Ed Foster - RIP (1949 - 2008)
dan tynan on Jul 31 2008 | Filed under: Infoworld, Life, Uncategorized
Ed Foster’s passing is a loss for all of us, inside tech journalist and out. He was one of the rare ones.
Archive for July, 2008
Too Cuil (cool) for school?
dan tynan on Jul 28 2008 | Filed under: Da Web, Gadgets, Geekishness, Google, Web 2.0
You know your product is gonna have problems from the get go when you have to constantly explain how its name is pronounced. Cuil (pronounced “cool”) is a new search engine, the brainchild of ex-Googlehead Anna Paterson, her husand Tom Costello, and assorted other people with more gray matter than sense (apparently).
I know, I know: [...]
Clutter Cutters: Six Ways to Get Organized
dan tynan on Jul 26 2008 | Filed under: Gadgets, Lists
(A slightly different version of this article originally appeared in the July/August issue of Home magazine.)
Papers, Post it notes, business cards and assorted bric a brac can make your home office a living Museum of Disorganization – and the clutter usually spills over into other rooms of your house. Clean up the mess by [...]
Microsoft + Yahoo: RIP?
dan tynan on Jul 25 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Infoworld, Microsoft, yahoo
Our long national nightmare is over — or so it would seem. After Yahoo gave Carl Icahn a seat at its table, Microsoft walked away, allegedly for good. Is truly the end of MicroHoo? Cringely has his doubts.
It’s the Twitter Generation….
dan tynan on Jul 24 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized
…coming at you, feeling free. What do Twitter and Pepsi have in common? Not a theme song, that’s for sure. But something generational for sure — less to do with age and more to do with Web 2.0ishness.
Anyway, if you’ve run out of people to tweet, Pro Blogger Darren Rowse has a list of 538 [...]
Data security meets disco fever
dan tynan on Jul 23 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Infoworld, Privacy, Spy v spy
Seductive Asian agents, wayward Brits, purloined Blackberries — it sounds like a LeCarre novel, but it’s really a true story. Cringely dives deep into a sex/spy scandal of Olympian proportions and talks about what this means for you and your data.
Seven things IT should be doing (but isn’t)
dan tynan on Jul 22 2008 | Filed under: Geekishness, Infoworld
Taking a hard, honest look at what you need to accomplish is the key to keeping your business competitive — and yourself gainfully employed
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld.com)
by Dan Tynan
Pity the poor IT managers.
They’re expected to know what their end-users want need, even if their end-users can’t articulate it themselves. They’re under constant pressure [...]
Two stupid things that really pleased me
dan tynan on Jul 21 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized
OK, readers of T.O.T. may have no interest in this, but: I am stupidly pleased by two little bits of link love that were bestowed upon this blog recently.
The first is Jon Newton at P2Pnet ’syndicating’ yet another of these posts (originally written for Infoworld.com) called “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide” (except for me and [...]
The RIAA vs the mothers of prevention
dan tynan on Jul 21 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, DMCA Madness, Da Web, Infoworld, Music, Video, Web 2.0, youtube
After years of terrorizing its best customers, the RIAA may soon be brought to its knees — by a handful of angry moms. Would you mess with them? Cringely advises against it.
Microsoft + AOL: Let no man tear them asunder
dan tynan on Jul 20 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Is Microsoft about to swallow AOL, or is this just another feint in the endless struggle to conquer Yahoo and achieve mediocrity in the search marketplace? Cringely has a few ideas, as well as some key questions for all you Microsoft fans out there.
What is the most innovative tech company?
dan tynan on Jul 18 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Some companies talk about being innovative, others actually do it. So I’m talking a poll. Which company do you think has done the most to push technology in interesting directions, or change how we use tech (computers, cell phones, the Internet) in our daily lives? If these four choices aren’t one of your picks, please [...]
Memo to Microsoft, Yahoo, & Icahn: Just shut up and deal
dan tynan on Jul 16 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Infoworld, Microsoft, yahoo
It’s BratFest 2008. As Microsoft, Yahoo, and Carl Icahn squabble like schoolchildren over who called the other one “stinky,” Cringely longs for some adult supervision. Can’t Google do something to make them stop?
Apple iPhone — Great or Overrated?
dan tynan on Jul 14 2008 | Filed under: Apple, Quizzes, Uncategorized, iPhone
So the iPhone 2.0 has finally arrived last Friday, and what a friggin’ disaster it was. Apple’s servers were totally overwhelmed with traffic from people trying to activate their new phones, as well as those trying to download software from the iTunes AppStore and upgrade their iPhone 1.0 firmware. A total screaming c******f**k ensued, which [...]
Everybody’s got something to hide (except for me and my YouTube)
dan tynan on Jul 09 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Da Web, Infoworld, Privacy, Video, youtube
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld’s Notes From the Field blog.)
So a New York judge last week ordered Google to hand over 12 terabytes of YouTube user information to Viacom. Yes, we know what you watched last summer, or at least Viacom’s attorneys soon will.
The owners of Comedy Central and VH1 are attempting to [...]
Dollars, sense and censorship
dan tynan on Jul 07 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Da Web, Infoworld, Privacy
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld’s Notes From the Field blog.)
The Bush Administration’s anti-recession tactics have given rise to an unexpected beneficiary: the Internet pørn industry. According to the Adult Internet Market Research Company, adult sites have been engorged with sales during the normally limp summer months. One popular clothing optional site surveyed its members [...]
Yahoo’s struggle for independence
dan tynan on Jul 06 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Infoworld, Microsoft, yahoo
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld’s Notes From the Field blog.)
On this 4th of July weekend, let us celebrate the independence of Yahoo — for however long it lasts. Because just when you thought Microsoft’s bid for the Yahooligans was really truly deeply ultimately finally over, it really isn’t. At least, according to the Wall [...]
Windows XP: Dead, or just resting?
dan tynan on Jul 05 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Infoworld, Microsoft
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld’s Notes From the Field blog.)
It turns out the reports of XP’s death may be slightly exaggerated.
Sure, the obits have been posted and the requiems are being sung. The fat lady has already packed up her girdle and gone home with a bucket of KFC. Yet it seems — like [...]
We’ll Tell You What to Like
dan tynan on Jul 03 2008 | Filed under: Da Web, US Airways Magazine, Web 2.0
Recommendation engines know what you want — even if you don’t
(A version of this post originally appeared in the July 2008 issue of US Airways Magazine.)
Some people remember their first kiss or the first time they drove a car. I remember the first time I recorded a show on TiVo. It was an old Rockford [...]
Billy we hardly knew ye
dan tynan on Jul 02 2008 | Filed under: Microsoft
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld.com.)
It feels strange writing this. Starting today, I won’t have Bill Gates to kick around anymore. (Or, given that he still plans to visit the Redmond campus once a week, I’ll only have 20 percent of him to kick around.) Of all the tech targets I’ve pummeled over the years, [...]
Pick an OS, Any OS will do…
dan tynan on Jul 01 2008 | Filed under: Apple, Geekishness, Microsoft
So there’s a lot of news this week about the ‘death’ of Windows XP. (I’ll have more thoughts on that later.) For now, though, let’s pretend just for fun that you could pick any operating system for your next PC — no monolithic monopolies can get in your way. Which would you pick? Fill out [...]
