Outer limits of vintage tech uncovered

PHOTO

The urge to 'be professional' led to many mutations. The PBS Executive IV is executive because it's built into a briefcase.
This, however, cannot disguise its true nature, which is a Spectrum+ with thermal printer and Microdrive storage: without a display, it is not entirely clear how it was supposed to work. Nothing else is known of this odd creation, hence the plaintive sign: if you know of (or even better are) the mystery PBS, let us know and we'll make a Spectrum collector a very happy man.

PHOTO

The Netpliance I-Opener was one of the pioneers in a class of web-surfing gadgets known as Internet appliances.
Though most such devices survived less than a year on the market, the vision of providing simpler and more specialised on-ramps to the internet has largely been realised, albeit a decade later.

The Evilla

The Evilla holds several distinctions among internet appliances. It was one of few shipping devices that ran the cult classic Be operating system, was built around a Sony Trinitron rather than a flatscreen, and was also pulled after less than two months, with Sony buying back all of the units that had sold.

NEWS

Google has introduced Google TV, the first non-mobile application of its Android operating system.

The platform lets people watch television shows alongside internet video, overlaying live video with the user interface on a standard domestic TV screen. It also provides a way of running applications and interacting with the internet using a standard browser, using wireless keyboards and mice as input devices
Google TV was unveiled at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco on Thursday, with partners Intel, Adobe, Sony and Logitech all taking part in the announcement.
Televisions, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes with Google TV technology built in will go on sale in the US in autumn, Google said in a blog post.
Asked about availability in Britain, a spokesperson for the company was more circumspect. "As usual, we expect to make Google TV available in due course in other countries, but our plans currently only extend to the US," the spokesperson told ZDNet UK.
Running Android 2.1 and the Chrome browser, Google TV includes search across TV schedules and the web, programme planning and the ability to download apps from the Android Market store.
Google said that the Google TV software development kit (SDK) and web APIs for TV will be released "soon after launch" so that developers can create and distribute apps via the Android storefront. The source code for the platform will be made available to all in the summer of 2011, the company told ZDNet UK.

Google, Sony and Intel have previously been linked to a potential TV project. Samsung has also said it is looking at "a Google TV", but the hardware maker was not represented at the I/O conference.
Sony will produce the first complete Google TV, while Logitech is set to build a set-top box to plug into existing TVs. Logitech also plans to produce an HDTV camera for video chat on Google TV, as well as remote control software for smartphones.
The Sony and Logitech products are both based on Intel's CE4100 Atom SoC processor. The chip combines an Atom core with 3D and HD video accelerators, encryption and security, and various forms of audio and video I/O. It has hardware support for H.264 video decoding, among other codecs. However, it does not directly support VP8, the video component of Google's own WebM media standard. Likewise, it has hardware for digital audio in MP3, AAC and WMA formats but not in Theora, WebM's audio codec.
Sony's TV will be available in the US towards the end of the year, where Logitech's box is "expected in autumn 2010", according to a Logitech spokesperson. "We will start to see developments in the UK from 2011," the spokesperson told ZDNet UK.

NEWS

Google has announced that the Chinese government has renewed its Internet Content Provider license, earning it another year of business in China. 

The search giant said on Friday that it was granted the renewal after it agreed to make changes to the way it redirects users to its Hong Kong web site, where web search can be unfiltered under China's "one country, two systems" approach to Hong Kong.
Google's first solution to its China problem — which kicked off in January when Google declared that it no longer intended to censor search results in China — was to simply move Chinese-language search to Hong Kong in March. At the time, it admitted that it did not know whether or not this would actually work, with Google co-founder Sergey Brin citing a "lack of clarity" around what exactly Google was allowed to do and what it was not.

Bottle-By-Bottle: Building Your Small Business in an obscure niche market

Entrepreneurs throughout the world are hard at work putting the foundations in place for a stronger tomorrow. Everyday small business owners are defying the odds of the economy and are making great strides toward creating change. From the most popular industries to the most obscure niche markets, entrepreneurs are paving the way forward.

Consider for a moment an entrepreneur like Jim Martin, founder of BubbleTat.com. Jim Martin is an American business owner that is building a small business that is quickly becoming a change force within the tattoo hygiene market. After years of adorning his body with tattoos, Jim became fed up by the lack of proper after tattoo care products and went to work creating BubbleTat. If you have not heard of this company yet, you should know that it is quickly making a name for itself in a niche market where obscurity is king. By creating a harmonic blend of aloe, moisturizers, and antibacterial agents, BubbleTat is a product that the tattoo industry has been missing. Luckily for Jim, his affinity for getting inked has put him at the helm of a market changing product.

