More about Quaero May 1, 2006

 

Yahoo Tech - no thanks. May 1, 2006

 

Today, Yahoo launched Yahoo Tech, a new site where consumers can research (note, just research, not buy) technological products, and advertisers can reach that particular audience. With sponsors including Hewlett-Packard and Panasonic, it's clear that Yahoo has big plans for their latest baby.

An interesting idea, but the site itself is disappointing, to say the least. It's difficult to find what you're looking for, and in spite of Yahoo's own declarations about "clean, clear copy" it's cluttered with odd, non-intuitive features. Plus, the main focus of the Index page, the Top Features, doesn't work if you've got adverts blocked or JavaScript disabled. As far as I can see, it's much more about the advertisers than the research, and is little more than a glorified, big-budget built-for-AdSense bore.

Having said that, it might start to work better when it gets up and running, and more products have actual user comments. Although I think they'll need to find a way to moderate comments, too, as there are some bizarre specimens in there at the moment.

Again, the basic idea is not bad. But considering the fact that people are so used to doing their research on Amazon, without overpowering adverts and with a well-known interface, I can't see Yahoo Tech as a serious contender at the moment.

Yahoo! Debuts Tech Site

 

Origami photos May 2, 2006

 

Two new Origami devices were due to be released this month, but TabletKiosk's Eo minitablet has been hit by a product issue which means it won't ship until June. Samsung's Q1 did go out on time yesterday.

CNET has some nice, close-up photos of both Eo and Q1. They do look very cool!

Origami tablets gear up

 

Codejam Europe May 2, 2006

 

For the first time, European coders have been invited to play with Google. Yesterday, Codejam Europe opened for registration, and as well as prize money, there's the possibility of a job at Google if you really impress them.

I don't know - of course, there's the glory and everything, but am I the only one who thinks the prizes are a little bit stingy? They talk about £21,000 (€30, 000, or around $38,000) prize money, but that's split between 50 finalists. The winner gets a measly €2,500. OK, I know that's not exactly nothing, but I would have thought that Google could afford to be just a little bit more generous.

Google looks for best programmers

 

More Vista delays? May 3, 2006

 

The Gartner Group, the world’s largest Information Technology research and advisory company, now predicts that Windows Vista won't be ready in January as Microsoft has claimed. No, they believe we'll have to wait until April or maybe even June before the final release will be made available.

They believe that the level of technological change is so great that Microsoft would need at least nine months between the release of Beta 2 (due in the second quarter of this year) and the ultimate, final release.

Of course, this is all just speculation, and Microsoft still appears to be sticking to their January deadline. But I doubt that the Gartner Group would go public with their theories unless they had something reasonably solid to base it on.

Unless, of course, they just enjoy antagonizing Microsoft every now and then.

Gartner claims Vista delay even longer

 

AdWords debt affects search rankings? May 3, 2006

 

An interesting little thread over at WebmasterWorld asks whether it is possible that Google has penalized a website whose owner owes money to Google AdWords. The original poster says that he has a client whose AdWords account was cancelled due to non-payment. A while later, they only rank for their domain name in the normal, organic search results.

Personally, I think it's just a coincidence, but there's nothing to say that something like this couldn't happen in the future. However much Google claims that Web Search and AdWords are two separate entities, it would make sense for them to cooperate on some level.

Of course, if you don't pay your bills, you don't really deserve to benefit from a free service, either.

Would Google Downgrade a Site's Ranking for Not Paying an AdWords Bill?

 

A new Yahoo lawsuit? May 4, 2006

 

Yep, there's another class action against Yahoo. Yet again, there are claims about spyware, and their supposed activities now fall under the general heading of "syndication fraud". Ars Technica writes:

"[The class representative] has purchased advertising exposure from Yahoo in the past, but now claims that much of that exposure came through spyware, typosquatting, and parked domains - none of which qualify as "popular, high-quality sites" that Yahoo advertisers were promised."

