Links for May 13th through May 14th

A little something extra…

I signed up with Clear today to (a.) get stable Internet as the DSL we have at the office is spotty, perhaps due to crappy wiring in the building, the AT&T service, who knows – I don’t have time/inclination to care, and, (b.) replace my Verizon 3G card for traveling Internet.

The above speed test shows that it’s pretty good. To be fair, I’m right next to a Clear tower in Austin. The speed test at home was piss-poor, but I have a Grande cable modem there (with a land-line) that’s fantastic, so I’m not looking for a home broadband replacement.

Along with 4G, I have a card and plan ($15 extra month) that gives me Sprint 3G access, which should be “everywhere” in the US. Also, I got a “Clear Spot,” one of those little mini-wifi routers (up to 8 connections). I’ve been at conferences many, many times when I’d like to share my (3G) Internet connection with others when the wifi is, well, conferencetastic.

With just one day of use, there’s no valid review to be had. I’ll be on the road next week in a Clear city (Las Vegas) and a non-Clear city (San Francisco). With that, and a few more weeks, I should have enough data for a quick review. People keep asking, and I know I’ve been curious. In the meantime, check fellow Austinite Stacey Higginbotham’s Clear review from awhile ago.

The Links

• Flash and Creative Freedom | Adobe
  Adobe's official "We Love Choice" campaign page.
• Microsoft gets some heat over HTML5 plans
  "On one day, all of us will say, you have to download one of these five or six browsers," he said. "I propose that day is 30 days after all the major browser vendors have implemented HTML5. On that day, IE6 dies."
• Google changes Nexus One plans, will stop selling handsets online
  "[T]he company just announced that will eventually stop selling handsets online and instead partner with carriers to sell phones in-store while using its website to promote 'a variety of Android phones available globally.'"
• Adobe fights Apple with pro-Flash ad campaign
  Nice wrap-up.
• Microsoft readying Hadoop for Windows Azure
  "Microsoft will provide Hadoop within a 'few months,' said a Microsoft executive who wished to remain anonymous."
• IBM Wants Linux' KVM To Compete With VMware
  "One of IBM's current goals is to 'accelerate the maturation of KVM as a world class hypervisor'…. Frye noted that IBM is using Red Hat Enterprise Linux and KVM as the basis for its public cloud."
• Raymond James Launches Into SOA
  A .Net shop does a 2 year SOA project to modernize: "Although the site was still primarily information-only, the web had evolved, and clients were requesting more features and functionality, such as more advanced statement management tools and improved online bill pay." Whole slew of product names mentioned. Also, check how they're fine with hijacking tabs – how rude!
• Microsoft Kin reviews not so keen
  Anyone get one of these? I asked for a review unit, but not luck.
• Clearwire, partners name 19 upcoming WiMax cities
  Man, they need to add the Bay Area.
• Using Collaboration to Make Agile Real
  Code review gets wired up into Jazz/RTC, check out the upcoming webinar on the topic: "At this very moment, Code Collaborator is being integrated directly into Rational Team Concert to provide a seamless extension for developers to easily do code reviews and get approval within their normal workflow. The joint solution provides simple, automated, integrated tools for peer code review to help developers improve time to market and deliver higher-quality code."
• Cloud Computing: Public vs Private [Infographic] « Wikibon Blog

Disclosure: see the RedMonk client list for clients mentioned.