The Pinged Hobbit

A lot of people would say the only thing Internet Explorer is good for is downloading something else to surf the web with. Truth be told, I’d tend to agree. My current browser of choice is Firefox and it has been for a long time now. That’s not just because I spend most of time using a Mac either. Even when I use a Windows machine I still look for the the FF icon to do my web browsing. I only use IE when I have no other option, like if I am using an ASP based app which does seem to need IE to run properly. Judging from the ever growing market share of other browsers against IE. Its a fair assumption that more and more people I coming to realise that they don’t have to be stuck with what comes installed on their machine. Continue reading »

The big G comes forth once more with some new tech. The blogsphere has been alive with talk for while over just what Google Wave will actually do. Well if you’ve got just short of 90 minutes to kill this vidoe will walk you through some of the features of Google’s new baby Continue reading »

The UK Government today announced that it would accelerate the use of Open Source software in public services(Story here). According to the article there will be a level playing field between Open Source and proprietary software like Windows. If the Open Source solution offers the best value for money then it would be used. Continue reading »

I’ve spoken before about how the ease with which the Internet can be both a blessing and a curse, so I felt it was only fair to highlight another instance of it doing good for the community. Earlier this week there was a lot of outrage provoked by a vidoe posted on You Tube which showed a youth dressed in pyjama’s and a balaclava. This youth referred to himself asn Timmy and showed the camera into his ‘laboratory’, once inside he picked up a cat and proceeded to slam it against the wall as well as delivering several blows to it with his fists in what was over a minute of sustained abuse. Continue reading »

Previously mentioned google utility Gears has added a new string to it’s bow recently. It’s been a while since Gears aquired the ability to store your Google Calendar offline, well now the Google Lab has released the Gmail version of this. Continue reading »

Open source is the way ahead for business. Involving your user base in the development of your project not only cuts down on your research and development costs but making your users feel like they belong and are a part of the project is the best advertising and promotion you can get. A person who feels involved and valued will be more inclined to recommend something to a friend than a person left out in the cold! As I’ve previously stated, the times where a company had to have the best minds in a field working directly for them are long gone (not to mention the fact that it is next to impossible to do so now).  For your project to succeed it is a good idea to engage the users, let them bring to bear their creative and technical skills. Their talents can then be put to use in pushing the boundaries. The Open Source model works on this principle, large groups of users join together to create and develop with out much in the way of organisation. This model/practise can be applied to areas outside that of traditional open source with great success though. A good example of this is the game Second Life from Linden Labs. Continue reading »

In part 1 I talked about how the editable web was making it easier for loosely organised groups of people to work together on projects and tasks even when separated by large distances. This ability to work together is creating a fundamental change in the way consumers are interacting with the products they buy, no longer are they satisfied with merely buying and using a product, they want to be able to be actively involved in the development and continuation of the product.

They want to create their own flavour, there own brand almost. This is happening in all areas, not just software and hardware but the media and toy industry too. This change in the consumer is affecting the way these industries are interact with their customers, some are embracing it and profitting from it. Some like the media industry are fighting it and trying to keep the status quo, almost certain to be a losing battle. Continue reading »