• Michael (unregistered) in reply to Randyd

    From today's Wall Street Journal article Google's Free Web Services
    Will Vie With Microsoft Office

     

    But Google says it isn't trying to match all the features of traditional productivity software. "We believe that 90% of users don't necessarily need 90% of the functions that are in there," says Jonathan Rochelle, a product manager for Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

    Hmm, where have we heard that one before?

  • (cs) in reply to R.Flowers
    R.Flowers:
    Anonymous:
    Stan James:

    Speaking of lawsuits ... have the folks from the real Virtudyne called yet? Or is that just one of us?

     

    http://virtudyne.com/ 

    seeing as how the image on that website is hosted from img.thedailywtf.com, I'd guess it's from around here. :)

    Either that's changed, or I'm missing something. This is what I see as the URL for the graphic:

    http://virtudyne.com/virtudyne_logo_full.gif

     EDIT: FIST! (on the 4th page)

    Yes it has been updated, I still had the img.thedailywtf version in cache but when I reloaded the page I got the new one.

     

  • Honza (unregistered)

    Though English is not my native language I have no problem with longer articles such is this one. In fact I enjoy this story very much and hope one day we will know the real name of Virtudyne.

  • Jeff Bonham (unregistered) in reply to Michael

    Yes, of course you have heard it before, it's a truism in the office software.  "Virtudyne" and Google are quoting the same well-known rule of thumb.

  • seebs (unregistered) in reply to Richard L. Byrd

    Anonymous:
    Technical Operations, Inc., is privately held, and does not have any outside investors other than its employees.  Therefore, your statement above is, in fact, a lie.  Feel free to check our facts at the Texas Secretary of State website if you wish, as you probably should have done before posting a deliberate untruth.

     

    You are overclaiming.  How the hell do you know what he does or doesn't know?  You even asserted he should have checked his facts -- but it's only if he did check his facts, and then posted false claims, that he's lying.  Otherwise he's just mistaken.

     

    Calling people liars because you disagree with them is stupid.  Even if they are wrong, you haven't shown that they were lying, or that the untruth was "deliberate". 

  • Javier (unregistered)
  • slavdude (unregistered) in reply to Trurl

    Anonymous:
    I call bullshit on this. It is just too incredible to believe.

    That's what could have been said about Enron, too; but it happened.

     

    captcha=hotdog

  • Demaestro (unregistered) in reply to You are all missing it
    Anonymous:

    Simdesk has over 90,000 Google hits.  Its software is all over the world and in some of your computers and you don't even know it.  They work with governments and with that will always come controversy.  I'd like to know why you are all spending so much time libeling a company for its employees not working when you are just doing the same.  A friend told me to read this, I've never been here before and I will not waste more time with a bunch of losers / disgruntled programmers that obviously are not worth 6 figures! I'm going back to work and looking forward to my paycheck tomorrow, not this c**p!

     

     

    Well glad mr high and mighty showed up. For the record I read this everyday and:

    my paycheck >  your paycheck

     People here are not liabling anyone, it is called speculation. We are theorizing who we could be reading about. Go back to your cubical and bore yourself to death and leave us out of it.
     

  • mep (unregistered)

    post the 4th one already!!!

     what does captcha mean again?

     

    captcha: pacman

  • Virtudyne Employee (unregistered) in reply to seebs

    Besides the fact I know TOI is privately held, the above person at least did his homework prior to making a claim which is more than what you did.  Unless you can provide clear evidence to demonstrate otherwise, I suggest you stick with what you know and stop demonstrating your own ingnorance.  

    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

  • Demaestro (unregistered) in reply to You are all missing it
    Anonymous:

    ......  Its software is all over the world and in some of your computers and you don't even know it. ..........

     

    Isn't that called spyware? Is that what you are a vendor of?

     

    captcha=error 

  • (cs) in reply to Virtudyne Employee

    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.

    He's gone to great lengths to ensure that the company's anonymity is preserved and that he never mentions or confirms/denies the company's true identity.  In fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if the submitter of the story ("Rob Graves") didn't even give Alex the name of the company in question, either giving him a pseudonym or just calling it "the company."  Would that be libel, then, if even Alex didn't know what company the story was about?

