lol so after talking about protecting intellectual property.....today I'm here arguing for the other side.
So a couple of days ago an email flurry started on the Asterisk list about Google blocking any keyword purchases for Asterisk and Digium trademarks.
If you haven't heard of Asterisk the open source software search for it in the top left field of this blog as I've posted about it a number of times.
Basically Digium is saying they are just asserting their trademark, but this is preventing their customers (the people who sell their services) from buying advertisements on Google.
You can check out Mohe's blog for more detailed information http://flatplanetphone.com/wordpress/?p=450
What does this mean? I don't know but if you are building an open source community and you rely on other people to help spread the word I don't know if this is the best tactic.
I guess some people are going to jump to outburst that this is the beginning of the end and what happens when open source communities get taken over by 'commercial minds' (btw did you see the mysql acquisition by Sun today) - but I think this is just a temporary 'mistake' and like all things 'life is a pendulum' Digium will work it out eventually.
Cheers,
Dean
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Scrabulous / Facebook sued
It's about time. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7191264.stm
I've had it with the 'me see - copy you' attitude on the web. Pretty much every idea has been ripped off from somewhere else.
Intellectual Property has always been an issue since the dawn of time but lately it's just getting ridiculous. Facebook implements something MySpace rips it off, Amazon implements a feature and then every other ecommerce site has it up before the end of the quarter.
The internet isn't a law free zone, just because you're too small for someone to bother suing you today doesn' make it right to rip someone off - lets face it somewhere in your puny excuse for a mind you might fart out something creative someday......and there I'll be waiting to rip you off.
Cheers,
Dean
I've had it with the 'me see - copy you' attitude on the web. Pretty much every idea has been ripped off from somewhere else.
Intellectual Property has always been an issue since the dawn of time but lately it's just getting ridiculous. Facebook implements something MySpace rips it off, Amazon implements a feature and then every other ecommerce site has it up before the end of the quarter.
The internet isn't a law free zone, just because you're too small for someone to bother suing you today doesn' make it right to rip someone off - lets face it somewhere in your puny excuse for a mind you might fart out something creative someday......and there I'll be waiting to rip you off.
Cheers,
Dean
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Apple AIR
Ahh crap – looks like I’m finally going to have to buy an Apple – this new Macbook Air laptop that they are demonstrating is insane. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/01/15/apple.macworld.ap/index.html
I cant believe how thin it is.
It's things like this that drive me crazy about the lack of 'R&D' in the PC industry. Where are the PC/Windows version of automatic backup over the wifi network - where is the windows version of super thin laptops with solid state hard drives....?
Is this a reflection of Apples 'reasonable pricing' strategies (and by reasonable I mean pricing where they can still make a profit and therefor fund R&D). Is the problem with windows development a lack up profitability?
Cheers,
Dean
I cant believe how thin it is.
It's things like this that drive me crazy about the lack of 'R&D' in the PC industry. Where are the PC/Windows version of automatic backup over the wifi network - where is the windows version of super thin laptops with solid state hard drives....?
Is this a reflection of Apples 'reasonable pricing' strategies (and by reasonable I mean pricing where they can still make a profit and therefor fund R&D). Is the problem with windows development a lack up profitability?
Cheers,
Dean
Monday, January 14, 2008
Lexus Convertible
http://jalopnik.com/344239/detroit-auto-show-now-we-know-+-lexus-lf+a-roadster-concept
How hot is this Lexus Roadster - it's only a concept car but wow I'd seriously be putting down a deposit on this thing.
Ever since the NSX got killed off there's been a lack in the high end japanese supercar - I cant wait to see this one on the market.
Cheers,
Dean
P.S. talking about 'interesting cars' http://jalopnik.com/344419/detroit-auto-show-fisker-karma-luxury-hybrid-only-80000 though i find this more interesting particularly with regards to financing...from Kleiner Perkins of all companies.
How hot is this Lexus Roadster - it's only a concept car but wow I'd seriously be putting down a deposit on this thing.
Ever since the NSX got killed off there's been a lack in the high end japanese supercar - I cant wait to see this one on the market.
