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You lost us as soon as you said XP is better than 7.

It isn't.

The trouble with Windows 8 is it's Vista - enough small things are annoying that it adds up to a great big annoyance. If they'd just finish it off (clue: listen to customers), it could be great.

Oh?

Why don't you tell that to the users leaving comments article from zdnet then? In only 48 hours +300 angry responses with "MS YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY XP AWAY!!!"

There is even an IT director who is fighting tooth and nail to not upgrade to Windows 7 on that page of comments I linked and FYI I linked a technology site too. Imagine responses from a more not so computer oriented site with the news of XP eradication?

Users prefer XP if you asked most users on the street.

I prefer Windows 7 but I am in the minority who like aero snap, instant search, and the extra security, and I am a visual learning. Contextual learners need text not pictures on the task bar. A pic of Firefox has no meaning to them as it requires mental effort to decode. If you are visual you do not look for text but for Mozilla icon as an example. ... now lets extend that learning to the ribbon. If you need text and visuals do not ring in a bell your brain the same way then the ribbon is fucking torture! These users prefer Office 2003 and the new interface is a regression and change for the sake of change.

More UI regressions are listed here including the ability to sort pictures, cut and paste from the address bar in the window on a corporate network, quick launch apps on the task bar (no jumplists are not the same thing), and other things users for over 12 years are used too and feel comfortable as that is all they know at this point in time in terms of getting used to it.

Windows 7 is a big improvement over Vista which is another reason I like it as I used Vista. However, if you skipped it then it is not really an improvement is it then?

But, it still has vista issues with file copying and buggy networking. I have one user who has to do a restore every Monday as his network connections forget the proxy to the internet. He misses XP greatly as it just worked in comparison. At home Windows 7 can not copy more than 1.5 megs a second while XP can do far more over the same connection when copying to network shares.

Also, if you move a user from an OU twice and leave an old ARP entry the user will see an endless welcome screen. XP would launch right up and a trust relationship errors happen less over XP as well.

However
It is time to move on in my opinion and stop hating change. But do not look at the XP holdouts as cheapsakes and those who are terrified of change. Windows 7 internally is supperior and it does have its benefits if you are willing to learn them over XP too, but man it changes many things unecessary and ruins the compatibility of apps.

That is why XP users do not want and many will not upgrade after 2014. MS will need to do something like disable internet access through a patch by that time as 37% of all internet users still fucking use that and have no plans to change until MS makes something compelling.

Windows 9 has to look and act exactly like XP before they will change.

Submitter here.

The NYT themselves claims they weren't hacked. This probably would have been a better choice for the first link than the humor column I originally chose. This non-attack-related downtime cause is elaborated on further in this article posted to zdnet (thx trb).

On the other hand, Fox Business is also citing an unnamed source in saying it was a cyber attack. On the other hand, an unnamed source in a burlap sack is worth the sack.

Ouch. They normally seem better than that.

This seems to have spurred some startups

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mailpile-taking-e-mail-back/x/1234360

http://www.zdnet.com/mega-to-fill-secure-email-gap-left-by-lavabit-7000019232/?s_cid=e551&ttag=e551

Doing DCI on encryption sounds interesting.

Larry also is whining about Google adhering to the Sun Java license as it was written and intended

Sun licensing was always intended to prevent a free Java implementation on a mobile phone.

Dalvik is Google's free Java implementation for mobile phones, is it not?

So Google might've complied with the terms as written (the US courts seem to think so) but they certainly took an end run around Sun's intentions.

All that being said, the sooner people stop wasting their money on Oracle products the better.

And there is no reason a MAC address should not randomize itself in between network connections.

Probably would require a bit more smarts than that. Such as the randomization would be turned off when the device
sees a beacon from a known router. e.g. The device would see the router's mac, and it it is one it had connected to previously
it would use the same mac address it did upon first connection.

This solves problems with mac-address filtering that some people use as an ill-conceived attempt at wifi security.

Also DHCP servers use mac addresses to hand out the same IP addresses, upon re-connection which saves a lot of IP churning
just because your phone changed its mac in the middle of a connection. Some routers use IP reservations as well.

Other than that this seems to be a reasonable

http://www.zdnet.com/mega-to-fill-secure-email-gap-left-by-lavabit-7000019232/

What is the gain for this pain? From a business standpoint, I would want to know what R2 delivers that would necessitate a price increase. If there isn't much then this makes it hard sell for businesses: "We get to pay more for no reason!"

