Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick Weblog
While the pace slowed, afterMillerFreeman keeps growing
In early December, we launched a social network for former employees of Miller Freeman. That is, everyone who had worked at Miller Freeman Publications or Miller Freeman Inc. (including companies that merged into it, like Gralla) up through…
Some of my favorite Arthur C. Clarke books
It's been a challenge, thinking of the best way to eulogize Arthur C. Clarke. It is doubly difficult because I've never met him, and because so many other sources have done such a tremendous job that there's little to add. (One that you might…
Arvo Pärt’s beautiful meditative musical triads
We stumbled across Spiegel im Spiegel a few days ago... we were listening to KDFC, our local classical music station, when this beautiful, repetitive, hypnotic piano-and-violin piece came on.We were entranced.It was like listening to the Pachelbel…
Arthur C. Clarke, my childhood hero, passes away
When I was a young kid, an avid science-fiction reader and budding scientist, my superheroes were Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan. I revered their craft and their biographies — all three were genuine scientists as well as brilliant…
Mike Milinkovich’s talk at EclipseCon’s Member Meeting
Every quarter, the Eclipse Foundation has a Member Meeting. This quarter's meeting took place at EclipseCon on Monday, from 1:30-6:00 pm.The most eagerly anticipated presentation of the member meeting is the report from the Foundation's director,…
It’s the Easter Mouse!
Sometimes a press release is too cute not to share, especially when it comes with an adorable photo. This just in:Here's an idea for last-minute Easter related coverage. For parents searching for an alternative to the traditional Easter basket,…
Playing games with Dr. Dobb’s Journal
Think Services — the publishing company that puts out Dr. Dobb's Journal — is taking the magazine to the next level. Last year, DDJ extended into Second Life. Now, it's becoming a video game.With this new initiative, DDJ is continuing its…
Honesty in subscriber service
Our customer service department shares the comments that they receive from readers. I could appreciate one particular note which asked us to cancel a subscription to Software Test & Performance. Normally we don't like cancellations, but you…
Should you sell ads on your personal blog?
My Z Trek blog is a "business blog," because it's (sometimes) involved with what I do for a living, and because I (sometimes) do my blogging during working hours.However, many of my favorite bloggers do so on their own time, to talk about their…
Nobody submitted a nomination for THE WORST OF 2007
I thought we'd see some SCOs, some Microsofts, some Oracles. Nope. Not a single nomination in the SD Times' newest award, THE WORST OF 2007. Lots of clicks on the nomination form, but nobody submitted.What a disappointment!
Nobody submitted a nomination for THE WORST OF 2007
I thought we'd see some SCOs, some Microsofts, some Oracles, maybe even an IBM, a Red Hat, a Free Software Foundation, an Apple. Nope.Not a single nomination in the SD Times' newest award, THE WORST OF 2007. Lots of clicks on the nomination…
I’ve been through the press release with the customer with no name
Sometimes a press release just makes you scratch your head, like this one from MKS on Friday morning. It's a customer-win press release, which doesn't name the customer.(Actually, it's not even a customer win: The release talks about an unnamed…
Rent-a-model for Interop?
In case you're wondering where booth bunnies come from, here's an e-mail I received from "Barbie" at The Élan Agency.
