A Reuters article on some research done by IDC appearing on ITWeb) had a comment on the market share of various database vendors. Measuring revenue, the leaders were, in order, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft. The article was unsatisfactory for a number of reasons: there’s no indication of whether OSS vendors had their revenue included (whether… Continue reading Linux, a database to be feared?
Wanted: Good Open Source developers
I’m continually being offered work that I don’t have the time (or sometimes the interest) to do. I have a small number of people I usually recommend, but they’re also quite often busy. I do so hate letting people down, and would like to be able to recommend someone everytime I get a plea for… Continue reading Wanted: Good Open Source developers
Excuses
I’m very good at excuses. I remember, in school (and that was a while back) making the excuse that I would wait until I got a computer until I wrote my novel. Then it was till I finished studying (IT). Then until I finished travelling. Then I decided to study English and Philosophy and learn… Continue reading Excuses
Power games
Well, the good news is the security guard at our offices has kept his job. I’m not quite sure what happened, whether the attorney spoke to the landlord, the landlord had a change of heart, all the positive energy spoke to him out of the ether, or perhaps even he read my blog. But the… Continue reading Power games
Passion
No, I’m not talking about Passion of the Christ, nor the kind of passion that attracts those Google referrers making hardcore porn one of my most popular referring search terms. I’m talking about passion for what you do. On Saturday I had a wonderful session with Jason Hobbs, brainstorming a new project we’re working on… Continue reading Passion
Tectonic magazine
My copy of Tectonic magazine arrived in the post today. Neil described it as a thing of beauty, and I was pleasantly surprised too (perhaps that shows our predisposition for Ubuntu, from which the cover art is taken?) Many of the articles are taken from the website, and so are old news, but there’s something… Continue reading Tectonic magazine
Blood(y) landlords and slimy diamonds
The landlord of the building where I work has just fired the security guard (technically he hasn’t renewed his contract). Apparently he has a tendency to hire a guard on contract for 3 months, then terminate the contract on very short notice (in this case Monday is the last day), and avoid paying UIF etc,… Continue reading Blood(y) landlords and slimy diamonds
20Twenty still not supporting Open Standards
I’ve just heard (from a friend attempting to apply) that 20Twenty still aren’t accepting applications on anything but Internet Explorer. If they can spend gazillions on shiny new Microsoft licences surely they can afford the 10 minutes it would take a developer to fix their form. Looks like their backend tech is almost as bad… Continue reading 20Twenty still not supporting Open Standards
The Future of Food
Just got an invite to a SAFeAGE showing of The Future of Food at the Labia. Will paste the details below for anyone in Cape Town and interested. SOUTH AFRICAN FREEZE ALLIANCE ON GENETIC ENGINEERING (SAFeAGE) INVITES YOU TO A SHOWING OF THE FILM THE FUTURE OF FOOD By Lily Films ON WORLD CONSUMER DAY… Continue reading The Future of Food
Unethical vegan parents and the art of headline skimming
The label pseudo-science is an interesting one, so often used by the mainstream to discredit new findings, or directions of exploration. What it really should be used for is to label all those researchers paid by a vested interest to suppress a finding they’re unhappy with. Or just plain bad research methodologies. I’m applying it… Continue reading Unethical vegan parents and the art of headline skimming