Monday, December 21, 2009

Tablets could bring new life to tech sector

Consumer electronics magazines in recent weeks have trumpeted 2010 as the Year of the Tablet.

But while some tablets are out there already, analysts say no one maker, as of yet, has managed to fuse together all the necessary components that would make people stand up and pay attention and — more important — buy the product.

A number of Silicon Valley players are seen in the tablet race, most prominently Apple Inc. andMicrosoft Corp. But a number of others, from giants like Hewlett-Packard Co. to star-crossed startups like the one that grew out of theTechCrunch blog, are jockeying for a piece of the action.

And if Microsoft, Apple or others can fulfill the tech press’ tablet prophesies, it could open the door to app developers and entertainment companies with new ways to deliver business apps, entertainment apps and content.

“The hope for these devices is that they will become your personal window on to the Web, with services, games, movies, and entertainment,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at San Jose-based The Enderle Group. “But right now nobody has been even marginally successful in this space.”

The notoriously reticent Apple has never confirmed that it’s developing a tablet, but Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner said the device, a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen he believes will retail for $1,000, could be released by April. With its ability to market sexy devices, and its command of music and entertainment content through the iTunes store, even a $1,000 price tag for what’s essentially an iPod on steroids could make Apple the leader in the tablet market and have app developers scrambling to write new programs.

Apple already has more than 100,000 apps available in its app store, representing more than 2 billion downloads to date.

Details of Microsoft’s stealth project, the Courier, have been leaked to tech Web sites over the past few months as well. The tablet purportedly has two 7-inch color screens, set in a booklet format, and can be manipulated by touch or a stylus. The device is wirelessly enabled and has an integrated camera. More of a pumped-up day planner than a strict entertainment device — if the videos of the Courier leaked to Gizmodo.com are any indication — Microsoft could have a hard time keeping the product on the shelves, Enderle said.

The more the merrier

Other devices are being bandied about as well. Time Inc. is collaborating with New York-based The Wonderfactory giving Sports Illustrated readers the magazine in a multimedia format, with written content, expanded photo galleries and video and audio clips. Currently in development, Wonderfactory created the software and engineered it into Hewlett-Packard’s HP Tx2 netbook, using only the touch screen for the device.

Wonderfactory creative director Jared Cocken said only that the device would be coming “soon” and declined to discuss any details of who would be making the hardware for the device.

Martha Stewart announced on her show the week of Dec. 14 that all of her content soon would be available on a tablet. And Conde Nast announced in November that it would have a digital version of Wired magazine available for the Apple device, while acknowledging that Apple wouldn’t even tell the publishing house if it had a device.

Advantages to choices

So what’s brewing is potentially a huge competition if — and it’s a big if — any of the high-profile devices come to market next year.

“Being first to market doesn’t mean anything if you can’t figure out how to market it and make it interesting,” Enderle said. “And until it’s out there, we don’t have an idea as to how large the market for it might be. Until the first one is out there, it could be the one device everyone has to have, but now it’s the one device nobody felt they needed. And that’s a big range. It all depends on how the market receives this upcoming class of device.”

The battle is likely to be tough for Apple, Enderle said, oddly enough in part because of the controversy now swirling around the JooJoo, a device that began its life as the Crunchpad in a joint project between TechCrunch blog founder Michael Arrington and Fusion Garage, led by CEO Chandrasekar Rathakrishnan.

The partnership imploded earlier this month, with Rathakrishnan wrenching control of the project from Arrington and switching the name to JooJoo, which is now being marketed via a Web site for $499, with PayPal being the only way to pay. Rathakrishnan did not respond to multiple e-mail requests for an interview. According to the Web site, the device will ship in eight to 10 weeks.

It’s believed the Apple tablet will look almost exactly like the JooJoo, and because the JooJoo has had such a “messy birth,” Enderle said, it might poison the market before Apple can even release a product. As Enderle put it, “you don’t screw bloggers” (Arrington and TechCrunch’s legion of followers) and expect there not to be serious ramifications.

The market also depends in part on whether users view a tablet as another device they want to carry around. Arrington said he never envisioned the Crunchpad as a truly mobile device, but rather something you have on a coffee table so you can surf the Web while watching television, or something to keep in a guest bedroom as an entertainment device.

Arrington, like Enderle, said he was unsure of the market size for a tablet that combined the best user experience, hardware and content. Early netbook sales had a market of 35 million, while a new device such as the Flip camera quickly sold about 750,000 a year, and the Amazon Kindle reader sold about 500,000.

