lovegra.net

(Credit:
Google)

That’s because, fundamentally, Google Maps is a service not just consumed by many but also repackaged by many through the availability of the Google Maps API (application programming interface). So until the day Google flips its Don’t Be Evil switch to the “off” position, Google Maps is in effect a public utility, and many can benefit from contributions to the service.

I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, it’s great that this kind of activity can be crowd-sourced (please excuse the jargon) so the community (please excuse the jargon again) can contribute to a project that reduces the amount of digitally uncharted terrain. Google has given us a way to help make a difference that, while small, could collectively become quite large.

Google Map Maker looks slick, but it would be slicker with better satellite imagery. Parts of Iceland, one of my favorite places on Earth, are too coarse for any tracing.

But on the other hand, I can think of worthy causes in greater need of charity or free labor than Google. If we’re all going to be augmenting Google Maps with user-generated content, wouldn’t it be nice if we could do it through a more neutral mechanism that lets others benefit from the work, too? Geotagged entries in Wikipedia show on Google Maps, but not Google Maps alone, at least theoretically.

Overall, I think my first reaction will carry the day for me.

With the tool, people can using tracing tools to build maps in Cyprus, Iceland, Pakistan, and Vietnam, according to the Google LatLong blog. Also open for cartographic contributions are several Caribbean nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Google on Monday unveiled a new Web-based tool, Map Maker, that lets people add roads, lakes, businesses, and other features to unmapped regions of Google Maps.

Google Map Maker lets people add details to maps in some countries.

I don’t mean to burst anyone’s bubble, but anyone looking to the U.S. presidency to make any material difference for open source needs to pass the bong around one more time. It’s not going to happen.

I personally could not possibly care less whether John McCain or Obama use Linux. It has never entered my mind. I’m much more concerned with their policies on domestic and international issues, like health care, Iraq, etc.–you know, things that have the potential to help or hurt lots of people.

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Yes, there are things that a president can do to create an atmosphere accommodating to open source, or other technology choices like Net neutrality. But let’s be clear: there are far bigger issues in front of the U.S. president than whether the government adopts open source (and, regardless, the U.S. government is already adopting open source at a rapid pace, so who needs a presidential preference for open source?).

I’ve seen a lot of noise over the past year about which presidential candidate would be best for open source, most recently this blog post in TechRepublic suggesting that Barack Obama would be better for open source.

If a U.S. president has limited impact on the economy–you and I impact the economy more than a presidential speech because we’re the ones working, saving, and starting new businesses–then why would we expect them to make much of a dent on technology policy? Would I like McCain and Obama to use open source? Sure. I’m just not going to think about that when I vote.

Having floated a spinoff trial balloon for its struggling mobile phone business, has Motorola reconsidered?

Motorola sent a ripple through the mobile phone industry a few weeks ago when it released a statement saying it was “exploring the structural and strategic realignment of its businesses” that “may include the separation of Mobile Devices from its other businesses.” The company has lost significant market share in the mobile phone business after failing to come up with an Act 2 following the success of the Razr.

Motorola CEO Greg Brown

(Credit:
Motorola)

But in Barcelona on Monday for the World Mobile Congress, new Motorola CEO Greg Brown told Reuters that the company is “fully committed” to its mobile device business. “I don’t want there to be any confusion,” he said, as he caused confusion.

At first glance, it sounds like Brown has made his peace with keeping the mobile phone business in-house, despite the demands of investor Carl Icahn that Motorola separate phones from the rest of its activities. “Motorola is fully committed to the mobile devices business and I am fully committed to mobile devices,” he told Reuters.

But an analyst interviewed by Reuters noted that Motorola would have to be committed to the business in order to sell it. Most executives aren’t going to just casually mention on-the-record to a reporter at a cocktail party, “Yeah, I’m looking to unload this thing the first chance I get. Do you know anybody?”

It’s hard to imagine why Motorola would dump the mobile phone business because, despite its struggles, it still has pretty good brand recognition. And given the speed at which the phone industry moves, the company could be back firing on all cylinders just as quickly as its downfall led to the departure of former CEO Ed Zander.

