The use of money to skew real facts and lure customers

INUX forums (including newsgroups) often encounter harassment by trolls that spread anti-Linux FUD. This puts off a few participants and adds noise to discussions that are largely Linux-oriented.

There is often a suspicion arising that this community sabotage ‘bubbles up’ to managerial roots. Some would suggest that disruptive involvement by trolls is actually paid for. Past evidence supports such suspicions and is echoed in this blog item which quotes John Dvorak.

“Some years back, Microsoft practiced a lot of dirty tricks using online mavens to go into forums and create Web sites extolling the virtues of Windows over OS/2. They were dubbed the Microsoft Munchkins, and it was obvious who they were and what they were up to. But their numbers and energy (and they way they joined forces with nonaligned dummies who liked to pile on) proved too much for IBM marketers, and Windows won the operating-system war through fifth-column tactics”

Mr Dvorak wonders if Microsoft is today using reverse-dirty-tricks to promote the Xbox 360: pay people to create Web sites that slam the gaming computer in order to provoke a barrage of defenders.

Last week I went to watch King Kong. There were no less than 3 Xbox 360 commercials before the film commenced. Microsoft sure know how to spend money. It is worth mentioning that Xbox 360 units are sold at a cost which accounts for a significant loss. Regardless, the Xbox fails to sell in Japan, despite the heavily-invested-in commotion.

Related item: Xbox 360 Off to a Slow Start in Japan, Microsoft-funded Benchmarks

EVERAL days ago, in the context of ‘housekeeping’ computer chores, I stressed the need to manage paper references in an appropriate application. At the time I mentioned JabRef, which is a Java references management program. I have had JabRef installed for quite a while, but did not bother to accommodate it with data.

Knowing the limitation of workstation-bound software, I decided to go ‘shopping’ for a Web-based alternative. I have many such applications installed on my Webspace, so I know their powers. I also know that I can take advantage of remote access, but it can be slow (especially while on vacation), cumbersome, and only loosely inter-operable. JabRef is cross-platform, but installation on each desktop is still a requirement, which is less than desirable.

My pursuit for a Web-based program was very fruitful. I found only one application of the type I had sought. Freshmeat (which is suitable to vegetarians too!) had me aware of PHPBibMan (PHP Bibliography Manager). Here is my own description of PHPBibMan. It is based on what I have been able to gather after a few minutes of exploration:

• PHP/MySQL
• Open Source
• Free, apparently GPL
• Rich graphical interface
• Multiple users, multiple groups
• BibTeX import and BibTeX output (albeit import is not very reliable)
• High level of complexity (over 500 files), plenty of functionality

PHPBibMan is finally installed on my site alongside similar applications, the latest of which is for spreadsheets. So far I like what I see, but the documentation (installation instructions in particular) are poor. There is plenty of potential for PHPBibMan, but merely nonexistent documentation had me digging the files and experimenting before actual success. The projects looks as thought it ceases to be actively maintained last year.

Many still refuse to discover the power of feeds

LASHDOT informs me of an interesting study which suggests that only 4% of Internet users knowingly use RSS. This implies that a very large number of potential subscribers are yet to be won. Now is the time to make content feeds available.

The item ends with a brief dicussion about the name appeal of RSS. I would also add another factor: inconsistent terminlogy e.g. feeds, XML, syndication and subscription.

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. I have special inclination for using the term RSS because it is my name’s initials!

Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)

OW can Microsoft ever permit the existence of something interoperable? To a company so aggressive, interoperability is the very face of evil. It is a threat. What it comes down to is the equivalent of a destructive competition, which is counter-productive to humanity. It portrays the core danger of monopolies, whose power and scale can deter any resistance attempts. It embodies the scenario where people take risks only to avoid what is adverse to ideaology — steering away from the ‘norm’. Windows has become a norm. Its avoidance symbolises a state of social outcasting, at least in people’s perception.

Whether it was Java, or C, or even OpenGL, such technologies had to be ‘extinguished’, at least in accordance with Microsoft’s agenda. Even Adobe’s Flash (Macromedia takeover) and the PDF format are bound to be replaced according to the Microsoft Grand Plan. What about DivX and WMV? MP3 and WMA? The formats Microsoft have proposed are not only inferior in terms of performance, but also they are proprietary.

Will that trend ever stop? To critical IT professionals the current state-of-affair is like a pungent knife in an open sore. To many others, this entire manipulation from up above is misunderstood and thus perceived as innocent. The ‘cattle effect’ is to be attributed for some inertia, not to mention pre-installed software.

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