Wednesday 14 May 2008, 5:31 PM
Tomorrow is National Working from Home Day
As a journalist, my heart drops when I start receiving press releases about any sort of "Day". This is because the majority of "Days" are Public Relations (PR) exercises dreamed up by clever PR agencies to promote their clients' agendas. I have no problem with that, as long as people recognise that the media they are consuming that is PR generated is mostly advertorial as opposed to editorial.
However, tomorrow's "Day" du jour (geddit?) is "National Working from Home Day", and is being busily promoted by its organisers, Workwise UK. OK, some PRs -- and I don't blame them, good opportunity -- have jumped on the bandwagon and are promoting their clients' interests, but Workwise UK itself doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives.
Some Workwise UK members, such as BT, may obviously benefit from an increase in people working from home (or 'WFH' as it's known at CNET, not to be confused with 'WTF'). However, the majority of members -- Transport for London, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Equality and Human Rights Commission -- do not obviously directly benefit commercially.
I rang up Adam Legresly, who is head of operations for Workwise UK, to find out what all the noise was about.
"We're trying to raise awareness of the benefits of working from home," said Legresly. "We're not promoting shirking of responsibility, it's all to do with business benefits. In the BT Centre they have 4000 staff working in a building that's designed to hold 2000 people -- they're sweating their assets."
I assumed this was due to half of the BT staff at any one time working remotely, rather than them literally being crammed in like sardines, or prisoners in an overcrowded jail, 'sweating their assets'.
"You can bring in the disabled, single working parents -- it's a way of seizing on talent," said Legresly. "Small organisations might especially consider savings that can be made on health and safety requirements, commuting time is cut down, and there's a reduction in CO2 emissions."
I asked Legresly whether he was working from home, which he confirmed.
"I am working from home at the moment," he said. "And I'll be working from home tomorrow. Everybody at the organisations works from home some of the time, otherewise it would be a bit hypocritical."
So, I'd like to know readers' opinions. Does WFH make you or your boss go WTF? Or are you in favour? And will you be working from home tomorrow?
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 3:55 PM
More on mobile Linux smartphones
Following the news that the LiMo Foundation is going to try push mobile Linux into the enterprise zone, more hints have arrived that the technology is not going to stay purely consumer.
On the LiMo/Verizon conference call today, Verizon's vice president of network, Kyle Malady, said the operator expected to carry everything "from entry level handsets to more sophisticated smartphones and PDAs".
Although Verizon will continue supporting its technology-agnostic approach, "we expect that Linux mobile will rapidly become our preferred operating system [and] developers should check out LiMo and Linux mobile first".
Exciting times!
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 3:02 PM
Red Hat defends UK's open source record
Is the UK really a laggard in open source? Red Hat denies there is any problem.
"Red Hat does more business in the UK than in any other European country," Malcolm Herbert, senior manager of consulting practice at Red Hat UK, told ZDNet at the Open Source Forum event. "There's no problem with open source take-up in the UK."
There are plenty of people who disagree with him. OpenForum's Graham Taylor, speaking at the same event, is just the latest person to say the UK is crap at open source - it's become a common story from all open source activists.
Alfresco's Open Source Barometer - a study of the community of 35,000 users of the company's content management system - placed the UK equal sixth in the world, after the US, France, Germany and Spain, and equal with Italy.
"That's really abnormal for enterprise software," said Dr Ian Howells, chief executive of Alfresco. "You never see the UK coming sixth in adoption of enterprise software." He did point out however,
that the top five nations in Europe add up to a larger open source market than the US - illustrating the "long tail" of open source.
"Why are we a third world nation?" asked Howells. "We are putting ourselves at a disadvantage. Why does our government not give better value to our citizens?".
That last comment illustrates the motive Herbert sees. People are "talking up" the UK's failures in open source deployment, to get government attention, because national threats and disasters are the only language that politicians understand: "It's just political, led by commentators dealing with the government," he said.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 1:18 PM
Google: We Care A Lot... about IPv6
"We care a lot about the health of the Internet", says Google (I'll bet it does! Not much business around for it otherwise...), which is why it's making its search facility available for users of IPv6. Those of you who are lucky and forward-thinking enough to be IPv6 users can find this facility here.
"With current operating systems such as Windows Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux providing high-quality support for IPv6, we hope it's only a matter of time before IPv6 is widely deployed," says Google. "We will be doing our part."
A timely and welcome reminder of what is going to become an burning issue for many businesses awfully soon.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 10:46 AM
OLPC meltdown - or, the side-effects of working closely with Nickneg.
Interested in the One Laptop Per Child project? Make a cup of tea, sit down and read this 4500 word impassioned essay from Ivan Krstić, the man who used to be in charge of the security side of the OLPC project.
