(2 votes, average: 9.5 out of 10)
Loading ...Desktop Virtualization
There is a great debate over at BrianMadding.com about the future of desktop virtualization. The key to this debate comes down to TCO. All the solutions that exist today (MS Terminal Server, Citrix, VMWare, Provision Networks, etc.) seem to address one or more aspects of the Total Cost of Ownership model but they can not provide a consistent end-to-end solution for desktop virtualization at a cost that is lower than the traditional desktop deployment architecture. The current conscensus is that it will be early 2010 before the various vendors can bring a total package to market.
While desktop virtualization a la MS TS/Citrix/Thin Client computing has existed for years but never really took off due to the lack of “personalization”, or the ability to have an individualized desktop and computing experience. It just seemed too “green terminal” for many people. Yet with the introduction of VM Ware ACE and XEN Workstation, plus some of the other application virtualization technologies (MS SoftGrid, VMWare ThinApps, Citrix XENApps) in the last year, this market has literally exploded onto the scene and anyone contemplating a desktop renewal would be truly remiss if they didn’t at least take a solid look at if it would fit their organization. While the pure capital cost doesn’t justify the complexity there are many key soft cost factors that may make this very attractive to your organization.
I’ll try and post a comprehensive TCO model over at Brian’s site in the next few weeks that summarizes many of these comments to allow you to see if the model is right for you.
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(1 votes, average: 9 out of 10) Loading ...And the posts keep coming
Guess we still have a soap box….
Just a few updates on some of the past posts. Roger’s voice/data plans for the IPhone release in Canada are out and they are pretty bad (Mark Evans, Engadget). So much for us potentially seeing a drop in costs as a result of the IPhone introduction.
Speaking of which, with the AWS Spectrum Auction is now hitting $4.1 Billion and counting, don’t expect to see any real competition on rates anytime soon. Keep an eye over at Mark Goldbergs, Telecom Trends for the latest updates.
Bill C-555 (The “Get connected fairly” act) is starting to gain more coverage and traction with just over 1800 signatories right now. Add your voice ASAP.
Lastly on the copyright front. Bill C-61 the Copyright reform act is getting hit hard. Michael Geist has a great round up of coverage. With just over 81,000 people now part of his Facebook group and close to 30,000 people having used the two main e-mail letter writing campaigns (Copyright for Canadians, Canadian Coaliion for Electronic Rights) it looks like we might be able to force some real dialog on this issue.
Remember with Canada Day just around the corner, it is important to stand up and be proud to be Canadian. So as you cross your Local MP this long weekend at the various festivities, please be sure to let them know your opinion on these important Canadian issues. Otherwise please enjoy the long weekend everyone and be safe.
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(1 votes, average: 10 out of 10) Loading ...Beyond HTML: Implementing Web 2.0 and Blogging
I am a long time reader of dv techtalk, an investment site for technical analysts. Imagine to my surprise when I read that the site will be moving beyond HTML, javascripts, and flash. In fact, the site will implement some of the concepts that were posted here on blogging idol:
- Integration of RSS feeds such that the daily reports
- Wordpress Blog
Original:
http://market-minute.dvtechtalk.com/
Revised:
http://www.timingthemarket.ca/techtalk/
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Blogging Idol Exposed
Now that a “sort of” profile of your favourite Blogging Idol has been published, it occurred to me to ask the same question of ”BI” readers…… have you been surprised by the changes in I&IT since you started in the business, no matter how long that has been, as I said I was?
I don’t claim to be a futurist….I’d like to be, but don’t seem to have enough time to study the marketplace……but there’s no doubt that the changes of the past 40 years have been amazing. When I was going to university computing was still based on taking a deck of punch cards to a little window at the school. Now there’s more power in my watch, and I hardly ever remember telephone numbers now that they’re in my Blackberry. The idea of a free encyclopedia that’s always available, or storing thousands of songs on an iPOD (maybe 1/10th the size of the original transistor radios of the 1960s) isn’t something I would have predicted back then.
So, let’s hear some of your stories. What do you find amazing, or that surprises the heck out of you? Do you think you’ll be as astounded in 20 years as I have been?
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(5 votes, average: 9.8 out of 10) Loading ...Second Life after Blogging Idol?
Everyone, this has been quite an active week for Blogging Idol! With the fanfare (mostly amongst us contestants of course) quieting down, I wonder if any of you are interested in continuing blogging here. I would envision only a few of us would be regularly posting, but would still aim to increase the number of blogger participation.
First, some household items would be:
1) to grow on the awareness of blogging here, this area needs a visible banner from the IT Computer world home page
2) remove the vote fan registration panel but replace it with a blogging account registration
3) Think of ways to improve the tagging, and topics section
4) Consider either/both re-branding and refocusing blogidol to be clear it is no longer a contest (next year!). Maybe re-badge bloging idol to be along the lines of a “think tank,” “public voice,” “readers voice” area where bloggers might be published on print and online
5) Rewards can go out to those who are published (from item 4)
6) Leadership/Moderator: this site still needs leadership (Shane, of course…Don?): leaders have the fun in proposing topics/controversial subjects of the day facing the Canadian IT industry
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(3 votes, average: 8.67 out of 10) Loading ...Everyone’s a Winner!
