Disclaimer: I'm an atheist. I'm going to sound like an atheist ( because I'm going to attack Scientology ) - But please do understand the broader message.
And the message is very simple.
Any organization/group which sells bullshit will be criticized. The only way for the organization to grow is to continue selling bullshit. The organization cannot sell bullshit if sane people criticize it. Or put sane arguments against it. Thus the only way for this organization to survive is to do one of the three below:
- Supress opposition to their bullshit to the extent possible ( and they can go to quite an extent - especially in the case of totalitarian religions or totalitarian governments ) - Taint the person criticising the organization - Both of the above.
Religion has been guilty of this all along.
So have all totalitarian governments
There is nothing to be surprised about this. There is only one thing to be sad about - that the members/followers of such organizations cannot 'see' the bullshit they are being sold.
Disclaimer: Not an MBA, never attended even a Biz 101. Just your average geek
I think we are talking about two distinct things here:
1. A company which makes a lot of money selling ads on the 'standard' web and the mobile web
2. A company that is trying to carve a space in the 'enterprise' space ( Google apps, docs etc )
3. A company that is spending a lot of money on innovation - most of which looks to help the general public ( Specifically mean their attempts at networking ) and some which look like sci-fi projects ( Google glass)
#1 - It's how they earn their $$ and I ( like most of you ) use their search engine and email offerings. A lot of us use their mobile operating system as well - and we take for granted that it keeps our contacts and calendars and other stuff in sync. ( side note: not many , especially the Apple fanbois - appreciate how good google email/calendar/contacts sync is )
#2 My previous and current employer use Google Apps. My previous company migrated from Domino/Notes (gasp!) to Google Apps and my current company moved from Exchange/Sharepoint/Outlook to Google Apps. As an end user it made my life much better. However, I am sure the CIO who took the decision for the move had evaluated other factors as well ( Cost of migration, cost of maintaing , integration with exisiting directory services etc )
#3 - Now let's assume they make a ton of money with #1 and #2 ( in reality they're making money primarily with #1, but bear with me) and they spend their money on Gigabit Ethernet and self driving cars. What's so wrong with that? How does spending money on Gigabit ethernet make their Google Apps or Google Search team any smarter/dumber? Answer: It doesn't.
I do not work for Google and Google doesn't need my defence.
I just think this article and post is pointless. This is a question a shareholder may ask. As an end user I"m happy with their offerings for personal and professional work and even they work on a new variant of the NCC-1701* - It wouldn't matter to me or to my CIO as long as what they offer us is better than the competition. As of now, they are.
* = If you do not know what NCC-1701 (and it's variants are) Google it (pun intended) before you reply
Dear Oracle, Have the guts and make your stand. It's better to come out clean and say "hey we're a proprietary software company - our offerings wlll be closed-source/ as-closed-source-as-we-can-make it" ( I am sure Oracle PR can polish up the statement - you get what I am saying, though )
Why are you being sneaky? From stopping ( and the restarting) Java Time Zone updates to the other stuff that you're upto. Stop pissing people off and make your stand one way or the other.
I'd also like to ask which planet do you think we live in? You think you'll make changes to OPEN SOURCE software and people in the community will not notice? Are you high?
Just take a stand. Once and for all. Thank you Just your average Ruby on Rails developer who used to use MySQL before you did the equivalent of the Texas Chainsaw Massacare with the open source software you inherited from Sun
Bit saddened about the demise of Songbird. It seems I'm one of the few people who not only liked using it but loved the fact that one could write extensions using the familar XUL stuff. ( i.e., If you know how to write Firefox extensions, you know how to write Songbird extensions - and all you need to know is JS, CSS and a bit of XML )
I think their initial idea was good, even laudable - build an open source media player and make it easy to write plugins. I guess they wanted to have an extension ecosystem just like Firefox's ( which arguably is the richest in the world amongst browsers )
I think it failed not because most people who want to listen to music aren't techies and they're happy ( and I'm talking about people using MS Windows on their computers ) with Windows Media Player , winamp or whatever else cool kids are using to play music these days ( I consider both Zune and iTunes to be way more bloated than needed )
I guess OSX users never typically use anything other than iTunes ( I myself didn't for the 4 years that I used OSX as my primary OS )and linux users went with Amarok ( good) or Rythmbox ( not so good) . I personally like the audacious music player.