But spinning off the unit could give investors a nice return from both the spinoff itself and the remaining company, which would be profitable. Few consumers realize that Motorola makes a host of wireless gear for businesses, as well as set-top boxes, but investors are familiar with those businesses.

Sadness.

(Credit:
CNET Networks/Donald Bell)

Not too long ago, at the end of the inaugural post for my reoccurring Q&A feature, MP3 Mailbox Monday, I threw in a little tip about how to store your headphones while not using them with your MP3 player. To reiterate: you should avoid wrapping your earphones around your device while leaving the plug in the jack, because it puts stress on the cable and can cause damage to the wires inside. Perhaps it seemed that this tip was just some good advice from someone who has your best interests at heart (me, of course), or maybe it came off as preachy, or maybe you just thought: “well, duh.”

If you were in this last camp, you hit the nail on the head. The reason I chose that moment to bestow this little tidbit upon Crave readers is due to the fact that I’d recently pulled out my Creative Zen V Plus, unwound my Shure SE310s, and discovered, much to my dismay, that there was a crack in the cable next to the plug and the wires inside were exposed and in danger of fraying. Ouch. Not that I wasn’t aware of the fact that this was not the best way to be storing my $300 headphones. After all, Shure doesn’t include that nice hardshell case for decoration. Still, with a cable as thick as that found attached to Shure earphones, damage to the cord was the least of my concern. I was much more worried about what might befall the ‘buds being bashed around in my bag, although even that did not inspire me to use the included case on a regular basis.

Correct way to store headphones

(Credit:
CNET Networks/Jasmine France)

You may rightfully wonder at this point why I wouldn’t make use of such a handy accessory. Well, first of all, I’m lazy. That’s right. I said it. And before you go condemning me for readily admitting to my indulgence in one of the seven deadly sins, I’d like a show of hands from the people who store their headphones in the way that I’ve mentioned above. That’s what I thought. OK, I can’t actually see you. But I would guess at least half of MP3 player users employ the cable-wrap method, which, by the way, is not as bad if you actually unplug the headphones first. But I also have trouble with this seemingly effortless step–even though I have experienced first-hand the damage that may be inflicted. What it really boils down to is habit: I have to train myself to store my earphones in a way more conducive to their health.

Incorrect way to store headphones

(Credit:
CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)

If you share this habit, it’s probably a good idea to break it–broken headphones do not a happy music listener make. And if this can happen to a top-of-the-line pair of earphones, it’s a risk for many sets out there. Yes, it would be nice if the cables offered better stress relief close to the plug, but the fact is many of them don’t, and the damage is easy to avoid with a little foresight. Luckily for me, the break on my Shure SE310s is actually on the extender cable, rather than the Y cable connected directly to the earbuds, so it’s easy (and cheap) enough to replace. Good thing, too, because although Shure earphones come with a pretty great two-year warranty, this type of damage falls under “user error,” and it’s up to the company’s discretion whether or not they replace it. Not that you couldn’t fib a little about how the break came about, but a discerning manufacturer will probably call you out on it. Or maybe–just maybe–if the customer service rep is feeling extra-generous, you might get a nice, new pair of headphones.

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Savio Rodrigues of InfoWorld tries to parse what makes open-source buyers tick, and how to generate more of them. In so doing, he suggests that the real battleground is over those enterprises with both money and expertise to go it alone with open-source software (so-called “Category B” customers).

Why should they bother buying support when they can self-support?

For me, this isn’t the right question. Using his MySQL-derived customer classification system, the real question is, “Can proprietary software serve Category A (companies with more time than money) at all?” and “Can open source more efficiently serve Categories B and C too?”

Implicit in Rodrigues’ reasoning is, I think, a belief that if the software is proprietary, A, B, and C companies will all eventually just say, “Aw, shucks. I’ve got time/expertise/money, but what does it matter, I just have to pay anyway!” So the vendor cleans up on all three.

In fact, my own experience suggests that B companies buy less and less proprietary software (E*Trade is an example). Ditto goes for B, and C companies are willing to pay, anyway, so where is the conflict with open-source business models?

