Dell and Ubuntu: It's All About the Bucks
iTWire: "Call me cynical but the decision that Dell has taken--to offer Ubuntu installed on some of its PCs and laptops--is driven by just one thing--money. Or at least the hope of making money..."
SourceBeat, the Open Source Technologies Publisher, Announces Spring Framework Book Release
Matt Raible's "The Spring Primer" is now available for purchase as a PDF download via the SourceBeat site. The book, originally titled "Spring Live" was originally released in 2004 and has undergone multiple updates. This latest update makes it the most comprehensive of all of the books on the open source Spring Framework. (PRWeb May 8, 2007) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/RW1wdC1TdW1tLUVtcHQtRW1wdC1UaGlyLVplcm8=
Patriots competition begins in camp
Whether the Patriots make it to the Super Bowl or not is determined by many factors. From coaches coaching strategy to players executing to the littlest details, the final proof for some will be making on to the field (ahem Washington), while for others it will be remaining on the roster after the first cuts. Every year [...] (Read on Source)
Visopsys 0.69 Released
Visopsys version 0.69 was released today. Four months in the making, this is a maintenance release comprising the final round of tweaks and bug fixes to the 0.6x series of Visopsys, featuring lots of work on the USB subsystem including support for USB mice/keyboards and hubs, tuning of the FAT filesystem driver, usability fixes for various user programs, and loads of OS kernel and C library improvements and bug fixes. As always you can demo Visopsys as a live CD or run a scaled-down version from a floppy disk. Change log is here, and downloads are here.
Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook
000 ABNT20 KNHC 020914 TWOAT TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 530 AM EDT TUE OCT 2 2007 FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO... AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO...AND A WEAK SURFACE LOW NEAR THE SOUTHERN TIP OF FLORIDA...ARE PRODUCING SQUALLY WEATHER OVER PORTIONS ... (Read on Source)
Forum Spotlight: Mid-Range Carts, Drop Shipping Taxes
We highlight the insight provided by fellow e-tailers with tips from the trenches on cart options, drop shipping and sales tax and site design.
iPhone Availability Tracker
Apple has launched a small web application that will let customers check up on iPhone availability at its 164 national retail stores. The Apple retail availability tracker allows iPhone seekers to sel...
Tsunami Relief Fund Drive!
Top 15 phones of Mobile World Congress
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What Zappos and Barack Obama have in common.
Zappos is one of the top retailers on the web, selling loads of shoes and building a stellar reputation for customer support. Great support has been a mantra of the organization since inception, and recent changes to the company marketing strategy simply reinforce this. Zappos is successful, because they embraced the web early [...] (Read on Source)
Alitalia to get 700-800 mln euros: report
MILAN (Reuters) - Alitalia will receive a capital injection of 700 million to 800 million euros from Italian businessmen as part of a plan to save the ailing carrier, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday.
The 4 Big Problems With Blog Metrics And How To Solve Them
Like most bloggers, I struggle with true metrics for my blog. The problem isn't so much about technology as it is about understanding what is useful to know about my blog to make it better and attract more of an audience. I've got lots of metrics that I can look at today, from my Technorati ranking to where my blog is on the Power150 list. I can ... (Read on Source)
Microsoft feeds cash to Online Services Business
With the possibility of a Yahoo acquisition still uncertain, Microsoft is pouring hundreds of millions of additional investment dollars into its Online Services Business (OSB) in an aggressive effort to compete with Google in online advertising.
On a conference call Thursday to report its fiscal 2008 earnings, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said the company is investing the money in its online properties to drive advertising revenue and improve the performance and reach of its search engine and advertising network.
[ For the complete saga of Microsoft's attempt to take over Yahoo, check out InfoWorld's special report. ]
Microsoft's OSB is its weakest-performing division next to its Entertainment and Devices Division which -- despite the popularity of the Xbox product -- like OSB does not operate profitably.
Microsoft posted more than $60 billion in revenue for fiscal 2008, and even OSB showed a revenue gain of 32 percent, from $2.44 billion in 2007 to $3.21 billion in fiscal 2008.
For the year, however, OSB lost $1.23 billion in operating income; a nearly 100 percent increase over the $617 million loss in operating income in fiscal 2007.
Liddell noted that Microsoft understands the weight of investing heavily in OSB if the company doesn't reap return on that investment, especially in light of the segment's lackluster results over the years.
"We do not make these investments lightly, as the loss in this division will be a drag on an otherwise exceptionally good performance," he said.
Liddell acknowledged that had Microsoft managed to seal the deal with Yahoo during the 2008 fiscal year, which ended June 30, it would have "accelerated" Microsoft's goals for improving OSB's performance and its search business in particular, and perhaps the investments would not have been necessary.
However, when it became clear the deal would not happen in the short term, Microsoft "made some decisions to accelerate our online services' organic growth strategy," he said.
Specifically, the investments will be made in several areas of the online business, with two-thirds of the money going into Microsoft's search assets, Liddell said.
One area of focus on search will be to drive usage of its search engine, as well as "business-model innovation, specifically in the area of high-value commercial search," Liddell said.
He cited Microsoft's Cashback program as an example of the latter. Launched in May, Cashback is comparative shopping feature in Microsoft's Live Search that offers consumers rebates on purchases of products found through the search engine. It's aimed at luring consumers away from Google and Yahoo.
Microsoft also will seek distribution partnerships to bolster online advertising and will consolidate display and search advertising into a single ad system for publishers and advertisers, Liddell said.
