google

Is Google document sharing broken?

From a Google FAQ:

If I share a collection with a mailing list, or set it to public (on the Web or in a domain for Enterprise users) will the collection automatically appear in other people's Documents List?

No, people in the group and those within your domain need to click the URL in the invitation you send for the shared collection to appear in their Documents List. When you set a collection to Public, everyone gets permission to access the collection. However, the collection appears in people's Documents List only after they've opened it by clicking a link sent via invite, email, or chat.

This, as it turn out, is a bad idea. As users join an organization or a group, or if they fail to click on the link sent to them, their document lists are not updated. The main feedback I get from users is that they feel that either they have done some thing wrong, or that there is something misconfiguration on the domain. I fail to see why Google have decided to do things this way, or why they do not provide a way to change this behavior.

Does Nokia matter to us?

Nokia Logo

So, Nokia will not use Windows 7, nor will it use Android. This has been a source of debate between Tomi T Ahonen and Robert Scoble Which basically tries to undestand what, if any, is Nokias software development policy. While MeeGo seems be the future, Symbian is not dead yet, and it seems QT is the stopgap between the two.

Charging into the landmines

As was only to be expected, Jon Stewart quickly points out the absurdity of the Google and Verizon proposal for the schminternet1:

  • 1. Jeff Jarvis is actually less offensive in his critique then others.

Rethinking the box

Two excellent articles in All About Symbian:

To this, let me add my two cents worth.

I like my N900 for what seems like the wrong reasons:

  • Resistive screen. Possibly because of the I am a Palm veteran, I find I like having a stylus handy, mainly for sketching, but also allowing for higher density applications or checklists.
  • Hardware keyboard. Maybe Fat fingers; maybe a history with Psion and the E61; maybe the need to actually see whats on screen without the virtual keyboard hogging all the space.

Apple and Android developers would benefit from those articles. Nokia should pay more attention to them as well. If I understand it correctly, Nokia would benefit from having both MeeGo and Symbian with distinctive hardware and interface.

Facebook: Too early, too late

Facebook has announced it's new privacy settings today. It is too early to say what (if any) impact this will have. It is also too late for Facebook to be trusted. From what I hear, I don't yet see a basic change in Facebooks understanding of peoples view of privacy. I also think that the assumption that people are willing to relinquish their privacy just to get a free or convenient service is incorrect. Look at the Buzz fiasco: in a nutshell, Google connected a service which contained private information (gmail) with a public service (buzz).

For many, Facebook was a service for private information. Sharing was for group of select people. One of the issues was that people with 4,000 so-called friends are not the same as people with 40 friends. For the former Facebook was the same as Buzz or Twitter - a megaphone; for the latter, facebook was the same as gmail or hotmail - a telephone. Expectations and usage were highly different.

Nokia and Google, can you kids just play nice?

If you had the misfortune to upgrade to the latest version of Mail for Exchange for your Nokia smart-phone, and you are using Google Apps, you might have come across this issue.

The main problem is that Google recommends using the latest version (which is 3.0), while noting that the best supported version is 2.9. On the Nokia site (or rather, the OVI store), the only version available is 3.0. If you upgraded to version 3.0 and were lucky enough to have version 2.9 images around, you need to uninstall version 3.0 (loosing the configuration) and reinstall version 2.9.

The second issue is that there is no direct way to report this issue and get a response from either company. In Google you are led to a forum, with a lot of nice people, none are official Google employees. Google might be listing, and might not. In the OVI store you can comment on an application, but only if you install it directly to you phone from their site. As I downloaded it to my Mac, and I did not feel like re-installing it and un-installing it again, I could not comment.

I am attache the version 2.9 of the SISX files with this post (Nokia, if you have an issue with this, let me know....).

Another option is using the SyncML protocol for contact and calenders, and IMAP for mail.

What would Jeff Jarvis do

Google AdGoogle Ad

A while ago I go a letter in my mailbox. An actual junk mail. An advertising company wanted me to join their advertising system. I even had plastic card with a code attached, which I could use on their web site to register. There were a few troubling things in this letter:

  • The address used was not the SysNet public address, it was an address registered with the Israeli VAT offices only.
  • There was no corporate contact information. No e-mail, phone or fax. The only return address was the one used with the post office for the return of undelivered mail.
  • My attempt the contact the company and request information on how they acquired the said mail address was left an answered.
  • Less then a fortnight later, the same company sent me an unsolicited e-mail to promote their premium services.

That company is Google.

I wonder if this is yes another move on Google's side away from what towards new business models. Maybe the advertising and freemium models are not as sustainable as previously assumed. Another possible explanation is the realization that with all the hype, Web 2.0 and social media is not as commonplace and powerful to be the only basis for maintaining the data behemoth. Even Jeff Jarvis chose the only school path for publishing his book....

What, if any, difference to the end user? I would suggest that this a small but significant warning for those who make assumptions based of freemium services, cloud based services and social networking. It does not mean that you should run away from those, but consider:

IT's back, with vengeance

As an IT manager, whenever I am faced with a new cool technology I am faced with a dilemma.
On personal level am always tempted to deploy it and see how it fans out. I am, after all, something of a geek. I am also outspoken and something of an exhibitionist.
On a managerial level I almost automatically call on the help desk to put on their flak jackets and helmets, arm the sysadmins with smoke and tear gas canisters, turn to the boffins and proclaim:
Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God Save the King!
IT is primarily the art of provisioning. Finding the technology that provides additional value to your business, and implementing it in the least disruptive way. Data and processes are assets we need to both protect and utilize. Social networking, Instant messaging, blogging and other means of communication may enhance a business, but may also put it in risk. This is the business perspective of IT.
There is also a human element. The technology divide has not decreased due to Internet. People can do much more with our computers, but they do not necessarily understand the implication more then they did before. If any thing, shining new interfaces hide mode complex issues then those that existed before. Web 2.0 adds even more complexities.
Web 2.0 tools can enable people to be more entrepreneurial, even in a corporate environment. As those tools are abandonment, and most are freely (or cheaply available), it seems almost inexcusable not to use them. But not all business or business users are entrepreneurial in the Web 2.0 way of thinking, for some, the overhead of learning and managing new technologies can actually reduce their productivity.

Skynet vs. The Matrix

The attempt of both Google and Apple to control the entire content, communication and user experience chain has come to the point where none of the parties are making any serious attempt to mask it. This has been done before - AOL, Compuserve and MSN come to mind.

Look ma, no evil

Google has announced, that due to attacks on it's server from China, it will "...review the feasibility of our business operations in China".

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