Happy 16th Birthday, Wiki

The first Wiki is still alive and well on the web!

It was started by Ward Cunningham.

Here's a recent episode of the Pragmatic Bookshelf podcast with a great interview with him.

Larry Page Tech Talk from 2009.

Google Tech Talk with Larry Page from 2009.

It's not that often that he gives public talks and share his opinions so candidly on the future, projects, and how he thinks.

A must watch if you care about the direction of this stuff and how one of the top people leading it all think.

Inspiring.

Will threat of litigation slow down Android?

It started with Apple suing HTC over Android phones that it makes. Next Oracle dropped a bomb against Google directly over the Dalvik core of the Android OS. Now Microsoft is suing former WinMo partner, Motorola, over Android-related intellectual property disputes in phones they make.

From Microsoft's policy blog:

Our action today merely seeks to ensure respect for our intellectual property rights infringed by Android devices; and judging by the recent actions by Apple and Oracle, we are not alone in this respect.

One by one the high profile Android lawsuits have been coming in. The nature of the software license does not protect phone makers from legal claims like patent infringement. It's regrettably clear that most of the established giants of tech are fighting Android not only competitively, but also in the court room.

Microsoft is even playing this card to their advantage in their sales PR. They claim the cost of a windows 7 mobile license covers the OEM from being sued, that they 'stand behind their product.'

Will these lawsuits have the effect of slowing Android adoption with carriers and handset makers? Ultimately it looks like companies successful with the platform are vulnerable to being sued by a number of interested parties. So far the biggest names in tech.

Many argue software patents in general are bogus and I can't help but agree. Regardless, the big boys are going to resort to using the court and patent law to effect economic and market outcomes.

Android growth is soaring at the moment. According to Eric Schmidt, Google is activating approximately 200,000 units a day. App Development is going strong and there's a lot of developer enthusiasm and activity. Word is that even Amazon is going to roll out an Android App Store of its own.

We will see if these lawsuits effect any of that momentum.

From the CLI

I'm posting this from a command prompt on my laptop to google's services. So, anyway this is a test.

Google Shuts Down Google.Cn - Redirecting to Uncensored Google.com.hk

“The Internet was seen as a catalyst for China being more integrated into the world. The fact that Google cannot exist in China, clearly indicates that China’s path as a rising power is going in a direction different from what the world expected and what many Chinese were hoping for.”

-Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet project at the University of California, Berkeley

From:

Google Shuts China Site in Dispute Over Censorship, NYTimes

Windows Phone 7 Series - Noted for what it doesn't do

I haven't been keeping that close of tabs on the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series Mobile OS except to notice that most of what I hear coming out of tech blogs and Microsoft itself is how noteworthy it is for what it doesn't do. Can't load apps except through the Windows Market Place. No Copy & Paste, No Multi-tasking, No memory card swapping, etc

Why ditch all these features when the previous iterations of Windows Mobile supported them? In my opinion, it's because Microsoft sees what Apple gets away with, and has noted how acclaimed they are for making 'smart' (if not obstinate and unfriendly) design choices, and the folks up in Redmond think that's part of the secret sauce. Part of "controlling the experience." Right.

Just my opinion, but why the hell else would their new cutting edge phone software do so much less than the previous versions, but look oh so much more minimal, and "modern"

Their aping Apple.

We're going backwards here, not forward. :-/

This iPhone Patent Stuff is complete BS

I like Apple stuff but they're acting like pretty huge dicks. They're suing HTC to on grounds of some BS patent infringement to scare other phone makers out of using Google's phone operating system, Android, but at the same time are being sued by Nokia over refusal to pay licensing fees on patents that every phone company in the industry acknowledges and pays royalties on.

A big part of their defense against Nokia is to counter-sue on grounds on anti-trust and also allegations that Nokia is stealing from them (!?!)

It's super hypocritical, arrogant, and really cocky.

It ultimately probably doesn't really effect you or me, but if you pay attention to this kind of stuff its just another one of those reminders that Apple can be, well, kind of unflinching assholes about stuff.

I dig my iPhone, but really can't wait to give a nice Android phone a whirl once one of them comes to AT&T.

Ah, gadget lust.