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August 2004 - Posts

My new Smartphone

I got my new Smartphone this week, and am so happy! The SPV C500 is an upgrade my SPV E200 and is working like a dream. See BBC " Boom times ahead for smartphones ". Read More...
Posted Saturday, August 28, 2004 8:52 AM by alexbarn | 8 Comments

What makes RSS readers so compelling?

UI Designer asks what it is that makes RSS readers so compelling . He gives is own reason: "Previously I had bookmarked about 15 sites that I visited on a daily basis, usually in the evening. I'm now easily monitoring 105 sites and it seems to be as easy Read More...
Posted Friday, August 27, 2004 8:16 AM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

Microsoft.com homepage redesign

Some blogs picking up on the new homepage design at Microsoft.com . Stop Design Photo Matt Digital Web Updated ( 28/08/2004): Microsoft Monitor Meyerweb.com Read More...
Posted Thursday, August 26, 2004 9:26 AM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

RSS Usability

Via Lockergnome , some useful tips on RSS usability . Read More...
Posted Thursday, August 26, 2004 9:00 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Get ready for Windows XP Service Pack 2

Microsoft is preparing to release a free update for Windows XP that provides better protection against hackers, viruses, and worms. The best way to ensure you get Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) when it is released is by turning on Automatic Updates today Read More...
Posted Friday, August 20, 2004 9:07 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Geography lessons for Microsoft employees

A Guardian article reports that Microsoft has now: "...launched geography classes for its staff to avoid further bloomers which have caused embarrassment and cost money on a grand scale. He said that as a geographer himself it was depressing that Americans Read More...
Posted Friday, August 20, 2004 8:49 AM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Macromedia Flash 7 install base - US 66.7%, Europe 81%, Asia 76.9%

I don't know how many times the question comes up about the install base of Flash on browsers , so here we go. As of June 2004: Flash 6 was at 94.1% in US, 96.4% in Europe and 92.4% in Asia. Flash 7 was US 66.7%, Europe 81% and Asia 76.9%. Growth seems Read More...
Posted Friday, August 20, 2004 7:52 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

In schools, blogs are the new bulletin boards

At ZDNet : "School Web sites are labor-intensive and are left up to administrators and teachers," said Mr. Grunwald, whose consulting firm in Washington focuses on the technology link between home and school. "With blogging intended to be a vehicle for Read More...
Posted Thursday, August 19, 2004 11:10 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

RSS Weather

As a Londoner, now I can get depressed by RSS Weather . Thanks to David in sunn y ier Sydney Brisbane..grrrr. Read More...
Posted Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:08 PM by alexbarn | 8 Comments

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

You dev? You test? You PM? You are 'client'? Then you need to check out The Braidy Tester (Making developers cry since 1995)...here are some of my favourite posts from his blog: New kid on the blogk "I am a Test Technical Lead, which means I set the technical Read More...
Posted Wednesday, August 18, 2004 9:41 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Request from student - help on blogging survey

I got this mail via my blog...if you have 5 mins, please help this student from Plymouth Portsmouth (thanks Andrew) University doing research on bloggers. Was painless... Comments from Alex Barnett blog: Sender: Haiyan Url: http://www.blogcn.com/User12/searock008/index.html Read More...
Posted Tuesday, August 17, 2004 6:07 PM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

Infothela: A Passage To Indian Villagers (through a PC and Wi-FI)

Technology Review has a wonderful story on some great work going on to provide new opportunities to the people of rural India. I love this: "In Bithoor, which is mired in tradition and poverty, Sharma's parents plan to take her out of school in about Read More...
Posted Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:02 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Blogwars - Real takes on Apple via campaign blog (update: backlash - it is going wrong)

(Via Steve Rubel's Micro Persuasion ) "Real has launched weblog as a tool to help it fight its musical PR war with Apple...no RSS feed though :-( " May the blogwars begin... (Update: Big backlash going on - petition went wrong...very wrong) Read More...
Posted Tuesday, August 17, 2004 1:10 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

UK - If More Digital, Then Less What? Displacement theory?

