On this day, Microsoft decided to cut Vista’s prices to boost sales and ponders buying Xobni and a small startup wants to make programmers obsolete. Ouch.
continue reading "Life in the River, February 29 2008"
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Athow.com: Internet, Media and Technology at its fullest
Musings of a Journalist lost in Technology
28
Feb
News of Tomorrow : An explanation
Published in News of TomorrowEver wondered what the front page of a newspaper of the future would look like? Part Onion, Part The Sun, NoT guesses what the news will be in the forthcoming days, months or years.
News of Tomorrow explores this part fictional, part real layout and shows what tomorrow’s headlines might be.
NoT is in the same vein of Sky News or BBC’s News Night Front Page section or Sky’s ‘What if I were PM’
Much of News of Tomorrow though is firmly rooted in every day reality with anchors to real world events and true to life situations.
Obviously, everything you will read on the frontpages will be purely fictional although you will certainly recognise some faces and events depicted in NoT could come true one day.
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20
Feb
News of Tomorrow - 27.06.2009
Published in News of Tomorrow
Terrorist group cause massive explosion in Yellowstone Park
FEMA says Yellowstone Magma Chamber is under close scrutiny
ABBA announces reunion to mark opening of Museum
My Life as a Christian Convert by Alan Rushdie
Free HD-DVD of the spectacular Sound of Music featuring Julie Andrews
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11
Feb
In the metaverse of bloody obvious inventions that never were, I’d like to introduce a Freeview box that can record to a SD Card. Actually such a beast does not exist and it is a real pity. Only for me though.
I’m looking for a worthy replacement to my computer which I am using to record series and movies which I then transfer to my faithful Toshiba E400 PDA player, which accompanies me during my solitary commutes. Saves me time and having to stare at my shoes.
I’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing this Panasonic DMREZ25 Multi format, Freeview upscaling Recorder which costs £114 on Ebay delivered. It is a DVD recorder which can record up to 17 hours on one DVD disc.
But then, I don’t want to lose time in copying the disc on my computer and then copying it up on my PDA. Utter loss of time.
On the other hand, The SanDisk V-Mate Video Memory Card Recorder might be that special beast I am after. At just under £35 it connects to any analog video source and sucks the content directly to a memory card in glorious MP4 format. However, after close inspection , it seems that it won’t be useful for me at all.
Which brings me back to my initial starting point. Where can I find a freeview box that can record straight to a memory card. With the growing number of card based players, there’s bound to be a manufacturer which comes up with such a product.
Think about it, who wouldn’t like to watch Eastenders’ omnibus on its 3-inch smartphone? Hey! That’s something I’ve been looking for for the best part of 24 months.
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9
Feb
An Update on Microsoft and Yahoo
Published in DealsI am not a proponent of Microsoft buying Yahoo… Here’s what I said on Battellemedia about the whole thing.
Google’s bound to be the winner. Listen to this week’s TWIT podcast for some nice words from Scoble (whatever you might think of him).
If Yahoo refuses the bid, its shares will go down and it will slowly but surely wane away until finally someone buys its carcass: Google and Microsoft are winners
If Yahoo accepts the bid, Microhoo will take at least 18 months for the digestion to take place. Ever witnessed a Python eating an alligator.
The acquisition will take the focus away from MS’s core products and services and will make it even more vulnerable to Google.
IMHO, the web is not Microsoft’s favourite turf and although it has several great brands like MSN, IE and Live, it still lacks that little something that makes Google so dazzling.
You can read my complete coverage for the past week over at ITProPortal.com as well as a Snapshot of Techmeme’s coverage on Friday night.
One week later: Yahoo’s effect on Microsoft Share Prices
Yahoo shares RISE above Microsoft’s lower offer price
Google may seek Yahoo! alliance to rebuff Microsoft
Will Chinese government bid for Yahoo?
Microsoft and Yahoo : Who will be the winners?
Microsoft buying Yahoo : What it means for the rest of us
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Actually, It’s Not Quite Over Yet for Yahoo — While everyone is putting a fork in Yahoo and calling it done, it might take a bit longer for the troubled Internet company’s goose to be fully cooked. — Yes, the Yahoo board will be meeting today to formally discuss the Microsoft unsolicited bid of $31 a share.
