We should have known Web 2.0 would lead to Bubble 2.0
I enjoy going to the Fourth Estate Domain nights at Sydney's CBD Hotel. Sally and Mike put on an excellent and interesting night (even if the bar can be a bit slow). Their choice of guest is usually very interesting as well.
Martin Dalgleish from PBL was August's guest and it left me deeply disturbed.
He made the point that content is king in the "new" online world.
The problem I see is his idea of content seems to be restricted to reposting magazine articles and getting users to send in content ala flickr and "Australia's funniest home videos".
I'm not sure Martin gets it, changing his title to Director of New Media doesn't help. That's so 1990s.
We certainly did have a 1990s theme. A lot of the people looked like they stepped from the 98 and they were certainly talking like it.
If we needed any proof the dot com 2 bubble is on, an article in Forbes confirms it: "The Cheap Revolution is On!"
Cheap software, cheap hardware, cheap content, cheap, cheap, cheap.
The problem is that people have to make enough to live on. Make things too cheap and you'll only keep your Boxter for as long as naive investors will throw money at you.
A good indicator that things are getting silly is CNet's article about Super Cheap Computers Office Depot are going to sell an HP system for $198 US (including shipping).
The article points out the original dot com bust arguably started when manufacturers warned revenues were falling. So perhaps the seeds of the bust are already here.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
Smarthouse Sprays Foxtel
David Richards from Smarthouse News certainly isn't afraid of having go as his spray at Foxtel's chief executive shows.
Where I do disagree with David is that Foxtel is not going to go out of business quickly. If IPTV, or any other medium, becomes a threat to Foxtel or the FTA TV operators they will lobby the Federal government of the day to stop the threat.
On past performance, the Feds will quickly do what they are told. No Australian politician in recent memory has stood up to the moguls. In fact, Foxtel itself was born of Keating and Richardson's attempt to keep both the Packer and Murdoch camps happy.
While attempts to stifle new technology will ultimately fail, the cost will be huge to Australian consumers and industry. But that's never worried the cowards in Canberra who pretend to be the leaders of this nation.
Where I do disagree with David is that Foxtel is not going to go out of business quickly. If IPTV, or any other medium, becomes a threat to Foxtel or the FTA TV operators they will lobby the Federal government of the day to stop the threat.
On past performance, the Feds will quickly do what they are told. No Australian politician in recent memory has stood up to the moguls. In fact, Foxtel itself was born of Keating and Richardson's attempt to keep both the Packer and Murdoch camps happy.
While attempts to stifle new technology will ultimately fail, the cost will be huge to Australian consumers and industry. But that's never worried the cowards in Canberra who pretend to be the leaders of this nation.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Melbourne IT to auction lapsed names
AustralianIT reports that our friends at MelbourneIT are planning to auction lapsed domain names.
The problem with this is that lapsed domains aren't theirs to sell. They go back into the pool for anyone to buy.
Could the cost of buying WebCentral be forcing them to become cybersquatters?
The problem with this is that lapsed domains aren't theirs to sell. They go back into the pool for anyone to buy.
Could the cost of buying WebCentral be forcing them to become cybersquatters?
Monday, August 21, 2006
Apple Ads hit Australia
Some months after they are released in the US, we get the "hi, I'm a Mac" ads appearing on Aussie TV.
I have to say they irritate me on a number of levels.
1. Trashing your competition
Stupid. It makes you look petty. Even more so when they have about 90% of the market.
2. Insulting potential customers
Given the genuine problems the competition has, you might be expected to get some to switch. So why insult them?
3. Confirming stereotypes
The stereotype Mac user is a skivvy wearing, smart arse, smug metrosexual graphic designer who's a sucker for following cults. Well done in cementing that view.
What's more, the ad's play into the hands of "the Mac's a nice toy, but I need to get some work done" crowd.
4. Misleading advertising
"It Just Works". One thing that drives us techs mad is tech companies making misleading statements. Sure the bugger will work most of the time, but I'll bet there'll be plenty of households and businesses that lose a lot of time trying to get some hardware or software combo working on their Mac.
I guess what really bugs me is that Apple has a great story to tell. The biggest problem for home PC users is Spyware and Trojan Horses. This is not a problem for Mac users.
Apple should be emphasising it's positives rather than insulting thousands of potential customers, but I guess the swarmy smart metrosexuals at their ad agency couldn't resist showing how superior they are to the grey, dumb, dull Windows users.
