Posts by Brian Souder 1

Microsoft's nightmare DEEPENS: Windows 8 market share falling fast

Re: A suggestion for MS

"They're depending on the current Windows 8 lot, who're desperate to get away from the bloody thing, to give 10 its big initial boost. They're absolutely desperate to avoid Windows 7 becoming the next XP, and hanging around for the next decade eating their new OS's for lunch, and they certainly don't want any new users for it now."

This is already the stage they set. All of the Windows XP and 2003 server users I finally pried away to Server 2012 and 2012 R2 as well as Windows 7 have no intention of upgrading. Most of the upgrades were fairly painless, but expensive. They end up replacing all their hardware or updating machines that had originally been downgraded from Windows 7/Vista to XP - still tech hours. The economy still is not great - recovering from upgrades takes years. They just got their users over to Windows 7 - etc. I still have one company holding on to their 2003 server and XP for dear life even though most of the apps are up to date (Office 2013 being the exception that will be updated with a purchase). There are odd things going on like WIndows 7 profiles going bad, issues with Office 2013 and IMAP which we are finding solutions to finally. They are so focused on moving forward they have not stopped to get everyone's confidence. I sent out the Windows 10 email to owners to just give them a heads up on what it is and what the hype was about to happen. I think the majority responded along the lines of is this something we have to worry about because we are not planning to do anything for a while. I think their user base really resents them. They especially do not want anything to do with subscriptions. Maybe they will upgrade for WIndows 11 or 12. Maybe Microsoft should listen to their customers for once instead of focusing on too many bells and whistles no one cares about. They don't want their stuff in your data center, they want to own their equipment, and they want to know where their data is and in their control. Oh - the hype about security - in today's world has become keeping their data backed up and mitigating the damage of a possible hack. They have lost confidence that Microsoft can keep anyone out of their systems.

That glass of water you just drank? It was OLDER than the SUN

Re: Define 'local'

"It is not clear to me about whether or not the hydrogen and oxygen used to make the water was from outlying molecules of the planetary forming disc or if they drifted in from unrelated stellar space.

If local then the water of life would still vary from system to system. If not local the clouds should be visible in interstellar space rather than just around forming systems"."

I am assuming you mean just Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules - otherwise you would think Oort type objects. I think it is reasonable to think that material is merging from outside our system, but I would wonder if it just collects in the outer reaches until it falls inward with one of the objects. I was looking at this chart for perspective:

http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2004/10/4_dc08febfcab194aed2ada6677c525dc62.jpg

At the same time though, in the early formation of the sun and the solar system we were still in the cloud where other stars were born. You could look at it as if gas was arriving from outside the system, or we were all part of the same system. You could surmise that any gases outside our system falling in are really from the same original system. (I know The Reg had this article but I was having trouble finding it - fell free to sub the link)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/09/solar-system-origins-dust-cloud_n_5662441.html

Every billionaire needs a PANZER TANK, right? STOP THERE, Paul Allen

Re: It's *got* a big engine.

"What it's lacking is wings."

Like this design:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img840/6789/experimentalspecial3kur.jpg

Rosetta's comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is one FUGLY space rock

2 Comets or a Split

It almost looks like 2 Oort cloud objects collided into one, or prior passes around the sun eroded some of the middle. Maybe it will split in two someday. I find all the impacts on it interesting as well. If the comet loses outer material on successive passes, shouldn't this have a similar effect as water on Earth?

Top tip, power users – upgrading Ubuntu may knacker your Linux PC

Dell Studio 1535 Laptop

My Dell Studio 1535 seems to have problems waking up from sleep on 14.04. The screen stays blanked and I would assume it is off in la la land if it were not that the lighting in the keyboard comes on for a few moments. And they still did not fix the reversed power save mode when you go on and off battery power. Everything is fine while you are on battery - then you plug-in and it dims the screen like you went on battery. You can at least use the brightness keys to bring it back up. Reported that one last year.

Melting permafrost switches to nasty, high-gear methane release

Additional Absorption Info - Peat Bogs Pro & Con Mentioned at the bottom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink

Are they forgetting the benefits of more peat bogs?

Plus once stabilized - I wonder how much additional plant matter increases absorption.

http://www.snh.gov.uk/about-scotlands-nature/habitats-and-ecosystems/mountains-heaths-and-bogs/peat-bogs/

Why are peat bogs important?

Peatlands are a living landscape. Peat builds up at different rates and forms patterns of hummocks and hollows. Viewed from the above the wide expanse of peatlands is studded by lochs and lochans.

