Author: Vince Kimball

Internet Week: The Real Lesson Of Code Red: Insecurity Is A Way of Life. Bruce Schneier. If we're going to make Internet security work, we need to think differently. I've put my effort into detection and response, instead of protection, because detection and response are resilient. I've put my effort into people instead of software… Continue reading The Real Lesson Of Code Red: Insecurity Is A Way of Life

Dogfooding Source Control – Joel talks about source control at Microsoft. The main question he brings up is “why doesn't Microsoft use Visual Sourcesafe for all source-control needs?” He rightly points out that most of us feel that “Dogfood is the best food!”. There are sometimes products that don't get dogfooded as well as others,… Continue reading source control at Microsoft

Web Services are overhyped. This is a common theme with our industry. Remember when Java was overhyped? Remember when Push was? Remember when the Macintosh was? Whenever something is overhyped, I start looking elsewhere for the real action. The real opportunity for the average Joe developer (financially) is not by building Web services, it's by building business… Continue reading

Web Services are overhyped.

This is a common theme with our industry. Remember when Java was overhyped? Remember when Push was? Remember when the Macintosh was?

Whenever something is overhyped, I start looking elsewhere for the real action.

The real opportunity for the average Joe developer (financially) is not by building Web services, it's by building business information services behind the firewall. I think we should call services that run behind the firewall “HTTP Business Services” since my mom and dad can't see them from the World Wide Web.

Most of the programmers who use Microsoft stuff (or even Sun's Java) are building business applications. The kinds you never hear about. They are ripe candidates to build new kinds of business information systems.

For instance, KGO Radio in San Francisco is being run by a Visual Basic app. It works. It helps them run their business. It was probably run by a developer who didn't really care that his app is helping Microsoft sell a few copies of Windows. The developer probably got paid a good fee to create the app. He or she is happy.

Those are the kinds of folks that are using .NET. Will the next version of Quake be written in a .NET language? Of course not. The next version of RedHat Linux? Of course not. The next version of UserLand Frontier? Of course not. The great folks who write those kinds of apps, platforms, and OS's aren't the average Joe developer that Microsoft cares about (if they did, a stretch limo would appear, and they'd buy you, just like they did to Anders Hejlsberg when he worked at Borland).

Why do I believe that HTTP Business Services are underhyped?

Jon Rauschenberger, one of the guys at Clarity Consulting

Netslaves: The Failure of Tech Journalism. “If PC Magazine wants to shill for every crappy Microsoft product and conform their coverage to Microsoft's marketing aims, that is their right. However, it doesn't' have anything to do with reality, fairness or the standards to which journalists should be held to.” [Scripting News]

Whitepaper: Microsoft's scripting strategy. “Sorry no migration of existing code. It's a one-way street. The developers come in, but they can't bring their code with them.” [Scripting News]

Paying for Web Services. Jon Udell: Paying for Web Services” Web services and generic local components are two sides of the same coin. Both can be powered by free software, and both can create business opportunities.When technology hype reaches a crescendo, I instinctively reach for a touchstone ? a humble example that grounds me in… Continue reading Paying for Web Services

Mark Pilgrim: Complicate your web site. (sigh) All good points, but I was reading articles like this about client-server systems in 1996. I guess it's really true that the web set us back five years in usability. And I fear that by the time we almost get our act together, we will move on to… Continue reading Mark Pilgrim:

63 uses for a dead Mac. Unfortunately, I can't contribute anything to this gallery, because the 1989 Mac IIci I bought in 1992 is still working in 2001. Right next to my Apple //e. Sadly, it's not the actual Apple //e I grew up with, because the 1983 Apple //e I grew up with is… Continue reading 63 uses for a dead Mac

Ask Tog: Core Decisions. What went wrong? Probably the same thing that goes wrong with so many computer products and services. The user experience people were either brought in after all the critical decisions had been made, or else they simply weren't listened to. [Tomalak's Realm]

Total Cost of Ownership. Userland: Total Cost of Ownership ” The total cost of ownership (TCO) of a Website is more than the purchase price of a content management system. Here is a quick rule of thumb estimate of what it costs to build and operate a Website using either Manila or another content management… Continue reading Total Cost of Ownership