I first used the internet in 1994 and the browser that I and almost everybody else used was Netscape Navigator.  I built my first web site using netscape composer and have been winging it ever since.

Today I learned that AOL, owners of Netscape since 1994, have announced its end of life. It will be supported for a while but no more development. Users are  expected to move to Firefox or maybe one of the new generation of browsers like Flock. 

I don't feel any sadness about the demise we have Firefox and that is the Netscape legacy but it's a shame there's been so little real standards implementation in browsers and that is probably as a result of a lack of competition.

I read this and thought of our customers. I am not going to  comment on it just put it up here...

From the Information World Review web site

'Another prediction that I have been making for some months (OK, years) is that Open Text would sell out, with SAP quite likely to be the buyer. It hasn’t happened yet and, as another strong Open Text financial quarter goes by, you could argue that it’s becoming less likely to happen.'

The same author predicted the Yahoo bid by Microsoft. 

I came across the term 'shredding' in relation to YouTube videos this morning. The clips in question have been pulled from the site after complaints about copyright infringement and contain video of guitar heroes but with the sound replaced with guitar villains. The effect is very funny. Facial contortions along with twanging and duff notes.

One comment in the office about these was along the lines of 'it's funny it's all the poe faced egos that complained about their image being parodied'. This made me think. Any content you put up on line can be taken and altered and placed back online (maybe somewhere else but available). Hardly an earth shaking revelation but with the explosion of user created content maybe worth revisiting. If the content is personal such as a social network profile or a blog entry then you could be misquoted or associated with something you are opposed to.  I've been working with internet technologies since 1994 and am aware of the capabilities of these technologies (and its abuse) but many others are less technically aware (or interested) and maybe we are going to see some interesting developments in 'social' networking. Watch this MySpace...

We have some very exciting plans for the PEPPER smoothie website including a video driven navigation engine - seeing is believing and so Web3.0...

the creative process has taken me to Paris - don't you just love the creative process? -  for a few days to hook up with Carlo Pelligrini from the Juggling Matrix. Carlo is one of the very best motivational speakers in the world using the art of juggling as a metaphore for business change. We spent the whole day yesterday storyboarding, scripting and shooting talkthrough videos for the website and even managed to find time for breakfast, lunch and dinner with lots of coffee and a few beers along the way - well, it was warm enough to sit outside so it seemed a shame to let Paris go to waste.

You don't often get the chance to see this process in action so - and just to prove to the guys back in Glasgow that I've been working -  here's a sneak peak at one candidate talkthrough for the home page - can't wait to see the professional shoot and the transparent implementation.

ps_hp_paris06022008.wmv (3.19 mb)

As predicted SaaS is making a big noise in 2008. Not only, as Doug blogged earlier, the fact that Mimtech will soon be launching a hosted CMS offering called PEPPER smoothie in partnership with SaaS providers Pepperio (Mediasurface) but now I have just been reading about some other offerings.

CMS Watch have been reporting on the VC money raised by Clickability, a SaaS CMS provider who have secured  over $15 million so far. Theere is obviously some confidence in the business model and with that kind of backing there should be confidence in the vendor's survival potential.

From CMS Watch (slightly edited)

'CrownPeak have announced a new product, ContentManagement.com, aimed at offering a SaaS option at a lower price. The company says the new product will be a scaled-down derivative of the current CrownPeak CMS product. The new product that starts at $1250/month seems like an attempt at trying to challenge Open Source alternatives and products that offer low entry costs like Ektron.'

Looks interesting but pricey when you consider that the PEPPER Smoothie offering from Mimtech will base price from as little as £299 per month in year one reducing to £199 thereafter with no upfront fees!!! 

Still got one right. I can sit back for the rest of the year.