Enterprise software not only is expensive, but they'll try to milk you dry.
So you list some examples of what you think are eggregious abuse by your vendor. Maybe so. You're free to buy another product if you hate the vendor so. Personally, I don't have a problem with companies exercising these contractual terms with their customers, just as customers exercise their contractual terms in return.
If you're feeling milked, dump the vendor. But I don't think this is the case. I think you feel your employer is being milked, which is another matter entirely. You may think it's not worth the money, but these deciding when to enter into and/or exit these contracts is a corporate decision. Maybe it's a good decision, maybe it's a bad one. But it's your employer's decision. And fortunately, it's your employer's money too. --M
Well, so be pedantic, the "post" suffers from no misconception at all - being a collection of words. You might argue that I suffer from a misconception on the role of government, but that's a different issue.
I happen to support many government run services. I find that government tends to perform better service at the local and state level, which is not too surprising given that the federal government tends to set too many standards which are often not applicable nationally. Basic infrastructure is a fine use of government money. I'll gladly pay taxes for roads and bridges. Same for public education, law enforcement, and even national health care.
But what role does government have in providing wireless internet service? By this logic, shouldn't government also pay for telephone service? How about cable TV? Or automobile manufacturing? In a combined free market democratic republic, one must set a demark between government and the private sector. IMO that demark should exist between critical social services and the whims of private citizens. I would argue that wireless internet just doesn't fit the the standard for a critical social service, and is more a whim of various private citizens. As such, it's better served by private industry. JMO --M
You know, with every software / hardware house there are those customers who experience "bad" support. Maybe it's a confused engineer, or an intractable problem that can't be solved without a major software rewrite - regardless, not not every problem has a reasonable solution. That's what contract negotiations - and ultimately lawyers - are for. But whatever problems you've experienced with enterprise level support, you have to admit the experience is nothing like calling an uneducated support rep for out of the box software.
And to agree, I've had my support nightmare experiences too - the worst one several years back with HP on a new HP-9000 K class server bought to run an in house written warehouse management system (that was amazing for the time, BTW). But on delivery the hardware was flakey at first. It took a several weeks and numerous on site support calls to not find the problem before we just demanded a new machine. *sigh* So you hate Oracle and DEC; I hate HP.:) --M
If you're talking about boxed software then support is limited to a "knowledge base" database and rudimentary and usually dire scripted phone support.
Out of the box commercial software pretty much like this. However, if you're talking enterprise solutions from Oracle, SAP, IBM, EMC, NetAPP, and even Sun (unfortunately, whose support quality has declined recently IMO) then it's a different game. Pay for a contract and you will get highly knowlegable engineers to solve whatever problem that crops up within the confines of the contract. I've been very impressed by IBM in the past. DEC used to have pheonominal support. So, while your copy of TurboTax may not get you the support you feel you deserve, it's not the same with big iron hardware and enterprise software. At least, not in my experience. --M
Mark Cuban's HDNet has been showing a panel forum taken from the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment awards. Scroll down here and look for "THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS". Bram was on that panel and kicked ass. He spoke specifically about how the boradcast flag and anti-piracy measures are techical cul-de-sacs and won't solve the industry's problems. Then told the other folks on the panel (industry insiders) that they need a new business model. They didn't look happy.