Essentially, the lawsuit claims that Yahoo remains in partnership with several known purveyors of spyware, simply because it's very lucrative. By placing ads in platforms like spyware programs, Yahoo is accused of collecting high fees for ads that are shown in a worthless context.

It'll be very interesting to see how this works out. Long-time readers will know that I am no fan of Yahoo's, and I can't see how they can carry on working with known spyware producers while charging customers top dollars.

Does Yahoo like spyware?

 

Microsoft and Yahoo May 4, 2006

 

Internet rumours are rife about the possibility of Microsoft acquiring a stake in Yahoo. By joining forces, the two companies would stand a better chance of competing with Google. The Wall Street Journal writes:

"Microsoft's recent quarterly results provided a picture of the pressure it faces from Google. On Thursday, Microsoft said the MSN unit fell into the red and its revenue declined. Those numbers show it is failing to capture the same online-advertising tail wind that is helping Google."

A Microsoft-Yahoo combination could be quite powerful if it ever happens, but I can't see it being anytime soon. So far, it mainly seems to be speculation.

A Microsoft, Yahoo Tie-Up?

 

Adwords errors that make you go hmmm May 5, 2006

 

The AdWords system is responsible for sending a lot of targeted traffic to our websites. Our own account also has a fairly generous daily budget, with some reasonably high bids on selective keywords.

This morning I've been setting up a new experimental ad campaign. It was all going very well, until I asked AdWords for an estimate of the traffic I might receive, and got the following message:

"You have targeted a small geographic region that has little data on which to base predictions. Your estimates may be less accurate."

This normally wouldn't worry me, but in this particular case, I've selected All Countries and Territories as my locations. This is a small geographic region? Is lunar targeting now available?

Unfortunately that's not all.

In another account, I set up another experiment yesterday.

When I logged in this morning, to see how it was going, I was surprised to see zero impressions. I checked the time setting, and saw that it was set to display data from the past seven days. On impulse, I changed this to show data for this month, and voila. Data. As it's only the fifth of May today, something may be amiss.

These are two small issues that I've uncovered in the last half hour. The question is, how many more bugs are there in the machine?

When a system automatically bills me and draws from my credit card, bugs are a cause for concern.

 

Web Log Gold and Can People Trust Your Website? May 5, 2006

 

The latest issue of our Competitive Edge Newsletter is now online. But if you want to read it before your competitors, then you need to subscribe. Only one issue a month. And it's all 100% original.

WEB LOG GOLD:

"Reality Check 1: If you were to run the same set of log data through five different web log analysis applications, you would get five quite different sets of reported results.

I've tried more web log analysis applications that you probably realise exist, and the range of different figures for the same "facts" can be staggering.

The good news is that the better ones more or less agree with each other. Which applications are the accurate ones? Bear with me. We'll get there."

CAN PEOPLE TRUST YOUR WEBSITE?

"When your website is your main place of business, credibility and trust are two vital components. Yes, your software is the main focus of your site, but you can't expect your customers to be prepared to part with their money unless they get a good feeling about you, too. This is particularly important if you're a one-man-show or a small business - and it's often the little, easily overlooked things that matter.

So how do you make people trust you? We've put together a list of our top five credibility-musts - ignore them at your own peril."

Competitive Edge Newsletter

 

MSN adCenter now live May 5, 2006

 

Yesterday, the Microsoft adCenter was made available to anyone - you no longer need to wait for an invite or hang around the site on a particular day. That means that they're no longer using Yahoo as a PPC provider, but are relying solely on their own ads.

Personally, I wish people would stop playing aRound wiTh capitaL letters in the middle of words. It makes my spell checker very tired.

Other than that, it's good news for anyone looking for a new advertising channel.

Microsoft adCenter

 

Vista secure but annoying May 8, 2006

 

This time, it's the Yankee Group's (another large market research company) turn to speak out on Vista and what they expect from it.

