Thanks for being there through high and low, thick and thin, real and deliriously ludicrous. Best of luck in all of your endeavors! (My UID story is a tad different...around the time slashdot enabled registration, the news on TV was "internet sites are trying to steal your identity!!!11!" So, best not to register... Over time, I read more/. and watched less tv and have been better for it).
Your ROI calculations actually raise two interesting points. At the company I work for where IT supports operations, our formula is a bit harsher. How will this IT upgrade help us net (cost of upgrade * cost of doing business) + incremental sales. (As that isn't totally clear, here is an example). The way it works is say you want a new software package at $1000. We have a 10% (not true value) profit margin on sales. We have to sell $10,0000 worth of merchandise to cover your purchase. For it to stand a chance of being approved, you want the $10K bump plus at least another $20K incremental. Now for Vista to be justified across 2000 computers at $100 volume upgrade pricing, that is $20,000. Double it for testing and implementation, $40,000. Sales to support cost = $400,000, plus incremental benefit = $1.2 million. Another way to consider the incremental is evey project should net a strong positive ROI. For your project, it has to be in the top projects on total ROI because implementation resources are limited.
Now, your post claims nearly all the features of Vista are minimal, which I agree with. With OS X upgrades, each release has improved transactional performance. Every time a file was opened, it took a little less time than the previous OS release. Each release increased 'teh snappy'. An OS X upgrade would be much easier to justify.
I gave them a call last week, and you are right about the odd answer. The part you missed, and the one that prompted my call because I never saw my last bill, was they were bought out by Bank of America. The sender of my bill was Bank of America, which I promptly discarded thinking it was junk mail.
I was always pleased with MBNA, especially the customer service. Never had a late fee that wasn't waived, and took care of some fraudulent charges with no hassle to me at all. Will Bank of America be that good still?
As consumer's reports is almost entiredly product orientated, I chose Consumer's Union, the parent organization. I didn't find a real good match based on the bios available or the projects, and didn't find a general inbox either. I did choose one of the employee's listed, but I think if everyone makes a choice, enough employee's will hear about it that something might be done.
To be really precise, here is the ISO definitaion of "Usability":
Enables specific users to achieve specific goals, efficiently, effectively, and to their satisfaction.
Pretty does it for some users, functional does it for others. But, consistency does it for all users, because there is nothing more frustrating than learning how to use each and every screen in a application when nobody bothered to make them all work the same way.
Noone I know, but some people have been known to sit in the Starbucks across the street from Panera with their laptop surfing on the Panera network. Unfortunately, that may mean the Starbucks doesn't make any money from its T-Mobile hotspot.
"they took the simple step of moving the blades behind the counter at the store pharmacy. Shoplifting drops overnight, no added cost and no privacy concerns."
Not quite 'no added cost'. The profit on that item just dropped because another employee must handle it before the customer can purchase it.
In this case, putting it at the store pharmacy is a pretty bad idea, as those store employees are paid at a higher rate than other employees, such as the customer service desk or photo department. Especially at slower stores where there is only a pharmacist, no technicians, you now have an employee making 100k/year acting as a cashier.
USPS Priority shipping is handled by FedEx and is also farmed out to about anybody that will do loads for them. I used to work for an "air support" company and my job was loading priority mail into air cargo containgers that were then transported by Emery Worlwide.
Let me tell you, the USPS must dish out the dough because everybody gets a cut of the pie. As a side note, I also saw a lot of other mail going via whatever airplane was handy, United, American, FedEx etc.
More on topic, working at one of the busiest USPS offices, O'hare, people still had time to drop kick a computer or whatever tickled their fancy into the cargo bin. Oh this box is marked CRW, not ERW...shit throw it to the loader 150ft down the lines. This is some other company's package to ship? Toss underhand to the conveyor. Odds are the handlers are not going to go rampaging, but they don't have the time to give every box the TLC it deserves.
The proper analogy is Comcast does not advertise for TCI cablevision or Americast. RoadRunner does not advertise for Telocity. AOL/TW cable TV should advertise for regional DSL.
The cable business unit is separate from the internet business unit even though they have the same parent company.
You are right that this does occur. CBS did not report on the Jackass lawsuits because both CBS and MTV are both owned by the same company (Infinity I think.)