It came because we're exhibiting at the Interop (not "Interopt") conference at the end of April in Las Vegas. Have fun…
DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 flunks user-interface design
A principle of user interface design is that, as much as possible, the user should be in charge of the user experience. Menu options, if visible, should work. The user should be able to start or stop actions, or guide the course of actions.…
Spring Forward: Here we go again with Daylight Savings Time
Are all of your computers, applications and devices ready for tonight's Daylight Savings Time changeover? If you're in the United States, the answer probably is "no."In its infinite wisdom, the U.S. government changed the rules for Daylight…
SD Times was the fastest-growing IT publication in 2007
Our flagship publication, SD Times, was listed in the February 2008 issue of Media Business Magazine as having increased from 649.8 advertising pages in 2006 to 730.7 in 2007 – the largest increase of any print publication in the information-technology…
Ziff Davis Enterprise is fine — it’s Ziff Davis Media that’s gone Chapter 11
I can only imagine the headache that Ziff Davis Media's announcement of bankruptcy is causing for Ziff Davis Enterprise — an entirely different company.Ziff Davis Media, whose bankruptcy I noted last week, publishes PC Magazine and several…
Dell says that Windows Vista had a lot of known problems
I found this story from ComputerWorld, "Dell pointed out Microsoft's Vista mistakes, internal docs show," to be disturbing.Gregg Keizer's Feb. 29 story said that, "Last-minute changes to Windows Vista broke drivers, forcing key hardware vendors…
How many publishing companies have published Dr. Dobb’s Journal?
Jon Erickson, editor-in-chief of Dr. Dobb's Journal, totally stumped me yesterday. He asked me how many companies had published DDJ, and I guessed four. The correct answer is five.Dr. Dobb's was founded by1. People's Computing Company (PCC)which…
CMP breaks up, Ziff Davis Media goes Chapter 11
It's ironic (but coincidental) that we're making the big shift in our staff to support our major launch of Systems Management News, only a few days after CMP Media broke up into four businesses, and the same week that Ziff Davis Media filed…
Exciting changes at BZ Media’s SD Times
Everyone at BZ Media is amped for the launch of Systems Management News, which will debut on April 15.Systems Management News (SMN) is a newspaper very similar to SD Times in format and appearance. Its will provide timely news and analysis to…
‘Testers are idiots’
My colleague Edward Correia, editor of Software Test & Performance Magazine, wrote a great report on the FutureTest 2008 conference. The story, entitled 'Testers are Idiots," talks about the challenges that many professional testers have within…
The Fifth Element: What an odd movie!
Talk about weird: On the recommendation of a friend, we rented The Fifth Element from Netflix, and watched it last night.What a bizarre movie! It's a 1997 sci-fi action/comedy, starring Bruce Willis as a 23rd-century flying taxi driver, Gary…
The Fifth Element: What an odd movie!
Talk about weird: On the recommendation of a friend, we rented The Fifth Element from Netflix, and watched it last night.What a bizarre movie! It's a 1997 sci-fi action/comedy, starring Bruce Willis as a 23rd-century flying taxi driver, Gary…
NetBeans, Oracle make some progress; Eclipse slides a little
"Which development environment do you use?"That's one of the most eagerly awaited questions in BZ Research's annual study into the use of Java within the enterprise and at ISVs.The top development environments, according to the December 2007,…
Transforming the software testing organization
FutureTest 2008 was unlike any conference I’ve seen for top software test managers — really dug into ways that we can transform software testing. From my perspective, the conference truly exceeded expectations, not only in the number of…
Y2K redux: Time for F29
Last Friday, I was due to fly back to San Francisco from New York City. FutureTest 2008 was over, I’d spent a day in BZ East (our Huntington, N.Y. headquarters), and it was time to go home.My flight, United #5, was set to depart at 6:00am,…
The LCD screens are always bright on Broadway
As LCD screens showing advertisements become ubiquitous in our society, the quality of life goes down.I arrived this afternoon in Manhattan for FutureTest 2008. It started, as all thing New York begin, with the taxi ride from JFK to Midtown.…
STPCon Fall 2008 Call for Speakers is now open
We haven't even held STPCon Spring 2008 yet, but we're ready for speaker proposals for the fall conference!STPCon Fall 2008 will be Sept. 24-26 at the Marriott Boston Copley Hotel. That's right: We've moved across the river from Cambridge, where…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in February
Last week we escaped up to beautiful Oregon. Most of our holiday was spent in the Redmond/Bend area, visiting with cousins in the shadow of the breathtaking Mount Bachelor volcanic chain. A nice, relaxing time was had by all.Pleasant though…