A number of important improvements to Hyper-V allowing higher VM density and (if you run 2012R2 guests) improved performance because of more direct access to hardware. Also, Hyper-V replica

Storage Spaces with tiered storage (what is usually only available with SANs). You can fit a server with regular disks, fast disks and/or SSDs and set up tiered storage spaces, e.g. with parity (think ZFS). Server 2012R2 will then move "hot blocks" to faster disks and move them back to slower disks when they are not accessed as often anymore, letting other hot blocks utilize the faster tier.

A number of manageability improvements, among those PowerShell with Desired State Configuration (think puppet/chef on steroids for what is not already covered by group policies).

There's more. You can read some of it here: http://www.zdnet.com/windows-server-2012-r2-a-first-look-7000017675/

Whether it is value enough to justify the price increase is probably subjective. However, it could steal away some SAN business as you now basically can set it up to provide the same features as (at least) entry level SANs. Also the higher VM density could be worth money.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought people were starving in China and a very few (1%) can actually afford an iPhone or a new computer.

You're wrong.

http://www.zdnet.com/chinas-internet-population-surges-to-564-million-75-percent-on-mobile-7000009813/
http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Apple-Inc-Doubles-iPhone-4-Sales/6/21/2013/id/50472
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-26/apple-iphone-share-shrinks-as-china-s-huawei-to-zte-lure-users.html

The market is huge, closer to 50% than 1%, and Apple's sales, while growing rapidly, aren't as large as Samsung's or growing as fast as those of Huawei or ZTE.

It should be obvious that there are a lot of reasons besides poverty to prefer other smart phones over Apple phones.

Damn Small Linux is a modern distro. It's one made to work on things like 486's. The nice thing about Linux and the open/free format of the environment is that it's AMAZINGLY agile and adjustable. It makes the term IT RUNS LINUX into a catchphrase. Do try to keep up.

Seriously, I think you need to read up on how these technologies work.

I really do. Because I actually don't know much about, well, most of this. I'm a C developer working in avionics, not some sysadmin who has to harden networks. But the fact that your claims are refuted by the most basic of internet searches show that you're full of shit.

My point was that on average, Windows is more secure than most Linux distributions

A contentious argument, but one you're free to make. I'd suggest you put forth some sort of justification for that statement.

Due to the mitigating technologies done right...

And what such technologies would those be?
MAC, ASLR, DEP, and UAC? I've shown that Linux incorporates those mitigating technologies. Your argument is invalid. (Pft, "Done right"? Come on)

...and increased focus on security...

Sheet marketing fluff.

...resulting in few vulnerabilities.

Well Linux developers take longer to close the vulnerabilities, but look at the numbers. There are a LOT less vulnerabilities for Linux. (in 2012 at least). Furthermore, the entire report was a piece of FUD made by a MS partner who was trying to spin it best they could. I have no doubt that MS has had an increased focus on security. Unfortunately, they like their marketers more than their engineers, and they're working that propaganda machine hard. And apparently you've fallen for it. Seriously, just ask around.

Damn Small Linux is a modern distro. It's one made to work on things like 486's. The nice thing about Linux and the open/free format of the environment is that it's AMAZINGLY agile and adjustable. It makes the term IT RUNS LINUX into a catchphrase. Do try to keep up.

Seriously, I think you need to read up on how these technologies work.

I really do. Because I actually don't know much about, well, most of this. I'm a C developer working in avionics, not some sysadmin who has to harden networks. But the fact that your claims are refuted by the most basic of internet searches show that you're full of shit.

My point was that on average, Windows is more secure than most Linux distributions

A contentious argument, but one you're free to make. I'd suggest you put forth some sort of justification for that statement.

Due to the mitigating technologies done right...

And what such technologies would those be?
MAC, ASLR, DEP, and UAC? I've shown that Linux incorporates those mitigating technologies. Your argument is invalid. (Pft, "Done right"? Come on)

...and increased focus on security...

Sheet marketing fluff.

...resulting in few vulnerabilities.

Well Linux developers take longer to close the vulnerabilities, but look at the numbers. There are a LOT less vulnerabilities for Linux. (in 2012 at least). Furthermore, the entire report was a piece of FUD made by a MS partner who was trying to spin it best they could. I have no doubt that MS has had an increased focus on security. Unfortunately, they like their marketers more than their engineers, and they're working that propaganda machine hard. And apparently you've fallen for it. Seriously, just ask around.

Many of the people using Tor in restrictive countries won't have the luxury of switching away from Windows. Even if they don, they won't necessarily know how.

Secondly, it's poor advice. The vulnerability affects Firefox 17....and Firefox is up to 22 now I think. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to make sure the tor browser is hardened and recommend people to use that?

