fields

I love that dirty water--and that Facebook lawsuit

Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading from New York to Boston to sit in on the dismissal hearing for the lawsuit that social networking site ConnectU has filed against current Silicon Valley darling Facebook. It's a long-running drama that goes back to when the founders of both sites were students at Harvard, and no one's entirely sure how it's going to turn out.

I'll have a story on the subject on News.com very soon. In the meantime, here's what some other news outlets have been saying in the weeks leading up to the case: … Read more

The secret of successful open-source companies, Part II

Last year (almost to the day), I wrote a post that detailed how JBoss went from $0 to a $350 million acquisition by Red Hat and scored a range of paying customers along the way. The research for that post was actually done in preparation for an OSCON presentation I was to deliver, which is the same impetus for this post.

One year later, my analysis of JBoss has proved to be remarkably accurate (at least for Alfresco). However, I was a little off on my timing (see the slide at right), and I didn't give enough credit to the power of open source to drive sales.

One year later, I'd add the following observations to my original analysis:

You don't need much in the way of field sales for the first three years, and maybe four, but you must balance this lack of quantity with exceptional quality. Basically, you want your field sales person (and it probably should just be one person per major geographic) to cover the big strategic accounts. It's not that inside sales can't do these but rather that you want them going for volume and the field sales person developing depth within a few strategic accounts.… Read more

Solar storm warning: You have a year to prepare

The federal government now predicts a new cycle of solar storms will start in March 2008. Those storms are expected to peak around the end of 2011. That's the conclusion of some scientists at NOAA.

Solar storms lead to violent eruptions on the sun's surface. There'll be solar flares and explosions sending highly charged matter toward Earth's atmosphere. This jolts Earth's geomagnetic field and ionosphere. That can lead to disruption of electric grids and communications systems.

Sunspot predictions for this coming storm cycle run from 90 to 140. There were different prediction models among the … Read more

Gadget allergies: Our worst nightmare

Imagine being allergic to every single gadget on these pages.

According to this article in the Daily Mail, that nightmare is a reality for 39-year-old Briton Debbie Bird.

Bird says she experiences a severe allergic reaction when exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMF). That means no cell phones, no microwave ovens, no computers, and even no cars in some cases. Bird is also sensitive to public Wi-Fi hotspots, which limits her possibilities for social outings.

Bird has experienced symptoms such as headaches, skin rashes, a burning sensation, and swollen eyelids when exposed to the electromagnetic fields created by today's technology. … Read more

EMF detector for peace of mind

Does it really work? That's anybody's guess. But given all the health scares that routinely make headlines, the "Cell Sensor" electromagnetic field detector will likely be a popular item for those who think of their mobile phones as a bodily appendage.

The gaussmeter--which, by the way, features a distinctly unscientific-looking logo--supposedly sounds an alarm when it detects certain emission levels from phones, computer monitors, TVs and the like, according to Red Ferret. Some of the skeptics at Crave have expressed their doubts, but we suspect that a good number of people will spring $40 even … Read more

Teen repellant heads for U.S.

It still smacks of urban legend to us, but some people swear that teenager-repelling sounds do exist--and work. So we wouldn't be surprised to see some desperate parents and shop owners rushing to order the "Mosquito," an ultrasonic youth deterrent from the United Kingdom, which Gizmodo says is being imported to North America. The device, distributed by a company with the irresistible name of Kids Be Gone, supposedly creates an adolescent-free zone with a range of 40 to 60 feet. We'll be right back (need to find a tape measure).

Speakers masquerade as fishing reels

These Kenwood satellite speakers are deceiving for a couple of reasons. One, they're made with natural charcoal; two, they look just like fishing reels.

Fareastgizmos, which says the charcoal minimizes distortion, breaks down the specs this way: "The 2-way speaker system with sealed 66mmBINCHO-TAN Plus PP Hybrid cone woofer and 20mmPEI balance dome tweeter with playback frequency 120Hz - 70kHz, 83dB impedance at 4Ω measures 110W?115H?122D and weighs 0.42kg (1) speaker."

Um, OK. All we know is that these KSC-SS10 speakers will be available next month in Japan for about $215. The rod is … Read more