links for 2011-01-21: AWS Elastic Beanstalk; Googled copied Sun's Java code

• AWS Elastic Beanstalk: A Quick and Simple Way into the Cloud - AWS continues to avoid going up stack to compete with partners, but still offer new services and value.
  
• Oops: Android contains directly copied Java code, strengthening Oracle's case - That would be a big ooops!
  
• Oops: No copied Java code or weapons of mass destruction found in Android - Or maybe not.
  

links for 2011-01-17: New data roaming option for international travelers; Battle over video on the Web; Android passes iPhone; Unplugging from LBS

• DROAM - Dreaming about Cheap Data Roaming - Great to see more options out there.
• Can Google and Mozilla dethrone H.264 on the Web? - Probably good in the long run, a bit bumpy right now though.
  
• Android passes iPhone in market share - Sounds like Gartner was awfully conservative in their Q4 2012 prediction.
• Why I’m Unplugging From Location Based Services Until The Privacy Issue Is Resolved - Great list of things to remember when using location based services.
  

links for 2011-01-03: Android dominates top phone list; Surprises of 2010; Outlook for 2011; Facebook IPO; Amusement Park Technology

• The 10 elite smart phones of 2010 - Seven Android, one BlackBerry, one Windows, and one iPhone.
• The year in review: 10 technology surprises of 2010 - It was an interesting year.
• 2011 Tech Preview - SaaS to grow, interesting thoughts on HP acquisitions, "cloud" to become meaningless as everyone overuses it.
• Facebook IPO Likely - Been rumored for a long time, will it finally happen in 2011?
• Technology at work at Disney - Some good insight into what an amusement park has to think about.

links for 2010-12-26: Chrome OS Review; Microsoft wins USDA; Dumping an iPad for a Galaxy Tab

• A Very Chrome-y Christmas - Interesting review, an indication of what we may be using in the future.
• Microsoft Wins Largest Federal Contract for Cloud - But was Google allowed to compete?
  
• Infor offering 15% referral fee for anonymous referrals - Is this move astute or naive?
• 10 reasons to dump an iPad - A bunch of good reasons.

links for 2010-10-10: If Oracle and MySQL had a child; AWS weakness a strength?; JavaOne content will cost you; Android revolution; Short-term focus hurts R&D

• If Oracle and MySQL had a child - Why not get the best of both worlds with PostgreSQL?
• Amazon Web Services: an instance of weakness as strength - Most people like simple evolution when making change in the enterprise.
  
• JavaOne 2010 content costs money? - In the past, the content from JavaOne was generally made available for free to the community, but the link seems to indicate it now costs $245 or you have to have been an attendee.  Past content on SDN only includes 2008 and 2009.  To be fair, there is still a lot of free content but this seems to be a change.
• The five factors powering the Android revolution
  
• R&D: Short-term focus, cynicism hampers us - Who else will innovate just for the sake of doing so?
  

links for 2010-09-27: Benioff fires back at Larry; PostgreSQL vs MySQL Performance; Droid X Dumping

• Salesforce's Benioff: "Clouds aren't in a box" - A host of great one-liners, a couple of the best:
  
• “The cloud is a multi-tenant shared architecture that runs on a pay-as-you-go model,” not a million dollars just to get started.
  
• We’re not going to show you computers taller than you. We’re not going to show you a cloud in a box because clouds aren’t in a box. They never were. That’s the whole idea.
  
• Database speed tests (mysql and postgresql) - part 1 - It doesn't appear to be tuned much at all, but interesting results nonetheless.  MySQL 5x slower?
  
• Why I dumped my Droid - What leading smart phone doesn't have battery issues?
  

links for 2010-09-16: Android benchmarks; Android market share up; AWS Linux AMI; Password resuse

• Benchmark showdown: High-end Android smartphones - Unfortunately, there isn't one "fastest" phone, but several do very well in multiple but different categories
• Android market share up, everyone else flat or down - Interestingly Palm is flat, RIM, Apple, Microsoft all down
• Amazon Linux AMI - Need Linux in the Cloud?  This should save you a little time
• Password Reuse - Hmmm, I'll be changing some passwords now thank you

links for 2010-09-13: iPhone Flash tool back on; YouTube goes live; Android Leaderboard

• Adobe resumes work on iPhone Flash tool after apple reveral - Predictable after Apple's policy change.  Adobe can't afford to ignore the iOS platform if they can technically address the market.
• YouTube live: Public access meets old school ESPN, but potential abounds - Being able to watch more second tier sports that the major networks choose to ignore would be welcomed by me.
  
• Android Leaderboard - I may be on the market for a new phone soon so I'll be watching this.

links for 2010-08-20: Ellison to hire Hurd?; Laptop reliability survey; Google thwarted by California; Oracle vs Google on Java; Cloud data offers intelligence; Ubuntu advantages over Windows and OS X

• Mark Hurd to Oracle? Don't be surprised - An interesting idea.
  
