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May 2005 - Posts

Augmented Reality

This is video of a augmented reality demo totally amazing - tech is by a company called Total Immersion . ( Via OK / Cancel ) Read More...
Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 10:41 PM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

A mouse that traveled 5.47893 miles in a single week

William Drentel writes a great post on the mapping of cyberspace. One perspective includes that of the movements of user's mouse: "Imagine mapping the endless and repetitive paths of your computer's mouse for a single week — every click, every fetch, Read More...
Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 10:22 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Gaming or genetic engineering?

Will Wright, Chief Designer and Co-Founder of Maxis, gave a presentation and demo (requires registration) on his new game, Spore , at the 2005 Game Developers Conference In the presentation, Will Wright, creator of SimCity and The Sims , explains that Read More...
Posted Monday, May 30, 2005 10:48 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Updated my Disclaimer

FYI, updated my Disclaimer today: "This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time...I consider this a necessary consequence of having Read More...
Posted Sunday, May 29, 2005 2:13 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Microsoft chief blogger herder at TechEd Europe

If you're going to the TechEd in Amsterdam (5-8 July), be sure to check out Betsy Aoki's presentations ( Betsy is chief herder of the blogging cats at Microsoft ): "The first is a breakout session on the Community Server and .Text software that has powered Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 28, 2005 1:02 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Web 2.0 and RSS services for hire

Richard MacManus, editor of ionRSS and Read/Write Web , is looking for some part-time writing, analysis or consulting work - if you have any opportunities for him, let him know. (If you don't what RSS, nor heard of Web 2.0 then you should contact Richard! Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 28, 2005 12:50 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Google Rudderless?

Google Rudderless ? (No, not that Rudder .) Read More...
Posted Friday, May 27, 2005 7:08 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Kevin O'Keefe will be pleased...

Kevin O'Keefe will be pleased...Mark Lloyd is a UK lawyer specialising in digital media, is joining the blogging ranks . Why? He attended Johnnie and James ' Open Sauce Surgery : "I won't go into too much detail about what actually happens because I suspect Read More...
Posted Friday, May 27, 2005 6:55 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

'The semantic Web is a dead duck, let me assure you'

" The semantic Web is a dead duck, let me assure you ." Here's a tip: anyone that seems to be so sure that he is right and everyone else is wrong, always, should be considered either an absolute genius or an absolute nitwit Take your pick. (tag: nitwit Read More...
Posted Friday, May 27, 2005 12:12 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Martin Heidegger is a complete lunatic

The Mebourne Philosopher lets loose on Martin Heidegger. "Martin Heidegger is a complete lunatic. While at first glance he seems to be saying something deeply meaningful, deep down he's quite superficial. This is almost impossible to realise because he Read More...
Posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 12:05 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

'Launching a product isn’t just features, it’s time to market'

Ex-Microsoftee Tim Jarrett on Microsoft's online mapping play, MSN Virtual Earth . "Launching a product isn’t just features, it’s time to market. Shimon commented that there’s no question that Microsoft will keep innovating in this space and lap the competition. Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2005 11:44 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

French say 'non' to 'blog', want 'bloc' instead.

News.com : "France's Commission generale de terminologie et de neologie wants to replace the use of the term blog with bloc-notes. The Commission is charged with protecting and enriching the French language. In proposing the substitution of bloc-notes Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2005 1:05 AM by alexbarn | 6 Comments

Eric Rudder gets flattering write-up at nytimes

Eric Rudder, VP of Microsoft Server and Tools group has a flattering write-up at nytimes.com, describing him as a rising star. "...Mr. Rudder's group has grown at 15 percent to 20 percent annually for the last few years, reaching $10 billion a year in Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2005 12:24 AM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Nano-screens are coming

Technology Review : "Motorola revealed its first working nano-emissive display (NED) prototype on Monday at the Society for Information Display (SID) conference in Boston. The company hopes its five-inch diagonal proto-television will attract licensees Read More...
Posted Monday, May 23, 2005 11:58 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Gates unveils MSN Virtual Earth - mapping and satellite service

