martin

10 ms·

31.
by martin 17y ago
Agreed that it's not the same sort of situation. MySQL is obviously well known and has significant market share, and although Oracle is a competitor to some extent, Postgres is probably much more similar in terms of who the typical customer
32.
by martin 17y ago
Here in New York we're having a miserable time hiring new grads for IT, worse than last year. We recently signed on with a headhunter, just for the sake of trying something else.
33.
Privacy activist asks FTC to halt Google apps(news.cnet.com)
1 points by martin 18y ago|0 comments
34.
by martin 18y ago
Right. It has nothing to do with a company not bothering to go to some discount code site -- the point is that a large enterprise has different needs from some guy buying a computer to put in his den. There's a reason Dell has different pro
35.
by martin 18y ago
Totally agree on the ease of use thing. I used to do some MIDI composition with an old version of Cakewalk Home Studio years ago. It was light on notational features (that's not really what it was intended for) but I've never come upon anot
36.
by martin 18y ago
#1 is possible using COM automation. You can write an app that interfaces with Excel via COM, or integrate your own functionality into Excel by developing a COM add-in. #5 can be done in Excel by implementing an RTD server ( http://office.m
37.
by martin 18y ago
Ramit's blog is well respected in the personal finance community -- I've been reading it for a long time. I'm not totally sure I understand his aim with this project, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt that it's not as ne
38.
by martin 18y ago
I'd question just how much of a problem this is, even on Windows XP. I've worked with lots of firms where end users don't have admin rights and still use dozens of apps without any issue. It's really inexcusable for a Windows app to require
39.
by martin 18y ago
OK, only people in IT departments want integrated solutions. Except they're the ones buying the software. So what's the problem? Integration is not a bad thing. If you don't like the way Microsoft does it -- whether it be the quality of the
40.
by martin 18y ago
Integrated groupware services, including email, calendaring/scheduling, global address list, distribution lists, folder/calendar sharing, distribution lists. Built-in webmail, mobile services, out-of-office. Integration support for Blackber
41.
by martin 18y ago
If you'd quit a job because of the mail client on your desktop, that's your right. A colleague of mine recently gave notice because she didn't like the coffee in the cafeteria, and that was her right too. Like it or not, Outlook and Exchang
42.
by martin 18y ago
I sold my laptop on eBay about a year and a half ago. The winning bidder had a 100+ feedback rating, so I thought everything was fine, but then I get the email that he wants me to ship it to Nigeria. I contacted eBay via their chat support,
43.
by martin 18y ago
Well, it's kind of a blurry line that separates the two. The financial industry existed before all of those products did. Building a financial model doesn't require these products -- one could do it by spending hours pouring over governme
44.
by martin 18y ago
Well, I work in the financial industry, so that's the type of product I'm familiar with... but Bloomberg, FactSet, SNL, Capital IQ, Datastream, Mekko, DealMaven... all of those offer Excel, Outlook and/or PowerPoint plug-ins that carry pric
45.
by martin 18y ago
"Since the price of MS Office Home Edition is $150..." I don't think that really has anything to do with it. There are plenty of Office plugins that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It's all about how much value the product offer
46.
by martin 18y ago
It's common in places like banks where they need to present at least the illusion that they're doing whatever they can to prevent the flow of confidential information out of the company.
47.
by martin 19y ago
I use GrandCentral as the phone equivalent of a throwaway email address -- it's great as a number to give out to people who you don't want to give your actual phone number. But I wouldn't trust it for anything more -- today isn't the first
48.
by martin 19y ago
"I think Microsoft's business model is eventually doomed, but not in any time frame short enough to make the Yahoo deal matter in that regard" I'm not so sure about "doomed" -- "threatened," I might allow, for a sufficiently liberal definit
49.
by martin 19y ago
$55/mo? Here in NY, you'd be lucky to get a Band-Aid for that. The cheapest plan I've seen here is the state-subsidized Healthy NY, which is ~$200/mo for crap coverage. My girlfriend is going back to school in the fall, and she's facing the
50.
by martin 19y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16031
51.
by martin 19y ago
Right, and then they'd give you your money back, and they'd still not have made any money -- if anything, you'd be a net loss if they spent any time trying to help you.
52.
by martin 19y ago
Not that I disagree that this is an example of good customer service. But even if they had sold you a 2-user license for $400, it could've wound up a wash for them if you called support for help setting it up. And given that they clearly co
53.
by martin 19y ago
At home, I have a 15" MacBook Pro with Dell's 30" panel, and I like that setup a lot. The 30" has enough room for all the apps I'm actively using, while things like iChat and iTunes sit on the laptop display off to the side. I'm also pretty
54.
by martin 19y ago
Isn't Google the Google of the SaaS model?
55.
by martin 19y ago
That can be easily fudged, can it not?
56.
by martin 19y ago
Yeah, it didn't work for me yesterday, but it worked for me earlier this morning.
57.
by martin 19y ago
Good to hear -- I've re-added myself to the mailing list, so hopefully I get a new invite soon.
58.
by martin 19y ago
I was using Xobni for a few months and really liked it, but wound up having to uninstall it a while back. With it installed, Outlook would hang upon launch about half the time. Once in a while, the whole plug-in (menu and side bar) would ju
59.
Classmates.com cancels IPO(money.cnn.com)
1 points by martin 19y ago|0 comments
60.
by martin 19y ago
"PHP will probably do OK here, all it needs to do is spit out some JavaScript, but anyone who has coded in it knows the vast potential for fail[sic] it presents." Now that's a compelling argument.

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