High bullshit meter:
http://www.etrafficsolutions.com/about/news/newsletters/may2003.html
"When the end users and the creators of content attempt to envision the complementary power of technology, they must understand that in order for content to be dynamically generated according to specific learning needs or criteria, elearning content is best produced using sizable chunks that are directly related to the instructional design of the elearning environment that is being developed. "
Talk about obfuscated language!
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Good site for young kids: http://www.funschool.com
(I like playing the games there too - don't tell anyone)
(I like playing the games there too - don't tell anyone)
Monday, October 13, 2003
WOW! OK. Well, I guess we won't see another iteration of the so big virus - apparently they have enough slaves. Who knew? The ultimate answer is for people to stop responding to Spam...but then that kills "legitimate" marketing. Sad.
Friday, October 10, 2003
Grove: Competitive Crisis Looms In U.S.
The chairman of Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) says that the United States is facing a competitive crisis that puts the country is danger of losing its lead as the world's most innovative technology provider.
"I'm here to be the skunk at your garden party," Grove told a group of about 150 beltway types gathered here for the Global Tech Forum, hosted by lobbying group Business Software Alliance.
Why is the U.S. waning? Grove says it's because of offshore outsourcing, lack of federal support of sciences education and a "ho-hum" telecommunications infrastructure. "We've lost more than 500,000 tech jobs in the last two years to foreign competitors."
Indeed, many U.S.-based companies are either thinking about or have already sent white-collar jobs outside the country. Companies can often cut costs and boost productivity dramatically by hiring skilled labor in India and other countries. Much of that work lately has involved software development and professional services.
The chairman of Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) says that the United States is facing a competitive crisis that puts the country is danger of losing its lead as the world's most innovative technology provider.
"I'm here to be the skunk at your garden party," Grove told a group of about 150 beltway types gathered here for the Global Tech Forum, hosted by lobbying group Business Software Alliance.
Why is the U.S. waning? Grove says it's because of offshore outsourcing, lack of federal support of sciences education and a "ho-hum" telecommunications infrastructure. "We've lost more than 500,000 tech jobs in the last two years to foreign competitors."
Indeed, many U.S.-based companies are either thinking about or have already sent white-collar jobs outside the country. Companies can often cut costs and boost productivity dramatically by hiring skilled labor in India and other countries. Much of that work lately has involved software development and professional services.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Here is a paragraph from a Forbes.com article on the impact of DVR (Digital Video Recorders - TiVo) on the broadcast industry:
No problem, net execs say: While DVRs and other gear may proliferate, most viewers won't use the gadgets as ad-killers or pay for commercial-free programs. "This is the big myth. The big majority of people are not commercial avoiders," says David Poltrack, the head of CBS research and strategic planning, who has heard predictions of the networks' demise for 20 years. At worst, he figures, DVRs will erode audience by just under 3% a year. Alan Wurtzel, NBC's research head, says that networks can survive such losses, pointing to the huge checks that advertisers just wrote: "Until you can find an alternative that's better, they really will have no choice."
What can you say about that? How about this one?:
"What I feel absolutely confident is going to happen is this: The traditional 30-second commercial will continue to prosper, and TiVo and Replay will never amount to much more than a minor irritant to the TV networks," Rance Crain, the editor-in-chief of Advertising Age, wrote in a column earlier this year.
Reminds me of these quotes on computers:
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC the original computer is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 ½ tons" -- Popular Mechanics, March 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- IBM Chairman Thomas Watson, 1943
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- DEC Chairman Ken Olson, 1977
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, 1981
(Quotes from here)
No problem, net execs say: While DVRs and other gear may proliferate, most viewers won't use the gadgets as ad-killers or pay for commercial-free programs. "This is the big myth. The big majority of people are not commercial avoiders," says David Poltrack, the head of CBS research and strategic planning, who has heard predictions of the networks' demise for 20 years. At worst, he figures, DVRs will erode audience by just under 3% a year. Alan Wurtzel, NBC's research head, says that networks can survive such losses, pointing to the huge checks that advertisers just wrote: "Until you can find an alternative that's better, they really will have no choice."
What can you say about that? How about this one?:
"What I feel absolutely confident is going to happen is this: The traditional 30-second commercial will continue to prosper, and TiVo and Replay will never amount to much more than a minor irritant to the TV networks," Rance Crain, the editor-in-chief of Advertising Age, wrote in a column earlier this year.
Reminds me of these quotes on computers:
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC the original computer is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 ½ tons" -- Popular Mechanics, March 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- IBM Chairman Thomas Watson, 1943
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- DEC Chairman Ken Olson, 1977
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, 1981
(Quotes from here)
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
http://www.internetweek.com/security02/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=15200576&pgno=1
Swen virus activity, and how Greyware Automation Products dealt with an attack.