  • LegalEagle (unregistered) in reply to Saladin

    Hmmm.  Since Alex is the publisher of this website...looks like he'd be liable, if it was judged to be libel, since he has content control.   

     

    In the Cards Inc. v. IT'S IN THE CARDS, INC. v. Fuschetto 193 Wis.2d 429, 535 N.W.2d 11 (C.A.).

    Owners and/or operators of networked computers are liable for defamatory material which they write and publish on the network, or receive from third parties and cause to be published on the network. Consequently, a corporation could be vicariously liable for statements published by employees.

    Publishers, such as newspapers, magazines, websites, and broadcasters, are responsible and liable for everything that they produce, post and broadcast. Their liability is grounded in the fact that they can edit what they wish to include and exclude from their publication, be it a newspaper, magazine, television broadcast, website or newsgroup.
  • (cs) in reply to Virtudyne Employee

    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.

    Posters on this site *may* have, but Alex hasn't even come close. You are obviously a misinformed idiot, or a troll.  If you knew what libel meant, you'd know how stupid your post appears.

    Furthermore, to preempt any more stupidity from you (and the rest of the kids who think they know what they are talking about), you should also know that I can call you a misinformed idiot, troll, and even an inbred moron. Verbal or in print, anonymous or not, there's no legal recourse for you.

     

     

  • (cs) in reply to Virtudyne Employee
    Anonymous:

    all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about

    Is he talking about the real company ? Is he ? Is he ?

    I'd rather plead with Alex to drop part 4, than have someone discover a new revenue stream.

  • Dazed (unregistered) in reply to Virtudyne Employee
    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

    If you know for certain which company "Virtudyne" is, then the story must be basically accurate. In which case there is no libel.

    Reactions like this remind me how glad I am not to live in the US. Running to your lawyers every time someone says something you don't like is so childish.

  • Unklegwar (unregistered) in reply to BinaryFather
    Anonymous:

    Ok I decided to try out the Simdesk product to definitely prove that this is indeed the company fingered by some here.

    I was looking for a trial sign up and and found this page https://buynow.simdesk.com/MyStorefront/pages/signup_CF.faces 

     Very nice sign up process. Got a 30 day trial

    Then went to the  link for Get Started Now: <font color="#0000ff">web.simdesk.com</font> and noticed they are using php after logging in. No VB/ASP here. OpenSource so far

    Noticed that the sidebar had a link to a Desktop client and decided to download this at http://download.simdesk.com/conx/SimdeskSetup3.4.exe

    Downloaded the desktop client and installed it. OMG it is running on ThunderBird. Very nice. Also I noticed that it added a drive letter to My Computer. So I decided to start here. First I did the normal stupid stuff , like hitting properties and Defragging the virtual drive ...damn that didnt work. So I just uploaded and downloaded some files. This is where I stopped in my tracks. I just uploaded a file and downloaded a file at near network capacity speed. Figuring they were doing some hocus pocus and lazy writing stuff out to the network I popped Ethereal open and found they cache already downloaded files but uploads are for real. This isn't bad. I know they are not using VB on the backend for this. There is no way. I have tried every known file command in Windows that I know to do and even used a command shell on the drive. I can report this works and is very responsive.

    Tried the contacts, Calendering, Notes and Groups for the Web and Desktop products. All appear to work as they should. I created another free account so I could Share stuff out. It is a bit complicated but doable. I could share directories out to the new user and set permissions on the folder. Tricky but like I said doable.

    Conclusion: I dont think this article is about Simdesk(at least current incarnation ) because they actually have a decent app and it is using OpenSource technology which I like alot.

     

     

     

    The OBVIOUS reason is that the company fell apart and reorganized with some competence at the helm.  Re-envisioned their product and actually now deliver something.

  • Unklegwar (unregistered) in reply to EvanED
    EvanED:

    HitScan:
    You can't copywrite names. You copywrite works and trademark names.