Our peatlands are lands are known for their moorland breeding birds, and interesting plants, like the insectivorous sundews and butterwort. However, the humble bog moss Sphagnum drives the process of peat formation.

Peat bogs provide benefits for people too:

Water supply - much of our drinking water comes from peatland areas and is a key ingredient that adds to the flavour of malt whisky.

Flood management - intact peat bogs stores water and help to maintain steady flow rates on salmon rivers as well as reducing flood risks down stream.

Sheep grazing - many peatland areas produce store lambs which are sold on for fattening in the lowlands.

Recreation - whether its red deer stalking, angling or walking these remote, rolling moorlands provide an experience for visitors that is uniquely Scottish.

Symantec scratches head over balance sheet, calls in JPMorgan

Crap Software

Yeah - I have been saying their stuff is crap for years. Everything from PIA Backup Exec to their AV. I am seeing more and more viruses just blow right past Symantec products like it was not even there. The software does not cleanly uninstall, etc. When you have to make a special tool to uninstall your own crap software, you need to give it up. Consumers are finally waking up too. I guess all those complaints in forums have fallen on deaf ears in management. I would say - thanks for the memories, but it was more like thanks for the headaches.

We dig into the GTech GDrive Mobile ... and watch WORST tear-down vid OF ALL TIME

Painful

Wow - that was painful to watch. Almost like an electronics horror movie. At one point when he went away I was waiting for him to come back with a dremel tool and a hammer. Might have been less painful all around. lol

Apple punts patches for holes in Pages and OS X, Windows iTunes

iTunes Update Issues - MSVCR80.dll

The new iTunes update hoses your current install of iTunes. You have to uninstall all apple applications, and then reinstall.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/24633790#24633790

Vultures circle to feast on carcass of free remote desktop service LogMeIn

Paid

I use the paid version with the LogMeIn console. It is much easier to hop from system to system over multiple clients. The down side of the this for LMI is I started using their service through the free version. I wonder how much business they are going to lose from people that are not familiar with the product.

Microsoft buries Sinofsky Era... then jumps on the coffin lid

Wel at least ...

Well at least they can still boast Windows 8.1 has more users than Obamacare.

Boffins: Antarctic glacier in irreversible decline, will raise sea levels by 1cm

Y2K

And a lot of people made money.

Sea Levels

The real problem is here they have not been studying things long enough to know the norms. We all already know that sea levels were higher in Roman times, and have varied widely over the last few thousand years. We are trying to use a sample of data even from the last 20 years to say - see look at what is happening. Our governments and societies have been making poor planning choices for coastal and waterways for millennium. Look at all the port cities that were stranded miles inland during the little ice age. Those people were talking about what a tragedy it was, and where is all the water on the planet going. So then they built new cities closer to the ocean. Guess what happened next? We don't even know if this is the natural flow of some 5,000 year cycle. Now just on the merits of reducing the pollution we breath every day, I agree we should take measures to clean up our air and streams. Not to mention if the glacier melt is now irreversible, just by the nature of the word, not much we can do there. By Al Gore's calculations, weren't all the ice sheets already supposed to be melted? I meant the man that invented the Internet should be pretty credible, right? Anyone else also do a quick search on Dr. Gaël Durand? If it is the same guy, he has also participated on other environmentally related boards. Again, I think we should take care of the environment, but we should not be alarmist about it.

Dell staffers react to news of 1-in-3 axe dangling overhead

Dealing with a Dell Sales Rep

They were making such a big deal out of working with their rep that I figured I would give it a try here and there. Most of the time they can not beat the price on the website. When you get the quote back, they have changed parts from the quote to make it cheaper. It was a simple question, can you give me a better price on this with these parts? Not monkey with my order so I have top go back line by line checking the order. Most of the reps are a waste of time. When you finally get to find out who your rep is, they are gone, or they re-organized how your business lines up. They should have a rep that you work with, and that does not change. Pricing on the website should not be so competitive that they can not do anything for you on bulk orders. Not to mention when you try to deal with Dell from a channel partner, they will turn around and undercut their own partners. Who wants to work with a company like that? I keep people away from Dell as much as possible anymore. If HP could actually get their act together to make it easier order servers, workstations, and laptops, Dell would probably be finished.

Google embiggens its fat vid pipe Chromecast with TEN new supported apps

Chromecast

I have one here in the US for a couple of months now. It is pretty nice and I use it all the time. The other thing I noticed the other night is the streams seem to be less compressed. My nephew's high school band has a video up on YouTube. My brother-in-law brought it up on the iPad at his house and it was really grainy. We thought it was the quality of the camera it was recorded on, and then compression. He stopped by this weekend and I was showing him the Chromecast and we watched the same video and it was considerably better. I am thinking about getting one on the downstairs TV now too. The firmware updates itself with a reboot, It checks in each time automatically.

