Links of the Week – January 22nd
I will be traveling over the weekend, so here are my links of the week a few days early. As usual, newer links are on top:
Cloud Computing Conundrum: Platform as a Service vs. Utility Computing
Money Quote: As it stands today platform as a service offerings currently do not satisfy the needs of people who have existing apps that want to “port them to the cloud”. Instead this looks like it will remain the domain of utility computing services which just give you a VM and the ability to run any software you damn well please on the your operating system of choice.
However for brand new product development the restrictions of platform as a service offerings seem attractive given the ability to “scale infinitely” without having to get your hands dirty. Developers on platform as a service offerings don’t have to worry about database management and the ensuing complexitiies like sharding, replication and database tuning.
Money Quote: I’ve now watched over a dozen live feeds of the inauguration from most of the major news portals and hands down, CBS has the best quality and most reliable stream.
Me: Guess what technology did CBS (as well as the official PIC site) use to do it’s video streaming? Hint – It isn’t Flash.
Me: Just read the article. It’s not what you think. And yes, I wouldn’t mind a share of ownership interest in Megan Fox – synthetic or otherwise…
How Not to be a Key Online Influencer | David Henderson – author, journalist
Me: Hilarious!
Angels and Demons of Our Social Media Souls
Me: Are you more Angel or Demon?
How to Create a Blogging Plan and Actually Reach Your Goals This Year
Me: Good Article from ProBlogger which talks about creating a blogging plan if you choose to blog to make money. Personally, I just blog to vent.
Obama’s Inauguration & Future Of Technology
Me: Another glowing review of CNN’s use of Microsoft Photosynth during Obama’s inauguration event.
Photosynth Comes of Age in CNN’s Inauguration Coverage
Money Quote: Today’s feature on CNN is certainly an awesome showcase for Photosynth, a technology that Microsoft first debuted back in 2006.
Social network Friendster refocuses business on Asian users
Me: Is that a first for a Silicon Valley startup? To have its full time CEO operating from Asia while the global headquarters still remains in the valley?
Google Web Drive and “Cosmo” Discussed in Deleted Document
Me: I don’t understand all of the hype and excitement recently over Google’s mythical GDrive service that may or may not happen. Personally, I’m more than happy with my Windows SkyDrive account with free 25GB storage and drag-and-drop integration with my desktop.
Tim Sneath : The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets
Me: Anyone want to guess why the default wallpaper for Windows 7 Beta is the picture of Siamese fighting fish blowing bubbles?
Study: Rich Men Give Women More Orgasms
Me: Instead of conducting this study solely as a survey, will they be scientifically proving it through experimentation?
Online file storage from … Dilbert? – TechFlash: Seattle’s Technology News Source
Me: I think the service will seem cool for the first week or so, then everyone will realize how lame it is that your company is using a file storage service from Dilbert.
Are Record Labels the New Realtors?
Money Quote: The first R.I.A.A. lawsuits were filed in September 2003, against individuals allegedly caught sharing music illegally online. By the time R.I.A.A. halted its legal campaign this past fall, they’d managed to issue 35,000 suits, win none of them, spend more money on legal fees than they recovered in settlements, and plunge the industry into a public relations quagmire — all the while failing to stop either music piracy or the continuing decline of CD sales.
What Men And Google Have In Common | Plushies in Action
Me: The answer may not be what you think…
Will Windows 7 stymie Mac OS X’s growth? | The Digital Home – CNET News
Money Quote: As a person who performs almost every computing task on a Mac and tells anyone who will listen that at this point, the average consumer should be using a Mac instead of a Windows machine because of security and usability, I’m starting to prep myself for the single moment that I thought would never come: I’ll be using a Windows 7 machine as my main computer and telling anyone who will listen that, believe it or not, using the latest Microsoft operating system really is worth it.
Me: The reality is that Linux is not like Windows. There are still way too many things you can do in Windows which comparable and familiar alternatives are just not available in Linux. Which is why despite seeing Apple’s OS X gaining ground on Windows over the past few years, Linux desktops are still running to a standstill during the same time frame.
Other ways of getting my links in real time: Twitter, Google Reader, Delicious or FriendFeed.
I may leave out certain links from my feed if I feel the stories have already been covered ad nauseam this week.
Switching to Linux is like switching your car from brand X to brand Y with a change from fuel A to fuel B. It will still drive you from one to the other location and you might or might not notice a difference. The more you push it to the limits, the more different the behavior becomes (where it is subject to religious debates what fringe behavior is “better”).
stw
And it boils down to knowing all your levers (look for the parking break in a Merc: it is a pedal not a handle *and* it does its job as a parking break well).
I rather use the following analogy:
Switching to Linux is like switching from your car to riding a bicycle.
Yes, you will still get from point A to point B, but you will likely take a longer time.
Yes, the bicycle company will emphasize the bicycle’s negligible cost (open source) and certain conveniences like you don’t need to worry about traffic as much (lack of viruses on Linux). Initially, you may even enjoy these benefits.
However, after a while, you realize that driving is actually what you want to do because riding a bike is actually a lot more difficult and stressful than driving (Linux learning curve and user friendliness). Not to mention, because there are so many different kinds of bikes (distributions), when your bike breaks, it’s difficult to find a bike shop that can help you fix it (lack of support).
Also, you miss your the ability to play your CD mix tapes on your surround stereo system (Photoshop), even though the guy who sold you the bike (FOSS advocates) tell you that you can install an FM radio and tape it to your handlebars and it will be similar to your stereo system (GIMP).
Finally, the new kickass GPS navigator that you just bought (games) just won’t install on your bicycle, no matter how hard you try. Sure, you can hold it in one hand while you ride (running it in a Windows emulator), but more likely than not, you will have to ride at one-fifth the speed (slow), and you may end up wiping out (crash) more often than not.