Via Inside Microsoft : " Jason Calacanis reports that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates just unveiled their Google Maps killer, complete with photos taken over cities at a 45-degree angle. The maps also include satellite photos, like Google’s, so Microsoft’s Read More...
Posted Monday, May 23, 2005 8:53 PM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

Microsoft UK turns to ex-FBI agent for security

ZDNet reports that Microsoft UK has chosen a new security chief , a man with plenty of experience of the criminal underworld... "The company announced late last week that it had appointed Edward Gibson as its chief security advisor in the UK. Gibson, Read More...
Posted Monday, May 23, 2005 8:27 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

the Long Tail is indeed full of crap

The Long Tail is indeed full of crap. Well, that's what Chris Anderson writes over at the Long Tail blog . "First, let's get one thing straight: the Long Tail is indeed full of crap. But it's also full of works of refined brilliance and depth--and an Read More...
Posted Monday, May 23, 2005 8:22 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Media will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 50 years

I've just ordered my copy of JD Lasica's ' Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation' . Lasica is founder of Ourmedia.org , one of the new online services ready to take advantage of the forthcoming explosion of user-created broadband media Read More...
Posted Sunday, May 22, 2005 10:49 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Microsoft's blogging history

Korby Parnell writes up a version of Microsoft's blogging history : "In the beginning, back in 2002 and 2003, no formal code of blogging conduct existed for Microsoft bloggers. There were few, if any, other companies that allowed its employees to blog. Read More...
Posted Sunday, May 22, 2005 1:00 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Skype Call at 35,000 feet

Jeff Pulver : "Turns out that Skype works quite well on SAS Net, flying at 35,000 feet, over the Atlantic Ocean, even with 600 ms of delay!" Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 21, 2005 3:24 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Sound of thunder

I caught up with Dan Cohen in Seattle last night who's here on a trip from Microsoft UK. ...I mentioned Dave Winer's Thunderstorm podcast and promised to point to it . You should hear this with good quality headphones - and pump up that base dial...enjoy Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 21, 2005 3:07 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

In RSS we trust

Nick Bradbury : "...I'd like to start a conversation about the threat that spam and spyware pose to our little syndicated world. I brought this topic up with several companies who were at the Syndicate Conference , and I was disturbed to discover how Read More...
Posted Friday, May 20, 2005 8:11 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

RSS: its strength is also its weakness

Bob Wyman seems to be pretty certain that the dominant syndication format of the forseeable future is Atom : "...it is clear that the heyday for the historical RSS format has passed. RSS is a historical format, Atom represents the future. We don't need Read More...
Posted Friday, May 20, 2005 7:17 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Completely Rethinking the Web

Dirk Knemeyer has written an intriguing article over at Digital Web Magazine, 'Completely Rethinking the Web' . Dirk's view is that the purist web-only interface approach is a design constraint that needs to be removed when designing e-commerce interfaces. Read More...
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 9:22 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

It is time...Execute Order Sixty-Six.

Saw 'Revenge of the Spliff' this morning...is the best of the new 3, imho. But nothing beats ESB. Read More...
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 8:58 PM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

Microsoft Offers Improved Blogging Tools to Windows Hosters

Netcraft reports that Microsoft has released an updated suite of tools for hosting providers, which will make it easier for Windows hosting customers to create blogs and online forums. "The Web Site Starters included in the suite ( Microsoft Solutions Read More...
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 8:51 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Flash 7 at 90%

Flash continues its ubiquitous presence. Flash v.7 installed base at 90%. Flash v.any 98%... Worldwide Ubiquity of Macromedia Flash by Version (NPD Online - Worldwide Survey) V. 2 V. 3 V. 4 V. 5 V. 6 V. 7 Mar-05 US 98.30% 98.20% 98.10% 97.80% 96.80% 90.00% Read More...
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 9:03 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

AKQA + Microsoft design Xbox 360 UI

AKQA has finally been able to get round to announcing that they've been working closely with Microsoft to design the new Xbox 360 interface. PR Newswire has the full press release , via Usability News . Russ Glaser Group UI Design Manager at Xbox is quoted: Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 18, 2005 9:08 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Game consoles are like buses...

