Mike's blog

How Cable TV REALLY works. Click here to open a window with a larger version (800x600) of the poster.

Once upon a time I worked with a 'media' company (what is now referred to as the main stream media, or MSM) - this is before the internet was available to mere mortals, back when the IBM PC had just passed being the Next Big Thing, and Windows was a new option for PC users.

Here's a little poster I made up to decorate my cubicle - using an old version of Corel Draw, printed on a low-resolution printer, then scanned a decade later (my way of saying sorry for the poor quality).

It appears that the "Open Directory" project (or DMOZ) is doomed. There have been problems over the last few months, including a big crash, lack of backups, and what can only be characterized as benign neglect on the part of AOL (who have provided funding for the project.)

Related topic: System Tray Scan Utility - identify programs that have icons in the tray.

I don't know about you, but I am saddened whenever I use a non-techie friend's computer and see more than two or three active tray icons in the Windows taskbar "system tray"*. (Usually I see six, seven, eight or even a few dozen!)

Why does it bother me? Because, most of the time, the computer owner has no idea what those icons are for, or how they got there.

It means that third-party installers (or worse, computer integrators or 'manufacturers' like Dell) have hooked more stuff into the auto start chain, which also means: more memory used, longer startup times, another prime opportunity to break the user's system with even more bloated, buggy software.

Back in the day, some folks at Microsoft used the term "developer mindshare" in the now-infamous "Halloween Memo" - Microsoft was operating (rightly, I think) under the assumption that they would dominate the software universe in proportion to its domination of the thoughts of software developers.

Here's a useful side-by-side comparison of the GPL licenses.

Care of GrokLaw.net.

Link

The domestic auto dealers are in trouble. Again.

This Oct. 18, 2006 article on Businessweek.com details just how bad things are for the automakers:

It's Economics 101. When there's more supply than demand, the supplier is in trouble.

That's the situation at DaimlerChrysler's (DCX) Chrysler division. People aren't buying their cars. Their dealers—including some of the country's biggest retailers, Group 1 Automotive (GPI) and AutoNation (AN), which combined own nearly 500 dealerships across the country—have stopped taking orders because of lack of demand.

I find it interesting that reports focus on supply and demand, without considering the factors that can reduce demand. Is it only economic factors that contribute to slowing sales? Are there any other factors that may contribute to declining sales in recent years?

Yes, Virginia, anti-virus software has bugs too!

For over five hours Friday, McAfee's anti-virus software erroneously flagged hundreds of legitimate executables as a malicious virus, leading some customers to quarantine or delete the offending files and render applications such as Microsoft Excel inoperative.

This is too funny!

The Seattle Times: Earnings: PC demand helps Microsoft beat forecast

...Xbox 360 shortages frustrated gamers during the holiday season, but they apparently had little effect on Microsoft's bottom line.

Well, let's see, it's been widely reported that each Xbox sold incurs a net loss of about $100 for Microsoft.