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April 2005 - Posts

Man dies from online addiction

This is most bizarre and very sad. A 'new media' 54-year-old addict, unable to take a rest from his online world, has died from from starvation. For the seven weeks prior to his death, he posted comments into one forum or another on an average of every Read More...
Posted Saturday, April 30, 2005 1:09 PM by alexbarn | 10 Comments

Skype Beta Released for Smartphones

BetaNews : Skype Beta Released for Smartphones: "Internet telephony company Skype has issued a beta client for use on Windows Mobile based smartphones, which could one day enable users to make voice over IP calls using a mobile phone. For now however, Read More...
Posted Friday, April 29, 2005 8:28 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

RSS advertising arms race not worth the hassle

Nick Bradbury, developer of FeedDemon RSS reader shares his thoughts on the RSS advertising arms war (my bold) : "But despite my personal dislike for some forms of advertising, in the end I've decided that FeedDemon should not strip ads, at least not Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 28, 2005 11:31 PM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

RSS ads arms war begins, it goes like this...

Frankie Fresh points out that RSS Bandit developers are considering an ad blocking feature in the next version of their RSS reader. The RSS ads arms war begins, it goes like this: --Users want easier ways to consume relevant content and RSS meets the Read More...
Posted Wednesday, April 27, 2005 10:16 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Attention! Yahoo! experiments with Attention.xml

'My Web', is Yahoo's new personal search engine integrated with Yahoo! Search... from their blog : "You can publish your My Web links via RSS and, of course, there’s an API for My Web published on YSDN. We're also experimenting with Attention.XML as a Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 26, 2005 9:04 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments
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Internet Boom v.2.0 Has Just Begun

The second Internet boom has just begun, according to Mary Meeker, Morgan Stantley's MD : "Meeker has observed patterns emerge over a decade that are critical to the Internet's success as a commercial proposition. In terms of company creation, she saw Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 26, 2005 2:26 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Google Ads Are Coming to RSS

Google Ads Are Coming to RSS , via John Battelle . Good, bad? Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 26, 2005 1:02 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Marc Andreessen launches new start-up, Open Media Network

ZDNet : "Netscape pioneers Mike Homer and Marc Andreessen are back on the start-up scene, launching a TiVo-like online network for distributing and viewing public TV, radio and grassroots media. The free service, called the Open Media Network , is aimed Read More...
Posted Monday, April 25, 2005 11:31 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Microsoft names Chris Liddell as new CFO

Associated Press : "Software maker Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it hired Chris Liddell as the company's chief financial officer effective May 9. He replaces former CFO John Connors, who retired in January. Liddell previously served as CFO at International Read More...
Posted Monday, April 25, 2005 2:47 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Bill Gates - video from WinHEC

From Bill Gates' webcast page "In his keynote presentation, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates reflects upon the hardware industry over the last 20 years and how the introduction of 64-bit and multicore computing will create a Read More...
Posted Monday, April 25, 2005 1:38 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Yes, Darth Vader blogs too

Darth Vader is blogging : "Short entry today. Full schedule. Deploying killer probe droids across the galaxy. You know what I hate? Idiots. ...Whose trachea do you have to crush with your mind to get a little service around here?" (Via John Borland ) Read More...
Posted Friday, April 22, 2005 7:36 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

IE7 beta details emerge

IE blog: "We’re doing a lot more than this in IE7, of course, and we’re really excited that the beta release is almost here - we’re looking forward to the feedback when we release the first beta of IE7 this summer. Stay tuned for more details as we get Read More...
Posted Friday, April 22, 2005 7:20 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

You've been warned.

You've been warned. More here . Read More...
Posted Friday, April 22, 2005 4:19 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Steve Rubel BW picture caption competition

OK, Friday silliness starts here. Steve Rubel is featured in an article of the current edition of Business Week, 'Blogs Will Change Your Business' . I saw this pic, and thought...let's have a daft caption competition! OK, I go first: "Steve Rubel auditions Read More...
Posted Friday, April 22, 2005 3:36 PM by alexbarn | 23 Comments

Microsoft, don't stop changing...

Rob Enderl has written an interesting article over at LinuxInside, 'How Linux Saved Microsoft': "I'd like to ask the Microsoft folks to stop reading here, and to remember that if you don't continue to make the changes you are making, Microsoft will fail Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 21, 2005 8:13 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Ballmer: Microsoft Will Virtualize Linux

The Microsoft Press Pass site has the transcript of the keynote here , and you can see the video here . Internet.com reports: "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company would make serious investments in, and open up, its Virtual Server 2005 product Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 21, 2005 2:19 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

What would Vint Cerf want to see in a documentary about Doug Engelbart?