Basically, they predict that the improved security features will spell doom for other Windows security products such antispyware and firewall software. Antivirus software won't be affected, as Vista won't include any antivirus features - those will be sold separately under Windows Live OneCare (still love that name - who thought it was a good idea, exactly?).

Nevertheless, the Yankee Group also believes that Vista is going to be quite annoying to use:

"The annoyance would come from such features as User Account Control, which is to be enabled by default and lets users run Windows with fewer privileges. The intent is to thwart malicious software from gaining a foothold on Windows PCs. "Although the new security system shows promise, it is far too chatty and annoying." "

Interesting predictions.

Vista to hit firewall, antispyware markets

 

Google Health, Google Music... May 8, 2006

 

It never stops, does it? Apparently, there are plans to announce a new Google Health service at some point this week, possibly on Wednesday. This will undoubtedly be thrilling news to all those keyboard hypochondriacs out there ("I have a flu! And a stomach ache! Could it possibly be some really exotic, lethal disease? Better check Google!") and be yet another headache for all the real doctors to deal with.

Google Health will give you the chance to refine your search results, letting you choose between links to Treatment, Symptoms, Alternative Medicine and much more. Excellent.

There's also lots of speculation about when Google Music might make an appearance, letting users download (for a fee) audio files, videos, previews and so on.

Whatever next?

Dr. Google, please report to Google Health, stat!

 

Features: friends or foes? May 9, 2006

 

A highly interesting excerpt from the Harvard Business Review discusses feature bloat and what to do about it. Although they're talking about cars and cellphones rather than software, there are many points that developers to would be wise to take note of, too. They pose the following question:

"If you are a manager in a consumer products company, our research presents you with a dilemma. Adding features improves the initial attractiveness of a product but ultimately decreases customers' satisfaction with it. So, what should you do?"

As an example of feature bloat, they give the cars in the BMW 7 Series, which are so complicated to drive that they cannot be handed over to a valet parking attendant without a lecture and an instruction sheet. Not surprisingly, sales have fallen. Contrast this with the iPod, which does one thing really well and has stayed away from implementing pointless additional features - and I think we'd all agree it has worked out rather well.

So, what is the solution according to the Harvard Business Review and their research? Easy: build a wider assortment of simpler products rather than one or two overly complicated, feature-bloated monstrosities. Take it one step further by helping consumers decide which product is right for them, and you will stand a far greater chance of having satisfied customers.

It's a great article, well worth a read and a good long thinking session.

Feature Bloat: The Product Manager's Dilemma

 

Want to be on Wikipedia? May 10, 2006

 

Everyone's noticed how well Wikipedia entries are ranking on the search engines. It makes sense that you'd want your company listed in an appropriate place - but that's easier said than done.

The self-regulating nature of Wikipedia means that inappropriate or promotional items will quickly be erased. If you're writing an entry, it needs to be neutral and unbiased - not filled with hype or unnecessary links.

An interesting discussion over at the SearchEngineWatch forums tells you more.

Help Getting My Company Into Wikipedia

 

Ready for Vista? May 10, 2006

 

Tired of hearing about Vista yet? No? Okay, here are two interesting little articles for you.

First, Steve Bass discusses whether or not your PC might be ready for Vista, and urges you to prepared - any battles you might have faced with XP will pale in comparison with what lies ahead. If you decide to upgrade, that is - Steve thinks that many people just won't bother. There's also a link to a somewhat lengthy screencast from TechSmith, which shows Vista's voice recognition features and lets you take a good look at the interface. Personally, I couldn't be bothered sitting through the entire thing, but what I saw of Vista was fairly fascinating.

The other article by Scott Dunn points out that you don't necessarily have to wait for Vista - you could simply improve your current XP setup and enjoy many of the benefits of Vista already. If that interests you, have a look at this.

After all this excitement, I can't help but feel that it's going to be a real anticlimax when Vista eventually does appear on the shelves.

Too much hype?

