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