There was no space left for Songbird - to distinguish itself - I wish it had been bundled with more linux distros. It used to do a good job at syncing Android phones - I wish more manufacturers had bundled it along with their 'phone software' ( I'm looking at you Samsung Kies, you abomination!)
I own an BlackBerry Playbook ( I actually like it) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 P3100. ( can't they come up with a shorter name? Sorry , I digress )
IMO, PlayBook has great software let down by the hardware. The Galaxy Tab has okay-ish software and bad hardware ( heats up after around an hour of use )
I run windows 7 starter + Xubuntu dual boot-ed on it. For browsing and other light use I can use it for around 6 hours at a stretch. I rarely need to boot into windows ( mainly for office documents that won't open in LibreOffice ) and I'm not much of a gamer.
I use it to for browsing ( and I've n number of options available for browsing ) and the battery life is a 'decent' 6 hours or so.
Heck, I even do Ruby on Rails app development on it ( but that's not relevant to my argument here )
My point being if you choose a good machine ( the Dell Netbooks suck! ) you can pretty much do what an tablet computer can do, other than gaming.
"How to teach IT to Senior Management" - I think the question is wrong.
You cannot teach anything to people who call themselves "Senior Management" or in a company where such terminology is used.
If people in executive level positions are not genuinely interested in what you do or don't have a technical bent of mind, I think one should look for a change of job..
Seriously guys, don't waste time fighting bureaucracy or reading documents written by 'architects'. If CXO/'senior' level people walk by your cubicle/desk/hole and seem genuniely interested in what you do , work for the company or quit.
No point increasing your stress levels for people who do not want to understand what their employees do.
I am from India. My country is a democratic country ( with many, many flaws, but still democratic)
The Government is always worried about 'something which will offend the minorities' and spark communal violence.
I am a member of a minority. The most important and neglected minority in India.
I am a normal ( well not too normal, I'm on Slashdot! ) rational guy who can look at an idiot trying to make people of community A hate community B for political gains and ( very likely ) personal gains through political gains.
As simple as that.
And I'm not buying his/her/their BS on this matter and I'll gladly call it out. On his/her/their face(s)
Unfortunately I'm a member of such a minority. ( sadly rational people who want to live their lives in peace are a minority ) The Government is duty-bound to protect the rights of minorities. Protect my rights to free speech. Realize I'm grown up enough to realize when someone is trying to provoke someone in the name of religion/language/caste/color etc.
some people, yours truly included, prefer the lag-free typing that one gets on a decent-powered desktop app. I have always found lag while using online wordprocessors. They keyboard shortcuts that I use/want-to-use are not present, not properly implemented. There are other reasons. I want to use a stable 'decent' alternate solution which lets me work on the desktop with ease. Right now my choices are limited to LibreOffice and AbiWord/Gnumeric.
I fail to understand why the military is running a telecom company. I also fail to understand how uniformed service personnel can run a for-profit company.
.. one should try to write games which one likes playing. Human beings are not that different from each other, despite what hate media in different mediums might have you believe..
Having said this, Yes I am a software developer and no I have not invested the (great) amounts of energy and time required to become a game developer.. I'm earning my bread the easy way.. by being a Ruby on Rails developer.
I've nothing against the RoR community or framework - it earns my daily bread - I just respect the game developers because I know how tough it is and working in a game company is always a risk even after one has acquired a lot of skills.
I agree. There are many folks who can live without Instagram [1] or Angry Birds. A good/decent camera with "social stuff" like Facebook and Twitter and solid battery life is all that many people require.
Here in India Symbian still sells, sells well and people still like it, Here are some reasons that I can think of
1. Symbian phones have better battery life than most other smartphones. In a country where people travel a lot and power outages are common, a long batter life is a important. And when you ask and Indian what "good battery life" is , you'll get the answer: "2-3 days".
2. It does the job. SMS, WhatsApp, Skype, Twitter , Facebook are all the apps that people use. Using iFart apps has not really caught on. The downside is people don't use Yelp or Foursquare or GroupOn all that much in India. People just call up friends and ask. Sometimes that's easier and better:)
3. Indians hate paying for apps. Period.
Of course mine is a country of a BILLION people so generalizations are impossible But having stayed in this country all my life and having owned muliple iOS/Android devices ( currently evaluating WP 8).
