Michael Jardeen: ...computers serialusly

Fri, 04 Jul 2003 23:31:09 GMT

MS plans largest company lay-off
When Eric Poore began working as a customer service representative for Microsoft's technical call-routing center in 1997, he was told his advancement opportunities were endless... ...Four years after Poore lost his first position to outsourcing, he is about to lose his six-year career because Microsoft is in the process of a massive relocation of Customer Central call center jobs to India and Canada. Employees estimate that Microsoft is planning to eliminate at least 800 jobs in the next fiscal year at the company's Las Colinas facility outside of Dallas, Texas and shift the work offshore...more [WashTech] First it was the H1B Visa, now it's just easier to simply send the job to them. Off shore migration of work in the midst of a recession, and the highest unemployment in many years, is simply disgusting. Companies should be financially punished when they send work out of the country. Sadly though they get rewarded. Does anyone else see what's wrong with this?..mj

Fri, 27 Jun 2003 23:17:43 GMT

Paul Boutin is an idiot...
Read this article on Slate. The best garbage has the stentch of sweet perfume, and this one reeks of it. People using Linux may be doing it because they hate MicroSloth, but they are doing it more often as not over price. This is the same mentality that makes people pick Microsoft over Apple. People use Apple for design, style, performance, reliability, and USABILITY!! The word usability has never been whispered by anyone involved with Linux, except when explaining how to compile a new interface. It is the number one reason why Apple still lives against MS, because MS just can't get it right. Even when they steal a usability elelment, they manage to screw it up. Why will Linux be any better given it's dispersed nature? Answer me that one Paul Boutin! Oh, and one other point, you're a cheap geek, why would you ever use a Mac anyway?...mj

Tue, 24 Jun 2003 06:57:01 GMT

Martin...take that!
Apple rolled out the new G5 machines, and the speed is the toast of the town, so stuff it Martin!..mj

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 03:32:55 GMT

Maine school gives students own laptops
The end of the school year is near and children are playing baseball outside. But the students in Shawn Favreau's classroom are focused on their laptop computers. For their final social studies project, they're using the computers to create multimedia presentations on ancient Greece. Some of the Freeport Middle School students find it hard to imagine going back to using just pencils and paper. We still do the same things. We just do it differently. The teachers are winging it. They're looking for ways to make it more interesting," said student Kaitlyn Beaule. "I think it's a lot more fun."...more [CNN] The key here is that these are Apple iBooks. This program shows how technology can be such a great aid in bringing back interest into school. Some will say that this could have been done cheaper with Windows machines...WRONG! The cost of software and the cost of maintenance would have backrupted the program. Only Macs could be given out in these numbers and have so few problems. Score a big one for Apple...mj

Thu, 05 Jun 2003 20:55:19 GMT

Anniversary of the Apple II
It was 26 years ago today that the Apple II was released for US $1,298. "Standard configuration included 4K of memory, two game paddles, and a demo cassette with programs. Home televisions [were] usually used for monitors." [Apple2history.org] I still remember going over to "Mythos Manor" to vist the gang; being led upstairs, and shown this cool new thing called a personal computer...mj

Sat, 31 May 2003 19:36:44 GMT

More on AOL/M$ Deal
If you want some more good stuff on the deal check out Tristan's site (cool name too)...mj

Thu, 29 May 2003 22:27:16 GMT

Microsoft to pay AOL $750M
Tech titans settle Netscape lawsuit, set seven-year licensing pact for AOL to use Internet Explorer. Microsoft will pay $750 million to AOL Time Warner to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by AOL on behalf of its subsidiary Netscape last year, the companies said Thursday. The two companies also set a seven-year licensing agreement that allows AOL Time Warner to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer browsing technology in its flagship Internet service provider service without having to pay royalties. AOL Time Warner is the parent of CNN/Money...more [CNN/Money] It's cool what 46 billion dollars of monopoly money can buy you. Once again Microsoft gets to buy their way out, and secure their monopoly. This agreement pretty much means the death of Netscape. What becomes of the Mozilla project remains to be seen. This is a brilliant move by both companies. AOL Time Warner gets a huge infusion of cash to deal with debt issues, and secure a royalty free use of Explorer for seven years. Microsoft get rid of the biggest of the antitrust cases it faced. They get to pay it off with cash reserves earned from their monopoly, and ensure both AOLs use of Explorer, and the final death of Netscape. If I was in the Netscape division right now, I would be spiffing up my resume...mj

