Tag Archives: Internet

Thoughts on Google Chrome OS

Posted on by Brad Heap

It was interesting returning to Auckland on Thursday night to find out that in the past few days the world has completely changed. Yes Google has finnaly let the cat out of the bag (but I think it actually escaped months ago) that it was developing an operating system to rival Windows.

Google Chrome OS is not planned to be released until late 2010 however the source will be released later this year (so in some ways you could start using it later this year). The full announcement is here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

The points that I am most interested in are:

  • This is not Google’s first OS, in fact it is their third. In house they use Goobuntu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goobuntu) which is a modified version of Ubunutu Linux. And at the end of 2008 they released Android an open source operating system for cellphones, and it rocks.
  • Cloud Computing. The operating system is going to be very light weight on the end users system and plug directly into the internet. This is going to be a lot like the Android where it is always on and things are straight away at your finger tips. This works really well for a cellphone but I do wonder how much functionality it is going to have for more high end activities. Sure you may be able to edit a word document etc, but what about being able to do some coding, or playing a game. In those realms I think that a full desktop environment will still be a lot better.
  • It is free. Well being open source and based off linux they really didn’t have much more of a choice. Having said that it really gives Microsoft a kick up the pants with the cost of Windows even at OEM price being really expensive.
  • The number of companies involved: Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba. This shows that it has some major industry support and the chances of success are high.

I am excited about what it can deliver, but building a web browser that gets 30 million users in 9 months is one thing. Building a operating system that can deliver a smooth user experience without bugs or issues is a whole lot harder.

EU Regulators Shoot Themselves In The Foot

Posted on by Brad Heap

The NZ Herald reports that in the new version of windows (due out in October) will ship in the EU without any internet browser (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10578747)

The EU have really shot themselves in the foot here.

The original point of suing Microsoft for anti-trust was due to it forcing IE on people and embeding it so hard into the operating system that it cannot be removed. Since Vista (and I think XP) you have been able to remove it.

Now the EU are wanting Microsoft to ship IE with Windows, but also include the choice of other browsers at installation as well. This is just plain stupid.

Why should you be forced to ship your competitors product?

I agree with the move that Microsoft has taken, it is going to annoy a lot of people, no internet browser is going to be real pain, but being forced to carry someone else’s product is even worse.

A delayed victory?

Posted on by Brad Heap

From: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10558256

5:30PM Monday Feb 23, 2009

Prime Minister John Key has announced the controversial Section 92A law, which has been widely condemned by internet users, is to be delayed.

It will go on hold until March 27 while work is carried out on a voluntary code of practice.

If no solution is reached by then it will be suspended.

If no agreement was reached then the section would be suspended, Mr Key said.

If a code was agreed to, there would be a review after six months to see if the law was working as it was intended.

….

Earlier today political bloggers from all sides of the political fence took blogs down to protest Section 92A of the Copyright Act.

Some big name blogs took part. Public Address, Scoop, Kiwiblog, The Standard, No Right Turn, Frog Blog, Whale Oil, Not PC, No Minister, Just Left, The Hand Mirror, Roar Prawn, Policy Net, Kiwi Politico and a multitude of other sites including Scoop News, PublicAddress.Net, Throng, GeekZone, and Street Talk have shut their doors in protest.

Instead of their usual coverage, visitors to these sites will instead be pointed to the online petition organised by the Creative Freedom Foundation.

5.30pm is leaving the change to the last minute. But good news, but a delay is only the start. The law must be repealed.

Does the NZTA even know what HTTPS is?

Posted on by Brad Heap

I have been laughing over the last few days as the New Zealand Transport Authority has become more red faced over the massive security hole in their toll road payment system.

On January 25 the Silverdale to Puhoi motorway extension will open, however to drive on it you will need to pay tolls, and for the last two months or so the NZTA have been advertising the www.tollroad.govt.nz website heavily so regulary uses of the new road can set up accounts.

On Monday a computer user realised that the website was not encrypting credit card information which means that anyone who knows anything about packet snifting or the like could intercept peoples credit card details as they used the website.

Now first and foremost this should never happen. Not on any ecommerce site, let alone a government website. Ecommerce programing 101 would surely teach you that first you must always encrypt data through using SSL and HTTPS not plain HTTP.

But what was more funny is that the red faced NZTA denied that there was anything wrong with the site! Refusing to take it offline or stop processing accounts.

That was until today when with egg on their face they took down the site for maintenance and admitted they stuffed up. Time to get new programmers one thinks.

Read more here:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/connect/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501833&objectid=10550614

and

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10550744

Geek, Nerd, Dork Defined

Posted on by Brad Heap

A geek is someone who has the knowledge of the geeky type stuff and has social graces.

A nerd is someone who has the knowledge but not the social graces, and a dork is someone who has neither.

Nerds are the type who live in their parents’ basements until they’re 45, whereas geeks are more normal.

— GeekDad contributor Matt Blum

World Internet Project: New Zealand

Posted on by Brad Heap

From Kiwiblog: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/07/world_internet_project.html

Those who like facts and figures will have no end of them in the NZ report as part of the World Internet Project. It is probably the most comprehensive study of NZer’s use of the Internet. Some interesting stats:

  • 79% of NZers use the Internet
  • 15% of users are online for over 20 hours a week (half a fulltime job)
  • 66% of users have broadband
  • 71% of users say the Internet is an important source of information, compared to 52% for newspapers and television
  • 10% of NZ Internet users have a blog (this is a very high figure internationally)
  • 28% of users use Facebook or other social networking sites
  • 25% of users have made friends with someone online and half of those have gone on to meet them in person
  • 15% seek info about political parties or MPs online
  • 43% support Government funding to enable wider Internet access while 34% oppose it
  • Almost 80% of teenagers visit social networking sites, and 40% of those in their 30s do so.
  • Over 30% of Asian users have a blog, compared to under 10% for Pakeha and around 3% for Maori
  • Around 20% of those in their teen or 20s have a blog, and slightly more females than males
  • The more you earn the less likely you are to blog