Qed » Technology

Is Facebook worth more than Google? • The Register

david — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:25:11 +0000

Social, not algorithms, is the basis for all human commerce. Facebook owns social. That’s got to be really, really big. At least as big as Google, and arguably bigger.

With every click on Facebook you add to their data store and increase their market reach, in much the same way as your clicks helped create Google’s [...]

Facebook, cashing in on likes

david — Fri, 27 May 2011 23:51:43 +0000

So word of mouth recommendations and mobile applications are going to be the next big thing.

Leaving aside obvious self interest here, you know Facebook, advertising revenue, mobile phones…join the dots, leaving that aside since we apparently can never discuss the motivation to make money because that’s both a given and completely natural, leaving aside the [...]

Microsoft buys Skype

david — Tue, 10 May 2011 23:57:55 +0000

Microsoft bought Skype for one reason, and one reason only. Relevance.

A quick reading between the lines of Balmer’s internal email supports this idea.

Today’s announcement underscores who we are as a company. We are ambitious and forward looking. We have big goals and aspirations. And when we look into the world and see opportunities to do [...]

Facebook, the most appalling spying machine ever invented

david — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:57:12 +0000

Julian Assange’s words…

Facebook in particular is the most appalling spying machine that has ever been invented…here we have the most comprehensive database about people, their relationships, their names, their addresses, their locations, their communications with each other, their relatives all sitting within the United States, all accessible to US intelligence. Facebook, Google, Yahoo…have built in [...]

This is nuts | Malcolm Turnbull

david — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:29:14 +0000

This is nuts! What we should be doing is building a network that is capable of meeting our demands today and what we can see, reasonably foresee for a reasonable period in the future

Turnbull also advises anyone who believes that such a future will require the sort of capacity fibre optic systems provide, to get [...]

Oops – Nuclear reactor and earthquakes

david — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:47:04 +0000

Of course the Fukushima plant was designed by experts with earthquakes in mind but the prospect of a nuclear plant out of control and with no water is hardly likely to be scenario they envisaged. Over at The Reg comforting reassurance is in abundant supply but the issue is nonetheless fairly critical (no pun intended) [...]

Facebook is not my friend

david — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:07:09 +0000

The other day someone asked me how to do something on their computer, I told them “Google is your friend”. Google is also my friend, it helps me in numerous ways to keep track of my busy life. stay in touch and most importantly, it is a research bonanza. If it’s public knowledge you are [...]

Freedom In the Cloud

david — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:18:57 +0000

The human race has susceptibility to harm but Mr. Zuckerberg has attained an unenviable record: he has done more harm to the human race than anybody else his age.

Strong words although I doubt they will ever dent the meteoric rise of Facebook Inc. If you have any doubts about Facebook and its capacity to invade [...]

Government Moves to Actively Consider the Greater Use of Open Source Software | AGIMO Blog

david — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:11:55 +0000

In view of another recent decision by the federal government to standardise its office documents inline with the Microsoft OOXML document format, this announcement looks a lot like window dressing, particularly when you consider this part of the circular which says

Procurement decisions must be made based on “value for money‟. Procurement decisions should [...]

Facebook messaging

david — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:33:01 +0000

So Facebook wants to extend its dominion over all things social on the net with its new messaging system. The term gmail killer has been floated around and gives some insight into the recent spat between Facebook and Google over contact sharing.

The youtube vid is a bit lackluster but that could be deliberate since [...]