http://www.techuser.net Fifteen most recent articles at Techuser en-us Copyright 2003-6 Latif Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:04:56 +0500 Ebay auctions can reveal a lot of interesting and valuable information. Unfortunately, few people bother to study the bid data generated by Ebay auctions and fail to benefit from the patterns hidden there. The web calendaring startup Kiko's auction is a classic example of an opportunity wasted because of insufficient analysis. In Kiko's case, the cost ran into the millions. http://www.techuser.net/kiko.html Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:05:46 +0000 Lego seems to have taken up programmable construction toys again with Mindstorms NXT, but this is not so. Mindstorms NXT signals only the continuation of Lego's long standing strategy of keeping programmable construction toys confined to a niche. http://www.techuser.net/lego2.html Wed, 03 May 2006 02:52:43 +0000 In recent years, Lego Mindstorms has generated more media buzz for Lego than all of its other product lines combined, but astonishingly, Mindstorms seem to be out of favor at Lego. Why? http://www.techuser.net/lego.html Sun, 27 Nov 2005 07:12:03 +0000 Why did a well-respected, highly profitable company that professes to do no evil choose to misguide potential investors and shareholders? UPDATED!!! http://www.techuser.net/gcoverup.html Tue, 31 May 2005 10:04:02 +0000 Google needs to deal with Gmail users' ad blindness before it can make money with Gmail. Ad blindness is a tough problem to tackle, but Gmail's peculiar business model enables an interesting solution. http://www.techuser.net/gmailads.html Wed, 02 Mar 2005 01:44:55 +0000 The last few years have been quite scary for Sun Microsystems, but the company is back on track. Sun is cutting back on its proprietary hardware and has a sound plan to combat all the competitive threats facing its business. http://www.techuser.net/sunx86.html Mon, 20 Dec 2004 01:57:01 +0000 Microsoft and Yahoo are in a rush to copy Gmail's functionality, but it makes sense for them to copy more than just the interface, and storage quotas. Gmail's business model suits Microsoft and Yahoo even more than it suits Google, and this is what Microsoft and Yahoo will be copying next. http://www.techuser.net/webmail.html Wed, 10 Nov 2004 03:28:05 +0000 While writing this article it occurred to me that I am running a most unusual startup in the guise of this website. The startup has no capital, no revenues, and no business plan. Is the experiment doomed? Well, I come from Sialkot, and Sialkot's entrepreneurs are absolute masters at what I am doing. http://www.techuser.net/bizlessons.html Mon, 01 Nov 2004 10:37:05 +0000 Bloggers care a lot about web-traffic, but not all blogs can be popular. Fortunately, blog success and blog popularity do not have any great correlation, and bloggers need to get over their obsession with hits. http://www.techuser.net/hits.html Sun, 03 Oct 2004 12:37:03 +0000 Google's Gmail service has brought a lot of innovative ideas to the webmail scene, and webmail users are ecstatic about the new functionality. Shockingly, Google is intent on missing out on the financial rewards of the company's hard work. http://www.techuser.net/gmail.html Sat, 28 Aug 2004 01:15:04 +0000 Windows users are getting burned by the non-existent security of Microsoft's operating system. But, instead of addressing the real issues, Microsoft is out on a public relations offensive to avert blame and disinform the public. http://www.techuser.net/msftblame.html Sun, 18 Jul 2004 02:51:50 +0000 Microsoft has set aside a $5 million fund for paying off informants on malware authors. In my opinion a good chunk of this money deserves to be paid to individuals who help catch the Microsoft employees behind the design of Windows Registry and Windows Update. http://www.techuser.net/winsecurity.html Sun, 16 May 2004 13:18:35 +0000 Generating KPermutations and KSubsets is easy, but can be somewhat expensive if thoughtlessly implemented. This article discusses some optimizations for efficient generation of these combinatorial objects. http://www.techuser.net/randpermgen2.html Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:28:00 +0000 The software industry is pretty harsh on innovative ideas, but this behavior will have to change if the industry wants to survive the onslaught of open source software. http://www.techuser.net/goodideas2.html Sun, 14 Mar 2004 01:00:00 +0000 Good ideas need more than a decent implementation to survive, and this article points out some things the software industry is doing wrong. http://www.techuser.net/goodideas1.html Sun, 29 Feb 2004 01:00:00 +0000