I mostly agree with you, however I don't agree that they won't need a portal, whether it's a web portal, or a set-top box portal as the choices of where to get your connectivity increases the option of switching does also and some service level differentiation is going to be needed to avoid being drop-in replaceable.
At the moment, as I understand it Comcast has a near monopoly in the US and so doesn't yet face that kind of competition, but it will happen
I think part of that was the transition in userbase from those with an understanding of the underlying technology to those who wanted to see the pictures of the kitteh.
As the expanded userbase has started to get bored of looking at cute pussy cats they are developing an interest in the technology itself and what else they can use it for, hence a return to ~'96 style services/portals but that market has moved on in the meantime so IPSs will need to buy in frameworks/expertise to achieve credible modern services for their expanded userbase.
I'd expect to see a lot of consolidation in the ISP market in the next few years and an expanding market in integrated HTTP/VOIP/GSM/WAP service provision frameworks.
Of course I could be totally wrong here and they'll all want a nice safe, secure network and we'll see a return to the AOL model, I hope not but no one lost money underestimating the intelligence of the general public
Bandwidth is becoming a commodity in urban environments and as a result ISPs and Telcos have to offer something more. eg. mail is still a cost for, and from, most ISPs yet you can get a better a/c than they offer free from GMail.
The solution of course is, not to have an auction for the latest, soon to be extinct, DotBomb 2.0 bauble (Facebook I'm looking at you), but rather to develop a useful portal for your users,
Integrate Webmail and WAPmail, offer file hosting/backup facilities, offer file sharing facilities, offer community building facilities and generally cater your service to your user base so that they see you as providing their favourite car rather than just a road, (c'mon it's/. I had to stick in a car analogy)
In short it isn't enough just to offer connectivity any more, though if you're selling 16.4Tbps you may have an advantage for a while.
Oh - and those Server 2008 licenses needed to run the European government computing facilities? Not for sale
I'd be fairly cool with that, after all they release 2008 today and suddenly Hotmail fails all over the world for reasons they refuse to disclose , anyone care to bet against migration to 2008 ?
Then we are reminded of their existing convictions for monopoly abuse and refusal to conform to the rule of law as though being a large corporation made an entity immune to European courts. Not the happiest of launch days for their new server platform.
While the partition of Ireland is the reason for the existence on the IRA, the inequality of NI society was the reason the IRA were a credible force. If you have a situation where engineers can't get jobs in Short's or Harland & Wolf because of the community they are drawn from then you have competent terrorists rather than romantic history students.
If that community as a whole is pissed off then you have a network of safe houses and people willing to lie for you.
In short while addressing the demands of the civil rights movement (30 years on) didn't remove the ostensible reason for the IRA's existence, it did remove the reasons many members joined, (though there are a rump of hard core gangsters left whose actions need to be dissociated from a political context).
In fairness I used to have a Toshiba Satellite M-series for about 3 years, great machine, went to the top of aerials, up on roofs in all weathers, excellent support for all components under Linux and survived living with 3 cats, 2 dogs and my whiskey intake.
Haven't used one since but that one was lovely, though I do grant previous posters complaints about trashy plastic cases;)
Indeed they did, they addressed the legitimate grievances of the community the terrorists were drawn from. Essentially meeting the demands of the civil rights movement of 1968. This provided a settlement that the more effective members of the IRA could live with and while there remain a number of dissident terrorist groups they essentially a bunch of tossers as opposed to PIRA who were a genuinely capable group.
While it took 30 years for Britain to realise that they could undermine the whole terrorism nonsense by removing the underlying reasons. Of course eliminating the bogeyman by addressing legitimate Arab grievances and addressing other issues constructively might not be in the US's best interests at the moment. Having the second largest oil reserves in the world as a US military base on the other hand might be useful in the medium to long term. Just a question of what the priorities are I guess
Israel targets only militants, but due to them hiding in condensed civilian populace, civilians get killed
You have to wonder though, why does the Palestinian population allow Hamas & co. to conceal themselves among them. Is it perhaps possible that Israel's actions have produced a population divided between those who would actively wage war on Israel and those who are only willing to passively do so and if that is the case perhaps there is an underlying injustice that needs to be addressed.
This is true to an extent, however many people may decide they don't need all the features of Office, and as a result may learn to word-process on something other than word. This could - in the long term- mean that hiring people to use word becomes expensive relative to hiring people to use the cheaper alternatives, so companies reconsider what they need in an office suite.
Or put simply, while they copuld compete in the high end of the market, the don't currently compete at all. So why would they want that?
Perhaps the title is misleading, the linked article claims that this group was responsible for 90% of counterfeit MS products. That's not piracy, it's forgery - individuals downloading and burning copies for their own use is piracy random definition according to my personal dictionary. This however was organised crime (insert "and MS isn't?" joke here) a very different proposition.
While I loathe and detest MS and their general operating methods, (particularly the whole BSA garbage), they are entirely justified in prosecuting this crew for fraud/forgery etc... though they may get bit by the "boy who cried wolf" syndrome as they, among others, have been claiming that every kid with a torrent client is a threat to the stability of the economic system itself.
</rant>
Working class origins get a grip, Clayton went to St. Columbas, the most exclusive school in Ireland and Motor mouth McGuinness went to Clongowes Wood, probably the second most exclusive in fact he forced his son to attend despite numerous attempts by the poor little bollix to get out of the kip.
While the rest of them went to the relatively down market Mount Temple it's a far from working class school.
