reply-o-matic and bragging rights

Well, not only I finally released (after almost 3 years) a new version of reply-o-matic, I also found out it has been on FreeBSD ports for quite some time. Doing some search, I noticed it is recomended on several places too.

I think it goes without saying that I’m as happy as a kitten.

Winged Monkeys from SCO

A few days ago, there was yet another slashdot article regarding SCO vs. IBM.
What is really worth it the a comment from Vengeance on the subject of SCO accusing IBM of destroying “evidence”.

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=191821&cid=15757578

You never can get too much sarcasm.

Hosting Business

There are things on the market always puzzled me. Why people always tend to hire the worst services possible is one of them.

See, these days there are many, many hosting companies (mine among them). Too many, maybe. A good number of them is run by teenagers on their parent’s basement, using reseller accounts. Others are run by companies completely unprepared for the business, which use control panels to do everything (and have no clue what to do when things go wrong).

My company just got a new dedicated server client last week. She was moving from a VPS on another company. That other company was so crappy, one of the things they used to tell her was that she would need to restart her services once a day to keep them running nicely. Their prices were something to mention too: they charge for a VPS the same thing I charge for a dedicated server. Oh, did I mention they would limit the bandwidth too ?

Then we have companies getting shared hosting for something like US$5/month. And use that for their business! For crying out loud. If that is what your digital communication is worth, go use hotmail or something like it.

My consulting company has 5 people. And we have a dedicated server. Of course I would never sell something I don’t use. What were you thinking ?!?! Anyway, it is my business. Not only I need it to make money, I’m damn proud of it. How could I use something other than a dedicated server ?

The Da Vinci Code, New Books and Evil Organizations

The Da Vinci Code. First a book, now a movie. Looks like the way to hell is paved with words.

Not that I’m saying this from a catolic point of view. I’m just saying the book is horrible. I just don’t care enough to even try watching the movie.

I’m not sure if you ever played “Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned”. Both the book and the game are based on the same sources. I won’t get into details here, since those are avaliable everywhere. And, trust me, you will have far more fun playing the game than reading the book. Take that from someone whose hands start shaking when I don’t have anything to read, and you can get the picture.

The only (maybe) good side of the book is raising awareness about Opus Dei. Yes, it is as evil an organization as the book says, although for different reasons (FICTIONAL BOOK!!!! C’mon …). I would like to take the oportunity to repost here there link provided on the book to the Opus Dei Awareness Network.
And while we are talking about evil organizations, let me also post a link to Operation Clambake – The Inner Secrets of Scientology. Of course Opus Dei is pretty harmless when comparing to Scientology, but not to be overlooked either. Specially when we remember it is sanctioned by the Catholic Church. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being “Killing your Mother so you can go to the Orphan’s Ball”, Scientology scores a 10, while Opus Dei “only” gets a 7, right bellow RIAA/MPAA, with get both a 8.

But there are good books around too. One is Moon Called. I finished reading it a few days ago, and it scores a nice 8 on my rating.
A recomended reading.

Rainy

So I finally take a weekend off to go to the beach and relax … And it rains … Non stop.
So there I was, sitting on the balcony of a US$ 300K apartment, watching the rain and sipping a diet soda. For the whole weekend.

Gotta love mother nature.

Richard Stallman, GPLv3 and Linux

Not like it surprises me anymore. Now Richard Stallman is saying that the decision about Linux going GPLv3 is
up to the developers, not Linus.

I wonder how he think the developers can force Linus to accept a code into HIS kernel. Maybe using handguns.
Yes, that would be in character for Stallman.

Cheated wife and a BMW

This is getting ridiculous.
Ever since it was first posted on The Register, everyone noticed this was a fraud.
Uppon further investigation, it was noted that it was nothing more than a car dealers trying to
get people to call them.

In any case, this is still poping up on news site (like Terra) as if it were true.

C’mon. Don’t people ever try to check to see if something is true before spreading the
news ?

EDIT: Looks like after some complaing from several parts (me included), Terra finaly fixed the news entry. About time.

The next Harry Potter

I have been reading more and more about people wondering what the next Harry Potter will be.

Having read all the books so far released (yes, I’m a compulsive reader. More on that another time), I have to ask: why care ?

I mean, one might as well as what the next “Lord of the Ring” will be. Or the next “Dune”. Or the next “Darkover”. The next “Sherlock Homes” ? Who will be the next J.R.R. Tokkien ? Or the next Frank Herbert ?

Literary trends come and go. Good novels will surface from time to time, as was the cast will Harry Potter. Great novels will show up very rarely (my other examples).

So, if you are really into books and novels, why should you worry about Harry Potter ? I, for one, am still looking for the next Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Richard Stallman vs. FOSS

So, looks like Richard Stallman is at it again.
This time, he says Creative Commons is no good.

I have to wonder when someone is going to make his shut up. He has far outlived his usefulness for the FOSS, and today is more like a threat to it. Everytime he opens his mount, people will think FOSS is a joke.

So, here is my plea:

RMS, go back to coding.