sfsw tech newsletter

Sunday, January 07, 2007

On line storage

New feature from google.com

Its in Beta which does not mean better, but it could be a service that it is maintained as a free service, and that would seem a logical progression for which is essentially a return to international bureau services provided by and harnessed by google to cream off that .003% out of everything.

Yesterday's and still today's big story is youtube.com by which we can suddenly syndicates our puny video efforts, but a mass shakeout is probably going to automatically occur providing a rich and valued resource for copyright owners and their audiences to release content widely in exchange to it being a basis of google advertising fodder.

Good on them, google.com invented relevance on the web, far more than any other body, and maintain it by harnessing minimalism to invoke ads. Now they are harnessing the raw materials of your stuff as spokes on their own wheels in exchange for a perceived and possible actual search relevance master stroke.

Article to continue on sfsw.net The World according to Google article

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Extending business facilitation into the community

The internet works as a collaborative medium. A company is comprised of people with knowledge that is largely dispensed with as personnel turn over occurs. Efforts to document job descriptions or create company policy may get lost if they are not organised in a way that new people can access and understand.

Collaborative media are creating using a range of simple internet technologies. There are a number of content creating tools freely available (blogger.com for one is how this newsletter is published). When content is created by staff or even the public, it needs to be served in a relevant fashion and connected to your front end website, and your back end database.

For Trade service entities a new golden age of information accessibility is upon us. Being able to track our activities with client companies has provided a new understanding of how to mentor and guide people along with the stages of forming their business.

The new thing is being able to track their activities by tying together key technologies:

blogging referenced from the company website
web hosted video referenced from the company website
news targeted at external customers
news targeted at internal users

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Employment in the wrong job can be bad for the heart. If you are doing something that you do not believe in, or creates stress as you battle against your will, up goes the risk of a heart attack. Go with the heart and all will be well. Ancient wisdom, totally on the mark.

Coffee is good for you as it has high levels of the antioxident methylpyridinium. Strong coffee is better for you than weak coffee. That may be why colon cancer is rife in the USA - watery weak brew and too much fast food.

These conditions bring about the evolution of the independent programmer. Job satisfaction comes about by the making of useful things. And the coffee is important, too.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

You really think you will get money from Microsoft ?

Honest, there is no harm in it unless anyone actually goes crazy investing in email addresses or then trusts someone enough anonymous enough, who seems to have a trustworthy way with words and sufficient credentials building confidence for a possible later date, when you have established enough trust to relay more details so the prize can be 'safely banked' for you.

Really, trust me, I believe these emails can only be scams - but at this stage seemingly quite legal and seemingly without harm, but that is unfortunately not quite true. It is most usually an email harvesting method for spammer mail list building. They claim that Microsoft can track your reply, so can anyone. Including the Spammer who now can not only add valid email addresses to their list, but also those who have forwarded their email get extra points. From these they compose lists that are then sold to other companies that use them.

I am rather sure Microsoft would not imitate a scam that has been running for years. No matter the point size the writer is passing on hearsay. It is not like it is a message from Microsoft.

Let me know if you start getting a lot of spam about get rich quick schemes, I'd imagine. I do not think that you will necessarily be contacted by a smooth talking Nigerian insisting on bank details over the phone unless you are prepared to fly to some remote Atlantic island and sign for your $248,000.

These are normally used for collecting email addresses for spamming. Excellently written as it is.

The "credibility" building is a concern, could mean a followup seeking financial information. If they want to send you a cheque - fair enough, I will swallow my words. But if they want an account "for a deposit of this size, we save millions in exchange rates" or some such, then DO NOT give them details. Use a PO Box for address if you really have to give them an address. Then you will get trash mail as well.

Monday, May 01, 2006

The future of real estate

Industries like real estate rely upon the very unreal world of advertising. When a profession is so linked to image, data, contracts, certification, searching, listing, constantly changing data - one can see why it is such a target for software developers. It used to be just banking that attracted the highest salaries - but now its data. Data relates to achieving profits for the enterprise is valued data.

Most data is of no value, whatsoever.

The actual data that an average business "needs", like accounting records, etc. do not actually use much "space" when they are kept electronically. The need for simple document certification and genuine curatable archives that can keep images of documents that are somehow useful in a court of legal divination - that is you can tell if they are the real macoy or something dressed to look the part.

Advertising for "Real Estate" leads directly to a cursory inspection of the product. If you want to live there or not, that is the question. Perhaps a more industry specific treatment is required for real estate - is it possible to convey solid information?

To investors, of course it is. To inhabitors of homes, it is much more tricky. The certain indefinable that is transferred during a visit tells you instantly if you "want it". So far all systems just make the finding of choices that you may feel that with much more efficient. Listing is imperative when it comes to real estate - you got to be able to compare hard facts and leave falling in love with the property to the site visit stage.

Google Search

We are trying out a new publishing system (provided by Google - for free) - the infamously now brilliant blogspot.com - our domain there is http://sfswtech.blogspot.com as you probably realise.

The Google search tool on this and our sister sites (Linux vs Windows and Tips) does not appear to work yet. I think it will start to spider this site as they own the server.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Why Sun is Back

Solaris is better at running Java. By giving it away for Opteron style processors, it allows programmers to gain easy access to Java, by putting in systems.

One 64 bit Sun Server about to be installed on my watch, for example.

Then we can start to serve Java apps without disturbing other little servers, etc.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Spam Evil Virus

Watch out for this one. Posing as a warning from the CIA or FBI that you have "visited illegal websites", a virus is installed that does lots of very nasty things to Windows.

The cure is most likely a reinstallation, the cost of that is probably more than a large scale terrorist attack. Malacious vandalism on this scale is commerical terrorism and is possible that is the source of it.

Attacks in cyberspace. What a collosal waste of time.