the fears most ambitious start-up ideas bring along

Reread Paul Graham's piece about the most ambitious startup ideas, and the fears and feelings they bring along, to entrepreneurs, VCs and everyone around. Definitely worth the time to read. Something anyone interested in innovation or entrepreneurship would find an interest, in my mind.

The one idea I connected to the most was - "Don't worry if something you want to do will constrain you in the long term, because if you don't get that initial core of users, there won't be a long term. If you can just build something that you and your friends genuinely prefer to Google, you're already about 10% of the way to an IPO"

Why did Sinofsky go ?

Both the technical and the financial communities are somewhat puzzled about the departure of the President of the Windows Division at Microsoft, Steven Sinofsky, so near the Windows 8 launch.

A lot of explanations and suggestions have been made (you can check one and another to form your own view on the matter) . Personally, I thought that news of senior management leaving shortly after a major product launch and before a crucial business period (the holidays season), is  an indication for internal politics, and not for the realization of a technical failure. Why ? because such departures have their own impact, sending signals to the entire market of the corporation's products, and any sound management would prefer to avoid such signals until after a crucial business period. Microsoft's inability to prevent that, has to mean this act is politically motivated.

But now I no longer have to use circumstantial evidence logic. Steve Ballmer's letter informing Microsoft workers about this managerial change (which TheVerge was kind enough to bring to the world's attention), tells it all. Go ahead - Read it.

Didn't you see it ?

Lets compare the way Ballmer refers to Sinofsky and to the person replacing him:

Julie Larson-Green

Steven Sinofsky

will lead Windows engineering. She will be responsible for all product development for Windows and Windows Live, in addition to Surface. Julie has been a stalwart leader of building compelling “experiences” from her time on Internet Explorer, through the evolution of Office and most recently to the re-imagination of Windows. Her unique product and innovation perspective and proven ability to effectively collaborate and drive a cross company agenda will serve us well as she takes on this new leadership role.

has decided to leave the company. Steven joined Microsoft in 1989 as a software development engineer has contributed to the company in many ways from his work as a technical advisor to Bill Gates, to leading the evolution of the Microsoft Office business, to his direction and successful leadership of Windows and Windows Live as well as Surface. I am grateful for the work that Steven has delivered in his time at our company.

Notice anything interesting ?

See how the "ability to effectively collaborate and drive a cross company agenda" is stated, marking the clear distinction between the person who leaves the role and the person entering it ?

Yup. Sometimes the sensitive reading of internal company memos can tell it all.

Does it mean that Microsoft will put an end to the somewhat ridiculous competing fiefdoms model  ? Are different departments within the organization actually going to work together under a unified managerial vision, being able to reconcile competing departmental interests ?

Only time will tell if this is going to work, but the risk of changing management while trying to retake the leading role of the changing technological world is a clear indication of Microsoft's determination to change. One has to give them credit for that, don't you think ? 

Do laptops impact positively or negatively on classes and students?

I've been meaning to read this Techdirt  piece of an interesting empirical research on the impact of laptops in classrooms (by Professor Kim Novak Morse of Saint Louis University School of Law) and finally got round to it. It sheds some interesting results on this somewhat painful subject:

• Roughly  69% of first years, 50% of second-years  and 82% of third-years, were not distracted because of their laptops, and concentrated on the lesson at hand.  
• No correlation was found between distracted student laptop usage and final course grade. Either they absorbed the relevant material much quicker than the lecturer thought, or they learned outside the framework of the lesson. 
• Students who are laptop users tend to get distracted when the lecturer is monotonous (suprise!); When the same activity is being carried for more than 4 minutes; When the professor talks to one student or approaches students by a known order; When the lesson reaches the 40 minutes mark. 
• Students who are laptop users tend to re-focus when The lecturer provides definitions, summaries, conclusions, exams references or stresses; When they are asked to turn their attention to a new item in the study material; When the lecturer  intentionally CHANGES INTONATIONS; When the lecturer provides information by a Q&A/Problem solving process directed at the entire class; When the lecturer does not spend more than 4 minutes on a single teaching process (processes can be - provision of information, questions,  usage of different teaching aids - books, presentations, movies, etc); When the lecturer moves around the "students' space" of the lecturing hall/class;

As a firm believer in the importance of computers to the learning process, I think this is stuff any teacher should know. 