I have to say they irritate me on a number of levels.
1. Trashing your competition
Stupid. It makes you look petty. Even more so when they have about 90% of the market.
2. Insulting potential customers
Given the genuine problems the competition has, you might be expected to get some to switch. So why insult them?
3. Confirming stereotypes
The stereotype Mac user is a skivvy wearing, smart arse, smug metrosexual graphic designer who's a sucker for following cults. Well done in cementing that view.
What's more, the ad's play into the hands of "the Mac's a nice toy, but I need to get some work done" crowd.
4. Misleading advertising
"It Just Works". One thing that drives us techs mad is tech companies making misleading statements. Sure the bugger will work most of the time, but I'll bet there'll be plenty of households and businesses that lose a lot of time trying to get some hardware or software combo working on their Mac.
I guess what really bugs me is that Apple has a great story to tell. The biggest problem for home PC users is Spyware and Trojan Horses. This is not a problem for Mac users.
Apple should be emphasising it's positives rather than insulting thousands of potential customers, but I guess the swarmy smart metrosexuals at their ad agency couldn't resist showing how superior they are to the grey, dumb, dull Windows users.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Dell recalls batteries
Some six weeks after the Dell exploding laptop erupted into the media, Dell have finally decided to recall over four million batteries.
While it's the biggest recall, it isn't an isolated case. In the last year we have seen Apple Mac, HP and Dell have smaller recalls.
According to Dell's blog, this is something they have thought long and hard about before acting.
Our recommendations are straightforward:
Only buy genuine batteries. As this article shows, Lithium Ion batteries are precision instruments. Badly built batteries increase the risk of failure.
Damaged LiOn batteries are a risk, if you think your phone, laptop or cordless drill's battery may have been dropeed or damaged. Buy a new one.
If you notice the battery is misbehaving by discharging quickly, getting unusually hot or becoming mis-shapen or starts bulging then stop using it and contact the manufacturer.
Some other general laptop safety hints include.
Don't use the laptop on soft or flammable surfaces.
Don't block fan or ventilation ports.
If you notice the laptop getting hot, call for support.
It's not just laptops, here's a camera battery recall and. But Lithium Ion batteries are also used in cordless power tools and many other applications.
What we need to keep this in mind is that tens, if not hundreds, of millions of these batteries have been sold. Only a handful have had a problem.
While it's the biggest recall, it isn't an isolated case. In the last year we have seen Apple Mac, HP and Dell have smaller recalls.
According to Dell's blog, this is something they have thought long and hard about before acting.
Our recommendations are straightforward:
Only buy genuine batteries. As this article shows, Lithium Ion batteries are precision instruments. Badly built batteries increase the risk of failure.
Damaged LiOn batteries are a risk, if you think your phone, laptop or cordless drill's battery may have been dropeed or damaged. Buy a new one.
If you notice the battery is misbehaving by discharging quickly, getting unusually hot or becoming mis-shapen or starts bulging then stop using it and contact the manufacturer.
Some other general laptop safety hints include.
Don't use the laptop on soft or flammable surfaces.
Don't block fan or ventilation ports.
If you notice the laptop getting hot, call for support.
It's not just laptops, here's a camera battery recall and. But Lithium Ion batteries are also used in cordless power tools and many other applications.
What we need to keep this in mind is that tens, if not hundreds, of millions of these batteries have been sold. Only a handful have had a problem.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Virus emails
It's amazing how everything old becomes new again.
A mail in my inbox this morning titled " Order Approval Notification" from Spysoft Central. Given the attachment has a .jpg.exe suffix, it's obvious that it's a virus.
A quick Google reveals this is the Bancos Trojan and this particular one has been around since mid July.
We've been seeing a lot of this sort of thing, from "e-cards" to warnings that the NAB is about to go bust. All are trying to install Trojan programs on to victim's computers.
It's another reason why we are recommending all users move to Limited User accounts. The nuisance value is less than the risk of these things.
A mail in my inbox this morning titled " Order Approval Notification" from Spysoft Central. Given the attachment has a .jpg.exe suffix, it's obvious that it's a virus.
A quick Google reveals this is the Bancos Trojan and this particular one has been around since mid July.
We've been seeing a lot of this sort of thing, from "e-cards" to warnings that the NAB is about to go bust. All are trying to install Trojan programs on to victim's computers.
