Youtube to feature video ads

Don't tell me you didn't see this coming.

I'm actually surprised this didn't happen prior to this...

If you're like me, and you occasionally go to Youtube to view different kind of videos (music, sports, funny stuff...etc..)

You'll notice in the next few days that the videos will now feature an overlayed video ad.

Advertising is everywhere!

(AP article on Yahoo!)

Apache loosing ground to IIS

I have and still do work with both Apache and IIS servers..... yes live ones.

Anyways, Apache has been the longtime king of http requests.

Seems as though Microsoft has been gaining ground.

(PC World article on Yahoo)

BioFuels??? Maybe not!

Haven't been posting much... Summer is almost over.

This article really caught my eye.

Seems that there is speculation that producing and distribution of bio-fuels could increase carbon emissions.

Check it out.

(ZDNet article)

Technologically re-united

As technology may sometimes simplify and at the same time complicate our lives, here's a story where technology played a key role in reuniting a mother and her son.

I thought this was a neat story.

Facebook is certainly a hot spot on the net, and I could see many more reunions like this one.

(CNN Story)

Buyout, buyout, buyout.... CBS takes LastFM for $280 Million

That's right.

There have been so many buyouts... amazing.

I just read that CBS has purchased LastFM for $280 Million.

I use LastFM, I enjoy it..... seeing what I listen to mostly. I don't really use any of the features that would suggest new music.

I'm usually pretty fussy on what I really like..... although I do like a very wide variety of music genres.

(Reuters + ZDnet)

Google "Street Views" in Maps

I checked this out today and I was very impressed.

I played around looking at different areas of New York with this today. All street views. Pretty wild really.

It is almost scary when you start thinking about the amount of data being mined... and also being analyzed.

(PC World)

Google buys GreenBorden

Another addition to the google family.

Google bought GreenBorden, they are an internet security firm.

(Yahoo+AFP)

Google buys Feedburner

The mighty Google has made another aquisition.

Feedburner is the latest to be bought our by the giant.

(Article here)

Linux users are inviting Microsoft to sue them

This is a neat article.... actually the original title of the article is great.

Microsoft had claimed that Linux had infringed on 235 patents.... these users seem to want to challenge them on this claim....

I love this article.

By the way, I administer both Microsoft 2003 and Linux servers..... I do like both products.

Although, I think that in some cases.... these patent infringement accusations and lawsuits have the ability to hinder actual useful progress...

Is Microsoft blowing hot air??

Possibly.... we'll find out I'm sure.

(Yahoo - Infoworld)

Web based messengers

Here's a recent article on web based messengers.... I'm not sure if there is a complete list of the ones they've reviewed... but they list their top 6.

(PC World)

Water proof camcorder

Do you swim?
Do you want to record "under water" digital videos?

There's gonna be a new camcorder for you on the market.

The Xacti E1 might just be for you. It looks like a nice little gadget.

How much did VoIP weigh in 2006?

I thought this was an interesting article.

I've never thought about bytes, kilobytes and their weight...

In this article, Russell Shaw shows us how to calculate this in a round a bout way.

(His ZDNet blog post)

Microsoft buys aQuantive Inc.

Seems as though on Friday, Microsoft made their move in the web services wars... they bought aQuantive Inc. A company that specializes in online ads and such....

Microsoft is said to have offered $6 billion cash for the purchase.

They will eventually include these ads in their xBox games and probably in other online services.

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo.... etc... let the wars continue.

(Article by AP on yahoo.com)

Linus Torvalds - on Microsoft patent infringment accusations

Here's an article directed at Microsoft's recent claims that Open Source software "owes them" because of many patent infringments.

(Information week)

Quite an article : DRM against Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and Real

This is quite a claim.... a small software company sends cease and desist notices to Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and Real Networks for not using its product.

Wow...

The company's name is Media Rights Technologies.

Check it out @ The Register

Microsoft's demand for royalties - Open Source

Microsoft seems to want royalties on open source software.

Microsoft claims that there are 235 violations of it's patents.

There are patents ranging from user interface, Linux Kernel... Open Office...etc.

With a huge business like this, I see some practical problems.

This company has a virtual monopoly on operating systems. Thus holding so many patents to 'x' out the competition on hardware that pretty much ONLY sells it's operating systems..... maybe I should not have used the word virtual.

Also, with one company with so much influence because of this "virtual monopoly" in the OS buiz... if Microsoft can use it's many patents to then shut down all these open source projects and possibly extend the range into other businesses.... another problem arises.

Microsoft could slow the pace of useful technology... bye bye innovation. Not to say that Microsoft doesn't have some ideas on what to develop next.... but they are not the sole group of developpers who are inspired to create new things/technology...

This is partially a battle of control.