Interestingly enough, it seems that the research did not refer to the usage of humor in teaching. My personal experience has taught me time and again that humor is one of the most powerful tools a teacher can have. Sadly, humor is not something that can be taught. 

setting EPEL and RPMFORGE repositories on CentOS 6

RPMFORGE and EPEL are two very useful repositories for the CentOS user. To a certain extent, one might find his usage of CentOS very limited without products offered by these repositories. 

How to add RPMForge ?

You can read more about RPMFORGE here.
The CentOS Wiki suggests a detailed guide (useful for both CentOS 5 and 6). 

If you seriously consider using this repository for production environments follow the CentOS Wiki methodically. I personally use the following minimal process, for development environments: 

1. Log on as root. 
2. cd to a working directory where you will keep configuration files for the setup (not /etc or the likes. something used for files that assist you in configurations. Every admin makes his own choices, but if you have no past experience, create a folder under your home folder with a name such as "admin files" and cd to that folder. 
3. from the command line, type:
   wget http://packages.sw.be/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.x86_64.rpm   (this url is used for 64bit installations. if you use a 32bit o.s, then type     wget http://packages.sw.be/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.i686.rpm)
4. to verify the the package we've just downloaded, type the following commands:
   rpm --import http://apt.sw.be/RPM-GPG-KEY.dag.txt
   rpm -K rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.*.rpm
5. and if everything is ok, from the command line, type:
   rpm -i rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.*.rpm     (you can replace the '*' with x86_64 or i686, if you wish to be accurate, and you have to if you have downloaded  both rpm files)
6. that's it. RPMFORGE is set up. you can verify taking a look at /etc/yum.repos.d/    or by typing at the command line: yum install htop and after the process ends successfully, by running htop from the command line. 

How to add EPEL ?

You can read more about EPEL here.
A detailed guide about installing EPEL can be found here. (it also discusses the REMI repository).

1. Log on as root. 
2. cd to a working directory where you will keep configuration files for the setup.
3. from the command line, type:
   wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
   sudo rpm -Uvh epel-release-6*.rpm

Some remarks:

1. Repositories management can be tricky. For production environments YOU HAVE GOT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. The professional norm, once using more than one third-party repository, is to use the yum-plugin-priorities. 
2. As you can see, no verification of the epel-release*rpm is performed. Every repository has its norms, and one has to be willing to adapt in order to gain access. EPEL has verification during installation of packages, as you'll see as soon as you start using it. What is more imporant for to to convey here, is that repositories trust is an issue that must be considered. ONLY YOU KNOW THE RISKS AND SECURITY NORMS OF YOUR ORGANIZATION. 
3. If you take a look under /etc/yum.repos.d/ you can see that the configuration files of the repositories are set so that only the main section of the repository is set as enabled. For example, if you seek sources of EPEL packages, you will need to make that section enabled in the configuration files. 
4. Don't forget to have fun ! 

[Update: this post has been originally written for previous versions of CentOS; it has been recently verified with CentOS 6.3; October 2013] 

another change of times

It has been fun for a while, but it is time to move on.... no longer a technical-news-discussions-blog, this blog shall now return to being a primarily documenting method for myself (and others), assisting in recalling how stuff can be done. That means there will be much (MUCH) less focus on technical news. I assume this would mean, just as in the past, that most of what is written in the blog as "draft" shall not be published. But who knows ?

For those few who wonder how they may carry their lives without the news updates of this blog, I advise to seek alternatives among the following excellent technical news sources:

• ZDNET
• Engadget
• Gizmodo
• Mashable
• LinuxInsider

I also advise to do some going-to-the-source:

• Oracle news room
• Microsoft news center
• Google's blog
• Apple's hotnews
• Linux Distro watch
• Linux Kernel 
• GNU

For my loyal and potentially disappointed readers, I wish to suggest a message of inspiration and hope, spoken by one of the greatest technological prophets of our age  - 

Inspirational Speech By Steve Jobs At Stanford University 2005

When the late Steve Jobs gave that Inspirational speech, he could not know that his cancer will return. His words echo much stronger nowadays, when we can view his life in all its fullness:

 "If today were the last day of my life"

So, what would you do, if today were the last day of your life?

at long last, Microsoft is joining the current computing age

Microsoft's anouncement of its new brand of tablets is really big news. Considering -

• The ripeness of this new product (surface being a very long term project in Microsoft); 
• Redmond's past ability to price products competitvely; 
• Amazon's Kindle Fire failure to stand up to the iPad as a truly equal competitor; 
• Unlike other dominant players, the new tablet on the block is not suspiciously similar to Apple's stuff. 

