Software > Opinions

Microblogging on Twitter is great. But sometimes you're just too busy to sit down and type that 140-character tweet. Maybe you're climbing a volcano, sprinting through the airport or running a marathon and just can't stop to type. Here's how to post on Twitter using only a voice phone call.

Leetspeak, Internet shorthand, computer jargon for instant messaging -- whatever you call them, initialisms like BRB, LOL and BTW have now entered the public lexicon. (I know a few teenagers who actually say LOL to each other in person!)

Although it may seem like your computing life is all e-mail and browsing, computer users still create files, documents, spreadsheets, boring presentations and all manner of other stored information. Which brings me to the question: Where do you store your data? And are you ready to store your data online in a service hosted by a third party provider?

With the first public alpha release of Windows 7 due Monday at the Microsoft PDC2008 conference, the outline of the new operating system is taking shape. What you won't see when that alpha comes out is the way that Microsoft will try to use Windows 7 as a Trojan horse in its war against Google.

Here's a statistical downer: there will be around 40 trillion inbox-clogging spam e-mail messages delivered this year. Experts know this because there were 30 trillion spam messages last year. With this much hay in the stack, it's hard to find those message needles, and that's why some smart companies are looking beyond public e-mail.

Quiz time. Get out your No. 2 computers and answer the following question: For the fastest and most reliable high-end computing for your enterprise, will your operating system be 1) Linux, 2) Solaris, 3) OpenVMS or 4) Windows?

More bad news for fans of the "I bought it, I own it, I can do what I want with it" approach to living.

What if there were a way for you to directly help the neediest families in your community and the world -- or for help to find you, after a fire, flood or some personal tragedy -- without the involvement of a government agency, nonprofit organization or church? What if assistance could flow seamlessly, based on information routinely collected and resources instantly deployed online?

Like a Brachiosaur sinking into a tar pit, the recording industry as we've known it for the past 70 years is very nearly extinct. But unlike dinosaurs, the RIAA is trying to drag everyone else into the pit with it.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the well-known (at least in the geek world) computer flick "WarGames," wherein a 1980s computer wiz accidentally connects via modem to the WOPR (War Operation Plan Response) mainframe, a supercomputer designed to conduct World War III scenarios. In doing so, he kicks off a series of events that bring the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust. Perhaps you recall the various times when, even in the underground NORAD bunker, there were speakers connected that allowed the computer program Joshua to read aloud. "Shall we play a game?" is a line we'll never forget.

T-Mobile, HTC and Google launched the "world's first Android-powered mobile phone" today and proudly announced that this phone was going to be "game-changing". But after reading details on the phone, the service and some of the new applications, I'm left wondering where the game is actually changing.