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Related link: https://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2004/01/30/letter.html
Sun writes an Open letter to the Eclipse membership. Sun wrote “We need to work together to make the Java platform a better, broader base for tools” A CNet article reports “Sun said that business issues, rather than technical ones, have created the most conflict between the two groups.”
I was upset hearing David Kay, the CIA’s lead weapons inspector in Iraq, remark that it is unlikely they will find any weapons of mass destruction. Everyone is searching for the reasons why our intelligence agencies could have been so wrong about the Iraqi weapons programs. Well I had to have an answer, and I’m too impatient to wait for hundreds of hearings and independent investigations, so I decided to provide the nation with some understanding of what probably happened.
This story will probably break within a few days, and I am sure it will be huge, so you’ll be able to say you saw it here first.
—–
News Flash: Intelligence Gaffe Led to War
(WASHINGTON) In a shocking turn of events, CIA Director George Tenet has stated that when the Bush Administration was requesting a report on WMD’s in Iraq, there was an apparent miscommunication. “I thought the President was referring to weapons of mass dysfunction.” When asked for clarification on how such a major break in communication could have occured, Tenet went on to explain that he apparently mixed up the White House’s official Email request for intelligence with a spam Email which was advertising prescription-free Viagra.
“As you can see by this image, it was an easy mistake to make. I first received the official Email. While I briefly scanned the content, my secretary came in with some papers to sign. During that time the spam Email came in and pushed the official email below my visible que. Thinking it was the official Email, I re-read the Subject line and thought they were requesting information on weapons of mass dysfunction, which of course Iraq has a tremendous stockpile of. Based on this mistake I sent over reams of intelligence which proved there were huge amounts of WMDs. I’m sure many of you have done something similar. I remember my wife once thought she was getting an Email from me saying ‘I Love You,’ and that email actually erased her entire Perry Como collection.”
According to the White House, the terrorist who sent the spam has been arrested and is being held at Camp X-Ray as an enemy combatant. In a statement to the press, White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan stated, “The President takes this type of electronic terrorism extremely serious. This individual is responsible for the liberation of a nation from an evil dictator, through fraudulent claims of prescription free drugs. We now know this product turned out to be an herbal supplement, and not Viagra. The President takes impotence very seriously, which is why he felt so strongly about the UN stance on Iraq.”
French President Chirac, commenting on the Press Secretary’s remarks, had this to say, “Mon dieu! I’ve never had a problem with my erection. I can have one anytime I like. For goodness sake, I’m French. Look, I’m having one now.”
Asked what the White House now plans to do about the mistake, the Press Secretary said, “We plan on installing stronger spam filtering software for one thing, and the President has been advised to stop forwarding jokes to friends and colleagues using the Cc field.”
Former presidential hopeful, Bob Dole (spokesman for Viagra), could not be reached for comment.
———-
Now don’t you all feel better?
Chris Gorog, chairperson of the playa in the player/music market Roxio, is telling music execs to stay off the Apple platform.
Attention Music Execs: you should listen to Gorog.
You see Gorog is looking out for you. He wants you to back a winner and since the new and improved Napster (music without the stealing) is compatible with two thirds of the hundreds of lousy mobile devices available…working with Apple is a waste of your time.
Here’s where his argument becomes excrement. Um…anyone see any problem at all with labels providing both Windows vendors & the Apple store with digital content? It works like this:
1. Music Labels provide digital audio files to vendors.
2. Vendors post content for sale on their platform.
3. Vendors cut checks to labels.
4. *Labels make donations to the RIAA.
So uh…where is the drawback with staying on the Apple platform? Why would the labels care which platform their music is on…as long as the money continues to flow?
So I’m asking you right here, Mr. Gorog…let’s say Apple sells $30+ million in music a year. Now, I can see how their success hurts you, but how does this hurt the labels? You can email me and I’ll post your response, unedited.
Personally, I would be more concerned with your competitors on the Windows platform, than worrying about which platform the labels choose. You’ve got bigger problems from Wal*Mart & Microsoft.
—
BTW…
“Napster’s Gorog claimed that its $9.95 monthly subscription service for unlimited downloads will become the favourite payment method…”
It isn’t real downloads, but streaming**. You still have to pay $.99 if you want to keep the songs. Yeah, there is nothing I like better than leasing my music. Where is the value add in this? I can’t take it with me, plus I have thousands of free Internet radio stations at my fingertips. Many of my favorites only cost me an optional small donation each year. For $9.95 a month, you’d be better off investing in XM Radio or Sirius.
And if you record execs really want a heads up on how viable a model streaming is…you can record streamed audio. I mean if you are gonna hammer on Apple for having sharing in iTunes, you should at least show some concern over Napster’s streaming. Each streamed song is coming out of your retirement benefits.
*Not all labels support the RIAA.
**Although it isn’t completely clear to me, it looks like you may be able to download as many tracks as you like for $9.95, but in order to burn them, or relocate them, you must buy them…would appreciate if someone could clarify for me. Can you put these on a player for $9.95 a month or are they locked to your computer?
Please…somebody say something sensible.
I wrote a piece taking CNET to task for publishing a terrible commentary. It essentially negated the accomplishments of Virginia Tech, in building the third fastest supercomputer in the world, just to take a shot at Apple.
I got hundreds of emails in support of my piece. Many of you told me you contact CNET and pointed them to it. I then got a nice email from Dan Farber, VP of Editorial at CNET, who said he read it, thought it was fair, and forwarded it to those responsible for the original CNET commentary.
Today I see a new piece on CNET written by Hassan Aref, the dean of the college of engineering at Virginia Tech. I am happy to see they provided him with a forum to set the record straight.
It isn’t a retraction, but it is better than nothing.
I’d like you to do a favor for me. I’d like you to point to the new CNET piece out there in the blogosphere. It would be good to get the word out before this piece goes unnoticed.
Related link: https://www.apple.com/acg/xgrid/
After the last Macworld expo, everyone was looking at the shiny new iPod mini and at iLive ‘04…
However, practically nothing was said about Apple’s Advanced Computation Group and its latest release, XGrid… Except for a few news on rumor sites and a press release from Apple, this technology was released very quietly…
After all, XGrid isn’t an application for the Home user, right ? How many people would want to use a ? solution for parallel and distributed high performance computing ? ? Probably a few universities but not the general public ? Well, I am not sure…
Since XGrid had such a cool icon ? and had gotten very positive reviews from many scientists around the world ?, I knew I had to download it and check it out…
To my surprise, this ? distributed computing ? turned out to be quite fun : XGrid can be installed like any application on your Macs and you just need to use a preferences pane to create a cluster, ready to be used in a matter of minutes. Since this is an Apple technology, there is no need to do any network configuration whatsoever : all the clustered computers discover themselves on-the-fly, join the cluster as soon as they are idle and focus back on their user’s instructions as soon as he or she returns to his keyboard… In fact, you could install this on anyone’s computer without changing this person’s workflow in any way ? the only difference is that the regular screen saver is replaced by a program that displays the cluster’s power on the screen ( in a very cool way, might I add ) and tells the cluster controller that the computer it is running on is free to do some calculation.
