I honestly don't know why so many people are calling Snow Leopard a service pack. They may not have added a lot of new, shiny toys, but so what? That alone does not define a software release. To me, slimming down the size of the OS by 7GB, making all of the core apps 64-bit, adding OpenCL support, and adding a system-wide multi-core threading controller are pretty major features.

Marc Clifton wrote:

One word: unions.

Maybe in some cases, but many media companies (especially the smaller ones) haven't been unionized for quite some time. Fear and loss of revenue have been much bigger inhibitors.

The thing I find amazing about this is that they've been down this road before, and it failed <i>miserably</i>. What makes them think that walling off all their content will work this time?

Christopher Duncan wrote:

Newspapers barely even kept up with the web when in fact they should have been the innovators, leading the charge and showing best of class practices for online publishing.

Hear, hear! I worked in IT in a media company for ten years (half in traditional IT, half in web), and while there was always a relatively small group pushing the company to take advantage of the web's potential and be a leader, they could never get enough attention to really get momentum. I suspect that at least part of it was because the revenue from web ventures is so much less than print or broadcast, but part of it was fear on the part of those who had spent their careers working with traditional media. Your comparison to the RIAA is apt. Traditional media, like the RIAA and MPAA, thrived for so many years because they were the gatekeepers - they were the only way to obtain the content on the other side of their walls, giving them nearly absolute control and huge audiences for their wares. What are the gatekeepers to do when the wall has been dismantled around them?

Definitely check your firewall logs. On SQL2005, port 1433 is used for the SQL Browser process but may not apply to the instance itself. Port 1434 is another common SQL Server port for the default instance; named instances typically use a randomly-assigned port number. Ed

Yes, slamming is illegal in the US, too. If Verizon won't help, check with your state utilities board or the FCC.

I have my MCITP in database administration. It's similar to a MCPD in terms of requirements - two MCTS exams and then the MCITP exam.

BRShroyer wrote:

How long does it take?

For me, about a year of late nights to do the three exams. My employer paid for them but did not give me work time to study.

BRShroyer wrote:

Is it worth it? How much will it help my career as a developer?

Yes, I think it was worth it. I have a development background, so I used the studying to fill in the gaps in my SQL Server knowledge; I used the exams primarily as incentive to finish the studying. The certifications themselves haven't gained me anything yet (and may never), but I'm fine with that because that wasn't the point. One more thing: Don't kid yourself about how much you'll learn from this. Studying for a certification can give you a good foundation, but it definitely doesn't teach you everything there is to know about something. I'm constantly finding new things about SQL Server that I wonder why they didn't include in the material for the exams. However, it did show me that there are a lot of options I wasn't aware existed, and I now know much better what questions to ask to get the answers I need. Ed

Congrats!

Well, I think it's better than the alternative. Paying 99 cents for a single song you like is much better than paying $10-15 for the same song when you have to buy a CD full of stuff you don't like to get that same song. Would it be nice if it was cheaper? Of course. But there are a lot of costs in producing recorded music. People talk a lot about how they think the distribution costs of things over the Internet is zero. That's simply not true. Servers and bandwidth are expensive, especially since you have to maintain enough of both to handle maximum loads in a worst-case scenario (i.e., the release of a popular song). Writing or buying software to run the servers is expensive. True, virtual distribution scales much better than distribution of physical media, but it still adds up and costs quite a bit of money, which has to be passed along to the customer. Another hidden expense that almost everyone misses is credit card charges. Credit cards typically charge a percentage of each transaction, but they also usually have a minimum transaction fee. When I was writing software that dealt with credit card billing a few years ago, we had a minimum per-transaction fee of around 35 cents. I'm sure that's flexible depending on your transaction volume, but given that the people who price songs have to assume the worst case (everyone is going to be purchasing songs one at a time), that's a huge chunk of that 99 cents. All of this is to say that companies that charge 99 cents may not be making much per song. They're hoping to make it up in volume. Ed

Others have addressed most of your comments far more eloquently and thoroughly than I can today, but I did want to comment on one thing you said:

xpto05 wrote:

should i say that i am an expert on something that i know i'm not

Never, ever, ever claim to be an expert on something when you yourself don't even believe it. It will always come back to bite you and undermine everything else you've accomplished. Ed

Fifteen years ago, in college, I took a 3-week course on it. I took the class because at that point, the graphics it could create were amazing, and that was back in the day when you had to all of your graphics coding by hand so it seemed useful. You're right, though - the only ones that really "got it" were the math junkies. You had to create some pretty complex equations to get much out of it. Even though I'm decidedly not into high-level math, it was fun to play with for a while. :) Ed

Roger Wright wrote:

does this sound a tad crooked to anyone else?