Your on the right track. This whole thread started reminding me of Brenda Laurel, creator of Purple Moon SW which sold out to Hasbro. When they went formed up they looked for a market that has some money waiting to be tapped. Of course, what they found is the teen female demographic. They don't buy any games, so let's give them a game they want to buy. Takling to their audience so they cnn design a game proved very interesting. The game is about volleyball. Girls like VBall, fine. But, they found girls really did enjoy equivalent sports game aimed at men. An example, "What's most important about playing volleyball?" Responses: Playing on the team together and really dogging the other team; Pasta parties; it's okay to have a fight with your friend before or after the game, but not during!
So, that get's us that what teen boys and teen girls are looking for two drastically different things for gaming entertainment. Brenda's team found that while the game (playing volleyball) was important and had to be fun, the whole picture of the game had to be fun too (talking with other girls, yelling at the other team, the day of the game, after the game at school, etc). By the way, you can get more information about Brenda's current work at NNGroup and if you shell out 800, you can hear tell this story too.
So this is why you see games like the Sims taking off across many demographics. There is stuff in there that caters to quite a bunch of people, without offending too many. I also think that Q3 has the potential to appeal to teen girls. There is a huge social aspect and team spirit to it. Now, i am sure most teen girls would prefer to have different methods of achieving their fun than "fraggin." But mod developers can step in now. Paintball CTF, i think, is heading in the right direction. And, just think guys, Q3 you can play with a girl!
Just to dive in on this post a bit. I think you took the all or nothing approach in your comment. My preferred style is to save or alias everything that I am currently editing to the desktop. That way I don't have to worry about the diggin through the open dialog boxes trying to get to some folder 8 layers deep on a network drive. When stuff goes into a more maintanenace-esque mode, I drop it into a folder and then add that alias to my desktop. And when I go "what the heck is that folder for," I then delete it off my desktop. I am leading two projects and work independently on 4 others. With this system, I am able to keep the icons at 2 and half columns consistently.
All in all, it doesn't make sense to me to not have some stuff on your desktop. Those big, fat icons are the most efficient place to access materials. No Explorer (windows), no open/close triangles (mac), nor a scattering of windows (either). Either method just takes too much time to burrow through.
This is a partial summary of the law. I am taking it from an "impact on application" document as we are implementing it for the hiring process in our stores. No more paper for you to sign!
E-signatures can not be used on: wills, codicils, testamentary trusts, adoption laws, divorce laws, any matter of family court law, court orders, court notices, cancellation of utilities, reposession, foreclosure, eviction, cancellation of health or life insurance and bennies, transport of hazardous materials, and product recalls where health and safety are involved.
Very important point to note: The signature must be bound to the document that is being signed. Which means if you sign this form, you cannot use the same sig on the next form. In our stores you must sign the little electronic pad 5 times. The very good part of this is if the binding process is not as good as it should be, the company that failed to bind correctly will be open to lawsuits from you to recover any losses through their negligence. Someone steals your sig from our db? We have to pay to fix it.
Hope this clears up some of the fears. I have not seen the whole law but a lot of thought did go into it.
I have to agree and say that i am proof of it. Just a bit ago, my manager asked me if I was looking for a new job. (Yeah, that is not a safe question) He goes on to explain that he has a job offer at another company and he is planning on taking it. Along with the job, he wants to take me there too with a small promotion possible. I said, "When do I start?"
He is a darn good manager and well worth following because I know that he respects my opinion and skills and is willing to delegate authority. And I have a great respect for him and his work. After reading all of this, plus looking around my office(can you say 'sinking ship?'), it is easy to see that I am making a good choice. Wish me luck!
I thought the most foul of foul words was "Belg*um." The gratuitous use of this word can cause convulsion, hysteria, death and other stuff. At least according to THHGTTG.:-)
Sorry, I am too lazy to actually code html, so check out http://www.useit.com .
Jakob Nielsen heralds.Net as the dawn of a new era. It scares me that with so little information, and Microsoft's current track record that we all complain about, Nielen offers very strong support for this. As some have said, this can be a good idea, but at this point I don't trust MS to pull it off well. (I don't hate all of MS either, just the management. A lot of excellent programers and designers go to MS because that is where the money and security is.)
