This is a really great site from a quick review of it. It offers a number of design tips and techniques and actually provides open source web designs that you can obtain and use, as well as encouraging you to share yours with others. I will have to return when I have some more time.

It has been an interesting night as I surf around tonight while in discussions with Reese of Reese Designs. She and I often collaborate on work.

Microsoft want us to use a new image format created by them. According to TGdaily it is a very capable format, if it lives up to Microsofts claims. The real worry here, is that Microsoft will probably have all softs of intellectual property claims tied up in this format, and will probably not allow all of their opposition to use it. The problem with that, is that if images in this format end up in web pages, you’ll probably need Internet Explorer to see them. Not that Microsoft would mind that of course.

We don’t need a new image format, there are comparable formats available now that can do most of this stuff anyway, (PNG for example) and the great thing about PNG is that it’s free for everyone. If this new format becomes the default image format on the net, we could have a situation where any free image viewing programs (including web browsers) would be unable to display them.
I’ll withhold judgement until I see the details of the licence for the new format.

Tommie Smith along with sports columnist David Steele wrote the autobiography of Tommie Smith. In the book he talks about his decision to raise his right arm wearing a black glove on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics after winning the 200 Meter Dash. He discusses the effect it had on him and on his world. Order a copy today at silentgesture.com.

The idea of Wikipedia is great in theory. People with knowledge of a specific thing, can write the definitions for that thing and his/her peers can correct any mistakes or clarify points. In a perfect world, this would result in concise and accurate definitions, however human nature being what it is, the yobbo factor gets in the way and accuracy goes out the window.

According to www.playfuls.com, a pro golfer by the name of Fuzzy Zoeller, is suing a Miami education consulting firm called “Josef Silny & Associates” because the computer that was used to edit his entry in Wikipedia was located in the their offices.

The lesson here would appear to be two fold;
1. Don’t believe everything you read on Wikipedia, and if you’re the subject of a post, try not to take it too seriously.
2. Don’t assume you can post anonymously to a Wiki because the chances are, you can be traced unless you really know your way around the dark side of networking and the Internet. The same would go for blogs and Forums.

Another country has decided that they would be better off using Open Source software instead of proprietry “binary only” software from the likes of Microsoft. South Africa has announced that as soon as possible they will be swapping to Linux and OSS in government departments. It could be a tactic to get better pricing from companies like Microsoft, but time will no doubt tell.

In other MS news, they just lost a patent case with Alcatel-Lucent regarding the playing of media files and their office suite just got some more competition from Google in the form of Google apps premium.

Lastly, ITwire, notes the irony that Steve Balmer of Microsoft has been making comments about the potential legal problems with Linux, even going so far as to suggest they may sue GNU products, while on the other hand Microsoft themselves have just lost a 1.5 billion patent lawsuit themselves.

These statements about IP violations in Linux are being made by the CEO of a company which is being sued by AT&T for sending development work overseas to avoid US patents. Lest we forget, this is the same company which was successfully sued by Eolas for infringing patents relating to browser plug-ins.

There’s more. A small company named Visto is suing Microsoft for alleged mobile email and data patent infringements; another firm VirnetX is taking action against the Redmond giant for alleged patent infringement in VPN. Remember, Timeline successfully sued Microsoft for patent infringement in SQL Server.

Apparently Microsoft is of the “Do as I say, not as I do” philosophy , they don’t want their own IP taken, but seem to have little respect for anyone elses.

Bill and Melinda Gates claim they limit their oldest daughter’s screen time, or so says the headline at C-Net. Of course the limit doesn’t restrict her homework time, only her free time. Of course, what isn’t homework? At least according to my kids, everything relates to homework — instant messages to clarify assignments, posts to facebook to clarify assignments, etc. etc. When you drill down a little what you really find is an advertisement plug for Vista that allows parents to set controls. While that isn’t a bad thing, that is what the article is really about, selling Vista from my view-point. What do you think?

Forget the IPhone. If you are a traveller this is a great thing — and international phone from National Geographic that is expected out in March of 2007. What a great thing to have in your pocket if you are travelling so that your family or friends can reach you in an emergency! It receives free incoming calls in 65 countries, can place outgoing calls for under a dollar a minute and best of all has not contract. Good thinking it seems to me. What it doesn’t address is coverage — where will it actually receive calls? Just because a country has service doesn’t necessarily mean that you can actually receive a call in the location where you may find yourself. You can pre-order a National Geographic Talk Abroad (TM) Travel Phone today with a sticker price of only $199.