An article in Media Business quotes my partner Ted Bahr in an overview of business-to-business publishing in the technology sector. It says, … an upstart brand, BZ Media’s SD Times, has become a print leader in the sector. “That kind of left the market open for us,” Bahr said of Dr. Dobb’s withdrawal. He added […]
Old browsers are a pain in the butt – not just for users, but for Web application developers that must keep supporting them. Sometimes that means dumbing down Web apps by avoiding new standards and capabilities. Sometimes that means spaghetti code workarounds, including browser sniffing and branching, to avoid a browser crash. Supporting old browsers […]
I’m pleased to pass along this message from my friend Michael Swindell, a long-time Borlander who now works at Embarcadero Technologies. There’s lots of cool stuff on their eBay auction site, and of course, this is for an important cause. I’ve got my eye on a few things… Borland Memorabilia Auction for Haiti Relief by […]
Give us your leaders, your innovators, your visionaries who have improved the art and science of software development. Send those, the best and brightest in the land, to SD Times! Yes, it’s time again to begin the process of determining the SD Times 100 – our listing of the leading companies, organizations and individuals who […]
This week, Apple is expected to announce its new tablet computer. Will it be the iSlate? The iPad? With it include built-in 3G or WiFi? Beats me, Jack. As I write this, it’s a week before the announcement. So, let’s talk about something else. While everyone is guessing about the newest gizmo, let’s talk about […]
Are you planning to attend the Enterprise Software Development Conference? I hope you’ll join us at ESDC as we continue the fine tradition of excellent in technical education and community-building that we enjoyed at the old SD West conference for more than two decades. SD West, originally known as the Software Development Conference, was more […]
Earlier this week, my friend David Coursey asked a question on Facebook, “What must Apple do with the next iPhone to make/keep you happy? Features? Software? And what would make you change to a different handset?” Well, at the risk of perhaps messing up an article David’s writing, I’ll answer the first part of that […]
This is fun! Here’s how a funky press release starts… seems like the usual PR blather, eh? NetWitness(R) Announces New B.O.S. Competitive Offering Company Releases Offering Designed to Match Capabilities of Other Network Security Monitoring Providers HERNDON, Va., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ — NetWitness Corporation announced today the availability of a security solution designed to match […]
This classic motivational image has been floating around the Internet for a while. Wish I knew the artist to attribute it to. Click the picture to see it larger. Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
However much this company is paying for its press relations advice… it’s too much. This is the start of a release that a company put onto the wire last week: Jedi Mind to Receive Media Coverage at CES in Las Vegas CARDIFF, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Jedi Mind, Inc. (Pink Sheets: JEDM) (www.jedimindinc.com) will […]
Over the past few weeks, my son’s cell phone has been receiving dozens of unwanted phone calls — sometimes three, four or five calls daily. If he answers the phone, a recorded message tells him to contact Wells Fargo Bank about his overdrawn account. However, he doesn’t bank at Wells Fargo. If he doesn’t answer […]
The Enterprise Software Development Conference kicks off in less than two months, with an all-star faculty led by keynote speakers Kent Beck and Ken Pugh. The three-day conference will take place at the San Mateo Marriott, San Mateo, Calif., from Mar. 1-3, 2010. A Full Event Passport for ESDC costs $1,795, but this rate is […]
The frenzy around Apple’s assumed-to-be-forthcoming tablet computer is reaching a feverish pitch, with major news outlets, from the New York Times to the British Broadcasting Corp., covering and feeding the speculation. I haven’t seen this much hyperbole since, oh, the run-up to James Cameron’s new movie, Avatar. The latest hints are that Apple will launch […]
It’s traditional to make resolutions to celebrate the New Year. Often those resolutions involve battles with personal demons, such as losing weight, stopping smoking or going to the gym. In fact, according to USA.gov, popular New Years resolutions include those above, plus getting a better job, reducing stress and volunteering to help other people. Those […]
It’s been ten years since the first digit of the calendar changed from a “1” to a “2.” For those of us in the computer industry, change happened at a dizzying pace over the past decade – as it has for every decade since the 1950s. Think about the technologies that you rely upon today, […]
