I worked HARD for that F
[Scene opens with LKR shuffling thru Grace's Sophomore English term paper, looking for marks, comparing to the rubric...pacing]
LKR: "Is that grade a 45?"
Grace: "yes"
LKR: "a FORTY-FIVE?"
Grace: "Yes."
LKR: "out of how many..."
Grace: "100 Mom. 100. "
LKR: "oh"
[Grace, with head in her hands, shocked, confused]
LKR: "The paper is exactly the required length (8 pages, double spaced,
no more no less...) with works cited page, and citations. The thesis
has the word "Great!" next to it in the teacher's writing...Great
thesis...gets a (gulp) 45?"
Grace: "Content grade was 89. Final grade was 45...because of that MLA
thing."
LKR: "Oh. That seems a little harsh...I mean, you got a grade that you
would have gotten if you'd only turned in the first page."
Grace: "Yeah, I worked hard for that F."
That was in October. Yesterday Grace brought home another paper from the teacher. It was on the evil nature of Medea. MLA format was followed precisely. And we celebrated a 92.
LKR
29 Nov · Wed 2006
Poor Lei-lani, Pretty HULA Dancer
When Patrick forwarded the news that the Hula Project is in jeopardy, I felt sad, and alittle outraged. It only took a couple of weeks since the now famous Auction for Novell's soul for them to halt development on what could have been a competitive alternative to M$ exchange. There are shoes falling all over the place.
And Hey, I'm entitled to a little outrage here. As a former Novell employee, I still have the vivid memories of the packed Javits center for NetWorld (before the disasterous merger with Interop...) and the fond memories of Ray Noorda's "Really Red" Rallies that he would hold once a month. This was in the (er...) mid '80s (I was a child marketing prodigy) long before webcasts, or global telecons with hundreds of lines...
Ray would start in Provo--he'd hold a rally at 8:30 AM there, jump on the company jet (not his personal jet, but a shuttle he bought to run between sites in Provo, Austin and San Jose daily) and do one in Austin at 12:00, and then end in San Jose at 4:00. It must have been a long day, but he did it all the time.
And at nearly every rally, he'd remind the employees that Microsoft was *The Competition*. That we cooperated with other industry leaders (like 3com and Banyan and IBM) but he did not take calls from Microsoft.
Things change. (I'm still a child marketing prodigy...) But if your company has solid leadership and integrity, your company's founding principles should not change. Like take this one...near and dear to our hearts:
The Network is the Computer
It's a tagline. But really, it's a founding principle. And even under the greatest pressure of focus groups, brand recognition studies, hip consultants and the technology Fad of the year (read: The dot in dot com) Sun's leadership has stuck. We're on terra firma. Done. It ain't changing. Move on. The Network is the Computer.
So, where is Novell's founding principle? Where's their rudder?
Or better yet...a paddle?
LKR
When Patrick forwarded the news that the Hula Project is in jeopardy, I felt sad, and alittle outraged. It only took a couple of weeks since the now famous Auction for Novell's soul for them to halt development on what could have been a competitive alternative to M$ exchange. There are shoes falling all over the place.
And Hey, I'm entitled to a little outrage here. As a former Novell employee, I still have the vivid memories of the packed Javits center for NetWorld (before the disasterous merger with Interop...) and the fond memories of Ray Noorda's "Really Red" Rallies that he would hold once a month. This was in the (er...) mid '80s (I was a child marketing prodigy) long before webcasts, or global telecons with hundreds of lines...
Ray would start in Provo--he'd hold a rally at 8:30 AM there, jump on the company jet (not his personal jet, but a shuttle he bought to run between sites in Provo, Austin and San Jose daily) and do one in Austin at 12:00, and then end in San Jose at 4:00. It must have been a long day, but he did it all the time.
And at nearly every rally, he'd remind the employees that Microsoft was *The Competition*. That we cooperated with other industry leaders (like 3com and Banyan and IBM) but he did not take calls from Microsoft.
