john carroll Resources

Sponsored White Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

ZDNet Author Biography: John Carroll has programmed in a wide variety of computing domains, including mainframes ack, Unix, and Windows. His current specialties are C#, .NET, Java, WIN32/COM and C++. He has designed and developed large web-based distributed systems, SMS interface technology for telcos and video/music editing software components. ...; more about John Carroll »

ZDNet Resources

Government, markets and regulation: Problems in the housing market in the United States provide some interesting lessons about government regulation in general, lessons that have equal applicability to the intersection between Information Technology and government. by John Carroll; Tags: Fannie Mae, Economist, Regulation, Freddie Mac, Subsidy, Government, Vertical Industries, Mortgages, Enterprise Software, Software, Finance, Capital Structures, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-24
Free the XBOX 360!!!: It's good that Microsoft has begun to allow home users to create XBOX 360 games that they can sell through XBOX Live. Microsoft, however, could do so much more with their TV-attached creation if only they were willing to let third parties take it beyond traditional TV-oriented services. by...; Tags: Microsoft Corp., TV, Microsoft Xbox, Game Console, Games, Game Players, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-23
Evil tech administrators: Terry Childs sits in a San Francisco jail, accused of locking down the city government network and refusing to give up the passwords. Though it's not completely fair, past negative experience of overly controlling technical administrators colors my perception of him. by John Carroll; Tags: Administrator, Computer, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-22
Citizen journalism and traditional news: I've been experimenting recently with CNN's site for "citizen journalism" named iReport. I created a few video posts of myself in response to requests for questions targeted at future visitors to Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room" (you can see my iReport site here - http://www.ireport.com/people/JohnCarroll). There are a few kinks in...; Tags: Video Camera, Video, Camera, Corporate Communications, Marketing, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-21
Microhoo, MicroAOL, and challenging Google: Microsoft interminable hunt to cobble together an ad platform with greater market share continues, reaching now into AOL territory. There is merit in the goal, though much risk in the path which leads to it. by John Carroll; Tags: Google Inc., Advertisement, America Online Inc., Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp., Ad Platform, Ad Market, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-17

Why Flash and Silverlight will save the web: Flash and Silverlight are viewed in some circles as undermining a free and open Internet. The truth, however, is that both technologies are part of the process by which we map out a problem domain sufficiently, laying the groundwork for standardization committees of the future. Deviation from standards,...; Tags: Web, W3C, Microsoft Silverlight, Technology, Paul Ellis, Standardization Committee, Problem Domain, Channel Management, Marketing, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-15
When proprietary companies go open source: I've been burning the midnight oil yet again, working like a beaver on speed as I build my software castle on a server in Los Angeles not that beavers build castles. It's going well, and we are on the verge of starting trials in the UK. If any of you...; Tags: Software, Netscape Communications Corp., Stallman, Open Source, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-11
Software's drive to become like television: Software business models are becoming more and more like that of television. That fact is the real driver behind Microsoft's desire to buy Yahoo, given the central importance software-oriented ad networks will have in the future. by John Carroll; Tags: Software, Advertisement, Microsoft Corp., TV, Tools & Techniques, Games, Management, Personal Technology, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-08
Whither Blu-ray?: Blu-ray hasn't been setting any sales records, in no small part due to its higher price. That, however, doesn't alter the fact that Sony absolutely had to win the format war, even if media downloads end up supplanting video disc formats. by John Carroll; Tags: Blockbuster Inc., Blu-ray, DVD, Consumer Electronics, Games, Video On Demand (VoD), Game Players, Hd Dvd, Tv & Home Theater, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-07-03
A world ruled by Apple: Tributes to Bill Gates littered the blogosphere on Friday for obvious reason, as it was Bill Gates' last day as a full-time employee at the company he co-founded. This, predictably, rubbed certain people the wrong way, as the success of Bill Gates represents to some the "failure" of their preferred...; Tags: Software, Steve Jobs, Apple Inc., Bill Gates, Hardware, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-30
Thoughts on Bill Gates: When I think of Bill Gates, I can't help but think back to that famous photo taken of his team shortly before they moved up to Washington State from Albuquerque. This rag-tag band somehow served as the base for a company that now employs 75,000+ people (including myself, until recently)...; Tags: Software, Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp., Hardware, Tools & Techniques, Management, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-27
America's blocked labor policies: A little known fact about the H-1B work visa program - the special visa used by most foreign technology workers who come to work in the United States - is that fashion models must compete for the same category of visa, a fact about which The Economist reminded me in...; Tags: John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-25
Why I still prefer Internet Explorer: I wrote a blog post last week where I discussed some of the good lessons from the success of Firefox. I truly believe Firefox is a great browser, and I am glad that competition has forced Microsoft to pull its IE developers out of suspended animation to update its ability...; Tags: Opera Software, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Web Browser, DIV, CSS, Web Browsers, Scripting Languages, Software/Web Development, Web Development, Internet, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-24
Cell phone as desktop computer: This is a bit of a crazy idea, but it constitutes part of the reason I keep harping on about the importance of full-blown desktop operating systems in cell phones. Yes, it creates developer consistency, meaning that the same skills used to develop apps for desktop computers map directly to...; Tags: Desktop, Phone, Mobile, Cell Phone, Microsoft Corp., Computer, Desktop Computer, Microsoft Windows, Telecom & Utilities, Cellular Phones, Operating Systems, Software, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-20
Chinese antitrust and Microsoft: As reported elsewhere and discussed by other ZDNet bloggers, a new antitrust law will come into effect in China on August 1st, and there is speculation that the Chinese government is using that law as basis for an investigation into the company. Not surprisingly, this brings a smile to the...; Tags: China, Antitrust, Microsoft Corp., Corporate Law, Government, Security, Business Operations, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-19
Lessons from Firefox 3: I just downloaded the Firefox 3 browser, and if there were problems with their servers before, there certainly are no problems today. The download clocked in under 5 seconds (I do have a fast connection, admittedly), and the install was done in less than a minute. Quite impressive for any...; Tags: Mozilla Firefox 3.0, Mozilla Firefox, Web Browsers, Internet, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-18
The end of Microhoo: ...which really isn't an apt title, as something has to begin for it to end. However, it certainly looks like a merger between Yahoo and Microsoft is unlikely to materialize. This is sure to disappoint Icahn, whose interest in the deal I always viewed with skepticism. He's good at making...; Tags: Google Inc., Advertisement, Microsoft Corp., John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-13
Lessons from American university education: I sometimes "relax" by logging on to PalTalk, a system designed for real-time voice chat, finding rooms where I can debate important issues related to politics or economics. I'm not always successful, as it's surprising how often those forums descend into free-for-alls where individuals take turns at the mic throwing...; Tags: Education, University, Europe, American University, University Of South Dakota, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-11
iPhone aims for pole position: It's astounding how far Apple has come in the phone space in a very short amount of time. Already, the iPhone browser is the number one source of mobile phone-originated web requests, a number made easier because competitors had done almost nothing to make web browsing actually usable from mobile...; Tags: Apple iPhone, Phone, Mobile, Cell Phone, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Hardware, Omnia, Zunephone, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-10
Programming stream of consciousness: My wife is out of the country now visiting family. That, combined with the fact that I quit Microsoft last week in order to pursue full-time a startup project that concentrates, in the near term, on Africa, means that I am spending every waking hour programming. ...; Tags: Programming, Development Tools, Software Development, Software/Web Development, John Carroll; Blog posts 2008-06-06