Apparently Google’s Chrome became the number two browser in the UK during the month of July for the first time, according to StatCounter. The firm’s research arm StatCounter Global Stats reports that Chrome took 22.1% of the UK market, up from 3.9% in July 2009. In the same period Microsoft’s Internet Explorer fell significantly from 61% to 46% globally and Firefox dropped slightly from 27% to 22%.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Market Share

“Chrome continues to make significant gains in the browser market going from under 4% two years ago to over 20% today,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. “Despite falling market share Internet Explorer still leads in the browser war but the next few months will be interesting to watch with Chrome and Firefox almost neck and neck.”

Chrome is also performing particularly well in Ireland where it overtook Firefox in May to become the number two browser. In July it reached 27.7%, ahead of Firefox’s 24.2% but still behind IE at 39.9%.

Technorati Tags: Browsers, Chrome, Firefox, Google, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, StatCounter

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Finally Spotify has opened its service to U.S. users.

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UK or US

According to Vint Cerf, vice-president of Google and the man dubbed “the godfather of the net”, Europe will run out of IPV4 addresses by mid 2011.  It’s time to switch to IPV6.

IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and is described in Internet standard document RFC 2460, published in December 1998. It has the capacity to provide 3.4×10³⁸ IP addresses (around 340 trillion, trillion, trillion), probably making NAT (Network Access Translation) something of the past.

Are network and system administrators ready for the change over? Are SMEs ready for the change over? It’s time for a bit more reading I guess.

Technorati Tags: ip address, ipv4, ipv6, Linux, NAT, network, systems admin, Windows

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Coming soon.. the new Pandigital Novel eReader has a 7in Colour Touch screen and runs Google’s Android OS. It comes with some very nice features:

• ebooks (integration with Barnes and Noble’s eBook store)
• Built-in WiFi
• SD/MMC card slot
• up to 6 hours battery (reading)
• Email access
• Browser
• Music and Video Player
• Calendar
• Games
• and everything else you can find in the Android OS

Pandigital Novel. More than a Good book.
With a full color, touch screen display, the Pandigital Novel brings dynamic multimedia to the eReader world. (extracted)

Technorati Tags: Barnes & Nobel, ebook, eReader, Multimedia, Novel, Pandigital

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The issue of Software Patent has been around for a while, but unless you really  have the time and drive to try to understand all that is involved you will be left like most of us, just wondering. The guys at Patent Absurdity have made a great documentary about this issue.

Patent Absurdity explores the case of software patents and the history of judicial activism that led to their rise, and the harm being done to software developers and the wider economy. The film is based on a series of interviews conducted during the Supreme Court’s review of in re Bilski — a case that could have profound implications for the patenting of software. (extracted)

The whole documentary was made with free software.

• Cinelerra for video editing
• Audacity for audio editing
• Inkscape, Python and Blender for animation
• Ogg Theora and Ogg Vorbis codecs
• Edited on GNU/Linux machines

Watch the Patent Absurdity documentary here.

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Digg.com has announced the availability of the Digg on the go App  for Android phones and iPhones. To download the app just visit http://m.digg.com and install the the application.

Check out the the official announcement.

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I have selling on Amazon.co.uk a copy of each of the following books:

Linux Shell Scripting with Bash (Paperback) (SOLD)
by Ken O. Burtch (Author)
Linux Shell Scripting with Bash will help you learn to not only get your system up and running quickly by employing the Bash shell, but it will also show you professional scripting solutions through the use of structured programming and standard Linux development tools. The book focuses on the Linux environment, which the shell relies on to function, and the robust Linux tool set, making this book ideal for learning shell scripting. Real-world scripts are included that are readable, extendable and easy to debug. This book is an asset to any Linux user.

The Qmail Handbook (Paperback)
by David Sill (Author)
qmail is used by hundreds of ISPs and thousands of other sites, including Hotmail since 1997, which has over 30 million users. qmail is popular because of its security, reliability, speed, low memory use, user-controlled mailing lists, straightforward administration, and much more! An Introduction to qmail is designed to guide system and mail administrators of all levels of experience through the installation, configuration, and maintenance of a qmail server.

SSl and TLS: Building and Designing Secure Systems (Paperback)
by Eric Rescorla (Author)
SSL and TLS: Designing and Building Secure Systems offers clear and comprehensive descriptions of these security protocols and their implementation, and also provides “designs”–tried and true templates that suit various scenarios. Armed with this book, you can become well versed in the importance of SSL and TLS, be able to work with them to provide solutions, and furthermore identify an appropriate tested “design” that will solve the security problems of a proposed new network installation.

