GuyClapperton

When I see an article starting with the sentence saying a company offering free software has urged people to start reaping the benefits of free software, I get this sinking feeling. I mean, they would, wouldn't they - it's a bit like Microsoft saying everyone should get the benefit of …

Social networking site [URL="http://www.friendster.com"]Friendster[/URL] is going to get an overhaul under its new owner [URL="http://www.molglobal.net"]MOL Global[/URL]. Commentators including the [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/aug/18/socialnetworking-facebook"]Guardian[/URL] in the UK have reported that the site will become a games portal, putting it on less of a head-to-head footing with its main rival, [URL="http://www.facebook.com"]Facebook[/URL]. You could predict that …

Sometimes you see a press release that's just company puff. Other times you find something you weren't expecting - like the revelation that 46% of the UK's smallest businesses don't have a website, according to [URL="http://press.1and1.co.uk/xml/article;hsessionid=ac170c23hPUPCtPdReCSi1kPQvlF3gQG?article_id=766"]1&1 Internet.[/URL] The initial reaction is to start making excuses. If they're very small then …

Until very recently the idea that [URL="http://www.apple.com"]Apple[/URL] might have to recall a product would have seemed ridiculous. It's one of the best manufacturers of stuff in the world, people would have responded; you can't make them do that, people love the products too much. Then the iPhone 4 came out. …

All the news and social media feeds seem to have overdosed on one story this week: will The Beatles be on iTunes after the big Apple 'Rock and Roll' event today? News at eleven: I don't give a stuff, and here's my top ten reasons why. [LIST=1] [*]Most people would …

It's very interesting to read that the Playstation 3 [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8478764.stm"]might at last have been hacked[/URL] by the same man who 'jailbroke' the iPhone for the first time. Interesting but not all that much use. I mean, who wants a hacked PS3 anyway? The report to which I've linked says there …

Sony has confirmed that it will stop manufacturing and supporting floppy disks from next year. That's it, there will be no more. This tells the technology community a number of things. First, if anyone actually cares about this then the end user community, and particulary the home worker, are further …

Internet marketers using social networks beware - linking to stories on the Internet, much as news bloggers do here on Daniweb and elsewhere, may be about to become a high risk activity. The owner of website [URL="http://www.skyscrapercity.com"]skyscrapercity.com[/URL] is being sued by the Las Vegas Review-Journal for infringement over one of …

iPhones, including the short-supplied iPhone 4, can now be jailbroken according to a new ruling by the [URL="http://www.copyright.gov/"]Library of Congress Copyright Office[/URL]. In other words never mind what Apple says you may and may not install on your phone, you help yourself. On the surface this makes absolute sense. If …

Google is making it much simpler to work out which photos you're allowed to use for what, and which you aren't. The company is allowing people to search for pictures and you can filter by what's available for reuse, what's available for reuse without modification and so on. It's using …

A marketing company in America has been rapped by the Federal Trade Commission for publishing reviews of its clients' games on iTunes. The organisation, Reverb Marketing, has issued a statement suggesting it regarded the matter as trivial and didn't want to spend ages fighting this sort of lawsuit. We haven't …

A small story in the context of the rest of the world is the UK Government's call for the banning of forthcoming computer game, [URL="http://www.medalofhonor.com"]Medal of Honor[/URL]. British Defence Secretary [URL="http://http://www.liamfox.co.uk/text.aspx?id=1"]Liam Fox[/URL] has called for the ban because unlike its predecessors the game is set in Afghanistan, where of course …

[URL="http://www.dell.com"]Dell[/URL] is going to launch its latest assault on the hand-held device market with the release of a handset called Aero. It's going to be available in the US only but that's a big enough market; it will cost $99 on contract. It's a move that will surprise many, for …

[URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL] has upgraded its mobile version of [URL="http://www.youtube.com"]YouTube[/URL] so that it shares more in common with the desktop version on HTML5 enabled phones. This anticipates the idea that more people will watch videos on the move than on the desktop, so you'll get a better browsing experience, the ability to …

[URL="http://www.adobe.com"]Adobe[/URL] has nailed its Android-coloured flag even more firmly to the wall than it had done before. The company hosted its so-called Android Conference yesterday in which it put forward the ways in which its software will be closely tied to the Google-owned operating system. It's not all positive. Adobe …