As far as the Crunchpad goes, “the project is dead, from my point of view,” Arrington said. “I think Apple is going to be most compelling in this market.”

Price could be an issue, though, Arrington said, because he believes gadgets are becoming more and more expendable, a philosophy not shared by Apple, based on how it prices its products. Even so, Arrington said, “I think there’s a market for a $200 tablet.”

Live from Tech-FSU hoops, along with 25 NBA scouts!

The press section is jammed today, and not with press. Twenty-five NBA scouts have been credentialed for today’s game — Georgia Tech is playing Florida State — and there are only 30 NBA teams. I conclude from this that the absent five are simply slackers.

The scouts are coming to see three big men who could wind up in 2010 first round — Solomon Alabi of FSU and Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal of Tech. Indeed, DraftExpress has two in the lottery. Favors is No. 2 behind John Wall of Kentucky, and Alabi is No. 14. And Lawal sneaks into Round 1 at No. 29.

Nine games into his one and surely only collegiate season, Favors hasn’t disappointed. He’s not going to be voted the freshman of the year nationally — Wall, who’s not just the best freshman but the best player in the land, will be — but that’s because Tech hasn’t needed him to score big every night. Lawal actually leads Tech in scoring and rebounding, but there’s no question who’s the bigger talent.

And to have two such big men at a time when big men are so scarce — ask Illinois coach Bruce Weber how much he’d trade for either of Tech’s guys — is the key reason Tech should have a splendid chance of reaching the Final Four.

That’s correct. I didn’t say the NCAA tournament. I said the Final Four. Tech has more talent than it has ever had under Hewitt, and early returns indicate there’s mesh being strung together. Iman Shumpert is out until January after knee surgery, but point guard Mfon Udofia has been better than advertised — among Jacket insiders, he was considered the key to the famous signing class — and rookie Brian Oliver has proved he can hit enough jump shots to keep defenses from zoning everything up.

(Tech fans know this already, but here, for newcomers, it is: This Brian Oliver is not the son of the Brian Oliver who helped drive the 1990 Jackets to the Final Four. They’re not related. Although Glen Rice Jr., yet another freshman, is indeed the son of Glen Rice, who helped drive Michigan to the 1989 national title.)

Tech fans will also recall that last season ended in despair after a last-gasp loss to FSU in the ACC tournament at the Georgia Dome. Shumpert took the last shot that day and missed. I’m pretty sure he won’t take a shot of any kind today. And I have great faith that the Jackets will win today. For one thing, Toney Douglas no longer plays for the ‘Noles. For another, Tech is good.

But I am, as we know, wrong on occasion. Indeed, I was wrong just last night at the Arena in Gwinnett. I figured the Illini would win that one going away. Georgia won and deserved to win. So just because Joe B. Hall and I got together and invented college basketball doesn’t mean I’m always right.

Blog Overhaul

That’s right, Eaten by Some Linux has gotten an overhaul. All the news-y type stuff is gone; that was for a class – well, this blog was for a class – but now I’ve imported my old blog, Seriously Tech, into this one because WordPress is far superior to Blogger. You’ll notice the old posts kind of look like crap – I noticed, and I’m probably not changing it. The import function worked pretty well, but the fonts are small and the pictures are small and honestly, I don’t feel like going through and fixing it. I don’t even know how, and it would take a long ass time. Half that crap is obsolete anyways – you’ll notice on many I’ve posted updates that say so, don’t get used to it – I only did it because I was going through them all adding tags. But that’s ALL I’m going to do (well, maybe I’ll go update the linkbacks too, since I’ll probably delete the old Blogger blog pretty soon here).

EDIT: It looks like the small font is actually just on the blog home page on old posts – permalinks have normal sized fonts for post bodies at least. The pictures are still small though. Whatever.

Anyways, you can find more info about the blog’s newfound purpose on the revampedAbout Me page, as well as listening to me rant for another minute or so. The old ideas of Seriously Tech still stand – but I’ll probably be widening everything a little bit. This will probably turn into a bit more of a personal blog, so while the reviews, how-tos, and other such things will still be a regular phenomenon ’round these parts, you’ll probably get random commentary/updates/whatever from me. Anything that prompts me to open up my big mouth larger than can be contained in physical space. I will be updating much less frequently, though, because again, that was for a class – and I’m moving to the type of stuff that you can’t really write about that often, since it’s pretty niche. For more frequent software tomfoolery, you can always read my posts over at Lifehacker. Yeah, I pulled that shameless plug. What did you expect?

