NetFlash: Potty time – Internet style

Microsoft has gone too far this time. Published reports this week noted that the company was testing a, well, – Internet Outhouse – because, you know, we NEED ‘Net access in outdoor bathrooms.

Microsoft has gone too far this time.

Published reports this week noted that the company was testing a, well, – Internet Outhouse – because, you know, we NEED ‘Net access in outdoor bathrooms.

Is nothing sacred?

Microsoft calls it the “iLoo,” in deference to the U.K. where the “portoNet” is being trialed with MSN service. In a nutshell, the iLoo is a portable toilet equipped with wireless access, a wireless keyboard and a plasma screen. A Hotmail station is attached to the outside of the outhouse for those waiting in line (of course).

Microsoft says the iLoo will be tested in and around Great Britain this summer at music festivals and the like. And MSN U.K. is negotiating with toilet paper manufacturers for special rolls with Web addresses, or URLs, printed on them (oh, why not).

No word on when or if this traveling toilet will flow in the U.S. anytime soon.

Cisco Q3 earnings up, sales down

Cisco this week posted third quarter pro forma earnings a penny better than expectations on revenue that was in line with analyst forecasts.

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0506ciscoearn.html

Longhorn to see light in 2005

Microsoft this week for the first time publicly confirmed 2005 as the release year for Longhorn, the successor to Windows XP.

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0507longhtose.html

Microsoft turns to emulators for security demo

Microsoft this week demonstrated its closely watched Next-Generation Secure Computing Base security technology for the first time, but had to fall back on emulators because critical hardware parts were not ready yet.

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0507ngscb.html

It pays to sort out UCPs

IBM’s announcement of an impressive round of on-demand computing megadeals at the end of 2002 signals that utility computing services finally might have arrived. Utility computing services promise to give companies a new way to satisfy IT requirements while adhering to growing pressure to reduce costs. But it also puts companies at risk of entrusting their corporate computing operations to utility computing providers, which could cost them more in business disruptions and lost revenue if the UCPs fail to keep their promises.

https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2003/0210kaplan.html