Category: Technology

I work in technology sector. And I do round a clock, not only from 9 to 5. It is my bread and butter, it is my hobby, it is the fascination of my life. And with the current rate of change particular in information technology (IT), there is always something new to learn, to try, to talk about. I often post news, thoughts, and reviews. And when I do, this is the category I use.

When will Apple learn of online shopping?

I know I am biased when I talk about Apple.  I am a Google fan-boy and an Open Source advocate.  Apple doesn’t go well with it.  But even I’ve been heard giving the credit where it’s due.  In the same way, I’ve been heard criticizing Google at times.  Now, it’s Apple time.  Big time.

People were scared of online shopping back in 1998.  Companies were slow to adopt it, worrying about fraud and such.  But these days, in March of 2012, online shopping is a done deal pretty much.  Everybody who needs it, has it.  Everybody knows how to use it.  And so on and so forth.

One would assume, Apple, being one of the leading technology companies, would be sitting tightly on the bandwagon.  And they do.  A bit.  If you are in the USA.  Or maybe a few other countries.  But if you are in Cyprus, which is, by the way, a member of the European Union, here’s how you do online shopping with Apple.

You donwload a PDF file, print it out, fill the form, and fax (!!!) it to Apple.  And then you wait… Really Apple, fax?  What happened to online purchasing?  After all, there are only $99 and $299 options there.  It’s not like I’m buying an airplane. #FAIL

On mobile devices in the workplace

Web Worker Daily shares the results of an interesting study done by Forester Research:

Forrester Research decided to find out recently, asking more than 10,000 information workers in 17 countries about what devices they use to get their jobs done.

The results are now in, and while the fact that more and more knowledge workers are importing their smartphone and iPad addictions to the office probably won’t surprise you, the extent of the use of these devices and employees’ willingness to pay for them might. The survey found:

  • Globally, one-third of devices being used for work are non-Microsoft.
  • One-quarter of devices used for work are mobile (i.e., smartphones and tablets).
  • In Europe and North America many workers choose which devices they use themselves: Seventy-three percent select their own smartphone, 53 their laptop and 22 percent even choose their PC.
  • Forty-eight percent pay the entire cost of their tablets themselves; 41 percent shell out for their laptops.

That might be good news for mobile workers looking to get stuff done on the go and on devices of their choice, but it adds up to less cheerful reading for Microsoft. The report concludes that “mobile devices will become the majority of devices used for work, surpassing PCs” and “Windows’ device share will fall below 50 percent by 2016.” It goes on to suggest this will demand a shift in marketing on the part of Microsoft, obliging the company to target individual workers as much as IT decision makers.

Their Microsoft predictions is something else.  But for the rest of it, I think it’s quite important for anyone who is involved in office planning and management.  The world is changing…

No more print for Encyclopaedia Britannica

New York Times reports, somewhat sadly, that Encyclopaedia Britannica will not continue with the printed version any more.

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.

[…]

In an acknowledgment of the realities of the digital age — and of competition from the Web site Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools. The last print version is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

Via Slashdot.

Vim navigation and Unix home explained

I came across an interesting (and useful!) bit of Unix history – an explanation for the vi navigation.  Until now all I knew was that HJKL keys were on the home row for those who touch type.  Apparently, there is more to that.  ADM-3A terminal which was used to create the original vi had the actual navigation arrows printed on the keyboard.  Here is a photo of how it looked:

Read the original post that also demonstrates why the Escape key was chosen for mode changing, and also why ~ is used for home directory in Unix operating systems.

Thank God Not Everything Is Software

On an average day I’d see a comics like this, smile and walk by.  But I am currently involved in a project that makes me feel stronger about it.

Consider, for example, a client request I got a couple of days ago:

We are using the database for this project, right?  We are using it for a reason – to store data.  If we store data, we should be able to retrieve data.  So I want a report that retrieves data.  I want a report with all data, all on a single page.  But it shouldn’t be too much or too complicated.

Funny?  Well, I laughed at first too.  But when I actually managed to build that report, I had a few things to think about.  And a few to reconsider.