fair point -- but now think about it from E-Bay's position.
To goto court they have to expend legal costs (L) they also have a large investment in the patent system via a number of patents (P) and we are talking about a one time 35 million dollar free (X).
If X P + L then it makes sense to simply pay it, and it has the added benefit of making software patent law more rock solid for them to stand on in future cases.
I am guessing that P + L outweight X by a good amount -- add in the benefits of stronger patent law... and see what you come up with.
God -- comments like this make me a bit crazy -- this is a company, unlike you, they don't live in fantasy land.
Any company with one developer is going to be a small business -- small businesses have budgets, just like REAL people -- believe it or not, companies don't want to spend every penny of budget on IT, since -- without sales -- there is no damn IT department. Making a bunch of silly recommendations that are beyond the means of this company is silly.
Some or your recommendations are valid
Secure core machines (possibly with a consultant)
Make sure that you have backups and do test restores, move backups off-site every once in awhile
The rest of your recommendations were intelligent assuming a magical world with no budgets, no deadlines and no need to be realistic. But -- if you take into account the real world -- they were moronic.
When programmers say that their code is a holy mess (as they always do), there are three kinds of things that are wrong with it.
First, there are architectural problems. The code is not factored correctly. The networking code is popping up its own dialog boxes from the middle of nowhere; this should have been handled in the UI code. These problems can be solved, one at a time, by carefully moving code, refactoring, changing interfaces. They can be done by one programmer working carefully and checking in his changes all at once, so that nobody else is disrupted. Even fairly major architectural changes can be done without throwing away the code. On the Juno project we spent several months rearchitecting at one point: just moving things around, cleaning them up, creating base classes that made sense, and creating sharp interfaces between the modules. But we did it carefully, with our existing code base, and we didn't introduce new bugs or throw away working code.
A second reason programmers think that their code is a mess is that it is inefficient. The rendering code in Netscape was rumored to be slow. But this only affects a small part of the project, which you can optimize or even rewrite. You don't have to rewrite the whole thing. When optimizing for speed, 1% of the work gets you 99% of the bang.
Third, the code may be doggone ugly. One project I worked on actually had a data type called a FuckedString. Another project had started out using the convention of starting member variables with an underscore, but later switched to the more standard "m_". So half the functions started with "_" and half with "m_", which looked ugly. Frankly, this is the kind of thing you solve in five minutes with a macro in Emacs, not by starting from scratch.
It's important to remember that when you start from scratch there is absolutely no reason to believe that you are going to do a better job than you did the first time. First of all, you probably don't even have the same programming team that worked on version one, so you don't actually have "more experience". You're just going to make most of the old mistakes again, and introduce some new problems that weren't in the original version.
I am not sure about the data storage of access. It was my understanding it was NOT a flat file -- but it is very limitted.
I recommend you use the "upsize" wizard (which will automatically relink to your existing forms) and goto MS SQL 2000.
This does a few things for you. #1. Huge number of people familar with Access. (Better chance of finding a "biological anthropology" major with experience [I should note, I find this requirement a bit silly, have a guy from the CS department set it up, and you use it]). #2. The app appears to work exactly like it did -- only without the preformance hangups.
Once you get thru that basic change -- and you have de-coupled the interface (access) from the backend (sql server 2000) -- you can slowly but surely start fixing the design of the database without interupting the USAGE of the system too much. The forms will be consistant, and you just have to ensure that you keep them up to date with the database changes you make.
I hate to be putting forth an MS solution on/. -- but I think it is probably the most sane answer.:)
Bottom line. Your question is so massively incomplete that no one could hope to formulate an answer.
What is your budget?
What is your existing infastructure?
What is your timeline?
What the heck does "And with the state department of education (ironically named KDE) very pro-Microsoft, VNC is out of the question."
So you are saying that every single application running on your desktops is purchased from Microsoft? Why the heck does pro-microsoft == anti-vnc. VNC is a wonderful, free and cross platform tool for remotely displaying workstation content, that happens to have a pure web client version (great for people at home!).
If your school ties their balls to MS in such a way -- why not just use Remote Desktop or call up and ask your local Microsoft Rep what he/she recommends.
The proper equipment is TightVNC -- it is the only way to help family without wanting to hurt them. It is multi-platform supports compression and is simple to install.
The steps you should tell a family member are: goto tightvnc.org... click open, check all the boxes, click ok. Then you tell them to go to "whatismyip.com" and read you what it says
Then you are connected to their computer and can fix any software problem in 1/50th the time of trying to solve it over the phone.
To be fair to the author of the article -- Intel has had very strong ties to Microsoft.
"Wintel" -- When Microsoft releases a new OS -- lots of Intel chips are sold in the MS push. The most common way people get a new microsoft operating system is via new hardware.
