Lloyd Ketchum - YAB, "Yet Another Blog"

December 2007 - Posts

• What's Wrong With Windows? Why Live Matters...

  "People don't want a waitress and a cook - people want a chef that is also a nutritionist!" - Windows Live may well be all of these... Technically there isn't much wrong with Windows at all - it's a great operating system and it underwrites an ecosystem so vast that literally no one can speak to all of it. That makes for some tough choices for people and the potential for confusion and real customer dissatisfaction exists with greater frequency. In very real ways, Windows provides for too many choices and too many options for people to manage well without assistance of some kind. I remember returning to the United States some years ago and visiting an average grocery store. I needed a few simple sundries is all... What a mess! I walked around in some kind of odd, stunned state of disbelief for the better part of an hour. The choices were so many and so numerous, that it was quite difficult to choose from among them. I looked for the familiar, but could not find the items I was used to from among the sea of products displayed in every category. It didn't matter what it was I searched for, either - simple stuff, like toothpaste became a quest for understanding - anything! I was miserable, laughable and pathetic. I stood back; I leaned in; I read and re-read... and read some more. "Extra" "Super" "Super Ooper Duper Extra" - where in the world is regular? I gave up and called my wife. Celestial mechanics and system components I can handle, shopping for soap...? I was done. The choices were too many. In many ways, that is what a Windows user faces when they step up to buy a personal computer and all that attends it. As computers became commoditized and more appliance like, dollars that were available to support their personalization evaporated quicker than a cold beer at an Auburn -v Alabama game. Great sales associates became very scarce - their employers just weren't going to pay them a living wage, because our demand for cheap was just too great. The computer and related accessories shopping experience went from tough to downright miserable... and so went the user experience. Worse... as the socialization of the web permeated even the best of sites with the best of intentions, any real help for users in public forums disintegrated into a juvenile exchange of insults and one-ups-man-ship. Useless quips and one-liners replaced thoughtful help and mature exchanges between people in need and those trying to offer effective assistance. These days few helpful user posts survive even a few hours before they are lost in the wake of those motoring around in one hate-boat after another. So much of what the personal computing experience could be, is simply lost, or never discovered and it's damn sad - for regular users. Windows and its ecosystem aren't the real problem. Bellying up to the massive food-bar that the ecosystem presents sure can be. The Windows ecosystem is so vast and so diverse that for many users it is like being wheeled up to a global buffet blindfolded and told to begin eating. Once the blindfold is removed, the regular computer user is left to interpret the warm gray hairy thing in front of them - only later to realize from some distance that what they are being asked to bite into is an elephant - a really big one! Many users are left to ponder what to do next and there are few good sources to help them along the way. Microsoft Partners and large OEM's are there to some extent, but the pressures they face economically, have severely restricted their ability to support users in meaningful ways. Closing off the ecosystem would be a disaster and that isn't an option - I mean, the idea that "it all just works" is usually true only when the what of what works is defined by someone else [as Apple does] and that just isn't personal - it's one man's idea of what personal is. Small builders could be the answer, but like our own company, we just can't handle the volume needed to address all concerns and frankly, small builders and integrators don't want to address all concerns. So what is one to do? Windows Live may be the answer to a lot of the challenges I have addressed above. Live, not so much for what it currently is, but for what it could be, might just be the binder that users are looking for - connecting them to the larger Windows ecosystem in ways that haven't even been thought of. What Google and Apple do not seem to appreciate as well as Microsoft does... I'm a betting man, but I don't gamble. [true of a lot of business owners]. I bet the proverbial farm all the time. So far, we've kept the farm and kept it growing. I'm betting that Microsoft and Windows Live will continue to extend the Live platform to developers - along with appropriate tools and solid API's specifically designed to help partners and users push the Windows platform beyond the desktop and themselves, and open it up for initiatives and people of every skill level and need. This process is already off to a great start over at Windows Live Dev and I assess it will only get better - a lot better and really quickly. A cursory glance at the service API's reveals that a whole lot of work has and is being done by the Live team. See the Live Web Services Poster. I always said that the most exciting and important thing about Windows Vista was not to be found among its features, but by how it was developed and what people would do with it - obviously, the most exciting things and greatest innovations will come from developers building for the platform - be they from Microsoft, or elsewhere in its ecosystem. From what I see and have used, it is more than clear to me that Live is the glue that will bind users with developers in ways never before possible. It is equally clear that very soon, nearly all personal computer users will be developers themselves - self-service applications tools aside, regular users will author great applications and mash-ups with tools and utilities added by the tens of thousands. I am betting that Windows Live Web Services and all the devs that use the service API's will be what advances not just the personal computing platform and Windows, but the billion-plus users that work and play on it each and every day. The platform some of us understand <sort of...> and all of us know as Windows, is really in its very first few days of life. It will grow in size and scope beyond what even the most visionary can now imagine. When I think of all the press around Google and Apple and I look at the platform side by side with Windows Live Web Services and their API's, I laugh - out loud. How can they all always get it so wrong and one man and one company always get it so right...? Trust me on one thing: what we think Windows is, is hardly the beginning. It's currently just a compass, where what it will become one day will seem much more like a military grade GPS. If this is the world that Bill Gates saw from the beginning, he's got to be one very underestimated man and scary smart in ways that even smart people can't fully comprehend. Posted Dec 29 2007, 10:31 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: YAB, Vista, Windows Vista, Windows, Opinion, Windows Live