More on topic, pay to play IMHO sucks. I personally prefer the system as it is now, pay once, play close to forever. Of course, this option won't go away, but it will cost a bloody fortune. OTOH, the idea that paying for what you use has been a dream of mine. To pull off these two ideas so that the consumer wins means one thing...pay once for only what you need and have the option to buy components later. Sounds a bit like the auto industry. And yet, the auto industry is setup to screw the consumer. So will the IT, IS, etc industry pull it off in a better fashion? Or are they slavering at the profits automakers are able to pull off?
For a similar book that cannot be praised enough by me, check out Robert Heinlein's, "Job, A Comedy of Justice." To quote someone else who summarizes it pretty well, "Heinlein toys with the ideas of religion, life, death, love, human suffering, and alternate realities in an entertainingly blasphemous, fast-paced story."
You've got God and gods (Zeus et al) and Heaven and Hell, and lots of other swimmingly philosophical debates raging through the novel, that only Heinlein can explore in such a fashion.
Sorry about the meandering post, but trying to work too.
I think this is a point that most people forget. At some time recently, that lesson went out of fashion per se. What we need are some more public service programs (read education) that say, "Before you spend any money, do some research."
I am absolutely amazed by the number of people that go to a car dealer to buy a car, and they say "I can afford this much per month." I can guarantee that that person will get their car at that price plus 20 per month (what's a few dollars?) and be happy. Then slowly become miserable when they realize they are paying that affordable amount for 6 or 7 or more years.
If people do research before purchasing anything, they will know what the scams are and what the deals are. And as other posters mentioned, it is impossible to know everything about everything, but this is different. Just know enough about what you are buying.
It is important to remember that often an author is very separate and distinct from the characters he/she creates. I know my expectation was for witty and tongue in cheek and other Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect-esque responses. And yet, we had the true blue Douglas Adams talking to us.
Seems to me, the key to this story is "Our sole concern, the only concern we have, is that our data would be used by a competing database company," Gilman said. "We want to protect the database from being pirated," he added. All they are looking for is clear terms of use. They are allowing that they don't mind sharing and contributing etc, but they do want to control who can access this information and possibly how much access they have. And by doing that, they stay in business.
It doesn't seem that they are trying to screw anyone else. It is possible that another company could obtain their information and cut them out of the market. Not good when you have spent a few million dollars.
Just wondering what license Kerebros is under? Or if it is licensed? It seems to me that one should not say it uses a certain protocol unless it uses that protocol as spec'd. On the other hand, is this a case of (feigned surprise) M$ taking something, adding one change and calling it theirs?
On the third hand, there are only 27 apps available for W2k, so noone is going to buy it and realize this heinous feature. Or was that noone will buy it because there are thousands of undocumented features? Or was that noone is going to buy it because it is slower than any other version of Windows? Oh, crud, i forgot this is Corporate America (tm) and therefore we must buy it.
In a sense, i can agree. Apple's edge has dulled. My question is why is that surprising?
They have been roasted for years on end for being propietary and non-compatible. A good example of this is Nubus. For its time, it was awesome. The only company that supported it though was Apple and companies that depended on Apple to stay alive (monopolies suck) such as audio pros. Buying Nubus products was an expensive proposition.
So, Apple has taken out some of the whackier things and the powerpc is becoming more of a pc. But, don't forget to look ahead to what Apple is doing either. The advent of MacOS X should make Win2k look like the turkey that it is. And for another example of a recent Apple innovation, Firewire. Which from everything that i have read, blows away USB.
IMHO Apple is choosing better which areas to innovate in. They haven't stopped innovating.
There is some good news to tack onto this article. http://prodigy-news.excite.com/news/zd/000131/05 /privacy-wars-raging
The geist of the article is that the states are fighting where the federal government has rolled over and exposed itself. Laws are being devised and passed in VT, CA, and NY (why only these three?) to protect the citizens from having their information shared between companies. As far as the article goes, this relates to affiliate companies. This not information selling, but information sharing.
