Google is your computer

Some interesting ideas are raised in this article

http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-5759958-1.html?tag=nl.e501,

about how the future of the desktop may be changing.

There is a nice description of a piece of the enabling technology, Ajax, that drives google maps and other google sites.

Did you know that bounding boxes were invented in 1998? US Patent 6,243,097

http://patft.uspto.gov/…RS=6243097

Full story is available at computerworld.com

http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,100709,00.html

News is a little bit old but does this indicate a trend for trickling Longhorn functionality into XP ?

Some snippets from microsoft-watch.com

http://www.microsoft-watch.com

After claiming for months it would not issue a new version of its Internet Explorer browser until it shipped Longhorn, Microsoft decides to deliver an IE 7.0.

In a complete about-face, Microsoft has decided to deliver a new, standalone version of its Internet Explorer browser in order to stem potential customer defections due to security and feature concerns.

Microsoft officials for months had been telling customers and partners that Microsoft had no plans to upgrade IE until the company rolled out its Longhorn client operating system in 2006. At the most, Microsoft might introduce some minor downloadable IE add-ons before then, officials said last year. In justifying its decision against upgrading, Microsoft had argued in antitrust cases in both the U.S. and Europe that IE was an inextricable part of the Windows operating system, and no longer a standalone product.

You can follow the trail at The IE Blog

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/

and there’s more interesting reading in the Internet Explorer Wiki at channel9

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.InternetExplorerFeedback

Thought here is to use one of the small mp3 devices, such as the iPod Shuffle, to store software documentation in an audio format.

My shuffle holds approx 8 hours of audio in 512Mb memory (£69). Another version is available with 1Gb memory for £99. Similar audio players are available from other manufacturers with varying amounts of memory.

I’m using it to listen to podcasts (see details elsewhere), my current favourite music collection and as a language learning tool.

Can also be used to store audio versions of books etc. and raw data files although I don’t think this latter capability will used much by me …

So I got to thinking whether there is any mileage in recording software documentation in an audio format?

Could also be used a a marketing tool - store up to 512Mb of useful data related to the software - for £69, or cheaper, per seat.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite