They release it with some big publicity blitz about how they have now made web management easy through thier new "innovations" to IIS (note not to computing in general).
And not too soon later pointy haired bosses country wide inform us that we sould be upgrading to this new technology to reduce management costs, overhead, tco (more or less the press release verbatim that they soaked up from CEO weekly)
Lots of space (long table even thought I only have my station(s) in one part I want to spread nots and stuff all over.
A good library of books on whatever languages/systems you program with.
At least two computers, one to code the other as a reference and/or test system (a third as a test server wouldn't hurt)
A couple displays on the main console would be cool.
A kick-butt audio system (DVDs are too distracting), Pick your tunes (80s is what I code to a lot).
Some sort of excersise center or area (to do something healthy when you can't stand looking at the screen.)
Good printer (or both an inkjet and laser)
Whiteboard - never really used one but I've always wanted to have one to chart out some project to look at when I'm coding on it.
Projector (if money is money no object, just gotta have one).
A nerby place to eat and veg a little. (when you need to get away from 'your world' into the 'real world' once in a while. Such as a small cafe or diner (I like the cushy booths with chrome and linoleum tables.. with a jukebox!)
Some sort of project managment/tracking/note taking/wiki thing so you can keep track of all those great ideas and progress I do.
Some code monkey assistant do do the crap work like building/debuging entry screens, etc. (and to clean up the workspace becuase of all the discarded printouts and buried books all over the place)
Hey I'm a Mac whiz with Windows experience and I have taken many months to get where I am. I think it is a good move but not without the knowledge to take care of the business of doing it.
I installed Linux at home as dual boot, playd with it; freaked over video drivers, install it again, then later again because I found another issue or distro... many many installs... ok, you will be re-installing a few times at first...:-) Also you will be getting used to using the terminal to run the configuration tools and getting the handle of your edtVIor of choice, learning about when to use root and when not to, etc.
So, get a good book like the Linux Bible ones by Wiley which will give you a intro on what you are going to be handling. Spend the winter going though that. Once you get through that then get a better book on just Linux Administration to fine tun how to administer Linux. During this by all means, set up your home with a Linux box and/or server and work out your stumbling blocks first!
(It's definately a peach to run, but it takes a bit of knowing what you 'really want' to initally set it up for business.)
What you are looking for is a Document Management System, such things have been around for microcomputers for at least a decade. They include a hi-performace scanner and quality OCR software tied to a text/image database. The database holds the scanned data in a serchable and usable form, and the originals are stored in a indexed image archive (to look at images or to verify accuracy). Once finalized the data is burned to CD to archive if needed.
Legal businesses and accounting departments use this stuff regularly.
Have you googled for it, there might be a sourceforge FOSS project along those lines.
Actually it was more like whatever you are writing don't expect that your code will exist in a secure environment. Whenever you can, do what you can to keep your modules secure. Don't give the OS or other moddules the benefit of the doubt.
Looking at previous MS attempts, they start out with a lot of big talk of how great they are going to be and how easy it is and that veveryone is welcome. Then marketing gets wind and starts adding things in there to ensure windows lock-in and such as well as obfusticating any competiton information. As long as they feel they have the right to meddle with the user's experience they are messed up.
Inernet Exploer for the Mac releases was halted at IE 5.2.3. I rmemeber when they dropped support, Microsoft said in some statement that Safari would be a reasonable replacement (now if only Microsoft provded reasonable support for it on thier servers.)
This is an excellent example of a need for "open standards".
you start up your Mac and find all your settings and documents have magically dissapeared whithout hope of recovery because there is a glitch in the filevault file.:-/
It sounds to me like Microsoft would just prefer to cap the guy then have him work for some other 'organization'.
I don't care how much you may legally justify it, the guy is his own person and should have the right to do and think as he does, Unless he commits some sort of (illegal) violence, I don't think it's any of their business.