HDNet rebroadcasts these panel forums every Sunday morning from 9am - 10am est. Well worth your time if you get the channel. --M
The contractor hired to build out the Tempe citywide wireless service is being stopped by the state because they lack the proper permits to build out on public infrastructure (like traffic lights, etc). So the state is stopping the city from installing the public service by halting the contractor (whether they're doing this for private interests or for regulatory reasons was unclear from the article). Duh. I should have read it before replying to the author's submission. --M
I mean, OK if a community votes on a measure and the town sets up community funded wireless. But why would the original submission author hope for a private business to fail in the expectation that a town government would step up and fill their shoes? I mean, not only does it seem an unlikely outcome, but it's also mean spirited. Hey, if a business sets up something you want at a reasonable price - what's wrong with that? Would you prefer the government run this? \*cough!\* I call myself a liberal, but frankly, I'd rather see private industry handle this sort of thing. JMO. --M
Simply appearing in a photo does not signal consent for public release. I strongly disagree. I think you are categorically wrong not only ethically, but also legally (in most states). However, I am not competent to judge the legal matter, and the ethical matter is simply my opinion. --M
No. The porn acress signed a waiver and took a fee, allowing the release of whatever nude photo had been taken as part of the contract. In this case two individuals took nude photos in private and then one of them released the photos for the explicit purpose of harrassment. It's an entirely different scenerio. --M
And shouldn't be making pronoucements as if I am. However, I really do think what that guy did is eggregious and he should be punished to the legal extent possible. Also, I'm getting fed up with anonymous criminal fuckwads who are ruining it for the responsible folk. --M
Depending on the state that boyfriend had a legal responsibility not to release those photographs. As for your robbery analogy, I don't think it holds. This is a privacy rights issue, not theft. It also borders on a sexual assault or violation, depending on the state. I wouldn't be surprised to see a prosecutor get involved and charges filed against that man. And IMO, he deserves it. Whether she "should" or "should not" have allowed those photos to be taken is legally irrelevant. --M
This is harrassment pure and simple. What's happening is that fucknuts have turned anonymity on the net from a place for dissidents to express political thought to a place for criminals to play willy nilly. Whether it's for fraud, spam, harrassment, whatever - it doesn't matter. Congress and law enforcement if and when things get bad enough. I'm beginning to wonder if 'net anonymity is worth it. *sigh* (very distressed at the crazies out there in 'net land) --M
Seriously. From acting, cinematography, art direction, through to original screen play and music I think Alien is a far better film than Blade Runner. In fact, I don't think Blade Runner is even very good. It was highly influential though - agree there. JMO. --M
Oh, I disagree. I already own a laptop. But the PSP is so much smaller, and the screen so close to basic VGA, that I think it would make a handy little note taker. One could easily fit a basic 80x24 character window with small enough fonts, which couldn't be said for the Nintendo DS. Honestly, if given the option between a Powerbook and the PSP for taking notes in class, I'd take the PSP. JMO though. --M
So when are we going to get a Linux port?
on
PSP UMD Format Cracked
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
OK, so the umd disc was cracked and now some folks are passing around image files. Great. Whatever. What I'd like to see is arbitrary image execution for a Linux port so I can stick in a usb keyboard and mouse and run emacs on the thing. Talk about a handy little note taker! I could care less about the cracked games... Come on Sony, help us out here! --M
Feh. So he blew off the DGA because he didn't want front credits. His work is hackery. Call him a "maverick" if you like because of this, but his work certainly isn't anything special. JMO! --M
Are you saying the directors I listed are not "maverick"? That they work within the confines of Hollywood and the studio system? 'Cause if you are, you're full of it. --M
How could I forget Altman? His stuff from the 70s is mindblowingly original. Have you seen 3 Women? Or McCabe and Mrs. Miller? And even the lessor known The Long Goodbye? Fuck, his stuff is brilliant. --M
but it's not an achievement that qualifies you as a "Maverik Filmmaker".
The real maverick filmmakers are folks like Terrence Malick, Todd Solondz, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Lucas was, and will always be, a shoddy filmmaker. *sigh* IMO the best Hollywood SF film from the 70s was Alien, not Star Wars. Not even close. --M
Then how did a bullshit essay on the postmodernist interpretation of quantum mechanics get published in Social Text?