• Acer makes the shoddiest laptops, say IT professionals - From those they surveyed, I'd agree Acer is at the bottom of the list.  It is interesting to see HP and Dell with high percentages in both the best and worse categories.
• Google accuses California of rigging bidding process for e-mail contract - I personally find Google's labels and search preferable to traditional e-mail clients.  Let's hope California didn't have a closed mind on the subject.
  
• Charles Nutter's thoughts on Oracle vs Google - A great read if you have the time.  If you don't, Stephen O'Grady's thoughts are good as well (and shorter).
• Intuit: Small businesses slow hiring; increase pay and hours worked - Another great example of how Cloud based services (Intuit's Online Payroll service) offer an opportunity to use volumes of data to offer intelligence.
  
• Ubuntu's two big advantages over Windows and Mac - Jason makes very good points.  I doubt it is going to cause a major shift to Ubuntu though...
  

links for 2010-07-17: OpenSolaris Discontent; Open source or not?; Motorola Droid X self destructs; WinPhone 7 just an iPhone 1 knock off

• OpenSolaris Governing Board Threatens to Shoot Itself In The Head - Interesting point of view on how things were with Sun and are with Oracle regarding OpenSolaris.
• Choosing Whether to go Open Source - Huh? "That explains why using open source for production in mission-critical environments, particularly where security is essential, has been relatively rare."  This premise is shot down moments later with this: "About 90% of our servers are running Linux. They're certainly as secure as the Windows world"
  
• Droid X actually self-destructs if you try to mod it - The majority of users won't know or care, but it will be interesting to see if techies avoid the device and this backfires on Motorola.
  
• Windows Phone 7: Don't bother with this disaster - Not a good sign: "Microsoft's demos of its great mobile hope shows Windows Phone 7 to be only a tepid knockoff of a 2007-era iPhone"
  

links for 2010-07-13: iPhone 4 Apple's Vista?; Consumer Reports on iPhone 4; Google's master Android plan

• Is the iPhone 4 becoming the Windows Vista of Apple? - The author makes a bunch of good points.
• Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4 - They blame the new antenna, not AT&T's network for dropped calls.
  
• Google's master Android plan: We're all mobile app developers now - Do we really want "everyone" to be a developer?
  

links for 2010-07-09: EMC and Data Management; Returning software licenses; Android takes market share from everyone; Follow HTC-Columbia in the Tour De France

• Is EMC Moving To Tackle Data Management Market? - "I’m going to recommend to EMC that they acquire both Informatica and TIBCO and challenge IBM for world domination of the information management market."
  
• Approaches to Return Shelfware - Great idea if you are the customer, but what is in it for the vendor?
• Android takes market share from everyone - Android up 4 points to 13% while all of RIM/Apple/Microsoft/Palm shrink 0.4 to 1.9 points.
• Follow HTC-Columbia in the Tour De France on Google Maps - Very cool app.

links for 2010-06-28: iPhone 4 doubles 3G bandwith speeds; iPhone wish list = Android; Google Voice goes GA; AWS in the enterprise

• iPhone 4 upgrades to HSDPA and HSUPA can double 3G bandwidth speeds - I wonder why these upgrades to HSDPA and HSUPA weren't advertised?  This is probably the benefit some are most interested in.
  
• An iPhone wish list looks more like an Android feature list - A survey says iPhone users want choice of wireless networks, a 4G network, 8 megapixel camera, and FM radio tuner, all features available on some Android devices.
  
• Google Voice: Will the masses adopt it? - It's been in private beta for a long time and is now GA for the masses.  I've indicated before I've a big fan and user and use it as my primary number for business.
  
• 10 things: Using Amazon Web Services in the enterprise - Looking to leverage the cloud?  Things to think about.
  

links for 2010-06-25: iOS4 vs Android Multitasking; Tiered Data Pricing; AWS SNS User Survey; eGate and Java CAPS future options

• Apple iOS 4 vs. Android Multitasking: Which Approach Is Better for Users? - A good highlighting of the pros and cons.  What it fails to note is that the con against Android (grace and vision?) can and will be addressed while the con against Apple will likely not be as it goes against Apple's approach of dumbing it down for the user.
• Report on AT&T's tiered data pricing forgets the innovation factor - It is interesting how the cycle seems to be going back to tiers and not unlimited.
  
