E-mail used to be an ephemeral thing. Then archival storage came along and
we couldn't get rid of it. Now,
new
rules from the Supreme Court mandate that companies store, and prove they
can retrieve, e-mail so they can be used as evidence in a lawsuit.
Storing is the easy part. Disks are cheap and getting cheaper all the time.
But knowing what message is where and how to get it back -- now, there's
the rub. Fortunately, the rules apply to messages and data that could be relevant
to the lawsuit, so nonrelated archives can still be purged.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/06/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Apple had an Ivan Putski-class lock on the education market in the 1980s --
that is, until Microsoft started giving away and steeply discounting software
for schools. The Apple II and Mac may have been cute, but free is free, and
cheap is cheap.
Google is now trying to do the same thing to Microsoft. The company is not
just giving away spreadsheets and word processors (these Google apps are, after
all, already free), but is offering
to store students' and teachers' files. Ten years from now, we may look
back and view this as the time Google's application monopoly first started to
emerge!
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/05/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
A year ago, I ran across whosarat.com, a site where snitches and informants
are exposed. I didn't quite know what to think.
Some of the profiles indicated that the informants were bigger dirt bags than
the folks they finked on. But it seemed a rather dangerous undertaking. Bikers,
the mob and gang members aren't always shy when it comes to revenge, and having
your name, photo and address plastered on a Web site about rats isn't the healthiest
thing in the world.
The authorities are becoming increasingly
worried that this site will make informants targets. However, most of the
material comes from records that are publicly available, so an angry party who
does enough legwork can get it anyway.
What do you think? Is whosarat.com an example of free speech, a public service
or a dangerous site that should be shut down? Let us know at [email protected].
Oh, and whosarat.com is now a paid site.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/05/2006 at 1:15 PM2 comments
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses far more on tough issues, like
malaria, than high-tech ones, but that didn't stop it from giving
$17.5
million to fund Internet access in libraries in Botswana, Latvia and Lithuania.
This is an attempt to let these countries catch up, at least a little bit,
to the U.S., where nearly all libraries are connected. Wonder how many users
will be Googling versus. using MSN or Live Search?
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/05/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Novell exec Susan Heystee has been picked to
oversee
the patent and interoperability deal with Microsoft. Sometimes, these deals
are window dressing and PR, in which case Heystee's job will be as easy as that
of a security guard at a convent. But with Microsoft and Novell already quibbling
over patents, Heystee could be burning the midnight oil.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/05/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
If you're a fan of
Seinfeld (or former fan, after Michael Richards'
Tourette's-like outburst), you'll remember the episode where Elaine got
a cartoon published in the
New Yorker. Unfortunately for her, the idea
was lifted subconsciously from a Ziggy.
Well, Scott Adams of Dilbert fame did the very same thing to yours truly.
My October 2006 Redmond column was entitled "Bill for President."
In late November, Adams had the exact same brilliant idea which he wrote
up with great fanfare on his blog.
Now, media all over the world are jumping on this bandwagon, and giving Adams
all the credit. Hey, aren't he and his awful cartoon famous enough already?
The wheels really started to turn when Paul McNamara, a former employee of
mine at Network World, picked
up on the Adams post.
Then Slashdot, which was offered my column for its readers to make fun of,
promoted
the "Adams" idea.
Now, I'm calling on loyal Redmond readers from across the globe
to right this grievous wrong. Let these bloggers, pundits and hack cartoonists
know where the idea really came from -- a hack blogger and pundit from Redmond
magazine!
For the real story, go
to a source you can really trust.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/05/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
A 2,000-year-old astronomical computing device of Roman origin has been found
in the waters off of Greece. No, this isn't a fake news report from theonion.com
--
it actually
happened.
No word on what OS it ran, but the corroded remnants of the Ctrl, Alt and Del
keys do offer a clue.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/04/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Windows 3.0 and Windows 95 were monster launches -- you would have thought
cancer had been cured. But despite
calling
it the "biggest launch in company history," last Thursday's Vista
press conference in New York was as subdued as Don Rumsfeld getting his walking
papers.
As Redmond magazine editor Ed Scannell explained, he expects the real launch
to happen in January, when the consumer version of Vista appears.
But how many times can you launch a product?
Despite the ho-hum Vista debut, 2007 will be a huge year for new tools, like
Exchange 2007 and about 29 other products. Microsoft will be keeping this writer
very busy.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/04/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
A new operating system isn't much without new apps, and the news on Vista is
good and bad. The good news is that
ISVs
are arriving in droves to announce Vista plans.
The bad news: These apps in general ain't showing up anytime soon. First up
are utilities like communication software from Attachmate (not sure how terminal
emulation software will exploit the Vista interface!) set to ship this spring,
and security, backup and disk imaging software from Symantec due this month.
But the killer software meant to exploit the new UI will, like Masson,
not ship before it's time.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/04/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Maybe Microsoft should have shipped the consumer version of Vista first. After
all, home users were the first to buy speakers, CD-ROMs and high-res graphics,
and I dare you to find a corporate PC that is the match of a 12-year-old's gaming
machine. Many of these pre-teens will move to Vista on day one, with some standing
in line at Circuit City to be the very first.
Corporate types are different, and for a good many it will be a year
to a year-and-a-half until Vista upgrades begin in earnest, at least according
to Endpoint Technologies.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/04/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Craig Ferguson is not my favorite talk show host (he was the annoying English
boss in the "Drew Carey Show"), but he did a
mildly
amusing riff on the Zune. Ferguson assumes the Zune is inferior to the iPod.
Just looking at the features list, I have the opposite impression. Have you
used both? What do you think? And what gizmos are you asking for/buying this
holiday season? Let us know at
[email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/30/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Recent research shows that despite having a brand-new search engine,
Microsoft
continues to lose ground to Google. And you know why? Because Microsoft's
Live Search isn't as good. I made the vain move of Googling myself (admit it,
you do it to!), and came up with 18,700 results. Live Search crushed my ego
with only 3,527 pages. I'm not switching till Live has at 20,000 Barney hits.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/30/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments