June 2008 – Page 3

Grrrr…Web design…

Apart from the issues we’ve seen when attempting to contact web sites belonging to digitalcircle.org, momentumni.org and investni.com when you do something as simple as omitting the ‘www’, I’m presented with this… Renders badly in Firefox and Safari. Renders okay in Internet Explorer. Come on guys…I know a couple of web developers who would fix … Continue reading “Grrrr…Web design…”

Renders badly in Firefox and Safari. Renders okay in Internet Explorer.
Come on guys…I know a couple of web developers who would fix this lickety-split.

I run Google Analytics on a few of my web sites and notice the following trends.

Site	Firefox	Safari	I.E.	Other
quayperformance.com	41%	30%	26%	3%
nimug.org	23%	54%	21%	2%
lategaming.com	54%	7%	36%	3%
host.io	43%	25%	7%	25%

These stats tell me quite simply that Firefox is dominant in every market except very Mac-specific markets. I’m sure this is partly due to the very aggressive push from the Mozilla corporation on Firefox but also because Firefox is more reliable and it’s working against the momentum of people who won’t update their anti-virus definitions never mind install a new web browser.

I don’t use Firefox much though I updated to version 3 when it was released. I prefer to use Safari. For the most part the macro-rendering of web sites is pretty identical. They both do things well, are compliant with standards and therefore web sites designed and tested for them present the widest field of accessibility.

In comparison, the legacy of web sites out there designed for Internet Explorer will become more and more incompatible as the old IE rendering model declines further and further into obscurity. Companies which do not act will be part of a ghetto of web pages which represent the very worst of design.

What do your stats say?

Bill Gates steps down.

The BBC has a thought provoking review of Microsoft, with today being Bill Gates’ last day as the Bog Man on Compus. In early 2004, …Mr Gates predicted that within two years the problem of spam – junk e-mail – would be solved. … Four years further on and it is clear that Mr Gates … Continue reading “Bill Gates steps down.”

The BBC has a thought provoking review of Microsoft, with today being Bill Gates’ last day as the Bog Man on Compus.

In early 2004, …Mr Gates predicted that within two years the problem of spam – junk e-mail – would be solved. … Four years further on and it is clear that Mr Gates prediction has not been borne out. If anything spam has got worse.
…
In 1995 Mr Gates co-wrote a book entitled The Road Ahead which gave little mention to the rising tide of interest in the net and its looming influence.
Later editions of the book were re-written to correct the omission
…
It is something of a myth that Microsoft is a hive of innovation that regularly pumps out products that take on the world.

I’ll be sad to see him go. Evidently the industry has just lost one of their great visionaries.

Gave in and installed Safari…

…on the Windows machine in work which previously had IE6 and FF2. The web is quick again. And anti-aliased. It’s lovely. Stupid ticketing system is hard-coded to only use IE6 or above and even changing the User Agent doesn’t fool it. Related posts: Mobile/Portable Computing Caveats Wise Fools Being paid to be wrong must be … Continue reading “Gave in and installed Safari…”

…on the Windows machine in work which previously had IE6 and FF2.

The web is quick again. And anti-aliased. It’s lovely.

Stupid ticketing system is hard-coded to only use IE6 or above and even changing the User Agent doesn’t fool it.

WiFi sandbox

Via YourTechStuff Here’s a development that seems to hark back to the bad old days worst of the current wi-fi overcharging. The Dublin Dockland Development Authority has been telling the media for the last two years that it would be rolling out “free” wi-fi. Now it has done so — and limited it to 10 … Continue reading “WiFi sandbox”

Via YourTechStuff

Here’s a development that seems to hark back to the bad old days worst of the current wi-fi overcharging. The Dublin Dockland Development Authority has been telling the media for the last two years that it would be rolling out “free” wi-fi. Now it has done so — and limited it to 10 commercial websites.

www.dublindocklands.ie

www.sports.ie

www.welfare.ie

www.met.ie

www.chq.ie

www.ifsc.ie

www.dublinbus.ie

www.itsyourmoney.ie

www.dubsimon.ie

www.phantom.ie

Users accessing websites outside the ten free sites will be charged at rates starting at â‚¬6 for one hour.

This bears a lot of resemblance to my Internet Everywhere model except for two important details.

It’s very expensive – you can buy it by the week for â‚¬60 but that’s horrendously expensive for what will be a grazing service. They can’t expect people to sit on it for hours and even if they did, it shouldn’t be more expensive than sitting at home on your own broadband when you consider the potential contention ratios!
It’s limited to one outbound carrier – I didn’t expect this anyway as it involves a bit more vision. It would also require the buy in of several carriers which would, due to the market, drive prices down. Again, consider the contention here if people actually used it.

The idea of having half a dozen sandboxed commercial sites is enticing anyway. Apart from the fact that free is always good, these companies are advertising, they’re paying for the network. They’ll be visible on the captive portals you use to get out.

