iLoser: When income is inversely proportional to IQ

Posted: 5:33 pm
May 20, 2006
IT Culture
Comments Off on iLoser: When income is inversely proportional to IQ

Picking on people that make poor IT decisions is a hobby of mine. Picking on Mac users used to be a fun practice but lately its just becoming sad. Case and point: this weeks release of MacBook Pro. Mac faithful have a way of being blisfully ignorant about computing in general and take up arms at anybody making fun of their little toy computers. Even when their world is turned upside down, when their treasured platform is switched to the one that they just a few days ago swore was awful and substandard… they turn their arguments on the dime and persist that they, an always right minority, are somehow enlightened by their messiah in jeans and a turtleneck. Everything is, everything always have been and everything will always be just a poor immitation of something that Apple pioneered.

One thing that Mac users can’t explain is how they can be so right yet remain on the edge of obscurity for nearly two decades and have a digital walkman as their only claim to fame.

Here is a typical conversation with a Mac user:

Of course a successful consumer electronics gadget, leading ecommerce storefront and a brick and mortar business of selling overpriced commodities makes the Apple platform an excellent substitute for real business needs. Duh! Stupid Vlad, haven’t you seen the commercials? Thats where the truth is! Commercials! Like in 1995 when they pushed a switch campaign by claiming Windows 95 runs faster on a Mac. And yes, over the last 11 years everyone switched to a Ma.. say what? They are not even 10% market share? Why.. How..

Oh, yes, its that devil Microsoft again, yes, they control the adoption, needs and desires of people worldwide. That monopolistic criminal that closes their source and makes it proprie.. Whaaa? MacOS made the stuff they stole from FreeBSD proprietary? Ok, ok, let’s regroup here. They did this to protect us, only Microsoft steals.. shine up that halo and throw it on a thorned iLife logo, quick!

But back to evil Microsoft. Those bastards. Don’t you just hate it how they keep on locking people out? I can’t do half the things on a PC that I can do with my Mac. We both run Office. Oh, we don’t get Outlook? Entoura.. IMAP? Are you serious? No wait, how can the flexiblity of Exchange be available through IMAP? Oh, it isn’t? Umm. Ok, well, scratch that, I can always use Gmail and my .Mac. Yes, yes, its a bit of a long shot but I’ll pretend I don’t need any of those server collaboration things. I can share my tunes though! What? Thats locked down to iPod’s only? Well, serves them fine, why should Apple open up iTunes to others? Screw France! Apple is the innovator, it doesn’t have to be open. But those Microsoft bastards! Now thats a completely different story. How? Oh. Um. Let me check my iLife and I’ll let you know.

No lie, that is the conversation you can have with nearly any Mac user, and yes, all well into their adulthood. Why the disclaimer? Well, it sounds like you’re bargaining with an 8 year old in a 24 hour glass toy store.

But Jimmy, why do you want a Mac?
..Because its shiny and plays mp3’s.
But Jimmy, it won’t play with your other toys (software) and costs almost twice as much!
..I want it, I want it, I want it!
But Jimmy, it has a 4x DVD drive, that technology is ancient!
..I want it, they call it SuperDrive, it must be better.
But Jimmy, you can buy that same computer with an OS thats more than a flashy clipboard!
..But daddy, I’m 8! I saw the commercial, the person in the commercial was hip! Commercials don’t lie.

Now most of my audience is IT Professional so its fair to pick on Mactards and beat up Microsoft on Vista delays, lack of features and ignoring partner/customer feedback. But come on! As bad of a rep as Microsoft has they are not even close to Mac’s ignorance of business, backwards compatibility, platform access and OEM systems that actually give you a choice. Maybe Microsoft just needs to get a better marketing department but in the meantime I’ll just keep on laughing at the Apple commercials. Suckers.