Is Your PC Ready for Vista?

 

Google Trends May 11, 2006

 

The G people have done it again.

"Google Trends analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. We then show you a graph with the results -- our search-volume graph."

Obviously if you're selling online, you'll have little interest in search trends.

Right.

The service also lets you compare up to five terms, and there are all sorts of funky things you can do with them. Exclude, phrase matching, either/or and more. I know you don't like reading the manual, but it's brief and worthwhile.

In terms of accuracy, it's worth noting the following:

"The data Google Trends produces may contain inaccuracies for a number of reasons, including data-sampling issues and a variety of approximations that Trends makes use of. We hope you find this service interesting and entertaining, but you probably don't want to write your PhD dissertation based on this information. We'll aim to update the information provided by Google Trends monthly."

Interesting and entertaining?

Oh well, it's better than nothing.

Google Trends

 

Google Co-op, too. May 11, 2006

 

My, but they have been busy. Now Google have launched their very own version of a social bookmarking system, which allows users to save one-word descriptions and share those tags with others.

The idea behind Google Co-op is that "expert" users such as doctors can share their knowledge by pointing other users towards websites that they recommend. As far as I can tell, you have to subscribe to a certain user's tags before you see their suggestions at the top of the page, where you normally have AdWords.

In reality, it seems like a fairly complicated process, though. You have to sign up to become a contributor, and you need at least basic XML skills to be able to upload your suggestions. I also don't quite know how this is going to be supervised - after all, I could claim to be a doctor and point poorly patients in the direction of any pages I like. Fever? Try our Google AdWords Report, it'll do wonders. Honestly.

It's certainly not as user-friendly as Digg or del.icio.us, but it's got potential. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Google Co-op

 

Meet Polly Glotto May 12, 2006

 

For your Friday pleasure, here's a clever little tool that will let you translate phrases and hear them spoken in the target language. Okay, some people might not think that's a pleasure, but I enjoyed it. All those things you've always wanted to be able to say in French, Dutch, Spanish, Korean, Chinese or Portuguese - now you know exactly how to pronounce them!

Het is Vrijdag en ik ben vermoeid. Eu retornarei a semana seguinte.

Polly Glotto

 

Pleasing all the people all the time May 12, 2006

 

If you're a developer, you're familiar with the emails asking you for new features. You know - "If you just add this one thing, it'll be perfect." "If your software did this, I'd buy a hundred licenses today." The problem is: who do you listen to? All of them? None?

There's a brilliant posting over at Creating Passionate Users which discusses this very problem. Essentially, they say, if you agree to make your product Blue, Green, Pink and Orange, all you'll end up with is a muddy blob. The trick is to listen to the right people, and ignore the haters (you know who they are).

It makes for a great read, and can help you decide who to listen to in the future. Thanks to SEOmoz for the link.

Don't give in to feature demands!

 

Microsoft, Google, and the default search May 15, 2006

 

As you might already know, Google have been none-too-happy about the upcoming Internet Explorer 7. Why? Because the default search is set to, surprise surprise, MSN.

Personally, I don't know what they're so worried about. All that will happen is that people will search MSN for "Google" (that's already their top search term - and Yahoo's, too). But for some reason it has upset them, to the point where they complained to the US Department of Justice about an "unfair competitive advantage".

Well, the judges disagreed. Firstly, because changing the default search is so simple. Secondly, because Google is also free to negotiate deals with PC manufacturers and have themselves set as the default option.

In other words, it would appear that common sense prevailed. It's not like Google to behave like a spoiled child, but I suspect we'll see more of that in the future.

DoJ gives thumbs-up to IE 7 search choice

 

Interview with Matt Cutts May 15, 2006

 

Mike Grehan has had the chance to spend some time with Matt Cutts, and has put together a nice and fairly informative interview. Nothing amazing or new (if you read Matt's blog, at least), but interesting nonetheless. Highlights include:

"Buying links is extremely risky. It falls outside of our guidelines, unless you add a no-follow tag."