Cheers,
Dean
P.S. talking about 'interesting cars' http://jalopnik.com/344419/detroit-auto-show-fisker-karma-luxury-hybrid-only-80000 though i find this more interesting particularly with regards to financing...from Kleiner Perkins of all companies.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Global Reach
You know I started this blog to keep friends and family up to date with whats happening here in New York.
Although I still have lots of friends checking in but I also post a lot about work and technology which my geek colleagues read. It really hits home how widely spread people that visit this blog are when you check out this map;
Each of those dots represent someone from somewhere in the world that people have visited my blog from.
This free widget from maps.amung.us (check in the right hand colum) tracks the ip address and location people visit from and then displays this information in a real time map.
I dont really know what this means in the long run but what it does mean in the short run is that peoples abilities to communicate widely with nothing more than an internet connection and a free tool like blogger is huge.
Got something to say....... you've never had a better time to do it than now.
Cheers,
Dean
Although I still have lots of friends checking in but I also post a lot about work and technology which my geek colleagues read. It really hits home how widely spread people that visit this blog are when you check out this map;
Each of those dots represent someone from somewhere in the world that people have visited my blog from.
This free widget from maps.amung.us (check in the right hand colum) tracks the ip address and location people visit from and then displays this information in a real time map.
I dont really know what this means in the long run but what it does mean in the short run is that peoples abilities to communicate widely with nothing more than an internet connection and a free tool like blogger is huge.
Got something to say....... you've never had a better time to do it than now.
Cheers,
Dean
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Laurel Papworth - Online Communities - Australia and Global: Australia: The Foxtel killer?
BTW After my post on Monday about our new Sharp Aquos I thought a few of you readers might be interested in what I wrote on a friends blog about some 'direct to home via internet video technology'
Laurel Papworth - Online Communities - Australia and Global: Australia: The Foxtel killer?
I've got a pretty expansive background in this space that i didn't go into but needless to say I think that the delivery of content via IP has dramatically game changing potential and sooner rather than later.
Cheers,
Dean
Laurel Papworth - Online Communities - Australia and Global: Australia: The Foxtel killer?
I've got a pretty expansive background in this space that i didn't go into but needless to say I think that the delivery of content via IP has dramatically game changing potential and sooner rather than later.
Cheers,
Dean
Monday, January 07, 2008
Technology Functionality Stagflation
stag·fla·tion (stāg-flā'shən)
n. Sluggish economic growth coupled with a high rate of inflation
So Santa Claus obviously screwed up this year because he had me marked down on his list as a 'good boy' rather than a 'bad boy' and instead of lump of coal he left a Sharp Aquos 42" flat screen LCD TV.
The TV is great however that's not what I'm writing about.
What stunned me is how cheap flat screen technology has gotten over the years, there seems to be an amazing stagflation occurring in technology where features and functionality are skyrocketing on a quarterly basis while prices are falling rapidly.
Is this resulting in falling profits for 'off the shelf consumer technology' on a per item basis - I don't know but here are my personal circumstances and you can make up your own mind by 'shorting' consumer technology stocks.
So when we moved to New York 3 1/2 years ago we bought a 26" Sharp Aquos lcd - at the time 720P was the best technology you could buy and although you could buy bigger sizes at $2800 the 26" was as large as we wanted to spend (mainly because we use a projector with 110" display when we want the 'at home movie' experience).
So here we are Christmas 2007 and we bought a top of the line Sharp Aquos 42" 1080i (yes here are 1080p lcds out there but with the lack of true 1080p content out there I was happy to pass), yes there are a lot bigger TVs than 42" (we almost bought a 46" but there is also the 60" units as well).
Grand total for our much better much bigger TV...... $995
Almost 1/3rd of our original cost 3 years ago with at least 3 times the functionality - I know we are used to dramatic increases in functionality in computing but it's hard for people to conceptualise the radically larger number of additional computer processing power but when you look at a consumer electronics product like a TV it's plain to see that there is no way Sharp is making as much profit off this purchase as it did from us 3 years ago.
