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I don't know if the all the telco's already have plans for their own DVR's (probably) when they rollout TV service on their new fiber networks. It looks like Verizon is using MS, but perhaps this is an opportunity for Tivo to secure some new subscribers/revenue. Of course, they should still be pursuing some of the other options discussed here too. As a current Tivo user, I'd hate to see them go under!

The DC Circuit Court isn't so sure the FCC has the right to make that rule.

I have no idea what you can do to try to sway the judicial system, as it's only 2 of 3 so far.

I guess you could contribute to the folks trying to take the FCC to court over this.

Kinda funny that I finish reading an article on news.com about them exceeding 3 million subscribers, to find out on slashdot that it's dying.

Is it dying faster or slower then Apple and BSD?

Disclaimer: Not a Tivo subscriber. I'd like to, but you can't get some of that in Canada.

Microsoft's desktop security issues stem from its continued reliance on the Antivirus industries "Infect-Scan-Remove" approach. Even Garner analyst Neil MacDonald has finally realized "Microsoft's overriding goal should be to eliminate the need for (antivirus) and (anti-spyware) products, not simply to enter the market with look-alike products at lower prices,". In comparison, right from the outset, open source desktop platforms and applications have relied almost wholly on closing the infectable vectors, the exploited vulnerabilities used by malware, as quickly as possible. The result is that both the KDE and GNOME desktop environments are a lot more secure and even more secureABLE.

These Folks!. And if the Apple Music vs. Apple Computer case is taken at a precedent, we can expect a settlement.

How's that so if they managed to force Lindows to change their name? Can you please enlighten me on this one?

Technically you're correct, but I believe there's a significant difference in user attitudes. A home page has the flavor of the-face-I-show-the-world, almost an online resume, and all the extra care that goes along with that: are my photos flattering? Do I highlight my strengths? It's self-advertizing.

Blogs seem somehow more candid. Maybe there's an appeal to exhibitionism, or maybe few users understand exactly what's happening, but for some reason it is very easy to rattle out the most personal thoughts on the keyboard. On a few notable recent occasions users who did not trouble to guard their anonymity have paid RL consequences for blogging a little too candidly (ie, at Google).

I think blogging as a cultural phenomon is well worth some scrutiny.

I believe that is where a large portion of the $100,000,000 will be spent. You have to read between the lines a little, but it's alluded to in CNet's coverage. http://news.com.com/IBM+plays+up+Workplace+suite/2 110-1012_3-5548304.html?tag=nl/ http://news.com.com/IBM+to+invest+100+million+in+L inux+push/2100-1012_3-5580976.html?tag=nefd.top/ Sooner or later IBM is going to bite the bullet and move its 300,000 employees to Linux, and at that time they had better have a better solution than using wine. Workplace Collaborative Service appears to be their first step in that direction.

I believe that is where a large portion of the $100,000,000 will be spent. You have to read between the lines a little, but it's alluded to in CNet's coverage. http://news.com.com/IBM+plays+up+Workplace+suite/2 110-1012_3-5548304.html?tag=nl/ http://news.com.com/IBM+to+invest+100+million+in+L inux+push/2100-1012_3-5580976.html?tag=nefd.top/ Sooner or later IBM is going to bite the bullet and move its 300,000 employees to Linux, and at that time they had better have a better solution than using wine. Workplace Collaborative Service appears to be their first step in that direction.

He's definitely not a communist, but he is an idiot.

He devoted his time as Terrorism Czar to preventing a Digital Pearl Harbor. And while he worried that the sky was falling, planes were crashing into buildings. He was a perfect example of why you shouldn't let an amateur try to do the job of a professional.

If Bill Gates is smart, he will ignore him the same way that Bill Clinton did.

and your bitch is the obvious "believe anything bad about bush no matter how ridiculous" response we've come to expect from "progressives".

the memo cited was rpesented late january 2001. it didn't talk about any specific threats and bascially just asked for clarification about what responses we should do against al-queda.

the problem with the view that clarke was disgruntled becasue the administration wouldn't listen to him about al-queda is that clarke wasn't concerned with al-queda when he left. instead he was the "cyberterrorism" czar and he was pissed that the adminsitration wasn't taking "cyberterrorism" seriously enough.

i'm sorry, but noone has ever died becasue of "cyberterrorism" and focusing on military actions against terrorism sponsoring states (like afghanistan and iraq) should certainly take precedence, no matter what clarke thought.

-bk

...is when AMD purchased Alchemy Semiconductor....

They aren't. However, AMD does have a line of x86 embedded processors known as Geode. For example, I see here a 400Mhz Geode consumes 1.1 watts of power. This is part of their more general x86 everywhere plan...with x86 chips as cheap as $1.

Yahoo! has been known to block Trillian users too, as well as AOL.

At least with iTunes once you've bought a track, you've paid for it. Who really cares what you do with it after. Everyone is getting their slice of the action.

Uhm, yeah. As long as you don't mind being stuck with an Apple and Sony only MP3 player.

Then there's their little tizzy over PlayFair

'Cause life is all about choices.

Not true. The deal had provisions to allow Sun to release Solaris's source under a license that provided indemnification.

