Essentially the article reads as though Microsoft has unleashed a killer OS for use by really small businesses called Windows Server 2008 Foundation. [...]]]> Computerworld let Eric Lai cut an article titled: “Microsoft targets Linux, IBM with Windows Server for really small biz“. After reading the article I suspect Microsoft is using a BB Gun.

Essentially the article reads as though Microsoft has unleashed a killer OS for use by really small businesses called Windows Server 2008 Foundation. The product permits up to 15 users and comes without additional software. So, if you want to use it, you’ll need to buy a little bit more software to create your solution.

Still chuckling…

My favorite part was;

In a blog, Bilal Jaffery, a marketing manager for IBM Lotus Foundations, called the new rival product from Microsoft “a strategy to improve the [Microsoft] short term bottom line as it provides nothing new to the market … That only results in my business partners being able to close more deals by providing more credibility to the Linux revolution.”

Bilal hit it right on the head. This is a ploy to increase MS’s bottom -line. The reality is, they’ve ignored small (really small) businesses for a very long time. This has allowed Linux to squeeze into the small business space by necessity (the mother of invention) and lack of support.

I have to believe that MS will lose this battle. For most people that have made the switch to Linux, once they have a “handle on it” they won’t go back. Really who wants to use a stripped-down Windows Server limited to 15 users, when Linux is a free – enterprise quality OS that has no such limitation?

Perhaps MS should explore other areas they once deemed unprofitable for additional revenue sources.

Both rovers have greatly exceeded their original mission of 3 months. They’ve been there over 5 years. [...]]]> At more than 55 million kilometers away (how many miles is that?), NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is having technical difficulties. Apparently the rover rebooted several times last weekend.  Irregularities in communications alerted scientists to the glitch.

Both rovers have greatly exceeded their original mission of 3 months. They’ve been there over 5 years. That’s pretty amazing considering communication delays over distance, adverse environmental conditions, and Murphy’s Law.

What we have here… Is a failure to communicate!

Prior planning, obviously based on their knowledge of the reliability of our technology, NASA installed multiple methods for the rovers to communicate with earth. They have a high-gain dish, a low-gain antenna and a UHF transceiver. NASA deserves credit for planning multiple backup systems and a big pat on the back for the missions themselves. But, is it a communications problem or something else? One can either take what the media provides as gospel or speculate.

I’m sure it’s a bummer for the scientists at NASA. It’s not like they can send a technician on a house call.  We’ll never truly know what happened unless it can be brought back and put on a tech bench for diagnosis. Until then, it becomes Martian litter when it dies.

Ain’t technology great?

http://www.mollynoir.com/carolineinparis/2009/03/03/technology-bites/

Okay, locked-out I can see, but locked-in? Technology not [...]]]> I think everyone can acknowledge, technology itself isn’t always guilty of making our lives complex and/or problematic. In fact, very often it’s the person using the technology that causes self-imposed grief. Towards that end, I found this incredibly funny story you’ve just gotta read…

http://www.mollynoir.com/carolineinparis/2009/03/03/technology-bites/

Okay, locked-out I can see, but locked-in? Technology not only sucks, but it’s taking prisoners!

Some of the sites I care for are CMS based. Don’t [...]]]> I work creating and maintaining  websites and applications. Seems like everything on the ‘net gets cached at some point. It can be a real P.I.T.A. to keep track of where cache is created, when to clean it and when to leave it alone.

Some of the sites I care for are CMS based. Don’t get me wrong, I think CMS’s are great. They save a lot of time and keep the content separate from the design elements. Which makes life easier. Some however, have caching built-in. And the built-in caching actually works from a performance stand-point. What bites, is the necessity to periodically clean the cache. With tens of thousands of cache files, just getting the cache display page to load takes forever. Deleting the files takes time too and it’s never a single-pass operation.

Also many sites are PHP based. PHP can be setup to cache as well. Can’t say I’ve had a problem with PHP’s caching system, nor have I found it necessary to clean that cache content. Kudos to the PHP implementation.

When we deal with the web we also have to remember the browser caches pages too. That’s ok, so long as the page never changes or the user knows how to clear their cache when a page reloads with old data. Personally, I change the cache settings in my browser to keep cache for a very short period of time. It helps me avoid the <control><reload> (or <control><refresh> in IE) thing. In my life, I need to see a lot pages after changes and cache gets in my way.

Cache has it’s value, it helps make the browsing experience faster. But, they’re little trails of dirt. At some point, it has to be cleaned-up.

I’ve been reading lately about how webmasters have forgotten that there are still people using dial-up and that we proceed to create sites that are slow for dial-up [...]]]> Ever wonder how much of your web audience uses dial-up? Want to know what it feels like to use an old 56k modem again? Scarey huh?

I’ve been reading lately about how webmasters have forgotten that there are still people using dial-up and that we proceed to create sites that are slow for dial-up users. This, of course made me curious.

It would be nice to say; “Put a crow-bar in your wallet and spend a little more for broadband”. But, realistically, broadband’s not available everywhere. So, I thought I’d test how miserable it really is. Try yourself; Here’s a site that emulates a 56k modem -http://www.optiview.com/POV/task,ov4modemdemo/parse.html.

Very few of the sites I have responsibility for (120+), regardless of design, loads in under 45 seconds via 56k modem. A quick run through my GA stats suggests 10 percent or less access via dial-up.

Yes, dial-up is really as slow as I remember! Ouch!!

From a webmaster’s perspective, with stats that low, it’s a minor issue that barely merits concern. Unless modems make a come-back, I’m not going to concern myself with “the dial-up experience” any longer.

As far as I am concerned: People using dail-up need to stop belly-aching about slow sites, purchase another pack of patience, or stop surfing the web!

Is it good? Sure! It should help deter people from running [...]]]> Many counties and municipalities in the greater Orlando (FL) area have begun to install camera’s at intersections. These camera’s are set to take a snap-shot of the tail-end of your car, if you run a red light. Documenting location, date and time too!

Is it good? Sure! It should help deter people from running red lights. If they know they are there. It’s also good revenue for the county.

Is it bad? Yes… If you’re busted for running a red light! Technology bites!! You where aware it’s not legal right?

Personally, I haven’t encountered this problem. At least I haven’t been notified anyway.

Overall, it’s good revenue for the county or municipality. The program should have a good R.O.I. considering it’s handled electronically. I hear you get a picture of the back-end of your car with each violation notice too. That’s a plus!