Friday, December 31, 2004

Ever think about including a list of passwords in your will? With the increase in digital assets and financial records being kept on computers, it is becoming more and more a necessity. CNN.com - Digital inheritance raises legal�questions - Dec 24, 2004

Thursday, December 30, 2004

The Oracle takeover of Peoplesoft will leave two major players in the huge enterprise Business Systems market. It will also mean that many Peoplesoft people will be heading out the door. The Peoplesoft CEO has lready announced his departure. The next big question is what will happen to the Peoplesoft brand? Welcome to Technology Review

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

AOL has reported a big drop in SPAM, which they attribute to their spam blocking technology. This is encouraging. Dare we hope that the spam war is winnable? InformationWeek > > AOL Reports Big Drop In Spam > December 27, 2004

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Google is king of the search engines these days. But can this last? Will Yahoo or even Microsoft be able to do an end run? While this question is being asked, IBM has entered the ring with a surprising and innovative idea - discovery searching, which employs semantic methods to search out the underlying meaning in stored text. The New York Times > Business > Your Money > Techno Files: At I.B.M., That Google Thing Is So Yesterday

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Fitting a website into a corporate retailing strategy has been one of the core issues since e-business began. Does the website add a new sales channel or does it complement existing ones. Does it cannibalize existing business? REI, a retailer, has specifically launched a strategy to have its website act to bolster its in-store sales. How REI Scaled E-Commerce Mountain - Channel Integration - REI uses Web to drive in-store sales; website can complement retail strategy - CIO Magazine May 15,2004

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Google is always doing something interesting. This time, they are making available millions of books on the net. That is, copying them in. Legally, of course! VOANews.com - IN THE NEWS - Google to Put Millions of Books on the Internet

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

AOL is moving away from its traditional method of providing software that needs to be installed by users, and developing its own web browser. The new browser will be based on Internet Explorer as a core, but they are planning to improve on it with added functionality.Technology Review: AOL's Crumbling Walls

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Probably the most striking case of a big company re-inventing itself is found in the current changes going on in IBM. There are persistent reports that they have decided to sell their PC manufacturing business and are moving more into internet services, thus re-affirming the view of many that the internet is where computing is going. E-Commerce News: Business : IBM Lands Voice, Data Deal Worth Nearly $1 Billion

Friday, December 03, 2004

Academics are excited about the advent of a new search engine for scholarly papers and materials. It's Google Scholar, and will be a big help in doing serious research. Electronic databases have been used for years, but this is the first really good web-based service and is likely to become very widely used. Google Scholar
A new study by the London School of Economics is reported on here, which says that technology is being used to monitor people closely in the workplace. Shades of 1984, 21st century style! Study: Managers misuse tech to control workers - Computerworld

Monday, November 29, 2004

Here's a good special on digital convergence - what it means and what's happening.BW Online | June 21, 2004 | Big Bang!

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

There have been instances of cell phones blowing up. This article has some interesting tips for preventing this from happening to you. Globetechnology

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Google, by offering new services that produce less dependence on the desktop computer and offering search facilities that are open to a variety of devices, may challenge the dominance of Microsoft, perhaps even rendering Windows obsolete. Microsoft is even starting to scramble. InformationWeek > Software Titans > How Google Threatens Microsoft > November 22, 2004

Friday, November 19, 2004

Many parts of the world do not have the (wired) infrastructure to support modern technology. However, in the long run this may be to their advantage. They may be able to leapfrog the wired infrastructure by going wireless, thereby avoiding all that unsightly clutter. CNN.com - Reaching the far reaches of the world -- without wires - Oct 27, 2004

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

E-business in action: This New York Times article describes how Wal-Mart uses its database containing terabytes of transaction data to stay one step ahead of the competition. The New York Times > Business > Your Money > What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits
Identity theft continues to be a growing problem and will take a considrable investment of time and money to curtail. InformationWeek > Identity Theft > I.D. Under Lock And Key > November 15, 2004
Identity theft is a growing problem and financial institutions in particular are under pressure to do something about it. It's going to require a significant investment to slow it down. InformationWeek > Identity Theft > I.D. Under Lock And Key > November 15, 2004

Friday, November 05, 2004

Visa Canada has provided a good example of how phishing works in their report on that topic in their website. Visa Canada | Personal Card Options | Secure With Visa
Visa has declared November 4th as "Anti-Phishing" Day Globetechnology