Because Social Text is not a peer reviewed journal; because its editors were clueless about quantum mechanics and didn't properly vet the article with University physicists (they had no obligation to, other than to defend their now defunct credibility); because its editors took Sokal's word that his essay was submitted in good academic faith... I'm sure there are many others. But Sokal is not Lyotard, Bertens, or Habermas. Those philosophers' ideas may never be practical - like creating a microwave oven - but their ideas are interesting in their own right. Postmodern philosopher goons may not be Hegel or Kant, but they're a hell of a lot smarter than you. Or me. Try reading their stuff sometime. --M
Eh. I'm just uppity because I'm debating either journalism or law school. Looking forward to seeing you! Say hi to your mom and dad. Oh, and Lucy too. Hope she's doing well! --M
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't think it was worth it to spend $50K each on a half dozen law suits? I could, but why?"
Charlie,
Why defend your work? Because as a journalist, that is you and your publisher's responsibility. What you just said is not a defense, it's an admission of bad journalistic ethics in your intent. When making an accusation of serious wrongdoing in print, you have a responsibility to readers and the accused to list specific instances and cite documentation and sources. That's journalism. If you to claim the article is editorial then your factual responsibility is limited, but the article should not stray into specific accusations and instead should consider a hypothetical problem you believe may be real. To state wrongdoing in fact, while obliquely implying who is the accused without any supporting evidence, is much worse than simply getting your facts wrong. Being wrong simply requires a retraction. But your statement suggests intent on your part to print unsubstantiated accusations against a specific entity, while at the same time only implying who that may be in order to limit your liability. Your accusations can even be correct in fact, but without substantiation are still inappropriate in print. Again, I point you and other readers to the Poynter School of Journalism's page on Journalistic Ethics for further details.
Nothing personal here, Charlie. I don't mean to insult you, but someone should call that article what it is. And more importantly, what it is not. Best of luck to you Charlie, I wish you well. --M
Slashdot Mirror
Enterprise software not only is expensive, but they'll try to milk you dry.
So you list some examples of what you think are eggregious abuse by your vendor. Maybe so. You're free to buy another product if you hate the vendor so. Personally, I don't have a problem with companies exercising these contractual terms with their customers, just as customers exercise their contractual terms in return.
If you're feeling milked, dump the vendor. But I don't think this is the case. I think you feel your employer is being milked, which is another matter entirely. You may think it's not worth the money, but these deciding when to enter into and/or exit these contracts is a corporate decision. Maybe it's a good decision, maybe it's a bad one. But it's your employer's decision. And fortunately, it's your employer's money too. --M
Well, so be pedantic, the "post" suffers from no misconception at all - being a collection of words. You might argue that I suffer from a misconception on the role of government, but that's a different issue.
I happen to support many government run services. I find that government tends to perform better service at the local and state level, which is not too surprising given that the federal government tends to set too many standards which are often not applicable nationally. Basic infrastructure is a fine use of government money. I'll gladly pay taxes for roads and bridges. Same for public education, law enforcement, and even national health care.
But what role does government have in providing wireless internet service? By this logic, shouldn't government also pay for telephone service? How about cable TV? Or automobile manufacturing? In a combined free market democratic republic, one must set a demark between government and the private sector. IMO that demark should exist between critical social services and the whims of private citizens. I would argue that wireless internet just doesn't fit the the standard for a critical social service, and is more a whim of various private citizens. As such, it's better served by private industry. JMO --M
You know, with every software / hardware house there are those customers who experience "bad" support. Maybe it's a confused engineer, or an intractable problem that can't be solved without a major software rewrite - regardless, not not every problem has a reasonable solution. That's what contract negotiations - and ultimately lawyers - are for. But whatever problems you've experienced with enterprise level support, you have to admit the experience is nothing like calling an uneducated support rep for out of the box software.
:) --M
And to agree, I've had my support nightmare experiences too - the worst one several years back with HP on a new HP-9000 K class server bought to run an in house written warehouse management system (that was amazing for the time, BTW). But on delivery the hardware was flakey at first. It took a several weeks and numerous on site support calls to not find the problem before we just demanded a new machine. *sigh* So you hate Oracle and DEC; I hate HP.
