Software, Digital Content, Geopolitics, Economics & More from of a Libertarian Serial Expat and Entrepreneur
In: web apps
22 Feb 2002Patrick Logan: "Both the .Net and the Java deployment technologies will lead to improvements in the "rich client" experience. The browser is just an interpreter that maps a textual (HTML) description to a set of UI components. Easing the deployment of other "rich interpreters" of content will lead to a middle ground – not a [...]
Clickz: "Think about it. Even if you’re mailing to a permission-based opt-in rental list, the message you’re sending — to be absolutely precise — is unsolicited. It hasn’t been specifically requested. And it’s certainly unexpected, unlike an e-newsletter you’ve signed up for and expect to receive regularly." Straightforward account of an e-mailing campaign that turned [...]
"…I wanted to be a radio DJ on Soma FM". There’s something to be said for their computer-generated DJing! 03/21/02 update: spamradio.
In: finance & money
21 Feb 2002WaPo: "Technology executives are mobilizing to block congressional efforts — a reaction to the Enron Corp. scandal — to change how companies account for stock options, a coin of the high-tech realm that some worry may distort a corporation’s true financial picture. [...] Take Cisco Systems Inc., the Silicon Valley networking giant. For the fiscal [...]
In: web services
19 Feb 2002NYT: "A worldwide computing project known as grid, whose long-term vision is to bring the power of supercomputing to individuals, is taking a step out of the laboratory and into the commercial mainstream. In a paper that was presented yesterday at a conference in Toronto, four computer scientists laid out a plan for marrying their [...]
Compete: "Based on a data pool of over 9 million Internet users, Compete delivers tailored analyses and business recommendations focused on demand analysis, attraction and retention, and customer profitability." They get their information from ISP logs, or "Alexa meets consumer panels". Comcast maybe? Nice idea though, once all personally identifiable information is removed. 02/18/02 update: [...]
In: software
16 Feb 2002So can you read on the portfolio page of one of their investors. Can’t find any confirmation elsewhere (not Microsoft, not Google). 02/18/02 update: Jason suggests that "perhaps Microsoft prefers to keep small deals like these under the radar?" That makes sense to me, if only because Microsoft might not even really know what to [...]
In: software
16 Feb 2002Steve Gillmor: "Bill is increasingly on the wrong side of the 80-20 rule. He can afford to essentially give away the development tools when he owns 80 percent of the developer mind share. But when his competitors cannibalize his Web services stack, free browser, and aging Office installed base to provide 80 percent of the [...]
In: web apps
16 Feb 2002SD Times (via Dan Bricklin’s DEMO album): "Anysoft Inc. plans to tackle enterprise application integration from the client side. Its Digital Cortex tools and runtime middleware, scheduled to begin shipping in April, abstract local applications running on Microsoft
In: web apps
16 Feb 2002Paul Graham: "There is now another way to deliver software that will save users from becoming system administrators. Web-based applications are programs that run on Web servers and use Web pages as the user interface. For the average user this new kind of software will be easier, cheaper, more mobile, more reliable, and often more [...]
I'm CEO of an online trade publishing firm in the marketing and defense verticals. We try to make news and data digestible and useful in an environment that is more noisy each day. This personal blog mixes my thoughts and interests on politics, business, software, and more, based on my business and personal experiences. Over the years I have posted items that turned out spectacularly wrong, and a few posts that stood the test of times better. Personal views only.