Think about it – you need sports results? Or the news? Public transport details? The weather? All of this should be free. And I see no problem with paying for internet access.

Inside your sandbox, you’ll want to host as much content as you can to keep people in the sandbox and only use the wide-area-network provided by the carriers as infrequently as possible. This means perhaps building a series of community forum sites, offering services to the local community so that they come to you first and essentially providing eyeballs for these advertisers.

The cost is where the Dublin Docklands WiFi sandbox most probably fails. They have obviously syndicated content from 10 commercial sites but is that going to be enough when combined with the onerous penalties for daring to look at something off-network!

As a model it’s right on the cusp of being correct as long as they reduce the price and as long as the content from the 10 sites they permit isn’t crap.

BT opt-in fitness report

According to ENN BT has launched what it calls a ‘Tech Mass Index’ calculator, to enable SMEs to work out the health of their IT spending. The Tech Mass Index works on similar principles to a Body mass Index, according to BT, which says the tool helps SMEs check if their IT performance is ‘obese’ … Continue reading “BT opt-in fitness report”

According to ENN

BT has launched what it calls a ‘Tech Mass Index’ calculator, to enable SMEs to work out the health of their IT spending. The Tech Mass Index works on similar principles to a Body mass Index, according to BT, which says the tool helps SMEs check if their IT performance is ‘obese’ or ‘underweight’. At www.itcalculator.bt.com, users enter the amount of time and money they are spending on IT, their size, the sector they are in and their location, and they will then be e-mailed a ‘fitness assessment’ specific to their business.

I had a go and encountered this:

Note the compulsory field. And the requirement to agree to be contacted by BT. Is this a service or is this a cynical advertising ploy to get you called by BT’s Managed IT services? Oh, I think the latter.
If you do submit, the next screen offers to email the report or you can read it. If I can read it online, why do you need my telephone number?

Seems like a service. Is actually a turd.

iPhone SDK tutorial videos???

I thought the NDA was still in force? Still – iphoneDevelopmentCentral is just great. I’ve copied these links to the XCake.org web site. Related posts: Can’t say NDAnything Developing for iPhone? iPhone stuff Og tutorial (part one)

I thought the NDA was still in force?

Still – iphoneDevelopmentCentral is just great.

I’ve copied these links to the XCake.org web site.

Bill Gates on Microsoft Products and Services

In essence, he doesn’t like them either. Via Gruber From: Bill Gates Sent: Wed 4/30/2003 10:46 PM Subject: Appleâ€™s Jobs again.., and time to have a great Windows download service… Steve Jobs ability to focus in on a few things that count, get people who get user interface right and market things as revolutionary are … Continue reading “Bill Gates on Microsoft Products and Services”

In essence, he doesn’t like them either.

Via Gruber

From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wed 4/30/2003 10:46 PM
Subject: Appleâ€™s Jobs again.., and time to have a great Windows download service…
Steve Jobs ability to focus in on a few things that count, get people who get user interface right and market things as revolutionary are amazing things. This time somehow he has applied his talents In getting a better licensing deal than anyone else has gotten for music.

This is very strange to me. The music companies own operations offer a service that is truly unfriendly to the user and has been reviewed that way consistently. Somehow they decide to give Apple the ability to do something pretty good.

I remember discussing EMusic and us saying that model was better than subscription because you would know what you are getting. With the subscription who can promise you that the cool new stuff you want (or old stuff) will be there?

I am not saying this strangeness means we messed up – at least if we did so did Real and Pressplay and Musicnet and basically everyone else.

Now that Jobs has done it we need to move fast to get something where the UI and Rights are as good. I am not sure whether we should do this through one of these JVs or not, I am not sure what the problems are. However I think we need some plan to prove that even though Jobs has us a bit flat footed again we move quick and both match and do stuff better.

Iâ€™m sure people have a lot of thoughts on this. If the plan is clear no meeting is needed. I want to make sure we are coordinated between Windows DMD, MSN and other groups.

and there’s more on Todd Bishop’s Microsoft Blog where we see Bill Gates complaining to his department heads about not being able to download Windows Movie Maker.

I tried scoping to Media stuff. Still no moviemaker. I typed in movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing.

So I gave up and sent mail to Amir saying – where is this Moviemaker download? Does it exist?

So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.
…
So after more than an hour of craziness and making my programs list garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible website I haven’t run Moviemaker and I haven’t got the plus package.

The lack of attention to usability represented by these experiences blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don’t you just love that root certificate message?)

When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.

You know what? I knew it.

iPhone PAYG pricing for 02

From O2 The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for Â£299.99 and 16GB for Â£359.99. This also includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 6 months after you activate your iPhone. At the end of the six months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just … Continue reading “iPhone PAYG pricing for 02”

From O2

The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for Â£299.99 and 16GB for Â£359.99. This also includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 6 months after you activate your iPhone. At the end of the six months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just Â£10 per month. Weâ€™ll notify you at the end of the six month period by text and you can easily unsubscribe if you choose to do so. You’ll also be able to choose one of our standard Pay & Go tariffs to use with your iPhone. The more you top-up each month, the more free minutes or texts you’ll receive.

