23 December 2002

Yahoo Slurps Up Inktomi YAHOO -- I like Slurper and I've always gotten along with Inktomi's search engine algorithm. So if the deal goes through and Yahoo acquires Inktomi, we'll have some major competition for Google. [Scripting News and BizReport and InfoWorld]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Two of My Favourite Things Aboard Irish Rail -- It's a v.quiet train today and that means more full-fare passengers are aboard. The students travel with leaky headset and irritating ringtones. The free traveling pensioners talk to anyone with ears but paying passengers use travel time to think, read, sleep or work Like me -- because I think I am lucky to have a Palm m505 and a Nokia 9210i. Although they actually perfrom similar functions, I toggle between the two of them quite well. I would deeply miss either one if misplaced. And at the moment, I cannot see a reason to replace either of them, even though both are more tha 14 months old. Sent from Nokia 9210i mail2blog nonstop through Newbridge, County Kildare.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

MS Flash? OPEN -- On an otherwise quiet day with the Open Mailing List, Alex Horstmann wonders if we're looking at a future of Microsoft Flash. He points to a story in The Register that says "Microsoft is believed to have trained its acquisition crosshairs on Macromedia Inc, lining up a deal that would throw enterprise Java into a spin." I wouldn't expect to see much more integration between Java and Flash if MS went through with the buy-out. As The Register sees it, "a Microsoft acquisition of Macromedia would inevitably see Flash, and Macromedia's other cross-platform tools, tailored purely for Windows and .NET." [The Register and Alex Horstmann] Sent by Nokia 9210i Communicator mail2blog.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Is This Usable? OPEN -- The European Union has funded research into Web Accessibility ands Usability but there's one site purportedly advocating elements of usability that isn't. Check it out yourself at http://www.usabilitynet.org/home.htm [Derek Lawless] Sent by Nokia 9210i mail2blog aboard Irish Rail.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Housebreaking My New Dog in Seven Days [day three] GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- She now squats at the front door or along the side of the tiled hallway on pieces of newspaper. She doesn't eat the newspaper anymore. Plus, she has found three places outside where she circles to squat and she doesn't roll in her own waste. On the downside, she makes a lake whenever she's excited near the front door. And she still drops a sizeable load inside whenever the urge hits her. However, we might actually get a housebroken dog within seven days!   [Comment on Shoptalk]