September 5th, 2008
Dell repair adventure, conclusion
Well, our hero’s story had a happy ending. The service tech came out to my office and replaced both the motherboard and the screen on my Dell laptop. After than magic was performed, the system booted up and ran just as it did before. I appreciate the help provided by the people mentioned in earlier posts and the people who supported them.
September 5th, 2008
VMworld is bringing out the vendors
Planning for an announcement is a challenging task. Large suppliers know that just about whatever they do will be picked up by the media and presented to the world. Smaller vendors have a much more difficult time getting heard. So, picking the right place and time for an announcement is crucial to the success of the product launch. It’s a truism that if decision-makers don’t know a product exists, they won’t consider it. If they don’t consider it, they won’t ever purchase it.
Journalists, analysts and consultants often act as intermediaries in the process. They’re constantly gathering data; analyzing that data to sift out what, in their viewpoint, is important and presenting the resultant information to their community. Members of each of those groups tends to look at the world differently, use different thought models and has a different goal. It is often the case that the volume of data coming from large suppliers simply overwhelms that coming from small suppliers regardless of the strength of their technology, how innovative their thinking has been or how important the overall solution would be to a customer.
September 4th, 2008
Red Hat acquires Qumranet
I just received a press release telling me that one of my clients, Qumranet, has been acquired by Red Hat.This was not entirely unexpected.
September 4th, 2008
Dell repair adventure, day 5, with updates
Since our last episode, our hero has been communicating with Bob Pearson, Dell’s VP of Communities & Conversations, and Bill Bivin, Dell’s Community Liaison, about getting my Dell Lattitude D620 back up and running. Both Bob and Bill give every impression of trying very hard to deal not only with my issues, but with issues faced by others. I have to give them high marks for trying. Read the rest of this entry »
September 4th, 2008
Access Virtualization for Mac OS X - Aqua Connect ACTS 3.0
Aqua Connect is an exception. It focuses on providing access virtualization for users of Mac OS-based servers. (For those keeping track, the post, Aqua Connect Access Virtualization for Mac OS X, introduced the company back in December 2007.) This time, the good folks at Aqua Connect are in the process of releasing their newest generation of access virtualization software for Mac OS-based servers. Aqua Connect’s Terminal Services (ACTS) version 3allows users of Mac OS X (Leopard)-based servers to deliver applications to a broad selection of client systems. The software should become available on or near September 16, 2008.
September 3rd, 2008
Dell repair adventure, day 4, with updates
Here’s today’s update in the continuing saga of our hero’s attempt to get his Dell laptop back up and running after it died an ignominious death while he was on the road last week. For those who haven’t been following his adventures, posts Dell adventure begins again, day 1 and Dell repair adventure, day 3 will bring you up to speed.
On day 3, I received a computerized call telling me that the part that the Dell team thinks will fix my machine, the motherboard, was on backorder. This call did not offer a time in which either the part would become available once again or when the repair under the “next day, onsite” service contract would be performed.
September 3rd, 2008
Xen engine 3.3 released
On August 27th, the Xen engine version 3.3 was released on Xen.org, the site that houses the open source Xen project. In the words of the organization, “Xen 3.3 includes enhancements that further advance its position as a fast, scalable, secure virtualization engine for the industry’s broadest range of server and PC chipsets - from super computers to PDAs.” In other words, the key enhancements focused on performance and security.
September 2nd, 2008
Dell repair adventure, day 3
As in my last adventure with Dell, the “next day onsite” service has turned out not to be as advertised. If you don’t remember that visit with Alice in Dell Land, here’s a pointer to that string of posts.
Although my initial Email discussions with Dell’s technical support team went well and I was promised a speedy repair of my totally disabled Dell laptop, I’ve just gotten a call telling me that the needed part is on back order and they would call me “as a courtesy” when the part becomes available. So, paying extra for the “Next day, Onsite” service contract doesn’t guarentee a speedy recovery of a system.
September 2nd, 2008
The Launch of Virtual Computer, Inc.
I just had a conversation with the executives of a startup, Virtual Computer, Inc., today. They’re intending to demonstrate a very early version of their technology at the upcoming VMworld. I’ve known some of these people for quite some time and known of the others as well. This leads me to believe that they’re going to presenting something that is both innovative and useful to the market.
The terms of the NDA don’t allow me to say much more about what they’re doing. When I can, I’ll explore what Virtual Computer is doing at greater depth.
It’s my guess that it would be good to watch Virtual Computer.
September 1st, 2008
Dell adventure begins again, day 1
I’m currently out of my office attending a family gathering in New Jersey. As one might expect, this is the time when my Dell laptop has decided to die. It won’t boot. The screen is black and nothing happens. I haven’t updated the hardware or software and so, I have no idea what caused it. The machine has not been dropped or abused.
I’ve sent an Email to Dell’s support and they’ve given me a procedure to see if we can find out what’s happened.
This may mean that I won’t post on Monday
Update on Monday.
I’m back in my office and working on my Mac. It’s good to have backup machines when problems arise.
I found that Email support seems to have worked pretty well. While I was on the road, the folks at Dell sent some diagnostic procedure in a message. I ran through their procedure and sent a message back telling them of the results. They determined what the likely cause of my computer problems was and had parts sent out. I’m expecting to hear from a Dell service rep sometime after the parts arrive.
I’ll let you know how things go.
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