Google was formulated on the principle “Don’t be evil” and has tried to keep to this throughout their rise. However more recently people are beginning to question this and I really have to disagree.

I don’t think it comes down to being good or evil life just isn’t that black and white. Google is a massive company now and it just comes down to good business. So I disagree that Google is good and I disagree that Google is evil.

In much the same way Microsoft is seen as the evil empire by most people and Apple whiter than white when this is far from the case for both.

All companies have to make money, and as much money as they possibly can. The problem is when a company gets so large or has such a large share of a market then some actions could be seen as anti-competitive. However depending on the company’s reputation it seems these actions that step over the line are treated in different ways.

Take Google for example, with their squeaky clean image they have been appalled by the prospective takeover of Yahoo! by Microsoft. Was this because of the potential damage to the openness of the Internet or because it would put Microhoo! on a more equal footing with Google current strangle hold?

An entry posted on the Google blog by David Drummond titled “Yahoo! and the future of the Internet” certainly raises questions but the same could be asked of Google so what makes them “holier than thou”?

Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick has surely got to raise more questions but seems to be more low key maybe because of Google’s good guy reputation even though Google now controls 69% of the online advertising market!

Apple too seems to have this “do no wrong” reputation even though having, in my opinion, just as serious anti-competitive tactics with the iPod - iTunes system as Microsoft has done in the past. Still you’ve got to admire the best marketing in the World bar none as really this hasn’t got the column inches you’d expect!

I believe people should really take a step back and take a long hard look before passing judgement based on image (or in some cases bordering on religious zealotry). These are all huge companies that look after themselves first there is no good or evil it’s just business - get over it.

For most this screen resolution has been gone for some time however from a web development perspective a lot of websites still ensure that 800 x 600 screens have no horizontal scrolling. This was originally because it was thought a large enough percentage of visitors were still using this resolution however the fact that some high profile (and benchmark) website are still optimised for 800 x 600 and above certainly hasn’t helped to see this limiting factor being removed. A lot of people have been saying this for a long time - Screen Resolution and Page Layout.

The new style that BBC News have just adopted shows that they now think this small resolution is now dead and finally we can use some of the unused browser space. Isn’t it so much easier to read? Lets hope everyone follows the lead if they haven’t already.

Google has gone all dark for the day!

Quite a clever way of highlighting the Earth Hour initative to reduce the energy consumed Worldwide. Now everyone that knows me knows I disagree with virtually everything the Green lobby says however I do dislike the idea of wastage so why not turn the lights off once in a while?

It also lays the myth to rest that has been relentlessly spread by chainmail idiots that changing all website designs to use a black background would eliminate global warming overnight!

So why am I doing this now? I’ve been in the web industry for getting on 10 years and I’ve never, I repeat never had my own website let alone a blog that tends to require an ongoing effort of writing eloquently written entries (yeah right - I am from Somerset you know).

The first reason is a couple of people I work with - Mark Steadman of Bluemilkshake fame and Kevin Rapley or DigiKev as he likes to be known. Apart from making my working day more bearable by being the target of my many rants or unprovoked expletives they are also great for bouncing ideas off. Their encouragement is probably the main reason I’m actually putting some of my rants into words rather than just leaving their ears ringing! Not that it’ll keep me quiet unfortunately for them.

However not wanting to leave the boys in too much of an open position when I’m looking to blame someone when I need to write a blog entry and haven’t really got the time - why else would this be happening after all this time?

Maybe recently my priorities in life have changed, certainly my impending fatherhood makes you look at things differently. So rather than just working during the week for various clients I need to take the time to further my own online presence.

Another major reason for setting up a blog specifically is the whole social media movement - it’s about time I practiced what I preach to companies. This is going to be an even bigger year for social media no matter what the doomsayers are shouting - it’s just going to mature.

Confidence is another issue as for some unfathomable reason I’m quite happy to dispense recommendations during my working week (which I would hope work) but haven’t really had the confidence to publish these thoughts online for fear of being attacked. Why this is the case I’m not sure as I do have strong beliefs and I do love a good argument!

It’s also true that Mark’s New Media Junkie podcast that I sometimes make an appearance on has also boosted this confidence - if I can get away with cannibalism here what have I got to worry about?

So here is the first post of hopefully many - rant on.