This article describes why Sun needed to get the additional license.

And keep in mind that the beta of IE7 is due out this summer, so we may get just what you're suggesting.

Maybe. But if you read the interview where he called us all modern day communists, he explicitly mentions the patent system. I don't think it's unreasonable to interpret it the way RMS did. Bill Gates was kind of vague and ambigous, but that's what happens when you use confusing expressions like IP.

Microsoft says Firefox not a threat to IE
Vamos, who admitted he has never used Firefox, said there is a lot of hype surrounding the open-source movement and that if Microsoft's customers wanted new features, they would have told the company about it.

IEBlog - IE7
Why? Because we listened to customers, analysts, and business partners. We heard a clear message: "Yes, XP SP2 makes the situation better. We want more, sooner. We want security on top of the compatibility and extensibility IE gives us, and we want it on XP. Microsoft, show us your commitment."

I love how Microsoft contradicts itself and BS's their 'customer responses'.

Early history of CIFS

The relationship between Samba and Microsoft wasn't always so contentious. In 1996, when Microsoft was just introducing CIFS, it had to contend with competition such as the Sun-Novell alliance behind Sun's WebNFS software. Microsoft at that time pledged that it was "making sure that CIFS technology is open, published and widely available for all computer users," and it noted that Samba used CIFS.

Microsoft submitted the first version of CIFS to the Internet Engineering Task Force at the time, a first step in the standardization process. That process went nowhere, but a 1997 version of that submission is still available on the Internet. The submission made no mention of two related patents, which Microsoft received in 1993 and 1995. In addition, Microsoft shared information in a series of CIFS conferences that began in 1996.

The patents, however, rose to prominence this year.

In the technical document describing CIFS in Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft prohibits companies from using the information in software covered by the GPL, which includes Samba. Microsoft requires readers of the document who plan to implement its description to sign a license agreement that raises the specter of patent infringement.

Specifically, the agreement grants a company a royalty-free license to two Microsoft patents but prohibits the developer from using the CIFS information in software that would subject that company to "intellectual property rights-impairing licenses," including the GPL.

Idiom "the pot calling the kettle black" + Bill Gates comparing Open Source to Communism.

Yes, but their anti-spyware product is going to be free, so they're not going to be making income with that product.

1) Do you really think that Microsoft has a 90% profit margin on Office?
Yes they do - actually 86% - Ok I exagerated a bit

2. the price of software is insignificant compared to the other costs. That $100 WindowsXP license is peanuts compared to the $800 computer it's running on, or the annual salaries of the employees, or even the cost of the office space that computer is sitting on....

- Office + XP = $350 USD per year
Not counting application server licenses, Exchange server license, SQL server etc. Just the basics.
- Cost of $800 computer (depreciated over 4 years) = $200 USD per year
Salary per week in Brazil $30

Cost of saving a child with Oral
Rehydration Salts (ORS)(500,000 die per year): 10 cents

another example:

Canada's work force totaled 15.6 million people in 2001 (stats Canada).
Microsoft Office + Windows profit margins are 86%

If 40% of the Canadian workforce use Office and Windows and an additional 20% just use Windows (conservative I think)

MSOffice + Win: $1,767,168,000
Win: $314,496,000
Total : $2,081,664,000 per year profits leaving Canada

Other Stats:
60% of all canadians were online in 2001 (not included - and the majority used windows)

Softwood lumber has been hit with constant US trade barriers in the past 10 years. Total profitability of BC Forestry in 2001 was $200 Million from selling world wide - not only the US. Plus this number includes hardwood lumber that is sent to Japan. Does anyone else think Canada is getting shafted by our friendly neighbours to the south?

3) The Microsoft employees that I know always talk about "killing" their competitors. 123 Killer, Netscape Killer. I'm just wondering who is next - I have a feeling it is Oracle.

Can it see through clothes?

Too bad Moto isn't including iTunes support in their awesome (though expensive) RAZR phone or at least across most of their high-end mobiles. Moto also states that they will be compatible with non-iTMS offerings such as Real as well, so it's not an exclusive.

Orbitz is now owned by Cendant, a membership services megacorporation mostly concerned with obtaining personal and financial information about consumers who use its many, many franchise brand names and selling or repurposing that information for its own profit. I avoid Cendant-owned companies whenever possible, and the thought of them now owning Orbitz just means I'll use Expedia or Travelocity more often. You would not believe how many pies Cendant has their fingers into.

Motorola has announced that they have signed a deal with Microsoft to implement the stunningly successful Microsoft Bob into their new line of phones.

Doesn't Motorola use open-source software to power most of their phones, and I wonder wether Microsoft will adapt its software for it ?

Orbitz IT decision makers had a poor track record before this. In 2003 the site was offline for 13 hours. They blamed the outage on Oracle RAC.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017_3-1026450.html?tag=f d_top

Several articles from comp.databases.oracle.server talk about how Orbitz had implemented 9iRAC on a Wintel platform.

This is nothing new. Sean Horan did this in 2001 at Def Con. See the article here. Search for "suitcase" or "Horan."

You need not worry about this as Gates has already said that this version of Windows would be impossible to create.