It's another reason why we are recommending all users move to Limited User accounts. The nuisance value is less than the risk of these things.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
The ATO and viruses
We changed this week's ABC 702 Weekend computer spot to discuss the Haxdoor virus and the ATO admitting users have had their details compromised.
In researching for the show, I stumbled previous warnings from the ATO about Trojan problems.
What worries me is that the ATO are the only big organisation admitting to this problem. There is no doubt banks are affected in a similar way. How much fraud is going on is a serious question.
It certainly has settled in my mind that all users should be Restricted Users and bugger the inconveniences.
Microsoft stuffed up XP by not introducing Restricted Users as the default. The question is how they are going to handle user permissions in Vista.
In researching for the show, I stumbled previous warnings from the ATO about Trojan problems.
What worries me is that the ATO are the only big organisation admitting to this problem. There is no doubt banks are affected in a similar way. How much fraud is going on is a serious question.
It certainly has settled in my mind that all users should be Restricted Users and bugger the inconveniences.
Microsoft stuffed up XP by not introducing Restricted Users as the default. The question is how they are going to handle user permissions in Vista.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Reverse charge scam
A poster on the Whirlpool forums has pointed out a nasty new scam using reverse charge calls.
The scam involves a caller asking if you will accept a reverse charge call. If you do, the caller says "hello" and hangs up.
This costs you over $8.00.
Like the dialler, SMS and 1900 scams, these involve the scammer doing a deal with a telco. You'd think the telcos would be learning how to avoid these things.
The scam involves a caller asking if you will accept a reverse charge call. If you do, the caller says "hello" and hangs up.
This costs you over $8.00.
Like the dialler, SMS and 1900 scams, these involve the scammer doing a deal with a telco. You'd think the telcos would be learning how to avoid these things.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
tech TV is back
The Age reports that tech tv shows are back with not one, but two new programs.
Australian TV hasn't been kind to computers. Most of the coverage in the past have been superficial and boring advertorials. Outside of that, computers only get a mention when viruses are going to eat your granny's computer.
The ABC effort is confined to ABC 2, so it won't draw much attention. I would imagine the gamer community will be on their machines anyway. Good luck to them.
Channel Ten are no strangers to the IT advertorial scene. Their Internet Bright Ideas program was the best example of the genre. The new program, Cybershack, appears to offer untold opportunities for taking advertorials further.
The show itself is a joint venture between Chic Media, a division of Chic Model Management and CBN Media. While Cybershack is a great improvement on Hot Dog's Up Late Show, it doesn't appear that it will be a source of critical, unbiased reviews.
One day we'll figure out an entertaining way to talk about technology. For the moment, I guess we'll just have to content ourselves with ill concealed adverts.
Australian TV hasn't been kind to computers. Most of the coverage in the past have been superficial and boring advertorials. Outside of that, computers only get a mention when viruses are going to eat your granny's computer.
The ABC effort is confined to ABC 2, so it won't draw much attention. I would imagine the gamer community will be on their machines anyway. Good luck to them.
Channel Ten are no strangers to the IT advertorial scene. Their Internet Bright Ideas program was the best example of the genre. The new program, Cybershack, appears to offer untold opportunities for taking advertorials further.
The show itself is a joint venture between Chic Media, a division of Chic Model Management and CBN Media. While Cybershack is a great improvement on Hot Dog's Up Late Show, it doesn't appear that it will be a source of critical, unbiased reviews.
One day we'll figure out an entertaining way to talk about technology. For the moment, I guess we'll just have to content ourselves with ill concealed adverts.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
It's a bug, not a feature
ZDNet have shown us another reason for avoiding Internet Explorer in their article showing how programs can be run from IE.
What is unbelievable is Microsoft's reaction. "Organisations or individual users may require or desire to automate part of the process for application connectivity with IE." Said Peter Watson, head of security at Microsoft Australia.
Again, we see how Microsoft just don't get security.
What is unbelievable is Microsoft's reaction. "Organisations or individual users may require or desire to automate part of the process for application connectivity with IE." Said Peter Watson, head of security at Microsoft Australia.
Again, we see how Microsoft just don't get security.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Price Wars
Dell and Apple dragged the US stock markets down last night. Investors are quite rightly concerned about the risk of a price war breaking out in the PC industry. The margins are so tight that no vendor is in a position to fight such a battle.