     Copyright. Copywrite isn't a word.
     

    </grammar nazi> 

    Why isn't it. My last job had Copywriters. The people who put together ads and such.  

  • Unklegwar (unregistered) in reply to hark, anon

    Anonymous:
    Yeaaaahhhh, I bet you would love to work for a company with ethics to match yours!  Nothing like fraud to increase ye olde profit levels, scumbag.

    Hint: use the QUOTE function so you don't seem to be ranting aimlessly at no-one and nothing. 

  • anonymous (unregistered)

    Interesting article about how Microsoft paranoia at SimDesk:

    http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_27/b3890117_mz063.htm

     

     

  • Richard Head (unregistered) in reply to Dazed
    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

    If you know for certain which company "Virtudyne" is, then the story must be basically accurate. In which case there is no libel.

    Reactions like this remind me how glad I am not to live in the US. Running to your lawyers every time someone says something you don't like is so childish.

    You'll be hearing from my lawyers this afternoon.  Consider yourself warned. :)

  • Former SimDesk employee (unregistered) in reply to Virtudyne Employee
    Anonymous:

    Besides the fact I know TOI is privately held, the above person at least did his homework prior to making a claim which is more than what you did.  Unless you can provide clear evidence to demonstrate otherwise, I suggest you stick with what you know and stop demonstrating your own ingnorance.  

    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

    Interesting that those who claim to be employees of this mysterious company don't argue with the main point of the story. Instead, they get angry about techialities--er--technicalities, and suggest that legal action might be taken. Is this an admission that the story is essentially true?  Maybe this is a good thing...after all, the first step towards solving a problem is admitting that you have one...

  • Virtudyne Employee (unregistered) in reply to bullseye
    bullseye:

    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.

    Posters on this site *may* have, but Alex hasn't even come close. You are obviously a misinformed idiot, or a troll.  If you knew what libel meant, you'd know how stupid your post appears.

    Furthermore, to preempt any more stupidity from you (and the rest of the kids who think they know what they are talking about), you should also know that I can call you a misinformed idiot, troll, and even an inbred moron. Verbal or in print, anonymous or not, there's no legal recourse for you.

    Listen to me you large, bearded troglodyte.  As you do not seem to know the definition of the word libel, allow me to give it to you: 

    LIBEL - A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.  Or.  The act of presenting such material to the public.

    Also, I wrote "if" IF Papadimoulis slips up.  If he can keep the publication sanitized as he has so far, then there is no need for him to worry.  However, should he make a reference that clearly links the fictional and real companies, then there is enough misinformation to go after him legally. 

    Stick to conducting bands poindexter as your PhD is obvioulsy not in law.
     

  • (cs) in reply to Virtudyne Employee
    Anonymous:

    Listen to me you large, bearded troglodyte.  As you do not seem to know the definition of the word libel, allow me to give it to you: 

    LIBEL - A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.  Or.  The act of presenting such material to the public.

    Also, I wrote "if" IF Papadimoulis slips up.  If he can keep the publication sanitized as he has so far, then there is no need for him to worry.  However, should he make a reference that clearly links the fictional and real companies, then there is enough misinformation to go after him legally. 

    What exactly was the original "untruth" again?  That someone said you have an outside investor when in fact you don't?  Is that your actionable libel? 

    Everyone here, including yourself, knows you will never win that case.  Your threats of frivolous, unwinnable lawsuits as a form of harrassment speak more poorly of you than any post on this site has.  It is behavior one expects of the Church of Sci******gy.

    If you go forward with it, I promise I will personally contribute money to Alex's legal defense.  My contributions may not match your legal budget, but you should at least be aware that you won't be bullying a single person.

    Saddest of all is that your reaction seems to be borne of a bruised ego.  There is no shame in admitting past mistakes.  In fact, I have always found that the best software designers are those who have made mistakes and learned from them.  The most damage to software quality is done by those who refuse to admit mistakes have been made. 

