Last monday, I saw an article on news.com that I never thought I would ever see…
Adobe buys Macromedia
Dvorak has a good theory on why this has happened. To me, being an ex-macromedian, it still sounds like something out of the twilight zone.
His theory is that Adobe was worried Micro$oft was going to snatch up Macromedia in a bid to get into the online publishing business. Better to buy them out and chuck them into the garbage than compete against Micro$oft.
What do they really gain? Well, they will get Flash, which will give them two of the most popular (and annoying) technologies on the web. Acrobat was cool up until version 6.0, when Adobe slapped that annoying updater onto it.
What about the other products? That’s the big question.
Since the internet boom, Macromedia’s big sellers have shifted from Director, FreeHand (yes that’s a capital ‘H’), and Authorware to Flash, Dreamweaver and Fireworks.
Adobe may hang on to Director and Authorware because they don’t have products in that space.
FreeHand, though, has been stagnant since version 8, so it’s on the way to oblivion.
Dreamweaver? Adobe has GoLive. I haven’t touched that product since the early days (before Adobe snagged it), so I can’t comment on it as a product. If it has a better rendering engine than DW, I would welcome it ( I still can’t get DW to display a halfway complex design correctly ). These products may get thrown into a blender to create GoDreamweaverLive.
Fireworks is the product I’m the most worried about. Fireworks, even though it has a few hiccups, is my favorite Macromedia product, and I would hate to see it go away. But, Photoshop/ImageReady (from Adobe) are already huge bloated products, and I’m afraid that Fireworks will get assimilated into one/both of those products. That would truly suck.
The rest may get to stick around for awhile, simply because they don’t really compete with Adobe’s existing product line.
Well, ok. Kill Cold Fusion. Make the pain stop. That shite should have been put out to pasture years ago. JRun is still a decent app server, though.
There are a lot of good people at Macromedia, and I hate to see the company being devoured by Adobe simply because they’re worried about a much much bigger beast getting to the company first.
Hang onto your Macromedia products if you’re using them because they may be the last versions you’ll see.
UPDATE: Well, maybe Adobe isn’t so paranoid after all. Micro$oft is going to enter the online publishing market when Longhorn comes out. But, they are coming up with their own standard, code-named ‘metro’ ( oy ). Where does Micro$oft come up with their code names? ‘Metro’ makes me think of that stupid new term ‘metrosexual’ — Does that mean the Queer Eye guys are leading the development team?
At least Apple comes up with cool code names. : )
For those of you who haven’t seen this, ‘metrosexual’ is supposed to be a label for ‘straight’ men who are not afraid to embrace their feminine side. Don’t ask me why we needed a term for it. If you’re worried you might be infected, you can take the Metrosexual Quiz.
And, no, I only scored an 8 on the quiz, so I am safely assured I’m nothing of the sort. So, there, beat that score! Or, well, maybe not.
Let her go…
I have been fighting the urge to comment on the Terri Schiavo story that has been front and center in the news for the last 10 days or so. But, hey, if Jesse Jackson can show up and throw his hat into the ring, then it must not be too late…
Bottom line: She should be allowed to die. It is, according to her husband, what she wanted. And, the courts have been right all along in either staying out of it or backing the husband. According to polls, most people agree. They are also ticked off that the government has tried to intervene, which they shouldn’t have. This MSNBC story echos a lot of my thoughts about the situation.
The thing that gets me in these situations are those wacky ‘right-to-lifers’ who will chuck just about anything aside for the ‘sanctity’ of life. Remember, these are the same folks who have been freaking out and preaching about the ‘sanctity’ of marriage while protesting the concept of gay marriage. In this case, they’re willing to chuck all that marriage stuff aside in order to preserve life. They want the government, any government, to intervene, even though they don’t realize that doing so tramples on the rights of the individual.
I’m not saying this is an easy subject. Heck, even the Catholic church is divided on the subject, which is very scary considering there is news about inserting a feeding tube in the Pope. Granted, the situation is significantly different when you have a person whose mind is sharp and whose body is failing him. But, what if, God forbid, he has a stroke/heart attack/whatever that puts him in the same state as Shiavo. And you thought the press over the Schiavo case was crazy…
But, in my opinion the ‘right-to-lifers’ have an ulterior motive in all this. If they can ever get the government to take the bait and pass some sort of legislation that would preserve life at all costs, then they have leverage to push for legislation on their other favorite topic — abortion.
Fortunately, if that ever happened, the courts would eventually strike it down. Florida has already tried to interfere with the Schiavo case. In one case the law was passed and struck down by the courts. And the second attempt last week never got past the state senate.
Here’s the question for those of you still in favor of putting that tube back in her. If you were in the same situation, would you want to live like that? If you said no, and if you’ve even gone so far as to take steps to ensure that this situation would not happen to you (like set up a living will — which, by the way, may or may not help you), then, why on earth would you think it is okay to put another human being through that?
Part of the Christian doctrine is about life, but it’s also about compassion for your fellow man. Who are you really being compassionate for? The woman who’s been living in a persistent-vegetative state for 15 years? Or, the parents/family who simply won’t let go?