• The Case FOR and AGAINST Windows Vista

  Did you ever wish you were wrong? I mean, really wrong? When BETA 2 for Windows Longhorn Vista shipped, I installed it as I had many previous development and testing versions of the new operating system. I wrote, and crazily so, that Vista was going to be a monumental flop in terms of how it was perceived by people. Many people who know me well, thought I was way over the top - being dramatic, even... I wrote about how Vista was going to be perceived (very badly) and misunderstood and largely ignored. I worried terribly that the fall-out on all of us that build and support computers and the software that runs on them, would be profound. Boy, I wish I were wrong. A little under a year after the general public release of Windows Vista, and despite unprecedented improvement and driver coverage, Windows Vista is indeed perceived as bad. That doesn't just suck for Microsoft - it sucks for Microsoft partners (a little), and it really sucks for users of Windows (there is so much users are missing when they don't run Vista). There is the reality of Windows Vista that is (GREAT) and what the perception about its performance and value is (TERRIBLE). In June of 2006 I wrote (blabbered, really) about how horrid the end user experience was going to be under Windows Vista - not because the operating system was BAD, or looked BAD, but because so much had been scattered to hell and back. I also wrote about how many people were going to expect to be able to run Vista on hardware that they had upgraded from Windows 98 SE, or Windows Me to Windows XP, and how that simply was not going to work well. Worse, so much of what makes Windows Vista not just good, but GREAT and truly INNOVATIVE, is completely transparent to end users, or so technically oriented, it just isn't appealing for users to read about - see, Top Ten Things I Love About Windows Vista Recently, I think I found why Windows Vista has really had a tough time of it in the technical perception department and it is pretty clear to me, what is really wrong with the lineup that is Windows Vista, and it has zip to do with how well it performs, or doesn't as many suggest - it has to do with how much of let down Windows Vista Business edition is [it just isn't as feature complete as Windows XP Professional is in relative terms (to XP Home)]. Simply, the expectation that Vista Business is all that Vista Home Premium is, plus a lot more (BUSINESS) - like XP Pro over XP Home WAS (just isn't so). OK, so small business users have to run Windows Vista Ultimate (I don't recommend any other version for most business owners and mobile users). One problem is that they have to pay more (OK, they get SOME more, but not enough to justify the greater cost). That's it - that is all that is bad with Windows Vista - the lineup as it relates to the business version. BUT.... that's not the perception at all - that is FAR WORSE... It seems that none of that matters much... PERCEPTION, as it always has been, is the REALITY people embrace, and people, (regular users), are the real losers. THE REALITY of Windows Vista has been different for me, and our customers. Windows Vista has not been just good, it has been GREAT. I knew it would be, but sadly, I also knew it wouldn't be seen for what it was. Before I go further, let me be clear about one very important thing: "IF WINDOWS VISTA WERE BAD (TRULY BAD), I WOULDN'T SELL IT, OR RECOMMEND IT!" PERIOD. One, I wouldn't lie about it and two, I COULDN'T AFFORD TO SUPPORT IT. As a small tech business owner and operator, if Windows Vista weren't great, my business could not afford to sell it - much less live with it. Please see, Windows Vista - The Most Reliable Operating System I have Ever Used As the year known as 2007 comes to a close, it isn't going to be remembered as the year of Windows Vista - part of it will be remembered as the year negative perceptions trumped reality. People wanted failures, it seems, and there have been no shortage of people to tell them where they are. Vista has been at the top of many lists relating to technology failures. WHY? That one is easy... "people are people" - a few are nice and truly so, but sadly, many are pretty mean way down deep (where it matters a lot). People are also tired; they are jaded and they have become very accustomed to expecting, even looking for, the bad in all things. People have been fed a steady diet of bad news, or the bad side of news... as is so often the case. BAD Vista, (just an operating system) and the perception around it, is just one more example. The war, politics, and rivers of hate - they are all to blame - all part of the unending flow of negative thought and energy spewing forth from just about every news and media outlet. The eighties were the "Me Generation" - the nineties, the "Age of Political Correctness" - the 00's, they are just plain olé mean - "The Age of Meanness." Vista isn't going to get a pass, and neither