Nov 30 2007
Almost 1 year to date I did an interview with Julian Stone of Proworkflow to discuss his business model and software as a service. During this interview he discussed the future of his organization and I wanted to follow up with how things have transpired over the last year. In case you didn't get a chance to read the first interview you can jump over to that post below.
Nov 29 2007
Here are the prizes:
First Prize is $1,000 cash and 5 years free hosting on our Basic PlanTo learn more visit this LP blog post!
Second Prize is 3 years free hosting + $300 cash
Third Prize is 1 year free hosting + $100 cash
Nov 29 2007
This dispute involves a contract that was negotiated by e-mail. One of the negotiating parties suggested a change to the contract after the initial contract had been signed. One of these provisions, an arbitration clause, was the subject to the dispute. While the parties disagreed on the series of events, they did agree that the other party signed the initial contract, replied by e-mail to a proposed modification, and then signed the “new” contract. The e-mail reply stated: “[m]y answer is yes to both. Please make the necessary changes and additions and forward the same to me in two signed copies. I will then sign them both and return one completed contract to you.”
The parties disputed whether there was actual agreement about the second version of the contract – even though it was fully executed. The court held that the response in the e-mail was sufficient to demonstrate that the parties agreed to the new terms, even if one party had not actually read the agreement, or misunderstood what he was agreeing to.
This case is important for two reasons. The first is to further strengthen the current trend of allowing contract consent by e-mail (and, by extrapolation, other electronic means). The second is to point out that in spite of its informal nature, e-mail will likely be considered by a court to have the same evidentiary status as a letter or other formal method of communication. It bears repeating that communication by e-mail should be treated with the same care as communication by letter or fax.
Nov 29 2007
Recently I wrote a blog about Firedog and the Geek Squad. I need to put this subject to bed so I can get on with better things. But I did learn something.
First - promotion wise Circuit City (Firedog) is way ahead of Best Buy (Geek Squad) in advertizing and promoting the service. After visiting both, the in store emphasis reflects the ad space. Firedog is way ahead, "it has it all" - I love that line.
Going to both stores was problematic - in the spirit of providing the best info for these blogs, my wallet eventually came out. All three stores got into my pocket. Did I say 3? Yes, CompUSA actually got most my cash and even haggled several hundred dollars less than BB & CC. Highly recommended for hagglers - as I now struggle with 120hrz.
Now price points for a flat screen TV installation/theatre co-ordination (Oh yes CompUSA has TECHPRO, which by the way, reminds me of Chuck and his buddy Morgan).
I opted for spending Thanksgiving weekend learning about and installing my new toys (Which can only be described as a custom job) and figuring out why Best Buy does not push the Geek Squad.
Why isn't the Geek Squad pushed by Best Buy? Best Buy is in it to make money. At $500 a pop it is just too labor intensive. Magnolia - a humbling experience.
========== MORE ABOUT TOM ==========Nov 26 2007
I attended the Microsoft Hosting Roadshow a few weeks back and met up with some of Microsoft’s top hosting dogs Tito Leverette and Chuck Ladd.
One of biggest questions that came to mind while talking to these chaps was the status on the FrontPage Server Extensions. Are they being supported or no?
After a couple of rounds with these guys and some research of my own later that day I was able to unravel the mystifying tale.
The FrontPage Server Extension support years have been a love and hate relationship for many hosters on both Linux and Windows sides. We have all wrestled with the portability culprits FPSE carries as well as many issues that we will never know the true nature of whether it’s plain publishing or just feedback form functionality. On the bright side, FrontPage and its server side extensions do bring some innovative functionality to the table while allowing easy publishing for quick web (1.0) creativity.
The FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE) 2002 are part of the Office XP system of products. The Office XP system, including FPSE 2002, left mainstream support on July 11th, 2005, according to the Office lifecycle policy.
FPSE 2002 will continue to be supported by security updates through the end of the extended support period, and all existing security content will remain available. You may continue to install and support FPSE on Windows Server 2003 by installing the component under Add/Remove Programs. This is not the case for the upcoming Windows Server 2008. What does this mean for existing FrontPage users?
Ready to Run software bridges this gap by releasing FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for the Windows 2008/IIS7 platform. This version of FPSE 2002 introduces no new functionality, and is essentially the same version that was created for Windows Server 2003. The release supports both 32 and 64 bit versions.
Find more here: http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1531
On the client side in order to serve the needs of existing users and new adopters of Microsoft’s web weaving technology the company has decided on the following roles for new and existing tools.
I. SharePoint Designer 2007- This new application is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office lineup and allows for the utilization of the SharePoint platform as a framework to build on. This is of course beneficial if you are currently using or thinking of using SharePoint Technology as your CMS platform.
II. Expression Web- Geared for the professional web designer this new tool stand alone will allow you to create web experiences by integrating XML, CSS, and ASP.NET 2.0. This is more or less the evolution of FrontPage.
III. Visual Studio- Aimed at the professional developer it allows for you to build enterprise class type applications.
IV. Visual Studio Web- a.k.a. the “lite” version of Visual Studio.
All of these tools support the FPSE path for publishing along with other popular and secure alternatives.