Nikon is paranoid that I might be an evil bad nasty pirate who will print an illegal copy of its Coolpix L18 owners’ manual, and presumably do something nefarious with it. I own a blue Nikon Coolpix L18 (my wife has a matching red one). It’s a great camera, and lives in my briefcase most […]
Cable News Network believes that a Twitter contest constitutes important “breaking news” worthy of a special e-mail alert. This is what journalism has devolved into? Stupid, stupid. From: “CNN Breaking News” Date: April 16, 2009 11:20:46 PM PDTTo: email hidden; JavaScript is requiredSubject: CNN Breaking News — Ashton Kutcher is first to reach 1 million […]
That statistic — 97% of newspaper readership happens in print, with only 3% happening online — comes from a new report from the Nieman Journalism Lab. That’s a project of Harvard University. See more in their blog post, “Print is still king.” Those numbers go against the conventional wisdom, particularly among Web-centric techie bloggers — […]
We’re going to see a number of new desktop, server and hosted applications coming through from Microsoft in the next 14 months: • Exchange Server 2010 entered public beta today, and should ship in 2H 2009. • Office 2010, including SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010, should enter a “technical preview” period in 3Q […]
Can you guess why this marketing spam, currently flooding my mailbox, failed to have the desired impact? No, I won’t be attending their complimentary webinar. From: “Lindsey Lischka”Subject: AngelVision – Zeichick, Alan – Meeting Request Hi Alan, I’d like to invite you to participate in a complimentary webinar this coming week. It’s called “Coffee with […]
Here’s the latest research from Evans. I’d say “Duh!” but of course it’s valuable to have primary research to back up the conventional wisdom. SANTA CRUZ, CA – April 8, 2009 – Three-quarters of all software developers belong to at least one social network and two-thirds belong to multiple networks, according to the results of […]
No wonder TechWeb whacked Dr. Dobb’s Journal, if this is what they think enterprise software developers care about. (“Intimidated by coding?” It’s revealing that TechWeb views Dr. Dobb’s readership as non-technical.) However, I do want a neat Dr. Dobbs bobblehead for my extensive toy collection. (Yes, while the journal used to be named Dr. Dobb’s, […]
It’s nice to know that the “Checking Department” is looking out for me. This is a scam: If you respond, they’ll hit you up for money to “protect” your domain. Just ignore them. Don’t be fooled! Subj: Domain Dispute and Registration Dear Sir/Madam 2009-4-13 We are a domain name registration service company in Asia, Last […]
Apropos of nothing, here are some things you don’t want to hear: Oops.Uh-oh.Two points!Swish! Nothing but net!Didn’t there used to be two of these?Does anybody know what this thing is?Haven’t seen one of those before.Does our malpractice insurance cover this? Got any more? (And can you tell it’s Friday?) Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Hey, everybody, United Airlines is inviting its customers to “treat yourself to a first class seat.” Sounds like a great deal. The offer says, in big text, “Experience first class, fares from $189* each way.” Uh oh. There’s a little footnote marker. Read the fine print. Golly, this wonderful offer makes me want to rush […]
In the workplace, male software developers are treated as developers first, men second. However, female software developers are too often treated as women first, developers second. This is a problem that affects every one of us, whether you’re a man or a woman, whether you report to a man or a woman, or whether you […]
This just in from BZ Media World Headquarters, in Huntington, N.Y.: The lunchroom fridge/freezer needs defrosting. You think? I don’t know what’s more amusing, the iced-up freezer or the Official Memo sent to the staff this afternoon: Subj: Important — Fridge! Hey, gang, The freezer has become inoperable due to ice buildup (take a look […]
Thanks to Ted Bahr (videographer) and Lisa Magrane (post-production), we have another wonderful SPTechCon video! Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Unnecessary email wastes time and productivity. We all know this. What are we doing about it? According to Folio’s Dylan Stableford, publishing giant Nielsen disabled Outlook’s “Reply to All” functionality to “eliminate bureaucracy and inefficiency.” Read the e-mail message, sent out by Nielsen’s CIO, Andrew Cawood — and then read the scathing comments. Fascinating. What […]
If you’re looking for Myvu Shades or Solo Plus video goggles for your portable music player, the cheapest place to get them is from Myvu.com — not from retailers like Amazon.com or Best Buy. That’s unusual, since manufacturers typically hold the line on “manufacturer’s suggested retail price,” and leave the discounting to their retailers. When […]