are you. So why did Vista (just another operating system) get caught up in the age of meanness? People are people and sadly, most are pretty stupid - not natively, or inherently so, but because being stupid is just easier. It's far easier to parrot what a blogger says than it is to learn and form one's own opinion - it's easier to just stay right where one is, than it is to venture out into something new. How many people are "stuck in a rut?" How few will do anything about it? In the age of meanness it is almost bad form to try - after all, what if one were to succeed and obviate the impact of change... what would be left to complain about? We're all mean now and happy for it. When all else fails... be mean... that solves every challenge. Being mean is the new "tough" - they new word for strong. Kindness? Well no way, buddy... that is the new word for insincere, or better, "weak." There really is not one thing wrong with Microsoft's marketing of Vista. The marketing has been honest and decent. The problem is that Microsoft's marketing has been just that, "Honest and Decent" and that just does not fly in the age of meanness. Apple's marketing is successful, because it is all at the expense of the hapless, stupid, chubby, unattractive dolts that it labels Windows users to be. Apple's marketing is not honest and its not decent, but it is mean and mean is cool. There are many that would argue that what I am saying is just bull - just an old man's aged and tired rant. I bet, despite my years, that I could still kick the living piss out of any nine of ten of them [all at once] (mean enough for ya?). One side, the nice side, just doesn't have any appeal any longer - but oh boy, the mean snarky side, well... these days that just drips sex appeal and people line up for it. Let's take some examples of what I mean and in the context of Windows Vista: TRUTH: Windows Vista uses "Instant Search" - a feature that allows users to nearly instantly find programs, documents, emails and other files on their computers and other indexed locations. CONSEQUENCES: Instant Search chews disk I/O for about a minute, or three [but not more] when Windows first starts. PERCEPTION: Vista sux0rs giant root, because it is slower to make programs available for users than XP - XP FTW! REALITY: In practice, Vista is way better than XP and users of it are way more productive, BECAUSE once it does load, Instant Search is well, INSTANT and users don't spend nearly as much time hunting around for stuff! Further, and what is not reported, or spoken to, is that despite the two minutes longer Vista takes to fully load, the user saves ten times that time in an average session, because they can find things INSTANTLY. Op Ed: "READ THE REALITY SECTION ABOVE AGAIN, DUMB ASS!" (see, I'm being mean... er... tough.... and that is really cool, huh?) Of course that is not what is being held out, is it? That is not what is being written about, is it? TRUTH: Windows Vista has an integrity mechanism that features User Account Control [UAC], which works to restrict and control processes to user named space and subjects access to user approval. The integrity mechanism and all the features inherent to it, have made Windows Vista a very secure operating system and very difficult to compromise. CONSEQUENCES: Windows Vista users can't just next, next, next their way through life - they have to think for a moment and make a decision. PERCEPTION: Windows Vista's persistent pop-ups will drive users crazy. REALITY: Windows Vista users rarely see UAC Elevation Prompts and when they do, the prompts take a half second to assess and approve. Users needn't enter passwords if they do not want to - they can simply click to approve the elevation (as when they install software). Once a user has a Vista computer set up to their own tastes, they very rarely see UAC Elevations. UAC and applications which work according to least privileged access permissions, really have made Windows more secure and safer to use. I could go on and on and on, with one example after another about what truly does make Windows Vista great - the examples number in the hundreds.... BUT... it won't change a thing - not for regular users. For my customers, there is no concern, or any reason to read this blog - they are already, and always have been cared for and they already know they truth. Vista is great and there are nice people working to make using it a great experience. People who are nice as well as effective. The rest are missing out and stuck in a very dark place that can't be much fun to be in. I worry about them, and what I worry about doesn't have a thing to do with Windows Vista (it's just an operating system). "what, you expected journalism...?"  "I just call em as I see em" Posted Dec 27 2007, 07:01 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: YAB, Vista, Windows Vista, Opinion, Vista Security, Personal Computers, Windows Vista Ultimate, Computers, Windows Vista Business