The only good ‘liberal’…
I came across this article a couple of weeks ago.
Can Liberalism Survive?
I thought it was an interesting read. To some extent, when I think of what happening to the democrats, I think of this poster from despair, inc. Persistence, because in spite of the fact that they lost the election they just can’t seem to get over it.
I don’t think that one party or the other should go away. But, the democrats just can’t let it go. I’m not talking about the more moderate folks. I’m talking about the far left folks that have taken over the democratic party. These are the folks who have basically decided that most of Americans are too stupid to make intelligent decisions, so we should put them in power so they can make all of those hard decisions on our behalf.
Instead of reflecting on why this attitude didn’t sit well with the American people, these folks continue to throw tantrums, even writing crap like this Fuck the South and use the fact that Bush won the election as evidence of the stupidity of the majority of the U.S. population.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that most politicians on both sides believe the average person to be too stupid to figure out what’s really going on. They’re wrong, because most people simply don’t care either way.
But, the democrats can’t seem to figure out that their current approach isn’t working. As long as they stay the course, republicans will continue to gain support and win more elections.
Get over it. Let it go. Better luck in 2008, guys.
PS BTW – Hillary isn’t the answer either. I personally don’t have a problem with a woman as the president, but I don’t think the majority of the country is ready for that. And, I’m pretty sure they won’t bite on Clinton. Martha Stewart, maybe. Oprah, maybe, but not Hillary.
farkin’ hilarious
For those of you who have never heard of fark.com, you should really drop in sometime. You don’t have to click on the “boobies” links, just read the headlines. Some of them are classic. Some links are not safe for work (NSFW), but they usually will label them as such.
The best one I saw tonight:
Bill Clinton sleeps on floor of plane during tsunami tour, allowing elder Bush to sleep on bed. Political analysts believe this is first time Clinton has seen bush in a bed and declined to jump in
Some others:
Body of Christ to get new and improved flavor
Boeing CEO fired because he couldn’t keep his plane out of a colleague’s hangar
Green Day wakes 9 year old from coma. First words are “Turn that sh*t off.”
America’s 10 most powerful women. Surprisingly, your wife did not make the list
Scientists develop new battery that can recharge in 6 minutes and can last 50 times longer than conventional batteries. Vibrator manufacturers said to be abuzz with delight
mac software purchases
It’s been a month since i bought my g4 ibook, and I have been happy with it so far.
I have not done any battery metrics with it, but the battery life has been impressive. I can charge it up, leave it unplugged for 3-4 days, turn it on and have a couple of hours of life on it. I’m pretty sure my toshiba won’t even boot if left unplugged for four days. I may try that later.
I have not yet tried to do any development on it, so there’s at least one program I have not picked up yet.
So far here’s the list of software I’ve purchased.
iLife ’05 upgrade
Mac Journal 3.0
NetNewsWire/MarsEdit ( right now Ranchero software has deal going where the license for NetNewsWire will also work on MarsEdit. Two nice products for $39.95 )
CopyWrite 2.1.8
I will probably add TextMate to the list at some point, but I need to play with it some more.
I may also pick up VoodooPad as well.
The nice thing is that all of these products are $40 or under.
I have yet to pick up Office for Mac yet. I just don’t know if I want to.
I am also staying away from graphics programs for now as well. I think my 12″ screen is going to a bit cramped for graphics, especially when I have a nice 22″ monitor 10 feet away from where I am typing this. Plus, the graphics apps are the ones with the $500-$700 price tags.
The only product I was a little disappointed with was MacJournal, and that’s only because they had a 15-day trial instead of a 30 like most companies. I like the product overall though.
So, I have spent about $125 on software and the iLife upgrade.
the day that hockey died…
So, today is officially the day that the NHL cancelled the 2004-2005 season. For those of you not keeping score, the NHL has been in a contract dispute with its players since Sept 16.
What was the big deal? Money, of course. The owners claim that they have priced themselves out of the market. In the last few years they have let salaries get out of hand to the point that the teams are losing money. The players liked making money, and they weren’t exactly dying to give it up. The players refused to give into a salary cap, until yesterday that is.
Yesterday, the NHLPA decided to propose a salary cap to the NHL, one that was much much higher than what the owners wanted. Many players, who had stood by the ‘no cap’ mantra, were confused why their reps caved. They’ve sat out for five months. If they knew there was a chance the PA would cave, then why didn’t they just work a deal last summer? The concessions made at the last minute by both sides, however, were more about saving face than any true desire to resolve things.
The really sad part of all this is that no one cared. The first time the shutout has been mentioned on any of the major news sites was late yesterday and today, when the season was on the brink of being cancelled. At that point, the press coverage was only there to cover the carnage, much like a major car accident.
Where’s the outrage of the fans? The NHL was just beginning to stir interest in American households. With the shutout, most people, not having sympathy for the wealthy players and the even wealthier owners, simply moved on. You probably remember the amount of coverage that the last baseball strike got, and that sport barely recovered from it. And, baseball, after all, is ‘America’s pastime,’ with mom and apple pie. So, what do you do with a sport that’s not even in the top 5? Imagine the outrage of fans if the NFL or the NBA or MLB tried cancelling their seasons.
