. This is what we want, to protect you.'"<br /><br />Futures-studies scholar Stephen F. Steele notes, "Cyber systems are not simply information, but cyber cultures. Coordinated cyberattacks at multiple levels will be capable of knocking out the macro (national defense systems), meso (local power grids), and micro (starting an automobile) simultaneously." <br /><br />2. Advanced Communications Technologies Are Changing the Way We Work and Live <br /><br />Telecommuting is growing rapidly, thanks largely to e-mail and other high-tech forms of communication. However, the millennial generation has already abandoned e-mail for most purposes, preferring to use instant messaging and social-networking Web sites to communicate with their peers. These and other new technologies are building communities nearly as complex and involved as those existing wholly in the real world. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: This is one of the two or three critical trends that give information warfare and operations their significance. <br /><br />As our institutions integrate their operations, their connectivity makes them more vulnerable to unauthorized access. As they redesign their operations to take advantage of the efficiencies that computers offer, they also open them to disruption by technologically sophisticated adversaries. <br /><br />Disruption may not be overt or easily detected. With manufacturing systems increasingly open to direct input from customers, it might be possible to reprogram computer-controlled machine tools to deliver parts that were subtly out of spec-and to rework the specifications themselves so that the discrepancies would never be noticed. If the tampering were carried out with sufficient imagination and care on well-selected targets, the products might conceivably pass inspection, yet fail in the field. This could have significant military implications. <br /><br />"The Internet is a mess, open to all kinds of uses, misuses, antisocial material, irksome intrusions from ads, identity theft, international swindles, and on and on," observes Coates. "For these reasons, as well as the potential for national-security interventions and general hell raising, it is time to plan, design, and execute over the next five to seven years a replacement for the Internet." <br /><br />Infotech and business management consultant Lawrence W. Vogel calls attention to the impacts of cloud computing (third-party data hosting and service-oriented computing) and Web 2.0 applications (social networking and interactivity). "The cybersecurity implications associated with cloud computing, whether a public or private cloud, are significant," he says. "As more companies and the government adopt cloud computing, they become more vulnerable to disruption and cyberattacks. This could result in disruption in services and the ability to rapidly access critical software applications. And with the widespread use of Facebook, blogs, and other social- networking applications in our personal lives, government organizations are seeking similar capabilities for communicating and interacting with their stakeholders. Once the government permits interactive, two-way communications over government networks, the chance for cyberattacks dramatically increases."<br /><br /><br />3. The Global Economy Is Growing More Integrated <br /><br />Critical factors here include the rise of multinational corporations, the relaxation of national distinctions (e.g., within the European Union), the growth of the Internet, and computerized outsourcing of jobs to low-wage countries. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: The Internet, private networks, virtual private networks, and a host of other technologies are quickly weaving the planet into a single, massively complex "infosphere." These nearly infinite connections cannot be severed without overwhelming damage to companies and even to national economies. Yet, they represent unprecedented vulnerabilities to espionage and covert attack. This is another major trend for information warfare and operations. <br /><br />"Another thing to think about here [is that] the sheer volume of information racing through the 'infosphere' enhances the opportunity for cyberwar operators to embed encrypted information within routine data flows," says law enforcement strategic planner John Kapinos. "This could take the form of system-disabling viruses, or secret message traffic concealed within an ocean of regularly transmitted, legitimate data. Sophisticated data-monitoring programs designed to detect unusual patterns would be needed to counteract such a scheme." <br /><br />Futurologist Ian D. Pearson adds that, as interactions become more complex, "it will be harder to spot points of vulnerability. Fraud and cyberterrorism will increase." <br /><br />The actors in cyberwarfare now include non-state entities, points out strategic-planning consultant Frank Sowa of the Xavier Group Ltd. "Corporations in the twenty-first century are borderless and are not geopolitical," he argues. "The key to actively thwarting cyberwarfare is to recognize corporations and organized religions on the same-or even higher protocol-than geopolitical governments and borderless, non-geopolitical terror and extremist operations." <br /><br />4. Research and Development Play a Growing Role in the World Economy <br /><br />Total U.S. outlays on R&D have grown steadily in the past three decades. Similar trends are seen in China, Japan, the European Union, and Russia. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: This trend is responsible for the accelerating technological advances seen in recent decades. It is another critical factor in the development of information warfare. <br /><br /><br />The chief product of R&D is not clever new merchandise or technologies, but information. Even the most sensitive output from research results is routinely stored in computers, shipped through company intranets, and usually transmitted over the Internet. This accessibility makes it a prime target for espionage, whether industrial or military. This problem has been growing nearly as quickly as the mass of information available to prying. It will be a still greater concern for security specialists in the years ahead. <br /><br />Many R&D programs promote the dissemination of research results, observes public-policy specialist Mark Callanan of the Institute for Public Administration in Dublin. "While this is of course entirely sensible for the vast majority of research, the emphasis on getting as much information out there [as possible] may pose additional security dilemmas in terms of cybercrime," he argues. <br /><br />Pearson adds that "the downside is that R&D also occurs in weapons tech, so there is always a background arms race. High-capability technologies will present enormous threats to mankind in the second half of this century." <br /><br />5. The Pace of Technological Change Accelerates with Each New Generation of Discoveries and Applications <br /><br />In fast-moving engineering disciplines, half of the cutting-edge knowledge learned by college students in their freshman year is obsolete by the time they graduate. The design and marketing cycle-idea, invention, innovation , imitation-is shrinking steadily. As late as the 1940s, the product cycle stretched to 30 or 40 years. Today, it seldom lasts 30 or 40 weeks. <br /><br />The reason is simple: Some 80% of the scientists, engineers, technicians, and physicians who ever lived are alive today-and exchanging ideas in real time on the Internet. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: As new technologies arrive, industry will be forced to hire more technology specialists and to train other employees to cope with new demands. Some support functions may be moved offshore, where technically knowledgeable adversaries might have greater access to them, opening the way to disruption. <br /><br />"It is important in the discussion not to neglect the large amount of information technology now obsolescent or obsolete, but [still] in place," observes Joe Coates. <br /><br />The advance of machine intelligence will also have confounding implications for cybersecurity. According to knowledge theorist and futurist Bruce LaDuke, "Knowledge creation is a repeatable process that is performed by humans and could be performed by machines exclusively or in systems built to interact with humans ('man-in the-loop' systems). Artificial knowledge creation will usher in [the] Singularity, not artificial intelligence or artificial general intelligence (or technology advancing itself). Artificial intelligence has already been achieved by any computer, because intelligence is appropriately defined as knowledge stored that can be retrieved (by human or computer). The first arriver to [artificial knowledge creation] technology will drive the entire paradigm shift." <br /><br /><br />6. The United States Is Ceding Its Scientific and Technical Leadership to Other Countries <br /><br />In June 2009, a U.S. National Security Agency-backed "hacking" competition pitted 4,200 programmers from all over the world in algorithm coding and other contests; of the finalists, 20 were from China, 10 were from Russia, and only two were from the United States, reports Computerworld. "We do the same thing with athletics here that they do with mathematics and science there," says Rob Hughes, president of TopCoder, the software development company that operates the annual competition. Hughes argues that the United States needs to put more emphasis-and earlier-on math and science education. <br /><br />"The scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength," the National Academy of Sciences warns. "Although many people assume that the United States will always be a world leader in science and technology, this may not continue to be the case inasmuch as great minds and ideas exist throughout the world." <br /><br />R&D spending is growing in raw-dollar terms, but, when measured as a percentage of the total federal budget or as a fraction of the U.S. GDP, research funding has been shrinking for the last 15 years. Only half of U.S. patents are granted to Americans, a proportion that has been declining for decades. <br /><br />More than half of U.S. scientists and engineers are nearing retirement. At the rate that U.S. students are entering these fields, the retirees cannot be replaced except by recruiting foreign scientists. