EastTennesseeFoxProUserGroup. Starting in June, the East Tennessee Foxpro User Group meets regularly in Knoxville, TN Next Meeting (inaugural meeting) When: June 24 2003 at 7:00 pm, though the room is open starting at 5:00 pm, and has Internet access. Where: 16 Emory Place, [FoxForum Wiki]
Archive | June 13, 2003
A switcher speaks
All my bags are packed, and I’m ready to go… (to OS X). I read David Weinberger’s account of PC woe today, and a smile ran across my face. Not because I wish ill on David; I most certainly don’t (and I feel his pain). I smile because his account of having to reinstall software on his Windows machine coincides with my re-reading for the second time David Coursey’s Macintosh OS X for Windows Users: A Switcher’s Guide.
You see folks, I can now admit it. I am deep into the planning stage of making my next computer purchase, which will be an Apple 15″ Powerbook with OS X. I’m not going to get into the Windows bashing. I like Windows 2000 and Windows XP. They’re pretty stable and it’s not Microsoft’s fault that it has to make its products compatible with every grain of sand on the beach.
But I have several computers in my home and it’s not my fault that they require constant rebooting and reinstallation of software. Or that they attract viruses like horses attract flies. Even when they work as they are supposed to they require tweaking and configuring.
Of course, all computers require maintenance, and I’m glad for the very thorough education in this process that the various versions of Windows have afforded me. So now I stand before you today a very technically savvy man, with a great respect for Microsoft engineers, as I say: I don’t have the time or inclination to do it any more. I’ll always have at least one computer that has Windows in my home, but starting soon I’m going to have at least one that has OS X and I suspect that will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
And I will always feel a tremendous sense of loss for the poor souls who will have chosen to remain behind, toiling in the fields of configuration and reinstallation. I’d stay behind and help, but I just can’t. I’m lazy and I don’t want to fight my computer anymore. When I put it to sleep I want it to go to sleep and when I open the case I want it to wake up quickly.
I have the feeling that switching to Mac OS X will be an awakening of sorts for me to. It’s not a panacea, but I will be that I won’t be rebooting as often as I do now. I’ll let you know….
[Ernie the Attorney]Off to another conference
A typical frantic day of pre-flight chaos. Gotta be on a bus 10 miles from home at 6 Am tomorrow to make the connection to the wait-in-line to the flight to the place where I start talking at 8 AM the next day (fortunately, a couple time zones to the left). Ah, such a life…
Forty-two errands to run today, including a 250-mile round-trip dropping off computers and visiting clients. I can sleep, I’ve been told, when I’m dead. Good. I’ll be ready then.
SourceGear & Ximian
Great news, and hopefully a step in the right direction. I’ve been following SourceGear for years, as I use their SourceOffSite products to connect to client’s remote SourceSafe databases. SourceGear has developed a powerful replacement for the file-server model SourceSafe, a new product called “Vault.” While a promising client-server, low-bandwidth architecture, I was disappointed when they chose to limit themselves to the Microsoft platform with .NET languages and SQL Server as their back-end, making for a more expensive and more platform-dependent application, a more difficult sell to my clients in these lean times. Now, SourceGear has announced a venture with Mono to port clients to other platforms. My hope is that the server may follow.
SourceGear and Ximian Announce Partnership. Link from OSNews
IEEE approves 802.11g standard
Now, to see if the cutting edge hardware I bought back in January is upgradable and workable with the new standards… IEEE approves 802.11g standard. The new standard sets ground rules for wireless LAN gear capable of at least 24Mbit/sec. and up to 54Mbit/sec., while remaining backward compatible with 802.11b gear, which tops out at a maximum 11Mbit/sec. From Computerworld News
Can Ballmer "Think Differently?"
In a CNET interview following the release of a company-wide memo, is Ballmer actually trying to steer a new course, or offereing up marketing fodder? Hard to read, as always… Ballmer: We Have to Think Differently Linked via OSNews
Good night, David
A fixture in our house in the 60s, a way to know that, despite sometimes horrific news, there was always a basic humanity I could count on. Brinkley never liked it, according to an interview rebroadcast with Terry Gross yesterday, but the simple ritual of two men wishing each other good night set a remarkable tone to the entire news show.
David Brinkley, 82, Newsman Model, Dies. David Brinkley was the wry reporter and commentator whose NBC broadcasts helped define and popularize television news in America. By Richard Severo. From the New York Times: Business
Good night, David.