Autopilot guides Texan plane home from a dizzying 30,000m

GPS 1200 MPH

Good to know. lol

Spinning and Audio - GPS

That was pretty kick ass. You should put a little disclaimer in about the audio should be turned down. I popped it up on the 37" TV through Chromecast. Scared the crap out of me when it cut lose, and then the spinning. I wonder if the GPS was all like drive straight ahead 101,000 feet. Whaaaaaa a aa a a a a! Turn around when possible, turn around when possible ... turn around when possible, you have reached your destination. :-D

I survived Spiceworld 2013, heat and all: Here's how I did it

SpiceWorld

Well the software is free network management software. i made one of the earlier SpiceWorlds in Austin and it was a good time. The biggest aspect of the show is networking with fellow IT people. And that was back at the small venue. The forums are a great resource for information.

Your kids' chances of becoming programmers? ZERO

Funny Enough - This Just popped In My Inbox

Teach a Kid to Code

http://shop.oreilly.com/category/deals/code-kid.do?code=WKCODEKID&imm_mid=0b2ca5&cmp=em-prog-books-videos-lp-owo_teach_code_20131105_direct_wkcodekid

Spot On

My first machine was an Apple II+ with floppy drives, and the school had TRS-80's with cassette drives for storage. I remember thinking why don't they just use a floppy drive. I did the banging out code in basic, and eventually learned Pascal. I had some horrible programming classes in college trying to do Assembler on a mainframe emulating a PDP-11. I think the macros to just get the code working were 90% of the code I was writing, and seemed to always be part of the problem. I moved away from programming for a while, and then recently tried to revisit it for a client. We have been backed into a corner with out dated technology and 7 year old hardware. The custom designed platform will not run on the newer OS's, and the budget is not there to redesign everything from scratch. I have bridged the gap from one failing server with visualization, but recreating the environment was a nightmare as nothing was documented (of course). It became a course in what is this app, do we still need it, does anyone know where the installer is. No - ok - let's see if we can get the installer since we have the key - oh - they don't support that version anymore - we have to pay for the upgrade - what did that break. Ok - now that's work - next. This si all in a Windows Server 2003 R2 Terminal Server Environment with dumb terminals. Half of the applications have to run as Administrator to work correctly. You can imagine the headaches.

So we discussed the situation further and I decided they needed to have the custom system translated into something web based that could be run on any platform. But we of course need this done ASAP. So I have been exploring platforms and programming environments. Even with formal experience it gets over whelming trying to pick a platform and learn the languages needed to accomplish everything. I have been exploring Linux which has its own learning curve. I have been doing my best to make sure I am setting up a secure environment learning how to maintain the systems, managing the database, etc. This is monumental in itself. Current documentation and textbooks seem to be the biggest problem. Just the changes in Apache server were dizzying. You buy a book on security only to find out that it no longer applies. You follow forum threads to find appalling solutions. For example, I setup a WordPress server for a client and the install these and upgrade were not working. traced it down to the wp-content/upgrade folder. It was a rights issue. Followed the accepted forum solution - make the folder 777. REALLY? And everyone is chiming in that worked for them - great solution. Even as a new Linux Admin I knew better than this. I finally worked on it with a friend and we sorted it out on a test box, now we just have to go back and figure out what we did. Just hours spent reading to find solutions that should be in the 5 minute setup.

The programming languages are just as dizzying. MySQL or MariaDB, PHP, JavaScript, HTML 5, CSS, layout and design - etc. It is crazy all the pieces you need to put together to get things to work properly. My bookshelves have filled over the last couple of months. It can be really frustrating. Fortunately I have some of the concepts down, so it is going fairly quickly. I am revisiting my procedural programming background, and I am working on changing it over to O-O thinking. I guess if you just start out with O-O in JavaScript it is not so bad. Although some of the training courses I am doing online assume you have a procedural background to begin your O-O course. The point is that as you said, starting programming is an overwhelming task.

Forget 'Call of Duty: Ghosts' - how does its rival from EA stack up?

Got Tired Of Them Beta Testing In Their Releases

I was a fan of the Battlefield series from 1942 all the way up to BF2. Then every time a patch came out they kept breaking stuff until the game became unplayable. I tried 2142, and they continued the Beta in the patch approach and that was the last game I ever bought from them. BF2 used to be a great game. I would have loved to have seen a revisit to WW2 stuff, but they dropped the ball on that. Good thing there are a lot of alternatives available on Steam.

