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Microsoft Seeks Another OS-Level Adware Patent
theodp writes "Microsoft has just published a patent application for advertising triggered by sequences of user actions, which describes how to interrupt game playing, music listening, and photo viewing with pop-up ads ('the components may be integrated directly into the operating system'). So will this ad technology get a free pass from Windows Defender?"
Of some crisp, refreshing frostyness.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1385/1370980934_bc3b2fc882_o.jpg
Can anyone tell me what this picture is supposed to do with "how to interrupt game playing, music listening, and photo viewing with pop-up ads"?
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
... about prior art, patenting the interrupt, yadda yadda ...
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
I'm dying to see the reaction to this.
"Quick, get to the health fountain.... What the.. My character DIED so I can learn about Diet Caffeine Free Tab??"
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I see you are rebooting again, click here to burn a Live CD, courtesy of Canonical.
One good thing about all these things is that, pretty soon people will be so horrified by the user experience in the Windows, they will be pushed into adopting Linux. After all it is the well integrated pop-up blocker that created the initial mass of downloads for Firefox.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
This probably means that Microsoft is preparing a "Free as in ad supported" version of Windows for the day when FOSS starts taking over (FASS = Free, Ad Supported Software).
More
And here I was thinking that was considered 'BAD' by security vendors, et al. Now MS is getting a patent for what looks to me like a OS supported Trojan Horse? Lovely. Yet another reason why I have 1 copy of windows at my house, for games, that's not connected to any network while it's on, and my other 12 systems run linux. Thank Linus for choice.
Pax Vobiscum
Man, this kicks ass! I cant wait till MS actually implements this in windows. This is the kind of idea that could really spark a revolution.
Admittedly it would be better described as a revolt... by windows users, but whatever... if MS wants to shoot themselves in the foot they should go for it. And by patenting it the ensure that no other OS will follow suit.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
I'm amazed that anyone would think that e-mail and games are worth have an ad forced into their face. But then, I'd rather be solving problems than trough-feeding.
These patents are being presented with Microsoft's long term business goals in mind- to integrate ads into the OS as they make their shift towards SaaS of the coming years and to integrate with Windows Live among other things... since they seem to think the thick client will go the way of the dodo (what morons, the real killer thin client is a portable pc, laptop, phone, etc.. not one without it's own OS and defined userspace) and they will be able to create a (for lack of a better word) layer or shim for advertising which they will charge for advertising on. Think of the "cloud" crap you keep hearing about from Mr. Ballmer.
The good news is, this will fail miserably similar to Netzero's old revenue model (when they first started). The bad news is, they have a larger money vault than Uncle Scrooge so they will recover and continue to make idiot ideas...
Free pass from all OS safeguards, check.
Likely trivial exploit through video driver, check.
Protection from disabling by user, check.
Autoinstall of malware every time someone hits the start button, profit.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
My initial reaction to this was along the lines of it being just another possible plan by microsoft to gouge the consumer. However what if this is actually technology to fight piracy but minimize the effect on legitimate customers.
Microsofts current anit-piracy activites (i.e. the Vista Black screen of death) can cause a legitimate customers computer to become virutally in-operable when the malfunction. Imagine the following scenario however.
You can download and install Windows without any sort of licence key for free, but you will need to live with the pop-up ads which effectivly pay for the operating system. You would still have the option of purchasing a licence and thereby getting rid of the ads.
Would this be a legitimate (i.e. not evil) use of this patent?
Technology is most abused by the very people it was created to help
How about "Community Released, Ad Supported Software"?
A goal is a dream with a deadline
It's funny to see Microsoft use these same tactics over and over again. No matter who the competitor, they leverage their control of the OS to attack their competition.
Does anyone disagree that this patent is an expression of Microsoft applying this formula to supplant Google's dominance in advertising? I'm a little dubious as to its potential threat to Google, but time will tell.
This stinks like the preparations for advertising-supported Microsoft products.
"'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."
Just maybe, perhaps, this will give MS a way of going after spyware and malware authors - on the basis of patent infringement.
