Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Tools for Managing Windows 2003
Microsoft has a web page with links to a number of their tools and information about them.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/downloads/winsrvr/tools/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/downloads/winsrvr/tools/default.mspx
Monday, February 13, 2006
Writing in this new age
Many of the tools of the Internet are designed with the goal of improving our productivity. Unfortunately, applying on-line tools to business processes, even for the processes of software engineering, often yields less in the way of benefits than we would hope. Sometimes those who we expect might enjoy these tools the most are the most explosive in rejecting them. What's going on?
In the early days of the micro-computer revolution... Has it really been thirty years, already? It seemed that typing and technical skill requirements were hurdles for many people. Now days, most of us can type well and the graphical user interface has pretty much eliminated the need for us to learn techno-speak to control computers. Why then do we still see less than eager adoption of tools such as Newsgroups, Listservers, Blogs, Wiki's, and portals like Sharepoint for everyday business processes?
A theory developing in my mind is that it often boils down to writing skills. A large proportion of the population does not feel confident conveying information in writing. Perhaps they feel more powerful--more able to defend a viewpoint--in person than on-line. This would explain the phenomena of so much of this technology developing around better educated communities, and not developing so quickly on the blue-collar shop floor. The old joke that 'A' students become teachers and 'B' students end up working for 'C' students correlates well to this notion of why collaboration tools have not caught on better in the business world.
Well, a recent story in wired, The Secret Cause of Flame Wars, may shed more light on this. In most forums, and especially those where users new to computers tend to arrive, first, flame wars are often a too common part of the scenery. Such behavior would certainly tend to discourage further the adoption of these tools by people less confident in their writing abilities. This article gives a very insightful perspective on flame wars that may help you manage them better when they arrise in your collaborative forum.
In the early days of the micro-computer revolution... Has it really been thirty years, already? It seemed that typing and technical skill requirements were hurdles for many people. Now days, most of us can type well and the graphical user interface has pretty much eliminated the need for us to learn techno-speak to control computers. Why then do we still see less than eager adoption of tools such as Newsgroups, Listservers, Blogs, Wiki's, and portals like Sharepoint for everyday business processes?
A theory developing in my mind is that it often boils down to writing skills. A large proportion of the population does not feel confident conveying information in writing. Perhaps they feel more powerful--more able to defend a viewpoint--in person than on-line. This would explain the phenomena of so much of this technology developing around better educated communities, and not developing so quickly on the blue-collar shop floor. The old joke that 'A' students become teachers and 'B' students end up working for 'C' students correlates well to this notion of why collaboration tools have not caught on better in the business world.
Well, a recent story in wired, The Secret Cause of Flame Wars, may shed more light on this. In most forums, and especially those where users new to computers tend to arrive, first, flame wars are often a too common part of the scenery. Such behavior would certainly tend to discourage further the adoption of these tools by people less confident in their writing abilities. This article gives a very insightful perspective on flame wars that may help you manage them better when they arrise in your collaborative forum.