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: <br /><br />To whatever extent the United States loses its leadership in science and technology, it falls behind other countries in the intellectual and personnel base required for information warfare and operations. If this trend is not reversed, the United States could find itself at a significant disadvantage in this strategically and tactically important area. <br /><br />"The strength of the United States is in knowledge creation under the auspices of innovation and invention that has been applied in all kinds of technologies," argues LaDuke. "Ceding existing technology as technology converges and rises exponentially is not as significant as not creating the knowledge that is empowering future advances in technology." <br /><br />Pearson adds, "The increased power of smart individuals is more of a problem, especially in NBIC [nanotech, biotech, infotech, and cognitive science] areas. Unabomberstyle activity from inconspicuous people within a community is more of a danger than hostile states or terrorist groups." <br /><br />Steele warns that, "not only is the United States ceding the 'left brain' sciences, but the continuation of a linear, industrial model for education has [it] ceding a growing need for 'right brain'-creative and synergistic -- thinking." <br /><br />7. Technology Is Creating a Knowledge-Dependent Global Society <br /><br />More and more businesses-and entire industries-are based on the production and exchange of information and ideas rather than exclusively on manufactured goods or other tangible products. At the same time, manufacturers and sellers of physical products are able to capture and analyze much more information about buyers' needs and preferences, making the selling process more efficient and effective. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: Increasing dependence on technology effectively translates to growing fragility. Disrupt essential information or communications systems, and a company, government agency, or military unit could be dead in the water, or at least cut off from oversight and coordination with its partners. Telecommuting systems, for example, offer several obvious opportunities to disrupt the operations of the company or agency that depends on them. <br /><br />"The 'bunker-buster' ammunition that could be brought to bear within the context of cyberwar has not yet been deployed (or at least apparently not yet in a manner that has worked well)," says Cynthia E. Ayers, a security specialist and visiting professor at the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership. "How knowledge-dependent populations react-or how 'new media' societies are capable of reacting-when such weapons are deployed may ultimately determine their fate. The chaos that could be caused either under a limited (homemade) EMP [electromagnetic pulse] scenario or as a result of one or more high-altitude nuclear blasts would be devastating to a Western population in many ways. The losses incurred would make the current economic downturn seem like a mere irritant." <br /><br />Lt. Col. Kevin Gary Rowlatt of the Australian Army observes that "countermeasures to cyberthreats developed by us will impede our ability to work effectively, let alone efficiently. Firewalls, authentication, and encryption programs have the potential to slow the flow of information. An enemy would love to slow down some decision cycles. This approach would allow them to achieve the aim simply by presenting a threat, be it credible or virtual. We become distrustful of information contained or processed within cyber networks."<br /><br /><br />8. Militant Islam Continues to Spread and Gain Power <br /><br />It has been clear for years that the Muslim lands face severe problems with religious extremists dedicated to advancing their political, social, and doctrinal views by any means necessary. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the American occupation of Iraq has inspired a new generation of jihadists, who have been trained and battle-hardened in the growing insurgency. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: Information systems are another category of attack that Muslim radicals could mount against their chosen enemies in the West. One likely source of such an attack would be India, a land with a substantial Muslim minority (about 150 million people) and strong computer and communications industries. <br /><br />As Ayers observes, "It has long been noted that radical Islamists have been using the Internet to preach, recruit, glorify suicide-bombers, and perform training on a global basis. The 'e-possibilities' for Islamic militants are obviously limited only [by] the imagination, just as they are for more harmonious or legitimate activities. The cyberworld offers a wealth of opportunity to engage in the spread of Islam, followed by -- or in conjunction with -- a cyberwar that would be seen as just in the Islamic tradition." <br /><br />9. International Exposure Includes A Growing Risk of Terrorist Attack <br /><br />Terrorism has continued to grow around the world as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proceed, even as the rate of violence in Iraq itself has declined. Nothing will prevent small, local political organizations and special- interest groups from using terror to promote their causes. <br /><br />On balance, the amount of terrorist activity in the world will continue to rise, not decline, in the next 10 years. In fact, terrorist attacks have risen sharply since the invasion of Iraq, both in number and in severity. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: Until the terrorist problem is brought under control- which will probably not happen for at least a generation-we will face a growing threat that Muslim extremists will master computer and Internet technologies and use their skills to disrupt essential communications and data. The impact will be seen in U.S. corporations, research laboratories, universities, utilities companies, and manufacturing. Cyber operations will be at best second choices for many terrorists, who prefer the newsworthy gore of attacks with bombs and firearms. However, their potential for maximum economic impact with minimum risk eventually will make them irresistible to forward-looking extremists.<br /><br />"National security needs to address the freedom that big business has in moving its IT services off shore," says Rowlatt. "If a business is a major contributor to a nation's GDP, then what right does it have to expose its 'cyber underbelly' to a foreign power, which in turn, exposes the nation to unnecessary cyber risks? Look at how terrorists targeted Mumbai, the cyber center for India, which serviced many international organizations' IT needs." <br /><br />10. The World's Population Will Grow To 9.2 Billion by 2050 <br /><br />The greatest fertility rate is found in those countries least able to support their existing people-the Palestinian Territories, Yemen, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. In contrast, populations in most developed countries are stable or declining. The United States is a prominent exception. <br /><br />Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: The world population's growth in itself is less significant than where that growth is concentrated. India already has the largest supply of English-speaking [people]," observes Francis G. Hoffman, research fellow at the Marine Corps Center for Threats and Opportunities. "The educational systems in the latter will not support the advancement of knowledge workers to any degree, and could be swamped by poor governance, lack of services, and chronic disorder. Many places in Asia will experience some of the same downsides of large population growth without adequate governance, services, and education." <br /><br />Steele adds that the disparities in population growth will widen the gap between developed and developing worlds, producing "environments of anomie and alienation as a breeding ground for terrorist ideology." Moreover, increased education and technological sophistication in the developing world could compound these problems. Steele argues, "A growing proportion of the world's population (including the developing world) is gaining primary and secondary-school-equivalent education. The diffusion of cyber systems in the developing world increases opportunity for global cyberwar." <br /><br />Conclusion: Lessons for Avoiding Cyberwar <br /><br />Our major concern is no longer weapons of mass destruction, but weapons of mass disruption. The cost of "going nuclear" is simply too high for atomic weapons to be used by any but a rogue state unconcerned with its own survival. Cyberweapons may kill fewer people, but they can have enormous economic impact. A particularly clever opponent might even carry out a devastating attack without ever being identified or facing retribution. Information has become the battlefield of choice. It will remain so well into the future.<br /><br /><br />Lesson number one: As the world becomes more dependent on information technology, it becomes more fragile. It is possible to make any specific site or network more secure, but not the "system" as a whole. As network connections proliferate, electronic controls-for example, of petroleum refineries, chemical plants, or electrical grids-become more complex and interlinked, and the number of users grows, the opportunities to interfere with its operations expand exponentially. There is a growing possibility that even accidental missteps could cause significant harm. This damage would not necessarily be limited to data but could strike at real-world infrastructure , with potentially devastating effects. Economic losses could be severe, and loss of life is possible. <br /><br />Lesson number two: Cybercrime could be as significant as cyberwar. Four members of our panel cited profit-motive information crimes as a problem of potential importance. An information "protection racket" aimed at financial institutions could entail serious economic risks, and perhaps security risks as well. These crimes might use many of the same techniques as information warfare and could be difficult to distinguish from it. Indeed, in a world where rogue governments have supported themselves in part through counterfeiting major currencies, there may be no useful distinction. However, it is not clear that cyberwar and cybercrime will be amenable to the same countermeasures. <br /><br />Lesson number three: The rise of artificial intelligence will change the nature of cyberwar. As computer systems "learn" to imitate human reasoning and skills, the nature of cyberwar will change. Instead of relying on human hackers to carry out their attacks, antagonists will automate their information warfare, relying on AI systems to probe opposing defenses, carry out attacks, and defend against enemy AI. This competition will quickly outstrip human control, or even monitoring. This is one aspect of the hypothetical "Singularity," the time when artificial intelligence exceeds our own and it becomes impossible even in theory to predict what will happen in the further future. <br /><br />Lesson number four: The United States is losing its leadership in critical technologies. As other countries build up their technological capacity, the United States is allowing its own to deteriorate. As China and India turn out more scientists, engineers, doctors, and technicians, the United States has been producing fewer. As other lands spend more on research and development, the United States has been spending less. And as other countries devote more of their research budgets to fundamental science, where breakthroughs happen, the United States has focused increasingly on short-term applications. All this may put America at a serious disadvantage in future cyberwars. <br /><br /><br />In the spring of 2009, the U.S. government undertook new steps to meet this threat. The Pentagon is in the process of creating a Cyber Command center with the aim of protecting the Department of Defense's 17,000 networks and 7 million computers from attack. President Obama also announced a new "cyber czar" position within the administration. Scott Charney, former head of security at Microsoft , is said to be on the top of the shortlist. The question of how effective any one cabinet official can be against a cyberattack remains unanswered. <br /><br />"They're still trying to fight this problem within the traditional command and control structure," says Patrick Tucker, senior editor of THE FUTURIST. "How does a czar take down an international, unaffiliated network of anonymous attackers? It's like using a hammer against killer bees." <br /><br />Many questions about information warfare remain to be answered. What are the most likely targets? How would they be attacked? What are the probability and potential impact of each attack? What would the consequences be in terms of human lives, economic cost, and continuing disruption? How could we tell such an attack was coming? And most importantly, what could we do to stop it? These future-critical questions urgently need further study.