Footnotes: [1] = More people can live without Instagram, especially thanks to its new TOS
Unlike many people who posted here, I actually saw the entire video. I am not a Steve Jobs fan or an apple fanboi. I do admire Steve Wozniak, though. ( though am not his spokesperson - this is my interpretation )
IMO, what he's saying is that - Small, incremental evolutions by Apple in their products will not help Apple in the long run. - The delta between Apple and it's competitors is reducing. - Apple needs to create newer product lines AND/OR create bring out more 'revolutionary products'
He probably means that we're not seeing the kind of 'jumps' that we saw from iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4 or the creation of the iPad.
To conclude, he does not think that apple is doomed per se. He is just worried that the pace of innovation might be slowing down at apple. Like all geeks, Woz believes in catching problems earlier rather than later.
Try XFCE - since you are used to Gnome2 -youl will be right at home with XFCE. You can even install the 'clearlooks' theme and make it look exactly like Gnome2. I do the same.
You don't know how to use iOS Maps correctly. Just like you weren't holding your iPhone 4 correctly. Dont' you know secret military bases have ATM's ? Apple just showed you an ATM were there's a less chance of a queue...
I wish I had mod points. You hit the bulls' eye there.
Developers cannot be stupid and then expect others to be kind to them.
Yes I develop mobile apps as well - and If I ever do something this stupid, I deserve to have it blow in my face.
Slashdot Mirror
Disclaimer: I'm an atheist. I'm going to sound like an atheist ( because I'm going to attack Scientology ) - But please do understand the broader message.
And the message is very simple.
Any organization/group which sells bullshit will be criticized. The only way for the organization to grow is to continue selling bullshit. The organization cannot sell bullshit if sane people criticize it. Or put sane arguments against it. Thus the only way for this organization to survive is to do one of the three below:
- Supress opposition to their bullshit to the extent possible ( and they can go to quite an extent - especially in the case of totalitarian religions or totalitarian governments )
- Taint the person criticising the organization
- Both of the above.
Religion has been guilty of this all along.
So have all totalitarian governments
There is nothing to be surprised about this. There is only one thing to be sad about - that the members/followers of such organizations cannot 'see' the bullshit they are being sold.
I could not resist bringing up Orwell. Do go through his "All Art is Propaganda" - http://www.amazon.com/All-Art-Propaganda-George-Orwell/dp/0156033070 - If you haven't already. His writings are still relevant today and do apply to this discussion.
Disclaimer: Not an MBA, never attended even a Biz 101. Just your average geek
I think we are talking about two distinct things here:
1. A company which makes a lot of money selling ads on the 'standard' web and the mobile web
2. A company that is trying to carve a space in the 'enterprise' space ( Google apps, docs etc )
3. A company that is spending a lot of money on innovation - most of which looks to help the general public ( Specifically mean their attempts at networking ) and some which look like sci-fi projects ( Google glass)
#1 - It's how they earn their $$ and I ( like most of you ) use their search engine and email offerings. A lot of us use their mobile operating system as well - and we take for granted that it keeps our contacts and calendars and other stuff in sync. ( side note: not many , especially the Apple fanbois - appreciate how good google email/calendar/contacts sync is )
#2 My previous and current employer use Google Apps. My previous company migrated from Domino/Notes (gasp!) to Google Apps and my current company moved from Exchange/Sharepoint/Outlook to Google Apps. As an end user it made my life much better. However, I am sure the CIO who took the decision for the move had evaluated other factors as well ( Cost of migration, cost of maintaing , integration with exisiting directory services etc )
#3 - Now let's assume they make a ton of money with #1 and #2 ( in reality they're making money primarily with #1, but bear with me) and they spend their money on Gigabit Ethernet and self driving cars. What's so wrong with that? How does spending money on Gigabit ethernet make their Google Apps or Google Search team any smarter/dumber? Answer: It doesn't.
I do not work for Google and Google doesn't need my defence.
I just think this article and post is pointless. This is a question a shareholder may ask. As an end user I"m happy with their offerings for personal and professional work and even they work on a new variant of the NCC-1701* - It wouldn't matter to me or to my CIO as long as what they offer us is better than the competition. As of now, they are.
