The commercial threat that Mozilla poses is one of standards.
If people like me are saying to companies that I won't use their products (such as e-banking) because I'm forced to use IE, then Microsoft can't do as much on the backend tools to lock people in.
Microsoft will undoubtedly try and lock the browser into the server soon if unthreatened.
I'd say that the people coming into the world of work at a skilled level (eg middle management and techs) are going to be Linux-friendly. Bosses in their late 30s or early 40s are stuck into Windows.
It's the guys in their early to mid-20s to watch. I worked with a guy who did Windows and Linux and he's turning me towards Linux, and particularly OSS.
What Microsoft do is give people things that people PERCEIVE will make them more productive.
So, people end up loading data into their local databases on Excel spreadsheets, rather than contacting the IT department, because it's cheaper or they can't be bothered going through the proper process.
Then, they lose the data they recorded because someone in the networks department upgraded the PC it was it one weekend - IE scrapped it (this actually happened).
The most productive environment I ever worked in was a green screen mainframe environment. People just got better and better with what they had on the systems side, users could work unimpeded with no forced upgrades of software, no upgrades of hardware, and almost never a network issue.
As for home use, people should be getting managed services, so that they can be truly productive. The chances of viruses/hacking/lost data would be reduced to almost nil.
Those big discount cases are going to really hurt Microsoft.
As Linux grows, more vendors of software like database or accounting packages will develop ports. Hardware vendors will release more drivers. People will get what they want on Linux as well as Windows. Companies will be able to threaten Microsoft, knowing the move is feasible.
These early big sites like Rome, the Australian Tax Office and Munich will see results. They may go less than smoothly, but people will learn, tell others and the whole thing could move very quickly.
The costs about training/support will really sell well. Sure, there's going to be some initial pain, but staff will probably find it easier over time.
One problem I have with Microsoft is how new releases cause people pain. Things get moved, terminology is changed, new features get added that can really hold people up.
Open Source software seems to me will not change things with releases so much as improve them. If something works well, no-one is going to change them.
Even people who never watch the BBC have to pay this money if they posess a television.
Well, a television that's picking up signals. It's fine to have one for watching videos/DVDs.
The state collects money off me to pay for all sorts of things that I don't support and I believe the country could do without. Many of which cost me thousands in tax per annum, not 121UKP.
Firstly, relax. Don't worry if you don't cram things into a day. Enjoy the things you do and do as many of them, but think of them as a whole, not as individual items to be ticked off.
I view all these things as bonuses. So, if I can add things to a business trip (like visiting a gallery nearby), I will. But I don't get worried if I don't, or just forget.
Other than that...
1. Go against the flow. I prefer to, and can get to work in about 2/3rds of the time if I don't go with everyone else. Also, stress is lower, accident rates are probably lower and fuel consumption goes up. Sometimes I food shop at 10pm. I can get to the store, shop and be home quickly. No problem parking, no queues.
2. Minimise journeys. A lot of people will take many trips to pick things up when they really don't need them right now, and could wait. If you want something from the east side of town but don't need it for a week, save it and get it when you are over there, or save it for then. Time and petrol saved.
3. Shop online. Save all that hassle of travelling to shops. Of course, sometimes it is pleasant to have a trip.
4. Deal with reliable suppliers and stick with them. I spend little of my life arguing with suppliers (whether repairmen or computer shops). If they mess me around, I don't deal with them again. If they're good, they get plenty of repeat trade. The extra 5% spend on someone I know is reliable (although sometimes they can be cheaper) can be worth it in the time it frees me to do other things.
A lot of people complain that they don't have time for things (one of which is cooking properly). But many people have time for TV, to go ambling round shops, drinking beer in bars or playing video games.
It's because they are not really attacking the shrink wrap software market. How many IBM products do you see in local stores?
IBM are in the solutions market, where you deliver value to companies. The software is only part of the equation.
A lot of companies don't want to RTFM or go off to newsgroups to keep their solutions up and running. They want experts who know their way around.
Also, if IBM can avoid the M$ tax and keep control of the software to their clients (so OS upgrades don't break their solutions), that's all the better.
The big thing about OSS is that you have the code.
Quite frequently something mad happens on Windows. Something doesn't do what it should. And Microsoft are often less than helpful - an error code that has 20 points of diagnosis. Some things are just plain broke and you can't get any help. Often, it's just a service pack away.