The surface tablet appears to be the real thing, and for us - consumers, users and technology-philes, this is great news.The age of pervasive computing, at least at this early stage, duplicates the old Apple-Microsoft enmity, but this time the competition is both on Hardware and Software. Real technological compeition is here. It can only benefit us all.

IPv6 is here to stay !

Today is "World IPv6 Launch day" !

This day is another in a series f efforts aimed at raising thecommitment to and deployment of IPv6 with ISPs, home networking equipment manufacturers and web companies around the world. The target - permanently enabling IPv6 within all web-related infrastructure and services.

What should you do about it ?

• Check the Website, 
• promote the banner - 

• And even more important - if you have any network-related role in any organization, or even if you are just an end user - ask around to find out what has your organization done, preparing for the move from IPv4 forward, to the future of the internet.

The new (and improved) management of Apple

Fortune has a great story about the way Apple is being run nowadays, under the leadership of Tim Cook. Definitely worth taking the time to read. Two excerpts which tell some of the story in a nutshell -

• "In mid-April the company took over the Carmel Valley Ranch hotel complex for its first ultra-secretive 'Top 100' meeting since Jobs died. The hush-hush conclave is a rare opportunity for top managers -- not necessarily chosen by rank, but rather by the CEO's assessment of who are the most valuable contributors at any given time -- to learn what products and services are on tap for the next year and a half or so.... the spirit of the meeting was upbeat and even fun. Cook was said to be in a jovial, joke-cracking mood -- a stark contrast to the grim and fearful tone Jobs engendered at the meetings. ... One veteran executive was "blown away" by what he had seen, says someone this executive spoke to afterward. Reports another person with access to top-level Apple executives: 'People came away totally comfortable with where the company is headed.' " 

• "...most Apple employees seem more than satisfied with Cook. He often sits down randomly with employees in the cafeteria at lunchtime... Jobs was simultaneously revered, loved, and feared. Cook clearly is a demanding boss, but he's not scary. He's well-respected, but not worshiped" 

השכלה טכנולוגית ומציאות תעסוקתית

המצב של מחסור של כ-7,000 הנדסאים במשק הוא מוזר ומתמיה. אם הנדסאי מתחיל מרוויח כל-כך טוב ואם מקום העבודה הטוב בישראל הוא מקום שמעסיק הרבה מאוד הנדסאים, מדוע לא רואים את כל המוני בית ישראל רצים ללמוד הנדסאות ?
יותר מזה, מדוע בלוחות המודעות רואים ביקוש גבוה יותר למהנדסים מאשר להנדסאים ? האם ייתכן שבכל זאת, המעסיקים לא מחפשים כל-כך הרבה הנדסאים, ועיקר המצוקה היא של המכללות ולא של המעסיקים ?

אם נקבל את הנרטיב של מחסור בהנדסאים כלשונו, התשובה תהיה שזו כמובן לא תופעה חדשה. תופעה דומה התקיימה בשנות ה-60' של ישראל בנוגע למקצועות ההנדסה וכך נולדו הנדסאי הבניין והנדסאי האדריכלות. כלומר, כאשר יש מחסור גדול בכוח אדם בתחום מסויים, ותהליך ההכשרה לו ארוך - יוצרים הסמכה חדשה, עם הכשרה סבירה יותר. במקום הדרישה ללימודים אקדמאיים (טכניים בעיקרם), פרוייקט גמר ובחינות ממשלתיות, צריך ליצור הסמכה חדשה, שמתבססת על מה שקורה בשוק בפועל. אם חלק גדול מההנדסאים מגיעים לשוק תוך שנתיים מתחילת לימודיהם (ללא הסמכה פורמלית), צריך לשנות את ההסמכה כך שכבר אחרי שנתיים תהיה לאנשים תעודה ביד עם עיקר הידע שתחומי-העיסוק מצריכים. עובדתית, זה הרי מספיק למעסיקים כבר היום.

