Teknovis

I was aware last February that Microsoft had made an offer for Yahoo, and that this offer was subsequently rejected because Yahoo felt it was too low.

I was not aware of the specifics of the offer, and I certainly was not aware of how it compares to the current market value of Yahoo. Then I came across the figures this afternoon…

Microsoft offered Yahoo approximately $31 per share, and this was rejected. Fast-forward to today, and Yahoo shares are trading at approximately $11 per share!

I am guessing that Microsoft must be feeling that it was very lucky, but I wonder if Yahoo is lamenting its decision!

Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo

Enterprise Ireland have listed some of the Irish Web 2.0 companies that are currently making headlines in Web 2.0 in Ireland. It is good to see this support!

I think that there are some very innovative Web 2.0 companies. However, I often feel that their innovation is based on an easily replicable novelty rather than on a solid technological differentiator which is difficult to replicate.

I think that one of the amazing things about Web 2.0 is that it can be used to describe any technology,  depending on the mood of the person using the phrase. I really love the way Web 2.0 is often used as a synonym for “cash cow” in business models. In fact, I see this happening a lot!

Tags: Enterprise Ireland, Ireland, Web 2.0

There seems to be differing opinions on how Categories and Tags should be used within WordPress. So now that I some experience with both of these I have decided to go with the following principles:

• I am using Categories as very high-level descriptors, like chapters in a book.
• I am using Tags as precise pointers, like the index in a book.

Consequently, the number of Tags is likely to grow very large, and it is likely that a substantial number of these Tags will only be used once. So I will keep this under review.

The Tag Cloud shows a maximum of 45 Tags by default, as described in the wp_tag_cloud() documentation. However, this can easily be increased to any maximum number using a parameter.

I had expected that I could parametrise wp_tag_cloud() as part of my theme, but I could not find any way to do this!

Instead I had to modify one of the WordPress PHP files. There appeared to be two approaches:

• Modify wp_includes/category-template.php as described in this WordPress Support thread.
• Modify wp-includes/widgets.php as described in Modifying the WordPress Tag Cloud Widget Font Size. (Be careful of the incorrect apostrophe character!)

I am not sure what the relative advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are, but I chose the second one.

Tags: PHP, WordPress

I have now started using pretty URLs for my permalinks. This took me a long time to get working, but I have to admit that this was my own fault :o

Configuring permalinks within WordPress is straight-forward, and it is described in Using Permalinks.

My problems occurred because WordPress could not create the required .htaccess file due to the way that Blacknight has installed WordPress in a different directory to the one that appears in the URL.

In trying to solve my problems, I learned a lot about .htaccess files! I thought that these Stupid htaccess Tricks were very useful.

Everything appears to be working perfectly now, but there is still one thing that I do not understand. My .htaccess file contains the following three lines:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /blog/index.php [L]

There are many pages, such as htaccess rewrite code explanation, that describe these three lines. It is the explanation for the third line that confuses me:

Rewrites any request with 1 or more characters to /index.php, which launches wordpress and handles all redirections and what to display.

Firstly, the RewriteRule documentation states that the matched pattern is replaced with the substitution string. Furthermore, the Regular Expression documentation states that the period will match any single character! So what exactly is happening here?

Secondly, how does it rewrite the request to /index.php? Is it appended to the URL, or is it sent as a POST variable?

Tags: Blacknight, htacess, Permalinks, WordPress

I read an interesting article in The Irish Times over the weekend (but I was too busy to write about it then :o ) The article reports that the head of the Irish Police (known locally as Garda) has asked Vodafone Ireland to provide the Internet browsing details of all of its customers. Furthermore, he wants all of this information in real time! The full article is Garda chief asks mobile phone firm to retain web-browsing data. Apparently, Vodafone are being asked to do this as a “good citizen”, or as a small favour!

I think that this is a typical example of how things are often done in an unofficial way in Ireland, where the rules (or laws) are not seen to have any relevance! I can imagine the reported conversation between the Garda Commissioner and the Vodafone Representative:

Garda Commissioner: “Right lads – could you do us a favour? We need all the Internet browsing details of all your users in real-time.“

Vodafone Representative: “Do you have a warrant for that?“

Garda Commissioner: “Nah – don’t worry about warrants. Sure we are the Garda! That’ll be grand.“

Although the article is not very clear, I think that the police want the full contents of every webpage that is viewed. It is a mystery why they want this information in real-time. In fact, it is a mystery to me why they want this information at all! Surely a targeted approach (with warrants) would be more efficient!