This is the second time Matt has come out and said this. Don't buy links, and if you do, mark them with the no-follow tag to show Google that you're interested in traffic, not link-love. But I still don't know how they're planning on checking or enforcing this.

And my personal favourite:

"It's interesting how much of SEO comes back to good, old fashioned marketing."

I couldn't agree more.

Google's Matt Cutts: The Big Interview

 

What's New with Google AdWords? May 15, 2006

 

My single biggest complaint with the Google AdWords system has been that they are constantly adding new features, but fail to mention the changes or additions anywhere.

It drives me crazy. They have a blog - Inside AdWords - but rarely bother to mention anything of relevance.

As a Google AdWords Qualified Professional, I spend a lot of time working with our client's Google AdWords accounts, so usually notice the changes fairly quickly.

So for now, until the Google AdWords team do something about this, I'll let you know the changes that I come across. I hope you find them to be of use.

To set the ball rolling, two changes from the past few days, both of which may be found in the campaign settings.

Ad Serving - this one is only terminology. There are now two options:

Optimise: Display better-performing ads more often

Rotate: Show all ads equally

You may well find that you've always left these on the default, which is to display the better performing ads more often. However this isn't always the best choice, especially if you're working with new ads and/or A-B testing.

Delivery method - this is the sort of thing that raises my blood pressure. Two options:

Standard: Show ads evenly over time

Accelerated: Show ads as quickly as possible

Meaning? According to their explanation, accelerated delivery is "best if you want to increase the likelihood of spending your full budget each day. We will display your ads as often as possible until your budget is reached. If your budget is set below the system-recommended budget, your ads may not receive all possible impressions."

Advantage? I really don't know. It could be useful, but it could also be one of their all too common red herrings.

What am I talking about? Watch this space!

 

More on the nofollow tag May 16, 2006

 

Yesterday, we linked to the interview where Matt Cutts once again mentioned the apparent necessity of using nofollow tag on bought links. Today, he expands on the subject on his own blog, and explains why the tag is such a good idea for forums and other places where people are free to add their own links (yes, he thinks it should be used on Wikipedia, too).

There's an interesting discussion in the comments, as this is a subject that continues to divide people in the industry.

Quick comment on nofollow

 

20 questions about Vista May 16, 2006

 

I know, I know, I'm getting sick of it too. But this is a nice, solid article that answers some questions that you're likely to ask ("What are the most important new features for businesses?) and some that you might not ("How much of Vista is copied from Mac OS X?"), and it's well worth a look.

Anything earth-shattering? No. But the question of whether the government will be able to access Vista backdoors to spy on people makes another appearance, although Microsoft continues to deny it.

And, boo - there won't be any Easter eggs, either.

20 Questions About Windows Vista

 

Will your online activities be recorded? May 17, 2006

 

CNET News has an article that's bound to interest our readers in the US:

"A prominent Republican on Capitol Hill has prepared legislation that would rewrite Internet privacy rules by requiring that logs of Americans' online activities be stored."

Well worth a read.

Congress may make ISPs snoop on you

 

BigDaddy revelations May 17, 2006

 

So, Matt Cutts has got the whole SEO community all fired up about a long and detailed post in which he explains why some sites have seen fewer pages indexed since the BigDaddy update.

Basically, people have reported fewer pages on their sites being indexed, and have (of course) written to Google to complain and demand an explanation. Matt Cutts has now come out and said exactly what some people are doing wrong:

"The sites that fit "no pages in Bigdaddy" criteria were sites where our algorithms had very low trust in the inlinks or the outlinks of that site. Examples that might cause that include excessive reciprocal links, linking to spammy neighborhoods on the web, or link buying/selling."