Rather than forbidding the teaching of anything, how about we insist that any medical treatments made possible by the greater understanding of gene theory via Evolutionary theory be denied in hospitals within these school districts. This might force people to reconsider what science and a greater understanding of nature offer us.
I've an account, while I don't use it much it has enabled me to get back in touch with friends I haven't seen for nigh on 20 years. People move to other countries and back in the day they didn't have email addresses or the like, so for some of us older folks it has a use, as to the constant update carry on, well for those that want to I guess it's ok, personally it's just a way of finding old mates who I'd lost touch with.
Slashdot Mirror
At the moment, as I understand it Comcast has a near monopoly in the US and so doesn't yet face that kind of competition, but it will happen
As the expanded userbase has started to get bored of looking at cute pussy cats they are developing an interest in the technology itself and what else they can use it for, hence a return to ~'96 style services/portals but that market has moved on in the meantime so IPSs will need to buy in frameworks/expertise to achieve credible modern services for their expanded userbase.
I'd expect to see a lot of consolidation in the ISP market in the next few years and an expanding market in integrated HTTP/VOIP/GSM/WAP service provision frameworks.
Of course I could be totally wrong here and they'll all want a nice safe, secure network and we'll see a return to the AOL model, I hope not but no one lost money underestimating the intelligence of the general public
eg. mail is still a cost for, and from, most ISPs yet you can get a better a/c than they offer free from GMail.
The solution of course is, not to have an auction for the latest, soon to be extinct, DotBomb 2.0 bauble (Facebook I'm looking at you), but rather to develop a useful portal for your users,
Integrate Webmail and WAPmail, offer file hosting/backup facilities, offer file sharing facilities, offer community building facilities and generally cater your service to your user base so that they see you as providing their favourite car rather than just a road, (c'mon it's /. I had to stick in a car analogy)
In short it isn't enough just to offer connectivity any more, though if you're selling 16.4Tbps you may have an advantage for a while.
I believe there was a plan at one point to split them in three (Legal, Marketing and Sales AFAIR). But the new regime changed the DoJ's mind.
Then we are reminded of their existing convictions for monopoly abuse and refusal to conform to the rule of law as though being a large corporation made an entity immune to European courts. Not the happiest of launch days for their new server platform.
If that community as a whole is pissed off then you have a network of safe houses and people willing to lie for you.
In short while addressing the demands of the civil rights movement (30 years on) didn't remove the ostensible reason for the IRA's existence, it did remove the reasons many members joined, (though there are a rump of hard core gangsters left whose actions need to be dissociated from a political context).
Haven't used one since but that one was lovely, though I do grant previous posters complaints about trashy plastic cases ;)
While it took 30 years for Britain to realise that they could undermine the whole terrorism nonsense by removing the underlying reasons. Of course eliminating the bogeyman by addressing legitimate Arab grievances and addressing other issues constructively might not be in the US's best interests at the moment. Having the second largest oil reserves in the world as a US military base on the other hand might be useful in the medium to long term. Just a question of what the priorities are I guess
You have to wonder though, why does the Palestinian population allow Hamas & co. to conceal themselves among them. Is it perhaps possible that Israel's actions have produced a population divided between those who would actively wage war on Israel and those who are only willing to passively do so and if that is the case perhaps there is an underlying injustice that needs to be addressed.
Actually He who shall not be named was not an atheist
Or put simply, while they copuld compete in the high end of the market, the don't currently compete at all. So why would they want that?
While I loathe and detest MS and their general operating methods, (particularly the whole BSA garbage), they are entirely justified in prosecuting this crew for fraud/forgery etc... though they may get bit by the "boy who cried wolf" syndrome as they, among others, have been claiming that every kid with a torrent client is a threat to the stability of the economic system itself. </rant>
However zimbra the mailserver is open source maybe you could call your fork yimbra! in memory of it's one-time sponsor ;)
The source is there and everyone has the riht to read it, modify it or indeed fork it. After all isn't this the whole feckin' point of free software?
While the rest of them went to the relatively down market Mount Temple it's a far from working class school.
Actually Paul is a full 20% member of the band. Always has been since they set up everyone including the manager gets an even split
Fair point ;)
:p
There was a provisional Mind Control command (mc) in an early manual I read, however I couldn't get it to work
GUIs provide metaphors for users, they have no place in administration.
</grumpyOldFart>
Rather than forbidding the teaching of anything, how about we insist that any medical treatments made possible by the greater understanding of gene theory via Evolutionary theory be denied in hospitals within these school districts. This might force people to reconsider what science and a greater understanding of nature offer us.
It's worse than that, when you buy a beer you realise they have an undersized pint ~(16flOz as opposed to 20flOz)
I want one, I want one now!
I use that diagram a lot. I have it pinned to my cubicle wall (here in Dilbert land) along with the Javascript cheat cheat, the regex cheat sheet etc..
For a complete selection of quick and dirty guides to common technologies IloveJackDaniels.com is a very handy resource, thanks Dave.
Internment: Detention without trial
I've an account, while I don't use it much it has enabled me to get back in touch with friends I haven't seen for nigh on 20 years. People move to other countries and back in the day they didn't have email addresses or the like, so for some of us older folks it has a use, as to the constant update carry on, well for those that want to I guess it's ok, personally it's just a way of finding old mates who I'd lost touch with.
Or install privoxy and write an appropriate filter
Ooops, that should of course be try to catch all of these