tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54088792024-03-13T14:44:23.406+00:00EcoblogITA technology blog for The Economist Group IT teamMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.comBlogger323125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-12761472936901612042007-08-29T15:18:00.000+01:002007-08-29T15:35:44.667+01:00Way cool Gmail featureI've been using Gmail for domains for seven months and it's been a bit like the beginnings of a romance. First of all, every day you find something great about it that you didn't know before. Then every week.<br /><br />And then this....<br /><br />You can create pseudo addresses. What's that you ask?<br /><br />Well it means that you can sign up to services with unique e-mail addresses so that any mail from them still comes into your mailbox. BUT, you now know where any sold-on addresses came from (using Gmail's filters).<br /><br />So, in the case of my projectrestripe.com account:<br /><br />mike+spamfromecoblogitpost@projectredstripe.com<br /><br />will also get to me, but if the address gets harvested I will know where it came from. Now, I'm sure that pretty soon services will start to defeat this, but for now it's fantastic.<br /><br />See <a href="http://ajlcom.instantspot.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/7/12/Cool-Gmail-Feature--Different-email-addresses-for-one-account" target = "_new">Aaron Lynch's blog entry</a> for the lowdown.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-67357843948029817842007-02-28T14:14:00.001+00:002007-02-28T14:15:02.932+00:00SCREW ME UP!Go anywhere on the web, flickr and amazon work really well then paste this into the URL bar<br /><br /><span class="postbody"> javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5; DIS.top=Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5}R++}setInterval('A()',5); void(0); </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-45335219254665146262007-02-25T13:34:00.000+00:002007-02-25T13:35:03.287+00:00Flash Art acenessJust watch<br /><br /><a href="http://tafmaster-v8.focalex.com/rate.cgi?redirect_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.albinoblacksheep.com%2Fflash%2Fdrum.php&rate_form_id=1795&affiliate_id=251597&recip_first_name=bahadir&recip_last_name=tuncay&email=btuncay%40gmail.com&recip_email_1=nigaryumurtaci%40m">this video</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-4230737763022934212007-02-23T14:01:00.000+00:002007-02-23T14:02:20.445+00:00Amazon mockeryMy on time and on target manager book is erm delayed.....<br /><br />Dear Customer,<br /><br />We wanted to give you an update on the status of your order.<br /><br />We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed.<br /><br />Kenneth H. Blanchard (Author), Steve Gottry (Author) "The On-time,<br />On-target Manager (One Minute Manager)" [Hardcover]<br /><br />We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1930869635011417642007-01-26T13:17:00.000+00:002007-01-26T13:21:24.765+00:00Geek sings about CMS (WordPress)Just don't go there.<br /><br />As the name of the <a href="http://needstobeglassed.blogspot.com/2007/01/songs-about-cmss.html" target = "_new">site I saw this on</a> says (not quite NSFW).....Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-33007195603382032362007-01-25T13:59:00.000+00:002007-01-25T14:11:51.135+00:00Diesel home page "hijack"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nbfUF-3nPfc/Rbi6Ou9Q0SI/AAAAAAAAAAM/ohHaNB_LX-E/s1600-h/Dielsel.com.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nbfUF-3nPfc/Rbi6Ou9Q0SI/AAAAAAAAAAM/ohHaNB_LX-E/s320/Dielsel.com.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5023970146617708834" /></a><br /><br />Catch <a href="http://www.diesel.com" target = "_new">it</a> while you can.