october 2002 archives

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Earlier this year I drew attention to Microsoft's online mapping and routeplanner services: MSN MapPoint.NET. They introduced themselves in the UK at the Geosolutions Forums last month. At the time, I thought it was an interesting development as they would help promote online map usage. They would not become a large player, as the US market was already more or less taken by MapQuest and Vicinity, the company behind MapBlast.

Yesterday, SiliconValley.internet.com ran the story, that Microsoft buys Vicinity! Microsoft's main objective is to stregthen its MapPoint.NET platform. Now, this completely changes the chess board laid out earlier this month. One of the underlying reasons for Yahoo! to change its mapping supplier from MapQuest to Vicinity was that AOL, another content provider and internet portal, owns MapQuest. Now that Vicinity, Yahoo's current mapping supplier, has been bought by yet another internet portal, what will Yahoo's next move be?  permanent link for this entry

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Fortunately I decided to take out the time of posting a long time ago! You don't wanna know what time it is now. For some reason I am all into geek mode tonight: just finished implementing the Google API for my website. If you happen to stumble upon a 404 error, you will now be presented with a search box that accesses the Google database to retrieve matching documents on my website. I have also added this feature to the standard tools at the top of every webpage. Happy hunting...  permanent link for this entry

Missed “8MM” the other night on TV, but that was made up for last night: I went to see the film “My Little Eye”! The film takes a “Blair Witch”-like look on the “Big Brother” phenomenon. Altogether it's very scary and clever as you don't know what's real, what is staged, when it is just the webcam's viewpoint, or when it is really going to be scary.

The story is about 5 contestants in the “Big Brother” house. However, things start happening that makes the contestants re-assess what is real and what is for the show. Then the first contestant hangs himself...  permanent link for this entry

Monday, October 07, 2002

W2. Yes, after being two years in the UK, I have finally moved into one of those houses you dream of when imagining living in London: white-washed facade, columns on either side of the main entrance, and a basement. Hyde Park is only 5 minutes away and Oxford Street only a mere 10 minutes!  permanent link for this entry

Friday, October 04, 2002

I am in the UK now for two years exactly! Never thought I would last this long away from friends and family. Actually, being here is getting better and better!  permanent link for this entry