Microsoft will pretty much continue to dominate where it matters the most to them, financially, in the business market. The sad thing is that they are completely open to being taken down even there, but no one seems ready to compete with them at the point. Apple left the business and server industry, and has even set aside the professional industry (content creators) by not at all keeping up with their desktop options.
Active Directory is still king in most companies, and it's also probably the hardest single thing to migrate away from. As long as that doesn't change (meaning someone releases a viable competitor that can seamless replace it), Microsoft will stay profitable.
They can drop the ball on Windows stuff all they want and it won't make much difference in their revenue. Now, Office is another story...
I see the point, it just seems like the article makes it sound like his fridge isn't really malfunctioning; rather it's just really old and happens to blast out interference. It seems to be similar to older microwaves and cordless phones that can interfere with the 2.4Hrtz frequency.
I'm really curious about how they could enforce something like making him remove the device. It's not his fault their network is impacted by a completely unrelated device. Did they offer to buy him a new one?
It's like this in Alaska. We have offices going all over the place, from Anchorage to various parts of the north slope, and I can't imagine the situation changing much anytime soon.
Also realize that computer science isn't interesting to a lot of people, and you can't really change that. I never tried out for the football team in High School because I didn't find football interesting. That's not because football is a crappy game, or that the school's program was bad; I just wasn't interested.
As long as you understand that you will very likely get robbed, or have your laptop stolen at some point, I'd go into something like this with a learn-as-you-go attitude. After all, it's supposed to be an adventure, right? Gain some world knowledge from first hand experience and whatnot. Just make sure you're saving your work remotely somehow, probably through some cloud service, and that your credentials and personal identity information isn't easily available to the first person who swipes your phone or laptop.
Seriously consider getting remote wipe software for both, as well.
As for the other stuff... hostels are, by their very nature, community areas. Most have space to break out a laptop and get internet access, but you are very much sharing the area with other strangers. Again, theft is a huge issue at these places, to the point that you might return to from taking a piss only find your laptop stolen.
There are also some security-related issues to consider, if you are going to be hopping from one country to another. Many will flat out require access to your laptop just to pass through, and if you have it encrypted (which you should), they'll demand access to the encrypted data as well, or else confiscate it while you miss your flight. It can be a real big pain in the ass. So what you want to do is setup your laptop with a standard unencrypted Windows OS install that you use for random internet crap like Facebook or general browsing, and maybe a few games. Then setup a second hidden install of whatever OS you prefer, and use it for your *real* work. TrueCrypt handles this for the purpose of plausible deniability, although any encryption software should be able to handle it. The basic idea is that, if you get stopped at customs, you can happily give them access to your laptop and let them log in and see your mundane OS install with normal internet crap, without raising any flags about whatever work you are doing.
And it really doesn't matter what kind of work you are doing, either, because the security guys at checkpoints could easily decide that the crazy-looking computer code for your gaming pet project might really be stolen state secrets. Or that the photos you took of some Buddhist temple could be considered spy activity. Crazy people are crazy, and the last thing you want is get sent to some labor camp in the middle of your dream vacation.
I'm sure people would care more about your creepy glasses if they new what they were. Most people aren't really going to equate chunky glasses with hidden cameras, so of course no one seemed to have minded yours.
This is why Microsoft has been so vague about saying anything involving the used game market, or console-level DRM. What they are basically doing is setting up a system where publishers can build DRM right into the game under the guise of "extra processing power" so that when the backlash starts, Microsoft can sit back and tell everyone to take it up with the publishers.
Further taking away from the idea that games will be able to use extra processing power for actual gameplay and stuff, is that game developers always aim for the lowest common denominator when setting performance benchmarks. They aren't going to design a game that can take much advantage of cloud computing because they know full not everyone has high quality broadband with no bandwidth cap. Sure, you might see the occasional turn based strategy games or flight sims using it for real-world data or weather or something, but by and large it will be ignored for any significant features.
Microsoft knows it's about DRM, but doesn't want to take the bad press for saying so. Publishers know it's about DRM, and are willing to take the bad press for utilizing it as such.