If you have the database code, the operating system code and your own application code, you should be able to find the exact problem and solve it. Much less embarassing when dealing with clients.
For your information, Million Pound Property Experiment was a bit distorted. The houses overlapped each other.
Some of the cookery is good. Rick Stein, Delia and Saturday Kitchen are good. It's some of the things like Ready Steady Cook which are garbage.
I think that what they do with home stuff is OK. I just get a bit annoyed that sometimes as many as 2 or 3 of the main 5 channels have something to do with cookery, house moving or gardening.
It's basically cheap TV - making something like a home improvement show requires a presenter, small crew, a few researchers and some DIY experts. Compare that with making something like Middlemarch where you need a large crew, locations hiring, costume designers, makeup people and actors. It also counts towards 'original programming' percentages.
There is too much crap on the BBC but there's also a lot of good things that are on a parallel or above anything in the world.
I can't stand that we have Eastenders 4 times a week, or that there is some lame comedy, but there's also Have I Got News For You, Little Britain, The Office, Buzzcocks, CBeebies, Newsnight, Mind Games, Restoration,
Then, add in the best radio services in the world. Does anyone else do anything close to what Radio 3 and 4 do anywhere?
They'd mainly debuted on BBC3 to justify it's existence IMO.
There is plenty of filler and repeat TV on BBC1 and BBC2, and these could have been debuted there first.
BBC4 is sometimes good, though, with programmes like The DVD Collection and some good foreign films (although BBC2 used to be the place for things like this).
I think the main reason for wiping of programmes was to do with the cost of tapes. They were just so expensive in the 1960s/1970s, and at that time, people didn't have nostalgia about TV (partly because tons of good programmes were being made, rather than soaps/reality garbage that we get now).
That's not true. You only need a license once you connect it and start reciving TV signals. If the channels are tuned out, you are fine. Some people only use them for watching DVDs and videos and this has been ruled as fine.
That's only true in certain markets. Companies like Nokia and Sony don't have to take anything from Intel.
Not putting Bluetooth cards in laptops is a dumb move. I'm buying a card for my old laptop so I can synchronise my mobile phone's address book, but it also means if other devices come out, I've got a card, rather than 100 different cables.
It would certainly influence my decision over which laptop to buy next.
We have a law on licensing hours in England which means you can't drink in a pub after 11pm (+ drinking up time). It was introduced during WW1 (yes, 1) so that munitions workers would be fit for work, but was never revoked. It's silly and counterproductive, and it's taking a lot of fighting to get politicians to get rid of it.
A 'sunset provision' would have killed this by the end of the war.
Slashdot Mirror
If people like me are saying to companies that I won't use their products (such as e-banking) because I'm forced to use IE, then Microsoft can't do as much on the backend tools to lock people in.
Microsoft will undoubtedly try and lock the browser into the server soon if unthreatened.
It's the guys in their early to mid-20s to watch. I worked with a guy who did Windows and Linux and he's turning me towards Linux, and particularly OSS.
So, people end up loading data into their local databases on Excel spreadsheets, rather than contacting the IT department, because it's cheaper or they can't be bothered going through the proper process.
Then, they lose the data they recorded because someone in the networks department upgraded the PC it was it one weekend - IE scrapped it (this actually happened).
The most productive environment I ever worked in was a green screen mainframe environment. People just got better and better with what they had on the systems side, users could work unimpeded with no forced upgrades of software, no upgrades of hardware, and almost never a network issue.
As for home use, people should be getting managed services, so that they can be truly productive. The chances of viruses/hacking/lost data would be reduced to almost nil.
I've played with RHL and the only thing I found weird was the lack of drive letters.
As Linux grows, more vendors of software like database or accounting packages will develop ports. Hardware vendors will release more drivers. People will get what they want on Linux as well as Windows. Companies will be able to threaten Microsoft, knowing the move is feasible.
These early big sites like Rome, the Australian Tax Office and Munich will see results. They may go less than smoothly, but people will learn, tell others and the whole thing could move very quickly.
One problem I have with Microsoft is how new releases cause people pain. Things get moved, terminology is changed, new features get added that can really hold people up.
Open Source software seems to me will not change things with releases so much as improve them. If something works well, no-one is going to change them.
Any info gratefully received.
Well, a television that's picking up signals. It's fine to have one for watching videos/DVDs.
The state collects money off me to pay for all sorts of things that I don't support and I believe the country could do without. Many of which cost me thousands in tax per annum, not 121UKP.
