October 25th, 2009

It never works right when you demo Windows 7 on Japanese TV

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 1:57 pm

Categories: Desktop, General, Microsoft

Tags:

It’s always awful when you try to demo something to a large audience and then it fails miserably.

I found this video on Jason Calacanis‘ Mahalo.com site, a snippet of a Windows 7 demonstration on a segment of “Tokudane” on Fuji TV, a show roughly analogous to the “Today” or “Good Morning America” show in the United States. While clearly the SONY touchscreen PC had some driver issues, and it would be hard to point the blame directly at Windows 7, it’s still painfully hilarious to watch.

[EDIT: Apparently, they eventually got it right. :)]

And for more comic relief, check out CheapAssGamer’s utterly stomach-churning video review of the Windows 7 Whopper, also only sold in Japan. I love the guy’s quote “I’m just glad it wasn’t Windows 95″. Hey, it could be worse, it could have been a Windows 2000 burger.

October 24th, 2009

Ding Dong, The Vista's DEAD!

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 12:14 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Microsoft, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Halloween, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Jason Perlow

This Halloween, let’s all celebrate what we’re really feeling: The Wicked Vista is DEAD!

In the United States, we’ve got a bunch of frivolous holidays.

I’ve always regarded Halloween as a particularly frivolous holiday, one in which we encourage our children to engage in mischief and vandalism, of which the original purpose has been co-opted by business, like Easter and Valentine’s day, all of which seem to be of a single mindset which is to support the mass-market confectionery and High Fructose Corn Syrup industry.

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October 23rd, 2009

Frugal Friday: Mac refresh, Magic Mouse, Verizon DROID, The Nook, Windows 7, Likewise

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 8:00 am

Categories: Business, Desktop, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Personal Technology, Virtualization

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Mouse, Verizon Communications Inc., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, E-books, Mice, Operating Systems, Software, Personal Technology

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the 4th quarter 2009/Q1 2010 Apple hardware refresh, the new Apple Magic Mouse, the quaintness of keyboards, the new Verizon DROID smartphone, the Barnes & Noble “Nook” Android-based ebook reader, the Windows 7 launch and Windows XP migration solutions, and talk with Barry Crist, CEO of Likewise Software, the Windows networking and identity management interoperability company for Linux, UNIX and Mac.

Click Here to Listen to the October 23rd, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

October 22nd, 2009

Windows 7's latest fan: Linus Torvalds

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:40 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Linus Torvalds, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Jason Perlow

Linus Torvalds, pictured at an unidentified Yodobashi store in Tokyo, Japan. Source: Chris Schlaeger (click to enlarge)

I was determined to not write about Windows 7 today, because any analysis I wrote would get buried in all the other news. I was going to wait to deliver my “last word” sometime next week. But then a co-worker emailed me the photo above, clearly of Linus Torvalds at the software counter at Yodobashi, a Japanese consumer electronics store in Tokyo in front of a huge display of Windows 7 boxes, giving it the international sign of recognition: Thumbs Up. I HAD to post that.

Of course, if you happen to be Japanese, the custom is to make the “V” sign rather than a “Thumbs Up” when you are being photographed, but I won’t criticize Linus for his trivial knowledge gap.

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October 12th, 2009

In the aftermath of the T-Mobile Chernobyl

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:37 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Microsoft, Server, Web Technology

Tags: Termination, T-Mobile, Workforce Management, Storage, Human Resources, Hardware, Jason Perlow

T-Mobile’s Sidekick/Danger Inc. meltdown has far-reaching implications for wireless carrier data integrity responsibilities way beyond any immediate remediation the company may need to offer its customers.

Yesterday, T-Mobile notified all of its Sidekick device customers that a failure which occurred on Microsoft’s Danger, Inc. subsidiary’s Hitachi-based storage systems caused a catastrophic data loss at a central data center which affected approximately 800,000 of their subscribers worldwide.

This data loss included all contacts, digital photos, calendar entries and to-do lists that were stored by each customer because much of the device’s core functionality was entirely dependent on online, cloud-based services.

As a consolation, T-Mobile has generously offered its customers either an early termination escape from their contracts at zero penalty, or a $20 credit on a T-Mobile G1 android phone.

Really, T-Mobile? REALLY? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

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October 11th, 2009

Who is a Candidate for Desktop Linux?

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 4:39 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Desktop, Desktop Linux, Linux, UNIX, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Software, Jason Perlow

I personally do not fall into the group of people that can easily migrate away from Windows, but that doesn’t mean you or someone you know can’t make the switch.

As I said in earlier post last month, the work that I do in my professional life requires that I still need to use Windows and various Microsoft and 3rd-party Win32 applications, even though I also use Linux. I also use various applications in my personal life that have no true functional Windows equivalents, so I have both Windows and Linux computers at home.