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1033565608502213112007-01-22T19:02:00.000+00:002007-01-22T19:05:59.894+00:00the iphone mistakeI deleted my post last week about the iphone not being amazing as I thought I looked a bit stupid, the post had terrible English and I generally thought I'd spoken too soon. <br /><br /><br />Mike Elgin from computerworld writes :<br /><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9008439"><br /></a><blockquote><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9008439">Steve Jobs' blockbuster <b>keynote</b> address at last week's Macworld was brilliantly and powerfully delivered -- one of his best ever. It was also a colossal mistake.</a></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-22660342338651120092007-01-18T21:12:00.000+00:002007-01-18T21:13:56.675+00:00No Silver bulletsI still get annoyed when managers think they can simply throw people at problems. Some problems don't get fixed with numbers. <a href="http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/%7Emaratb/readings/NoSilverBullet.html">There is no silver bullet</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-81593997435557433982007-01-18T12:14:00.000+00:002007-01-18T12:18:04.715+00:00Charging unitI might just make one of <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/supercharged_ho.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" target = "_New">these</a>!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-52399374783230148712007-01-15T14:58:00.001+00:002007-01-15T15:03:30.618+00:00ZunePhoneNuff said...<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WRLRjKCGHek"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WRLRjKCGHek" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-78808416801616617372007-01-09T17:06:00.003+00:002007-01-15T15:00:04.268+00:00iPhone pricing and avaliability4Gb model $499 expected to ship in June in the US in partnership with Cingular (exclusively). Q4 for Europe. <br /><br />The reasoning given for the exclusivity is that the visual voicemail needs work from the service provider. It remains to be seen how this will impact on sales and how soon it will be before unlocked iPhones become available on the grey market<br /><br />It wasn't made clear what length contract will be demanded by Cingular during the "multi-year" exclusivity period.<br /><br />From today Apple is dropping the "Computer" from Apple Computer Inc.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-44927124463341205982007-01-09T17:06:00.002+00:002007-01-15T15:02:52.179+00:00Macworld - the iPhoneA widescreen iPod, a phone and a revolutionary internet connectivity device. All in one - the iPhone (using Steve Jobs words there). <br /><br />"It is smarter and easier to use that anything out there right now."<br /><br />The keyboard will be a "soft" one one a big screen that you use your finger to drive. It will run OS X. Now, Microsoft have gone down this route, but not on their own hardware.<br /><br />It will sync via iTunes.<br /><br />From a design point of view, it has a 3.5" screen (diagonal) and is 11.6mm thin. It has only one button on the front - a home button. It also has an accelerometer built in so that it knows whether to display in landscape or portrait, for example. Plus a proximity sensor (so that it can respond appropriately when you have it close to your ear, for example), and a light sensor.<br /><br />The iPod works through gestures and taps on the screen and Jobs obviously had had some practice as he used it without problem, but intuitively it looks like it might be fiddly. As an iPod it looks better than any before. <br /><br />The phone "will make using the contacts really easy", is quad band with wi-fi and Bluetooth plus a 2 megapixel camera.<br /><br />Jobs showed how easy it was to conference callers in. The voicemail feature shown allowed access to all waiting messages via a list rather than in sequential order but he hinted that this needed some additional service from the service provider. <br /><br />It looked really impressive as a phone.