Long, anguished essays often result when people find themselves in the position of once having worked with Nicholas Negroponte. This one is a classic of the genre and, true to the spirit of sensible software development, contains much that has been and will be extensively reusable - such as the phrase "The project was a spectacular flop due to mismanagement and personality conflicts." (not, as it happens, referring to OLPC. He has stronger language reserved for that).
But it would be doing Krstić a grave mis-service to pull too many quotes, no matter how quotable he is. He's making a plea that should be heard by everyone who thinks and cares about computing in general - especially, of course, those who think advanced technology has a role to play in bringing education to the disadvantaged, but by no means exclusively.
Ditch the preconceptions, he says, about open source and Windows. Create an organisation devoted to open learning, that's agnostic about hows but very strong on the why, and committed to all the pieces of the jigsaw from software design through to content and the practicalities of deployment and support.
For if you forget why you're doing something - or, worse, do it in a certain way because you've been divinely issued with infallible insight that this is Right while ignoring the difficult bits, then you will end up dans le merde. When there are a billion kids out there needing your help, this is more than just giving naysayers another opportunity for schadenfreude. And the principles and thinking behind his arguments apply across the board.
I can't do justice to the depth, passion and sheer articulated frustration in Krstić's polemic without writing 4500 words myself, and he's done that already. Do go and read it, think about what he's saying and why.
Along the way, you'll learn more about Negroponte than you ever wanted to know. As the ex-management team from OLPC will sadly attest, you won't be alone in that.
Tuesday 13 May 2008, 5:26 PM
Mobile broadband speeds explained
3 called a bunch of journos over to the Groucho this morning for a breakfast briefing about mobile broadband speeds, why 3 takes the right approach in advertising these, and why Vodafone (who 3 has hauled off to the ASA and GSMA on this point) does not.
A moot point, as it turns out, because Vodafone has apparently said it will stop advertising 7.2Mbps nationally when that speed's only available in 18 London postcodes and some airports (although it is investing to extend that reach quite a bit).
Anyway, the meeting did provide a useful primer as to why, as with fixed-line broadband, you should never expect to get those 7.2Mbps or 3.6Mbps headline speeds with mobile broadband. First off, here's those maximum line rates vs the maximum possible user rates that can be attained after the basic overhead is subtracted (all in Mbps obviously) - and remember, this is assuming you're right next to the base station in perfect environmental conditions:
14.4 / 12.91
7.2 / 6.69
3.6 / 3.42
1.8 / 1.71
Then come the other factors, each chipping away at that data rate:
- Non-mobile-broadband 3G traffic (voice, video, SMS etc)
- Applications being used (browsing, streaming, downloading etc)
- Signal quality (interference, distance from base station, signal strength, trees etc)
- Technology being used (device capability, network capability, network configuration)
- Backhaul capacity on the operator's side
- Number of mobile broadband users in a cell (although this can be mitigated by splitting the cell, using second and third frequencies, or adding more base stations)
Phew.
Another interesting point that was made - and I must get the graph of this - is that, once you're around 500m from the nearest base station, it doesn't really matter much whether you're on a 3.6Mbps or 7.2Mbps connection. You'll get much of a muchness because, of course, the higher the bandwidth the steeper the falloff in propogation over distance.
3's take on this is that you shouldn't worry so much about high numbers (most mobile broadband applications only require a downlink of 1Mbps or less) and focus rather on density and reach of coverage - 3's speciality as it has the most comprehensive 3G network in the UK (especially as its network-sharing agreement with T-Mobile comes to fruition).
All very impressive, but we're not just streaming from YouTube, we're increasingly sending videos to YouTube, and try doing that without some high-number standard like HSUPA. 3 says it's rolling that out from July, which is good, but it will take a while to get significant coverage on that.
All fair enough. I can't see the point in worrying about or advertising high numbers and standard names - what consumer really knows or cares what those means? It just needs to work properly. Funnily enough, it was Vodafone that first started going on about "mobile broadband", in an attempt to get away from alphabetic jargon. Let's hope they, and everyone else, stay away.
Tuesday 13 May 2008, 2:46 PM
Office for the Mac vs OpenOffice 3 for the Mac
What a coincidence. Just as OpenOffice.org prepares to release the latest version of its open source productivity app which for the first time features native support for OS X, Microsoft puts out a story claiming that Office for the Mac is flying off the shelves at unprecedented rate.
I guess I shouldn't be too cynical as our colleague's at CNET News.com claim that Office for the Mac has been selling well for a while now. Back in 2005, Microsoft claimed that it has the best year ever for sales of Office for the Mac, and things have continued to get better if the latest numbers are to be believed.
However, the arrival of native support for OpenOffice.org 3.0 on the Mac will be welcomed by Mac users, including me – who have had to opt for alternatives such as NeoOffice – which work fine but obviously don't have the base or resources of OpenOffice.
