April 2005
Nice and simple to-do lists
by Volker Weber
Ta-da lets you maintain simple to-do lists. You can make lists for other people or share them publicly. You can subscribe to lists with RSS.
Ta-da is free as in free beer for up to 10 active lists. It requires Internet Explorer 6.x, Safari, or Firefox. Why is it free? 37signals hopes you enjoy Ta-da so much that you upgrade to Basecamp.
This is a must have for people who work on more than one computer.
Pimp my ride
by Volker Weber
[Thanks, Nico]
Power down
by Volker Weber
I told you this before and I am doing it again: Plan for extended maintenance.
Today Snoopy's power supply went dark. The plug is still lit as if it were charging the battery, but the indicator in Mac OS tells me it is not. The power supply is also cold, while it used to be quite hot when charging. I called AppleCare, spent almost 30 minutes in their 12ct a minute hotline until I had this case sorted out. A new power supply is in the mail and I have to turn the old one in. Unless I want my credit card charged. I am lucky to have a spare charger (plus one for the car) otherwise I would run out of power soon.
Also note that Apple discontinued the 45W power supply that came with the iBook. I am getting a 65W replacement. My guess is that they are all dying. Make sure you get a replacement before your warranty runs out. I hope you don't need instructions. ;-)
Tiger downloads
by Volker Weber
In sync with the Tiger release Apple opens three new download sections for Dashboard widgets, Automator actions and Spotlight plugins.
Wunderbaum
by Volker Weber
Ich glaube, der hier hängt in Nicos Auto.
Tom is a hero
by Volker Weber
Tom lives in Mexico where labor is cheap enough to post messages that are deleted on first sight.
If you read only one Tiger review, then read this one
by Volker Weber
Today Apple is releasing Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and you will be reading a lot of reviews, praising all the new features. I'd suggest you go to Apple for the adverts and then read John Siracusa's in-depth review at ars technica. There is a lot of stuff in there that I don't understand, but I have learned a lot about how Spotlight works internally. John shares the same gripe that I have about this upgrade:
Mac OS X ships with a complete integrated development environment that supports C, C++, Objective-C, Java, and and all of the APIs in Mac OS X (not to mention distributed compiling, a GUI design and layout tool, and a suite of performance monitoring applications). Tiger includes a free web browser, e-mail client, address book, dictionary, thesaurus, font manager, and AIM/Jabber instant message client. When you buy an iMac you get all of the above plus iLife: iPhoto, iMovie, Garage Band, and iDVD.
The total development cost of this software bundle is absolutely huge. The total retail cost of iLife alone is $80. And yet after spending $1,500 or more on a new Mac with this great software bundle, what's waiting for you when you fire it up for the first time and try to watch a QuickTime movie trailer in full-screen mode? Why, it's a nag screen asking you to pay $30 more for the "privilege" of calling the QuickTime APIs that are sitting right there in the library code on your disk.
This is just criminally stupid. It mars the otherwise exemplary out-of-box experience for buyers of consumer Macs especially.
Skype for Mac OS X Beta 1.0.0.30
by Volker Weber
feature: multichat
feature: Growl support (http://www.growl.info/)
bugfix: new incoming voicemails were added to the bottom of the call list
Move along, nothing to see here
by Volker Weber
As I was listening to our virus expert during Tuesday's presentation, I could not help shaking my head. Update the signatures at least once a day, better every six hours. A six digit number of known Windows malware programs.
Do you remember last week's news when yet another antivirus vendor claimed they had a Mac virus. None of the other vendors could concur since they did not have it. They so much want a Mac virus, or a whole lot of them, since their business on the Mac is not doing too well. Yes, there are antivirus programs for the Mac, but the only thing they do is flag Windows malware that does not even affect the Mac. Unless you installed Microsoft's VirtualPC of course.
As I was shaking my head, I gave Snoopy an extra hug. And please, continue to buy PCs while vowe's magic flying circus upgrades to Tiger. The world needs your help. Especially the antivirus vendors. And the people who 0wn bot nets.
A-ha
by Volker Weber
IBM is hiring
by Volker Weber
IBM just hired Rocky. Don't buy into all the b/s about new things to learn, great clients and stuff. What he really wants is a new laptop. A big one.
And this is not the end of the story.
Coping with stupid clients
by Volker Weber
Hey - in the screenshot of the HTML layout you've sent me none of the links is working. Can you fix this?
I'd like a gradient from blue to red -- but get rid of that purple in the middle.
The invoice says the software is supplied on a 200 foot tape, so we've reserved a hangar to store it.
I need this section of the site to be completely locked down with passwords on a per-user basis. Don't make it so that people can't get in if they can't remember the password though.
We couldn't make a screenshot from your website, would you please fix that...
We want a Flash website...but we don't want a lot of animation or sound because it's too destracting...and it needs to be easy to update so that our secretaries can make changes.
[Thanks, Diddi]
Tolles Buch
by Volker Weber
Das 0180-Telefonbuch ist eine Liste von günstigeren Ersatzrufnummern für die teuren Hotlines mit der Vorwahl 0180
[via Udo Vetter]
Still ruht der See
by Volker Weber
Einen Monat ist es her, dass sich der freundliche Pressesprecher nach meiner Unzufriedenheit mit Arcor erkundigt hat, und nunmehr drei Wochen sind vergangen, seit er mir erklärt hat, an wem es hängt (nein, natürlich nicht Arcor). Jetz habe ich ein neues DSL-Modem und einen neuen NTBA-Splitter aber immer noch keinen Termin, und auch noch keine Leitung.
How to speed-up iNotes a.k.a. Domino Web Access
by Volker Weber
Beginning with the release 6.5.3 hotfix, a new lightweight skin is available for both the default and the WebSphere Portal user interface. By removing as many GIF images as possible from the default skin, the differences in the resulting lightweight skin are mainly cosmetic and only slightly less esthetically pleasing to the discerning user.