Intel needs Microsoft to drive the hardware sales. Microsoft needs intel to get chips specs and support on optimizing their operating system for the next generations of intel chips. Microsoft also enjoys a market controlled by intel-compatible PCs.
Recently, Intel has been making moves away from Microsoft (and Microsoft away from Intel). I might be tempted to point to AMDs upcoming 64bit chip as the source of alot of the friction. But the fact that intel has decided to completely support Linux as a first class operating system also bothers Microsoft.
The jobs moving overseas are the IT industries' own fault to a degree. The "hype", the overpaid incompetent IT workers, the billions of dollars lost by US companies during the "boom!" on moronic projects and badly thought out "concepts". Basically, the IT industry in the country "burned" the companies that depend on it.
The forces driving fundamental change are several, including regional cost differentials, market power relations, and globalization of IT industry. Most importantly, however, the U.S. IT industry has become an amazingly capital-intensive economic sector that no longer has access to capital. The floodgates have been opened. I doubt they can be closed.
This is nothing new, this happened to blue-collar workers years ago, and now it is moving up the chain.
The only way I can see to compete is thru advancing the technology in the field you are in, and keeping those technological advancements as industry secrets. You will have to create BETTER products in LESS time if you want to compete with people who can be paid tremendously less than yourself. Sending work overseas has an inherent cost, and language barriers, and assorted other problems, but unless you can create something significantly better, you are going to watch the jobs go away.
I am not claiming I have any solutions, just agreeing that it is a scary fact. I think if it becomes a huge issue, you will see the middle class rise up in anger and fight it tooth and nail.
They would be sued if they bundled a great editor. Because companies like Notepad+ and TextEdit would suddenly have a much harder time. Microsoft has to sell the perception that they are the "Pond" and not the "Fish" and that they don't really compete, they just create a platform for other to compete on top of.
The problem is, when they need money, they will slowly take over one segment after another. Being in an industry where Microsoft is thinking about going has to be a scary experience.
That is just another advantage of having an open-base system and closed source competition on top of it, it protects the competition from being elbowed out, since no single company controls the platform. (Well, protects to a degree)
I had no idea it was April 1st. But judging from the last 2 slashdot stories, it must be. This one and the "Science Project Quadruples Surfing Speed". Yikes!
There are a ton of pre-canned packages and such, and you probably might be able to "slide out" a site or two... but it will be crap compared to what a professional would produce, and you would be doing a disservice to your client. Best to hire a independant cheap professional who can bring the graphic and hosting components to the table for you, so you don't need to worry about any of the web related stuff. You need to focus on doing what you do well (advertising agency & production I hope) and let other people do what THEY do well. Specialization is a good thing.
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, said: "The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy." Georgia v. Brailsford, 1794.
You assumption about the task of the jury is incorrect. The jury is not present todo what the judge asks, they are present to distribute justice. Justice by a group of peers no less.
In the US -- juries have slowly been stripped out power by judges and lawyers, but they are the backbone of the system (or should be).
See: http://nowscape.com/fija/fija_us.htm... juries should be _the_ backbone of our system. Juries should be removing laws that are set against the people (DMCA.. etc).
Juries are a critical piece of the puzzle that makes America work... People need to remember the power they have...
At the Yorktown Linux Users' Group, they use the Python Wiki. Wikis are better than weblogs because they promote freshness of data, corrections, and everyone getting involved.
My favorite heavy duty Wikis are:
Linux: TWiki (http://www.twiki.org/)
Windows: OpenWiki (http://www.openwiki.com/)
Each of these wikis support heavy duty revisions, diffs, uploading, access controls (only if you want them), and are Open-Source!
What about people who use this Media/Hardware for other purposes -- why should they have to suffer!
It is scary the massive amount of power the media industry must wield in Canada.
Beyond that, it won't work. Honestly, in the age of globalization and the internet, it seems all this would do is drive people to order media online only and in bulk (to reduce shipping costs and dodge the tax).
This was a few years ago, so it doesn't take into account new applications that could have totally changed the conversion landscape.
I have tried to do something similar in the past for a company that does JUST conversations. We actually tried to get doc -> text with formatting, both with closed-source expensive applications and with open-source apps... not much success on either front.
In the end, we basically gave up on it, and ended up making 2 versions of the document. A PDF version and a text version. The text version was easily searchable, and the PDF version looked great. Both ASCII and PDF are open standards, so that when they are phased out, we should be able to buy/write conversion tools to the next generation. We then wrapped a GUI around it so that when you searched, you searched the text, and you got results in PDF.
The fact that PDF is an open-standard is important. When we did this, we used the text files for searching, but now-a-days, you can get lots of engines to search PDFs directly, so the text converstion may not even be needed.
