John Taschek

With Napster barely alive (but going down with a lot more respect than Metallica), the peer-to-peer frenzy has kicked off, with new companies looking to supplant the unfortunate music-stealing service and do what it did, albeit more righteously. Most, although not all, of the new P2P companies are staying away from music thievery. Theyll all […]

At Demo, the annual shindig for new and potentially noteworthy companies and technologies, most vendors were more concerned about simply getting their products to work than about announcing themselves. For the most part, they succeeded. Slam Dunk Networks Inc., for example, demonstrated its new business-to-business transaction software. The 3-year-old company wants to be the FedEx […]

In just one week, severe damage may have been inflicted on our personal privacy—or at least on our privacy on public and private networks. First, it has been widely reported that a database containing information on world leaders who attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was hacked and that personal information was compromised. […]

Oh, that wacky wireless world. Wireless carriers cant figure out the right way to put ads on the wireless network without angering their customers. They should stop trying. Last month, advertisers, carriers and service providers met to see why consumers in the United States resist ads. They concluded that more technology was needed to provide […]

Scientists have been studying road traffic patterns for years, yielding absolutely no discernible results. Now, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, scientists are working on a “unified” theory of traffic, an idea I fully support, even if the randomness of the world makes such theories implausible. Alas, theres no unified theory of Internet traffic, but […]

I pity companies that make real products that solve real problems. Theyll never be able to compete with the fantasies and myths of todays computer industry. After all, what else could explain the tremendous hype over Ginger, something that no one knows anything about, by an inventor whose best work was in the medical field? […]

It seems as if only a few years ago, employees were being called the key asset of most corporations. I suppose that was just the bosses attempt to persuade worker bees to stay around a while longer and work for less money. What a failure that was—now no one stays around, everyone gets paid too […]

Its gotten so gloomy around silicon valley that even I, usually full of mirth, am starting to get depressed. Even the road ragers look melancholy as they cut off unsuspecting tourists. Boohoo. This case of manic despair has been incubating for months, and its hard to feel sorry for anyone. Theres a way to relieve […]

Oracle has figured out what the IT industry loves and hates in the computer industry. It hates debugging desktop operating systems and not having the right data at the right time. It loves some semblance of control and quick answers. IFS is the companys answer to everything wrong with desktop computing. Having a database manage […]

Metricoms Ricochet is the first national, high-speed wireless network. The facts that high-speed is a relative term and that coverage isnt completely national shouldnt bother anyone. I work in one of nine Ricochet areas nationwide, and I appreciate having a wireless connection faster than the 14.4K bps that is the max for most cell phones. […]

When image is everything, a lightweight $150 scanner simply wont suffice. Microteks ScanMaker 8700 weighs 25 pounds and costs $1,000, but buyers get what they pay for. I get by with a Canon Canoscan that weighs about 5 pounds and cost me $150 (shipping included), but the ScanMaker 8700 produces a much sharper, richer image […]

Once again, Larry Ellison has taken a basic technology and made it seem interesting. That basic technology is the portal, and Oracle is staking a good part of its business on it. Ive taken it on myself to see if Oracle can deliver, since theres obviously intense competition from just about all of Oracles rivals. […]