Unable to comment
by Volker Weber
Home sweet home
by Volker Weber
Back home and online, some 210 photos later. Four days of sun, rain today. Not bad by Hamburg standards. The conference went well and I am looking forward to next week's event in Düsseldorf. In reaction to the feedback I beefed up my presentations a bit. Hope I can still hold it in 45 minutes. :-)
So how was Hamburg? Wonderful. I did not even cover 10% of my to-do list. Lots of places to explore when we return.
Here's looking at you kid
by Volker Weber
Clear skies
by Volker Weber
We are having a blast in Hamburg. Excellent hotel, wonderful weather, friendly people and hours out in the sun. There will be a ton of pictures when we return.
There will be a Marathon tomorrow and Oliver is going to do the distance on roller blades. Since the weather should be as fine tomorrow we are going to take the harbour cruise in a small Barkasse. And probably walk the old Elbtunnel.
The big surprise for Monday is a black Mini Cooper that will let us tour the area. We are going to pick it up in the morning and return it at night.
Off to Hamburg
by Volker Weber
Best method of contact: 06151-3657520. See you on the other side ...
Secure your operating system
by Volker Weber
NSA has developed and distributed configuration guidance for operating systems. These guides are currently being used throughout the government and by numerous entities as a security baseline their systems.
Nikon fails to explain how customers benefit
by Volker Weber
Nikon has been taking some heat about their closed NEF file format recently. Now they are posting a long clarification that falls short of explaining how the proprietary format benefits their customers.
Is that the same Nikon that nicely upgrades the "old" D70 firmware with D70s features?
It's "Make your own caption time"
by Volker Weber
Tongue twister
by Volker Weber
Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watches which Swatch watch?
Straight from the horse's mouth
by Volker Weber
This warrants a full quote:
The worst example of a procedural problem gone out of control was the Portal install. In Workplace 1.1 and much of 2.0 when you needed to install the latest build of Portal server it took anywhere from two days, if you were lucky, to a week or more of tedious hand editing of configuration files before the server would run. There was no automation for the process and no organizational investment in automating the process, so every few weeks all progress on Workplace would grind to a halt as people manually updated their servers. Hundreds and hundreds of Workplace developers and QE engineers would have to stop what they were working on and just follow pages of detailed install instructions. There were rouge attempts to address the issue but none gained team wide traction. All the while the drum beat of management would be pressing for faster action and more progress from development while apparently ignoring the team wide appeal for help on the issue. In retrospect it was the most frustrating and difficult development environment I've ever worked in.
I know quite a few people who tried to install Workplace 1.1 and 2.0 and told me it was completely broken. Do I need to quote the enterprise-strength blabla that IBM gave us in the same time frame?
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
The proportion of thought leaders who use IE on Windows is trending to zero.
— Tim Bray
Temptation
by Volker Weber
How to start a startup
by Volker Weber
This was probably the best piece I read in weeks. I was hooked after reading this:
You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed.
I agree with most of what he says. And I have seen a few failures, some recently. They all started with good people. Most of them built stuff that nobody really wanted (been there, done that myself), and a few spent the money too quickly.
I hope this does not scare you away:
A friend who started a company in Germany told me they do care about the paperwork there, and that there's more of it. Which helps explain why there are not more startups in Germany.
[via Wolfgang]
The headline says it all
by Volker Weber
Congress confuses file sharing with manslaughter
If you first don't succeed ...
by Volker Weber
I met Mike Lawrie when he was unable to run the OS/2 business unit. More recently he has been unable to run Siebel for a year or so. Now he receives a package of US$ 4.5 million package, leave or take a heap of stock options.
If you are not rich, then it's just because you are too smart. :-)
Don't try this at home
by Volker Weber
Kam eben rein
by Volker Weber
München, den 21.04.2005. Neuer General Manager der Region Central Europe des amerikanischen Softwarehauses Macromedia ist seit dem 01.04.2005 Hans-Peter Bauer. Der 50-jährige war zuvor Geschäftsführer der Symantec (Deutschland) GmbH und General Manager Central European Region bei dem Sicherheitsspezialisten. Sein Vorgänger Ralph Weiß übernimmt bei Macromedia eine neu geschaffene Funktion im Bereich Mobile, Telecommunications und ISP, den das Softwareunternehmen zurzeit massiv ausbaut.
Demnächst also bei Adobe. Aber da ist ja schon der Rest der Lotusbande. :-)
[Danke, Thomas]
Thank you for the Flickr Pro account
by Volker Weber
Simone Wienhausen has given you a Flickr Pro account, good for one year. That means you can have all the benefits of Flickr Pro accounts: 2 gigs of uploads per month, unlimited storage, ad-free browsing, and unlimited photosets and features.
Thank you, Simone & Alex.
Buy one, get one free
by Volker Weber
We are proud to announce the release of SubEthaEdit 2.1.2. The new version is ready for Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" and improves overall stability. It is an essential update, recommended for all users. ... every customer purchasing a commercial SubEthaEdit license within the celebration period receives one additional license key,
I can't dance
by Volker Weber
Ausgleich
by Volker Weber
Vor der Einfahrt parkt ein Auto. Das Schiebedach ist offen. Es regnet.
Uff, welch himmlische Ruhe
by Volker Weber
Ich weiß nicht, wem es schon aufgefallen ist. Der Heise Newsticker listet jetzt nicht mehr die letzten drei Kommentare unter jedem Beitrag auf. Es gibt nur noch den auch vorher schon angezeigten Kommentare-Link.
Das empfinde ich als einen sehr schönen Beitrag zur Steigerung der Lesequalität. Die Gaga-Kommentare treten damit etwas mehr in den Hintergrund. Ich verrate wohl kein Geheimnis, wenn ich sage, dass ich Leserreaktionen nur zur Kenntnis nehme, wenn sie a) per Leserbrief (Mail) oder b) mit vollem Namen kommen. Den Rest nehme ich nicht ernst.