The concern was so great that Asian stocks were dragged down by Dell and Apple's suppliers. This is with good reason as any pain suffered by Dell is going to be shared with it's suppliers. It could even be that we are seeing the last of any fat, or profit, that existed in the PC industry.
It's not good for Dell in Australia either, the entry of JB Hifi into computer retail is going to put pressure on retail prices. This is going to hit Dell along with Harvey Norman and Woolworths/Dick Smith.
Another issue facing Dell is the three month warranty. Anyone who buys a computer with a three month warranty is almost as dumb as the retailer who tries to sell it. This not going to fly with the ACCC or state fair trading departments.
Personally I'm amazed Dell are continuing to cut prices. It seems to me this is a strategy doomed to failure. It would make far more sense to position the brand as offering good quality at reasonable prices rather than the cheapest.
Then again, I'm not a high paid corporate warrior.
The concern was so great that Asian stocks were dragged down by Dell and Apple's suppliers. This is with good reason as any pain suffered by Dell is going to be shared with it's suppliers. It could even be that we are seeing the last of any fat, or profit, that existed in the PC industry.
It's not good for Dell in Australia either, the entry of JB Hifi into computer retail is going to put pressure on retail prices. This is going to hit Dell along with Harvey Norman and Woolworths/Dick Smith.
Another issue facing Dell is the three month warranty. Anyone who buys a computer with a three month warranty is almost as dumb as the retailer who tries to sell it. This not going to fly with the ACCC or state fair trading departments.
Personally I'm amazed Dell are continuing to cut prices. It seems to me this is a strategy doomed to failure. It would make far more sense to position the brand as offering good quality at reasonable prices rather than the cheapest.
Then again, I'm not a high paid corporate warrior.
Monday, July 10, 2006
The profits of spyware
Another article illustrates the profits to be made from spyware. The good news at least is that this mob, Direct Revenue, not only infected their business partners, but are now facing serious legal action. We can only hope the people behind this rubbish get long jail sentences.
If anyone has any doubt about the morals and ethics of the people who write spyware, then the latest trick by our friends at 180 Solutions should settle it. They are using Myspace to con teenagers into installing their malware.
It's getting harder to remove this rubbish from people's computers, so hopefully the legal system is going to get the message through to these people.
If anyone has any doubt about the morals and ethics of the people who write spyware, then the latest trick by our friends at 180 Solutions should settle it. They are using Myspace to con teenagers into installing their malware.
It's getting harder to remove this rubbish from people's computers, so hopefully the legal system is going to get the message through to these people.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Windows Activation Blues
There's no doubt Microsoft has done the wrong thing with the Windows Activation Notification debacle. But some of the rhetoric is getting silly.
Today's Australian IT has a ramble about this. What really caught my eye was the comment by a computer tech that "no-one had been warned." We were, the fact people with pirated systems didn't get the message (or even knew they had crook systems) isn't MS's problem.
The simple fact is that all the people getting WGAN messages are getting them because they bought computers from dodgy companies or hired a crook tech. In some cases they've been ripped off, in some cases they bought the cheapest system.
What surprises me is how few systems I'm seeing with the warnings. It probably shows just how over-stated piracy is by the software companies.
Today's Australian IT has a ramble about this. What really caught my eye was the comment by a computer tech that "no-one had been warned." We were, the fact people with pirated systems didn't get the message (or even knew they had crook systems) isn't MS's problem.
The simple fact is that all the people getting WGAN messages are getting them because they bought computers from dodgy companies or hired a crook tech. In some cases they've been ripped off, in some cases they bought the cheapest system.
What surprises me is how few systems I'm seeing with the warnings. It probably shows just how over-stated piracy is by the software companies.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Norton update problems
We continue to see Norton Anti Virus problems.
Nearly every Norton installation we currently see encounters a live update problem. The real concern with this problem is that it stops Norton updating it's virus definitions. We've seen machines completely out of date, with the customer having no idea their system isn't updating.
Symantec have a solution to the 1875 problem at their website. It's easy, it's quick and it works. Although the subject line is slightly wrong (just to make it harder to Google) and the file path is not necessarily correct.
Once again, I'd point out this shouldn't happen and I won't be recommending Symantec products until they strip out the complexity that allows this sort of thing to happen.
