Monthly Archive:: April 2012

Google's CEO, Larry Page, has just published a letter titled "2012 Update from the CEO". It's a state of the union-sort of thing, mostly filled with the usual stuff of how great Google supposedly is (we'll decide that for ourselves, why thank you). There's one bit in it, though, that caught my eye - something that puts Android's supposed fragmentation issues in a rather different light.

"Over a thousand developers contribute code to any given Linux kernel release. It's a process that works well from a technical perspective, but it's also one that has its fair share of shortcomings. In a panel at the Linux Foundation Collaboration summit this week, top Linux kernel developers detailed their common pet peeves about the Linux development model. It's a model that is not for the feint of heart ."

Interesting, if not inherently flawed, article by Farhad Manjoo. "Honan might be right that Google has violated its own definition of evil, but doesn't it matter that every one of its rivals also routinely violates Google's definition of evil?" I say flawed, because I value promises more than anything. Google has done things recently that break their initial promise. That sucks - there's no way around it. I do love Gruber's take, though: "It's not that Google is evil. It's that they're hypocrites. That's the difference between Google and its competitors." In other words, it's perfectly fine to be an evil scumbag company, as long as you're not claiming you're not. That's a rather... Warped view on morality.

Larry Page on Steve Jobs' comments on Android being a stolen product: "I think the Android differences were actually for show. I think that served their interests. For a lot of companies, it's useful for them to feel like they have an obvious competitor and to rally around that." We'll never know for sure, but considering Tim Cook is reportedly looking to start settling all these lawsuits, Page might be right. Let's hope the lawsuits - settled or no - at least lead to patent reform.

It happened when I first used a PalmOS device. It happened when I first used the BeOS. It happened when I first used an iPhone. And now it's happened by just watching a video - that sense that there's no need to wait for the future, because it's already here. Google has just unveiled its augmented reality glasses, Project Glass, and it will blow you away.

"Cyber attacks on IT systems would become a criminal offence punishable by at least two years in prison throughout the EU under a draft law backed by the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday. Possessing or distributing hacking software and tools would also be an offence, and companies would be liable for cyber attacks committed for their benefit." Wait, what?

You have just bought tickets to an exotic vacation spot. You board the flight, you land safely, you pull your netbook from your backpack, fire it up, and then check if there are any available Wireless networks. Indeed there are, unencrypted, passwordless, waiting for you. So you connect to the most convenient hotspot and start surfing. Being addicted as you are, you want to login into your email or social network just to check if something cardinal happened in the world during your four-hour flight. You're about to hit the sign in button. Stop. What you're about to do might not be safe.

"Co-developed by IBM and Microsoft, it was intended to replace DOS, the aging software that then powered most of the planet's microcomputers. It never did. Instead, Microsoft's Windows reinvigorated DOS, helping to end IBM's control of the PC standard it had created. By the mid-1990s, IBM had given up on OS/2 - a major step in the company's slow-motion retreat from the PC industry, which it completed in 2005 by agreeing to sell its PC division to China's Lenovo. But while OS/2 never truly caught on, it's also never gone away. Even if you believe that you never saw it in action, there's a decent chance that you unwittingly encounter it at least occasionally to this day." The last time I took a look at eComStation was way back in 2007.