Things change. (I'm still a child marketing prodigy...) But if your company has solid leadership and integrity, your company's founding principles should not change. Like take this one...near and dear to our hearts:
The Network is the Computer
It's a tagline. But really, it's a founding principle. And even under the greatest pressure of focus groups, brand recognition studies, hip consultants and the technology Fad of the year (read: The dot in dot com) Sun's leadership has stuck. We're on terra firma. Done. It ain't changing. Move on. The Network is the Computer.
So, where is Novell's founding principle? Where's their rudder?
Or better yet...a paddle?
LKR
21 Nov · Tue 2006
Bummer
omigawd
I'm not the only person slowing down to check out the wreck by the side of the road...the Microsoft / Novell announcement ...and what we're seeing now is Novell back pedaling, clarifying, posting open letters, blogging, restating, and doing alot of "What I meant to say was..."
That is really too bad. Because it's bad communication (say it right the first time) and it's bad community juju (say it to your friends first).
It is, however, a really cool URL if you're a guerilla marketeer looking for a shocking mashup URL: http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft.
So, call it rubber necking, but I can't help but wonder...didn't they use their turning signal? (tell your friends what you're doing BEFORE you do it...) Clearly not, based on "Steve the B's" opening remarks on the press conference webcast, indicating that they were sorry they were starting late, there were very complex issues that really had to be worked out and frankly they just finished a few minutes ago.
GULP
Sounds like they were more invested in having the dramatic effect of a surprise press conference with Microsoft/Novell logos on the sign than they were in getting on the phone with folks who could help with this so-called "customer dilemma" they think they have solved...
What customer? The Windows customer? The .Net customer? What dilemma? Lock in? Proprietary OSs being replaced by GNU/Linux solutions? What patents? Microsoft's patents...in GNU/Linux? Who's Dilemma? Microsoft's? Novell's?
And did Microsoft approach the right "partner" for the deal? If the problem they think they have (which they DO have by the way) is that they cannot compete, integrate, interoperate or basically, PLAY in the Free and Open Source software arena, why not call the FSF? Shouldn't that have been their move?
The problem is with Windows. It's not Free and Open Source. It's Microsoft's problem.
And after reading Novell's CMO's blog ...I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND...Why is he making this HIS company's problem? Now Microsoft and Novell will collaborate on interoperability between their offerings --and I still can't find details of whether we're talking Windows to SuSE Linux, or what license these technologies will be released under. Or how they will be created.
When I first heard about this announcement I immediately thought: HolyHackers! Microsoft and Novell are launching an open source community and there will be projects to create technology interoperability between SuSE and Windows, and all the mono community and gnome community will come together and...Yikes! This is amazing! Miguel and Nat are in there! Woo! (er...wrong.)
Bummer
LKR
I'm not the only person slowing down to check out the wreck by the side of the road...the Microsoft / Novell announcement ...and what we're seeing now is Novell back pedaling, clarifying, posting open letters, blogging, restating, and doing alot of "What I meant to say was..."
That is really too bad. Because it's bad communication (say it right the first time) and it's bad community juju (say it to your friends first).
It is, however, a really cool URL if you're a guerilla marketeer looking for a shocking mashup URL: http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft.
So, call it rubber necking, but I can't help but wonder...didn't they use their turning signal? (tell your friends what you're doing BEFORE you do it...) Clearly not, based on "Steve the B's" opening remarks on the press conference webcast, indicating that they were sorry they were starting late, there were very complex issues that really had to be worked out and frankly they just finished a few minutes ago.
GULP
Sounds like they were more invested in having the dramatic effect of a surprise press conference with Microsoft/Novell logos on the sign than they were in getting on the phone with folks who could help with this so-called "customer dilemma" they think they have solved...
What customer? The Windows customer? The .Net customer? What dilemma? Lock in? Proprietary OSs being replaced by GNU/Linux solutions? What patents? Microsoft's patents...in GNU/Linux? Who's Dilemma? Microsoft's? Novell's?
And did Microsoft approach the right "partner" for the deal? If the problem they think they have (which they DO have by the way) is that they cannot compete, integrate, interoperate or basically, PLAY in the Free and Open Source software arena, why not call the FSF? Shouldn't that have been their move?