• Service Pacitus

  Many of you no doubt have the same disease, or at least a few of the symptoms.. Service Packs of about every shape and form are appearing for a great many Microsoft products [a good thing, for sure], and like us, you're running more than a few in testing and perhaps some in production. Obviously, the RC's have to be tested and this can result in a serious case of the service pack runs... On occasion, and despite how evolved most service packs have become, we still run into unexpected - even surprising, challenges. Read on... It's all part of it - the normal work many of us do. I'm not going to even try to match the coverage going on out there regarding most of them, but if you're running ESET NOD32 Antivirus, you may want to pay attention to the next few lines. There is definitely some dependent process between ESET NOD32 build 3.0.566 and Service Pack 1 to Windows Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 with SP1, that are not working well together. Parts and Builds Software Common to both test systems: Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit with SP1 RC Build 6001 Microsoft Office 2007 Professional with Service Pack 1 ESET NOD32 3.0.566 Test System 1 P4 3.2 GHz based HP Laptop NX9600 2 GB RAM ATI X600 GPU 128 MB Test System 2 Pentium Dual Core 3.2 GHz 2 GB RAM Nvidia 8800 GTS 768 MB GPU Both test systems received all updates and service pack 1 to Office 2007 normally. Both test systems had earlier versions of ESET NOD32 antivirus removed prior to the installation of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Both test system had ESET NOD32 reinstalled after Vista Service Pack 1 was installed and the systems were restarted. Both systems restarted and ran normally - with one major exception: Word 2007 would not open and would hang both systems - forcing a hard shutdown. Removing ESET NOD32 antivirus solved the problem and Word 2007 and all other applications ran normally under the combination of Vista SP1 RC, Office 2007 SP1. Windows Live OneCare was then deployed across both systems and all processes and applications run normally. No adjustment available to ESET NOD32 [excluding WINWORD.EXE for example], would allow the security suite to run alongside the combination of Office 2007 SP1 and Vista SP1 RC. Oddly, only Word 2007 with Office 2007 SP1 is affected - all other Office 2007 applications run normally. Older builds of ESET NOD32 antivirus have worked normally and Word 2007 with Service Pack 1 on Vista with SP1 RC run normally. Communications have been prepared for both Microsoft and ESET Software, and advising of our test results. And that was only one little item making up a long, and productive day. I'll post an update when new builds are available. Cheers! Lloyd Posted Dec 18 2007, 04:42 AM by admin with no comments Filed under: lketchum, Windows Vista, Performance and Reliability Monitor, Windows Vista Performance and Reliability Monitor, OneCare, Windows Live OneCare, Windows Vista Service Pack(1), Personal Computers, Windows Vista Ultimate, ESET NOD32, Testing, Service Packs, Office 2007 Service Pack 1