  • Virtudyne Employee (unregistered) in reply to VGR

    If hope your talent as a developer exceeds your naivety as a student of mankind.  Don't know what planet you are from, but here on Earth, having a high-budget legal team is all you need to make the truth whatever you want it to be  9 times-out-of 10.  And even if we don't win, we'll put a severe strain on Papadimoulis income reserves.  It's not a pleasant truth, but it IS a truth.

    So, by all means.  Please contribute to his fund should we seek legal recourse.  You'll be keeping in theme with this publication, "People giving money for dumb ideas". 

  • (cs) in reply to BinaryFather
    Anonymous:

    Ok I decided to try out the Simdesk product to definitely prove that this is indeed the company fingered by some here.

    I was looking for a trial sign up and and found this page https://buynow.simdesk.com/MyStorefront/pages/signup_CF.faces 

     Very nice sign up process. Got a 30 day trial

    Then went to the  link for Get Started Now: <font color="#0000ff">web.simdesk.com</font> and noticed they are using php after logging in. No VB/ASP here. OpenSource so far

    Noticed that the sidebar had a link to a Desktop client and decided to download this at http://download.simdesk.com/conx/SimdeskSetup3.4.exe

    Downloaded the desktop client and installed it. OMG it is running on ThunderBird. Very nice. Also I noticed that it added a drive letter to My Computer. So I decided to start here. First I did the normal stupid stuff , like hitting properties and Defragging the virtual drive ...damn that didnt work. So I just uploaded and downloaded some files. This is where I stopped in my tracks. I just uploaded a file and downloaded a file at near network capacity speed. Figuring they were doing some hocus pocus and lazy writing stuff out to the network I popped Ethereal open and found they cache already downloaded files but uploads are for real. This isn't bad. I know they are not using VB on the backend for this. There is no way. I have tried every known file command in Windows that I know to do and even used a command shell on the drive. I can report this works and is very responsive.

    Tried the contacts, Calendering, Notes and Groups for the Web and Desktop products. All appear to work as they should. I created another free account so I could Share stuff out. It is a bit complicated but doable. I could share directories out to the new user and set permissions on the folder. Tricky but like I said doable.

    Conclusion: I dont think this article is about Simdesk(at least current incarnation ) because they actually have a decent app and it is using OpenSource technology which I like alot.

     

     

     

    North Carolina did an evaluation in 2003.
    http://www.ncsta.gov/docs%5CWhite%20papers%5Cgeneral%5CSimDesk%20Evaluation%20-%20May%202003.pdf 

  • (cs) in reply to Javier
  • (cs) in reply to Virtudyne Employee

    Don't feed the troll...  don't feed the...  ugh, final post on this issue...

    Anonymous:
    LIBEL - A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.  Or.  The act of presenting such material to the public.

    Copying a definition doesn't tell me that you understand what it means.  It just tells me that someone did an Internet search for you so you could look informed.  Let's review, shall we?

    1. You said the the "libel limit" was being pushed.
    2. I said it was not, and that you didn't know what you were talking about.
    3. So, you defined libel for me.  Erm...  thanks and all, but you still are wrong about the "limit".

    I'm not saying someone can't go lawyer up and make an issue out of it.  In the states, nothing stops an idiot from hiring a starving, second-rate attorney and suing anyone for anything.  However, most halfway intelligent people know that is a bad PR move and ultimately hurts your credibility from a legal perspective.  In some cases, it can even backfire.

    Finally, as other posters have pointed out, you have yet to address any "misinformation" in the original post.  Of course, you and I both know it is because this whole little act of yours is made up, and you have about as much inside info as I do.

    Anonymous:
    Stick to conducting bands poindexter as your PhD is obvioulsy not in law.

    While I do happen to know a little about what I am saying, I am certainly not a lawyer, and have never claimed to be one.  That said, you clearly aren't either, and thus far, I certainly don't feel intellectually outmatched by you.  Feel free to continue your little act.  FWIW, you've relieved me of a few minutes of boredom today.

