InformationWeek Digital Life Weblog

AOL Has A New Logo!

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:35:15 -0500

AOL is offering up a tantalizing taste of its post-Time Warner business strategy: a new brand identity, which it plans to formally introduce when it lists on the NYSE on December 10.

Does Ellen Following Me Mean Twitter's A Fad?

Allen Stern — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:06:02 -0500

Earlier this month talk-show host Ellen began following me (and other tech people) on Twitter. Did her move display something more than just a simple follow?

Repurposing Quack Science

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:54:28 -0500

CERN's Large Hadron Collider ("LHC") restarted this morning without a hitch, after a year of kludgy delays and nutty rumors that time travelers had sabotaged it. It's time to ratchet up the quack science.

The Days Of Empire

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:19:11 -0500

Atari and Cryptic Studios are going to launch a MMORPG based on the Star Trek universe in early February, and reading about it has made me rather teary-eyed for the old days of Empire.

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Let's Watch Twitter Become FriendFeed

Allen Stern — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:43:13 -0500

It seems the hot Twitter news these days is that the service might be slowing in U.S. traffic growth. More importantly, is Twitter continuing to creep closer to FriendFeed's feature set?

The Ebb & Flow Of Mergers

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:58:07 -0500

HP announced its takeover of 3Com Corp this week, and the media covered it as 1) a battle in the war with Cisco Systems, and 2) further evidence that tech giants are consolidating to provide "one stop shops" for corporate clients. Are you buying it?

The Agency Doth Protest Too Much

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:54:01 -0500

In perhaps unwitting participation in the publicity campaign for Columbia Pictures' upcoming doomsday flick "2012," NASA has posted a promise on its web site that "nothing bad will happen to the Earth." Gulp.

OfficeMedium Offers An Intranet And Collaboration Service

Allen Stern — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:31:11 -0500

A new player has entered the Intranet and collaboration space. OfficeMedium aims to help small businesses with their team business and communication needs.

Is Ignorance A Synonym For Trust?

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:27:37 -0500

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is out making the media rounds in support of the Android launch, and during a Fox Business interview he touched on the issue of data privacy and control. It got me thinking that the subject was the real reason he's out and about.

Droid Tries Harder

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:41:43 -0500

Ever since Avis made it respectable for a brand to be #2, there have been many really good examples of trailing entrants into product markets that achieve success, especially in the technology world. Is Motorola's new Droid the latest example?

Enterprise 2.0: The Barrier To Exit

Thomas Claburn — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:36:21 -0500

In a moderated discussion at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Booz Allen Hamilton VP Art Fritzson and senior associate Walton Smith shared their experiences integrating social and collaborative software into their consulting business.

Digital Bedtime Stories Are Tricks, Not Treats

Michael Hickins — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:25:22 -0500

Now there's a way to read bedtime stories to your kids without actually being there. Jason Kottke calls the system "slick." I call it sickening.

E2TV: Looking Forward To Tammy Erickson�s Keynote

Steve Wylie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:49:34 -0500

Highlights from the Enterprise 2.0 Conference from San Francisco will be available live, via streaming video, beginning at 8:30 am PST on Tuesday. We kick off with keynote speaker Tammy Erickson, president of the nGenera Innovation Network. Watch by clicking here.

Microsoft Losing More Ground To Google, Apple

Michael Hickins — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:38:25 -0500

Internet Explorer is slowly losing market share to its biggest rivals, Apple and Google, for reasons as disparate as they are significant.

WhiteHouse.gov Drupal Detractors Get Buggy

Michael Hickins — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:27:13 -0500

The news that WhiteHouse.gov relaunched this week running open source Drupal software raised eyebrows and hackles among knee-jerk anti-Obama types and a small cadre of ignorant bloggers.

The Internet At 40: A Promise Deciphered

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:23:01 -0500

The Internet turned 40 yesterday, and it got me thinking about its relationship to the time and place in which it was invented. The happenstance of its first message belies why it wasn't just an innovation or improvement, but a truly disruptive technology.

Social Media Influence Elections, Not Laws

Michael Hickins — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:07:13 -0500

We've seen how social media like Twitter and Facebook can be used as part of a winning election strategy, but the same tools don't seem to influence elected officials or public policy.

Does Driving Electric Need To Mimic Combustion?

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:04:43 -0500

I've read that most of the plug-in electric vehicles under development have been designed to mimic the "feel" of driving a combustion engine car. I'm not sure that's even possible, and I don't know why they'd try.

Innovation, Not Cost, New Cloud Battle Cry

Michael Hickins — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:08:00 -0500

Maybe folks are simply trying to talk themselves out of the recession (which would be a good thing in itself), but it seems like the conversation around cloud computing is shifting from cost-cutting to unleashing innovation.

Dealing With Digital Depression 2.0

Michael Hickins — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:21:26 -0500

I knew things had really changed when I came across a homeless man sitting on the ground at Columbus Circle last weekend, panhandling for $15 million to fund an "electronic Democracy project." One thousand dollars would go towards an iBook and $5 for lunch. He wouldn't tell me about his project in detail unless I put up some "serious money," but his request drove home how much has changed in our society since even the recession of 2002-2003, never mind 1991.

Pilots Who Missed Airport Busy With Laptops

Thomas Claburn — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:14:31 -0500

The pilots of Northwest Airlines Flight 188, which overflew the runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport last week, told investigators from the National Transportation Safey Board that they used their laptop computers -- a violation of company policy -- while discussing airline crew scheduling procedures.

Why Do Companies Fail?

Allen Stern — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:30:40 -0500

Every week I read about another company that has closed its doors. Many news outlets are quick to report on the closures but rarely there is an analysis on why they failed.

Ochocinco Beats Single Coverage, Breaks Anquan Boldin News

Michael Hickins — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:14:39 -0500

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco likes to boast that he can't be covered. Now he says he's the one who'll be doing the covering. Of news.

In Search Of Lost Time

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:08:01 -0500

This week's O'Reilly Web 2.0 Summit yielded the usual detritus about technology reinventing the laws that govern time and space, but Facebook's revelation that people spend 8 billion minutes a day on its service really cut through the clutter for me.

Is There A Business In The Virtual World?

Michael Hickins — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:33:54 -0500

Much has been made of the premature obituaries for Second Life, but while the virtual world manufactured by Linden Labs has prevailed long beyond its presumed expiration date, the business model seems too arcane and forbidding to inspire many imitators.