You have to realize that this is a battle that has begun and it can be won by us, the lowly tax-paying, VOTING citizen. The article mentions that a VT congressman is being pressured by the banks to not pass the law. If the law passes and they don't have the information they want, then they will have to raise their rates and fees. And do not forget the flipside is that these businesses are the ones that are filling your congressman's purse. Does his purse need to be that full? If no, vote against him!
Most of you reading this are of voting age, and sorrily I have come to realize that it isn't you don't vote for the right person, but sometimes it is necessary to vote against the wrong person. (Sometimes you get lucky and there is someone you want in office.) The elections are coming up. Do a little homework, surf the net and read the paper, and find out who is concerned with protecting your privacy, or who is more concerned with selling you out. This is not going to happen at the national level where it should be. If it happens at the state level though, it will prompt those higher up Sens and Reps to wake up and do something for the whole country. Remember that your vote does make a difference when the person represents you to the state. And the politicians need to feel the pressure of their constituents, not the companies.
I don't care how you do it, but go out and do it. Write a letter in five minutes, find his or her address on the net in two minutes, and mail it for all of 33 cents. Or call...takes five minutes. Or email, takes two minutes. How much is your privacy worth to you in dollars and minutes?
(Note to IL readers. Gov. Ryan has been featured many times for being a sneaky sh%t while Sec't of State. How much of your info at the DMV is only there? Do you really want this guy as Gov?)
Due to the wording, Microsoft is lending the money to the customers. Lending laws in CA and OR prohibit forcing people to purchase anything in conjunction with a loan. Therefore, sign-up for MSN service, get your loan, cancel MSN service, keep the loan money. Try not to mess up that order though.
Personally, i would not chance anything with M$ though, especially when it comes to their money. I would rather have police raiding me for my micro-recorders than microsoft knocking on my door or sitting in my mailbox.
First off, well done Jon. It is true that many of us look optimistically toward the future and what technology may bring us next. At least I do. The question I ask now is "Why?" Our track record has not been stellar with technology. Cell phones are causing brain tumors. The more connected people are, the more the government wants to control it. And all the other technological advents have had negative consequences. Will we learn to look ahead to the next generation before we ship it out the door, or will we always wait for the clean-up crew to fix our mistakes?
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for being there through high and low, thick and thin, real and deliriously ludicrous. Best of luck in all of your endeavors! (My UID story is a tad different...around the time slashdot enabled registration, the news on TV was "internet sites are trying to steal your identity!!!11!" So, best not to register... Over time, I read more /. and watched less tv and have been better for it).
Your ROI calculations actually raise two interesting points. At the company I work for where IT supports operations, our formula is a bit harsher. How will this IT upgrade help us net (cost of upgrade * cost of doing business) + incremental sales. (As that isn't totally clear, here is an example). The way it works is say you want a new software package at $1000. We have a 10% (not true value) profit margin on sales. We have to sell $10,0000 worth of merchandise to cover your purchase. For it to stand a chance of being approved, you want the $10K bump plus at least another $20K incremental. Now for Vista to be justified across 2000 computers at $100 volume upgrade pricing, that is $20,000. Double it for testing and implementation, $40,000. Sales to support cost = $400,000, plus incremental benefit = $1.2 million. Another way to consider the incremental is evey project should net a strong positive ROI. For your project, it has to be in the top projects on total ROI because implementation resources are limited.
Now, your post claims nearly all the features of Vista are minimal, which I agree with. With OS X upgrades, each release has improved transactional performance. Every time a file was opened, it took a little less time than the previous OS release. Each release increased 'teh snappy'. An OS X upgrade would be much easier to justify.
I gave them a call last week, and you are right about the odd answer. The part you missed, and the one that prompted my call because I never saw my last bill, was they were bought out by Bank of America. The sender of my bill was Bank of America, which I promptly discarded thinking it was junk mail.
I was always pleased with MBNA, especially the customer service. Never had a late fee that wasn't waived, and took care of some fraudulent charges with no hassle to me at all. Will Bank of America be that good still?
As consumer's reports is almost entiredly product orientated, I chose Consumer's Union, the parent organization. I didn't find a real good match based on the bios available or the projects, and didn't find a general inbox either. I did choose one of the employee's listed, but I think if everyone makes a choice, enough employee's will hear about it that something might be done.
