Why free trials of certain software programs are bad
(this is a reformatted/expanded version of a comment I made in November 2013 on the Libre Office mailing list)
Why 'greener' computing is coming soon to Europe
(historical note: this is an article I wrote for IT Manager’s Journal, which published it at the URL http://management.itmanagersjournal.com/management/04/12/07/2312226.shtml?tid=84 on December 14, 2004. When I rediscovered the original text on my hard drive, on December 29, 2013, I put it back here with the original date as reference, since that whole website was closed years ago) The Member States of the European Union are getting ready to follow two directives that will have a deep impact on all the electronic industry.
The power of Big Data and the failures of online advertising
Data is the new oil. Big data is poised to transform society. Soon everybody from individuals to government will be measuring and optimizing everything possible. In the meantime, though, lots of things may go wrong. There is an article out there on this very topic. It says that “nothing underscores the consequences of data analysis gone awry more than the story of Robert McNamara”. Maybe. As far as I’m concerned instead, nothing screams “data analysis gone awry” like the banner I found in that article and the point where it was placed:
They had copied all my articles. No problem
Saturday morning I discovered that a certain Web services company had integrally copied on their own website, without even proper attribution, most of the articles I have written for a magazine. Do they believe
The biggest lie on the Internet...
is that ridiculous disclaimer plastered over too many clueless websites
Shall we waste twelve more years promoting Free office suites instead of open office formats?
Twelve (TWELVE!!!) years ago I asked OpenOffice users “Are you advocating OO correctly”.