Please note that he's not just talking about buying and selling links - excessive reciprocal links are bad, too. However, he gives some examples of sites that are guilty of this, and they all seem to be linking to completely unrelated sites. Real estate sites linking to Omega 3 fish oil or hair care sites, for example. In other words, if you've got a few reciprocal links to other software sites, I don't think there's a reason to panic - as long as we're not talking hundreds, anyway.

Matt also writes that sites with few incoming links should expect to see less of their pages indexed, which is interesting.

For some other reactions to this post, see here and here.

Indexing timeline

 

Spammers win the fight May 18, 2006

 

One of the more prominent antispam advocates on the web has had to give up and concede defeat. Blue Security's customers were on an encrypted list that list that spammers should not email - and if they did, Blue Security encouraged their customers to reply to each mail, overloading the spammers' servers.

For a while, this technique worked - but in the end, Blue Security fell victim to a massive denial-of-service attack, thought to be launched by one Russian-based spammer. Blue Security has now "ceased all antispam operations", apparently because they did not want innocent companies and user to be at risk.

What's interesting is that the spammers were so threatened by Blue Security. Maybe we'll see more of this sort of thing in the future.

Antispam advocate succumbs to spammer

 

Vista Windows Photo Gallery May 18, 2006

 

I know how you like your Vista photos, and here are some new ones for you to enjoy. The Microsoft Photography Blog features an interesting posting about the Windows Photo Gallery and what it's going to be like - "a place for your digital memories" - and promises to post more detailed information in the near future.

Windows Photo Gallery Introduction

 

Software company sues Google May 19, 2006

 

A Belgian company has sued Google over its toolbar suggestions. The Suggest feature is included in the latest version of the Google browser toolbar, but Google claims to have no control over what it suggests. This is a shame - when you search for this particular company's software, ServersCheck, the suggestions from Google include "serverscheck crack" and "serverscheck keygen".

Maarten Van Laere, chief executive officer of ServersCheck, stated:

"We don't have any problems with the fact that in Google you can find illegal copies of our software [...]. But people that are looking for your company's name in good faith are then being suggested by Google to go and look for a crack. That is a complete different ballgame."

I couldn't agree more. It'll be interesting to see what Google has to say about this.

Thanks to Marcus Tettmar for the link!

Google Faces Lawsuit Over Search Suggestions

 

Unhappy adCenter customers May 19, 2006

 

As you know, Microsoft adCenter is now out of beta - but apparently, the support leaves a lot to desire. A thread over at the WebMasterWorld forums is brimming over with complaints - quotes include "horrific" and "a terrible experience".

Might be worth a read of you're considering giving adCenter a go.

Microsoft adCenter Support Horrors

 

Vista, the official list May 22, 2006

 

Microsoft have finally released the exact needs of Vista - in other words, how powerful your computer should be if you want to enjoy the full Vista Aero experience. Here's the shortlist for a Vista Premium Ready PC (you can run Vista with less, but you won't get the stunning visuals):

1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1.
1 GB of system memory.
A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero2.
128 MB of graphics memory.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive3.

Are you ready?

Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs

 

Symantec puts spanners in Vista works May 22, 2006

 

Last week, Symantec launched a suit against Microsoft, seeking damages and an injunction against the sale and shipment of both Vista and Longhorn server. In addition to this, they want products already on the market to be recalled. Why? Because Microsoft is allegedly misusing intellectual property and violating an agreement.

Will this have an impact on Vista's predicted release date in January 2007? Possibly. It's certainly one to keep an eye on.

Symantec attempts to halt Vista with lawsuit

 

Google moves towards video ads May 23, 2006

 

It's time to bring out the director/cameraman in you - Google are launching a new service that will place video commercials on the sites where it sells advertising. For now, the ads won't be shown on Google.com, but that might change in the future.

Of course, we all knew that video advertising had to move online - DVRs such as Tivo and Sky+ mean that many people are now zooming past TV adverts. Nevertheless, I can't say that I'm excited by the prospect.

