Author Archives: Neil McAllister

On open source and intellectual property

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A new article I wrote for InfoWorld.com went live this morning, under the title, “How risky is open source?”

Although the origin of this piece dates back several months — it got put off for various reasons — it’s especially timely now, given Microsoft’s recent statements to the press about alleged patent infringements in open source code. (InfoWorld has assembled a special report on Microsoft’s latest campaign against open soure and the response from the community, available here.)

My article is essentially a primer on the three forms of intellectual property that affect open source software — copyrights, trademarks, and patents — and what risks they might pose for enterprise customers. The short answer? Not many — in fact, I even have a Microsoft representative on record saying Redmond has no plans to go after customers for patent infringements. But check it out for yourself.

Comic-Con Int’l 2007

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Pretty much every year I head down to San Diego for Comic-Con International, and this year is no different. Comic-Con is basically the granddaddy of all comic book conventions. It’s gotten so big now that it’s almost impossible to describe. Picture several city blocks jam-packed with booths, lights, buzzers, and people dressed as Stormtroopers, and you still won’t have the full picture of the total mental overload that is Comic-Con.

Mostly, my friends Megan and Shane and I use it as an excuse to spend most of the day drunk.

If you’re heading down this year, holler. I can’t say it’s necessarily likely that I’ll run into you in all that zoo, but you never know!

LibraryLookup for San Francisco public libraries

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My former colleague at InfoWorld, Jon Udell, came up with a really clever JavaScript hack for avid readers who use Firefox,* called LibraryLookup. It cross-references product pages at Amazon.com with the catalog systems of public libraries. Whenever a book you’re browsing at Amazon is available at your local library, the script automatically lets you know, by inserting a notification into the Amazon page that links to the library’s online card catalog. It really comes in handy, especially if you’re an impulse book-buyer.

Jon originally wrote the script for the libraries in his hometown of Keene, New Hampshire, but there are only so many different library catalog systems in use. The script is adaptable to any of them, and lots of folks have modified it to work with the systems in their own communities. I never found a good version for San Francisco, though, so I spent some time working with Jon’s latest code to get it working. It needed just a couple of tweaks. » More... » →

Harry’s back!

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Well, call me a cynic, but I really didn’t foresee this outcome. As it turns out, Harry McCracken has decided to stay on with PC World. I guess IDG really does have the sense to retain its best employees and not allow one of its strongest brands to be irreparably damaged by bureaucratic mismanagement.

One part of the story that Harry didn’t get into in his blog post was revealed by fellow PC World editor Bud McLeod in the official write-up, posted Wednesday. Not only will Harry be retaining his position as editor in chief and vice president at PC World, but erstwhile CEO Colin Crawford — the one who caused this stink in the first place — was kicked to the curb, sent to slink back to an office in IDG corporate management. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I hope they find a better candidate to fill the CEO slot at PC World and MacWorld. In the meantime, congratulations to the entire editorial staff over there for sticking to your principles and continuing to turn out high-quality editorial, even in these tough economic times for the publishing industry. I’m sure you’re all as proud of Harry as I am.

Two glimpses of darker Africa

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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy SoldierAfrica is a forgotten continent to most Americans. We hear about the tragedies — the famines, the crooked governments, the occasional genocide — and we look away. The mainstream media, if they cover Africa at all, somehow fails to bring a sense of significance to it. These are alien people, living lives that are unlike ours, laboring through problems that cannot be solved.

Two recent books aim to put a human face on the struggling peoples of Africa. One centers on the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The other focuses on events that are even now unfolding in Sudan. Both succeed where news reports have failed us, even if the pictures they paint are not pretty. » More... » →

Good for you, Harry McCracken

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I just heard the news that Harry McCracken has resigned his position as editor in chief of PC World, one of InfoWorld’s sister publications. Apparently the newly-appointed CEO of the PC World/MacWorld group didn’t like it when Harry wrote a piece criticizing a company that also happened to be a PC World advertiser, so he took it upon himself to kill the story. Harry wouldn’t stand for it. Instead, he walked.

Sad to say, Harry’s case only demonstrates what seems to be a trend in trade publishing, driven from the top down. The suits will tell you that the publishing business isn’t about printing magazines, it’s about providing marketing channels for advertisers. A magazine isn’t a product, and a reader isn’t a customer. Rather, the reader is the product, and editorial is just a necessary evil (but one that they’re working to minimize). » More... » →

Life after InfoWorld

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If you’ve found your way here and you work in PR for the tech industry, you’ve probably been getting a little worried. I’m sure it always seemed like getting me to answer your emails (or, heaven forbid, your phone calls) was a little difficult. But lately it must seem like I never answer them.

OK, so you don’t have to be a genius to figure out what’s going on. It’s true. At about the same time that InfoWorld announced its transition to an online-only publication, editor-in-chief Steve Fox and I agreed that we’d part ways. There’s someone else enjoying the view from my corner desk at IDG’s San Francisco offices now, and may the evening symphony of the Bay Bridge traffic traffic bring them much inspiration.

As for me, I’ve gone solo. There’s no bad blood between me and the folks at Infoworld.com; doubtless you’ll see my byline on their HTML pages on a regular basis. But with any luck, moving away from the editorial rat race to concentrate on writing will give me a better opportunity to pursue projects a little more diverse than enterprise IT. » More... » →

Revamped Web presence

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Don’t call it a blog! Well, OK, I guess it is a blog, technically. But we don’t do any of that “blogosphere” nonsense around here.

Welcome to my new and improved personal homepage, which is only part of a comprehensive overhaul of all my various Web sites and properties. For a while now I’ve felt that it’s high time I got myself a grown-up’s Web site to replace the rather shabby version I’ve been using since the late 90s. (You remember that one, right? All the skulls and calligraphy fonts? How we’ll miss it.)

Building the new site around a blog back end will make it easier for me to keep you up to date on my comings and goings, if you’re the sort of person who cares. I’ll post updates on my latest work and where to find it, highlight some events of interest, and maybe even post the occasional review or random observation, just for fun. » More... » →

Review: “The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs”

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The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs: A NovelA new novel from Irvine Welsh is always welcome, and after revisiting familiar territory in Porno it’s nice to see him take a stab in a new direction, even if it’s not entirely successful. This one is a warped take on the Dorian Gray theme, with two young Edinburgh men sinking into a bitter enmity that produces a strange curse of transference: All the ill effects of the drink, drugs, and sex that are the habits of incorrigible Danny Skinner manifest themselves not in Skinner but in his rival, the nerdy and introverted Brian Kibby. As the truth begins to dawn on him, Kibby vows revenge. All is not entirely as it seems, however, and Welsh uses this material as a launching point for ruminations on life, food, sex, and especially alcoholism and absent fathers. Unfortunately, the writing here just isn’t up to par with some of Welsh’s other works. » More... » →