Check out this interview with Vint Cerf describing what he'd want to see in a documentary about Doug Engelbart. I found this on the project site of a TV documentary currently in production about Doug Engelbart's life and work, 'Invisible Revolution' . Read More...
Posted Wednesday, April 20, 2005 12:29 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

NY Times: their RSS growth on the exponential

SilliconValleyWatcher comments on a The NY Times press release claiming a 342% annual increase in RSS click-throughs on their site.. "It's interesting to look at how the RSS click-throughs for March 2005 compares to the total traffic for that month. The Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 19, 2005 6:49 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

John Cleese introduces The Institute for Backup Trauma

John Cleese introduces The Institute for Backup Trauma . (Via Adrants .) Read More...
Posted Monday, April 18, 2005 11:58 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Ourmedia vs. Google Video Upload

J.D.Lasica pitches Ourmedia 's differentiators : "On Friday afternoon, I uploaded my first video to Google under its new video upload program . The process was pretty similar in some ways to Ourmedia 's upload process, with a few exceptions ..." Here's Read More...
Posted Monday, April 18, 2005 11:24 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

'the Internet, the one place where you can flame someone about their spelling, using improper grammar.'

Love this thread: MSN Messenger on the PSP . ace11: "OMFG Finaly MSN Messenger on the PSP wipout pure haxed browser just point ur browser to http://mob.e-messenger.net/mobile/ and log in and walla your there!" tigerbot: "You're spelling is really bad, Read More...
Posted Monday, April 18, 2005 11:03 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

The 'digital lifestyle' is great, if you can get the bloody thing to work.

I've held off getting one of these wireless 'Digital Media Receivers'...waiting for the early, early adopters to work through a couple hardware and software generations and therefore not needing a PhD in Networking to get one of these up and running. Read More...
Posted Saturday, April 16, 2005 4:52 PM by alexbarn | 10 Comments

Scoble keeps his knob in check.

Robert Scoble makes it clear that until there are more Longhorn bits to play with, he'll be keeping his knob in check. Which may be a relief to some. "As for myself, yeah, I've seen Longhorn and, yeah, I'm very excited to be working at Microsoft because Read More...
Posted Friday, April 15, 2005 9:36 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Privacy and Pizza.

Frank points to this Pizza CRM flash movie created by the American Civil Liberties Union . "You want privacy with that?" Read More...
Posted Friday, April 15, 2005 9:13 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Acid2: makers of Web browsers and Web design tools on notice

I've mentioned Acid2 before , but there is actually something to test against now (plus a detailed technical guide that explains how the test works ). From Web Standards Project : "Today, the Web Standards Project (WaSP) is putting the makers of Web browsers Read More...
Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2005 11:59 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Google Video hosts broadband user content, free.

Funny...I was talking with Raymond Chen and Betsy Aoki last night about how free hosting of media content is going to become an increasingly big deal for online services. Ourmedia and Brighcove are leading the way ...but then today I see this: Google Read More...
Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2005 9:08 PM by alexbarn | 7 Comments

Open-source alternative to Visual Studio Team System...

Open-source alternative to Visual Studio Team System ...(Via Microsoft Watch ) eWeek : "The project, known as NTeam, will use several existing open-source tools and applications, such as the NUnit and NAnt .Net unit testing and build tools, respectively, Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 12, 2005 9:08 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

This is broken: Chopsticks instructions

This is broken : Chopsticks instructions "Need I say more?" Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 12, 2005 8:33 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Google Local goes Mobile

Search Engine Watch: Google Debuts Local Mobile : "The new service, available now at http://local.google.com/ , is very similar to the local search service available via personal computer. "There are some differences between cell phone and [personal computer] Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 12, 2005 12:07 AM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

Xbox2, Microsoft and MTV, why stop there?

Microsoft Monitor : "...Microsoft and MTV, why stop there? How about incorporating Xbox 2 into the "Real World" or give the "Osbournes" a console for a day. "Cribs" is a stretch now, but what about closer to launch? It's time for that new Xbox crib. Surely Read More...
Posted Monday, April 11, 2005 7:01 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

RoboCup: Caption Contest...my paltry effort.

From Engadget : "This weekend marks the annual RoboCup Open happening in Paderborn, Germany. Twelve countries have sent a total of 64 teams to compete in various categories: Small Size, Middle Size, Four-Legged, Soccer Simulation and Rescue Simulation. Read More...
Posted Sunday, April 10, 2005 7:55 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

How should the relationships between tags be defined, and by whom?

IT Conversations has an audio recording of Clay Shirky's entertaining and thought provoking presentation (update: text version here ) he gave at O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in March this year, 'Ontology is Overrated'. Chris May has a useful Read More...
Posted Sunday, April 10, 2005 11:38 AM by alexbarn | 5 Comments
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Classic Friday night silliness

For some reason, entrirely unknown to me, I recalled a web-classic tune while driving home from dinner tonight. It just randomly popped into my head. I started singing it to my 4 year-old boy in the car - he loved it and sang along. My wife thought I'd Read More...
Posted Friday, April 08, 2005 10:42 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Area 51 on Google Maps Satellite

Area 51 on Google Maps Satellite ... 'If you switch back to 'map' mode there is absolutely nothing on the map'. ( fade in music from the Twilight Zone )... Via Google Sightseeing . Read More...
Posted Friday, April 08, 2005 8:41 AM by alexbarn | 7 Comments

Blogging for the masses

Microsoft Monitor : "While highly anecdotal, my 10-year-old daughter is an interesting case study of what could happen to other people. On Saturday, after getting back from a sleepover, my daughter got to use near-final MSN Messenger 7 code I installed Read More...
Posted Friday, April 08, 2005 8:32 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

How do you pronounce 'Memex'?

