Archive for July, 2006

Inappropriate photos, off-color jokes forwarded in e-mail

Charlotte Observer | 07/25/2006 | Nude photos, off-color jokes forwarded in e-mail

A review of a month’s worth of Weston’s e-mail shows he also sent other e-mails on his county account that include nudity and race-themed jokes. The records show he sent an e-mail to someone outside the county that said: “pleasing 2 afro-am bosses is a chore …”

While this story is nothing new, for me it made me think a bit. The title of the article is a bit misleading, the guy was not sending lewd pictures to his co-workers, but some inappropriate political humor. I am sure many of us have received inappropriate jokes (especially political ones) in the name of humor, but when it involves the work account it can mean trouble. But how many of us use our work accounts for personal communication? Isn’t that technically inappropriate? This could get sticky before it gets better, but technology will make it better. VOIP technology already allows for SIP (session initiation protocol). The cool thing about SIP is the idea of presence. It can bring multiple technologies together and send the information to where you are. So your e-mail, voicemail etc. is available to you at home, on your cell phone or at the office. In the future we might use on account (a personal one) for sending everything, but have different addresses for receiving things. All arriving at the same place….wherever you are. But until then we better watch what we say while using corporate resources. Not just becasue you could get caught, but because it is the right thing to do.

Here is a great related article with a good analysis of how e-mail can get people in trouble, even if the e-mail itself is not a problem. I really like the analogy that e-mail is now like a company’s DNA.

25 July, 2006 | No comments

Microsoft confirms plan to take on Apple’s iPod

Update: Microsoft confirms plan to take on Apple’s iPod

Microsoft did not give specific information on exactly how the new products will work together, but said it plans to help build a community for connecting customers to new music and other entertainment in addition to offering new hardware and software.”It’s probably safe to say that this project will place Microsoft in path with iPod/iTunes at some points, but Zune is a much broader, holistic project,” the company said via e-mail.

Don’t get me started on this one…oh well, I already started a post so it is too late! What’s the deal with Microsoft? Must they dominate the entire computer world? If they were creating outstanding Operating Systems that would be one thing. But the problems with their OS’s are very well documented. Yet they continue to use their monopoly to exploit other areas. You and I both know what they will do. The products will work seemlessly with Media Player which ships on the OS. So consumers can either purchase their product which is basically preinstalled or one of their competitors which they must install themselves. MS please go back to the business that has gotten you this far. Please give us a dependable, secure Operating System that isn’t bloated and requires huge hardware upgrades. Is that too much to ask?

24 July, 2006 | No comments

Blogging her way out of a job…in France

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: “La Petite Anglaise” blogs way out of job and into limelight

She kept her popular blog anonymous, never revealing her full name or workplace. But despite her attempts at secrecy, her employer found out and fired her, unusual in France, where workers have strong legal protections.

Now we will see how a country with very strong laws that protect employment handles a blog firing. Of course one has to wonder if the facts presented are truthful. It certainly does not seem like she has done anything to warrant unemployment, but do we know all the facts. If empoyers start firing people for sending personal e-mails, we might soon find office buildings in the USA empty. Keep an eye on this one.

21 July, 2006 | No comments

The Great Blogosphere Brawl

FOXNews.com - The Great Blogosphere Brawl - Blog | Blogs | Popular Blogs | Video Blogs

Weblogs or blogs reveal the emotions churning beneath the surface of hard news. For example, journalists may report which legislation passed the House by what margin, but bloggers will lay bare the ideological brawls that underlie the news item.

Interesting analysis with some good examples. However I think recent history will show that the “media” is not always as objective as they should or could be. We all know which outlets are “right” leaning and which ones are “left” leaning. If they were truly objective would we qualify them as leaning at all? When I hear a news story I know how CNN will report it and I know how Fox will report it. The cool thing about Blogs is that you can find someone with similar views as your own or opposing views and you can read what they really think. They do not have to make it appear like it is objetive that is not their purpose

However the really cool thing, as I step down off my soapbox, about this article is how it shows how passionate bloggers are about their topics. Sure you could argue that this passion causes them to not be objective, but if you can see both sides, we the readers come out ahead becasue we hear both sides represented to their fullest. Of course it goes too far when people start making crude remarks about family members. I would hope we have been taught better by our parents, but apparently some forget what their parents taught them.

19 July, 2006 | No comments

Dell Launches Employee Blog Site

KXAN.com - Dell Launches Employee Blog Site

The blog says its goal is to address issues that are important to customers. Among the entries are media player clips demonstrating some new products or design enhancements.The blog was launched Monday, and the comments and entries are slowly starting to pick up. One comment sarcastically said Dell’s blog is probably outsourced to someone in India.

Dell + Blog = Need I say more? The impact of this could be huge and could lead the way for more companies to use blogs to communicate more openly with customers.

16 July, 2006 | No comments

Tiny search engines look for a niche

CNN.com - Tiny search engines look for a niche - Jul 11, 2006

Traditional search results are largely based on objective criteria such as counting the number of links other sites have placed to a given Web page. Social search gives people subjective answers — the best sushi restaurant in Chicago or the best Web site for information about French impressionism — not necessarily the site visited the most.

Social search engines, very cool and great concepts. Chances are my peers have a better idea of what I am looking for over some computer algorithm. Should be interesting to see if they gain more traction.

11 July, 2006 | No comments