The problem is with Windows. It's not Free and Open Source. It's Microsoft's problem.
And after reading Novell's CMO's blog ...I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND...Why is he making this HIS company's problem? Now Microsoft and Novell will collaborate on interoperability between their offerings --and I still can't find details of whether we're talking Windows to SuSE Linux, or what license these technologies will be released under. Or how they will be created.
When I first heard about this announcement I immediately thought: HolyHackers! Microsoft and Novell are launching an open source community and there will be projects to create technology interoperability between SuSE and Windows, and all the mono community and gnome community will come together and...Yikes! This is amazing! Miguel and Nat are in there! Woo! (er...wrong.)
Bummer
LKR
16 Nov · Thu 2006
You Are *Here*
building 32
Building 32 on the MIT Campus is an intriguing building. It sits on the site of the famous old "building 20" and there's plywood from the old structure at the end of one of the long halls. It's a structure that seems to be a double-helix of curving hallways...Staircases that lead to isolated mezzanines. Elevators that take you to floors higher. Doors that open into expansive work areas that look like a nursery school for the most brilliant minds.
The camera crew dropped in on a Monday afternoon to interview Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, and the author of the GNU Public License. Java, GPL, and Richard Stallman.
Now *there* are 4 words that in the past didn't go well together. Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation were always that voice on our shoulder, saying that Java should be Free.
Today it is. Free as in Freedom.
Free software developers can now look at Java.
Sun has open sourced their implementations of Java technology. - Java Standard Edition (traditionally run on desktops), Java Micro Edition (traditionally run on phones and embedded devices) and Java Enterprise Edition (traditionally run in business infrastructure) - using the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GPLv2), the license at the center of the GNU/Linux community - We have reached out to include a community of developers that historically could not participate in our innovation.
Which brings me to why we were lost in Building 32 last Monday. To record Richard Stallman's reaction and commentary on the plan. Would he support us? Would he applaud the effort?
We wandered the building and found his office-- a complex world, full of books, magazines, equipment, a fabulously diverse music collection that he runs on a system powered by a refurbished Onkyo receiver. Richard sat for our interview and was enthusiastic. And talkative!
As part of the interview, we asked, What is Free Software?
"Free software means software that respects the user's freedom. There are four essential freedoms that a user of software should always have.
--Freedom 0 is the freedom to run the program as you wish
--Freedom 1 is the freedom to study the source code and change it so the program does what you wish when you run it.
--Freedom 2 is the freedom to distribute copies to other up to and including republication when you wish.
--Freedom 3 is the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions up to and including publication when you wish.
With these four freedoms, the users live in freedom and in particular they're free to cooperate with each other. Free to form communities in which people help each other. And free software develops democratically under the control of its users. So free software is the software that goes with freedom and democracy."
As the video team started to carry out the equipment, the building didn't seem quite as confusing. I hope we visit there often.
LKR
Building 32 on the MIT Campus is an intriguing building. It sits on the site of the famous old "building 20" and there's plywood from the old structure at the end of one of the long halls. It's a structure that seems to be a double-helix of curving hallways...Staircases that lead to isolated mezzanines. Elevators that take you to floors higher. Doors that open into expansive work areas that look like a nursery school for the most brilliant minds.
The camera crew dropped in on a Monday afternoon to interview Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, and the author of the GNU Public License. Java, GPL, and Richard Stallman.
Now *there* are 4 words that in the past didn't go well together. Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation were always that voice on our shoulder, saying that Java should be Free.
Today it is. Free as in Freedom.
Free software developers can now look at Java.
Sun has open sourced their implementations of Java technology. - Java Standard Edition (traditionally run on desktops), Java Micro Edition (traditionally run on phones and embedded devices) and Java Enterprise Edition (traditionally run in business infrastructure) - using the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GPLv2), the license at the center of the GNU/Linux community - We have reached out to include a community of developers that historically could not participate in our innovation.
Which brings me to why we were lost in Building 32 last Monday. To record Richard Stallman's reaction and commentary on the plan. Would he support us? Would he applaud the effort?
