Openness and interoperability?

...a good thing?...

With the press-release from MS about the various things they’ve done, are doing and are going to do, I thought I’d take a barny over at Port25 (The Microsoft Open Source side of things).

It was an eye-opening experience.

MS have really taken up the baton recently with regards to open source. There’s all sorts of Apache 2.2 briefings and implementation notes regarding various aspects of integrating it with Microsoft Technologies like Active Directory and Server 2008. And that’s just in the quick squizz I gave the site. Some interesting reads…

Though all this interoperability ...

Pro tips

for those plotting to go into managerial roles

When a developer, who has proven his worth god knows how many times, tells you something, do NOT under any circumstances utter the words “But 20 years ago it would have taken me 10 minutes in $language, I’m sure there’s been signifigant progress made since then…”

Doing so will likely result in your name, and several expletives being mentioned in the same sentence.

Doing so repeatedly will result in one of two courses of action:

• You being challeneged to write said code in 10 minutes using $language
  * A resignation being thrown over their shoulder as they walk out ...

Sleazy in the skies

And I thought I was critical

Ok, so the background is that my boss went on a visit to Wales for business.

This is the response I received from him to the question of:

How was your visit to wales?

And here’s the response:

Interesting… I really think EasyJet sums up all things British. Worse: Easyjet IS Britain.

All style that used to be associated with travelling has been skilfully removed. Ugly 60’s style retro colourscheme with Disco-age font. Everything is different from all other airlines. Dave is flying the plane, making Cockney-accented inflight announcements. Shouting (Mcdonalds-like) youth staff dressed in (again) ugly orange ...

Foaming at the mouth

... literally

I want one .

I want one now. I might see if I can get my hands on one via $CONTACTS, we’ll see.

Suffice to say, if Apple manage to pull it off, they’ll have a totally kickass phone… but then it depends on how well it performs and whether or not Keys-In-Pocket syndrome befalls the phone. It’s either that or we’ll be forever buying accessories for it.

I can see it now… the iPod SOCK for your phone.

Kids should be seen and not heard

Politically correct I am not.

I’m horribly frustrated. Like stupidly.

I’m not having the best of luck with transport this year and as a result of my earlier train journey I am in a positively foul mood. Like, really foul.

Ok, so this morning I leave Will’s (dammit he’s sexy) and make my way to Paddington. Arrive promptly at 14:15 for my train which happens to be running at 14:45.

Now I’ve not had a great deal of sleep (my own fault, but I’m really not going to bitch about that), so once the platform is announced ...

Keyboard manufacturers are cunts

No more sugar coating shit.

I’ve had enough.

This problem has only really been a niggle in the UK, but now that I’m living in spain it’s become a real problem.

Keyboards.

What the flying cuntskull fuck is wrong with keyboard manufacturers these days. They’re fucking over my productivity and I’m not impressed.

Why-oh-why are all the new keyboards that are being made now using the US keyboard layout with some swapsies for some keys? Why do I have to have a little enter key? What’s wrong with logically locating the backslash on the left side of the keyboard ...

MySpace getting personal

... really personal

I have to laugh when I see articles like this

It seems MySpace are on a PR floosey with the whole “Partership” thing with Sentinel.

I’m already laughing my socks off and the feasability, or lack thereof, of such a project. Surely Sentinel must realise that it’s a dead end? Sure it may buy a brownie point with the technically inept, but those points will soon vapourise once someone, say, the media, clues them in on the fact that the whole process is so easily circumvented that it would be trivial for the slightly technically clueful vulture to ...

Relief is nigh

... job opening confirmed!

Thank god!

The boss has seen fit to decide we need more people in the office for commercial stuff.

This means I don’t have to do quotes anymore and can go back to doing development and networks! Yay me!

LCD goodies and fun

Well, sort of...

It constantly amazes me what people get upto in their spare time…

Take this for example… It’s a small form factor COLOUR LCD unit for not alot.

It’s programmable, and runs off standard USB serial chipset (FTDI Chip). And the real kicker: it’s touch screen… What does this mean? Well a metric fucktonne of brain bending interface development for me, but the boss is literally foaming at the mouth with the possibilities…

Embedded development here I come… I just hope I can convince the boss to let me play with these little beasties

Php developers...

... ahem

Someone pointed me in the direction of this posting

I, unusually, decided to comment however they’ve been disabled, and his website doesn’t disable the form. *cough* Usability issues? *cough*

The problem is that someone scratched an itch, a few people found it useful, and soon a “community” built up who are pushing for things too quickly and there just wasn’t any original thought gone into the main system. Sooner or later the product tends to be the same shit in a different label.

Coupled with this is the simple fact that PHP is easy to start using ...

A Telemarketer's Worst Nightmare

So funny, I just had to post it.

No really.

It is so funny, I just had to forward the link. We’ve been laughing ourselves silly in the office for the last 20 minutes.

Even funnier was watching the boss try and keep a straight face on the phone to a customer while we were rabbiting on about the Little Mexican Midget in the background…

Sleep patterns are such a delicate thing...

.. and easily disrupted.

Fog horns. Fucking Fog Horns!

I could so have done with some extra sleep this morning, but alas the weather had other ideas.

Being awoken unceremoniously by a fog horn is not my idea of fun, and in this day and age, when we have Long Range Accoustic Devices that tend to be exceptionally directional in their production of noise, it’s a sad sad thing when I can’t remain in a state of blissful sleep.

After a week of long days, running around like a blue arse fly and attempting to get lots of things off my todo ...

Gary Kremen vs. ARIN

Some people just take the biscuit

It seems the sex.com guy is at it again, only this time he’s being a twat.

Basically he’s after the Netblocks and ASNs that his esteemed colleague Mr M. Cohen has and uses claiming that they are of sizable value in the market place.

What a twat. Just because the membership fees are factored into the assets owned by a company, doesn’t mean that the netblocks are valueable.

Please someone, Darwinise the cunt?