SMBTN Postpones SMB Summit™ 2009 « SMB Technology Network Blog

Arrived today via email.  This is a shame, because the SMB summit has a great reputation among the Small Business consulting community.  On the other hand, I don't think it's surprising.

Small organizations are struggling to survive.  I'll be the first to admit that I was not planning to attend this year.  Heck, I'm not really planning to attend much of any special events this year.

Oh, I thought about it, long and hard, but at the end of the day I just couldn't justify going (or sending anyone) to California for the event.  Between conference, travel, and lofging costs - it just wasn't tenable in this environment.  I have to think that other companies did the same sort of quick and dirty analyis, only to arrive at the conclusion "Not this year."

I hope it reschedules to a time that makes sense; with a touch of luck, I may rethink my decision.

Are open source developers too dominant? Ubuntu, Firefox prove yes | The Toybox | ZDNet.com

I thought this was an interesting article around the evolutionary aspects of open source - what was once innovative is now evolutionary?

In any case, I found this to be the most interesting line in the article:

is the OS simply “slowly becoming irrelevant” in an application-focused world?

This is one of the thins that many people often seem to miss.  For years, Microsoft's biggest concern has not truly been control of the desktop OS.  It's been control of the APIs.

Controlling the APIs is what allows Microsoft to control the interoperability of all the business softtware.  Think about it.  Office works so well because all of the suite apps recognize how the other apps are doing things.  You can easily move components of a spreadsheet into a document, and then into a presentation.  Try doing the same thing with Open Office.  Not so smooth.  The undrlying reason: API control.

One of the more interesting legends in recent years was around undocumented or secret APIs that gave Microsoft developers a special advanage.  Most maintain this is not true.  I know for a fact that it is, if you can find the right developer that can disclose the API to you.

Microsoft's story here, of course, is that they are undocumented, unsupported, and certainly not guaranteed to be there in the next patch, service pack, or major release.  All of these are true.  None of that changes the fact that using the undocumented APIs can make a significant difference in a programmers ability to bend the system to his will.

I'm not sure exactly why this bothers me so much - but it does.

Hammock Landing Shoppers To Pay 1 Percent More - Central Florida News 13

The idea that a landowner / developer would decide to attach a 1% "usage fee" (read: TAX) on all transactions that take place on their property strikes me as offensive at its core.  I have to think this is illegal, and I'm actually rooting for some attorney (the more obnoxious the better in this case) to bring a class-action suit against Hammock Landing - and I hope the suit pays off big.

This just feels really scummy to me - probably because I am in the process of looking for new office space for my company, and I would absolutely not consider somewhere that tried to pull something like this, for several reasons: (1) Ethically it strikes me as wrong, (2) it would force us to administrate the "tax", and (3) it would certainly cost our  customers more - for no benefit!

I guess I just think it sucks big time, and I'm hoping they get slapped hard on the wrist for trying it!

To quote someone on one of the boards I frequent "This day is more annoying than funny."  I think in the future I am having my own "Turn off the Internet" day on April 1st
lto avoid the near anurism I seem to get from at least one well crafted prank.

It's gotten to the point that I simply don't believe anything I read.

When did April Fool's Day begin? - LiveScience- msnbc.com

On April 1, each and every year, you have to doubt every single thing you read.

Which leads to a more serious question - Is Conficker even real?

Sadly, it is.  What's it do?  Noone (other than the author) is 100% sure, but what is known is it starts cracking admin passwords and doing its best to prevent its own removal.  Best defense: patch, backup your data, and disable autorun.  Or get a Mac, or Ubuntu, and watch the mayhem. 

If you DO find yourself infected, hopefully you have that data backup I just mentioned - cause the only sure cure is a reformat and reinstall of Windows.