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Meta-tag Spam Declared Illegal in Germany
Philipp Lenssen writes "According to Heise.de, a German court ruled excessive use of meta-keywords in HTML unlawful. Meta-tag keywords may still be used if they are in strong relation to the page. The decision does not address more popular search engine spamming methods of today (as meta-keywords are ignored by Google, they are rarely used as core strategy for Search Engine Optimization)." <update> Thanks to Michael Mol for the translation to English pointer.
With the release of its first Linux laptop last week, Hewlett-Packard predicts this year the free operating system will unseat the Mac as the No. 2 desktop operating system behind Windows. Indeed, some analysts say Linux displaced the Mac as the leading alternative in 2003. But the Mac hasn't been relegated to third just yet. While Linux machines are shipping in ever greater numbers, especially to giant markets like China, the vast majority are stripped of Linux in favor of pirate copies of Windows, experts say. Unveiled at LinuxWorld last week, HP's new Compaq nx5000 is a no-nonsense, $1,100 notebook aimed at the enterprise market, and small and medium businesses. Running Novell's Suse Linux 9.1 and Sun's OpenOffice suite, the "business notebook" also includes consumer-friendly features like a CD burner and DVD player, and wizards for things like setting up Wi-Fi. HP, which competes with Dell as the world's biggest PC maker, predicts the new machine will significantly boost Linux's desktop market share, allowing the free operating system to surpass the Mac later this year. "We expect to see Linux overtake Mac on the desktop this year," said Jeffrey Wade, HP's Linux marketing communications manager. Wade said HP already sells 100,000 Linux desktops per quarter. (That's between 30,000 and 40,000 Linux computers, not servers, per month.) "HP expects to sell a lot of these (notebooks)," Wade added. "And we expect to see some other folks following our lead." But according to market research firm IDC, Linux has already overtaken the Mac. "Linux captured the No. 2 spot as desktop operating system in 2003," IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky told IDG News Service. Kusnetzky predicted Linux will have 6 percent of the desktop market by 2007. Kusnetzky couldn't be reached for comment, and Wade couldn't explain the difference between IDG's and HP's projections. However, other analysts were skeptical. "I think those numbers are dubious," said Tim Deal, a financial analyst with Technology Business Research. Peter Kastner, an analyst with Aberdeen Group, said the Mac has roughly 3 percent of the desktop market, and the Linux share is considerably lower than that. Kastner's 3 percent estimate is backed up by numbers published by Google, which logs the different desktop systems used to access its site. According to Google, Mac users number 3 percent, while Linux weighs in at 1 percent. Even Leigh Day, spokeswoman for Red Hat, one of the largest Linux distributors, said Linux isn't yet ready for the desktop. "The stuff for a consumer desktop -- media players, video drivers -- are not yet mature," she said. Market research firm Gartner may have the answer. According to Gartner, forecasts need to distinguish between the OS the machine ships with, and the OS that is installed right after it's unboxed. "In emerging markets like China, Russia and Latin America, many locally assembled PCs are sold without an OS or with Linux," wrote Gartner analyst Annette Jump in a report published last week. "On 90 percent to 95 percent of these PCs, a pirated version of Microsoft Windows is installed within the first few days." Jump said most of these machines are sold to home users and small businesses looking to save as much as possible, and that Windows and other software can account for a fifth of the price. HP's Wade said the company sells Linux machines "primarily overseas," but said he didn't know what end users did with their new machines. "We've heard some of the same things," he said. "But I honestly don't know how accurate that is." After taking account for piracy, Gartner said 2004 worldwide market share for Mac OS is 2.5 percent, versus 1.3 percent for Linux. However, this will change next year. Gartner predicts in 2005, the Mac will slip to 2 percent market share, and Linux will grow to 2.1 percent. By 2008, Linux will have grown to 3.4 percent, while the Mac will remain at 2 percent. Apple Computer declined to comment. Its latest earnings statement (PDF), released last week, showed the company's strongest Q3 in eight years, with 1
err 25th post?!
But at the same time, I hear there is a new law that if you are stopped for a traffic violation, if they find burned CDs in your car, you have to be able to prove that you own the original, or you will be done for copyright violation. Folks are in a panic and are more than glad to get in line for that one, but they can't seem to STAY OFF THE FUCKING CELL PHONE WHILE DRIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ill eagle buy US? plus, it's so whoreabully infactdead, nobody wants the kode blew interview?
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The last time I checked, the USA never ratified the Convention on Rights of Child. Or the Landmine ban.
"Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)