It might not be a patent that they intend to use, except in the courts...anything that gets rid of Windows malware helps Microsoft, after all.
Maybe since the US legal system is failing so miserably to protect consumers, MS is going to take down malware vendors with patent infringement cases.
I'd like to think that they want to prevent anyone from doing this.
It's a thought.
While everyone here is thinking about this in a sinister fashion.. could this be a "whitehat patent"? That is, by patenting forms of adware, Microsoft can legally protect their OS from
such software -- giving them ammunition to use against the adware makers.
Maybe this is just to keep google from coming out with an ad supported os to compete with windows. So now they want to make google either pay M$, give it away for free, or charge people.
I smoked pot once. But I DID NOT inhale. Will you hire me?
... from microsoft here, however it would be really nice if the goal of these patents was to provide annother means in which to legally interfear with future spam delivery methods. By patenting the techniques, they have legal ground to stop spammers using those techniques, even if through other laws the spammers have snuck by.
insight through the mind
Would this be a legitimate (i.e. not evil) use of this patent?
You think they'll stop there?
Cable TV was supposed to be ad-free too.
(Now I don't watch TV, period.)
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
Perrier Spring Water, "The Pause that Refreshes!"
Guiness -- FOR STRENGTH!
{The preceeding message was brought to you by Dikken's Apple Cider, because remember, on a cold winter's day, nothing beats a hot Dikken's Cider.}
A goal is a dream with a deadline
Year 0: Patent A, a method to show ads.
Year 5: Patent B, a method to defeat A and block ads.
Year 10: Patent C, a method to defeat B and show ads.
Year 15: Patent D, a method to defeat C and block ads.
Year 20: Patent E, a method to defeat D and show ads.
Etc.
(Much like the phone company selling: caller ID - blocker - interceptor - blocker - interceptors). This way in any year you've got at least two pairs of ad showers/blockers available and protected under patents.
Also, patent this overall idea as a business method.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
Bill: "This is a whitehat patent, designed to stop evil."
Me: "Here's $50,000,000 if you'll pop up this little picture when the user does certain things."
Bill: "Yeahhhhhhhhhh...ok, so let's redefine 'evil' here..."
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
HEHE, just because you could pop-up ads during a game doesn't mean you could sell any product....
:O
I would be surprised if it wasn't a net loss pissing off more than they gain...hey look MS invented the anti-ad
They plan to sell the ads to Sony and Apple!
Read my lips people. We live in the U.S.A. Anyone who lives in any other backwards countries need not apply to this discussion. Here in the U.S. we have this system called capitalism. It allows us to have a high standard of living and the best thing of all, it's FREE! We're trying to get the rest of the world to use the same system since it does wonders for the standard of living and politics. The U.S. is brimming with opportunity thanks to capitalism. Anyone can become a millionaire and what Microsoft is proposing is just giving everyone (who matters) a new tool with which to make even more money by showing your service or product to trillions of people on the planet. I think anyone who doesn't see this is probably just some backwards communist or socialist who wants to steal my property and redistribute it to people who don't matter. Kudos to Microsoft for arming capitalist with another powerful way of getting at other people's cash in exchange for our great services and products!
CEO and Christ Figure
of PhilthyLucre.com
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
MS? The world will be a better place if they push this to the max and beyond.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
Google is doing ad-supported Operating System as well. They're just starting small with a phone instead of a PC. If they thought they could get in on the OS market i'm sure they would!!! It would be a VERy good idea for Microsoft to actually make an ad-supported version of Windows with access to the "anytime upgrade" feature of Vista. Smart marketing....shareware for operating systems.
United States Patent Application
Correspondence Name: FREEDOM, LIBERTY & PURSUIT(OH) L.L.P.;(c/o PUBLIC INTEREST)
Abstract
Skipping advertisements embedded within content based on user actions on a computing device is provided. The skipped advertisements are associated with products or services that disable or distract tasks that a user may be attempting to perform on the user device. User actions on the computing device are uninterrupted, and tasks that a user is likely attempting to perform are completed based on the user's actions. A determination is never made regarding whether any of these likely tasks are not currently enabled or may be enhanced. Advertisements are then plucked out and discarded for all tasks that are not currently enabled or may be detract the user from accomplishing said tasks or interfere with the overall user experience.
