From BoingBoing.net via Garrett Fitzgerald’s blog.
Archive | 2003
What is a Web Service?
Despite the BigCo’s attempts to hijack the definition of Web Services (note the capitalization), the fact is a web service (lowercase) is what we’ve been doing all along, whenever a response is generated from other than a static page. My RSS feeds are web services, even though they are once-an-hour updated XML pages available via http.
“What is a Web Service?. The definition of what constitutes a Web Service has been a moving target for quite some time. This article on Loosely Coupled notes that Gartner have modified their definition once more. The article reads on to state that SOAP and/or BPEL are not required to build Web Services.” from the CapeBlog
There is an other side of the fence….
A ComputerWorld story, linked via OSNews, states:
The other side of the story, however, is that Win 2003 is the foundation for an entire wave of next-generation Microsoft products and feature upgrades that are coupled with the new platform. Without an upgrade, corporations can expect to be in a holding pattern.
A holding pattern? Hello? How about a migration plan? An escape plan? An alternative? Thinking different?
Whil Hentzen at Boston FUG: Linux Opportunities for VFP Developers
Got to see Whil Hentzen last night present “Linux Opportunities for VFP Developers” or “What do you get when you cross a Penguin with a Fox?” at the BAFUG meeting last night. Great meeting, and very well attended.
We Make Shitty Software… With Bugs!
Wisdom through the ages. A classic DaveNet essay at: http://davenet.userland.com/1995/09/03/wemakeshittysoftware
CloudMark now wants you to pay for your free service. Hunh?
I endorsed CloudMark some time ago, before they let us in on their business plan to make money doing this. I had hoped that they were planning on marketing their database and services to businesses, in exchange for fees, while leaving their personal product free. A business with hundreds or thousands of users can easily show a good business case why their storage and bandwidth shouldn’t be consumed with spam. On the personal level, the justification is weaker. There certainly had been no hint during the “beta” that the product would have a fee after the testing period. Now that we’ve populated their database, they want us to pay $60 to continue to access it. With free competitors like SpamBayes available, I doubt they will succeed. Too bad, a good idea gone greedy.
Where’s the “but it will cost you” in the signature a friend uses?
I’ve stopped 29.254 spam messages. You can too!
Get your free, safe spam protection at http://www.cloudmark.com/spamnetsig/
What is it about “free” I am misunderstanding?
Fees rile spam foes. Claiming they helped build a service that was supposed to be free, testers of Cloudmark’s spam-blocking system are protesting the finished version, which costs $60 per year. [CNET News.com]
Feedback from WinHec
WinHec sounds like someplace a Bible-belter goes when the computer starts going haywire, but it is, in fact, a Microsoft conference on hardware. My favorite quote:
“We’re decomposing the user experience,” said Tom Phillips, general manager in the Windows hardware experience group at Microsoft
Microsoft’s un-grand design. CNET News.com’s Michael Kanellos explains why the software company is scaling down its ambitions when it comes to convincing the rest of the computer industry to adopt design changes. [CNET News.com]
New Microsoft e-mail worm
Let’s review the rules again, folks:
- Never ever EVER run a program from an untrusted source.
- There are no trusted sources.
Questions?
Worm dupes with fake Microsoft address. A new e-mail worm, which feigns a Microsoft.com origin, is spreading rapidly. Antivirus vendors say it can also spread via a LAN and can install spyware on a victim’s PC. [CNET News.com]
Is the wiki a business tool? Well, duh…
I’ve been using several wikis as indispensable toolboxes and sources of knowledge for years. Now the NYT picks up on the thread… NY Times: “The wiki, a quirky software technology that has been kicking around the Web since the mid-90’s, is starting to gain respectability.” [Scripting News]
Microsoft to license Unix code
As the plot ever thickens,… Microsoft announces a plan to license Unix code from SCO in this article: http://rss.com.com/2100-1016_3-1007528.html?type=pt&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news