To be really precise, here is the ISO definitaion of "Usability":
Enables specific users to achieve specific goals, efficiently, effectively, and to their satisfaction.
Pretty does it for some users, functional does it for others. But, consistency does it for all users, because there is nothing more frustrating than learning how to use each and every screen in a application when nobody bothered to make them all work the same way.
Noone I know, but some people have been known to sit in the Starbucks across the street from Panera with their laptop surfing on the Panera network. Unfortunately, that may mean the Starbucks doesn't make any money from its T-Mobile hotspot.
Not quite 'no added cost'. The profit on that item just dropped because another employee must handle it before the customer can purchase it.
In this case, putting it at the store pharmacy is a pretty bad idea, as those store employees are paid at a higher rate than other employees, such as the customer service desk or photo department. Especially at slower stores where there is only a pharmacist, no technicians, you now have an employee making 100k/year acting as a cashier.
USPS Priority shipping is handled by FedEx and is also farmed out to about anybody that will do loads for them. I used to work for an "air support" company and my job was loading priority mail into air cargo containgers that were then transported by Emery Worlwide.
Let me tell you, the USPS must dish out the dough because everybody gets a cut of the pie. As a side note, I also saw a lot of other mail going via whatever airplane was handy, United, American, FedEx etc.
More on topic, working at one of the busiest USPS offices, O'hare, people still had time to drop kick a computer or whatever tickled their fancy into the cargo bin. Oh this box is marked CRW, not ERW...shit throw it to the loader 150ft down the lines. This is some other company's package to ship? Toss underhand to the conveyor. Odds are the handlers are not going to go rampaging, but they don't have the time to give every box the TLC it deserves.
Except...
The proper analogy is Comcast does not advertise for TCI cablevision or Americast. RoadRunner does not advertise for Telocity. AOL/TW cable TV should advertise for regional DSL.
The cable business unit is separate from the internet business unit even though they have the same parent company.
You are right that this does occur. CBS did not report on the Jackass lawsuits because both CBS and MTV are both owned by the same company (Infinity I think.)
Your on the right track. This whole thread started reminding me of Brenda Laurel, creator of Purple Moon SW which sold out to Hasbro. When they went formed up they looked for a market that has some money waiting to be tapped. Of course, what they found is the teen female demographic. They don't buy any games, so let's give them a game they want to buy. Takling to their audience so they cnn design a game proved very interesting. The game is about volleyball. Girls like VBall, fine. But, they found girls really did enjoy equivalent sports game aimed at men. An example, "What's most important about playing volleyball?" Responses: Playing on the team together and really dogging the other team; Pasta parties; it's okay to have a fight with your friend before or after the game, but not during!
So, that get's us that what teen boys and teen girls are looking for two drastically different things for gaming entertainment. Brenda's team found that while the game (playing volleyball) was important and had to be fun, the whole picture of the game had to be fun too (talking with other girls, yelling at the other team, the day of the game, after the game at school, etc). By the way, you can get more information about Brenda's current work at NNGroup and if you shell out 800, you can hear tell this story too.
So this is why you see games like the Sims taking off across many demographics. There is stuff in there that caters to quite a bunch of people, without offending too many. I also think that Q3 has the potential to appeal to teen girls. There is a huge social aspect and team spirit to it. Now, i am sure most teen girls would prefer to have different methods of achieving their fun than "fraggin." But mod developers can step in now. Paintball CTF, i think, is heading in the right direction. And, just think guys, Q3 you can play with a girl!
For all who want to share additional facts and information (please aim your flame throwers elsewhere) you can email the writer here: evan@starnix.com
Just to dive in on this post a bit. I think you took the all or nothing approach in your comment. My preferred style is to save or alias everything that I am currently editing to the desktop. That way I don't have to worry about the diggin through the open dialog boxes trying to get to some folder 8 layers deep on a network drive. When stuff goes into a more maintanenace-esque mode, I drop it into a folder and then add that alias to my desktop. And when I go "what the heck is that folder for," I then delete it off my desktop. I am leading two projects and work independently on 4 others. With this system, I am able to keep the icons at 2 and half columns consistently.
All in all, it doesn't make sense to me to not have some stuff on your desktop. Those big, fat icons are the most efficient place to access materials. No Explorer (windows), no open/close triangles (mac), nor a scattering of windows (either). Either method just takes too much time to burrow through.