Those where along the lines of my initial reaction. Microsoft embraces piracy to gain market share. Now they are working a little more seriously to stop it but at the same time the field is slowly but surely becoming more competitive. After failing to install a (duplicate) copy of XP on my laptop I simply chose to use Kubuntu. I'm not going to suggest that this would be a typical reaction from an average user right now, but in the mid to near-term it will increase. What you suggest would be a smart compromise that would keep the revenue flowing in the right (from their POV) direction. Annoying the affluent into purchasing products while still providing a revenue stream from users who will not or can not afford the price.
Quack, quack.
Every time I read a story like this, I think how glad I am that don't use MS Windows or any other MS product. It's like MS is trying to drive customers away.
Our dear kdawson can't let pass a day without his anti ms fud. Ad-sponsored software is not inherently bad or automatically spyware . There are many applications that have been ad sponsored (Opera was such an app, eudora was another, and I'm sure there are a lot more). The think is, Windows Defender has nothing to do with this. Those who don't want to use an ad sponsored app, just don't use it.
It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
This would be a good alternative in places where people cannot afford windows.
I'm a big online UT player. Imagine the scenario:
You're been working to get really close to the objective, finally you've managed to dodge a whole team of really good defenders, you've only got at most two seconds to get the game-winning shot in and...
Some advertising pop-up appears right over your aiming cross and steals your keyboard and mouse input. You watch helplessy as in that moment you temporarily lose the opportunity to dodge the incoming hail of rockets and get killed.
The you read the stupid advert and find it is trying to sell you some stupid product that is totally irellevant to you.
The only (and I mean only) reason I have windows on my PC at all is for DX10 gaming. I dream of the day that DX10 is ported to Wine/Linux in which case I'll gleefully banish Windows from my PC forever. If MS actually make game-interfering pop-ups happen, that day will just come sooner.
now its owrking fine i hope u got this message i will try to catch this
Allow us to change your Vista install to Adware!
Read the patent. It uses a statistical model to analyze what the user is doing and suggest services the user might be interested in. Kinda like what Google ads does, but within a program.
The picture linked shows this in action. The user is processing images. The ad, which is enabled in the software, suggests photo development services of several clients.
From the patent,
Finally, in the screen display shown in FIG. 7, a user has navigated to a user interface 700 for accessing and viewing photos 702 stored on the user device. For example, the user may have downloaded photos 702 from a digital camera and may be viewing the photos in the user display 700. The system may determine based on these user actions that a likely task that the user would like to perform would be to send one or more of the photos 702 to an online photo development center. Additionally, the system may determine that the user does not currently have any particular online photo development service subscriptions. As such, the system has selected and presented a number of advertisements for online photo development services in a preview pane 704 of the user interface 700.
One particular application. Claiming it is 'adware' 'getting a pass from Windows Defender' is nothing but kdawsonfud, not the first and certainly not the last. All it is, an idea, not all that different from the targeted advertising provided by a certain search engine slashbots seem so quick to defend against all claims.
I've learned while here, before freaking out about an article, to see who approved the article to be front-paged.
96% of the time, it's kdawson, which means I can pass it off as idiotic FUD and go about my day.
Let's stop dilly-dallying and just change "-1: Overrated" to "-1: Disagree" or "-1: Doesn't Subscribe to Groupthink".
This is the greatest boon to Linux I've ever seen.
They're using their grammar skills there.
I know there's no shortage of Microsoft bashing here, but can we please stop modding the "ZOMG MICRO$OFT WANTS TO SELL YOU ADS ON YOUR DRMED VISTA LOLZ" trolls insightful? If Microsoft starts forcing ads on you, THEN it makes sense to start screaming and bitching and moaning about evil plans. Until then, it's just one more patent.
