August 2007 - Posts
Did you know, Intel Core 2 Duo processors are 64-bit! I'm running Windows Vista x64 on one right now as I type this post. I mention this because I've spoken to a lot of people recently who don't seem to realize that. SBSCs, that means, unless I've seriously misunderstood something - you can run Cougar on a Core 2 Duo system.
So the music industry is finally beginning to understand something about piracy. When protecting your intellectual property, It's a really bad idea to negatively impact your legitimate users by trying to control how they use your product. If you do, you'll just lose your genuine customers. Music buyers aren't prepared to live with restrictions on how they can listen to their purchase. The way to encourage legitimate users is with a carrot, not with a stick.
I believe the software industry is going to go the same way in the end. The backlash is coming. Microsoft's partners are constantly complaining that licensing is too complex and too restrictive. Microsoft ignores them while wondering why software piracy levels persist at over 50% on average and up to 92% in some countries.
Consider this: You buy a server with a Windows Server license, which includes fully functioning networking components. You buy a desktop PC with a Windows license that also includes fully functioning network components. Now you connect the two together. You're just adding a piece of wire, but now you need to purchase a third licence, called a Client Access License or CAL. But you already paid for all of the technology at both ends of that wire. Now, just for connecting them together, you have to pay again. Microsoft licenses software in such a way that they control not just whether you can use the software, but also how you can use that software. Most people find that particularly hard to stomach and find the concept outrageous.
BBC NEWS | Business | Universal sells songs without DRM
I was recently approached by a local company who wanted me to work as a subcontractor providing IT support to their customers. I would have to appear to be part of their company and not use my own company name and they wanted me to substantially discount my prices so they could resell my service at a profit and they would sign up the customer to a 1 year contract. The carrot they dangled was that there could be ten to twenty support contracts within a year. I considered the offer long and hard and eventually turned them down. You might think I'm crazy at this point - and I must admit I'm still not certain I made the right decision - so why did I turn down the opportunity?
Well, several reasons. I wouldn't be able to pick which customers I deal with or develop my own relationship with them. I would essentially end up being "just" a technician working for another company. There were other reasons, but in the end that was the show-stopper. I have my own business ethics (for example I don't tie my customers into a long term contract) and I need to be free to develop a relationship with my clients. I can't stomach being resold as a commodity. I aim to provide a premium service and that's reflected in my prices - "you can have it good or you can have it cheap". In the end, I guess I am a control freak. That's why I started my own business. I don't think I would have been comfortable working in those circumstances and ultimately I don't think it would have been in the long term interests of TiGra Networks.
It's not that I can't work with other companies. I have and still do work with other SBSCs and other local IT companies, but they have been people I feel a natural synergy with - people I know and trust and respect and who have treated me as a partner and not just a commodity to be resold.
Did I do the right thing? You tell me.
I'm not mentioning any names, but I recently tried to work with a supposedly small-business-friendly supplier to purchase an item worth £2.50. They made me fill in a multi-page paper application form then opened me a cash-only account and said they would consider accepting my debit card after three months trading. That was pretty much the end of my relationship with that supplier. Individuals within the company tried to help, but the company's processes thwarted them.
Another supplier I tried opened me an online account on the web then took my order over the phone and accepted my debit card as payment. I dealt with one person throughout.
Which of those companies would YOU deal with? I have spent over £12K this month with local small-business-friendly suppliers. If you want me to spend £12K with you, you have to be able to let me spend £2.50 first and not make me jump through hoops. Marketers: you need to understand that saying and doing are different. Just because you say you are small business friendly, doesn't mean you actually are.
A funny thing happened today. I was installing AsteriskNow (a VOIP virtual PBX based on Linux) in a virtual machine within Virtual Server. I was viewing the virtual machine's console within the Virtual Server web application (using the VMRC component) from a remote machine. The Linux hardware detection failed to detect a mouse and after a while I lost patience and decided to abort. I went into the Virtual Server web application and instructed it to Turn Off the virtual machine. Normally, this literally simulates pulling the power and execution ceases instantly. Curiously, the state of the virtual machine was reported as "Turning off" even after several refreshes of the master status page. I made a mental note that I'd probably have to reboot the host server soon and then went about other business.
I thought nothing more of it but then later on I tried to access my SharePoint server - which runs in a virtual machine - and noticed it was unavailable. A quick check revealed that none of my virtual machines were responding and neither was the host server. Curiouser and curiouser!
Next, I took the hands-on approach and flipped my KVM switch over to connect to my host server - the physical machine that runs Windows Server and hosts all the virtual machines. Imagine my surprise when I saw not Windows Server, but LINUX!!!!
OMG. My virtual server host server is running Linux!
I can't tell you all the emotions that struck me in that instant, thinking that my host server had somehow rebooted and installed Linux, wiping out the Windows Server 2003 R2 installation and all the virtual machine images installed there. Luckily, the panic was short lived, as a press of Ctrl-Alt-Delete rebooted reality and Windows Server 2003 loaded up and all my virtual servers began to run again. Normality reloaded. But this was a real, no, surreal Alice in Wonderland moment. One of those rare moments when you know what you are seeing is true, but you just can't believe it. How did that virtual machine manage to break out of its virtual prison and come crashing into reality? Because certainly that's what had happened. I was looking at the physical VGA port and typing on the real keyboard, and when I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete the physical server rebooted. I'd love to say "then I woke up and it was all a dream" but this, my friends, is a true story.
Dan Goddard is someone I've met at the technology incubator where I work in South Wales. He has created a web site covering Welsh football and he says that most of the other coverage is pretty poor. Not being a football fan myself, I wouldn't know - but I do know that Dan has put in a hell of a lot of work getting his site up and running and keeping it updated. He's consistently breaking news stories before the BBC.
Dan wants to get his web site to appear above the BBC in Google. Currently he is about 6th place. So if you're a football fan - or even if you're not - please check out Dan's site and see if we can give him a leg-up.