gdp's Comments

IT Expert Voice : USB 3.0: Everything You Need to Know

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 15:06:27 +0000

It's a weird setting in the comments system. Sigh.

IT Expert Voice : 7 Job Interview Questions to Ask a Network Administrator Candidate

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:04:10 +0000

Ah. An accent! That explains it. :-)

IT Expert Voice : 7 Job Interview Questions to Ask a Network Administrator Candidate

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:11:38 +0000

I can. I'm just waiting on confirmation of the correct info (which should come from the person she quoted, no?) before I do so.

IT Expert Voice : Replacing SharePoint with Open Source CMSs

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:10:20 +0000

I must admit... I've never heard of nuxeo! (I can't speak to whether Zonker has.)

IT Expert Voice : 7 Job Interview Questions to Ask a Network Administrator Candidate

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:56:22 +0000

Hi, Brett. Nice to see you again. :-) The author (who, ahem, is a she) doesn't claim to be a sysadmin. She interviewed sysadmins, who gave her all these answers and which she compiled.

IT Expert Voice : Replacing SharePoint with Open Source CMSs

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:49:38 +0000

Since your Loyal Editor-in-Chief (that would be ME) is married to a Plone committer, I asked Zonker the same question when he handed in the article. (At least the "What about Plone?" question, not the expression of personal preference.) His view -- which is fair -- is that he could only know what he wrote about from his own experience. It's HIS article, not mine, and HIS perceptions of which CMSs are best for enterprise use.

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 15:20:07 +0000

Good analogy. Except for the problem: It *doesn't* still work. A web browser by its nature interacts with other systems. If it doesn't do that, it doesn't work. You can ride an ancient bicycle for as long as you want. If it still gets you from Point A to Point B, nobody has to care if it uses the most up-to-date technology. But if you drive a 1950s-era car, it will want "regular" gas rather than unleaded. Few car collectors expect that their local gas station will support them by dedicating a pump to the fuel their old car needs -- yet somehow IE6 users (apparently) expect that web designers will fill-er-up with IE6 content.

IT Expert Voice : You Can Do WHAT with the Windows 7 Calculator?!

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:46:36 +0000

You can certainly quote from it, and link back to the post here. But, obviously, you can't copy the entire thing. :-)

IT Expert Voice : Fixing the Windows 7 Read-Only Folder Blues

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:21:56 +0000

In what way?

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:55:37 +0000

Oh my. Your situation summarized my entire article in a single anecdote!--Esther

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:27:39 +0000

They think they found the source of the problem. I hope it works better now!

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:26:25 +0000

So your solution is to write for the least common denominator? At what point do you believe your users' needs (fulfilled by more modern browsers) reduce that least-common-denominator to zero?

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:24:14 +0000

Actually there's a meta-issue here, which IMHO dates from the early PC era in which users complained that microcomputers were too hard to use, and that the industry should make it easy to do everything... that you shouldn't have to know anything in order to accomplish something. That's how we made the transition from the expression "idiot-proof software" to "user friendly." You're right: Microsoft did tell developers that their tools would make it easy to create apps for that new Web-thingie. And developers bought it. And, since, that was smack in the worst phase of Microsoft believing that it knew-and-controlled the computer industry and its standards, the results were... er, rather proprietary. But it does come from the human desire to "do something without having to know anything about it." That's a sentiment which has always been anathema to geeks. OTOH geeks imagine that users want to mess around with computers, when all the user wants to do is be-a-doctor or write-a-novel or fill-in-an-expense form. When a happy medium between "ease of use" and "powerful software" is found, we call it "intuitive." And then, usually, we screw it up by making it more complex instead of simpler.

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:15:37 +0000

I think that most people here would agree with you. But we are geeks, or at least IT professionals. Those saying, "That's what the people with the checkbooks opine" don't necessarily agree with the client opinions -- and yet they are powerless to change them. It's a matter of trust; computer consultants and VARs have no more credibility than car mechanics. If the mechanic tells you, "You're going to need a new carburetor; I patched it but it won't last" you might not believe him. Plus, you and I are used to the notion that the computer industry moves faster than the equipment wearing out. I drove one car for 14 years, and it was an anti-lemon; it just kept running. (In large part that's because I did listen to my mechanic about fixing things.) Most people in business would like to keep their computers just as long. Sure, the new ones might have more features (not the least of which is the computer equivalent of airbags) but this one is paid for, and I'll keep it running as long as possible. Most of these people aren't doing more with that ancient PC than they did with it the day they put it in service (or so they think -- I'm not saying it's so); as a result they don't need more horsepower. I don't know how to change their minds either. But saying, "Budget for upgrades" isn't going to convince them.

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:49:02 +0000

I learned that only last week. The developers are on it. (Lookit 'em scurry!)

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:47:02 +0000

So I see! It hadn't come up before. It's very... silly. (Though my favorite auto-censorship story is from the days of BBSs. A friend was sysop of an all-about-wine BBS in Napa Valley. She had LOADS of fun dealing with the software that refused to let anyone type chardonnay... because it had -- let's see what the software does here -- "hardon" buried in the word.) --Esther

IT Expert Voice : Why You Can't Pry IE6 Out Of Their Cold Dead Hands

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:09:41 +0000

Nice to meet you, too. I don't claim that these are my reasons. They're the reasons of IT professionals based, presumably, on their real-world experience. Nor do I pretend any percentage-breakdown of which of these reasons is the most prevalent. I'm not sure why you assume I do.

IT Expert Voice : The Zombies on Your Network: IE6, the Browser That Will Not Die

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:38:04 +0000

I haven't asked anybody at Microsoft about it, but based on the comments I heard at the first MIX conference -- where they were demoing IE7 for the first time -- I suspect that the company's reluctance to put a "die IE6 die" date on the calendar is less about patents than it is about, to use corporatespeak, "building customer relationships." At that IE7 demo, someone in the audience stood up and explained how their internal apps were ALL built on IE6, darnit, and Microsoft had to make IE7 work exactly the same way or their software would break! I think it's a larger philosophical issue about when it's appropriate to dump backward compatibility in the pursuit of innovation. I certainly don't claim to have any clue about the answer. But I dare say that if developers stop supporting IE6 (or at least spending their time to support it), some users might be motivated to change. That's how we all made the transition from IE 5 to IE6, or from one version of Netscape Navigator to another. (It's also easy for me to say since I have no legacy enterprise users to put a whoopee cushion on my chair.) --Esther

IT Expert Voice : The Zombies on Your Network: IE6, the Browser That Will Not Die

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:19:40 +0000

That would be funnier if you had spelled "compatibility" correctly. :-) Also, it's good that you can run an app in compatibility mode. Really, it is. But that ought to be a stopgap, a useful bandaid until the software is fixed. Otherwise... isn't upgrading to Win7 only to run apps in XP Mode like going to a Mexican restaurant and ordering a hamburger? Sure, you can do it... but why bother?

IT Expert Voice : Windows 7 Development Gotchas

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:42:52 +0000

Hey, I didn't mean to imply that you were irresponsible. I was just quoting my friend; 'twas HE who was apologetic. And as you say, it was indeed the recommended technique. As with so many other things, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."