Open Source Business

Thingamablog is a cross-platform GPL blogging application that lets you create, update, and maintain multiple blogs from the client side. Thingamablog even acts as its own FTP client when you’re ready to publish or update your blog with new content. The software is easy enough for beginners to use, but sophisticated enough that veteran bloggers will appreciate it too. (more…)

DPCI, a technology consulting firm based in New York City, specializes in providing custom content management solutions. DPCI uses open source software and recommends it to clients who need powerful, flexible content management solutions, but face budget challenges in a belt-tightening economy. President and founder Joe Bachana says he discovered the merits of building a business on open source first through personal experience. (more…)

I wrote a special report for SDTimes on open source development methodologies. They’ve published it as a special report, both at the Web site and in their print edition. (PDF)

Bodog.com is a casino, sport-betting emporium, and online poker palace. The site gets busy; during football season it takes almost 200,000 bets per week, while the virtual poker tables can handle up to 5,000 bettors at a time. Bodog started out using WebLogic and Versant on Solaris, but ran into problems when a bug repeatedly took servers down at critical junctures. Vendors didn’t offer much help, but a switch to Linux and JBoss brought Bodog some much-needed relief in the form of more reliable uptime and scaling capacity.

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One of the things Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik loses sleep over is the digital divide, especially when it comes to children. He wanted to do something about the disparity in the availability of computing resources and skills between social classes, so he set aside corporate funds to create Red Hat High, a week-long technology summer camp for eighth- and ninth-grade students.

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When I was young, all the upwardly mobile families had an extra TV in the kitchen. When I became a wife and mother, I often thought it would be nice to be able to watch the news or a few games shows while cooking dinner, instead of just turning up the big set in the den and trying to hear over the kitchen clatter. I never got a TV for my kitchen–but these days, I don’t watch much Wheel of Fortune. Instead of channel surfing, I generally surf the Web. Now, thanks to a nifty new product from CMi Worldwide called the iCEBOX, I can browse and braise, surf and saute, all at the same time.No, the iCEBOX is not a retro refrigerator, despite its name–but it is cool. It is a countertop computer specifically designed for today’s kitchen, with a water-proof, grease-proof wireless keyboard and remote control. The remote lets you switch between TV, Internet, CD (music or video), and household monitor at the touch of a tiny button.

Step Aside, Galloping Gourmet
Each mode provides the “household CEO” with plenty of entertainment and functionality in the kitchen. The TV mode makes the iCEBOX a traditional set so you won’t miss a minute of your favorite shows–but to use it only as a television set would be a waste of its capabilities. For instance, a specially designed Internet portal lets you check your email via remote control and guides you to the most relevant culinary and other domestic delights. iCEBOX also functions as a music center: Just pop in your favorite music CDs, or view CMi’s special video CDs and become the next Galloping Gourmet as you follow the on-screen cooking action.

With all your newfound kitchen delights, don’t worry about losing touch with the rest of the household, because the iCEBOX also functions as a video monitor. Put a camera in the nursery or in the backyard and keep an eye on Junior–even if he’s not a baby anymore. Or stay a step ahead of door-to-door salesmen: Install the camera in a strategic location by your front door.

One Cool Box
The countertop model is sleek and space-age, similar in appearance to the new iMacs. It weighs a mere 16 pounds, with the CPU and monitor molded together out of high-impact ABS plastic. The screen is 9inches, somewhat small by normal surfing standards but just right for the kitchen. The unit comes with all the necessary connections for stereo and video input/output. The only disappointment is the snail-like 33.6K modem that comes standard with this model–hardly fast enough for today’s Internet activities.

If you don’t have room for another appliance on your countertop, the iCEBOX LCD model fits under the cabinet and sports a small, flip-down LCD screen. It is a step up from the countertop version, with a 12.1-inch screen, beefed-up audio capabilities, USB and Ethernet ports, and a 56K modem.

The countertop iCEBOX will probably retail for around $499 and is slated for nationwide release to computer retailers and home appliance stores in July 2000. The tonier iCEBOX LCD will make its debut in September 2000 for about $2,200 and will be available only through your local homebuilder or remodeler, so don’t expect to see it on retailers’ shelves anytime soon.

Bradley Kuhn, vice president of the Free Software Foundation, says the organization is contacting LindowsOS representatives because the company has not included source code with its “sneak preview” releases. Lindows CEO Michael Robertson says his company will comply with the GPL when the product is released to the public. (more…)