291 Posted Topics
 | This has started earlier than I expected. American readers will be quite used to the idea that in many areas if you go to Google Maps you'll find pictures of the street as well as maps. Personally I think this is a good thing; only two days ago I was … |
| | The debate goes on and on about whether social networking and in particular Twitter are any use for the business community. One of the better debates I've seen about this is [URL="http://www.greenrow.co.uk/blog/2009/03/comment-can-twittering-bring-tweet.htm"]here[/URL] on the Green Row blog. The woman who's written it is in PR so she may have vested … |
| | One of the major problems with social networks - hey, one of the major problems with any new trend - is that so many people spend so long trying to persuade themselves that they're actually looking at just another version of an existing thing. So if I'd been around when … |
| | So Google is going to compete with Skype. If you weren't signed up to the GrandCentral service the company acquired, forget it - as per the info on [URL="http://www.google.com/voice/about"]this link[/URL], the service is only available for existing customers right now. All the same, it's an interesting move. At the moment … |
| | Many UK participants in Daniweb will be aware of the various social media that carry music. They will have been delighted by the free stuff that you can listen to on [URL="http://www.lastfm.com"]Last.FM[/URL], [URL="http://www.spotify.com"]Spotify[/URL] and [URL="http://www.youtube.com"]YouTube[/URL] - you can even get the Beatles on YouTube, which is pretty much unique among … |
| | Here's a worrying trend - people are pretending to be other people on the Internet and social networks. So far, so incredibly well-known, predictable and not at all surprising. What is perhaps more of a surprise is that when a fake is uncovered they tend to [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7929360.stm"]stick around[/URL]. They don't … |
| | Following yesterday's interesting events - in which the story to which I referred changed three times and was then taken down within two hours of my linking to it - here's something a little lighter for the weekend. A family is auctioning its talents and above all its availability to …  |
| | I'm excited today. I've had a meeting with a publisher and I've been commissioned - contract in the post - to write a book about using social media for business. There, I wasn't going to tell you but you forced it out of me. It will be out in October. … |
| | It's official - the regulators are not going to stop British Telecom from going ahead with putting faster Internet in throughout the UK as long as it's financially viable. Some non-UK readers might wonder why the regulator had to get involved - it's because we have a strange and twisty … |
| | So the analysts are saying computers are going to decline in volume shipments this quarter, for the first time in ages. I'm not surprised. The circumstances are probably worse for the IT industry than they were last time this happened, in 2002. The people who make these things have made … |
| | There are ways of marketing yourself using social media and there are ways of not doing so. One of the ways of not doing so is by making a complete fool of yourself and then allowing the fact to get out. Take the marketing company in [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7914415.stm"]this story[/URL]. That's Ivell … |
| | It looks like common sense has broken out in New Zealand. There was a proposal to allow people to cut off customers completely when they were suspected of flouting copyright laws. Now that appears to be on [URL="http://www.out-law.com/default.aspx?page=9831"]hold[/URL]. I hope it won't come back. Let's be honest, I don't like … |
| | A belated word about last week's [URL="http://www.facebook.com"]Facebook[/URL] fiasco, if I may. You might remember the company aroused all sorts of excitement when it changed its terms and conditions to allow itself rights in perpetuity to images on its servers. The BBC had a [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7897824.stm"]social media expert[/URL] in to explain how … |
| | ...I didn't get any email outage at all through my [URL="http://www.google.com/a"]Google Apps[/URL] account. Call me old-fashined but when you sign up for something like that you deserve to be included if everyone else gets a complete service failure. I can only assume this is because, remiss of me though it … |
| | Many people will have seen the report on Digital Britain and what our Government wants from it in the relatively near future. Everyone to have fast broadband (good idea but not necessarily affordable), more Government services to be available online, that sort of thing. There's a discussion and feedback forum … |
| | Well, thank goodness for that. A couple has failed to sue Google for infringing their privacy by - wait for it - including their house in its Street View function on Maps. It is of course (in my view) ludicrous to state that anything visible in public can't be included … |
