Joe Zimmerman, Tschüs!

Seems like a day for goodbyes! My old roommate, Joe Zimmerman, should be winging his way back to Germany by now. He's been living there for several years with his girlfriend, Lona, but makes irregular pilgrimages back to see family and friends. Yesterday, Leslie and I had a pleasant riverfront lunch with Joe as he prepared to return home from his latest visit. It was great to see each other but over too quickly. Joe, we we wish you a safe journey home. Lona, hope you enjoyed your trip to Barcelona, and we hope to see both of you next time!

Corel, Adieu.

Vector Capital Completes Corel Purchase.

Corel, hit it big about 10 years back with an innovative vector graphics program, CorelDraw, and then slowly killed itself branching out for the "next big hit" into an steady stream of unsuccessful ventures (thin client computing, education and entertainment software, office productivity suites, and, finally, its own Linux distribution). Pulled back from the brink several times -- the last by Microsoft (in what many believe was a two-pronged attempt to both kill Corel's user-friendly Linux distro and prop up someone they could point to as a "competitor") -- an independent Corel will finally disappear for good.

I saw CorelDraw being demoed at a small side booth at PC Expo in the early '90s and was blown away by it's ability to manipulate fonts (a pretty non-existent features in graphics packages in those days) and immediately bought a copy. I went on to review several Corel products for computer magazines over the next few years, and one year was a judge at their Academy Awards-style design contest in Ottawa (where the grand prize was a cool $1 million). Fun times...

Here's some more info from the CRN news piece...

"Corel, basically the only software company still fielding a Windows competitor to the Microsoft Office juggernaut, has been struggling. Last year it cut some high-profile bundling deals to put its WordPerfect Office on select Dell, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard PCs selling through retail. But Microsoft Office remains the undisputed king of desktop productivity applications.

In October 2000, Microsoft took a $135 million stake in Corel, which thereafter de-emphasized and then spun off its Linux product plans into a Xandros a separate company. Pundits suspected a quid pro quo behind that deal. Microsoft has been fighting the upstart Linux open source crowd as a major threat to its Windows power base. San Francisco-based Vector bought out Microsoft's stake in Corel last spring."

Mandatory Automatic Updates - Google Toolbar

The other day I mentioned that I wasn't a big fan of mandatory automatic (ie, no user control) updating of software over the Internet. Not only do I feel more comfortable being able to control when and how I update, but I worry that automatic updates may step on one another and potentially create problems where none existed. And then there's always the concern about shifting licensing agreements being tied to automatic updates.

At the same time, I recognize that mandatory automatic registration and updating of software is exactly what software manufacturers have always wanted. By tying activation of software to mandatory online registration and then adding mandatory automatic updates, vendors can keep pretty tight control over who and how their software is used. Here's another example of the trend -- no control automatic updating of the Google Toolbar utility (and no complaining, since the fine print in the license agreement requires users to agree to that behavior). I bet we'll see more of this in the future.

Blackberry in a Jam?

RIM's Blackberry does one thing really well: wireless e-mail. If that's all you need, it's hard to find a simpler, better device. But legal troubles might spell the end for Blackberry fans...at least someday.


(By the way, I've always wondered: if you have two of these devices are they "Blackberries"? It's brand name, so I suppose not. I've always avoided the issue by saying "Blackberry devices.")

Mandatory Windows Updates?

Good article here on the possible move by Microsoft to mandatory Windows updates.

Clearly, not updating can leave holes in users' operating systems for worms and viruses to exploit. Automatic, mandatory updates would help insure users protect themselves and others.

The question Microsoft seems to be pondering is: should users even have the choice not to run certain updates? Shouldn't they be required to protect themselves and possibly others from potential problems?

Well, I'm not sure it's that simple.

Besides the general issue of whether Microsoft or I should be in control of my computer, The TechStuff article identifies a few reasons why even users who aren't lazy or stupid might not be keen on mandatory Windows updates.

My comments expanding on a couple points in the article:

No Tricks - Stop making License Agreement changes part of the update components. By tying EULA changes to critical upgrades, Microsoft essentially holds a gun to customers' heads. "You want your computer to continue operating properly/safely? Then agree to whatever is in today's small print." The one small consolation currently is that, as a voluntary process, customers still have the option to decline particular updates if they don't agree with the matching license changes.

Reversible Updates - too many updates these day come with messages that the changes can't be undone. I just don't buy that updates can't be designed to be reversible, and am much more reluctant to install updates that can't be undone and that might later turn out to not work properly. As recent press accounts of specific flawed Windows updates show, this isn't an unreasonable concern.

These issues make me very carefully review the updates Microsoft suggests I install and opt NOT to install many of them. Would I be better off if Microsoft could force me to install all these updates? I'm not convinced.

[Update: You don't have to be as rabidly anti-Microsoft as the Inquirer to think that EULA changes buried in recommended updates are a cause for concern. ]

Crabby Houseguests

Two new additions to the household to replace our recently re-emancipated Eastern newt: a fiddler crab (named Big Claw by Christopher) and a red clawed crab (called, what else, Reddy). So far, they seem content to prowl their new plastic home, eating crab food pellets and occassionally stumbling onto each other and then waving their claws frantically. Found a couple links about taking care of crabs here and here.