TumblMac: Woolgathering

What a great story! Go Virgil!

Only a Frenchman would know this is possible. Quite impressive.

This is way cool and bravo to Audi for donating the car.

I wonder what they’re using to power these things. I love that we see their screens. Really cool in a geek sort of way.

When users create an account on their systems, the home folder is named with the “short” username; changing it, or the login name is not straightforward. In previous versions of Mac OS X, the easiest way to change the short name was usually to create a new account and transfer files to it. For Leopard users, however, the procedure is relatively simple:

1. Enable the root user and log in as root. This can be done by opening “Directory Utility”, clicking the lock and authenticating, and then choosing “Enable Root User” from the “Edit” menu. After supplying a password for this account, users can log out and log back in as “root”.
2. Locate the home folder to be changed, and rename it accordingly, ensuring the name is lowercase, letters only, and all one word.
3. Go to the “Accounts” system preferences and create a new user, giving that user a “short” name that’s the same as the new home folder name. The system will ask if the present home folder is to be used, and users should click “ok”. Then ensure the new user can administer the computer (if the user is to be an administrator).
4. Log out of the system and log back in as the new user, and if everything behaves normally, users can then delete the old user in the “System Preferences”.
5. Reverse the steps to enable the “root” user in order to deactivate it. The root user account should only be enabled temporarily for running certain administrative tasks such as this.

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Here’s a common question asked by users who simply chose a name that they no longer like. To login as root, you have to allow the “Name and Password” to be checked in the Login Options section of Accounts, in system preferences.

So far I’m in love.

This store is like a cheap knock-off of an Apple Store. Check out the tables the computers sit on and the colored shirts the employees are wearing. Even the sign on the wall as you walk in is similar to an old Apple Store window treatment for apps.

Guess we call this flattery?

Windows 7 Vodka and the Microsoft Hangover

10.19.09

Microsoft’s PR and marketing follies are symptomatic of a company-wide laziness.

5

Comments

by John C. Dvorak

Buzz up!on Yahoo!

Having followed Microsoft’s exploits since its inception, I can safely say the best anyone can hope for with Windows 7 is moderate success. For all of the fanfare surrounding the new OS, Win 7 is really just a Vista martini. The operating system may have two olives instead of one this time out, but it’s still made with the same cheap Microsoft vodka.

This is an issue than runs deeper than mere OS programming. The cocktail analogy extends to other aspects of the company, including PR and marketing. You see, all Microsoft requires is some manner of moderate success that will help deflect Vista-like criticism and grief for the next four years. This, ultimately, won’t have anything to do with what is in the actual OS. Rather it will be a reflection of the way the OS is perceived. Such perception is a function of Microsoft’s marketing machine and PR, both of which are either AWOL or non-existent, seeming to have gone into a slumber the day Bill Gates left the company.

I haven’t received a single personal note from a Microsoft PR person for roughly four years. Instead, the company has taken to sending out very lengthy and somewhat boring cheerleader-type consumer newsletters to the media in an attempt to keep us informed. It’s essentially spam with lots of links and no real compelling content, which seems to be the work of someone who has recently finished taking English as a Second Language courses.

Somewhere along the line, Microsoft apparently decided that it only wants to deal with those amenable suckers who will give it a pass on everything—or perhaps the company has just given up any hopes of getting favorable press. Whatever the case may be, the Microsoft of 15 years ago did a much better job managing the media than it does today. The shift signals more than a simple annoyance—Microsoft’s carelessness with the media seems to represent an overall careless that permeates throughout the entire company.

The recent spam newsletter, “Microsoft at a Glance,” is the perfect example. For one thing, periods are left off at the end of sentences. This was likely an oversight resulting from having a computer-generated newsletter, since it seemed to happen in a specific sequence. It’s the cheap vodka syndrome all over again.

This sloppiness is also reflected in Microsoft advertising, highlighted by some of the lamest ads ever produced for television. It’s also displayed in the Windows 7 do-it-yourself party concept, an unprecedented eye-roller of an idea that easily topped the “I’m a PC” campaign, the latter of which, mercifully, appears to have been put down like a horse with a broken leg.

Where is the “wow?” Where is the tour-de-force? It’s not going to happen with this marketing team calling the shots, so we have to assume that no matter how good or bad Windows 7

might be (it’s good, but not really better than Vista SP2), the company doesn’t understand the value of using better vodka.

I’ve long asserted that Steve Jobs was right about Microsoft years ago when he accused the company of collectively having no taste. But now I’m not so sure. There are flashes of brilliance and good taste all over the company, but Microsoft is just lazy, careless, and not at all detail-oriented anymore. There are also indications that the employees all play a zero-sum game, hoping the guy in the next cubicle fails. This is a flaw that crept into the company long before Gates’s exit.

In the end, Windows 7 is a big deal—but it should be an even bigger deal. It will get a lot of attention for the next week, but the buzz will wane rapidly as people realize that there is no new paradigm here, just more cheap vodka that will inevitably be followed by the same old Microsoft hangover.

Full Windows 7 Coverage

More John C. Dvorak:
• Windows 7 Vodka and the Microsoft Hangover
• Microsoft Blows Up the Cloud
• My Apple Tablet Theories
• Where is My Wireless Revolution?
• 16 Improvements for Small Digital Cameras
• more

Go off-topic with John C. Dvorak.

See John get cranky about technology in his new Cranky Geeks IPTV Show.

I think Dvorak is spot-on here (as I usually do). Microsoft has become a big, lazy company who drinks too much of its own Kool-Aid.

Windows 7 Vodka and the Microsoft Hangover

10.19.09

Microsoft’s PR and marketing follies are symptomatic of a company-wide laziness.

5

Comments

by John C. Dvorak

Buzz up!on Yahoo!