(PC World article)

IBM and Green energy

According to this article, IBM will be spending $1 Billion a year to double it's energy efficiency.

I think that is great news. Although there are all kinds of opinions about global warming, changes in weather etc... we all know that pollution is bad. And, I think we've seen that conserving or being as energy efficient is very important.

This is a responsible move in my opinion. And in the long run, I'm sure it will pay off.

(Yahoo - PC World)

Oasis database technology

A new database technology has been released.

This software is designed for people who have very little to no knowledge of programming. Basically it seems like it lets you build your database using drag and drop functionality... no SQL statements.... etc.

I wonder exactly how it runs. I'd love to see it just out of curiosity.

(IT Business)

Comcast - New high speed network in the works

There was a demonstartion of Comcast's new network technology recently.

It came in at about 150 megabits per second. That's pretty fast.
;-)

The company mentioned that within a couple of years this new technology should be available on their network... and that it wouldn't be that far off from current cable modem prices.
(That would be great news)

(Yahoo - Canadian Press)

Yahoo Travel

Yahoo has re-worked their travel site.

If you are travelling or planing a trip, this site may be of help to you. Could save you a little bit of $$ as it is supposed to help you with your travelling choices.

I am a bit of a fan of some of Yahoo's web services, I haven't personally used this site yet.. but I'll certainly keep an eye on it.

http://travel.yahoo.com/

Sun comes out with their own RIA

Following the growing popularity of RIAs like Flex, Microsoft had made their announcements about Silverlight.

Now, Sun has announced they are coming out with their own version of the RIA platform.

I was a bit surprised at this. Microsoft, I did expect to jump into the boat and wasn't that surprised that they were going to open source part of Silverlight.

But Sun coming out with Java FX (yes that is it's name!)... I didn't really see coming.

I wouldn't think that it will take over this market, but then again, you never know.

One thing is for sure... the competition is growing fierce.

(Article here)

MySpace to purchase Photobucket

The never ending stream of big IT merges and buyouts... at least it seems like it.

MySpace is reported to be buying Photobucket... interesting, as the 2 were previously feuding.

Remember Macromedia VS Adobe?? (Now known as Adobe!)

$250 million in cash.....

Online services like this.... bigtime business nowadays.... overpriced??

I wonder how much money they actually generate.

(Yahoo - Reuters)

More on Microsft + Yahoo merger rumours

Here's an interesting post on the merger rumours...

This would be so huge if it happened.

(Information week article)

$10 laptop

This is pretty neat.... even innovative.

In India, they are going to try and develop the $10 laptop.

(Check it out)

Microsoft / Yahoo rumours revisited

The mere thought of this merger makes me twitch...

2 Giants, align... to attempt to take over...

Nothing but rumour so far.... but is it?
(eerie music here)

Here is a post with some reasons why they perhaps would want to combine their respective forces...
PCMag

Here is another article talking about a deal...
PCMag again!

Check out the estimated buying price.... $50 billion

Is that all??

Google VS Microsoft - Silverlight fight

Google VS Microsoft.

Seems like some people over at InfoWorld are thinking that Microsoft might use (or might try to use) Silverlight to provide "richer" or more interesting online services than Google.

So far, from what I've read, it's a bit hush hush.

But you never know.

(InfoWorld article)

Digg dug?

Apparently, Digg has recently found itself in quite a conflict.
(Digg's website)

Seems like when some HD-DVD hack code was posted, it was pulled by Digg... which infuriated many of Digg's userbase.

On a site like Digg, and most of the internet (IMO).... it's all about being user driven.

Really.

The internet is amazing in many different ways. Many companies have exploded in such a short time.... but, a company can also implode or disapear in an equal short time.

The new world.

(ZDNet blog)

Dell to run Linux Ubuntu

I think this is great.

More choice, in the mainstream.

Dell has announced that they will be offering Linux Ubuntu on some desktop and notebook models.

I've used Ubuntu, and still use it on 2 servers. Ubuntu has a large community base, and it's user interface is great.

There may be a bit more of a move in the air towards both Mac and Linux... I've always been a windows guy on my laptops and PCs, mainly because of compatibility. But now, because of software like Open Office, and even Google Apps, I have decided that I will make a switch.

I'm considering a Mac laptop or desktop, and I may set up an Ubuntu desktop for work.

(ZDNet blog post)

Deleting data on your hard drive

This is an interesting article on deleting data from your hard drive.

Certainly, an interesting read for anyone that may want to clear data off a hard drive.

(ZDNet blog)

Want Google to buy you out?

Here's an interesting post on how to get bought....

(Article here)

And now.... good luck!

:-)

Floppy disks are in again??? What??

Oh my...

Check it out.

Want to post some songs on your site?

I've got a new band, we've been putting some stuff together for the last few months. We recently started demoing a bit.