There are also so many ways of circumventing this proposal using software that is readily available in the Internet. So I do not think that it will deter serious criminals.

All of this is especially pointless when you consider that one can (and criminals do) legally buy a prepaid mobile phone without providing any identity information.

So who is this new measure really targeting?

My take on it is that it is the bright idea of somebody who wants to grab headlines with a great new security measure, but that this person has no concept of the practical use or implications of the idea. It certainly would not be the first time this ever happened!

Tags: Ireland, Mobile Phone, Police, The Irish Times, Vodafone, Warrant

I came across a very innovative YouTube page recently containing a video promoting the Nintendo Wii.

The video is Wario Land: Shake It – Amazing footage!

You need to watch the video to the end to see what I am talking about! I presume that the effect is created using JavaScript.

Tags: JavaScript, Nintendo, Wii, YouTube

The BBC are reporting that Microsoft stopped issuing new licences for Windows 3.11 at the beginning of the month in The end of an era – Windows 3.x. It is really hilarous to consider the hardware requirements for Windows 3.11 now:

• An 8086/8088 processor or better running at 10MHz
• 64KB of RAM
• 7MB of hard drive space
• A graphics card that supported CGA graphics or better

Apparently Qantas and Virgin Atlantic are powering their in-flight entertainment systems using Windows 3.11. I really wonder if they are powering more of their onboard embedded systems using Windows 3.11, and if this would cause people to be more cautious about flying with them!

I have not seen Windows 3.11 in use in a long time, but I do remember it fondly…

Tags: BBC, Microsoft, Qantas, Virgin, Windows 3.11

Amazon has announced the seven finalists in the Amazon Web Services Start-Up Challenge. The idea behind this competition is to encourage start-up companies that base their products on Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure. The seven finalists are:

• Encoding.com
• Knewton
• MedCommons
• Sonian
• Pixily
• Yieldex
• Zephyr

The main prize for the eventual winner is $50,000 in cash, $50,000 worth of Amazon credits, and a potential investment from Amazon.

Tags: Amazon, Competition, Encoding.com, Knewton, MedCommons, Pixily, Sonian, Yieldex, Zephyr

I have just read the press release on the ChangingWorlds website that announces that it will be acquired by Amdocs for $60 million in cash! That is very nice, and the current owners must be delighted! Congratulations are in order!

As far as I recall, ChangingWorlds started as a UCD campus company, and they received substantial support from Enterprise Ireland.

It really is great to see that it is not all doom and gloom in the current economic downturn!

Tags: Amdocs, Campus Company, ChangingWorlds, Enterprise Ireland, UCD

Entrepreneurship is something that I have always been interested in, and it is something that is now part of my everyday work! So it is certainly something that I intend writing about here!

I think that Ireland has improved significantly in relation to entrepreneurship, but there is still a huge way to go! We are currently experiencing an economic downturn (as is most of the world), and this is likely to increase the number of start-up companies. Unfortunately, it also makes it more difficult for these start-up companies to receive the necessary initial investment :(

I read an interesting article on TechCrunch today titled Teen Bloggerpreneur Jessica Mah’s $500 Startup: InternshipIN. The article describes how to start a company for $500! Yes – just $500! It seems impossibly small! The start-up company is based on a website called InternshipIN, which is designed to provide a single portal for university students looking for internships. I think the most interesting aspect of this is the spirit in which it is being created, and it certainly will be interesting to see if it succeeds! Jessica Mah’s blog provides more details (and it is a good read).

Closer to home, I read that Pat Phelan (overall winner at this years IIA Net Visionary Awards 2008) is on a panel at a Digital Media Island event. Therefore, he asks the question “How can we foster start-ups and innovation in Ireland today?“, and some of the answers are very interesting!

Tags: Digital Media Island, IIA, InternshipIN, Jessica Mah, Net Visionary Awards, Pat Phelan, TechCrunch