We wandered the building and found his office-- a complex world, full of books, magazines, equipment, a fabulously diverse music collection that he runs on a system powered by a refurbished Onkyo receiver. Richard sat for our interview and was enthusiastic. And talkative!
As part of the interview, we asked, What is Free Software?
"Free software means software that respects the user's freedom. There are four essential freedoms that a user of software should always have.
--Freedom 0 is the freedom to run the program as you wish
--Freedom 1 is the freedom to study the source code and change it so the program does what you wish when you run it.
--Freedom 2 is the freedom to distribute copies to other up to and including republication when you wish.
--Freedom 3 is the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions up to and including publication when you wish.
With these four freedoms, the users live in freedom and in particular they're free to cooperate with each other. Free to form communities in which people help each other. And free software develops democratically under the control of its users. So free software is the software that goes with freedom and democracy."
As the video team started to carry out the equipment, the building didn't seem quite as confusing. I hope we visit there often.
LKR
28 Oct · Sat 2006
Some People Like to Watch...
I Lurk.
I click thru your delicious tags. I check out what you are "Digging." I eavesdrop on your conversations--sifting thru blog comments and tittering. (Did she mean what I think she typed or...)
This is the world of social software, where myspace and second life give you the chance to be anything you want to be. But there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good old-fashioned Email Alias for a spontaneous online "cocktail party". Take last Friday night for instance. An email alias had scores of comments and non-sequitors flying-- Topic: "appropriate language". I giggled as one of my friends stirred the pot posing as Rush Limbaugh representing the "forgiven Moral Majority." (c'mon! pull the pin and lob another one in there!) We had the left, the right, the kinky, the straight...and a quiz so you could find out if you didn't know for sure. There was the quote from Ghandi, Mark Twain, and in the end, the hug when it was all over.
LKR
I Lurk.
I click thru your delicious tags. I check out what you are "Digging." I eavesdrop on your conversations--sifting thru blog comments and tittering. (Did she mean what I think she typed or...)
This is the world of social software, where myspace and second life give you the chance to be anything you want to be. But there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good old-fashioned Email Alias for a spontaneous online "cocktail party". Take last Friday night for instance. An email alias had scores of comments and non-sequitors flying-- Topic: "appropriate language". I giggled as one of my friends stirred the pot posing as Rush Limbaugh representing the "forgiven Moral Majority." (c'mon! pull the pin and lob another one in there!) We had the left, the right, the kinky, the straight...and a quiz so you could find out if you didn't know for sure. There was the quote from Ghandi, Mark Twain, and in the end, the hug when it was all over.
LKR
21 Sep · Thu 2006
I WANT ONE!
The name is awesome...and it's a really cool nexus of people in the community--software engineers, hardware designers, online artists...and even crafters! .
The community is very chatty, and it's great reading.
I heard these were given away to all the attendees at FOO camp this year... Hey Simon! Can I have yours for a few weeks to play with?
LKR
The name is awesome...and it's a really cool nexus of people in the community--software engineers, hardware designers, online artists...and even crafters! .
The community is very chatty, and it's great reading.
I heard these were given away to all the attendees at FOO camp this year... Hey Simon! Can I have yours for a few weeks to play with?
LKR
Google Checking out OpenSolaris??
This is great news. Google has many Sun "alumni" throughout it's ranks...why not have the best technology too?
And what an awesome quote!! "There's been a major upsurge in interest in Solaris. So many people are asking, 'Should I install it?'" Oh, yeah. It's Working. (smirk gloat and doing the happy dance) Technorati Tag: OpenSolaris
Technorati Tag: SunMicrosystems
Technorati Tag: Solaris
Technorati Tag: Open Source
This is great news. Google has many Sun "alumni" throughout it's ranks...why not have the best technology too?
And what an awesome quote!! "There's been a major upsurge in interest in Solaris. So many people are asking, 'Should I install it?'" Oh, yeah. It's Working. (smirk gloat and doing the happy dance) Technorati Tag: OpenSolaris
Technorati Tag: SunMicrosystems
Technorati Tag: Solaris
Technorati Tag: Open Source