Microsoft also plans to invest in its adCenter advertising platform by making "small acquisitions" to improve the technology of the platform, as well as signing up new partners to increase its number of advertisers and the amount of "high-quality inventory" available to them, he said.
The rest of the money will go into Microsoft's communication and social-networking strategies, as well as a plan to provide more entertainment content via the MSN portal, Liddell added.
Even as it's pouring its own money into its search business, there is still a chance Microsoft will eventually acquire Yahoo or at least its search assets at some point.
As of Friday, however, the companies remained locked in a public war of words over a proxy battle led by Carl Icahn, who recently teamed up with Microsoft to offer Yahoo a proposal to purchase only its search business. Yahoo rejected that proposal last Saturday, even though Microsoft claimed it was Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock's idea to do such a deal.
Yahoo on Friday did win an ally against Icahn, who aims to remove the current Yahoo board at a shareholder meeting next month. Legg Mason, one of the largest holders of Yahoo stock, said it will back the company's recommendations for its board of directors instead of those offered by Icahn.
There are also rumors that Microsoft is in talks with Time Warner to buy AOL to bolster Microsoft's online business. However, while a deal with AOL would be less culturally and politically inflammatory and possibly easier for Microsoft to negotiate, the company would not win the valuable search assets of Yahoo.
Species: a history of the idea
Today I got my manuscript off to the publisher. Heaven knows what the editors will do with it; I expect a sympathetic treatment as the publisher's editorial board are quite keen. But it's like having a ten year boil lanced. And seeing a favourite child graduate. All at once. So it remains for me to thank the enormous number of people who have ... (Read on Source)
Joel Comm Releases Book - ‘Click Here to Order’
A couple of weeks ago I received a package in the mail from internet marketer Joel Comm. The package contained his new book - Click Here to Order. With a new baby in the house it’s been difficult to find time to read the whole book but having got halfway through it I’m happy to say that there’s a lot to like about the book so far. (Read on Source)
The Volokh Conspiracy
The word comes from "vet" as in "veterinarian," Juliet Lapidos reports in Slate's Explainer, and the Oxford English Dictionary confirms it. On reflection, it makes sense -- from veterinarian to "To submit (an animal) to examination or treatment by a veterinary surgeon" to "to investigate the suitability of (a person) for a post that requires ... (Read on Source)
A 2 Week Trip in 2 Minutes
I went to Ireland and Italy with my sister and her fiance over xmas / newyears this last year. The trip was pretty awesome, other then a nasty bout of food poisoning that I got… between us we took around 1300 photos and some short movies… I have always wanted to do all of the [...] (Read on Source)
Preorder 'Far Cry 2' at Gamestop for Extra Missions
Want more variety in your AAA-game special editions? Of course you do. But this feels a little sleazy.
Liberated Punks Accelerate China's Musical Evolution
Punk drummer Martin Atkins chopped 80 hours of video from his 2006 trip to China into the recently released documentary Sixteen Days in China. Listening Post chats with Atkins about China's greatest bands you've never heard and more.
T-Mobile to Ease Developer Access
T-Mobile hopes to let developers get their applications approved for its network in days with a new program.
Little or No Jail Time Likely for Palin Hacker
Legal experts say the hacker who breached Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail most likely faces a misdemeanor charge and probation.
Ask Your Customers the Hard Questions
Here's a question for you. When your last project finished, what was the final communication the client received from you? Was it a bottle of wine and card, a "Thanks for the work, call me if you need anything," or just an invoice in the mail? (Read on Source)
Ben Goldacre: I have a cold, and I know that there is almost nothing I can do, except sit it out
I have a cold (and they're worse than you remember when you're well). Throughout the nation, homeopaths and self-declared nutrition therapists are celebrating. More importantly, I know that there is almost nothing I can do, except sit it out, and wait. Vitamin C will shave a few hours off it, at high doses, like 7g a day, which I can happily ... (Read on Source)
Left 4 Dead Gameplay Performance and IQValve Software's newest game, Left 4 Dead, is a first person
... Left 4 Dead is a DX9 only game. Of course, it will run on Windows Vista systems equipped with DX10, but it will not make use of DX10's features. Source ...
How To Keep Readers Loyal
At my neighborhood carwash, they hand out cards to first time customers, with boxes they mark with a stamp after every wash. After seven washes, clients get one free. Same with the nearby Thai massage place I go to once a week, when I need to de-stress from hours and hours of work in front of a computer screen. After ten one-hour sessions, you ... (Read on Source)
Google Blasts WSJ, Says it's Still 'Committed to Network Neutrality'
Google is taking some heat this morning from a Wall Street journal piece that argues the company is abandoning its support of network neutrality in an attempt to make sites like YouTube faster than the competition. Google has called the WSJ's article "confused" and says it remains committed to network neutrality.
Marketing Pilgrim’s Top 10 Posts of 2008
Around this time each year, I like to huddle around the fire with loved-ones and look back on the most popular Marketing Pilgrim posts of the past year. So, grab some hot chocolate, and let’s get lost in this fairytale, shall we? (Read on Source)
An Hour with the Renowned South African Poet, Writer, Painter and Anti-Apartheid Activist Breyten Br
Breyten Breytenbach is one of South Africa's most famous poets. He's also an award-winning writer and painter, and well-known as an anti-apartheid activist and outspoken advocate for justice around the world. The exiled poet was born to an Afrikaner or white South African family in 1939. He moved to Paris in the early 1960s and became deeply ... (Read on Source)
name: MAGPIE