I've heard this argument before. "proprietary software will be mostly obselete for a number of reasons"
In a world of ideals, perhaps that would be true. But the real world contains a lot of factors other than ideals. If that mantra was true, how do you explain the success of Windows against Linux on the desktop. Linux has been around for 27 years, and has almost no market share among non-techies. How about Microsoft Office versus OpenOffice? How about in the world of games... can you think of one successful open source title? In the Web design arena, is GIMP used as much as Photoshop? Is there any usable competition to Dreamweaver?
I'm sure this is going to be flame bait... Jason Shindler Curvine Web Solutions www.curvine.com
Doesn't every ISP known to man block port 25? Why does Comcast think that they are special? Wouldn't Cox, and others get a lot of calls too?
Port 25 blocking is a common sense way to block lots of spam. Comcast is responsible for making the net a bad place for the rest of us with this policy.:(
This whole idea reminds me of something I see all of the time -- people supporting a government program, but not realzing that someone has to pay for it. For example, here in Florida, voters a few years ago backed a bullet-train overwhelmingly, not realizing that the money for such a train had to come from somewhere. We enjoy no income tax here, so it comes in the form of higher sales or property taxes, which affect us all.
On the same vain, everyone cheers when Microsoft gets whacked with a big judgement or settlement. But, the money has to come from somewhere -- and it will likely come in the form of higher prices. And since 90% of desktops run Windows, it will likely affect you in some manner down the road.
With that said, the attorney's fees in this case (and many others) are outrageous. The judge for set them more modestly.
Yeah, I don't beleive this guy either. The fact that images were in non-cached sections of his hard drive (i.e. it was downloaded) makes me not beleive his story. Sure, having malware can send you to unwanted sites -- but it can't download pictures onto your PC (out of cache that is).
Why are there two standards that seemingly do the same thing? Firewire and USB are both industry standards, yet they seemingly are designed to connect peripherals to PCs. They both do a great job, but it doesn't make sense to have two competeing industry standards. After all, the point of a "standard" is to get everyone on board. Time for everyone to start working together!:)
This network continues it's spiral down
on
G4TechTV Announced
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Back in the beginning, it was ZDTV. A great network -- lots of useful information, tech news updates (basically a video version of news.com -- updates on the 1/2 hour). It was great. Then it became TechTV, stripped away much of the serious news coverage and replaced it with silly shows about how to use your computer (Screen Savers, anyone?). Now it will basically become a gamer's channel. Probably Ch. 485 on most cable systems. A say day:(. -Jason
Touche, there are Justin Timberlake action figures. But, my point was there aren't the same opportunities for musicians. It's not like Justin Timberlake can go to McDonalds and say "hey, I'm making a new CD" -- can we distribute some action figures with Happy Meals? Disney can do that with Pirates of the Carribean.
Consider: one CD costs $15.
For a movie, the same consumer may spend $3 on a happy meal, get a kid a movie lunchbox, buy tickets to see the movie and then buy the DVD. That's >$50. A CD sounds cheap on those terms.
On the surface it sounds wrong that CD's and DVD's differ in price but only a few dollars. But understand DVD sales, while important, aren't the ONLY source of revenue for movie makers. Each movie makes money by selling tickets in theaters, selling ads before (and sometimes during) movies, product tie-ins, etc. So that CD, which should cost $30, only ends up costing $15 because it's subsidized by all of the other ways Movie makers make money.
Music writers & singers have no such options. There is no advertsiing capability on a Justin Timberlake CD. There are no Justin Timberlake action figures.
The price of CDs at $15 is not a mis-step, it's the reality of the costs and lack of other ways to make money off of CDs.
Nothing against the work that these attorney's did on this class action (as I'm sure it took many hours of discovery and brief writing), but this settlement really stinks. Each customer gets a coupon worth up to $40 (but more like $5 or $10 for a reasonable purchase), but the attorney's get $4.7 million dollars in "fair and reasonable attorney's fees." That seems a tad unfair, don't you think? The settlement also calls for $1 million in donations to schools, but the settlement calls for 38% of that money to come from donations Iomega gives to schools. Go read the settlement, see for yourself...
Rinaldi Class Action Proposed Settlement
I thought the news on TiVo's policy on user data was old news. It's a big problem -- how do we stop companies like this from "connecting" so-called anonymous user data with identifieable information? What about a law? Well, that would restrict legitimate uses of colletcing data (i.e. consensual). What about internal company policy, such as the one TiVo says it uses (i.e. privacy policy). But this is not enforceable, and its hard to audit whether or not a company is abiding by its policy. This seems like an "unsolvable" of the information age. Is it solvable?