| | This is the sort of thing that annoys me intensely. Our Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Davies of Abersoch, has been asking the good people at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona what they need to grow the mobile business, what it's all about, that sort of … |
| | Sometimes you see a story and it surprises you. Sometimes it seems like the obvious thing, for many people. And sometimes it concerns something you'd been talking about for months, and why on earth didn't they think of this before? The news about which I'm particularly pleased falls into the … |
| | This is absurd. Last week came the news that [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] was going to launch a retail store - and now [URL="http://www.nokia.com"]Nokia[/URL] is going to do the same in the online world. The Microsoft idea is the most interesting as it's going to be imitating [URL="http://www.apple.com/store"]Apple's operation[/URL] much more directly, both … |
| | It seems that Microsoft thinks security threats are going to multiply as the recession continues to bite. It says [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7875904.stm"]here[/URL] that disgruntled and redundant employees will resort to foul means to take contacts to the next job. This sounds kind of familiar to me. Far be it from me to …  |
| | President Obama - I still like saying that and I'm not even in his continent (OK, a little bias there, you may disagree) - is of course to be applauded for his decision to launch a root and branch investigation into American cyber-security. In fact I'd urge other countries, particularly … |
| | I was initially pleased to see that Microsoft is going to start offering a Fix-it system which you can download from the Web. You have a computer problem, then assuming you can still get at the Internet you go onto Microsoft's pages, download this new fix-it thing and it will … |
| | Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Once upon a time, there was a newspaper in the UK. It had an editor, it had employees, it had stories, like any other newspaper. Then it grew a website. One day, presumably someone made someone on the web side very unhappy. We … |
| | I can't imagine the issue is of much interest outside the UK (although I see the New York Times is having a laugh at our expense, understandably) but it's been snowing a bit in London. This will become important in a minute, bear with me. I should explain that in … |
| | Over in the UK the Government has issued what it's calling the Digital Britain Report. There has been a lot of reaction. Essentially the idea is that everyone should have broadband in their house by 2012 (just in time for us to underfund the Olympics) and, er...and they all live … |
| | Just back from a briefing with the registration company behind the new .tel domain. Interesting stuff in that it's not really about websites as people who've gone in on the first wave of registrations, for commercial companies with trademarked names, will know. Given the spate of fake celebrities - in … |
| | Yesterday I blogged about a blogger who didn't seem to realise he'd become a de facto publisher by putting his stuff on the Internet. He'd taken someone to court over a comment they'd made on his blog and - understandably - the judge considered that if he hadn't felt strongly … |
| | I've been watching the blogosphere or whatever we're calling it with interest for a fair while now. Not because I think it's going to take over from 'proper' journalists like me; I have 20 years' experience and although this can of course be duplicated, it kind of takes 20 years. … |
| | I've seen it all now - the most expensive phone in the world, probably, and of course it's an iPhone. Not just any iPhone from Apple, mind you, but a diamond-encrusted one. Here's a [URL="http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/blog/?p=2564"]picture[/URL]. It's yours for $1.6 million. OK, it's hideous and it's a gimmick and nobody would … |
| | I've been writing in the UK's Guardian newspaper about the prospects of 3D in the television world. There was some excitement at CES about the new technology (I say 'new', I'd seen demos in 2006 in Paris) and it's apparently going to be the Next Big Thing. Or not. In … |
| | Here we go again. The European Union (hello from Europe, everyone!) is once again complaining that Microsoft is abusing its market leadership position by continuing to put Internet Explorer into Windows. I can halfway see the point, but I don't think they're right. The way I explained it to my … |
| | It's true, Elvis Presley's birthplace and I are complete strangers. But if I had been there, or better still if I were planning to visit, I hope I wouldn't say anything overtly insulting about the place. Unlike, say, James Andrews, VP of Ketchum PR. He seems to have [URL="http://mumbrella.com.au/2009/01/16/two-digital-blunders-pr-man-disses-his-clients-city-on-twitter-radio-trade-bodys-rogue-email/"]embarrassed himself[/URL] … |
| | It occurs to me that I've been talking a lot on this blog about data going missing here in the UK. I've given our Government and various people a hard time - if they cared what I said it'd hurt. I've said these things are managerial rather than technical. And … |
