Business Edge, Volume 4, No. 8

Linux and other open source applications are finding increasing acceptance in the global marketplace in small and large companies alike. Statistics on the growth of a few open source programs—like Apache, a web server; Linux, an operating system; FreeBSD, an operating system; and PostgreSQL, a database server—show this to be true. In this article, we’ll consider why open source is growing so fast, and what it means to you, the leader of a small company.

One aspect of Web 2.0 that continues to entertain is the strange, sometimes awful, names that startups come up with to promote themselves. Some of them turn out to be successful - e.g. del.icio.us - but others prove to be ineffective. Some web 2.0 names have been compared to Star Wars characters and there’s even a Web 2.0 Name Generator, in case you need inspiration.

Top 10 Worst Web App Names

On the one hand, the name of something alway seems secondary to actually having a product that works but I think this shows what can happen if you mess the name up.

Blogged with Flock

I was very saddened to read of the end of free email from Postmaster. It was my first ever personal email address from when I was at University. The web adverts were just not enough to keep it going, so the only option is to pay £15 a year. In all honesty that isn’t very much but with several domain name based emails I just can’t justify the money. I suppose I should have realised this when my emails were deleted because I hadn’t accessed the account for three months.

All good things come to an end I suppose.

The most radical change for me when I first started Linux was that I did not know where to look for files. The same thing probably happened when I started using Windows but that was so long ago it is hard to remember!

If this has happened to you, then this article about the Linux, sorry *nix, procedure for naming files and folders will be very helpful.

, or Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Microsoft released its core fonts on a fairly open licence so there is nothing to stop you from installing them, no matter which operating system you use. More explanation from Lifehacker….

A user of the Linux Mint forum demonstrates the two-step process of installing Microsoft Fonts. What are these “Microsoft fonts?” A little known fact to non-Linux users is that Microsoft fonts are (surprise, surprise) proprietary, and hence are not installed in most Linux distros by default. Back in the day when Microsoft gave a crap about interoperability, they released a reusable package of fonts that could be integrated into most any operating system. Well, that package is still used in Linux

Having read the rather good ‘clear blogging’ book by Bob Walsh over the last few days I am signing up to Technorati, hence this post.

Technorati Profile

movabletype.org: Welcome to MTOS: the Movable Type Open Source Project

The Movable Type Open Source Project was announced in conjunction with the launch of the Movable Type 4 Beta on June 5th, 2007. The MTOS Project is a community and Six Apart driven project that will produce an open souce version of the Movable Type Publishing Platform that will form the core of all other Movable Type products.

This looks like something worth looking into.

Kevin Ham, the $300 million master of Web domains - June 1, 2007

Kevin Ham is the most powerful dotcom mogul you’ve never heard of, reports Business 2.0 Magazine. Here’s how the master of Web domains built a $300 million empire.

Now I rarely click on add links, infact I’ve been known to click on the link in the main part of Google rather than the add link before now. So I’d never really come to terms with just how lucrative this market can be. The figures here are quite mind boggling. But not enough for me to emigrate to Cameroon (all becomes clear in the article)

9 Little Known Ways To Sleep So It Counts at Ririan Project

Can’t sleep? You may have tried medication. You know you have to stay away from bad guys like caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. And you’ve probably heard it’s not wise to exercise too vigorously or eat too big a meal a couple of hours before bedtime. Perhaps you’ve even tried to stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule. Still have problems getting a sound sleep? Try these snooze tips you may not have heard before.

I found the arrival of two small children into my world an excellent cure for the hour or so that it used to take me to go to sleep!

The Internet Tough Guy is a feature in all Internet social forums. These are people who poison discussions with anger, hatred, and threats. Some are malicious. Some are crazy. Some are just afflicted with a rotten sense of humor. Whatever their motives, they’re a scourge. It takes precious little trolling to sour a message-board.

Some helpful advice here. I’ve been on forums where some people take offense very quickly despite having made far worse comments about other people. Tempting as it is to try and take people down to size, it’s better to try and defuse the situation. Still I get far more satisfaction from knowing I have beaten the other person intellectually. There have been several threads that have dried up when the agitator has been asked for actual proof of their claims.