My favorite New Years story goes back exactly 10 years. I was here in San Francisco, and my wife was visiting friends and family in Scotland. It was wonderful when Carole called just after midnight, her time, to wish me a Happy New Year. Even though, of course, it was only 4:00 PM here in […]
Spammers understand the business benefits of tailoring a marketing message to fit current events. I checked my Postini spam trap this morning — it’s been over a week since last time it was cleaned out. There were several spam messages with the subject line, “Learn to score like Tiger Woods” — for male enhancement products. […]
We receive many wonderful reader comments on sdtimes.com. Most are thoughtful and add genuine value to our news and analysis of the software development industry. And then there are spam comments which try to drive links to external scam websites. We squelch those comments before they are posted. Spam comments are easy to spot in […]
Pigs are flying all around my office today. According to The Weather Channel, the temperature in Hades is a nippy -40 degrees. Oh, and Microsoft has created an iPhone app available through the Apple App Store. The application is called Bing, and as the name suggests, it’s a native front end to Microsoft’s search engine. […]
Gosh, isn’t this the cutest Aston Martin ever? The Aston Martin Cygnet concept vehicle is described as a luxury commuter car. That’s quite a change from the company’s usual mantra, “Aston Martin is a name that needs little introduction. It has always stood for fine, civilized high performance sports cars, designed and produced by skilled […]
A scam just arrived in my Facebook inbox. It was apparently sent from a Facebook account named Tofa Maxwell. It’s unclear how to report such messages to Facebook in any meaningful way. My advice is to simply delete such messages without responding. If you know of a better way to react, let me know. Subject: […]
This just in, from the aptly named “Pitch Public Relations.” This particular fastball, sent to a technology analyst (me), was high and to the outside… though, one could argue, by my blogging the pitch, the agency is getting the coverage it wanted. From: “Ann Noder” Date: December 15, 2009 9:22:00 AM PST Subject: New – […]
Oh, to have worked or studied at SAIL, back in the day. Of course, “in the day” was in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory was in its prime – long before AI became shorthand for “any technology that’s 20 years in the future – and always will be.” When […]
“Use the chopsticks, Luke!” My son found these delightful lightsaber chopsticks. Coming right after we completed a Star Wars movie marathon, we’ve got to have them. The link shows someone holding them. Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
A good friend — a computer expert — just sent me this account of a strange experience this afternoon. It’s scary, especially for those whose “skeptic flag” is turned off. Be alert! Got a weird phone call just now. Guy with Indian accent who said he was calling to help me with my Windows problems […]
Touch may be the next mass-market computing innovation. It’s very interesting – but not surprising – that Microsoft appears to be leading the charge with functionality based on its Surface technology and built into Windows 7. Despite its reputation for being a follower, not a leader, Microsoft has championed many hardware innovations, and have driven […]
I received this verbatim identical message about 15 times from a variety of recipients over the past few days. Gosh, this makes me really want to shop there. Not! Subject: Dear friend…! 1 Dear friend, How are you doing recently? I found a good website last week: www.mobliec.com. They do internationa business and they sell […]
The perfect stocking stuffer, the Breguet 5347PT/11/9ZU. It’s described in the most recent Tourneau catalog as “Classique Grand Complication, 950 platinum with twin rotating tourbillons, ring-shaped dial forming a flange in 18K silvered gold, back of the movement bears a hand-engraved drawing representing the solar system, hand-wound movement, $402,800.” Sheesh. For four hundred grand you […]
Is Ted Bahr, co-founder of BZ Media, the Last Samurai of print advertising? Folio Magazine’s Tony Silber thinks so, as you can read in his blog post, aptly titled “The Last Samurai.” There, Tony questions Ted’s unwillingness to write off print advertising as a profitable, sustainable business for publishing companies. However, as Ted explains in […]
Using FasTrak seemed like such a good idea at the time. It wasn’t. The central parking garage at San Francisco International Airport now accepts FasTrak, the RFID-based system that lets you pay bridge tolls without stopping. FasTrak is a wonderful thing when crossing the Bay Area’s bridges. It’s clearly not ready for broader deployment. Last […]