     

  • Virtudyne Employee (unregistered) in reply to mrsticks1982
    mrsticks1982:
    Anonymous:

    Ok I decided to try out the Simdesk product to definitely prove that this is indeed the company fingered by some here.

    I was looking for a trial sign up and and found this page https://buynow.simdesk.com/MyStorefront/pages/signup_CF.faces 

     Very nice sign up process. Got a 30 day trial

    Then went to the  link for Get Started Now: <font color="#0000ff">web.simdesk.com</font> and noticed they are using php after logging in. No VB/ASP here. OpenSource so far

    Noticed that the sidebar had a link to a Desktop client and decided to download this at http://download.simdesk.com/conx/SimdeskSetup3.4.exe

    Downloaded the desktop client and installed it. OMG it is running on ThunderBird. Very nice. Also I noticed that it added a drive letter to My Computer. So I decided to start here. First I did the normal stupid stuff , like hitting properties and Defragging the virtual drive ...damn that didnt work. So I just uploaded and downloaded some files. This is where I stopped in my tracks. I just uploaded a file and downloaded a file at near network capacity speed. Figuring they were doing some hocus pocus and lazy writing stuff out to the network I popped Ethereal open and found they cache already downloaded files but uploads are for real. This isn't bad. I know they are not using VB on the backend for this. There is no way. I have tried every known file command in Windows that I know to do and even used a command shell on the drive. I can report this works and is very responsive.

    Tried the contacts, Calendering, Notes and Groups for the Web and Desktop products. All appear to work as they should. I created another free account so I could Share stuff out. It is a bit complicated but doable. I could share directories out to the new user and set permissions on the folder. Tricky but like I said doable.

    Conclusion: I dont think this article is about Simdesk(at least current incarnation ) because they actually have a decent app and it is using OpenSource technology which I like alot.

     

     

     

    North Carolina did an evaluation in 2003.
    http://www.ncsta.gov/docs%5CWhite%20papers%5Cgeneral%5CSimDesk%20Evaluation%20-%20May%202003.pdf 

    <font face="Times New Roman">LOU, GIVE IT UP</font>

    <font face="Times New Roman">NOBODY’S BUYING IT!*</font>

    <font face="Times New Roman">*That’s a more profound and prophetic comment than you may realize.</font>

  • ex-SimDesk developer (unregistered) in reply to HitScan

    Holy cow! -- I've been in NYC for the week and away from my daily WTF access while at a large Wall Street firm, just got back.

    Someone excitedly forwarded me the WTF site saying something like "didn't you use to work there"?

    The name is Virtudyne, but I the way the company is run, the way folks are hired, the amounts of completely lost money involved, the tinfoil hat security, it all sure sounds like SimDesk.

    And it was not a happy place to work.

     

  • Lasse Hillerøe Petersen (unregistered) in reply to Rob Sirloin

    The 'ø' key is just to the right of the 'æ' key, in the ASDFGHJKLÆØ row.

    Just get a Danish keyboard...

    -Lasse Hillerøe Petersen
     

    (Captcha: perfection - yes, I am a perfectionist...) 

  • (cs) in reply to risk
    Anonymous:
    EvanED:

    HitScan:
    You can't copywrite names. You copywrite works and trademark names.

     Copyright. Copywrite isn't a word.
     

    </grammar nazi> 

    Actually, it is. Copywriting means writing marketing texts, slogans, that sort of thing. IT doesn't have anything to do with copyright, though.

    Regarding the origin of the dyne postfix, I'm guessing Alex borrowed that from cyberdyne, the company from the Terminator movies, that developed skynet.

     

     

    The American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster's, and the OED all disagree. "Copywriter" is in the first two, but even it doesn't appear in the OED. 

     

    Nevertheless, I have heard that term before, so I'm willing to concede the point. Dictionaries don't necessarily have every domain-specific word. Though the overall point that the poster was wrong stands.

  • (cs) in reply to Virtudyne Employee
    Anonymous:

    Besides the fact I know TOI is privately held, the above person at least did his homework prior to making a claim which is more than what you did.  Unless you can provide clear evidence to demonstrate otherwise, I suggest you stick with what you know and stop demonstrating your own ingnorance.  