Nearly every Norton installation we currently see encounters a live update problem. The real concern with this problem is that it stops Norton updating it's virus definitions. We've seen machines completely out of date, with the customer having no idea their system isn't updating.
Symantec have a solution to the 1875 problem at their website. It's easy, it's quick and it works. Although the subject line is slightly wrong (just to make it harder to Google) and the file path is not necessarily correct.
Once again, I'd point out this shouldn't happen and I won't be recommending Symantec products until they strip out the complexity that allows this sort of thing to happen.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Crook Business
Today's Smarthouse News has an article which discusses why the home automation business is broken. The conclusion: It's a cottage industry dominated by small operators.
http://www.smarthousenews.com.au/Smart_Ideas/Installers?Article=/Smart%20Ideas/Installers/T5E5K5C2
The same can be said of our industry.
http://www.smarthousenews.com.au/Smart_Ideas/Installers?Article=/Smart%20Ideas/Installers/T5E5K5C2
The same can be said of our industry.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
The Wireless Home
"Wireless devices poised for home invasion" predicts today's Sydney Morning Herald.
Having spent the morning in an unsuccessful battle with a dodgy Linksys router. I really don't think so.
Having spent the morning in an unsuccessful battle with a dodgy Linksys router. I really don't think so.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Windows becomes spyware
Microsoft don't get it. Their Genuine Advantage notification rings home and spies on users. Brian Livingston at Windows Secrets and David Berlind at ZD Net do a much better job than me demonstrating how bad this is.
What amazes me is David Lazar, the director of the Genuine Advantage program, admits the function is there partly to turn off if the thing doesn't work.
So Microsoft launched a program which put potentially buggy software on millions of computers?
Trustworthy computing indeed.
What amazes me is David Lazar, the director of the Genuine Advantage program, admits the function is there partly to turn off if the thing doesn't work.
So Microsoft launched a program which put potentially buggy software on millions of computers?
Trustworthy computing indeed.
Monday, June 12, 2006
More Aussie domain shenanigans
auDA, the Australian domain administrator, is in a blue with one of the the biggest registrars, Netregistry.
What has upset the auDA is what they consider to be Netregistry's failure to comply with the .com.au policies.
The demand by the auDA that the ws.com.au domain be deregistered is deeply unfair. A look at the company's website shows it is a legit business. Imagine having your domain pulled after spending ten of thousands on design, marketing and stationery?
Netregistry deserves a pat on the back in standing up for the customers. We can be sure their biggest competitor would have pulled the domain without any thought for their customer's business.
What has upset the auDA is what they consider to be Netregistry's failure to comply with the .com.au policies.
The demand by the auDA that the ws.com.au domain be deregistered is deeply unfair. A look at the company's website shows it is a legit business. Imagine having your domain pulled after spending ten of thousands on design, marketing and stationery?
Netregistry deserves a pat on the back in standing up for the customers. We can be sure their biggest competitor would have pulled the domain without any thought for their customer's business.
Microsoft licensing
Rotten effort is a good look by Computer World at how MS conducts it's licensing compliance and how many software vendors use compliance to drive sales.
In my view it is unethical, but a wholly predictable result of the push to put license breaches on a par with terrorist acts. In fact, a cynic like my selfishly might even suggest it's one of the reasons for big corp to push changes to IP laws.
The real fear for most companies though is that these threats are real. The complexity of many software licenses means many business would be caught out. If I'd been Dale Frantz of Autowarehousing, I wouldn't have been so confident an audit wouldn't have found something.
All companies need to take licensing issues extremely seriously. But companies like Microsoft and AutoDesk need to understand that restrictive, or marketing driven licenses only encourage their customers to look elsewhere.
In my view it is unethical, but a wholly predictable result of the push to put license breaches on a par with terrorist acts. In fact, a cynic like my selfishly might even suggest it's one of the reasons for big corp to push changes to IP laws.
The real fear for most companies though is that these threats are real. The complexity of many software licenses means many business would be caught out. If I'd been Dale Frantz of Autowarehousing, I wouldn't have been so confident an audit wouldn't have found something.
All companies need to take licensing issues extremely seriously. But companies like Microsoft and AutoDesk need to understand that restrictive, or marketing driven licenses only encourage their customers to look elsewhere.
Windows Vista patch
Microsoft announce the first patch to Windows Vista. It involves compatibility issues with Symantec Anti Virus. What a surprise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)