Friday, July 28, 2006

Here's an item for those who think that downloading music without paying for it is legal and acceptable. Kazaa has been required in a court case to pay $115 million to the music industry for compensation. More importantly, they have agreed to "use all reasonable means" in their software design to discourage piracy by users. We'll have to wait to see exactly what that means. globeandmail.com : Kazaa settles piracy suits

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Everyone is familiar with Spyware, and especially with the annoying ads and viruses they invite, not to mention the intrusion of privacy occasioned by the tracking cookies. The firm of Direct Revenue attracted some attention as a significant purveyor of Spyware, and this article, focusing on them, offers some great insights into the world of Spyware. The Plot To Hijack Your Computer

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

China only recently got into the internet, but by 2007, they will have surpassed the US as the largest internet user in the world. At the same time, because they are relatively late to the game, they are short of IP addresses, something that is plentiful in the west. For this and other reasons, they are leapfrogging the US and moving to IP version 6, which carries enhanced capabilities, much greater expansion of IP addresses and better security capabilities. It could give them an edge and put the US and everyone else behind, which could have massive implications for the technological strength of the west. The US has been the leader of the internet, but it could become a follower if it doesn;t act soon. China Builds a Better Internet - Editorial - http://www.cio.com/archive/071506/china.html

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

This article provides an interesting insight how UPS leverages IT to increase efficiency and remain successful in a very competitive industry. Northwest Florida Daily News: How UPS went from low-tech to an IT power

Thursday, July 20, 2006

The movie industry has made a move - somewhat tentatively - to make legal downloads of movies possible. Called CinemaNow, the new service will enable people to download movies and record them on a DVD. The movie industry has been particularly slow to embrace the internet, even slower than the music industry, but that's what they need to do, all in the context of a viable business model. There's the rub. Technology Review: TR Blogs

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Google continues its move to take over the world. It is moving into web based enterprise wide applications, which could be attractive to many organizations. We have a lot of applications using the internet in the background anyway, so it may be simply a natural progression. The Enterprise Gets Googled - Editorial - CIO

Monday, July 10, 2006

People are still finding opportunities in tech e-business to start their own business and even make a decent living at it. Here are some examples. InformationWeek Careers Accidental Tech Entrepreneurs Turn Their Hobbies Into Livelihoods June 30, 2006

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

More people are using wireless networks, both at work and at home. They still often do not secure them, however, and that can be a fatal flaw. It's not hard to install basic wireless network security, through the encryption code that all networks provide for. But there are additional steps that wireless owners can take. It's important to have a secure network, both to protect sensitive data that may be on your laptop from work, but also to protect your own private information, such as banking access numbers. InformationWeek Security Locking The Wireless Network June 21, 2006

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Google is widely considered to be the tech-heavyweight these days. Every announcement of a new product or service by the company causes a huge buzz and scares potential competitors. But aside from its core search engine business, Goggle has not always fared so well. In fact, many of Google's new services can hardly be considered a success. This Businessweek article takes a critical look at why Google has not been as successful outside of its core business. So Much Fanfare, So Few Hits