This is a partial summary of the law. I am taking it from an "impact on application" document as we are implementing it for the hiring process in our stores. No more paper for you to sign!
E-signatures can not be used on: wills, codicils, testamentary trusts, adoption laws, divorce laws, any matter of family court law, court orders, court notices, cancellation of utilities, reposession, foreclosure, eviction, cancellation of health or life insurance and bennies, transport of hazardous materials, and product recalls where health and safety are involved.
Very important point to note: The signature must be bound to the document that is being signed. Which means if you sign this form, you cannot use the same sig on the next form. In our stores you must sign the little electronic pad 5 times. The very good part of this is if the binding process is not as good as it should be, the company that failed to bind correctly will be open to lawsuits from you to recover any losses through their negligence. Someone steals your sig from our db? We have to pay to fix it.
Hope this clears up some of the fears. I have not seen the whole law but a lot of thought did go into it.
I have to agree and say that i am proof of it. Just a bit ago, my manager asked me if I was looking for a new job. (Yeah, that is not a safe question) He goes on to explain that he has a job offer at another company and he is planning on taking it. Along with the job, he wants to take me there too with a small promotion possible. I said, "When do I start?"
He is a darn good manager and well worth following because I know that he respects my opinion and skills and is willing to delegate authority. And I have a great respect for him and his work. After reading all of this, plus looking around my office(can you say 'sinking ship?'), it is easy to see that I am making a good choice. Wish me luck!
Hmmmm.
:-)
I thought the most foul of foul words was "Belg*um." The gratuitous use of this word can cause convulsion, hysteria, death and other stuff. At least according to THHGTTG.
Sorry, I am too lazy to actually code html, so check out http://www.useit.com .
.Net as the dawn of a new era. It scares me that with so little information, and Microsoft's current track record that we all complain about, Nielen offers very strong support for this. As some have said, this can be a good idea, but at this point I don't trust MS to pull it off well. (I don't hate all of MS either, just the management. A lot of excellent programers and designers go to MS because that is where the money and security is.)
Jakob Nielsen heralds
More on topic, pay to play IMHO sucks. I personally prefer the system as it is now, pay once, play close to forever. Of course, this option won't go away, but it will cost a bloody fortune. OTOH, the idea that paying for what you use has been a dream of mine. To pull off these two ideas so that the consumer wins means one thing...pay once for only what you need and have the option to buy components later. Sounds a bit like the auto industry. And yet, the auto industry is setup to screw the consumer. So will the IT, IS, etc industry pull it off in a better fashion? Or are they slavering at the profits automakers are able to pull off?
For a similar book that cannot be praised enough by me, check out Robert Heinlein's, "Job, A Comedy of Justice." To quote someone else who summarizes it pretty well, "Heinlein toys with the ideas of religion, life, death, love, human suffering, and alternate realities in an entertainingly blasphemous, fast-paced story."
You've got God and gods (Zeus et al) and Heaven and Hell, and lots of other swimmingly philosophical debates raging through the novel, that only Heinlein can explore in such a fashion.
Sorry about the meandering post, but trying to work too.
Caveat Emptor
I think this is a point that most people forget. At some time recently, that lesson went out of fashion per se. What we need are some more public service programs (read education) that say, "Before you spend any money, do some research."
I am absolutely amazed by the number of people that go to a car dealer to buy a car, and they say "I can afford this much per month." I can guarantee that that person will get their car at that price plus 20 per month (what's a few dollars?) and be happy. Then slowly become miserable when they realize they are paying that affordable amount for 6 or 7 or more years.
If people do research before purchasing anything, they will know what the scams are and what the deals are. And as other posters mentioned, it is impossible to know everything about everything, but this is different. Just know enough about what you are buying.
It is important to remember that often an author is very separate and distinct from the characters he/she creates. I know my expectation was for witty and tongue in cheek and other Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect-esque responses. And yet, we had the true blue Douglas Adams talking to us.
Seems to me, the key to this story is "Our sole concern, the only concern we have, is that our data would be used by a competing database company," Gilman said. "We want to protect the database from being pirated," he added. All they are looking for is clear terms of use. They are allowing that they don't mind sharing and contributing etc, but they do want to control who can access this information and possibly how much access they have. And by doing that, they stay in business.
