BCOSS Blog

Good advice about virtualization

bcoss — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:34:40 +0000

Can be found in this article from “The Register“

Microsoft abandon Plugins for Windows 8

bcoss — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:14:01 +0000

There is quite a bit of debate on the Internet about this at the moment but here is Microsoft’s take on it.

Windows 8 is going to be quite a shift in computing experience for some as it matches some of the operation of the mobile phone technology. Here is a review of it so far. And at the moment, you can download it for free apparently.

So how will the Open Source World respond to this move?

UK Government faces battle to drive open source procurement

bcoss — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:29:45 +0000

The government faces a tough battle to meet its commitment to using open source software…Read more…

Founder of DEC dies aged 84

bcoss — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 09:14:33 +0000

The NY Times reports the death of Ken Olsen, one of the founders of DEC. DEC are famous for the PDP range of mini-computers which were popular with smaller businesses who required a lot of computing power compared to an expensive mainframe. The company alos spawned a number of leading lights in the industry.

DEC was acquired by Compaq in 1998 for $9.6 billion.

Interestingly, Bill Gates cites Olsen as “….a major influence on my life.”

Facebook Privacy

bcoss — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:35:16 +0000

Much of the media in the past few days has focussed on how much access app developers have to your personal data, should you choose to put this in your profile. Here is a selection of these articles:

The essence of all this is as pointed out in The Telegraph:”According to Sophos, Facebook is already plagued by rogue applications which solely exist to post spam links to users’ walls, point users to survey scams that earn them commission – and sometimes even trick users into handing over their mobile numbers to sign them up for a premium rate service.”

However, if users don’t take care of their data, the malevolent side of human nature will always try and take advantage. However if yoiu really want to be scared, have a listen to The BBC Today show piece on the Stuxnet virus that attacked Iran’s nuclear programme.

Now they are talking about cyber-weapons rather than just plain old viruses. Now do you want to try and protect your data?

Novell acquired by Attachmate

bcoss — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:28:36 +0000

The NY Times reports that Novell is to sold to Attachmate for $2.2. This must raise concerns about the future of Suse, as Novell acquired that some time ago.

It’s strange how things work out in lkife. Novell was the premier networking giant in the 1980′s – the biggest competitior to Microsoft. owever, it’s fortunes declined after it bought StreeTalk and went to directory based authentication. Most people coundn’t handle it and went to NT4 as that was more like the bindery they were used to. However, Novell was rock sold – you never really needed to reboot the server.

But as it’s still around and used by some colleges in the West Midlands. With the Attachmate acquistiti0on, questions will beasked as to whether it will decline or will it signal the rennaissance of it?

The demise of BECTA

bcoss — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:46:24 +0000

An interesting article by Charles Arthur in The Guardian make sinteresting reading. Arthur describes the use of Microsoft products at by children at school as “…. being equipped to be uncreative office workers”. Strong stuff. BUt is he right?

We’ve often held the view that teaching wordprocessing isn’t really about Microsoft Word. New users should be able to use any word processor.

The often used excuse is “that’s what industry expects” but is this so. And as Companies look to tighten their belts on expenditure, shouldn’t they look towards Open Source as a way of saving on their software bill. That could mean the difference between somebodies job and unemployment. Also, isn’t a more flexible and multiskilled workforce more desirable than a bunch or trained robots?

Come and discuss it with us at our next meeting.

Tesco and Moodle

bcoss — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:35:17 +0000

Kineo is a UK company that has successfully deployed the Open LMS Moodle for Tesco. You can read more about it here.

This is a big deal for Moodle in the UK. Moodle is used extensively in UK education and was pioneered right here in the Black Country. Over 80 % of all FE Colleges in the West Midlands use Moodle as their VLE platform, making considerable savings as well!

Moodle is a great example of Open Source Software and has a big developer and support base across the globe.

Autumn meeting

bcoss — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:18:39 +0000

With summer out of the way and the lengthening nights, we are starting to prepare for our autumn meeting. If you have any items for the event, please get in touch with us.

Royal Society’s report into ICT in schools

bcoss — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:14:43 +0000

Back in August, The Royal Society published a report into the teaching of ICT in schools. It must have made uncomfortable reading for some. Ther study is still open. If you are interested, then here is the link to it.

We will be raising the matter at our next meeting I’ve no doubt. We’d be most interested to hear of the experiences form our Black Country schools. Please get in contact with us to tell us your story.