Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick Weblog
Nice time-wasting cartoon site
Thank you, Natalie Dee, for ruining my afternoon!Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Toxic Zones: Throne Room and Chow Space
Sometimes I get off-beat press releases, and highlight them on my "Stop-the-PResses" blog. This extremely off-topic release, though, was so appropriate (given the perennially messy state of my office) that it seemed worth sharing. While there's…
EST and EDT, PST and PDT: Just say no!
On Monday, a colleague on the East Coast asked me to call him at 12:30 EST.EST means Eastern Standard Time. However, in the United States, we're not using Eastern Standard Time, which is the time used in the fall and winter. We're currently…
McCarthy’s Four Laws of Software Estimation
“Developers,” said my friend Mac, “are really bad at guessing how long it takes to write software."Michael “Mac” McCarthy and I go back to the mid-1980s. What Mac likes to do most, beyond enjoying a fine Chardonnay and talking politics,…
I won a photography award – but it’s a scam
I've won an amateur photography contest, sponsored by the International Library of Photography. According to the letter accompanying the award, signed by Russell Hall, Senior Editor,Congratulations! Out of literally thousands of entries, your…
Network Solutions has addressed my every need!
My every need fulfilled — that's what Network Solutions is promising!I've heard it said that "friends don't let friends use Network Solutions," but I've persisted in using them for most of my domain-registry needs. The main reason is inertia.…
A billion Firefox downloads, still waiting for Chrome
The Mozilla project says that as of today, Firefox — in all its versions and platforms — has been downloaded a billion times. That's pretty impressive.I use Firefox for the Mac (current version 3.5.1) almost exclusively, though Apple's Safari…
Anonymous Call Rejection needed for the iPhone
Someone keeps calling my mobile phone number. Their phone number is blocked from showing up on Caller ID. They hang up if I answer, and don't leave a message if I don't answer. It's happened six times so far today.Amazingly, neither the mobile…
Getting your kicks from CICS — after 40 years
IBM's CICS software is apparently going strong, even after four decades.CICS means Customer Information Control System, and is pronounced "kicks." It's a mainframe transaction processing application. Massively scalable, massively reliable.Back…
Put a terabyte in your pocket
Yesterday, Western Digital announced a one-terabyte hard drive for notebook computers.The WD Scorpio Blue SATA 2.5-inch hard drive — 12.5 mm, 5200 RPM, 1TB, $249 — blows my mind. It was only in April 2007 that the industry first saw a one-terabyte…
Computers are cars
How often do you buy a car? Some drivers turn in their cars every couple of years and get a new model. Others drive them until the wheels come off. Others split the difference, trading in every five or six years.Generally speaking, people change…
Computers are cars
How often do you buy a car? Some drivers turn in their cars every couple of years and get a new model. Others drive them until the wheels come off. Others split the difference, trading in every five or six years. Generally speaking, people…
How long is your work unit: An hour, or a half-day?
This essay about meetings, "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule," written by Paul Graham, is right on the money.I find that I can either set up a work day for meetings, or set it up for being productive. That's why I like to cluster meetings…
MSDN Magazine, TechNet Magazine, to be published by 1105 Media
Congratulations to the publishing team at 1105 Media. That company is taking over the production of Microsoft's MSDN Magazine and TechNet Magazine.Those two magazines are owned by Microsoft's Magazine Group. For many years, they have been produced,…
Sun sets on an era of wonderful innovation
I come not to bury Sun Microsystems, but to praise it.Oracle’s purchase of Sun is not yet complete; the deal hasn’t legally closed. However, the end is near: The shareholders have approved the deal and, on July 16, Sun’s board voted to…
Alan’s big fat floppy adventure
Remember 3.5-inch floppy disks?While poking around the basement this morning, I found an old USB-attachable 3.5-inch drive. It came with a server— I forget which one — right around the time when servers stopped including floppy drives. This…
Spam Scam Watch — a new home for spammy scammy emails
For several years, I've been sharing e-mail spam scams with my ZTrek blog readers. The primary reason has been to warn people against responding to such messages.My hope is that when people receive questionable messages, they're enter some parts…
Catch my classes at the Niche Digital Conference
On my to-do list: Preparing to teach two classes at the Niche Digital Conference. The event is coming up soon — September 21-22, in Minneapolis.This is going to be a great conference. Billed as "the first digital-only conference for the niche…
Reducing complexity
Last week, I was heading out with a friend, and she offered to let me pilot her Acura. Settling into the driver’s seat, I reached down, pulled down a lever, and adjusted the way-too-high steering wheel into a more comfortable position. My…
Miniature flowerheads will brighten your life
Do you have beautiful potted plants? Make them even happier with a little flowerhead.These little wool miniatures can be placed anywhere you have a little spot that needs brightening. A flower pot, on your desk, anywhere. There are lots of adorable…
Roxy wins the Virginia Lottery!
My friend Agnes owns several Swiss Mountain Dogs. One of them — Roxy — was named a winner of Virginia's Lucky Dog Contest, sponsored by the Virginia Lottery! The photo is of Maverick and Roxy.I'm not a Dog Person, but the Swissies are beautiful,…
Google’s Chrome OS is less significant than it looks
My email inbox was filled this morning with questions and opinions after news came out about Google’s new Chrome OS. Was this another frontal assault on Microsoft by the Googleplex? Is Google becoming too big and powerful? What’s going on?There’s…
Google’s Chrome OS is less than it looks
My email inbox was filled this morning with questions and opinions after news came out about Google’s new Chrome OS.Was this another frontal assault on Microsoft by the Googleplex? Is Google becoming too big and powerful? What’s going…
Announcing ESDC 2010: A new conference for developers
You’ll want to be in San Mateo, Calif., on March 1–3, 2010. Why? Because of ESDC 2010, the Enterprise Software Development Conference, a conference that we’re launching for development managers, software architects and developers, in the…
I’ve been recognized as a Senior Member of the ACM
I have been recognized by the Association for Computing Machinery as a Senior Member. (I've belonged to the ACM since my college days.)The ACM Senior Member Grade is described as:The Senior Member Grade recognizes those ACM members with at least…
Saving money with a Garmin GTM-20 lifetime traffic subscription
I love to save money, but this deal still seems too good to be true.My GPS is a Garmin StreetPilot c550, which is an excellent (though now discontinued) unit purchased in mid-2006. (See some comments I blogged about it.) Though bulkier than…
What about those SD Times 100 categories?
Question:I just caught your post-SD Times 100 wrap-up. I actually have a general question about the awards — do you pare down the entries and combine then into like categories? It seems like there were many more categories listed on the nomination…
Galileo and the future of Eclipse
Galileo is coming. That’s the name of this year’s Eclipse release train, scheduled for Wednesday, June 24. Given the Eclipse Foundation’s reputation, I expect the train to arrive at the station on schedule.There’s a lot of goodness in…
Great advice for high school graduates
I am very impressed with the June 10 "Conversations" column in the New York Times, "Advice for High School Graduates." David Brooks and Gail Collins offer genuine insights.You should read the entire column, but I wish to quote three points…
The post-SD Times 100 week
The awards are over, and now it's time to deal with the post-award clean-up.
We began disclosing the 2009 SD Times 100 last Thursday, June 11, via Twitter; that was good fun. The official announcement was on Monday, June 15. You can read the…