Sun, 25 May 2003 18:21:53 GMT

$500 per unwanted spam
The California State Senate this week approved a bill that would make it illegal to send unsolicited e-mail advertising and allows people to sue so-called spammers for $500 per unwanted message. f the bill, which now goes to the California Assembly, becomes law, it would be one of the strictest anti-spam measures in the country. Gov. Gray Davis has taken no position on the measure. Federal regulators and lawmakers are trying to find ways to keep computers from being inundated with spam e-mails, which tout everything from sex aids to home loans and are estimated to account for between a third and a half of e-mail traffic...more [CNN] This is long overdue. It's too bad things had to get this bad to convince people that something needed to be done. I think this doesn't even go far enough. Jail time for repeat offenders should have been included, but that will end up in Federal laws. Over 80% of the email I get each day is spam. The vast majority of it I delete before reading, but it still annoys, and it's getting worse...mj

Tue, 20 May 2003 03:20:48 GMT

Computer failure on Saturday - I am slowly rebuilding it. No fun at all...mj

Thu, 01 May 2003 20:09:31 GMT

Experts warn spam could ruin e-mail
Spam must be stopped, according to lawmakers and Internet experts, but few agreed how to curb the unwanted junk e-mail they say threatens to overwhelm the Internet's most popular application. On the first day of the Federal Trade Commission's "spam summit," participants on Wednesday could not even agree on what type of online marketing was unacceptable enough to earn the pejorative tag. Marketers said that deceptive messages with misleading subject lines like "Re: your account" were to blame, squeezing out more reputable operators who only send messages to consumers who want to hear from them. Internet providers and consumer advocates said it was the sheer number of messages, not their content, that posed the biggest threat. "The deception does not mitigate the problem of bulk," said Laura Atkins, president of the SpamCon foundation, an anti-spam group...more [CNN] The egg that killed the Goose is what Spam is. The problem is simple. The solution is also simple. Spam is any email that I did not request, or sign up to receive. It is email that comes from list sold to second parties, or 'partners.' Solutions: All email that is commercial must have a single point of origin. That point of origin must be specified. Anyone wanting to send commercial email must first send an email requesting validation. There must be a national opt-out list. All Commercial email must have a relevant subject, with "ADV:" at the start of the subject. Hotmail, Yahoo, and similar services must gain some validation of ID before granting an account. Violations should be severe. Any source domain could be blocked, and any violations of the Opt-Out list must be in the range of $5000 per email. Adult email sent to a child's account must have even more severe punishment in the range of $20,000 per email, per violation. Use of misleading subjects, or hiding the source of the email should result in a fine of $2000 per email, per violation. Repeat offenders must be banned from the use of Internet access for a period of 1-5 years. Violation of that ban could result in a permanent ban. Foreign countries must be held accountable. If a Country is a repeat offender then their service may be blocked. The only way to deal with this plague is to declare total war on it. Another less attractive solution is to simply ban all commercial email, unless a specific confirmation is gained. That confirmation would be required by each source. Violation would be severe and painful. This is war, and in war you have to have clear specific goals. In this case getting rid of all the wasted bandwidth is as good a goal as any. In the past 4 weeks I have received at least 5 emails a day for 'Gain-Pro.' They always have a false subject. They all have bogus sources. There should be a way for me to punish these jerks. Nothing less then the extermination of Spam will be an acceptable result, screw the legitimate marketers...mj