New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future

What do you get when the past crystallizes out of the future? According to a new model of the universe that combines relativity and quantum mechanics, the answer is: the present.

What's the difference between the past and the future? Not a great deal, if you take a purely relativistic view of the universe, say George Ellis from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Tony Rothman from Princeton University in New Jersey.

The standard spacetime diagrams used in relativity accord no special status to the past, the present or the future. That's because they assume that everything evolves from time-reversible local physics.

In fact, it is possible represent such a universe using a kind of spacetime diagram in which space and time merge into a single entity. "The universe just is: a fixed spacetime block,"say Ellis and Rothman. In this view, no instant has any special status: "All past and future times are equally present, and the present "now" is just one of an infinite number."

This kind of "block universe" has indeed been studied by various physicists in recent decades with limited impact.

Today, Ellis and Rothman introduce a significant new type of block universe. They say the character of the block changes dramatically when quantum mechanics is thrown into the mix. All of a sudden, the past and the future take on entirely different characteristics. The future is dominated by the weird laws of quantum mechanics in which objects can exist in two places at the same time and particles can be so deeply linked that they share the same existence. By contrast, the past is dominated by the unflinching certainty of classical mechanics.

What's interesting is that the transition between these states takes place largely in the present. It's almost as if the past crystallizes out of the future, in the instant we call the present. Ellis and Rothman call this model the "crystallizing block universe" and go on to explore some of its properties.

They point out, for example, that this crystallization process doesn't take place entirely in the present. In quantum mechanics the past can sometimes be delayed, for example in delayed choice experiments. This means the structure of the transition from future to past is more complex than a cursory thought might suggest.

Ellis and Rothman suggest that their model provides a straightforward solution to the problem of the origin of the arrow of time. "The arrow of time arises simply because the future does not yet exist," they say.

That's a thought-provoking but ultimately unconvincing model in its current form. But it'll be interesting to see whether Ellis and Rothman can conjure a little more substance from the idea.

What it needs, of course, are some testable predictions, things that cosmologists usually spend little time worrying about. Don't hold your breath.

Seven Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas For The Techie In Your Life

It’s easy to forget Christmas is creeping up on you, and just about everyone finds themselves at the last minute realizing they need one more gift for someone. Don’t fret, we’re here with some suggestions of what you can ponder getting for that person thanks to the ubiquitous shopping site, Amazon.

Amazon Gift Card: There used to be a real stigma attached to giving gift certificates or cards, but now they are an insanely huge industry. Considering how popular Amazon is, can you really go wrong with such an item? You can print them yourself, email them or have Amazon send them via postal mail if you so choose.

Apple iPod Touch: The iPod Touch has become a popular alternative for those that don’t want to deal with giving up their current phone for an iPhone. Aside from cellular service, that isn’t a whole lot of difference between the two items, and the Touch has become extremely popular. 8 GB $183.99, 32 GB $269.99 and 64 GB $359.99.

Eye-Fi Explore Video 4 GB Wi-Fi SDHC Flash Memory: While $91.94 is usually an outrageous price for 4 GB of storage in any format, seeing as the Eye-Fi lets you transfer images and videos via Wi-Fi off of your camera, its worth it. You can transfer the files to your computer, to your social media accounts, via FTP and more.

Fisher Space Pen: Do you ever think your friend finds themselves needing to write at odd angles, like when they’re in zero gravity? How about if they find themselves in temperatures varying from -30F to 250F? Yep, this is the pen for them! And at $18.70 its very affordable.

LaCie Rugged All-Terrain 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 Portable External Hard Drive: External hard drives can be great, but can be impractical to travel with due to them being bulky and touchy to jarring. This rugged hard drive can with stand bumps and bruises, is BUS powered so it needs no bulky adapter and can withstand extreme temperatures. 250 GB for $93.95, 320 GB for $104.95 and 500 GB for $144.95.

SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive: Remember when flash drives cost you an arm and a leg? Well, the prices are far more reasonable now and you can pick up this 8 GB drive from Sandisk for $19.54 plus shipping. Even if your techie friend or loved one already has a flash drive, you can seriously never have enough of these.

TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device: Okay, maybe we thought the TwitterPeek was silly, but if you’re desperate for a last minute gift, then this TwitterPeek with a lifetime service subscription for $199.95 would do the trick.

Thales announces winners of Scottish innovative technology competition

Thales UK has announced the winners of the 2009 Thales Scottish Technology Prize for image and data processing technology and applications. The competition, now in its
second year, was launched in September and was open to all students and staffattending Scottish universities.

The competition has generated a number of extremely high quality and innovative proposals, underlining Scotland’s global and historical reputation as a centre of excellence for engineering.

The winner of the £25,000 first prize went to the University of Edinburgh, for a proposal from Dr. Ben Panter relating to a ‘real-time novelty filter to detect improvides explosive
devices (IEDs) from reconnaissance imagery’. Dr Panter also won the £5,000 personal prize associated with the winning entry.

Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen claimed the runner-up spot worth £2000 with a team consisting of Dr Laura Muir, Prof. Ian Richardson and Abharana Bhatt. Third place,
worth £1,000, was won by Xuexing Zeng and Prof Tariq S Durrani from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

Last year’s competition focused on the area of laser technologies and was an outstanding success, with the University of Strathclyde securing first prize. Since then
Thales has pursued three of the ideas with the winning entrants and plans to agree on funded projects that will bring their ideas into reality.

David Lockwood, Managing Director of Thales UK’s optronics facility in Glasgow, says: ”We are extremely proud to continue to foster the spirit of innovation within the Scottish
engineering community. The scope of the competition and its prize fund are truly unique in the history of engineering in Scotland and the results have clearly generated ideas
which have an encouraging future.”

Some 700 of Thales UK’s 8,500 work force are based in Glasgow and the company is an important source of high-tech, high-skill employment in the region. The UK Ministry of
Defence (MoD) is the main customer for Thales’s activities in Glasgow, with the local site being a world leader in night vision technology; delivering equipment and services to the
MoD since 1888 when the company was formerly known as Barr & Stroud.

Thales UK supports science and technology projects across the country. With a high proportion of its 8,500 staff involved in science, technology and engineering, the themes
of technology and education are at the heart of the company. Thales believes that activities such as The Thales Scottish Technology Prize are crucial in raising the profile
of engineering in the minds of young people as an exciting career for their future.

UA-Louisiana Tech blog: Back to .500 for Cats

Arizona holds serve, takes care of business … whatever you want to it call it. The Cats beat Louisiana Tech 83-67 to end a three-game losing streak and get back to .500 at 4-4. That last part about getting back to .500 is something I don’t think I have ever had to write about UA basketball.

Nic Wise led Arizona with 24 points, his second 20-point game of the season. (Well, perhaps technically it’s his first since his season high is 30 points.)

For the first time this season, Arizona had five guys score in double figures — Wise, Jamelle Horne (20), Solomon Hill (14), Derrick Williams (11) and Kyle Fogg (11). The only other player to score for Arizona was Kryrl Natyazhko, with three points.

Next up for the Cats is a game at San Diego State on Saturday night. The Aztecs are 7-2 and have beaten San Diego, which beat Oklahoma, which beat Arizona. Based on that math, it won’t be easy.

* * *

Attendance: 13,270. That’s not “Arizona good,” but it wasn’t bad for a 9 p.m. Wednesday night start against a non-sexy nonconference team.

* * *

Make that 16 turnovers now for Arizona. UA’s season high is 17, which has happened twice, including in the debacle at Oklahoma on Sunday.

* * *

Arizona leads 65-50 with 7:31 to go. The Cats have been up by as many as 17, which is fairly impressive. Louisiana Tech did get blown out at New Mexico earlier this season (81-52) but is a solid WAC program with experience, as well as good athletes and size. The Bulldogs figure to be something of a factor in a wide-open WAC, which is deeper and better than it has been in recent seasons.

But, yeah, a Pac-10 team such as Arizona shouldn’t lose to a mid-level WAC team at home, so there’s no need to party too much. Consider: Arizona has 15 turnovers. Coach Sean Miller will find plenty of teaching points from that effort.

* * *

Derrick Williams disappeared in the first half — no point, one rebound, two fouls, seven minutes. The Arizona freshman has asserted himself in the second half, with nine points, including a one-handed jam of a missed shot that bounced high off the rim, and three rebounds in the first seven minutes. Ah, freshmen … you never know what you’re going to get.

He’s out now as UA leads 53-40 with 10:49 to go.

