Windows Finally Beats Unix, But Linux Is Coming on Strong

"Which hardware company fell the hardest? It's a tie between Fujitsu and Sun. Fujitsu runs a mix of its own systems, such as BS2000/OSD-BC, Solaris and Windows. Sun, although it flirts with Linux, still gets most of its declining dollars from Solaris.

Now, none of these companies is going to be going out of business anytime soon. But, it doesn't take a Wall Street financial analyst to see that Linux, and the companies that support it, are on a remarkably fast growth rate.

Enjoy your stay at the top, Microsoft. You won't be there for long."

The Politics of Honest Voting | Linux Journal

"My writing of this editorial was inspired by what sounded like an effort to get an open-source solution in place. I read an article about the Open Voting Consortium and went to the group's Web page with great hopes. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of reading, I saw more politics.

The most prominent information on the site is the group's request for contributions totaling $1.5 million to 'take back our election system'. The Consortium uses the word 'open' over and over on the site, but what it wants to do with that $1.5 million isn't very clear."

Linux OS used by ex CA chief exec to dispose of evidence

"Former CA chief executive Sanjay Kumar, has been accused of erasing his laptop's hard drive to destroy potential evidence, by reformatting it to run the Linux operating system."

What a versatile OS!

Or something.

Gentoo Linux founder leaves Microsoft

"Hilf also said he planned to replace Robbins in the near future and was already looking for a suitable replacement, who could come from within Microsoft or be recruited from the outside. "

I just want to go on record that I'll shill for Microsoft for anything over $500K per year. I doubt they will make me an offer though as there are so many more qualified people who will do it for less.

But hey, I have quite a track record of characterizing the company as liars and scum-bags. It would be quite a conversion story, and I'm prepared to stick to it for at least a couple years, which is important you see.

Light Blue Optics

Laser projection using computer-generated holograms (CGHs) represents a compelling alternative to conventional image projection. Video projectors based on this CGH technology are efficient and require only a very few components, which means they can be made very small - and the smaller the CGH, the bigger the image that results. So a tiny projector producing large images could, for the first time, be integrated into a laptop, a PDA, or even a mobile phone.

Every time I look at the type of projectors used for business presentations (aka Powerpoint slideshows) the thought goes through my head: "Why are these things so expensive, so hot, so prone to burnout etc., and why can't someone do this with lasers and non-moving parts."

Well, apparently others have had this thought. I hope it is for real. First target market of course is those Powerpoint shows. Carrying the projector around in your pocket could make everyone an instant presenter. Well, OK, there are downsides to this too.

But if rendered in color, doesn't this potentially replace those 900 inch TV screens I see in ever increasing numbers at Sam's club? Given enough resolution couldn't you replace an arbitrary sized LCD monitor with any plain white surface?

Seems to me this technology has very long legs, and the guy who invented it, if he has good lawyers, will be very rich indeed.

Mini-Microsoft: "Rarely does a bad attitude solve the problem."

Sometimes the comments are more interesting than the blog:

"If you are by any chance an executive and you really want to make a difference, here's a hint: Office 12 and Vista absolutely suck. If they continue on their current course they will be a disaster for Microsoft. I shouldn't have to tell you why, but this blog has plenty of examples. Show me you care by noticing and doing something about it. Something big. If I could, I would. I try every day with partial success to make people see how our software and our approach toward software can be better. I like to think my personal code reflects that. But I don't have the top level power you have."

AlterNet: MediaCulture: Son of Dot-Com

"It's all the fault of the post-Google hegemony, which has imposed a new buzzword regime on us: We must now refer to internet culture using terms like Web 2.0, digital ecosystem, folksonomy, social network, Ajax and tagging. What do these words mean? That investors have turned their burning, collective gaze from the wastes of Mordor to the human world of Silicon Valley again, and they're giving us money to build things that sound new."

Two ways Microsoft sabotages Linux desktop adoption

"The OpenOffice migration is floundering, as, once again, some employees have returned to using MS Word.

Microsoft's mindshare with some employees has been harder to overcome than the problems with the table and formatting. Holt now knows that the success of an OpenOffice migration can depend on early identification and deprogramming of employees who are fiercely loyal to MS Office. 'Just one person like this may upset the whole project,' he said."

UniScientist predicts 'mini Ice Age'

"The Northern Hemisphere's most recent cool-down period occurred between 1645 and 1705. The resulting period, known as the Little Ice Age, left canals in the Netherlands frozen solid and forced people in Greenland to abandon their houses to glaciers, the scientist said."

Cool!

Debian founder takes over LSB leadership

"The Free Standards Group (FSG), the non-profit group behind the Linux Standard Base (LSB), has announced that Debian Linux founder Ian Murdock will be its new CTO (chief technology officer) and will chair the LSB workgroup."

Apple Risks It with Intel

I missed this analysis of the risks of the Apple-Intel move when it first came out. Sounds like it was spot-on (so far).

But now Dvorak hints a new rumor... namely that Apple intends to exit the OS X business and just sell hardware for Windows. I'll be looking for a link to the article on this.

IBM eServer BladeCenter Announcement

"IBM today announced the intention to form an industry community around BladeCenter� called Blade.org, Companies that have expressed an interest in being founding members in the blade community include Brocade, Cisco, Citrix Systems, IBM, Intel Corporation, NetApp, Nortel, Novell and VMware. This community is planned to be a collaborative organization focused on accelerating the expansion of solutions for BladeCenter, a design co-developed by IBM and Intel�. This organization is aimed at spurring development and innovation around blade technology, will enable BladeCenter ecosystem partners to test and interoperate their products on BladeCenter. This will drive the development of this rapidly-growing community and innovations in Voice over IP, industry specific solutions, security and many other technologies."

Let's see... everyone but Apple on this list? Check. Confirming they want to grow up to be just like Microsoft and get out of that nasty dog-eat-dog hardware business. Next stop is for Apple to announce the phase-out of their server business so they can focus on more music gadgets and other "fun" stuff.

IBM's blade agenda: Cell chip, InfiniBand | CNET News.com

I want one.

30 Boxes, Best... Calender... EVER!

I look forward to trying this. Too bad Google hasn't been more nimble and gotten something out by now, as I'd love to have this mesh with my Gmail. One thing for sure, unless Microsoft buys some company like this they are going to find themselves wondering what hit them. Live.com and Start.com only go to show how nimble Microsfot is at grabbing catchy domain names, after that, it all looks like copy-cat design to me.

Corporate Courage - Walter Williams

"This kind of government tyranny should be disavowed by every decent American. Stepping up to the plate is Branch Banking and Trust Co. (BB&T), headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C. BB&T is a full-service bank with 1,100 offices throughout the Southeast. On Jan. 25, BB&T announced it will not lend to commercial developers that plan to build condominiums, shopping malls and other private projects on land taken from private citizens by government entities using eminent domain."