If you're talking about boxed software then support is limited to a "knowledge base" database and rudimentary and usually dire scripted phone support.
Out of the box commercial software pretty much like this. However, if you're talking enterprise solutions from Oracle, SAP, IBM, EMC, NetAPP, and even Sun (unfortunately, whose support quality has declined recently IMO) then it's a different game. Pay for a contract and you will get highly knowlegable engineers to solve whatever problem that crops up within the confines of the contract. I've been very impressed by IBM in the past. DEC used to have pheonominal support. So, while your copy of TurboTax may not get you the support you feel you deserve, it's not the same with big iron hardware and enterprise software. At least, not in my experience. --M
Mark Cuban's HDNet has been showing a panel forum taken from the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment awards. Scroll down here and look for "THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS". Bram was on that panel and kicked ass. He spoke specifically about how the boradcast flag and anti-piracy measures are techical cul-de-sacs and won't solve the industry's problems. Then told the other folks on the panel (industry insiders) that they need a new business model. They didn't look happy.
HDNet rebroadcasts these panel forums every Sunday morning from 9am - 10am est. Well worth your time if you get the channel. --M
Oh, and hello Mr. Strawman, nice meeting you too. *cough!* Yeah, I realized this. --M
The contractor hired to build out the Tempe citywide wireless service is being stopped by the state because they lack the proper permits to build out on public infrastructure (like traffic lights, etc). So the state is stopping the city from installing the public service by halting the contractor (whether they're doing this for private interests or for regulatory reasons was unclear from the article). Duh. I should have read it before replying to the author's submission. --M
I mean, OK if a community votes on a measure and the town sets up community funded wireless. But why would the original submission author hope for a private business to fail in the expectation that a town government would step up and fill their shoes? I mean, not only does it seem an unlikely outcome, but it's also mean spirited. Hey, if a business sets up something you want at a reasonable price - what's wrong with that? Would you prefer the government run this? \*cough!\* I call myself a liberal, but frankly, I'd rather see private industry handle this sort of thing. JMO. --M
Simply appearing in a photo does not signal consent for public release. I strongly disagree. I think you are categorically wrong not only ethically, but also legally (in most states). However, I am not competent to judge the legal matter, and the ethical matter is simply my opinion. --M
No. The porn acress signed a waiver and took a fee, allowing the release of whatever nude photo had been taken as part of the contract. In this case two individuals took nude photos in private and then one of them released the photos for the explicit purpose of harrassment. It's an entirely different scenerio. --M
And shouldn't be making pronoucements as if I am. However, I really do think what that guy did is eggregious and he should be punished to the legal extent possible. Also, I'm getting fed up with anonymous criminal fuckwads who are ruining it for the responsible folk. --M
Depending on the state that boyfriend had a legal responsibility not to release those photographs. As for your robbery analogy, I don't think it holds. This is a privacy rights issue, not theft. It also borders on a sexual assault or violation, depending on the state. I wouldn't be surprised to see a prosecutor get involved and charges filed against that man. And IMO, he deserves it. Whether she "should" or "should not" have allowed those photos to be taken is legally irrelevant. --M
This is harrassment pure and simple. What's happening is that fucknuts have turned anonymity on the net from a place for dissidents to express political thought to a place for criminals to play willy nilly. Whether it's for fraud, spam, harrassment, whatever - it doesn't matter. Congress and law enforcement if and when things get bad enough. I'm beginning to wonder if 'net anonymity is worth it. *sigh* (very distressed at the crazies out there in 'net land) --M
Seriously. From acting, cinematography, art direction, through to original screen play and music I think Alien is a far better film than Blade Runner. In fact, I don't think Blade Runner is even very good. It was highly influential though - agree there. JMO. --M
Badlands - Terrence Malick
Yojimbo??? (which is an amazing film, but not Kurasawa's best IMO) What about Throne of Blood? Or Seven Samauri?