Jim Martin and his success with BubbleTat are just one example, but every day, entrepreneurs just like Jim (albeit most of which likely wear less ink) are pushing through this difficult economy and are paving the way for a brighter tomorrow. For those entrepreneurs out there that need a little extra motivation today, just keep building your company like Jim, bottle-by-bottle!

ORACLE DATABASE 10g EXPRESS EDITION

Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) is a no-frills edition of the proven Oracle Database 10g product. It’s completely free of charge, and may be installed on any size machine, supporting up to 4GB of user data and running on a single processor, using a maximum of 1GB memory. Database administration is done via browser interface and applications can be developed using standard interfaces such as SQL, JDBC, ODP.NET, or using Oracle’s unique Application Express feature.

Ideal Database for Developers
Built using the same code base as Oracle Database 10g Release 2, Oracle Database XE includes the complete integrated set of programming interfaces making it the ideal choice for developing PHP, Java, .NET, and other applications that require a database. Developers can easily set up their own development environment or shared database server with groups of developers. Oracle Database XE is available on 32-bit Linux and Windows platforms.

Great Starter Database for Students and Database Administrators
Oracle Database XE is a great starter database for new administrators and educational institutions or students who need a database for their curriculum. It comes complete with management browser interface to monitor database activity and manage database users, storage, and memory. Since Oracle Database XE is built using the same code base as Oracle Database 10g Release 2 it provides flexibility for future growth. Applications developed and deployed using Oracle Database XE can easily be upgraded to Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition One, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Editions without any coding changes.

Zero Risk Investment for ISVs and Hardware Vendors
With Oracle Database XE, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and hardware vendors can take advantage of the industry’s leading database free of charge while adding significant customer value. Oracle provides a cost-effective database and an environment that is completely upward compatible with both ISV and customer developments.
Distributing Oracle Database XE in or with applications or products without additional cost offers even greater value to customers. ISVs and hardware vendors unfamiliar with Oracle Database have an opportunity to experience Oracle technology, validate it with their applications or products, and freely distribute it—with zero risk and investment.

Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Features
• Available on 32-bit Linux and Windows
• Installs using native installers
• English (single byte character set) and International (Unicode) versions available with support for 10 major languages
• Supports up to 4GB of user data
• Executes on one processor in any size server
• Uses up to 1GB RAM of available memory in any size server
• Fully upgradeable to other Oracle Database 10g editions
• Oracle Text for efficient text-based searches

Oracle Database XE Development Environments
• Oracle Call Interface for C and C++
• Oracle Application Express
• ODBC
• Oracle Data Provider for .NET
• OLE DB
• JDBC
• PHP

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Oracle Database XE is an award-winning product, and has received the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Award for Best Database Solution. An independent panel of Linux and open source industry professionals recognized Oracle Database XE as the most innovative and important database solution running on Linux. Oracle Database XE was also selected as a finalist in the Database Development and Administration category for the Windows IT Pro/SQL Server Magazine Best of TechEd.

Upgrade As You Grow 

With Oracle Database XE, developers, DBAs, students, and ISVs can utilize the industry’s leading database technology completely free of charge. Oracle Database XE is created from the same code base as the Oracle Database 10g product line—Standard Edition One, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Edition. Oracle grows with your needs, offering a smooth upgrade path without costly, complex migrations.

Download Oracle Database XE Today
Download your free copy of Oracle Database XE and get more information today; visit oracle.com/technology/xe

A Learning Library

Oracle has added a new Learning Library which will help you when you're looking for demonstrations or online tutorials. This is a neat (Oracle APEX) application which basically provides a new user interface to the same Oracle by Example (OBE) tutorial content available on OTN. The difference is that you don't need to scroll down through lists of OBEs or search various sites to find online demonstrations.You can find the Learning Library here: http://otn.oracle.com/obe. The material from Sue's team is under the database section, so you can select that node and then add in your search criteria. For example, just add "model" to the search and you'll see the 3 current Data Modeler tutorials and the latest data Modeler tutorial, published just this week.We also have a new SQL Developer 2.1 New Features OBE.The library also lists online demonstrations, which are all typically around 3 - 5 minutes long, focusing on just a small feature area. This means that a search for SQL Developer material will result in tutorials and online demonstrations. It saves you wading through endless pages looking for help. Select "All Content" and add the search SQLDEV and you'll find quite a nice long list... Let us know what you'd like to see next!