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Category: Internet

Should files have expiration dates?

Posted on May 8, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell No Comments on Should files have expiration dates?

Lee Gomes of Wall Street Journal fame has an interesting Q&A with Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger, a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He thinks files should have expiration dates because human beings are “better off” when we forget certain things.

It’s an interesting argument, though it leaves me wanting to know more of the reasoning before I’m ready to support any law mandating it. In fact, it goes against the latest movement of society to be more interested in genealogy and family history. But check out the Q&A:

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Cyberlaw, Internet, Tech News

Breaking: Microsoft & Yahoo Considering Merger

Posted on May 4, 2007August 31, 2008 By Bob Caswell 8 Comments on Breaking: Microsoft & Yahoo Considering Merger

Quoting our favorite source of “people familiar with the situation,” the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) claims that executives at Microsoft and Yahoo are in early-stage discussions about merging the two companies to take on Google. Investors seem to be taking this seriously, as Yahoo shares surged in overseas trading because of this news. The company’s market value is now close to $38 billion up from $32 billion earlier this week. So if you want to quantify this rumor, there you have it: the world thinks its worth $6 billion dollars.

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Google, Internet, Microsoft, Tech News, Web 2.0, Yahoo

SwitchPlanet: Mixing Netflix, craigslist, eBay, and Amazon but for Free

Posted on April 24, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell 8 Comments on SwitchPlanet: Mixing Netflix, craigslist, eBay, and Amazon but for Free

SwitchPlanet is one of the more compelling online communities I’ve seen in a while. Members can switch movies, CDs, books, and games with each other for free. The system is based on Switchbucs, an internal currency. You list whatever items you have for a Switchbucs price and get credited that amount when you ship an item to someone willing to pay that price using their Switchbucs. No real money ever trades hands, just switching with a third-party broker.

Read More “SwitchPlanet: Mixing Netflix, craigslist, eBay, and Amazon but for Free” »

Do-It-Yourself Tech, Internet, Tech News, Web 2.0

Mozy Makes It Big: Online Backup Deal for All 300,000+ GE Employees

Posted on April 24, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell 1 Comment on Mozy Makes It Big: Online Backup Deal for All 300,000+ GE Employees

MozyproTill now, Mozy has been an up and coming backup solution for the home user with its free online backup (up to two gigabytes) or its unlimited online backup for $5 per month. Since its launch in April 2006, over 175,000 customers have signed up. But the big news is that General Electric recently bought MozyPro (the enterprise version of Mozy) for all of its 300,000+ employees. Not a bad way to more than double your customer base. And GE is a company that does its homework on purchases like these, so this is definitely a credibility boost for Mozy as well.

Read More “Mozy Makes It Big: Online Backup Deal for All 300,000+ GE Employees” »

Do-It-Yourself Tech, Internet, Tech News, Web 2.0

Social Networking Dethroning Sex in Terms of Online Traffic

Posted on April 20, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell 2 Comments on Social Networking Dethroning Sex in Terms of Online Traffic

UstrafficgraphThe Economist (subscription required) has an interesting piece on sex and the Internet, which revolves around the graph pictured to the right. While the online porn industry was valued at $1 billion back in 2002 by America’s National Research Council, the latest data shows that social networking traffic is set to take over the number one spot any day now. It’s also pointed out that sex is often the first mover with technology before the mainstream is ready to adopt it for everyday use (such has been the case with photography, videocassettes, and satellite television).

But before we assume all is well in Zion, let’s take a look at what these social networking sites are used for:

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Internet, Privacy, Tech News, Web 2.0

Microsoft Selling Software for $3 to Reach the 5 Billion People without PCs

Posted on April 19, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell No Comments on Microsoft Selling Software for $3 to Reach the 5 Billion People without PCs

Microsoft software will sell for just $3 in some parts of the world in an attempt to reach the five out of six people worldwide still not using computers. The software giant has a goal of bringing computing to a further one billion people by 2015 (doubling the current number of computer users). Bill Gates made the announcement during a speech in Beijing:

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Computers, Internet, Microsoft, Tech News

Computers Coming Preloaded with More Crapware Than Ever Before

Posted on April 5, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell 15 Comments on Computers Coming Preloaded with More Crapware Than Ever Before

SonynotebookWalt Mossberg of Wall Street Journal fame has an article out (subscription required) explaining just how much crap his brand new Sony laptop came with. And we’re not talking full programs either; these are trial versions which force you to pay later if you’re really interested. Walt counted about two dozen “craplets” pre-installed, which likely are part of the reason for the over two minutes of time it takes the computer to start up (compared to 30 seconds for a comparable Apple MacBook, ouch!). Sony’s response:

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Apple, Computers, Internet, Sony, Tech News

Is Wikipedia the Webster for the 21st Century?

Posted on April 4, 2007August 20, 2008 By Bob Caswell 1 Comment on Is Wikipedia the Webster for the 21st Century?

WikipediaI grew up with the Webster dictionary as my guide to defining words. I remember homework assignments that started with “Webster defines…” followed by the definition of some term and a follow up question on which I would need to write a paper. Another classic use of Webster was at church. Someone preaching on love? The easiest way to begin is by stating “Webster defines love as…” and then moving on to a more eloquent expansion on the basic definition.

During this past month, both of these examples came back to me, except this time Webster was replaced by Wikipedia.

Read More “Is Wikipedia the Webster for the 21st Century?” »

Internet, Just For Fun, Tech News, Web 2.0

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