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Books, Email, IT Books, Linux, Linux Shell Scripting, Qmail, Security, Server System administration, SSL. TLS

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As a Linux user and Open Source enthusiast I always want to see people moving away from the proprietary stuff and into the Open Source world, but sometimes it’s easier to keep them where they are (stuck to Windows), specially when it comes to gaming. I am not a gamer, and would rather spend my time on other more fulfilling tasks like testing a ClearOS installation, but when it comes to helping people migrate from Windows to Linux, there’s always that dreaded question  “Will my games work?”  The answer could easily be “yes very well, better than before!”  but in reality a majority of the games won’t. Why? The proprietary monster that is Microsoft has allured programmers, graphic card manufacturers and the common citizen into the idea that DirectX is the best, and it could not e further from the truth. While DirectX only runs on Windows, OpenGL offers equal or better results and runs on every platform. 

But don’t let me talk to you about this, as I said I am not a gamer, let those who know what they are talking about tell you. This great article will help you understand Why should you use OpenGL and not DirectX (Wolfire Blog), and you may also enjoy reading this article Commercial Gaming coming to Linux?  from the Linux Magazine.

Technorati Tags: DirectX, Gaming, Linux, Mac, Microsoft, OpenGL, Windows, Xbox

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I am deeply shocked at audible.com for not having an app for Android. They claim that “the Android media player does not allow playback of our titles“… right.  Anyway they are now attempting to get the ball rolling for an App for Android in 2010. There’s a signup for upcoming  beta testing on their website and I urge every Android user (or user to be) to sign up and put a little bit more pressure on them.

Android is a great mobile platform and companies like Audible.com (an Amazon associate) are stalling its growth with short sightedness.

UPDATE from comment by JP White: “A Beta Audible app is now available for Android devices.  Read more at
http://wp.me/pCOs1-aw“

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Android, Android App, audible books, Audio books, Beta, Google

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There has been a talk for while about news agencies blocking bloggers, aggregators and search engines from indexing their content. This has started to become a reality when the Times Online decided to block the news aggregator site newsnow.co.uk. In response Struan Bartlett the founder of  NewsNow started the right2click campaign.  Watch his campaign video.

Technorati Tags: NewsNow, right2link, Times Online

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Once again Microsoft is showing it’s dirty claws.  According to a report in the Financial Times (also mentioned in the KPMRS Blog), Microsoft is planing to offer to pay publishers to remove their content from Google in an attempt to make its search engine Bing (no link on purpose) the #1 search engine.

According to the FT, one website publisher approached by Microsoft said that the plan “puts enormous value on content if search engines are prepared to pay us to index with them”.  – extracted

I cannot believe the greedy minds in the media industry are already thinking about embracing it. Again Microsoft has gotten it all wrong, will they ever learn? Attitudes like this will only promote two things, firstly the dissemination of online content theft, were people will republish full content of paid websites to drive traffic to their sites/blogs and secondly it will take away the choice that users now have of using any search engine they like.  This is so “un-internet”!

I agree with the comment on the KPMRS blog  by blogger Greg (null pointer) who said:

“How about instead of Microsoft spending millions to make their search results appear (artificially) better than Google’s, they spend that same money to create better search algorithms? That’s real competition!” – extracted

Technorati Tags: Bing, Google, Microsoft, newspapers, search engine

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Google has announced the release of a beta version of its browser Google Chrome for Linux (Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/OpenSuse).

Here are a few facts from the Google Chrome team:

60,000 lines of Linux-specific code written
23 developer builds
2,713 Linux-specific bugs fixed
12 external committers and bug editors to the Google Chrome for Linux code base, 48 external code contributors

Technorati Tags: browser, Google chrome, Linux

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Google Wave is an online (and open source) tool for real-time communication and collaboration.

A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

On an interview with the BBC technology site the developer behind Wave described it as “a communication and collaboration tool”.

“It struck us that e-mail is still the main communication tool on the web, which seemed remarkable given that it is 20-year-old technology,” said Lars Rasmussen, who, alongside his brother Jens, was the brains behind Google Maps. (extracted from BBC Technology)

An interesting (but possibly annoying) feature is the live transmission as you type. With this live typing participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

To test Wave you will will need to request an invitation, if accepted you can then invite 5 more people to join in the experience.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ

Technorati Tags: Google, Google wave, instant messaging, Open Source, share photos, social network, team collaboration, TEchnology News

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Undersea fibre optic network ready to deliver unprecedented capacity and connectivity to Africa

23 July 2009 – SEACOM today announced that its 1,28 Terabytes per second (Tb/s), 17,000 kilometres, submarine fibre optic cable system linking south and east Africa to global networks via India and Europe has been completed and commissioned. Backhauls linking Johannesburg, Nairobi and Kampala with the coastal landing stations have been established and SEACOM is also working with its national partners to commission the final links to Kigali and Addis Ababa shortly.