• Reviewing Reviewers

  Most Microsoft software reviews suck serious ass. There's no other way to describe the crap that passes for reviews. Far too many bloggers' reviews are based upon VM derived impressions of the software displayed. A few screen shots are added to well known lists of features and a touch of flowery language is added to what ends up being a half-assed representation of what the software truly is, or can do [or not as might be the case]. I have avoided providing reviews, because I am not a professional blogger and certainly not any kind of journalist - not even a really bad one. I am an engineer and small business owner that builds and sustains systems, networks, software and the hosted services that tie them together - so any review would be based upon an actual build, and that often would reveal either my own, or a real customer's information. I can't do that - even a little - not without permission and some controls designed to protect people. This makes it harder to provide reviews, but not impossible. It does strike me as badly needed, however, and I am determined to find a way to share real reviews - not just about the smaller software picture, but the larger impact found in how and why software is integrated and how it benefits people and business. I'm pretty tired of tired reviews. They don't offer much worth reading and those sites that are great, don't get enough attention - I don't know why, but outside of the specific engineering groups around Microsoft Products like Exchange and ISA Server, there isn't a lot of play. I think that needs to change. Regular people need to know more about these products and how they integrate and what they mean - in the context that is most oriented toward them. After all, they are the ones likely to be making purchasing decisions about such products. Let me know which products you'd like reviewed and why - I'd be interested in understanding what decisions and business challenges you're trying to address. That will help me pick which products to review. I promise one thing: anything I review will be something we use ourselves and I'll share the how and why of it. Cheers! Lloyd Posted Dec 16 2007, 11:51 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: Opinion, Personal Computers, Customer Colleagues, Support, Views, Computers, Development