More likely, you'll have to pay $19.95 to download Windows Ad Supported.
If you want to get rid of most of the ads, you'll have to pay an additional $189.95. After paying this fee, you'll only see the Microsoft Premiere Vendor(TM) ads. And only every other day.
To go completely ad-free, you'll have to buy a Premier Partner Subscription, with a one-time activation charge of $399.95 and monthly subscription fee of $19.95.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
asghar
One good thing about all these things is that, pretty soon people will be so horrified by the user experience in the Windows, they will be pushed into adopting Linux.
...Not just a highly sensitive portion of the market, but the market as a whole?
Can you think of maybe one counter-example where intrusive advertising was forced on the mass market, and the mass market responded by forever rejecting that form of advertising in both that product and any future products?
I can't.
Instead, this will probably just inure the public to intrusive ads while using a computer just like we've become used to ads in every other part of our lives.
After all it is the well integrated pop-up blocker that created the initial mass of downloads for Firefox.
This is true, but I wouldn't rest too much on the idea that Firefox downloads have been massive. Firefox accounts for around 10% of the market as opposed to the roughly 85% that Internet Explorer takes. Users have by and large not bought into the need for pop-up blockers, and if most people were using the blocker pushed onto them in XP SP2, then we wouldn't even see pop-up ads around anymore.
Never underestimate the willingness of the public to put up with ads when the alternative is to spend a little more money or make a trivial effort to defeat them.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Will this even interrupt online game play, where the game network keeps on running while your player gets beat to death and you lose all your treasures?
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Didn't macrovision patent ways around their copy protection as a way to block their use? Perhaps this patent is a weapon to prevent ad techniques like this from being used.
I'm an alpha tester for Vista's new ad popup feature. The only ads I've been seeing are for penile enlargement. HOW DO THEY KNOW???
In this case, I'll make an exception - if MS patents this, then nobody else is allowed to use this kind of annoying interference with user experience
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
OMG, can we just stop with all these stupid F'ing patent articles? Of ALL the damn "TEH OMGZOR THE M$$$ IZ PATTINTING SUMTING!!!11!!!" articles Slashdot posts, has there even been one instance of the goofball conspiracy theory being correct? I sure can't think of even a single case, and I've been reading this site (sadly enough) for at least ten years.
A week or so ago we had probelms of sound playing disturbing network trafric. Inmagine the extra overheads of processing adware.,
Engineering is the art of compromise.
"So will this ad technology get a free pass from Windows Defender?"
God microsoft, hypocrites till the end.
Finally, a patent that should be denied both because it's obvious and due to prior art that everyone can stand behind. If Microsoft patents this, it will keep such unwanted crap from infecting other operating systems!
Simple solution, and one I've been advocating for years now.
Never give a Windows box access to the internet. Ever.
Play your games on it, use MS Word, whatever. But if you must hit the ol' intertubes - use Linux. Or Mac OS. Hell, even your C64. ANYTHING but your Windows box.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
While you playing a game Clippy pops up and says "I see that you are playing blank to do you want help?"
replace blank with a type of game Like if you are hitting and holding the shift keys a lot then he may say "I see that you are playing pinball to do you want help?"
Extortion of your screen, pay us to make it go away.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
Hey, I care about what Britney Spears is up to these days! Not because I like her, but because I like laughing at how badly she's throwing her career down the toilet. It's funny, in a perverse way, watching a no-talent bimbo single-handedly destroy whatever career she had left, which she never deserved in the first place.
Celebrity news is generally only interesting when they're spectacularly self-destructing.
I'm sorry but posting this story on this site is just waving a red flag in front of a bull and waiting for it to go berserk. I know it's a slow news day but ...
I have excellent Karma and I am not afraid to Troll it.
This is true, but I wouldn't rest too much on the idea that Firefox downloads have been massive. Firefox accounts for around 10% of the market as opposed to the roughly 85% that Internet Explorer takes. Users have by and large not bought into the need for pop-up blockers, and if most people were using the blocker pushed onto them in XP SP2, then we wouldn't even see pop-up ads around anymore.
