Ho Trong Dat

When we started the Order of the Blue Polo, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s been interesting, since most of the OBP members so far are people I either didn’t know or haven’t heard from in a long time, and some people I figured would be the first to jump on it haven’t (probably due to the fact we require a company name). Back in 2002, OpenNMS was pretty much just me in my attic (well, the room over the garage). The economy was still depressed post-9/11 and sometimes I wondered if it was all worth it (luckily I don’t give up too easily). However, something happened in September of that year that gave me my first glance into how powerful an open source community could become, and it strengthened my resolve to make OpenNMS the de facto management platform used by everyone. It was a letter from Vietnam. Hi MAN. I am calling you MAN because I consider you as a great man in NMS field. You and your band have made an wonderful product as I’ve ever seen and used. I am using OpenNMS 1.0 ( from 0.8.x) at my sites for approximately a year and it keep running well. In future, we will use NMS to monitor almost our VNPT’s network ( VNPT - Vietnam Post and Telecomunication ). Here our information: CDIT - Center for Development of Information Technology-VNPT http://cdit.com.vn/ VietNam I hope some day I will have a chance to contriubte my little knowledge for OpenNMS’s development. Best regard. It was from a man named Ho Trong Dat and it seriously made my day, if not my month. Here I was, working by myself in a little town in rural North Carolina, getting a great letter from a guy in freakin’ Vietnam (and while some readers will probably chuckle at the English, Dat’s English is a hell of a lot better than my Vietnamese). Note: In most Asian cultures the family name comes before the given name, and I make sure I am aware of this when I travel. However, especially in Japan, some business cards will compensate by reversing them on the “English” side of the card. Note that I said “some” and since I don’t read Japanese I often can’t figure out if it has been done or not. It’s an example where accommodations made for Westerners cause more problems than they solve. So let me apologize in advance if I ever get your names backward. Another Note: Vietnam has become a popular tourist destination. Think about it - in 40 years the in place to be might be Bagdad. I was both surprised and extremely happy to see that Dat was to become one of the founding members of the OBP. Dear OpenNMS users My name is Dat and I am working for CDIT, a subsidiary company belong to PTIT (Post & Telecommunication Institute of Technology). We are R&D centre. We know OpenNMS when we researched about open source software. We have been using OpenNMS in CDIT since 2002. From that time, OpenNMS did not release the first version, still 0.9, I remember. We had to install and reinstall OpenNMS a lot of time to get familiar with it. After six month, we finally and totally control OpenNMS in administrating our network. We deployed an WAN for our mother company (VNPT) with over 50 network nodes (router, firewall), a lot of servers (30). Using OpenNMS, we can monitor the status of links between subsidiaries, the performance of the link, of the server. We also monitor a lot of services such as : email, web of collaboration – our internal website, file servers, We think OpenNMS is a very convenient, flexible and highly configurable network management software. We feel happy when using OpenNMS. Thanks you guys who have been developing such a nice and beautiful software. So here is a guy from halfway around the world who used OpenNMS back when it first came out, and nearly seven years later he’s still using it (plus Dat’s English is much improved). It’s letters like these that make me feel happy making OpenNMS.

protect the earth

'Rules of Dating for Teenage Girls'

Oh, sure. You could encourage girls to be scientists, astronauts, or superheroes with healthy self-esteem, intelligence, and a belief that they could do anything they darn well wanted. Or you can just remind them that all they really want is boys, and the most important thing in life is snagging yourself a man. Unfortunately, United Artists is opting for the latter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they've optioned Pamela Wells' debut novel The Heartbreakers, which will be retitled Rules of Dating for Teenage Girls. Jennifer Ross is currently attached to pen the script. UA is insisting the story is one of Girl Power, a coming-of-age comedy that centers on four girls who are dumped by their boyfriends on the same day. Tired of boys and their shenanigans, the girls devise a set of rules they're sure will snag any guy, and prevent break-ups and heartache.

Why do guys changed after several years of marriage?

I have a friend ,she keeps on asking me, why her husband changed in many ways, she told me that her husband don't kiss her and even hug her, but she also told me that her husband used to be so sweet to her, he even bring her flowers when he arrives home.I feel sorry for her. What do you think is the reason why her husband or why do guys changed after years of marriage?

