OOo/Staroffice update feature

Finally: OpenOffice resp StarOffice have a "check for updates" feature.
Introduced in SO8 Update 4 resp OOo 2.0.4
qa: Issue 66949

Sun Project Blackbox

So Sun (disclosure: the company I work for) just announced "first virtualized datacenter". Tons of memory, cpu, disks, ... crammed into one standard shipping container; including cooling and all...

Check out the details at Jonathan Schwartz's Weblog; be sure to watch the enclosed youtube video.

technorati tags:Sun Microsystems

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

So Google finally merged docs (writely) and spreadsheets ...
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
they are moving - it seems.

IT Conversations: S. Ramadorai

Very good interview to accompany Friedman's book.
IT Conversations: S. Ramadorai

YouTube - A Message From Chad and Steve

This is what happens, when you get loads of money from google...
YouTube - A Message From Chad and Steve
you have to appreciate that they at least stay "serious" for the first minute or so... I couldn't stay serious that long if someone gave me that much money...

then again, maybe for for 1.6B$ I could

book: The World is Flat

I know, everyone talks about the book The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman.
Since I've just read it, I'll simply join in ...

Now, it's not too techy a book, but it really describes what's happening with the new way of globalization ("globalization 3.0" as Friedman calls it), the new structuring of work and supply chains, the new role of the individual (vs the corporation vs the state/nation), importance of (a new way of) education, ...

I don't always agree with him, especially with his terminology, which sometimes seems strange for a technical guy, e.g. when and how he uses the term "workflow"... but those things are easy to forgive or ignore; its a good book, with a good thesis.

Well worth reading.

Google to buy YouTube

So Google finally did it: they bought YouTube.

Crazy, ... why ?

Not for the technology... they already have that (and could build it in just weeks).

Not for the content, because most of the contant is hardly legal.

It only makes sense insofar, as they (Google) are the only major player who don't really have to care as much about copyright issues with the content as the others (AOLs, Microsofts, Apple, Murdoch, ...).

technorati tags:google, youtube

Windows update ?

I still wonder, what Microsoft wants to tell me with the following update:

Google maps on mobile

I just learned the other day at java.com that there is a J2ME version of google maps for you mobile; works pretty well, actually, including maps and satellite

Google babysteps

Significant Babysteps at Google:

• Writely and Spreadsheets can now export to PDF.


• Writely now uses gmail/google account.


• Writely is now part of "My Google services"

ProxyButton on Thunderbird

Just found out (by trying, of course) that the ProxyButton extension I'm using on Firefox also works on Thunderbird.

technorati tags:firefox, mozilla, proxy

Innovation looking for application

Today's episode: Thumper.
Sun's "hybrid server", i.e. with both, lots of CPUs (AMD in that case) and lots of storage.
If you know what to do with it, tell sun here with a YouTube video and win one of them.

Finally some DSL speed

My ADSL provider seems to have upgraded my line (and others, I guess) to about 3Mbps... without telling me.

Cool (since I still pay the same price).

Search plugin along the way

Lot of stuff today :-)
Just did a nother Firefox search plugin (this time for Sun internal use), while updating iTunes to version 7 and having my iPod nano updated to the lastest SW release.
I guess I'll continue all that during the confcall which is about to start ... :-)

technorati tags:firefox, mozilla, search, mycroft

Firefox search help

Just noticed (i.e. read in the online help), that you can select the search-engine within the search-bar in Firefox with Ctrl-Up and Ctrl-Down, (when the search-bar is focused) i.e. you walk through the various search-engines.

Cool.

Btw: updated the falter.at search plugin to support side-bar results - ready to test here.

technorati tags:firefox, mozilla, search, mycroft, falter

Google spreadsheets support opendocument format

Finally; Google added ODF (.ods) support to Google Spreadsheets.

technorati tags:google, openoffice

My first Firefox search plugin

Just created my first Firefox search plugin for searching the best restaurant guide for Vienna: "Wien, wie es isst" at falter.at.

You can find the plugin at the mycroft page.

technorati tags:firefox, mozilla, search, mycroft, falter

NetBeans and JBoss

The JBoss Application Server and NetBeans IDE have been bundled together to provide NetBeans IDE users with a well integrated out of the box experience to build Java EE 5 applications on the JBoss Application Server.

JBoss.com - JBoss NetBeans IDE

technorati tags:JBoss, netbeans, java, j2ee

Blogs as a mirror to society

I just noticed how blogs (or their statistics, rather) mirror our society:
Check out todays top searches on technorati:
#1 Steve Irwin , the crocodile hunter, who so tragically died being pierced by a stingray.

Check out the blogging statistics for his name (and note that the guy was of quite some fame when he was still alive):

Nothing until Sep 4 (the day he died) and then 20.000+ postings a day !!!

Scoble?

Just noticed that since Scoble left Microsoft, I subscribed to his new feed, but I never read it...
So it really was more about Microsoft internals, than about Scoble.