January 14, 2004

Dude, I don’t quite get it?

I was (and still am) fond of what the OpenCola guys created back in the P2P buzz days, but this recent spin-off, “Dude, check this out!” [DCTO?], started by a few of the OC founders and development managers, has me scratching my head — albeit OC did as well. So perhaps I’ll simply reserve dismissal and keep an eye on the progress.

For the most part DCTO seems to be a hybrid of Metafilter, Technorati, Feedster and the Delicious social bookmarks manager.

January 13, 2004

MovableType Posting Client and NewsGator Plugin

Matt Berther has released version 2.0.0.1 of his MovableType posting client/plugin MovablePoster, which integrates nicely with NewsGator in addition to being a stand-alone Windows client. (of course I’m testing MovablePoster via this post :-)

January 12, 2004

MandrakeMove: Bootable Linux Distro

Looks like Mandrake has joined Knoppix in the bootable Linux CD distro trend…

“The MandrakeMove Download Edition is a new product based on Mandrake Linux 9.2 which provides a complete personal desktop operating system on a bootable CD. With MandrakeMove, bring your Mandrake Linux system everywhere: demo it, use it to connect to the Internet, listen to MP3s, watch DivX movies — the possibilities are endless! In addition, the MandrakeMove Boxed Edition provides the ability to save configuration and personal data to a USB key.”

January 7, 2004

NewsGator Online Services

Wow! Greg has been busy! In addition to announcing NewsGator 2.0, there will also be NewsGator Online Services, which includes three [new] content reader editions:

“Web Edition — NewsGator Online Services provides a web-based content reader, which allows users to read content they have subscribed to from any web browser.”
“POP Edition — NewsGator Online Services allows users to read their subscribed feeds in any email client. This includes Outlook Express and Eudora on Windows, Apple Mail and Entourage on the Mac, and any other email client that supports POP3. “
“Mobile Edition — NewsGator Online Services allows users to read their subscribed feeds on any mobile device that supports HTML, including mobile wireless phones and PDA’s. This is a powerful feature for road warriors who use mobile devices to access information while away from home or the office. “

Congratulations Greg! I can’t wait to use the new tools!

January 7, 2004

Remove Hidden Data from Office 2003/XP Documents

I’m in training all week. So I’m a bit out of touch, but I just spotted this little Office “add-in” released by Microsoft that “can permanently remove hidden data and collaboration data, such as change tracking and comments, from Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint files.” (via Lockergnome)

January 4, 2004

Understanding Open Source Software

This is a handy legal explination of Open Source Software by Red Hat’s Mark Webbink, Esq.:

“Mark Webbink, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Red Hat, Inc., wrote this article for corporate attorneys, explaining free and open source software and comparing various open source licenses, detailing how the GPL really works, explaining US copyright law, and listing some corporate law office best practices for software, from the standpoint of what policies are prudent for the corporate environment.
He also explains how derivative works are defined, touches on the indemnification issue and the difference between open source and “shared source”, and highlights some of the main myths and misconceptions about the GPL and open source.” (via /.)

January 3, 2004

Can Armstrong Win Six?

From a spectators point of view, it’s a little early to be thinking of the 2004 Tour de France, but Eurosport has an excellent analysis of Armstrong’s chances for six

“In the group of five-timers, however, Armstrong excels in one crucial domain: More than any of the others, Armstrong can endure the forces of an apocalyptic Tour de France — and still emerge with his yellow jersey intact.” Here’s why…

December 31, 2003

Retire the Wretched Fax Machine

Please! Let’s make 2004 the year we retire the wretched fax machine!

This is despite some of the valid points Paul Rubens of the BBC NEWS makes in his article Fax – the technology that refuses to die (via Gizmodo)

“The fax machine is an ancient piece of office equipment – it was invented in its earliest form by one Alexander Bain in 1843. It transmits the contents of pieces of paper, but these days the chances are high that anything on paper started as an electronic document. So why print it out and fax it when you can e-mail the digital version?”

December 31, 2003

PVR Parts Ordered

Since the hardware is now on order, I suppose I have committed myself to building what Catherine has branded “STeVo“, which is my feeble attempt at a constructing a homebrew PVR (personal video recorder).

Wish me luck!

December 29, 2003

Corporate Search in 2004?

Call it a prediction or stating the obvious, but I believe in the coming year corporate search solutions will be generating a steady buzz — driven primarily by innovative products that focus on unlocking the terabytes of knowledge squandered away in the reassess of the corporate network data stores. A position John Battelle seems to agree with in a recent post on the topic:

“…the overwhelming presumption of webwide search on your desktop is certainly rewiring how corporations think about their more private databanks. A robust market has grown up around “enterprise search,” (some companies, such as FAST, were spun off from consumer search companies, and Google maintains a unit focused on the market). There’s a crop of interesting startups to boot, including Tim Bray’s company, Antarctica. It’s entirely possible some of the next big ideas in search may well be developed in this more focused, less public field.”