Amazon.com has decided to allow developers to create applications for the Kindle, according to the New York Times. Next month, a beta group will receive the Kindle Development Kit that will enable them to create either “free applications, one-time paid applications, and applications that require a monthly subscription.” Current Kindle owners need not fear – Amazon.com will remotely update your software so you can take advantage of applications too.

Part of the attraction of the internet in the first place was its ability to allow for millions of users with different operating systems and browser types to all interact with applications on the net without installing anything on their desktop machines. With the iPhone, Android and now your book reader we are clearly moving away from that to a place where we all get to manage hundreds of applications on disparate devices. When those apps are toys, I guess that's fine. When they become critical to your life, you have to start worrying about software management issues - bug, upgrades, viruses, backups, etc.

Haven't we kicked this thing into reverse sort of?

Curt Finch is the author of a project management book. He's interviewing PMs managing lots of people and projects for his second book now, contact curt@journyx.com if interested.

Microsoft is reporting its latest findings into a possible link between Windows 7 and failing laptop batteries.

And the latest findings are.....

that there are no findings! (Thank you, Microsoft!)

The blame game is officially afoot, however.

"Unidentified sources" within Microsoft have started their whisper campaign with reporters claiming that there is no way Windows 7 could interact with the BIOS in such a way to interfere with battery life.

The most obvious culprit would be a faulty driver not working properly to charge the battery.

PC makers point out the drivers are Microsoft-supplied.

The "whisperers" point out Microsoft has sold 60 million copies of Windows 7. If the problem is with the operating system, then why so few problems relative to the number of copies in circulation?

Stay tuned.

Facebook is doing a partial roll-out of its new redesign this weekend.

I say "partial"; partial being 80 million people!

That sounds like a lot of guinea pigs until you consider that Facebook actually hit 400 million users this week.

The new design primarily focuses on rearranging tools; locating them to hopefully more intuitive locations.

Notifications and chat are moving from the bottom right-hand side of the screen to the upper left.

I haven't played with it myself. However, word is the photo uploader has been completely rebuilt from scratch. That sounds promising to me, since the old one was, well, ca-ca.

You can bet by Monday on two things:

1) There'll be a new Facebook group called "I want the old Facebook back".

2) Membership will be in the six digits.

A new TechRepublic post lists the following as trends that will emerge or continue in 2010:

• The release of .NET 4 and Visual Studio 2010

• More developers will use cloud computing

• Ruby, Scala, Groovy, Python, and other programming
  languages make more of an impact

• The JVM’s renaissance continues

• The economy continues to impact IT workers

I can feel the economy for IT coming back. Sales increased in Q4 and I see them continuing
to do so this quarter. So I'm not sure about that last item.

Curt works for Journyx, which has solutions to help improve business execution.

Okay, think about Google's street view feature for a moment. You know; the ability to zoom in via Google Earth and get a 360 degree street level view of a neighborhood with an archived sweep of a camera.

Apparantly, Google camera crews are poised to do the same at the store level. The web site, Search Engline Land, is the first to report this rumor. It's based on a tip they got from a Manhattan store called "Oh Nuts" that claims Google used their store as a guinea pig for the new project.

The ramifications are staggering when you think about it.

Imagine what it would do for online retailers to be able to offer a virtual tour of their store shelves and displays.

Imagine the pressure it will put on online retailers who have no bricks and mortar storefront. Would those discount Manolo Blahnik shoes seem as appealing if you saw the moldy storage shed it originated from?

I see a new cottage industry cropping up if this comes to pass; stock footage of retail stores!

InfoWorld has published a funny article on the different types of 'geeks' that predominate in IT, including:

*The Empty Suit *(Hobbies include picking up chicks, most
resembles Steve Carrell in “The Office.”

*The Scary Sys Admin* (Greatest accomplishment is holding the
network hostage by refusing to release passwords to the Empty Suit.)

*The Human Roadblock *(Hobbies include complaining; role model is
Eeyore.)

*The Angry Support Drone *(Role model is Michael Douglas in
“Falling Down.”)

*The Ubergeek *(Identifying marks include sometimes confusing real
life with Second Life and unconscious “air typing.”)

*The OS Fanboy *(Greatest accomplishment is sticking with Windows
Vista.)

*The Promiser *(Identifying marks include a used car salesman smile.)

*The Shadow *(Greatest accomplishment is taking a month-long
vacation without the boss noticing.)

Curt Finch writes for a project management blog as well.

Microsoft announced this week that it is formerly launching an investigation into complaints that Windows 7 is adversely affecting laptop batteries in a variety of ways.

Oy! So let me count the ways (i.e. types of complaints):

- Some batteries are dying sooner than later (Windows 7 was actually supposed to sustain battery life longer and not shorten it).

- Some batteries are unable to hold a charge.

- Batteries are actually experiencing permanent damage. Some users claim their batteries no longer work properly when they switch to another operating system.

- The operating system indicates the battery is fully charged, when it's only been recharging for a few minutes and clearly not recharged.

- Even users with brand new laptops are reporting their batteries can't hold a charge.

- The problems are happening to a variety of different laptop brands, including the major names like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Acer and Toshiba.

Microsoft says there's likely a problem in the firmware (i.e. somewhere in the guts of the BIOS - that black or blue screen of geeky programming prompts you see for just a flash before it boots up) and that it is working with its "hardware" partners.

Here's two things that I don't like about this response from Microsoft:

- Users have been complaining about this since June (when Windows 7 was still in beta). Here's a link on Microsoft's own tech forum. You'll notice the first comment was on June 5th of last year. Hello, it's February! Once again, Microsoft has knowingly rushed a faulty product out of beta and to market.

- Microsoft is clearly pointing a finger at "hardware partners". Perhaps, that's where the problem began. But, Microsoft's name is on the product. So, shouldn't the buck stop with Microsoft? (Steve Ballmer is no Harry Truman).

Harumph!