Outsourcing a telephone service

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

This year we outsourced our email service. We threw out our  internal mail servers (based on Postfix, Cyrus IMAP and MailScanner) and moved to Google Apps Premier. It has all worked very well and I am very happy with the decision — well worth the £33 per user per year.

What I want to do next year is get rid of the telephone exchange in my office. When we moved into our office we inherited a Panasonic switch and a collection of their feature phones. It hangs off a couple of ISDN-2 lines and works but costs more than it is worth. I feel that if in the 21st century I can out source my 20th century communication system I should be able to outsource my 19th century communication system as well.

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iTunes 9.0.1, iPhoneOS 3.1 and Mac OS X 10.6.1

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Release 1.0

Apple is the king of the ‘point release’. Of course, its critics will say these are ‘pointless releases’ — they are not really releases at all, they are just bug fixes. However, as with all things Apple there is often more to the releases than meets the eye.

Firstly, iTunes 9.0 released a couple of weeks ago with a set of new iPods. Obviously it supports the new iPods (and apparently stopped Palm Pre’s syncing with iTunes for a few days) but was the difference to everyone else. When I opened iTunes did I go “Wow that’s great” or did I say “Just what I always wanted?. Of course, I didn’t but that wasn’t the point of the release. (more…)

Will UK Kindle kick-start the eBook boom?

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

So after much waiting, it seems that the Amazon Kindle may be coming to these shores soon. Anonymous sources have told the Bookseller magazine that the eBook device will be announced in the UK next week — just in time for the Xmas rush.

It does have to be said that eBook readers are starting to catch on. A measure I use to assess whether something is popular is whether I see people on the London Underground with it. A few years ago, the tell-tale white headphone cables of iPods first started to appear, and now I am starting to see the Sony eBook reader — maybe not on every journey, but at least once a week.

However, the Kindle may just be the start. There are rumours flying around that the much talked about Apple tablet might also be some form of eBook reader. The Gizmodo website has been reporting that Apple has being in discussions with publishers about selling content through the Apple iTunes store.

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Reports of CUDA’s death exaggerated?

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

In my last post I suggested that DirectX 11’s extensive GPGPU support could mark the end of the road for CUDA. And I do expect that mass market GPU applications will quickly move to DirectX rather than restricting themselves to a single architecture.

But the other day I was discussing DX11 with Bit-Tech editor Tim Smalley, and I found him very reluctant to write CUDA off just yet. He pointed out that CUDA retains one big advantage over DX11, in that developers can knock up CUDA routines directly in C – or Fortran or even Matlab – without having to deal with the DirectX API. (more…)

All eyes on Nvidia as GTC kicks off

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

After last week’s Intel Developer Forum, it’s now Nvidia’s turn. Later on today the company will open its three-day GPU Technology Conference in San Jose – a more formal affair than last year’s flashy “Nvision” expo, but still a high-profile international event, and one which yours truly is lucky enough to be attending.

(The picture, in case you’re wondering, is a strange engine-type affair that’s been set up at the entrance to the delegates’ hotel, apparently to welcome us as we arrive. I guess that’s how they communicate with one another down here in the Valley.) (more…)

IDF graffiti: best of the boards

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

As I mentioned in my last post, the venue for last week’s Intel Developer Forum was dotted around with whiteboards, on which delegates were invited to share their visions of the future. This may have seemed like an invitation to disaster, but by the end of the conference there were some quite entertaining (and occasionally insightful) contributions on display.

Here – with apologies for the ropey photography – are some of my favourites…

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Gelsinger’s ghost hovers over IDF

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

The European anti-trust case isn’t the only controversy hanging over this year’s IDF. The sudden departure of well-liked senior VP Pat Gelsinger last week, after 30 years with Intel and with no real explanation, has been the subject of much gossip among delegates – and a grassroots graffiti campaign.

Now, before you imagine that IDF has been overrun by vandals, let me explain that Intel has installed whiteboards all around the conference centre, and has invited attendees to use them to share their visions of the future. It’s on these boards that the graffiti have been appearing. Some visitors have obligingly written up their hopes for new technology: a few arty types have even provided illustrations. (more…)

Internet radio exec: don’t mention Linux!

Friday, September 18th, 2009

It might be used to run everything from PCs to power stations, but it seems some people are still a wee bit shy about using the (cough) L word.

Speaking at the launch of the touchscreen Pure Sensia digital radio, director of marketing Colin Crawford was pressed for specifics of the new device’s software. But after his CEO reminded him that the new radio was based on a Linux OS, Crawford remarked: “I don’t like the using the word ‘Linux’ on a radio.”

Why did the man in the sharp suit go queasy at the very mention of Linux? His reluctance may be borne out of perceived consumer antipathy towards versions of the open-source operating system. PC retailers have largely retreated from Linux-based netbooks following reports of consumer confusion and a marketing onslaught from Microsoft, which has persuaded manufacturers such as netbook pioneer Asus to drop Linux in favour of Windows XP.

Equally, it may be that Crawford simply doesn’t want to draw attention to the OS on a consumer device where, quite frankly, the flavour of the operating system is about as noteworthy as the colour of the screws they used to hold the thing together.

Either way,  don’t expect to see a penguin logo on the Sensia box in Currys.

Intel Core i7 for laptops: first review

Friday, September 18th, 2009

When it arrived on the desktop scene, Intel’s Core i7 levelled the opposition. With enough power to embarrass Intel’s own Core 2 architecture, not to mention AMD’s efforts, and coming at a cost that would make even a banker weep, Core i7 set the benchmark and set it high. Now, with the new Clarksfield range of processors it’s set to repeat the trick in the laptop market, and we’ve got our hands on a sample boasting the mid-range quad-core 1.73GHz i7-820QM.

The first processors to arrive will be quad-cores based on a 45nm process, with 32nm dual-core models following in early 2010. Intel has kept the quad-core line-up refreshingly simple too, with the 1.73GHz i7-820QM flanked on both sides by the 1.6GHz i7-720QM and the top of the range 2GHz i7-920XM. Unlike their Core 2 Quad predecessors, all four cores boast Hyper-Threading; a move that allows the processors to handle as many as eight separate threads at once.

A perfunctory look at the modest-looking clockspeeds is enough to leave the keen bystander a mite underwhelmed, but those figures don’t take any account of the ace resting up Core i7s sleeve – Turbo Boost.

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In search of the world’s most ridiculous email address

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

This is inspired by a friend of mine who has surely the world’s most ridiculous email address. She works for the local government here in London, and due to the convoluted logic involved – and no doubt some exciting regulations – her email goes something like this:

firstname.portman-early-childhood.westminster@lgfl.net

Just imagine for a second that was your email address. Would you ever attempt to tell people what it is? You can’t even hand out a business card as it would need to be double-width (note that my poor friend isn’t even given a business card… and only gets access to the work email computer once a week).

Anyway, I’m open to alternative suggestions. Have you ever met someone with a worse email address? Or is your own more ridiculous? And while I’m at it, has anyone got a shorter email address than my nice, succinct editor@pcpro.co.uk?

(Obviously, don’t quote your address in any way a bot can harvest it.)