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-8286277104832223832009-09-22T15:56:00.001+05:302009-09-22T15:57:56.453+05:30Password Managers: Your Key to Safe Surfing<strong>Passwords that are at least eight characters long and are a combination of letters, numerals, and symbols are the best. One common tip these days for creating secure passwords is to think of a sentence you're unlikely to forget -- such as "I was born in 1945" -- and then create a password consisting of the first letter of each word.</strong><br /><br /><br />Take all of the antivirus, anti-spyware, and anti-phishing software in the world. None of it can protect you if you surf the Internet with weak or weakly-protected passwords.<br />Just imagine the consequences if hackers were able to obtain one or more of your passwords. Would they be able to access your bank accounts, online shopping accounts, credit cards, and more? Even one compromised password could be big trouble.<br /><br />Most people know this. Yet many, recent reports suggest, continue to use the same password for most if not all of their online accounts.<br /><br />A recent study by U.S.-based communications firm @www found that over 60 percent of Internet users employ the same password for all of their online accounts. Other recent studies resulted in similar findings. So what's the solution?<br /><br /><strong>Password Managers</strong><br /><br />Password managers can be a great solution to the problem of trying to create and remember passwords. There are dozens on the market, but two stand out on most people's lists as best-of-breed: RoboForm and Lastpass.<br /><br />Roboform (http://www.roboform.com) has been around for many years. It has evolved from a first-class form filling application -- with a free version as well as a commercial "pro" version -- into a combination password-form filler that integrates into your browser by means of a toolbar. It's fast, easy to use, and contains no annoying pop-ups or adware.<br /><br />The main knock against Roboform has been that the process of synchronizing your passwords on one machine with those on another is less than elegant. An add-on product, RoboForm2GO, is required to take your password and form filling data with you to another machine. And yet another associated product, GoodSync, can help to keep passwords, form data, and other common application data in sync automatically, assuming the computers are connected or that you carry around a flash drive with the latest updates.<br /><br />What's really missing, though, is the ease of use that would come with being able to synchronize passwords, form data, and other data over the Internet. Such a system uses the Internet as an intermediate storage location. That way, when you log on with your second or third computer, you can quickly and easily synchronize your passwords by accessing the synchronization file online.<br /><br />The programmers at SiberSystems, makers of RoboForm, are addressing this shortcoming with the introduction of RoboForm Online (https://online.roboform.com), currently in beta. RoboForm Online works its magic by allowing you to store your passwords and data on servers supplied by SiberSystems. That way, no matter where you are or which computer you're using, RoboForm Online will automatically keep your passwords up to date by fetching the latest passwords and other data from the server online.<br /><br /><br />RoboForm Online is no doubt a welcome enhancement for veteran RoboForm users. But RoboForm Online is actually playing catch up to relative newcomer Lastpass (https://lastpass.com), also available for free.<br /><br />Lastpass was built from the ground up with easy synchronization in mind. Essentially a Web-based application, Lastpass stores an encrypted copy of your passwords and other Internet data in your online Lastpass account. Go to a new computer, and all you have to do is log in to your Lastpass account to get your passwords installed on the new machine.<br /><br />Lastpass, like RoboForm, attempts to do much more than just store passwords. It's also a form filler, allowing you to create multiple identities for different types of form filling activity. RoboForm's form filling capabilities are a bit more robust than those of Lastpass. RoboForm allows the creation of unlimited custom fields that the program should automatically recognize and fill, for example. But Lastpass's form-filling features are enough for most, and the program's ease of use and elegant synchronization method stand out.<br /><br /><strong>Security Issues</strong><br /><br />While online password synchronization is clearly an important feature -- and the direction in which password managers are going -- many might justifiably be concerned about how safe their password data is on someone else's server.<br /><br />Both Lastpass and RoboForm state that no unencrypted password or personal information is ever sent over the Internet through their applications or stored on their computers. The only way for a third party to be able to see your data is to have an unencryption key, which is something you create and is never transmitted along with your encrypted data. Now, if you don't want to be one of those who tests the veracity of one these companies' claims, then you may want to stick with the less portable RoboForm -- or even create your own passwords.<br /><br /><strong>Do It Yourself</strong><br /><br />If the idea of a password manager doesn't appeal to you, you can create secure passwords that are tough to crack. But you need to follow some guidelines.<br /><br />First, avoid creating passwords that are common names, years (as in year of birth), or words that can be found in the dictionary. Also avoid names -- especially the name of your spouse, your kids, or your pet.<br /><br />Passwords that are at least eight characters long and are a combination of letters, numerals, and symbols are the best. One common tip these days for creating secure passwords is to think of a sentence you're unlikely to forget -- such as "I was born in 1945" -- and then create a password consisting of the first letter of each word, and include any numbers. So for the example above, your password would be "iwbi1945." Experts suggest mixing numbers or symbols in-between letters for extra security.<br /><br />Once you have a secure password, use it for one site -- and one site only. Remember that if you tend to use the same password for everything, a skillful hacker could get into all of your online accounts by guessing just one password. You'll want to avoid that at all costs.<br /><br />Finally, don't write your passwords down. You'd be surprised at just how many people live with passwords written on sticky notes that are close to their computer -- there for anyone to uncover.<br /><br />But if creating and remembering multiple, secure passwords seems to you to be a daunting task, that's because it is. These days, a password management add-on is really a necessity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-90944757575177722212009-09-22T15:50:00.002+05:302009-09-22T15:55:55.413+05:30Microsoft Opens Office Web Apps for Selective Testing<strong>Microsoft will allow a select group to test its Office Web Apps online. Invitees to the Office Web Apps Technical Preview program will be able to access lightweight versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft said Office Web Apps will be integrated with Office 2010 to deliver productivity across PCs, mobile devices, and browsers. </strong><br />Microsoft took the cover off its Web-based versions of the Microsoft Office suite on Thursday, at least partially. The software giant offered what it calls the Office Web Apps Technical Preview program that will allow a select group to give the software a test drive before the official beta rolls out later this year.<br />Invitees will receive access to a lightweight version of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the Web through Windows Live. Microsoft also announced the formal name for the Web-based applications: Office Web Apps. The suite includes Word Web App, Excel Web App, PowerPoint Web App, and OneNote Web App.<br /><br />Microsoft's aim with Office Web Apps is to allow people to access, share and work on Office documents from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection.<br /><br />"Our mission with the upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2010 is to deliver a great productivity experience, improving upon what customers depend upon today, and innovating on what they'll expect tomorrow. Office Web Apps are a key part of our vision for Office 2010," said Michael Schultz, director of marketing for Microsoft Office Services.<br /><br /><strong>Anywhere Productivity</strong><br /> Schultz said the Office 2010 release is designed to deliver a productivity experience across PCs, mobile devices, and browsers. Office Web Apps will be integrated with Office to give users the ability to save open documents on the Web directly from Microsoft Office 2010.<br /><br />Microsoft is offering Office Web Apps through Windows Live because the company sees it as a strategic hub for people to store and share information such as photos, contacts, calendars and documents on Windows Live SkyDrive.<br /><br />"The latest statistics tell us two-thirds of the worldwide population is online at least once a month, and in the United States, 89 percent of the top 100 companies offer telecommuting," Schultz said. "That means people are on the move and need to stay productive with access to their information, no matter where they are. Office Web Apps empower people to access information and edit and share documents in a familiar environment from practically anywhere, on virtually any device."<br /><br />The full feature set for Office Web Apps will be available in the first half of 2010, and offered in three ways. Windows Live customers will have access to Office Web Apps on Windows Live SkyDrive. Office Web Apps will be available to Office 2010 volume-licensing business customers, hosted with a Microsoft SharePoint Server on-premises. Businesses will also have access to Office Web Apps through Microsoft Online Services.<br /><br /><strong>Better Than Google Apps?</strong><br />Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, said Office Web Apps appears to give end users an almost identical experience to what they will get with Office 2010. And he points to a job well done with document fidelity.