Google ads ready for video close-up

 

How much are your links worth? May 23, 2006

 

Probably not very much at all. This clever new tool lets you enter your URL, choose the position of the link on your page, and then tells you how much you might be able to charge for any text links you sell. Don't get too excited - it's just an estimate, but it's a fun thing to do.

Of course, you should never sell text links anyway, unless you use the nofollow tag like Matt Cutts prescribes. Yada yada yada.

Link worth calculator

 

Piracy percentages in the UK May 23, 2006

 

According to a new report, more than a quarter of all software used in the UK is pirated, costing the technology sector almost £1bn a year. While this may sound high, it's still below the international average of 35%. Then again, that figure is driven up by places like Vietnam and Zimbabwe, where an astonishing 90% of all software is pirated.

Unfortunately, the report shows that some British businesses still have a very laid-back attitude when it comes to software piracy - it simply isn't seen as a "real" crime. The Business Software Alliance has now called on the government to help tackle the problem.

Call to target UK software piracy

 

Playing with Tiltomo May 24, 2006

 

Tiltomo is a new (at least to me) search engine that lets you search images based on colour, texture and themes. So far it's in beta, using two sample databases from flickr, but it seems to work well and is quite enjoyable to use. A few different searches, as suggested by Search Engine Watch:

Yellow and Blue

I Love Orange

A Taste of Asia

Nice. Not very useful, perhaps, but nice nonetheless.

Searching for Images by Similarity

 

DMOZ descriptions and MSN May 24, 2006

 

MSN has done something that the other search engines don't do enough of - listened to their users, and acted on their advice.

On MSN, and Google, the little snippet of text that is displayed in the search result can be taken from three different sources: the description meta tag, the text on the page, or the description from your DMOZ listing. It's the third source that people often have a problem with, because the DMOZ descriptions are frequently old, outdated and difficult to change.

Now, you can add a little bit of code to your pages, and tell the MSN crawler not to use the DMOZ description. Within a few weeks, your MSN description should change. The code looks like this:

META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP"

Or like this, if you want to use it specifically for the MSN bot (no other engines support this anyway, so it's actually irrelevant which one you use at the moment):

META NAME="msnbot" CONTENT="NOODP"

It should be added at the web page level, not in the robots.txt file.

Well done MSN. Now, if only Google would follow suit.

Opting Out of Open Directory Listings for Webmasters

 

Jim Allchin interview May 25, 2006

 

News.com features a fairly long and in-depth interview with Jim Allchin, Co-president of the Platforms and Services Division at Microsoft. The subject, of course, is Vista.

When asked how comfortable he is that the current target for Vista's release will be met, he replied: "I'm feeling OK".

Hmmm. Hardly the most reassuring answer, is it?

Anyway, if you're a Vista fanatic, the interview is worth reading.

Allchin: Still worried about Vista

 

European software patents May 25, 2006

 

In the ongoing saga of software patents, the European Commission now appears to have made quite a turnaround. Last year, they declared that the European Patent Office would continue to grant software patents that made a technical contribution. This was done despite the fact that the European Parliament had voted against the legalization of software patents.

Now, the commission have suddenly come out and said that computer programs will be excluded from patentability in upcoming legislation, and that the Patent Office will be bound by this law.

This declaration has stunned and confused campaigners - but then again, that's the EC for you.

Europe: No patents for software

 

No more jpegs? May 26, 2006

 

On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced a new image format which they hope will replace the jpeg. The new format is called Windows Media Photo, which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. I'm hoping the acronym will be .wmp, pronounced wimp. That would be mildly entertaining, for a while.

So why would we want to stop using jpegs? Apparently, the main benefit of the Windows Media Photo is the better compression capabilities.

We'll have to see how that works out. If it does, remember: wimps. You heard it first here.

Microsoft shows off JPEG rival

 

Google and Dell sign the deal May 26, 2006

 

There has been much talk about this particular relationship, but now they've gone ahead and made it official. In the future, Dell PCs will have Google software installed when they leave the factory. The software will include a Google toolbar and a co-branded homepage.