| | Great news - not. Google, the great way to search for just about anything, has a major downside according to new research. Thanks to the amount of data centers it utilises and searches, a Google search has the same environmental impact as making a cup of tea (or coffee if … |
| | I shudder when I look at some of the losses there have been in data and then the amount of people who complain that it's all down to computers. Here's a big secret; it isn't. Late last years someone bought a system on eBay which had loads of private information … |
| | There's only been one story in most of the UK National papers this year so far, apart from 'Apple releases some fairly dull equipment', and that's been Twitter. Last year everyone was talking about [URL="http://www.facebook.com"]Facebook[/URL], with one firm of lawyers over here banning its use before it took over the … |
| | It looks like Apple, in spite of the absence of Steve Jobs from Macworld this year, is going to release something fairly special in its last appearance at the event. The [URL="http://cultofmac.com/apple-introduces-amazing-macbook-wheel/6665"]Macbook Whee[/URL]l has been leaked to a select audience and the Cult of Mac site has the exclusive video … |
| | Reports just in suggest that a couple of manufacturers are about to launch televisions with the capacity to view films immediately built in. At least that's what the confusingly-worded [URL="http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKTRE5040E820090105?feedType=nl&feedName=uktechnology"]news report[/URL] I picked up said (unusual for Reuters to confuse us in this way). What it means is that TVs …  |
| | An interesting report from the BBC this morning suggests that smartphone sales will decline worldwide except in developing nations over the coming 12 months. Well, duh. It's been known for a while at least in the UK that there are now actually more handsets than there are people. And as … |
| | Following my colleague's excellent blog yesterday about [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3724.html"]what Apple should produce in January[/URL] one rumour appears to be gaining increasing amount of ground - that there will be an iPhone Nano within weeks. The reason this apparently makes sense is that someone is making a case for it and there's … |
| | Yesterday I highlighted a few gadgets I thought it was worth getting people for Christmas. Today I thought I'd do the opposite - do not, repeat not, buy any of the following. Digital photo frame is a definite no-no. I've bought one for my in-laws last year and they said … |
| | So Dani (of Daniweb fame) was asking me to go through a few gadgets for the Christmas season. So of course I've left it until the last minute - with prices going the way they are at the moment (we're into closing-down sales and stuff over this side of the … |
| | So, Apple isn't going to do the whole razmatazz thing again, the European Macworld is off and Steve Jobs isn't doing the annual presentation in January. Let's get the last item out of the way first: Mr. Jobs' absence has led to a load of speculation about his health. I … |
| | Following my post earlier today it looks as though Microsoft is [URL="http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/19908/20932/microsoft-critical-internet-explorer-patch.phtml"]poised to remedy the IE fault[/URL]. That's it - public service information message, nothing else in this blog entry. |
| | Oh terrific. Just when we thought things were winding down for the festive season, Microsoft users are advised not to use Internet Explorer until a major security vulnerability is plugged. Clearly I agree, but I'd add a second plea - when you've cross-graded to Chrome, Firefox, Opera or whatever else, … |
| | To start hinting that you're going to make the best ever media phone this close to Christmas could of course save many of us a lot of money. "Of course, darling, I was going to spend £500 on a media phone for you but the [URL="http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/rumor-zune-phon.html"]Zune phone[/URL] is apparently coming … |
 | Much as I hate hype I do agree it's more than just a phone. I've had many phones with added cameras, music players etc. but not really stretched them as I could. I'd play the odd bit of music and collect my mail religiously (costing around £90 a month). The … |
| | It's an odd thing, being a journalist. Your job is to report what other people have said and only occasionally should your own view creep in, if at all. It's the same in America; the serious newspapers were exemplary in being fair to both sides in the recent election, at … |
| | Here we have it - only days after it emerged the the European Union was censoring an image on Wikipedia it's [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/09/wikipedia-ban-reversed"]changed its mind[/URL]. The image, from the Scorpions' 1976 album, Virgin Killers, can now be seen on the Wikipedia site - it depicts a nude female child with her … |
| | It's official - the computer mouse is 40 years old today. Good grief I feel old, I'm older than the earliest mouse. That's somewhat sobering. The first mouse was made of wood. It was much, much larger than the hand-held devices we have today and it was much less precise … |
The End.