Weekend Link-o-mania

For the last few weeks, things have been crazy at work. I have not been able to devote as much time to blogging as I would like. Although this will continue for some time, I thought of doing something different. So, taking a leaf out of Sam Gentile's "New and Notable" posts, here are few pointers that will keep you and myself even more busy. All of these are excellent reads. So here we go:

• Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee against the evil of SPAM.


• Kevin Werbach is anticipating a post-Web, post-PC world,

  Technologists just can't stop thinking about tomorrow. The future always looks bright; the question is who and what will help get us there. Even the grinding downturn of the past three years has hardly dampened this belief among entrepreneurs, technology executives and investors. Will broadband be the hot new development that lifts us out of the doldrums? Will it be Wi-Fi? Online gaming? Web services? Homeland security? Those are the wrong questions.
  
  If you want to know where you are, you don't study a map to determine where you're going. You trace back the steps from where you've been. Over the past several years, "where we've been" in the technology world has changed. While we were all focused on the dot-com bubble and the subsequent bust, "yesterday" shifted. It used to be the PC revolution and client-server computing in the enterprise; now it's the Web.



• Rob High of IBM talks on Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). This is another acronym buzzing around the industry and this conversation highlights the basics of SOA. I missed attending a talk on the same topic last month by Drew Robbins in the Columbus .Net Developers Group meeting. He has posted the presentation on his blog.


• Kalsey provides a web interface to the Bill Zeller's button maker application. Cool. While at Kalsey's website, Check out the CSS tabs with Submenu's blog which is the best I have also seen.


• Wes Haggard shows how to determine the .Net Framework version by retrieving the current Framework Directory. Also check out the comments for even more straight forward way of doing the same.

Cavaliers win LeBron James sweepstakes

LeBron will be playing for Cleveland Cavaliers (which tied for the NBA League's worst record with Denver Nuggets). This is such good news for Cleveland Fans (count me in too). Cleveland is not that bad team as the numbers indicate and inclusion of LeBron can (and will) turn the tables for them. They have had some really great games last season (one that stands out is when they held LA Lakers to their lowest score this season).

For the uninitiated ones, LeBron is just 16 and is slated to be the top pick for this year's NBA Draft. He could very well be the next Michael Jordan. Have doubts, check this out and this.

Ruuuu-bennn is the Winner

Ruben Studdard is the "American Idol" but there were two winners today. The Velvet Teddy Bear, as he was dubbed by guest judge Gladys Knight beat out 24-year-old Clay Aiken for the crown and a recording contract with RCA. But both already have albums in the works. Clay Aiken was just as impressive as Ruben. American Idol was one of the most religiosuly watched programs by both of us.

Windows XP to see double

News.com reports:

Microsoft plans to retool its Windows XP operating system so that two people can run applications on the same machine concurrently, an important step toward the company's goal of transforming the PC into a home entertainment center.
Service Pack 2 of Windows XP will let one person manipulate applications via the keyboard while another person views pictures or surfs the Internet on the same computer via a smart display, according to a source.

Cool but not cool. Why? Check out the prices for SmartDisplays. With around $1000 dollars for a display they are too expensive for me. I would rather go for a Tablet PC which we are contemplating buying for some time.

Software Copyright Primer

A little offbeat post but nonetheless very interesting if you develop software. Here is a primer on Copyright protection for Software.

Copyright protection for software can be a valuable tool. But how do you get that protection, how long does it last, and do you need a registration? This article addresses those questions and more.

Site Hacked

Very early this morning WebJives.com was hacked. The home page was defaced and left with the following line:

hax0rs lab @ Brazil .. haxlab@mail.com - For more info about this: www.hl9517.kit.net/haxors.htm .. cya

Thankfully hackers just created a new index.html file and left other content untouched. Does this suggest We're famous...:).