One Year Ago

A year ago at 11:25 p.m. CDT on August 28 Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph near the tiny fishing village of Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. Sometime during the early morning hours of August 29, the Levees protecting the City of New Orleans failed causing one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history which killed over 1,800 people.

A year later the Army Corps of Engineers has rebuilt the 169 miles of Levees and flood walls that were breached due to Katrina and Rita. They have been rebuilt to Pre Katrina design specs, and although use of better materials and construction has made them technically stronger than what existed before Katrina, they are designed at best to the low end of a Category 3 Hurricane. Katrina was a Category 5 Hurricane but by the time it made landfall it was a Category 3.

To me, the simple pragmatic lesson learned from Katrina is this. In the immediate aftermath following a big disaster, don’t expect the government – be it state, local or federal to do anything soon. The size and inertia of government by its very nature prevents immediate action. “Be prepared” - as the Boy Scout motto states. For a while at least, following any disaster, you will be on your own, and your survival and that of your loved ones depends on it. And remember, the bigger the disaster, the longer the time you will have to depend on your self.

Secondly, heed the warnings. They are given out for a reason. That’s one arm of the government that did its job, and did it well. Here’s the infamous NWS warning. When trained professionals at the NWS give out warnings like this, it is indeed time to run for the hills. Of course, for so many in New Orleans that fateful week a year ago, it was already too late.

And then there were Eight.

It's official. Pluto got the boot.

Send your hate mail to the IAU.

I guess we just couldn't leave well enough alone. This is probably what the World War 9 will be fought over 100 yrs from now. That's when the representatives from Pluto will finally get here! :-p

Microsoft loses another one

Microsoft, that stalwart defender of “Intellectual Property” and master of innovation loses yet another court battle on Patent Infringement. This company couldn’t innovate their way out of paper bag with a 100 page instruction manual. I have said this before – everything Microsoft has been bought, borrowed or outright stolen.

Lest we forget, here’s a list of lawsuits Microsoft has faced over the years. And for all their bluster and $60 Billion in the bank, I can only think of one that they actually won. That ought to tell you something. Then again, maybe it's the substandard software their Legal Department is forced to use. ;-)

The Insidious Silent Coup

According to a recent CNet article, Windows Live One Care is selling like hot cakes at the stores.

“Helped by low pricing, Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare landed the No. 2 spot in sales at American stores in its debut month, according to The NPD Group.”

And today, I saw this article on eWeek – basically stating that Microsoft will “bake” the Live services into Vista - including of course Windows Live One Care. What I like to call the subscription based protection racket. The implications are obvious. Gramma gets her PC from Best Buy with the shiny new Vista OS and next thing you know a Pop-Up informs her that she needs to fork over $50 on her credit card to Microsoft because her antivirus/spyware subscription ran out. It’s one thing to get this annoyance from Norton or McAfee. It is another thing altogether to get this from a company that is responsible for making that buggy insecure OS that allows all the malware to exist in the first place. Sleazy doesn’t even begin to describe this behavior. And I am sure the shills have plenty of excuses, such as not being able to give away this protection for free due to anti-trust regs. Or that Grandma doesn't HAVE to get protection from Windows Live One Care - she can get it from anyone. Yeah Right. Think about it – for Windows One care to be successful, the OS has to continue to be insecure. Ever wonder why McAfee or Symantec products for OSX don’t do so well? Or that if Microsoft is in competition with Symantec and Kaspersky, what obliges them to release virus signatures or exploit avenues to their competitors?

I have said this before, but if anyone else, say a car manufacturer had tried anything like this they would be sued out of existence or possibly spend time in jail. There would be outrage, congressional hearings, you name it! Imagine Toyota charging you an annual subscription to maintain fire extinguishers in your Camry because their defective engine keeps catching on fire. But Microsoft can get away with murder and people will keep handing over their hard earned money to this disgusting despicable monopoly.

For people like yours truly that watched in disgust as Microsoft destroyed entire industries over the past two decades through abuse of its desktop monopoly, this is deja vu all over again. It is downright sickening.

Note to Apple – Ditch the ATTITUDE !

The blogosphere has been buzzing about the the number of Microsoft jabs during Steve Jobs' keynote address at WWDC 06. Looking at the keynote this year one would think he is obsessed with Windows Vista and all the problems Microsoft is having with it. This coupled with the recent Mac vs PC ads just enforces the "smug/elitist" label that Mac users have been slapped with for decades. Many of Macheads may agree with the Microsoft bashing, but that to me should be left to the bloggers and Mac/Windows forums. Apple as a company and especially its CEO should at least be above the fray. Although Jobs himself deliver most of the slams, and relegated it to his subordinate, the constant focus on Vista in my opinion only takes away from OSX and adds little if no value to it. And to devote an entire segment of the Keynote just for Windows bashing? It may be funny, and even appropriate in a sales pitch, but this was a developers conference!. The primary audience there was developers who are already interested in the Mac platform or they wouldn't be there in the first place. They don't need petty bickering or a side by side comparison of how Windows is copying OSX. To me, that only puts them off and puts off people in the rest of the world when they think of Macs as an alternative. There is plenty of copying going around - a certain shareware program called Konfabulator comes to mind. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that is how Apple should perceive it if OSX is the flagship OS. If you think Microsoft truly stole an idea (as they have a habit of doing) call your legal department. That being said, even Windows fans like Paul Thurrott agree that the blatant copy of iCal in the new Windows Calendar down to the identical color scheme bubbles is downright embarassing.