Finally, Using a more recent windows version is actually good for security. ASLR, DEP, a rudimentary MAC implementation, UAC...despite what people say, Windows is actually one of the better operating systems security wise these days. Not just because of the preventive technology that most other OS's don't have (OS X has a lacking and broken implementation, most linux distros are not as complete in their implementations..), but because Microsoft started taking security seriously and vulnerabilities are rare these days.

Whatever, bring on the irrational arguments and Microsoft hate. Is it really too much for a forum of tech nerds to be objective in their analysis?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/microsoft-certificate-used-to-sign-flame-malware-issues-warning/78980

It would be interesting to know how the 'state' that developed Flame acquired the MS certificate in question.
  - compromised using tech that the NSA has that we don't know about?
  - bought off the black market after being stolen by some other entity?
  - or just given by MS to the 'state'..?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/hacker-builds-tracking-system-to-nab-tor-pedophiles/114 hinted
"custom software to monitor peer-to-peer networks"
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9920665-7.html from 2008
"unique serial numbers" from the person's computer and keeps a tally.."

Displays and sensors are exponentially improving. The curves may not be 18 months to double like Moore's law, but it's still exponential.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law#Other_formulations_and_similar_laws
"Pixels per dollar. Similarly, Barry Hendy of Kodak Australia has plotted the "pixels per dollar" as a basic measure of value for a digital camera, demonstrating the historical linearity (on a log scale) of this market and the opportunity to predict the future trend of digital camera price, LCD and LED screens and resolution."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hendys_Law.jpg

http://www.zdnet.com/moores-law-and-the-exponential-growth-in-surveillance-systems-7000017356/

GP is referring to this and this.

Things like this, in face of Snowden revelations, looks like the US Gov was trying to divert attention from itself.

I would like to apologize for previously calling you a paid shill. I now realize my error. Nobody would pay you for this shit.

Labor only promoted FTTP because Telstra refused to negotiate on FTTN.

Telstra was more than willing to negotiate as is evidenced by their submissions to the RFP 2007/09.

I guess you've forgotten that Telstra's bid was non-compliant? For a company of Telstra's size that was a deliberate action.

We are no longer dependent on Telstra.

Instead Labor is creating NBNCo which has an even tighter monopoly grip on infrastructure.

Labor only promised 1Gbps speed because just prior to the last election Google announced Google Fibre.

It took some time but Labor found a way to be able to offer it and keep the existing pricing. Most people don't (yet) care, but for Australia's forward-thinking technologists, this is a big win

Let me quote Quiqley for you: The reason we announced one gigabit was simply because when the government said you've got to provide at least 100Mbps, Google at the time made an announcement that they were providing 1 gigabit in the US. And suddenly we went from a situation facing [those] in the media saying 'what on earth does anyone need 100 megs for?' to saying 'this is already redundant, it is already out of date, you can't do one gig'," he told a Parliamentary inquiry into the benefits of the NBN in Sydney this morning.

I'm not sure that many people would call $150/month wholesale for 1Gbps, plus data charges a win, especially when so few peope will have access to those speeds.

Less than 5% are predicted to connect at 1Gbps in 2028

Predicted by who? You? NBNCo's own corprate plan shows in Exhibit 2.12 that downstream trends from 1985 - 2012 extrapolated to 2025 that demand for and reliance on gigabit services and beyond are more than likely. It is available and it cost us nothing ectra to have it made available.

I'm surprised that you've read the NBNCo Corporate Plan and missed Exhibit 8-4 Overall Fibre Subscriber Split by AVC Speed Tiers. You will find it that my numbers come from there. Have a read. Yes the hardware being installed will support 1Gbps, but not many will be able to afford the plans.

50% are predicted by Labor's NBN Corporate Plan to connect on fibre at 12Mbps

You, sir, have obviously never written a business plan. Conservatism is the name of the game. You plan for worst case. What we are seeing is that, as of Feb 2013, 41% have opted for the fastest available 100/40 plans and 11% have opted for the entry level 12/1

When preparing the 2012 revision of the Corporate Plan, NBNCo revised upwards the percentage of 100Mbps connections, but did not alter the percentage of 12Mbps connections. This suggests that NBNCo unsurprisingly expect that many of those yet to connect will choose the cheapest plan. NBNCo's latest prediction reinforces my opinion that speed tiers on the NBN will create digital divide.

I assume that you are referring to the same conservative corporate plan that is falling further behind every day in meeting the consistently revised down rollout targets? ;-) The Stage 2 maps published prior the last Federal election show my house covered, which means I should have been able to order a connection at the latest by the end of 2011. The current NBNCo Rollout suggests I may be able to order a service in 2018.