<br /><br />"There's round-tripping, so if you open a document online and you also decide to open it in your local version of Office and make changes, those changes will be saved back to the online version," Rosoff said. "It really made it pretty transparent to the end user."<br /><br />The big question: How does it compare to Google Apps? Rosoff said Office Web Apps offers more functionality than the free version of Google Apps.<br /><br />"Google Apps has a 500k maximum upload size. So if you have any images or if you have a long text document with formatting and images, that's not going to work in Google Apps," Rosoff said. "With these Office Web Apps, you get 25 gigabytes of storage per user. It's pretty generous for a free service."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-20296470141711872762009-09-22T15:33:00.001+05:302009-09-22T15:36:59.271+05:30Twitter's Legal Challenges: Lessons for Startups<strong>Not every startup can achieve success to match the speed and scale of Twitter's ascent, but every startup can learn some important lessons from Twitter's experience. For example, it's never too early to protect your intellectual property. Taking proactive steps is better than waiting until a lawsuit rears its head.</strong><br /><br />On March 21, 2006, Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet: "Just setting up my twittr."<br />A mere three years later, in February 2009, Twitter had approximately 4 million visitors. At that point, Twitter set an audacious goal of one day reaching 1 billion users and becoming "the pulse of the planet."<br />A mere six months later, Twitter's user base had grown exponentially from 4 million to 20 million in the United States, and almost double that to 37 million worldwide.<br />With such rapid growth, reaching a billion people one day all of sudden seems less an impossible task and more a reachable target. However, as Twitter cements its status as the Internet's next big thing, the company faces the inevitable legal challenges that come with its increased popularity.<br /><br /><strong>Long Litigation Road Ahead</strong><br />One legal battle emerging companies such as Twitter often face involves patent litigation. For Twitter, the first lawsuit of what surely will be many such lawsuits was filed on August 4, 2009. A Texas company, TechRadium, sued Twitter in the Southern District Court of Texas, alleging infringement of three of its patents, which relate to a technology that sends out mass notifications via telephones, faxes and wireless systems.<br />These types of "we did it first" lawsuits will only escalate with Twitter's increasing prominence and expanding user base. Given its enormous popularity, Twitter no doubt has been anticipating these types of lawsuits.<br />In fact, Twitter recognized in its internal meetings that it would likely be sued for patent infringement repeatedly and often.<br />Twitter is probably more ready to defend itself in these lawsuits than some other startup companies that may have been unaware of such threats. Above and beyond being prepared for these types of lawsuits, Twitter is considering taking a more aggressive step to hire patent attorneys to go after patents proactively.<br /><br /><strong>'Tweet' Trademark Tussle<br /></strong>In addition to patent protection, another proactive step startup companies should consider taking as early as possible is obtaining trademark protection. Twitter provides an object lesson in the need for prompt action. It may have been too late in seeking trademark registration.<br />Twitter filed for a trademark on "tweet" on April 16, 2009. But by that time, three other companies -- TweetMarks, Cotweet, and Tweetphoto -- had already applied for trademarks containing "tweet." On July 1, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark Office preliminarily denied Twitter's trademark application, citing those three pending trademark applications, all of which were filed prior to Twitter's application.<br />While obviously not affecting Twitter's common law trademark rights, Twitter's delay in seeking trademark registration may present an obstacle in its own enforcement activities. On the morning of July 1, 2009, Twitter made public an email sent to a developer, asking that person to find a new name for his application.<br />Twitter also reassured the Internet community that it does not plan to go after the use of "tweet" when associated with the Twitter brand, but will do so to protect the brand if the use of "tweet" is confusing or damaging. Until the Patent and Trademark Office grants Twitter's application, however, Twitter does not hold the registered trademark to "tweet" and will be limited in its remedies when enforcing any alleged violation.<br /><br /><strong>Winning the Verification Game</strong><br />In addition to those patent and trademark issues, Twitter also faced a legal challenge involving the issue of right of publicity, a person's right to control the use of his name and likeness. A lawsuit was filed against Twitter in May of 2009 by St. Louis Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa. In his complaint, La Russa alleged that someone pretending to be him created a fake profile and that the unauthorized page damaged his reputation and caused him emotional distress.<br />The fake La Russa tweets made light of the deaths of Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile and Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock. Though the fake account was shut down, La Russa sought damages for the misappropriation of his name and likeness, trademark infringement and trademark dilution, among other charges.<br />In early June of 2009, the case took a strange turn when La Russa announced that Twitter settled with him and agreed to pay his legal fees as well as make a donation to his charity. Twitter, on the other hand, blogged that it was "not playing ball," and stated that "Twitter has not settled, nor do we plan to settle or pay." On June 26, 2009, the case was finally voluntarily dismissed by La Russa, with prejudice.<br />It appears that Twitter may have won that round. The dismissal clearly states that "no payment was made by Twitter to La Russa in exchange for this dismissal."<br />Twitter, however, is taking this opportunity to improve the Twitter user experience through its Verified Accounts concept. Instead of simply removing the fake accounts once alerted to them, Twitter apparently is going one step further to verify user accounts. Twitter has begun Beta testing the Verified Accounts. The first group of user accounts that may receive a verified account badge will be "well-known accounts that have had problems with impersonation or identity confusion" (e.g., famous artists, athletes, actors, public officials, public agencies etc.). For instance, President Obama's Twitter account is verified.<br />Twitter's response to the La Russa lawsuit indicates its willingness to change and adapt its technology to an evolving legal landscape. To succeed, emerging companies need to be similarly reactive.<br />While it is difficult to predict the next Twitter, one thing is certain: To succeed, startup companies need to protect their intellectual property with patents and trademarks, anticipate and be prepared for potential litigation over their intellectual property rights, and react quickly to those challenges on both the legal and technical fronts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-37758121899572635592009-09-22T15:31:00.001+05:302009-09-22T15:33:36.998+05:305 Keys for Full Recovery in the Cloud<strong>The cloud is a natural solution for disaster recovery, but careful consideration must be given before entrusting you data to a sky-high backup repository. Can you recover workloads from the cloud? How well does it scale? What's the nature of its billing system? Is its infrastructure secure? And will it offer complete protection?</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />While cloud computing is a familiar term, its definitions can vary greatly. So when it comes to online backup, the cloud is an important feature that can play a large role in securing and protecting during a disaster, which I like to refer to as "cloud recovery."<br />In order to be worthy of this cloud recovery title, a solution should have the following five features, which I have outlined below.<br /><br /><strong>1. Recover Workloads in the Cloud</strong><br />There is an old saying in the data protection business that the whole point of backing up is preparing to restore. Having a backup copy of your data is important, but it takes more than a pile of tapes (or an online account) to restore. You might need a replacement server, new storage, and maybe even a new data center, depending on what went wrong.<br />The traditional solutions to this need are to either keep spare servers in a disaster recovery data center or suffer the downtime while you order and configure new equipment. With a cloud recovery solution, you don't want just your data in the cloud -- you want the ability to actually start up applications and use them, no matter what went wrong in your environment.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. Unlimited Scalability</strong><br />If you were buying disaster recovery servers for yourself, you would have to buy one for each of your critical production servers. The whole point of recovering to the cloud is that they already have plenty of servers.<br />The ideal cloud recovery solution won't charge you for those servers up front but is sure to have as much capacity as you need, when you need it. Under this model, your costs are much lower than building it yourself, because you get the benefit of duplicating your environment without the cost.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. Pay-Per-Use Billing</strong><br />I love pay-as-you-go business models because they force the vendor to have a good product. Plus, this make the buying decision much easier -- just sign up for a month or two (or six), and see how it goes.<br />Removing the up-front price and long-term commitment shifts the risk away from the customer and onto the vendor. The vendor just has to keep the quality up to keep customers loyal.<br />We also know that data centers are more cost-efficient at larger scale, especially the management effort, and they require constant improvement. In your own data center, you might have some custom configurations, but in the data recovery data center, you just need racks, stacks of servers, power and cooling. You are much better off paying a monthly fee to someone who specializes.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>4. Secure and Reliable Infrastructure</strong><br />Lots of people like to bash cloud providers for security and reliability, but I think they hold the providers to the wrong standard. Although it is fine, in the abstract, to point out all the places where cloud providers don't achieve perfection in security and reliability, as a customer evaluating a cloud vendor, it seems better to compare them to your own capabilities.