Sorry I don't have the solution you are looking for... honestly good luck.:)
Slashdot Mirror
fair point -- but now think about it from E-Bay's position.
To goto court they have to expend legal costs (L) they also have a large investment in the patent system via a number of patents (P) and we are talking about a one time 35 million dollar free (X).
If X P + L then it makes sense to simply pay it, and it has the added benefit of making software patent law more rock solid for them to stand on in future cases.
I am guessing that P + L outweight X by a good amount -- add in the benefits of stronger patent law... and see what you come up with.
Just wanted to add a few great games to that list :)
... but overall, the above post sums up why I am a happy Cuber!
Picmon, Monkey Balls
Lots of writers use a quota system. i.e. I will produce 5 pages of material a day, or something similar...
Writing is the key to getting better.
If I had not already made a comment I would have moderated the parent post up. Dead on.
Any company with one developer is going to be a small business -- small businesses have budgets, just like REAL people -- believe it or not, companies don't want to spend every penny of budget on IT, since -- without sales -- there is no damn IT department. Making a bunch of silly recommendations that are beyond the means of this company is silly.
Some or your recommendations are valid
The rest of your recommendations were intelligent assuming a magical world with no budgets, no deadlines and no need to be realistic. But -- if you take into account the real world -- they were moronic.
Let me quote a little from the linked article
I really want to mod up the parent post -- clueful, short and TRUE.
I am not sure about the data storage of access. It was my understanding it was NOT a flat file -- but it is very limitted.
/. -- but I think it is probably the most sane answer. :)
I recommend you use the "upsize" wizard (which will automatically relink to your existing forms) and goto MS SQL 2000.
This does a few things for you. #1. Huge number of people familar with Access. (Better chance of finding a "biological anthropology" major with experience [I should note, I find this requirement a bit silly, have a guy from the CS department set it up, and you use it]). #2. The app appears to work exactly like it did -- only without the preformance hangups.
Once you get thru that basic change -- and you have de-coupled the interface (access) from the backend (sql server 2000) -- you can slowly but surely start fixing the design of the database without interupting the USAGE of the system too much. The forms will be consistant, and you just have to ensure that you keep them up to date with the database changes you make.
I hate to be putting forth an MS solution on
Bottom line. Your question is so massively incomplete that no one could hope to formulate an answer.
What is your budget?
What is your existing infastructure?
What is your timeline?
What the heck does "And with the state department of education (ironically named KDE) very pro-Microsoft, VNC is out of the question."
So you are saying that every single application running on your desktops is purchased from Microsoft? Why the heck does pro-microsoft == anti-vnc. VNC is a wonderful, free and cross platform tool for remotely displaying workstation content, that happens to have a pure web client version (great for people at home!).
If your school ties their balls to MS in such a way -- why not just use Remote Desktop or call up and ask your local Microsoft Rep what he/she recommends.
Why is this a goddamn ask slashdot?
*sigh*
http://www.propel.com/ac/tech.jsp - for those who want to learn more about thre actual technology this service will be using.
:)
I personally think they have some good ideas.
Persistant Connections
Caching
Diff'ing against the unchanged data you already have
Compression
But -- I have been on broadband for so long -- what do I know
The proper equipment is TightVNC -- it is the only way to help family without wanting to hurt them. It is multi-platform supports compression and is simple to install.
... click open, check all the boxes, click ok. Then you tell them to go to "whatismyip.com" and read you what it says
The steps you should tell a family member are: goto tightvnc.org
Then you are connected to their computer and can fix any software problem in 1/50th the time of trying to solve it over the phone.
If anyone got a chance to mirror the site before it god slammed, posting a link here would be wonderful.
To be fair to the author of the article -- Intel has had very strong ties to Microsoft.
"Wintel" -- When Microsoft releases a new OS -- lots of Intel chips are sold in the MS push. The most common way people get a new microsoft operating system is via new hardware.
Intel needs Microsoft to drive the hardware sales. Microsoft needs intel to get chips specs and support on optimizing their operating system for the next generations of intel chips. Microsoft also enjoys a market controlled by intel-compatible PCs.
Recently, Intel has been making moves away from Microsoft (and Microsoft away from Intel). I might be tempted to point to AMDs upcoming 64bit chip as the source of alot of the friction. But the fact that intel has decided to completely support Linux as a first class operating system also bothers Microsoft.
I basically think the authors point was fair.
How do you define the term 'Software Engineering'?
-I use dictionary.com and you should too -- it has a good definition and links to others, check here
Can you compare Software Engineering to other disciplines?
-Umm. yes I can.
What sets a 'Software Engineer' apart from the rest of the crowd?
-I guess that would almost entirely depend on the crowd.
