Apple announced today a new version of the iPod, that oh-so-cool-looking digital music player. Apple certainly has a big corner of the digital music business, with iTunes as the biggest source of legal music downloads. BBC NEWS / Technology / Apple launches longer life iPod Trouble is, though, the music you get from iTunes and […]
Category: Computing
Boom time for digital jukeboxes
Sony is revamping its Walkman for the digital generation. Mobile music players are set to become the must-have gadget for music fans. A report predicts that people will buy more than 10 million players this year to listen to music while on the move. The buying frenzy is being driven by the success of Apple’s […]
I’ve been trying to figure
I’ve been trying to figure out how Atom and XML feeds work so that I can include this blog into the feed distribution networks so if you have an RSS feed, you can get NevOn blog posts in your reader. No need to figure now, thanks to a new free service that I just signed […]
SAP and Oracle going to market together
Another story in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye this morning – a public spat between SAP and Oracle, two of the enterprise software industry giants, over a new ad campaign Oracle is running. It seems that SAP is mightily upset over the focus of Oracle’s campaign, which SAP says is a rip-off of […]
Net calls to take on landlines
This could really shake up the traditional telecommunications business — net upstart Skype is launching a new service that lets you call any number in the world over the internet. The SkypeOut service will let Skype’s 7.7 million subscribers use their PC and internet connections to call landlines and mobile phones at low rates. Full […]
Dinner with Bill Gates
Fascinating article by Jeff Maurone, a Microsoft employee and blogger, describing an evening and dinner with Bill Gates. “About twenty minutes into the event Bill casually descended the stairs from the personal side of the home: no fanfare, no introduction, just the Chief Software Architect. Instantly there started a massive migration from around the lawn […]
SpamNet: best protection against spam
For the past year, I’ve been using Cloudmark SpamNet to filter my email against spam. It works as a plug-in with Outlook and Outlook Express. In my experience with it installed with Outlook 2003, nothing beats it in its capability to not only kill spam email before it gets to your inbox but also its […]
Tough times for PeopleSoft
Things are not looking good for PeopleSoft. Since acquiring fellow enterprise software vendor JD Edwards in 2003, PeopleSoft have been emboiled in a bitter defence against aquisitive Oracle. Last week, PeopleSoft reported a fall of 70% in revenues. According to a report by CNET, customer complaints are throwing doubt on PeopleSoft’s handling of its merger […]
Skype is a winner
I’ve been trying out Skype, the internet-based phone system I commented on last week (read post). It is very good! The best thing is that if you call another Skype user, that call is 100% free, wherever in the world the other party is located. If you call someone on a normal landline or mobile […]
A trip down computing memory lane
Wow, nostalgia! A post on John Dvorak’s Dvorak Uncensored blog commented on a 1965 computer listed in an online computer museum. On taking a look at the site, I came across this Kaypro 2x from 1984, which was the first ‘real’ computer I ever used. 4Mhz Z80A processor, CP/M operating system – this is from […]
Gartner tech ‘hype cycles’ 2004
Caught an interesting story on BBC News that reports on recent analysis by IT industry analysts Gartner with predictions on which technologies will become part of everyday life in the future. The BBC report discusses in general terms where Gartner think consumer technologies are heading. Here’s a visual look: BBC NEWS | Technology | Peering […]
Net security threats growing fast
More than 30,000 PCs per day are being recruited into secret networks that spread spam and viruses, a study shows. According to a BBC News report today, it’s too early to say whether the Service Pack 2 update for Windows XP will make a positive difference to the numbers of PCs being compromised. The report […]
Sun’s true computing utility
This is the first time I’ve read an article on a (for me) relatively complex technology concept that enabled me to achieve all four of my ‘knowledge from communication’ goals: Understand it. Enjoy reading it. Warmly congratulate the writer for his ability to explain the concept in a way someone like me can understand it. […]
33% of IT jobs are Microsoft-related
An IDC study commissioned by Microsoft reveals the impact of the software industry on European economies, The Register reports. In 19 countries surveyed (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the UK) nine million people are employed in the IT […]
Business 2.0 experiments
Business 2.0 has placed the complete content of its October issue online, for free access. The magazine says this open access is an experiment as they try out a new technology. So, don’t assume the magazine will be freely online after October. I assume their tech experiment is to do with a new online delivery […]
Google launches desktop search
Get it now – the Google desktop, a means to search through files, emails, instant messenger conversations and your browser cache. My quick run through with it last night shows that it knocks the socks off the search feature in Windows XP. In combination with Google’s web search capabilities, this desktop app could be a […]
Google Desktop looks a winner
Since the new Google Desktop search tool was announced last week (see post), I’ve been using it exclusively when I need to search for a particular file or email on my PC. No question – this beats Windows XP’s search function hands down, as I mentioned in my post last week. It’s pretty intuitive and […]
PeopleSoft CEO: We’re not for sale
Dave Duffield, the founder and new CEO of PeopleSoft, issued a memo to employees this week dispelling any rumors that he has returned to broker a deal with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in one of the more memorable hostile takeover bids in recent history, Internetnews.com reports. “I didn’t come back here to sell to Oracle,” […]
Green light for Oracle
The European Commission has given Oracle an unconditional green light to go ahead with its takeover of Peoplesoft, BBC News reports. The move clears one of the last hurdles for Oracle in the $7.7 billion hostile acquisition attempt of its competitor in the enterprise software market. Earlier this month, regulators in the US had reached […]
A lot of history about Microsoft Windows
A news item today on Bink reported about the history of Microsoft Windows as an entry in Wikipedia. It makes good reading if this is a subject that interests you. Covers Windows from 1.0 right up to today. My first thought was that this is a new presentation of the information. But it’s not – […]