<br />I believe that most of the major cloud providers' infrastructures are more secure and more reliable than those of most private data centers. The point is that security and reliability are hard, but they are easier at scale. Having control over your own data center isn't enough -- you also have to spend the money to buy the necessary equipment, software , and expertise. For most companies, infrastructure is a necessary evil. Companies like Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Rackspace do infrastructure for a living, they and do it at huge scale. Sure, Amazon's outages get reported in news, but do you think you can outperform them over the next couple of years?<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>5. Complete Protection</strong><br />Remember the "preparing to restore" line? For me, it really comes home in this idea of complete protection. If your backup product asks you what you want to protect, I am already suspicious. My vote is, "get it all." I see lots of online products offering 20GB plans, and to me, they look like an accident waiting to happen. I don't want to know which files I need to protect -- I want to click "start" and know that any time I want, I can click "recover", and there won't be any "please insert your original disk" issues.<br />The places people normally get bitten by this are with databases (do you have the right agent?), configuration changes (patched your server, or added a new directory of files?), and weird applications (the one that a consultant set up, and you don't really understand how it works). Complete protection means that all of these things can be protected without requiring an expert in either your own systems, or with the cloud recovery solution.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-28022871106830365732008-10-16T17:29:00.000+05:302008-10-16T17:38:47.973+05:30Opera to Web developers: Come to MAMA<span style="font-weight: bold;">Opera's new Metadata Analysis and Mining Application search engine indexes data about Web site structures</span><br /><br />Opera Software on Wednesday revealed a search engine that indexes structural information about Web pages so Web developers and standards bodies can see what technologies are being used to build Web sites and how they are being used.<br /><br />The Metadata Analysis and Mining Application search engine -- "MAMA" for short -- is being tested by the company and should be released in an invitation-only beta by the end of the year, said Snorre Grimsby, vice president of quality assurance at Opera in Oslo, Norway.<br /><br />MAMA grew out of tests Opera routinely does to make sure its own browser software products work well with existing Web pages that use the most commonly used Web site-creation technology, he said.<br /><br />"We realized internally that we needed to be able to find lots of live sites out there that used certain technologies in certain combinations so we could test our browser on them," Grimsby said.<br /><br />The resulting search engine crawls the Web, but instead of indexing the content of Web sites, as most search engines do, it discards the content and indexes the types of technologies being used on sites, such as CSS, HTML, XHTML, and the like, Grimsby said.<br /><br />This information is helpful for Web developers, who can use MAMA to identify sites that are using certain kinds of technology and see how other developers have implemented it, he said.<br /><br />"It's a known fact that Web developers borrow ideas from each other," Grimsby said. If developers are working with a Web application that needs, for example, a new menu system, MAMA can help them find sites that use the technology being considered to build the system to get ideas for their own implementation.<br /><br />Developers also can use MAMA to see how well sites conform to current World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications for commonly used Web standards, such as CSS, HTML and others. The W3C oversees the creation and maintenance of specs for many of the most prevalent Web-site development technologies.<br /><br />Grimsby said that in Opera's own use of MAMA, Opera found that the average Web page has 47 discrepancies in how the site renders W3C-maintained technologies and the W3C specifications themselves.<br /><br />MAMA also can be useful for the W3C and other standards bodies to help them set priorities for developing specifications. For example, if a technology is used a certain way on the majority of Web sites, or not used very much at all, the W3C "can change the spec or take something out of the spec," Grimsby said.<br /><br />During an interview Wednesday, Grimsby demonstrated MAMA in real time by using it to crawl an International Data Group Web page, http://www.idg.net/idgns, to find out what technologies the site used.<br /><br />According to the search engine, the site is running on version 2.2.8 of the Apache Web Server on a Windows 32-bit hardware server, has 56 hyperlinks and uses XHTML (Extensible HTML) 1.0 and CSS, he said.<br /><br />In the next eight weeks Opera expects to publish a series of articles on its developer Web site about its own internal use of MAMA, noting key findings, statistics and trends the search engine discovers, he said.<br /><br />By the end of the year, the company will invite key people within standards bodies to test the search engine, with a goal of releasing it publicly to developers sometime in the first or second quarter of next year, Grimsby said.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-73165275875700553942008-10-16T17:00:00.000+05:302008-10-16T17:04:16.448+05:30Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Vista's 'Unqualified Success'<span style="font-weight: bold;">Despite the negative attention it's been subjected to, Vista is a huge success in the eyes of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "It doesn't mean that people aren't still picking on it, but we've sold 180 million copies, something like that, of Vista," he said. Consumer product marketing, however, needs some work, he added.</span><br /><br />As chief executive of Microsoft Latest News about Microsoft, Steve Ballmer heads a company that's not just a PC software giant but also a growing presence in the broader consumer electronics industry.<br /><br />In less than 10 years, Microsoft has become a major player in video games, mobile phones, set-top boxes and Internet search and advertising Learn how you can enhance your email marketing program today. Free Trial - Click Here..<br /><br />However, the company is nowhere near as dominant in consumer electronics as it is in operating systems. It has spent billions of dollars establishing its various electronics businesses with only limited success.<br /><br />Microsoft's Xbox 360 Latest News about Xbox 360 has lost its lead to Nintendo's Wii Latest News about Wii and is losing ground to Sony's PlayStation 3 Latest News about PlayStation 3, despite debuting a year earlier than either. Smartphones such as Research In Motion's Latest News about Research In Motion BlackBerry and Apple's Latest News about Apple iPhone are stealing share from Windows Mobile devices. Microsoft's Zune MP3 players are an afterthought in a market dominated by Apple's iPods. In search, the company's MSN Latest News about MSN is a distant third behind Google Latest News about Google and Yahoo Latest News about Yahoo.<br /><br />During a visit to Silicon Valley late last month, Ballmer talked with the Mercury News about Microsoft's consumer electronics efforts and the challenges it has faced. Here is an edited transcript of his remarks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question: How do you assess the state of Microsoft's consumer businesses today?</span><br /><br />Answer: We've got various businesses that are in various states. If you needed to have one word that fit all, I think you would say, "very present." Almost everything is entering into kind of a cycle of improvement, which is interesting.<br /><br />Consumer products are as much about the way they're marketed as the way they're built -- and we have some work to do, I'd say, on the marketing side.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: If you look at what they've done in the last year or two, do you view any of your consumer products as unqualified successes?</span><br /><br />A: I certainly would say the work that we've done around Xbox is an unqualified success. No question about that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: How so?</span><br /><br />A: The product is selling very well. The Xbox is an absolute home run.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: But sales of the Xbox have slowed markedly. It's been overtaken by the Wii. The PS3 is starting to catch up. You cut the price on it, which some might say is an indication you have run out of ideas to boost sales.</span><br /><br />A: No, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard anybody say. All consoles start at higher prices. They always come down through the long cycle.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: The story in July at E3 was that you had many bullets left in your holster that you could use to juice Xbox sales. You had all these great games that were coming out for the fall, and you didn't need to cut price to juice sales -- but now, two months later, you've cut the price.</span><br /><br />A: Price is not something you discuss externally. Nobody ever does. So, whether we were planning on cutting price the next day or in six months or a year, we're not going to discuss price changes.<br /><br />If you ask me, Xbox Live is going gangbusters. The console is selling well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: What else would you say has been an unqualified success of late?</span><br /><br />A: Since [we updated it], I'd also refer to Vista as an unqualified success. It doesn't mean that people aren't still picking on it, but we've sold 180 million copies, something like that, of Vista. The quality, the compatibility [and], particularly from the consumer market, the level of acceptance -- I'd call it an unqualified success over the last six months or so.<br /><br />Our Media Room software for set-top boxes, [Internet protocol]-connected set-top boxes, is certainly an unqualified success amongst those people who have it.<br /><br />Office 2007. The changes we made in the user interface, the approachability of the product, the ability for people to get deeper -- I would call that an unqualified success.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: What are some of the challenges that have faced Microsoft as it has gone from its base in operating systems and productivity software to more consumer-oriented businesses, such as Xbox or Zune?</span><br /><br />A: In some senses, what you're seeing is a renewal of our consumer [business]. If you look at where we kind of built the original strength of Windows and the original strength of Word and Excel, it was on the consumer side of the business.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: But isn't there a difference between convincing a computer manufacturer to install Windows -- even going over their heads to the consumers -- and directly selling products to consumers?</span><br /><br />A: The muscles are all a little different. The muscle around Windows is a little bit different than the muscle around Office and Word and Excel. It's a little bit different than the kind of muscle you need to have around MSN or Live or Search. In the case of Xbox, [it's] a little different because now we've got hardware and promotion, retail display -- and a lot of that stuff becomes more important.