• Skewered by the SKU

  Perhaps too much has been written about the number and type of SKU's Microsoft released for Windows Vista - so why I am adding to the din now... Many attempted to explain why the larger number of available SKU's was bad, or what one would be trading up or down, by selecting one version of Windows Vista over another. There were version lists; features tables and matrices, with little check boxes denoting what version came with what and for what price, but no one has addressed why the Windows Vista SKU lineup continues to frustrate and disappoint consumers, partners and OEM's. None of the major news outlets seemed to understand why one version of Vista over another was good, or bad, much less appropriate. Most professional bloggers stuck to the same old mantra about how confusing so many SKU's were - none reflected what was wrong with any one SKU, or the line. There has to be one main reason, right? From where I sit, all versions of Windows Vista are the same... every machine I build ships with one version, Ultimate. We are an Ultimate only shop. When we first began to build computers and networks featuring Windows Vista we started off using Vista Business where we thought it was appropriate, but we soon found ourselves reaching out for features that were not there and having to turn to third-party software solutions to fill in the blanks. That cost us money we had not planned on spending [better to hack us off, than anger a customer]. Very soon after, we adopted a policy of Windows Vista Ultimate ONLY. I think the reasons why we became a Vista Ultimate only shop may help people understand what to expect from Vista's different SKU's and drive many to the same conclusions we arrived at. First off, the Windows Vista Home Premium SKU is fine - it is the only SKU that is consistent with Microsoft's previous marketing and product segmentation; however, it is entirely inappropriate for business - even very small businesses. Home Premium is what Windows XP Media Center Edition devolved to <eventually>. When first introduced, Windows XP Media Center Edition was a super-set of Windows XP Professional; domain join was possible, as was Remote Desktop, and all other business related features. Once Media Center was attached to Windows XP Home Edition, the SKU lost all that made it a candidate for small business people. Take note: Windows Vista Home Premium does have one big limitation and difference from its older XP cousin, it can no longer see domain resources at all - not only can it not join a domain [as designed] it cannot even see them - domain resources cannot be mapped from Home Premium at all. Enough about the only version of Windows Vista that in terms of marketing, remains familiar and somewhat consistent with the past. The real pooper in the Windows Vista lineup is the business edition. Sure, it can join domains, see network shares, and it supports group policies. All good - all terribly necessary and all just as boring to consumers as they ever were. Windows Vista Business is the dud of the bunch. You see, previously, Windows XP Professional was everything that Windows XP Home was - just a lot more, and the first great Media Centers were everything both Home and Professional were - the consumer got a lot, and partners and integrators had all they needed. The problem with Windows Vista's lineup and perhaps explaining its slower sales and rate of adoption, is just how bad the business version is. People are familiar with what they had. If they had XP Professional, they had it all - all that was in XP Home, plus all they needed for work. Now that is no longer the case. Back to business... As I said, we first tried to deploy Windows Vista Business and very quickly started taking calls from customers about what was missing... The biggest? "Where's the burn button?" <the small disk burning access button visible in Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Vista> - hint... it isn't there in Windows Vista Business. Doesn't seem like much, but when you have to deploy third party utilities to make up the difference, it can be and similarly, when customers have one expectation and they are met with a different reality, they get upset. So very simply, Windows Vista Business editions are not like XP Professional - they do not have all that previous home editions had, plus all that business people need - they, like Home Premium, are less than they used to be. Focus on that last line for a moment.... similarly marketed versions of Vista feature less than they used to? Now, if I were ever to join the rank and file of my local Windows Vista Sux0r user group, it would be as a result of not how bad Vista is in general, but because of how bad Vista Business is. Windows Vista Business leaves a small business person and their Microsoft Partner with only one choice: Ultimate, and a lot more money that will have to be spent. There are problems with Windows Vista - and they start with what the business edition isn't any longer and how much more one has to spend to get what they once had with greater clarity. Posted Dec 16 2007, 08:30 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: Vista, Windows Vista, Windows, Opinion, Windows Vista Ultimate, Business, Windows Vista Business

• Community Site Development

  Few things are more important than community - family is one. Neither is served well if where we live looks like ass <thanks, Shannon - I still love that phrase>. We've been busy the last year or so, but we always have made time for charities and "community" One community that I really respect and admire is the technology and news community over at ActiveWin - www.activewin.com I liked their people - young men that "Do Stuff" I like some of their regulars, TechLarry - a Navy Vet and a personality one can just tell is a decent man you'd welcome as a friend. Then there is Fritzly - he's got to be a good engineer and out-of-the-box thinker - always looking forward to what is next. There are guys there like mooresa and Parker - who are smart and consistent and determined. All just members of a community. To help that community - one of many virtual and real communities we support, we started and continue to develop for them. We don't charge any fees, because building community isn't about money - it's about caring for people around us. I thought it was time we posted a few shots of what we have been up to for this community - where it matters a lot - the presentations layer. Below are just a few of the dozens of designs we worked on and the one I like the most. It is "sharp" and "clean" but dripping with subtle hints at what is underneath. The site is fully end-user customizable. Each component is a small application unto itself and all run as an RIA, as well as "in" the browser. In fact, one can grab any one component and sling it around the desktop as fast as a bullet - it's fun to do and fun to watch - like a virtual tennis ball. I'll share more on that and how we did it as we move to launch, but for now... let me know what you think of the designs.   Posted Dec 13 2007, 03:33 PM by admin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: YAB, Development, ActiveWin

• Vista's Asshats!