<br /><br />For internet connectivity it has an HTML e-mail client, Safari, Google Maps, widgets and will switch seamlessly to wi-fi when a service is detected (some caveats here, surely). For the e-mail service Yahoo! will push e-mail to the iPhone (as a Blackberry does) for free.<br /><br />Safari load a complete picture of a page on the screen and you can easily zoom in as you need to (my Nokia N73 kinda does this now). <br /><br />I suppose a question might be how open the device will be for third party apps.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-74181192195129569642007-01-09T17:06:00.001+00:002007-01-09T17:41:34.915+00:00Macworld - updatesiTunes has sold over 2 billion songs; 1.2 bn in 2006.<br /><br />Paramount will join Disney in selling movies through iTunes.<br /><br />Appletv was shown - it was previewed in September and is a wi-fi connected device that can store and stream content to you wide screen tv from iTunes including music. Of course, the default encoding on iTunes is not hi-fi....<br /><br />The way that Jobs presented the features of Appletv seemed to be laying the gauntlet down to MicrosoftTV/MediaCenter - the interface looked like the one I saw for MediaCenter a while ago. <br /><br />Appletv will be available in March and will retail for $299.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-59437750555552412232007-01-09T17:06:00.000+00:002007-01-09T17:13:04.739+00:00Job's keynote at MacWorldAfter scrambling up the escalators in what can only be described as a scrum we're here (I, of course, was dignified and walked).Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-28853536976855953302007-01-08T13:25:00.000+00:002007-01-08T13:42:54.032+00:00"Apple is about to touch off a nuclear war"From that pillar of objective reporting, the International Herald Tribune, news that Apple will introduce a <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/08/yourmoney/mobile.php">mobile phone</a> and compete directly with manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola.<br /><br />They also speculate that Google and other Internet companies may jump into the mobile telecoms market as a way to strengthen ties to their users. Enter the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/17/google-and-orange-teaming-up-on-googlephone/">Googlephone</a>?Jeremhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10332369288072329029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-36207237223148295352006-12-21T12:39:00.000+00:002006-12-21T12:43:22.708+00:00All I got for Christmas was a Blogger upgradeWhat that means is that of you're a regular poster (hi Audra, Dave, Rob and Stew) you'll need to create a Google account when you next sign in.<br /><br />Most usefully, you'll also be able to categorise posts...<br /><br />Which leads me to what to do with this one.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1165437333169984892006-12-06T20:33:00.000+00:002006-12-06T20:35:33.186+00:00MS Word "ticking timebomb"From eWeek: Microsoft has issued a zero-day attack alert for its ubiquitous Word application. The unpatched flaw can be exploited when a user simply opens a maliciously rigged Word document, and there are no pre-patch workarounds available, Microsoft warns. Microsoft says don't open or save Word docs, even from trusted sources<br />http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2068800,00.asp?kc=EWNAVEMNL120606EOADAudrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01373517916771225827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1164989282760853982006-12-01T16:04:00.000+00:002006-12-01T16:08:02.776+00:00Spam free signupsNo, not the <a href="http://www.bugmenot.com/" target = "_new">bugmenot</a> thing, but <a href="http://spambox.us/" target = "_new">Spambox</a>. You create a temporary account to sign up to whatever and the account gets deleted after a period you specify so you don't get spammed.