dimanche 28 mars 2004

Axiros, Zope-based From zoned, a pointer to Axiros, a wireless authentication/network access management solution. The company is based in Munich. 8:50:22 PM   comment []

Patrick Phalen extravaganza Patrick Phalen, my lonnnnggg time Zope friend from the Bay Area (Alameda), sent me a couple of pointers in the followup to the Flash narration of the oxygen editor. Patrick and I go back to the Digital Creations days. I remember driving to his house the first time from Sebastopol. First, Patrick pointed me at Tim Bray's post about his trip to the Star Division to discuss OpenOffice XML. In a phrase that sounds straight out of the conversation Jon Udell and I had regarding over-invention: "...they[base ']ve invented the absolute minimum possible." Patrick then pointed me at a mention by Sean McGrath (an original Python XML guru) of using OpenOffice to draw RDF. 8:47:34 PM   comment []

Microsoft and the developing world The new economy is all about information technology, right? Well, when you're a monopoly in the richest country, and you need need to grow beyond 90+ % marketshare, you have a reach out to the next generation of information economies. But at this paper shows, something has gone wrong in technology transfer from the haves to the have nots. "The price of a typical, basic proprietary toolset required for any ICT infrastructure, Windows XP together with Office XP, is US$560 in the U.S. [2]. This is over 2.5 months of GDP/capita in South Africa and over 16 months of GDP/capita in Vietnam. This is the equivalent of charging a single-user licence fee in the U.S. of US$7,541 and US$48,011 respectively, which is clearly unaffordable." Forty eight grand. Them's a lotta stones, baby. It is one thing to transfer your GDP to American shareholders. But oh-la-la and oochie-mama, I just don't see any possible defense of the status quo. And as the paper notes, on this scale, there is is no concept of discount that can remedy the problem. 8:38:24 PM   comment []