Steve Pilgrim: Leading IT

There are 10 types of people in the world: those that understand binary, and those that don't. [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

APPLE NEWS IS EVERYWHERE

Take a look at The Macintosh News Network for photo galleries of Day 2 of the SoHo store opening & Day 3 of Macworld. Over at 80211b News there's coverage of file transfers over Bluetooth using Jaguar (OS X 10.2). MacCentral covers the Macworld show awards. The SoHo store is covered by Wired and The New York Times. Finally, Scripting News links to Aaron Swartz.

A SPAM STRATEGY

Kevin Werbach has his email running through five layers of filtering which results in only about 10 spam a day. [lawrence's notebook]

CLEVER ADS ALONE WON'T 'SWITCH' THE CRITICAL MASSES
Apple needs the Unix switchers and a software switching incentive for Windows users

In Midst of a PC Slump, Apple Still Aims for Growth. A prosperous future for Apple depends on persuading legions of personal computer users to switch from Microsoft Windows to Apple's Macintosh technology. By Steve Lohr. [New York Times: Technology]

IN THE EARLY 1980'S

I worked with some AT&T products that were thought of as the 'first' convergence of the phone and personal computer. They were, of course, built on Unix. I was impressed at the serious power that was obvious in Unix as contrasted to whatever version of DOS we had at the time.

Now, I see Apple. They have found Unix and Unix has found them. I really want them to be successful. I'm a Windows user. I will probably remain a Windows user for the next 24-36 months. Sometimes, when I see stuff like this, I wonder if we've really advanced much at all beyond DOS.

Diamond Icons, Leopard-Skin Frames: Dressing Up Windows XP. SkinStudio XP, a Windows XP version of the WindowBlinds program made by the Stardock Corporation, can change the look of dialog boxes, windows and other visual features of the operating system. By J.d. Biersdorfer. [New York Times: Technology]

ABOUT AS EXPECTED

I.B.M. Posts Sharp Drop in Quarterly Profits. I.B.M. said it eked out a second-quarter profit of just a few pennies a share as it took a $1.4 billion charge to cover job cuts and write-offs. By Reuters. [New York Times: Technology]

COMPUTING BY ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION

Can't get to the Macworld keynote stream? Read Rob's report. [Steven's Weblog]

AN UNIDENTIFIED INVESTOR
Hmm...

Williams Cos. is near an accord to end its relationship with its former telecom unit, which recently filed for bankruptcy-law protection. [Wall Street Journal]

IT'S A BETTER MOUSETRAP, BUT...

Apple Reports Profit Slide; No Rebound Is Seen Soon. Despite an impressive introduction of its new flat-panel display iMac in January, the total number of Macintosh computers shipped in the quarter fell 2 percent. By John Markoff. [New York Times: Technology]

ALAN'S COMMENTS ARE BETTER THAN THE ARTICLE

Alan Reiter weighs in on Project Rainbow: Alan comments on today's New York Times story about a coalition of a number of hardware and cell companies to build a national Wi-Fi/data network. [80211b News]

ANOTHER BLOW TO THE TELECOM MONOPOLY
Take a look at Yipes!

InfoWorld: Broadband horizon. Ethernet in the first mile. [Hack the Planet]

IN SPITE OF ITS SIZE

much of the end-game for Worldcom could be visible by the end of the week. We may not precisely know who the participants in a takeover will be, but we should get a clearer picture of what will happen to the business.

FCC chief Michael Powell , declaring the telecommunications sector in "utter crisis," suggested his agency could let a Baby Bell take over WorldCom. [Wall Street Journal]

MY ENTRY

into the Mac-users-are-smarter debate has more to do with left brain/right brain than smarter. Today, at the Apple Store here, I took a look at the iBook and the Powerbook again. For someone wanting to own a notebook style computer for the next three years, it seems to me you have to look at the Powerbook. To take it to the proper amount of memory and equip it with wireless, you're looking at a number north of $2700 or so. For $3200 you can buy a faster Powerbook fully equipped.

Here's where it gets tough to justify. I'm a former Fortune 500 exec. Much of what I'm involved in simply demands that I have MS Office or complete compatibility. That means buying a copy of Office for the Mac. Then, some of the other tools I need must be purchased. Bottom line: I'm going to buy a new Windows XP notebook. The Mac would be great (and great fun), but I simply cannot justify the higher cost associated with software licensing.