Of course, the whole thing can be firewalled, password-protected and tunneled through a VPN for maximum security… Neat, eh ?
In fact, XGrid is so easy to use that I was able to create a ? cluster ? consisting of an iMac, an iBook and a PowerBook, all over AirPort… I know, I know… Calling this a ? cluster ? is ridiculous but it gives you an idea of how convenient and portable XGrid is…
Imagine for a second what can be done in universities or companies in which dozens — if not hundreds — of Macs stay idle at night, during lunch breaks or holidays ! Sure, you won’t re-create Virginia Tech in the accounting department but the performance boost can be tremendous !
Of course, XGrid is a technology preview for now and is aimed at scientists or experienced administrators who know what it can do. In its current iteration, it won’t speed iMovie up for you or turn the coffee maker on. However, Apple has made it so easy to set up that I would bet that we will soon see XGrid enter our homes, built right into Mac OS X or consumer applications… After all, we all have small LANs at home now and the idea of tapping into shared resources to speed everyone’s computing experience up is really promising…
I can only encourage you to go check XGrid, download it and subscribe to the mailing list ! Great things are going to happen for sure ? and you wouldn’t want to miss that, would you ?
Until next time, dear Mac users, enjoy thinking different !
And you, how do you use XGrid ?
Eric Bangeman has published a lovely little comparison on the pricing of the iPod Mini, over on Ars Technica. I must admit, when I first heard all the fussin and a feudin about the pricing of the mini, and what a terrible value it was, I never really understood the criticism. When you look at the comparison done by Eric, you start to understand why I always thought it was a bargain.
First, everyone looks at the $249 price as a foolish price point when for $50 more, you can get a 15GB iPod. And while that sounds like a reasonable argument, what people don’t take into consideration is that the mini is an up sale from high-end compact flash models, and some competing HDD players.
For example, if you are considering the purchase of a high-end compact flash unit, like say the Rio Chiba (256MB) for about $200, simply laying out $50 more pushes you up to the better iPod mini.
If you are laying out $200 clams, what’s another $50?
But to expect the same person who is looking at that $200 price point to shell out an extra $100? That’s quite a psychological jump to ask someone to make.
I think the iPod mini is a real bargain. In fact, if I didn’t have a 15GB already, I’d much prefer to have the smaller mini with the new rocking control dial. Although I could fill a 40GB twice over, I have never needed that much storage for travel or even file storage.
Anyone wanna trade?
;-)
Related link: https://ww11.e-tractions.com/truemajority/run/oreo?rd=436
Ben Cohen (of Ben and Jerries) has founded
True Majority and asks that you “give us two minutes a month, we’ll give you a better world.” Take a few minutes this month to see his explanation of the US budget using oreo cookies.
Where would you place the cookies?
I sat down at LinuxWorld Expo with Bradley Kuhn, Executive Director of the FSF. Bradley and I worked together some time back on fun experiments with creating a JVM backend for the Perl Compiler. Bradley got a lot farther than I ever did. At LinuxWorld Expo,
I found Bradley and the FSF stuck in an out-of-the-way corner of the expo floor, while all the big corporations were front and center. Bradley caught me up on a lot of what’s going on with the FSF these days, including the SCO situation, non-corporate globalization, and GPL enforcement.
SCO
Bradley talked about the stance that the FSF takes on the SCO situation, as well as what the current situation means for the future. The way he sees it, SCO either “intended to release all of their trade secrets and copyrights that are implemented in the kernel called Linux under terms compatible with the GPL or they were in GPL violation,” that they would have “violated the license of all the copyright holders except themselves.” Even though Bradley feels that no one in the community expects SCO to succeed, he figures that “now that there has been something like SCO, there will always be something like SCO” and sees this as part of Microsoft’s campaign against free software, “subcontracting that work out to somebody like SCO.”
Free Software Globalization
When it comes to free software circling the globe, he told me that “outside the US, they are switching to free software,” and that he expects to see applications based on free software imported from countries with emerging economies. I could see how that might happen; whether you expect all the jobs in America to end up in India or not, they are building up a skilled workforce with an excellent grasp of English. Could the next killer app come from somewhere other than the US? Could it run on a free operating system first? Exclusively? Who knows? Maybe someday, we’ll see Windows users running free operating systems under emulation so they can run the coolest apps.
Whether that seems far-fetched to you depends on how you look at the software ecosystem. Here’s how Bradley sees it: “Software that comes out of a global effort is better than software that comes out of a proprietary company in the United States.” But right now, he finds that non-native English speakers get frustrated easily when trying to work with people who only speak or write English. So “we’ve got to be prepared to work with people who don’t necessarily
understand English… Non-corporate globalization is a chance to be in a global community. I wouldn’t have friends around the world if it was not for free software.”
GPL Enforcement
Bradley also took some time to give me his angle on GPL enforcement, which is something he says the FSF is getting a lot flak about. He explained how GPL enforcement works: when a company gets a letter about copyright infringement, their first assumption is that the FSF is trying to collect royalties, so they reach for their checkbook. In most cases it’s an innocent mistake (perhaps a programmer added GPL’d code and “didn’t explain it to their manager”), and they want to fix it in the way that they understand.
The FSF explains that it’s not about money, but compliance. The first option they offer them is to stop using the free software. Because they’ve violated section 4 of the GPL, they’ve lost all their rights that the license grants. If the company fixes the violation, the FSF works with the copyright holder to restore those rights. Since the engineers invariably tell management that it’s impossible or extremely undesirable to rip out the GPL’d code, the company will usually work toward compliance.
Bradley’s says that this works out well most of the time (he says there’s only been one case of a company proceeding in bad faith) because the business of most the companies in this position are either service-based rather than license-based. The others are selling embedded devices, “People aren’t buying the software, they are buying a device.” He went on to say that complying with the GPL works out to the benefit of the vendor: “you can increase sales to the geek community by making the source available.” Even if geeks aren’t the majority of their customers, they can bring a lot of good publicity.
I got curious about whether they keep this stuff confidential. Although the FSF maintains the confidentiality of GPL violators, they will cite case studies of GPL violation resolution, but never mention a violator by name, nor do they give people enough information to figure out who the company is. Bradley told me that there has only been one case where a GPL violation was made public, and that’s because the FSF “felt they were negotiating in bad faith.”