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

e-mail management is a problem we all face. there is often a tendency to delete old messages, but then sometimes we need those old messages to record what we said, or what was said to us, or for contract purposes. Keeping all the messages is not an option. Selecting the ones you want to keep is problematic and time-consuming. Here's a brief outline of how the city of Oceanside, California is dealing with the issue.InformationWeek > Building E-Mail Archives > California City Relieved It Has E-Mail Archives > November 1, 2004

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

You wonder why an advanced technological society like the United States can't introduce a reliable means of voting electronically. The plain and simple fact is that the technology just isn't there yet. Technology Review: Technology and Democracy

Friday, October 29, 2004

Peoplesoft and IBM and Oracle - they continue their dance. there are big stakes.VARBusiness | PeopleSoft Anchors Itself To IBM
Here's your opportunity! Vote for the Trites E-Business Blog!!TechWeb: The Business Technology Network

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Spam is getting deadly serious. Take a look: Globetechnology
This USA Today article presents some interesting ideas about the future of the Internet. Instead of having to look for information, the information will find us - everywhere. USATODAY.com - Next big thing: The Web as your servant

Monday, October 18, 2004

eBay is on the move, in Canada and Internationally. They've done a remarkable job of adapting their business model to change and continue to do so. But for how long can they continue their growth? Globetechnology

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

The growing use of laptops and handhelds has left many people with an exposure to losing their data with their unit. The answer is to add security so people can't access the data even if the computer is lost. The standard password doesn't do it. Some form of encryption is usually needed. Globetechnology

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Here's an interesting Q&A with Tim Berners-Lee and his work on the Semantic Web. Technology Review: Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford law professor, is well known for his controversial take on copyright issues and intellectual property rights. His new book “Free Culture” offers an interesting tour of the world of intellectual property law and cyberspace. True to his own theories, Lessig offers a free PDF version of his book under a Creative Commons license at http://free-culture.org

Friday, September 24, 2004

We'll probably be hearing a lot more about Bot Networks. That's when others sell your computer's processing power without your knowledge. Technology Review: When Bot Nets Attack

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Speech recognition may finally be coming in major ways. But what's this about intelligent systems? Computers talking to each other. Maybe your computer and mine will build a relationship! This report from Acccenture inspires some innovative thought.Speech Recognition Finds Its Voice

Friday, September 17, 2004

South Korea is so well connected with the internet, it may give us an indication of where we are headed in North America. Globetechnology

Monday, September 13, 2004

Is long-time CRM leader Siebel losing its edge? The New York Times > Technology > The Customer Relationship Expert Takes a Dose of Its Own Medicine
Cell phones have become a part of the landscape, but have not been used to their potential for e-business purposes, at least in North America. One of the barriers has been the difficulty of getting data into them and the lack of data transferability between the phones and the web. That is changing, and new technologies are coming out to make it all easier. Technology Review: Startup Aims for Easy Transfers of Web Snippets to Cell Phones

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

The use of XBRL for filing with governments and regulators is gaining acceptance quickly. This page has a new publication from Pricewaterhousecoopers on the subject. It adds to one recently published by KPMG. XBRL : How XBRL Web Services Impacts Regulatory Assessments

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Philly, the hot spot! Make a whole city a wireless hot spot and make high speed internet available to everyone in it. Maybe it's an idea whose time has come. CNN.com - Philadelphia mulls wireless society - Sep 1, 2004

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Video on demand to the TV through the internet. It seems the next logical step in the dissemination of entertainment material. Music is already a long way there. Video presents bandwidth issues, but maybe it's time has come. It'll be interesting to see how this new startup does. Technology Review: Startup Akimbo to Launch Internet Video-on-Demand Service for TV

Friday, August 27, 2004

e-learning goes wireless with the handing out of Blackberry handhelds by the University of Maryland. There's a lesson here. Students need to be thoroughly comfortable and conversant with the technologies being used in business. Globetechnology
Proceedings from the annual European conference on e-Business Productivity are available from this website. e-Business Watch: "The main Annual Event of the e-Business W@tch in 2004 (Brussels, Centre Albert Borschette) discussed methods and results of measuring the economic impacts of ICT on productivity, competitiveness and growth. Speakers included representatives of the OECD, from the EC, official statistics and research organisations.
In the morning session, representatives of the e-Business W@tch presented the results of recent e-Business Sector Studies on the textile industries, transport equipment manufacturing, the chemical industries and retail."