Consumers in the UK are lapping up more and more electronic media and communications services according to the new " Communications Market 2004 Report ," published last week by Ofcom , regulator for the UK communications industries (TV, telco, wireless, Read More...
Posted Monday, August 16, 2004 3:29 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Skype Gives Telcos a Wake-Up Call

""One day, we will look back and wonder why we ever paid for phone service, in the same way that we now look back and wonder why we ever paid for e-mail," says Steve Jurvetson, a managing partner at venture-capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. His firm Read More...
Posted Sunday, August 15, 2004 8:59 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Nanotech promises internet 100 times faster

(Via Roland Piquepaille ) Canadian researchers have shown that nanotechnology can be used to pave the way to a supercharged Internet based entirely on light. The discovery could lead to a network 100 times faster than today's. "Using a new hybrid material Read More...
Posted Friday, August 13, 2004 9:37 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Not Bill Clinton's blog, but close

I stumbled on to the Clinton Presidential Center , huge site and great resource. No blog yet, but if Bill Clinton were to start one it would probably be hosted there. I searched and found the transcript of a speech Clinton delivered in Blackpool, UK at Read More...
Posted Thursday, August 12, 2004 9:12 AM by alexbarn | 7 Comments

ASP.NET site of the week

Inspired by Frank's ASP.NET Site of the day , I want to know which are the GREAT sites running ASP.NET out there today...They don't have be the big commercial sites, but I am looking for the cool, innovative, funky or smart...something that stands out Read More...
Posted Wednesday, August 11, 2004 7:44 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

ZDNet: Positive reaction to XP SP2

ZDNet article on review of XP SP2: "Security company F-Secure has reverse-engineered SP2, a process the company compares to taking apart a virus or worm to see how it functions, and the company's initial reaction is very positive. "They have implemented Read More...
Posted Wednesday, August 11, 2004 6:53 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Genomic SETI: The truth is inside us?

Paul Davies , author of Mind of God is Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University has proposed that the Genome@Home project could be extended to analyse human DNA for sign of genetic 'messaging' by Read More...
Posted Tuesday, August 10, 2004 5:58 PM by alexbarn | 3 Comments

Microsoft speak

So, quite a few people have been raising the issue around the use of the word ‘so’ by people at Microsoft, so I just wanted to pick up on that thread and in fact extend that out to discuss our taxonomies and usage of the English language in Read More...
Posted Friday, August 06, 2004 6:20 PM by alexbarn | 16 Comments

MSDN Channel 9 - My favourite videos

MSDN's Channel 9 has a bunch of interviews with Microsoft peeps...I thought I'd share with you my favourites (chronological order, lastest at top): Iain McDonald answers the question: "What's the biggest suprise that will come out of Microsoft in the Read More...
Posted Friday, August 06, 2004 10:55 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Web Pages That Suck - Microsoft.com?

To be honest, I'm not sure what Vincent Flander's is going on about at webpagesthatsuck.com . He mentions a redesign on the Microsoft.com homepage : "This page makes the Daily Sucker because it talks about how they've improved Microsoft.com by redesigning Read More...
Posted Thursday, August 05, 2004 7:56 AM by alexbarn | 6 Comments

CIO Jury: Corporates get blogging bug

From Silicon.com . "While the phenomenon of web logs – or blogging – as it's more commonly known, has largely been confined to internet-savvy enthusiasts, IT business leaders are starting to wake up to its business potential. A blogging conference Read More...
Posted Wednesday, August 04, 2004 1:21 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

eBay serves 1 billion XML (read - Web services) queries per month

"As pointed out by Information week magazine , there are 50,000 developers signed up for Amazon Web Services program, and 8,000 companies and individual programmers enjoying membership in eBay API program. There are roughly 600 application built on eBay Read More...
Posted Wednesday, August 04, 2004 7:33 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Jonathan Schwartz: "Whoever owns Novell controls the OS on which IBM's future depends."

Sun's Jonathan Schwartz : "Whoever owns Novell controls the OS on which IBM's future depends." (Via David Winer's Scripting News ) Read More...
Posted Monday, August 02, 2004 5:02 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Will the Olympic stadium be ready in time?

Mark Baatse may have the answer . Read More...
Posted Monday, August 02, 2004 4:34 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Microsoft Rebooted

Todd Bishop at Seattle P-I reports on new book by Robert Slater - Microsoft Rebooted. "His "Microsoft Rebooted" is a behind-the-scenes account of cultural shifts taking place within the company. The book focuses, in particular, on efforts by Microsoft Read More...
Posted Monday, August 02, 2004 9:08 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

ASP.NET Forums 1.0 >> 2.0 = Community Server :: Forums

Rob Howard of Telligent Systems (and former caching guru from the ASP.NET team at Microsoft) and Scott Watermasysk (creator of .Text) have announced major upgrade to v1.0 of ASP.NET Forums . They've taken this opportunity to rename ASP.NET Forums 2.0 Read More...
Posted Sunday, August 01, 2004 9:03 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Does a phone line count as Internet Access?

Do you think a phone line counts as Internet Access? No? Well, apparently some hotels think so ... Read More...
Posted Sunday, August 01, 2004 7:44 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments
 
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