News

I've moved my thoughts on IT to a better blogging platform at http://bengladstone.com/.

Conosco news will continue here. 

Microsoft will build trailer parks of containers for its datacentres rather than today's monolithic warehouses - just like Google, who it's trying to keep up with in the world of online services.  

If you'd ever wondered who actually responds to spam emails, researchers have hacked into a hackers' network and had a look at how they're doing - not very well by normal marketing standards, but clearly it pays.

The Guardian reports that security company Lumension believes cloud computing will be next year's security nightmare.

Here's a good summary of what Google's up to from French consultants faberNovel - showing how the myriad parts of its empire interact and complement each other.

It adds up to a valuable account of the dominant technological company of our time. 

Amazon has released its web services database - SimpleDB - as a public beta, adding a key part of its growing cloud computing platform.

Based on web browsing data, Windows market share fell nearly 1% in November to 89.7%. The only real competition is Apple, up to 8.8%.

This supports the trend we've seen at Conosco - the increasing use of Macs in smaller businesses, with execs exerting their freedom of choice and buying Mac laptops. 

Apple are quietly retreating from their boast that Macs are almost immune to viruses - they've posted a note on their support forums recommending three anti-virus products -

The Chancellor is missing a free opportunity to inject UK businesses with badly needed credit and to give a long-term boost to our entrepreneurism - both of which will help us out of his hole.

The government should permanently and immediately increase its payment terms on VAT and payroll taxes for small & mid-sized businesses.