Triplesourced
Reporting, musing and not to mention some random scribbling on tech issues from green/sustainable IT to security. (http://adonoghue.wordpress.com/)
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.
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.
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.
Thursday 8 May 2008, 11:28 AM
How many headshots does one chairperson need?
We got a strange request last week from the head of PR from Russian security experts Kaspersky. It seems although the company was very happy with the interview we recently carried with its chairperson Natalya Kaspersky, Natalya herself wasn't very happy with the picture of her we were sent to go along with the interview. To remedy the situation, the PR dutifully sent no less than seven alternatives of Natalya in a variety of thoughtful poses.
Number 1
Number 2
Number 3
Number 4
Number 5
Number 6
Number 7
Number 1
Number 2
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Number 7
Thursday 1 May 2008, 10:07 PM
Gremlins in your IT system - literally!
BT business has recruited the stars of 80s critter movie Gremlins (not to mention a dragon in the shape of Peter Jones from BBC 1's Dragon's Den). Enjoy.
Wednesday 30 April 2008, 4:52 PM
Lord Stern: Downturn won't affect climate change efforts
Being green is all well and good but how long will companies continue to worry about the environment if the financial downturn affecting the US bites harder and really impacts the UK?
That was one of the questions posed to Lord Nicholas Stern, of Stern Review fame, at a business conference this week held at Wembley Stadium in London. Stern's response was in line with the remit given to him under the terms of the Stern Review, published in 2006, which set out to look at exactly what impact climate change would have on the UK economy.
(photo credit: Nigel Stead/LSE)
Rather than agreeing that companies would indeed cast their high-minded environmental ideals to the wind, if times get harder, Stern claimed that being green is the only economically sound policy in the long run.
"I think that difficult times should not derail this. There will be some ups and downs over the next fifty years but we have to push through that," he said.
Stern's 2050 forecast refers to a time-line he presented earlier on his speech to around 1000 business leaders at the event organised by US software-maker SAS. The Lord and London School of Economics professor claims that rich counties will need to commit to around an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2050 to avoid the 5 degree rise in temperatures that scientists have forecast for the end of the century if we continue to produce carbon at the present rates of growth.
When economies being to shrink, sensible companies look to do two things according to Stern – look hard costs and protect their assets. Reputation is a big asset for many firms and abandoning environmental commitments can have a big impact on how a company is perceived – not something that any firm wants to attract when facing financial pressures.
For its part, business intelligence vendor SAS is hoping to that it will be able to sell its analytics tools to companies who want clearer metrics on how energy efficient there businesses actually are - so is firmly on-side with Stern's message that green doesn't have to be mean when it comes to making money.
Stern's speech at software conference came on the same day that he published a set of proposals for a global deal on climate change at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The report, Key Elements of a Global Deal, includes input from HSBC, IdeaCarbon, Cambridge University, Lehman Brothers and consultants McKinsey and suggests a set of proposals to "advance the climate change debate" ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen in December 2009.
According a statement issues by the LSE, the report examines the implications of the commitment to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 (taken at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June 2007).
Tackling climate change is the only sensible course open for businesses, Stern claimed in his conference speech. Doing nothing would have far more impact on the global economy than spending to tackle climate change, he argued.
"It is not doing anything about climate change that will affect growth. I don't think that this has a negative story, it can be a very positive strategy," he said.
And rather than being the fault of rapacious corporations who have bled the world dry in an extricable drive for shareholder returns, the beast of commerce and financial markets actually hold the key to tackling climate change, says Stern.
"The right reaction is not to abandon markets but fix the problems," he said. The problem is that markets have not been working properly up until now – the underlying economics of business have directly contributed to climate change and global warming by not making polluters pay. "People do not pay for the damage that they do," said Stern.
The other contributing factor is that the last 10 to 15 years have been a period of unparalleled growth. However during this prosperous period, companies have got sloppy when it comes to managing risk. This can be seen in the recent sub-prime mortgage collapse, which was basically built on financial institutions ignoring risk. The same goes for climate change. Just like selling mortgages to people who can't pay them back, businesses and individuals have been generating carbons with no thought about how it might impact them in the long term.
"During periods of growth people get careless. What is happening now is that people are taking risk much more seriously," said Stern.