count

Well it looks like we have a tie and the only fair thing to do would be to attempt to do two challenges at once. Starting Thursday, January 1st, 2009 I will no longer be able to eat chocolate, bakery items (incl. Tim Hortons) and desserts. This for me will be tough because I swear I am addicted to sugar, but hey if it wasn't tough then it wouldn't be much of a challenge. Since we are off to Orlando, Florida on Jan. 8th for 10 days...ahh man...what have I got myself into. Oh well...I can do it...I might go through sugar withdrawal, which might mean grumpiness and moodiness. The second challenge which I will be untertaking is to only weigh myself once a week (Right now I am picking Thursdays cause Jan 1st falls on a Thursday). Hmmm another one of my addictions. I have tried this challenge before and lasted only three days. This one will be difficult as well but I love challenges and will give it my best to make it as far as I can. I guess if I were to choose one it would be the weighing myself as it is something I do and the number on the scale determines my mood for the day and it is so much more for me than just stepping on the scale and seeing a number...really....to get rid of that habit....I couldn't even imagine how my life would change. I had my last long run before Disney today and it was tough. I was drained...no energy...I think the kids and Trevor made me a little sick, but at least I didn't have what they had on the weekend. They had the 24 hour flu...imagine 3 people in the house with the flu...yeah...it was NASTY. Anyways...I don't have the "flu", but I don't have much energy...I just need some caffeine and life will be better. Tonight we are off to Market Mall. We try to go to all the malls during boxing week to see if we can get any good deals. We did manage to hit Chinook on Friday and found a few things. I've shared a secret with Trevor that I wanted a Nintendo DS as well and we found one at Sounds Around and it was the Guitar Hero DS Lite Package...incl DS, Guitar Hero Game, Car Adapter, Guitar Hero Case, extra stylus and 2 extra guitar picks. Well...I love it...I played so much...I actually ended up unlocking all the games (by playing the easy level). Both kids got a DS for Christmas and I play with them. I love how we can all hook up and play Mario. Now if we can only convince Trevor to get one.Well...that's the update. I still have to upload my Christmas Pictures...that will be done soon...stay tuned : )

No mil-mil contacts between Taiwan and China

A Defense News piece by veteran Asian military affairs reporter Wendell Minnick notes that there is no Taiwan-China military to military contact; the previous report was incorrect:Media reports that the U.S. Pacific Command (PaCom) is sponsoring a military-to-military dialogue between China and Taiwan for this summer appear to be incorrect.Over the past week, media reports here have indicated China and Taiwan would conduct military discussions in Hawaii sponsored by PaCom. These reports are erroneous, sources here and in Washington say.China and Taiwan will send senior military officers to attend the Transnational Security Cooperation Course provided by the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), a U.S. Department of Defense-funded think tank based in Hawaii. This has been exaggerated as a formal military-to-military meeting by the local press, a Taiwan defense official said."Yes, this is an old issue," a former U.S. military official said. "The Chinese had sent guys to the APCSS course, but withdrew once an invitation was sent to the Taiwan military to send students. It settled into a one year Taiwan, next year China, next year Taiwan, etc. I don't recall them both going at the same time, but I could be wrong. In general, it's just not a big deal."In other corrections, my man Ben Goren wrote in to correct Peter Williams' correction of Michael Wise's letter on Taiwan as a province. Ben noted:Thus, whilst Williams is correct to assert that Taiwan was a prefecture of Fujian Province and a declared province in its own right for 10 years, it was nevertheless not a part of “China” nor the “Republic of China” (ROC) at any time before 1945. If anything, only a small section of the country was part of the Qing Dynasty for 212 years — a short period of time in Taiwan’s history.Because the birth of the ROC in 1912 marked the first time that “China” became a modern, “unified” nation, at a time when Taiwan was a Japanese colony, it is again inaccurate to claim that Taiwan has ever been a part of “China.”By downplaying or ignoring the “ownership” of Taiwan by Aborigines before 1624, scholars contrive a “Chinese” historical narrative that is both very recent in nature and a convenient fudge born of a political agenda. It is more accurate to state that only a part of Taiwan was briefly a prefecture and then a province of the Qing Dynasty.This kind of historical construction that creates a "Taiwan" that is a province of "China" is actually recapitulating Chinese propagandistic construction of history that are designed to facilitate Chinese claims over Taiwan. It's high time westerners stopped using them.Corrections of another kind failed this week when the wife of one of the most corrupt public officials in Taiwan history, the legendary Chu An-hsiung, who bought the entire Kaohsiung City Council so he could be elected speaker, and then fled to China, also failed to turn herself in to begin a jail sentence. Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday said former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Wu Der-mei (吳德美) failed to report to prosecutors on Friday to start her eight-and-a-half-year prison term. Chung Chung-hsiao (鍾忠孝), spokesman for the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, told reporters that Wu should have appeared at the district prosecutors’ office at 3pm on Friday, but that her son, accompanied by lawyers, had paid the office a visit on Friday morning to apply for a delay to Wu’s prison time, claiming that Wu suffered a bone fracture and was in no condition to be jailed. Wu was confined to a wheelchair, Chung quoted Wu’s son as saying.Chung said that while prosecutors were considering the application, they remained alert to the possibility that she might attempt to escape.Wu received her final sentence earlier this year for embezzling about NT$2 billion (US$58.8 million) from her company, An Feng Group.Former KMT officials embezzle zillions and then flee to China so regularly there is probably a dedicated ferry service for them. This case is especially odious: Wu is the wife of a famously corrupt public official (who himself jumped bail) from a party where one could name dozens of politicians who jumped bail, or simply fled to China ahead of the law, but she isn't treated as a flight risk and is not denied bail. Chen Shui-bian, however, who is not a flight risk, can't be let out of jail, and no one is allowed to see him

A service nation

Public service is on the cusp of becoming a national movementCorrection to this articleIN A Manhattan park on March 31st the Unemployment Olympics took place. Participants competed in events such as the Telephone Toss and Pin the Blame on the Bosses. But other unemployed people are looking for charity work to occupy their time. Many non-profit organisations are seeing an increase in people looking to help. Even before the economic crisis, AmeriCorps, a programme which takes young volunteers for a year, was turning away two applicants for every one it accepted. Teach for America, which sends recent college graduates to teach in needy schools, saw 35,000 students apply for up to 4,000 openings this year. In February VolunteerNYC.org, New Yorks public-service site, saw a 27% increase in visitors compared with a year ago.

