DRM Single Points of Failure

Ars Technica has an article about Microsoft’s anti-piracy system failing this past weekend. The article is unclear as to the extent this affected MS’s customers. How many customers could not activate, install, or re-install their legitimately purchased software? Compare that to how many people in China illegally installed the same software, without problems.

Then there’s the on again off again, yes it is not it isn’t another Sony rootkit/DRM brouhaha.

When will companies stop treating its customers like pirates while leaving the door wide open for real pirates?

Aloha!

Watching, But Not Waiting: Hurricane Flossie

A hurricane coming in your general direction tends to focus ones attention. Hurricane Flossie is keeping our office busy as it makes it closest approach to the Big Island this afternoon.

Flossie is a very destructive storm, regardless of its present category (hurricanes are divided into one through five and this one has gone from one to four and back down to three so who knows what it will be when it finally gets here). Even if the winds don’t knock your house down, the rain/flooding could.

Although we are hoping for the best, we are asking our employees to plan for the worst and be prepared. For example, if they are at work and have the time before you leave:

1) Shut down equipment and unplug all electrical devices.
2) Cover all equipment, furniture and file cabinets to prevent water/rain damage.
3) Secure office and evacuate when advised by supervisor/administrator/civil defense.
4) Listen to media for “all clear” announcements and/or governor’s message.

YMMV. Insert disclaimer here.

Aloha!

Facebook Friends

I’m not sure what all the noise is about social networking. Perhaps, because I’m not sure what utility it has. Still, all the talk by Robert Scoble about Facebook led me to sign-up.

Having done so, I’m still not sure what’s there, there. Oh sure, uber geeks like Mr. Scoble circulate in interesting circles and have thousands of friends, but I am having trouble finding any of my friends/classmates/relatives there.

Maybe it’s an age thing. What me being closer to retirement than graduation…

But if you are a reader of my site and are on Facebook, let me know what you use Facebook for.

Aloha!

Dr. Keyboard Posts! Film at 11:00

The good Doctor Keyboard, er Chef Keyboard? posted yesterday. His frequency of posting, or lack thereof, is rivaled only by my poor performance.

Still, he likes his new MacBook Pro laptop (17-inch model) and feels it is worth the higher cost versus, for his example, a Dell Inspiron. Although I agree the MacBook Pro is a better than an Inspiron, one must remember, as he points out, that each is targeted at a different price point. In my opinion, I think if you were to compare the Dell XPS line, perhaps things might even out a bit more. Still, to each his own. Disclaimer: If I had the money, I might also get a MacBook Pro, and still may. Someday (see below).

As for me, I’m waiting for what gifts the Real Steve Jobs has for his serfs customers this morning. I’m looking for a sub-four pound laptop that is capable enough to do real work (e.g., transcoding video, working with databases with hundreds of
thousands of records, etc.). Perhaps, today is the day (crosses fingers, toes, and assorted other body parts)?

Aloha!

Is Linux Finally Ready for the Desktop?

It is one of life’s truisms that people hate change. It seems to me, in order for people to change from using what they have, someone has to prove that there is an alternative that is not only as good as what they use, but clearly better (otherwise, why spend the time learning a new way of doing things just to stay even). In my opinion, Linux has not made this case, yet.

As a GNU/Linux (hereinafter “Linux”) desktop user for several years now (Caldera, Red Hat, SUSE, Gentoo, Kubuntu, Xandros, etc.), I have looked with amusement over the debate on whether Linux is ready for the desktop (as opposed to
being used to run servers, where it is in many ways superior to Windows).

It seemed, every so often, a Linux supporter would declare that this year would be the year that Linux became ready for most computer users (i.e., for the most part, those who use Windows and the desktop applications like Word, Excel, etc. that run on it).

But year after year, he or she would be wrong. Most people were not switching from Windows to Linux. If anything, they were switching to OS X or not switching at all.

Perhaps in frustration, some Linux supporters would come up with all kinds of explanations about how Microsoft was cheating/lying/using Fear Uncertainty and Doubt to keep the masses from seeing the obvious superiority of Linux (some of which may even have been true). But the great majority of Windows users just shrugged and ignored them.

Although I don’t consider myself to be a Linux expert, I can do most of what I need to do in Linux. But I’m not sure that the majority of Windows users can because Linux (and the applications running on it), even at its best, are still too fragmented, unstable, and user unfriendly. Going further, contrary to most Linux supporters, I don’t think things will change much, in the near future, to address these problems.

Along those lines, Fake Steve Jobs has a rant that makes some good points. But, I think, Asa Dotzler has a well reasoned post that is closer to hitting the mark on what needs to occur for Linux to move forward. Based on his experience with Firefox, where he is instrumental in its development,
he breaks it down into: migration, stability, simplicity, and comfort.

Obviously, some of these are higher level constructs but the point is, until these are addressed, the majority of Windows users are making the rational/logical decision to stay with what they know. Until more Linux users and especially developers accept these are problems and fix them, Linux will always be just one year away from being ready for the desktop.

Aloha!