אז למה לא עושים את זה ? כי זה הרי לא מה שיעזור למכללות. מה שמחזיר אותנו לנקודה הראשונה - יכול להיות שכל הסיפור של מחסור בהנדסאים הוא בכלל סיפור של מצוקה של המוסדות המכשירים ולא של כלל המשק ?

What Mac users should do in the face of the new and dangerous world

Some communication with Mac users over the last day, regarding the Flashback malware and the changing state of the Apple Eco-system, made me realize that for many Mac users the new reality is somewhat like news regarding the skies falling down. The paradigm shift is so huge, they just don't get it.

So, the old PC lore regarding safety and security, all Mac users should adopt -

follow wise security rules in your network setup and in your net conduct;

• Use a reasonably configured Network hub, so that your home network will be protected by a firewall; 
• Avoid visiting the darker corners of the web without reasons; 
• Do not open links or files that were sent to you from people you do no know or that bear suspicious subjects or descriptions. 

Use a modern version of your Operating System (O/S) ;

Make sure your O/S is of a relatively up-to-date version. Don't get stuck with versions that are not longer provided with security updates. Remember - the amount of energy spent on updating should be similar to a reasonable portion of the amount of damage that may be caused to you by information theft performed using a security hole, of which there is an abundance in older operating systems.

Make sure you update all the software products you use with patches and updates supplied by the software vendor;

Make sure to update your software regularly with updates and patches. Apple is not as quick on supplying security patches as some people would tell you (you don't have to believe me - just think about the secuirty hole in Apple's maintained Java which is behind the Flashback horror tale), so if you do get a software update - apply it as soon as possible.

Backup (it was critical before, but your detailed backup plan should refer to the new risks as well); 
Backup all your important data. Remember that Backups should be performed in a manner that will enable you to recover from both a complete loss of all data (usually hardware failure) and from a los of some of the data. Also remember that copies of backups should be put aside during planned time-frames. That way, if some of your data has been compromised/altered/damaged/hurt in a way, you may have it backed up in an old backyp copy, made at a time when your computer was still healthy.

 Use Anti malware software - 
Use a good Anti-malware software, preferrably one that aims at detecting all sorts of threats - viruses, malwares, phishing attempts, etc.

Although googling for reviews of AntiVirus software for Mac one cannot help but come across a not-too-old Macworld article stating it is best to purchase an anti-phishing software and not an anti-virus, or About's not-updated advise column claiming the real reason to install an Antivirus is good-samaritanism towards poor PC users, or this not too old Lifehacker's article seriously considering not investing in security software a viable option, I beg to differ. 

It is clear that Apple's products are becoming just as prone to attacks as PCs have been for ages, and considering the great role computers fill in our daily lives, not using a good security software in such an environment is very much like practising unsafe sex.

Which is best ? It is a great question and sadly, really good answers will require a year or two, as time and experience will tell us which products really protect, and which only give a false sense of  security. 

There are several good anti-malware-software lists which can be a starting point, for your search and inquiry for your choice - 

• About's;
•  MSNBC's;
• PC Magazine's; 

As a first step, it would probably be best to use a trial version of one of the more respectable names of PC security, such as - 

• Norton (30 day trial); 
• Kaspersky (30 day trial); 
• Mcafee (trial); 
• Bitdefender   (trial) ; 
• Avira (free for home users); 

My personal favorite would be Avira's solution. They have been one of my favorites in the PC arena, one of the leading software security in the PC arena for years, and their ongoing strategic choice to provide home users free access to their quality products makes life for the home-administrator much easier.

Safe Surfing !

p.s
If you are a Mac user and you still think you don't need to do anything, do yourself a favor, and read the following articles:

• 5 Apple security myths (It should be clear: as Apple's Eco-system grows on, past myths are less and less true); 
• How to check if you have the Flashback malware (this might not be working for future versions of the malware); 

Apple's Eco-system is no longer a safe haven

One of the famous replies in the which-is-a-better-door-stopper argument - PC or Mac, is the better security claim. Despite it being the other side of the coin of the much smaller user-base and software-base, it has been true for a very long time that Apple's Macintosh Eco-system was a very safe street. So safe, actually, that many Apple users have grown to believe in the myth of a safe heaven, and did not fully realize the implications of Apple's huge success of recent years in the smart gadgets market.