What did you see in your dreams last night?

Well, I have got a very strange dream. It was like: I was in a haunted house and was trying to open the door but some how I couldn't open it. Well, after sometime, the door got opened automatically and suddenly I was in a Matrix movie "hallway", where I saw my school time teachers with one of my girlfriend who was calling me. I went there and hug her tight and started kissing too! Suddenly I heard a crack sound and I was in an hospital and my gf was lying on the bed and the dr were saying that her back bone got broken! Rest I don't remember! Well, that was strange that how quickly the scenes got changed in that dream. I am amazed our mind controls other character in our dream. It is like Artificial Intelligence, isn't it?

field trip

Wednesday morning early, I met sister Lulu here, NY bound. Say what you will about New Haven, we have incredible pizza and a grand train station.By 11 am we'd rounded up our mom, and her sister, Aunt Marcia from points south and points east.All very proud of ourselves for accomplishing the meetup, we celebrated by...cutting through the side streets of the flower district . This time of year, its like walking through the magic forest in the middle of the dismal city. I didn't do it justice, but I did catch Lulu showing off her Meseta Alta (rav link) shawl. Tulips by the hundreds in bloom! Pussy willows 8 feet tall! Ranunculus in every color! We oohed, we ahhed, we made asses of ourselves smelling the blooms while blocking the narrow passageway.A few paninis & coffees later, we head to our people in line.It looked suspiciously like a sheep & wool show......oh the shawls! and felted totes! and sweaters!and ....a cupcake. Being completely obsessed interested in queuing up my next 8 sweaters for the NanKniSweaMoDo that I'm, ahem, not really doing, this was great opportunity--- sweaters on parade. I had a 2 minute conversation with someone in a minty green mohair cardi, it reminded me of this or this, but the fit was less roomy, so flattering..she told me it was from an IK , Fall of...(help can't remember!)..damn those frowning production assistants in their headsets, just as she was giving me the lowdown, she was swept away for seating. All I heard was, in the mag it was shown in a hearty tweed but she'd knit it in a Jo Sharp something-fuzzy--and if you know what I am talking about, send me the name of that pattern! Of course I went home and looked through my old mags and didn't find it. It was a cardigan , and there were a couple of panels with diamond shape eyelets, bell sleeves....Oh, sorry, where was I/ yes, ahem, on the set of the Martha Stewart Show, the special yarn show where we were invited to bring our knitting projects, descriptions requested in advance as if someone cared. We were there to show the love by knitting throughout the show while also clapping wildly on cue. (Don't try this at home.)My 2 second review: fun to see the studio set, Mo Rocca is much better when he can do his shtik alone, the audience was wonderful, the show itself..eh. Ok, the crocheted urinal was...worth a peek.Or should that be worth a pee? You can watch on Monday 3/23 and judge for yourself.It was a beautiful spring day in NYC, anyway. We left with an enormous tote bag each, a sample of Soak from Purl (mwah) and an..um..underwhelming swag choice from a sponsoring yarn company . Margaux' (tentenknits) expression here said it for all of us.word to Martha:it's International Year of Natural Fibres. And that, my dear is a good thing.ps that giveaway for copies of Shear Spirit is still on over at the fiber farm CSA blog, in honor of the year, go over and enter!