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 01:01:17 GMT

How Mosaic triggered a revolution
On April 22, 1993, a group of students at the University of Illinois released a piece of computer code designed to get information from various public networks. Little did they know that their pet project, a humble application named Mosaic, would fundamentally change everyday life. While Web browsers with graphical interfaces had traded hands among academics years earlier, Mosaic was the first to be widely adopted and introduce the masses to the Internet...more [CNET] To think that ten years ago we started on the path to the greatest tulip craze since, well...the original one. What was once a creator of diversity would be come the center of the monopoly wars with Microsoft, make many billions of dollars in wealth and ruin even more lives when the bubble collapsed. It also gave access to information that had never been so easily accessed. The very way that we present, and live our lives has been impacted both directly, and indirectly. I wonder how we will look at it 20 years down the road?...mj

Sat, 05 Apr 2003 17:38:35 GMT

Pax Microsoft...
Over the years Microsoft has managed to take control of many areas of the software world. In each case, once control has been established, prices rise, and innovation dies. Between Windows, and Office, Microsoft reaps massive margins, that have swelled their coffers to over 45 billion dollars. So what is the future of the computer industry?

One writer has some interesting, if radical opinions. For the most part I agree with his perspective. The irony of all this is that the JOD rolled over and handed the industry to Microsoft. The net result is that this will continue to drive unemployment, and a lack of investment in the high-tech industry. As Microsoft moves to subscription pricing it will have a choking effect on the economy as companies are forced to pay for upgraded equipment, and for software they are forced to accept. These changes should drive more companies to Linux, and suck more real money out of the software industry.

The Microsoft Tax on the economy is a real issue. Both in payments to Microsoft, and the deaths of other companies in spaces Microsoft moves into, drag down the economy, and kill diversity. Microsoft like most large companies pays almost no taxes to the US government. Overseas the monopoly and predatory pricing are pushing other countries to move to Linux. That will also act as a drag to the economy.

So, what do we do?...mj

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 00:01:56 GMT

Dvorak talks Mac
John C. Dvorak is at it again, only this time he has good things to say (that's rare). In PC magazine he predicts that Apple will go with Intel rather then the IBM chip. I have my doubts, but it would be an huge shift in the landscape...mj

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:49:51 GMT

How the FCC got it 'bass ackwards'
If you have a broadband Internet connection, brace yourself: The monthly price you pay for it is probably going to soar. Been waiting for fast, always-on service to arrive at your door? Prepare to wait some more--a lot more. That's all thanks to one of the worst mishaps ever to hit the Information Highway, a car wreck that's unfolding before our very eyes because the Federal Communications Commission was watching the rearview mirror instead of the road ahead...more [ZDNet] Ahh, the joy of deregulation. The reason they did this is to protect the monopolys in Broadband. In the meantime they re-regulate a dieing market -- nice slight of hand if you think about it. The POTS (plain old telephone service) regulation will be meaningless, and the FCC knows it. In the meantime they get to protect their buddies in the Broadband industry. Remember, this is the Enron adminsitration...mj

Sun, 23 Feb 2003 19:33:46 GMT

Hacking democracy?
Computerized vote-counting machines are sweeping the country. But they can be hacked -- and right now there's no way to be sure they haven't been. During the past five months, Bev Harris has e-mailed to news organizations a series of reports that detail alarming problems in the high-tech voting machinery currently sweeping its way through American democracy. But almost no one is paying attention. Harris is a literary publicist and writer whose investigations into the secret world of voting equipment firms have led some to call her the Erin Brockovich of elections. Harris has discovered, for example, that Diebold, the company that supplied touch-screen voting machines to Georgia during the 2002 election, made its system's sensitive software files available on a public Internet site. She has reported on the certification process for machines coming onto the market -- revealing that the software code running the equipment is seldom thoroughly reviewed and can often be changed with mysteriously installed "patches" just prior to an election. And in perhaps her most eyebrow-raising coup, she found that Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, used to run the company that built most of the machines that count votes in his state -- and that he still owns a stake in the firm...more [Salon] In this day and age of rampant Microsoft security failures, virus nightmares, and corporate funny stuff, who can say that a black box system is truely secure...mj

