no really…just why?

why is it that microsoft sharepoint makes creating cms driven content so darn complicated and difficult?

i fail to see why anyone would want to go through manuals, how-to guides and extensive training just to create a publishing outlet in the cloud. ok, so they might say its targeted to the enterprise crowd, but even that is a huge chore for any users to adopt. its tough enough to keep up with the amount of work just to be productive, let alone taking the time to learn the complications of sharepoint just because a driven i.t. department convinced company heads to adopt the latest and the greatest. i’ve had users having problems understanding the operations of an ipod, i bet they’ll probably go mad when someone shoves sharepoint into their faces.

its funny that the biggest (maybe) software company in the world is unable to provide a solution to web content publishing and web collaboration when there already so many other solutions that are a lot more simpler, manageable, user friendly and tons more beautiful out of the box. compared to WordPress, Drupal and even the mere CMS Made Simple, sharepoint looks like an expensive swiss army tool that can’t cut properly with its knife, can’t grip with its mini pliers and it looks like a cheap copy that’s usually sold in street markets beside pirated DVDs. granted that the rest of the mostly open source solutions is not as complete as sharepoint is, but while it only serves a part of what sharepoint can offer, it serves its solution millions of tons better in all aspects of that small part.

more comical is the fact that microsoft knows extremely very well the value of making things easier to understand, easier to manage and the power of visual attraction are instrumental to getting more acceptance of its solution which translates directly into more business and more money. running down the history of its OSes, every new release is always better in many aspects compared to the previous one and chief amongst them all are the visuals. just take a look at the marketing material of the windows desktop over the years. 3.11 was blah, 95 & 98 were a little better, XP was wow, and Vista was “ok-i-have-to-get-it-NOW” with its visually attracting wallpaper, start button, aqua and even the addition of the desktop pane. ok, its unfair to compare the older ones as display and graphic technologies are not up to the task yet, but what about sharepoint now? others have hit the ball of out the park with it and they don’t even have such experience , integration or wealth as microsoft has.

so…..just, why?

still alive

weekday – 3 am.
empty winding road.
on leave the next day.
orbital’s kein trink wasser plink plonking on the stereo – loud, but not overly.
all the lights were green… all the way home.
parked and stepped out to the sound of nothing except for the collectively quiet hum of aircon units.
no voices, no juvenile screams, no talking, no barking, no honking …. nothing.
then you get home and you think back
- that was a bloody good day that has just passed.

the things i do to find joy – sad.
but hey, i’m still alive

there seems to be issues with my compact flash and the cam. i spent a good afternoon out on a bright sunny day walking around flexing “the finger” with street shots to get acquainted only to find that they’re all blanks when i fired them up into lightroom. not sure whats causing it. net searches attributed compact flash card’s speed that was unable to keep up with fast sequence shots – but 4fps bracketed 7 shots came out fine when tested at home. guess it’s just too shy to work in public :p

nonetheless – late sunday night, marina barrage, cold windy sea breeze and i found out my rust levels. 30 shots, and only one i am marginally happy with. damn i need more practice.

walking the dogg

getting back into the game

those who would know me well enough, knows that i am never one for 2nd-hand purchases. i just prefer to buy brand new and use them till its natural death ( or give it away for a good cause ). the need for snappy happy fingers just got too overpowering as a mate sent me a link to an online advert of a d200 selling for a steal ( least, i think it was ). i voiced my intent to the seller, met him, parted with seventeen pieces of fifty dollars and got meself a new old camera. a step up from my previous setup, though it’s not really the latest and greatest money can buy. nonetheless, a small part of me was smiling that the bigger part actually made inroads to getting back to something i enjoyed doing alot.

was working all night on presentation slides for work ( apple keynote bloody rocks! ), thought i’d step out to welcome the sun on its shift for the day – to get aquinted with the new device. rusty exposures, stiff compositions – need loads of work before i get to what I am personally happy with. nonetheless, here’s the step into the right direction ( i hope! ).

men performing a hindu funeral – they’ll scatter the ashes of a loved one out into the sea

reverted

right.

looking back at the months without any posts and such :-

• photography – i gave my beloved recreational tool away to a mate and the plan to procure an upgrade fell through. therefore, no new photographs to speak of
• smoking – i gave up giving up, pushed to the “to be attempted again” pile
• running – got lazy, took a break. work takes up most time now, so still on a big fat pause
• cycling – my red bright towel calls my $2k ride it’s “favorite hang out”
• drawing – was in 3rd gear at one point, now i just draw out designs in the dust on the wacom with my fingers
• wordpress.org – 24/7 computing from home is expensive (current financial state of the world doesn’t help one bit). so, goodbye .org, hello again .com

that brings it preety much up to speed.

damn i need a holiday.

three weeks plus

smoke free for almost a month. woot! *does the matt dance*

weird things happen to you when you drop a daily habit of 16 years overnight:
- i get “high” for no reason at no specific pattern of time (mildly irritating)
- gain loads of kgs in 3 weeks (not unexpected due to replacing food whenever i wanna smoke, but a little irritating)
- i get breathless easily  (bloody irritating, one would expect that your breathing would improve with smoking cessation)

exam season is upon us again. a week more to the paper and i’ve only convered half of the text. heh.

5 days

stay away from coffee – check.
hide the lighters – check.
throw away whats left of the pack – check.
when in need, eat something – check.

its only been 5 days but i think I am nearing to being the new stay-puff marshmallow man with all the junk food that I stuff my face with – what the hell else can one do to stop yourself running down to get a pack of smokes!?

the real test of it all would be at work starting tomorrow. three quarters of the team are Marlboro men (minus the horses, gallon hat, boot and spurs) and we usually have bi-hour smoke breaks. hmmm………

utter blankness

imagine anticipating for an exam for weeks, brimming you little head with enough information from a book that explains every single happening on an operating system that hardly anyone sees. the big day came, you settle in for a long 3 hour stint attempting to pour all head out to 5 questions and then…..nothing. nada. zlitch. zero. nothing came, not even the last thing i read before i headed out for the exam hall. i did what i can, and can only  hope that a miracle would save me from having to sit for a supplementary one. oh well…

do excuse my venting…

ping

haven’t had much time to write – school started.

it’s sobering to be reminded how to juggle time between work, work projects, school, assignments, study, personal projects and finding time to just laze and rest. my last school experience was a good ten years ago…..yup age is just a number, until you actually feel the effects of owning a larger number than others.

http://theplug.net/28/strangerphotos.htm ….personally think this is a brilliant idea. wonder what it’ll output if it was done in sg. probably the police would be called in for a suspected bomb encased in a disposable camera tied to a bench in town with a friendly note. especially with a bomb-happy terrorist whose wanted pictures are on every public pillar and door in the country (he’s everywhere but no one can find him :p) on the loose.

haven’t spent much time behind the camera lately with only a few hours a weekend open to snappy happy compulsivity. some are here – the mere trigger finger.

wth

omg. you would have to purchase apples’ “january upgrade” for additional features such as maps, weather, mail and notes for the ipod touch! to think that they named it “january upgrade” would probably mean that for every month theres an upgrade and you’ll have to pay for each and everyone of them.

screw this, i am going back to jailbreaking my ipodtouch.

seriously, wth!

-edit add-

a mate mentioned that apple has finally gone the way of microsoft.

i fully agree.