Discussion: WebProNews, CenterNetworks, paidContent.org, Silicon Alley Insider, Joe Duck, Tech Trader Daily and Valleywag
Discussion:
David A. Utter / WebProNews: All Quiet On The Yahoo Front
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks: NYU Stern Professors to Offer Analysis of Microsoft’s Bid for Yahoo!
Rafat Ali / paidContent.org: Yahoo Updates: Another Board Meeting Wednesday: New Banker
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider: Yahoo’s D-Day: Postponed
Joe Duck: Yahoo - Game Over Dudes?
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily: Yahoo: Awaiting The Inevitable
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag: Yahoo board meeting postponed until Wednesday
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Yahoo Board To Determine Fate Of Company Today — Sources have indicated to us that Yahoo has scheduled a special board of directors meeting on Friday to determine, effectively, the fate of the company. After a week of hectic negotiating, it’s clear that no one is going to step …
Discussion: GigaOM, Silicon Alley Insider, Google Watch, Techland, Todd Bishop’s Microsoft Blog, Search Engine Journal, Between the Lines, AppScout, Daring Fireball, LiveSide, InformationWeek Weblog, TechConsumer, Electronista, p2pnet, Financial Times, Venture Chronicles, All about Microsoft, Digital Daily, deal architect, The Mac Observer, Valleywag, ParisLemon, Tech Trader Daily, Screenwerk, Search Engine Watch Blog, ZefHemel.com, HipMojo.com, Yahoo! Finance, Data Center Knowledge, PE HUB and Business Week
Discussion:
Om Malik / GigaOM: Asleep At The Wheel: The Yahoo Board
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider: Yahoo’s Likely Microsoft Decision: “Okay, Let’s Talk”
Google Watch: Yahoo Board to Meet on Microhoo?!?!
Michal Lev-Ram / Techland: What Google can do to help Yahoo
Todd Bishop / Todd Bishop’s Microsoft Blog: Latest from Ballmer on Microsoft’s Yahoo bid
Loren Baker / Search Engine Journal: Yahoo Microsoft Decision Happening Today?
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines: Microsoft-Yahoo: The end game nears; Was there an Amazon-Yahoo deal in the works?
Kyle Monson / AppScout: Wikipedia Entry of the Day: Five Steps from Jerry Yang
John Gruber / Daring Fireball: Devil’s Advocate — So, all joking aside, there seems …
Kip Kniskern / LiveSide: MSFT-YHOO: Yahoo to decide its fate today?
Eric Zeman / InformationWeek Weblog: Yahoo To Answer Microsoft Today? Google Waits With Bated Breath
Bob Caswell / TechConsumer: What’s Your Google / Microsoft / Yahoo Usage Breakdown?
Electronista: MS/Yahoo deal to be settled today?
Jon / p2pnet: Yahoo’s last day as Yahoo? — Freedom:- Today is the day for Yahoo.
Financial Times: Softbank says Yahoo Japan holding will not be sold
Jeff / Venture Chronicles: Yahoo Board To Determine Fate Of Company Today
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft: What is it about Microsoft that Yahoo most hates?
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily: Welcome to Microsoft — A popular misconception has it that Yahoo …
deal architect: Microsoft-Yahoo! update — Mike Arrington at TechCruch believes …
The Mac Observer: Yahoo May Reply to MS Bid on Friday
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag: Yahoo board to decide on Microsoft’s offer today
MG Siegler / ParisLemon: WWY! D? What Will Yahoo! Do?
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily: Yahoo Board Reportedly To Meet On Microsoft Bid Today
Greg Sterling / Screenwerk: A Micro-Hoo Decision Coming Soon
Kevin Newcomb / Search Engine Watch Blog: Decision Time for Yahoo? — According to Michael Arrington …
Zef Hemel: Jerry Yang Letter to Yahoo! Employees
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / HipMojo.com: Yahoo!’s Hail Marry: Softbank’s Masayoshi Son?
Yahoo! Finance: D-Day for Yahoo — Is today the day that Yahoo will capitulate …
Rich Miller / Data Center Knowledge: Yahoo Board May Make Decision Today
Dan Primack / PE HUB: peHUB First Read — Some links to kick off your Friday:
Jay Greene / Business Week: Will Yahoo! Feel the Love?
