Tim O'Reilly, as influential in cyberspace as Bill O'Reilly is on the air waves,
is fed up with Internet bullies, especially those that intimidate and threaten.
What really got under O'Reilly's skin (Tim, not Bill) are the increasing number
of death threats against bloggers. O'Reilly is so riled he's calling for a
code
of conduct for the blogosphere.
He hopes such a code and self-regulation will solve the problem. That's like
asking Rosie O'Donnell to regulate her Ring Ding consumption! Not likely to
happen.
Posted by Doug Barney on April 02, 20070 comments
Office Communications Server 2007, a new package designed to integrate Voice
over IP with traditional telephony,
is
in widespread beta in preparation for release this year (hence the 2007
product designation).
One neat trick lets users make phone calls from within Office. This sounds
like one of those whiz-bang features that only a technophile would use. I can't
imagine crafting the perfect @function and suddenly deciding to call and brag
to my best girl. But that's just me.
Posted by Doug Barney on April 02, 20070 comments
Ever buy a product for a critical function, only to have the vendor go out of
business? What did you do? How did you support a tool with no vendor to back
it?
And when buying from a startup, which may or may not make it, what special
precautions do you take? Do you demand to see the balance sheet, get source
in escrow or come in with a backup plan in case they go under?
We are writing a feature story about these topics and would love to hear your
war stories, lessons and advice. E-mail me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on March 29, 20070 comments
When Microsoft Research built technology that brings smoother video, better
content organization and Web navigation to mobile devices, the company could
have turned it into a Microsoft product, or perhaps added it to its Smartphone
and other mobile OSes.
Instead, Microsoft decided to spin it off as a separate company, and then invest
in it as a venture capitalist.
And
so it is that we have ZenZui (the name seems to have little or no actual
meaning), which is already aiming its software at the Zune. As Microsoft explains,
"ZenZui works as a widget- or icon-based navigation system that allows
the user to zoom in and out of various applications."
Posted by Doug Barney on March 29, 20070 comments
You might think I'm writing the same story twice, as Microsoft this week talked
about new technology to improve the browsing capabilities of mobile devices.
Instead of ZenZui, Microsoft was
extolling
the virtues of Deepfish, a technology that makes cell phone and PDA browsers
look more like their larger PC or laptop brethren.
Deepfish offers the full layout of the Web site, but in a way that lets users
easily read the content.
No, it's not a giant magnifying glass. Instead, Deepfish loads the portion
of the Web site you are actually exploring. And best of all, DeepFish can work
with existing pages without having them recrafted for mobile.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 29, 20070 comments
My standard search engine went from AltaVista to Google four years ago (I'm
a late bloomer, I know).
That may have to change now that I've found SearchWithKevin.com.
That's Kevin as in Kevin Federline. Do enough searches and I may win a T-shirt,
an autographed picture or, the grand price, an autographed K-Fed CD!
Dang.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 29, 20070 comments
Google often seems like its strategy is driven by what Microsoft is doing (a
mistake Novell and WordPerfect made years ago). Just as frequently Microsoft
makes plans, products and pronouncements based on Google's latest plans, products
and pronouncements.
Don't believe me? A week or so ago, Viacom
sued YouTube (owned by Google) for copyright infringement. Faster than you
can say "Ask
a Ninja," Microsoft struck
a deal with NBC and Fox to legitimately distribute video over MSN.
At nearly the same time Microsoft put one of its rising stars, Satya Nadella,
on the Google case. Nadella, who was driving
the fast-growing Dynamics ERP business, is now
in charge of Live Search and Microsoft's efforts to sell ad-subsidized software
services.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 28, 20070 comments
Visual Studio Team System is an important development tool for Microsoft, partly
because it truly offers deep collaboration, but also because it has a high-end
price tag and presumably large profit margins.
But not all are willing to pay big bucks to access Team System, which is where
devBiz,
just acquired by Microsoft, fits in. This company, now part of Microsoft,
offers Web access to many of Team System's collaboration features. This could
improve your development project and save a few bucks in the process!
One of the coolest aspects is that it was announced at VSLive!,
a show the Redmond Media Group now owns.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 28, 20070 comments
MOM, Microsoft's way of watching over Windows networks and correcting them
when they go wrong, is passing its apron over to the new boss --
System
Center Operations Manager, one in a new line of forthcoming System Center
management tools.
Microsoft, though, seems confused as to what to call this thing. Ordinarily,
we'd just use the acronym -- Microsoft loves acronyms and even uses them to
refer to beta software (CTP, RC) and licensing (SA, EA).
But as fellow newsletter
writer Lee Pender of Redmond Channel Partner points out, Microsoft
is steering clear of
"SCOM" and calling it just "Operations Manager." That's
a fine name, so why does "System Center" have to precede it?
The tool was announced this week at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS, an
acronym Microsoft isn't shy about using), but there are already 20,000 customers.
Is it really a new product if it's already in such widespread use?
Posted by Doug Barney on March 28, 20070 comments
The U.S. Department of Transportation
just
says no to Vista. Actually, the agency is simply saying that users cannot
upgrade existing machines to the new OS.
If I was smart enough to be in IT, I'd order the same thing.
Installing Vista on any computer that didn't come with it is a waste of time
-- probably a lot of time. The way to move to Vista is to do so with new machines
so you know it'll work out of the box.
On a related note, I laugh when people ask how Vista is doing, or when the
press and analysts talk about Vista pickup. Vista will take over the world as
people buy new PCs, no slower or faster. Of course, this is coming from a man
not smart enough to actually be in IT.
How will your shop move to Vista? Are you demanding that new machines run XP,
or letting Vista in as machines are replaced? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on March 28, 20070 comments
I once tried to become a Microsoft licensing guru. I read a book by
Scott
Braden and a report by
Directions
on Microsoft.
Struggle as I might, I finally realized that becoming an expert meant total
immersion in a complex, often arbitrary, artificial construct designed to prop
up Microsoft's stock price (and how well is that working out?).
I learned enough to write two cover stories -- "SA
Exposed" and "7
Steps to a Better Bargain" -- but still feel inadequate compared to
Mr. Braden and longtime reader Travis Parrent, who wrote a sidebar for me based
upon his mathematical licensing analysis.
Travis last week sent me a link to a blog complaining that Exchange 2007 customers
do
not get licenses to Outlook 2007 -- unless they've ponied up the truly big
bucks for Software Assurance.
The issue is that the new Outlook unlocks some of the coolest Exchange 2007
features. Of course, Microsoft has an easy answer: Just buy Office 2007!
Thanks, Travis.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 28, 20070 comments
Microsoft employee Jeff Jones ran an
analysis
of Vista's first three months compared to the Mac and Linux, and found Vista
has far fewer security flaws.
While a report from Microsoft about Microsoft security has the scent of bias,
I have no evidence to contradict Mr. Jones. There hasn't been a large quantity
of Vista vulnerabilities, and so far no show-stoppers.
But critics smarter than me countered Jones, pointing out that his report only
tracks those holes made public. Making them more suspicious is the fact that
XP came in as the second-most secure operating system.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 27, 20070 comments