Open-source distribution gets a company to all three categories far more efficiently than proprietary software distribution does, so open source is better than proprietary software in that way. It reduces some development costs, too, even for companies that do the vast majority of development (because ancillary development-like language packs are generally picked up by the user community). And it significantly reduces sales costs because would-be buyers arrive at one’s door prequalified.

Having said all this, I do agree with Rodrigues that there needs to be some “proprietary” hook to give would-be buyers a reason to become actual buyers. Where I think we differ is in what we’d keep proprietary.

I believe that keeping the core of one’s software proprietary makes poor business sense because it inhibits adoption and increases cost of sale. Rather, “proprietary” services surround the core (think RHN with Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Google AdWords around Google Search, which is proprietary but needn’t be) and provide the purchasing rationale or mechanism.

Few begrudge Red Hat for closing off Red Hat Network. It’s a service, not the software. JBoss did roughly the same thing with JBoss Operations Network, to very good effect.

A “network” might not suit all companies equally well. For others, perhaps offering their software in a paid-for SaaS product would be the “proprietary hook” necessary to turn an onlooker into a customer. Or perhaps there’s a completely different angle on it: think Basecamp (an application written to exploit 37Signals’ Ruby).

Or consider Acquia’s model: there’s a huge amount of code surrounding Drupal, not all of it good. Acquia boils the Drupal ocean down to a coherent distribution with a management network for keeping customers current on the add-on modules, similar to how
Firefox manages extensions.

The point is that there’s a lot of money in giving away one’s core, then charging for the periphery. Providing the core free of charge and encumbrances helps foster adoption, which makes the peripheral add-ons all the more valuable.

Starting October 1 customers of Comcast’s residential data services will have an invisible barrier on their monthly data usage. Under the new guidelines of Comcast’s Acceptable Use Policy announced Thursday, that cap will be set at 250 gigabytes per month, per account.

Users who go over the limit will get a courtesy call from Comcast’s customer service for the first instance. However, under the new policy a second-time offense means the service is immediately suspended for an entire calendar year.

Surprisingly the company is not providing any tools to help users monitor their current usage. An FAQ on Comcast’s support site simply suggests that customers do a “Web search” for bandwidth metering software that will track this amount for them. Going forward there may be plans to set up alerts over certain thresholds, or bundle some official tool as part of the company’s starter software.

Comcast notes that the median usage for most residential customers falls somewhere between 2GB and 3GB, a number that is regularly broken within a matter of hours and sometimes minutes by customers taking advantage of streaming HD video and online backup services. The company breaks down basic usage numbers similar to what’s seen on the marketing materials on a consumer hard drive:

* Send 50 million e-mails (at 0.05KB/e-mail)

* Download 62,500 songs (at 4MB/song)

* Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2GB/movie)

* Upload 25,000 high-resolution digital photos (at 10MB/photo)

A far greater problem may be the slighting of cloud storage services that offer file transfer and backup. Services like Carbonite and Mozy let you back up and transfer the entirety of your computer’s storage several times per month, which on many standard consumer machines can be in the hundreds of gigabytes.

Apple, too, is just at the beginning stages of MobileMe, a service that offers sync and file backup to multiple devices. Additionally, the rumored all-you-can-eat iTunes could drastically change how much downloading users are doing on a monthly basis.

So what do you think about this new limit? Let us know in the comments and the poll below.

What do you think of the new 250GB/month Comcast cap?

( polls)

A happy Opal owner.

(Credit:
Lenard Audio)

Americans love big
cars, mammoth trucks, huge houses, but for some reason they go ga ga over tiny speakers. Sure, the little guys are good enough for computers, but real music lovers should consider investing in something that can move some air, something along the lines of Klipsch’s RB-81 ($698/pair) hefty bookshelf speakers. They’ll blow away any lifestyle poser speakers with 3 -inch woofers. Don’t kid yourself into believing that any of those puny speakers can be any better than good enough.

But true connoisseurs of big sound who need something bigger should take a peek at Lenard Audio’s Opal speakers. I’m sure they’ll do the job! How big are they? Big enough to house four 27-inch woofers (!!!) in its pair of eight foot high cabinets. Each system is individually commissioned and built. Most Opals are assembled with modern high quality speaker components, but some use original 1970s classic JBL drivers, “…made when engineering craftsmanship was at its height.”