They settled, actually, for around $12 million US. Check it out

No.

This is important to many Slashdot readers.

But a big mailman password flaw doesn't?

You may not like Michael Kanellos usually, but I think he's hit the nail on the head here.

This is a bigger, hotter, less stable chip with an exotic and hard to write-for architecture. That's fine for a gaming system with a dedicated revenue stream and no competition. It's not gonna make it outside that domain.

Sony so badly wants its next-generation game console to offer a super-realistic "virtual reality" experience, the company will design and build its own advanced 128-bit processor to realize this goal.

Processors inside game consoles usually toil away in anonymity, derided as as poor cousins to desktop chips such as Intel's Pentium line. But with Sony Computer Entertainment's ambitious plan, its chips could outclass the offerings of the world's largest chipmaker--if all goes well.

...

The system is so advanced, MicroDesign Resources analyst Keith Diefendorff wrote in a report that the system "has the potential to swipe a chunk of the low-end market from under the noses of PC vendors." He wrote that the platform may "signal the company's intention to move upscale from current game consoles, cutting a wider swath through the living room," with its abilities to function like a stand-alone DVD player and Internet set-top box.

Sony puts on game face with new chip
Published: May 5, 1999, 1:25 PM PDT
By Jim Davis
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

The vegas version monitors gamblers' chips.

SCO chief Darl McBride has been up front about the importance of Microsoft's funding, direct or otherwise.

"A year ago we had $6 million. Now we have $60 million, with $50 million of that coming in through the investment. We have a war chest to defend our rights, to fight our claims in the courtroom," he said earlier this year, adding that the cash is enough for the long haul. "We think the legal battles we have won't even go through half that amount of cash, even played over a multiple number of years."

Most of that cash is now gone: SCO paid most to its law firms and to retire BayStar's preferred stock.

This article investigating dubious comments appeared shortly after the Win2k source code was leaked.

http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/issues/100298/3Science /science01.shtml
http://news.com.com/MS+to+invest+150+million+in+Ap ple/2100-1001_3-202143.html

"Both Apple and Microsoft executives denied that the Microsoft investment represents a path to converging the companies' operating systems. However, they said they had agreed to work out a settlement to a long-standing dispute over whether Microsoft's Windows operating system infringes on any of Apple's patents."

http://www.jmusheneaux.com/index02.htm#Major

From the last link it's clear that Xerox lost, so the only FUD here is that of Xerox deserving credit.

I wouldn't want some cartoon devil character showing up on my company's computers either. It looks unprofessional and odd. I work in a real estate office. Would I want to have Bugs Bunny as the boot logo on all the machines in our computer room?

I can see where this is a problem.

Office 2000 had Clippy and it seemed to be universaly hated.

Worse yet WinXp's default cartoonish character is Rover direct from Microsoft Bob no less. Merlin, Courtney, and Earl are even worse. What's worse is these popup on your desktops and are not confined to the server room.

None of these silly animated cartoon images are approperate for a professional setting like a real estate office.

What about Carly's feelings?

Didn't Carly once quip, "The HP Way is not about a job for life by any means."

http://news.com.com/HP+Were+not+changing+Fiorinas+ job/2100-7341_3-5547456.html

Company representatives labeled stories of a pending management reorganization as unfounded and disputed a Wall Street Journal report that said HP's directors were considering a shift that would delegate some of Fiorina's duties to other executives.

"Boards discuss a wide range of topics consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities, and any speculation about these discussions is just that--pure speculation," [HP spokesman Robert] Sherbin said. "While the board did discuss structural changes at its recent meeting, there are no other senior changes due in the near future."

"You don't know; the news last week could have been the first shoe to drop in a larger movement to recalculate leadership at HP, but executive ability didn't seem to be the issue with that move, so much as responding to market conditions," [IDC analyst Roger] Kay said. "Some people have been calling for (Fiorina's ouster) since before the Compaq deal, but I don't see why making such a move right now would necessarily be helpful to the company."

So it seems that rumors and whispers are often a much more useful prediction of stock performance than industry spokesmen and analysts.

They did save alot of money because of the merger, but they also let alot of peolpe go and lost alot of market share

They did save alot of money because of the merger, but they also let alot of peolpe go and lost alot of market share

They did save alot of money because of the merger, but they also let alot of peolpe go and lost alot of market share

e.g. the DR-DOS threat (i'm not the parent poster.)

"While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina said a statement. "HP is a great company, and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."

There have been other shakeups in personel at HP leading to speculation that there is something wrong. You have to wonder if all the animosity she accrued while making the HP/Compaq merger happen has finally been returned.

"While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina said a statement. "HP is a great company, and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."

There have been other shakeups in personel at HP leading to speculation that there is something wrong. You have to wonder if all the animosity she accrued while making the HP/Compaq merger happen has finally been returned.

And which incarnation of Longhorn will this be? I read last year they plan on two versions. Considering people have been waiting on XP 64bit for the Opteron for over two years how can anybody take anything Sloth says seriously? Cnet claims now that they will be releasing a 'near final' RC 2 of XP 64Pro at the end of June. Hmmm.. timing a coincidence? story