open standards - Page number 2

What is innovation? In this week’s edition of Time Magazine, Fareed Zakaria writes: “We don't really have a good fix on the concept. We know it when we see it. But this much is clear: it encompasses more than just scientific or technological breakthroughs...” » Read more

"If I tell you that this is the greatest good for a human being, to engage every day in arguments about virtue and the other things you have heard me talk about, examining both myself and others, and if I tell you the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being, you will be even less likely to believe what I am saying. But that's the way it is."
- Passage from Socrates' famous speech at his trial.

Tell me, what's the difference between open source and commercial software? If you'd have asked me not long ago, I'd say that there was a world of difference between the two, and that they both sat at opposite ends of the software spectrum. "Isn't it bad," I thought, "to pay for software?"
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In a NY Times op-ed, David Hajdu posits that the spate of notable musicians all of the same age (turning 70 this year) is attributable to their turning 14 in the mid-1950s when rock 'n roll was just getting its start. "Fourteen is a formative age," his theory goes. What if that's not just for musicians? What about technology? And what does it mean for today's 14-year-olds? » Read more

What a difference three years makes. It seems quaint now that in the 2008 NEJM there were concerns raised about the flow of health information onto the web. Back then there was but a faint trickle of what could be entered, mostly by hand, and accessed on the web. Before HITECH and health care reform, exchanging health data online seemed blasphemous to many hospitals, patients, and physicians alike.

Fast forward to today and where we are now: » Read more

Green Energy Corp creates software and services for communications and energy companies. They're working towards an open source smart grid solution that will help both new and old companies in the industry for more efficient, greener energy. » Read more

As policy discussions on the 'Cloud' unfold in Washington, Brussels and around the world, last week's Red Hat Summit in Boston, where more than 2,500 developers and software leaders gathered from around the world, focused attention on open source and the 'Cloud.' » Read more

I attended the latest briefing at the White House complex, where Federal CIO Vivek Kundra, Federal Chief Performance Officer Jeff Zients, and other Executive Branch officials reported on implementation of the Administration’s IT Reform Agenda. » Read more

Last time I covered two reports assessing a potential move by The Netherlands government toward the use of more open source software. The commonality between the reports, with quite different conclusions, was the focus on cost and cost savings. 

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The idea of standards stretches back many years. While competition is good, competition around basic attributes of products in mature markets can obstruct customers. When they work–standard electricity voltages, standard railway gauges being two examples–society benefits greatly from them. Quality standards in particular prevent vendors messing with the attributes of products in ways that could be harmful. » Read more