Anyone who buys an MMO knows what they are getting into. It's online because that's the point. What MSFT is doing is opening the gates to encourage publishers to add in their own DRM schemes so that, when customers complain, MSFT can sit back and say "we don't control DRM or used games or anything; takes that up with the publishers!"
They aren't even bothering to go after the US market. They're focusing on smaller, less competitive markets like China, Europe, and North Africa. Markets outside of the US are much less screwed up with monopolies and such.
Once the next-gen consoles are released, there will be so few people playing Nintendo games that none of this will matter. Even EA has stopped making WiiU games.
I doubt Google is concerned about any political fallout in Ireland, even after than stop laughing at this request. Ireland has a crappy enough job market as it is, without punishing the companies who are there for something like this. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot.
I just wish there was more consistency to open source projects. For every OpenStack there are craploads of half-finished projects that are basically in a perpetual beta stage. Documentation is spotty, features are spotty. Hell, even the names of most open source stuff seems to suck. It's hard to sell management on something called GIMP as an alternative. Even Libre Office sounds like shit.
From what I understand, apple and publishers basically all wanted to set ebook prices for the range of 12.99 to 14.99. Apple threatened to (and did) block apps for publishers that didn't agree or didn't jump on board right away, as leverage. It's kind of a big deal because Apple was hoping to negotiate things in a way to prevent wholesale outlets, like Amazon, from having a choice in setting ebook pricing by having having deals with all the publishers that released all the ebooks through Apple first (at full book price). This is in contrast to Amazon, who wanted to market ebooks as less-expensive alternatives to physical books, probably to reflect the fact that you aren't buying a physical product. Since Amazon isn't exactly a small fish in that pond, some publishers were very concerned about pissing Amazon off, although they all did eventually say yeah we'll follow apples lead, partly due to Apple blocking their apps otherwise.
I think publishers ultimately wanted to move into a position where they can sell ebooks at the normal physical book price (complete with DRM and everything), but didn't want to kill relations with Amazon in the process. For the publishers side, one of the main issues they had was that Apple was demanding the normal 30% off the top for every ebook sale, which was in many cases worse than letting Amazon give its discounts. But again, since Apple was threatening with the whole app blocking thing, the went with it.
It's worth noting that all of the publishers have settled with DoJ without a fight.
I'm pretty sure the whole lawsuit thing is just a matter of getting one or two precedents on the books, so they can threaten people with lawsuits saying "settle out of court for $10k or risk owing $200k like *these* people... I'm sure they have a payment plan option ready to go and everything because once they get one payment from someone, it's basically an admission of debt ownership.
If we were to be able to build an AI, what would we teach it? Stuff that's taught in school? Would we do anything to simulate social development? Would we let it read through 4chan?
So much of what makes us intelligent, rather than simply smart, is through experiences. So how would we simulate experiences?
In my experience, the only people who get rewarded for cost savings are the ones in management. They're the ones who get the bonuses and gratitude of the people who actually run the company. As a result, there is literally no upside to turning down a vendor-recommendation, yet plenty of potential blame if you do. That being said, if you really think an upgrade isn't needed, just submit official vendor recommendations, and maybe a section detailing the alternative, including stuff like expected costs savings versus risk of hardware failure for keeping the "older" stuff in place, etc.. Make sure you include hard numbers, when it comes to the cost of upgrading versus the cost and risks of not. If they decide to save the money and not upgrade, they did so will full-documented knowledge of any risks that come with it. Keep a copy of your recommendation, and their response, in your CYA file.
It's also worth noting that IT guys get something out of upgrading vendor stuff before absolutely necessary: experience with newer equipment. It's fun to be able to play with the latest and greatest, and also allows for a nice method of updating your skill set on a resume. You always want an exit strategy, so the last thing you need is to look for a new job with a resume filled with outdated vendor equipment. Unless it's something really rare or specialized, of course.