Having followed Microsoft’s exploits since its inception, I can safely say the best anyone can hope for with Windows 7 is moderate success. For all of the fanfare surrounding the new OS, Win 7 is really just a Vista martini. The operating system may have two olives instead of one this time out, but it’s still made with the same cheap Microsoft vodka.

This is an issue than runs deeper than mere OS programming. The cocktail analogy extends to other aspects of the company, including PR and marketing. You see, all Microsoft requires is some manner of moderate success that will help deflect Vista-like criticism and grief for the next four years. This, ultimately, won’t have anything to do with what is in the actual OS. Rather it will be a reflection of the way the OS is perceived. Such perception is a function of Microsoft’s marketing machine and PR, both of which are either AWOL or non-existent, seeming to have gone into a slumber the day Bill Gates left the company.

I haven’t received a single personal note from a Microsoft PR person for roughly four years. Instead, the company has taken to sending out very lengthy and somewhat boring cheerleader-type consumer newsletters to the media in an attempt to keep us informed. It’s essentially spam with lots of links and no real compelling content, which seems to be the work of someone who has recently finished taking English as a Second Language courses.

Somewhere along the line, Microsoft apparently decided that it only wants to deal with those amenable suckers who will give it a pass on everything—or perhaps the company has just given up any hopes of getting favorable press. Whatever the case may be, the Microsoft of 15 years ago did a much better job managing the media than it does today. The shift signals more than a simple annoyance—Microsoft’s carelessness with the media seems to represent an overall careless that permeates throughout the entire company.

The recent spam newsletter, “Microsoft at a Glance,” is the perfect example. For one thing, periods are left off at the end of sentences. This was likely an oversight resulting from having a computer-generated newsletter, since it seemed to happen in a specific sequence. It’s the cheap vodka syndrome all over again.

This sloppiness is also reflected in Microsoft advertising, highlighted by some of the lamest ads ever produced for television. It’s also displayed in the Windows 7 do-it-yourself party concept, an unprecedented eye-roller of an idea that easily topped the “I’m a PC” campaign, the latter of which, mercifully, appears to have been put down like a horse with a broken leg.

Where is the “wow?” Where is the tour-de-force? It’s not going to happen with this marketing team calling the shots, so we have to assume that no matter how good or bad Windows 7

might be (it’s good, but not really better than Vista SP2), the company doesn’t understand the value of using better vodka.

I’ve long asserted that Steve Jobs was right about Microsoft years ago when he accused the company of collectively having no taste. But now I’m not so sure. There are flashes of brilliance and good taste all over the company, but Microsoft is just lazy, careless, and not at all detail-oriented anymore. There are also indications that the employees all play a zero-sum game, hoping the guy in the next cubicle fails. This is a flaw that crept into the company long before Gates’s exit.

In the end, Windows 7 is a big deal—but it should be an even bigger deal. It will get a lot of attention for the next week, but the buzz will wane rapidly as people realize that there is no new paradigm here, just more cheap vodka that will inevitably be followed by the same old Microsoft hangover.

Full Windows 7 Coverage

More John C. Dvorak:
• Windows 7 Vodka and the Microsoft Hangover
• Microsoft Blows Up the Cloud
• My Apple Tablet Theories
• Where is My Wireless Revolution?
• 16 Improvements for Small Digital Cameras
• more

Go off-topic with John C. Dvorak.

See John get cranky about technology in his new Cranky Geeks IPTV Show.

I think Dvorak is spot-on here (as I usually do). Microsoft has become a big, lazy company who drinks too much of its own Kool-Aid.

Monday, October 12, 2009 U.S. Army adopts Apple for new video surveillance By Katie Marsal Published: 09:25 AM EST —> For security, ease of use and features, the U.S. Army has reportedly turned to Apple hardware for four new video surveillance installations. According to Security Systems News, the Army now has four video surveillance installations based on Mac OS X and Apple servers. Pat Mercer, security business leader/sales manager with Siemens, said the IT department was initially reluctant to go Mac, but as they explored the systems, it became clear it was the best and most secure option. “When you ask them what their requirements are, they say, ‘Low bandwidth, and I need to make sure nothing is going to hack into my network via your system,’ Mercer said. “That’s where the Mac conversation begins. The viruses, hacking, all of those things are dramatically minimized with Apple and it eliminates a lot of those challenges.” Chris Gettings, CEO and president of VideoNEXT, said the Mac offers security that Windows cannot, and a user interface far superior to Red Hat Linux. “It just runs,” Gettings said. “You’re not going to have some of the memory-leak issues that seem to plague different versions of the Windows systems. And mission-critical customers appreciate that.” He said he particularly appreciates the consistency found in Apple hardware. When ordering identical servers from Dell two weeks apart, Gettings said he discovered that a chip on the motherboard had been changed. But with Apple, he said, he doesn’t need to worry about issues like that. The streamlined hardware also allows him to create a more efficient system. “He can put as many as 60 cameras on one Apple server that, according the specifications, has the same performance abilities as a Dell or HP server that can only serve 50 cameras,” the report said. The news isn’t the first report of the U.S. Army embracing the Apple platform. In 2007, the military branch stepped up its Mac orders to thwart hacking attempts. The Army began shifting away from a Windows-only environment in 2005, when General Steve Boutelle warned that a homogenous operating system environment could expose a computer system to large-scale hacking attempts. The Army has also used Apple hardware in the field, adopting custom iPods to be used as field translators in Iraq. The U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division reportedly used iPods and iPod nanos modified to run a special application from Vcom 3D known as Vcommunicator Mobile. The system allows soldiers to choose words or phrases to broadcast out of an attached speaker and communicate with locals. Filed under : Mac OS X [ 69 Comments ]    Tell a Friend ]  —> [ Print ] [ Story Link ]