======================================================================== ROBERT X. CRINGELY http://www.infoworld.com ======================================================================== Monday, November 29, 2004
PEOPLESOFT IN A BIND, GEEKS GO BLIND By Robert X. Cringely(R) Posted November 26, 2004 3:00 PM Pacific Time All week I've been battling a sense of loss, like there's something big missing in my life (and not just romance). Then it hit me: I've got a hole the size of Comdex in my heart. I miss the neon, the hubbub, the brain-dead marketers and booth bimbettes, desert air so dry it turned my tongue to matzo, and gaggles of geeks in every direction. I tried to re-create the essential Vegas experience by seeking out insanely long cab lines and asking friends to blow smoke in my face while thrusting adult literature at me, but it just wasn't the same. ADVERTISEMENT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Reducing the Total Cost of Ownership in Enterprise Data Management Learn how a European bank generated $16.5 million in savings with BMC Software, as compared with a leading competitor's "equivalent" solutions. To see the complete analysis, download the "Total Cost of Ownership in Enterprise Data Management" white paper. http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=A2D77B:2B910B2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Praise Cheeses: I thought by now the PeopleSoft/Oracle saga would be over and I could get back to watching Desperate Housewives. No such luck. As I write this, nearly two-thirds of P-Soft shareholders are willing to take Oracle's $24 offer. The rest, it seems, would rather bid on that cheese sandwich portrait of the Virgin Mary on eBay. (FYI, the winning bid was $28,000 -- plus $9.95 shipping -- or nearly 1,200 shares of P-Soft stock.) Blind Reckoning: Japanese researchers have uncovered another nasty side effect from logging too much time in front of a computer screen: early blindness. And if you don't stop visiting naked-girls-with-goiters.com, you'll go blind twice as fast. Don't Bank On It: When Cringester John P. received a credit card offer from Bank of America, the e-mail listed the last four digits on his old card. Unfortunately, it also displayed the first 12. Bank spokesfolk declined to say how many CC numbers got spewed into cyberspace, but they are "unaware of any unauthorized activity" due to the snafu and will cover any losses that might result. Cockney Doodle Do: Thanks to the Cringe crew for the many (largely unprintable) submissions of Cockney slang. My favorite was Bart C.'s "down to the septic to sausage a Gregory," which translates into "down to the bank [septic tank] to cash [sausage and mash] a check [Gregory Peck]." Other readers recalled visiting the United Kingdom and being alarmed when their hosts offered to "knock them up in the morning." Hey, that's what you get for ordering bangers for breakfast. Send hot tips and wistful Comdex memories to [EMAIL PROTECTED]; you may snag a nifty bag. Send tips to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ======================================================================== Because you can't have too much decision support You choose the platforms, the languages, the developers. And everything -- the whole IT infrastructure, the success of the enterprise - flows from there. With that much on the line, you can't have too much of the good advice you'll get in the Strategic Developer newsletter, by InfoWorld Test Center lead analyst Jon Udell. Delivered every Thursday. Subscribe at http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=A2D777:2B910B2 ADVERTISE ======================================================================== For information on advertising, contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] UNSUBSCRIBE/MANAGE NEWSLETTERS ======================================================================== To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your e-mail address for any of InfoWorld's e-mail newsletters, go to: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=A2D778:2B910B2 To subscribe to InfoWorld.com, or InfoWorld Print, or both, or to renew or correct a problem with any InfoWorld subscription, go to http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=A2D77A:2B910B2 To view InfoWorld's privacy policy, visit: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=A2D779:2B910B2 Copyright (C) 2004 InfoWorld Media Group, 501 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94107 This message was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
