Author: Vince Kimball

A Smarter Web

MIT Technology Review: A Smarter Web. Many feel it can't be done. Even though things are heating up in research labs, the Semantic Web as envisioned by Berners-Lee is hampered by social and technical challenges that some critics say may never be solved. But that's not stopping the W3C and other organizations from trying. [Tomalak's… Continue reading A Smarter Web

Microsoft's Next Victim: AOL The way that AOL should counter Microsoft is to move many of it services to P2P connections.  All of what Hailstorm and AOL does, and will ever do, can be done better via a combination of a desktop content management system (CMS – database, CMS, scripting engine, and http server) and a P2P instant messaging connection.  In this way, AOL can keep costs down while taking advantage of broadband connections (most of the interaction will be between consumer desktops and not with AOL's servers).  It would also allow the company to gain control over what will become the most important data store on the planet —  the desktop database on consumer desktops.

Look, Microsoft has made a strategic mistake.  They are centralizing in the hope of gaining greater levels of control over consumer data and services.  What they really should be doing is decentralizing control and providing people with the software to manage their own relationships (both with each other and their distributed devices).  This strategic blunder has created a golden opportunity for AOL.  A distributed P2P-based AOL would not only be inexpensive to operate, but would also provide the company with a way to infest corporate networks much faster than Microsoft's centralized .Net approach (note: Microsoft's investment in Groove is in part an admission of this).  AOL needs to act, and act fast. [John Robb's Radio Weblog

Microsoft's Next Victim: AOL The way that AOL should counter Microsoft is to move many of it services to P2P connections.  All of what Hailstorm and AOL does, and will ever do, can be done better via a combination of a desktop content management system (CMS – database, CMS, scripting engine, and http server) and a P2P instant messaging connection.  In this way, AOL can keep costs… Continue reading Microsoft's Next Victim: AOL
The way that AOL should counter Microsoft is to move many of it services to P2P connections.  All of what Hailstorm and AOL does, and will ever do, can be done better via a combination of a desktop content management system (CMS – database, CMS, scripting engine, and http server) and a P2P instant messaging connection.  In this way, AOL can keep costs down while taking advantage of broadband connections (most of the interaction will be between consumer desktops and not with AOL's servers).  It would also allow the company to gain control over what will become the most important data store on the planet —  the desktop database on consumer desktops.

Look, Microsoft has made a strategic mistake.  They are centralizing in the hope of gaining greater levels of control over consumer data and services.  What they really should be doing is decentralizing control and providing people with the software to manage their own relationships (both with each other and their distributed devices).  This strategic blunder has created a golden opportunity for AOL.  A distributed P2P-based AOL would not only be inexpensive to operate, but would also provide the company with a way to infest corporate networks much faster than Microsoft's centralized .Net approach (note: Microsoft's investment in Groove is in part an admission of this).  AOL needs to act, and act fast. [John Robb's Radio Weblog

IN DEFENSE OF CHEATING

IN DEFENSE OF CHEATING. Quote: Consider this: in many ways, the behavior we call cheating in schools is exactly the behavior we desire in the real world. Think about it. What behavior do we call cheating in the school system? Asking others for help, copying answers, copying papers. Most of these activities are better called… Continue reading IN DEFENSE OF CHEATING

Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma

Washington Post – Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma. FBI and Justice Department investigators are increasingly frustrated by the silence of jailed suspected associates of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, and some are beginning to that say that traditional civil liberties may have to be cast aside if they are to extract… Continue reading Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma

Smart use of tax dollars best boost for national security

SJ Mercury: Smart use of tax dollars best boost for national security. Dan Gillmor. We should use this opportunity to invest in things that will help us years and decades from now, not just tomorrow and next month. On any list of such national investments, three stand out for me right now: public health, decentralized… Continue reading Smart use of tax dollars best boost for national security

Adding Value to Information

Adding Value to Information – Why aren't libraries doing this? Amazon continually finds ways to add value to records, helping people access what they're looking for. Just yesterday, we were talking about Blackwell's ridiculously expensive Table Of Contents service at a reference meeting. We agreed that adding TOC info to the catalog would be a… Continue reading

Adding Value to Information

Dave

Dave mentions that we are using a combo of outlining and instant messaging to power internal communications.  It's great.  E-mail count has gone down by 100 a day (the e-mail DoS attack on my brain has eased!) and now I can parallel process internal communications with my co-workers.  Savings:  1/2 hour a day reading a serial e-mail stream vs. scanning outline posts… Continue reading Dave