I've setup certs. from entrust.net, which is not a root ca in the browsers. They use a "chain" cert on the server... which, as far as I know, tells the browser that the cert issuer is trusted because it has a cert from a root ca, which is in the browser. It would seem to me someone could get a "chain" cert (probably very expensive) from a root ca in the browsers (i.e. Verisign), then resell to the masses cheap. OpenSRS offers 128-bit for only $99, if you are a reseller with them. That's like 1/3 of what everyone else charges.
I think the decision betwene mySQL v. Oracle or MS-Sql is the same as other opensource v. non-opensource decisions. Here are the eternal truths I see on the topic...
1) There's always a faction that will go with Opensource just because it's opensource. Usually the underlying reason is philosphical: "I don't want to sell out" or the like...
2) There's always a faction that goes with commercial software because its commercial software. Usually the underlying reason is "it's not real software unless I pay money for it"
3) The majority of people make educated decisions between the two options on an individual case-by-case basis. Usually, these decision are based on answers to the following questions:
- do I need extra features?
- do I need support?
- what sort of software does my shop currently use?
- what sort of training is involved?
- what sort of specialzied hardware or software is needed?
- how much installation time is needed?
Then, it's been my experience that people's biases are factored in after answering these questions. For example, I would like commercial support, but I really don't like Microsoft. So I chose an open-source solution.
I think, as a general rule, commercial software is going to be more functional and backed by better support (with notable exceptions). But, if you don't need the support or you don't need the extra features, then why bother paying all of that money? I think a case-by-case decision is the best way to go.
Why would anyone want to run Linux on Windows? Windows boast a large app base, Linux boasts stability and open-source. The opposite (windows on linux) seems useful, bringing the broad number of apps to work on Linux. But, this just seems like a silly exercise in futility...
I completely agree with this post. If your boss has decided on Access, it seems silly to use MySQL on the back end just for the sake of not using Microsoft SQL.
I'm often faced with the choice of opensource v. commercial software. I try to make individual decisions based on the TCO and on what exactly I need. For example, I run an MS shop almost exclusivley, yet I use Analog for web stats. Why? It's free AND its a superior product to almost everything else that's out there. Even the commercial stuff.
So, in short... if MS is what your shop uses, use MSSQL on back end.
$20 Domain Name Registration - click here!
Over the past few years, there has been a lot of "irrational" exuberance" about the Internet. While low stock prices and patent claims have dappened the spirit over the past few months, it doesn't mean the Internet "boom" is over -- there is still money to be made from banner ads & from subsciption oriented service sites, like bill pay services. There's still a lot of growth for the net, and a lot of money to be made form it. -J Domain Name Registrations for only $20
I think the major online privacy issue is the lack of choice. To this day, there is no effective way built into either browser that allows end users to control what information is sent to the outside world. I have no problem with people opting-in to giving out personal information and having it stored for all eternity. But I do have a problem if it's stored and linked to the computer via cookies without explicit permission. End users need to have a choice. -Jason
I think the convergance of TV & the net will change everything about the current 'net. They'll be less independent interests (or at least they'll be less visible). And then, after awhile, something new will come around that replaces the 'net with something newer & greater (much like radio's dominance was replaced by TV). - Jason
I've just finished setting up my business with OpenSRS. I would ABSOLUTLEY recommend this for any of you who run web hosting or designing companies. We reviewed the costs we incur for domain registrations, and found this to be a significant cost savings (not to mention the fact that we can easily override to make DNS modifications if our domain customer forgets the password -- no more having to spend time on the phone with the registrar [NSI, etc..] to resolve these issues) The fee is $10/year, but if you register more than 20 domains, you get $2/domain back in the form of a quaterly rebate. NSI now charges only $6 to OpenSRS, so they make $2/domain even after the rebate. This isn't for the casual net user, but really useful for those of us who register domains frequently.
Slashdot Mirror
I've heard this argument before. "proprietary software will be mostly obselete for a number of reasons"
In a world of ideals, perhaps that would be true. But the real world contains a lot of factors other than ideals. If that mantra was true, how do you explain the success of Windows against Linux on the desktop. Linux has been around for 27 years, and has almost no market share among non-techies. How about Microsoft Office versus OpenOffice? How about in the world of games... can you think of one successful open source title? In the Web design arena, is GIMP used as much as Photoshop? Is there any usable competition to Dreamweaver?