* * *

Louisiana Tech’s shooting woes continue. The Bulldogs have made 13 of 42 shots for the game as Arizona leads 45-33 with 15:30 left. Tech is 1 of 9 this half.

* * *

Arizona leads 35-31 at halftime and if there was a lesson to be learned it’s that Jamelle Horne should never attempt a no-look pass. Call it good defense or bad shooting from Louisiana Tech, but the Bulldogs made just 12 of 33 shots in the first half (36.4 percent).

* * *

Here’s another reason why we have to be patient with this team. It just went a couple of possessions with D.J. Shumpert, Alex Jacobson and two freshmen (MoMo Jones and Solomon Hill) around senior point guard Nic Wise.

* * *

Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood, who is one of three finalists for the vacant athletic director’s position at UNLV does not appear to be in attendance at tonight’s game.

* * *

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kyle Fogg brings Arizona into a 23-23 tie with 9:19 to go in the first half. Fogg is 2 of 3 from behind the arc tonight, making him 11 of 19 for the season. Keep on shooting.

* * *

Ex-Rincon High standout David Jackson scores two points in McKale with 12:28 to go in the first half for a 20-13 lead as UA’s Derrick Williams picks up his second foul. Louisiana Tech, which has a nice senior core, is eager to push the pace so far, which doesn’t often happen to Arizona.

* * *

It appears as if Louisiana Tech might be more athletic than Arizona.

* * *

For those of you watching on television, you might notice that first-year analyst Corey Williams is wearing the same cream-colored suit he wore for the home game against UNLV last week. It was at that time that he got off the line of the night, saying he was going to e-mail ex-Wildcat and current San Antonio Spurs announcer Sean Elliott and ask him to send 10 suits he no longer wears.

* * *

Arizona sophomore guard Brendon Lavender, who lost his starting spot to Kyle Fogg for tonight’s game, will not play at all tonight. He has a deep thigh bruise in his right leg.

Coach Sean Miller didn’t mention the injury yesterday when he met with the media, so Lavender might have suffered the injury later in practice. Will know more about Lavender’s status after the game.

The Wildcats (3-4) take on Louisiana Tech (7-1) shortly after 9 p.m.

Check back here during the game for updates and analysis.


Sunday, December 20, 2009

Microsoft Dynamics GP Updates To Meet New European Union Tax Rules

Microsoft Dynamics GP continues to offer enhancements and updates to meet with ever changing regulatory environments. By providing a rapid response to shifting business conditions, Dynamics GP provides its customers with the tools they need to remain compliant while minimizing their costs for meeting the regulatory requirements. These updates and enhancements are all part of the Microsoft Business Ready Enhancement Plan.

The Microsoft Business Solutions group is advising customers to be aware of changes to European Union (EU) tax law that will come into effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Microsoft Corp. has released updates to existing functionality to enable Microsoft Dynamics ERP users to include services in the European Commission (EC) Sales List report. This report previously includedd only the sales of goods to companies in other EU countries. With the upcoming changes to EU tax law, services also need to be included in the report. In addition, the layout of the paper report and the definition of the electronic file are different in each of the 27 EU countries. Companies that supply services across borders and have not yet redefined their financial and business management processes and trained employees to deal with the upcoming changes are urged to move quickly to comply with them.

By installing the VAT 2010 updates, customers on the Microsoft Business Ready Enhancement Plan can comply quickly and easily with the changes in regulations. All customers on an enhancement plan and a supported version of Microsoft Dynamics ERP are entitled to receive these Microsoft software updates. These VAT 2010 changes highlight the ongoing need for all businesses to be able to adapt quickly to regulatory changes.

Microsoft Dynamics helps its customers with regulatory compliance by monitoring the local legal requirements in the markets it serves and making the necessary changes within the software itself. The VAT 2010 updates are a good example of how Microsoft Dynamics solutions can help ensure that business processes can transition smoothly in response to a whole host of new legislation.

Microsoft has released updates to Microsoft Dynamics GP that support VAT 2010 within the core application and encompass the specific requirements in each country. Further releases will become available as subsequent announcements are made by the EU member states that have not yet specified local details.

“It’s important that our customers and partners have the tools they need to help ensure compliance with basic legislation in whichever region they operate. By making it part of the core functionality of our system, it is quick and easy to update,” said Crispin Read, general manager, Microsoft Dynamics ERP. “For customers on a Business Ready Enhancement Plan, this should be simple. Those who are not, and have not yet taken action, shouldn’t be complacent about making these changes.”