  In the context of Windows Vista, an "Asshat" is a person who steals the operating system, uses it illegally, never patches it - ever, and then complains about it endlessly and publicly. There are of course, degrees of Asshat-edness, orders, if you will... I'll get to the order of the asshat in a moment... Since Asshats steal Vista and do not pass Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validations, they never patch the operating system. Asshats never apply new drivers, or performance and reliability updates - they just ***, piss, moan, whine and complain about how poorly Windows Vista runs on the hardware they manage to scrape together. Asshats vigorously attack Windows Vista in public forums and viciously assail any user of Vista who so much as likes the new operating system. Microsoft Partners are not business people in the minds of asshats, they are shills - mindlessly supporting Microsoft's domination of the world. Typical Asshat behaviors include: Asshats hate Asshats lie Asshats cheat Asshats steal Asshats tolerate others that do as they do An average asshat will declare anything coming from Microsoft as evil - all while they continue to use stolen copies of the company's software. Be careful... some asshats are smart people - clever and they confuse by intent. Many asshats have junior asshats as friends - lesser asshats within an order of asshats. Some asshats are clever enough to hide the true depth of their asshat-edness. These are especially dangerous as they appear harmless and they are very subtle - but asshats just the same. Asshats come in many forms, but they are most often single Caucasian males with "members" that more closely resemble a child's thumb rather than anything of interest to a woman. Asshats have a great deal of time <because they rarely work> that they use to talk about how much they hate Windows Vista and Microsoft, Republicans, The United States, and its President, George W. Bush <you see, in the mind of an asshat, they are all the same, and all equally bad>. To an asshat a cigar is never just a cigar and shoes rarely have laces in them. Asshats swear that Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista is the end all and should have shipped when the operating system first entered production - they'll steal a copy of Vista SP1, too, and then declare any law abiding user a liar who had been applying performance and reliability patches all along, and had a great Windows Vista experience. To an asshat, Microsoft Partners, OEM's and Systems Builders that design systems, sell legal copies of the operating system and work like mad to make a great Vista based computer, are all liars, sellouts and "Microbots." Some asshats are uber clever - they host radio and podcast shows and very carefully select and place words along a path of leading questions - all designed to cast doubt on the value and benefits inherent to Windows Vista. Most asshats however, are just blunt instruments without much imagination, skill, or purpose. To help people identify various types of asshats, I have prepared a list under the order of the asshat - my own opinion about what makes an asshat... well... an asshat... The Order of the Asshat Chief Asshats - they are masters of all above General Asshats - these actively bomb Windows related forums with useless drivel Stupid Asshats - forum trolls that could not write or spell their way out of a wet sack Freaking Asshats - *Nix fanatics that run Windows, but claim to know and only use a Linuces distribution Able Asshats - *nix fanatics that really do use a Linuces, or Unices, but steal restricted packages to run proprietary software designed to make their *nix machine about half as useful as a Windows PC Apple Asshats - these guys actually believe that spotlight didn't suck and didn't come "after" Microsoft's Instant Search was demonstrated and Windows Search shipped years ahead of it. OSS/FOSS Asshats - these guys don't really use open source software, and they don't know Microsoft is the best open source developer there is Smarmy Asshats - these are oily little men that only view software from the limited perspective of the client computer - they ignore servers, services and related software Blogging Asshats - these are pseudo journalists that installed Windows Vista long enough to *** about it Convicted Asshats - these are special asshats that insist, that no matter the evidence presented, that no one can run Vista well at all So there you have it - my description of what an Asshat is and what they do <not much at all>. Asshats are all over the web - you'll find them in every Windows forum and news site - all greased up and ready to take on the world. You'll know when you come across an asshat - your skin will break out in a rash and the taste of vomit will be unmistakable in the back of your throat. Avoid them if you can; ignore them if at all possible, but if you can't, add your own asshat examples here. Asshat encounters...it's enough to make a guy actually like WGA validations... Posted Dec 12 2007, 06:54 PM by admin with 2 comment(s) Filed under: people, Vista, Opinion, Windows Vista Performance and Reliability Monitor, asshats, trolls