Mit der Verwendung von "coolen Nicks" reiht man sich bei mir in die Gruppe der Bin-14-weiß-alles ein.
Safeguarding your porn collection using encrypted disk images
by Volker Weber
With Tiger coming up shortly, it's now more important than ever to keep your porn collection secure. It's only a matter of time until someone using a shared Mac performs an innocuous Spotlight search that suddenly turns up a cornucopia of nasty porn associated with you. Depending on who finds it, you could get a visit from social services, suffer a divorce or breakup, be outed, be labeled a pervert, lose your job, or land in jail. In this instance, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.
It's "Make your own caption time"
by Volker Weber
Papa Ratzi, find ich gut
by Volker Weber
Flickr Pro members get some benefits
by Volker Weber
You may have heard on the grapevine that we planned to reward our dear Flickr members who bought a Pro Account in the early days. Well, it's true! And since you're one of those lovely people, here's a little something to say YOU ROCK!
- Double what you paid for!
Your original 1 year pro account has been doubled to
2 years, and your new expiry date is ...- More capacity!
Now you can upload 2 GB per month.- 2 free Pro Accounts to give away to your friends!
This won't be activated for a day or two, but when it is, you'll see a note on your home page telling you what to do.
I have not paid for a Pro account so I am not eligible for these benefits, but I think it is a very cool move by Flickr.
Update: Flickr has also upgraded the free accounts from 100 to 200 pictures and from 10 meg/month upload to 20. At the same time they slashed the price for the Pro account to $25/year, which in fact is the reason that early subscribers get two years instead of one.
Microsoft's choice
by Volker Weber
Microsoft is starting a new image campaign for a three year old product. Why are they doing it? Because its image is badly damaged by security holes, worms and viruses. If you download this really large picture from the Microsoft web site and take a look at the EXIF header, you will see how to really get the job done:
Back online
by Volker Weber
Just returned from a short trip to München, where I was moderating the Admin & Developer Konferenz 2005. I think it was a really good event.
I was travelling very light with just my Crumpler Bees Knees bag. However I should not have left behind my Treo, a patch cable and the Airport Express! So I was a bit more offline than planned. I needed to borrow a cable from the front desk until the next day when Andrew just plugged his D-Link wireless pocket adapter into an Ethernet wall outlet, so everyone in the area was able to connect. Check out this device. It is incredibly tiny, comes with a power supply that runs on 100-250V or can be powered from a USB port. It has a switch on the outside that lets you select from three profiles (Router, Access Point, Client).
Some issues with Mac OS X v10.3.9
by Ken Porter
According to an article on the Apple website:
After updating to Mac OS X 10.3.9, some systems may have issues with Java applications and Java-enabled websites when using Safari. Safari may unexpectedly quit, and standalone Java applications may unexpectedly quit or not launch.
If you are experiencing problems with your system and want to know how to fix it, or want to test to see if yours is affected, there is more information on the Apple website here.
Upgrade your Firefox
by Volker Weber
Running Firefox? Then do upgrade to 1.0.3. Now. Here is why.
vowe on tour - back tomorrow
by Volker Weber
Gesucht, gefunden
by Volker Weber
Man such auf dieser Seite nach dem Begriff "Kunden" und lese die ersten drei Treffer.
Update: Duden hat den spaßigen Eintrag rausgenommen.
Want to legally remix a NIN song?
by Ken Porter
Trent Reznor of the Nine Inch Nails wants you to remix their song "The Hand That Feeds" and he is making it really easy for you to do it. On the NIN site in the 'current' section, a GarageBand 2 file has been posted that contains
... the actual multi-track audio session for "the hand that feeds" in GarageBand format. This is the entire thing bounced over from the actual Pro Tools session we recorded it into. I imported and converted the tracks into AppleLoop format so the size would be reasonable and the tempo flexible ... I did this on a PowerBook 1.67 w/ 2G RAM but it has been running on far less powerful systems.
As is stated in the accompanying ReadMe file, "there are some copyright issues involved, so read the notice that pops up". If you have GarageBand 2 installed, give it a go. You can download the file here.
Microsoft is making some noise
by Volker Weber
In two weeks the spanking new Mac OS X "Tiger" will be on the shelves. Time for Microsoft to start making some noise around Longhornwait, that won't be out for another year. I would not be surprised if Apple already has the next cat lined up when Redmond finally delivers what is left of their next generation Windows (no WinFS, sorry).
There is one thing I am so looking forward to: Spotlight. Watch the demo. If you ever enjoyed Notes' full text search, imagine the same thing for everything on your computer.
Sorry, Windows users will have to wait another year. Or so.
Big Apple patch week
by Volker Weber
This was a week full of software patches on the Mac.
- Firefox 1.0.3
- GraphicConverter 5.6
- iDVD 5.0.1
- iMovie HD 5.0.2.
- iPhoto 5.0.2
- iPhoto Diet 3.0.5
- iSight 1.0.3
- Mac OS X 10.3.9
- Skype 10.0.0.24
- SnapNDrag 1.6
Did I forget anything?
Reuters Messaging suspended
by Volker Weber
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Reuters Group Plc. (RTR.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has temporarily shut down a privately controlled instant messaging service after a computer worm affected some of the network's users, the media company said on Thursday.
The worm, which exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) instant messaging software, was first detected on the Reuters network early on Thursday, and the company suspended the service five hours later, a spokesman for the London-based company said.
The worm, known as W32/Kelvir-Re, was not designed specifically to target users of Reuters Messaging, an instant messaging service based on Microsoft's messenger technology, the company and a technology analyst said.
Reuters offers the messaging service to financial clients along with its data and news services. There are more than 60,000 active users.
Microsoft said it was working with Reuters to resolve the issue.
This is essentially the same technology that Microsoft uses for MSN. It is an understatement that Reuters customers are not amused.
Reuters was about to open gateways to public IM services with the next release. This incident might lead to some new considerations here.