The launch of SEACOM opens up unprecedented opportunities, at a fraction of the current cost, as government, business leaders and citizens can now use the network as the platform to compete globally, drive economic growth and enhance the quality of life across the continent. (extracted)…. read in full

Technorati Tags: Africa, Broadband, SEACOM, Undersea fibre optic network

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Now you can have a list of your favourite Firefox Add-ons to share. I have always tried to keep a list in my bookmarks of the Add-ons I find most useful and normally recommend to people, now life has become much easier.

Discover more of the best add-ons and organize your favourites in easy-to-manage collections. Subscribe to see how the collections you admire grow, and fans follow when you manage and update your own collections with Mozilla Firefox Add-on Collector.

You can have a look at my small collection at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collection/itechlog

Technorati Tags: add-on, browser, Firefox colletctor, fireftp, Mozilla, twitterfox, web developer

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According to the BBC technology website, Apple claims to have fixed a hole in iTunes that allowed it to sync non-Apple devices. Interesting that this comes out as a lot of iPhone competitors are on the market and some of them like the Palm Tre do sync with the iTunes library.  Thanks to Apple if you live in a mixed enviroment you are now stuck.  Isn’t this what people would call the “drug dealer’s technique”? You give them access to it, get them hooked and make them buy more and more. I have always been unimpressed with Apple’s rip-off marketing strategy and even more with the cultish behaviour of its users but this is a new low.

Apple tried to keep cool about it with this (lame) statement…

“Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players” and warned that “newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality” with them.”  extracted

Maybe it’s time to switch to something like Song Bird, the open source competitor to the iTunes that syncs with most devices, including iPods.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, ipod, itunes, media player, Palm Tre, Song Bird

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Why has no one thought of it before….. ? You may ask. But someone now has.  The XMLVM project was created by Arno Puder and his team at San Francisco State University.  What it does is provide a bridge between disparate compile-time and run-time environments — in a word cross-compiling, as described by  Frank Ableson on the Linux Magazine website. 

XMLVM serves as an umbrella for several projects. For all projects, a Java class file or a .NET executable is first translated to an XML-document. Based on the XML-document generated by the front-end, various transformations are possible. (extracted)

The possibilities are immense, but I think it will really take off in the mobile market with Applications being able to run cross-platform from Android to iPhone and so on.

Technorati Tags: Android, Development, iPhone, Mobile, Programming, XML, XMLVM

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Google has announced it will launch an Operating System in 2010, the Google Chrome OS.  On its official blog Google said that it will target primarily Netbooks and that the OS will be Open Source. They also stated…

” Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work. “

Read it in full at Google’s official blog…

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome OS, Netbooks, Open Source, Operating System

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On June 18th 2009 The OpenSuse Project announced that its development factory has been made more accessible to package contributors.  Joe Brockmeier’s post at opensuseNews states…

 ”we’re making it easier for contributors to take responsibility for packages and to contribute directly to openSUSE. This means contributors will be able to be directly responsible for packages, without having to go through a Novell employee to make changes.“

Read more on OpenSuse News site.

Technorati Tags: Development, Linux, Novell, Open Source, OpenSuse Factory, Programming, Suse Linux

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Any webmaster and marketer will know how important it is to keep track of their website ranking, keyword positioning, visits, ROI and so on…  There are a lot of interesting tools out there to help us. 

• Google Analytics – Visitor tracking, keyword positioning, goal setting, demographics and more…
• http://www.alexa.com – web traffic metrics, top sites lists, site demographics, hot urls, and more… 
• Google Webmaster Tools – detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Google
• Yahoo Site Explorer – detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Yahoo
• Bling Webmaster Center – detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Bling (former LiveSearch)
• Keyword Spy – Research and track keywords in 3 search engines and 30+ countries.
• KPMRS – website rank monitoring services on various search engines
  for multiple keywords.
• XML-Sitemaps – Generate sitemaps online. Up to 500 urls Free.
• WP Google XML Sitemaps – This plugin will create a Google sitemaps compliant XML-Sitemap of your WordPress blog.

These are just a few tools I use the most, please share yours.

Technorati Tags: Analytics, Bing, Google, Keyword lookup, KPMRS, ROI, Search, SEO, Site Explorer, Sitemaps, Visitor tracking, webmaster tools, WordPress, Yahoo

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