Saturn's rings

Saturn's rings

Seabreeze Jazz Festival kicks off Thursday 4.16.09

PANAMA CITY BEACH — From the Panama City Beach newspaper - The next two weekends promise to bring high synergy to Panama City Beach. The Seabreeze Jazz Festival will open Thursday at the Aaron Bessant Amphitheater, the events first year in Bay County. The 11-year-old festival, which draws smooth jazz fans from all over the U.S., moved out of South Walton after it outgrew its site in Santa Rosa Beach. Concerts will be on three days, Friday through Sunday. On April 22, the Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show and Music Festival will return to Frank Brown Park for its 11th year. It also attracts well-to-do enthusiasts from elsewhere, particularly from Tennessee walking horse country in the Southeast. The Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau has estimated the horse show provides a $5 million shot in the arm to tourism every April. The addition of the jazz festival will give the shoulder season — the tourism downtime between Spring Break and summer vacation — even more brawn. All of this comes at a very good time, said Dan Rowe, executive director of the Beachs Tourist Development Council. 2009 is a difficult year in the tourism industry. Aprils one of the months when the weathers still nice, he said, but were not at the peak of the travel season. The jazz festival, he said, is another reason for people to come to the beach. Beach trips are not just in the summertime. Organizer Mark Carter said the jazz festival already is on JazzIZ magazines Top 10 national list. Hes confident the gulf view, beach access and Pier Parks entertainment, dining and shopping will reinforce its appeal. Its becoming known as one of the destination festivals now, he said. Carter said ResortQuest, the prime sponsor, has told him most of its two dozen resorts from Panama City Beach to Perdido Key are sold out for the weekend because of the festival. Ticket buyers are flying in from the West Coast, New England and as far away as Germany. The demographic profile for the typical jazz festival ticket-buyer is a baby boomer, ages 30 to 54, with annual income around $100,000, upper levels of college education, usually in a professional career and oriented toward technology. Its the same audience that Carters South Walton radio station, WSBZ-FM, attracts through what he calls narrow casting. Its a small segment with a powerful ability to spend, he said. About the weekend Ticket prices for the festival are $80 for one day or $130 for a weekend pass, Friday through Sunday. Festival-goers ages 12 and under who bring along an adult will get in free, as will middle and high school band students who wear band shirts, Carter said. For those prices, fans will get performances by about a dozen performers each day. The headliner is sax man Boney James, who plays Sunday night. His new CD, Send One Your Love, went to No. 1 on the charts in its first week of release in February. The festival also includes a jazz dinner cruise on Thursday night, which was fully booked last week. Jazz Under the Stars parties after the main concerts on Friday and Saturday at Reggae J.s Island Grill will have $45 admission. On Friday, a meet-and greet session and free performance at 3 p.m. at the Pier Park Borders bookstore will introduce the festival to Bay County. Performers also will have seminars in schools while theyre here, including visits to Surfside Middle School and Arnold High School. Carter said the festival usually limits attendance to 5,000 a day to keep things manageable and more intimate. The new, larger venue does allow more flexibility, so decisions on when to cut off ticket sales will be day-to-day.

Happy Easter

(Swiped this one from an email)A man is driving along a highway and sees a rabbit jump out across the middleof the road. He swerves to avoid hitting it, but unfortunately the rabbitjumps right in front of the car.The driver,a sensitive man as well as an animal over,pulls over and gets out to see what has become of the rabbit.Much to his dismay, the rabbit is the Easter Bunny, and he is DEAD .The driver feels so awful that he begins to cry. A beautiful blonde womandriving down the highway sees a man crying on the side of the road and pullsover.She steps out of the car and asks the manwhat's wrong. "I feel terrible," ! he explains,"I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny with my car and KILLED HIM."The blonde says,"Don't worry." She runs to her car and pulls out a spray can.She walks over to the limp, dead Easter Bunny ,bends down, and sprays thecontents onto him.The Easter Bunny jumps up, waves its paw at the two of them and hops off downthe road.Ten feet away he stops, turns around and waves again, he hops down the roadanother 10 feet, turns and waves, hops another ten feet, turns and waves,and repeats this again and again and again and again, until he hops out ofsight.The man is astonished.He runs over to the woman and demands,"What is in that can? What did you spray on the Easter Bunny ?"The woman turns the can aroundso that the man can read the label.It says..(Are you ready for this?)(Are you sure?)(Last chance)It says,"Hair Spray:Restores life to dead hair,and adds permanent wave."Happy Easter!!!

Jon Allen

June 1st marks the release of ‘Dead Man’s Suit’ the debut long-player from South Devon’s finest, Jon Allen. Sitting comfortably with contemporaries such as Ryan Adams and Damien Rice, whilst being unmistakeably evocative of the folk-rock scene of the late 60s/ early 70s.A confident performer - opening for the likes of Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris, KT Tunstall, Jose Gonzalez and Damien Rice has not fazed him - wowing audiences in the process in venues from the miniscule 12 Bar all the way up to Wembley Arena. The critically acclaimed first single ‘Going Home’, championed by Radio 1’s Jo Whiley, featured on the worldwide Land Rover TV commercial this year, achieving a respectable 20,000 downloads from Jon’s website off the back of the advert. The proceeds gave Jon the freedom to self-fund the recording of his album and media campaign. ‘Dead Mans Suit’ shows an eclectic range of influences, from early Rod Stewart and the Faces to the legendary and lamented John Martyn in his ‘Solid Air’ era. Jon echoes Martyns spirit and reflectiveness and at the same time shows that he knows how to pen a good hook. The album kicks off with ‘Dead Man’s Suit’, which despite the name is an uplifting melodic tune in which Rod Argent (Zombies)-style organ plays a significant role throughout the song. This contrasts with the soulful ballad ‘In Your Light’, which has achieved significant praise at BBC Radio 2, riding high on the A list, having already been championed by the likes of Johnnie Walker and Bob Harris, with a session booked with Bob for May. ‘Dead Mans Suit’ is a testament to the art of quality songwriting - Jon studied at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts founded by Paul McCartney, who has praised Jon on his penmanship and offered up help in the form of writing sessions with the great man. That experience helped Jon find fans in the likes of songwriting heavyweights such as Guy Chambers amongst others. Jon Allen has already achieved a lot in his short career and has been praised by some of the music industry’s great and good. Just like his growing audience, they’ve all seen the prospect of Jon as a long-term, career- sustaining artist, whose authentic songs will not go out of fashion. Single ‘In Your Light’ is out now on Monologue Records.Debut Album ‘Dead Man’s Suit’ is released June 1st on Monologue Records – review copies coming soon!Tour Dates - below, review and competition tickets are available.15th April - The Cluny, Newcastle Upon Tyne17th April - The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen19th April - Brundenell, Leeds22nd April - Ginglik, London23rd April - The Stables, Milton Keynes28th April - Manchester Academy, Manchester30th April - Cox's Yard, Stratford Upon Thames1st May - The Plug, Sheffield2nd May - The Duchess, York3rd May - The Cellars, Eastney Nr Portsmouth4th May - The Robin, Wolverhampton8th June - Baby Blue, Liverpool16th June - King Tuts, Glasgow18th June - The Glee Club - Birmingham