As we don't have a website yet, I don't really feel the need to post songs up yet.... and of course, we're just demoing.... (and yes, I do play music... drums)

I did come across this tool that could come in handy. It basically lets you convert MP3s or Wave files to .swf files, really compresses them down... which will help your potential listeners that may not have a super fast internet connection..

Check it out.
Aleo MP3 to SWF Converter 2.1

Microsoft's Silverlight to partially be open sourced

It seems on the heal of a big announcement by Adobe, that their Flex platform would be open sourced, Microsoft will somewhat follow suit.

It seems they will announce that Silverlight, their answer to Flash/Flex and Laszlo, will be at least partially open sourced.

The world of the rich internet applications, or Web 2.0, or whatever you would like to call it.. is growing more competitive.

Personally, I like Flex.... and I've played with Laszlo which I also do like.

We'll see how popular Silverlight becomes.
(Article here)


Check 'em all out!

Laszlo
Flex
Silverlight

India to offer free broadband

This is impressive...

Sometimes, I do wonder if half the stuff I read on the net is actually true... but, some of it is at least interesting.

India is set to offer 2MB internet free. I've heard such talk before from other places. I'm not sure how many have actually made steps in that direction.... but this is quite neat non the less...

(Article here)

Adobe to release Flex as OpenSource

This is really big news IMO...

Adobe has decided to release Flex as open source.

This is one tool that I'm quite interested in... I've attended many online presentations that are powered by flex and I must say, I've been impressed.

(Read it here)

Google calendars

Google was planning some significant downtime in Google Calendars for an upgrade... but it seems they've changed their minds on the downtime....

I have used Google Calendar a bit.... recently, I started using it a bit more, especially because of the shared calendar capabilities.

(David Berlind's ZDNet blog)

Mac Security - General Security

This is an interesting article....

A contest to find a bug in Mac OS X....

It's not just the Windows VS Mac on security... but the software that you use on your computer.

(Adrian Kingsley-Hughes)

The next ColdFusion 8

As the years pass, I've gotten to play with many different technologies. I've been put in positions to learn new things without necessarily studying.... just being given tasks and having to figure it out.

Over the years, I've worked with ColdFusion.... alot... and I really enjoy it.

I found this interesting blog post on the next version of ColdFusion. It highlights some key features like built in Ajax widgets, .NET integration, a flash based presentation builder and one that really surprised me.... I hadn't heard of this...

MS Exchange integration. This one might appeal to my boss. (Along with some other options of course)

Anyways, here is the post:
(ColdFusion 8 article)

Interesting article... back to 1984??

I thought this was a very interesting article....

With all the data mining going on in the world... seems like we're living in that classic novel.

Are we, or aren't we???

You decide.

(ZDNET Blog)

Upgrading to Vista?

Like many people, I love new stuff. Like way back on christmas morning (when I was a kid..... serious) I'd be so happy to open my junk....

Anyways... Vista.

It's been around for a little bit now.

I've heard some good things.... I've heard all the promo hoopla, and I'm never really swayed by that stuff.

But, I've heard some bad.

I've also seen some general weirdness.

I have not upgraded my work laptop to Vista. I'm quite happy running XP Pro, with 2 Gig of RAM and my software like Eclipse, MySQL tools, Outlook....etc.

I've seen a couple of computers literally crawl after upgrades and have some weird bugs... my boss had a strange bug with MS Office 2007..... he got it taken care of with the help of Microsoft support on the phone (which means they do score a few points).

Recently, I also worked a little on a brand new dell laptop, only had 1 Gig of RAM and came with a fresh new install of Vista. This thing is just plain bogged down. When this person would run just a few things, the laptops RAM shoots up to about 760 MB of usage (and up!!).

I got it to run at about 500MB, but it wasn't running anything. As soon as she uses Outlook for her email and a couple of other programs.... it's just painfully slow.

I would not bother thinking about Vista with any less than 2 Gigs of RAM. And at that, if I was to compare it with my work laptop that currently has 2 Gigs of RAM, to get the same performance as this one with Vista, I would get at least 3 Gigs of RAM. 4 preferably.

Plus, I'd rather see other people go through the pains of the first releases and make sure some bugs are worked out.... because I don't have time to fight with this thing.....

Also, care to "test drive" Vista??

Then go here:
http://windowsvistatestdrive.com/

Over/.

First post back: iPhone... not exactly new

I haven't posted on this blog in an eternity.

So recently, I decided that I would try to start publishing some general thoughts on new, current, upcoming technologies.

One thing that I found was kind of interesting..... Apple's new "iPhone" for instance... Apple now have an army of products (or at least it seems like it) that have that distinct "i-something" kind of ring...

Well... it seems the "iPhone" was around back in 1995-96.

Check it out!