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Slowly, the "wild west" phase of World Wide Web development is coming to an end, as the laws and law enforcement practices catch up with technology. The US Justice Department's new Operation Slam Spam is a case in point. Details coming out on Thursday. InformationWeek %3E Spam %3E Justice Department Cracks Down On Spammers %3E August 25%2C 2004

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

There is quite a controversy about e-voting these days, yet it seems the way of the future. Computerworld has compiled an interesting and timely section on this topic.Electronic Voting - Special Coverage
The benefits of blogs are beginning to be realized by some businesses. Blogs are a useful and simple way to get a message out to the public or to customers. They can be incorporated into existing websites and readily picked up by search engines such as Google. Globetechnology

Monday, August 23, 2004

Music retailers are going through a classic case of disintermediation, and will have to reinvent themselves in order to survive. The only way they can do that is to find new and attractive ways to add value for their customers. Most likely, they will need to embrace the internet, not compete with it. Clive Davis has some suggestions for them in this article. Globetechnology

Thursday, July 29, 2004

This Darwin survey shows that RFID is an important and growing technology, but that it is still in its infancy in terms of understanding of what it is and what it can do.Darwin - Online Feature - Learn - Research Reports

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

E-Mail is one of those things that most people like to think is private. However, we know that this is not necessarily so. There is lots of opportunity for many people to read your e-mail, including system support people, ISP's, anyone who has access to the parts of a network where your files are stored, and in some cases, management or groups appointed by management to monitor computer use. But the question is - should any or all of these groups have the right to read your e-mail? The law is not up to date on these issues, although it is changing. Technology Review: E-mail Privacy is All the Rage

Thursday, July 22, 2004

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has just announced a new initiative to study the use of tagged data in its filings, particularly using XBRL. This is a major step forward for XBRL and will lead to significant changes in accounting over the next few years.Press Release: SEC Announces Initiative to Assess Benefits of Tagged Data in Commission Filings; 2004-97; July 22, 2004

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Speech on the internet, for input as well as output, is just a matter of time. A significant development is the announcement of W3C of Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML), which we are going to hear a lot more about over the next few years, as speech gets integrated into web applications. Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Version 1.0

Monday, July 12, 2004

e-democracy in the form of electronic voting has been around for several years. Before that, there was telephone voting. Yet, we don't seem to be able to pull it all together. You would think we could do that. E-voting's Rush to Failure - Computerworld

Friday, July 09, 2004

A survey released yesterday by Statistics Canada shows that over 50% of households now have at least one member who regularly uses the internet, that internet useage is now extending into lower income groups, thus starting to remove the digital divide, and that the demand for high speed internet access is growing fast.The Daily, Thursday, July 8, 2004. Household Internet Use Survey

Thursday, July 08, 2004

RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags will replace bar codes in the not-so-distant future. Giants like Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, Gillette, and Kraft are betting that RFID will revolutionize supply-chain management. This Wired article takes a look at the supermarket of the future and explains how RFID technology will make it happen. Wired 12.07: Attention, Shoppers: You Can Now Speed Straight Through Checkout Lines!

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

In an amazing study just released by the Business Software Alliance, the true cost of software copying is revealed. It shows that 36% of the world's software is pirated and that it represents a loss of $29 Billion US. Try adding that to the cost of pirated music!Major Study Finds 36 Percent of Software in Use Worldwide is Pirated
You have to be so careful with private information in the age of technology. Here's a new example of how private payroll information was inadvertently sent out by e-mail to outside recipients.E-mail glitch exposes private data in California - Computerworld

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

When you start a new relationship, you never know when its going to hit the rocks. Amazon and Toys R US were once the dream team. Now look at what's happening. InformationWeek > E-Commerce > Why Amazon Is Suing Toys 'R' Us > June 29, 2004
Is Big Brother here? Check out the new wireless capabilities of the police. There has been concern from day 1 about the possibilities of wireless to track people. The technology is in existence and easy to implement. Just a matter of time. Globetechnology

Monday, June 21, 2004

Here is an interesting article about the message filters of Google’s new Gmail system, which adds targeted advertising messages to incoming e-mails. Apparently, the system still needs some fine-tuning. The New York Times > Technology > Advertising: The Internet Ad You Are About to See Has Already Read Your E-Mail (Free registration required)

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Timothy Berners-Lee, the generally acknowledged inventor of the Internet, has received the Millenium Technology Prize of approx 1.7 Million Dollars. This is the first real financial payback he has received from his accomplishment, arguably the greatest single invention of the 20th Century.He had declined to capitalize on his invention commercially from the beginning.The Millennium Technology Prize