It doesn't seem that they are trying to screw anyone else. It is possible that another company could obtain their information and cut them out of the market. Not good when you have spent a few million dollars.
Just wondering what license Kerebros is under? Or if it is licensed? It seems to me that one should not say it uses a certain protocol unless it uses that protocol as spec'd. On the other hand, is this a case of (feigned surprise) M$ taking something, adding one change and calling it theirs?
On the third hand, there are only 27 apps available for W2k, so noone is going to buy it and realize this heinous feature. Or was that noone will buy it because there are thousands of undocumented features? Or was that noone is going to buy it because it is slower than any other version of Windows? Oh, crud, i forgot this is Corporate America (tm) and therefore we must buy it.
In a sense, i can agree. Apple's edge has dulled. My question is why is that surprising?
They have been roasted for years on end for being propietary and non-compatible. A good example of this is Nubus. For its time, it was awesome. The only company that supported it though was Apple and companies that depended on Apple to stay alive (monopolies suck) such as audio pros. Buying Nubus products was an expensive proposition.
So, Apple has taken out some of the whackier things and the powerpc is becoming more of a pc. But, don't forget to look ahead to what Apple is doing either. The advent of MacOS X should make Win2k look like the turkey that it is. And for another example of a recent Apple innovation, Firewire. Which from everything that i have read, blows away USB.
IMHO Apple is choosing better which areas to innovate in. They haven't stopped innovating.
There is some good news to tack onto this article.5 /privacy-wars-raging
http://prodigy-news.excite.com/news/zd/000131/0
The geist of the article is that the states are fighting where the federal government has rolled over and exposed itself. Laws are being devised and passed in VT, CA, and NY (why only these three?) to protect the citizens from having their information shared between companies. As far as the article goes, this relates to affiliate companies. This not information selling, but information sharing.
You have to realize that this is a battle that has begun and it can be won by us, the lowly tax-paying, VOTING citizen. The article mentions that a VT congressman is being pressured by the banks to not pass the law. If the law passes and they don't have the information they want, then they will have to raise their rates and fees. And do not forget the flipside is that these businesses are the ones that are filling your congressman's purse. Does his purse need to be that full? If no, vote against him!
Most of you reading this are of voting age, and sorrily I have come to realize that it isn't you don't vote for the right person, but sometimes it is necessary to vote against the wrong person. (Sometimes you get lucky and there is someone you want in office.) The elections are coming up. Do a little homework, surf the net and read the paper, and find out who is concerned with protecting your privacy, or who is more concerned with selling you out. This is not going to happen at the national level where it should be. If it happens at the state level though, it will prompt those higher up Sens and Reps to wake up and do something for the whole country. Remember that your vote does make a difference when the person represents you to the state. And the politicians need to feel the pressure of their constituents, not the companies.
I don't care how you do it, but go out and do it. Write a letter in five minutes, find his or her address on the net in two minutes, and mail it for all of 33 cents. Or call...takes five minutes. Or email, takes two minutes. How much is your privacy worth to you in dollars and minutes?
(Note to IL readers. Gov. Ryan has been featured many times for being a sneaky sh%t while Sec't of State. How much of your info at the DMV is only there? Do you really want this guy as Gov?)
Due to the wording, Microsoft is lending the money to the customers. Lending laws in CA and OR prohibit forcing people to purchase anything in conjunction with a loan. Therefore, sign-up for MSN service, get your loan, cancel MSN service, keep the loan money. Try not to mess up that order though.
Personally, i would not chance anything with M$ though, especially when it comes to their money. I would rather have police raiding me for my micro-recorders than microsoft knocking on my door or sitting in my mailbox.
First off, well done Jon.
It is true that many of us look optimistically toward the future and what technology may bring us next. At least I do. The question I ask now is "Why?" Our track record has not been stellar with technology. Cell phones are causing brain tumors. The more connected people are, the more the government wants to control it. And all the other technological advents have had negative consequences. Will we learn to look ahead to the next generation before we ship it out the door, or will we always wait for the clean-up crew to fix our mistakes?