Very interesting, and I agree that a "quiet" virus may be spreading as we speak. Since the MS patch didn't work, and users are slow in applying the patches that do work - there is plenty of opportunity for someone to write a virus that doesn't attack or do anything exciting except to self-install when the opportunity is presented (during a download for example) to do so and then lay idle...doing a date check on boot waiting for the date to activate. I guess like Herpes or HIV?
Swen virus activity, and how Greyware Automation Products dealt with an attack.
Very interesting, and I agree that a "quiet" virus may be spreading as we speak. Since the MS patch didn't work, and users are slow in applying the patches that do work - there is plenty of opportunity for someone to write a virus that doesn't attack or do anything exciting except to self-install when the opportunity is presented (during a download for example) to do so and then lay idle...doing a date check on boot waiting for the date to activate. I guess like Herpes or HIV?
Monday, September 29, 2003
Worker unrest? Gasp!
I'm telling you, people who outsource off shore are setting themselves up for a world of hurt in the next few years. Not only are you dealing with people who will do exactly what you tell them to do, you are dealing with different cultures. Telemarketing is probably an OK thing to outsource (thanks to the do not call list that may dwindle off to nothingness anyway). But moving critical application development to a foreign country (CHINA? for crying out loud? How about you send the code / idea / hardware you want to work with to Cuba and North Korea too?) is suicide. Not only is your application going to be riddled with security risks (oh, I'm not worried about that, I've got QA...go ahead and live in your little world) and probably ripped off and developed by another team to sell to your customers (and competitors). And, when your customer calls in for support, and gets the person with a funny accent, who doesn't speak English that well, you will alienate your customer base. Sure, all this stuff looks good on paper, but when customers find out what you are doing (hello HP?) and they discover that you offer 24/7 support, but it is scripted and sucks - they will go away, they won't tell you why (unless they like you), they just won't renew the contract, upgrade to the next version, whatever keeps your revenue coming in. That is going to affect the bottom line but by the time that happens, I hope that your customers have moved to a company that kept their customer service / development here in the US and that that company will keep that customer for life, cutting you out.
Man! OK. I'm feeling a little bit better.
I'm telling you, people who outsource off shore are setting themselves up for a world of hurt in the next few years. Not only are you dealing with people who will do exactly what you tell them to do, you are dealing with different cultures. Telemarketing is probably an OK thing to outsource (thanks to the do not call list that may dwindle off to nothingness anyway). But moving critical application development to a foreign country (CHINA? for crying out loud? How about you send the code / idea / hardware you want to work with to Cuba and North Korea too?) is suicide. Not only is your application going to be riddled with security risks (oh, I'm not worried about that, I've got QA...go ahead and live in your little world) and probably ripped off and developed by another team to sell to your customers (and competitors). And, when your customer calls in for support, and gets the person with a funny accent, who doesn't speak English that well, you will alienate your customer base. Sure, all this stuff looks good on paper, but when customers find out what you are doing (hello HP?) and they discover that you offer 24/7 support, but it is scripted and sucks - they will go away, they won't tell you why (unless they like you), they just won't renew the contract, upgrade to the next version, whatever keeps your revenue coming in. That is going to affect the bottom line but by the time that happens, I hope that your customers have moved to a company that kept their customer service / development here in the US and that that company will keep that customer for life, cutting you out.
Man! OK. I'm feeling a little bit better.
Friday, September 26, 2003
Thursday, September 25, 2003
FlexStand - Flexible Web Camera Stand
There it is, the amazon.com entry for the FlexStand. Please note that they don't have it in stock, because we haven't sent them any yet. Oh...this is too cool. I'm still quivering.
There it is, the amazon.com entry for the FlexStand. Please note that they don't have it in stock, because we haven't sent them any yet. Oh...this is too cool. I'm still quivering.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
This is funny. Banned because it is "immoral" in the country with the naked news.
Quirky people they have over there.
Quirky people they have over there.
OK, the ruling in favor of Eolas against M$ has people shook up (including the W3C).
Now, above and beyond, that. This is more than M$, for example Netscape is probably lible as well for royalties, since they use plug-in technology as well.
I got curious about Eolas and looked at their technology page. There is a patent there that makes me wonder if they are going to sue the computer gaming industry next.
From their site:
The patent also covers image space collision detection technology believed to be currently in widespread use throughout the computer game industry.
Now, above and beyond, that. This is more than M$, for example Netscape is probably lible as well for royalties, since they use plug-in technology as well.
I got curious about Eolas and looked at their technology page. There is a patent there that makes me wonder if they are going to sue the computer gaming industry next.
From their site:
The patent also covers image space collision detection technology believed to be currently in widespread use throughout the computer game industry.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Only 80 stars?
This makes me sad, because surely more than 80 people in the CIA have died serving our country?
This makes me sad, because surely more than 80 people in the CIA have died serving our country?
This is an interesting read about the origins of Murphy's Law. I haven't been able to go through the whole thing, but you may want to bookmark it for future reference.
Origin of Murphy's Law
Origin of Murphy's Law
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