In April 2007, I tried out the Joost desktop client.  [More on Joost here and here]

I was underwhlemed by the performance, and the fact that the application completely maxxed out my dual core CPU, my 2G of RAM, and my high-speed home broadband. I do remember thinking at the time that it seemed weird to have a Desktop Client in the first place. Well, as Om Malik reports this morning, it seems that I was not alone.

After this week’s hoopla over Chrome, moving in the direction of the browser seems like a wise thing to do. But I definitely hear far more buzz over Hulu than I do for Joost on the intertubes.

Update

Michael Arrington and TechCrunch weigh into the discussion.

Tags: browser, desktop client, Hulu, Joost, Malik, media, Om, Om Malik, Streaming, tv

This post has two underlying reasons for existing: 1) to test out the new MSFT Live Writer Beta; and 2) to talk about a great story that GigaOm pointed us to today.

Om Malik pointed out a story in the Seattle Times today that talked about “Broadband in the Boonies”. Having grown up in the boonies of British Columbia, this immediately got my attention. The story discusses the explosive growth of Internet businesses in the now heavily wired interior of Washington State; the story focuses on the are around Twisp, Winthrop and the Methow Valley.

Until you have been in this area, and I have, you don’t get the possibility of winter isolation. The story talks about how these places are four hours from Seattle; what they neglect to mention is that this is 4 hours in the period between April 15 and October 15, depending on snow.

The direct westerly route to Seattle from these locations passes through the Cascades. Through the extremely high and snowy Cascades.

Samantha and I took a spur of the moment detour through this little part of heaven, pausing a night in a campground in Twisp. Right on the river. When we woke up the next morning, I remembered how much I missed those early morning moments in the mountains.

Twisp is far more isolated than Golden, BC, or any of the other towns that we passed through on our trip this summer. But it is a reminder to us all that place is important. Not because we have to be there, but because it is where we are at home.

I have lived in the Valley. I have lived in Massachusetts. But neither has been home.

And to me, home is worth more than anything.

Technorati Tags: GigaOm, Seattle+Times, Twisp, Winthrop, Methow+Valley, Washington+State, Home, Broadband, Freedom, Om+Malik

Tags: attention, broadband, business, GigaOm, HTTP, IE, IM, Internet, IP, ISP, it, LAN, live, Malik, Massachusetts, media, Om, Om Malik, pr, Technorati, the other

I heard (via TechCrunch and Om Malik and PubSub) that there is some … transition at PubSub.

Now, I have a soft spot in my heart for PubSub, because Bob Wyman was the first person to really notice and appreciate the things I was doing at GrabPERF. I wonder what the future holds for this team.

Frankly, I would agree with Michael Arrington’s comment that PubSub is a likely acquisition target. They do offer a very interesting service, but as a standalone offering, the opportunities are becoming increasingly narrow. As part of a larger Social Web/Web 2.0 firm with a broad range of products, PubSub’s technology could become the glue that holds the various parts together.

Update: Salim Ismail, the now retired CEO, posts his own comments here.

Technorati Tags: PubSub, blog search, Web 2.0, management, acquisition

Tags: Acquisition, app, blog, GigaOm, GrabPERF, HTTP, IE, IM, it, leave, Malik, Om, Om Malik, One, posts, pr, run, search, steps, techcrunch, Technorati, update, web, web 2.0

Wondered why I couldn’t get my GMail for a while…

Om Malik reports on the Google Domain Hijacking.

Om has heard from Google and it looks like they were doing some DNS work. This is one the oldest parts of the working Internet, and it is the most complex and devious thing to get right. Entire companies have been built around managing DNS.

It is almost as though the people who designed DNS made it obtuse and difficult to manage so they could sell their consulting services to the rest of us.

Tags: design, DNS, GigaOm, Google, HTTP, IE, Internet, it, Malik, Om, Om Malik, One

Uh oh! Serious issues are starting to appear with the Google Accelerator, including security/authentication issues.

More here and here and here

C|Net’s take.

geeked’s take.

Geek News Central

Om Malik hits for six by declaring: So What? [here]

Radar has a learned discussion on the GWA’s impact on my other fave whipping post: 37 Signals BackPack. [here]

Tim Yang brings on more 666gle anti-love.

Om Malik hits for the Century by saying: And Why?

BlogNewsChannel has the best wrap-up. [here]

Dan Gillmor chimes in.

Tags: app, ARIN, blog, design, GigaOm, Google, hits, HTML, HTTP, IM, IP, Issues, it, Malik, Om, Om Malik, OReilly, PHP, web

Om Malik points out a potential threat to blogs: OSX 10.4 “Tiger”. The new Safari that ships with this OS comes with the RSS reader turned on by default!

That upgrade while great for the consumers, could come as a big shocker for those blogs whose feeds are included as part of Safari’s default starter package. Infact it could be the biggest stress test for RSS thus far!

Most RSS readers are set to poll for updates every hour, and imagine when half-a-million Tiger Safari users who start hitting a server at the same time, pulling down RSS updates, because they have not changed the default settings. Server meltdown? Or an unintended denial of service? Apple says that most of the default feeds are going to be major news sites like CNN. New York Times, and LA Times. At this time they are not including any personal blogs as part of the default list. Even for them it is not going to be easy.

As a Web performance geek, I ask you: do you measure and monitor the performance and availability of your blog infrastructure?

Didn’t think so….

Enjoy the Weekend!

Tags: app, Apple, bandwidth, blog, EAD, feeds, GigaOm, HTTP, IM, IP, it, LA Times, Malik, Om, Om Malik, performance, personal, RSS, Safari, server, update, users, web, Web Performance

Kottke has a great summary of the links for the Adobomedia/Macrodobe story here.

In my opinion, this quote sums up what is wrong with this merger.

The combination of Adobe and Macromedia strengthens our mission of helping people and organizations communicate better. Through the combination of our powerful development, authoring and collaboration tools – and the complementary functionality of PDF and Flash – we have the opportunity to drive an industry-defining technology platform that delivers compelling, rich content and applications across a wide range of devices and operating systems. [here]

The Adobe and Macromedia Marketing/Press Relations teams need the help of the Bullfighter software.

Flash makes web products that are great for online games…and useless for anything else. Adobe makes a PDF reader, which I can replace with any number of free readers.

I can feel gravity dragging this merger into the pit of despair.

I agree with Om Malik and Russell Beattie — I vote “-1″ on this merger.

More here and here and here and here

Richard Koman says this is a good deal…Flash on Mobile devices merged with a lighter version of Acrobat.

Sramana Mitra says that Apple should buy Adobe now. [here]

Strategize says Adobe everywhere, all the time. [here]

Roland Tanglao quotes Marc Canter, who is happy to see Macromedia disappear.

More from Roland here.

Tags: Acquisition, Acrobat, Adobe, app, Apple, application, ARIN, blog, book, content, cro, EAD, GigaOm, HTML, HTTP, IE, IM, it, LAN, live, Mac, Malik, marketing, media, Om, Om Malik, online, operating systems, opinion, PHP, pr, web

Om Malik is bouncing this idea around. [here]

As I said to a colleague, the deal can only go ahead if NorTel shows its “Get Out Of Jail Free” card.

Tags: EAD, GigaOm, HTTP, it, Malik, Om, Om Malik