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
An Open Letter to Steve Ballmer — I know you want to make your mark on Microsoft, but you should stop trying to be all things to all people. Take a tip on focus from that other Steve — Dear Steve, — Let’s talk over this Yahoo! (YHOO) thing before you move ahead. It’s a profoundly bad idea.
Discussion: Valleywag and The Mac Observer
Discussion:
Owen Thomas / Valleywag: An open letter to Steve Ballmer (that he actually might read)
The Mac Observer: BW: Steve Ballmer Should Focus — Like the Other Steve
YAHOO! PRICE TALKS — HOLDERS SQUEEZE M’SOFT — Yahoo!’s largest investor met yesterday with Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer and other executives in an effort to gauge whether the software giant is willing to increase its already sweet $44.6 billion takeover offer, The Post has learned.
Discussion: WebProNews, Yahoo! Finance and Mashable!
Discussion:
Jason Lee Miller / WebProNews: Yahoo Decision Could Come Today
Joseph Weisenthal / Yahoo! Finance: MSFT-YHOO: Hasty House Hearing Delayed; Board Meeting?
Adam Ostrow / Mashable!: Yahoo’s Top Investor to Microsoft: Sweeten the Deal
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
A Radical Option For Yahoo: Out-Open Google — Yahoo is between a rock and Google. As Yahoo’s board decides today whether or not to accept Microsoft’s $44.6 billion offer to buy the company, we’ve argued that it really only has two choices: accept the inevitable and go with Microsoft, or outsource search to Google.
Discussion: VentureBeat and Silicon Alley Insider
Discussion:
MG Siegler / VentureBeat: All quiet on the Yahoo! front, time for alternative ideas
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider: Yahoo Board May Decide on Microsoft Today
Is It Too Late for Yahoo? — SAN FRANCISCO — One of the first questions that Jerry Yang and his top lieutenants pondered after he became chief executive of Yahoo last summer was whether the company could remain independent. They quickly answered yes. — But Mr. Yang, who founded Yahoo along …
Discussion: Techland, Paul Mooney and Portfolio.com
Discussion:
Michal Lev-Ram / Techland: Yahoo execs’ big pay day from a Microsoft deal
Paul Mooney: Believe — Is It Too Late for Yahoo? — A week ago we woke …
Kevin Maney / Portfolio.com: Tough Day for Jerry Yang
David A. Utter / WebProNews: Yahoo Investor Wants More Microsoft Money
I, Cringely . The Pulpit | PBS:
The Men Behind the Curtain
Discussion: broadstuff, mathewingram.com/work, Collaborative Thinking and WebProNews
Discussion:
Alan Patrick / broadstuff: I WAS THINKING JUST THE SAME THING TODAY….
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work: Bob Cringely does his Dorothy impression
Mike Gotta / Collaborative Thinking: Are Old-Tech Companies In Search Of A Fountain of Youth?
David A. Utter / WebProNews: Cringely Blames Yahoo For Analysis Paralysis
CNN:
UPDATE: Clock Is Ticking On Yahoo’s Board
Discussion: Good Morning Silicon Valley
Discussion:
John Murrell / Good Morning Silicon Valley: What’s purple and gold and backed into a corner?
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Another Reason MSFT Won’t Raise YHOO Offer: Capital Research
Discussion: HipMojo.com
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6
Feb
Choosing a Wordpress Theme : Where to Start?
Published in Wordpress
Photo by audreym from Flickr
Lorelle on Wordpress, arguably one of the finest Wordpress artists out there, wrote an article on How to choose a Wordpress theme nearly two years ago.
Oh, and that was not the only one as she has a number of other articles like Choosing a WordPress Theme, The Secret of Successful Editing of WordPress Themes, Help Me Find a WordPress Theme or Designing a WordPress Theme From Scratch.
Clearly, Wordpress Theme is something that is worth caring for and looking carefully at when you start blogging and it is not surprising that it has generated a huge number of interest on the web and in blogspheres; the latest count for “Choosing a wordpress theme” on Google shows at least 17,200 documents or so (even if a substantial number of them pointed to Lorelle in the first place).
After all, in these times of ultra short attention span, a blog with a nice layout, albeit containing adverts, has a better chance of thriving that one that tries to cram too many items but no adverts.
Which brings us to this blog…. I am in the process of restructuring this blog, to give a backbone and more flesh - both in terms of content and form, and the first thing I reckon I’ll have to consider is what theme to use.