The jobs moving overseas are the IT industries' own fault to a degree. The "hype", the overpaid incompetent IT workers, the billions of dollars lost by US companies during the "boom!" on moronic projects and badly thought out "concepts". Basically, the IT industry in the country "burned" the companies that depend on it.
The forces driving fundamental change are several, including regional cost differentials, market power relations, and globalization of IT industry. Most importantly, however, the U.S. IT industry has become an amazingly capital-intensive economic sector that no longer has access to capital. The floodgates have been opened. I doubt they can be closed.
This is nothing new, this happened to blue-collar workers years ago, and now it is moving up the chain.
The only way I can see to compete is thru advancing the technology in the field you are in, and keeping those technological advancements as industry secrets. You will have to create BETTER products in LESS time if you want to compete with people who can be paid tremendously less than yourself. Sending work overseas has an inherent cost, and language barriers, and assorted other problems, but unless you can create something significantly better, you are going to watch the jobs go away.
I am not claiming I have any solutions, just agreeing that it is a scary fact. I think if it becomes a huge issue, you will see the middle class rise up in anger and fight it tooth and nail.
My name is Robert, and I am a software developer.
Parent Post is clueful.
They would be sued if they bundled a great editor. Because companies like Notepad+ and TextEdit would suddenly have a much harder time. Microsoft has to sell the perception that they are the "Pond" and not the "Fish" and that they don't really compete, they just create a platform for other to compete on top of.
The problem is, when they need money, they will slowly take over one segment after another. Being in an industry where Microsoft is thinking about going has to be a scary experience.
That is just another advantage of having an open-base system and closed source competition on top of it, it protects the competition from being elbowed out, since no single company controls the platform. (Well, protects to a degree)
For some reason I think we may find out this is a hoax. Just guessing.
s/my/may
:)
I think most people realized this, but just in case.
I had no idea it was April 1st. But judging from the last 2 slashdot stories, it must be. This one and the "Science Project Quadruples Surfing Speed". Yikes!
Could you get by trying todo it yourself: yes.
Should you attempt to do it yourself: no.
There are a ton of pre-canned packages and such, and you probably might be able to "slide out" a site or two... but it will be crap compared to what a professional would produce, and you would be doing a disservice to your client. Best to hire a independant cheap professional who can bring the graphic and hosting components to the table for you, so you don't need to worry about any of the web related stuff. You need to focus on doing what you do well (advertising agency & production I hope) and let other people do what THEY do well. Specialization is a good thing.
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, said: "The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy." Georgia v. Brailsford, 1794.
You assumption about the task of the jury is incorrect. The jury is not present todo what the judge asks, they are present to distribute justice. Justice by a group of peers no less.
... juries should be _the_ backbone of our system. Juries should be removing laws that are set against the people (DMCA.. etc).
In the US -- juries have slowly been stripped out power by judges and lawyers, but they are the backbone of the system (or should be).
See: http://nowscape.com/fija/fija_us.htm
Juries are a critical piece of the puzzle that makes America work... People need to remember the power they have...
http://nowscape.com/fija/_600wrd.htm
At the Yorktown Linux Users' Group, they use the Python Wiki. Wikis are better than weblogs because they promote freshness of data, corrections, and everyone getting involved.
My favorite heavy duty Wikis are:
Linux: TWiki (http://www.twiki.org/)
Windows: OpenWiki (http://www.openwiki.com/)
Each of these wikis support heavy duty revisions, diffs, uploading, access controls (only if you want them), and are Open-Source!
What about people who use this Media/Hardware for other purposes -- why should they have to suffer!
It is scary the massive amount of power the media industry must wield in Canada.
Beyond that, it won't work. Honestly, in the age of globalization and the internet, it seems all this would do is drive people to order media online only and in bulk (to reduce shipping costs and dodge the tax).
Short Answer: Good Luck! :)
:)
Long Answer:
This was a few years ago, so it doesn't take into account new applications that could have totally changed the conversion landscape.
I have tried to do something similar in the past for a company that does JUST conversations. We actually tried to get doc -> text with formatting, both with closed-source expensive applications and with open-source apps... not much success on either front.
In the end, we basically gave up on it, and ended up making 2 versions of the document. A PDF version and a text version. The text version was easily searchable, and the PDF version looked great. Both ASCII and PDF are open standards, so that when they are phased out, we should be able to buy/write conversion tools to the next generation. We then wrapped a GUI around it so that when you searched, you searched the text, and you got results in PDF.
The fact that PDF is an open-standard is important. When we did this, we used the text files for searching, but now-a-days, you can get lots of engines to search PDFs directly, so the text converstion may not even be needed.
Sorry I don't have the solution you are looking for... honestly good luck.