Game consoles are like buses. None come around for ages, then three come all at once. 1. Xbox 360 - May 12 2005 2. Playstation 3 - May 17 2005 2. Nintendo Revolution - May 17 2005 Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 18, 2005 12:00 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Xbox 360 'briefing video'

E3 'briefing video' is up online . Worth a watch if you are as excited about Xbox 360 as I am :-) Via Larry Hyrb . Read More...
Posted Tuesday, May 17, 2005 10:53 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Newsgator Acquires FeedDemon

This is big news in the RSS world. FeedDemon , the reader I've been using for a couple of years now has been acquired by Newsgator , according to Steve Rubel . As a paying customer (of FeedDemon and Newsgator) I hope that Newsgator's synchronization platform Read More...
Posted Monday, May 16, 2005 9:03 PM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

Platform war between Apple and Microsoft. How retro.

EE posts a viewpoint from Brightcove on the digital media landscape: "In one corner, we have the vertically-integrated Apple approach - armed with HD-friendly QuickTime, iPod and video-enabled iTunes, the Mac Mini, and Hollywood leverage from half-sister Read More...
Posted Monday, May 16, 2005 8:42 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Xbox 360 makes Time Magazine cover

Via Inside Microsoft : " Time Magazine has a major cover story on the Xbox 360 , with a picture of Bill Gates holding the console on the cover." Read More...
Posted Monday, May 16, 2005 12:53 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

IE 7 to have tabs: official

From IE Blog : "The tabbed browsing experience in the upcoming IE7 beta is pretty basic. Expect additional end-user functionality to come in after the beta." ... more . Read More...
Posted Monday, May 16, 2005 11:03 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

This compelling little mystery can now be safely put to bed

Inside Google asks: "Matt Mullenweg (creator of WordPress, the software that powers this blog) says he sees that Google has widened its search box. I'm not sure . What do you guys think?" Well, the following analysis is the result of my jet lag... I'd Read More...
Posted Sunday, May 15, 2005 4:54 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

2 billionth PC to be sold by 2008. Today, we're at 1 billion.

Steve Ballmer gave a presentation at Stanford Business School (where he dropped out after a year to join Bill Gates at Microsoft in 1980). The video and transcript is available at the Microsoft site . Ballmer points out that the 2 billionth PC will be Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 14, 2005 6:38 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Useful Screencasting links

If you're looking for info on Screencasting, The Indian blogger has some useful resource links . Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 14, 2005 11:37 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Nameplanet - my nomination for worst customer support

I'm going to nominate Nameplanet , a webmail provider Kate (my wife) uses, for the worst customer support for any online-based company. Kate was unfortunate enough to delete her entire inbox after a new IA was launched. She's tried mutliple times to contact Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 14, 2005 11:03 AM by alexbarn | 54 Comments

MessageCast acquired by Microsoft

Steve Rubel picked up on this, but is official now . MessageCast has been acquired by Microsoft. "The MSN® network of Internet services today announced that it has acquired substantially all the assets of MessageCast Inc., a leading provider of automated Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2005 8:24 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Self-replicating robots a reality

According to the BBC , self-replicating robots are now a reality. "By turning and moving, the cubes can pick up new units, decide where they belong, and stack them alongside each other to make new devices. In a little more than a minute, a simple three-cube Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:13 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Accenture launches RSS screensaver

"Researchers at Accenture Technology Labs have just launched a tool that combines your choice of RSS feeds with a screensaver format. See for yourself with our free download. ...This screensaver acts in the same way as a web browser pulling information Read More...
Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:53 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Chicken Sushi

Am in Tokyo for a few days...all new to me, including the chicken sushi I had last night. I'm alive this morning and that's what counts. Read More...
Posted Saturday, May 07, 2005 8:41 PM by alexbarn | 10 Comments

Forbes video interview with Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble is video interviewed by Forbes (not for being the richest business blogger). Read More...
Posted Thursday, May 05, 2005 10:37 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Microsoft's Mr Linux - Channel 9 interview (video)

Channel 9 gets an interview with Microsoft's Mr Linux, Martin Taylor: "Charles Torre sits down with Martin Taylor and Bill Hilf and chats about Linux, Windows and Microsoft. Martin Taylor is Microsoft's General Manager of Competitive Strategy. He's the Read More...
Posted Tuesday, May 03, 2005 8:24 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments
 
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