Hmmm. Of course, this is not great news for Microsoft. But is it really necessary for Google? For most users, it's going to be the equivalent of including air in a hotel room - now with satellite TV, steam iron, minibar, hairdryer and as much air as you need to breathe. People are going to use Google anyway, whether it's pre-installed or not.

I suppose it's an insurance for the future. But if Google's quality falls to the point where people stop using it, I'm not sure any amount of Dell deals are going to help.

Google and Dell in software deal

 

Changes ahead May 29, 2006

 

Due to time constraints, this blog will now be updated three times a week rather than five. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays will still provide you with the marketing news and software rumours you love.

I suspect you'll survive!

 

The worst products of all time May 29, 2006

 

We all love a good Top 10 or Bottom 20 list, and PC World have put together a great one. This list - The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time - is a regular techy hall of shame, and should provide you with some serious emphatic nodding as you find yourself agreeing with it all. Great entertainment.

In the top five, you'll find old favourites like AOL and Windows Millennium, and further down the list you might be reminded of your battles with dying Iomega Zip Drives. I also came across some products I've never heard of, like the DigiScents iSmell - I'm really pleased it never made it.

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time

 

Bank provides online customers with anti-virus software May 29, 2006

 

Barclays, a UK based bank, have signed a deal with Finnish firm F-Secure, buying 1.6 million licenses of their anti-virus software. The software will be provided free of charge to all of Barclays' online banking customers.

The way I see it, the real winners are F-Secure. To be frank, the banking customers should be using software that's safer and more reliable than this particular solution. And Barclays? Well, I've had my own dealings with them, and suffice it to say that it doesn't surprise me that they have taken a good idea and turned it into a mediocre result.

Barclays banks on anti-virus deal

 

Google fights bird flu May 31, 2006

 

I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming. In the fight against bird flu, experts are turning to computer imaging to prepare for the arrival of bird flu in the US.

"Since the beginning of the year, experts have also been using Google Earth, which combines satellite imagery, maps and the company's search engine to span the globe. It gives extra details including the location of buildings, schools and roads near large chicken and turkey farms and production facilities. "

Google saves the world. That is a new one.

Google enlisted to fight bird flu

 

Want to work for Google? May 31, 2006

 

I'm sure many people dream of working for Google - personally, I'm tempted by the free, scrumptious lunches if nothing else.

Well, now you can, because they're looking for new people for engineering, sales, marketing and more. As long as you are, well, exceptional, the job is yours. By exceptional, they mean skipped three grades in school, learned Lisp at 10, and got your first degree at 18.

Easy. I'll see you all in Mountain View, then.

Google job openings

 

The importance of being honest... May 31, 2006

 

...or at least scrubbing your hard drive. This is a story that's been receiving a fair amount of attention in the UK media recently.

A certain young man bought a laptop on eBay, waited two months for it to arrive, and when it finally did, he discovered it was broken. Incensed, he contacted the seller and demanded a refund, which the seller refused to give.

The buyer of the laptop then proceeded to fix it, and lo and behold, he found a great amount of photos and personal information still stored on the hard drive. So what did he do? What everyone does, these days - he set up a hate blog with an abundance of information, photos, and other unsavoury details about this dishonest seller. The media got hold of it, and now everybody knows a LOT about this particular 19-year old eBay entrepreneur.

Hmmm. I'm not going to link directly to the blog - it's easy enough to find anyway - because I don't think dragging someone through the mud in this way is ever warranted, even though what the seller did was obviously very wrong. I do, however, want to point out how easily this could have been avoided. I can't believe people would sell laptops without scrubbing their hard drives good and clean - there are so many great tools that can help you do it.

By the way, if you happen to think that this is a good way of getting back at people, think again. The seller has been in touch with the police, and they have advised him to sue for libel.

Revenge of the eBay customer sold 'faulty' laptop