So, The SBS Show

Posted: 12:59 pm
May 19, 2006
SBS Show
23 Comments

Untitled document

I have to admit I'm a little puzzled about the lack of feedback on the changes to the SBS Show. I realize people are busy but since we crossed the 10,000 download mark I feel obligated to ask:

How do you like it?

How do you like the web site?

I've only received one you sold out note from Amy Luby about the sudden commercialization of the SBS Show but honestly it was neccessary. No, I don't like the disclaimer either but truth of the matter is that most people do not download the SBS Show from us or through us – very small part of the population goes to www.sbsshow.com. Most downloads are coming via Odeo, Podzinger, iTunes, Yahoo Music, Tivo and a number of other syndication services. I have no way of telling these people that what they are listening to is not hardcore business IT consulting. Unfortunately, its really just for the stupid ones that we have to put up the disclaimer to begin with… but stupid people hang out in groups and the most eloquent of idiots become lawyers so then we have to put up with liability for something that we gave away for free? Disclaimer stays.

On the ad thing. I thought about that for the long time and here is the deal. If the SBS Show was mostly listened to by the SBS Community this wouldn't be a big deal, we could serve this out of the simple web account. However, Vladville now has 10,000+ daily visitors, tens of thousands of SBS Show downloads and the premium bandwidth costs a lot of money. I've paid up front for the SBS Show to grow but I sink 5+ hours an episode into organizing, producing, editing and publishing the best so it's not like another mindless blog post that you're reading right now. You guys are awesome, many of you have offered to contribute to the show in terms of donations, buying tshirts, etc and most of you said to just make people pay for it. There are three problems with this:

  1. SBS Show gets the enormous distribution because its free and easy to obtain.
  2. Guests are willing to come on for free because they can get great exposure.
  3. It would be against the spirit of why I started the show in the first place.

I'll level with you, I'm doing alright. I do not want the SBS Show to become a business or yet another job – it is a service to the community, the channel for people who have a story to tell it to the others that are in the same role. I don't want to flip it upside down, sell advertising spots, kiss babies, shake hands and have demographics discussions to justify doing this. I'm just a geek. Really, everything else is just a success based on applying the strict work ethic and hardheadness towards what I'm involved in. The SBS Show is an extension of that but if you've listened to the show you know I don't have a bright career as a commercial DJ 🙂 Furthermore, if you've met me you can testify that I've got the face for radio so there goes that TechTV show some of you think I ought to be on.

Point is, this is a free show and I want to keep it available for anybody that is willing to learn and make something of themselves in the SMB world. It also has to cover the costs of at least distribution, so I outright do ask you to support my business which has financed every penny and kb spent on getting every SBS Show episode to the day. If you're getting anything out of the SBS Show I don't think its too much to ask you to consider that when you line up OWN's solutions against the competitors. As always, thank you for your support of the SBS Show and please let me know what we can do to make it better.

Vista Minimums Announced

Posted: 1:45 pm
May 18, 2006
IT Business
7 Comments

Untitled document

The new legalese from Microsoft came out today quoting the minimum specs for Windows Vista . I've got to admit that I'm not on the same page as most diggers , these numbers are far more acceptable than anything I imagined having seen the performance of Vista through several beta's now. The minimum Vista Requirements are almost in-line with the minimums to comfortably run Windows XP so the upgrade is still a possibility for most modern stuff considering that nearly anything bought in the last year or two has at least double that. Perhaps they'll need more ram and a dedicated video card but thats roughly $50-100 more and lets face it – in business they are not going to benefit from Aero to begin with:

Minimum Requirements (Vista-Capable PCs):

* 800 MHz Intel-compatible processor
* 512MB of RAM
* DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor
* 20GB HD

Recommended Requirements (Premium-Ready PCs):

* 1 GHz Intel-compatible processor
* 1GB RAM
* DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor, with 128MB graphics memory. (64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels [no more than 1440×900]; 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels [no more than 1920×1200]; 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels [more than 1920×1200]).
* 40GB HD with at least 15GB "free space"
 