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1164793432584785772006-11-29T09:40:00.000+00:002006-11-29T09:43:53.386+00:00Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I'm happy to see, "my cousin", Katie and her man Peter getting such rapturous reviews on Amazon for <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000JU8FXK/ref=amb_link_37105665_/203-6654045-7065508">their new album</a>. Get it for your loved ones this festive season.<br /> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1163087651526270892006-11-09T15:49:00.000+00:002006-11-09T15:58:09.520+00:00Beyond beliefI'd heard rumours that the BBC were slightly uneasy about the sorts of story that always seems to rise to the top of their "MOST READ" feature.<br /><br />If they continue to report stuff like <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/6132140.stm" target = "_new">this</a>, I guess it's no more than they should expect.<br /><br />Watch the real time progress of this gem <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/live_stats/html/map.stm" target = "_new">here</a>.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1162925065388619052006-11-07T18:42:00.000+00:002006-11-07T18:44:25.403+00:00Python riddleEven I did <a href="http://www.pythonchallenge.com/" target ="_new">level 0</a>. How far can you get?<br /><br />Add your progress to the comments!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1162555853012009562006-11-03T12:02:00.000+00:002006-11-03T12:10:53.033+00:00Microsoft Novell tie upOr should that be Microsoft tie up Novell?<br /><br />Well it had to happen at some point. The realisation that Novell and Microsoft are no longer competitors but that Google is a greater threat to them both is probably what brought this about.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/index.php?p=1615" target = "_new">John Carroll</a> over at ZDnet explains the nitty gritty of the deal better than I could (not sure that his comparison with Palestine/Israel is entirely thought out though).Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1162474931014737362006-11-02T13:23:00.000+00:002006-11-02T13:42:11.036+00:00Red light means doors are securedOr, if you're a cyclist <a href="http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_diamondgeezer_archive.html#116227810308221732" target = "_new">Diamond Geezer</a> explains the highway code for you.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1161701560612739922006-10-24T15:11:00.000+01:002006-10-24T15:53:24.393+01:00What's Next?If you've been pondering what I've been pondering lately (what will be the next big development on the web?) you might find this interesting.<br /><br />Patrick Cox has posted an article on TCS Daily titled <a href="http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=102306A">The Next Big Thing</a> in which he discusses how the release of Netscape Navigator was instrumental in creating the open Internet we use today, and how the virtual reality of <a href="http://www.scifimoviepage.com/Lawn.html">Lawnmower Man</a> has given way to the 3D online environments of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everquest">Everquest</a> and <a href="http://secondlife.com/">Second Life</a>.<br /><br />"Imagine how much more useful your computer experience would be if you were able to design a virtual office as large or complex as you needed, and reach anything in it without leaving your chair. Voice over IP will be integrated, naturally. Your avatar will be your real image, photographed live and enhanced if you don't want to deal with hair or clothing, and you will be able to meet friends and business associates in VW, your places or theirs, as easily as making a phone call. Blogs and punditry will involve virtual talk show and other environments and, with some planning and enough cameras, audiences will be able to visit any place on the globe, from a Baghdad battlefield to a Broadway stage."Jeremhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10332369288072329029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408879.post-1161614323428792292006-10-23T15:35:00.000+01:002006-10-23T15:46:14.960+01:00ASCII-O-MaticWho's this handsome chap created by <a href="http://www.typorganism.com/asciiomatic/" target = "_new">typorganism</a>?