The Light Is Green

Hypertext was proposed in 1945

This tidbit from "The Mythical Man-Month"...

Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, wrote an article titled "As We May Think" for the July 1945 Atlantic Monthly where he "... urges that men of science should then turn to the massive task of making more accessible our bewildering store of knowledge."

In the article, he proposes and describes his "memex" machine that basically describes his vision of a world wide web.

Tags: Vannevar Bush, memex, hypertext

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Most networked countries = most developed countries

Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland are the most networked economies in the world, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report.

The report takes care to highlight the impact of networked readiness in spurring innovation, and the impact of information technology on a nation's development process and competitiveness.

Co-author Soumitra Dutta notes the key factors uniting the top performers, all of which must be spearheaded by government:

• Heavy investment in education
• Stable and open economy
• Great ease for companies to do business
• Focus on pushing technology as a key enabler of the country’s growth and development.

So, comparing this ranking with the quality of education rankings, ease of doing business rankings, and e-government readiness rankings, it's clear to see which regions and countries are on the right track (the Scandinavians, for example) and which are trailing.

Here are the rankings:

1. Denmark

2. Sweden

3. Switzerland

4. United States

5. Singapore

6. Finland

7. Netherlands

8. Iceland

9. Korea

10. Norway

11. Hong Kong

12. UK

13. Canada

14. Australia

15. Austria

16. Germany

17. Taiwan

18. Israel

19. Japan

20. Estonia

21. France

22. New Zealand

23. Ireland

24. Luxembourg

25. Belgium

26. Malaysia

27. Malta

28. Portugal

29. UAE

30. Slovenia

31. Spain

32. Qatar

33. Lithuania

34. Chile

35. Tunisia

36. Czech Republic

37. Hungary

38. Barbados

39. Puerto Rico

40. Thailand

41. Cyprus

42. Italy

43. Slovak Republic

44. Latvia

45. Bahrain

46. Jamaica

47. Jordan

48. Saudi Arabia

49. Croatia

50. India

51. South Africa

52. Kuwait

53. Oman

54. Mauritius

55. Turkey

56. Greece

57. China

58. Mexico

59. Brazil

60. Costa Rica

61. Romania

62. Poland

63. Egypt

64. Panama

65. Uruguay

66. El Salvador

67. Azerbaijan

68. Bulgaria

69. Colombia

70. Ukraine

71. Kazakhstan

72. Russian Federation

73. Vietnam

74. Morocco

75. Dominican Republic

76. Indonesia

77. Argentina

78. Botswana

79. Sri Lanka

80. Guatemala

81. Philippines

82. Trinidad & Tobago

83. Macedonia, FYR

84. Peru

85. Senegal

86. Venezuela

87. Mongolia

88. Algeria

89. Pakistan

90. Honduras

91. Georgia

92. Kenya

93. Namibia

94. Nigeria

95. Bosnia and Herzegovina

96. Moldova

97. Mauritania

98. Tajikistan

99. Mali

100. Tanzania

101. Gambia

102. Guyana

103. Burkina

104. Madagascar

105. Libya

106. Armenia

107. Ecuador

108. Albania

109. Uganda

110. Syria

111. Bolivia

112. Zambia

113. Benin

114. Kyrgyz Republic

115. Cambodia

116. Nicaragua

117. Suriname

118. Cameroon

119. Nepal

120. Paraguay

121. Mozambique

122. Lesotho

123. Ethiopia

124. Bangladesh

125. Zimbabwe

126. Burundi

127. Chad

Tags: World Economic Forum, Global Information Technology Report, Global IT Report, Soumitra Dutta, progress, competitiveness, innovation

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Incredible space images

Here are some amazing desktop background images taken by the Hubble telescope... compatible with Windows and Mac. For some reason the photos don't look as good on the Hubble website as they do once you set them up as your background.

Tags: Hubble, space, Eagle nebula

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Internet scam by Network Solutions?

Internet domain stalwart Network Solutions is accused of unsportsmanlike conduct in a class action lawsuit.

According to the filing posted on PR Newswire:

Network Solutions has forced millions of people to buy Internet domain names from them instead of cheaper competitors through a scheme that's netted the firm millions of dollars.