If it was such an important issue, they maybe sould not trust such informatin to mere mortals and just load it in to some VB script to keep the info safe.
Look, we are talking people here, the companies are not looking at that fact, only the potential effect it might have on thier stocks.
That's what I do, I have my laptop set up as aa apache server to run PHP as localhost and MySQL, I don't always have internet access to connet to remote servers so it works best for me.
Mainly because I can't on Linux. If it was available I would consider it, though I would also need a portable player that is compatible too, and seeing how quickly ogg is getting accepted by the player community I'll not hold my breath for that.
Though with Open source DRM I think it may lead to faster adoption as the media producers and player makers would not have the licensing fees, it can be examined for flaws (they could know what they are getting instead of being suprised by the sharpie and shift-key workarounds) ported to multiple platforms, and (more importantly) the Linux community might actually package the codec in thier distributions.
What makes me not a consumer? Just your opinion. All those calls to Tech support will make a difference.
I was able to get Linux Running on the HP desktop I bought... after I got rid of the HP motherboard in it. In facxt it now supports Linux and Windows from as early as 95, which is a,lot more consumer friendly thwan the thing I replaced it with.
I've not been trained in building distributed systems but have learned on my own from the school of hard knocks.
As metioned a good Record ID strategy is a must; I used a packed timestamp (base 60, using upper/lowr case numbers) with a node/user identifier, besides keeping the records unique you can also use the ID to track down where/when problems mikght have occurred.
Also time stamps and delete logs!!! You need to know what data is new or old or should have been deleted.
Work on a way to automate updates, you are going to be coding not for one computer but for all your nodes on the network, set something out there that can keep your data/apps in check and updated. A big stumbling block is getting the data transfer structure and protocol worked out.
Look at the importance and frequency of data and make sure your system can handle it, if nightly is OK, then it's fine, though there might be times when your satte;lites might be down, don't paint yourself into a corner by expecing every transfer to work right every time.
Choose your apps wisely, since you mentioned Macs that narrows your choice of what you can use. We had used FoxBase +/Mac, but 4th dimension is cross-platform and looks real flexible. It could be done using LAMP at the nodes, but you will have to work out your own distributed data import/export scripts. (DBF xfer was sooo eay)
I find you have to implement a lot more remote validation, as you expect your data to be clean when it comes in from the other offfices.
Also things happen to different sites, and they may have to restore from backups etc. Work out how to re-sync the sites when such events occur.
You are looking at a very complex system to manage. (those thousand or so lines of spaghetti code will keep you employed)
Normalize and clean up your database as much as possible now include planned data element (even if you currently hide it for now), making structure changes when distributed can be a real pain.
With that said, after years of being distributed; technology here in our rural community now makes it possible to centralize, and I'm relieved that I can make the switch. (though I may keep bits distibuted, field laptops, and such.) It's a good skill to learn, adds a whole new level of paranoia when you're coding.:-)
For most people they want to run certain applications if you can't on the OS then it is a VERY tough sell (Linux may run Officeish stuff but there still aren't any printshop and other bits people like to run).
Cost & Usability
This goes together, and is my reason why Amiga died, Amiga's OS was pretty slick but when you got it out of the box you could do practicallty NOTHING with it, everything you WANTED to do with it cost money and was hard to locate a vendor to sell it to you, wanted to do a little word processing? You need to buy Word Perfect or Final Copy (proably get more memory too), wanted to Surf the internet? You needed to buy a TCP-IP stack and then also buy a browser! Apple realized that having included internet suport would gain it share, and MS did too soon after, but others were still in the tollbooth-OS mode. Also if you bught an iMac you got Appleworks and on sone Windows boxes like eMachines you got Works, which also made those systems "usable" out of the box.
