Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick Weblog
Have you seen the blue folder?
The Onion's take on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is brilliant! They are indeed America's finest news source.Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Happy 8th Anniversary, SD Times!
Today is the eighth anniversary of the launch of BZ Media's SD Times. Hard to believe sometimes!The first issue of the newspaper was dated Feb. 23, 2000. It was followed by Mar. 15, then Apr. 1, and so-on; we've been on a first-and-fifteenth…
EclipseWorld 2008 Call for Speakers now open
We're now accepting speaker proposals for EclipseWorld 2008 — the technical conference specially designed for enterprise IT staff and software developers using Eclipse-based tools and technologies.There's a lot of excitement in the Eclipse…
Pop quiz: Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? How often does eWeek publish?
Q: Who is buried in Grant's tomb?A. Nobody is technically buried there, but Ulysses S. Grant is entombed above-ground in the monument's mausoleum.Q: How often does Ziff Davis Enterprise publish eWeek?A: Thirty-nine times per year, at least for…
No operating system just for the little ladies
I echo the comments by Tina Gasperson, in her post, "Linux distro for women? Thanks, but no thanks." It reminds me of the tool kits for women you see in all the department stores, with pink-handled screwdrivers "just for her."
What, my wife…
Farewell, Dr. Floyd
Roy Scheider, who played Dr. Heywood Floyd in the movie "2010" and Capt. Nathan Bridger in "SeaQuest DSV," passed away yesterday at age 75.Oh, yeah, he did some other roles too, most notably Chief Martin Brody in Jaws. But for me, he'll always…
No liquids on planes
While I'm on the subject of air travel... it was really depressing, on a recent trip, to see the family ahead of me in the security line put a sealed six-pack of Gatorade into the recycle bin. What a waste.I don't know about you, but the ban…
What do you do if you find a flash drive in an airline seat-back pocket?
Apropos to my posting a couple of weeks ago about the dangers of lost flash drives, New York Times columnist Randy Cohen tackles that issue in today"s paper. A reader asks Randy,At the end of a long flight, I gathered my children’s scattered…
Fixing an Excel 2004 printing bug under Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Symptom: Excel 2004 spreadsheets don't appear correct under print preview, and print only blank pages.Remediation: On some machines, there is a problem with the "high" print resolution. In order to get the spreadsheet to print properly, go to…
With one free bag, the Friendly Skies got a little less friendly
Air travel is enough of a nuisance these days. Why do airlines have to keep finding ways to make things worse?Take United Airlines, which is my default carrier because it has so many non-stops out of SFO. Here's a notice they just sent me, rescinding…
It’s amazing that people believe vendor-sponsored research
One of the open secrets of the technology industry is that many — if not most — technology analyst firms are "pay for praise."Such analyst firms conduct research designed to flatter their clients who sponsor that research. Those clients…
Adobe Stock Photos is going away, and for a very good reason
Adobe sent out a notice that one of its services, Adobe Stock Photos, is going to be discontinued. The service will be turned off on April 1.I have no idea how popular Adobe Stock Photos is, but the company offered up a helpful FAQ to explain…
Say “goodbye” to first-generation cellular telephony
If you were an early adopter of mobile telephones – perhaps you have a car phone, a bag phone, or an expensive handset like the Motorola MicroTAC – you used the analog AMPS cellular phone system.AMPS, or Advanced Mobile Phone Service, used…
Good luck, Microsoft, with the Yahoo thing
Seemingly everyone this week is distracted by Microsoft’s hostile takeover bid for Yahoo. • Pundits wonder if other suitors will emerge, and how Google will respond.• Microsoft-bashers want the company to fix its software, instead of screwing…
Yesterday’s Windows double-shot
Yesterday, both Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 were released to manufacturing. Customers are set to receive the new bits in March.Both are long-awaited updates.Windows Server 2008 (aka “Longhorn Server”) is a significant…
Gotta have those Eclipse Java Development Tools
What’s the most popular part of the Eclipse ecosystem, beyond the framework itself? By a wide margin, it’s the Java Development Tools project.BZ Research conducted its fourth annual Eclipse study late last year. We’re publishing some of…
A clean hi-fi is a happy hi-fi
It's amazing how dirty a stereo can get after three decades, especially when it's been sitting gathering dust for the past half-dozen years or so. Potentiometers get scratchy, switches get noisy. Analog circuity is more sensitive to dirt and…
Keep an eye on those flash drives – and USB ports
USB ports, as any IT security expert can tell you, are trouble just waiting to happen. Sure, they’re fine for keyboards and mice. However, think about the other things that can be plugged into them, like portable storage devices ready to hoover…
Should Microsoft ‘save’ Windows XP?
As you can see in Galen Gruman's opinion essay in InfoWorld, "Why XP must be saved," there's certainly a movement afoot to stop Microsoft from discontinuing the product.Currently, Microsoft says that it will stop selling Windows XP at the end…
WD’s "essential" external drives are 3mm shorter
I'm sitting here in New York, using my 250GB external Western Digital Passport external hard drive, and a few moments ago, I received a press release touting the company's newest product: "WD My Passport Essential."You may recall that I bought…
Look, ma — no power supply bricks!
Remember the old days of carrying power supplies for cell phones, music players and other portable electronics?I am delighted that every portable device I travel with can be charged via USB port. I don't carry any AC power supplies any more,…
A two-week Microsoft TechEd? Oh, my
Speaking of Microsoft TechEd — I was surprised to learn this morning that Microsoft has split it into two separate events. That's right, there's a "Developers TechEd 2008" from June 3-6, and an "IT Professionals TechEd 2008" from June 10-13.…
Microsoft pushes back SQL Server 2008
According to Microsoft, SQL Server 2008 is delayed to the third or fourth quarter of 2008. That's a disappointment, as SQL Server 2005 is getting long in the tooth, and developers have been looking forward to the new release... and had hoped…
Magazine page jumps — just say no
Magazines tend to pile up at my house, so that I can read them during my too-frequent business travel. Jettisoning a well-read magazine mid-trip is truly a pleasure.It's not a pleasure, though, when a feature story starts in the front of the…
SD Times 100 reader nominations open early
We were supposed to open up reader nominations on February 1 — but everything is ready, so why hold back?Judged by the editors of SD Times, the SD Times 100 recognizes the top innovators and leaders in software development.Most companies,…
Not ready for an SLR upgrade yet
So, I'm sitting with a friend, and she's showing off her brand-new digital camera. When the topic came around to my five-year-old Canon EOS 10D digital SLR, she said (not in so many words), "It's time to upgrade that ancient, obsolete device."I…
Am I Mr. Robert? Are you Mr. Robert?
Here's today's great spam message. There's a laugh in every e-mail inbox.Hi,I wish you a Happy New Year. I have a very important matter that I wish to discuss with you.But, first I want to know if you know any Mr. Robert, I am asking you this…
The WORST OF 2007
Now is the time of year when the editors of BZ Media’s SD Times begin working on our annual awards program, the SD Times 100. That’s where we recognize the greatest innovators and leaders in the software development industry – companies,…
Agility Model vs Maturity Model
ZapThink's Ron Schmeltzer makes good points in his essay, "Forget Maturity Models — It's Time for an Agility Model," published today. But not all of his points are on target."Too often, companies flock to maturity models, such as the widely-famous…
Researching BEA and Oracle market share
In reviewing my blog traffic logs, it's clear that a lot of people are researching the Oracle/BEA deal. In particularly, my entry from last October, "BEA, Oracle market share" was off the chart.So, if you are looking for stats... there they…