Oracle Wins Unconditional EU Approval for Sun Acquisition
As reported by Reuters, the go-ahead has finally been given for Oracle to acquire Sun Microsystems.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m happy that the end of uncertainties stemming from over a year of this acquisition process (first with IBM, then with Oracle) will allow things to finally move ahead, and for customers to begin making forward-looking decisions for their computing hardware purchases.
On the other, the culture at Sun is about to be irreversibly changed, as Sun sinks below the horizon and becomes part of the largely-soulless software giant.
I will also miss the huge number of friends I made in my years at Sun (at the time of my RIF notice, I had been there almost precisely 1/3 of my life), and being part of a company where, as Scott McNealy said, we “Kicked Butt, Had Fun, Didn’t Cheat, Loved Our Customers, and Changed Computing Forever”.
Being Human, Series 2 Begins
I almost missed this one. Being Human returned for its second series last Sunday (10 January 2010) on BBC Three. It picks up about a month after the end of the first series, with new bad guys to replace Herrick.
After seeing both Russell Tovey (George) and Sinead Keenan (Nina) in the final David Tennant episode of Dr. Who, I found that I was more than ready to get back to this brilliantly written show.
Being Human is a comedy-drama series about three twenty-something housemates trying to live normal lives, despite struggling with unusual afflictions – one is a werewolf, one is a vampire and the other is a ghost. They face a human threat in the form of the mysterious Professor Jaggat and the cold-hearted Kemp. Jaggat and Kemp are fundamentalist Christians who have discovered the existence of vampires, werewolves and ghosts – and are determined to destroy them or carry out brutal experiments upon them. They believe that vampires are the Devil incarnate and must be destroyed; that werewolves contain an evil gene that can be removed by violent scientific experiments; and that ghosts must be forced over to the other side whether they like it or not.
1 February 2010 Update
Series 2 will be ending later this month, but BBC have already announced that a third series has already been commissioned, so we can expect new episodes at about this time next year!
Finally! SPARC gets a mention in the news!
OK, I’ll admit that I’m more sensitive to this than most, since in my last job I was a specialist in the SPARC microprocessor architecture.
Today, Oracle actually mentioned SPARC in an ad in the Wall Street Journal.
This might not seem like much, but it’s a huge change. There hasn’t been any marketing mention from Sun about SPARC systems in nearly a year (the newest SPARC server, the SPARC Enterprise T5440, was introduced in October of 2008).
While my little team travelled the Americas telling anyone who would listen why SPARC was still important, the Sun executives simply stopped mentioning SPARC, instead talking up the x64 products which are, let’s face it, almost identical to everybody else’s x64 products.
Even Jonathan Schwartz hasn’t blogged about SPARC in over two years!
Then, my whole SPARC team got torn apart, and most of us were laid off in May in preparation to sell Sun to IBM.
But IBM isn’t buying Sun. Oracle is (probably). And while Sun hasn’t mentioned SPARC in advertising in a year, suddenly Oracle has.
Makes me feel good.
Sun Ad from 15 Oct 2009 WSJ
Voice Actor for Hire
One of the big projects I’ve been working on since getting laid off is now done – I’m open for business as a Voice Actor and Narrator!
I actually had the idea to do this some time ago. When I have looked into getting work as a Voice Actor in the past, the biggest obstacle was that I didn’t have a Demo, and getting a Demo produced would mean spending quite a bit of time in the studio.
So, finding myself suddenly free from the daily grind, I almost immediately went up to Schenectady, NY to take some classes and record tracks with Voice Coaches (see my earlier blog entry here). After a couple of months of work, the production work on my demo was done, and as of today, my new web site is live.
Please go and visit the new site, listen to demos, and most importantly, tell your friends about me if they are doing anything that could use a professional Voice Over.
Google Latitude for iPhone is working…
…at least for some people, at least at this moment.
I’ve been waiting for the iPhone version of Google Latitude for months. It’s a nifty way to find out where your friends are, or which ones are close by. It might seem like a loss of privacy, but if you’re already blogging, tweeting, and/or Facebooking your life away, this shouldn’t bother you too much. Also, it has some pretty nice privacy features to allow you to hide when you want, as well as to control the quality of position you show on a person-by-person basis.
The Latitude page has been saying that it’s coming soon for iPhone and iPod touch for quite some time. I’ve been using it on my laptop for several weeks, but if I want to keep my location updated, my phone is the obvious choice of device from which to do it.
If you have an iPhone, chances are you can get Latitude working, though it might take a few tries. On Mobile Safari, browse to m.google.com/latitude, and you will either get right in to Latitude, or you will get a “Coming Soon” page (which is what I got, at first).
Just keep reloading the page every once in a while (I had to do it 6 or 7 times), and you may eventually find yourself using latitude. Press the “+” on the bottom toolbar, and add a shortcut icon to your Home Screen, so you can get back to it.
Torchwood Returns
Torchwood comes back tonight on BBC One, with a five episode mini-series, entitled Torchwood: Children of Earth. It will run for five consecutive nights.
At the end of Series 2, in Exit Wounds, we lost both Owen and Toshiko, and it appeared that Rhys was being pulled into the team.
In the new story, all of the world’s children stop – every single one, all at the same moment. Then, they all deliver exactly the same message. Aliens are suspected as the cause, but certain high-ranking government officials also suspect that Torchwood might be involved, and order the destruction of the Hub.