Companies that are using backend software that lacks support for modern clients can very well be an expensive thing to upgrade. If it's developed in-house, the people who wrote it are sometimes not even around anymore, or have moved into other positions, etc. If it was contracted out, the company may be out of business or simply can't upgrade the system on the cheap, due to having to basically start over from scratch. If it's packaged 3rd party industry software, like e-billing or medical records stuff, which can run anywhere from ten to several thousand dollars in upgrade and licensing costs, management will generally take the opinion of "if it still works, we're not upgrading it."
In the end, I think it truly does come down to cost. Paying for in-house staff to design a system doesn't make much sense these days, even when the alternative is to deal with predatory licensing contracts. Companies tend to buy into something once, and use it until it's cheaper to upgrade than to fix or recover from a failure. And really, I can't blame them, because corporate software isn't cheap, isn't noticed unless it fails, and usually works just fine.
Basically, it's the same reasons why homeowners don't generally replace water heaters or washer and dryers unless they fail, even if a newer model has more features or saves on electricity or whatever.
That's exactly the reason why they are doing this. People already entrenched in the industry are paying upgrade prices, and people new to it are pirating due to the prohibitively expensive cost of entry. Both cases are lost profit for Adobe, so forcing people to upgrade more often (and for more money), and lowering the barrier for entry to new people, makes for a very smart move on Adobe's part. In the long run, it will also curb piracy, as older versions will be less useful.
It sucks for consumers, but running a business means pleasing your customers only as much as is required for them to give you money. There is no real competition in Adobe's market, and they know it.
That's not entirely true. Adobe could easily kill or hinder backwards compatibility with newer versions of CC, essentially forcing people to upgrade if they ever want to share files with someone on a newer version. They could get really bitchy about it, and break plugin and brush compatibility and such. It may not be a big deal right away, but in 3 or 4 years, I think it will be.
I doubt GIMP will benefit much. Anyone who wants to pirate CS5 or 6 will still be able to. The only way GIMP will get more traction is if the program is actually improved at a more reasonable pace, which I don't see happening any time soon. And since there aren't any other good alternatives to Photoshop right now, people will just continue pirating Adobe products.
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Microsoft will pretty much continue to dominate where it matters the most to them, financially, in the business market. The sad thing is that they are completely open to being taken down even there, but no one seems ready to compete with them at the point. Apple left the business and server industry, and has even set aside the professional industry (content creators) by not at all keeping up with their desktop options.
Active Directory is still king in most companies, and it's also probably the hardest single thing to migrate away from. As long as that doesn't change (meaning someone releases a viable competitor that can seamless replace it), Microsoft will stay profitable.
They can drop the ball on Windows stuff all they want and it won't make much difference in their revenue. Now, Office is another story...
I see the point, it just seems like the article makes it sound like his fridge isn't really malfunctioning; rather it's just really old and happens to blast out interference. It seems to be similar to older microwaves and cordless phones that can interfere with the 2.4Hrtz frequency.
I'm really curious about how they could enforce something like making him remove the device. It's not his fault their network is impacted by a completely unrelated device. Did they offer to buy him a new one?
Fosters is just the Aussie version of Budweiser. People there drink it, but no one seems to own up to it publicly.
It's like this in Alaska. We have offices going all over the place, from Anchorage to various parts of the north slope, and I can't imagine the situation changing much anytime soon.
I imagine most dictators don't like any tool which gives people the power of communication.
Also realize that computer science isn't interesting to a lot of people, and you can't really change that. I never tried out for the football team in High School because I didn't find football interesting. That's not because football is a crappy game, or that the school's program was bad; I just wasn't interested.
As long as you understand that you will very likely get robbed, or have your laptop stolen at some point, I'd go into something like this with a learn-as-you-go attitude. After all, it's supposed to be an adventure, right? Gain some world knowledge from first hand experience and whatnot. Just make sure you're saving your work remotely somehow, probably through some cloud service, and that your credentials and personal identity information isn't easily available to the first person who swipes your phone or laptop.
Seriously consider getting remote wipe software for both, as well.
As for the other stuff... hostels are, by their very nature, community areas. Most have space to break out a laptop and get internet access, but you are very much sharing the area with other strangers. Again, theft is a huge issue at these places, to the point that you might return to from taking a piss only find your laptop stolen.