BlackBerry forsees problems in next quarter?

Shares in RIM, the BlackBerry firm, fell nearly 8% after they announced earnings of $482 million, up from $223 million from the year-ago period on revenue of $2.24 billion. However this is not news. Look at RIMM over the course of a full year and you see the trend is unmistakeably upward (much like AAPL … Continue reading “BlackBerry forsees problems in next quarter?”

Shares in RIM, the BlackBerry firm, fell nearly 8% after they announced earnings of $482 million, up from $223 million from the year-ago period on revenue of $2.24 billion. However this is not news. Look at RIMM over the course of a full year and you see the trend is unmistakeably upward (much like AAPL if you ignore that big drop in February/March.) So you have to ask – if their profits doubled then what’s the problem.

The problem is the next three months.

RIMM expect revenue to increase slightly over last quarter but they expect profit to be down (by around 1%). We’re still talking about margins in excess of 50% here but the most telling part, for me, is near the end of the Earnings Call transcript.

Jeffery Kvaal – Lehman Brothers
…to what extent are there other variables about pricing that we should be considering? Are you worried about overlap with the Apple customer base as well?
James L. Balsillie
I think the second half of your question doesnâ€™t have particular relevance to our thinking…
Jeffery Kvaal – Lehman Brothers
Okay, so thanks. That sounds like you arenâ€™t seeing too much of an overlap then, Jim, with the iPhone customer base in particular.
James L. Balsillie
No.

I don’t think they believe him.

BlackBerry has some stiff competition ahead when both the iPhone 3G shipa (in two weeks) and the Android phones begin to ship (speculating year-end). They’ll still do well because they already have a huge installed base and large corporations are not simply going to swap everything over based on these releases. But one of the hardest things on your laurels is resting on them.

I’m not a fan of the BlackBerry and this is based on having to support BlackBerry users when I was in Mac-Sys. I didn’t find the device a pleasure to use and that makes such a difference to me – and I think the realisation that computers don’t have to be awful is being realised by others as well.

The thing that made BlackBerry so compelling in the late 90s is being eroded by modern phones. Even the crappy Nokia I had for a loan phone had email and not enough people see the virtue in a push email system for it to be compelling by itself. And, as Apple and Microsoft have shown, push email is not something exclusive to BlackBerry.

Should RIMM be worried about AAPL?

Yes.

On April 2nd this year, RIMM announced the number of BlackBerry subscribers had passed 14 million – the BlackBerry has been on sale since 1997. To put this in perspective, Apple sold 6 million iPhones in far fewer countries in less than a year and they’re about to sell more than 10 million more.

In the Earnings transcript, James L. Balsillie said:

…once you decide to become a BlackBerry user, you kind of stay there for life.

Considering the 14 million, that’s kinda disappointing.

Nintendo scores 0/10 on arbitrary green survey.

GreenPease need to change. This isn’t the first time they’ve self-identified as media hungry shills willing to bend any factoid to suit their whims. Headline: Nintendo ‘least green tech firm’ At least it’s not Apple these days. “Greenpeace chose to conduct a survey and produce a report, which graded companies upon the voluntary submission of … Continue reading “Nintendo scores 0/10 on arbitrary green survey.”

GreenPease need to change. This isn’t the first time they’ve self-identified as media hungry shills willing to bend any factoid to suit their whims.

Headline: Nintendo ‘least green tech firm’

At least it’s not Apple these days.

“Greenpeace chose to conduct a survey and produce a report, which graded companies upon the voluntary submission of information,” the firm said in a statement.

“Nintendo decided not to take part in the survey and were therefore ‘ungraded’ in the resulting report.

This is in GreenPeace’s quarterly guide to greener electronics which ranks 18 firms based on some arbitrary criteria decided by GreenPeace which have, in the past, been found to be baseless.

In the latest version Sony and Sony Ericsson were the only companies to score more than five out of 10.
Microsoft came second from bottom; a position that reflected its “low score on climate criteria”.

Of course, Nintendo, like Apple before it, is a media darling with the success of the Wii and DS Lite. It creates headlines to give a company a resounding 0/10 in a ‘green survey’ despite the fact they have insufficient information on the actual practises of the company. In fact – so much of their scoring is based on public information from the company – with no burden of proof, that it becomes simply a PR exercise.

Too many questions remain unanswered. How do they choose these 18 companies? Why 18? Why not 25? Why pick these companies and not just work to find the companies that are admirable? Why is the tone so negative? Why do they take credit for companies improving their ‘green credentials’ in line with law? I’m not the only person pointing out the issues as their blog response shows. The survey is lazy, sensationalist and confirms my belief that the best thing you can do for the environment is individual action and to stay away from media-hungry blanket groups like GreenPeace.

When there are companies dumping waste straight into our rivers and oceans, why are they bothering with this?