Journal Journal: New Glassblowing Pictures 1
Here. Decent for only having been at it for six months, I think. I'll get better.
Dvorak On Microsoft/Novell Deal 218
zaxios writes, "John C. Dvorak has weighed in on the recent Novell-Microsoft pact. Among his insights: 'Microsoft has been leery of doing too much with Linux because of all the weirdness with the licenses and the possibility that one false move would make a Microsoft product public domain at worst, or subject to the GPL at best.' But now, 'the idea is to create some sort of code that is jammed into Linux and whose sole purpose is to let some proprietary code run under Linux without actually "touching" Linux in any way that would subject the proprietary code to the GPL.' According to Dvorak, it's only a matter of time before Linux is 'cracked' by Microsoft, meaning Microsoft figures out a way to run proprietary code on it."
Journal Journal: More random ramblings in an Internet-enabled world. 4
I've never held a job in a big corporation for this long. I guess it's that they don't really ask anything of me beyond presence for 40 hours a week and the ability to answer all their questions promptly and efficiently. I've been using my spare time continuing in Engineering classes (physics at the moment) and so far it's going quite well, I guess. And glassblowing.
Microsoft Gives MVP Award to Adware Pusher 120
An anonymous reader writes "Ed Bott reports that Microsoft has given an MVP (Most Valuable Professional Award) to an individual known for peddling Adware via his Messenger Plus program." From the article: "So how did a guy whose primary business involves installing adware become an MVP? That's what Christopher Boyd, a Microsoft Security MVP better known as Paperghost wants to know. Boyd isn't the only MVP who has a history with Patchou. Sandi Hardmeier, a current MVP in the Internet Explorer category who specializes in the fight against malware, has written three long, angry pages about the messy adware that 'sponsors' Patchou's product."
Hollywood Says Piracy Has Ripple Effect 309
ColinPL writes to mention a Washington Post article about a new study backed by Hollywood on intellectual piracy. The study, which they're presenting to lawmakers today, claims that piracy has a ripple effect on the economy. According to the study, lost revenues may have as much as three times the impact previously imagined. From the article: "Lawmakers and federal agencies such as the Justice and State departments have helped Hollywood battle physical piracy -- specifically, counterfeit DVDs. But now the stakes are especially high for entertainment companies as they sell more of their products online in the form of digital songs, movies and other intellectual property. Internet piracy may be tougher for lawmakers to conceptualize, entertainment companies fear."
Harvard Concludes Linux Will Remain Second Best 460
watzinaneihm writes "A Harvard Study which uses formal economic modelling to determine "Will OSS ever displace traditional software from its market leadership position?" came to a (not so?) surprising result. Linux is likely to remain second best as long as Microsoft has a first mover advantage."
Microsoft to Allow Competitive Search 153
Aviran Mordo writes to tell us Reuters is reporting that Microsoft is announcing a voluntary policy to help guide the development of Windows in the future. The policy, which Microsoft senior vice president Brad Smith said was 'committed to creating a transparent system that allows open competition,' will start by allowing other search engines like Google to be set by default.
Microsoft COO Warns Google Away From Corp Search 315
Forbes is reporting on comments made by Microsoft COO Kevin Turner, concerning the corporate search business. At a company conference in Boston, Turner referred to the enterprise search business as 'our house', and warned Google to stay out. From the article: "Those people are not going to be allowed to take food off our plate, because that is what they are intending to do ... Enterprise search is our business, it's our house and Google is not going to take that business"
Journal Journal: Mod points and an exploding job market.
Never, and I mean never, have I gotten four calls off of four e-mails. But I did this week. It was amazing. I'm totally down with it. That's about all I have to say on that one. Perhaps Ishall no longer be working for people I don't exactly think are brilliant after a few more months. Awesome, and stuff.
OSS Web Stacks Outperformed by .Net? 349
Gimble writes "eWeek has an article up that looks at the performance of portals using open source stacks and comparing them to their MS equivalents. The article's conclusion is that .Net outperforms the open source stacks, mainly because of its tighter integration, but also notes that running the open source stacks on Windows (WAMP) delivered strong performance." From the article: "Based on our forays into user forums for many top open-source enterprise applications, there are many IT managers attempting to run open-source products on Windows servers--attracted, no doubt, to the benefits and efficiencies of using open source without having to become Linux administrators. The results of our WAMP stack tests indicate that these folks might be on to something."
Lawsuits Fly Over Google Founders' Party Plane 238
Mr. Soxley writes to tell us that the Boeing 767 recently purchased by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page is at the heart of what promises to be quite a legal battle. From the article: "Now the Delaware holding company that technically owns the 767, Blue City Holdings LLC, is embroiled in multiple lawsuits with an aviation designer hired to plan and oversee the massive plane's interior renovation. [...] But last October, Blue City terminated Mr. Jennings's contract, saying he wasn't doing his job properly. Mr. Jennings then filed a nearly $200,000 lien against the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration for payment he hadn't received. He later filed a complaint related to the matter against Blue City and Gore Design Completions Ltd., the San Antonio executive-jet outfitting firm that worked on the plane, in District Court in Bexar County, Texas."
Journal Journal: Despising one's job. 2
Apparently, my Head First Java book is unacceptable when I open it on the desk in front of me and work over it all day. It's not that I read it all day, just that it's sitting there. And since I have a lot of time spent waiting for crappy software to respond, I end up spending a lot of time either idle or working on Java. I prefer the latter. I had the best job I've ever had when I was twenty, screwed it up by futzing around, and now all I want is to have another like it. I despise the corp
Journal Journal: And suddenly, all free time was an illusion. 1
It's time for the raaacess.... off we go, folks, to glassblowing and MCSD C# classes and yoga and Calculus.... I've suddenly got something scheduled each of the seven days of the week, and my brain is on fry. Six or seven weeks since I started the job, and as soon as I had the money and was bored out of my skull I decided to fill time and life with so much stuff I can barely manage to keep my eyes open I'm so tired. Bad things, however, are on the rise. Ex who I left for Germany because of i
Journal Journal: Yarr! Banking it is! 1
Hey, anyone else notice that banking is about as fascinating as watching paint dry? I have.
Journal Journal: Unemployment, Counseling, Go, Yoga, and Age.
Sooo.... I have started playing huge amounts of Go online. Enormous. Like ten to twelve hours three or four days a week. Since I've been seeing an addiction counselor about my gaming problem, he's suddenly told me that I'm supposed to go cold turkey. Actually, he said that since I was bringing a gambling mentality into my games, there was no way I could use the 'reduction' approach he had wanted to apply. I don't really mind - I've been playing 20-60 hours a week since I was eight or so, I