A quick note of thanks for electing me the Blogging Idol winner for this year. I want to say, however, that all of the contestants that participated won in one way or another……it was more than anything a learning experience for me, especially because I am indeed a first time bogger.
True to my plan, I am planning to give half of the prize to charity. $250 goes to my daughter Lindsay in Windsor who is collecting donations for dragonboat races for breast cancer, and another $250 goes to the Canadian Diabetes Association because my mother’s sister recently passed away after having diabetes all her life. That’s after I receive the prize, of course! The rest goes to pay for my personal iPhone on July 11th (so that I can compare it to my company Blackberry) - I’ll let you know what I think next month.
I’m not going to let this new title go to my head…..I doubt they’ll be making a movie about me in the near future, unless I do my own on U-tube (just kidding!). But it will be interesting to see what IT world Canada write in their profile of me, after a relatively quick telephone interview!
If anyone wants more, see www.scc.ca/en/participate/volunteers/volunteerdetails_115.shtml and www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Open-Systems-Interconnection/dp/0716781808 (if they don’t work, try Googling me)
One of the main things that made the contest easier and more fun for me was the idea that I wasn’t the only one posting - so readers got more than one viewpoint. I don’t know if there are many “shared blogs” like Blogging Idol out there (yeah, I know everyone can alweays comment but that’s not having control over the topic) but I think it works well and relieves some of the pressure to blog every night.
Anyway, thanks again to ITworld Canada and Shane in particular for the opportunity to become the first ever Canadian Blogging Idol in 2008.
Keep on Blogging, no more Idling!
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(6 votes, average: 8.83 out of 10) Loading ...First-time blogger takes top prize in Blogging Idol
I would like to publicly congratulate Don Sheppard for winning $1,000 in ComputerWorld Canada’s first-ever Blogging Idol event.
Don’s posts generated the most overall traffic, followed by Michel Labelle, who will be winning a Nikon CoolPix digital camera. Chris Lau also generated strong traffic and “fan” support.
The best part of Blogging Idol has been the chance to offer some new voices within the Canadian IT community some exposure to a wider audience. With that in mind, we welcome all our contestants to continue to use the blog site (hint to Don: Acceptance speech?) and develop the community that started with this contest. Hopefully, that will generate even more activity when the formal competition resumes next year.
A complete profile of Don will appear tomorrow on ITWorldCanada.com and in the July 4 issue of ComputerWorld Canada.
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(2 votes, average: 8 out of 10) Loading ...Blogging, Social Networks and Second Life
Just to keep things going, I logged on to my Second Life account the other night, for the first time in many months. I’m still trying to figure out how to get my avatar’s head onto its (his?) shoulders. Does anyone know if there’s a Second Life for Dummies book, especially a version that’s free?
I was also thinking: Is blogging the equivalent of a meeting of people on Second Life? How do Second Life, Facebook, and Blogging fit into a pattern, or do they. I have to think that there’s going to be a consolidation somewhere along the way - its too hard to keep track of all these things, and why can’t we just have a “Personal Interaction Workbench” where we can have single sign on to multiple services, a much more standardized set of interaction primitives (new standards?) and a robust notificaiton system so that we are advised when we should go check something out.
Is this the sort of thing that’s needed to make these services more amenable to rampant use in business?
Are there any other emerging fundamental modes of communication that should be added to the list?
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(1 votes, average: 9 out of 10) Loading ...Blogging Idol winner to be announced Wednesday, June 18
Hi,
Those of you waiting to be crowned IT World Canada’s first Blogging Idol should be prepared for an announcement tomorrow. Our SEO team is busy tabulating the traffic numbers and I will be in touch with the winners myself. We will be profiling our winners both here and in ComputerWorld Canada. In the meantime, it’s great to see people continuing to post on this site. Let the conversation continue!
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...6 Degrees of Blogging Idol
What was your reaction from friends when you told them you were on blogging idol? Did you have trouble explaining what blogging was about to people who never heard about blogs?
In the majority of cases, I found it challenging to explain in layman’s term what the contest blog was about. For those who wrote introspectively about blogging and social networking, it was in some ways an attempt to provide a static and solid definition for these “catch phrases.” It would seem that only the concepts and the framework can be defined rigidly. The non-technical implementation (save the intermittent crashes experienced over the past few days on www.blogidol.ca) of these concepts are fluid. This implementation is in reference to the content and the topics. The content has to be relevant not only for us participants, but those who visit to read what we have to say. In the same way technology doesn’t drive business needs, content delivered through any IT delivery model needs to stay relevant. The delivery model is inter-connecting all other content faster than ever. The current and future challenge is still going to be delivering relevant regardless of the technology.
On that mindset, from a business analysis perspective, who do you envision our audience on blogidol to be? Who would you want your target audience to be? How would you grow the fan base/audience? On the technology side, if blogidol was a proof of concept for IT World Canada, what technology model would you choose to deliver the content more effectively?
Side note: I tried to access blogidol on a blackberry. It was….challenging but possible.
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