Thoughtsofanidlemind's Blog

Category: Technology

  • Motorola Mobility continues its losing streak in synchronization war with Microsoft

    I spent a good part of 2012 helping Microsoft to defend a law suit in the UK High Court against Motorola Mobility. You’ll recall that Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2011 with the intention of exploiting the many patents that Motorola had accumulated in the telecommunications space…

  • Contemplating Yammer

    Microsoft’s $1.2 billion purchase of Yammer in June 2012 is now starting to get traction as the technology becomes more integrated with the rest of the Office suite. Officially described as an internal social network, Yammer is sometimes compared to a company-specific version of Twitter or Facebook (perhaps because all…

  • The dubious value of LinkedIn endorsements

    Allow me to pose a simple question: what value does anyone get from the endorsements lovingly gathered and displayed (with no little amount of pride) by LinkedIn? I ask myself this in light of some of the endorsements given to me. But I’m sure that the same question has occurred…

  • Exchange Unwashed blog digest October 2013

    October began with the Exchange Connections conference in Las Vegas and ended with some thoughts on whether to go to TechEd or MEC next year. In between, I contemplated some of the questions raised by attendees at Exchange Connections as well as some thoughts that came up in my own…

  • Initial experiences with the Nokia Lumia 1020

    As many of the gentle readers of this blog might know, I took the plunge into Windows Phone about two years ago when I changed over from my iPhone to use a Nokia Lumia 800. During that time not all of my experiences with the Lumia have been positive but…

  • Windows 8.1 – an easy upgrade – except for VMware

    I’ve just upgraded my HP Envy 17 from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 8.1 Pro RTM and the early signs were that it was the easiest and fastest Windows upgrade that I can remember. Everything went extremely smoothly and nothing caused a problem – even the “Classic Shell” add-on that I…

  • Would a boycott influence Microsoft Learning?

    Microsoft Learning’s (MSL) recent decision to cancel the Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) and Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) programs has spawned a fair amount of commentary and debate. Regretfully, in some cases the discussion barely scratches the surface, probably due to the unfamiliarity of the writer with the details of these high-level technical certifications.…

  • Microsoft CVP on the current state of Windows Phone and its competitors

    Terry Myerson, who previously ran the Exchange development group, is now the Microsoft Corporate Vice-President (CVP) for Windows Phone. He has always had strong opinions and it came as no surprise that Terry would voice some trenchant views when he was interviewed at the recent Mobile World Congress (the video stuttered badly when…

  • Bricked Lumia returns, great joy all round

    My bricked Nokia Lumia 800 returned from maintenance on February 25, some 27 days after I left it in because the phone had decided that it did not want to turn on. Nokia made several attempts to fix the problem and eventually had to replace the main board, work that…

  • Google flogging a dead horse with Motorola pager patent

    For those who follow patent matters, the spat between Google and Microsoft revolving around whether Exchange ActiveSync infringes a Motorola pager patent dating from August 1995 has moved on to Germany, where an associated case is being heard in Mannheim. Google acquired the patent along with many others when it…