Huge amounts of money are being wasted by NBNCo (Building a Fibre NBN on a Copper budget)

Our NBN is a project that has been planned, approved and star

It isn't just framed as as argument about freedom of speech etc. Just google for the WCIT-12 leaks. Here is one hit with the original PDFs linked: http://www.zdnet.com/wcit-12-leak-shows-russia-china-others-seek-to-define-government-controlled-internet-7000008509/

You seem to lack the basic knowledge that when Bloomberg, WSJ, NYT, Washington Post say "According to people familiar with the matter" they're pretty much 100% right.

You believe everything you read on the internet about Apple? Were you born yesterday? First of all, "according to people familiar with the matter" is not 100%. The person in question may not have all the relevant facts. It is also possible that things have changed since your link was posted that the source was not aware. Second according to your link, WSJ predicted iPad in March. It didn't come out until April: How is that "100% right"? Third so even if the WSJ got one prediction right, that means every other website gets 100% right about everything else?

If we are staying on just the topic of Apple, how many years did we hear about the iPhone mini? Or that Apple is switching all their computers to ARM? The iPhone 5 was supposed to be tear-drop shaped. The newest is that Apple iTV was supposed to be announced Q1 2013. Some of these predictions were posted by the big and the small sites. These have failed to happen.

Again, all speculation is not the same. See some of Mary Jo Foley's track record in this link which I provide again.

I fail to see Mary Jo's speculating on the possible personnel changes. She does however have thoughts on why MS is doing it as well as likely structural changes. She however is not giving specifics because she doesn't have solid facts herself.

No, I don't work for MS, if I did, I would declare it, why hide it?

Because that would explain your obvious bias. However if you did work for MS, your speculation might be more reliable.

There's nothing wrong with working for MS, as you seem to think. My speculation is from informed sources with a stellar track record and a lot of big revelations under their belt while you seem to have no clue about MS watchers who work in the press.

So you admit everything you have is speculation?

Again, you're trying to color all speculation the same, it's not.

Speculation is still speculation. Some speculation may be more grounded in likelihood but it still is speculation. With the large reorg that is imminent, it is possible that not every exec has left. Some of the exits like Mattrick might be unexpected so MS is working through it all. This situation is a lot more fluid than Apple releasing a product because that takes a lot more long term planning. Some of the sites that have predicted Apple products have a better track record because they track supply chain information. However they are not always right. The iPhone 5 was not tear-drop shaped even though there were supposed orders of new cases.

Anachragnome seems to think that everyone is spying for the NSA. Who is it doing all this mutual spying?

Facebook is building dossiers of everyone, whether they have a Facebook account or not.

The amount of information they can derive is disturbing.

Then Facebook shares the results with the government.

And the nature of the relationship between the two is a little too cozy, to say the least.

Anachragnome seems to think that everyone is spying for the NSA. Who is it doing all this mutual spying?

Facebook is building dossiers of everyone, whether they have a Facebook account or not.

The amount of information they can derive is disturbing.

Then Facebook shares the results with the government.

And the nature of the relationship between the two is a little too cozy, to say the least.

Started in 2004, it still seems to be going well at first glance:

http://www.zdnet.com/no-microsoft-open-source-software-really-is-cheaper-insists-munich-7000010918/

Uhhh I take it you missed the memo where Ubuntu said they are going rolling release across the board so there IS NO LTS, there is just unstable and slightly LESS unstable. Second of all debian is primarily a server OS, that is where the money is spent. Finally that misses the big fucking GOTCHA when it comes to old kernels which is "Won't run shit" when it comes to new software because of the royally fucked up way software will require kernel Y and depend on framework Z and you have kernel R and framework W so you are in a world of shit.

Like it or not there is a REASON why none of the major OEMs will touch Linux anywhere except online sales and even then have 40 warnings like you are about to buy toxic waste,why even though MSFT has put out the most reviled OS since Bob that Linux hasn't gained even a half a percent, and that is because as long as the top of the org is controlled by the "FOSSie faction" that treat it NOT as an OS but a RELIGION, with one kernel dev even writing "I hope we break non free drivers constantly" it'll stay FULL OF FAIL because most folks want a system that "just works" and don't give a shit about your religious beliefs.

Personally I wish they'd do like debian and give up all pretense of giving a shit and just go "racially pure" across the board, then everyone can see just how little hardware actually runs or will stay running without flaming hoops and quit trying to push that horseshit as a viable alternative because its not. Apple is a viable alternative if you buy an all Apple ecosystem but you buy supposedly "Linux friendly" hardware and it'll get shit on just like everything else, see how everyone told you to "just buy Aetheros" for wireless only now you can't, because you see only SOME of it works and then only some of the time with certain kernels until Torvalds craps on it or the network subsystem gets tweaked for no damned good reason...fuck that noise, most of us have been things to do than keep a Windows machine just so we'll have the ability to Google WTF broke in our Linux machine with the last update.