That's OK. Firefox may only have 10-20% of the browser market (I've definitely heard numbers higher than the 10% you're quoting), but that's enough: it forced many, many websites to finally pay attention to it, and fix their sites to be compatible with it and other standards-compliant browsers like Opera and Konqueror. The growing number of Safari users on Macs has helped, too. The end effect of this is that, far more than 4-7 years ago, you can now browse the web with any browser you please, and the number of IE-only sites is dwindling.
FF doesn't need >50% marketshare to accomplish the goal of a browser-agnostic web. Any merchant would be utterly stupid to turn away one out of ten customers (or worse, one out of five), so we're much closer to this goal than ever. I really don't care if MS keeps a whole 50% or more of the browser marketshare with IE, as long as this goal is accomplished and I can use the software I like. A majority isn't needed, only a large enough minority.
So if a majority of the public is willing to put up with annoying ads, that's their choice, and I'll just laugh as they get more and more annoyed at them (or worse, learn to accept them). Meanwhile, I'll be using software which doesn't have any pop-up ads.
Will 1337-5n1per kill the other player with one shot?
Stay tuned! More on this, right after this break....
Privacy is terrorism.
"Don't take this the wrong way, because you earned that +5 Funny but ... man, that's not funny. I'd be torqued into a pretzel if my OS did that to me. "
..."
Than you. Slashdot users settled for "Funny" because there aren't mod codes for "torqued into a pretzel".
But you might have found the next Mac/PC ad.
Mac Gamer: "Quick! Drink the Mountain Dew Game Fuel!" (Click. Character saved.)
WinPC Gamer: "Quick! Drink the Nourishing Fountain!
(OnMouseOver BeforeClick Popup) "You have won a case of Diet Tab!"
(Frantic Clicking... Ad Maximizes obliterating the game window. Character dies.)
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
For those ultra cheap windows lovers!!!
INTRODUCING: Vista Free Edition.
All you have to do is agree to an ad every 20(subject to terms and agreements) minutes and it is yours.
Advantages:
1. You no longer need to pay for Windows.
2. Learn how Trojan can help you.
3. Still get all the viruses that you would normally get now with an automated installer.
4. Stop annoying Genuine Windows checks.
Who would've thought you'd ever see a slashdot-article containing the words Microsoft, ads and patents, which is actually about something good?
Jeez... I've heard about putting a nail in your own coffin, but this really sounds like MS has picked up the super nailgun with autofire enabled.
I mean sure, any business would love having their ads pop up in everyone elses faces, but any business would also avoid using it for the exact same reason.
So will this ad technology get a free pass from Windows Defender?
Of course it will. And expect a fresh dose of malvare on every level your character reaches in your favourite rpg.
There you are, staring at me again.
An add appearing in front of the screen? MS can implement this feature within an hour - all they have to do is to add adds to error messages, BSOD's and on Vista - to UAC dialogues.
Maybe I'm dreaming, but I think I see something different here ...
When I see discussions involving ads, who do I really think of? No, not MS - Google. Sounds to me like MS is patenting stuff that they expect Google to want.
No, MS could never sell a version of Windows with OS-level adware in it (unless they plan to give it away and pay for it with the ads, but I doubt it) so instead I see ammuntion for their upcoming battle against the still-mythical GoogleOS. If Google has to pay MS licensing fees for components of GoogleOS, then MS wins no matter which product people use.
a purely free advertising based OS!!! YEAH, IF GOOGLE DOES IT IS PURELY PROPER!!
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It's made of lose either way. Either Microsoft loses for getting ready to roll out more crapware, or Microsoft loses for applying for stupid patents.
...if the malware is built into the OS on purpose by the manufacturer? I can just see my company's local server farm slowing to a crawl because the OS is trying to serve an ad for new SAN hardware from some outfit in Malaysia as a result of an alert sent out by the current hardware. Of course, that isn't exactly a realistic scenario. The technology will only be used to screw the little guy while the "Enterprise" edition will have the ability to disable the ads.