Does this nearly ANALytical assessment make me smarter or merely stingy?

Are Mac users smarter?. Or do smarter people use Macs? According to the research firm Nielsen/NetRatings, "Mac users are more web savvy than the average netizen, make more money, have used the web longer on average, and are 58% more likely to build their own web page." Hmmm. [Yahoo] [MSNBC-c|net] [Steven's Weblog]

"THE SAME USA TODAY REPORT...

says that US officials also believe al-Qaeda operatives have uploaded 2300 images containing encrypted information to the internet auction site eBay since the start of 2002."

Hunt for hidden web messages goes on. New claims emerge of terrorist steganography - but one expert warns that apparently supporting evidence may be misleading [New Scientist]

HERE'S A HOME RUN

Bluetooth's Virtues [80211b News]

ACCOUNTING & ERP SOFTWARE MARKET IS TOUGH RIGHT NOW

SAP lowers forecast, implements hiring freeze. Cites unclosed deals, poor market conditions [InfoWorld: Top News]

FIGHTING SPAM

Lately we've heard about SpamNet from Cloudmark. Today, Walter Mossberg reviews ChoiceMail. SpamNet is free. ChoiceMail seems to start at $29.95.

DAN'S WEBLOG HAS NOTES FROM THE INTERNET LAW PROGRAM

Control freaks tightening their grip on the Internet by Dan Gillmor. Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford law professor and author of several important books on our technology-influenced future, was the program's pessimist. He's been jetting around the world for several years, warning of what's coming. And what's coming, he keeps saying, is a victory of the control freaks. [Tomalak's Realm]

WILL THE MID-MARKET

of accounting software wind up in SAP's and Microsoft's hands? If not, who will block their ways or challenge them?

Microsoft completes Navision acquisition. Company will be merged into Microsoft's Business Solutions division [InfoWorld: Top News]

SALES PERSON ASKS

"Is there any way to retrieve a fax I sent by mistake?"

Dan Lyke: "I think the use of fax machines by marketing people is their way of lording the failures of technology over geeks." [jenett.radio]

THE APPLE RUMOR I WANT TO HEAR

and then see in reality is a G4 iBook, 800Mhz, 512MB, 30GB drive, combo drive, wireless NIC for $1500 bundled with a special agreement from software vendors for migrating my Windows software to the Mac for around 10% or 15% of the purchase price of the software!

Rumors Buzz as Macworld Looms. Macworld New York is just around the corner and the rumors surrounding Apple are heating up. RumorTracker is a new site that gathers all the rumors into one place. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]

TWO WORLDCOM HEADLINES

Finance Chief at Worldcom Failed in Bid to Raise Cash [New York Times]
Worldcom Lenders Consider a $3 Billion Secured Credit Line [Wall Street Journal]

THE CARRYING CASE IS A LITTLE RED WAGON

Toshiba Is Making A Big Splash This Year. Toshiba's Mobile Answer to Workstation "The company's Satellite 1955-S801 weighs 9.6 pounds, sports a 2.2GHz Pentium 4 desktop processor from Intel, a huge 16-inch display and a removable wireless keyboard... The new machines weigh considerably more and don't run as long on batteries. [News.com]

As long as you don't need to be truly portable, this isn't a bad idea. However, check out the Coolest Toshiba Laptop Around currently available in Japan... [Slate]

Between these laptops and the e740 Pocket PC, I'm gaining more respect for Toshiba's products. [The Shifted Librarian]

LEVEL 3 ONCE WAS A MAJOR SUPPLIER

to Yipes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. They continue to have an outstanding idea for last mile connectivity. Will Level 3 continue to provide services to the new Yipes?

Investors buy Yipes assets to re-form. The metropolitan network operator finds a quick route out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy: a sale of its assets to investors forming Yipes Enterprise Services. [CNET News.com]

THAT LIGHTENING WENT THROUGH HERE (MEMPHIS)
It was as amazing as any lightening I've ever seen - sorry Glenn's house took a hit

I'M BAACK! The bad news: Stately InstaPundit Manor was struck by lightning in my absence, knocking out the upstairs air conditioner (the control board looks like somebody took a blowtorch to it) several TVs, and my DSL connection. The computer's OK, but the router and modem are dead, dead, dead. Regular blogging will resume shortly. Hope you had a good week! [InstaPundit]