But times, as the late Steve Jobs quoted so eluquently, are changing.
What was the knowledge of professionals only a year ago, is now widespread street wisdom. This is no longer a general virus/malware that attacks Macs together with PCs like the legenday DNS changer, but software aimed specifically at Apple's Eco-system.

Flashback, a sophisticated malware using a hole in Apple's maintained Java, was especially developed for Apple's OS/X, and despite a rather lame beginning, it is evolving quite rapidly, while demonstrating the advantages of a villain operating in a community that has known no evil for a long time.

Like the recent famous evil in Apple's quite lake, There is already a reliable fighting method against the Flashback malware.

But the real change is undeniable. Apple's products are now a part of the great battlefield among "evil" hackers and the protective software packages. Innocense, once gone, cannot be regained. The only question is when is this reality going to become a part of iOS users' lives. The fact that Apple's App Store is not invulnerable is not news. It is only a question of time before the new reality of OS/X users will become the reality of iOS users. While PC users have learned to live in a confusing and dangerous digital world more or less from the beginning of the PC, Apple's users have been promised a different deal. This new reality is a great opportunity for many security companies, but it is also a milestone for Apple's Eco-system. What will users do when they are presented with the realization that close architectures do not deliver on the promise of high-end security ? 

jailbreaking iPhone

Zeropaid, a beloved source of useful technology-related information, has provided a nice summary of the path to jailbreaking iPhone. 

As a person not owning an iPone of my own, but supporting a spouse who does, I've toyed with the dilemma of "to jailbreak or not to jailbreak" several times and always came to the conclusion that such a course of action is recommended to power users. 

Now that Apple has made a clear change of course from past policies in its economic management, I was starting to wonder whether it might be that Apple will change its annoying policy in another area as well. As the new management is apparantly more attentive to the crowds' wishes, might it be that Apple will continue support those users who wish to have a less-closed experience with their iPhone ? 

So, just incase anyone out there is listening: Apple, your users would appreciate it if you would make life outside the official Appstore allowed. 

spending too much time on SEO ?

Spending too much energies on SEO (optimizing one's website to the whims of Search Engines) has suddenly become a lot less appealing. Google's Matt Cutts has revealed in an interview reported by searchengineland that Google is "trying to level the playing field a bit. All those people doing, for lack of a better word, over optimization or overly SEO – versus those making great content and great site. We are trying to make GoogleBot smarter, make our relevance better, and we are also looking for those who abuse it, like too many keywords on a page, or exchange way too many links or go well beyond what you normally expect. We have several engineers on my team working on this right now."

a small tale regarding Facebook Timeline (currently without an end)

I've been waiting with dread for the day Facebook will upgrade my profile to the new Timeline-kind-of-profile. OK, it was not exactly dread, and I did not actually waited for it (I'm currently one of those weekly-visitors of Facebook... age does that to some, I'm told. And shortage in time....). But as the buzz surrounding this format of profiles got louder and people around me switched I was wondering how strong will my dislike for this clear insistence by Facebook be. As time flowed it became clear to me that I do not like the idea that a service I'm using will actually force me to tell a lifestory of sorts to a public of acqaintances, foreigners and friends on the social web.

Considering that as a relatively small-scale user I can live rather comofrtably without Facebook (even though it will make the "what is new with so and so" occasional peek less comfortable ), it seemed quite obvious to me that unless I can compress my facebook timeline into a very short and controllable summary of my Facebook-related actions, I shall have to denounce my membership in the world's largest social network, and head for safer  water (will it be Google plus ? I'm in a grave doubt; It will more likely a solution I have mentioned in a past postregarding the shrinking ideal of privacy).

But it appears that Facebook is managed in a wiser and less obtrusive manner than people percieve. I've been automatically offered to upgrade my profile to timeline. And I denied it. I've been offered again a few weeks ago. And once again, I denied the offer, embracing myself for that anouncement that soon I shall be upgraded against my will, and the Rubicon shall have to be crossed.

