As more businesses move online and more jobs come into existence based upon these moves, it’s not a surprise that the number of people working from their home office is rising. Brick-and-mortar retail, office space facilities, and social network enthusiasts may not like it, but online and at home seems to be the place to be. Will it last?

Via Fast Company.

Taking aim at Microsoft, Google on Tuesday showcased a test version of Chrome OS, its Internet-centric operating system, and began distributing a limited number of prototype PCs running the software.

With Chrome OS, which has suffered delays, Google said it hoped to give PC users an alternative to Microsoft and Apple.

I had the opportunity to watch Google’s live broadcast where they announced improvements to the Chrome web browser, the introduction of the Google web store, and a progress report on the development of Chrome OS and reference hardware to support it. In fact Google is offering a limited number of users the free use of a Google notebook called Cr-48.

I’ve been in the industry long enough to remember the move away from what was then called multi-user systems (powered by centralized mainframes and minicomputers) to PCs networked together with networking technologies like ARCnet and Token Ring. Users were rebelling against a centrally controlled/managed and often poorly performing IT infrastructure along with the lack of interactive applications like spread sheeting and word processing.

I couldn’t help but shake my head when the Internet-based video broadcast froze up several times most likely due to overwhelming demand on Google’s servers or the continuing low bandwidth problems I’ve been experiencing with my Bell Canada Business DSL connection (more on that in another post.) So are Google’s announcements a simple case of what-goes-around-comes-around, a grand play to control the Internet and increase advertising revenue or a clear shot across the bows of the good ships Microsoft and Apple?  Google’s message yesterday was in part that new technologies like powerful web browsers and broadband Internet connections allow for a re-birth of multi-user systems and support for our need to be connected 24 x 7 whether we’re in our office or on the road.

I actually rushed to complete Google’s online application for the use of a Cr-48 notebook unfortunately, it appears to be limited to US participants. While I’m interested in tracking this technology for my clients, I’m not ready to recommend they throw out their desktop computers. One thing for sure is that it is really important that we continue to push ahead with bring broadband network access to the North. Many SOHO (small office/home offices) still don’t have broadband access and those that do have limited speeds or high-latency solutions that often are insufficient to support the growing list of cloud-based apps that require higher broadband speeds.

Via NYTimes.com.

Kathy Webb is one of over one million Canadians who have chosen a telecommuting career. Two weeks ago, she started to do business transcription for an Alberta company from her Fredericton home.

The decision was made to find at-home employment because she was tired of having to drive on winter roads to go to an office to work. Each morning, she goes into her home office where she will remain for her eight-hour workday, taking care of business.

Via dailygleaner.com.

The philosophy behind open source software – giving every access to the source code so anyone can adapt the program – is spreading to the real world. It’s being applied to art as well as the business of art.

Via VOA.

At the annual Smart Commute Awards last evening, it was clear that the Smart Commute program, established in 2004, is transforming the culture of commuting across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

“Smart Commute is a concept that has clearly captured the interest of some of the most innovative organizations in the GTHA,” says Bruce McCuaig, President and CEO, Metrolinx. “They understand that we can no longer afford to ignore the huge toll that commuter gridlock is taking on our health, our economy and the environment.”

Via METROLINX

PHONE – 416-325-1941

EMAIL – www.premier.gov.on.ca – click on Contact

FAX – ATTENTION: DALTON MCGUINTY AT 416-325-3745

WRITE – DALTON MCGUINTY, PREMIER
LEGISLATIVE BUILDING
QUEEN’S PARK, TORONTO, ON
M7A 1A1

Telework (often referred to as telecommuting ) holds new and largely untapped economic opportunities for Northern Ontario by allowing paid workers to work away from their normal place of work, usually from home.   Since teleworkers need to consume electricity during the day to power their home offices and the technology therein, the smart meter initiative amounts to a tax on what is a very green activity.

Telework offers significant benefits to individual employees, their employers, and their communities, yet the Ontario government has been less proactive in enabling and promoting telework than it has been on promoting the smart meter initiative. An initiative being managed and implemented by those same organizations who have a long track record of waste and mismanagement.

Let your voice be heard by contacting the Premier’s Office, Hydro One, and the Minster of Energy.

Canadians as well as the citizens and residents of many other countries take services such as roads, sewer/water, electrical power and phone service as basic rights.

Should broadband be in this category too? Especially given the country, the founding home of the telephone, has vast distances and complex geography that make extensive communications services a necessity?

Via TMCnet 

Darryl Kramp, MP Prince Edward-Hastings visited Limerick Lake Lodge in Limerick Township, on April 7, to commend the lake’s cottagers association, The Limerick Waterways Ratepayers Association, (LWRA), for its partnering with CFDC to bring broadband service to one of the most sparsely populated areas of southern Ontario.

The lake has over 150 seasonal residences which are in use during the three cottage seasons. Many of those cottagers hold positions in the business world that can be performed by tele-commuting…

Via Bancroft This Week – Ontario, CA.

The report suggests that “deploying next-generation broadband networks will have profoundly positive benefits for consumers, businesses, academic institutions and society in general.”

There is an important message here for Northern Ontario where we not only should be thinking about basic connectivity to the Net for everyone but we also need to make sure we are keeping pace with the larger urban centers in terms of speed and delivery options. Steve

Via Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

A year ago, the outlook for corporate telecommuting seemed optimistic. More and more businesses and government agencies were taking the risk to allow their employees to telework. This was good news to cubicle dwellers who saw teleworking as a way to achieve better work-life balance and for business owners to attract top talent and cut costs in the long run.

Then, the economy turned out in such a way that taking these risks suddenly became too risky. In times like these, businesses will lean towards one of two approaches to this dilemma:

Via WebWorkerDaily