Keep it simple, say green building occupants

A new study of green building occupants finds that, “Items that are not too different from the norm or do not require drastic behavior alterations, e.g., low-VOC paints or energy-efficient appliances, were incorporated into a high percentage of projects.”

The study, Satisfaction with Certified Green Buildings, by Dovetail Partners, Inc., found that occupants are not eager to adopt new green technologies that involve labor on their part, like rain barrels and tankless water heaters. But that doesn’t mean green building occupants are lazy. “The greatest missing piece seems to be better education to homeowners, contractors, manufacturers, and building occupants,” concluded the researchers.

So the answer is not necessarily to avoid atypical technologies which require maintenance and behavioral change, but to educate owners, contractors,
manufacturers, and building occupants about their operation and advantages, particularly, the study determined, their life cycle versus first costs.

That’s why I teach green building courses, because I would hate to see new technologies go unused simply because someone in the supply chain didn’t understand their advantages, function, or potential to help us all breathe a little easier.

Poll: Are you iPhone owners planning to participate in Operation Chokehold this afternoon to cripple AT&T's network?

Fake Steve/Dan Lyons continues to semi-frantically insist that this is all a joke, but he also seems to be reveling in the publicity that his scheme has brought him.

In case you missed all this, Newsweek tech columnist and Steve Jobsimpersonator Dan Lyons recently took the occasion of AT&T's complaints about heavy users of its wireless network to call for a mob of iPhone users to all run bandwidth-intensive iPhone apps for on hour today at noon Pacific, 2 p.m. Central. The idea, presumably, is that if AT&T's wireless data network crashes, AT&T will be so embarrassed that it will spend a few billion bucks to upgrade the infrastructure.

But after the prank gained national media attention and AT&T's wrath, Lyons tried to back down. But as he acknowledged, this thing has taken on a life of its own.

So now the question is how many iPhone owners will actually participate in Operation Chokehold.

Will you be among them? (Direct link here for users on non-Flash platforms.)

Windows 7 (Ireland) Tech Community Launch - Content Online

The sessions from the Windows 7 technical community launch tour are posted online. On the Windows 7 Launch Tour website http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/windows7/launchevent/, you can find the PowerPoint slides and videos of the main sessions delivered in Dublin, as well as some helpful resources and links.

The content posted includes:

· Windows 7 ‘Made in Ireland’

· Windows 7 User Interface Tour

· Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 better together story

· Windows 7 Customer: Mainstream Renewable Power

· Introducing Exchange 2010

If you didn’t make it to one of the launch sessions we ran and are without a copy of Windows 7 – you still have a chance to bag one before Christmas! We are running a competition offering the launch session video viewers a chance to win a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition. Learn more here.

Microsoft Security Essentials were mentioned a number of times at the launch sessions – this is a free downloadable security product you can use to protect your home PC, found @ http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx.

Finally, if you are work on development side of things, you should be looking into the next generation of developer tools from Microsoft. Visual Studio 2010 includes built-in tools for Windows 7 and SharePoint 2010 and the Beta 2 can be downloaded @http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-ie/vstudio/dd582936(en-us).aspx.

Have a great Christmas and see you in 2010!

Blog signature

Google reportedly in talks to buy Yelp

Google Inc. is reportedly in talks to acquire Yelp, the popular San Francisco site that allows users to review restaurants, bars, shops and more, potentially providing the search giant an opportunity to reach deeper into the local business market.

Technology blog TechCrunch and the New York Times characterized the discussions as "advanced" and "serious," respectively, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the deal. The publications pegged the price tag at $500 million or more.

Both Google and Yelp declined to comment.

The privately held company was founded five years ago by a pair of PayPal executives and quickly grew into a popular forum for users across the nation to laud and lambaste their restaurant service, bar selection and even the scenery on hikes.

This Yellow Pages of the digital age saw 8.9 million unique visitors in December, up 68 percent from a year ago, according to comScore - and many more users than that, based on its own estimates. Citysearch, the rival Los Angeles local review site formed in 1996, boasts more visitors, 13.7 million, but that's down 3 percent.

Google has mastered the art of matching keyword searches to ads for online transactions. But translating that into exchanges in the offline world, especially among the highly fragmented small-business market, has proven trickier.

