In an incredibly thought provoking article in the National Post, the future – that could be – of computers was revealed, as envisioned in a conference at Toronto, on the third wave of computing. And that future is where everything will be a computer. Computers, in the future, will be “pervasive”, used for all sorts of things. For example, you are comfortably in the bed upstairs and forgot to turn the dish washer on downstairs. That’s fine. Using your cell phone, you can turn the dish washer on. Or, while Read More

We may be coming to a point when Internet may be considered a “public good” and a “natural monopoly” for government to regulate and administer. This comes from what appears to be a long established mentality which already treats certain goods and services as things that can only be provided and cared for by a government (public roads, provision of law, courts and defense etc.). We therefore have the privilege of witnessing just how does a particular good or service undergo this amazing transformation from something that previously operated in Read More

In a world of technology openness is often treated as an imperative, something that has to be preserved or promoted as something inherently good. I’ve been a long time believer in this idea myself, but as I watch the evolution of technology I’m beginning to question its value and underpinnings. What exactly is it that makes openness worthy of a pedestal it’s often being put on? I see two main reasons commonly being put forth: 1. The moral argument assumes a moral imperative to openness, or more precisely to the Read More

Anyone who has ever looked for alternatives to Microsoft Office probably knows about OpenOffice.org, a full featured competitor that is completely free. It started out as a proprietary StarOffice suite developed by a German StarDivision company until it was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2000 which opened up the code to community oriented development that resulted in many improvements and two new major releases (OpenOffice.org 2 and 3). Last year Sun Microsystems, and by that the OpenOffice.org project as well, was acquired by Oracle causing many to wonder what they Read More