Venture Chronicles

Riya Eases Pain of Pile of Pix

Riya launch party is 11/18, I'm going. Pretty cool application, let's you tag individual items in a digital photo.

Link: Wired News: Riya Eases Pain of Pile of Pix.

The field of online photo-sharing sites is becoming pretty crowded, but a new service hopes to distinguish itself by automating the tedious job of tagging pictures by using artificial intelligence and face-recognition technology.

Shai on Open Source, Oracle

UPDATE: I just changed the title of this post from "SAP Slams Open Source, Oracle" to "Shai on Open Source, Oracle" because SAP is a company rich in divergent views on any subject, so while Shai's comments hold one view there are many others in the company. Also, I listened to the podcasts of Shai's Churchill Club interview and I would encourage you to do the same to form your own opinion of what he was saying. I'm certainly not going to pretend that I can speak for Shai, but his comments when taken in the full context of the interview were certainly not as hostile to open source as the pull quotes that I have seen.

I wasn't at the Churchill Club event so I can't comment on the context of Shai's comments, but I do not agree with them if they are as represented in this article. His comments about Oracle are accurate, but you really wouldn't be surprised to hear me say that :)

Open Source is no silver bullet to be sure, but open source is less about software and code, and more about a new development process that is highly collaborative and social in it's roots. I'm no open source zealot to be sure, but it does strike me that this is possibly one of the best proposals for unleashing developer productivity, developing new applications (Firefox), and creating a new class of infrastructure technology (too many to list).

The IP issues surrounding open source are legitimate but I would not go as far as equating them with socialism because even in open source IP is treated as property that is owned and licensed. The industry is evolving hybrid licensing models that accomplish much of what open source set out to do while also rewarding companies for investing in real development.

Link: CIO Today - Worldwide Technology - SAP Slams Open Source, Oracle.

Open source will fail to deliver innovation and is more likely to break applications, said SAP Latest News about SAP executive Shai Agassi, president of the company's product and technology group.

"We all talk about how great Linux Latest News about Linux is," Agassi said at a speaking engagement at the Churchill Club in Silicon Valley. "But if you look at what the most innovative desktop is today, Vista is not copying Linux, they are copying Apple. "

Embargoed

I've been getting things in my email from people and companies announcing new services, and increasingly I am getting stuff with the condition "embargoed until _____." Now, I know what it means but never having been on the "com" side of marcom I do find it curious that I am now the target of this practice.

The question I am left with is this notion of unsolicited PR and the obligation that one has who receives it. The honor system would suggest that I abide by their embargo not as a condition for receiving future missives, but in the general sense of fair play. However, I didn't ask to get this material and I certainly did not agree to any conditions before opening the message, so should I feel so obligated?

Newspaper Execs Say Circ Declines Reflect Shift to Web, Less Discounting

Signs of intelligent life found in the executive ranks of newspapers.

Link: Newspaper Execs Say Circ Declines Reflect Shift to Web, Less Discounting.

Tom Fiedler, executive editor of The Miami Herald, said he does not expect circulation to increase during his lifetime, which means newspapers must focus on the Web as a genuine delivery system: "Circulation will continue to drop until there will be a plateauing, then I expect a rapid decline.

"Newspapers will become supplemental reading for a very elite audience," he added, and the online edition "will be where the popular press lives."

WeblogsInc plays dirty

Calacanis blew a gasket last week about web site design. I'm siding with TJ on this for a couple of reasons, first and foremost being that outside of trademarks and servicemarks the law doesn't protect (never meant to protect) a general graphic design. Secondly, Calacanis threw a temper tantrum in a very public way that reflected poor professionally and personally on him thereby discrediting his cause substantially... if you have a professional dispute it really doesn't reflect well to resort to name calling. Finally, I know TJ and like him, and I know that he has worked very hard to build his company, I just don't take his character to be that of a digital shoplifter.

Link: TJ's Weblog - "Technology, Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship" - WeblogsInc plays dirty.

No doubt there are some similarities on the two web sites. Three boxes incorporate nicely the groups of people WeblogsInc and Creative Weblogging are both are serving to. But that’s where it ends.

MercuryNews.com | 11/06/2005 | Eventually, our entire day will consist of interruptions

This goes to the much talked about attention crisis from a week ago. It is true that the proliferation of multiple phones, IM, email, RSS, and much much more is making like pretty chaotic for connected professionals. There is really not much of a new angle to this story, I remember hearing people complain about having email in addition to voicemail in the mid-90's, and it was shortly thereafter that people started to use email more than voicemail. Then came cell phones, beepers, IM (all flavors), home email, free email, office email, VoIP, and so on.

You cope, prioritize and in some cases simplify. I turned off my direct office number voicemail and replaced it with a message instructing people to email me or call my cell. IM can be pretty annoying, but only if you have a compulsive urge to respond to every popup... I don't and set my "away" setting frequently even when I'm in.

The thing about interuptions is that we all have a lot of control over how much we let those interuptions actually intrude. Sometimes it helps just to turn "react" mode off for a while and ignore everything except what you actually want to do.

Link: MercuryNews.com | 11/06/2005 | Eventually, our entire day will consist of interruptions.

Interruptions at work waste 28 percent of the day and cost U.S. businesses a staggering $588 billion a year, according to a report by . .

Beware a 'Digital Munich'

If it ain't broke, don't fix it... a point seemingly lost on many in Turtle Bay. The reason why you should be concerned to the point of action about the thought of the United Nations having ultimate control over the global internet is that fully a third or more of the member nations are dictators, tyrants, thugs, and in some cases outright crimminals. The single most significant reason why the UN is beyond reform is that such reform would require the consent of the very people who benefit most from the dysfunction, those countries who cannot or will not achieve power legitimately. Just like we witnessed the scam of the UN Human Rights Commission being led by Syria, Cuba, and Libya, do you really trust a global internet oversight group led by China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Venezuela?

The global internet has enabled a level of value creation with unparalled reach and impact, one really has to wonder what motivations those who seek to upset the current management structure really have.

Link: WSJ.com - Beware a 'Digital Munich'.

There is no rational justification for politicizing Internet governance within a U.N. framework. The chairman of the WSIS Internet Governance Subcommittee himself recently affirmed that existing Internet governance arrangements "have worked effectively to make the Internet the highly robust, dynamic and geographically diverse medium it is today, with the private sector taking the lead in day-to-day operations, and with innovation and value creation at the edges."

Microsoft targets IBM, Oracle set

jeez, must be databaes monday.

Link: Software Notebook: Microsoft targets IBM, Oracle set.

At the same time, improvements in Windows-based servers help Microsoft's prospects with the new SQL Server, said Jeff Reed, chief technology officer of Logicalis USA, which offers computer and networking systems that include high-end databases.

CA sells Ingres to a private equity firm

they are going to setup a new open source company around the Ingres database product. Their timing is good.

The NYTimes has a much more detailed article but I couldn't find it.

Link: Stock Market News and Investment Information | Reuters.com.

Garnett & Helfrich Capital, a private equity buyout firm, will be the majority shareholder in Ingres Corp. CA will own a stake in Ingres and appoint a member to its board of directors, the companies said.