Here's what YOU WON'T be able to do with your PlayStation 4

Wouldn't Buy Either

Well this is pretty disappointing info. Pretty much killed buying either one for me. I have two PS3 systems now.

Microsoft wants to 'move beyond' the Cookie Monster

Even Better ...

Why don't they just store it at the NSA and cut out the middle man? We all know they can be trusted with our information.

The Vulture 2: What paintjob should we put on our soaraway spaceplane?

They Do Have To Find It

They do have to find the plane. Otherwise you might use paint patterns like:

Tornado:

http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/492/pics/9_67.jpg

The plane reminds me more of something that is like an SR71 or even the plane from Firefox;

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=W1lwABsiCdY4rM&tbnid=S8qCAlL_4MV68M:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Frob.com%2Fpix%2FRC%2Fcrazy_rc%2Ffirefox&ei=0P1OUrSVKO-34AOaiYHIBg&psig=AFQjCNHqlyNw13u9HWbMFWfkyfqRDrjytw&ust=1380994896700477

Re: Why not...

I am sure they would rather have a British flag - but then it would look like a mini-cooper.

Maybe Something Like This

http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/attachments/aircraft-design-aerodynamics-new-technology/9764d1293052852-corsair-spitfire-hybrid-paint-job-top.jpg

http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/attachments/aircraft-design-aerodynamics-new-technology/9765d1293052858-corsair-spitfire-hybrid-paint-job-side.jpg

Space truck Cygnus left idling outside ISS after data format snafu borks docking

Cygnus who?

Cygnus who?

Sticky On The Door

They essentially left a sticky on the front door and left it out back.

MIT takes battery-powered robot cheetah for a gallop

Stealth

I don't think that thing will be sneaking up on anyone anytime soon. Cool concept though.

Friends with money: Dell's big bet on private finance

Turmoil - Probably just a rant.