And with thousands of wordpress themes out there, choosing the best one for your blog is more difficult than it looks like, as Lor3n from R3fresh.com puts it, “Finding a theme for your blog is easy, Finding a theme that fits your blog is a long process.”
So for now, i’ll leave you, dear readers with a selection of the best Google-picked articles on how to choose a wordpress theme, which gives me some hope… as I am not the first one to go through this harrowing process.
What do you look for in a WordPress theme?
http://chenpn.com/2007/07/08/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-wordpress-theme/
6 Easy Tips for Choosing Wordpress Theme
http://blogmarketingjournal.com/2007/12/10/6-easy-tips-for-choosign-wordpress-theme/
5 Tips for Choosing a WordPress Theme
http://r3fresh.com/2007/09/24/5-tips-for-choosing-a-wordpress-theme/
10+1 Tips for Choosing a WordPress Theme
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/choosing-a-wordpress-theme/
Some Tips on Choosing A Wordpress Theme
http://blogigs.com/some-tips-on-choosing-a-wordpress-theme/
Birth of a WordPress Site, Part Two
http://www.empoweredbywordpress.com/2007/04/23/birth-of-a-wordpress-site-part-two/
Choosing a WordPress Theme: The horror of it all!
http://blogviewsbyroz.com/2006/02/28/choosing-a-wordpress-theme-the-horror-of-it-all/
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1
Feb
It is the most talked about merger and acquisition of the century. I haven’t witnessed as much buzz since the Merger of Compaq and HP back in 2002.
This morning, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo!, the one time darling of the internet and competitor to both Microsoft and Google, for the princely sum of $44.6 billion, which is slightly more than what Microsoft gets as income in one year.
Still, it will be uber interesting to see what Google and how Wall Street will react in the medium to long term.
So here are a few headlines…
Breaking news : Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo! for $31 per Share
The letter that Microsoft sent to Yahoo!’s Board of Directors
continue reading "OMG ! Microsoft want to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion"
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9
Jan
Up to £200
If you have an absolute maximum budget of £200 all inclusive, grab the cheapest Asus EEE Laptop you can find. They are currently on sale at Ebuyer for £199.99 with free delivery. The Asus Eee PC 2GS-W001 comes with 512MB memory and 2GB onboard Flash memory, but it should me adequate for all but the lightest of tasks. Other specs include a 7″ screen, Intel Mobile processor and Linux Preloaded.
Up to £250
If you can stretch your budget to £250, then grab one of these Gateway ML6227b Celeron Notebooks from Morgancomputers for only £249.99 including VAT. You can collect your purchases from their stores.
Budget laptop it ain’t though. This factory rework Celeron notebook comes with 6 months warranty and
* Intel Celeron M 520 processor (1.6GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz bus)
* 1GB DDR2 RAM, 80GB hard disk and 8x multiformat DVD writer
* 15.4″ widescreen Ultrabright display (1280 x 800 WXGA resolution)
* Intel GMA 950 chipset with 224MB shared graphics
* Wireless networking, 4-in-1 card reader, 10/100 LAN and 56K modem
* High definition sound & stereo speakers, 6 cell lithium-ion battery
* With Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Works 8.5
You can find more about this newly released laptop in this review at PC Advisor published at the beginning of September.
Up to £300
The HP 6720s Laptop from Ebuyer is my next best buy. It comes with a powerful Intel Celeron 540 running at 1.86GHz, has 1GB memory, 80GB hard disk, DVD-RW, wireless LAN, 15.4″ WXGA (1280 x 800 resolution) and interestingly, Vista Home Premium. The price? GBP 299.99 including free delivery. Not a lot separates this one from the Gateway model. You get a slightly faster processor and 6 month extra warranty.
Up to £350
Perhaps the most difficult category to judge: I chose to go for a HP again simply because it represents fantastic value for money. The HP 6820S costs only GBP 340 after a GBP 50 cash back from HP. It is built around a Intel Celeron 530 1.73 GHz, comes with 1GB memory, a 120GB disk drive, a DVD+/-RW writer. Connectivity is great with Wifi and BT. However, it is the screen that will get your heads turning. You get a 17″ WXGA monitor powered by an excelltn ATI Mobility Radeon X1350 384MB. Last but not least, the lappy is powered by Windows Vista Home Premium.
