BT announces movie download deal

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | BT announces movie download deal.

This makes some sense to me as finally good technology is being formally adopted by commercials. Commercial support and recognition is so much important for a technology long been labelled evil. If BT can further lower the cost of movie distribution, that marks another milestone as actually we do not need the physical DVD, nowadays hard disks are large enough for a lot of DVD images.

I wish such measures and arrangements can be applicable in Hong Kong soon, somehow it helps re-educating those without the concept that technology is neutral. High profile lawsuits threatenings will never help a city to improve her reputations on intellectual properties, but they can convey an impression to the international community that not only are we ignorant to technologies, but also reluctant to changes. Both natures can jeopardize the competitive edge of Hong Kong during the economic evolution.

Gmail for your domain

Gmail for your domain.

If there is a free mail server for your business, why not?

Pros:
1) Free mail hosting
2) Free from virus attacks on your business server
3) Reduce mail maintenance costs
4) Search function (and other goodies as well)

Cons:
1) Possibility of exposing trade secrets to 3rd party (eg. certain Government)
2) Backup concerns
3) Lost of information control
4) Spam target for Gmail may come to you too
5) Security (you have to reply solely on Google)

Flat World, Long Tail and Blue Ocean

   

You may not have noticed but the recent top sellers are actually talking about the same economic phenomenon: clicks are starting to emulate bricks and become the major sales channel.

The popularity of internet has introduced more opportunity to merchants of niche markets to reach a broader range to customers, effectively reducing the edge and advantages of the big brands over the small ones. Owing to such phenomenon the emphasis on the 80/20 rule may have changed: when 20% of customers can contribute to 80% of profit, we are drived to research on who these 20% of customers are; now the market is getting even and the other 80% (ie. the long tail) is starting to unleash their sales potential, forming a market with huge power and opportunities, that’s where the blue ocean lies.

Relating the above with the recent affair of Paypal and Google Checkout, I start to think the global purchasing habit is about to facing an inevitable shift. The era of online purchases will soon dominate the market and it’s time for merchants to get prepared: for it is either an opportunity for a better market position, or a deadly weapon that can get them out of the market.

Dilbert Comic Strip Archive - Dilbert.com

Dilbert Comic Strip Archive - Dilbert.com

This one is really inspiring…

Microsoft, Yahoo Test IM Partnership

ABC News: Microsoft, Yahoo Test IM Partnership.

I thought it would happen earlier than that. Slowly instant messenging is becoming a commodity and may not be the main battleground between the giants. Both MSN messenger and Yahoo messenger have considerable amount of supporters. Increasing their interoperability will only facilitate communications but will hardly induce customer shift.

In fact, popularity for a software should be attained by better functionality and user friendliness, not monopoly.

Zidane blames Materazzi insults

Zidane blames Materazzi insults.

I am very much curious on what made Zidane react like that. It was just a few more minutes to his glorious end of career, from that perspective, even the World Cup trophy is not as important as concluding his own career with a whole world’s recognition. What comment can be so strong to ruin one’s rationality under such circumstance?

Migliaccio, who spoke to Zidane early on Monday morning, added that Zidane did not elaborate on what Materazzi said.

"I don't know. Zinedine didn't want to talk about it but it will all come out in the next week," he said.

I am looking forward to it…

SPACEWARP finished!

I managed to free up some time for myself this weekend and started assembling this. You may refer to my previous post about my Japan trip where I bought this marble roller coaster.

It took me two days with my brother and finally we got it done. You may refer to my album for some photos~

URL: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=spacewarp&w=70374813%40N00