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 2010-10-27: Netflix moves to AWS; RedMonk Analytics; Google Docs Charting; Apple alienating their users

• Netflix transitions to HA storage in the Cloud - The value of moving to the Cloud isn't just for startups.  Netflix has their own data center, but elected to transition to the Cloud to not burden their IT staff with mundane data center build out.
• RedMonk Analytics: What Operating Systems are Developers Using? - It depends on the perspective and which developer audience is looked at!
  
• Using new visualizations to tell your story - Improving the charting Google Docs can deliver.
  
• Apple Won't Push Flash Player Updates - Apple's alienation of developers and consumers continues.

links for 2010-09-30: Gosling on JavaOne; MySQL prices going up; Gmail capitulates; MySQL vs PostgreSQL performance; PHP SDK for AWS

• JavaOne was fun - Some interesting, albeit likely biased, observations.
• Oracle raising prices on MySQL - Rationalizing the pricing to Oracle's way is to be expected, but the removal of Basic and Silver is important and what the prices actually are will be doubly so.
• Gmail unthreads messages - I prefer threaded views and find search works much better than sort.
• MySQL vs PostgreSQL performance - Simply confirms what I think we all knew: PostgreSQL is much faster for inserts, MySQL slightly faster for selects.
• New AWS SDK for PHP - Adds to the existing Java and .NET SDKs.

links for 2010-07-26: Phillips claim of acquisitions not true?; LA's move to Google hits a few road bumps; "Mac guy" no longer Apple fanboy?; Dell drops Ubuntu

• Did Oracle hand Charles Phillips a PR written pink slip? - Charles said they'll spend $70 million, then Larry's PR said no.
  
• Los Angeles' move to Google Apps continues with a few hiccups - They've made progress but didn't meet a June 30 deadline to get everyone on Google.
• Why this "Mac guy" will dump Apple fanboy club card - Competition is good for the consumer.
  
• Dell dumps Ubuntu loaded machines - "“The reason why they’re not on our main pages is because Ubuntu systems are primarily targeted towards advanced users and enthusiasts...” ... if I’m an advanced computer user, what are the odds I’ll order a computer by phone before using the internet?"

links for 2010-07-01: iPhone to Verizon rumor (again); Brown University goes Google; SQS Updates; Open Source Licensing; Steve Jobs on the Enterprise; Database Migrations Easy?

• Verizon to Start Selling iPhone in January [REPORT] - This report seems to be a bit more credible than ones of the past, so will it really happen?
  
• Brown University has gone Google - "Our students were really the ones that led us down the Google path. They knew these tools would work because they already used them in their non-school lives."
• New: Free Tier and Increased Limits for Amazon Simple Queue Service - Some incremental updates making SQS a little more valuable.
  
• Open Core the new Dual License - He still advocates pure open source and using telemetry and data as ways to generate incremental revenue.
• What Steve Jobs hates about the enterprise - So Apple will just rely on the consumerization of IT as their way into the enterprise?  Is this an opportunity for Microsoft to capitalize on RIM's weakness?
  
• Database Migrations Are Finally Becoming Simpler - Compatibility layers make sense.  I knew EnterpriseDB had been doing this for some time, I didn't know IBM was too.  Oracle, your move.
  

links for 2010-04-16: McNealy Speaks; Microsoft and Google on collision course; Cloud printing

• Scott McNealy can still dish - "... in the ‘80s we were preaching that the network is the computer. Shame on us for not summing it up in one word – cloud"
• Microsoft, Google On Office Computing Collision Course - Interesting how they are converging on the same space.  Much like various vendors in the middleware space converged on SOA platforms from EAI, BPM, and app-servers.
• First look: Google Docs gets realtime collaboration - The presence feature sounds very nifty and useful.
• Printer drivers: A thing of the past? Google, HP seem to think so - Isn't a printer driver still required where the printer is attached?
  

links for 2010-04-13: New Google Docs; Adobe and Apple; Abandoning iPhone Development; iPad Review; Twitter news; Stats and views on taxes

• With Rewrite, Google Docs Takes Microsoft Office Head On - More collaboration is good, see more details here.  The city of LA is easing over by just not upgrading Office without justification.  Another more detailed story here.
  
• How Do Google, Microsoft Clouds Stack Up? - A nice comparison of pricing and what is required from each vendor to do office collaboration in the Cloud.
  
• Adobe at fault with Apple? - Sounds like they burned a few bridges they wish were still there now.
• I’m Abandoning iPhone Development - Sad to see an "ask permission" environment stifle creativity and innovation.
  
• Apple's iPad Not Ready For The Enterprise - Author fails to get the point that the iPad isn't intended to be a general purpose laptop replacement.  But getting documents on/off the device does seem awfully clumsy.
  
• Twitter Open-sources the Home of Its Social Graph - Good news for developers.
  
• Twitter Unveils Plans to Draw Money From Ads - The long awaited business plan.  Will users revolt against ads in their personal stream?
  
• Tensions Rise for Twitter and App Developers - Turning the dial from ubiquity to figuring out how to make money.
  
• 66% say American is overtaxed - Some interesting stats and data.
• "In Fiscal Year 2009, 50% of all federal spending went to national defense, Social Security and Medicare. When the cost of veterans affairs are included, that number grows to 53%. Five percent (5%) paid interest on the federal debt, and 42% was used for everything else in the budget."
• "Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on the issue of taxes. Thirty-four percent (34%) trust Democrats more on the issue. Republicans also are trusted more on health care and the economy."

links for 2010-03-18: Elastic Caching Platforms; Whole Web; Google Calendar

• Elastic Caching Platforms Balance Performance, Scalability, And Fault Tolerance - A nice write-up on caching platforms and their benefits.
  
• Tim O'Reilly: 'Whole Web' is the OS of the future - Open source has allowed the Google's of the world to get to where they are and control the data.  And as I wrote previously, it is all about the data and the analytics you can perform on it.
  
• Google targets admins with meeting rescheduler for calendar - Sounds like a useful feature.
  

links for 2010-02-26: Killing innovation; KLM and Google Apps; Smartphones vs Notebooks

• How to Kill Innovation: Keep Asking Questions - Make's a good point, but at the end does arrive at the balance: "Of course it's almost always valuable to think comprehensively about a new idea. But maintain a healthy balance between analysis and action."
• KLM moves to the cloud with Google Apps - The trend continues and isn't going to slow.
• Mobile workers prefer smartphones over notebooks, iPhones over Blackberry - It is interesting that folks would prefer a smartphone to a notebook.
• Hey IT workers; Enough with the excuses - "Once you do not accept excuses from yourself, you’ll see that it is very easy not to accept excuses from others."