So what do you think? I'm hearing from partners world-wide that its the cost of the workstation OS that is impacting the sale of the server (SBS and W2K3) and in my conversations with some Microsoft PM's they didn't quite put it together that the mobile devices & gadgets sell SBS, not the other way around. Perhaps they'll put two and two together and make Vista more affordable for small business though the BK6-0002 like bundle? Ouch, I said bundle, now it will never be seen by anybody at Microsoft. 🙂 But in case it does, come on guys.. throw a bone to someone other than a thief …

When Piracy Pays Off

Posted: 5:24 pm
May 17, 2006
Legal, Microsoft
3 Comments

Untitled document

So you got in the office one day and that xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-PRVMG XP Pro key is no longer working for you. Ouch, thats awful, now you have to pay for software like the rest of us. But wait, Uncle Bill has some good news for you. Unlike the legitimate Microsoft customers who are ripped the full $245, you as the criminal (or an unfortunate customer of a criminal) are rewarded! Yes, you get Windows XP Pro upgrade to a full legitimate copy for $100 less than the people that legitimately purchased Windows! No questions asked!
 

 
I was a firm supporter of what Microsoft has been trying to do with licensing compliance when they gave free copies to people that turned in crooks but this latest move ENCOURAGES piracy, not the other way around. "Yes Bob, that PC is $399. However, if you run towards the door with it and steal it we'll only charge you $299 for it! It's our way of controlling theft." 
 
More screenshots and details on this at Daily Tech. 

Google Desktop 4: Gadgets Galore

Posted: 4:23 pm
May 15, 2006
Beta, Google
3 Comments

Untitled document Google Desktop 4 is out and in one hit takes out 50% of the eyecandy that Microsoft is promising with Vista when/ever it comes out. Gadgets (similar to side dock, Yahoo Gadgets, Widgets, Mac OS X stuff) are new and allow you to detach parts of your Google Desktop sidebar and smack them on your desktop. Pretty nifty but fairly useless and annoying for anyone over 13. It is somewhat interesting to see how Google is taking Microsofts hints and teasers and turning them into actual, free, downloadable (albeit beta) quality software. 

Free outbound Skype justifies Net neutrality

Posted: 11:57 am
May 15, 2006
Deals
2 Comments

Untitled document

Yet another post in the Gooback category on net neutrality. Today Skype announced that they will no longer charge Americans and Canadians for placing calls to land lines (or cell phones) in USA and Canada. No strings attached, it will be a free call from now on.

This is why the telcos are fighting so hard to tier themselves and eliminate the possiblity of their customers dollars going to the competition or anywhere else but their pockets. I know that Google is the favorite posterboy for the Bell vs. Civilization but their successful separation from common sense and ethical business will guarantee that things like the above free calls never happen. They are still pissed they can't charge you $0.25 per minute anymore, but now they have people just giving it away? Well, without net neutrality that will not be a problem because you will never be able to send packets to the Skype network unless it pays hefty fees to connecting to the Bell network. Think it will be free then too?

Update: Hold the celebration, looks like a good part of IP addresses are unable to reach SkypeOut specifically between 70.x.x.x – 79.x.x.x.x; Take out 10 class A's, ouch. Oh well, I'm not on that range so it's all good Skype.

Get your mother what she really wants!

Posted: 6:28 pm
May 14, 2006
IT Culture
1 Comment

Untitled document

NewEgg.com , my traditionally favorite company and everpresent resident on my monthly Amex bills is really stepping it up today with their whimsy advertising. Now I'm sure many will probably see it as a travesty (as the nation with no history really takes its fake holidays seriously) but I'd really pat them on the back for making this holiday about more than flowers, cheap jewelry and "one day a year to be nice to your mom" thing. Check out the ad:

Classy, very classy. Even the tagline is brilliant, "The Newegg way." Oh, stay away from ASUS though, I guarantee your mom will not appreciate that as a gift. If you must get ASUS go with Asrock, the offbrand brother that generally costs half as much because it only comes with a few cables and without the shiny ASUS badge. 