The Sharecropper Model

As I was running through my RSS feeds this morning, Roberto Galoppini pointed me to a post by James Dixon (the CTO of Pentaho) on the Beekeeper Model for Commercial Open Source (PDF). It references Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm which I’ve used for years to drive our OpenNMS business, so it caught my attention. I haven’t blogged much about open core for awhile, but I thought this article deserved a closer look. Since I’ve been labeled a hippy open-source purist, let me state again my contention that companies that label themselves “open source”, including “commercial open source,” need to produce products where 100% of the software code is available under the OSI Open Source Definition via an OSI approved license. If the business model involves generating the majority of revenue by selling “enterprise” software via traditional closed licenses, that software doesn’t meet the definition of open source and should not be called such. I’m perfectly happy with “Commercial Open Core” but let’s not confuse a neo-proprietary software model with open source. My bullshit meter jumped slightly when I read his list of open core companies: Companies using the single-vendor or open-core commercial open source models include MySQL, Ingres, Compiere, Open Bravo, Liferay, SugarCRM, Mule, Alfresco, JBoss, Digium, and Zimbra. The meter only jumped a little because he used the term “or” instead of “and”, but on reading the rest of the article it seems like they are equivalent, so I need to point out that not all of these companies are open core. Everyone who calls their company “open source” likes to be compared to JBoss since they were purchased for so much money, but I want to stress that JBoss isn’t open core. From their website you can see that there is no code differences between JBoss Community and JBoss Enterprise. Sure, you get patches, and hot fixes and gobs of benefits by being an Enterprise customer, but special code is not one of them. Digium is very similar. We love the gang over Digium as they strive to make sure their code is 100% open, and we use their software in-house as well. It is also my understanding that MySQL, another successful open source company, made 100% of its code available until a year or so before their acquisition by Sun. In that last year I believe that “enterprise” customers got to see code six months or so before it was released into the wild, which while unfortunate, still resulted in all of the code being open. Prior to that you could get MySQL under an open license or you could purchase a proprietary license and imbed it in your commercial product. As long as the open and proprietary version are basically the same code I think this is a legitimate way for an open source company to generate revenue from software licenses. Someone please correct me if I have my MySQL facts wrong. In two if not all three cases they pass the CentOS test, and thus I don’t consider these companies to be open core. Mr. Dixon did score points with his statement on open source software vs. free software: Open source is not free. In 1998 the term ‘open source’ was coined to replace the term ‘free software’ because many people assumed ‘free’ to mean ‘zero cost’ whereas it was always intended to mean ‘freedom’. That’s it in a nutshell. Open source requires a different kind of cost, but you don’t get a free (gratis) solution. However, people have taken it a step further to mean that commercial software can be called open source since commercial software is not free, too. “Syllogisms are only partially convertable. While Alma Cogen is dead … only some of the class of dead people are Alma Cogen”. His entire section on The Principles of Open Source is pretty spot-on. I found myself warming to Mr. Dixon. Then we get to the meat of his document, his four models of software development: The Wild Hive Model for Open Source Projects The Maple Syrup Farm Model for Proprietary Software Companies The Beekeeper Model for Single-Vendor Commercial Open Source The Honey Gatherer Model for Services/Support commercial Open Source This is interesting stuff, so please read it for yourself. It is so elegant and comes with nice little drawings that it took me awhile to understand why my bullshit meter was pegged. Then it dawned on me. Instead of the Beekeeper model it should be called the Sharecropper model. The single vendor controls everything while benefitting from the community, while the community only exists to serve the single vendor. When he writes “In the Beekeeper Model the bee farm provides land, hives, and flowers etc.” it is just like a plantation owner in the old South owning all the land and means of production. The bees are not in control of their destiny, much like some sharecroppers were told when, where and what to plant. This is at the heart of my problem with open core software. In a vibrant open source community it is the community that controls the product, not the vendor. Mr. Dixon states: This explains the common practice of the Beekeeper companies to offer some kind of ‘Enterprise Edition’ that includes features not available to the community. These are high-end features that only larger organizations find of value. Who decides what features are of what value? As I mentioned in my Hyperic post awhile ago their community is screaming for a feature that only exists in the “enterprise” version, yet their needs go unmet. It is obvious that Joe User needs the feature but because it drives software revenue it will never be open. According to Dixon is necessary because It is clear that the single-vendor model is more costly to set up and operate than the services/support model. It is logical that companies using the Beekeeper Model need to generate more revenue to recoup these costs than a company using the Honey Gatherer Model No, it is logical that if the only way you can meet your revenue needs is by selling commercial software then your open source business model is broken. Don’t say “pure” open source doesn’t work if the problem is you can’t run your business properly. There are several other things that just slapped me upside the head: The community gains open source software they can use for their own purposes. This software has more functionality and more resources than a ‘pure’ open source project could provide. In this way the community profits directly from the company and its customers. If he means that an open source project with a commercial backer has more functionality, then I’d say “well, duh, of