|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7/4/1776: "We hold these truths to be self-evident.." What people hold truths to be self-evident, in our day and age? What's worth fighting for today? Who has a really good idea that's as good for everyone else as it is for themself? We've spent so much time fussing over Microsoft, if it were possible to work with others to get our independence from them, would you do it? Maybe this should be our new motto: What would you be willing to give up today? Sometimes you don't know what people get and don't get. I always thought it was self-evident why the xmlStorageSystem spec was an open answer to Microsoft's HailStorm. Well, emailing with Sjoerd today, I found the missing bit of information that helps illuminate the idea. With two sentences from me to Sjoerd, who's a very smart man, he got what I was thinking. I'm going to write up the vision. It's time there was an alternative to the megalomania. This is as new and simple as XML-RPC was three years ago. It's worth making another investment in our freedom. That will be my contribution to your freedom. All I ask in return is that you consider supporting the proposal and when Microsoft asks you to store all your info in their cloud, remember that you could do it for yourself. Eastside Journal: "The judges did not reverse Jackson's ruling. They vacated and remanded it back to the district court. That means, if the government and Microsoft don't settle the case as is widely expected, a new district court judge will have to start all over with the question of whether it was anticompetitive for Microsoft to build Internet Explorer into Windows." Eric Raymond: "Congratulations. Your brain is now infected with the 'I have seen shared source' virus." Wes Felter: "Stutz says the license is non-viral, but (not surprisingly) no one is giving MS the benefit of the doubt." A new Bryan Bell theme for school teachers. More on Scoble, as if I haven't already said enough. Yesterday there was a second eWeek article quoting him saying not-nice things about Microsoft, and then I could see it from his employer's point of view. Every company, large and small, wants to control the flow of news coming out of it. When a random non-executive all of a sudden starts speaking for the company (that's the company view) it turns things upside down. I remember the feeling, when Brent started his weblog, even though I had been encouraging him to do so, it freaked me out. I got over it, as I suspect many employers will learn to. How do you talk to an employee who also runs his own publication, esp if you're in the publishing business? Oy such problems! But I believe the benefit outweighs the cost, if the employee is trustworthy and intelligent and uses his or her weblog responsibly, as Brent is and does. So what's the benefit? There's a lot to explain there, but basically you have a more valuable person on your team. Weblogs aren't as they may appear, one-way things -- they're multi-way. A person who runs a good blog is not only a source of ideas, pov and information, they are also a receiver of all of that. Fawcette is blessed because they have a natural-born-blogger on their staff, one of the best I've ever seen. Can they find a way to turn that into an advantage for their conferences, magazines and websites? Weblogs run by UserLand employees. Brent Simmons, Jake Savin, Lawrence Lee, John Robb, and of course yours truly. Another company that has embraced weblogs is O'Reilly. Look down the left edge of this page for the growing list of O'Reilly people, each with their own publishing platform. Then you cross another line, when the people in your company become the subject of articles in other publications. I frequently quote Brent, Jake and John in Scripting News. But then there was an article in Wired about Jake and his adventures with Google. Another time to gulp. And while John is an officer of the company, he says things that I may not want said. C'est la vie. Even in a small company we don't march like an army, and the randomness of everything can upset even the best-made plans. But the benefits outweigh the cost, imho. You can now buy a PC that runs at 1.8 Ghz. Wow. Asian Bastard: "I don't want some guy running up to me at the mall and slapping a Gap sticker on my back as I walk around." Happy birthday to Marek! Speech speech! If you're new to Scripting News then you possibly don't know about the "Take a Programmer to Lunch on Tuesday" tradition which came before Microsoft-Free-Fridays. All we ask is that once a week you take a programmer to lunch. There are many good reasons to do this. First and foremost it gets programmers fed and outdoors at least once a week. Now what's in it for you? Information! You could ask your new friend the programmer to explain any number of confusing new technologies. Hey, but there aren't any! OK, so ask about confusing old technologies. How does a Web server really work? What's the difference between Perl and Python (that'll get them going for sure). Try this one out: Is Microsoft really an Open Source Company? BTW, when I think of a prototype for a programmer, I think of Steve Zellers. Steve works at Apple, before that Sun, Berkeley Systems and (where I first met him) Symantec. He writes great code, always has great ideas, and he delivers. He might even be free for lunch today! 
|
 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
© Copyright 1997-2005 Dave Winer. The picture at the top of the page may change from time to time. Previous graphics are archived. Previous/Next |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