Noch mehr Bewegung bei Arcor
by Volker Weber
Kaum kümmert sich jemand drum, kommt Bewegung in die Sache: Voraussichtlicher Anschalttermin ist die KW 15/05 - Änderungen vorbehalten.
Update 15.4.: Die Terminangabe ist heute verschwunden. Ist ja auch nicht mehr zu schaffen. :-) Wie zu erwarten war, gibt es jetzt gar keine Terminangabe mehr.
Update 16.4.: Heute kam die Hardware. Wäre nicht schlecht, wenn Arcor mal schreiben würde, wann sie umschalten. Da sollte man nämlich zu Hause sein.
Aus der Serie "Bissu beklopp?"
by Volker Weber
Apple steigert die Nettogewinn um 500%, den Umsatz um 70% und erhöht die Bruttogewinnspanne auf beinahe 30%:
Im zurückliegenden Quartal erzielte Apple einen Netto-Gewinn von 290 Millionen US-Dollar bzw. 0,34 US-Dollar pro Aktie, gegenüber einem Netto-Gewinn von 46 Millionen US-Dollar bzw. 0,06 US-Dollar pro Aktie im zweiten Quartal des Geschäftsjahres 2004. Der Quartalsumsatz lag bei 3,24 Milliarden US-Dollar - 70 Prozent über dem des vergleichbaren Vorjahresquartals. Die Bruttogewinnspanne lag bei 29,8 Prozent, im Vergleich zu 27,8 Prozent zum Vorjahresquartal.
Dazu kündigt Apple das nächste OS X Release vorzeitig an. Auslieferung Ende des Monats, bei einem Ziel "1H05". Was macht die Börse aus diesen Informationen?
Wollen wir wetten? Apple hat die Erwartungen der KaffeesatzleserAnalysten nicht erfüllt.
Volkswagen wünscht ein Frohes Weihnachsfest
by Volker Weber
Von: dialog@volkswagen-online.de (Volkswagen Online Team)
Datum: 14.04.2005, 17:09:41
Betreff: Volkswagen Magazin 01/2005: Exklusiv für Kunden.
------------------------------------------------------------
Exklusiv für Volkswagen Kunden
...
Wir wünschen Ihnen ein frohes Weihnachtsfest!
Ihr Volkswagen Online Team
------------------------------------------------------------
Impressum
Wir haben diese E-Mail mit größtmöglicher Sorgfalt für Sie
zusammengestellt. Für die Richtigkeit der Inhalte können wir
dennoch keine Gewähr übernehmen.
VOLKSWAGEN AG
Berliner Ring 2
38440 Wolfsburg
Hotline: 0800-VOLKSWAGEN (0800-86 55 79 24 36)
Fragen und Anregungen:
http://volkswagen-online.de/Key=2323.xxx.x.x.xxxxxx
++++++++++++++++++
[Danke, Stephan]
Aus der Serie "Mein Handy ist stärker als Dein Fax"
by Volker Weber
<bitchchecker> sag mir deine netzwerk nummer man dann bist du tot
<Elch> öhm die ist 129.0.0.1
<Elch> oder war es 127.0.0.1
<Elch> ja genau die war es: 127.0.0.1 Ich warte dann mal auf einen dollen Hackerangriff
<bitchchecker> in fünf minuten ist deine fest platte gelöscht
Gates on innovation
by Volker Weber
Die Rheinische Verlaufsform
by Volker Weber
Es gibt in der deutschen Sprache so manches, was es offiziell gar nicht gibt. Die sogenannte Rheinische Verlaufsform zum Beispiel. Die hat weniger mit dem Verlauf des Rheins zu tun, dafür umso mehr mit Grammatik. Vater ist das Auto am Reparieren, Mutter ist die Stube am Saugen. Und der Papst war wochenlang im Sterben am Liegen.
Wie das funktioniert? Bastian Sick ist das am Erklären.
Last night
by Volker Weber
There are no more turntables. :-)
I hope you are feeling much safer now
by Volker Weber
Dan Cameron has this very blurry photo and a story that goes with it:
You can baraley see it but in that sewing kit are scissors. The same scissors that Sara had to throw out 30 minutes earlier at the LAX security checkpoint.
"So, what's the deal?"
Well this sewing kit is sold in the gift shop at LAX after the security check point.
[Thanks, Alex]
Is your computer causing too much trouble?
by Volker Weber
If you want a hassle-free machine to access the internet, do email and work on office documents, most of the times it isn't necessary to get a new computer. Just remove Windows and install Ubuntu Linux, a debian distribution for ordinary people. It is actually much easier to install than Windows, comes with a full application suite including web browser, email, address book, calendar, word processor, spreadsheet and many other programs. It isn't as fat as Redhat or Suse, so it fits on one CD and you can download that for free from Ubuntu. And if you don't want to or cannot download the image, Ubuntu will actually send you a couple of them, free of charge. Ubuntu can afford to do that since its founder Mark Shuttleworth made quite a fortune. Microsoft could afford to send you Windows and Office free of charge as well, but I would get Ubuntu. :-)
See a full screenshot here. This is the localized german version; the CD already includes most languages and it will get the rest when needed over the internet. Yes, you can change the color. I actually like it. Very easy on the eyes.
Things got even more impressive once I started utilizing the second CPU by installing the SMP kernel. Which actually took only 3 minutes and one reboot.
Of course, if you need to buy a new computer anyway, you just get a Mac. :-)
Unicef-Weblog: Anna Stechert berichtet aus Banda Aceh
by Volker Weber
Anna Stechert, Mitarbeiterin im Deutschen Komitee für UNICEF, unterstützt für drei Wochen das UNICEF-Büro im von der Tsunami-Katastrophe besonders betroffenen Banda Aceh in Indonesien. In diesem Weblog berichtet sie von ihrer Arbeit und der Situation im Krisengebiet 100 Tage nach der Katastrophe.