course”. But there is no reason that making money on an open source project is in conflict with being “pure”. The customers gain higher quality software at a better price. The customers profit from the open source community’s ability to produce high quality software. In the first statement he implies that in order to produce high quality software you have to have a commercial entity producing it, but then here he states it is the community that produces the high quality software. Which is it? As far as price, nothing could be better than free, I agree. But if he is talking about customers having to buy enterprise versions of “open source” software the math gets a little hazy. For example, in our space OpenNMS provides unlimited Standard Support for US$14,995 a year. Zenoss, an open core company, charges US$150/device for a minimum of 250 devices for its “enterprise” software, or US$37,500 a year, over twice as much as we do and limited to 250 devices. However, if you take our average commercial install of 2000 devices, the Zenoss price would be US$300,000 per year. That is insane - you might as well buy OpenView or Tivoli. Over 5 years the cost will be must less than the US$1.5 million Zenoss will charge. Of course, no one should be paying list price for their software, but it is so wrong to call it open source even if you can haggle it down. A prospective customer should not have to learn about open source in order to become a customer. The sales and marketing materials should neither hide their open source model nor require understanding of it by the market. Why shouldn’t a prospective customer “not have to learn about open source”? Aren’t there some serious advantages to open source? That’s like saying Toyota shouldn’t educate its clients on the hybrid synergy drive on its cars. True, the customer shouldn’t have to be able to build one or understand exactly how it works, but I would think the basics of why you would want one should be explained early and often. Educating the market will be the downfall of the open core business model once people realize that there may be “pure” open source offerings that do it better. After listing the benefits of open source so well in The Principles of Open Source why does Dixon feel it is not important to the buying decision? Customers are not bees, bees are not customers, and you cannot convert one to another. With OpenNMS a good portion of our clients are also actively involved in the community. In fact we encourage this. Many, if not all of our customers came to us from the community. With our commercial support offerings, however, there isn’t a requirement of community involvement. What I get out of this statement is that the single vendor company sees the community (the bees) and their customers as separate things, and will focus on the needs of the customer, in order to generate revenue, versus the needs of the community. Some people assume that all commercial open source models are flawed because the company does not have direct control over the direction of, and development of, the software … The services/support model does suffer from this. The company might pay for full-time developers to work on some of the open source projects that it utilizes but it does not have the same level of influence that the single-vendor model provides. This has not been my experience. The statement that single-vendor (open core) models have more influence goes back to my plantation owner analogy - the sharecroppers/bees/community are told what to do since the plantation owner controls everything. At the OpenNMS project, influence is based on merit. We have a number of full time developers who both create code and help integrate the contributions of the people outside of our company. Since we get to work on it full time we produce more code which earns us influence. However, every major project decision is governed by the Order of the Green Polo, which got there also on merit (and not always by writing code). It seems like in the Beekeeper model influence is bought. You, the community, do what I say since I pay for everything. And, by the way, I have to sell software in order to pay for it. It seems to be the antithesis of the open source communities I’ve known. In summary, I do think the need for a “whole product” is valid, but I don’t think it is necessary to sell commercial software licenses in order to deliver it. The “Honey Gatherer” can deliver the whole product without resorting to commercial software licenses. Part of my antagonism toward the model comes from the fact that Pentaho sells an “enterprise edition” and thus is an open core/neo-proprietary company, and since those companies have co-opted the term “open source” I am naturally distrustful. It’s like saying “we love the bees, we need the bees, but no royal jelly for you” and I think that is wrong within an open source environment. But this model is slick and well written and it did make me think, which is always welcome.

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Beyond the crossroads

The election may be a shambles, but democracy is thrivingUNDER Suharto, the dictator who ruled for 32 years until 1998, Indonesian parliamentary elections were not so much rigged as scripted. But the pointless campaigns were lively, colourful affairs, giving an impressive imitation of the forms of democracy. Now that Indonesia enjoys the substance, too, political parties can give full vent to the voters enthusiasm. The campaign for the parliamentary election on April 9th, the third since Suhartos downfall, has been a carnival of democratic competition: flag-waving, horn-honking processions; television-advertising blitzes; mass rallies with a few speeches, gifts of free T-shirts, 20,000 rupiah ($2) notes and, most important, singing and dancing. The poll itself is an exercise whose scale and logistical complexity are second only to those of a general election in India. Across more than 900 inhabited islands, 171m people have registered to vote. They have 38 national parties to choose from, and an estimated 800,000 candidates for the national parliament, known as the DPR, and lower-level provincial and other legislatures. And this is only the start of what may be a three-stage process. Parties, or coalitions of parties, that win at least 112 seats in the 560-member DPR, or 25% of the popular vote, may nominate candidates for the powerful presidency, to be elected in July. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote then, there will be a run-off in September. ...