I gave the "Hairyfeet challenge" which frankly was already tilted in Linux' favor (NO exotic hardware, only HALF the support cycle of Windows) and after a dozen different distros INCLUDING debian I gave up, I'm not wasting anymore bandwidth on what is obviously a broken design and until they fix that bullasscrap driver model there is no longer a point of even talking about it, hence why I have been blocking more and more articles than have anything to do with Linux. Funny that while we Windows users wouldn't give a shit if the FOSSies fell off the face of the earth the FOSSies sure as fuck can't let a single Windows article go without trying to push their insanity. Well go sell crazy somewhere else, we aren't buying FOSSies.

Suggesting it was the PC mindset: http://www.zdnet.com/the-shocking-truth-about-silicon-valley-genius-doug-engelbart-7000017660/
"I couldn't believe my luck. Over on another large circular table, half-empty, sat Doug Engelbart. I asked him if I could sit next to him and we talked for hours. I walked out with a great story, a story that no one had written before, a story of a genius whose work was largely killed by the personal computer "revolution" and how he'd spent decades trying to find companies to fund his work and research.
    It's a story that shows Silicon Valley's ignorance of its own history and its disgraceful treatment of truly inspired visionaries such as Doug Engelbart, in favor of celebrating PR-boosted business managers who say they are changing the world but don't come close. ...
    But the microcomputer and its promise of being self-sufficient, unconnected to anything, was thought to be the future at the time. And the counter-culture with its hatred of "the Man" and centralized systems of power and oppression, rejected the time-sharing mainframe based computer architecture that underpinned the work of Mr. Engelbart and his colleagues. Big centralized systems were out of favor in the computer research communities and so was funding, which went to microcomputer based architectures.
    The promise of the individual, power to the people, the ideals of radical self-sufficiency that ruled the counter-culture movement became enshrined in the promise of the stand-alone Personal Computer. It's an example of how popular culture can affect something as seemingly distant and unconnected as computer architecture.
    Reinventing the past
    Today's computer systems are essentially what we had with time-sharing mainframes in the 1960s and 70s: personal workstations connected to a large central computer system (server farm), able to communicate with each other and run spreadsheets, word processors, and apps.
    Ross Mayfield, in an interview with Doug Engelbart in June 2005, writes:
    "We herald the PC revolution, but we should remember that it made us forget to share. Timesharing enabled groups to share a common pool resource, sharing that, which impacted social dynamics. With PCs, we were left on our own, however empowered."
    He also points out that his work on keywords and tagging; and his work on computer augmentation to help solve some of mankind's most difficult problems. ..."

Mentioned here:
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07/07/0232259/silicon-valley-in-2013-resembles-logans-run-in-2274

Here's the new screen layout:
http://codinghorror.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a85dcdae970b0120a86dd2e5970b-pi

To some degree we are getting there (it's worse on the XBox 360):
http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/story/70/00/002993/original/w8rtm-windows-8-start-620x.jpg?hash=MwZ2ZmL2AQ

And Mike Judge is a god in my mind: Idiocracy, Office Space (I wore a suit for a few years early on) and Beavis and Butthead.

Anyway, I have to get back to Aww my Balls. Stop interrupting me. You broke my apartment.

DEC StrongArm was released as Intel XScale but was then was sold to Marvel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XScale)

According to reports, Intel has an architecture licence but does not intend to use it. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/intel-we-have-arm-license-no-plans-to-use-it/5845

Intel also brought Infineon which had an ARM licence (http://www.gomonews.com/intels-1-4-billion-infineon-mobile-chips-purchase-2g-3g-lte-wimax/) but I don't know what the status is of that going forward.

The comment above rather garbles that story.

Re-read your own posts, they're full of arm-chair original speculation from you, coming from your mindset of "MS sux, Ballmer sux, Apple rules, Jobs rules" philosophy.

Mine in speculation based on news and analysis, especially what's known to Microsoft watchers in the press from insiders. For example, please read the two news articles that came out only a few hours ago:

http://www.zdnet.com/whats-behind-microsofts-pending-reorg-7000017629/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/microsoft-ceo-said-to-give-bates-mergers-role-in-revamp.html

Now go back and read this entire thread.

The problem here is that you probably follow Apple more and thus know more than me about the latest Apple inside news, but I read Microsoft centric bloggers and watch their podcasts, thus I will in general tend to know more about this stuff than you do.

Coloring all "speculation" the same as if some unsourced Microsoft hater comments on Slashdot are equivalent to Bloomberg's or Mary Jo Foley's sources(who has a ~100% track record on MS news leaks btw, see below) is just plain foolishness.

http://tracour.net/author/Mary%20Jo%20Foley

Getting most of your MS news from misleading Slashdot summaries and headlines makes you ignorant.