[Danke, Holger]
Der Rotanteil steigt
by Volker Weber
Eine Kartonseite und die Rückseite der CD-Hülle sind schon rot. Bis 10.0 ist dann vielleicht die ganze Packung rot. :-)
Upgrade von 9.2 läuft ...
Kam auch gerade rein
by Volker Weber
Feldkirchen, den 12. April 2005 - Apple hat den Verkaufsstart von Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" für Freitag, den 29. April angekündigt.
Ha-ben will. :-)
Kam gerade rein
by Volker Weber
München, 12. April 2005 – Netgear, Spezialist für Netzwerklösungen, stellte heute sein neuestes Gerät für Arbeitsgruppen und kleinere Netzwerke vor. Der WGPS606 vereint drei Geräte in einem und ist gleichzeitig Switch, WLAN-Bridge und WLAN-Printserver. Der neue Allrounder verfügt über vier 10/100-Anschlüsse, zwei USB-Printserver-Schnittstellen und über eine WLAN-Bridge, die die Daten mit bis zu 54 MBit/s durch das Netzwerk befördert. Der WGPS606 ist ab Mai zum Preis von Euro 125,- inkl 16% MWSt. erhältlich.
Das klingt interessant. Ohne die Ethernet Ports wäre das ein drahtloser Printserver mit zwei Druckeranschlüssen. Mit den Ports kann man jetzt gleich noch ein paar Rechner mit ins WLAN hängen. In manchen Haushalten ist ja der DSL-Abschluss nicht direkt im "Büro". Da kann man nun den WLAN-Router dranhängen, dann diese Bridge mit Drucker und PC verbinden und fertig ist die Installation.
Tonight
by Volker Weber
Can you hear me now? Good!
by Ken Porter
According to a recent study, 14% of the world's cell phone users report they have stopped having sex to answer their phone.
The highest incidence of cellular interruptus was found in Germany and Spain, where 22 percent of users interrupted sex to answer their cell phones; the lowest was in Italy, where only 7 percent reported doing so. In the U.S., the figure was 15 percent
And I thought that those people on the commuter trains who shout on their phones were annoying!
Enttäuschend
by Volker Weber
Es haben sich wirklich erst drei Leser gefunden, die diese Fragen beantwortet haben. Schade. :-( Aber dafür hat einer einen absolut sensationellen Beitrag geliefert. :-) Und ich habe die Hoffnung, dass sich noch mehr einfinden.
When in Germany beware of police
by Volker Weber
You don't want to click here.
Wie entsteht eine Firmenkultur?
by Volker Weber
Marcel Widmer erklärt's.
Deutschlands dümmster Spammer
by Volker Weber
Wieder mal ein Linkspammer, der sich die Mühe macht, einen dummen Kommentar abzugeben, den Captcha brav einzugeben und abzuschicken. Wieviel schafft man denn da so in einer Stunde? Und wem soll es nutzen?
0049-net GmbH
Zur Papenkuhle 9 b
D-31303 Burgdorf
Aber die kennen wir ja schon.
Waiting for Godot
by Volker Weber
Just do it
by Volker Weber
Are we busted?
by Volker Weber
You don't want to know this. ;-)
I hope you are feeling much safer now
by Volker Weber
(CNN) -- U.S. authorities refused to allow a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 747 to fly over the United States, officials said Sunday.
Flight 685 from Amsterdam to Mexico City was denied permission to fly south across the Canada-U.S. border on Friday because the names of two passengers aboard were included on a U.S. "no-fly" terrorist watch list, KLM spokesman Bart Koster said.
The flight, carrying 278 passengers, returned to Amsterdam, Koster said. He told The Associated Press that on Saturday, a flight without the two listed passengers departed Amsterdam and arrived in Mexico City.
"I hope this was a once-in-a-lifetime incident," Koster said. "It's, of course, very frustrating for passengers and crew to be more than 10, 11 hours in the air, to come back where you departed."
Im Dienste der Wissenschaft
by Volker Weber
Ich würde mich freuen, wenn der eine oder andere Experte dieser Studentin der Soziologie bei ihrer Diplomarbeit helfen könnte. Wenn sie viele Antworten erhält, muss sie besonders fleissig sein. Das gönne ich ihr. :-)
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
im Rahmen meiner Diplomarbeit an der TU-Darmstadt, Fachbereich Soziologie (Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Rudi Schmiede), führe ich eine kurze qualitative Befragung von Experten aus der IT-Branche durch.
Sie würden mich bei meiner Arbeit sehr unterstützen, wenn Sie die nachfolgenden Fragen möglichst ausführlich beantworteten.
Falls Sie anonym bleiben möchten, verpflichte ich mich selbstverständlich diesem Wunsch nachzukommen, allerdings wäre es sehr hilfreich, wenn Sie mir zur Umschreibung Ihrer Person und Ihrer Firma Ihre Tätigkeit, Position etc. angeben würden (Bsp: IT-Berater in einem großen Dienstleister der Unternehmensberatungsbranche oder Freelancer im Bereich Anwendersoftware).
Für Rückfragen stehe ich Ihnen gerne jederzeit unter der oben genannten Telefonnummer oder per e-Mail zur Verfügung.
Für Ihre Bereitschaft zur Teilnahme an der Befragung möchte ich mich bereits jetzt ganz herzlich bei Ihnen bedanken.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Ulrike Schimmer-Kletti
Und hier der Fragebogen:
Name:
- Ist es Ihrer Meinung nach möglich Standardsoftware soweit zu entwickeln, dass Anpassungsschritte, die heute von Systemintegrations- und IT-Beratungsunternehmen durchgeführt werden, wegfallen?
- Beurteilen Sie, ob und wenn, welche Software und IT-Dienstleistungen bzw. Teilleistungen im Rahmen der internationalen Arbeitsteilung für das Offshoring besonders geeignet sind. Benennen Sie auch Teilleistungen die eventuell nicht verlagerbar sind und begründen sie dies.