Before he got back to his booth, Bradley left me with a thought that’s pretty cool: “we believe free software provides an opportunity to teach people. The freedom to study is essential. The next generation of programmers is going to be learning
from their toasters.” And I couldn’t agree more. I just wish I’d seen more devices at LinuxWorld Expo that were powered by the Linux kernel; maybe a cell phone or something…
What are you learning from your toaster?
*At the end of this piece you’ll find an exciting game. Stick with me and play along!
I’m a strange duck in the Apple space. I’m one of a minority of Mac users who don’t think that Microsoft is actually evil. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a bone or two to pick with them. For one thing I think their hyper-competitive nature has been detrimental to several markeplaces on the whole. They are like Donald Trump without personal charm and panache. When Trump beats you, he does it with a good suit, a smile, and a tan. When he wins, it’s not personal, it’s business. When I think of Microsoft winning, my perception is that the geek mafia just paid you a visit and you’re sleeping with the fishes.
Well MS is at it again. This time, the Godfather of Code, is entering the music business.
An Offer You REALLY Cannot Refuse
Before I became I writer, I was an executive during the dot-com boom, doing evangelism, business development and marketing. I made my decision to get out of the industry when I saw companies getting millions of dollars in VC money to sell pet food over the Internet.
“Uh yeah…ship me the 60 pound bag of dog food..and can you overnight that? The dog is really hungry.”
The madness I saw back then is the same madness I see in the current online music store craze. Every idiot around fancies themselves an online music retailer and a revolutionary, as if wide and ever expanding variety in this space will be compelling instead of confusing to consumers.
A partial list of playas on the scene (or coming) so far includes:
Apple iTunes
Wal*Mart
Sony
Coca-Cola (yes Coca-Cola)
Dell
Napster
BuyMusic.com
Real Networks
Virgin
MTV
Enter Microsoft…
Not satisfied with dominating the operating system, the web browser, cell phones, PDAs, game machines, streaming video, television, networking, and your wristwatch, they are now entering from behind the wizard’s curtain into the online music game. Their strategy to date (similar to all of their strategies) is very interesting.
Let’s look at it:
1. License the Windows Media format to almost every online music vendor (except perhaps two).
2. Wait until all those checks have cleared.
3. Open our own competing store and piss all over those vendors.
4. Get them to take it with a smile while saying things like:
“We have known for some time that they were considering this, specifically the MSN group,” said Greg Rudin, vice president of marketing for FullAudio’s MusicNow service, which is carried as a link inside Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. “We are strongly partnered with the Windows Media division, and…they have given us assurances that they will be fair and equitable with their partners.”
Heh heh…sure they will Greg, sure they will. I’ve heard that one before. Does anyone else here, other than me, think Greg Rudin may be looking for a new job six months after the release of Microsoft’s online music store?
So what altruistic motive now drives Microsoft into a market they once preferred to leave to their vendors? Get ready for this (I am not responsible for any damage caused to your computer via a spit take):
“CHOICE”
I kid you not.
In a recent “Q&A” posted on Microsoft’s PressPass website (their propaganda site for journalists), Dave Fester, General Manager of Microsoft’s Windows Digital Media Division, was asked all sorts of questions (by their PR department masked as journalists) about choosing the right media player for the Windows user.
Dave used the word “choice” eight times in six paragraphs. Five times alone when discussing iTunes for Windows. His argument is simple. Apple iTunes is a poor solution for Windows users because it limits you to Apple’s solution. But, what Microsoft wants to offer you, is choice. Choice of player, choice of music store, choice of media file. Oh yeah, as long as you choose their Faustian file format. Now to be fair to Microsoft, Apple’s goal to have people use their own proprietary solutions is really no different than Microsoft’s, however, the audacity of telling people that their offering is better for you because it is about personal choice is laughable.
Ah, Sweet Freedom of Choice
While no one yet knows how the online music market will shake out, I can tell you that the public isn’t going to be able to support an industry driven by choice. Most online music stores (many driven by the same back-end solutions) offer you similar prices, similar content, similar previews, and similar experiences. So like Mr. Fester points out, you’re free to have 20 different accounts with 20 different online music stores, using 20 different shopping carts, and perhaps 400 different music players out there. If you ask me, so far “choice” sounds like a real pain in the a$$.
Remember in the “olden days,” while it was often difficult for some local music stores to compete for business with the likes of Wal*Mart, they did have some benefits that no superstore could offer. You knew you could go in and see a varied and often eclectic mix of local and international music, plus a knowledgeable staff. Above all you always found a person whom you could establish a personal relationship with, someone whose opinion you valued. And you’d pay a small premium for that level of service. Back then it was conceivable you might shop around when purchasing music. And although some stores fell under the weight of competition from the big chains, some actually thrived.
Not so in the future. Whose got time to visit all these different sites? Sure, people want choice, but they also want ease of use, simplicity, speed, and value. All this comes down to one common denominator - time. With the iTunes music store I have variety, I have simplicity, I have speed, and I have a player that ties it all together. I don’t care about the other 40 or 100 or 500 music players out there. I’m looking for a complete seamless solution with zero hassle. So when Dave Fester form MS tells you it’s all about choice…
…One store might have a particular CD or single that you’re looking for; while you might discover that another store has it at a lower price. Additionally some stores may carry more music than others, or they may run different promotions. The same is true for online music “stores.” It’s important to be able to shop around to find the best music at the best price and take advantage of any sales or exclusive content that a particular service may have.”
…I just have to chuckle to myself.
I’m sorry, but I just don’t see this happening. I could be wrong, but we know from the candid information coming from Apple, there isn’t much money to be made in the online music game. So I can’t see there being much of an opportunity to do any competitive pricing, because quite simply, you can’t have a price war without everyone losing their shirts. The only winners in a price war are the record labels.
As for online libraries, I’m sure all of these vendors (with the exception of some exclusive deals and rare material) will offer almost the exact same catalogues. So why would I trudge from site to site, account to account? Makes no sense. Sure, everyone wants to be a bargain shopper, but not when the ultimate cost is their valuable time. If this was all about saving a buck, I guess Apple wouldn’t be leading the pack in music players and downloads. Therefore, I don’t see Microsoft’s offer of choice all that compelling.
Microsoft of course knows this as well, which is why this ruse of offering consumers a choice is so funny to me. I’m sure they will soon help us quiet the din of which music store to buy from by driving their vendors…I mean competitors…out of business.