What if the patent is entirely worthwhile and then sold to a troll?...All patents = bad is not driving the conversation forward.

Wow. Did you even read? My argument was, in bold mind you, "...right now it is too easy to file for and obtain frivolous, undeserving, non-novel or obvious patents...Cut down on the number of patents issued and you cut down on the abuse that follows." Show me where it says all patents are bad.

And as for those tech companies "abusing their patents" do you have a cite for abuse versus assert?

Sure. You only had to ask.

Motorola is guilty of patent abuse.

So is Apple.

So is Google.

Even Microsoft and Nokia are joining the bandwagon.

As an aside, I find it hilarious that someone posting as an AC is accusing others of being a troll. Man up and post under your own account.

Or Ballmer can have them report to the head of Entertainment and Devices Division in the meantime

That group doesn't seem to exist anymore.

which is the most logical thing seeing as Ballmer has no background in gaming or devices while waiting for the re-org. This person will most likely have more knowledge and expertise than Ballmer. Or appoint someone under Mattrick to be temporary in charge until the re-org.

Do you work at a large company? I do, and I can confirm that recoiledsnake is correctly describing how things work, at least in my experience. When a manager leaves without an immediate replacement it's common for the their manager to take over the group temporarily. (They are, after all, probably more familiar with it than anyone else in the company.) Getting a new manager up to speed takes time, and if it's temporary that's a big waste. Likewise, when you've got a critical deadline it's a bad idea to distract key team members by suddenly giving them another job.

Re-orgs are often decided on months in advance but not announced until much later, and the announcements are often delayed. The new person might still be getting up to speed. Particularly at the senior management level (which is visible to investors), it's important to have a clear idea of who's in charge.

Its the same thing that fucked the game companies...greed. They also tightened the rules on MSDN to "fight piracy" while ignoring the simple fact that PIRATES DON'T BUY SUBSCRIPTIONS!!!!

Its the same stupid shit as EA, they just fuck the paying customers while the pirates just bypass the bullshit. Pirates can get ANY version hassle free without giving them a cent, so WTF MSFT?

You will soon though.

Or maybe not you, but most people who just want to get on with using their computers instead of tinkering with them.

Android invades the desktop

Summary: Computer makers are suddenly obsessed with putting a smartphone operating system on PCs. Here’s why it may not be such a crazy idea.
John Morris

Microsoft has spent a lot of time and effort trying to get Windows onto smartphones and tablets--so far without a whole lot to show for it. Now several PC companies are trying the opposite approach, taking the Android operating system and porting it to PCs.

http://www.zdnet.com/android-invades-the-desktop-7000017286/

So all the mutter about a Salesforce / PostgreSQL linkup was just to scare Oracle into being nicer? I guess it worked.

HP has got this base covered for you.

Surely the NSA is the biggest piece of Malware out there right now, I hope google added them to this list.

One of the biggest distributors of malware, certainly, but they outsource this function to numerous others (possibly including Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, etc.). The NSA is probably also one of the biggest purchasers of malware.

How telling others (specially, US citizens) that they are being spied put your own people in danger? Who is behaving wrong there? Or spying all the world is a god given priviledge? Is not that they won't abuse that privilege,

I don't want anybody hurt, but give government free card to do anything and they will be the terrorists. If you think that that terror campaign only goes to a few countries, think again, they want to go against hackers too (so better you don't live in the same area that someone downloading an mp3). And if that don't worry you because you, after all, live in US, you probably will be next.

This is about awareness, the rest of the world so they can protect themselves, and you, that should be the one that can do anything about it. But you can keep giving them free pass, in the end, if/when something happens to you or to someone you cares about in the hand of that government you are defending, you will know that was your fault.

He's way of getting awareness is now starting to cause damage. I understand he wants to shut the program down but he's going about it the wrong way. Also it might not be an option to shut it down anyway.

So I agree with you if it's about abuse we have to prevent that but I don't see how him fleeing to Cuba or threatening to release damaging files will prevent abuse. Has the NSA stopped spying on us? No.

How telling others (specially, US citizens) that they are being spied put your own people in danger? Who is behaving wrong there? Or spying all the world is a god given priviledge? Is not that they won't abuse that privilege,

I don't want anybody hurt, but give government free card to do anything and they will be the terrorists. If you think that that terror campaign only goes to a few countries, think again, they want to go against hackers too (so better you don't live in the same area that someone downloading an mp3). And if that don't worry you because you, after all, live in US, you probably will be next.