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: What do you see as challenges for Microsoft in marketing your products to consumers?</span><br /><br />A: The way you ask the question implies there's something systemic in Microsoft that is a challenge to doing it. Every one of these things has their own battle.<br /><br />Another guy's got 70 percent in search and we've got 10. Anytime the other guy's got 70 and you've got 10, you've got challenges.<br /><br />In the case of Windows Mobile, we had some unique challenges. The [Windows] flag's always there, but people aren't always really thinking, "What I want here is a Windows Mobile" phone.<br /><br />So, I'd kind of relate them to each battle, more than I'd relate them to anything systemic at our place.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: You've said that Microsoft's core competency is software. If that's the case, then why is it necessary for Microsoft to be in such diverse businesses as hardware, Internet search and advertising?</span><br /><br />A: When I say our core capability is software, it means developing and commercializing. And sometimes, the best way to commercialize software innovation might be through advertising, through transactions, through hardware, through embedding in other guys' hardware. We have to be open to various delivery models for what are essentially software experiences.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: The 10th anniversary of the antitrust case is coming up. How have the restrictions imposed by it affected your ability to compete in the consumer markets you're in?</span><br /><br />A: Look, Apple integrates everything. It's not a terrible model. Would we do more integration without the consent decree than we do today? The answer, of course, is yes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-48416152683678560292008-10-16T16:59:00.000+05:302008-10-16T17:00:40.714+05:30Microsoft Aims to Spread BI Throughout the Enterprise<span style="font-weight: bold;">Microsoft is bolstering business intelligence functionality in SQL Server with the upcoming release of Kilimanjaro, its latest version of the database management system. The goal is to push BI functions across the enterprise through existing applications.</span><br /><br />Microsoft News about Microsoft gave audience attendees at the 2nd annual Microsoft Business Intelligence conference a sneak preview of its forthcoming SQL Server this week, code named "Kilimanjaro." It was an appropriate venue for its debut, given its increased emphasis on BI.<br /><br />New functional areas of emphasis in the server Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more. match Microsoft's vision for BI, which is to make it pervasive throughout the enterprise World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here., Fausto Ibarra, director of product management for SQL Server, told CRM Buyer.<br /><br />"The goal is to allow more users to have access to BI," he said, pointing to industry figures that show an average of 20 percent of users able to tap this functionality.<br /><br />For example, consider a CRM application that has embedded BI technology, he said. "Users can get better insight about customer behavior by having scorecards or data mining Latest News about data mining functionality embedded directly in the line of business."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kilimanjaro Specs</span><br /><br />Kilimanjaro, which is scheduled to be generally available some time in 2010, will be embedded with new analysis capabilities that are expected to facilitate managed self-service Latest News about self-service reporting and content sharing, collaboration and management capabilities. This new line of functionality evolved from Microsoft's Project Gemini, an IT managed infrastructure developed to help users develop, produce, use and collaborate on their own BI projects.<br /><br />Microsoft is also incorporating advanced data warehousing Latest News about data warehousing functionality -- currently under development in a project code-named "Madison" -- with SQL Server. Under this initiative Microsoft will develop an appliance-like product in collaboration with hardware partners Dell, HP, Unisys, Bull Systems and EMC, that will leverage SQL Server to extend scale out into the hundreds of terabytes. It will also be available in 2010.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Growing Demand</span><br /><br />Microsoft's product pipeline in this area is a timely one as there is growing demand for BI in workaday applications and hardware, Mark Feverston, general manager of Microsoft Solutions Marketing at Unysis, told CRM Buyer. "Over the last number of years we have more customers asking for assistance in leveraging SQL in analytical applications."<br /><br />The demand, he said, has dovetailed nicely with Microsoft's growing emphasis on this function. As the Server moved from version 5 to version 8, "we have noticed that BI is becoming more flexible."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-66348974134029788132008-10-16T16:53:00.000+05:302008-10-16T16:57:17.176+05:30OpenOffice 3 Debuts to Server-Crashing Demand<span style="font-weight: bold;">So many people rushed to download the third version of OpenOffice that it overwhelmed the download servers. The new suite adds Mac OS X compatibility and offers extensions that add functions some people might want without weighing down the core suite with extra baggage.</span><br /><br />The third full OpenOffice suite is out in the wild and attracting plenty of attention. OpenOffice.org 3.0 was released Monday -- and already, demand has been high enough to overwhelm the download servers and cause them to crash.<br /><br />The software suite, designed as an open source Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more. Latest News about open source alternative to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Office, offers everything from word processing and spreadsheet creation to presentation and databasing tools. Added in the 3.0 release is a host of extensions to allow a more customized user experience.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Apple Appeal</span><br /><br />The new OpenOffice will have extra appeal for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple users: In addition to supporting Windows and Linux, the 3.0 release is the first version with native support World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here. for the Mac OS X platform. Past releases worked only with X11 and required additional tools for OS X use.<br /><br />"That opens up a whole new market for us," John McCreesh, marketing Learn how you can enhance your email marketing program today. Free Trial - Click Here. project lead for OpenOffice.org, told LinuxInsider.<br /><br />The program's look gets a major makeover with its third incarnation as well. The start center, splash screen, and icons are all refreshed with an updated appearance. But it's the features beneath the surface that are the developers' true focus.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What's New</span><br /><br />The suite's word processing tool adds a new multi-page display mode that features a slider control. The result? You can zoom in and out while editing. There's also a built-in utility for Web-based wiki document editing and expanded notes options. When it comes to the spreadsheet, OpenOffice.org 3.0 boosts its capacity to 1,024 columns, adds multi-user collaboration options, and tacks on improved equation solving capabilities. Perhaps most noteworthy of all, though, are all the new features that you can choose -- or choose not -- to get.<br /><br />"People complain about office suites getting bigger and bloated," McCreesh commented. "With extensions, we allow people to add on bits of functionality that are important to them."<br /><br />Some of those bits include things like a PDF importing and editing tool, a slide previewing tool for presentations, and multiple language support. The key, the OpenOffice team believes, lies in the choice.<br /><br />"For people who need [those features], they're absolutely wonderful -- but for people who don't need them, then they're not cluttering up their hard disk," McCreesh pointed out.<br />The Server Situation<br /><br />As for availability, OpenOffice.org is working hard to make sure its servers stay up and running. They're experimenting with a few options to keep the site from buckling under the heavy demand and are hoping users can remain patient.<br /><br />"It's amazing -- on the one hand, we're delighted that we've gotten such a huge response. On the other hand, we'd much rather all these people were successfully downloading rather than crashing the site," McCreesh said.<br /><br />In the end, though, the team couldn't be more pleasantly surprised with the interest its open source solution is finally seeing.<br /><br />"It's an unprecedented response," McCreesh admitted. "We've never seen anything like it."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-59083451117894753092008-10-16T16:44:00.000+05:302008-10-16T16:53:23.561+05:30Mono 2.0 Spreads .Net to Linux and Mac<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Mono Project has unveiled version 2.0 of its development framework, which helps devs migrate .Net-based apps to Linux and Mac OS X. Many developers want to -- or must -- develop in .Net or C#, but they want to deploy on Linux. Mono 2.0 is designed to bridge the gap.</span><br /><br />For developers who have fallen in love with .Net/C#, but aren't married to running their applications on Windows Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more., the Mono Project aims to let Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft .Net-based apps run on Linux and Mac OS X, among several other platforms. Sponsored by Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell, the Mono Project has released Mono 2.0 of its cross-platform, open source Latest News about open source .Net development framework.<br /><br />Basically, Mono 2.0 lets users run both client and server applications on Linux, and helps developers figure out which changes they may need to make to their applications for .Net-to-Linux migrations.<br /><br />"While Mono doesn't have the same wide usage as Java Latest News about Java or Windows-bound .Net, I do come across people who use it often however, like MindTouch, who builds products with Mono because they wanted to develop in .Net/C# but wanted to deploy on Linux," Michael Coté, an industry analyst for RedMonk, told LinuxInsider.<br /><br />"That scenario is what really appeals to people: Even though Mono is not a complete one-to-one match to .Net, the idea that you can deploy on Linux, Windows, and even Macs appeals to developers," he added. It's a good model for independent software vendors that want to sell on both platforms, he noted.<br /><br />In addition, Mono 2.0 is great for developers who were trained in .Net programming but who want to extend those skills into organizations that want to leverage other operating systems.