I’m working on an HP pc with the stock NVIDIA 8400 GS video card.  On 9/5/2009 Microsoft Automatic Update installed a Microsoft Silverlight update (KB970363) that stops the NVIDIA video driver from loading.  I’ve gone back to System Restore before that update twice to see if it’s something else and the Silverlight update is the one that breaks me.  It’s shown as an “important update” so Automatic Update will continually attempt to reinstall it.  It looks like my only option is to uninstall Silverlight.

great article by Bret Taylor about FriendFeed’s strategy for handling rapidly changing requirements with MySQL databases

my all-time fav letter-to-the-editor was in computerworld about 20 years ago.  it was titled “congratulations on your one millionth article on the demise of the mainframe”.  the blogosphere’s prolific opinionizing may have topped that feat in the 12 hours following microsoft’s live mesh announcement. 

the gist of the criticism runs something like, “ok, it’s cool and all, and we like ray ozzie, but the pc is dead so live mesh is irrelevant.”

the assumption is: the cloud has absorbed the application, or will real soon now.  here’s why i don’t buy it.  first, in 2008’s version of reality, we don’t have the bandwidth to pull it off.  both upstreaming and downstreaming high-volume content taxes our current capabilities.  cloud followers would respond that, any moment now, the sky will part, the birds will sing, and we’ll have wireless terabyte pipes to every square inch of the globe.  i remain sceptical.

but let’s say they flip the uber-reliable-unlimited-bandwidth switch tomorrow.  i still take issue with the live mesh naysayers based on humanity’s magpie obsession with shiny objects.  we like high-function devices.  no one gets excited about a terminal – we want toys that do something.  we display our coolness by the gadgets we keep.  egalitarian clouds miss the point. 

monopolists and zealots care about the brand; be it windows or what.  normal people just want it to work.  if microsoft makes it work, ray (and steve, and bill) win.

i worked some with oracle 6, 7, and (early) 8, skipped 9 entirely (apparently a good thing) and now am back in with version 10.  in between i’ve mostly worked with microsoft sql server, but also with db2, mysql, and postgress.  i’m not religious about any of them, but re-familiarizing myself with oracle 10g has given rise to this analogy.

think of sql server as a new corvette.  the leather interior smells great.  the engine has that low throb at idle.  you’re pretty sure that punching the gas hard could get you in trouble.  it’s not a ferrari, a maserati, a dragster, or a formula 1 car; but it gets the job done!

oracle, in comparison, feels like a hot-rodded 1968 camaro.  454 engine.  600 horsepower.  every bolt torqued to spec.  every body panel cleaned and polished.  it has all the performance features you can imagine:  headers, high-rise manifold, holly carb, turbocharger, suspension package, custom seats, trick wheels, lots of goodyear rubber – everything!  and, nice as that corvette is, the hot-rodded ‘68 will whoop it nicely.

here’s the difference.  you can go to the chevy dealership with dollars in hand and drive out with that corvette.  it’ll be a lot of fun.  chicks’ll dig it.  keep it in the garage.  get it serviced on schedule.  trade it in when you’re ready for a new model.  it will just work.the ‘68 is a little different.  the guy driving around in this thing is not just a car owner, not just a driver, he’s a hot rodder!  he lives and breaths his machine.  no one knows it like he does.  no one else knows how he got that custom-ground camshaft to work with those wild roller rockers.  he’s the only one who knows the work the work it took to tune the turbo waste gate.  he alone knows his custom-made beast and he’s quite proud of the fact.

just my observation.  your mileage may vary.