Friday, June 11, 2004

The established bricks-based music stores have been watching developments in the sales of music on the web with concern. Like some other types of business in the past, they run the risk that they might be disintermediated by the use of the internet. They've considered going to the internet themselves, but the latest is that they are pulling back and re-thinking. Eventually, they'll have to come up with a new business model and/or strategy. Globetechnology

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Friday, June 04, 2004

Those camera phones are not just toys. They could be killer apps! The camera phone's killer app

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Monday, May 24, 2004

Paypal is turning into a major payment system. It gets around a lot of the problems of other systems, including the use of credit cards, and has more of the characteristics of cash.Economist.com | Articles by Subject | Online payments

Friday, May 21, 2004

A new e-mail tracking tool raises concerns about privacy, with some. E-Commerce News: Security: Service Tracks When E-mail Is Read, How Long and Where: "DidTheyReadIt.com, which will launch Monday, allows anyone to secretly track e-mails they send. "
MIT Research links IT investment and Business Process Change to Corporate Productivity. Measuring IT's impact on productivity - Computerworld

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Sarbanes-Oxley will most likely boost IT spending. Can Sarbanes-Oxley rekindle IT spending? | CNET News.com
Want to know Google’s latest corporate musings? Take a look at the Google Blog.

Friday, May 07, 2004

A new study by Accenture says that while governments have touted e-government, there hasn't been the take-up by citizens that was hoped for. Also, Canada is again ranked as the world leader in e-government. 2004 News Releases
Here's a new Weblog of Ed Gottsman, senior researcher with Accenture. Interesting leading edge stuff.Miss Manners Uber Alles

Thursday, May 06, 2004

VoIP is heating up competition in the Canadian telecommunications industry. Canada's phone giants face Internet threat | CNET News.com

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Here's an interesting article on standards, specifications and agreements. Focus is on XML and ebXML (a competitor of XBRL) You call that a standard? | Newsmakers | CNET News.com
Music sharing is still illegal in the US, and likely to be so in Canada in the longer term. CNN.com - Music industry sues 477 more computer users - Apr 28, 2004

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Accenture has released a report on the relationship between innovation and the adoption of technology. The Innovator�s Advantage: Using Innovation and Technology to Improve Business Performance

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Monday, April 19, 2004

This site has a number of White papers on various aspects of Webservices. You need to register (free) to get in.WebServices.Org - The Web Services Industry Portal -

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Targeting Web advertising to local needs of web users will increase advertising. Will it also increase aggravation? Google to target Web surfers by city | CNET News.com

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants publishes a regular newsletter called E-Comment, which focuses on e-business issues of concern to financial managers. The current issue is an update on XBRL and makes the point that XBRL can be useful in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. About E-Comment Newsletter

Thursday, April 01, 2004

Here's a write-up on a new study on the impact of IT Outsourcing on jobs - a controversial area and a US election issue. Outsourcing could create 'wage compression' for IT workers - Computerworld

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

The struggle goes on about who should control the Internet - the US or an international body like the UN. Globetechnology
Applications Integration is central to e-business. This site shows what Microsoft and Seibel are doing - the Universal Application Network. Siebel Application Integration Zone

Friday, March 26, 2004

Here's a serious e-business site developed under an initiative of the European Commission. Several calls for papers are included.e-Business Watch

Thursday, March 25, 2004

HP is moving towards more support of Linux, which is the major open source operating system. It will put even more pressure on Microsoft to either change their pricing of Windows, change its strategy or go open source itself. Globetechnology

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Cheques are going digital. Plans are afoot to launch a similar project in Canada. E-Commerce News: Viewpoint: Banking Goes Digital

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Friday, March 19, 2004

The World Wide Web consortium has released a recommendation for Voice XML as a tool for voice based communications: Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) Version 2.0

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Monday, March 15, 2004

Too many passwords to remember? Here are some of the alternatives being considered: E-Commerce News: Spotlight Features: The End of Passwords

Friday, March 12, 2004

Is buying e-mail stamps a way to fight spam? Bill Gates and others think so: CNN.com - Gates: Buy stamps to send e-mail - Mar. 5, 2004

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

The Palo Alto Research Centre has come up with a new way to secure WLANs: PARC Securing Wireless Networks

Monday, March 08, 2004

Here's a perspective on a big issue - determining value for IT investments: Amex CEO Glen Salow on measuring IT value - Computerworld

