Category: observations

searchWindowsManageability.com: The Windows Manageability Specific Search Engine presented by TechTarget.com

I wasn’t sure what I would find here: I suspected it might reinforce my thinking that for J Q Public, it all comes down to applications and Windows clearly owns the corporate desktop right now.

But claiming Windows has an edge in scalability, file systems, and security seems a stretch.

“We’re still working with our partner in this, and we’re not ready to say who that is,” Peter Houston, Microsoft’s Windows platform senior director, told TechTarget on the LinuxWorld floor, where Microsoft had its first LinuxWorld booth. “We’re finding there’s a slight margin in TCO for Linux in very simple Web serving [and] for Windows in super-Web serving, things like hosting environments, that don’t have anything to do with Web-centric applications. There’s a larger [Windows] advantage … in file systems, network infrastructure and security infrastructure.”

from <http://www.oreillynet.com/weblogs/author/36>

The New Challenge to Microsoft

[ . . . ] outside programmers have long complained that Microsoft makes it hard for them to create software compatible with Windows-based computers.

The government’s antitrust lawsuit was aimed at solving these problems. If it fails to do that — a ruling on a proposed settlement is expected soon — the best hope may be Linux. Since Linux software is free, hundreds of dollars could be cut off the price of a computer. No less important, since Linux’s source code — the intricacies of how it works — is publicly available, programmers don’t have to get permission or assistance from anyone.

But how many IT shops can exploit the power of Open Source code? Take a bunch of earnest young techs with fanny packs full of CDs, armed with the latest server packs and hot fixes, who always seem to fall back on “format and reinstall” as their problem solving technique, and picture them trying to manage Linux. There’s the command line to deal with, the lack of paper manuals, and the painful requirement that one think and understand the system as more than a disposable collection of licenses.

Too harsh a view? I’ve worked in a software development environment that was unable to leverage unencumbered code: would I expect the average MCSE at a non-technical firm to do better?

It’s interesting to monitor the drumbeat of these articles as they sound the deathknell for MSFT’s unquestioned dominance, but it’s hardly credible. Linux, FreeBSD,et al, are not as revolutionary as the personal computer was in the age of Big Iron.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Wake-up call

It was at this point that the generals and admirals monitoring the war game called time out.

“A phrase I heard over and over was: ‘That would never have happened,'” Van Riper recalls. “And I said: nobody would have thought that anyone would fly an airliner into the World Trade Centre… but nobody seemed interested.”

I agree with the idea that a knockout blow in the 1st day of a 14 day exercise doesn’t mean everyone goes home, but scripting and meddling with the opponent’s chain of command tells me you don’t think you can win any other way.

Being exposed to and possibly trounced by unorthodox tactics is exactly what we should expect in these exercises. The USS Cole, the WTC were both unorthodox, and successful: I don’t suggest we use suicide pilots but we should expect others to and we should have a defense against that.

<from Rebecca’a Pocket>

How to Get Bad News to the Top

What exactly is it about bad news that makes leaders want to ignore it? “There’s a bias for optimism in humans and in organizations,” says Chip Heath, a professor at Stanford Business School who studies how bad news circulates. “Individuals don’t ever go looking for bad news, and we don’t like telling it to others. So bad news is unlikely to get to the people who can actually do something about it.”

This is quite common, unfortunately. For all the useful tips in the FastCompany article cited above, if the powers that be are not willing to accept that reality isn’t living up to their expectations, you have your own cognitive dissonance to work through: do I stay here and help them work it out or do I take care of myself?

According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behavior.

If ever a book could benefit from Amazon’s “Look inside!” feature, Pete Frame’s Complete Rock Family Trees is it. It’s a fantastically detailed, accurate road map of the formative years of rock music

The family trees were a staple of music magazines in the early 80s: they were fascinating and shed a lot of light on the careers and relationships between musicians over the years.

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Scandal-tainted corporate gifts create dilemma for charities

Some of the money appropriated from Enron and other unethical concerns has been donated to charities who now find themselves embarrassed, some would say incriminated, by well-publicized associations with tax cheats and corporate con artists.

Most damaging of all, I think, is the funding of Junior Acheivement programs ,which seek to instill business acumen and encourage ethical behavior in young people.

Peter Frumkin, an associate professor with Harvard University’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, said Junior Achievement has found itself in a hypocritical position, given that the business leaders who support it are supposed to be role models for the children.

“Should an opera company lose sleep from taking contributions from these companies?” Frumkin asked. “I would say no. … Now when you talk about Junior Achievement, then you have this question of: ‘Is the mission being undermined?’ ”

Junior Achievement officials said they are teaching children about insider trading, accounting fraud and such so they understand these actions are not acceptable.

But how do you make that lesson hit home if you keep the essentially stolen money? I’m not sure they should return it: it would be a huge disappointment to the kids in the program, and I’m not sure that’s a lesson worth teaching. Lengthy jail terms for the perpetrators would be a useful example, of course . . . . . later JA program members could visit the rascals in prison to reinforce the message.

A Simple Click Stirs a Lot of Outrage

The State Department site, it turns out, had been providing a link to a Web site run by the Republican National Committee despite federal laws prohibiting government resources from being used for partisan purposes.

Accident by unknowing staff (funny how every organization keeps a couple of these folks around) or wilful flouting of the law? You make the call.

America Online Is Making More Changes at the Top

Jordan Rohan, an analyst with SoundView Technologies, said, “This company is becoming more and more like Time Warner and less like AOL.”

It seemed likely this would happen: TWX is much bigger that AOL and predates dialup information services by decades, with operations in many industries and regions of the globe. It didn’t seem like that AOL’s young khaki and golf shirt culture would win out over TWX’s more seasoned suits, especially as they were outnumbered. Maybe now the value of the merged company will reflect the strengths of the Time Warner assets, rather than what AOL brought to the marriage.

This image was all that appeared below the banner of the Seattle Times today, measuring about 4 inches tall, center above the fold, with the text underneath. The news started on page A3, with A2 reserved for the names of the victims. Even the barcode was moved to the back page.

Stark, understated, and moving, I think.