Ok, I know Bosworth is talking about Asynchronous JavaScript (AJAX), a programming technology which makes web sites perform more like programs running on the computer than web sites (which can be a bit clunky for applications like accounting and word processing without it). And AJAX deserves (and gets) a lot of press in technical articles.
What I found interesting was this quote:

Bosworth said he has been building software for about 30 years and “not all of it works” all the time. “The reason, on reflection, turned out to largely depend on physics and human psychology,” he said. And “a lot of it had to do with Tom Cruise,” Bosworth said, citing the actor’s line in the movie “Top Gun” where Cruise says, “I feel the need, the need for speed.”

Yep. He’s right. Not all of it works.
For the technical among thee, here’s the link to the article.
Google’s Bosworth: Why AJAX Failed (Then Succeeded)

There are several blogs that talk about legal issues in blogging. Most of them focus on things like copyright or trademark infringement. A few mention issues like libel and slander. I never intend to say anything bad enough about anyone to get in trouble for that kind of thing.
But here’s a new one: a blogger subpoenaed for what some commenters on his blog said about each other. Guess when we said this was social media, we meant that it was like every other media. If we insult one another in print, in paintings, in email, and in letters, why not on blogs?
Here’s the link: http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/01/27/shoemoney-you-just-got-served/

Joe Wilcox at eWeek said it. I’ve always thought it, but it’s tough to get through to software vendors. Microsoft isn’t the only company that wants to move the newest version off store shelves. But doing so at the expense of user confidence backfires.
Wilcox writes,

Product marketing often is much more about perception than reality. Negative perceptions, once they set in, are tough to shake. For companies with multiple, closely associated brands, negative perception of one product can affect another. Based on dissatisfied reader feedback about Internet Explorer 7, negative perceptions about the browser reflect poorly on Windows Vista.

So software vendors came up with another idea.
“We’ll create a market channel where the end user doesn’t talk directly to us. That’ll insulate us from the bad reputation.”
So Data Guidance Group clients call us when they have a problem with IE7 or Vista or ACCPAC or a dozen other products. And that’s what we’re here for…to help with product problems. What our clients don’t realize is that the product problems frustrate us at least as much as they do them. After all, clients probably deal with product problems two or three times a year…we deal with them daily.
Is software perfect?
Not on your life.
Can we usually make it work for our clients?
Yep.
But have patience with us…we’re imperfect human intellects dealing with the products of other imperfect human intellects.
To put it succinctly: we’re doing the best we can!
Should you upgrade to Vista? Eventually (as I’ve written elsewhere) you won’t have much choice. For now, have a few really nice dinners with your significant other and save the Vista investment for another day….or week….maybe month…
Microsoft Watch – Web Services & Browser – Will IE 7 Perception Problems Hurt Vista?

In the few years since Linux was supposed to take over all the desktops in the world like Alexander the Great, there have been few takeovers. Many volleys have been fired across the decks from Linux advocates to Microsoft and back to Linux and back to Microsoft. Both groups claim lower total cost of ownership. Both groups claim technical superiority.
One truth has remained the same: Microsoft has the revenue stream to support and develop the product. Linux advocates have evidently realized that the lack of consistent support for the product is a problem. Thus the Linux Foundation. I notice, though, that Linus Torvalds the inventor of Linux isn’t saying anything about quitting his day job.
Group Formed to Support Linux as Rival to Windows – New York Times