This is about awareness, the rest of the world so they can protect themselves, and you, that should be the one that can do anything about it. But you can keep giving them free pass, in the end, if/when something happens to you or to someone you cares about in the hand of that government you are defending, you will know that was your fault.

Please be a bit precise here. What exactly is claimed have Microsoft and Google given to the NSA? And how exactly do we "know"?

Come on now. There's a powerpoint that proves it all.

It just needs a little imagination/fantasy and some extrapolation, then it is conclusive, irrefutable proof that the big companies have *all* of them given NSA direct electronic access to the companies' servers to perform any kind of snooping they desire with no judicial oversight.

As the summary mentions: the original Do-Not-Track effort only failed when Microsoft made the boneheaded, unilateral decision to make it the default. Starting out this way will only start an arms race between Mozilla and advertisers.

Except, the advertising industry never intended to honor DNT anyway.

Does it runs Linux? Does gets bricked if try something different from Windows 8, or even windows 8 itself? With that resolution and battery life even Linus could love it... if can run his own system on it, of course.

Instead of throwing insults, as you seem to only be capable of, why don't i let the citations do the talking? Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Might want to rethink asking for citations or examples from me pal, I'm more than happy to slap some truth down, and I'm not even gonna call you names.

Instead of throwing insults, as you seem to only be capable of, why don't i let the citations do the talking? Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Might want to rethink asking for citations or examples from me pal, I'm more than happy to slap some truth down, and I'm not even gonna call you names.

Instead of throwing insults, as you seem to only be capable of, why don't i let the citations do the talking? Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Might want to rethink asking for citations or examples from me pal, I'm more than happy to slap some truth down, and I'm not even gonna call you names.

The article makes sense, but I don't think the work appears to be especially innovative even if it could be very useful.

It is more than governments that buy supercomputers. They are also used in industry for things like oil and gas exploration, economic modeling, and weather forecasts. Universities and research organizations also use them for a variety of purposes. Time on an actual supercomputer tends to be highly valuable and sought after. You may disagree with the use, but that is a different question from not being used effectively.

The Secret Lives of Supercomputers, Part 1

"It is probably the biggest trend in supercomputers -- the movement away from ivory-tower research and government-sponsored research to commerce and business," Michael Corrado, an IBM spokesperson, told TechNewsWorld. In 1997, there were 161 supersystems deployed in business and industry, but that figure grew to 287 by June 2008, he noted. "More than half the list reside in commercial enterprises. That's a huge shift, and it's been under way for years."

Uses for supercomputers

IBM here ... did someone call me?

Get off, IBM... Oracle leased this line some time ago.

I appreciate your fervor, but you really need to put your bullshit detector on full

As of this point:
"Update at 2:50 p.m. ET on June 16: We're pulling the plug on this story — (for clarification: ZDNet's story, not CNET's) — following Rep. Nadler's latest comments casting doubt on CNET's story. In a statement to our sister site, Nadler said: "I am pleased that the administration has reiterated that, as I have always believed, the NSA cannot listen to the content of Americans’ phone calls without a specific warrant." We've left the amended article (post the previous update, below) intact for transparency, but corrected the headline." http://www.zdnet.com/nsa-can-allegedly-listen-to-phone-calls-without-warrants-report-7000016864/

It is becoming apparent to me that this issue is being propagandized into a wedge between 'young voters' and President Obama. This seems to be an expected reaction to the huge misalignment between the current gop platform and the expectations of most young people (apparently even young republicans). To whit, just piss the young people off at the other guys instead of amending their platform

well you can run whatever iOS software you want on your ipad, including any you write yourself. so I would say Yes, you can run your own software on the ipad.

Apart from the intentionally hamstrung Codea and Safari JavaScript environments, you can't run software you write yourself on an iPad. Nor can you run it on the combination of an iPad and your existing PC. You can run it on the combination of an iPad, a Mac (and not any other brand of PC), and a developer certificate that self-destructs after 365 days.

on the other hand, you can also run a wide variety of software (games) on XBone, presumably you could write one yourself if you want

Has Microsoft yet announced on what terms the Xbox One devkit is made available to video game developers? I assume it'd require a Windows 8 operating system, but that's not much of an obstacle because Windows 8 is designed to run on just about every x86-64 PC, including a Mac if your company also happens to develop games for iOS or OS X. But historically, console makers haven't been willing to sell a devkit to a video game company for its debut title even if it has shown a feature-complete prototype of this title on PC.

Because Prey wont actually help you get your phone back.

Exactly right - But Absolute Software will.

