Month: December 2003

The rules have changed . . . . and this is just the beginning . . . .

OK, not quite a year, but watch the Flash animation and see how far it’s come.

So when do we see a glyph for the two Cs in creative commons?

So I grabbed this really cool application Kung Log and while reading through the notes, I noticed the author’s name seemed familiar (well, how many people by the name “Adriaan Tijsseling” have you run across?). Turns out we had some email correspondence a couple of years ago on how to get OS X to do LPR printing properly.

Well, I was mixing with a clever crowd there: the Kung Log app is very cool, and he seems to know his way around computer science . . . .

Microsoft patterns & practices

Spot the typo . . .

Now, I was following up the story about Ward Cunningham going to MSFT: one mention linked to the page where I found the, um, non-standard spelling . . . .

Interesting how the tips folks are leaving for him makes it sound so perilous. Any time you join an existing team, there are adjustments to make on both sides, but this sounds like a trial by ordeal more than the usual “getting to know you” period . . .

A couple of mentions of Scotland today . . . .

An honest, if bleak, look at Glasgow

When we went there on our honeymoon ten years ago, we arrived during Mayfest (surprisingly, I can’t find an official website) and all the advertising and promotion proclaimed “Glasgow is Alive!” We found ourselves wondering who they were trying to convince . . . . it seemed like a pretty tough place, even staying in the arty part of town where we were. We found Edinburgh much more congenial . . . .

The Sunday Herald – Scotland’s award-winning independent newspaper

And then there’s this article about some MSFT chieftain who thinks Scotland should be more “wired” so he can work out of his hotel with the same convenience as he works out of his home in the San Juan Islands. Amusing, really, when one considers how strong the opposition to telecommuting is within MSFT. I’ve heard from people who tried to sell both Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates on the idea: no sale. They like to see folks in the office.

In its latest quarterly results, Microsoft said revenue from multi-year contracts dropped $768 million from the previous quarter.

Chief financial officer John Connors admitted that Microsoft’s sales people were so busy helping clients fix their networks that they could not close new deals.

And then I note these seemingly contradictory statements:

“Our traditional revenue streams come from selling our software for use in business, government and individual homes,” says McDowell. If you look at our future, the consumer market offers a gigantic opportunity for us.

McDowell says Microsoft’s past failings are in part due to the company changing its focus from individuals to large enterprises, which have higher security requirements.

Well, which is it? Businesses or consumers as the historical core of their market?

The truth is somewhere in between . . . . I don’t think they have given a rip about where their OS products are used (why else would so many ports and services be enabled?): they don’t look beyond the individual box that the OS runs on. (Aside: if MSFT were a network-aware company, would a company the size of Novell exist? Their whole business was about hooking up Windows PCs . . . )

I tried swapping out the DVD-ROM unit in my 2000 vintage slow-loading iMac this morning: of course, I didn’t discover that the internal cabling in completely different. So, no luck on that. The “take apart” guides I referenced here worked fine: lots of pictures and clear written instructions. I didn’t end up with any leftover parts, and that’s always a good outcome.

Next step is to look for an enclosure for the drive and see how that works. Actually, I’d love to swap the whole unit out for one of the new G4 iMacs, but the budget won’t accomodate that expense right now.