@Jon. Nice try. But you have to say that. Of course music plays best in iTunes, short of the covers not shown in Singapore (which on the other hand the Linux player does display). Linux is not for everybody, that’s for sure. A realistic comparison might be between a sedan and an ruggadized off-road vehicle. While the sedan might promise more creature comfort, the off-roader will support you in any situation and break much less. Could we invite fan boys from both camps to this threat and watch them flaming each other.
Well, I don’t really hate Microsoft. However, I hate Microsoft’s Marketing strategy. It is one of the most screw up strategy I feel personally feel. Instead of pushing their software to have more features or capabilities. They like to place limitation on their software, creating different version of it to confuse you.
Just looking at the fact on how many windows server 2008 server are there? Is there a need for so much version of Windows Vista? I would say their marketing department is doing a very good job, in fact too good that it turn against themselves.
Another fact, why is windows server 2003 32 bit enterprise edition able to support more than 4 GB of ram while vista 32 bit can’t? Clearly another marketing gimmicks to make u spend more.
However, for Linux, I am free to try any favor of them until I am pleased with it. Also I don not see many limitation on the software becoz of marketing. And most importantly it is FREE.
Most of the time, I feel ripped off my money whenever I pay Microsoft for any software and it doesn’t promise the quality of the customer service for a highly price paid software.
Thanks for the comment, Anzone.
I think the reason for multiple editions and SKUs is not so much marketing, but it’s to cater for the many different kinds of customers who are willing to pay different prices for different features.
For example, it wouldn’t be fair to penalize a small company by charging them the price of a Windows 7 Enterprise when they only require the features of a Windows 7 Professional. Multiple SKUs will allow Microsoft to target exactly what the customer wants.
You would be happy to know that for Windows 7, they have reduced the number of SKUs to basically three that you as a consumer will care about – Home Edition, Professional, and Ultimate.
As for Linux, you also have to be weary of the word “free”. Because as a hobbyist, it may be free. But for enterprise or serious use, RedHat/Novell and such charges for support and maintenance. And if you ever go see their pricing charts, in some cases they have just as many pricing levels/tiers/SKUs as Windows does!
It wouldn’t be fair to penalize a small company to pay such a high price where it just need that more than 4GB support but doesn’t really require the other “add-on” component that the “Enterprise” edition provide.
I don’t think they are catering anything to anyone, instead I feel they are more of forcing you to the corner.
Also take a look at Windows 7 Starter Edition. The windows with full of stupid hardware limitation. Instead of allowing the netbook to reach their full potential. Once again, Microsoft have place so much restriction on it.
If you think about it carefully though, what kind of small company would require desktop support of more than 4 GB RAM? If it’s for a server, there are a lot more other cheaper hosted Windows options available from hosting partners.
If it is for rendering or other super high-end work, I bet the cost of that rendering software that needs more than 4 GB RAM is at least a magnitude more expensive than the OS itself.
In other words. If you are a company that actually have work that require workstations to run more than 4 GB RAM, chances are the cost difference between OS versions is the least of your expense concerns.
As for Windows 7 Starter Edition. Let’s use this analogy, shall we?
You take a flight. Technically, in order to reach the full potential of your flight, you should fly first class, since that maximizes the plane’s capacity and your comfort and pleasure during the flight. But since most people don’t want to pay first class prices, there is business and economy class. Even when a plane has an empty first class, it will still fly with whatever passengers it has on board with business and economy passengers.
The plane’s full potential is not met, but everyone pays what they are comfortable with paying, everyone gets what they pay for, and everyone is happy.
Remember, any netbook that can run Windows 7 Starter Edition can run any SKU of Windows 7 equally well. So it is simply a matter of choice as to what you want to pay for.
I understand what you getting at, however I think my point of view can be fully explain by what this author mention http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2349780,00.asp
Which bring us to the topic of sometimes it is quite sick to believe in microsoft solutions. The so called “paid” solution is not really working well either.
I would say that having different version of products and catering to customers need is a form of marketing. Not sure if you heard of this term call “Market Segmentation”. It is a form of marketing strategy. Its purpose is to differentiate its different level of clients and then cater to each individual need. So I would say that what Microsoft applying to the current situation is some form of market strategy.
To cater to SMBs need, Microsoft even come out with “Window Server Foundation” I guess you should hear about it. It was launch to target those fast-growing market even though it is offered globally. Lain Macdonald, A Director in the Windows Server Group said” I saw a disparity between what people could afford to pay for IT systems and what they were being charged.”
I would say that what Microsoft is doing is trying to control and monopolized the market and cater to its own needs. Look at the netbook market. Steve Ballmer said that he will only supply companies who follow his definition of a netbook before he will supply them with the Window 7 starter edition. Such a tyrannical move. 800 pound gorilla at work.
+1 to the marketing segmentation
+1 to the catering to different customers with different needs
-1 to your assertion about overweight primates
Again, remember: Windows 7 Home Edition, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate will all run reasonably well on a netbook as a Windows 7 Starter Edition. It’s a matter of letting consumers choose what they want.
My bet? Most netbook users will be running at least Windows 7 Home Edition anyway.
Take a look at this piece of news then you will understand what I’m talking about.
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/314389/ballmer_confirms_windows
Cheers!
I’ve always understood what you were talking about. Like I said, there are two main principles at work here:
1. Different people have different needs
2. Everyone should have the right to choose and pay for only what they need
What Ballmer said:
You get to choose which version of Windows you want to run on your netbook. Like I said, my guess is that most netbook users will want to be running at least Windows 7 Home Edition.