According to OpenOffice.org, "OpenOffice.org 3.0 will be the first version to run on Mac OS X without X11, with the look and feel of any other Aqua application. It introduces partial VBA support to this platform. In addition, OpenOffice.org 3.0 integrates well with the Mac OS X accessibility APIs, and thus offers better accessibility support than many other Mac OS X applications."
Be interesting to keep an eye on the development of OpenOffice 3.0 and see what the uptake from Mac users is like as well as trying to find out what the actual numbers are which Microsoft is so proud of as the company isn't disclosing anything useful like actual quantitative information.
The other factor with this story is that while sales of Office for the Mac might be on the up, a lot of that has to do with the fact there are simply more Mac users out there – and a lot of them seem to want to use their Apple device for business if the Office uptake reports are to be believed. An interesting development – could this finally be a sign of Apple trying to do something serious in the business arena. If you combine that with the supposed imminent release of a 3G iPhone – a much more business friendly proposition than the current device – then maybe Steve Jobs is hoping that enterprises will help him weather the consumer downturn which is many foresee halting Apple's prodigious growth to date.
Tuesday 13 May 2008, 1:04 PM
EU says ICT is key to cutting carbon emissions
I am planning a more considered news story on this but the first pass is that the EU seems have bought into the mantra that the IT industry has been banging on about of late. As well as making IT equipment and systems more efficient – a lot of IT firms are also keen to push the ability of IT to make other systems more efficient such as transport and energy generation.
Here's the introduction to the EU's statement on this:
As part of its effort to combat climate change, the European Commission today announced that it would promote the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) to improve energy efficiency throughout the economy, starting with buildings, lighting and the power grid. ICT can enable, across the economy, greener behaviour, which would massively cut Europe's carbon footprint if widely deployed. The Commission will encourage the ICT industry to demonstrate leadership in reducing its own CO2 emissions and by identifying and creating solutions that will benefit the whole economy. For instance the most advanced computer servers consume the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb; if widely used they could offer potential energy savings of up to 70%.
More to follow on this.
Tuesday 13 May 2008, 10:35 AM
UK 3G iPhone 'end of June, but not from us.' sniffs Voda
No excuses whatsoever for plundering David Manners' blog once more, Last week, he trapped an Italian telco exec in the Dubai desert, buried him up to his neck in the sand and extracted news about the 3G iPhone. (Actually, I suspect the Margarita Torture was employed.)
This week, he's been even more subtle. By dint of asking in UK high street phone shops, he's got O2 to confirm it's coming and they're selling it but not when, and Vodafone to say that it's going to be available at the end of June - but not from them.
""Although Vodafone is also selling the 3G iPhone in Italy, in competition with TIM, the Vodafone guy confirmed that Vodafone would not be handling the 3G iPhone in Germany, France and the UK.
The Vodafione was pretty sniffy about the 3G iPhone: “Our customers expect to get a handset free with a contract, we don’t expect to have to hand over a portion of the call charges and we can’t be sure about the quality of their 3G. Over there they’re behind the European manufacturers in 3G technology.”"
With the Apple WorldWide Developers Conference kicking off on June 9th in San Francisco, this could be the best documented secret Apple launch in history.
Monday 12 May 2008, 3:36 PM
DWP downplays security breach
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted that some of its staff have been forwarding passwords with password protected material.
An email that was leaked on the 'Dizzy Thinks' blog on Thursday from DWP said:
"I have been advised of instances where password protected data has been sent out with the password being sent separately as detailed in Security Notice 02/07. However, once the data and the separate password are received, staff are then forwarding the data and password on together, this defeats the purpose of the security measure entirely.
Could I ask you to remind staff of the heightened security surrounding data transfer and ensure that data and passwords are sent separately."
DWP kind of admitted that security procedures had been breached in an email statement they sent to me:
"We take the security of individuals’ data extremely seriously. We have carried out a major review of procedures around the transfer of data to ensure the security of customer information. We expect all managers to monitor the application of our security controls and ensure that the correct action is taken in all cases."
When I rang up to get some clarification, a DWP spokesperson downplayed the blog post, telling me that the leaked memo was a standard email to remind staff of security procedures, and that it wasn't in response to a large security incident.
When I asked whether there had actually been an incident, I was told there may have been a couple of isolated incidents at local level.
I pointed out that even one incident is enough to disclose large amounts of personal information, and the spokesperson said that DWP was making sure that the security of individual data was being taken seriously.
Honestly, even if the government has the best will in the world, it simply is unfeasible to expect buy-in not only across Whitehall, but at local level too, for all of the security procedures that would be needed to keep citizen data safe. As there is more government data sharing, there will be more data breaches and leaks, it's as simple as that.
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