• The Wild Wild Web

  The World Wide Web is a reflection of who and what we are and it isn't always an attractive image. Increasingly, the web not only reflects the worst in man, it seems to be inviting it. Hiding behind apparent anonymity and gross corruption of the liberties afforded people by laws protecting expression - like the United States' First Amendment to its Constitution, people, say and do some terribly hurtful things - intentionally. Removed of the "I'll bust you in your fat mouth" consequences attending face to face confrontations, people feel free to share whatever base thoughts that enter their heads. Participating in public forums [pausing for a moment to reflect on how appropriate the term public forum seems when it conjures thoughts of well used public restrooms...] is a challenge for any person intending to share anything good of themselves. Avoiding being shaped negatively by the experience can be very tough. Recently, I withdrew from a public forum I had supported for many years. In that forum, I sought to share good information and perhaps elevate the quality of discourse by simply not participating in exchanges that were hurtful, or those which offered no value. How I supported that community deserves some definition. I paid for it - its servers, its hosting, its protection and its future. When its owners' server failed, I donated the parts and labor to fix it, while hosting the site temporarily on one of my own, in one of my centers. When FedEx, whom I had paid to ship the repaired server, broke it, I built a brand new one for its owners at my own expense. When hackers from Brazil attacked the site's ancient code, I built an applications firewall to stop them and bought a commercial variant for them. When its database, an aged example of how not to build a database, failed, I fixed it - more times than I can count. When the owners' email services failed, I provided free hosted Exchange services with all the trimmings - commercial anti-spam and anti-malware services and as many accounts and aliases as were needed. When the site, older than most, needed updating, I began development on a new site - again, for free. The list goes on and on... in other words, I supported the community in real ways - an obligation I felt necessary if one were to set a good example, and it was that example that I hoped would shape the forum for the better - it didn't work and I failed. No matter what effort was applied, it wasn't enough. The forum, like so much of the web, descended into chaos and heated exchanges taking on the all too familiar divisive themes so prevalent in our modern societies. Instead of shaping it, the forum and a lot of negative energy began to shape me - making me angry, frustrated and unhappy. It isn't that life is too short for that kind of thing, it is that life is too valuable and too precious to allow oneself to be so negatively impacted by something that should be fun, informative and entertaining. At this point most people would pay perfunctory lip service to how much good the web has to offer, but I'm not going to. I started using and developing for the web and Internet before it existed commercially and I remember well what it was before it became a public pool - it was a better place; a nice neighborhood where tidy little homes lined its streets and it was inhabited by a gentle and kind people who were devoted to public service. Exposed to politics, vice, hate and spleen, the web has become something to approach with caution and a good football helmet. The web is wild but there is no one to bust. When I was young, more decades past than most middle aged people can count, men were men. We made mistakes and when we took a poke to the snout for speaking out of turn, we knew we had it coming. We apologized for being "heels" and the offense was forgotten - truly. We didn't even hit back, because, we knew we deserved to be set straight. In many ways we felt better for having been handed a "sock" - we'd taken our pill and could move on. As we grew, we did the same - when a young man acted a fool, we were obliged to set him right - even if it meant we had to bloody his nose in the process. We didn't beat one another, we reminded one another - what was right and what was wrong and what would fly and what would not. When we were wrong, we faced it. The web does not provide for that and "banning" is the virtual equivalent of backing down - something no man would ever do. Honor meant more than life - especially your own. I'm not going to pretend to know the answers. I don't have any. I don't think the web is going to get any better and in fact, it is likely going to get worse. I thought I would have learned my own lessons - about not being able to change much. Having soldiered longer than most people live, I used to think that I could make the world a better place. I was wrong and failed at that, too. What I did learn was that I could make the tiny world around me a better place. At that I did succeed at and my little company is a force for good - a nice neighborhood with tidy little homes and gentle people devoted to one another. So as before, that is what I am going to do - make the tiny part of the world wide web around me a better place, and what I devoted to the public forums I once supported, I will publish here. Guests will always be welcome, but they will be expected to act like guests in my home. This space I can control and shape to some measure of good. Posted Dec 11 2007, 03:45 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: people, YAB, why Blog, lketchum, our team, Opinion, Views, forums