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inside 2.0</span><br /><br />While Mono 2.0 increases its compatibility with the .Net framework, bringing it closer to Microsoft's .Net 3.5 than ever before, what's missing is Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Communication Foundation.<br /><br />On the plus side, Mono 2.0 brings significant performance improvements and an improved C# compiler, among dozens of other tweaks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Novell's Angle in All This</span><br /><br />"Mono was originally started by Miguel de Icaza, currently vice president of development platforms at Novell and maintainer of the Mono project, while he was at Ximian," Joseph Hill, product manager at Novell, told LinuxInsider. "At the time, the primary purpose of Mono was to enable Linux developers to be more productive by bringing C# to the platform. When Novell acquired Ximian, it continued to support World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here. the project for this reason, and Novell ships many applications on its Linux desktop today that were developed with Mono.<br /><br />"Beyond promoting development on the Linux desktop, though, Novell's support of Mono enables many customers and ISVs (independent software vendors) with both server and desktop applications that would previously only run on Windows, to choose Suse Linux Enterprise," he added.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rising Interest</span><br /><br />While Mono may appeal to smaller development organizations, it's seeing rising interest in a variety of enterprises and organizations.<br /><br />"Aside from the great Gtk# applications that are now available on the Linux platform, such as Banshee and GNOME Do, Mono is also seeing wide deployment on the server through ISVs such as MindTouch, which is built on Mono, and sees more than 90 percent of deployments of its Deki collaboration platform on Linux," Hill said.<br /><br />"Mono is also turning up in many other exciting and unexpected places, too. Recent successful deployments of Mono include Linden Lab's server migration of their own in-house scripting language for their Second Life project (LSL) to Mono, as well as Unity3D's use of Mono in their game engine and tools, which has Mono being deployed in their games on Nintendo Latest News about Nintendo Wii Latest News about Wii and the iPhone, as well as Windows, OS X and soon Linux," he explained.<br /><br />On the enterprise application development front, Jeffrey Hammond, a senior analyst of application development for Forrester Research, told LinuxInsider that he's seeing interest in Mono, even from large app dev shops that plan to make continued investments in .Net and who would like to maximize that investment.<br /><br />"I'm also seeing specific interest in Moonlight as a Linux target for Silverlight," he added. "The biggest issue is that .Net is moving pretty fast, and potential adopters are a bit wary, wondering if Mono can keep up with the latest versions of .Net," he said.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-13084483890980437142008-02-21T08:04:00.000+05:302008-02-21T08:10:55.589+05:30Gates explains why Microsoft needs YahooPALO ALTO, Calif.--For a man a few months away from leaving his job, Bill Gates has a lot on his mind. <br /><br />The Microsoft chairman is looking ahead to the time later this year when he will be focused full-time on fighting disease and poverty, while also trying to do everything he can to help his software company in its battle against Google. These days, that includes trying to sell Microsoft's $40 billion plus offer for Yahoo, not only to Wall Street, but also to all those Yahoo folks that Gates has his eye on. <br /><br />Gates spoke to CNET News.com on Tuesday about how Microsoft needs Yahoo's engineering talent, how Windows 7 will make the keyboard and mouse less essential, though far from obsolete, and what journalism will look like in the future.<br /><br />Q: You mentioned in some of the phone interviews earlier today that Microsoft isn't really looking to up its bid for Yahoo. I was hoping you might be to talk about why acquiring Yahoo is important, what is it that they have that they could bring to Microsoft? And then as a follow-up, do you think the company is ready to go the proxy fight route? Is that what's needed to get the deal in front of shareholders?<br />Gates: We have a strategy for competing in the search space that Google dominates today, that we'll pursue that we had before we made the Yahoo offer, and that we can pursue without that. It involves breakthrough engineering. We think that the combination with Yahoo would accelerate things in a very exciting way, because they do have great engineers, they have done a lot of great work. So, if you combine their work and our work, the speed at which you can innovate and get things done is just dramatically more rapid. So, it's really about the people there that want to join in and create a better search, better portal for a very broad set of customers. That's the vision that's behind saying, hey, wouldn't this be a great combination.<br /><br />So, it's not a scale question but more a people question?<br />Gates: With people, you get scale in terms of the number of brilliant engineers and the speed of innovation that they're really driving. If you take mobile and video and neat new things for advertisers with targeting, and just the basic search algorithms, and the kind of computational platform we're building that we're using for search and we're going to use for cloud computing generally, the amount of computer science it's taken to do that is phenomenal. As you get more scale of engineering, you can just pursue that agenda more rapidly.<br /><br />It's really about the people there that want to join in and create a better search, better portal for a very broad set of customers. That's the vision that's behind saying, hey, wouldn't this be a great combination. So, yes, the advertisers and the number of end users is good, but we'd put the people in the engineering as the key thing that we say, yes, what can we get when we put their brilliant people and our brilliant people together.<br /><br />Since you mentioned the people, how big of an issue do you think the cultural difference is? Because, I mean, obviously the key to retaining people is making sure that they actually want to work for Microsoft. Do you think there are significant cultural differences?<br />Gates: We've had an extremely successful group here in Silicon Valley that's done brilliant product work like Mediaroom and PowerPoint, and we have a research lab down here. Yahoo wants to do breakthrough software. The engineers there want to compete very effectively against Google or any other thing that comes along. So, I don't think there's really a different culture. If Yahoo had gone the direction of just being a media company, and not said that software innovation was important to them, then, no, there wouldn't be that intersection, because we're about breakthrough software. And that's where you can take search, portal, and these other things, and really bring them to a whole new level.<br /><br />(Yahoo CEO) Jerry Yang, to his credit, has kept a lot of very top engineers that have just been doing their work and improving those things, and that's why we see the combination as so powerful.<br /><br />One of the things that you've been talking a lot about is this idea of the new digital decade. What are some of the things that we can't do today that we're going to be able to do in the coming years through digital technology?<br />Gates: Well, everything is evolutionary in that things that start with a few people, get very widespread, and then eventually at least among younger people in the more developed markets just become common sense that that's the way things get done.<br /><br /><br />A cell phone that does photography; that's easy for your photos to just be shared and available. A cell phone that you can talk to and it will find the information that you're interested in. The next 10 years will have a lot of those (things) where they're not very commonplace today. If you look hard, you could find a little bit of location-based software or a little bit of interactive TV. But over a period of a decade, these increases become dramatic enough that it's a qualitative change, that you almost laugh at why did we have physical film, why did we have TV that was very channel-oriented.<br /><br />There are a lot of these things about books, and note-taking, and TV watching that are basically unchanged by the digital revolution today, even though there are some avant-garde users. Whereas 10 years from now, the mainstream users will act like, well, of course, it was always supposed to be this way.<br /><br />So, the notebook, the TV, and a couple of other things are things that we're just going to laugh about in a few years. Any others that strike you as things that are just hopelessly outmoded, that are maybe one technological breakthrough away from obsolescence?<br />Gates: If you look at the ones that have already gone away, like the CD, it took about five years from when at first people said that it wouldn't happen. Now it hasn't happened, but the writing is on the wall in terms of those trends. With the encyclopedia, it took a long time from when we started doing Encarta, the Wikipedia guys started doing their thing, before now you really can say, hey, the depth, the richness, it's completely changed; likewise with photography. A decade is a good period of time to take because for many of these things, that's where you go from avant-garde to common sense.<br /><br />There are some schools today where all the kids use tablet personal computers. They are a small percentage of the schools, but the lessons we're learning in those schools in terms of how do you get it into the curriculum, how do you get the teacher comfortable with it, where is it better, how do you make sure the class is still concentrating in an appropriate way…those lessons have been learned. And so as you get the price down and younger teachers are embracing it, then it can spread quite rapidly.<br /><br />Video on the Internet...is video mainstream in the Internet today? Well, you can sort of say it is. People go up and watch a lot of clips, and yet there's still this bifurcation between your high-popularity video off cable/satellite, and your sort of broad lower-resolution type that's Internet-oriented.<br /><br />The PC and the TV are very different today. Even the way you move between the phone and the PC is very different today.<br /><br />So, one of the things that overlies all this is the cloud, the intelligence in the Internet, and how that gets used. Another thing that overlies all of it (are) the software breakthroughs and the sensors (that) let us do natural interface--the touch screen, and the camera, (and) the microphone.<br /><br />Are newspapers on that list of things that are on the verge of going away in their present form; and if so, do you have any thoughts on how journalism gets paid for? Is that something that can be paid for in the digital economy?<br />Gates: Certainly (with) the paper-based form of newspapers in the United States and some other countries, readership has been going down for a long time; even before the Internet came along. Give TV the credit for the fact that there's been a real change there. It's probably being accelerated now by the Internet, that you can go and get so much news online.