I'm waiting for DAB to drop - can't help thinking that they'll reach 70 and start dropping quite fast.
I view all these things as bonuses. So, if I can add things to a business trip (like visiting a gallery nearby), I will. But I don't get worried if I don't, or just forget.
Other than that...
1. Go against the flow. I prefer to, and can get to work in about 2/3rds of the time if I don't go with everyone else. Also, stress is lower, accident rates are probably lower and fuel consumption goes up. Sometimes I food shop at 10pm. I can get to the store, shop and be home quickly. No problem parking, no queues.
2. Minimise journeys. A lot of people will take many trips to pick things up when they really don't need them right now, and could wait. If you want something from the east side of town but don't need it for a week, save it and get it when you are over there, or save it for then. Time and petrol saved.
3. Shop online. Save all that hassle of travelling to shops. Of course, sometimes it is pleasant to have a trip.
4. Deal with reliable suppliers and stick with them. I spend little of my life arguing with suppliers (whether repairmen or computer shops). If they mess me around, I don't deal with them again. If they're good, they get plenty of repeat trade. The extra 5% spend on someone I know is reliable (although sometimes they can be cheaper) can be worth it in the time it frees me to do other things.
A lot of people complain that they don't have time for things (one of which is cooking properly). But many people have time for TV, to go ambling round shops, drinking beer in bars or playing video games.
Microsoft were aware of it, it was public and MS didn't patch it for a few months.
As it was known and unpatched, I think someone, somewhere must have abused this.
It's because they are not really attacking the shrink wrap software market. How many IBM products do you see in local stores?
IBM are in the solutions market, where you deliver value to companies. The software is only part of the equation.
A lot of companies don't want to RTFM or go off to newsgroups to keep their solutions up and running. They want experts who know their way around.
Also, if IBM can avoid the M$ tax and keep control of the software to their clients (so OS upgrades don't break their solutions), that's all the better.
Quite frequently something mad happens on Windows. Something doesn't do what it should. And Microsoft are often less than helpful - an error code that has 20 points of diagnosis. Some things are just plain broke and you can't get any help. Often, it's just a service pack away.
If you have the database code, the operating system code and your own application code, you should be able to find the exact problem and solve it. Much less embarassing when dealing with clients.
So, I decided to check out his site, and tried Gridrunner+++.
Is there something in the history that says "temporary insanity due to sensory overload"?
Some of the cookery is good. Rick Stein, Delia and Saturday Kitchen are good. It's some of the things like Ready Steady Cook which are garbage.
I think that what they do with home stuff is OK. I just get a bit annoyed that sometimes as many as 2 or 3 of the main 5 channels have something to do with cookery, house moving or gardening.
It's basically cheap TV - making something like a home improvement show requires a presenter, small crew, a few researchers and some DIY experts. Compare that with making something like Middlemarch where you need a large crew, locations hiring, costume designers, makeup people and actors. It also counts towards 'original programming' percentages.
I can't stand that we have Eastenders 4 times a week, or that there is some lame comedy, but there's also Have I Got News For You, Little Britain, The Office, Buzzcocks, CBeebies, Newsnight, Mind Games, Restoration,
Then, add in the best radio services in the world. Does anyone else do anything close to what Radio 3 and 4 do anywhere?
There is plenty of filler and repeat TV on BBC1 and BBC2, and these could have been debuted there first.
BBC4 is sometimes good, though, with programmes like The DVD Collection and some good foreign films (although BBC2 used to be the place for things like this).
I think the main reason for wiping of programmes was to do with the cost of tapes. They were just so expensive in the 1960s/1970s, and at that time, people didn't have nostalgia about TV (partly because tons of good programmes were being made, rather than soaps/reality garbage that we get now).
That's not true. You only need a license once you connect it and start reciving TV signals. If the channels are tuned out, you are fine. Some people only use them for watching DVDs and videos and this has been ruled as fine.
I don't know about computer mags, but many fashion mags apparantly will give a lot more coverage depending upon the advertiser spend.
Everything I want is online now.
Not putting Bluetooth cards in laptops is a dumb move. I'm buying a card for my old laptop so I can synchronise my mobile phone's address book, but it also means if other devices come out, I've got a card, rather than 100 different cables.
It would certainly influence my decision over which laptop to buy next.
A 'sunset provision' would have killed this by the end of the war.