There’s no way you can keep an OS/2 Warp enthusiast down… and if you’re one of them, you’ll be pleased to learn that: The Board of Directors of Warpstock Corporation is pleased to announce that Warpstock 2009 will be held Friday through Sunday noon, August 7th – 9th, at the University of New Mexico campus […]
This is the best spam this week! As always, this is a scam. But in an odd way, the first paragraph is poetically beautiful. Hello Sir/Madam , Business Proposal In the galaxy where all is beauty i fine it necessary to approach your Platform these way, well i apologies for the inconvenient it will take […]
What attendees said about our first SPTechCon, the SharePoint Technology Conference, held in San Francisco. The next one’s coming up in Boston, June 22-24. SPTechCon from BZ Media on Vimeo. Video credits:Videography, Ted BahrPostproduction, Lisa Magrane Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Lots of important news today out of SD Times. Be sure to catch these stories: CLOUDBASIC opens computing paradigm to students, Mindy Taking software development on faith Resistance is futile, excuses are many News Briefs: April 1, 2009 Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Retro technology at its finest! Blue Marble Announces Support for over 800 Ancient Units of Measure Gardiner, Maine – April 1, 2009 – Blue Marble Geographics announces support for over 800 units of measure from antiquity in the latest version of Blue Marble software. Blue Marble’s geospatial data manipulation and conversion solutions are used worldwide […]
Apple often releases products which are significantly upgraded on the inside, but which are identical on the outside. It is very very frustrating. Take Apple’s Airport Express portable WiFi hub. These are really neat, since they can also act as print servers, as WiFi network extenders, and can even drive remote speakers for playing iTunes […]
Developers are staying away from technology conferences. Maybe they’re going to fewer events, or sending smaller teams to must-attend conferences. Maybe they’re only going to conferences that are within driving distance, or are attending “free” vendor-sponsored marketing events instead of educational forums. No matter what, the decline of our leading events is a loss for […]
I love a good burger… but oh my goodness. Since owner Jon Basso opened Heart Attack Grill in December 2005, it has achieved widespread publicity for its 8,000-calorie Quadruple Bypass Burger, a medical theme, and a buxom waitstaff dressed as nurses that has riled public outcry as surely as it has attracted patrons. The 3,300-square-foot, […]
The 86 Rules of Boozing are pretty darned funny. The rule listed as the blog title is #69. #67 is, “Never ask a bartender ‘what’s good tonight?’ They do not fly in the scotch fresh from the coast every morning.” Yes, this is old, but who cares? Read and enjoy!! Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan […]
Perhaps some chief compliance officers and financial-industry governance professionals are among my friends. But whoever decided to spam me from the Regulatory Compliance Association did a poor job of list selection. I’m sure that they’re wonderful people, but folks who attend “The Annual Asset Management Thought Leadership Summit: Litigation, Risk Management and Regulatory Reform – […]
You’ve got to trust your community to do the right thing – but also make it easy to clean up after people if they misbehave. That’s a major point that I took away from Tuesday’s opening keynote from EclipseCon. The speakers were Jeff Atwood, famous for his Coding Horror blog, and Clay Shirky, author of […]
“There’s a saying: ‘When times are good, advertise. When times are tough, advertise more,’ ” said Dan Beem, president at Cold Stone Creamery in Scottsdale, Ariz., the ice-cream chain owned by the Kahala Corporation. “We want to stay with that philosophy.” Should you market your products during an economic downturn? The answer is an unequivocal, […]
The strangest thing… a big truck pulled up outside the office, and tried to deliver a 500-pound palette with an industrial-grade bandsaw on it. The trucking company’s bill of lading showed that this was an order from Amazon.com to be delivered to me. But I didn’t order a bandsaw, and it’s hard to imagine that […]
You think? The prices do seem competitive. From: “Youyi Automobile”Subject: Manufacturer World Recession Sales Dear Sir / Madam We are please to offer you directly from the Manufacturer, Buses at World Recession Prices. 6M 17+1+1 Diesel Bus from USD 9,600.007M 20+1+1+1 Diesel Bus from USD 16,470.008M 20+1+1+1+1 Diesel Bus from USD 21,540.0010M 43+1+1 Diesel Bus […]
In today’s off-topic press release department, two noteworthy entries came in. You can read them both on my new “Stop-the-PResses” blog. The first is from Unilever, and involves a computer game designed to promote a new product: The “Bake It To Believe It!” Cooking & Baking game marks the launch of I Can’t Believe It’s […]