Stern also couldn't help but use the forum to take a swipe at some of the figures that he wasn't able to comment on when acting on behalf of the government – having discharged his duties to the government and returned to his role as a professor at the London School of Economics. Top of the list was ex-Australian Prime Minister John Howard who Stern described as "appalling" during a panel debate following on from his keynote at the conference. "It's really nice to be outside of politics so you can refer to people like John Howard as appalling."
Stern's views on Howard no doubt stem from the former Australian PM's poor record on the environment – including joining the US in not signing up to Kyoto - which many claim played a big part in his Conservative governments party losing an election last November after 11 years in power.
That was one of the questions posed to Lord Nicholas Stern, of Stern Review fame, at a business conference this week held at Wembley Stadium in London. Stern's response was in line with the remit given to him under the terms of the Stern Review, published in 2006, which set out to look at exactly what impact climate change would have on the UK economy.
(photo credit: Nigel Stead/LSE)
Rather than agreeing that companies would indeed cast their high-minded environmental ideals to the wind, if times get harder, Stern claimed that being green is the only economically sound policy in the long run.
"I think that difficult times should not derail this. There will be some ups and downs over the next fifty years but we have to push through that," he said.
Stern's 2050 forecast refers to a time-line he presented earlier on his speech to around 1000 business leaders at the event organised by US software-maker SAS. The Lord and London School of Economics professor claims that rich counties will need to commit to around an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2050 to avoid the 5 degree rise in temperatures that scientists have forecast for the end of the century if we continue to produce carbon at the present rates of growth.
When economies being to shrink, sensible companies look to do two things according to Stern – look hard costs and protect their assets. Reputation is a big asset for many firms and abandoning environmental commitments can have a big impact on how a company is perceived – not something that any firm wants to attract when facing financial pressures.
For its part, business intelligence vendor SAS is hoping to that it will be able to sell its analytics tools to companies who want clearer metrics on how energy efficient there businesses actually are - so is firmly on-side with Stern's message that green doesn't have to be mean when it comes to making money.
Stern's speech at software conference came on the same day that he published a set of proposals for a global deal on climate change at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The report, Key Elements of a Global Deal, includes input from HSBC, IdeaCarbon, Cambridge University, Lehman Brothers and consultants McKinsey and suggests a set of proposals to "advance the climate change debate" ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen in December 2009.
According a statement issues by the LSE, the report examines the implications of the commitment to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 (taken at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June 2007).
Tackling climate change is the only sensible course open for businesses, Stern claimed in his conference speech. Doing nothing would have far more impact on the global economy than spending to tackle climate change, he argued.
"It is not doing anything about climate change that will affect growth. I don't think that this has a negative story, it can be a very positive strategy," he said.
And rather than being the fault of rapacious corporations who have bled the world dry in an extricable drive for shareholder returns, the beast of commerce and financial markets actually hold the key to tackling climate change, says Stern.
"The right reaction is not to abandon markets but fix the problems," he said. The problem is that markets have not been working properly up until now – the underlying economics of business have directly contributed to climate change and global warming by not making polluters pay. "People do not pay for the damage that they do," said Stern.
The other contributing factor is that the last 10 to 15 years have been a period of unparalleled growth. However during this prosperous period, companies have got sloppy when it comes to managing risk. This can be seen in the recent sub-prime mortgage collapse, which was basically built on financial institutions ignoring risk. The same goes for climate change. Just like selling mortgages to people who can't pay them back, businesses and individuals have been generating carbons with no thought about how it might impact them in the long term.
"During periods of growth people get careless. What is happening now is that people are taking risk much more seriously," said Stern.
Stern also couldn't help but use the forum to take a swipe at some of the figures that he wasn't able to comment on when acting on behalf of the government – having discharged his duties to the government and returned to his role as a professor at the London School of Economics. Top of the list was ex-Australian Prime Minister John Howard who Stern described as "appalling" during a panel debate following on from his keynote at the conference. "It's really nice to be outside of politics so you can refer to people like John Howard as appalling."
Stern's views on Howard no doubt stem from the former Australian PM's poor record on the environment – including joining the US in not signing up to Kyoto - which many claim played a big part in his Conservative governments party losing an election last November after 11 years in power.
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