There are also some security-related issues to consider, if you are going to be hopping from one country to another. Many will flat out require access to your laptop just to pass through, and if you have it encrypted (which you should), they'll demand access to the encrypted data as well, or else confiscate it while you miss your flight. It can be a real big pain in the ass. So what you want to do is setup your laptop with a standard unencrypted Windows OS install that you use for random internet crap like Facebook or general browsing, and maybe a few games. Then setup a second hidden install of whatever OS you prefer, and use it for your *real* work. TrueCrypt handles this for the purpose of plausible deniability, although any encryption software should be able to handle it. The basic idea is that, if you get stopped at customs, you can happily give them access to your laptop and let them log in and see your mundane OS install with normal internet crap, without raising any flags about whatever work you are doing.
And it really doesn't matter what kind of work you are doing, either, because the security guys at checkpoints could easily decide that the crazy-looking computer code for your gaming pet project might really be stolen state secrets. Or that the photos you took of some Buddhist temple could be considered spy activity. Crazy people are crazy, and the last thing you want is get sent to some labor camp in the middle of your dream vacation.
I'm sure people would care more about your creepy glasses if they new what they were. Most people aren't really going to equate chunky glasses with hidden cameras, so of course no one seemed to have minded yours.
This is why Microsoft has been so vague about saying anything involving the used game market, or console-level DRM. What they are basically doing is setting up a system where publishers can build DRM right into the game under the guise of "extra processing power" so that when the backlash starts, Microsoft can sit back and tell everyone to take it up with the publishers.
Further taking away from the idea that games will be able to use extra processing power for actual gameplay and stuff, is that game developers always aim for the lowest common denominator when setting performance benchmarks. They aren't going to design a game that can take much advantage of cloud computing because they know full not everyone has high quality broadband with no bandwidth cap. Sure, you might see the occasional turn based strategy games or flight sims using it for real-world data or weather or something, but by and large it will be ignored for any significant features.
Microsoft knows it's about DRM, but doesn't want to take the bad press for saying so. Publishers know it's about DRM, and are willing to take the bad press for utilizing it as such.
Anyone who buys an MMO knows what they are getting into. It's online because that's the point. What MSFT is doing is opening the gates to encourage publishers to add in their own DRM schemes so that, when customers complain, MSFT can sit back and say "we don't control DRM or used games or anything; takes that up with the publishers!"
They aren't even bothering to go after the US market. They're focusing on smaller, less competitive markets like China, Europe, and North Africa. Markets outside of the US are much less screwed up with monopolies and such.
Once the next-gen consoles are released, there will be so few people playing Nintendo games that none of this will matter. Even EA has stopped making WiiU games.
I doubt Google is concerned about any political fallout in Ireland, even after than stop laughing at this request. Ireland has a crappy enough job market as it is, without punishing the companies who are there for something like this. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot.
I just wish there was more consistency to open source projects. For every OpenStack there are craploads of half-finished projects that are basically in a perpetual beta stage. Documentation is spotty, features are spotty. Hell, even the names of most open source stuff seems to suck. It's hard to sell management on something called GIMP as an alternative. Even Libre Office sounds like shit.
From what I understand, apple and publishers basically all wanted to set ebook prices for the range of 12.99 to 14.99. Apple threatened to (and did) block apps for publishers that didn't agree or didn't jump on board right away, as leverage. It's kind of a big deal because Apple was hoping to negotiate things in a way to prevent wholesale outlets, like Amazon, from having a choice in setting ebook pricing by having having deals with all the publishers that released all the ebooks through Apple first (at full book price). This is in contrast to Amazon, who wanted to market ebooks as less-expensive alternatives to physical books, probably to reflect the fact that you aren't buying a physical product. Since Amazon isn't exactly a small fish in that pond, some publishers were very concerned about pissing Amazon off, although they all did eventually say yeah we'll follow apples lead, partly due to Apple blocking their apps otherwise.
I think publishers ultimately wanted to move into a position where they can sell ebooks at the normal physical book price (complete with DRM and everything), but didn't want to kill relations with Amazon in the process. For the publishers side, one of the main issues they had was that Apple was demanding the normal 30% off the top for every ebook sale, which was in many cases worse than letting Amazon give its discounts. But again, since Apple was threatening with the whole app blocking thing, the went with it.