Nope, it sounds a lot crooked, especially since you weren't able to find the knowledge base article on your own. If they can't even be honest about that, what else are they hiding?

Uwe Keim wrote:

How to convince the customer to choose C# instead of VB.net?

You don't. If the customer said "no" to C#, you need to accept that answer. I agree that C# can be easier to work with, but only if you already know the language. If your customer isn't familiar with C#, the syntax will look like gibberish to him, and he isn't going to be able to maintain it like he wants to do. Besides, most contract work is "work for hire," meaning that it's his code, not yours, so you need to write it to his specs, regardless of whether that's what you prefer to do. Ed

Ah, well, that's a different story, then. :) To satisfy those people, how about "preview release"?

Bob X wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions for document management software?

I'm using [Evernote](<a href=)[^] for storing PDFs, text fragments, images, and much more. A bonus for me is that they are cross-platform - they have both Windows and Mac clients as well as a secure web site, and the data can sync between all of them. The basic version (including PDF support) is free; the premium version gives you more MB/month syncing and the ability to store any file type.

Maxxx_ wrote:

Is there a letter before Alpha?

No. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and is traditionally used as a designation for software that is in development. Alpha software is typically so incomplete and bug-ridden to be unusable, so it's not normally released to anyone except the developers working on it. That definition has been warped in recent years, partially by the eternal betas that seem to be en vogue right now, but most developers still follow it. If you do need to share it and it's so early in its development that you can't even consider it an alpha version, call it a prototype or proof-of-concept so it's clear what you're talking about. Ed

GriffinPeter wrote:

The question is in these recession times do I stay? or do I go?

As many others have said, I would start looking for a new job elsewhere. You're the only one who has any concern for your best interests, and while an employer will sometimes help you along that path, it is ultimately up to you to decide how best to proceed through your career and make it happen. If your employer isn't willing to help you along your chosen path, then that's their loss. That said, in these times, don't leave your current position until you have something else secured. Also, don't even give them a hint that you're thinking about leaving or you might end up on the short list to be downsized.

GriffinPeter wrote:

I am starting to wonder if its the company as people around me in other departments are getting management roles and then a few months later getting kicked out of those roles because they are useless.. The buzz word going round here is you are "moved into management if you are useless at your current job"

There is a saying that people rise to the level of their incompetence. The older I get, the more I find that that is true. :laugh: Ed

Silent updates can be good if two things happen: 1. The update does not force me to restart the program or my system immediately 2. The update does not adversely affect anything So far, Chrome hasn't caused any problems when it updates. That said, it would be really nice if it would at least tell me when it has updated... Ed

Not to be petty, but both of them need to grow up. They need to realize that personal styles have only a small place in IT development, and the larger the shop, the smaller the room for a personal style. In many cases, if it works, it's right, regardless of whether it looks good or not. Person #2 shouldn't have made the change, but person #1 shouldn't have been offended that someone else changed "his" code.

I can't speak to the most beautiful spot in the world, but I've seen some pretty nice places. :) I personally have a soft spot for the islands in the Caribbean. If you want pristine views, you might also check out the national parks in the western US or Alaska - many of the parks are absolutely immense and have virtually no development as far as the eye can see.

A number of sites in the US have tried this - craigslist.com is one notable site - but all of them seem to end up charging eventually. Two reasons: * The free sites end up with a lot of garbage, which, in turn, reduces the number of job seekers. No one wants to wade through a lot of worthless posts to find decent jobs. Even a charge of $1 seems to deter the junk. * Employment ads are, frankly, cash cows. :) This is actually one of the only categories of ads that craigslist.com charges for. It only charges a few dollars, but it rakes in enough money just from this to cover all of its expenses and make a substantial profit besides. Ed