Apparently the upcoming Longhorn edition of Windows will no longer use “My” in the default name for folders, so “My Documents” will be simply “Documents”, “My Music” will be “Music”, etc. Wags immediately moved in on this news to suggest that the change is in recognition of Longhorn’s “improved” digital rights management features: after all, you won’t actually own any of the music, films or documents on your hard disk, they’ll all be on loan under various restrictive licences. Of course Longhorn isn’t here yet, and there is plenty of time for further user-interface changes. Sneak suspects that by the time it arrives, Longhorn will simply have one big folder marked “Stand and Deliver”.

May 31, 2005 Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is it just Sneak, or is there a marked resemblance between the current Time magazine cover, showing Bill Gates holding up the new Xbox 360, and the widely copied and distributed faked picture of Bill Gates done up like a Star Trek Borg drone? Did Gates adopt this pose on purpose, to thumb his nose at his critics? Or is the photographer and/or Time’s picture editor making a cruel visual pun at Gates's expense? Or has Sneak simply been drinking too much coffee? What do you think?

May 23, 2005 Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

It took Sneak a while to notice that the lame-brain research noted in yesterday's item analyses data about internet usage that was collected in January 2004. Not only is it intrinsically of doubtful worth, it is also hopelessly out of date.
You may have heard that you can get data that is good, fresh and cheap - pick any two. Or in the case of the EU, you can have data that is crap, old and expensive. And you don't get to pick. And you get all three.

May 18, 2005 Business intelligence | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the whole Sneak tries to avoid pointing out the fallacies in the workings of the EU, as to do so could easily become a full-time job, but Sneak does have to wonder how many of our tax euros were spent on the latest study into internet usage?
According to comprehensive research [PDF] the UK uses the web less than the tech-savvy Nordic countries, but more than luddites in Portugal, Greece and Hungary.
And even before Sneak had finished reeling from this revelation, the report went on to reveal that men use the web more than women and young people are more internet aware than their parents.
Sneak awaits official EU research into the new Pope's religious persuasion, and on the bathroom habits of bears, with bated breath.

May 17, 2005 Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shocked at the case of the torpedoed e-commerce minister, Sneak gave the DTI (or is it the DPEI? Sneak is so confused) a bell to see if it could shed light on the mystery.
"Is it not true that focus on e-commerce will be diluted by handing responsibility to the already rather busy minister for industry and the regions, Alun Michael?" Sneak asked.
"Not at all," a spokeswoman replied, testily. "E-commerce didn't have a separate minister before. Mike O'Brien [the last e-commerce minister, who lasted eight months] was also minister for energy and had responsibility for areas like nuclear power and renewable energy as well."
Roughly translated: commitment to e-commerce won't change as there really wasn't much in the first place.
"Nothing has changed in the e-commerce brief," added the mouthpiece, without the slightest hint of irony. "It just fits better in the new portfolio."
Sneak hung up a bit disoriented by this Kafka-esque logic, but reassured that while the DTI's name may have unexpectedly changed twice inside a week, its commitment to e-commerce remains as predictable as ever.

May 16, 2005 Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

In 1621 it was called The Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations. For centuries it was the Board of Trade. From 1970 to 1974 the Department of Trade and Industry, then the Department of Trade until 1983, and then DTI again. And then, on 8 May 2005, it was renamed the Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry - leading Sneak to assume that after 384 years there would finally be an end to government meddling in trade, given the absence of the word from the new title. But Sneak’s hopes lived for just five days, as apparently the Productivity, Energy-n-Industry shtick shrinks down all too easily into a rude word, particularly among those with over-active imaginations. While this does appear to be an all too clear example of government dithering, flagrant waste and mismanagement, there is a far more serious aspect to the affair. Sneak has just committed a piece about the DPEI name to print, and it’s too late to stop the IT Week presses, so Sneak will look like an idiot come Monday morning.

May 13, 2005 Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spanish ISP ArSeNet has the language barrier as an excuse, but should a US-based analysis firm really be forgiven the cross-cultural gaffe embodied in its name, when its tagline is "Worldwide competitive intelligence"? Presumably the worldwide intelligence doesn't include checking whether it's a great idea, all around the world, to call yourself ARS. Fortunately for one of its most recent recruits - the unfortunately named Stan Schatt - the firm is now owned by Current Analysis and the ARS brand appears to be in decline. Which means he doesn't have to begin every phone call with the words, "Hi, this is Stan Schatt from ARS."

May 9, 2005 Business intelligence | Permalink | Comments (1)

Peoplesoft founder Dave Duffield has a next-big-thing up his sleeve, he hopes, as tantalising details at the Dave's Next Move web site reveal. The as-yet-unnamed company will enter the ERP market, and will promise cheaper, more flexible software than is currently on offer, apparently. It will need to be cheap and flexible, if a start-up is to rival the likes of Oracle, SAP and Microsoft. (That's assuming Duffield's sketchy details can be trusted - after all he told PeopleSoft staff that he didn't plan to sell the company to Oracle, and then did so anyway.) Duffield has already assembled a group of trusted lieutenants around him, including venture capitalist Aneel Bhusri, who is listed as co-founder and Chief Vision Officer. Sneak assumes that a Chief Hearing Officer will be chosen shortly, so that there will be someone around to answer the phone.

May 9, 2005 Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Confused about UWB technology? You are not alone, as a quick search for the term at wireless regulator Ofcom will prove. Is it Ultra Wide Band, Ultrawide Band, or Ultra Wideband? Ofcom for one is far from sure.

May 3, 2005 Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1)