Lenard Audio is based in Australia, where they offer a wide range of very large speakers.

Texas Instruments has a new OMAP chip to set upon the world, and this time around it’s eyeing more than mobile phones.

The new OMAP3440 made its debut in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2008. This is the latest in TI’s line of OMAP applications processors, which are the equivalent of the CPUs inside PCs.

TI sells standalone applications processors like the 3440 to customers such as Nokia for use in high-end smartphones, but it is also talking up the potential for the 3440 as a chip for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). That’s Intel’s name for an evolving class of handheld computer that’s a bit more powerful than a smartphone but smaller and longer running than a notebook.

TI isn’t willing to give Intel any ground when it comes to portable handheld devices. Intel has already tried to gain ground against chipmakers like TI, Samsung Electronics, and Freescale Semiconductor with its XScale program. The XScale chip did fairly well as a standalone applications processor, but attempts by Intel to also get into the cellular modem business flopped, and the company offloaded the division in 2006 to Marvell Technology Group.

The new chip, like the Nvidia APX 2500 also unveiled Monday, can record and playback 720p high-definition video. It uses ARM’s Cortex A8 core running at 800MHz and can be used with any modem. TI hopes to have samples out for customers to start testing in phone and MID designs by the end of the second quarter.

Virtual world Second Life has put in effect some new measures to keep adult content away from users who might not want to run into it. Or fly into it, as avatars might do.

Later this year, parent company Linden Lab will create a standalone “continent” for adult content, and members who don’t purchase private “land” will be asked to migrate there if they wish to partake in adult-related activities. Second Life is an 18+ environment already, but stricter age verification policies will be put in place. You’ll need a “verified” account, either through credit card information or through Linden Labs’ filtering system, to get into the adult “continent.”

Members will be asked to start flagging content as adults-only as part of a new content rating system, which will start to roll out in an update to the downloadable Second Life client that will be available next week.

“The people that are on our mainland and in our estate, if they are going to engage with adult content, are being asked to do that in the adult content area,” said Cyn Skyberg, vice president of customer relations at Linden Lab. “Private land owners will be asked to tag their searches for adult-related listings so that it goes into the adult filter.”

So what does this mean for Second Life, which was briefly a marketers’ paradise before swifty falling from grace in the Silicon Valley pecking order? Well, it’ll help make it a friendlier environment for some of the new “residents” whom Linden Lab hopes to woo. The company is profitable, due largely in part to the sheer volume of virtual goods and transactions made on the platform by loyal users, and Linden Lab sees corporate and academic institutions as an area for future growth. Keeping porn in its place could be good for P.R.

“A portion of this will be perceived as definitely being more corporate- and educator-friendly because you’ll have more control over the things you’re experiencing,” Skyberg said.

(Credit:
Swann Communications)

From the folks who brought you the creepy and simultaneously cool (depending on who’s using it) DVR flashlight, comes another 007-inspired piece of high-tech security gear. On Wednesday, Swann Communications introduced the IP-3G ConnectCam 1000.

The ConnectCam is a 802.11G wireless network camera that lets users view their own surveillance video on their 3G phone (setup of the camera’s options requires a PC) from anywhere in the world, according to Swann. I really need to get my superiors to send me to New Zealand to test out this whole “anywhere in the world” thing.

The camera also features the following:

4x digital zoom
Six infrared LEDs for night vision
Omni-directional microphone
MPEG4 and MJPEG compression formats supported

The camera can be configured to take a snapshot whenever it detects motion, and you can then have that pic e-mailed to an address of your choosing. The two-way unidirectional microphone allows remote communication between whoever is in earshot of the camera and the person monitoring it, whether from their 3G phone or PC.

(Credit:
Swann)

This has some interesting potential applications.

If someone was to break in to your house or business while you’re half a world away in Barcelona, for example, you could actually get on the speaker and pretend you’re god and tell them you can see everything they’re doing and that they will be punished for this. Or tell them that you have friends in high places and that you’ve just sent every cop in the city to your house.

I would almost wish for something like this to happen, just to potentially drive some would-be criminals insane.

The IP-3G ConnectCam 1000 is “coming soon” to Swann’s retail and online resellers for $299.99.