Sungard == Fail

It's now been over two minutes since I first clicked "edit" in the CMS. "Loading" it tells me. That is bull! I can download and watch a movie in the time that it's "loading". We spent IIRC, around a quarter million on this whole website redesign+CMS, and it's a complete failure at being anything remotely near awesome. It sucks and requires you to flip flop between Firefox and IE. And somehow they think it's worth an insane amount of money. For the price I could have made something 10x as good and infinitely faster, probably in the same amount of time. And most of that would be doing what I'm pretty much already doing in school - learning how to write the darn thing. Still, it loads. Forever will it go.

When it comes to spending money on sane things, University of Central Arkansas fails.

Chrome Updated TOS

So, if you haven't heard about the new Google Chrome browser... you're missing out. It rocks my socks.

Though a lot of people freaked out about section 11 in the TOS, which Google really just copied verbatim from it's other EULA's.

Some people worried it was designed for some malicious intent, but I'd say Google's response overwhelmingly suggests that this is not the case. Specifically, I'd say the response holds true to their #1 motto: Don't be evil.

At least that's my take on it.

Open Source vs. Industry Standard?

So, I was looking for some various art programs for linux, and I came across this post. I must confess intrigue as I read through it. The open-mindedness of this particular professor surprised me somewhat, considering the more or less... "not-ness" of much of my particular school in general.

However, the comments on that post basically came down to one of these different boilerplate responses:

1) "OMG, ur liek so TOTALLY right! Macs suxxorrszzz!!1!!!" (When the author made no such mention, or even really any insinuation.

2) "D00d!11! Ur so ruining t3h studentz lives by teaching them OS inst3rd of teh industrie standards!!!"

3) "I admire your open-mindedness in trying to teach your students other options"

What was intriguing to me was that only ONE single person who offered negative feedback suggested they were actually working in "the industry", all other critics offered no such qualifications. The interesting thing to me is the fact that at least with Pixar they often write their OWN plugins/extensions/software. Many large studios use open source programs (I can't find a list, though there used to be some floating around on the 'net). I know a few people who work in "the industry", and I don't know that they're required to use any specific software. But just to make sure I'll ask on the art forum I'm a part of, though I'm pretty sure they use what they're most comfortable with, and it's their actual output that is of the most concern.

The moral of the story? Think critically before you post. Please please please!

Also, exposure to many different types of programs is NOT a hindrance! As a matter of fact, the more you know about various different skill sets, especially if you are proficient in them and skilled in at least one, the better off you will be.