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 18:24:03 GMT

AOL couldn't get Broadband...
I just read a piece on Dave Winer's blog about AOL. He asks the question, did AOL get the Internet? Doc has written a nice piece about the fall of AOL, and I disagree with them in a couple ways. I think AOL did get the Internet. They got it enough to start getting people on it back in 1995. They got it way, way before Microsoft did. They provided the training wheels for millions of new surfers, who pissed off the old guard because they weren't trained in the rules of Netiquette. My first trip onto the Internet was through AOL. I also left it rather quickly. The reason was, I didn't need the training wheels, and the content didn't interest me. I don't chat, and chat is one of the primary reasons for AOLs growth and survival. I can also tell you that; as an observer of a wife and two daughters who still do AOL, there's still a very strong place for someone like AOL, what we will get is MSN. AOL provides a secure comforting environment, that the non-technical find easy to use. The problem is, that it may not matter at all. The reason is simple, MSN has been able to tap into the broadband market better then AOL. AOL has fished for a Broadband strategy for the past four years with little or no success. Part of that was their failure to move on DSL, they could have been one of the few players in that market to succeed, They were also locked out of Cable, until the Time/Warner merger. Having Time/Warners Cable customers was not enough. If they had made AOL the default provider they would have had better traction. Traction is the key, and the early movers have all the advantages in the Traction game. AOL simply arrived too late and never got out of the gate. The key to survival for AOL is still a Broadband strategy. They are not too late, they have a huge installed base, but they need to find a solution fast. Outside of that, Doc is right, we will get to watch AOL die a slow agonizing death...mj

Wed, 29 Jan 2003 16:54:58 GMT

M$ Uses Rape Defense...
The SQL Slammer Worm is still lose causing problems. It hit suddenly and wickedly. But the fallout has been typical of most of these security events. Microsoft gets up and tells us how they are making real progress on security, then notes that it was a hole patched many months ago, so it's the users fault as usual. For some reason I can't get the image of Jodie Foster out of my head. I am sure that the Korean stock brokers trading with paper and pencil, felt bad about not having installed the obscure patch (wonder why Korea is moving to Linux in a big way). Ask the people standing in line trying to get cash, or make deposits in one of the 13,000 BOA ATMs effected by this Worm. Ask the shareholders of Korean ISPs who watched their stock drop in value due to the impact of the virus. Meanwhile in Redmond, there was a mad scramble as they tried to deal with the internal impact of the Worm. Of course this isn't the first time Microsoft has been nailed by a patch it hadn't installed.
...Microsoft spokesman Rick Miller declined to say which areas or how many computers at Microsoft were affected. He acknowledged that some servers were left unfixed because administrators "didn't get around to it when they should have."... ..."On the one hand, Microsoft's been saying it's the customer's fault for not patching their networks," but the company's own failure to do so "show(s) how unrealistic that expectation is. It's very much like blaming the victim."...
Ask yourself, if Microsoft can't keep up with it's own patches, then who really is to blame? Then go and install MySQL...mj

Sat, 25 Jan 2003 19:13:01 GMT

DeWorming the Internet...
When will people realize that a less diverse enviornment kills innovation, and contributes to things like the SQL Slammer Worm that hit today. Microsoft of course will just say it's the users fault since a patch was made available last summer. The reality is that corporations spend way to much time and money fixing things that should never have been there to begin with...mj

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 22:40:45 GMT

My code's bigger then your code...
I'm working on converting a bunch of word douments into web pages. It really is a remarkable process. You can take a Word and use word to save it as an html document. Or you can cut and paste the content into another program and format the html yourself. The difference is simply amazing and shows just how inept Microsoft can be at doing the most basic things. The Word generated document weighs in at 333k, while the hand coded document is 43k. The Word html document consist of 11,369 lines of code, while the hand coded document is just over 600 lines. I now understand how Micorsoft can end up with over 40 million lines of source code in XP, they used Word to generate it...mj