Whenever someone searches for the availability of a domain name through Network Solutions' website, the company immediately registers the name for itself, preventing other companies from selling it and forcing consumers to pay Network Solutions' expensive fees.

"... Each time someone asks Network Solutions about a domain name, the firm creates a monopoly for itself, forcing consumers to pay the price they demand," said Brian Kabateck, lead counsel in the class action suit and managing partner at consumer law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner's.

The lawsuit also targets ICANN, the international organization that regulates domain names and other Internet protocols, stating ICANN is aware that Network Solutions is doing this and yet continues to facilitate its actions.

Tags: Network Solutions, Internet scams, ICANN, Brian Kabateck

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Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: and the winner is...

Sony and Toshiba have been battling for dominance in the world of high-definition DVD with their respective, and incompatible, Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.

This is reminiscent of the VHS vs. Betamax videotape war back in the 80's, which Sony lost.

Today, however, Sony's Blu-ray format has won the so-called "next-generation format war" as Toshiba just announced they are abandoning their HD DVD format.

This came about as a consequence of several rapid-fire events... first Warner Bros studios dropped HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, then Blockbuster, and now Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Netflix.

Blu-ray's major backers were Sony, Dell, Apple. HD DVD's major supporters were Toshiba,  Microsoft, Intel, and HP.

Sony's Playstation 3 includes what is currently the best Blu-ray DVD player on the market. Microsoft recently released an HD DVD player for its Xbox 360.

Tags: Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD formats, Sony, Toshiba

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Failed IT Projects (Part 3): Boeing and U.S. Homeland Security

I recently came across ZDNet's outlook on what they feel are the biggest three IT project failures in history.

Whether they are or not, the point is that even the largest, best organized companies and institutions can find insurmountable hurdles in a software project.

So, moving along, here's the biggest IT disaster project in this ongoing series from ZDNet...

Failed IT Project #1:

Boeing and U.S. Homeland Security

Or... the $30 billion dollar high-tech fence

The widely publicized "virtual fence" project being built by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border via a high-tech network of cameras, lighting, sensors, and other technology, has hit some snags.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Boeing Co. has changed the management of an electronic-surveillance project along the U.S.-Mexican border after falling more than two months behind schedule, marking the complications involved in setting up a new generation of border security.

The project, part of a larger Department of Homeland Security program called SBInet, is a critical link in the plan to use technology to monitor the borders for illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and possible terrorists. Towers set up along a stretch of the border near Nogales, Ariz., are supposed to use motion sensors, cameras and radar to keep track of wide areas. According to the government, Boeing has had trouble getting the different components to work together without glitches.

The government’s plans for monitoring as much as 6,000 miles of the Canadian and Mexican borders hinge on towers such as these working properly. If they prove ineffective, officials could be forced to spend billions of dollars for more traditional security measures, such as fences and more officers. The Homeland Security Department currently estimates that the virtual fence will cost about $8 billion through 2013, although the agency’s inspector general wrote last November that the cost could balloon to $30 billion.

Also see this article by Joseph Richey, of the Nation Institute, which funds investigative journalism:

In Washington, U.S. Congressional representatives are already bristling at the skyrocketing costs of SBInet. Since Boeing won the contract last year, the estimated cost of securing the southwest border has gone from $2.5 billion to an estimated $8 billion just a few months later. When Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter asked SBInet Director Giddens for the real costs at a February 2007 hearing of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, Giddens replied: “I wish I could answer that with greater clarity.”

At the same Congressional hearings, Boeing vice president and SBInet program manager, Jerry McElwee, took heat from Congressman William Lacy Clay who demanded information about the ballooning costs and the extension of the contract period. “You bid on these contracts and then you come back and say, ‘Oh we need more time. It costs more than twice as much.’ Are you gaming the taxpayers here? Or gaming DHS?” the Missouri Democrat asked.

Related articles:

• Failed IT Project #3: Airbus and incompatible design software
• Failed IT Project #2: The UK National Health Service national e-health project

Tags: SBInet, illegal immigration, Homeland Security, IT disasters

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Failed IT Projects (Part 2): UK Health Care

I recently came across an article that mentioned the biggest three IT project failures in history, in the opinion of tech site ZDNet.

