Not that it means anything in the short-term, and whether there are any significant implications or spin-offs in the long-term is anybody’s guess, but Google is finally appearing to be less than perfect. Microsoft is finalizing their $6billion deal with aQuantive and will be re-organizing the company around the deal. The re-organization will not only align aQuantive and the tools that came with the company, it will include other advertising related acquisitions like Massive Inc. and ScreeTonic. This gives Microsoft some legitimate clout in online advertising, something that was questionable prior to these recent deals, and it has been suggested the software company will leap-frog into the position of number 2 in the world of online advertising, moving ahead of online portal Yahoo!

Speaking of Yahoo!, they seem to be on a better path. Having seen former CEO Jerry Yang recently depart, the company quickly found itself the key to many different rumours, from purchasing MySpace, merging into Microsoft, or being bought by eBay. The release of the ACSI ratings puts Yahoo! as the number one portal on the Internet. While Yahoo! struggles to compete with Google as a search engine and online advertiser, Google needs to make significant gains as a portal, and this result is definitely a blow to those efforts. With a range of Internet properties that is virtually unmatched, Yahoo! is continuing to open up its operations through API’s, expand the offerings available through its 500-million-user-strong portal, and seems to have a little more (much-needed) stability.

Yahoo! and Microsoft have used their Email services and the accompanying userbases, both of which pre-date Google’s Gmail, as leverage. While both Yahoo! and Microsoft continue to lag in search and online advertising, Gmail’s growth is probably an area of concern for Google. When released, the free Email service was lightyears ahead of Yahoo! and Microsoft, but the adoption seems to be fairly limited. With the two competitors having released updated versions of their websites, there is little (if any) advantage to switching Email providers. Personally, Yahoo! seems to be the champion in the category, not only with the features and ease of use that their Email service provides, but also with respect to storage, a huge factor in choosing a provider. With Gmail sitting around 2.8GB of storage, Microsoft is in the process of increasing storage to 5GB, and Yahoo! gives unlimited storage. By keeping Email users, it makes it easier to coerce these users to their own services, and provides a tool in the battle for search and online advertising dominance. Overall, these three competing will only mean good things for users.

Having worked at Dyrand Systems, a company that focusses heavily on IT/network security for SME’s, I’ve gained a new appreciation for the topic of security. In my personal experience, I’ve never had any real security concerns - nor has the average computer user, I’m sure. But the question I have to ask myself is whether or not the lack of concern is justified. In one sense, I have been using computers for long enough to know that some sites, some files, and some Emails are better left untouched, but at the same time, what I call confidence could easily be looked at as arrogance or ignorance. So what is the difference?

Having spent time at several different IT companies, I’ve found that my personal knowledge and experience with computers has put me on the safe side of the fence. There are still some questionable activities that I participate in online, with some downloads having the potential to cause headaches, but it’s a calculated risk. While the average person doesn’t understand that signing up for that poker site will likely result in spyware infecting their system, I avoid those types of traps. An article on Computerworld goes over some classic statements that, as the title says, scare security pros. The article alludes to the fact that many of the problems a company faces with respect to IT security are not only avoidable, but are often a result of ignorance or arrogance - an attitude that it won’t happen to me. When systems crash, data is lost, or security is breached, it’ll be easy to pass everything off with the simple phrase I didn’t do it! Of course you didn’t. If you had, I wouldn’t be writing this article.

Naive! I never really put much thought in my Facebook status, or whatever you want to call it. I knew other people might see it, but at random moments, with random thoughts, I wrote random things. Did I ever consider the implications of what I might write? Maybe, but never enough to change what I was writing. Yesterday I read an article in 24 Hours that was talking about the way people use Facebook, to publicly announce (what should be) private aspects of their lives. I keep fairly private with my affairs, and that includes my use of Facebook. I don’t post many, if any, pictures (although I’ve considered uploading from the archives), and I don’t provide relevant updates to the events of my life. Most of the things that I do on Facebook are reactive, not proactive, and things like my tagline are, as I mentioned, random. Ironically, the day before I had read the article in 24 Hours, I had changed my statement, on a whim, to an old line from SNL: wookin pah nub in all da wong paces (Eddie Murphy as Buckwheat), which is a parody of the Little Rascals character.

After realizing the implications of what I’d written, I decided it would be a good idea to test how many people actually read those things, so I changed my status/name thing to: Jason is wondering if anyone actually reads these things. Within less than 10 minutes, I had already received an initial response, indicating that yes, people do read those things, and pay attention enough to actually respond. In less than a day, I’ve had a handful of responses, reinforcing the idea that these types of broadcasts are watched.

Although the article focussed more on relationship status and the complications that the feature can add to the relationship, there is hope. The final bit of the article provided a way to avoid any hurt feelings or misunderstandings - don’t add your girlfriend or boyfriend on Facebook. Perhaps an answer, but I guess people, especially myself, need to pay more attention to what types of information they provide, whether intentionally or on a whim.

I’ve been using computers for over 20 years, and in that time, I’ve had lengthy periods where I was using only Apple computers and only Windows-based computers. Although pop culture and business has given me added reason to support Windows-based systems, my recent experiences with the Vista operating system has sullied my opinion of the darkside. The problem is that in my position (as an individual, not as an employee), it doesn’t make sense to get a Mac. I’m not prepared or able to spend the money on a system that makes sense. I need to have a laptop, I need to be able to run certain programs, and given what I need and the amount of money I’m prepared to allocate to the hardware, it still makes sense to get a PC. I’m quite happy with the recent Dell purchase I made, and would continue to recommend the same to most people. However, it won’t necessarily make sense for everyone, and Mac obviously does a lot of things right, which has positively affected their market share lately.

For those considering the purchase of a new system, I would still lean towards the idea of a PC, but consider reading these two articles from Computerworld:

Mac vs. PC cost analysis

Mac vs. PC cost analysis, Round II

I try to keep posted on all sorts of valuable, industry related information through the normal channels, and often use my Digg RSS feed (more the Technology feed than Develpment), for some of the more entertaining stories I allow myself to get sucked in to. Earlier today, a post came across that I couldn’t resist: Girl’s boyfriend *accidentally* cooks her laptop in the oven…. When I opened the link, I didn’t notice the fairly large print with the date ‘Tuesday, November 22, 2005,’ but before finishing the article, it was a question I had looked to answer. Noting that it was almost 2 years old, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself thinking that a bunch of people have probably stumbled upon the article, much like I did, and would be replying to it as if it were current, giving useful advise like ‘backup your data,’ and ‘contact tech support and they’ll probably send you a replacement casing.’

When you look at the comments, and I do recommend the read,  they go from December 2005 to July 2006 to August 2007. A timeless piece preserved on the Internet for eternity complete with useful information (don’t hide your laptop - or from the comments your passport! - in the oven) and a happy ending. The laptop did end up working.