- Ist in der Software- und IT-Dienstleistungsbranche mit Unternehmenskonzentrationen zu rechnen, oder werden kleinbetriebliche Strukturen (EPU, KKU, Freelancer) die Struktur der Branche bestimmen?
- Was glauben Sie, welche Marktsegmente von IT-Kleinstunternehmen heute und in Zukunft bedient werden und wie beurteilen Sie deren langfristigen Chancen am Markt zu bestehen.
Vorname:
Tätigkeit:
Angestellt [ ] Selbstständig [ ]
Antworten bitte direkt an Ulrike Schimmer-Kletti.
PS:Da mich die Antworten auch interessieren, habe ich mich in Kopie gesetzt. Bitte ggfls. löschen, falls ich die Antworten nicht sehen soll. In einer Woche werde ich berichten, wieviele Antworten ich bekommen habe. Ich wäre dann doch etwas enttäuscht, wenn es am Ende nur drei sind. Also bitte weitersagen. :-)
Update: Danke an Matthias, Henrik, Axel, Thomas und Karsten.
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
Sollte sich schonmal jemand gefragt haben, warum Deutschland bei Wirtschaftswachstum, Bildung und vielen anderen Bereichen immer hinterher hinkt, dann gibt's hier die Antwort: Weil wir schlauer sind. Hinterher ist man nämlich immer schlauer!
— Stefan Rubner
Joke of the day
by Volker Weber
The Prince of Wales was driving around his Mother's estate one day when he accidentally ran over her most prized corgi dog.
The poor unfortunate dog was crushed to a pulp! The Prince got out of his car, sat down on the grass, and started crying. the whole world was already against him and now his mother would be furious.
Suddenly he noticed a lamp half buried by his foot. He dug up the lamp and polished it. Low and behold, all of a sudden, a genie appeared.
"You've freed the genie from the lamp from thousands and thousands of years of imprisonment, and for freeing me I will grant you one wish".
"WOW" !!!! said the prince, this could really save my neck. "Well I have all the money and material things that I need, but let me show you this dog". The Prince and the genie walked over to the splattered remains of the dog. "Do you think you can bring this dog back to life", asked the Prince. The Genie looked carefully at the remains and gently shook his head. "This body is far too gone for even me to bring him back to life, isn't there anything else you would like instead"?
The Prince thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out two photographs.
"I used to be married to this beautiful woman called Diana", said the Prince showing the genie the first photograph, "but now I love this woman called Camilla, do you think you can make Camilla as beautiful as Diana"?
The Genie studied the two photographs and after a few moments said, "Let's have another look at that dog".
E-Pro Mag folds
by Volker Weber
Well, if you've been to e-ProMag.com today, you've probably seen the notice that the publication is closing its doors. We just weren't making enough money to keep it going profitably. As part of closing the publication, I got laid off.
Wishing you all the best, Libby. You are a good writer and an expert in your field. Someone will have good work for you.
Are your Quicktime exports from iPhoto too big?
by Volker Weber
I was quite surprised myself when I saw my 120 photo slideshow exported to Quicktime grow substantially, very much like this guy describes:
I frequently make QuickTime Movies out of slide shows I have assembled in iPhoto. I recently upgraded to the new iPhoto (5.0.1) and was disappointed at how much larger the movie size was. In the previous version of iPhoto the “large” movie option was 640x480. I made a large movie with 104 photos and the size of the movie was 12 MB. In the new version the “large” option is 720x480; there is no 640x480 option. Making a movie out of the identical slide show resulted in a file that is 76 MB. Why does this happen?
The problem is of course not the increase in resolution but the files that iPhoto creates. The new slideshow feature produces MPEG4 movies. If you apply the Ken Burns effect, you get lots of frames that don't compress as easily as the format that iPhoto 4 exported. But the old format is still available. Read the solution after the jump.
Bewegung bei Arcor
by Volker Weber
Der freundliche Pressesprecher rief mich eben an und hat mir erklärt, wo genau das Problem ist. Die Kurzfassung: Arcor prüft erst, ob in der Gegend DSL an ihr Glasfasernetz anschaltbar ist. Wenn ja, prüft Arcor via T-Com, ob die Teilnehmerleitung DSL-fähig ist. Das ist bei DSL-Bestandskunden gegeben. Sind diese Bedingungen erfüllt, nimmt Arcor den Auftrag an.
Und jetzt kommt der Knackpunkt, an dem ich weiterhin meine Zweifel habe. Arcor sagt, dass sich die Terminverschiebungen durch zugesagte, aber nicht gelieferte Baugruppen ergeben. Zwischen Bestellung und Lieferung dieser Komponenten liegen Monate. Wenn sich die Nachfrage schneller entwickelt als die Planung vorausgesehen hat, entstehen hier schnell größere Engpässe. Das kann ich zwar einerseits verstehen, akzeptiere aber dennoch nicht die Kommunikationspolitik dem Kunden gegenüber.
Soweit zur Theorie. Wie geht es jetzt bei vowe's magic flying circus weiter? Ein Blick in die Glaskugel sagt: Vorbehaltlich des Terminkalenders des T-Com-Schraubers wird meine Leitung am 20. April 05 umgeschaltet.
Thriller
by Volker Weber
I dug out the old Michael Jackson albums and put them on heavy rotation. For one simple reason: I despise this "death by a thousand cuts" drama. He may be a freak. He may have done wrong. Then go ahead and put him on trial until you have come up with a verdict.
Meanwhile he is an artist that has won 20 Grammy awards and does not deserve to be dragged around like this.