How do you pronounce ' Memex '. Is it 'mem ex', as in memory? Or 'meem ex' as in meme? I ask because Rajesh Jain of Emergic.org caught my Attention with this: " The combination of RSS, OPML and Information Dashboards will also bring to life an old idea Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 07, 2005 11:52 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

MSDN Forums Beta now available

Customers continually tell us the most important online community feature is getting quick, accurate answers to technical questions—using online communities as free tech support. Today, answering questions online got a lot better: MSDN Forums Beta is Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 07, 2005 11:32 PM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

Microsoft without CFO, for the time being at least

The Register : " John Connors finally handed back his Microsoft ID badge last week, leaving the software giant without a CFO, for the time being at least." TheStreet.com : " The departure of Connors was announced in early January. At the time, the company Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 07, 2005 9:12 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

MSN Messenger - 2.5 billion messages per day, Spaces has 4.5 million users signed up

MSN Messenger 7.0 just released. Come and get it . Internetnews.com : "MSN Messenger 7.0 will also introduce the concept of shared search on the IM client. Using integrated MSN Search capability, users will be able to search and share results of search Read More...
Posted Thursday, April 07, 2005 8:45 AM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Apple - watch out: the blogosphere is just about to bite.

I think this one is going to do the rounds, rapido . "Fed up with silence and rudeness from Apple Computer, Inc. and Apple Norway, I then told her that I would likely go public with this whole story, unless I got to talk to someone who could actually Read More...
Posted Wednesday, April 06, 2005 9:54 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Still plenty of journalists and editors not listening to the blogosphere

Yesterday I posted 'Don't believe the Podcast hype' . Seems there are still plenty of journalists and editors not listening to the blogosphere. If they were tuned in, I doubt they would have published the following articles within the last 24 hours (with Read More...
Posted Wednesday, April 06, 2005 8:45 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Don't believe the Podcast hype

Many news sites and blogs have used the Pew soundbite from their latest research ' 6 million American adults have listened to podcasts', examples include Podcasts Reach 6 Million US Adults at PC Magazine and Podcasts infiltrate 6 million Americans at Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 05, 2005 11:27 AM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

Blair drops ID Cards, calls for election

The Register reports the UK government is to drop its ID Card legislation due to the election being set for May 5 : "Blair is widely expected to ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament today - the trigger for a General Election on 5 May. But this means he Read More...
Posted Tuesday, April 05, 2005 10:33 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

The Long Tail of conversation and relationships

Hold on...this shape looks familiar...is this the Long Tail of conversation and relationships? I found this chart in the paper ' Using Rhythms of Relationships to Understand Email Archives' , by the HCI Lab of the University of Maryland (via SmartMobs Read More...
Posted Sunday, April 03, 2005 11:59 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

A conversation mostly about Attention

Robert Scoble : " Listen in on the conversation Steve Gillmor and I have . I shot it on video and uploaded it to Ourmedia.com . The conversation was mostly about attention.xml which is a standard that helps you keep track of what you've read, what you're Read More...
Posted Sunday, April 03, 2005 11:36 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Moore's Law at 40

Via ZDNet : "Forty years ago, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore wrote an article in Electronics Magazine summarizing the state of the electronics industry. The article provided the foundation material for Moore's Law, which observed that the number of transistors Read More...
Posted Sunday, April 03, 2005 10:52 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

monkeys would never write the entire works of Shakespeare using a Mac

Monkeys would never write the entire works of Shakespeare using a Mac. Well, that is the conclusion of scientists at the University of Utah who conducted experiments using 20 primates over a three-month period and found that their subjects largely shunned Read More...
Posted Friday, April 01, 2005 8:26 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments
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Searching RSS feeds: Feed24

I've been playing around with Feed24 and concluded it has great potential. Essentially Feed24 is a search engine for RSS feeds only. The results come back with a link to the source RSS feed, a snippet of the article, date posted, a link to a 'parasited' Read More...
Posted Friday, April 01, 2005 8:02 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments
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Google IM?

I'm not sure about this one... I.T Vibe reports that Google has announed that they are to launch their own Instant Messaging Client. Either this is I.T Vibe's idea of an April Fool's crack (I haven't found any other refernece to this), or this just has Read More...
Posted Friday, April 01, 2005 7:18 AM by alexbarn | 4 Comments
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