* = If you do not know what NCC-1701 (and it's variants are) Google it (pun intended) before you reply
Dear Oracle,
Have the guts and make your stand.
It's better to come out clean and say "hey we're a proprietary software company - our offerings wlll be closed-source/ as-closed-source-as-we-can-make it" ( I am sure Oracle PR can polish up the statement - you get what I am saying, though )
Why are you being sneaky?
From stopping ( and the restarting) Java Time Zone updates to the other stuff that you're upto.
Stop pissing people off and make your stand one way or the other.
I'd also like to ask which planet do you think we live in?
You think you'll make changes to OPEN SOURCE software and people in the community will not notice?
Are you high?
Just take a stand. Once and for all.
Thank you
Just your average Ruby on Rails developer who used to use MySQL before you did the equivalent of the Texas Chainsaw Massacare with the open source software you inherited from Sun
Bit saddened about the demise of Songbird. It seems I'm one of the few people who not only liked using it but loved the fact that one could write extensions using the familar XUL stuff. ( i.e., If you know how to write Firefox extensions, you know how to write Songbird extensions - and all you need to know is JS, CSS and a bit of XML )
I think their initial idea was good, even laudable - build an open source media player and make it easy to write plugins. I guess they wanted to have an extension ecosystem just like Firefox's ( which arguably is the richest in the world amongst browsers )
I think it failed not because most people who want to listen to music aren't techies and they're happy ( and I'm talking about people using MS Windows on their computers ) with Windows Media Player , winamp or whatever else cool kids are using to play music these days ( I consider both Zune and iTunes to be way more bloated than needed )
I guess OSX users never typically use anything other than iTunes ( I myself didn't for the 4 years that I used OSX as my primary OS )and linux users went with Amarok ( good) or Rythmbox ( not so good) . I personally like the audacious music player.
There was no space left for Songbird - to distinguish itself - I wish it had been bundled with more linux distros. It used to do a good job at syncing Android phones - I wish more manufacturers had bundled it along with their 'phone software' ( I'm looking at you Samsung Kies, you abomination!)
RIP, Songbird.
Duck Duck go is not secure and it's hosted on Amazon EC2 - http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2009/03/duck-duck-go-architecture.html
I thought you were joking. Then I read this - https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Mail-Amusements.html :)
It's amusing though, thanks for the tip
I own an BlackBerry Playbook ( I actually like it) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 P3100. ( can't they come up with a shorter name? Sorry , I digress )
IMO, PlayBook has great software let down by the hardware. The Galaxy Tab has okay-ish software and bad hardware ( heats up after around an hour of use )
I really like the iPad but I decided to buy the Lenovo IdeaPad S110 ( http://support.lenovo.com/en_IN/downloads/detail.page?DocID=PD023081 )
I run windows 7 starter + Xubuntu dual boot-ed on it. For browsing and other light use I can use it for around 6 hours at a stretch. I rarely need to boot into windows ( mainly for office documents that won't open in LibreOffice ) and I'm not much of a gamer.
I use it to for browsing ( and I've n number of options available for browsing ) and the battery life is a 'decent' 6 hours or so.
Heck, I even do Ruby on Rails app development on it ( but that's not relevant to my argument here )
My point being if you choose a good machine ( the Dell Netbooks suck! ) you can pretty much do what an tablet computer can do, other than gaming.
"How to teach IT to Senior Management" - I think the question is wrong.
You cannot teach anything to people who call themselves "Senior Management" or in a company where such terminology is used.
If people in executive level positions are not genuinely interested in what you do or don't have a technical bent of mind, I think one should look for a change of job..
Seriously guys, don't waste time fighting bureaucracy or reading documents written by 'architects'.
If CXO/'senior' level people walk by your cubicle/desk/hole and seem genuniely interested in what you do , work for the company or quit.
No point increasing your stress levels for people who do not want to understand what their employees do.
I am from India. My country is a democratic country ( with many, many flaws, but still democratic)
The Government is always worried about 'something which will offend the minorities' and spark communal violence.
I am a member of a minority. The most important and neglected minority in India.
I am a normal ( well not too normal, I'm on Slashdot! ) rational guy who can look at an idiot trying to make people of community A hate community B for political gains and ( very likely ) personal gains through political gains.