Ewige Werte
by Volker Weber
Hartmut Wiehr beschäftig sich mit dem Ereignis der Woche:
Eigentlich wollten wir uns ja zu diesen Begebenheiten überhaupt nicht äußern. Ein IT-Bezug ist auch nicht ohne weiteres zu erkennen; andererseits: Eine so medienbewußte Institution wie der Vatikanstaat ist natürlich selbst im Internet präsent. Ein Fakt, der eine unserer Mitarbeiterinnen gleich erblassen und von der Modernität dieses Minisouveräns singen ließ. Naja. Die Mehrheit der Redaktion mochte sich jedoch nicht mit diesem Rummel vor, während und nach dem Verschwinden („la disparizione“ nennen es die Italiener, und andere Völker haben ähnliche Bezeichnungen, wenn es darum geht, daß jemand – meist recht schmerzvoll – die Erde verläßt) eines mächtigen Kirchenfunktionärs anfreunden. Lieber totschweigen lautete die Parole. Aber das geht nicht. Das gebietet schon die Ethik eines aufrechten Journalismus (siehe Le Monde diplomatique, April 2005).
Julio is moving
by Volker Weber
Carl Tyler reports that Julio Estrada is moving to Microsoft. In case you don't know Julio, he was one of the people behind Lotus Quickplace, the product that was redesigned for version 3.0 when he left to found Kubi Software. Somebody removed all the folding houses and other animations but still was unable to make it work with anything but Internet Explorer. Now take a look at the Kubi site:
Kubi Software is currently redesigning its product line. More information will be available soon.
This is an euphemism for "Our product is completely hosed. We have to start all over again."
In case you have not noticed, there is a trend at Microsoft to hire lots of "have done"s. People who have worked at competitors and presumably created products that could stand up against Microsoft. I am not so sure that this is a good strategy.
So what is Julio doing at Microsoft? A little birdie tells me: Lead architect in the Microsoft Exchange team. Comment from someone who has worked with Julio: "They are f*cked". Sorry, Julio, these are not my words. I don't know you good enough to have an opinion.
openBC fun
by Volker Weber
When I was checking my latest openBC contacts today, I could not help but notice my 444 count (I know the chinese don't like fours much like we don't like 13 - that is why there is no Tungsten 4). When I finally joined openBC last November I challenged Mitch who had 487 contacts at that time. I thought it would be absolutely impossible to get even close to that number. I expected something like 200 to 250. Now I am at three fours, Mitch has already escaped to almost 600 (and counting). Rest assured that this is not a pissing contest. I just find those sheer numbers amazing. And there are still dozens of people I know who would never ever join any network. :-)
openBC also gives you a "rank in your country". This is why Mitch knew in November that there were 20 people who had more contacts than he had. I think I leveled off at rank 50. The network has grown tremendously over the last weeks and there are now more than 80 people who have more contacts.
However, there are only 14 members who have invited more people into the network than I have. Want to raise the bar? Click here.
Hold the horses
by Volker Weber
I am seeing some knee jerk reactions to a pretty weak Forbes article. I guess you could all see this coming when the reporter asked "Did you stop beating your wife" questions. I'd suggest you now take one piece of advice I have learned long ago:
Never mudsling with a pig. The pig likes it and you get dirty.
Cost Control for Palm OS
by Volker Weber
Interessantes Produkt von NovaMedia:
Die aktuellen Palm OS Geräte und Treo Smartphones bieten einen schnellen und leichten Zugang zum Internet. Drahtlos und immer verfügbar. Bisher sehen Sie aber immer erst am Ende des Monats, wieviel Ihre Onlineverbindungen wirklich gekostet haben.
Aber das muss nicht sein. Mit Cost Control erhalten Sie einen schnellen Überblick über die genutzte Zeit und das verbrauchte Datenvolumen Ihrer Onlineverbindungen. Nach Ihren Angaben berechnet Cost Control dann die dabei entstandenen Gebühren und stellt diese übersichtlich dar.*
Ich habe schon so was Ähnliches getestet. Leider stellt sich heraus, dass Trafficstat auf einem Treo 650 sehr große Datenmengen erzeugt (mehr als 8MB in einem Monat). Ich muss mal schauen, ob NovaMedia mir eine Vollversion schickt, damit ich das ausgiebiger testen kann.
Wofür steht das kleine Sternchen? Welches Sternchen? Ach dieses:
* Die von Cost Control berechneten Kosten entsprechen möglicherweise nicht den tatsächlichen Gebühren. Cost Control dient daher nur zur Ihrer persönlichen Übersicht, nicht als Nachweis enstandener Kosten gegenüber einem Provider.
Der Disclaimer ist wichtig. Ich habe nämlich schon den ersten Pferdefuß gefunden. Cost Control schreibt einen Datensatz für die Verbindung nämlich nur weg, wenn das Palm-Gerät ausgeschaltet wird oder wenn die Verbindung durch Cost Control selbst beendet wurde. Trennt man die Verbindung aber aus einer anderen Anwendung, gehen die Verbindungsdaten verloren und fließen nicht in die Abrechnung ein. Ich weiß noch nicht was passiert, wenn das Treo die GPRS-Verbindung verliert oder wenn sie vom Netz terminiert wird. Meine schlimme Vermutung ist, dass die Daten dann ebenfalls untergehen.
Photography 101
by Volker Weber
Don't try this at home
by Volker Weber
When in France beware of police
by Volker Weber
39 updates
by Volker Weber
39 updates after a fresh install out of a brand new Windows 2003 Server box (hiding behind this box). That is pretty steep. Of course they can't all be installed because certain patches need to be installed separately.
Whoever comes up with numbers that Windows servers have the same maintenance cost as Linux servers, has installed neither lately. It starts when you have to babysit the Windows install, where a Linux install asks you a few questions upfront and then does its thing, instead of asking questions during the whole process. Then you hit update, select all, hit go and get your second cup of coffee. The MS guy does the update, reboot, update, reboot, update shuffle. Oh, that would be me ...
Downloading the Windows 2003 Server Service Pack 1 now. 333 Megabyte at 12 kByte/s. Should be finished by tomorrow morning.
Update: Moved the download from the Windows server to the Mac client which cut the required time from eight hours to 48 minutes.
