gdp's Comments

Pajama Entrepreneur : What terrifies me about cloud computing, aka online applications

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:34:21 +0000

Bill, I did not want to single out CRM companies or SaaS. I used to be the European Legal Counsel for a US publicly traded eCRM company so I understand the space very well and most reputable CRM firms would never just shut down and toss out their clients' data. I wanted to bring up the issue of "free" online services, which these two unfortunate individuals used. I have used Zoho invoice, the free version, but only because I had no more than five invoices per month to send out. I always made PDF copies of those invoices on my laptop. But people should wonder - if the service is free, where else are they making money and how are they going to survive? In some cases, the company offering free service makes a lot of money from something else so no need to worry (although one should still back up their data). So there are 2 issues: viability of the online service and portability of the client's data.

Pajama Entrepreneur : What terrifies me about cloud computing, aka online applications

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:57:54 +0000

I think a more appropriate analogy is having your money in an FDIC insured US bank or an Icelandic online bank account (e.g. Icesave, which went belly up leaving a lot of European depositors out of luck because Icesave was not insured in many European countries). What's wrong with storing your data in your computer next to your bed if you back it up? You do 2 backups: one to a local hard drive, and another to a remote location. Much better than entrusting it all to a firm halfway across the world in a jurisdiction that does not provide any protection at all.

Pajama Entrepreneur : Macbook Pro blank screen problem: logic board failure

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:59:10 +0000

I called Apple Support and they confirmed that I am entitled to a refund. I need to go to the Apple store where I initially tried to get the laptop repaired because they were responsible for sending it out to the repair center.

Pajama Entrepreneur : No Exit: venture capital firms struggle to sell startups

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 01:17:28 +0000

I don't think THEY realize they're not in the most thriving business.

Mapplr : Additions to the Amsterdam dining scene: Mantoe, Umoja and Le Restaurant

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:38:48 +0000

I have not tried Blauw. I tried Blaauw aan de Wal which is one of Ron Blaauw's restaurants. Very good. The location is funny: smack in the middle of the Red Light District. For Dutch restaurant listings, I like http://www.iens.nl.

Mapplr : Dosa serves up delicious south Indian food in Pacific Heights

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:37:03 +0000

There's upper Pacific Heights and lower Pacific Heights. For me Pacific Heights (along Fillmore) stops at Geary - that's the boundary. Japantown is a thing on its own. Dosa is in lower Pacific Heights.

MuniWireless : Map of mobile WiMAX service around the world now available

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 19:26:30 +0000

very good price, but the launch of Yota's WiMAX service has been pushed back from November 2008 to end of March 2009. I checked the website yesterday.

MuniWireless : Clearwire's Wolff: 'full speed ahead' with WiMAX

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 01:29:56 +0000

The cellular operators are not going to be spending massive amounts of money in 2009 upgrading their networks to LTE because it's hard for them to raise additional funds for expansion. Meanwhile, data traffic on cellular networks will continue to rise, maybe not as rapidly as in 2008 but still, a steady increase. So what are operators - cellular and WiFi - going to do about this demand for more data? Why wouldn't they work with WiMAX operators to offload some of that traffic onto WiMAX networks? Apple's iPhone has over 16% market share of the smartphone market. When was the iPhone first released? June 2007. That's a massive increase. iPhone users account for a large percentage of the data traffic.

MuniWireless : WiMAX deployments in France hit serious delays: a lesson for WiMAX operators in developed countries?

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 04:44:12 +0000

French customers have many more broadband options than Americans, most of which are cheaper and have higher bandwidth. In Paris, you pay 30 EUR per month for 50 MBps symmetrical service. I don't think your WiMAX service allows you to get that kind of bandwidth for that kind of price. In addition, most WiMAX service around the world is "fixed WiMAX" or at best "nomadic" WiMAX meaning you need a small modem (not very portable, hassle to walk around with). So perhaps that is why the French aren't rushing ahead to get WiMAX service.

MuniWireless : Clearwire's 100-day agenda: Devices, VoIP and roaming

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 17:42:58 +0000

Paul, I just posted an article about Airspan and FREEDOM4 (a UK WiMAX operator) demoing a USB dongle that allows a user to roam between WiMAX networks that use different frequencies. http://www.muniwireless.com/2008/12/01/airspan-an... This allows an operator such as FREEDOM4 to cobble together frequencies in different bands (2.6 and 3.6 GHZ) and make them available for seamless roaming. My understanding of the UK WiMAX frequency auction is that there's been a delay in auctioning off the 2.6 GHZ band and each operator only gets a tiny slice (not enough capacity). But if an operator can assemble a set of bands for roaming -- that should theoretically give them a better product for customers. Of course, the best scenario would be where one can roam onto any WiMAX network around the world, the way you can with 3G.

MuniWireless : Map of mobile WiMAX service around the world now available

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:23:03 +0000

is the service fixed or nomadic/mobile WiMAX? Can you just go to one of the 30 towns with a USB dongle and connect to the service?

MuniWireless : Map of mobile WiMAX service around the world now available

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:59:41 +0000

I don't think KT in Korea is offering WiMAX service. Aren't they on a different standard - WiBro? As for Yota, their WiMAX service is set to launch on November 30. That's why the place marks for St. Petersburg and Moscow are in yellow.