Office UI Giveaway: What's Old Is New Again
Microsoft
announced
a plan to let software developers use the Office User Interface royalty-free
to build apps that should be easy to learn -- provided you are adept at Office
(I still find Word to be about the most difficult app to fully master, and sometimes
even keep under control).
Looks to me like Microsoft flaks are recycling press releases. A decade or
so ago, when I wrote for InfoWorld, Microsoft announced what seems to
be the exact same thing. As I recall, some folks like Visio hopped onboard,
while competitors like Lotus and WordPerfect politely declined.
Live Search Lagging
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.
The Amiga Isn't Dead, It's Just Frozen
Before he died, Bill Hicks accused Denis Leary of stealing his material (apparently,
Hicks was the only comedian who ever joked about smoking). Now I'm going to
steal some of Leary's stuff.
The Amiga's not dead, it's just frozen, and when it thaws out it's going be
pretty #@#543&*!! You know what it's like to take a cold shower? Well, multiply
that 15 million times and that's how #@#543&* the Amiga is going to be.
Fortunately, Amiga fans have Bill Panagouleas, CEO of DiscreetFX, a computer
video company. Bill (it's easier to call him Bill than it is to retype Panagouleas)
hopes to complete a documentary about trans fat (a fatter version of "Super
Size Me"?) and use
the profits to buy out Amiga Inc., which owns the intellectual property
behind the dead but surprisingly modern machine. Once all these things happen,
Panagouleas -- I mean, Bill -- will heat up the Amiga's frozen remains and bring
it back to the living.
If that works, maybe Bill can revive Walt Disney and Ted Williams, as well.
Oh, if you want an Amiga, but don't trust the 15-year-old machines for sale
on eBay, just run the old software through an emulator (nothing beats DeluxePaint
III for graphics, I always say!). Bill says you can get the emulator here.
Zune Zune Zuna Zuna
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].
Doug's Mailbag: Showdown in California, Thoughts on Gates'
Philanthropy
I stand corrected! It was, in fact, the California Supreme Court -- not
the U.S. Supreme Court, as
I had written originally -- that made a ruling protecting Internet bloggers
and posters against libel suits over statements that they only reposted. Thanks
for catching my mistake -- and for adding your 2 cents:
This ruling was from the California Supreme Court and not the U.S. Supreme
Court. While that may set precedent in some jurisdictions, it is not necessarily
the law of the land. Should this ruling be appealed, I believe it would be
referred to a federal Supreme Court for consideration.
-Chris
The court's ruling makes perfect sense to me. It seems an acknowledgement
that the public as consumers of such an untrustworthy news source would be
tremendously foolish to put much faith in its veracity, therefore its 'targets'
need less protection from libel. They already know that WE know that most
bloggers are just full of it. So let's not worry about it. Any random moron
can spout off about anything they want, and just because they may know how
to 'game' this emerging media, they can effectively have the same audience
as a major metropolitan newspaper.
They are, in effect, telling us that blogs are mainly entertainment sources;
believe them far less than you would the Sun or Enquirer. I'm down with that;
I don't trust anything I read that doesn't show evidence of integrity, or
gives lip service at least to some sort of editorial policy.
-Matthew
Blogs are like walls and telephone poles to me. Do we sue the building
owner or telephone company because someone posts a defamatory notice? Of course
not. However, they can tear down those notices any time they choose. As no
one is free to slander or libel others, perhaps Web sites should disallow
anonymous postings. Someday, we'll have an authentication method that will
prove people are who they say they are, or else they can't post to legitimate
messaging media. Let them post to the 'checkstand gossip rag' sites, and we'll
turn our noses up (while we scan them!).
-Russell
You may have got this one wrong. The California court upheld the fact that
bloggers and participants in Internet bulletin board groups cannot be sued
for posting defamatory statements made by others. If the blogger himeself/herself
attempts to defame someone, they would, I imagine, still be held liable.
Of course there is scope for misuse -- someone asking their friend to post
defamatory remarks they made about someone else, but I am sure the lawyers
will find a way to handle that scenario.
-Sandeep
The original writer of the piece is still liable for the statements. The
court case makes sense by simply posting the comment should not bring liability
to the person who reposted it. It seems fair at the original writer is liable
and posting creates more liability for that original writer statement.
-Charles
Oh, what a slippery slope, indeed! I can understand the reasoning to a
point. The original 'author' of the libelous statement can still be held responsible,
so all one needs is to have an intermediary post a knowingly libelous statement
and the originator is immune! It seems that this provides a means for evil
to prevail over those whose opinions another finds offensive.
-Rod
My mother used to teach me, "If you don't have some worthwhile to
say, then don't say it." What she was trying to teach me was to take
responsibility for my words. This is especially true in the cyber era where
one's words can travel around the world at the speed of a fiber optic cable.
Nothing moves as fast and causes as much damage as a rumor and lies.
ISPs should not police or censor -- common sense and decency should. ISPs
should have true identities for their bloggers, if what the blogger is saying
can be proven false. No one should be allowed to put words to 'print' without
being held responsible for them. Yes, the blogger needs to be held to the
same standard as any writer. Either put you money where you mouth is or just
shut up.
-Peter
And finally, my piece yesterday about Gates' philanthropy got Tom to thinking:
Had an ironic thought about the Gates report. I wonder what the Linux
community will do to match the Great Satan of Microsoft? Will they have any
response at all? Maybe the hundred thousand free spirits will give up a latte
once a week for world peace or to cure cancer.
I'd be the last to claim that big corporations or government agencies
don't sometimes do stupid, duplicitous or evil things. It seldom, though,
is useful or even accurate to claim that the personalities in charge are much
worse than ignorant. Hardly anyone gets up every morning planning to be wicked.
The most common moral failing is indifference.
A couple of friends of mine have worked with and gotten to know a local
celebrity, Jimmy Carter. They report that he is very smart, a decent man and
a hell of a nice guy. He is also incredibly naive about some things in the
world. Before he got involved in the Habitat project, he truly didn't know
that some people live in crappy housing because nobody cares and that there
are obstacles placed in the way of their self improvement, by zoning commissions
and mortgage bankers.
-Tom
Let me know what you think! Comment below or drop me a line at [email protected].
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.