    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

     

    Erm, does Alex's article contain anything about SimDesk that isn't public record anyway? You realise you can't just sue for libel 'cause someone hurt your feelings, right?

  • (cs) in reply to EvanED
    EvanED:

    The American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster's, and the OED all disagree. "Copywriter" is in the first two, but even it doesn't appear in the OED. 

     

    Nevertheless, I have heard that term before, so I'm willing to concede the point. Dictionaries don't necessarily have every domain-specific word. Though the overall point that the poster was wrong stands.


    It was in use in England in the 30s, certainly. It's a word, all right.
  • (cs) in reply to EvanED

    Luckily both of these words are compound words with fairly logical etymologies: 

    Copywriter is a position at a newspaper, or a publishing house, etc.  That person writes copy. Copy, (among other things), is slang for text that goes into articles, press releases, etc.

    Copyright is a legal right.  It gives you the right to copy.

     
    You don't copywrite.  You may copy-write if you're a copywriter, but that hyphen's important and even then you're on tenuous grammatical ground.

    To "copyright" something is to assert your exclusive right to copy something (only non-exclusive if you license it out or release it otherwise). The word the OP is looking for is Copyright.

     Damn those homonyms.

     That being said, I'm allergic to freshly mowed artifical turf and am getting the hell out of this thread.
     

  • YodaYid (unregistered) in reply to Virtudyne Employee
    Anonymous:
    bullseye:

    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.

    Posters on this site *may* have, but Alex hasn't even come close. You are obviously a misinformed idiot, or a troll.  If you knew what libel meant, you'd know how stupid your post appears.

    Furthermore, to preempt any more stupidity from you (and the rest of the kids who think they know what they are talking about), you should also know that I can call you a misinformed idiot, troll, and even an inbred moron. Verbal or in print, anonymous or not, there's no legal recourse for you.

    Listen to me you large, bearded troglodyte.  As you do not seem to know the definition of the word libel, allow me to give it to you: 

    LIBEL - A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.  Or.  The act of presenting such material to the public.

    Also, I wrote "if" IF Papadimoulis slips up.  If he can keep the publication sanitized as he has so far, then there is no need for him to worry.  However, should he make a reference that clearly links the fictional and real companies, then there is enough misinformation to go after him legally. 

    Stick to conducting bands poindexter as your PhD is obvioulsy not in law.
     

     

    Wow - if you really are a Virtudyne employee, your obnoxiousness is certainly consistent with the content of the post.  I certainly wouldn't expect anything better based on what I've read.  Of course, since only Alex and his contact really know who Virtudyne is, even you don't know if you're an actual Virtudyne employee or not.  Anyway, it would seem that you are concerned that what's being said about a fictional company is true about your company as well.  In which case it's not false.  In which case it's not libel.

  • YodaYid (unregistered) in reply to Dazed

    Anonymous:

    If you know for certain which company "Virtudyne" is, then the story must be basically accurate. In which case there is no libel.



    Oops - dazed already said it ;-) 

  • YodaYid (unregistered) in reply to Demaestro

    Looks like the SimDesk people went on to form Big Brother Inc...

  • Someone (unregistered) in reply to Alexis de Torquemada

    Also check out the Hovers lisintg for the company http://www.hoovers.com/free/co/factsheet.xhtml?COID=133506&cm_ven=PAID&cm_cat=BUS&cm_pla=CO1&cm_ite=SimDesk

    Father and son 

    Chairman Louis A. (Lou) Waters Sr.
    (Subscribers see complete biographies -- view sample)
    President and CEO Louis Waters

     

  • (cs) in reply to Dazed
    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

    If you know for certain which company "Virtudyne" is, then the story must be basically accurate. In which case there is no libel.

    Reactions like this remind me how glad I am not to live in the US. Running to your lawyers every time someone says something you don't like is so childish.