But nothing has happened in recent weeks. Looking around I see persons who have upgraded and are complaining, but are not enabled to opt-out, I see people who have upgraded and are happy, and I see a rather significant amount of users that have probably done the same as I did - postponed, in the hope that they will not be forcefully updated to a profile-format they do not wish to use. Going over the comment to the Facebook blog anouncement I linked to at the beginning of this post, it is clear that the level of unhappiness about timeline is significant enough for Facebook to reconsider.

Now all that remains is to see how vital is Timeline for Facebook's future plans. As a software developer I know that not listening to users' complaints, before or after making a change, is a serious mistake. I've witnessed large software projects hitting significant bumps because the "small" users (I.E the ones doing most of the data entry labour) were not happy about something in the software. My experience is not unique. Anyone who has been around software in the last 20 years knows it - either on one's flesh, or by looking at the software giants making such mistakes, and paying dearly in software versions going to the trash can of history mocked, while users hold back, waiting for a newer and better version, or moving to the competition's product.

Facebook is well aware of the predetors out there. The managerial call about Timeline might very well be a point to remember in the history of social networks. Now all that remains is to see - is facebook -

• just waiting for enough users to upgrade, to force the rest and hope for a crowd pressure effect ?
• just waiting for the IPO to take place, and then to make the forced upgrade, so the expected waves shall be postponed to more convenient times ?  
• still waiting to see if the user-base postponging the upgrade is serious about it ?

Time will tell. 

P.S

Just in case someone from facebook's management comes down this dark alley of the web - I'm one serious user who is not interested in Timeline. 

Raspberry Pi - a 25$ computer-on-a-card

It is always a great moment to discover that technological promises of the past are delivered. I still remember the excitement a few years ago when a laptop for everychild initiative was launched. I guess we all understand the merits of providing cheap computers to the developing areas of the world (even though some can talk quite persuasively about other priorities),  and therefore was very glad to read about the coming of age of Raspberry Pi, a computer-on-a-card for 25$. You can read more about it here, about the entrepreneurs here, and you can get in line to buy it here.

[first-site credit: I first read about this on Techdirt, the great Law&technology blog, which had an interesting political angle on this lovely gadget]

a Posthumous technology question

Technology, everybody knows, does not only solves old problems and serves old needs. It creates new problems and new neeeds.

Such is the question of what one can do about passing along one's password to his beloved ones, after one's death, which is excellently portrayed in the following comics at geek&poke:

 (this comic strip is quoted from the Geek&Poke website under  a creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license)

Nokia still has it

Nokia, the veteran cell-phone maker and former industry leader, indicates it can still throw some tough punches. The company, who is trying to penetrate the smart phone market dominated by Apple phones and Google's Android based phones (the primary hardware manufacturer in the android zone being Samsung), has anounced an astounding 41-megapixel camera in a new model. To understand the full meaning of this declaration, one should remember that the most recent iPhone bears an 8 megapixels camera, and professional photographers usually use 20 megapixels cameras. The news item telling this also includes interesting details on the new models by Nokia targeting emerging markets.

While analysts in the developed world have been considering Nokia and  Research in Motion as has-beens, both are sill  leading players in the emerging markets. Research in Motion have been promising that come 2012, they will re-emerge in the developed world. For the time being, it seems like Nokia has been working harder, and are already here. Worth taking a look.

Regardless of one's personal preferences, it is quite clear that 2012 is going to be a very interesting year in the smartphones market. 

Google's fuss over privacy: rejoice or lament ?

Repeatedly encountering Google's notifications regarding its changing privacy policy, one cannot help but feel that something big and important is happening.

Then one reads the privacy policy. Takes a look at other policies. Peeks at the FAQ. And one scratches one's head. Why all the fuss ?


All they say is that the change means Google shall be combining together all the information it has regarding the activities of a single Google account. To be frank, I was sure they were already doing it.

So, why is it so important for them to repeatedly tell me that they are going to "treat you as a single user across all our products."  ?

I did some search around, and it seems that others are just as clueless as I am.

We all know the deal Google has been offering, and we all take it happily: we let them have a glimpse at our data, and they let us use excellent products for no additional cost.

So what is new ? They are not asking for more information, are they ? They are just going to use the information we already gave them more efficiently, and while doing this, they even simplified all the legal Mumbo-jumbo and made it much clearer to read. Simpler legal relations and better products. Couldn't be better, could it ?

But if everything is so great, why are they working so hard to make sure we pay attention to this change ?