Speaking of the Competition
I’ve had a peek at some of the other vendors out there. Their solutions are clunky and feel like they were slapped together by monkeys (no offense to actual monkeys). Remember all the houpla BuyMusic.com made last year when they used the motley Tommy Lee as an anti-establishment icon and positioned themselves as a better solution than the iTunes Music Store? Like using Windows made you a rebel or something? Whatever happened to those guys? I haven’t seen a leading story about them since their launch in July. In fact, openly mocking Apple for delivering an excellent solution didn’t really carry any weight in the real world. While Apple controls one of the smallest computing market shares, they’ve certainly left Napster, BuyMusic.com, Wal*Mart, and others scrapping for some of the limelight. I mean talk about being the middle kid in the family. If I were the CEO of BuyMusic.com right now, I’d be about to have a Jan Brady meltdown.
“It’s always iTunes, iTunes, iTunes!”
Microsoft’s ADD
I’m not a MS bashing zealot. I don’t spell Microsoft’s name with the dollar sign where the “s” should be. I don’t go to Microsoft forums and troll bait MS users with “Apple Rules” postings. I’m using Word right now. Heck, I own an xbox and I love it. However, as one who suffers from ADD, I am able to easily diagnose what the real problem with Microsoft is, and thus my main problem with Microsoft.
Instead of making their current offerings more secure and work properly together (like iLife), they continue to divest into other markets where they see the opportunity to make a buck or seize control. As we speak, they are rolling out a new service that beams data to your wristwatch. And while that’s really cool and all, you know what I really want?
I want a computer that doesn’t crash everytime a worm makes the rounds. I want you to stop telling us you’re doing something about security and do something about security. And finally I want you to stop talking about the future and start delivering it. You know how Apple NEVER discusses what they have in the pipeline before it is done and ready to ship? I want you to do that. I’m tired of hearing about the future. I don’t want to hear about satellites or telephones or the next big thing. I don’t want to hear some seriously ridiculous vision of how you will defeat spam in two years. What I want is this #$%^&* printer to work when I plug it in.
If Microsoft really wants to offer us a strong competitive choice to Apple’s offerings in the music space, they will focus on the technology and stay out of selling music.
Endgame
So while we sit here awaiting the Department of Justice to slap Microsoft’s hand for putting FullAudio out of business, I think we should take into consideration that no one yet really knows what will happen in this space. However, in the true nature of commentators and analysts who make predictions that are consistantly wrong (I’m not naming names - you know who you are), I’ve got a few predictions of my own that I think we can make into a fun little game. I like to call it:
“Whose Already Dead & Doesn’t Know It.”
Here’s how to play. Using my list below…
Apple iTunes
Wal*Mart
Sony
Coca-Cola
Dell
Napster
BuyMusic.com
Real Networks
Virgin
MTV
FullAudio
…take a moment to make your predictions on which online music service is already out of business and doesn’t actually know it yet. Pick those you think will fail within 12 months of MS launching their own branded service. Put your choices in order, and if you like, add your reasoning. Post them only in the Talk Back below. The most accurate posting will win a $20 gift certificate for Amazon.com from yours truly. Only one person can win, so if there is a tie, I will pick the winner using a random number generator…or something geeky like that. This is O’Reilly after all.
Here are my picks as an example (although I cannot win):
FullAudio - “they have given us assurances that they will be fair and equitable with their partners.” I give these guys 6 months.
Dell - While they like to envision themselves as the “Apple” of the PC world…I think shareholders are gonna question investing company assets into a loss-leading market. They don’t need a music store to sell music players. All they need to do is practically give them away like they do their PCs.
BuyMusic.com - The Universe has got a bead on them. If you hold yourself up as a shining example of a better solution to a solution that is better than your own…instant karma is gonna get you. The marketing gods are cruel.
MTV - If their music store turns out anything like their cable channel, it won’t have any actual music on it.
Coca-Cola - I’m selling my Coke stock and you should too. While Pepsi got it right…Coke got it wrong. Coke shouldn’t be selling anything that doesn’t rot your teeth. Music sales won’t drive Coke sales…the exact opposite is actually true.
Napster - Too much time lost, too much money invested, and no street cred. Once the rebel and bane of the “establishment,” Napster is now, “The Man.”
Sony - record labels owning music stores. Um…anyone think their competing labels will want to provide Sony’s store with content?
Who Survives:
iTunes - Apple isn’t selling music for the sake of selling music. I can’t imagine (even if possible) Apple users going far beyond the iTunes service…so at least for their own user base, I see them pulling though.
Real Networks - Since I’ve privately predicted their downfall for years, I know they’ll survive just to tick me off. After they collect their giant settlement check from MS, I’m sure they’ll be able to remain in business for at least another 5 years.
Wal*Mart - these guys have never been afraid of a price war, and they certainly have the ability to lose money for years to come. Shopping their online music store is like shopping in any Wal*Mart. It is cold, has no personality, it practically impossible to get in and out of quickly, and is about as hip and cool as a lumber yard. But they’ll stick with it! My only concern is that they’ll start importing downloads from China to undercut everyone else.
Update: Here’s some choice for you. Tell me this isn’t confusing.
Let’s Play!
Related link: https://folklore.org/
This weekend we passed the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Macintosh. The Folklore site presents entertaining “Anecdotes about the development of Apple’s original Macintosh computer, and the people who created it. “
20 years ago today, a company with a strange name introduced what was, is, and will be for the years to come the best computing platform on the market. In other words, Apple released the first member of the Mac family that has continuously evolved, to use cutting-edge technologies…
However, there are many experts that talk about the technical advantages of the Mac better than I could. So today, I would like to dedicate this blog entry to the Mac community and send a big ? Thanks ! ? to all its members.
Indeed, using a Mac is only half of what some have called the ? Apple Experience ? and neither us nor Apple would be what we are today if there wasn’t a passionate and creative user base for the Mac.
Thanks to my ? work ? on the Apple Discussions and to the articles I have published, I have had the opportunity to meet many truly great people with which I would never have had a chance to talk otherwise. And even though I have only met them in real life for a few hours ( if at all ), these people play a very important role in my life and some of them have quickly become real friends, the kind of friends that have a true impact on you.
Some make fun of our community ? like this blog shows ?, but I am afraid that they have misunderstood how it works : Mac users are not a big bunch of fanatics, we just happen to enjoy our computers enough to care about them and about others who do !
Do I sound a bit idealistic ? I may be but do you remember this person who was victim of a fraud on an auction site and lost a PowerBook a while ago ? Well, the whole community got together, investigated and helped solve the case. Every day, million of Mac users help people they don’t know on forums like the Apple Discussions. And their main motivation is that they know that, should they need help, someone will be here for them too.
But of course, a community wouldn’t be a positive thing if it were a closed group ! Refusing to acknowledge what exists outside of your world is always negative. Luckily, I am pleased to announce that we welcome new users, even if they do not use a Mac ? surprising, uh ?