It’s not that hockey isn’t a great sport. it’s an incredibly fast paced sport, and to me it’s probably the most fun to watch. It’s the only sport I’ve ever watched where a 0-0 game will keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s the only sport where you are just as elated as the players are after your team scores the winning goal in triple overtime to win the Stanley Cup. You and your friends stayed up till 2 a.m., watching every minute of the game.
You don’t get that with football. The NBA isn’t really fun to watch until the fourth quarter. And baseball? Man, if you don’t have a serious buzz going by the seventh inning stretch, I don’t know how you’d get through the rest of the game. God forbid watching 9 or more innings completely sober. And Nascar? Oh come on. Unless there’s a crash, how exciting is it to watch 40 cars run 500 laps around a track on TV?
No one wants to take salary cuts, but if the choice is taking a pay cut or risk having the company shut it doors, then the cut isn’t so bad. The company I work for has done it. I think Delta just asked its employees to take cuts in order to try salvage their company. So, why should a sports franchise be any different? I read a story about the support staff of the Stars, including the coaches, had to take major cuts during the lockout. So, why not the players?
A lot of players are going to play in Europe or in the minor leagues. They’re certainly not getting paid up to $10 million a year to play in these other leagues, so why not swallow their pride, take the cuts, and keep the NHL alive? The players say they just want to play the game that they love playing.
If you players really just wanted to play the game, then why should the money matter?
Episode III: A Lost Hope
Sadly, this trailer might be better than the actual movie…
Star Wars Trailer
After seeing the last two Star Wars movies, I’m not optimistic that this one will be much better. In spite of the fact that the Clone Wars happen, Vader is born, and a lot of Jedi are supposed to die, I worry that somehow Lucas is going to try to spin a happy ending out of all of this.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the Star Wars is a great fictional concept, and I think Lucas is amazing at creating these worlds. He just has a problem with telling the story.
There are rumors, as usual, going around that Lucas may actually let the next three movies get made. He isn’t interested in doing them, but he might turn them over to the right person.
To me, the ‘dream team’ for that job would be to get Joss Whedon to write the screenplays and let Spielberg direct them. Whedon is the main creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” and I think he would breathe some life into the Star Wars characters.
If you’re not convinced that Spielberg could do great things with Star Wars, then go rent The Terminal. To me, this was a movie with a very very weak concept, but somehow Spielberg managed to make it into a decent flick. I think he’s also made one or two other pretty decent movies…. : )
why can’t all country songs be like this?
can’t always get what you want…
Tonight’s superbowl was just that. You can either have a superbowl that has a great game and lame commercials, or you can have a game that’s a blowout with really great commercials.
For awhile, the best thing about the superbowl was the commercials because the game was usually over by the end of the first half. The last couple of years have had great games, but the commercials had lost something.
But, this year, because of the infamous “wardrobe malfunction,” the screeners for the commercials have been extra strict. I think the edgiest commercial this year was the one for godaddy.com that parodied the “wardrobe malfunction.” I read online that the godaddy commercial had to go through several iterations before it got by the board. Yet, strangely, they still slipped in at least one commercial for Cialis.
I’d much rather see the rude crude beer commercials than anything advertising a fix for erectile dysfunction.
It’s just sad that since last year the networks have become incredibly paranoid about offending anyone about anything. But, then, it kinda reflects on the society we live in today.
Continue reading “can’t always get what you want…”
What’s Up with the Thimbles?
I caught part of the State of the Union address tonight.
I usually watch them just because it’s usually interesting to hear what the President has to say. Plus, the networks usually catch one or more senators snoozing during the speech. Or, this year, there were two-three idiots who clapped when Bush was describing the very real and very scary news about when Social Security would be bankrupt.
Ok, they’ve been saying it for years, but I haven’t seen dates assigned to the social security thing before tonight. By the time I am old enough to retire, at the rate it’s going, there won’t be any Social Security. Period. And if you’re younger than I am, you’re prettymuch equally fucked.
Anyway, it’s been more fun to watch since Bush has been in office because this is a very public presentation and the Democrats have to suck up to him on TV.
What I’m curious about is why some of them had thimbles on their index fingers and were waving them at Bush. I’m assuming there’s some historical context to it, and that it was a favorable gesture.
I didn’t see all of it, but from what I did see Bush is definitely keeping himself busy for the next four years.
UPDATE: After reading an article on CNN this morning, I learned that they did not have thimbles on their fingers, but they had dipped their fingers in blue ink. Apparently, the iraqis used this last weekend as a way to prevent people from voting more than once in the elections.
Rumor has it that John Kerry had all ten of his fingers dipped in ink to show how many times he personally voted in the Iraq elections. However, he was unable to get his name on the ballot in time, where he had hoped to unleash his “I’m not Saddam” campaign. Instead, he has decided that he will try to run for prime minister of France, where he hopes his “I’m not French” campaign will capitalize on the French hatred of everything, including themselves.