Outside the Lines

Video: Why Google Health

Check out Google CEO Eric Schmidt's keynote presentation at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference (see the video below). He makes the argument for Google harnessing its search platform for dealing with the major inefficiencies and ills of the healthcare system.

The first principle, "It's the consumers data," Schmidt said. "Users can access the data and can control who can see it." And, because the data is in the cloud, it can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

With both Google and

The obvious issues of maintaining privacy and security are problematic at this point, but the cost

New services, frameworks and tools on tap for Mix

Coming up this week, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie will make one of his rare public appearances to give developers the latest word on the future of the Web and Microsoft software at the conference in Las Vegas.

Ozzie is heading up Microsoft's effort to embrace the Web as a platform, which started in October 2005, when Bill Gates fired off a memo to his executive staff and distinguished engineers with the following call to action:

"The next sea change is upon us. We must recognize this change as an opportunity to take our offerings to the next level,

Google CEO Schmidt practices the art of stonewalling

It's been a busy week in the tech world, but the newsroom highlight of the week had more to do with what was not said. Our own

Elinor came ready to discuss Google Health with Schmidt, as well as other topics, such as what's up with the

A few minutes before the interview, she was told by a Google spokesman that Schmidt would only answer questions about Google Health.

He certainly has the right to refuse to take questions, but it's unclear what led him to stonewall. Schmidt doesn't seem like a CEO who is afraid

The last word (for now) on Google Sites

The launch of Google Sites has spurred closer examination of the Google Apps suite and of some of the claims or innuendo from Google executives regarding the enterprise fitness of its cloud-based applications.

Sarah Perez of

Google is actually going about marketing to the enterprise market in a pretty ingenious way--they're not. Instead, they're bypassing the IT department (who would, in all honesty, probably laugh at the thought) and marketing their suite on the sly directly to the employees themselves: "Are the tools provided by your IT department too unwieldy to use? Is IT too slow to respond

Google Sites: What's all the fuss?

The launch of Google Sites is like the opening of a movie or play. The critics (including myself) feast on it, churning out copy and opinions as to whether Google Sites is a Microsoft SharePoint killer or merely the McDonald's of wikis, with more nutritional value than the venerable fast food burger and no cost.

Dennis Howlett wasn't impressed. On his

After 16 months at Google developer's hands, the outcome is substandard. This is such a pity. In its JotSpot incarnation, it was far from perfect but that didn't matter because JotSpot was shedding light on

JotSpot reincarnated as Google Sites

In October 2006,

Rafe Needleman at

Google Sites is basically another element in the growing Google Apps suite. Like Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Sites is aimed at companies or individuals who need to collaborate, such as for managing projects or classroom activities.

"This is a key last hole in the Google Apps suite," Matt Glotzbach, product management director for Google Enterprise told me. "It is the nucleus for other pieces to fit into for online collaboration."

He also said that Google Apps was a "healthy, growing, and profitable" business for Google, but didn't share the profit numbers. It

Returning to the blogosphere

After a brief hiatus while transitioning from ZDNet to CNET News, I have returned to the blogosphere. It was like going without my favorite tea (tie kuan yin) for nearly a week.

Google's precipitous share price fall seems to have abated this morning. The shares are on a rebound, after tanking more than 8 percent in the previous two days due to a decline in paid search. The decline can be explained away by the slowing economy or fewer ads on pages, but Fred Wilson exposes a nugget worth exploring in

But the bigger story on Google is that

Radar Networks takes $13 million, readies Twine for the public

Radar Networks is prepping for a March public beta of Twine, a Web application that organizes information into a "semantic graph," connecting people, places, companies, products, Web pages, videos, and photos, and turning it into Semantic Web content.

In addition, the company raised $13 million in Series B funding from Velocity Interactive, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Vulcan Capital. The new capital will go toward building out the back-end infrastructure, which can be substantial as Semantic Web applications process and store large amounts of data, as well as adding staff as the business scales up, says Radar Networks founder Nova Spivack more

Is Yahoo the right mate for Microsoft? Yes...

With Microsoft's pursuit of Google...I mean Yahoo...going into the end game, some are questioning the wisdom of plunking down about $45 billion on such a prize. Last week, Robert Breza, an analyst with RBC Capital Market, made the case for Microsoft chipping away at Google's search/ad lead in a less desperate manner with its adCenter platform, and instead investing the billions in business applications and social networking. Michael A. Cusumano, professor at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, recommends that Microsoft stay closer to its business software roots and acquire SAP. This advice won'more