Thanks to Apple’s Open Source efforts, we exchange ideas and technologies with Linux and UNIX users daily. Linux users are discovering and adopting Mac OS X and the PPC architecture and Mac users are discovering how great it is to have the choice between Mozilla and Konqueror, OpenOffice and KOffice, Quartz-vm and Enlightenment.
And contrary to popular belief, even Windows users and developers are welcome ! We may sometimes make fun of PCs that go ? Blip, blip, blip ? but, never the less, we are always glad to exchange ideas with PC users and this has lead to some very interesting cross-platform technologies.
In a world where shared interests are so few and networking ( IRL, not with Ethernet cables ) has become increasingly difficult, it feels great to see that such an atmosphere can exist. No community is perfect, of course, but all in all, I am very happy to call myself a Mac user !
Until next time, dear Mac users, enjoy thinking different !
And you, how do you experience the Mac community ?
Related link: https://childrensartnetwork.homedns.org
Many of you responded to my plea earlier in the week to aid a wonderful non-profit organization called The Children’s Art Network (C.A.N.). I asked for donations of Mac OS X gear so I could help bring them into the 21st century, since the budget had suffered a major setback after the loss of their founder and Director, from cancer last year.
One of their goals was to ensure the administration of C.A.N. had computers and were no longer doing their tasks on paper. Another long term goal (thought to be years down the road) was to start bringing computer technology into their instructional programs. This would include a summer program centered around computers & art. Well that may happen sooner than they expected.
Since my earlier posting, many people have responded with generous offers of their OS X equipment. Please don’t stop!!! While I was originally only looking for a couple of machines to replace that which was broken, it turns out that C.A.N. is now closer to their computers & art program than they ever thought would be possible. So far donations have ranged from lightly used Macs to gear that no longer works, but by using parts from other non-working Macs, I can do my best Frankenstein.
Because of your kindness, C.A.N. will once again be breaking new ground, offering kids access to technology & instruction that most never see in a classroom. I hope that in the spirit of open source, we will one day be able to share the C.A.N program with others, so they can bring similar programs to their communities…that is if we can keep the lights on another year. ;-)
One Slight Hiccup
Some people can’t afford to ship the gear, and C.A.N. is practically penniless. So they have setup a Pay Pal donations link on the C.A.N. donations page. We ask that you do not donate more than $10, and every penny will go to cover the cost of either shipping, or picking up the gear (some of it is within a few hours of us). If there is anything left over, we’ll put it into keeping this Mac gear in working condition or making repairs.
Thank You
I can’t tell you how thankful I am at the support we’ve received. My wife and I are truly touched. I mean it…I am really shocked and amazed at the generosity of you people. It does my cynical little heart good to know that complete strangers will still come to the aid of others. I hope that all of you will allow me to publicly thank you here next week (unless you wish to remain anonymous).
One Last Thing: Why OS X only?
A number of folks have made remarks and asked questions about why we were only looking for OS X-able gear. The reasons are simple:
1. I donate my time to C.A.N., and I simply do not want to maintain multiple machines running multiple operating systems…including OS 9. I just don’t have the personal bandwidth for it.
2. I get a lot of software for review. Once that software is behind a version, I’m able to donate it to a good cause like C.A.N. Just because it may be a year old, doesn’t mean it isn’t of value…and all of my software is OS X based.
3. I want to keep them moving forward, not back. Even if a machine can’t run the next version of OS X (later down the road), having all OS X machines, still makes maintaining a network simpler.
Imagine my surprise last weekend when I was at Staples (of all places) and came across a Bluetooth-enabled phone for the home from Olympia/Wave Industries (the CDP-24206). The first thing that came to mind was, “Olympia — the company that formerly made typewriters — makes phones?”. And the second thing that came to mind was, “Cool! a Bluetooth phone for the home office; now I don’t have to punch in phone numbers again.”
So, after a little debate, I finally purchased the phone ($199 at Staples, list online is $249), and brought it home to set up. I was able to get the phone and its base station to pair with my PowerBook, but that’s about where the magic stopped. When I launched iSync and tried to add the device so I could sync my Address Book information over, the phone wouldn’t show up, even though it was still discoverable.
Bummer!
Then I went to Apple’s site and looked at their list of supported devices for iSync, and sure enough, my Olympia CDP-24206 wasn’t on that list. As a matter of fact, the list looks like iSync only supports most major cell phones, iPods, and an array of PDAs. But what about Bluetooth devices for the home? None appear to be on the list.
This is very unfortunate, because I don’t want to have to key in phone numbers; I want to sync my Address Book data to this Bluetooth phone and use it. But alas, I cannot, and because of this, I get to make another trek back to Staples to return this phone because Apple’s iSync does not support it.
So who loses here? Olympia, Staples, and me, the customer. Oh, and Apple loses a bit too. iSync has been boasted as the conduit of conduits for sharing information between your Mac and other devices. Pair and play is the way it should be. But instead I have to wait and see if this little Bluetooth phone gets supported the next time iSync revs? Lord knows when that will be, or if the phone will be supported, so it’s back to Staples I go with this phone in one hand and my receipt in the other.
Note: I did submit feedback to Apple from iSync, asking that they add support for this and other Bluetooth-enabled phones for the home, but that goes into a hole from which a reply is unheard of.
I’m guessing we’re not going to hear much about porting Mac OS X to Intel chips for quite some time, if ever.
Why? Well, the G5 Mac is already powered by the right processor — the 64-bit IBM PowerPC 970, and if IBM has its way, OS X’s older brother, Linux, will be joining the party in greater numbers too.
Two interesting articles caught my eye tonight. The first, IBM Eyes Big Year for Linux on PowerPC on InternetNews.com, says: “IBM refused to comment but there are hints the company will extend the tendrils of its PowerPC chip architecture further into its BladeCenter, possibly spreading the architecture to the iSeries, pSeries and other server lines.”
This is followed (later in the article) with a quote by Redmonk Senior Analyst James Governor, “Anybody who doesn’t think the PowerPC is a platform is an architecture that IBM is not fully committed to bring to the industry better think again,” Governor said. “IBM may support Itanium, but it is not going to cede the market to Intel.”
Then I read a cool piece by David Mertz, Ph.D., Linux on Mac: a POWER programmer’s primer. Dr. Mertz makes an solid case for running Linux on the PPC, and he includes lots of great detail about how to make it happen… now.
If Linux users begin to take a serious look at the new PowerPC, all sorts of good things can happen for IBM, Apple, and others who support the work going on in East Fishkill, New York.
Related link: https://childrensartnetwork.homedns.org
I don’t normally ask for help, as I prefer to give it. You won’t find Pay Pal links in my blogs, there are no Amazon wish lists, but this is a situation where all I can do is make an appeal. In fact, we’re not asking for a penny, but you can still help.