Accessibility
This is what killed Ti 99/4A, when you lock up everything that makes a computer programmable and then also charge for an SDK will scare off your hobbiest msrket, without that you loose the grass-roots eforts to cover some of the OS weaknesses when the companies are dragging their own feet. Windows had an in with BASIC included, Apple charged for all developemnt tools early on, now it's a little better for Mac/Wint but now here's Linux which offers some really kick-butt tools right on the Distro CDs, that is a big reasone why Linux is growing so fast, the tools are there for the average Joe to make something with thier system.
Versatility
Other die becasue they just can't do everything (linux had until the past couple years suffered from due to that. partly because of lack of drivers other times because the disconnect of the OS vs. the GUI vs. the printing drivers.). If an OS has definate weakspots in either IO, sound, video, printing, memory/disk usage, etc. you will get hopefully a vertical market but probably won't replace the home PC. The reason why Windows and Mac are so popular is they can do just about everything and when a new technology comes out it is expeted they will be able to do that too.
(the actual quote had invention instead of innovation) and for most of the world there may be no sense of neccessity in thier current view.
Also from my perspective a lot of innovation happens when a new method, technology, or understanding of nature opens up and broadens possibilities to do things better, easier or differently. Some good cases in point are the microcomputer, the internet, Linux and other FOSS tools (which opened the internet to development to us mere mortals), and micro-sized lasers.
Once someone makes a new meta-discovery such as battery life improvement (size/capacity) by a factor, attainable fusion power, better storage methods, data throughput, construction methods, etc. you will then see a lot of innovation follow to accomany that void.
I think it is harder to get these meta innovations going because people are more afraid of the potential liabilities that they may incurr (stem cells, nanotech, dna manipulation, etc)
Of those Popeye DVDs I mentioned the first three had the original music at the beginning, on the last one they obviously put in some MIDI or other sythesiser music on the openings probably due to the rights issues as well. It is very distracting when you are used to the originals.
At least it sin't bad compared to the more expensive (sub$5) Good Times Video Popeye DVDs where they tried to re'foley' the sound effects and made the cartoons nearly unviewable with these really loud and irritating sound effects.
Some of the Highlights I've bought
on
Attack of the $1 DVDs
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Here are some I had found that were really good:
Popeye Cartoons (there is a series of four discs, very good qulaity
Santa Claus vs. the Martians (a true classic!)
Off the wall and calssic horror movies - Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla and other obvious 60s/70s schlock
classics like Road to Bali and the Inspector General
Some Little Rascals Episodes
Three stooges cartoons (I haven't had the guts to grab those, they are pretty lame)
Everytime I see such a display I find it worth my tme.
If it was Microsoft talking they would blast 10 percent of sites that didn't work with MSIE. As long as you use your argument people will *think they need* MSIE, as long as I use mine people will know better.
It's all a matter of perspective, and mine isn't an MS only one.
Slashdot Mirror
And not too soon later pointy haired bosses country wide inform us that we sould be upgrading to this new technology to reduce management costs, overhead, tco (more or less the press release verbatim that they soaked up from CEO weekly)
A good library of books on whatever languages/systems you program with.
At least two computers, one to code the other as a reference and/or test system (a third as a test server wouldn't hurt)
A couple displays on the main console would be cool.
A kick-butt audio system (DVDs are too distracting), Pick your tunes (80s is what I code to a lot).
Some sort of excersise center or area (to do something healthy when you can't stand looking at the screen.)
Good printer (or both an inkjet and laser)
Whiteboard - never really used one but I've always wanted to have one to chart out some project to look at when I'm coding on it.
Projector (if money is money no object, just gotta have one).
A nerby place to eat and veg a little. (when you need to get away from 'your world' into the 'real world' once in a while. Such as a small cafe or diner (I like the cushy booths with chrome and linoleum tables.. with a jukebox!)
Some sort of project managment/tracking/note taking/wiki thing so you can keep track of all those great ideas and progress I do.
