service

The technology industry loves to talk about anything that is new. Whether it's IT virtualization, SOA, or Web 2.0, venture capitalists, analysts, and the press team up and transform the latest thing into technonirvana.

OK, maybe this is just human nature, but in our business, it is important to remember that the IT triad consists of people, processes, and technology. In other words, enterprise technology ain't worth squat, unless a bunch of highly skilled nerds can monitor boxes, follow directions, and turn individual piece parts into a cohesive system.

Yup, the "people and process" part … Read more

Long gone are the days where Microsoft service pack releases such as Windows XP SP2 would deliver shocks measurable on the Richter scale. Redmond has returned to its old habits of including mostly security repairs and crash fixes, but nothing in the way of new features. That doesn't mean that Vista users should skip out on Vista Service Pack 1.

Downloading anything from Microsoft is never easy, in my experience, and Vista SP1 is no different. Microsoft has announced that it won't begin to roll out the service pack through its automatic updates until April, so you must … Read more

April is apparently coming early this year.

Microsoft has abruptly changed its tune on when Service Pack 1 will start showing up on retail shelves. Microsoft said it has started shipping the full retail versions of the product as of Tuesday (in addition to making it available for download). That means that Amazon.com is indeed going to be able to start sending out copies on Wednesday, as it had billed on its Web site.

As of Monday, Microsoft told CNET News.com that retail boxed copies would not be available until "as soon as April." Apparently that … Read more

Well, Amazon was at least half right. As the retailer predicted, Microsoft did make Windows Vista Service Pack 1 available for download on Tuesday via Windows Update and on its Web site.

Still unclear is when it will start being available on retail shelves. Amazon said it will start shipping boxed copies with SP1 included on Wednesday, while Microsoft said it will be at retailers "as soon as April." I've asked for further clarification on the disparity, but have yet to hear back.

Meanwhile, in a posting on the Windows Vista blog, Microsoft also went into a … Read more

(Update, March 18, 2008 5:21 AM PDT: Amazon.com has listed Windows Vista SP1 as ready for shipment starting Wednesday.)

So, when is Windows Vista Service Pack 1 coming out?

It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is anything but simple.

Without trying to get Clintonesque and say it depends on your definition of is, let's just say there are many different ways of getting the operating system update and each is operating on its own schedule.

In February, CEO Steve Ballmer announced that Microsoft had wrapped up development of the update, but the company cautioned … Read more

For the next three weeks, office workers across the country will have visions of buzzer-beaters dancing in their heads.

It's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament time, and that means brackets will be zipping through e-mail systems in organizations large and small. There are dozens of sites that let you make your tournament choices online, whether to test your basketball-prediction acumen against the masses, or to recruit friends and coworkers in a private pool.

You can even use Google's Basketball Bracket Battle gadget to place your choices on your iGoogle page. After you select the "Create a bracket … Read more

UPDATE 3-15-08 12:20 p.m.: Some of the information in the story is found in YouTube's Frequently Asked Questions section

Before you start building new applications around YouTube's video player, it might be wise to check out the Terms of Service agreement and the Frequently Asked Questions section.

It has a lot to say about what you can or can't do--particularly when it comes to any thoughts of making money. First up, the No.1 video-sharing site says plainly "the intent of the API is for noncommercial use. "More specifically, the TOS prohibits using … Read more

Benchmark Capital has invested $6.5 million in online subscription software company Zuora, which launched its Web site Thursday, according to the company.

The series A round of funding also included investors Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff and Min Zhu, founder and co-CEO of Web conferencing company WebEx.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Zuora, founded in March 2007, has built a platform that automates purchasing and billing for online subscriptions. With its automated platform, which has yet to fully launch, the company hopes to make it easier and less expensive for any online service provider or publisher to regularly bill customers. … Read more

There comes a point where every early adopter realizes they are no longer really adopting anything unique any more. This happens when a product becomes saturated, more available and more universal. For me, as I've seen over the past few days, that point has come to pass - at least in San Francisco.

Walking around, eating out, and driving around San Francisco, all I see are iPhones. But it's not only the young yupppie/guppie types any more. Rather, there are kids, young professionals, middle-aged folks (not so many older folks though), men, women, white, Black, Latino, Asian, … Read more