We are the 198 proof..
Bill Gates' net worth is $56 billion. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_William-Gates-III_BH69.html
Scrooge McDuck is worth "five multiplujillion, nine impossibidillion, seven fantasticatrillion dollars and sixteen cents", which apparently translates to $10.9 billion, according to Forbes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrooge_McDuck#Wealth
http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/20/scrooge-mcduck-money-tech-media_cx_mn_06fict15_duck.html
But I don't think that's accurate at all. Scrooge's Money Bin measures 127 ft x 120 ft x 120 ft. Even assuming that only about 10% of that volume is gold (remember he seems to just throw it all in one big pile for diving) and has no basement, this "petty cash" (as Scrooge describes it) is worth about $1,000,000,000,000 (that's a TRILLION dollars) if you go by the current market price for gold (gold weighs about 19200 kilograms per cubic meter, and is worth about $22800/kilo). Oh well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_Bin
The user is processing images. The ad, which is enabled in the software, suggests photo development services of several clients.
How precisely is this NOT adware? The user hasn't asked Google or Microsoft or anyone else for photo processing services. The user may not have any intention of asking for information. The user is simply being interrupted in the middle of working with another program with an ad.
interrupted
Google has never interrupted me. No popups. Not even any interstitial ads.
in another program
I've never had Google pop up when I'm on someone else's web site.
in the middle of working
Never had Google come up unless I've actually asked them to.
All it is, an idea, not all that different from the targeted advertising provided by a certain search engine slashbots seem so quick to defend against all claims.
If Google was using pop-up ads...
If Google was popping up those ads over the web pages you found on Google...
If Google was charging $300 for access to their service...
Then you can bet your last dollar that they'd get attacked. But they're not getting attacked for doing something similar to what this patent is proposing because, get this, they're NOT DOING IT.
So stick your FUD in your pipe and smoke it.
I highly doubt they want to insert the most annoying ads known into at the worst possible time and ruin the user experience.
They probably patented it so that adware companies cannot legally create such software.
Personally, I think these efforts are going to result in an ad supported edition of Windows. While it will be the horrific user experience everyone here predicts, I also predict it will be entirely optional.
Merely, that when it comes time to buy a computer, you can get Vista Home Basic Ad-supported edition for free, or Vista Ultimate for $500.00 with the ability to make proper backups, support for encryption, and no built-in adware.
It would be an interesting development. How would linux fare in the home market if a version of Windows were "free", and you could install it on as many computers as you wanted without violating the license?
How many people would pay for the 'ad-free' version?
Food for thought.
I don't think Microsoft is being evil. I think its smart, and good business.
I wonder if someone will release an ad supported linux distro, where the ads cover the cost of providing support. So you can get Linux with community support for free, or ad-Linux with, phone support, and remote-access technicians fluent in your language of choice.
It will be FOSS, so anyone who wants to can disable the ads, but doing so of course will terminate your support service.
Allow, Allow, Allow Damn It, ohh $#&* i just bought what
-- I am the NRA, enough said...
If anything, Microsoft would just license their *ahem* technology to the adware companies.
Frankly, the mere thought of that system they're creating disgusts me. I can only hope that it will help drive people to free alternatives.
I can see why they felt the need to rush of and patent this. What an extraordinary invention.
expandfairuse.org
I enjoy the schadenfreude as well...but....I don't see how her "disasterous" performance was any worse than the same crap she's been putting out for 8 years now.
"...will this ad technology get a free pass from Windows Defender? STAY TUNNED AND ENJOY OUR QUANTILICIOUS CHOCOLA CERE..." (wtf "manhole" image captcha! @_@ i rather "a$$" the better).
I didn't actually watch it (I don't want to see her bad performances; just reading the blurbs about them is sufficient), but apparently it was considered horrible by everyone who had anything to say about it. I think I even heard she was lip-syncing it, but wasn't even able to convincingly lip-sync.
What's important is that her fans and the people in the industry have decided she's crap, not whether you and I think she ever did anything worthwhile. Now we get to witness her downfall.