You Could Make A Difference
My wife, Dana, recently became the Director of a non-profit organization called The Children’s Art Network (C.A.N.). It serves thousands of children each year in the Shenandoah Valley, by bringing art programs to schools who always get those programs cut at the State and Federal level. It was founded 11 years ago by our friend Brenda Papke, who unfortunately lost her battle with cancer last year.
Due to Brenda’s illness, she was unable to apply for the grants that help keep the network afloat. My wife had been a volunteer for the network for the past three years and the board unanimously voted to have her take over the mantle and responsibility of saving C.A.N. However, when she took over, we realized they were not only facing a budget crisis, but a technology crisis as well. In fact to make photocopies, the receptionist has to drive 6 miles.
They currently have no usable computing gear (their one Dell is ready for pasture). So I donated a lot of my personal gear, time, and software…including one of two iBooks I plan to donate (one now and the other, once I can afford a new PowerBook).
Well this morning my wife fell and injured herself (she’s okay)…and the clamshell iBook I donated now has a cracked screen and cannot be used. The replacement cost of the screen alone is more than it is worth. We’re not asking for one penny…but are looking for some folks who might help, out there in the blogosphere, to turn those lemons into some lemonade. I don’t have the money to repair the machine (and not asking for any), but I could use a little word of mouth.
What We Need
If you have ANY Apple gear capable of running OS X or possibly a working replacement screen for an Apple clamshell iBook, we would not only be eternally greatful, but you’d get a great tax deduction.
Not only does the administration of C.A.N. need computers, but C.A.N. would like to introduce computer art into classrooms as well. So, we’ll take whatever you can give, as long as it doesn’t require a lot of money to repair or get running. I’m willing to dedicate some sweat and spare parts if that is all it needs.
For more information or to help out, please follow this link.
If you don’t have any gear to donate you can still help by getting the word out on your blogs.
Best,
Alan Graham
On occasion I desire a solution that does not currently exist. Since I am not wealthy, and therefore unable to build these devices myself, I must pine silently in my office waiting for the day when my needs are answered. But then again, I thought my blog would make a perfect place to beg for such things. So from time to time, I’ll be putting in a request.
iChat iPhone
Here is what I want. A small box with a phone line-in jack, and another jack to plug any regular cordless phone into. Then I want a USB cord that goes to my computer.
When a call comes in from the phone line, I’d like the device to just pass it through to the phone, unmolested. BUT…when an iChatAV/AIM invitation comes through, I’d like it to take the persons ID, translate it into CID (Caller ID) data and put that through to the phone as if it were a regular phone call.
I mean what does the phone care? A call is a call, right? Just like any other call, it would ring (perhaps with a distinctive ring) and display the incoming AIM/iChat info on the screen.
Now to make things even more interesting, I’d like the box to listen when I pick up the phone to make a call. I can make any call I like by just dialing, but by dialing certain codes first (that I can customize), I can change my away message, or initiate an iChat/AIM call (just assign buddies a “speed-dial” code). If the person is unavalable, it could just give me a busy signal. VoIP as easy as pie.
Now when you make out the check, remember I spell my name with one “L.”
Related link: https://www.mac.com/
Yesterday, I opened a Mac magazine and, expecting with much apprehension to read a belated ? what to buy for the Holidays ? guide, I was pleasantly surprised to find a column about how wannabe webmasters and ? Power Users ? should pick their e-mail, hosting and online services providers ? nothing really new here but always an interesting read.
To my great surprise, the author began the article by citing Apple’s very own .Mac services, explaining that, as good as they were, they were targeted at beginners and weren’t appropriate for power users ? who, according to him should immediately look for SFTP and PHP capabilities…
Everyone seems to agree that .Mac is an amazing deal for new users, thanks to its perfect integration with iLife and Mac OS X in general… However, for some strange reason, the other, really serious and powerful parts of this service never seem to be acknowledged…
You’re not convinced ? Then read on to see how my life changed the day Apple introduced iTools ? now known under the name of .Mac
After having worked for some time with accounts that require endless browsing through poorly designed web-interfaces or Telnet ( SSH would have ben ? too expensive ? according to the host’s support desk ) logins into remote servers, I thought it was time to actually use the web services I was paying for and have fun with them, in all seriousness ? if I can say so.
Creating a neat-looking web site used to require minutes or hours of coding and the use of a third-party FTP agent to upload the finished pages. Backing data up used to require a special subscription to an online, remotely reliable, server that I could connect to in case I actually needed it. Now, it’s simply a matter of using HomePage or the Finder’s “Go to my iDisk” menu item.
Creating a file-sharing server meant setting up accounts on a remote Linux machine on which I didn’t even have root access. Now, all I need to do is open “System Preferences” and click on “Allow others to read and write”. ( I have nothing against Linux, BTW )
You know I am quite picky about mailboxes and mail services… I used to ask my e-mail provider who charged me $50 a year to allow me to use SSL and IMAP, to no avail. Now, I have all this, plus a webmail that syncs with my local Address Book…
Of course, all the third-party software I needed was to be bought or downloaded separately ? unless I had a PC running an early DOS version to download some ? free connection kits ?.
I also had the most exhilarating experiences ever with technical support, talking to robots that looked for keywords in my mails and shot back pre-written answers :
– Me (slightly nervous ) : No ! I don’t want to renew, I want to quit ! Please, let me talk to someone ! I want to cancel my subscription, do you understand ?
– Them (always cheerful) : Dear customer, thanks for contacting our billing department. To renew your account, you will first need your credit card number…
Now that my Telnet and remote administration part-time job times are over, I have found myself doing things I never did before like setting up an actual website, a file-sharing system for brainstorming groups I am in, consolidating my contacts database… You know, the stuff you see in the ads but never actually do because you are not, after all, supposed to know how to recompile a kernel to backup your address book.
Sure, I can’t use my HomePage space for server-side scripts and on-demand MPEG streaming but what seemed at first like a limitation now seems like the key to freedom. Indeed, it allows me to reply on simpler, more straightforward solutions that, in the long run, let me be more creative and productive that ever before. I am actually beginning to like WebDAV, you know, especially since Panther introduced amazing speed improvements !
Fact is that, after painful years spent with some of the most important hosting companies on the web, both for myself and for others, it feels great to find a service that has everything I need and offers more than actually advertised ! (And, in case you wonder, it’s the most inexpensive solution that meets my needs as well)
You can get .Mac trial accounts, so why don’t you come in and look for yourself ? Wether you are an individual or an institution, .Mac may just be what you need.
Until next time, dear (dot)Mac users, enjoy thinking different !
And you, how do you use .Mac ?