However, my situation is somewhat out of the ordinary. I don’t expect that most regular end-users have or need more than one personal computer at home or at work. Additionally, as an Information Technology professional and as a writer who covers the industry that I work in,  I choose to use multiple systems with different operating systems at home for educational purposes and also because I have a genuine curiosity about what is out there in both the Open Source and Microsoft-centric worlds. That’s not necessarily a realistic usage scenario for everyone.

There are certainly ideal groups of people who are capable of moving towards a 100 percent Open Source or Linux environment in both their professional and personal lives. I’m not really interested in discussing the political and ideological aspects or why someone would want to make that choice. That path been re-hashed over and over again and supplies far too much fodder for flame bait. Please take that into consideration when you submit a Talkback on this piece.

The greater and more important question is, who CAN switch to Linux? It should be noted that when I refer to groups of people here, I am for the most part excluding Information Technology professionals, Techies, digital content creation professionals, UNIX/Linux sysadmins and scientific academia who have much more sophisticated or specialized needs and may even be using Linux, the Mac and Windows and or a combination of these already.

As to WHICH Linux distribution any of these target users should be looking at, I am going to treat all of them equally and say that every single one of them will meet the basic usage requirements for the set of folks detailed below. For more information on Linux distributions, check out my Surviving the Recession with Free Linux Distributions roundup.

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October 8th, 2009

On the future of Open Source thought leadership

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:22 pm

Categories: Business, Free operating systems, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source

Tags: Software, Leadership, Richard Stallman, Open Source, Tools & Techniques, Management, Jason Perlow

After over a decade of being in the shadow of the Free Software movement and 30 years of its inflexible dogmatic principles, disruptive new Open Source thought leadership is emerging that is truly able to compromise with the realistic needs of business and end-users without carrying the baggage of strict adherence to an ideology that is by definition a culture of exclusion. (artwork by Spidermonkey, Inc.)

My last article on Richard M. Stallman’s verbal attack on Miguel de Icaza and his continuing crusade against anyone who doesn’t fit the mold of the Free Software community seems to have struck a chord with those who sympathize with that movement’s ideals to the point of driving them to utter histrionics, unjustified hero worship and irrational thought.

Since then, there have been further dust-ups. Stallman, rather than clarify or deny his “traitor” statement that some have posited was simply hearsay, has published a paranoid rant on the supposed machinations of the new CodePlex Foundation without giving the organization the benefit of proving itself, and has added further gasoline to the flames by calling De Icaza a “Apologist”, in reference to his cooperation with Microsoft in joining the CodePlex Foundation and his embracing of Microsoft-originated technologies through the creation of the .NET-compatible, GPL-Licensed Open Source development framework, Mono.

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October 2nd, 2009

Frugal Friday: Groklaw v. Jason Perlow, Ubuntu Karmic Koala, Chrome OS in China, BlackBerry Service Termination, Kickfire 3000 Appliance

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:59 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Personal Technology, Podcast, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Ubuntu, Termination, Jason Perlow, RIM BlackBerry, Handhelds, Hardware

Related Podcast:May 22nd, 2009 Interview with Bruce Armstrong

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss Groklaw’s response to my condemnation of Richard Stallman’s attack on Miguel de Icaza, The new Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 beta, Chinese adoption of Chrome OS, my loss of BlackBerry service, and talk to returning guest Bruce Armstrong, CEO of Kickfire, about the company’s new 3000 Series enterprise appliance and version 1.5 software release.

Click Here to listen to the October 2, 2009 Frugal Tech Show Podcast.

September 22nd, 2009

Watch Out for That Meteor, Stallman.

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:12 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, General, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Server, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Mono, Ubuntu, Free Software Foundation, Microsoft Corp., Richard Stallman, Miguel De Icaza, Mono Framework, Genie, Linux, Open Source

Richard M. Stallman (RMS) the founder of the Free Software Foundation, has labeled prominent Open Source software developer Miguel De Icaza a “Traitor” for  joining the Board of Directors of Microsoft’s CodePlex Foundation as well as for his creation of the Microsoft .NET-compatible Mono software development framework. While RMS’s hatred of all things proprietary has fueled the FSF’s and GNU’s mission to create Free software alternatives for what seems like eons, the overwhelming desire for interoperability between open and proprietary systems makes this narrow-minded Cretaceous world view ripe for extinction. (Artwork by Spidermonkey)

As I have said in previous columns, I live as a citizen of two distinct worlds with diametrically opposing software development ideologies — the world of Microsoft, Windows and 3rd-party vendor developed proprietary software and systems, and that of Open Source and Free Software.

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September 21st, 2009

Frugal Tech Show with Centrify CEO Tom Kemp

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:30 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Linux, Microsoft, Networking, Security, Server

Tags: Centrify, CEO, Microsoft Windows Active Directory, Authentication/Encryption, Directory Services, Security Administration, Enterprise Software, Software, Security, Jason Perlow

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I talk with Tom Kemp, CEO of Centrify, the Active Directory and Identity Management open systems integration software company.

Click Here to Listen to the Frugal Tech Show Podcast.