It's worth noting that all of the publishers have settled with DoJ without a fight.
I'm pretty sure the whole lawsuit thing is just a matter of getting one or two precedents on the books, so they can threaten people with lawsuits saying "settle out of court for $10k or risk owing $200k like *these* people... I'm sure they have a payment plan option ready to go and everything because once they get one payment from someone, it's basically an admission of debt ownership.
If we were to be able to build an AI, what would we teach it? Stuff that's taught in school? Would we do anything to simulate social development? Would we let it read through 4chan?
So much of what makes us intelligent, rather than simply smart, is through experiences. So how would we simulate experiences?
In my experience, the only people who get rewarded for cost savings are the ones in management. They're the ones who get the bonuses and gratitude of the people who actually run the company. As a result, there is literally no upside to turning down a vendor-recommendation, yet plenty of potential blame if you do. That being said, if you really think an upgrade isn't needed, just submit official vendor recommendations, and maybe a section detailing the alternative, including stuff like expected costs savings versus risk of hardware failure for keeping the "older" stuff in place, etc.. Make sure you include hard numbers, when it comes to the cost of upgrading versus the cost and risks of not. If they decide to save the money and not upgrade, they did so will full-documented knowledge of any risks that come with it. Keep a copy of your recommendation, and their response, in your CYA file.
It's also worth noting that IT guys get something out of upgrading vendor stuff before absolutely necessary: experience with newer equipment. It's fun to be able to play with the latest and greatest, and also allows for a nice method of updating your skill set on a resume. You always want an exit strategy, so the last thing you need is to look for a new job with a resume filled with outdated vendor equipment. Unless it's something really rare or specialized, of course.
Companies that are using backend software that lacks support for modern clients can very well be an expensive thing to upgrade. If it's developed in-house, the people who wrote it are sometimes not even around anymore, or have moved into other positions, etc. If it was contracted out, the company may be out of business or simply can't upgrade the system on the cheap, due to having to basically start over from scratch. If it's packaged 3rd party industry software, like e-billing or medical records stuff, which can run anywhere from ten to several thousand dollars in upgrade and licensing costs, management will generally take the opinion of "if it still works, we're not upgrading it."
In the end, I think it truly does come down to cost. Paying for in-house staff to design a system doesn't make much sense these days, even when the alternative is to deal with predatory licensing contracts. Companies tend to buy into something once, and use it until it's cheaper to upgrade than to fix or recover from a failure. And really, I can't blame them, because corporate software isn't cheap, isn't noticed unless it fails, and usually works just fine.
Basically, it's the same reasons why homeowners don't generally replace water heaters or washer and dryers unless they fail, even if a newer model has more features or saves on electricity or whatever.
That's exactly the reason why they are doing this. People already entrenched in the industry are paying upgrade prices, and people new to it are pirating due to the prohibitively expensive cost of entry. Both cases are lost profit for Adobe, so forcing people to upgrade more often (and for more money), and lowering the barrier for entry to new people, makes for a very smart move on Adobe's part. In the long run, it will also curb piracy, as older versions will be less useful.
It sucks for consumers, but running a business means pleasing your customers only as much as is required for them to give you money. There is no real competition in Adobe's market, and they know it.
There really needs to be more "packages" available than just one or everything. Something like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for $29 a month.
That's not entirely true. Adobe could easily kill or hinder backwards compatibility with newer versions of CC, essentially forcing people to upgrade if they ever want to share files with someone on a newer version. They could get really bitchy about it, and break plugin and brush compatibility and such. It may not be a big deal right away, but in 3 or 4 years, I think it will be.
I doubt GIMP will benefit much. Anyone who wants to pirate CS5 or 6 will still be able to. The only way GIMP will get more traction is if the program is actually improved at a more reasonable pace, which I don't see happening any time soon. And since there aren't any other good alternatives to Photoshop right now, people will just continue pirating Adobe products.
It works with youtube ads, so I can't imagine having a problem with these.