It's good to see Microsoft focusing on solving the world's most pressing computing problems, diverting their innovation and patenting dollars toward what is matters most.
Did we need a patent to tell us that Microsoft excels at innovations whose purpose is primarily to annoy users?
"Microsoft killed my company, I hold a personal grudge. I don't use Microsoft products and neither should you."-JWZ
um, window 704 is floating over what
ever the user was doing, and it is
displaying advertisements.
In the light of their recent breach of Computer Access laws in practically every country in the world I would consider this new patent a very worrying development.
Further, if you run any type of secure operation (for instance, say you're a non-US government department) I would really start to think very hard about using Windows. I know of one instance where a military outfit decided to use Openoffice.org because they could at least examine the source code and assure themselves it wasn't backdoored - but they still used Windows. I guess they'll rethink that one too now..
Plain and simple: using Windows appears to mean that whatever data and secrets you think you have is not secure. Not secure at all, from abuse, from misuse and - most importantly - from industrial espionage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkzhVHTXgS4/
Enjoy?
Here's wondering if this isn't related to their recent stealth Windows update that occured without notification and despite configuring it to not allow automatic updates! Contant pop advertisements, everyone needs them whether they want them or not!
This same subject - ad-supported Windows - was discussed back in 2005.
http://www.news.com/Microsoft+eyes+making+desktop+apps+free/2100-1014_3-5951569.html?tag=nefd.pop
I am not an M$ fanboy, but if they do intend to offer a free OS, then patenting the technology before offering the software to the marketplace is just a solid business plan.
I see another possible side to this move, and that is to protect end users with the patent system. Microsoft would never implement such a system on an operating system that an end user has paid for. The choice then is either a subscription model OS or another bullet in a lawsuit against a malware/adware provider who "copies" this technology from Microsoft. This patent does not concern me at all.
The reactionary line of thought that says this means that "the $400 copy of Vista Ultimate that I just bought is going to start interrupting my games with advertisements! Microsoft sucks!," is just plain stupid. Microsoft is a lot of things, but it is not stupid.
I can see this actually being a good thing if used in one context (and one context only): ads don't appear as long as the copy of the OS is registered. So basically making it nag the pirates into actually buying the OS. One could hope MS would utilize it that way. I don't expect them to, but one can hope.
A thought that sometimes makes me hazy: Am I - or are the others crazy? - Albert Einstein
I'm playing World of Warcraft with my guildies, and Windows picks up on this. So it alt-tabs me to show me some WoW related ad. Then my raid happens to wipe because I can't control my character anymore... Is Microsoft going to compensate me for my repair bill? What about my guild mates? Will Microsoft take to showing me adds from Chinese gold farmers? "You just get kill because Microsoft? Buy our gold, pay repair bill!" Or worse yet, they get the ads integrated into the game somehow, or devise a way to display them on your screen without alt-tabbing... "Hey guys! Look, the new expansion to the WoW card game is out! What? The tank died!? Sorry guys, I couldn't see my raid frames..."
If the level of pervasiveness stays as it is (being able to preempt anything you're doing,) then I don't see anyone buying this operating system. If this "feature" does see the light of day, it should prove to be the biggest mistake Microsoft has made to date... Imagine if you will, that you are a pre-med student writing an essay on the campus computers about the human reproductive system... Will windows pick up the "dirty" words, and start showing you porn pop-ups? So there should clearly be an opt-out for adult oriented ads, but why not an opt-out for all ads? Or will that cost more too?
Maybe if this happens, more people will switch to Linux... Then game companies will start (or, more companies, at least) supporting Linux... And then I can stop dual-booting...
an alternative to the Black Screen of Death. First a pop-up every 10 minutes with
"I see you don't have a legitimate copy of Windows Vista, click here to buy!"
If windows is not activated in a few days, you get regular adverts every 10 minutes as well.
Doesn't matter if this story is real or not. If MS does this, inside the first month after release, there'll be at least one hack out there to completely disable it anyway.