• AWS SNS User Survey - An opportunity to give feedback to Amazon on their Simple Notification Service.  I'd advise not simply asking for all the features of your favorite JMS provider, think Cloud!
• NextGate webinar for Sun Integration customers - Good information on what the options are for future strategies around eGate, ICAN, SRE, and Java CAPS.  They are holding it again next week.

links for 2010-06-24: iOS 4 missed on multi-tasking; iOS4 vs Android; History of Communication; Oracle see Sun profit

• Multitasking With iOS 4 is Horrible: Apple Blew It - One person's view of one of the key features of iOS 4.  It seems only select apps can do it and/or developers have to write special code for it.  Also see this: "on day one, this feature is a mixed bag, and appears to be best left to Apple's own core apps--as opposed to third-party apps--which largely defeats the purpose of the feature."
  
• iOS 4 ... All you need to know! - One persons review, another here comparing an iPhone with Android.
• A Modern History of Human Communication - Interesting chart, and yes I'm a Google Voice user and love it.
• Oracle Beats, Sees Sun Profit - They say Sun contributed $400M to operating income.

links for 2010-06-22: Flash goes Mobile; Java's Future; Java CAPS Future;

• Adobe launches Flash 10.1 for Mobile: More than half of all smartphones by 2012? - There may be issues at first (battery life?), but pushing the envelope is how issues get resolved, not by constraining innovation.
  
• Why I'm Worried About Java's Future - John highlights the 2GB JVM memory limitation as a key issue.
  
• Wondering what to do about your integration strategy as it relates to Java CAPS? - NextGate to hold 2 webinars on what options Java CAPS (and eGate and DataGate) customers have now that they are Oracle's customers.
  
• The Economics of Open Source: Why the Billion Dollar Barrier is Irrelevant - As he's mentioned before, Stephen says data is the key: "Data is likely, in my view, to be more profitable longer term than mechanisms such as dual licensing (coverage). Telemetry (coverage) is the obvious next revenue source for open source entitites."
  

links for 2010-06-13: AT&T flaw exposes iPad owners e-mail addresses; iPhone vs Android vs webOS?; Multitenancy risks; AT&T's new data plans

• Apple's Worst Security Breach: 114,000 iPad Owners Exposed - It is shocking that a RESTful Web service for retrieving e-mail addresses would be completely unsecured.
  
• iPhone vs. Android vs. webOS: A Counterpoint - What HP does with webOS is going to be interesting and is the wildcard in the mobile OS battle.
  
• WordPress and the Dark Side of Multitenancy - Yes, with multi-tenancy the failure of one machine/datacenter can mean multiple sites go out, but that risk is still outweighed by the benefits in many scenarios.
  
• The bottom line: iPhone 4 vs. Android’s best (does Nokia, Microsoft, RIM have a chance in getting into the game?) - Another comparison, this one liking the iPhone 4 on everything other than voice quality, carrier, tethering, and synch, or everything other than being a phone! :)
  
• The Problem with AT&T’s New Data Plans - I'm glad I'm still grandfathered in on the unlimited, but did change my wife's to a new plan to save a little money.
  

links for 2010-06-04: iPhone to Android switch; Open standard, but only in Safari; AT&T Data Pricing

• So You Want to Switch to Android…One Man’s iPhone to Nexus One Migration - Stephen makes the switch and shares his thoughts.
  
• Only Apple can do open standards, apparently - This is laughable.  Yes, HTML5 is fairly new and so it is still being fully implemented in browsers, but Chrome and Firefox have been near or at the lead in those implementations so demonstrating and open standard but requiring Safari kind of defeats the purpose.
  
• AT&T's data plan pricing: Bringing confusion back to the game - It may be confusing, but I check my usage and it was actually quite low due to being on WiFi most of the time.  But I haven't been traveling much so it may be artificially low.
  

links for 2010-05-25: MPEG-LA sued; Stonebreaker's VoltDB; Apple playing catch-up?; Android to be "Windows" of phones?

• Company Sues MPEG-LA, Claiming Antitrust Violations Over Patents - Is it just sour grapes from Nero or has MPEG-LA not held up their end of their deal with the DoJ?
  
• Database daddy goes non-relational on NoSQL fanbois - VoltDB, perhaps offering the best of both worlds?
  
• Google vs. Apple in the battle of the fanboys - Is Apple playing catch up?  This years WWDC will tell us for sure.
  
• Is Android destined to be the Windows of smartphones? - Informative piece that highlights Google getting into mobile back in 2005.
  

links for 2010-05-21: Sayonara iPhone; Google and Adobe gang up on Apple

• Sayonara, iPhone: Why I'm Switching to Android - "The Android OS is already outselling iPhone OS in the United States. Now it's blowing past Apple in terms of the technology it's delivering."  "What makes this even more insulting is that Jobs tries to dress up his selfishness as a kind of altruism. He says it's all about creating a beautiful experience, that while he may be selling you an intentionally crippled device, he's doing it for your own good."
  
• Strange Bedfellows, Google And Adobe Gang Up On Apple - It was a bit of a change from day 1 to day 2.