Up to £400
You’ve got to £400 to spend on a nice laptop? How about this Dell Vostro 1ooo Laptop. The Vostro range is dedicated to businesses but nothing prevents you from grabbing one of those bargains from Dell. Go to the Dell website and look for the following e-code (N0110007). You have until the 16th of January before the price revert back to normal. Configure the laptop with 3 year warranty onsite and a 9-cell battery for only £397.15. For that price, you get a Dual Core AMD TK57 processor, 2GB memory, 120GB HDD and much more.
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8
Jan
I did own a Samsung SGH-D900 mobile phone for a couple of months, thanks to me renewing my contract, but I decided to sell it because it was simply too awkward to use. Here are ten reasons why you should definitely think twice before becoming an owner of one.
(a) The screen flexes too much
The screen is large and beautiful, this is what the reviewers will tell you. However, when you try to press the phone screen (when you have to open the phone by sliding the screen), it creates ripples on the screen and its screen doesn’t seem as sturdy as say a Sony Ericsson.
(b) Lousy battery life
Battery life has been one big letdown. Although a new phone, the battery would take a longtime to charge and talktime is noticeably less than other mainstream phones I’ve used in the past - Sony Ericsson K750i and 800i.
(c) Dodgy design (flex a bit too much)
The flip-to-open design of the D900 means that it becomes dangerously thin when open, so thin that it once was the thinnest phone in the world. Believe me, you can’t treat this one rough - Nokia 3310 anyone - or else, you risk losing it
(d) You have to open a flap in order insert any connectors
Why have flaps to cover connectors? I was almost ready to rip them apart. Flaps are supposed to prevent dust and particles from getting stuck in the connectors. But they are a hindrance more than anything else. The D900 has two flaps on each side and everytime you have to charge it or connect a headphone to it, you have to remove a flap.
(e) Difficult to take apart/open
Although this is not something that many users will agree to, I like when a phone is easy to take apart, simply because in every guy, there’s a sleeping DIYer. The D900 has its ways when it comes to breaking it down. Definitely not a Nokia 3310.
(f) Taking out the battery is a pain
Taking the battery out for the first time was the most difficult I have ever encountered on a mobile phone. It takes some practice in order to take the battery out and from experience, the longer your nails are, the easier it will be.
(g) Camera is absolutely horrendous; pictures are far worse than one would expect.
The D900 is supposedly equiped with a 3 MP digital camera. All I can say is that the CMOS sensor is cr*p. Yes, you can take gorgeous pictures in bright sunlight and when the subject is not moving, but it is so slow and the quality is below what you would expect on a 3 MP camera. My K750i took better pictures and it was a 2 MP version. Plus the D900 is horrendous in low light conditions and its light does not help at all.
(h) Writing a text is a nightmare
Texting on the D900 out of the box is quite an ordeal; there’s simply too many buttons to be pressed before reaching the write text menu. I long for the days when texts could be written in 3 steps (menu, text, write text).
(i) You have to really press hard on the keypad
That’s something that Cnet also noticed in a review here. The D900’s keypad is flat which means that the buttons do not have sufficient “height” to encourage natural finger typing.
(j) What do you have to say?
I’ll leave this last slot for whoever wants to rant about the D900.
Bottom line is that I have used it rather than reviewed it and I am talking from a user point of view. The D900 suffers from a number of serious shortcomings. Samsung could have done much better than that. There’s absolutely no excuse why the South Korean company could not have produced a better product.
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7
Jan
Has Gmail Drive stopped working?
Published in Ripping RantsGmail Drive or Gdrive allows you to access a Gmail account through Windows Explorer and use it as a remote storage space for free and simply requires that you have a fully working Gmail account.
Google has allowed Gdrive to work until now, although Gdrive was merely acting as a parasite service with Google not being able to display the adverts that finances Gmail.
Now I have noticed that Google appears to have disable GDrive altogether, I have tried to access my account on three different computers and through two separate internet connections.
I always get the same error message:
Gdrive was unable to open the volume and enumerate the files, Verify the connection to the internet and Gmail.
I have also tried to access my account online and it seems to be working fine, a sign that Google has not yet disabled my account.
Suffice to say that these services are not to be used for critical data and that you use any free online services at your own risks, something that a mighty amount of people seems to ignore.
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27
Dec
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year 2008
Published in Site News
On behalf of myself and my wife, I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous new year 2008.
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