McDonald's, Sony to serve downloads with Big Macs
Would you like fries with that learning object? OK, maybe not yet, but when free digital content is being given away with McDonald's hamburgers, you can tell from that just how disposable digital content really is. More...

Microsoft's Sacred Cash Cow
A victim of its own success, writes this author, a former employee, Microsoft depends on its Windows operating system for revenue - a system that is full of usability, stability and security flaws and won't be updated again for years. More...

Gmail Invitation Prices Crash
You can tell it's a bear market when even this lowly scribe has a GMail account (thanks Tze) - you can write me if you want at downes@gmail.com but be warned that I check this account about once a month or so (that is, about as often as I visit Orkut). More...

Extenza e-Publishing Services implements Google Indexing of Hosted e-Journal Content
In what is an emerging trend, Extensa, an e-Publishing Service, announced that Google will begin indexing its journal holdings. More...

PepsiCo UK Launches e-Learning in Key IT Skills
So I guess yesterday (Thursday) was 'Learning at Work Day' and so it is a natural that my website and email systems were down due to the most recent 'upgrade'. But it does let me finish the week with a double issue (and give the Daily readers some sense of how the Weekly readers feel on Fridays) and it lets me talk a little about this initiative. More...

Social networking and iTunes
I like nuggets of information that are found through digging. Like this observation of the use of an iTunes fiule system as a messaging platform. One of the oldest rules of technology is this: people will use technology in ways it was never intended to be used. More...

Yahoo Sets up Standard to Combat Spam
The anti-spam legislation having proven to be an elaborate sham, and the propogation of commercial threatening to choke online communication, companies offering email services are increasingly pressed to offer an anti-spam system. More...

Chalk, Talk and Customer Service
The Economist offers a description of, and more or less endorsement of, low-cost private education as offered by Sunny Varkey, a wealthy Dubai-based entrepreneur, through his firm, Global Education Management Systems (GEMS). More...

Writing for Google
This is an interesting item because it captures the flavour of writing content for an unknown audience. Typically, articles are written in the context of a certain journal - or in our field, for a certain course. More...

Paypal No Friend of FreeNet
On the one hand you could say that a private company like PayPal should be free to conduct business with whomever it chooses, and you would be right. But on the other hand, when control of the financial infrastructure is used for political purposes, that's another thing. More...