<table height="100%" width="100%"><br /><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="middle"><br /><p></p><pre><br /><span class="asciiart"><br />~zhzs+<<((((((((((~~~((~~((~~~~~~~~~~~~----~(<=s=<++<(~. . .<br />~hhz=+<<((((((((((~~~((((((~~~~~~~~~~~~-------(=s+<<+(~'. .<br />-hzzs+<<((((((((((~~~(((~(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-------+s=<<+(~(' <br />-hzss+<(((((((((((~~~~((~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-------(ss+<+(~<~ .<br />'zzzs+<(((((((((((~~~~(((~~~~~~~~(((((((~------~=s=<<<(<(. <br />.=zzs+<((((((((((((~~(((~~~~~~~~~(<<+=+++((~----<ss<<<~<(. <br />.=hzs+<((((((((((((~~(((~~~~~~~(<+===ss==+<(----(==+<(~(<' .<br />.+hz=+<<(((((((((((~~(((~~~~((<=sss====+((((~~--~+==(~~(<- <br />+hz+<<(((((((((((((~(((~~((+=szss=<<<<((~~(~~---<=+(~~((- <br /><hz+<<<<<<(((((((((((((((<=ssss==+=s===+(~((~---<=+<((~(- <br />(hz+<++++===+++<<<<((((<<<======ssszsss=+(((~---~++((<(~- <br />(hz++=sssssszzzs==<<(((<<+++++==+=s==<(((((~~~~--<<~~((~- <br />'=zz+=zzzss=ssszsss=+<(((<<<<+===<=+<((~~~~~~~---~((--(<(- <br />'szs+szzs+++==s======<(~(((<+===++<((((((~~-~~~---((~-(<(~ <br />.+zs+==++=sszzss====+((~~~((<+<<<<(((((<((~~~---~-(<~((((- <br />~ss++++=hz+=sss====+(~~~~(((<<<<<(((<<((~~~~~~--~(<(((~~-.-<br />'=z+<++===+==+++++++(~~~(~~((((<<<<<(((~~~~----~-~<<(~-~-(<<br />~~+z+<<+++<<<((<+<++<((~((~~~~(((((((((~~~~~------~<<~~~~-(<<br /><<<s=<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<(((((((~~~(((((((~~~~~-------~(~-~~(~~<<br /><<(+=<<(((<<<<<<<((<<<(<((((~((((~~~~--~~~~~----------~((~(<<br /><<<+=<(<<(<<<<<((((<<<<<<(((((<<<<((~---~~~~~--~-----~~((((<<br /><<<+=+<<((<((((((((<<<<<(((((<<<<<<<((~~((((~--------~((((<<<br /><<<<++<<<(((((((~(<++<<<((((((((<<<<<((((((((~---~---~<<<<<<<br /><++<+++<<(((((~((<<=<<<((((~~(((<<<<<<<<(((((~~~~~-~-~<<<<<<<br />++<+<+++<((((((<<=+<<<((~~((((<<<<((<<<<<<<((~~~~~~--(=+<<<<<br />++++++++<((((((<<+<<<<<((((<+==++<<<<<+=<<<(((~~~~~~-<hz+<<+<br />++++++=+<(((((<<<<++==+<<<+===+<<<<<<<+<<<<<(~~(~~~~-(hhz=+<<br />++++<<=+<<<((<<<<<==ss==+++=+<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<((~((~~~~<hhhh=~<br />+++++<==<<<<<<<<<<+=======+<<<<<<<<<<<<+<<(((((((~~~~+hhhhh=<br />+++++<+=++<<<<+++++====+++<<<<<(((((<===+<(((((((~~(~=hzzhhh<br />+++++++==++<<+++++++++++<<<<(((<<<+==s=++<(((((((((~~<hhzzhh<br />++++++++=++++++===++++<<(((((<+=+++sss<<<<((((((((((((hhzzhh<br />++++++++=++++++====+++++<<<+++<(-~=s=<(<<<(((((((((((~zhhzzh<br />+++++++++=+<<<<+=ssss===++<<'-~~(<s=<((<<<(((((((((<(-zhhzzz<br />+++++++++=+<((<<<=szh=(((~~<~(+==+<<<(((<<<(((((((<<~-=hhhzz<br />++++++++++=<(((<+<==ss===+======<((((((<(<(((((((<<<~-=hhhzz<br />++++++++++++<((<<<<===s====+<<<(((((((((((((((((<<<(~-+hhhzz<br />+++++++++++=+(((<<<+=+<<<<<<((((((((((((((((((<<<+<(~~+hhhhz<br />+++++++++++++<((<<<++=<<<<<(<((((<<(((((((((((<<<<(~~~+hhhhz<br />++++++++++++++<(<<<++++<<<<<<<<<<<<(((((((((<(<<<<(~~~+hhhhz<br />+++++++++++++++<<++<++++++<<<<<<<((((((((((((<<<<(((~(+hhhhz<br />++++++++++++===+<<++<<++++<<<<<<<(((((((((<(<<+<<(((((=hhhhz<br />+++++++++++++===+<+++<<<<<<<<<<<(((((((((<<<<+<<<((~((=zhhhz<br />++++++++++++++===++++<<<<<<<<(((<(((((((<<<+++<<<((~((=zhhhh<br />+++++++++++++++=====++<<<<<<(((((((((((<+<<++<<<<((((<=zhhhh<br />++++++++++++++++=====+++++<<((((((((<<+++++++<<<<((((<+zhhhh<br />++++++++++++++++++ss=+++<<<<(<((((<<+++++==++<<<(((((<=hhhhh<br />++++++++++++++++<+hzs==++<<<<<<<<<+========++<<(((((<<=hhhhh<br /><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<(+hhhzs==+<<<<<<++=s======++<<<(((((<<=hhhhh<br /><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<+hhhhhzs==++========s===+++<<(((((((<shhhhh<br /></span><br /></pre><p></p><br /></td></tr><br /></tbody></table>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09126153552247932935noreply@blogger.com0