Did Dell drop the Linux PC?

UPDATE: 10th Dec 2007: Dell just contacted me and have fixed the 404 - you can now buy Ubuntu PC’s online from Dell UK again. :)
Just tried to order a linux PC from Dell, but I’m getting a 404 when I try to purchase.
I start at:
Dell.co.uk > Desktops > Ubuntu Linux
But when click on “Customise [...]

TV - the internet endgame

Bored by people worrying about how big their little green bar is, as if it’s some kind of objective measurement of penis size? Thinking about the real future of the internet?
Read on, then…
Here’s the endgame of the internet laid out in a simple acronym: TV.
Not TV as we currently know it, but an information-rich multi-media [...]

eyeOS a threat to Google and Microsoft?

I’ve already mentioned before that Google is trying to turn the internet into a customised OS - and that this directly competes with Microsoft’s attempt to focus on remote file hosting.
It seems the future is already laid out - allow internet users to remotely host files online and wall them off in a suite of [...]

iPhone - I want one!

Looks like the Steve Jobs presentation at MacWorld is winding up: but it’s now official - the iPhone is coming.
I’ve already written up a report on Platinax News - must say, this feels like a really big story.
CNET have been frantically trying to write what’s happening live, typos and all, while Engadget are posting [...]

Predictions for 2007

It’s customary every year for people to write predictions for the coming year.
I’m going to be no exception.
Below in no particular order of importance - are my predictions for the internet world in general, with a specific emphasis on the SEO/SEM industry:
1. Vista uptake with be slower than predicted
Microsoft thinks Vista will see rapid acceptance, [...]

Bye bye Brian’s Business Blog

Platinax is currently undergoing redevelopment, and with that it’s time to say bye bye to Brian’s Business Blog.
The key reason?
It’s a crap blog.
I read various other blogs online, and the good ones are:
*fresh!
*informative!
*interesting!
I’ve managed to fail on all 3 here.
I have some excuse, though - since the last Platinax redevelopment I found myself separating the [...]

Another reason why MSN Search is failing

I casually use MSN Search - now Live.com search - for two main reasons:
Firstly, I report ranking positions for clients on MSN.
Secondly, I think the potential integration of MSN search with Windows users offers an exciting opportunitity for Microsoft to gain new users of its search business.
But…Microsoft are setting up unnecessary barriers for users.
The user [...]

Traditional print publishing is dying

I was at FantasyCon a couple of weekends ago, and got to meet up and chat with writers such as Neil Gaiman, Raymond E. Fiest, Ramsey Campbell, Amanda Hemmingway, and Storm Constantine.
One of the most interesting conversations I had was with some very charming marketing staff from HarperCollins.
In conversation we mentioned Amazon, and that HarperCollins [...]

RFID chips: the new frontier?

Susan Kuchinskas at Internet News reports on a growing trend for people to have RFID tags implanted under their skin.
While current use is limited - she cites a figure of an estimated 2,000 people currently implanted with RFID tags - the article rightly points out there is a real security and privacy issues at stake [...]

IPTV will revolutionise the internet

I’ve written up a major article on the main site, outlining my vision of how IPTV will revolutionise the internet: The New Digital Revolution.
I don’t make that statement lightly - I’ve been telling media student friends for the past year about how IPTV will create a major distribution channel for independent media production.
To summarise:

[IPTV] will [...]

MSN Search interested in Zipfian distribution

The Longtail blog covers a recent discussion with an ex-Microsoft manager - and shows that MSN Search has an interest in Zipfian distribution.
Basically, we’re talking about the longtail of search, but the ex-employee describes it in simpler terms here:

As you know, search engine query logs have a Zipfian distribution (Rank * Frequency = Constant). [...]

Katrina aftermath published by DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe, whose high resolution images are a foundation for Google Earth, have published a series of hi-res satellite images showing before and after Hurricane Katrina hit the southern USA.
The New Orleans before and after images are especially shocking, and the BBC in their extended coverage of Hurricane Katrina have also created a series of minimised [...]

Sony Vaio VGN-FS115S

So, with some travelling coming up, not least the Threadwatch meet at Stansted, and SES in London, I needed a labtop. As I also want to use it as a back-up PC, after the horrible incident of my main PC failing on New Years day, that meant I’d have to go for a fairly good [...]

Precott Pentium: the hair-drying processor

Geez - I’m sat here running through the various news sources for stories to go on the news section, and nearby baby Maya lays restlessly asleep while the MMR vaccine she had a few days ago finally expresses itself in her system.
And - lo! and behold - the P4 processor on my relatively new machine [...]