Cheers,
Dean
n. Sluggish economic growth coupled with a high rate of inflation
So Santa Claus obviously screwed up this year because he had me marked down on his list as a 'good boy' rather than a 'bad boy' and instead of lump of coal he left a Sharp Aquos 42" flat screen LCD TV.
The TV is great however that's not what I'm writing about.
What stunned me is how cheap flat screen technology has gotten over the years, there seems to be an amazing stagflation occurring in technology where features and functionality are skyrocketing on a quarterly basis while prices are falling rapidly.
Is this resulting in falling profits for 'off the shelf consumer technology' on a per item basis - I don't know but here are my personal circumstances and you can make up your own mind by 'shorting' consumer technology stocks.
So when we moved to New York 3 1/2 years ago we bought a 26" Sharp Aquos lcd - at the time 720P was the best technology you could buy and although you could buy bigger sizes at $2800 the 26" was as large as we wanted to spend (mainly because we use a projector with 110" display when we want the 'at home movie' experience).
So here we are Christmas 2007 and we bought a top of the line Sharp Aquos 42" 1080i (yes here are 1080p lcds out there but with the lack of true 1080p content out there I was happy to pass), yes there are a lot bigger TVs than 42" (we almost bought a 46" but there is also the 60" units as well).
Grand total for our much better much bigger TV...... $995
Almost 1/3rd of our original cost 3 years ago with at least 3 times the functionality - I know we are used to dramatic increases in functionality in computing but it's hard for people to conceptualise the radically larger number of additional computer processing power but when you look at a consumer electronics product like a TV it's plain to see that there is no way Sharp is making as much profit off this purchase as it did from us 3 years ago.
Cheers,
Dean
Saturday, January 05, 2008
MoseyCode
So I was hanging out this cold and dreary Saturday afternoon and being the geek that I am... :)... was just browsing around catching up on 2D bar coding developments.
I happened to stumble across this link about a new 2D encoding standard called "MoseyCode"
(in the first breath I went - Oh brother just what we need yet another 2D encoding standard.....even if he Tom Gibra is releasing it without any patent encumberances).
Have a read below
http://thenextweb.org/2008/01/05/moseycode-a-new-chapter-in-mobile-barcoding/
What was interesting however is this
Although Peter's blog post doesn't explain it very well what you are seeing is the the introduction of a 3rd axis.
Instead of 2d codes just having X & Y axis information, the Moseycode can tell when the information is 'tilted' and introducing a Z axis.
The Cube in the video above is being superimposed on the Moseycode Card itself, allowing for a 'visual superimposement' on the Android display of any object you decide to 'upload' (I have questions about this as per my post reply below-so looking forward to understanding the limitations).
Now whilst I have very big concerns about the 'functionality' of this and the usefulness in a number of situations about this - there are certain areas where this has some very neat uses.
I wanted to post on my blog the reply I sent to Peter. I will also be sending Tom Gibara some questions and will post below in the comments further information as it comes to hand but like I said.....interesting and I thought it might interest a few of you out there.
Peter,
At first I was prepared to dismiss this as yet another proprietary 2d code.
I read Tom's documentation (as brief as it is) and whilst it has some interesting points there I think (honestly it's only a guess as the information provided at the moment isn't enough to actually make a conclusion) that what is occurring in these videos is the android OS is downloading visual information from a web server and inserting it into the x,y,z axis.
Whilst this is neat and 'nice' (particularly the 3 dimensional cube demonstration- for reasons too lengthy to go into here), it doesn't allow for 'inbuilt' coding of any more information at 96 bits than other standards.
2d codes are often about providing information 'on the spot' in a self contained situation without needing to go 'out elsewhere' to gather information.
I love that Moseycode is going to be free of patent constraints and I love the 3d (really the Z axis) component but wonder if this is going to be enough......would also be very interested in understanding the ramifications of moving the code to other backward mobile OS (and what kind of physical constraints are required for the camera hardware).
Thanks for bringing it to my attention, will be looking with interest as this is further developed.
Regards,
Dean Collins
www.Cognation.net
I happened to stumble across this link about a new 2D encoding standard called "MoseyCode"
(in the first breath I went - Oh brother just what we need yet another 2D encoding standard.....even if he Tom Gibra is releasing it without any patent encumberances).
Have a read below
http://thenextweb.org/2008/01/05/moseycode-a-new-chapter-in-mobile-barcoding/
What was interesting however is this
Although Peter's blog post doesn't explain it very well what you are seeing is the the introduction of a 3rd axis.
Instead of 2d codes just having X & Y axis information, the Moseycode can tell when the information is 'tilted' and introducing a Z axis.
The Cube in the video above is being superimposed on the Moseycode Card itself, allowing for a 'visual superimposement' on the Android display of any object you decide to 'upload' (I have questions about this as per my post reply below-so looking forward to understanding the limitations).
Now whilst I have very big concerns about the 'functionality' of this and the usefulness in a number of situations about this - there are certain areas where this has some very neat uses.
I wanted to post on my blog the reply I sent to Peter. I will also be sending Tom Gibara some questions and will post below in the comments further information as it comes to hand but like I said.....interesting and I thought it might interest a few of you out there.
Peter,
At first I was prepared to dismiss this as yet another proprietary 2d code.
I read Tom's documentation (as brief as it is) and whilst it has some interesting points there I think (honestly it's only a guess as the information provided at the moment isn't enough to actually make a conclusion) that what is occurring in these videos is the android OS is downloading visual information from a web server and inserting it into the x,y,z axis.
Whilst this is neat and 'nice' (particularly the 3 dimensional cube demonstration- for reasons too lengthy to go into here), it doesn't allow for 'inbuilt' coding of any more information at 96 bits than other standards.
2d codes are often about providing information 'on the spot' in a self contained situation without needing to go 'out elsewhere' to gather information.
I love that Moseycode is going to be free of patent constraints and I love the 3d (really the Z axis) component but wonder if this is going to be enough......would also be very interested in understanding the ramifications of moving the code to other backward mobile OS (and what kind of physical constraints are required for the camera hardware).
Thanks for bringing it to my attention, will be looking with interest as this is further developed.
Regards,
Dean Collins
www.Cognation.net
Friday, January 04, 2008
madKast Share
Hat tip to Eran for this new neat widget which I stumbled across when reading the Hueniverse blog.
Checkout this neat widget from madKast
If you look under each of my post titles now you'll see a green 'share' widget (lol-love how they 'worked over' the rss symbol.
Basically just click this symbol and you can now forward a post from my blog out to your friends or colleagues (assuming what I say is actually of interest to anyone).
Cool part is the email they receive has the original post, the referral link, and your details automatically formatted. Way cool functionality.
Takes about 30 seconds to install using the blogger 1 touch installer option - so if you run a blog or similar you might like to add this to your widget list.
Cheers,
Dean
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Weather.com
Holy Crap Batman – was just watching CNBC and they ran a story that the Weather Channel is up for sale – and expecting to attract bids of approx $5 Billion dollars (yeh Billion with a B).
I cant believe that they currently turnover $300million dollars a year. (I’m also questioning the multiple but who knows – as I’m not a user probably has a lot of growth left even still).
Apparently it’s one of the last ‘non network’ USA cable channels (check out what Oxygen sold for last year as well http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/eyeball-valuations.html)
They didnt break down the revenue into their TV/Web/commercial forecasting services – nor did they provide any profit numbers but seriously points out there is still some significant value tied to eyeballs.
Cheers,
Dean
I cant believe that they currently turnover $300million dollars a year. (I’m also questioning the multiple but who knows – as I’m not a user probably has a lot of growth left even still).
Apparently it’s one of the last ‘non network’ USA cable channels (check out what Oxygen sold for last year as well http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/eyeball-valuations.html)
They didnt break down the revenue into their TV/Web/commercial forecasting services – nor did they provide any profit numbers but seriously points out there is still some significant value tied to eyeballs.
Cheers,
Dean
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