Macnuts including yours truly have been begging Apple for eons to show OSX in action on their ads. To this day I have yet to see a real OSX ad. Sure some of the new ads are funny, but one has to wonder if they truly have the desired impact. All those Quicktime movies on the Apple website would look a lot more impressive on TV. For example, an ad featuring iChat on Leopard with live motion video as a backdrop while sharing a Keynote presentation would be jaw-dropping. But then again, what do I know about marketing? All I can say that as a devoted Mac user and professed Microsoft hater, when it grates ME that Apple keeps harping on Vista to promote OSX, it is bound to rub others the wrong way. The "Start your Photocopiers" stuff was funny when Tiger was released - now it's become just another hackneyed phrase.

So Apple, if anyone is listening, CAN the Attitude. Take the high road and get people to buy your product because it is BETTER. Apple didn't have to bash Zen or iRiver to sell iPods. If you truly believe you have a superior product, you shouldn't have to bash Windows to sell Macs.

Apple Opens Up OSX Kernal - Power PC & Intel

Apple has opened up the OSX kernal along with a lot of other stuff. The iCal server and Bonjour to me are actually more interesting. I would love to see more web support for iCal instead of just WebDAV. Despite all the bad mouthing they received recently, remember that Apple had never officially killed the open source part of this project. It would be well for people to remember this in the future. This is Apple, NOT Microsoft.

All those who were up in arms about Apple having "closed" the OSX kernal for Intel can now eat crow. I particularly remember this story from just a few weeks back as it spread through the blogosphere.

Here's a quote from that article .... "Apple has and is squandering the good graces and talent of many developers, that could make their products outstanding. Their greed and fear has kept them from truly embracing the concept of open source, something which might have helped them get out of the squeeze put upon them by Linux and Windows."

Would someone like to print a retraction? All I see on Linux Today is a tiny blurb with a link to the downloads. Of course some will claim that Apple was shamed into doing this. If so, great. At least Apple has some shame, unlike some other companies I know. So for those of you that like to compile their own OSX Kernals, here ya go.

And speaking of Microsoft, they are now going around telling ISVs that Open Source is "too complex".

"Hey Kettle, the Pot Called. He thinks you're black."

ZUNE

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past weeks, you have undoubtedly heard of Microsoft’s new iPod/iTunes killer device / platform. As always John Gruber has a great take about it on it on his website.

So after years of ranting about how the iPod / iTunes “restricted choice”, now Microsoft in its infinite wisdom is set to do the exact same thing? Provide a completely closed, integrated system produced and sold exclusively by Microsoft. The hypocrisy of this company and it’s so called supporters (read shills) knows no bounds. As a prime example, the only person who was uber impressed with this move was that well known shill Enderle who was quoted in a BBC news article as saying "Microsoft is trying to encompass Apple and turn them into a bit player” (The BBC had the gall to call Enderle a “Respected Analyst”. Sheesh ! Talk about lowering your standards). Microsoft and their propoganda machine in the tech media have been trying to turn Apple into a bit player for decades. Apple still survived and today are more successful than ever. For the simple reason that they continue to make some of the BEST products on the market. And all that the morally bankrupt monopoly in Redmond can do is make cheap imitations of Apple products (read VISTA and now ZUNE).

So once again Microsoft is copying not only the device (based on the pictures) but copying and expanding the business model from Apple. Mind you, I am not in the least bit complaining about the fact that the iPod has competition. I feel that is a great thing as it will only cause Apple to work harder and innovate to make the iPod / iTunes experience better (Note that it was Steve Jobs who first talked about Microsoft making their own music player and looks like they are taking his advice). Of course, you can bet that Microsoft on the other hand will continue to use their desktop monopoly to muscle their way into this market and use their billions to pressure the recording companies to favor the Zune way over the iPod.

The hardware makers and Napster et. al. who “trusted” Microsoft and it’s “Plays for Sure” program are the ones now left holding the bag. But I have no sympathy for people that get screwed by Microsoft anymore. Just like the people that insist on using that malware infested OS they call Windows, or the developers/companies that think Microsoft is a great “Partner”, they deserve everything that’s coming to them.