And for Torchwood fans in the US, never fear, Torchwood: Children of Earth comes to BBC America starting on 20 July.
Officially Unemployed, Time to Find a Job
Yeah, I know, most of you thought I was already unemployed. Sun is being very generous, though…
I got my RIF notice on 31 March, but I’ve remained on payroll and benefits through yesterday.
This week, I can file the paperwork for my severance package, and start really looking for a new job.
The job market is pretty thin, at the moment. Over the past two months, I’ve only managed to get one interview (though I haven’t been trying very hard). Fortunately, I don’t have my heart set on doing the same job I’ve been doing. While I’ve really enjoyed being a technology guru, I’m ready to try something new, and if any of my dear readers have something in mind (or a job opening they would like to fill), I’m open to suggestions.
Doctor Who Specials, Being Human, Coming to BBC America
Good news for Doctor Who fans in the US – BBC America have announced that the final five David Tennant episodes of Doctor Who will air starting this summer.
First will be the Christmas 2008 special, “The Next Doctor”, which will air on 27 June. The Easter special, “Planet of the Dead” will air on 26 July. The Fall special, “The Waters of Mars” will air on BBC One on 15 November and on BBC America on 19 December, and the two-part Winter special, “The End of Time” will follow with Part 1 on 25 December 2009 (26 December on BBC America) and Part 2 on New Year’s Day 2010 (2 January on BBC America).
David Tennant will also have a guest spot in two of the twelve episodes of the Doctor Who spin-off series, “The Sarah Jane Adventures”, in its third season, which will start in September on CBBC.
And as an additional bonus, the outstanding supernatural fantasy, “Being Human” will begin on 25 July on BBC America. In this series, a Vampire, a Werewolf, and a Ghost (sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it?) share a flat in Bristol and try to blend in and lead a normal life. And, yes, at the end of the pilot, they all walk into a Pub. I do hope they air the pilot. If not, our trio don’t get to a Pub until the third episode. This series is brilliant! Don’t miss it.
30 October 2009 Update
Updated show dates for “The Waters of Mars” and the title of the final two-part episode.
21 November 2009 Update
Updated show dates for “The End of Time, Part 1″.
22 December Update
Updated show dates for “The End of Time, Part 2″.
Software Copy Protection for Pro Tools – The Worst of Both Worlds?
I know I’m ranting, here, but I just can’t help it. So, I apologize in advance.
I was a vocal opponent of hardware dongles and key disks way back in the 80’s, and I thought we were beyond that, until I started looking into Digital Audio Workstation software for my home Voice Over recording studio.
After reviewing what was available, I settled on Pro Tools, since I needed an interface for my studio microphone anyway (XLR connection and 48 volt power), and Pro Tools came bundled with a pretty good one. I only bristled at the hardware dongle aspect for a moment (the software won’t run without one of the approved audio interfaces attached). I acquiesced since, for my purposes, I’d need to have one attached to do anything useful (you can’t do much voice recording without a microphone).
Upon installing Pro Tools, I quickly verified that it wouldn’t start without the interface, then I connected the interface (Digidesign Mbox 2), and it started right up … almost.
Now, even though it would seem that the presence or absence of the Mbox2 effectively implements any needed copy protection, on the first execution of Pro Tools I still had to enter:
- A 14-random-character ID
- A 4-character “Release Code”
- An 11-character serial number
…for the connected interface. WTF?
Pro Tools comes with a wealth of plug-ins, many of which look really useful. In addition, the package I purchased included a bundle of added plug-ins. On going through the packaging, I discovered that these additions required key codes to use, and these codes reside on a USB dongle (a PACE iLok). But, in addition to requiring the presence of the iLok, the first time I tried to use them, up popped a dialog requiring entry of:
- A 14-random-character ID
- An 11-character serial number
Again, WTF?
Cryptic software keys are bad enough, hardware dongles are almost always bad, but both?!?!?
Maybe it’s just me, but this really bothers me.
Addendum
A reader has pointed out that DAW applications (and all audio apps) are heavily pirated. I still contend, however, that no copy protection scheme has ever managed anything more than to temporarily slow down the pirates and crackers, and at the cost of unduly punishing legitimate users.
The more egregious the copy protection, the more you alienate your Paying Customers! And for the others, it only needs to be cracked once. Copy protection has never made good economic sense, and it still doesn’t.
In the Studio with Voice Coaches
Recording a commercial...
During my college days, I spent a lot of time in the studio of WJHU Radio in Baltimore, as their first News anchor.
In the years since then, I’ve missed the studio work, and folks frequently ask me if I’m not the guy they heard on some TV or radio ad. As a result, I’ve often thought of trying to get some work doing Voice Overs.
The one thing I was missing, aside from practice, was a demo. You can’t get anyone to hire you if you can’t send them a demo, and it needs to be properly produced.
Well, as I now have some time on my hands, I booked sessions with Voice Coaches in Schenectady, NY, and I’ve been working with them this week. I’m taking some courses on working in the modern production studio (they don’t use tape anymore?!?!?), and both improving and modernizing my presentational style. We’ve also recorded a number of tracks to use in producing my demo. I’m really learning a lot, and having some fun, as well.
Addendum
As of 27 August, demo production has been complete for several weeks, and the new web site is up and running! Check it out here.