Social Networks attract half of the web users

Posted: 3:12 pm
May 13, 2006
IT Culture
6 Comments

Untitled document

Found this interesting stat over on digg about how social networks are attracting nearly a half of all the web users. Not a big surprise, I tend to find out most of what I need to know from blogs, vlogs, podcasts, webcasts. Today it really takes a lot for me to hit Google to find answers and even then it takes a little longer before I just find a forum where someone breaks down the exact same problem with no solution in sight.

So social networking is big on the net. Our next SBS Show guest is Bob Rebholz who works for a small blue logo software company based out of Redmond and we'll take a look at how the social networks are making an impact in how IT Professionals discover and organize information. 

And yes, you whining babies, the SBS Show will make its triumphant return tonight. I've had to battle lawyers, food poisoning, Microsoft and myself to finally start this beast back up. Give me about two hours and I'll pop it up there.

Update: Well, here you go #19 is out .

Meet Bob, Licensing consultant

Posted: 8:12 pm
May 12, 2006
Legal
1 Comment

Untitled document

Recently I asked our local IT Pro group about Microsoft sales folks getting more and more desperate. I can't blame them, with their options wasting away through product delays they have to move more product. I brought this story to my ITPRO group and asked how local consultants engaged their clients to provide them with a liason with Microsoft's ever-confusing licensing. How do you make your clients understand their need to comply with legal software licensing? Todays response, completely attributable to Robert Belon, nearly knocked me out of my chair:

Hi I am all that stands between you and the "JAWS" of the software police. Your next stop on this License roller-coaster is a jail cell occupied by Luther "the ass-monkey" Smith.  Can I exercise some of your corporate dollars from the bank vault now??? – Robert Belon

Now thats what I call an elevator pitch! Eric, the domain is still available 🙂

When Stupid Persists

Posted: 4:52 pm
May 10, 2006
Misc
8 Comments

Untitled document

We all have our "moron for a day" events every now and then. Today belonged to me.

You see, we recently started allowing customers to pick hostnames for their $99 hosted SBS plans at Own Web Now. We call people up, tell them that their server will be up shortly and we ask them which hostname they prefered. You see, not everyone appreciates SERVER. Customer reasoned that because this is the center of their network the server computer name should be called NETWORK as well. It failed for the first monkey that did it. Then the second monkey supervised the first monkey. Then both monkeys turned over the box to me saying it "might be a hardware problem." Oh no, no siree. No piece of trash PCB from Taiwan is going to punk me, I will beat this box into submission.

Considering that I was fresh off the allnighter related to the Microsoft patching I just looked at the docs and did the same monkey procedure. Didn't notice the NETWORK part at all. Two reinstalls later (one from OPK other by text-based + F6) I finally pinged Mark from SBS PSS. Explained that I ran it in multiple ways, ran dcpromo manually, all the hardware and all the system logs checked out normally – the dang domain just isn't standing up! Why oh why? I still haven't told Mark what my server name was so it was a case of blind leading the blind for a little while. He suggested I get dcpromo.log and dcpromoui.log. So before looking at them (I know, brilliant) I first tinkered with the box to make sure I had USB working. 30 minutes later I got the file and decided to look at it first. Probably the first good decision of the day:

"Error – The promotion failed because the name of the local computer is the name of a predefined security identifier."

What the heck is my server name? Ohhh. Thats right, NETWORK. I'd say this is grounds for termination, not only because I'm an idiot but because I'm an MCSE on top of that. Holy crap, what was I thinking. NETWORK. NETWORK? How that didn't register through two reinstalls I will never know.

Update: Just FYI, the SBS installation wizard never warned me. It went through the full install and configuration and didn't even blink. Now that is not an excuse for my stupidity in naming the box NETWORK as client requested. The SBS setup actually went through all the way until it asked me if I wanted Exchange – to which it screamed that it didn't have a domain name.