Because Yelp's users clearly articulate the type of business they're looking for - by entering search terms for, say, "Mission taqueria" or "Noe Valley hair salon" - it allows advertisers to target messages to those customers most likely to walk down the street and spend money at their business.

If the deal is in fact under way, that's the main draw, analysts say.

"In a world looking for high-value eyeballs, it's hard to find any higher value ones than these," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group.

He didn't have any knowledge of the talks and stressed that rumors are sometimes spread by companies hoping to be acquired, or their financial backers, to build interest or ignite bidding wars.

The deal would also provide a deeper social dimension to Google's online guidance, a direction in which the company and the Web world at large are already increasingly moving.

For the young San Francisco company, a takeover by one of the hottest technology companies may mean many things, some good and some bad. At the price being discussed, it's sure to mint a few millionaires. And the scale and resources of Google could quickly transform the site into a global operation.

But something might be lost as well.

"Among some Yelpers, the elite squad, I think there would be some ambivalence about becoming part of a large company like Google," said Greg Sterling, founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence. "There might be reason to believe that Yelp would lose some of its luster, some of its edge, some of the factors that make it a community."



Keep it simple, say green building occupants

GT in Atlanta writes: Heather,Can you please 'predict' that Georgia Tech loses (one last time, please) to Iowa in the Orange Bowl. They've had great success when you go against them. Coach PJ would appreciate it, I would appreciate it, and all other GT fans would be grateful.

HD: First of all, let me set something straight about my Georgia Tech picks this season. I went 8-5 on my Georgia Tech picks (same record as Clemson this year), and predicted the Jackets would win eight of their 13 games, including the game against rival Georgia. They proved me wrong against UNC, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia and Clemson. As for the final game of the season, the Orange Bowl, no promises, GT. Our bowl predictions will come out closer to the game times, but I can't help but like the Jackets in this one.


Casey in Rock Hill, S.C. writes: What Tarheels do you think will go pro?

HD: Well, we know Bruce Carter is staying, he's said as much. But Marvin Austin and Quan Sturdivant have the most difficult decisions to make. I have a hard time seeing Deunta Williams go, and the same with Kendric Burney and Greg Little. They're all good players who had good seasons, but Austin and Sturdivant will probably be the highest picks. They'll make their decisions after the bowl game, but the truth is, nobody knows their intentions right now. If I had to guess, I'd say Austin goes.


Alex in Miami writes: Hey HD. Happy Friday. I hear your going to the Gator Bowl for Bobby's last game. Which means you would have attended Lou Holtz last game with ND and Bobby's last game with FSU. Pretty cool, did you ever think that would happen to you?

HD: Thanks, Alex, back at ya. Yeah, I'll be at the Gator (and the Orange), and no, I didn't even realize it until you mentioned it. Very cool. And as an IU grad, I'm pretty sure I was there for Bob Knight's last game, too. I'm very fortunate, and regardless of the outcome of the game in Jacksonville, fans will get their money's worth just to see Bowden coach for the last time.


John in Mel Beach, Fla., writes: Hey HD - any ACC teams receive any recent awards to report on in your blog? Oh yeah...UM's 2001 team was voted SI's TEAM OF THE DECADE! How about a little love on your blog for such a HUGE award?Thanks!

HD: I think you just took care of that, thanks.


Matt in Philadelphia writes: With all the expansion news, do you think there would be a chance of trading the Big East BC for USF. Seem a lot more logical of a team to be in the conference. Boston and Tampa are comparable markets and the Bulls.

HD: Nope. I doubt BC would ever go back to the Big East, nor do I think either party would want that agreement. And no, I don't think BC is joining the Big Ten anytime soon. BC AD Gene DeFilippo has stated publicly he's quite happy in the ACC.


Aaron in Tallahassee writes: You said awhile back that rest assured that Stoops was a good hire for FSU but didn't say anymore about it. Can you please tell me why this guy is right person to replace Mickey?

HD: Well, yes. He's known to have a sound scheme, and make good use space to squeeze an offense. His defenses don't usually give up big plays, he has a good concept of zone, and sends a lot of guys to the NFL. Recruiting-wise, he's good at spotting talent in the secondary, which has been a real strength for Arizona. Stoops' defenses have put up some good numbers without five star recruiting. Imagine what he could do with the talent he can lure to FSU. Stoops pays less attention to how players are ranked and more attention to how good they are on the field. He's earned a lot of respect for what he's done among the coaching ranks and it's hard to match his family pedigree.

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