In a recent blog entry, I rightly took CNET to task for a commentary piece that I found biased and disrespectful, with no basis in fact. Since that piece, I’ve received countless emails and there have been hundreds of postings in support of my stance. In addition, a number of publications and blogs have also linked to the entry. And while I’m pleased with the reception of the piece, in some cases I feel my message was clouded, so I wanted to take a moment to clarify a few things so that I’m not misunderstood.
The Message
Some folks have wrongly hijacked my message as one of a CNET bashing, Mac vs. PC standpoint. While I love my Macs and many Apple products, that couldn’t be further from my intention. I have no personal malice towards CNET and I do in fact read them daily. I would have taken the same stance against anyone who published a similar piece. While I prefer to work on the Mac platform (I still work with Windows regularly), I stopped caring about the Mac/Windows debate years ago. The whole topic is as contentious as religion or politics, and you simply cannot win any argument based on personal preference, which is the crux of the entire argument. The Mac faithful (who some wrongly call fanatics), are no better or worse than some of the Linux, Windows, or even Amiga supporters I’ve met over the years.
Apple makes good products, but they don’t just sell products, they sell a lifestyle. When you criticize Apple unfairly, you’re criticizing another person’s way of life, which is why some Mac users get very angry. And yes, Microsoft gets a lot of criticism as well, some deservedly so, some not. While I’m often critical about Microsoft, I’ve also been critical of Apple. But to take Apple to task for promoting something that was not only a remarkable project (the Virginia Tech supercomputer cluster), but a project where 90% of the sweat and brilliance came from Virginia Tech, is just poor taste. Their critique, while directed towards Apple, really was an insult to Virginia Tech, which I found disrespectful.
However, while my intention was not to start an anger fest towards another publication (I’d prefer to have a constructive discussion), I absolutely understand the emotions expressed by some in the ORN Talk Back, since I have had similar feelings.
So, Is CNET Biased?
One of the repeating themes in many of the responses I read had to do with the agreement of CNET being biased against Apple computer. Although some of the comparisons and opinions expressed about CNET were not entirely deserved, some of it was. I mean comparing CNET to Fox News, folks that’s just mean! However, my remark that CNET was biased obviously tapped a vein which sparked some deep seeded vitriol from Apple fans. When I took CNET to task for their commentary, and made the statement that they had a biased anti-Mac stance, some people rightly asked that I back that statement up. So I will.
First of all, in the piece I took issue with, there was no byline. In such cases, it typically means that it is the view of the editorial staff of a publication, which I don’t really believe to be the case here. It could be an oversight I could easily forgive, but then again, in a recent commentary by Charles Cooper entitled “Forget Macworld. Think Macsnore,” the contempt in the piece is so obvious, that when you see it comes from the Executive Editor of CNET news, what conclusion can you draw other than they have a particular slant against Apple? This isn’t the guy who mops the floors folks, this is the Executive Editor.
I want to be fair to Mr. Cooper and I don’t want to twist his message, so let’s take a look at some key elements from his commentary in his own words and please read the entire piece yourself:
“Of course, the bore-athon was of little consequence to the worshipful audience of Macheads who gathered in San Francisco this week. They were there to ooh and ahh and issue sneering contempt for the uninitiated baboons inhabiting the wider world of “Win-doze”–and that’s what they did. With Jobs whipping the crowd into a revivalist froth, it was all very good fun for one and all.
Just one problem: This turned out to be the most forgettable Apple love-in it’s been my agony to endure.”
So Mr. Cooper, how is it I can take you or your publication seriously when you berate me and millions of Mac users in the world with your particular disdain? I mean really, whose the elitist here? What was the last computing innovation you created? I can hardly bear to read on with any objectivity to your message since your slant is so poisoned with disgust for Macheads (a moniker I have never used). While I personally wouldn’t sully my desk with a Windows machine (if I didn’t require one for my work), I have no contempt or disrespect for Windows users. Most Windows users I know I hold in high regard and respect, even though their personal computing tastes would not be my own choice. And heck, all of my clients use thousands of Windows machines and I certainly respect them.
But you’re not done with us Macheads yet…no sir…
“The headliner of the show was a runt version of its popular iPod.”
Runt? Of all the words you could use in the vernacular (smaller, scaled down), you chose runt?
And while us Macheads are already frothing at the mouth, here’s the part of his commentary where my jaw literally drops:
“That and a Castro-like peroration that dragged on forever.”
Try to get past the unbelievably showy use of “peroration,” and focus on the words just before that. Castro-like? Let me get this straight…you’re actually comparing Steve Jobs, a man I highly respect, to the ruthless dictator, terrorist, and killer in Cuba, Fidel Castro? That’s like comparing Steve Ballmer’s monkey dance and other unusual performances to Adolph Hitler. I mean yeah, it scared me and it was a little strange, but I would never EVER compare his gait to that of a murderous tyrant. I mean I’m shocked. Is it possible that I am misinterpreting this as the wrong Castro? Maybe Billy Bob Castro, or Cindy Lou Castro, or the Castro district of San Francisco? Please tell me I got this wrong (I really want to be wrong), otherwise, for that statement alone, you should personally apologize to Steve Jobs.
But we’re not done yet, no sir…
“In the absence of any truly big product announcements or hardware updates, the audience was instead treated to vintage spin. Jobs is so good at this that they should reserve a special spot for him in the Marketing Hall of Fame.”
and
“No G5 PowerBooks. No improvements in processor speeds. No updates to the iBook. Nada. Just an overpriced iPod Mini with 4 gigabytes of storage that compares poorly with the 15GB digital jukebox Dell is offering for $224.”
First of all, the iBook was just updated in late October of 2003, just two months prior to Macworld, so an update was very unlikely. Secondly, if I remember correctly (and I do), Steve Jobs announced that updated G5 processors (around 3Ghz) could be expected by Summer of 2004, and he made that announcement when he revealed the G5 last year. So we knew not to expect any announcement on this front either.
Apple does not reserve Macworld for every major product release. If you were to draw the inference from Mr. Cooper, you would be led to believe that Apple only makes major product announcements during Macworld.
