Google+ for everyone

Google+: Now open to everyone - TNW Google:

Google+ is now open to everyone. Recently Google+ has had some social policy teething pains, especially around the issue of anonymous access of users. Google+ requires a 'real name' which many users, especially established web personalities who have blogged under a different name for years don't agree with.

But beyond that the tool is simply the best technology for social grid management ever made. And it would probably be worth anyone's time to give it a try.

BCS Overview Demo

Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010 Demo Part 1

Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010 Demo Part 2

Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010 Demo Part 3

Windows 8 Demo

Ireland's Technology Blog has a video with some more new information about Windows 8.  Video requires flash so no Pads.

Microsoft Releases First Test Version of Windows 8 - Ina Fried - News - AllThingsD

Windows 8 looks to be playing catch up with the now dominate Apple for a space it once owned.

BCS - External Content Type in SharePoint Designer 2010

The writing is on the wall for all of us

Once the leader in web presence Yahoo! collapse along with the fall of MySpace is a stark reminder that in the Cloud business moves very fast.

"When the history of the internet industry comes to be written, Yahoo! will deserve a special place in it for all the wrong reasons. Rarely has a company managed to destroy so much shareholder value in such a short space of time. Before Ms Bartz was brought in to run the business, Yahoo! rejected a bid from Microsoft that valued it at around $45 billion on the ground that the offer was too stingy. Today, its market capitalisation is a mere $16 billion or so."

More trouble for Yahoo!: Carol goes out the portal | The Economist

Yahoo! just fired CEO Carol Bartz and it seems the only reason the story is out is the way it was leaked via email. The way the world learned that Yahoo! would have a new CEO was more of the story then the fact that the struggling firm was in even more trouble.

Today Yahoo! is worth $30 Billion dollar less then what Microsoft offered for it a few years ago. In the past 5 or so years Yahoo! has last around $100 of value for every man, woman and child in the United States.

This is despite about 7 billion page views a day. That is a page view of every man, woman and child on Earth. Yahoo! is still one of the most visited domains in the Universe. But in the Cloud you can't just convert eyeballs in to dollars in any direct way like you can on TV with advertising. Yahoo! has failed despite being for the most part rather popular.

Nokia's developer network hacked

Nokia developer network appears to have been hacked with the potential lose of personal data of users.

BBC News - Nokia's developer network hacked:

'via Blog this'

Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 tablet review - reviews for UK IT professionals - V3.co.uk

Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 tablet review - reviews for UK IT professionals - V3.co.uk: "With its 10.1in 1280 x 800 screen, however, the Stylistic Q550 is much smaller than traditional Windows Tablet PCs and closer in size to recent devices such as HP's TouchPad and those based on Android. It also borrows much of the styling, with rounded edges and a screen that fits flush with the front bezel.

But unlike most consumer tablets, the Stylistic Q550 supports pen input from a digital stylus as well as touch gestures. This enables handwriting capture, as well as making it easier to pick out small objects on the screen, which is often necessary with the Windows 7 user interface."

'via Blog this'

Tripoli Tweets

Tweets showing on a map in Tripoli after the fall of Gaddafi's compound

We are starting to see some of the first geo-tagged tweets coming from Tripoli. You can track real time tweeting intensity with our Clima.Me tool:


Not seeing anything most time now but keep an eye on this to see Libya come to life on the web.

BBC News - UK student wins Microsoft Excel World Championship

"UK student Rebecca Rickwood has won a global competition to find the best user of Microsoft's spreadsheet software, Excel 2007.

Rebecca, who is 15, was one of 228,000 competitors from 57 countries. She beat 78 students in the final round.

Competitors were required to perform timed tests to demonstrate their skill at making spreadsheets.

Rebecca was presented with her $5000 prize yesterday at a ceremony in San Diego, California."

BBC News - UK student wins Microsoft Excel World Championship:

BBC News - Microsoft revenues hit a record as Xbox sales soar

"The US technology giant Microsoft said its annual revenues hit a record of $69.94bn (£43.4bn).

Sales of the company's Xbox 360 videogame console and its Office software helped fuel the growth.

Net income at the world's biggest software maker jumped 23% to 23.15bn for the year.

The figures, which beat forecasts, showed final quarter revenues reached a record high of $17.37bn, leading to profits of $5.87bn.

Sales rose 8% to $17.37 billion, a boosted chiefly by sales of Office, Xbox and server software behind Microsoft's push into cloud computing."

BBC News - Microsoft revenues hit a record as Xbox sales soar

But the really key paragraph is:

"Microsoft's business division, which sells the Office suite of programs, including Outlook, SharePoint and Excel, was the company's biggest seller in the quarter, increasing sales by 7% to $5.8bn."

So SharePoint is now big business, on the same level of Outlook and Excel, the killer apps of Microsoft's suit.

How To: Create Publishing Web Sites in SharePoint 2010 (ShowMe RTM)