Have you got data to back up this statement? I would be very interested to see a report on the operating costs of applications by development language/platform.
What i would like to ask, is to show me any real evidence that the government has used information held on the population maliciously. I personally don't think the government has the wits for it, and given the way the civil service is structured and the sort of people who work in it, and real manipulation of this sort of data would very quickly become public knowledge.
Firstly, the information stored in the ID card database is likely to be made available to commercial bodies in the same way as the electoral role is now. You may be right when you say that the government doesn't have the wit to use this information maliciously, but that probably means that, at best, they don't have the wit to protect the information from those with a financial motive to use it.
Secondly, the intention does not need to be malicious in order to have harmful effects. If we were to see problems similar to those that have affected HM Revenue and CSA systems with the ID card database then people could find themselves without a way of proving their identity because Accenture/EDS/Bodgit & Chargemore failed to do their jobs properly again.
Money and interesting work usually. My company provides exactly the kind of service that ScuttleMonkey is looking for.
You are absolutely right about the developers being in a position of strength. By using an external team to develop the IP that your business is built around you are forming an extremely important relationship. You need to both trust the development team and be realistic about the relationship ongoing.
Trust means talking to people who have worked with the team previously, not to ensure their technical ability, but to get a feeling for how they behave within long term commercial relationships. Being realistic about the relationship means understanding that the team need to eat. This means that if you cannot offer them a stream of work and money that will sustain the team then they will need to find work elsewhere. Many early stage business owners forget this and are suprised when their development team is not available at one days notice or dissolves due to lack of money.
"I ruled out HomeChoice, a nifty little ISP which provides up to 2-Mbit DSL, phone service, and PVR-like TV-over-IP services because the set-top box that the company provides is apparently difficult to integrate into an existing network."
I agree with Matthew, this statement is plain wrong. The HomeChoice set-top box presents both RJ45 and USB interfaces for DSL. The only problem for a non-technical user is that the network interface provides an unfirewalled connection on a live internet address.
Step-by-step guide to safe(r) surfing:
Step 1: Purchase Firewall/NAT Router/Switch/DHCP combo (mine is also a WiFi access point). Step 2: Plug it into the mains. Step 3: Insert one end of the supplied CAT5 cable into the RJ45 socket on the HomeChoice set-top box. Step 4: Insert other end of cable into the switch. Step 5: Connect devices to switch. Step 6: Enjoy video on demand through your TV while waiting for that large BitTorrent to complete.
It would be nice to think that the smart guys at Visa/MC/Amex/et al have bots crawling search engines for CC numbers and that they immediately cancel any compromised cards.
Well, I am shocked. I attended a talk by the venerable Mr Stallman to the Department for International Development on free software a few weeks ago and the reaction from the audience of civil servants and educational IT planners was decidedly flat. (It may have been because he kicked his shoes off at the door, got very defensive while answering some fairly innocuous questions and beelined for the sandwiches at the end.) The reaction reenforced the response my company received while attempting to pitch an open source based solution to the NHS (health service), which was (paraphrasing): "Well we have got all of this lovely free* software from Microsoft and we would rather use a solution based on that, thanks".
Maybe license 6.0 has some government officials thinking.
* The NHS paid Micro$oft a great deal of money in March for a bulk licensing deal.
Actually it is in their interest for your mailbox to fill up with junk. That way they can sell you a premium mailbox with extra cupboard space for more spam.
Slashdot Mirror
... an app for that?
I can't see an iOS based IDE working.
...Big Brother.
Have you got data to back up this statement? I would be very interested to see a report on the operating costs of applications by development language/platform.
What i would like to ask, is to show me any real evidence that the government has used information held on the population maliciously. I personally don't think the government has the wits for it, and given the way the civil service is structured and the sort of people who work in it, and real manipulation of this sort of data would very quickly become public knowledge.
Firstly, the information stored in the ID card database is likely to be made available to commercial bodies in the same way as the electoral role is now. You may be right when you say that the government doesn't have the wit to use this information maliciously, but that probably means that, at best, they don't have the wit to protect the information from those with a financial motive to use it.
Secondly, the intention does not need to be malicious in order to have harmful effects. If we were to see problems similar to those that have affected HM Revenue and CSA systems with the ID card database then people could find themselves without a way of proving their identity because Accenture/EDS/Bodgit & Chargemore failed to do their jobs properly again.
Obviously it is marshrew looking for the dev team and not ScuttleMonkey. More coffee please!
Money and interesting work usually. My company provides exactly the kind of service that ScuttleMonkey is looking for.
You are absolutely right about the developers being in a position of strength. By using an external team to develop the IP that your business is built around you are forming an extremely important relationship. You need to both trust the development team and be realistic about the relationship ongoing.
Trust means talking to people who have worked with the team previously, not to ensure their technical ability, but to get a feeling for how they behave within long term commercial relationships. Being realistic about the relationship means understanding that the team need to eat. This means that if you cannot offer them a stream of work and money that will sustain the team then they will need to find work elsewhere. Many early stage business owners forget this and are suprised when their development team is not available at one days notice or dissolves due to lack of money.
> People with asparagus syndrome apparently have greater mentail ability...
I am pretty sure that people with asparagus syndrome have green pointy heads and taste good with hollandaise sauce...
"I ruled out HomeChoice, a nifty little ISP which provides up to 2-Mbit DSL, phone service, and PVR-like TV-over-IP services because the set-top box that the company provides is apparently difficult to integrate into an existing network."
I agree with Matthew, this statement is plain wrong. The HomeChoice set-top box presents both RJ45 and USB interfaces for DSL. The only problem for a non-technical user is that the network interface provides an unfirewalled connection on a live internet address.
Step-by-step guide to safe(r) surfing:
Step 1: Purchase Firewall/NAT Router/Switch/DHCP combo (mine is also a WiFi access point).
Step 2: Plug it into the mains.
Step 3: Insert one end of the supplied CAT5 cable into the RJ45 socket on the HomeChoice set-top box.
Step 4: Insert other end of cable into the switch.
Step 5: Connect devices to switch.
Step 6: Enjoy video on demand through your TV while waiting for that large BitTorrent to complete.
I know
It would be nice to think that the smart guys at Visa/MC/Amex/et al have bots crawling search engines for CC numbers and that they immediately cancel any compromised cards.
I spent the last few years building up immunity to technology patents. (groan)
It is certainly claimed by some that the BBC made unfounded claims...
Well, I am shocked. I attended a talk by the venerable Mr Stallman to the Department for International Development on free software a few weeks ago and the reaction from the audience of civil servants and educational IT planners was decidedly flat.
(It may have been because he kicked his shoes off at the door, got very defensive while answering some fairly innocuous questions and beelined for the sandwiches at the end.)
The reaction reenforced the response my company received while attempting to pitch an open source based solution to the NHS (health service), which was (paraphrasing): "Well we have got all of this lovely free* software from Microsoft and we would rather use a solution based on that, thanks".
Maybe license 6.0 has some government officials thinking.
* The NHS paid Micro$oft a great deal of money in March for a bulk licensing deal.
Actually it is in their interest for your mailbox to fill up with junk. That way they can sell you a premium mailbox with extra cupboard space for more spam.