The Weekly Round-Up: 12.06.09

'Web 2.0' has become the one millionth word to be 'accepted' into the English language.

That's according to the Global Language Monitor, a company which sifts the web for neologisms in search of formal recognition. Once a word has been used 25,000 times, it gets the stamp of approval.

The first thing that occurred to The Round-Up was that 'web 2.0' has probably been referenced a lot more than 25,000 times since it was first coined.

This column alone must have contributed half of that sum, almost all of it ironic.

The second thing the Round-Up noticed was that it isn't a word. It's two words. Or rather a word and a number, so it really shouldn't count: lexical FAIL (which is also two words).

Web 2.0 defeated other candidates such as 'n00b' (spelt with two zeroes so arguably a typo, and thus not a great look for a dictionary) and 'Jai ho' - a Hindi exclamation meaning victory. Again, technically two words. Word number 999,996 was 'cloud computing', if you were wondering.

It's not a great field, really.

The Global Language Monitor also listed the "French word with least chance of entering English language", which turned out to be "le courriel" the formal French term for email.

Apparently, web 2.0 is defined as "the next generation of web products and services, coming soon to a browser near you".

Defending the 'milli-word', Paul JJ Payack, chief word analyst of Global Language Monitor, said web 2.0 would inform historians about the focus of the internet in 2009.

Or if not the focus of the internet, then certainly the focus of internet marketing.

The great, the good and the technology-obsessed descended on San Francisco this week to worship the cult of Mac.

Expectations at the event were high, as were hopes of the announcement of a mythical tablet device. That didn't happen.

But the audience at the keynote was rewarded with a new iPhone, although the company made them wait until the last 20 minutes before unveiling the new device.

One person got so excited about the announcement of a built-in compass in the iPhone 3G S (the 's' is for 'speed') he nearly passed out, despite the fact everyone had said there would be one.

The new iPhone also has better battery life - now you can wait until afternoon tea before having to recharge it. It also has a better camera, which also allows you to record and edit video snippets. Apple marketing chief, Phil Schiller, predicted that the iPhone 3G S will become the world's most popular mobile video device. But then as head of marketing at Apple, he would.

It also has more power and is considerably more expensive than it was last year. But the company also announced that you could get the 8GB version of the current iPhone for a mere $99.

Meanwhile, Apple also announced that the launch date of its latest operating system update, Snow Leopard, and Apple's Bertrand Serlet had some fun at Vista's expense.

Microsoft has been trying to position Windows 7 as a completely new operating system. It is in fact, the same old Windows, Serlet said.

"That's Windows 7," he said. "Fundamentally, it's just another version of Windows Vista." Outrageous marketing, he fumed comically.

But while his rhetoric suggested a fundamental difference in approaches between the two companies' operating system strategy, Serlet actually described Apple's new OS Snow Leopard in many of the same ways - as a better version of existing software.

"We love Leopard," he said. "We are proud of Leopard," and added that the goal of Snow Leopard, he said, was really "to build a better Leopard". That's a lot of leopards.

There are other similarities between what the two companies are doing. Among the new features in Snow Leopard is a feature that adds the 'Expose' previewing feature to the Dock - not unlike the Aero Peek feature that Windows 7 has as part of its new task bar.

In the meantime, while Windows 7 is largely focused on improving the look and performance of the core Vista engine, Snow Leopard goes more under the hood, aiming to better handle 64-bit processing and multi-core capabilities.

So basically, Apple is doing the belt-and-braces, under-the-hood work, while Microsoft makes the world a shinier place.

Steve Jobs had better come back to Apple soon. The people he left in charge of operating the Reality Distortion Field have been mucking about with the settings and now it's working in reverse...

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown might be as popular as Steve Ballmer in a Mac developer workshop but he knows how to tap into the populist vibe to detract attention from the state of his government.

The Prime Minister, who has in recent months led the lexicographers to revise the definition for 'beleaguered' downwards, has decided to bring in geek favourite and knight of the realm Sir Tim Berners-Lee to help open up government data.

Brown announced the news in Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

Brown said: "So that government information is accessible and useful for the widest possible group of people, I have asked Sir Tim Berners-Lee who led the creation of the world wide web, to help us drive the opening up of access to government data in the web over the coming month."

Berners-Lee is a strong proponent of the public having secure control over their own data - as is the Round-Up. He's criticised the UK government for seemingly condoning the use by ISPs of techniques such as deep-packet inspection. He is also a dyed-in-the-wool, bona fide tech hero.

The great man has his work cut out for him.

There are a few government organisations who turn quite a profit from public data. A fair amount of revenue comes from other public sector organisations. Which frankly, is just a teeny bit stupid.

Go Timmy!

In other news this week.
Kendo. Cycling shorts. Windows 7. All part of the daily mix for the modern CIO.

What is the deal with Apple's notebook plan? Is there something new and shiny waiting in the wings?

Perfecting the art of providing supply and demand. Microsoft readies its antivirus package.

And don't forget the caption competition.