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 2010-12-21: Thoughts on Java stewardship; Losing your automotive anonymity

• Java: Nothing Without The Community - Can Java flourish without deep community stewardship?  See this too.
  
• Big Brotheresque App Kills Your Automotive Anonymity - Interesting use of data, but not sure I like the loss of privacy.
  

links for 2010-12-17: Invisible open-source; Oracle Apps on EC2; Pirate or DRM; Netflix on AWS

• 2010: The year open-source went invisible - It has gone mainstream and is even a pre-requisite in some markets.
• Oracle Apps on EC2 - You could do it on your own before, easier now.
• Pirate or buy DRM? - Not a fan of DRM it would seem.
• Netflix lessons from using AWS - Also read this for why they switched.

links for 2010-12-15: Microsoft at crossroads; OpenJDK for OS X; Java lawsuits; Oracle Cloud Office

• Microsoft: A big ship at crossroads; What else is new? - I don't think there is any question they'll survive, the titanic references are off, but will they flourish in the new markets?
  
• Oracle and Apple Announce OpenJDK Project for OSX - I missed this when it was announced, but is great news.
  
• Oracle mobile Java licensing suit boomerangs - Can't we all just get along?  This this also.
  
• Oracle Announces Oracle Cloud Office and Oracle Open Office 3.3 - It is great that it is "announced", but they previewed it at Open World.  Where can we actually see it?  Only mention is in the datasheet where it says to call to get a demo account.  Not looking for mass adoption I guess.
  

links for 2010-12-14: IBM's Watson to play Jeopardy; FreeBSD on EC2; Data on Hudson/Kohsuke; Open data

• IBM’s “Watson” Computing System to Challenge All Time Greatest Jeopardy! Champions - This should be entertaining and interesting to watch.
  
• FreeBSD on Amazon EC2 - I'm somewhat surprised it has taken this long!
• Hudson's Secret: Kohsuke - Eduardo offers some insight into a fantastic developer.  But also shows a great example of visualizing data.  Love it!
• Make Data Dance - Another great article on generating value and intelligence from data.  And kudos to the Bill Gates Foundation for requiring that data from projects they fund be open.

links for 2010-12-11: Oracle 'anti-competitive'; Linux on SPARC; McNealy Speaks; Air Force bans removable media

• Oracle 'anti-competitive,' customers dissatisfied - I don't think it takes a report for people to see what Oracle's business practices are like, but how far is a company supposed to go to be "competitive"?  Isn't the objective to beat the competition?  Wouldn't other companies do similar things if they had the same opportunity?  Customers need to vote with their pocketbooks.
  
• Oracle to port Linux to SPARC - It makes sense.  Oracle wants customers to buy from Oracle regardless of the product the customer wants.
• McNealy on Sun and open-source - A good read, great to hear Scott talk.
• US Air Force bans removable media - I'm surprised it wasn't already banned.

links for 2010-11-11: Oracle raises MySQL pricing; ASF draws line in sand over JCP; WS-I completes their journey; PG West Notes

• Oracle kills low-priced MySQL support - This had been rumored and was expected, but now we know the details.  The lowest priced offerings are gone, Standard Edition at $2K/yr now the cheapest, differentiation between editions is now with different add-ons, not level of support, and a server is limited to 4 sockets.  Note that if you weren't buying the cheapest offering, the prices haven't really increased.
• ASF Statement on JCP - Same issue as there has been for awhile, but now saying they'll withdraw if not addressed.
• Microsoft and IBM web-control war finally silenced - Interesting read on the motivations for WS-I and entertaining quip on SOA: "WS-* and the WS-I paved the way for the Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) bubble, a cacophony of hype about a set of systems that could never be delivered but paid the wages of consultants and enterprise vendors, and involved some kind of choreography wrapped in a portal."
  
• Ex-Red Hatters eye Larry's MySQL wobblers
  
• Ex-Sun boss gives Ellison open-source wedgie
  

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 2010-10-22: AWS free for a year; PostgreSQL vs MySQL; Stacking the JCP election; Java on OS X; What Steve could have said; Adivce to Oracle regarding Java

• Amazon Web Services: Try us free for a year - Something worth looking in to.
• PostgreSQL vs. MySQL: How to Select the Right Open-Source Database - A balanced well written article.
  
• Stacking the JCP election - An interesting read even if it is a bit biased (and I don't know if it is or isn't).
• Steve Jobs Comments on Apple's Java Discontinuation - Some interesting history from James.
  
• What Steve could have said - "We’ve been in the computer business for a long time and we’ve learned that 80% of people just aren’t very interesting. They don’t need to create that much content, because when they do, most it isn’t very good. The iPad actually saves them from themselves because it keeps them from creating a bunch of useless stuff that no one else wants to read."
• Dear Oracle, Get a Clue - Some good advice.  Is Oracle listening?