As simple as that.
And I'm not buying his/her/their BS on this matter and I'll gladly call it out. On his/her/their face(s)
Unfortunately I'm a member of such a minority. ( sadly rational people who want to live their lives in peace are a minority )
The Government is duty-bound to protect the rights of minorities. Protect my rights to free speech. Realize I'm grown up enough to realize when someone is trying to provoke someone in the name of religion/language/caste/color etc.
My laptop does not fly. It does not carry 200+ passengers.
Some people just don't want to pay taxes. Of course it's a problem I'd rather have.
probably because the story isn't true.
Surely you don't want human beings DYING for spamming. I hate spam and spammers but that does sound a bit over the top.
some people, yours truly included, prefer the lag-free typing that one gets on a decent-powered desktop app. I have always found lag while using online wordprocessors. They keyboard shortcuts that I use/want-to-use are not present, not properly implemented. There are other reasons. I want to use a stable 'decent' alternate solution which lets me work on the desktop with ease. Right now my choices are limited to LibreOffice and AbiWord/Gnumeric.
I fail to understand why the military is running a telecom company.
I also fail to understand how uniformed service personnel can run a for-profit company.
.. one should try to write games which one likes playing. Human beings are not that different from each other, despite what hate media in different mediums might have you believe..
Having said this, Yes I am a software developer and no I have not invested the (great) amounts of energy and time required to become a game developer.. I'm earning my bread the easy way.. by being a Ruby on Rails developer.
I've nothing against the RoR community or framework - it earns my daily bread - I just respect the game developers because I know how tough it is and working in a game company is always a risk even after one has acquired a lot of skills.
I have a Nokia Lumia 800 ( It's basically the N9 with WP7.8 , minus the front facing camera )
It is a very good phone and I like it.
I agree. There are many folks who can live without Instagram [1] or Angry Birds.
A good/decent camera with "social stuff" like Facebook and Twitter and solid battery life is all that many people require.
Here in India Symbian still sells, sells well and people still like it, Here are some reasons that I can think of
1. Symbian phones have better battery life than most other smartphones. In a country where people travel a lot and power outages are common, a long batter life is a important. And when you ask and Indian what "good battery life" is , you'll get the answer: "2-3 days".
2. It does the job. SMS, WhatsApp, Skype, Twitter , Facebook are all the apps that people use. Using iFart apps has not really caught on. The downside is people don't use Yelp or Foursquare or GroupOn all that much in India. People just call up friends and ask. Sometimes that's easier and better :)
3. Indians hate paying for apps. Period.
Of course mine is a country of a BILLION people so generalizations are impossible But having stayed in this country all my life and having owned muliple iOS/Android devices ( currently evaluating WP 8).
Footnotes:
[1] = More people can live without Instagram, especially thanks to its new TOS
Unlike many people who posted here, I actually saw the entire video. I am not a Steve Jobs fan or an apple fanboi.
I do admire Steve Wozniak, though. ( though am not his spokesperson - this is my interpretation )
IMO, what he's saying is that
- Small, incremental evolutions by Apple in their products will not help Apple in the long run.
- The delta between Apple and it's competitors is reducing.
- Apple needs to create newer product lines AND/OR create bring out more 'revolutionary products'
He probably means that we're not seeing the kind of 'jumps' that we saw from iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4
or the creation of the iPad.
To conclude, he does not think that apple is doomed per se.
He is just worried that the pace of innovation might be slowing down at apple. Like all geeks, Woz believes in catching problems earlier rather than later.
Try XFCE - since you are used to Gnome2 -youl will be right at home with XFCE. You can even install the 'clearlooks' theme and make it look exactly like Gnome2. I do the same.
Not American / Debates are just that / All politicians talk more and deliver less - PICK ONE
You don't know how to use iOS Maps correctly. Just like you weren't holding your iPhone 4 correctly. Dont' you know secret military bases have ATM's ? Apple just showed you an ATM were there's a less chance of a queue...
It's more likely that Iran not North Korea would use the word "infidels" , but I am trying to fix a really bad joke here..
I wish I had mod points. You hit the bulls' eye there. Developers cannot be stupid and then expect others to be kind to them. Yes I develop mobile apps as well - and If I ever do something this stupid, I deserve to have it blow in my face.