Friday, March 05, 2004

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Monday, March 01, 2004

The Convergence Consulting Group Ltd has issued a new report which shows that spending on internet access slowed in 2003. Inside Convergence Consulting: Our Reports
The CSS Working Group of the W3C has released two First Public Working Drafts related to the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language. Comments on the drafts are being invited.World Wide Web Consortium

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has appointed a new External Advisory Committee: Notice from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
In a new opinion poll, 80.41% agree that the existing laws on data ownership do not need to be changed to control use of online data.Member Opinion Poll
New research says personalization of websites doesn't always encourage sales: Techweb > News > Personalization Ineffective On Online Retail Sites > Personalization Said To Be Ineffective On Online Retail Sites > October 14, 2003

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Interactive television, that old dream, may still arrive - thanks to cell phones! Globetechnology

Thursday, February 12, 2004

The World Wide Web Consortium has released the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and the OWL Web Ontology Language (OWL) as W3C Recommendations.World Wide Web Consortium Issues RDF and OWL Recommendations
Gartner Group predicts the ROI of CRM will continue to grow but that Privacy concerns will be a focus of CRM activity: Predicts 2004: Customer Relationship Management
Will interplanetary e-business eventually be conducted over networks like the one connected to Mars? The 100-Million-Mile Network
Ernst & Young has announced a new portalthat makes available rating reports for participating corporations that show key performance indicators derived by using XBRL: EY-Corporate Rating Online (An XBRL Showcase)

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

A new W3C framework - VoiceXML - will enable voice to be included in applications on the web: World Wide Web Consortium Issues VoiceXML 2.0 as a W3C Proposed Recommendation
Check out this survey of CIO Insight on coming trends in the strategic use of technology - very interesting! : Research: The Future of IT

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

A UK survey shows that 85% of companies are not adopting RFID, despite the fact that it is one of the most hyped technologies of the year: e.centre
The OECD is asking governments to do more in the fight against SPAM: OECD Calls on Governments to step up their Fight Against Spam
Google is closer to its IPO, having cleared Sarbanes Oxley: Google clears audit hurdle to initial public offering - Jan. 27, 2004

Friday, January 30, 2004

The OECD Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation concluded their Ministerial Level meeting today and issued a communique calling for, among other things, stronger patent systems to protect Intellectual Property: Science, Technology and Innovation for the 21st Century. Meeting of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy at Ministerial Level, 29-30 January 2004 - Final Communique
e-democracy - it's better than hanging chads! InformationWeek > Security > E-Voting System Has Security Risks > January 30, 2004

Thursday, January 29, 2004

Amazon, the classic study in the search for viable e-business models, has reported it's very first full-year profit: E-Commerce News: E-Business: Amazon Posts First Full-Year Profit

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

TSX is the first public company in Canada and the first Stock Exchange in the world to publish its financial statements in XBRL. Take a look: TSX Group - TSX Group Shares - Financials - XBRL

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Today, WIPO issued an interesting summary of its efforts in 2003 to stamp out Cybersquatting: WIPO/UPD/2004/217: WIPO Director General Meets with President of Bulgaria

Monday, January 26, 2004

The Federal Trade Commission in the US has released its report on the top consumer complaints in 2003. They include a number of internet related matters and identity theft accounted for 42% of all complaints: FTC Releases Top 10 Consumer Complaint Categories in 2003

Friday, January 23, 2004

Here's a great take on new and emerging technnologies: Globetechnology

Thursday, January 22, 2004

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched a PIPEDA e-Kit to help companies comply with the new privacy legislation that came into effect on Jan 1-04: PIPED Act E-kit for Businesses - Privacy Commissioner of Canada
The recording industry is suing more people for piracy: Globetechnology

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

RFID is one of the major technologies for streamlining workflow and supply chain activities and is therefore a major up and coming technology for e-business. Check this out:Techweb > RFID on Track for a Big 2004 > January 15, 2004

Sunday, January 18, 2004

W3C has just released a new standard that will make it easier to view Web content on devices like PDA's and cell phones World Wide Web Consortium Publishes CC/PP 1.0 as a W3C Recommendation

Thursday, January 08, 2004

Here's a great site for Global Internet Stats CyberAtlas: Internet Statistics and Market Research for Web Marketers
There's a revolution - big time - brewing in the telephone industry. You thought the music industry was shaken up by the net? The Globe and Mail