I think there is a lot of opportunity here for both Dell and HP. Dell is infamous with channel re sellers for under cutting them on quotes the re-seller might actually make some slim margins on. The whole PC industry basically made its own bed. The amount of work a re-seller has to do to make a few pennies on SMB is ridiculous. The one advantage Dell has over HP is their website is MUCH easier to use that HP's. HP has no clue how to let consumers and re-sellers configure their equipment. They use the smart buy system, and then there are a few systems you can configure. It is really frustrating. I find even their sales experts are confused by what configurations can actually be put into systems, especially with servers. I just had a Gen 8 system delivered to me (some assembly required), and it turns out that the 2GB cache I was sold would not work with the RAID controller I had. I pinout was not even right. Fortunately I need another server for the same client immediately after I can use it in, but it is really maddening trying to configure servers and workstations. A few months back I was sold a RAM upgrade for a server that turns out was not only the right RAM, but exceeded what the server could address (low end server). A workstation was delivered with a video card that would not work with the system. HP is really clueless. In fact, I don't believe I have even gotten my credit back months later. But even after that, I still will not use Dell for the express reason they eat their own. They can't be trusted. As for Microsoft, what the hell were they thinking trying to shoe horn a tablet OS onto a PC before they were all touch screen. While there are work arounds to the Windows 8 menu system, there should have been a classic Windows 7 option built in. We are dealing with companies that are still running Windows XP Pro because of everything from legacy systems to low capital for upgrade investments for the last 8-10 years. They were already scared of going to Windows 7 (which is really a beautiful OS). Now we are going to completely change the interface? These are the same users that can not open Outlook because the icon moved 4 inches on the screen and they can not find it now. Management looks at Windows 8 as a productivity and training nightmare. It would be a REALLY stupid move on M$s' part if they did not add a classic Windows 7 mode in a SP release immediately. Every single day I have SMB companies looking to Linux because of simple things like this. Not that I am complaining about the work. but on this side of the coin, the I also have flavor X Linux driver support by both HP and Dell falls WAY short. I am relatively new to the Linux world, and every day I love it a little more. However, the polish jut is not there to displace Microsoft. There are a lot of great applications out there, but even in my conversations with Canonical, I keep pointing out that the platform is great - but they need to help with things like style guides for applications that will be distributed on their platform. Well - let me change that slightly. The individual platforms Ubuntu, Red Hat, etc.should be looking at distributions they are bringing into their repositories and saying hey, we really like your application. I like that Ubuntu seems to be sorting through the applications, but they are just not taking the right interest. Great it runs well, but here, let us help you with this release on our platform by investing either time or money into the package and bringing it up to the appearance and training of a modern application. My question is where are the killer apps to replace the Microsoft equivalents? Why has no one gone to Quickbooks and helped them develop a multi-user server that works on your share form Linux? We could argue that OpenOffice - while a great application, can not replace a full Office Suite completely. I do like the flexibility, and I get they are not trying to lock you in, but I should not have to search through 20 different applications to find a good enough replacement for the one piece of the suite that is missing. Then find out there is no training or very little documentation for the application when the client is asking for training on the platform. Eventually I will develop all my own training, but it is going to take years. Companies like Red Hat and Canonical need to direct some resources into just helping these other companies polish out their products. This should apply to Dell and HP as well. Hey - we would like to show support for your platform. Here are some driver packages that work on our new systems, and we will certify a few more because the hardware manufacturer happened to have Linux drivers available. Love that they are doing. love that they are trying to sell Linux desktops. But the offerings leave something to be desired. You read foot notes like - oh - the blue tooth module does not work on this laptop. On a brand new Linux workstation or laptop from the factory - really? Try again. I can get that by slapping distribution X on what ever I have now - thank you. I want to see them optimizing drivers with their vendors to increase performance. Just load this complete package for your server and all devices will be recognized. Oh - you don't want to pay $4,000 just in Microsoft licensing for a terminal server? Guess what, we invested some time and resources into the LTSP project to make sure that not only things work optimally, but we have these other products like tablets that work flawlessly in your office environment with our systems. Look at these great applications like SugarCRM that run wonderfully on this new table, and while your sales force is in the field, they can be securely integrated with your systems. Look we have a cloud app you do not have to run down yourself and completely figure out form the ground up that will allow the tablet to work with a cloud server that seamlessly synchronizes your MySQL database to the internal server so that orders, requests for literature, and so on can be processed immediately while you are at trade show X. Every single project is a monumental task from start to finish. These companies have limited budgets they are willing to spend on the right solutions. My phone is literally ringing off the hook with business - zero advertising. Give me the tools so each small project does not take 1-6 months to complete. Yes we can do that, but I have to research these 3 technologies and test with them first. This is one of the few things Microsoft does right. New technology - they integrate it - create trainng - create marketing - make it EASY to deliver. Problem is they have priced themselves out of the market. I mean really - the new MS SQL price structure? Get serious. Kiss all those servers good bye. MySQL is much more appealing, and the SMB space will wait for it since the price is right. So over all - since this has just dwindled down into a rant - you want to recover your business - there is LOTS of money out there. These companies have not upgraded in years. The prices and solutions are not right. The applications while getting better, look like they are from 80's and 90's MACs which makes it not have the iPod - iPhone shininess (ironic that they created this frenzy), and the replacements for the applications they currently have. Microsoft was too expensive and has now gotten worse. They were reluctant to go with the Microsoft tax before. I can tell you first hand - they are done with Microsoft. You have no idea how many times in the last 12 months I have heard, well if that is the price, we can not afford it, BUT if you have an alternative, we are open to working with you and developing those new systems. The next statement is then, in the future we would like to integrate presentation and tablet type devices in with our services. Just yesterday this happened again. What is the bottom line, what is my monthly investment, I want technology XYZ, but I am not going to pay too much. If this is not a request for a change in direction to the industry - I have no idea what is. But i can tell you I am developing those systems and training, and when i am done - you can't have it.

Report says Cisco offloading Linksys

Linksys - What Really Happened

Linksys used to be a good company until Cisco bought them. Cisco bought Linksys and then started to use cheaper parts. I devices that are over 10 years old from Linksys that still work just fine. Most of the newer consumer level products have such cheap firmware that the lights blink a few times and the firmware chip is shot. In some cases I have watched the web management lose page by page as it went bad. I no longer recommend their products at all. I hope they do not do the same thing to Meraki as I am a re-seller. The reason Meraki is so successful is that they had a product that works, and is priced affordably for the SMB space. Cisco on the other hand has their ASA devices which are WAY to expensive for what they are. When you attempt to discuss this issue with Cisco, their normal arrogant attitude of if you don't like it, tough is presented. So I used Meraki - until they do the same thing to this product. The problem with Cisco is that they think they are the only game in town and no one can do better than them. If Cisco does the same thing to Meraki - they can expect their users and resellers to walk away.

Apple's brilliant plan to fix iOS Maps: Get YOU to do it

ADD Locations For Business Owners

Is Apple going to provide a portal for business owners that do not have iPhones to ADD their business link Google & BING? Or are they still just assuming everyone should have an iPhone?