28 Mar 2006
Sandals and Ponytails Behind Slow Linux Adoption

Then that's to their own detriment ... programmers and other engineers need a dress code like a fish needs a bicycle. It's a strict meritocracy in OSS, and if you can't cut the mustard technically, a $300 Armani suit won't help you.

And that's a good thing.

CNet is reporting that according to former Massachusetts CIO Peter Quinn 'the lax dress code of the open-source community is one of the reasons behind the software's slow uptake in commercial environments.' In particular, Quinn blames the 'sandal and ponytail set' for sluggish adoption of Linux by businesses and governments. From the article: "Quinn, who faced plenty of scrutiny over his support of the OpenDocument standards-based office document format, said proponents of open source in government faced formidable opposition from vested interests if they went public."

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Man Is Charged $4,300 for Four Burgers

You know, this might belong under the 'Humor' category, except that I'm certain it's not funny when it happens to you. Certain, as last December I purchased a $32.58 burger myself, and while the circumstances were different, the end result was similar.

My bank, which shall remain nameless here, had put a new feature on my account called "Overdraft Protection". This was not a loan feature to prevent overdrafts, oh no, this was simply a promise by the bank to pay any overdraft up to a total of $500, while still charging the $29 overdraft fee per incident.

When we got new plates for the truck, the license branch didn't give us a receipt, as the registration had the amount and authorization number for the check card printed on it, it was to serve in that capacity as well. But registrations usually stay in the vehicle, and consequently this charge did not get entered in the register. I keep a small reserve in the account in case of accounting errors, but this amount was large enough that it overdrew our account by about $27.

The bank caught this immediately, but rather than send out an email notice, they printed and sent it snail mail - on a Friday afternoon. I was blissfully unaware of the impending disaster.

Every charge I made over the weekend cost me the amount of the charge itself plus $29 - hence the $32.58 burger. The bank knew I was overdrawn, and yet processed the charge anyway, taking on the overdraft fee. Of course, they couldn't tell the clerks at the various stores to let me know my account was overdrawn - that would've been a "privacy violation". So they kept racking up the bills until my card was finally declined - 15 charges totaling $65 had added an additional $435 in "bad check charges" to my account.

I was livid. To say the least. To the banks credit, they removed all but one bad check charge, and they also removed the new "feature" from my account. But this was a rather obvious attempt at swelling their own coffers at my expense, and I wonder if I'd not threatened a lawsuit (credibly so, and the branch manager knew this) if I'd have gotten my money back.

Of course, I began checking out all of the other banks in the community to move my account - every single one of them put a similar "feature" on every new account by default, to be removed only at customer request. So my account stayed put, on the premise that the devil you know is better than the one you don't.

I believe they used to call this "theft". Nowadays they call it a business plan.

AP - Four burgers at his neighborhood Burger King cost George Beane a whopping $4,334.33.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Home | 2 comments | permanent link

Sewage Searched for Cocaine Metabolites

The "War on Some Drugs" hits a new low ...

Fairfax county, Virginia recently agreed to participate in a White House pilot program to search for the byproducts of cocaine usage in community sewage.

(link) [morons.org]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Physician experience related to accurate identification of third heart sound

Another "Study in the Obvious". Here's some more facts these researchers may wish to note: Folks who have worked in a hatchery for 10 years are better at sexing chicks than people who started on the job last week. Carpenters who've stick built 37 new homes can drive a nail straighter then the new apprentice that started yesterday. Pilots who've logged 10,000 hours fly better than students on their first solo.

Isn't this the definition of experience?

Physicians with more experience are better able to detect a third heart sound that is an indicator of heart disease, according to a study on stethoscope accuracy in cardiac patients at UCSF Medical Center.

(link) [EurekAlert]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Windows Is So Slow, but Why?

Excellent exposition of the reasons behind the increasing frustration of Windows users and developers: it seems as though market dominance comes with a price after all.

Because of Microsoft's past success, keeping Windows working with existing software is becoming increasingly difficult.

(link) [New York Times]

Update: Here's ESR's take.

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link