I'm sure this is going to be flame bait...
Jason Shindler
Curvine Web Solutions
www.curvine.com
Doesn't every ISP known to man block port 25? Why does Comcast think that they are special? Wouldn't Cox, and others get a lot of calls too?
:(
Port 25 blocking is a common sense way to block lots of spam. Comcast is responsible for making the net a bad place for the rest of us with this policy.
Will all of these nano-pills be open source? :P
Repeat after me:
:)
"Open source software is good, Closed Source is bad!"
I feel like sometimes these stories are intended to invoke that type of response, whether warranted or not.
A company did a bad job programming here -- no need to indite all Proprietary software on Winzip's account.
-Jason/a.
This whole idea reminds me of something I see all of the time -- people supporting a government program, but not realzing that someone has to pay for it. For example, here in Florida, voters a few years ago backed a bullet-train overwhelmingly, not realizing that the money for such a train had to come from somewhere. We enjoy no income tax here, so it comes in the form of higher sales or property taxes, which affect us all.
On the same vain, everyone cheers when Microsoft gets whacked with a big judgement or settlement. But, the money has to come from somewhere -- and it will likely come in the form of higher prices. And since 90% of desktops run Windows, it will likely affect you in some manner down the road.
With that said, the attorney's fees in this case (and many others) are outrageous. The judge for set them more modestly.
Jason
First, Koolio - the beer delivering robot, and now this!?
Well, currently my Prius is in the shop (it was stolen and driven into a mailbox/fence/ditch). So, I'll try that after I get it back :)
Jason
I have a Hybrid (Toyota Prius, 2004) & this is very true. I get 45mpg, when EPA says I should get 52/60. Still great gas mileage, though
Yeah, blogs are bad! (don't click on the above link!)
Yeah, I don't beleive this guy either. The fact that images were in non-cached sections of his hard drive (i.e. it was downloaded) makes me not beleive his story. Sure, having malware can send you to unwanted sites -- but it can't download pictures onto your PC (out of cache that is).
Why are there two standards that seemingly do the same thing? Firewire and USB are both industry standards, yet they seemingly are designed to connect peripherals to PCs. They both do a great job, but it doesn't make sense to have two competeing industry standards. After all, the point of a "standard" is to get everyone on board. Time for everyone to start working together! :)
Back in the beginning, it was ZDTV. A great network -- lots of useful information, tech news updates (basically a video version of news.com -- updates on the 1/2 hour). It was great. Then it became TechTV, stripped away much of the serious news coverage and replaced it with silly shows about how to use your computer (Screen Savers, anyone?). Now it will basically become a gamer's channel. Probably Ch. 485 on most cable systems. A say day :(.
-Jason
Touche, there are Justin Timberlake action figures. But, my point was there aren't the same opportunities for musicians. It's not like Justin Timberlake can go to McDonalds and say "hey, I'm making a new CD" -- can we distribute some action figures with Happy Meals? Disney can do that with Pirates of the Carribean.
Consider: one CD costs $15.
For a movie, the same consumer may spend $3 on a happy meal, get a kid a movie lunchbox, buy tickets to see the movie and then buy the DVD. That's >$50. A CD sounds cheap on those terms.
On the surface it sounds wrong that CD's and DVD's differ in price but only a few dollars. But understand DVD sales, while important, aren't the ONLY source of revenue for movie makers. Each movie makes money by selling tickets in theaters, selling ads before (and sometimes during) movies, product tie-ins, etc. So that CD, which should cost $30, only ends up costing $15 because it's subsidized by all of the other ways Movie makers make money.
Music writers & singers have no such options. There is no advertsiing capability on a Justin Timberlake CD. There are no Justin Timberlake action figures.
The price of CDs at $15 is not a mis-step, it's the reality of the costs and lack of other ways to make money off of CDs.
Nothing against the work that these attorney's did on this class action (as I'm sure it took many hours of discovery and brief writing), but this settlement really stinks. Each customer gets a coupon worth up to $40 (but more like $5 or $10 for a reasonable purchase), but the attorney's get $4.7 million dollars in "fair and reasonable attorney's fees." That seems a tad unfair, don't you think? The settlement also calls for $1 million in donations to schools, but the settlement calls for 38% of that money to come from donations Iomega gives to schools. Go read the settlement, see for yourself ...