[URL="http://www.facebook.com"]Facebook[/URL] has got in the way of [URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL] and acquired [URL="http://www.friendfeed.com"]Friendfeed[/URL]. This is not great news for Google. The search giant has one major chink in its armour; you can't search social media in real time. Once entries have been around for a while you can find stuff; I've certainly …

Is this the beginning of a backlash? It looks as though there's some research out there to suggest that the over-55s are starting to [URL="http://www.businessinsider.com/people-over-55-are-quitting-facebook-2009-5"]desert Facebook[/URL]. There could be a number of reasons for this. The best guesses I've seen mostly involve money. This time last year you might recall …

It's not in the stores yet but in Europe at least the anticipation is hotting up for the [URL="http://ww.nokia.com"]Nokia[/URL] N8 smartphone. It's causing excited ripples for two reasons: first it's going to be seen as the first time Nokia has come out with something serious to combat the iPhone in …

Nobody should have any reason to wish the fledgeling [URL="http://www.hmvdigital.com"]HMVDigital[/URL] music store, launching today, anything but the best of luck (unless you're an Apple shareholder). A bad business is in nobody's interests and a competitor to an obvious leader is a good thing. On the surface many of the omens …

[URL="http://www.facebook.com"]Facebook[/URL] has decided to kill off its virtual gifts. According to a report from [URL="http://mashable.com/2010/07/08/facebook-gifts-rip/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29"]Mashable[/URL] nobody is saying why, they're just cutting it out. I'll tell you why. Because it was a rubbish idea, poorly executed. OK, rephrase: as a standalone idea, it sucked. As a component of something else …

It's an odd thing to say about a business that spends so much of its time online and is so skilled at search, video (through YouTube) and all that stuff. But for me, [URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL] has only half an idea of what it's sitting on and a number of sites out-do …

Occasionally something crops up as a classic example of how not to build a social media network, and the BBC's decision to insult its [URL="http://www.facebook.com"]Facebook[/URL] fans is a good example. The idea was to put a dummy site up as a test run for the London Olympics - they're a …

The news - or rather unsubstantiated reports - that Apple is developing an online, cloud version of iTunes can be no surprise to anyone. The surprise, in the light of [URL="http://www.spotify.com"]Spotify[/URL], [URL="http://www.sky.com/songs"]Sky Songs[/URL] and other competitors is that Apple hasn't made a move before. You could actually argue that the …

Today the news has come through - some would say it's a good thing, some will be appalled - that the XXX domain has had approval from ICANN, the authority that sets things up. Personally I'm delighted, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think a 45 year old …

Back this morning from an excellent evening hosted by Toshiba listening to Bruno Beusch, managing director of [URL="http://www.gamehotel.net"]gamehotel[/URL]. He gave a talk about how games were becoming increasingly pervasive and was quite persuasive; the thing that really caught my attention, however, was the idea that game makers would be able …

Interesting that the US Department of Defense has banned thumb drives. The problem is that they can carry viruses and infect computers - and if your nation's defense depends on these systems (and by extension in the case of the US so does the defense of the rest of the …

Apple has apparently shipped 3 million iPads. You'll be aware of that because you read the papers, the blogs, the press releases - and Apple is brilliant at telling everyone when it has a hit (I don't remember getting so much information when it was pushing the Newton). No doubt …

A few days ago I was reporting that people were [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story291008.html"]unable to buy an iPhone 4[/URL] even if they were an existing customer. It gets more complicated. The story now is that O2 and other UK carriers are accepting orders only from people who are existing customers. (Except me, as …

Let me get one thing straight: the [URL="http://www.apple.com/iphone/"]iPhone 4[/URL] is undoubtedly a beautiful device. It's due out in the UK next week - stop giggling - and I would very much like one. The problem is that although ordering started on Tuesday, I've been unable to order one. This is …

The web was awash with rumours yesterday and now there's confirmation - [URL="http://www.aol.com"]AOL[/URL] has sold [URL="http://www.bebo.com"]Bebo[/URL] to [URL="http://www.criterioncapital.co.uk"]Criterion Capital Partners[/URL]. The "why sell" question is too easy to answer to even bother with - it was dying on its backside. The early adopters of social media were fond of Bebo, …