Blade Runner instead of Alien? Are you kidding me???
Where's Das Boot?
Or Andrei Rublev?
Or The Leopard?
Or... Feh. --M
The darth maul fight is one of the best fights I've ever seen in any film.
Want to see an amazing sword fight on film? Go rent Sword of Doom. That film is seriously fucked up. --M
Just get a laptop and deal with it[...]
Oh, I disagree. I already own a laptop. But the PSP is so much smaller, and the screen so close to basic VGA, that I think it would make a handy little note taker. One could easily fit a basic 80x24 character window with small enough fonts, which couldn't be said for the Nintendo DS. Honestly, if given the option between a Powerbook and the PSP for taking notes in class, I'd take the PSP. JMO though. --M
OK, so the umd disc was cracked and now some folks are passing around image files. Great. Whatever. What I'd like to see is arbitrary image execution for a Linux port so I can stick in a usb keyboard and mouse and run emacs on the thing. Talk about a handy little note taker! I could care less about the cracked games... Come on Sony, help us out here! --M
Feh. So he blew off the DGA because he didn't want front credits. His work is hackery. Call him a "maverick" if you like because of this, but his work certainly isn't anything special. JMO! --M
Are you saying the directors I listed are not "maverick"? That they work within the confines of Hollywood and the studio system? 'Cause if you are, you're full of it. --M
How could I forget Altman? His stuff from the 70s is mindblowingly original. Have you seen 3 Women? Or McCabe and Mrs. Miller? And even the lessor known The Long Goodbye? Fuck, his stuff is brilliant. --M
but it's not an achievement that qualifies you as a "Maverik Filmmaker".
The real maverick filmmakers are folks like Terrence Malick, Todd Solondz, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Lucas was, and will always be, a shoddy filmmaker. *sigh* IMO the best Hollywood SF film from the 70s was Alien, not Star Wars. Not even close. --M
Then how did a bullshit essay on the postmodernist interpretation of quantum mechanics get published in Social Text?
Because Social Text is not a peer reviewed journal; because its editors were clueless about quantum mechanics and didn't properly vet the article with University physicists (they had no obligation to, other than to defend their now defunct credibility); because its editors took Sokal's word that his essay was submitted in good academic faith... I'm sure there are many others. But Sokal is not Lyotard, Bertens, or Habermas. Those philosophers' ideas may never be practical - like creating a microwave oven - but their ideas are interesting in their own right. Postmodern philosopher goons may not be Hegel or Kant, but they're a hell of a lot smarter than you. Or me. Try reading their stuff sometime. --M
Eh. I'm just uppity because I'm debating either journalism or law school. Looking forward to seeing you! Say hi to your mom and dad. Oh, and Lucy too. Hope she's doing well! --M
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't think it was worth it to spend $50K each on a half dozen law suits? I could, but why?"
Charlie,
Why defend your work? Because as a journalist, that is you and your publisher's responsibility. What you just said is not a defense, it's an admission of bad journalistic ethics in your intent. When making an accusation of serious wrongdoing in print, you have a responsibility to readers and the accused to list specific instances and cite documentation and sources. That's journalism. If you to claim the article is editorial then your factual responsibility is limited, but the article should not stray into specific accusations and instead should consider a hypothetical problem you believe may be real. To state wrongdoing in fact, while obliquely implying who is the accused without any supporting evidence, is much worse than simply getting your facts wrong. Being wrong simply requires a retraction. But your statement suggests intent on your part to print unsubstantiated accusations against a specific entity, while at the same time only implying who that may be in order to limit your liability. Your accusations can even be correct in fact, but without substantiation are still inappropriate in print. Again, I point you and other readers to the Poynter School of Journalism's page on Journalistic Ethics for further details.
Nothing personal here, Charlie. I don't mean to insult you, but someone should call that article what it is. And more importantly, what it is not. Best of luck to you Charlie, I wish you well. --M