Some code monkey assistant do do the crap work like building/debuging entry screens, etc. (and to clean up the workspace becuase of all the discarded printouts and buried books all over the place)
I installed Linux at home as dual boot, playd with it; freaked over video drivers, install it again, then later again because I found another issue or distro... many many installs... ok, you will be re-installing a few times at first...:-) Also you will be getting used to using the terminal to run the configuration tools and getting the handle of your edtVIor of choice, learning about when to use root and when not to, etc.
So, get a good book like the Linux Bible ones by Wiley which will give you a intro on what you are going to be handling. Spend the winter going though that. Once you get through that then get a better book on just Linux Administration to fine tun how to administer Linux. During this by all means, set up your home with a Linux box and/or server and work out your stumbling blocks first!
(It's definately a peach to run, but it takes a bit of knowing what you 'really want' to initally set it up for business.)
Legal businesses and accounting departments use this stuff regularly.
Have you googled for it, there might be a sourceforge FOSS project along those lines.
Actually it was more like whatever you are writing don't expect that your code will exist in a secure environment. Whenever you can, do what you can to keep your modules secure. Don't give the OS or other moddules the benefit of the doubt.
Um.. that would be the Windows Vista Cracker Edition.
Looking at previous MS attempts, they start out with a lot of big talk of how great they are going to be and how easy it is and that veveryone is welcome. Then marketing gets wind and starts adding things in there to ensure windows lock-in and such as well as obfusticating any competiton information. As long as they feel they have the right to meddle with the user's experience they are messed up.
This is an excellent example of a need for "open standards".
So my wife's hydorgen Rabbit can be littlering the roadside with pellets. :-D
Given how suddenly all your stuff becomes irrecoverable and that I got to experience it, I think I'll steer clear from it.
Yeah, it happened at work, and it was not pretty.
I don't care how much you may legally justify it, the guy is his own person and should have the right to do and think as he does, Unless he commits some sort of (illegal) violence, I don't think it's any of their business.
If it was such an important issue, they maybe sould not trust such informatin to mere mortals and just load it in to some VB script to keep the info safe.
Look, we are talking people here, the companies are not looking at that fact, only the potential effect it might have on thier stocks.
That's what I do, I have my laptop set up as aa apache server to run PHP as localhost and MySQL, I don't always have internet access to connet to remote servers so it works best for me.
Though with Open source DRM I think it may lead to faster adoption as the media producers and player makers would not have the licensing fees, it can be examined for flaws (they could know what they are getting instead of being suprised by the sharpie and shift-key workarounds) ported to multiple platforms, and (more importantly) the Linux community might actually package the codec in thier distributions.
I too thought of Zim when I read the title, especially how in the cartoon the words were Emphasized... maybe J Vasquez sould trademakr Space Meat.
I want Linux on my desktop
What makes me not a consumer? Just your opinion. All those calls to Tech support will make a difference.
I was able to get Linux Running on the HP desktop I bought... after I got rid of the HP motherboard in it. In facxt it now supports Linux and Windows from as early as 95, which is a ,lot more consumer friendly thwan the thing I replaced it with.
Amiwest is going on today (23rd) in Sacramento, California.
I've not been trained in building distributed systems but have learned on my own from the school of hard knocks.
:-)
As metioned a good Record ID strategy is a must; I used a packed timestamp (base 60, using upper/lowr case numbers) with a node/user identifier, besides keeping the records unique you can also use the ID to track down where/when problems mikght have occurred.
Also time stamps and delete logs!!! You need to know what data is new or old or should have been deleted.
Work on a way to automate updates, you are going to be coding not for one computer but for all your nodes on the network, set something out there that can keep your data/apps in check and updated. A big stumbling block is getting the data transfer structure and protocol worked out.
Look at the importance and frequency of data and make sure your system can handle it, if nightly is OK, then it's fine, though there might be times when your satte;lites might be down, don't paint yourself into a corner by expecing every transfer to work right every time.