Arcor im Selbstversuch, Tag 90
by Volker Weber
Letzten Mittwoch hat sich ein freundlicher Pressesprecher bei mir gemeldet und sich nach meiner Unzufriedenheit mit Arcor erkundigt. Er bot an, mit meinem Einverständnis nachzuforschen, was in meinem konkreten Fall passiert sei. Dies erteilte ich ihm am gleichen Tag. Da ich bisher nichts gehört habe, habe ich mich heute nach dem Sachstand erkundigt und erhielt diese Antwort:
Sehr geehrter Herr Weber,
pardon, bei mir hat sich die Anfrage an den internen Kollegen um einen Tag verzögert - ich hoffe, daß Sie eine Rückmeldung morgen erhalten.
Mit besten Grüßen
Das nehme ich mal gleich in meinen Bausteinkasten auf. Nicht schlecht. ;-)
Update Tag 91: Im Westen nichts Neues.
Update Tag 92: Im Westen nichts Neues.
What comes after the most biggest?
by Volker Weber
So LaCie now has a Bigger Disk Extreme, following up to Big Disk Extreme and Big Disk. What is next?
Stefan has some ideas:
Biggest Disk Extreme
Really Biggest Disk Extreme
Now really, really biggest Disk Extreme
Now Really, Really Biggest Disk Ultra Extreme ...
Location is everything
by Volker Weber
Switzerland has moved
by Volker Weber
Rote Laterne
by Volker Weber
Udo Vetter gratuliert der Bundesregierung.
Auf dem falschen Fuß erwischt?
by Volker Weber
moin moin, ich hätte gerne mal einen tip von dir und habe zwei drei fragen. macht es wegen der promotion aktion mit den treo headset sinn einen treo 650 jetzt zu kaufen oder sollte man ein paar monate warten bis er billiger wird.
ja
gibts den schon im laden (z.b: DA) oder muss man sich was billiges im internet suchen ?
ja
wooooo
du stellst oder-fragen, die ich nicht beantworten kann. deshalb kriegst du ein ja.
ok gibts den in DA im laden ?
weiss ich nicht
also internet ! hast du da einen tip ?
nein
nerve ich oder kann ich noch meine eigentlichen fragen loswerden
klar. ich schau mal, ob ich antworten weiß
White elephants
by Volker Weber
These are the OS statistics for the current month, now into the second day. Looks like we had the last standing OS/2 and BeOS users visiting us. Helloooo, we have a new millenium. ;-)
When in Belgium beware of police
by Volker Weber
Schöner wohnen mit vowe.net
by Volker Weber
Rechner werden bei mir benutzt und nicht ausgestellt. Deshalb kriegen die nach einiger Zeit Kratzer, Dellen, Flecken und so weiter. Das ist nicht bei allen Mac-Benutzern so. :-) Normalerweise stören mich solche Gebrauchsspuren nicht. Nur Fett auf dem Bildschirm mag ich nicht, oder Krümel in der Tastatur. Beides ist leicht wegzukriegen. Obacht beim Bildschirm! Bei manchen Modellen, insbesondere beim iBook, liegt der Inverter für das LCD unterhalb des Panels. Da darf keinesfalls Flüssigkeit reinlaufen. Deshalb immer den Bildschirm flach auf den Tisch legen, dann etwas Fensterklar drauf und abwischen.
Das iBook G4 ist aus weißem Kunststoff gefertigt, nicht wie das alte G3 aus einem durchsichtigen und von innen weiß lackierten. Mein G4 war mittlerweile an vielen Stellen schwarz angelaufen und sah damit für meine Augen zu dreckig aus. Ich habe mich deshalb heute an ein Hausmittel von Stefans Mutter erinnert: Meister Proper Schmutzradierer. Und jetzt sieht das Gehäuse wieder rundum wie neu aus. Als Geheimtipp geht das sicher nicht durch, aber als vowe's choice. Damit lassen sich auch andere elektronische Geräte, die mit der Zeit immer mehr Staub anziehen, prächtig sauber machen.
Und wenn wir einmal so schön bei den Haushaltstipps sind: Kratzer aus Handy-Displays oder von iPod-Oberflächen lassen sich prima mit Autopolitur entfernen. Bitte nicht auf großen Displays mit Digitizern wie etwa bei PocketPCs, Palms oder Treos ausprobieren. Deren Oberfläche ist viel zu weich und sie sind druckempfindlich (sic).
BitTorrent 4.0.1 for Mac released
by Volker Weber
Free class browser for Lotusscript
by Volker Weber
Ben Poole recently wrote:
As you've hopefully already seen, Teamstudio have done all Domino developers a great service by releasing a class browser for Lotusscript. Oh, happy day! A browser for perusing custom classes in script has been on the wish-list for years, yet IBM have always seemed disinclined to get with the programme and make the appropriate changes to Domino Designer.
What I had not gathered was that Teamstudio actually released this class browser as a free download. Who could resist that? ;-)
First look at the Motorola iTunes phone
by Volker Weber
MobileMusicBlog has exclusive pictures of Motorola's iTunes phone, and it's a stunner with clear design references from both the iPod and Motorola handsets. MMB can also exclusively reveal that Moto is coming through on its promise to deliver a line of "iPod phones" -- the first batch comes with a hard drive-based version as well as a smaller-capacity flash-based Shuffle model.
Good morning
by Volker Weber
Senior Republican Tom DeLay, who leads the House of Representatives, attacked the US courts for allowing Mrs Schiavo to die: "We will look at an arrogant, out-of-control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at Congress and the president."
Am I the only one seeing that this is not* about life and death but about getting the judiciary under the control of the government? Another step into a totalitarian regime.
*) With a population of nearly 300.000.000 and a life expectancy of 77 years, there are more than 10.000 people dying every day. You can expect there are quite a few of them who need relatives to decide it's time to turn off life support. I have been in that situation myself.