     You do realize that in some countries outside the US, falsehood is not an absolute defense against a libel claim?  At one time, even here (pre-Revolution, granted), it was an aggravating circumstance, not a mitigating one.  Publishing something defamatory against the Crown was worse if it was true, because it was more believable and more likely to cause harm.  I suppose that may have been specific to sedition, though.  In any case, libel cases have been won recently in other countries where the accuser only has to prove specific malice, not truth.
     

  • BA (unregistered) in reply to poochner
    poochner:
    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    While calling Alex Papadimoulis a liar may not be a technically accurate, he is clearly pushing the term 'libel' to the limit.  There are many eyes watching right now (more than you may know) and all that is needed is one slip-up by Mr. Papadimoulis to link his fictional company with the real one we all know he's talking about. And when that happens, rest assured Junior's attorneys will be all over him like white on rice.

    If you know for certain which company "Virtudyne" is, then the story must be basically accurate. In which case there is no libel.

    Reactions like this remind me how glad I am not to live in the US. Running to your lawyers every time someone says something you don't like is so childish.

     You do realize that in some countries outside the US, falsehood is not an absolute defense against a libel claim?  At one time, even here (pre-Revolution, granted), it was an aggravating circumstance, not a mitigating one.  Publishing something defamatory against the Crown was worse if it was true, because it was more believable and more likely to cause harm.  I suppose that may have been specific to sedition, though.  In any case, libel cases have been won recently in other countries where the accuser only has to prove specific malice, not truth.

     

    Then that is the true WTF here.

     

    captcha: wtf - Why yes it is.
     

  • (cs) in reply to BA

    Like any programmer will at some point, I've got my booleans backward.  I meant of course, that truth is not an absolute defense; that a person bringing a civil case of slander or libel need not necessarily prove that the statements made were false.  This is not the case in the US, though.  Here, that the statements were true is an absolute defense.

  • scc4fun (unregistered) in reply to Unklegwar

    At Simdesk, we see computing as a right, not a privilege.

    We are replacing today’s infrastructure-centric environment with the world’s most secure and cost-effective Web-based computing services. 
    With Simdesk, anyone can create, store, access and share information from any Internet-connected device anywhere in the world - without having to invest in a server or software.

     

    The Confidence of Carrier-Class Service

    Reliable, well-tested and proven, Simdesk has earned the trust of cities, governments, and people around the world. We have the technology base that can address the solution and address it now.

                  <h2><em>We&rsquo;re building new 
                  opportunities, but more importantly we&rsquo;re building 
                  trust.</em></h2><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote>
                  <p>from <a href="http://www.simdesk.com/default.asp?id=148" title="Why Simdesk - Why now" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>They must be bringing in money by the bushel.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>captcha: wtf&nbsp;</p>
    
  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Ghost Ware Wizard

    actually the gnats were actual insects, just a little more blood thirsty

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Unklegwar
    Anonymous:
     

    The OBVIOUS reason is that the company fell apart and reorganized with some competence at the helm.  Re-envisioned their product and actually now deliver something.

    Bahaaaaha Not even close

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Someone

    Update - the SVP of Sales and Marketing resigned a month ago.

    The EVP resigned about 2 months ago. 

    The founder resigned from company about 3 months ago .... still a stockholder but certainly not a majority owner.

    Technology  partner Unisys????????

  • I P Freely (unregistered) in reply to Unklegwar

    Don't fool yourself.

    It is key to note some things here.  The download you got is missing all the "Microsoft Killer" apps of the past.  This includes the word processor, spreadsheet, instant messenger and some other misc. apps.  So, $180M dollars later and they have....  a file storage tool and an online calendar and file storage tool.  OMFG.  NOW THAT IS HOW YOU DO IT!!!  Young MBA types, take a lesson from these guys.

    There was no big change or "reorganizing" in the way the company works.  They did sack over 50+ people in the last year, mainly to get rid of people that really know what is going on or did not carry the party line.  The product is now written in C++, for the most part.  BUT, it is very unreliable and finnicky to use.  Try, on a modest connection (dialup, DSL and cable), over a period of days and times, to upload and download larger (100+MB) files.  Good luck.  And keep in mind, despite claiming that they have "thousands of users" and "millions under contract", there are almost no real, day-to-day users.  Anywhere.  Period.  Their work in the Latin and African countries (to wit the Digital Donkey) was a joke and NEVER amounted to anything of importance.  The systems there are just way to unreliable and the software has little, if any, error handling.  This was all very well hidden from investors and the public in general in the later years.