Tue, 21 Jan 2003 17:25:55 GMT

Things that do not compute...
I find it strange to get spam asking me to buy a program that stops pop-up ads. If pop-ups irritate me enough to want to get rid of them, then why would I want spam? I put that next the the 'Certified' letter I got last week. It said it had important forms, and if someone other then me opened it, they could get fined and spend time with a bunkmate named 'Tiny'. I opened it, and it turned out to be an ad for a car sale. If you lie to me to get my attention, or business, then why would I think that you would be honest in our other dealings? Either marketing people are stupid, or they think we are...mj

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 19:09:33 GMT

Court Rules Against Network Associates' Software Review Policy
New York court has ruled that Network Associates, a maker of popular antivirus and computer security software, may not require people who buy the software to get permission from the company before publishing reviews of its products. The decision, which the company has vowed to appeal, could carry a penalty in the millions of dollars, according to Ken Dreifach, chief of the Internet bureau of the office of the New York State attorney general, Eliot Spitzer. Last spring, Mr. Spitzer sued Network Associates, which has its headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., asserting that the company's software included an unenforceable clause that effectively violated consumers' free speech. The clause, which appeared on software products and the company's Web site, read: (my emphasis) "The customer will not publish reviews of this product without prior consent from Network Associates Inc."...more [New York Times] (warning: requires sign-up to access) This is only one of the obscene ways that companies try to abuse software licenses. The fact that NA fails to understand how wrong they are, only goes to show just how clueless they truly are. My advice is DO NOT USE THEIR PRODUCTS -- boycott them. The idea that you can stifle 'free speech' is just one current of the attempts by companies to extend copyright laws. They use it to defend efforts to destroy basic constitutional rights. Next thing you know, they will include limitations on anything you say about them...mj

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 17:18:53 GMT

A Year in Blogspace
One year ago last Saturday I posted my first blog entry. With the release of Radio, little did we know what would be set in motion. 2003 became the 'Year of the Blog' in cyberspace. Thousands of people went to work with no proofreading tools, and began to create content with personal meaning, spelling mistakes, and broken links (just kidding, still need a good way to proof read all of this). I wish there was a way to tie this back to OS X services. Something to think about. One year ago yesterday, I wrote about a visit to a friends house. As last year progressed; or regressed in ways, I keep coming back to the importance of friends and family. The support structure that surrounds you is crucial to making it through tough times. I owe them all a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. On this day last year, I wrote about the real reasons the Dotcom bust occured. I have returned to that thought on many occasions, but all of my points still ring true. It failed because people with large sums of money willingly handed it over to people without a lick of sense, or a business plan that could work. So goes the world...mj

Tue, 07 Jan 2003 18:52:33 GMT

Simply Smashing!!
I just sent out my outline of the MacWorld keynote to my friends and fellow mac users. I was thrilled with this MacWorld. Jobs was wonderful, and no glitches that I noticed. I'm using Safari and like it. Can't wait to download the updated iApps. The new Powerbooks are incredible. Between Safari (web browser) and Keynote (presentation software), I don't think Microsoft will be happy...mj

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 23:42:02 GMT

Weird search results...
I was looking at my Referers List today and found the usual strange results. These are search terms that led people to my site:

Free Animal Sex Movies - I was weirded out by this one. Then I found that the search had picked up my mention of Tonya Harding and the sex tape scandle. I guess they figure she's an animal.

One Thing To Rule Them All - ok, this one is a lttle strange. I come up first on Google for this search. The reason is my "one OS to rule them all" catagory. But why search 'one thing...' unless you can't type?

Chu Mei Feng Sex video - I last mentioned this many, many months ago. The mention that led to this was from back in January of this year. It's a sex scandle in Taiwan that still has legs.

F-16 poop - this one I simply can not figure out? I mentioned f-16's and the administration being knee-deep in poop on Enron. The real question is why do this search in the first place?

All I can say is that the Internet is a very strange place...mj

Tue, 17 Dec 2002 17:53:41 GMT

My favorite thing about the Internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps without having to smell them.
-- Penn Jillette