Rinaldi Class Action Proposed Settlement
I thought the news on TiVo's policy on user data was old news. It's a big problem -- how do we stop companies like this from "connecting" so-called anonymous user data with identifieable information? What about a law? Well, that would restrict legitimate uses of colletcing data (i.e. consensual). What about internal company policy, such as the one TiVo says it uses (i.e. privacy policy). But this is not enforceable, and its hard to audit whether or not a company is abiding by its policy. This seems like an "unsolvable" of the information age. Is it solvable?
I've setup certs. from entrust.net, which is not a root ca in the browsers. They use a "chain" cert on the server... which, as far as I know, tells the browser that the cert issuer is trusted because it has a cert from a root ca, which is in the browser. It would seem to me someone could get a "chain" cert (probably very expensive) from a root ca in the browsers (i.e. Verisign), then resell to the masses cheap. OpenSRS offers 128-bit for only $99, if you are a reseller with them. That's like 1/3 of what everyone else charges.
I think the decision betwene mySQL v. Oracle or MS-Sql is the same as other opensource v. non-opensource decisions. Here are the eternal truths I see on the topic...
...
1) There's always a faction that will go with Opensource just because it's opensource. Usually the underlying reason is philosphical: "I don't want to sell out" or the like
2) There's always a faction that goes with commercial software because its commercial software. Usually the underlying reason is "it's not real software unless I pay money for it"
3) The majority of people make educated decisions between the two options on an individual case-by-case basis. Usually, these decision are based on answers to the following questions:
- do I need extra features?
- do I need support?
- what sort of software does my shop currently use?
- what sort of training is involved?
- what sort of specialzied hardware or software is needed?
- how much installation time is needed?
Then, it's been my experience that people's biases are factored in after answering these questions. For example, I would like commercial support, but I really don't like Microsoft. So I chose an open-source solution.
I think, as a general rule, commercial software is going to be more functional and backed by better support (with notable exceptions). But, if you don't need the support or you don't need the extra features, then why bother paying all of that money? I think a case-by-case decision is the best way to go.
Why would anyone want to run Linux on Windows? Windows boast a large app base, Linux boasts stability and open-source. The opposite (windows on linux) seems useful, bringing the broad number of apps to work on Linux. But, this just seems like a silly exercise in futility...
$20 Domain Name Registration - Click here
I completely agree with this post. If your boss has decided on Access, it seems silly to use MySQL on the back end just for the sake of not using Microsoft SQL. I'm often faced with the choice of opensource v. commercial software. I try to make individual decisions based on the TCO and on what exactly I need. For example, I run an MS shop almost exclusivley, yet I use Analog for web stats. Why? It's free AND its a superior product to almost everything else that's out there. Even the commercial stuff. So, in short ... if MS is what your shop uses, use MSSQL on back end.
$20 Domain Name Registration - click here!
Over the past few years, there has been a lot of "irrational" exuberance" about the Internet. While low stock prices and patent claims have dappened the spirit over the past few months, it doesn't mean the Internet "boom" is over -- there is still money to be made from banner ads & from subsciption oriented service sites, like bill pay services. There's still a lot of growth for the net, and a lot of money to be made form it.
-J
Domain Name Registrations for only $20
I think the major online privacy issue is the lack of choice. To this day, there is no effective way built into either browser that allows end users to control what information is sent to the outside world. I have no problem with people opting-in to giving out personal information and having it stored for all eternity. But I do have a problem if it's stored and linked to the computer via cookies without explicit permission. End users need to have a choice.
-Jason
$20 Domain Registrations. Click here!
I think the convergance of TV & the net will change everything about the current 'net. They'll be less independent interests (or at least they'll be less visible). And then, after awhile, something new will come around that replaces the 'net with something newer & greater (much like radio's dominance was replaced by TV).
- Jason
$20 domain name registrations -- click here.
I've just finished setting up my business with OpenSRS. I would ABSOLUTLEY recommend this for any of you who run web hosting or designing companies. We reviewed the costs we incur for domain registrations, and found this to be a significant cost savings (not to mention the fact that we can easily override to make DNS modifications if our domain customer forgets the password -- no more having to spend time on the phone with the registrar [NSI, etc..] to resolve these issues) The fee is $10/year, but if you register more than 20 domains, you get $2/domain back in the form of a quaterly rebate. NSI now charges only $6 to OpenSRS, so they make $2/domain even after the rebate. This isn't for the casual net user, but really useful for those of us who register domains frequently.