The point is that even the largest, best organized companies and institutions can find insurmountable hurdles in a software project.

So, moving along, here's the next Big IT disaster project in this ongoing series...

Failed IT Projects #2:

The UK National Health Service national e-health project

The UK National Health Service (NHS) began a project some time ago to create nationwide e-health records and also upgrade their IT infrastructure.

Britain's Labor government says the program will end up costing more than $55 billion dollars. The problem is that the original budget was $29 billion. That's a $26 billion, or 90%, overrun.

As Information week says,

"The project, run by Accenture, Computer Sciences Corp., Fujitsu, and others, has been plagued by software problems and resistance from physicians. The vendors face big penalties if deadlines aren't met. In March (2006), Accenture took a $450 million earnings hit as a result."

There's more info at the Daily Mail.

Related articles:

• Failed IT Project #3: Airbus and incompatible design software
• Failed IT Project #2: The UK National Health Service national e-health project

Tags: UK NHS, IT projects, IT disasters

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Human tagging

A tiny RFID device is implanted subdermally in all employees.

Proximity scanners are then used to identify and track employee movement.

No, it's not a scene from a posthumous Philip K. Dick novel, but an actual scenario that could be playing out soon at a workplace near you.

True news item #1: A company called VeriChip has been licensed by the FDA to sell implanted identification devices. Already 2,000 people have been tagged.

True news item #2: CityWatcher.com, a Cincinnati video surveillance company, has required employees from their secure data center to have a microchip implanted in an arm.

True news item #3: The California state Senate recently passed a bill to prevent "employers from requiring workers to have identification devices implanted under their skin". (The bill awaits Governor Schwarzenegger's approval; he is expected to do so unless of course he receives instructions to the contrary imparted by evil robotic masters from the future).

True news item #4: Nine senators opposed the measure. One senator, Bob Margett, said it is "premature to legislate technology that has not yet proved to be a problem".

Read more at the LA Times.

Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, RFID, human tagging

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Now you can read at the table!

Here's some cool new technology out of San Francisco as reported by Business 2.0...

It's a thin, self-contained, Wi-Fi-enabled touchscreen computer that the company, TableTouch, embeds right into a table so you can for example read the newspaper while you drink coffee.

They're currently field testing ten tables in Bay Area coffee shops, partnered with the San Francisco Chronicle. The TableTouch also has built-in Bluetooth to send audio to your headset to complete full-scale alienation from your fellow sippers.

Microsoft has also announced their own similar Surface product. They show some very interesting applications at their website.

Tags: TableTouch, Microsoft Surface, Surface, touchscreen, cool stuff, San Francisco Chronicle

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Chinese Internet scam

I just learned of an Internet scam coming from China that targets businesses and not consumers. I had never heard of it, but I've now read that it looks to be an old scam.

Here's how it works:

1. A Chinese Internet domain registrar contacts your company and tells you that a local (Chinese) company has "pre-registered" your domain name in several formats, (www.yourcompany.com.cn, .cn, .net.cn, etc.). In my case they wrote to my personal email address (I'm CEO of a software company that specializes in the auto industry).

The subject of the email is very to the point: "Autologica Domain Names For Intellectual Property Disputation".

2. They tell you that a Chinese company has "suspiciously" applied for Chinese domain names that "infringe on your trademarks". Since they know this is "harmful to your business", they've put these registrations on hold and are giving you the chance to register them ASAP!

3. They also give you the chance to register your "keywords", á lá those old Internet Keywords offered way back in 2000 by long and deservedly defunct RealNames.

4. All you have to do is contact the Chinese registrar and they'll take care of everything!

The email is written in such a personable style, complete with cute English language errors, and makes such good use of  the old quid pro quo tactic, that I was very much compelled to fall.

Of course, it's all baloney. We immediately went to Godaddy and registered our Chinese domains on the spot.

Wait a minute... maybe that's exactly what these guys wanted?! I feel like a perplexed Andy Garcia at the end of Ocean's Eleven!

Tags: Internet scams, email scams

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