Ten Awesome Reminders Just How Long It Has Been Since Michigan Made It To The Dance

They used to have this thing called the NCAA tournament and it was just amazing. We had this guy called Glen Rice who could just dominate. He could hit from outside, score in the post, and he even played defense. This dude Rumeal Robinson was fast like a minotaur and could make his own free throws. We even used to have this thing called the Fab 5 where they rounded up all the biggest criminals in the greater metro Detroit area and promised that in exchange for scoring lots of points, they didn’t have to play for a coach or learn anything about college. Ah, the good old days. Even that guy Maurice Taylor was pretty good until he went and rolled the Explorer with that lousy prima donna, Mateen Cleeves.March 18, 1998 may seem an insignificant date to you stupid jerks, but not to me. You see that my friends is the last time the Wolverines set foot in a tournament that did not provide its victor with a one way flight to Italy. It may seem like a long time ago to you, but believe me, it’s longer for us. How long? This long…1) The Sega Dreamcast is made first available in Japan.2) Monica Lewinsky scandal: Ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky receives transactional immunity, in exchange for her grand jury testimony concerning her relationship with U.S. President Bill Clinton.3) Jim Carrey won Best Actor for the Truman Show. Awesome movie.4) Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge, creating the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup.5) The Chicago Bulls win their 6th NBA title in 8 years when they beat the Utah Jazz, 87-86 in Game 6. This is also Michael Jordan's last game as a Bull, clinching the game in the final seconds on a fadeaway jumper.6) The Big Lebowski debuted in theaters nationwide to seriously mixed reviews.7) For the first time ever, smoking is banned in California restaurants and bars.8) Google, Inc. is founded in Menlo Park, California, by Stanford University Ph.D. candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin9) Seinfeld aired its last episode to 76 million viewers and the gang ended up in the slammer.10) Coldplay, the Strokes, and Okkervil River formed. Neutral Milk Hotel broke up.If there is one good thing to come of having your favorite team dragged through the mud for eleven years in the wake of a scandal, it’s the expectations. It no longer matters if we make it out of the first round or achieve absolutely anything at all from here on out; getting to the dance is more than enough. I feel like Sienna. Wait what? Sienna made the tournament four of the past five years? Fine, I feel like Manhattan. What? Even the Jaspers made it twice since we’ve been away? Ouch. Forget it, gimme those shoes Cousin Eddie; lets go dancing.Source: wikipediaSubscribe to us

Michigan Hoops: Almost There or Another Lost Season?

What do you make of the term "most improved?" While it should probably be fairly honorable, it just calls attention to the fact that you used to suck really bad and while you still suck, it's now to a lesser degree. It reminds me of tee ball when everybody used to get awards and they had to make up shit ones for the really crappy kids.In a nutshell, that's how I feel about Michigan Hoops this season. The Wolverines are a legitimate threat to win every time out and in my estimation and have to be considered the most improved team in the NCAA. Still, it's still pretty tough to stomach another collapse in which, by most accounts, they will not make the NCAA Tournament yet again.Don't get me wrong, this season has shown marked improvement and most importantly cemented John Beilein's job for the foreseeable future. Hell, it's even caused the "o" word to be bantered about with regard to the future: optimism.On the other hand, god damn it you idiot mother bleep bleep bleep stupid bleep bleep. How could you blow it again? I can't believe we're going back to the bleep bleep NIT tournament again you bleep bleep piece of bleep.Catch my drift? It's tough to be a Michigan fan these days. With four games to go and a 500% record in the Big Ten, they just blew a four point lead in the final one minute on Sunday against Iowa (at home) and went on to lose by ten points in overtime. For some reason, Beilein benched Manny Harris during all of this. Interesting strategy to say the least coach, but I'm still with ya. Harris didn't have it on Sunday, so I'd say that is the kind of call a good coach makes. You just hope the outcome backs the guts, which in this case backfired collosally.So where are we now? The Wolverines face the steaming hot #16 Boilermakers on Thursday, followed by road games at Wisconsin (also steaming) and Minnesota. Perhaps a three game win streak and a decent Big Ten tournament gets the Wolverines back in tournament contention, but the odds are pretty bleak given the 8th place Big Ten standing and poor showing down the stretch as of late.So, when we look back on this season, there is a fair chance that it will be with disappointment, yet coming off a 10-22 season without even an invite to the bunk dance (NIT) last season, the pieces are coming together and the reign of terror might finally be over. We beat Duke, beat UCLA, played UConn to the wire, gave MSU a good run, and competed in the Big Ten, so if nothing else, the season pointed this program back in the right direction with some momentum to keep moving. So tournament or not; not all is lost.Subscribe to us

When Will We See Incentive Contracts in Sports?