Considering Google's blunder with Google Buzz, probably Google's greatest blunder to date, one feels this probably has something to do with Google's social network, Google-plus.  


One cannot help but feel that there is a catch here.

But what is it ?

best linux distributions review

Makeusof has made a lovely and solid list of the best Linux distributions. Very convenient and good to remember for those times when people start asking you which one is best, and for some reason you don't feel like entering a long discussion of needs, possibilities, potential and the central role of the end user... 

the best 404 I've seen

Boing Boing tells of the best 404 page ever: http://kvartirakrasivo.ru/404. Get ready to a 404 You will love !

a roughly short explanation for the unknowing, and an advise for the too-knowing:

1. 404 is an error page invoked when a page is not found on an HTTP server. 
2. A word of advice for those of you out there running some flash blocking software - you need to enable the flash display to enjoy this spectacle. 

let the net be Free

Many websites have joined the important protest taking place today, against the Anti-Piracy legislative initiatives which threaten to mutilate the Internet. 

PIPA and SOPA are dangerous to the freedom of information and freedom of speech of all of us. 

I share the belief that internet users all over the world should unite in a clear message to governments everywhere: the public's interest in  - 

• free flow of information
•  freedom of speech 
• freedom of creativity 

must be given  due significance and not be considered secondary when weighed against large corporations' commercial interests and Intellectual property rights.

The world is changing, and intellectual property changes too, as the internet empowers individuals and enables them to reach over and touch many others, to the spite of some corporations who discover we can actually make do without them. 

Here are some of the corporations who make a stand for a free Internet: 

Wikipedia (full English-wiki blackout)

Craigslist (full U.S blackout)

Reddit ( will join the blackout soon, for 12 hours )

Google 

(which could have made a bigger effort, or at least use a larger font) 

Want to know more about the struggle to keep the Internet free ?

• Mashable tells of those promising to take part; 
• Wikipedia's stance on SOPA 
• Google's take on SOPA
• Reddit's say about SOPA 
• Craigslist excellent summary
• A legal post about the protest (for Hebrew-readers) 

דנ"א יזמי

דה-מארקר מספר על מחקר חדש ומעניין, המנסה להתחקות אחרי שורשיו של ההייטק הישראלי. בתמצית, טענת החוקרים היא כי מספר מצומצם של חברות היקנו לעובדיהן רוח-יזמית, וכשאלו המשיכו הלאה, הם נשאו עמם את זרעי-היזמות לכל עברי ההיי-טק הישראלי.

החוקרים פרופ' מולי אליס (ראש החוג לניהול בפקולטה לניהול באוניברסיטת תל אביב), פרופ' ישראל דרורי (בית הספר למינהל עסקים במכללה למינהל),  פרופ' צור שפירא (ראש המחלקה לניהול באוניברסיטת ניו יורק) סבורים שלארגונים מסויימים - דוגמת קבוצת רד וחברת פיברוניקס (מי שהתחילה כאילו תהיה סיסקו ישראלית ולא הצליחה) - היה דנ"א יזמי ייחודי, שעובדים בהם קיבלו אותו, וכשהמשיכו בקריירה שלהם, נשאו והפיצו אותו הלאה. 

לקח חשוב אחד מהמחקר הזה שכל עובד צריך להרהר בו, הוא שחשוב לבחון הצעות-עבודה גם בהיבט הזה - לא רק אילו תנאים ואתגרים מוצעים, אלא מהי רוח הארגון. שכן על פי החוקרים יש ארגונים שאין להם דנ"א יזמי שכזה. את ההבדל רואים, למשל, בזמן משבר כלכלי: עובדים שיצאו מחברות בעלות רוח יזמית יצרו עוד סטארט-אפים בעוד יוצאי החברות חסרות הדנ"א היזמי, הלכו למקומות עבודה מסודרים. 

The real tale how HP's tablet slipped and fell on the figurative banana

The New York Times tells the real tale of the remarkable failure of HP's tablet during 2011.

It turns out it has more to do with software than with hardware...

Anyone who has had the privilege of  taking part of a badly managed software project (and most veteran IT professionals have experienced that sordid ordeal, at least once) shall probably read this with that same strange combination of empathy and relief we feel when we see someone slipping on a banana.