Choose your apps wisely, since you mentioned Macs that narrows your choice of what you can use. We had used FoxBase +/Mac, but 4th dimension is cross-platform and looks real flexible. It could be done using LAMP at the nodes, but you will have to work out your own distributed data import/export scripts. (DBF xfer was sooo eay)
I find you have to implement a lot more remote validation, as you expect your data to be clean when it comes in from the other offfices.
Also things happen to different sites, and they may have to restore from backups etc. Work out how to re-sync the sites when such events occur.
You are looking at a very complex system to manage. (those thousand or so lines of spaghetti code will keep you employed)
Normalize and clean up your database as much as possible now include planned data element (even if you currently hide it for now), making structure changes when distributed can be a real pain.
With that said, after years of being distributed; technology here in our rural community now makes it possible to centralize, and I'm relieved that I can make the switch. (though I may keep bits distibuted, field laptops, and such.) It's a good skill to learn, adds a whole new level of paranoia when you're coding.
I think we should popularize a more appropriate definition of the technology, such as:
Cost & Usability
This goes together, and is my reason why Amiga died, Amiga's OS was pretty slick but when you got it out of the box you could do practicallty NOTHING with it, everything you WANTED to do with it cost money and was hard to locate a vendor to sell it to you, wanted to do a little word processing? You need to buy Word Perfect or Final Copy (proably get more memory too), wanted to Surf the internet? You needed to buy a TCP-IP stack and then also buy a browser! Apple realized that having included internet suport would gain it share, and MS did too soon after, but others were still in the tollbooth-OS mode. Also if you bught an iMac you got Appleworks and on sone Windows boxes like eMachines you got Works, which also made those systems "usable" out of the box.
Accessibility
This is what killed Ti 99/4A, when you lock up everything that makes a computer programmable and then also charge for an SDK will scare off your hobbiest msrket, without that you loose the grass-roots eforts to cover some of the OS weaknesses when the companies are dragging their own feet. Windows had an in with BASIC included, Apple charged for all developemnt tools early on, now it's a little better for Mac/Wint but now here's Linux which offers some really kick-butt tools right on the Distro CDs, that is a big reasone why Linux is growing so fast, the tools are there for the average Joe to make something with thier system.
Versatility
Other die becasue they just can't do everything (linux had until the past couple years suffered from due to that. partly because of lack of drivers other times because the disconnect of the OS vs. the GUI vs. the printing drivers.). If an OS has definate weakspots in either IO, sound, video, printing, memory/disk usage, etc. you will get hopefully a vertical market but probably won't replace the home PC. The reason why Windows and Mac are so popular is they can do just about everything and when a new technology comes out it is expeted they will be able to do that too.
Also from my perspective a lot of innovation happens when a new method, technology, or understanding of nature opens up and broadens possibilities to do things better, easier or differently. Some good cases in point are the microcomputer, the internet, Linux and other FOSS tools (which opened the internet to development to us mere mortals), and micro-sized lasers.
Once someone makes a new meta-discovery such as battery life improvement (size/capacity) by a factor, attainable fusion power, better storage methods, data throughput, construction methods, etc. you will then see a lot of innovation follow to accomany that void.
I think it is harder to get these meta innovations going because people are more afraid of the potential liabilities that they may incurr (stem cells, nanotech, dna manipulation, etc)
Another one we bought that was in that section was Silent Night Bloody Night. Great for the holidays!
At least it sin't bad compared to the more expensive (sub$5) Good Times Video Popeye DVDs where they tried to re'foley' the sound effects and made the cartoons nearly unviewable with these really loud and irritating sound effects.
- Popeye Cartoons (there is a series of four discs, very good qulaity
- Santa Claus vs. the Martians (a true classic!)
- Off the wall and calssic horror movies - Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla and other obvious 60s/70s schlock
- classics like Road to Bali and the Inspector General
- Some Little Rascals Episodes
- Three stooges cartoons (I haven't had the guts to grab those, they are pretty lame)
Everytime I see such a display I find it worth my tme.It's all a matter of perspective, and mine isn't an MS only one.