    They had constant problems with data loss.  They also don't delete ANY accounts, even test and temporary accounts, but also count those as "active accounts" in the reports.  The person posting the previous article in the thread created 2 accounts to "test" the system.  Well, they effective doubled the signup, right?  Hundreds of thousands of them.  It is all make believe.

    There were people there, probably still are, who knew what to do to make it work (like, scrap the old model and start fresh), but the glorious Development leader, who just whines about "living with the sins of our fathers", really does not get it nor can he lead in a way that would make it really happen.  But he WILL take home a fat paycheck (some investor is helping support him).

     There are good people there, but the leadership is greatly lacking, way overpaid and way, way overrated.

    (VP of Development mentioned above) www.garyallison.com 

     

  • One of the 50+ sacked people in the last 6 month, that really k (unregistered) in reply to I P Freely

    I P Freely:

    I couldn't have said it better myself.  I saw it all.  Smoke and mirrors come to mind.

  • I P Freely (unregistered) in reply to One of the 50+ sacked people in the last 6 month, that really k

    I am also surprised by the talk of defamation and libel.  The LAST thing Simdesk would want to do is have to expose, in a court of law, what has really happened there.  It will NEVER, EVER happen.  There is this silly little thing, that, despite attempts from our own government, is still in place in America.

    We call it the B U R D E N of proof.

     Simdesk is in a real pickle these days.  I cannot blame them for trying to survive.  I cannot imagine the letter that you would have to send to all the investors, but here is stab:

    "Dear Virtudyne (Simdesk) Investor:

    Over the last 6 years I (Junior) have tried to save this company in which you originally invested your money (no, you will not be seeing it again).  That money was well spent, though.  It paid for a very talented development staff, highly ineffective upper level management and a middle management team constantly constrained by the lack of my, and my teams, leadership ability.  While bullying people around in my former role worked, here, it only caused friction and dissention, but I have never let that bother me or slow me down.

    When I arrived at the company, it was clear to me that it had lost its way and I wanted fix the problem.  I did this by ignoring standard industry best practices and pursued doing what has failed in so many other companies.  This is not my fault, I heard voices in head and they directed me. (Authors note: at this point, there appears to be scribbling on the paper, doodling and very aggressive scratching vertically).

    I hired a top notch team of leaders to fix the problems and paid them top, TOP dollar to say things like, "we have to live with the sins of our ancestors" and other great lines for explaining why they cannot adequately do their jobs.  I admire this ability to lay blame on the staff and let it roll off the executive management - I groom it in my people.  If you can go to Japan, schmooze some executives, get drunk and then come home with nothing and claim Victory! - well, that is the type of people we promote.  We let those people run the various groups that are often seen as checks and balances with in an organization - the ones that call bullshit on the other ones that are perpetrating bullshit.  That way we remove "friction" and we all know friction is a bad thing, right?  Now, we have a well oiled machine, like the Nazi party, efficient and organized, with our OWN set of checks and balances.

    The sales team is, and has always, been at fault.  By this I mean the people who brought all these deals to the table, who got into more opportunities than you could shake a stick at and would make other little companies quiver to see, and who ultimately could not make our great, glorious software work in the real world.  Sales let us down.  Not Development and poorly designed software with no product plan.  In fact, let's put Sales INTO Development.

    So, while we have spent over $160M, I don't want you to think it was wasted.  Think of it as an OPPORTUNITY to learn and grow."

    Now that would be about what I would expect.

     I. P. Freely

    dictated to: Hu F. Lungdo

  • (cs) in reply to Trurl

    As a former member of the Virtudyne team, I'll call your call and raise you a "oh yeah, this is real buddy, too real"

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