Absolute Software has been in the business of tracking and recovering stolen computers for years. They've recovered nearly 29,000 stolen computers, and they've just expanded to phones - Samsung has just integrated their technology in the firmware level on the S4, with other devices coming soon. Their tracking agent will survive a phone reset and their forensic tools (deployed post-theft only) mean that they can actually catch the guy that knocked you over the head and stole your phone.

http://www.zdnet.com/new-lojack-solution-for-galaxy-s4-makes-theft-meaningless-7000016433

Unlike a software solution only, the Absolute Software LoJack system is both a hardware and software solution. Starting with the Samsung Galaxy S4, Absolute's persistence technology is built into the firmware of the S4 and cannot be removed, even if the device is restored to factory settings.

The Galaxy S4 has the technology built in now, but the necessary Absolute software solution is not yet available. When it is available, you will be able to remotely lock your device, locate it, erase the data from the device and storage card, or have the Absolute Investigation and Recovery Services Team attempt to recover it.

The Recovery Team is made up of experts from law enforcement, the FBI, the Marines, the US Army, and other government positions. To date, they have recovered 28,000+ devices (laptops and PCs) in over 95 countries.

Failed IT projects are hard to miss, though. A few are probably inevitable but if failures are typical, that should be a red flag to the IT manager's superiors.

Considering 68% of all IT projects fail, it would be difficult, using solely whether the project succeeds or fails, to determine whether the person at the top is competent or not.

For reference: The study

we now know that the NSA spying story was mostly and overstated hoax

We know nothing of the sort. That article chips away at a few details as though that disproves the central point of the story. Other aspects of the "refutation" include:

McCullagh quotes one of his named (not anonymous) sources, former general counsel of the NSA Stewart Baker, as saying the slides look “flaky”

Clearly that proves the story false! In other news a White House spokesperson denied any involvement in the Watergate breakin.

You're being an Obama apologist (BTW I'm a leftie who voted for him in 2008). Benghazi has been a right wing screaming point for months now, but are you accusing the Guardian of being part of some vast right-wing conspiracy to smear Obama. The Guardian?! If so, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Aside from the ugliness people display when they immediately resort to pulling the race card...

    The whole point is that if Obama were somehow better than Bush, I would expect him to have come in and said: "This is unacceptable. This is unconstitutional. I want it gone." That is not what happened by a longshot. Instead he doubled down on all the nasty secretive stuff while he told everyone lies like how he would have the most transparent administration, ever. I am sorry if you cannot see what is right in front of your face. By now reality is pretty undeniable.

Ok, I'll bite.

What part of the constitution prohibits this particular act? Especially given that we now know that the NSA spying story was mostly and overstated hoax but even if it were as bad as it sounds (it's not)... it's both constitutional and perfectly legal.

Or are you speaking of the IRS scandal, the real scandal being that the IRS somehow investigated 11 illegal Koch brothers front groups and somehow didn't find ANYTHING wrong. (The "IRS Scandal" is a preemptive faux scandal, much like the NSA faux scandal and the Benghazi fake scandal, designed to attack Obama and to make the IRS less likely to investigate future Koch brothers front groups.)

Google, Yahoo, Skype... "We don't give the NSA access to your mail/chat". What they really mean is: "We let them take copies of everything via the backdoor API, before we even store it"

Agreed - Its no't like it hasn't happened that way before;

The long, strong arm of the NSA
    July 27, 1998 Web posted at: 4:15 PM EDT
    http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9807/27/security.idg/

    [...]

    It's gotten to the point where no vendor hip to the NSA's power will
    even start building products without checking in with Fort Meade
    first. This includes even that supposed ruler of the software
    universe, Microsoft Corp. "It's inevitable that you design products
    with specific [encryption] algorithms and key lengths in mind," said
    Ira Rubenstein, Microsoft attorney and a top lieutenant to Bill Gates.
    By his own account, Rubenstein acts as a "filter" between the NSA
    and Microsoft's design teams in Redmond, Wash. "Any time that
    you're developing a new product, you will be working closely with the
    NSA," he noted.

    [...]

And it's clear that they're doing this stuff without the engineers;

Microsoft: Vista won't get a backdoor
    Published on ZDNet News: March 3, 2006, 6:00 PM PT
    http://www.zdnet.com/news/microsoft-vista-wont-get-a-backdoor/147081

    [...]

    "Microsoft has not and will not put 'backdoors' into Windows," a
    company representative said in a statement sent via e-mail.

    [...]

    "The suggestion is that we are working with governments to create
    a back door so that they can always access BitLocker-encrypted
    data," Niels Ferguson, a developer and cryptographer at Microsoft,
    wrote Thursday on a corporate blog. "Over my dead body," he
    wrote in his post titled "Back-door nonsense."

    [...]

    "Back doors are simply not acceptable," Ferguson wrote. "Besides,
    they wouldn't find anybody on this team willing to implement and
    test the back door."