snippetaroo

ctcoberon wrote an interesting post today on
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I meant in a good way. As expected, Microsoft realise that existing licensing is too expensive for emerging cheap laptops. [I wouldn’t call it ultra-low-cost PC. To me, it is a PC. It is on the cheaper than the [current] cheapest end, but a PC nonetheless] Its effort is to reduce the licensing price for computers it segmented out as the cheapest end.
If you look at it from a software business viewpoint, it is a correct move, i.e., identified a new market (cheaper than cheapest), segment the market correctly by making sure that it does not cannabolise existing market, and target the market with the “correct” product. For someone who play with software, that sounds like unnecessary work. A better way is to give your OEM people the full software and let them pick-and-mix, then, since we are talking about non-free software, charge them according to what they want.
Here are […]

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ctcoberon wrote an interesting post today on
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Heise Online is running a story (in German) saying that Microsoft will appeal the European Commission fine imposed on it.
I know the amount is small for a company like Microsoft, but in absolute term it is huge, I will be appealing if I were Microsoft.
Should the appeal be allowed and the fine reduced? Let’s not forget there are two fines: One for the offense and another for not following the remedy the EC told Microsoft to do. For both counts, morally speaking, since Microsoft fought tooth and nail and lost, it should not.
However, there is another dimension to it. This is a referendum of whether EC oversteps its authority by imposing a bigger than reasonable fine on Microsoft. When the judgement come through, we might have the answer. However, while it is possible, it is unlikely to be a clear cut case. We are extremely likely to look at the […]

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Mr. Craig wrote an interesting post today on
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I’ve been working with a client on a WSS site deployment, and one of our big sticking points has been with the out-of-the-box WSS navigation. The client set the following requirements for the navigation:

Must be security trimmed - so if you don’t have access to a site, you don’t see it in the nav
Must allow for the addition of custom navigation items
Must have flyouts (drop-downs) that go at least 2 or 3 levels deep

Out of the box, we get #1 & #2, but since we’re not using MOSS, we can’t just modify the master page to get #3 to work.  That’s where my buddy the SharePoint Cowboy, Eric Shupps, found a nice way to add the drop-down menus to WSS.  The problem is that this approach switches the data source, and you lose the ability to specify what appears in the navigation.  So while you gain #3, you lose #2.  Talk about […]

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ctrambler wrote an interesting post today on
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A reader Orlando said in a comment to my musing about the difference between Eee PC Windows and Linux might be an artificial one that Asus Australian site actually have EeePC with the same specs for both Windows and Linux and that the windows one was AUS150 more. A very big thank you to Orlando for pointing this out.
I always harbour some suspicion that the APC Magazine article might be mistaken or a hoax. Hence, after seeing Orlando’s comment I went back and read the article again. My opinion now is that it is possible that the author Kidman was talking about some promotion which lump both Microsoft Windows XP and MicrosoftWorks into the EeePC (The Asus site only have WIndows XP. Either that, or I got hoodwinked.
Orlando’s find on Asus website was great for me since it allows us to compare the real cost of Win
dows XP license, at […]

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ctrambler wrote an interesting post today on
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I was hoping for a court upholding GPL in Germany with the Skype lawsuit. Unfortunately, Skype took the hints and withdraw the lawsuit. In any case, since the court already said upfront that Skype had not met its burden of proof, we might not get such a decision anyway.

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David Xie wrote an interesting post today on
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ctcoberon wrote an interesting post today on
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Lyman of 451 CAOS Theory was worry that we did not read beyond the headline of the recent revelation from APCMag that Windows-based Eee PC 900 is cheaper than their Linux-based cousin, i.e., we forgotten that the Windows version is slower and that the Linux version pack a bigger hard disk.
I did noted the two factors first time. And immediately realize that this can be a sinister marketing ploy to protray Linux in a bad light. Get a joe-consumer, put him in a store, show him the two EeePC, which one is he going to take? He don’t know (and probably don’t care) about the difference in hard disk. Not being technologically inclined he will not know Windows is actually running slower. He look at the price and say why should I pay extra for something I don’t know (Linux) compared to something I do know (Windows). Well, that is […]

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Jane wrote an interesting post today on
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I first heard of C.E. Murphy when Luna publishing put out Urban Shaman. It was an intriguing (and actually not very romantic which is a huge deal for me) urban fantasy. Over time (cough 3 years cough), Murphy has penned 10 novels and now has a million words in print. Born in Alaska and now living in Ireland, Murphy’s latest book, The Queen’s Bastard, is in bookstores now.
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It was only in retrospect I realized how completely absurd I’d been when I got The Call.
I’d queried two publishing houses that took non-agented material, and one had come back quickly, asking for the full manuscript of URBAN SHAMAN. I sent it on, and several weeks later the other also responded, asking for the full. Not wanting to tread on toes, I called House #1 to ask if they minded me submitting the full to another house, and explained to House […]

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Jane wrote an interesting post today on
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Dear Mrs. Lovelace,
When I’ve had a bunch of disappointing books in a row, I know I can turn to you to pull me out of my rut. Whether it’s a historical (which you don’t seem to write much anymore) or contemporary or romantic suspense, you generally hit the spot and give me something readable. The 2007 release “Stranded with a Spy” is no exception.
It’s easy to see your own military background in the grounding language, geography and set up of the book. You know Washington, the power playing, and the military subculture that permeates the book. Yeah there’s a lot of ‘gee-whiz’ technology the hero Cutter Smith relies on but the man is endowed with enough cool headed calm under pressure as well as intelligence to make me believe in the fact that he’s a top agent with this particular ‘Romance book’ secret government agency.
I […]

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wrote an interesting post today on
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