How many times have we heard in the past 5 years that “sports is a business?” I’m guessing it’s perhaps somewhere in the thousands, right?Who do you think sells more aluminum siding, the door-to-door salesman who gets paid a steady salary or the one who gets paid on commission? Pretty obvious right, the one who gets paid on commission will be banging down doors and annoying the neighbors at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning.So where is this going? I’ve been meaning to conjure up something about incentive based compensation in pro sports for a couple weeks, but the timing is now particularly relevant given NFL free agency signing bonanza is underway and we already have our first big fluffy contract in Nnamdi Asomugha's NFL leading windfall, complete with a ridiculous $28.5 million in guaranteed moolah. Well, I am a HUGE proponent of incentive based compensation in sports and truly hope it becomes the norm in contract negotiations.As I alluded to, “sports is a business” is the ubiquitous excuse for every overtly aggressive deal, the stockpiling of talent for ambitious one-year turnarounds, and the demise of athletes spending their careers with one team and one city.If sports is truly a business, the front office “business men” and sports agents would be wise to adopt the incentive based compensation structure that has swept the business world in the past 10 years or so. Incentive based compensation programs are logical in that they align the interests of the organization with that of its key personnel – or more simply stated, when things go well, everyone gets paid.In business, executives typically receive incentives in the form of equity ownership, revenue sharing, stock options, and performance based bonuses, which are normally combined with a relatively lower base salary. We do see incentive based compensation pop up from time to time, but its still generally very flawed. For instance, Brian Cashman and the Bloodhounds tried to head in this direction with Joe Torre before he departed for Los Angeles. They were close, but not quite there, so let's highlight some of the oversights that occur in the rare instance incentive based compensation rears its head in contracts.1) The timeframe – Consider a money manager and their compensation structure. Would you prefer that they receive their bonus based on 1-year performance or 5-year performance? The answer is the 5-year performance, because the shorter time horizon encourages irrational risk taking. Consider the investment manager (or front office executive) who needs to boost their performance in a single year. If the first half of the year achieves poor returns, the natural behavior would be to take concentrated, extremely risky bets in hopes of turning it around in a hurry (i.e., Brett Favre). On the other hand, a manager with the longer time horizon can make sound decisions that are expected to pay off in the longer term and build sound portfolios without worrying about the exact timing that the benefits will be realized. In sports, this is the difference between cohesive units, nurturing young talent, and drafting for the future, versus making expensive high-risk bets year in and year out. This strategy will likely lead to a lack of a close knit chemistry, but rather a group of rotating transients who hardly get to know one another.2) The second glitch in the plan is another obvious one, but generally overlooked entirely. Coaches and front office executives regularly see incentives in their contracts, but players generally do not. You can’t offer a coach or manager incentive compensation without giving it to the players. Pro athletes’ contracts have become the antithesis of motivation. Think about the number of times you have read about XYZ fat piece of shit who is still collecting millions from a team they no longer play for. If you read Bill Simmons even occasionally, you definitely know a boatload of these guys. Simmons is the king of calling out contractual disasters – particularly in the NBA. I think this is a function of the agents being just far savvier in contract negotiations, because they have made this a norm. These guys are smart and I can’t blame them, but there is a good alternative in incentive based compensation that can easily yield the same payouts, but make for more clearly aligned interests between teams and their players.To go back to the investment manager analogy, why pay the portfolio manager based on performance if the guys/girls doing the research are paid cushy salaries regardless of if their recommendations are any good. The boss can work his ass off, but if his team is feeding him terrible ideas and slacking, there is nowhere to go but down. As business clichés go, it’s garbage in, garbage out. The interests of the whole organization need to be aligned in terms of the compensation.3) The metrics – Generally when you see incentive based contracts (again, generally at the coaching level, not the player), they involve a provision based on some level of success in the playoffs. Again, in the proposed Torre contract, they offered incentives based on getting past the first round of the playoffs. That is moronic. Do you really think that is motivation for the whole season? It’s so stupid and arbitrary to try to motivate someone for one week of the season. Sure you have to get to the playoffs, but there is a lot of work to do in the regular season, such as improving specific areas where the team shows weakness. The incentives should be based on things you can actually improve like the team ERA. There are a million metrics that could be used here that would actually matter from game to game, but making it about one week at the very end of the season is just silly.4) Finally, this one is a little more of a reach, because it never happens in sports, but I think it is important. Teams should consider implementing a succession plan. Teams are forgetting about legacy and focusing on single seasons, which is new to nobody, but the plans should be in placewhen it comes time to turn over the reigns to the next generation.So, the intent here is to show that the wave of the future in sports should be incentive based compensation. It works. Period. People like to make money, so put their priorities in line with those of the team. I may be overoptimistic, and as usual, overexcited, but I really think this is the way to shift sports back to a more team focus versus the individual negotiation focus of today, while still appealing to the bank accounts of both coaches and athletes in the meantime. If sports really is a business, it wouldn’t hurt to at least run it like a good one.Subscribe to us