Let’s see if Mr. Cooper is correct in his assessment by looking at some Apple product announcements throughout all of 2003:
Apple Introduces 20-inch iMac
Apple Introduces New Dual Processor 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
Apple Unveils New Generation G4 iBooks Starting at Just $1,099
Apple Launches iTunes for Windows
Apple and Pepsi to Give Away 100 Million Free Songs
Apple Announces Mac OS X “Panther”
Apple Announces Mac OS X Server “Panther”
Apple Introduces New 15-inch PowerBook
Apple Introduces Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
Apple Introduces New 20GB and 40GB iPods
Apple Announces Faster iMacs
Apple Releases DVD Studio Pro 2
Apple Introduces Soundtrack as Standalone Product
Apple Unleashes the Power Mac G5
Apple Introduces iChat AV and iSight
Apple Releases Safari 1.0
Apple Introduces Xcode, the Fastest Way to Create Mac OS X Applications
Apple Announces QuickTime 6.3 with Support for 3GPP
Apple Unveils New eMac Family
Apple Launches the iTunes Music Store
Apple Introduces New iPods
Apple Announces Final Cut Pro 4
Apple Announces DVD Studio Pro 2
Apple Announces Shake 3
Apple Introduces Xserve RAID Storage System With Breakthrough Performance and Pricing
Apple Unveils World’s First 17-inch Notebook
Apple Introduces Its Smallest Notebook Ever
Apple Unveils Safari
Apple Unveils Keynote
Apple Introduces iLife
Apple Delivers AirPort Extreme 802.11g Wireless Networking
Apple Unveils Final Cut Express
Apple Introduces X11 for Mac OS X
Apple Releases iCal 1.0.1 and iSync 1.0
Goodness, what a dull year that was. I assume we have nothing more to look forward to until the 2005 Macworld. Whatever shall I write about?
And finally…since I just can’t take it anymore, we end with this gem:
“That leaves Apple’s future still riding on the Mac. If there’s going to be a Macworld in 2024 worth attending, Jobs needs to come up with something a lot better.
Are you serious? I mean really? Do you see the extinction of personal computing in the next 5 years? 10? 20? This is like saying if Dell doesn’t come up with something better than the PC in a few years, the company is doomed.
Of course the future of Apple relies on the Mac. Let me clue you in on something you may not be aware of, Mr. Cooper…Apple makes computers. That’s why they are called Apple Computer. The computer they make happens to be the Macintosh. And of course Apple will continue to innovate and release new products that are tied to their computing platform for many years to come. So, I certainly hope to see more Macs in my future. The moment I see an iFridge, I’m selling my stock.
So What Is My Message?
If there is anything I want people to take from these two blog entries, it is that this type of journalism is not only irresponsible, it is worthless. Sure, I respect the right for a commentator to voice his opinions, but please write something that has some actual insight into the topic it covers. Otherwise it has zero credibility, and it is biased and not balanced.
While I don’t want to be the poster boy for the Mac/Windows debate, I do understand the feelings of Mac users, because I am one. And when you imply that we are mindless, sneering imbeciles, quickly bemused by the spin of our master, Steve Jobs, you not only insult Macheads, you insult your publication. I do not enjoy writing pieces like this one, and I absolutely do not enjoy raking another writer over the coals, but be sure that in the future, if you write garbage, I’m gonna take it to the curb.
*On a Personal Note: I want to thank Dan Farber, VP of Editorial, at CNET for writing a very nice unsolicited email to me expressing that they received a number of comments referencing the initial piece I wrote and telling me he was forwarding it to those who wrote it. We had a very nice conversation and he educated me to the fact that he has written some well balanced pieces regarding Apple, and indeed I found this to be true. Thanks Dan!
And BTW, if you’re looking for another piece that was a well written alternative to the one Charles Cooper penned, look no further.
Let’s please be constructive…
Related link: https://www.microsoft.com/windows/sfu/
My work is in a decidely duo-culture OS world: Microsoft Windows and Linux.
I had heard about Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX but never took a close look at it.
Microsoft released a new version (3.5) and lowered the price (from $99 to FREE) this week.
This (no cost) prompted me to take a closer look at it.
You can read a detailed introduction white paper about SFU at
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/sfu/techinfo/overview/sfuwp.asp
or the reviewer’s guide at
Interop Systems.
Here’s a much truncated summary of the items that interested me:
One ironic note: As I said I split my time between Windows XP and Red Hat Linux boxes. I happened to be on my Linux workstation while investigating this new SFU release. I downloaded both the white paper and reviewer’s guide to read in OpenOffice 1.1. OpenOffice crashed while reading the reviewer’s guide. However, I restarted OpenOffice, opened the reviewers guide again and was able to read it all the way through on the second try.
I’ve never tried SFU (3.5 or earlier). So, if you have feedback on this product, please share it so I and others can learn from your experiences with SFU.
I am happy to retract the news in my earlier blog that LEGO Mindstorms is being discontinued. LEGO’s press release says that Mindstorms (as well as the Harry Potter kits) will continue on.
My Jan. 10 blog (LEGO Mindstorms R.I.P. related news from wire sources that said LEGO was discontinuing its Mindstorms as well as other products.
However, this LEGO press release:
MINDSTORMS and Harry Potter will continue
…says I am wrong. I am rarely so pleased to be wrong!
Part of the press release says:
LEGO MINDSTORMS is not removed from the product range. On the contrary ? it is a core product.
So. New Mindstorms projects, anyone?
What musical keyboard would you recommend to someone buying Apple’s GarageBand?
I know I’ve driven Derrick Story nuts asking him questions about my next digital camera purchase. Boy, the Digital Rebel looks nice but will I carry it with me? The Canon S400 and S50 are nice and portable but do they have the features I want. Back and forth with “one more question”.
With GarageBand available on January 16th, I’m going to want to “supersize” my order by adding a keyboard. I don’t care whether or not I buy the keyboard at the Apple store. I’m sure there are others looking for advice on USB or MIDI and what model folks recommend. In our family the keyboard is for me, Kimmy the wonderwife, and our two kids (ages 7 and 4 1/2).
What do you recommend for a musical keyboard to accompany GarageBand?
I’m currently working on a book about the Virginia Tech Apple Supercomputer Cluster, so when I saw a recent c|net commentary on the cluster project entitled, “A grain of salt with your Apple,” it really got my goat. Three things really bother me about poorly written commentary like this:
1. Commentary is fine, but base it on facts and be sure to get your facts straight.
2. If you don’t know what your you’re talking about, you shouldn’t publish your opinion as if it were news.
3. If you are going to publish commentary, at least have the guts to put a name(s) to it.
The first thing in the piece to catch my eye was this statement:
“But when it comes to cluster supercomputers, an important technology expected to become the foundation of utility computing, there are hidden costs aplenty. It cost $5.2 million to buy the Virginia Tech gear, but that figure doesn’t include what the school says were “hundreds of volunteered hours of Virginia Tech faculty, staff and students to help set up the 19.25 tons of computers, routers and other equipment.”
Without actually doing any fact checking, the implication here is that if the University had strictly paid for all of the labor incurred when building this project, the costs would have significantly increased. Therefore there are enormous amounts of hidden labor costs that affect the bottom line.
First of all, the $5.2 million also included construction costs (actually construction costs for <
