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Fortune. Why companies fail: The New Economy Death Spiral. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
Key reading for any leader. I especially like Churchil's method getting bad news.
5:32:05 PM
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A puzzle unfolds on Google. "The Google Labs Sets demo is an experimental system that allows a user to automatically create sets of items from a few examples." Huh? Less mysterious: "The Google Labs Voice Search demo is an experimental system that allows you to carry out a Google search by voice with a simple phone call." [Scripting News]
Isn't this exactly what Paulo was looking for the other day while shopping for shampoo?
3:18:08 PM
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World: Mobile phone saves stranded Arctic explorer. 07:12 ET - Ananova [NewsBlip.com]
Amazing, this explorer saved himself by marking out a landing stip, and mailing a photo of said strip to a Canadian rescue team via his mobile phone.
Brilliant.
Note to self: Get connection cable to go between palm device and mobile phone.
10:05:15 AM
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NYT. Microsoft's Xbox plans focus on social gaming. For many reasons this is going to be a massive $1 b flop. The PC is the device connected to the broadband connection in all US homes. Most of the PCs that are connected don't have a home network. The only way to shoehorn this into the home is to sell a home server with a built-in wi-fi hub (Homestation) and connect the Xbox to that network as a satellite device. This is putting the cart before the horse. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
This is something that I had not even considered, I take it as a given that people who want it have a broadband connection. This is not the case, as both writers I know of and people I know will gladly tell me. I once worked for a company that paid one of it's programmers ISDN bill every month because the town he lived in had neither cable modem nor DSL service.
Further, I just taught myself how to run cat 3 phone lines as well as coax, and will be learning how to crimp my own cat5 this weekend from a friend. While I consider these to be vital skills for any self respecting homeowner, (or in my case, renter) I forget other folks are not as hands on. Wiring up a network is no mean feat, and is also a skill that the average platform gamer probably does not have.
9:58:12 AM
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Now this is interesting, Dilbert and Google have teamed up, and for five days only Google will be selling a cobranded coffee mug that has a comic on one side, and the redsigned logo on the other. Neat way to spread your meme.
8:43:25 AM
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Microsoft's $1 Billion Bet on Xbox Network. Microsoft is betting that an Internet-based gaming service will save its Xbox video-game system which lags far behind industry leaders. By John Markoff. [New York Times: Technology]
Here is the problem with MS's theory: People can game for free* on their PCs. Why would I buy a $200 box that is going to cost me another $50.00 for the game and then ANOTHER $9.99 a month for me to be able to play it online?
I just went and installed Tribes 2 on my new machine here, as well as Unreal Tournament. I can play those for free online, all I want, as well as Freedom Force [Flash into, you can skip it], any of the Quake series, etc etc. The only games that people have been willing to subscribe for are the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) games, which have a persistent universe and serve to continually hand out challenges to the players as time goes on.
I don't think people are going to rush to a system that has a history of OK games, in order to pay a monthly fee to play more OK but not great games.
8:29:53 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Ryan Greene.
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