<br /><br /><br />The version after Vista is a big step forward in terms of speech. It's a big step forward in terms of ink. It's a big step forward in terms of touch. And particularly if you take the younger demographic, the quality of online news sites--Microsoft and dozens of other people in the broad sense, and then more vertical providers like CNET in a focused sense--it's unbelievable. You know, you want to see a new gadget, hey, there's a couple sites that you really ought to go to and they do an incredible job, versus any type of print thing that is going to come out later and not let you kind of disassemble it and animate it and compare it. It's a lot like the encyclopedia where in a sense you can say, yes, of course, this is going to change.<br /><br />Now, the ability to charge for the online version, either through advertising or a subscription fee, (raises) a lot of questions. As you have tail content, the advertising model just isn't going to generate much in the way of revenue. And for the encyclopedia, it turned out that a volunteer model was able to do quite a reasonable job.<br /><br />For journalism, there are a lot of things that I doubt that alone will give us the kind of in-depth professionalism, persistence that we'd really like to see, and so you'd like some form of the financial reward to be there. I hope that readers will be willing to pay subscriptions or watch ads or things that will keep the high quality and breadth of journalism alive and (make it) even better than it is today. In some ways, we have better journalism today. In some things these bloggers, and the fact that you don't have to just work for a particular newspaper, in some ways it's better. (With) in-depth, certain kinds of journalism...there's still a question of how that gets funded. <br /><br />What are some of the big technical challenges to getting to the type of technology that you talk about? When you think of the top two or three technical hurdles that we're working against today, what are some of the things that jump to mind?<br />Gates: Obviously, natural user interface requires software. I was just reviewing the next version of Windows and the great advance they make in that. Will that be enough that everybody will obviously want to use it? Well, it didn't happen last time except in modest numbers, a few million, but that's still not mainstream. We've got vision software in the Surface, and we're trying to get that not just into retail stores but into homes and offices. <br /><br />You've got touch, which is going to come in, and that's fairly inexpensive. We worked with some partners to do some really great things on the touch technology. So, I think that can move mainstream fairly quickly.<br /><br />(In) speech recognition, it's many decades of work and building up the databases and just learning where the mistakes happen to get made. That was part of the great thing TellMe had. They had been doing directory assistance for a lot of the big phone companies, so their database of information of how people utter things was quite broad. And applying machine learning to improve the quality of that was a great synergistic opportunity. So, there are huge software improvements, and, of course, we need our chip guys to give us the memory and speed to be able to execute these natural interface things. <br /><br />So, I'd say that's one whole area that's very important. There are some things about how we write software and prove its correctness...We've got to make it a lot easier to write complex software, not just because we want to write bigger things, but because we're relying on software in a more fundamental way for key infrastructure and private information.<br /><br />Will the next version of Windows move natural language interface beyond the niche thing, or do you think it will still be a niche thing when we're talking about whatever comes after Vista?<br />Gates: The version after Vista is a big step forward in terms of speech. It's a big step forward in terms of ink. It's a big step forward in terms of touch. I'd say that the likelihood is that touch will become mainstream on certain form factors very quickly, because we're working hand-in-hand with the hardware companies.<br /><br />With speech and ink, it's a little harder to say. I'm a big ink lover, and so I'm hoping that that's where every student decides, yep, this is the time I want to get not just a portable Windows machine but a machine that I can put in notebook mode and use the pen as well. We have OneNote, which has been a great advance in terms of showing people the application software that works with that. That's what these schools are building their curriculum around. Now we're getting feedback on that. Anoop Gupta has our educational vertical--our group that is taking and doing enhancements of OneNote and doing enhancements to SharePoint to try and drive that. So, with ink I'd say it's unproven. I would vote yes, but I have a known bias.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.zdnet.com/2008-9595_22-6231341.html">Source</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246939539545872652.post-90261742587778969312007-09-21T16:47:00.000+05:302007-09-21T16:48:48.340+05:30Yahoo's New Social Net Lets Users Tweak Each Other's Profiles<span style="font-weight:bold;">Taking aim at a younger and more fun-loving audience, Yahoo is testing a social networking site known as "Mash" that allows users to mess around with each other's profile pages. While it already has a social networking offering, Yahoo is reportedly trying to inject more fun into the equation. Mash also will offer more traditional social networking features such as photo and game modules.</span><br /><br />Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) is beta testing a new social networking site that, among other things, allows users to annoy their friends.<br /><br />One of the unusual features of the new service -- currently called "Mash" and available by invitation only -- is the way it lets members fool around with other members' profile pages. In fact, according to a Yahoo blog about the site, people can take it upon themselves to create "starter profiles" for friends without them even knowing it.<br /><br />While these types of shenanigans would certainly cause problems in the real world -- imagine somebody painting your house chartreuse without your approval -- Mash gives users the ability to accept or reject any profile changes made by their friends. It also allows them to bar anybody from messing around with a profile whatsoever. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A New Approach</span> <br />Mash will be "a new approach to online profiles," said Will Aldrich, the head of the site development team. While he assured prospective Mashers that they'll find the site easy to understand if they've been involved with other online profile services, Aldrich said Yahoo's latest foray into the field includes "some new twists that make things a little interesting and, we think, a lot of fun."<br /><br />Yahoo will be offering a "growing gallery" of modules, such as photos and games, which can be used by those owning a profile, or their friends, to customize the sites, he said.<br /><br />Aldrich's blog is the only official acknowledgment by Yahoo that Mash exists. He is careful to warn those who get invited that the site is far from ready for prime time.<br /><br />"One last note before you jump in: Mash is still pretty raw -- there are bugs and we haven't gotten to several of the features it really should have," wrote Aldrich.<br /><br />He asked those who are experimenting with Mash to leave suggestions and comments on the blog site, in his Mash profile or on the Mash suggestion board. "We're listening," assured Aldrich. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">More Fun than 360</span> <br />Most of the comments posted in reaction to Aldrich's blog entry were requests for invitations. A number voiced concern that Yahoo would be abandoning its current social networking service, Yahoo 360. While Yahoo 360 is still up and running, Yahoo reportedly is unhappy about its level of success, and some observers suggest the service, while useful, just wasn't much fun.<br /><br />Yahoo seems to be banking heavily on the fun aspect with Mash and it hopes the surprise factor of friends having access to each other's profiles -- Wikipedia fashion -- will be the spark. The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) labeled Mash "The Social Network for Graffiti Lovers."<br /><br />Invitations to the network are likely to come from existing members who already created a Mash profile of the person they've invited, Aldrich explained.<br /><br />"When a friend invites you, he or she can also add or edit different parts of your profile even before you get to view it," wrote Aldrich. "So even though you have never made or seen this profile, it is in fact yours. Until you decide to keep it, the profile created for you will not be visible to the Mash network, nor will you appear in the contacts of your friends." <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Eyes of the Beholder</span> <br />As anybody who's ever had their shrubbery covered with toilet paper on the night before Halloween can attest, good-natured teasing can often be perceived as annoying vandalism or worse. Gartner (NYSE: IT) Research Director Elroy Jopling is one person who wonders if the Mash idea will backfire for that reason.<br /><br />"It's the old expression, 'It's not what you write, it's what people read. It's not what you say, it's what people hear,'" Jopling told TechNewsWorld. "Interestingly, when you get into that kind of social interacting, you may have your own interpretation of what you say, write or portray, but the person who sees it can have a totally different interpretation."<br /><br />While the Mash idea is somewhat "dangerous" and leaves "a lot of room for abuse," Jopling said he believes it could succeed.<br /><br />"It's so easy to come in on something like that, depending on what your age is," said the analyst. "More than likely, I'm older than the people who be doing that. My perspective is ... it would be kind of intrusive. But to the generation who may be doing it, it could be a different situation altogether." <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Young and the Goofy</span> <br />Yahoo is in dire need of a social network, said IDC analyst Karsten Weide. The fact that Mash might be attractive to silly young people is a good thing, he said.<br /><br />"I could see how that could be attractive to the prime target audience," Weide told TechNewsWorld. "We believe the trick to get a successful social network up is to really target youngsters. Then, later, you open the service to older demographics. We believe Yahoo direly needs a big social network. Yahoo 360 does have a lot of users but not a a whole lot of traffic , and the same goes for Windows Live Spaces."<br /><br />Weide said IDC believes social networks "will be the key component of any Web-based service in the future because users increasingly expect any Web-based service to have social networking functionality."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com