Just like all the major manufacturers shipping with Windows pre-installed and charging you a license fee by default should be anti trust if you ever saw it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_refund
Or that the few manufacturers that dare to let you buy laptops without Windows are forced to charge you retail prices for the license like Clevo, Sager -- you have to pay $99 for a Windows license from them, you really think Dell pays Microsoft $99 per windows license?
It is good to hear this from the manufacturers, but I wouldn't take it for granted yet or ever. The manufacturers and Microsoft should be made to feel that they will face massive legal trouble and a repeat of anti trust and monopoly cases if they go ahead. Linux users and anyone else who cares about consumer choice really should make sure this issue doesn't fade away from the news and public debate. I would not be surprised if some time in the future someone sneaks in a machine where it's impossible or unreasonably difficult to install windows.
With the emergence of Apple and all the criticism they receive for some policies, people seem to be forgetting this is Microsoft we are talking about.
- They still bundle Internet Explorer with windows despite it being completely unnecessary. I don't care what components are shared between IE and Windows, I shouldn't be forced to open up Internet Explorer after installing Windows, Windows should ship with other browsers or at least give you the choice to pick a browser to download and install the first time you turn on a laptop or when you install windows - with many consumers, if they open windows and find an icon to IE half the battle is lost, and the amount of time users spend in the browser keep increasing.
- More importantly, almost ALL non Apple laptop brans still ship their laptops with Windows. You still have no choice to ask for a computer with no OS and save on license fees.
- Most laptops still ship with junk like Office starter edition which is a completely useless piece of software with limited functionality solely intended to push users to buy Microsoft Office
This is how Microsoft works, it is fundamental to their business model. People who think this is a non issue should not forget history, or try to buy a Dell or HP laptop without Windows installed.
I have read that you can refuse to accept the Microsoft license agreement for Windows on a laptop and demand a refund on the license price for Windows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_refund
However very few know about this and the process is so convoluted with no guarantees that it's not worth anyone's time to bother except as a matter of principle.
Does anyone seriously put it past Microsoft and the OEMs to implement something similar with SecureBoot? Here's you new laptop with Windows, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office starter edition, if you would like to install Linux, you have to contact your manufacturer, ask them to send you an unlock code by post. Or you know you could just use Windows which you have already paid for..
Depends on how you look at it - the amount of radioactive material released isn't the sole indicator. No one has died yet from direct exposure to radiation, I remember the reported deaths of two workers but they were killed by the tsunami, not radiation. However it is estimated that long term there will be a small percentage increase in cancer cases. There were deaths among hospital patients in the hurried and botched evacuation of the area. Still, the human impact is absolutely dwarfed by the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami. I don't think any credible voice has denied the extent of TEPCO's incompetence and failure.
However, if this is the worst case scenario with previous generation reactors, it is rather insignificant compared to the magnitude of the crisis facing humanity in the very near future. I generally despise the far left for their dogged ideological immovability, which is why one person surprised me after Fukushima.
George Monbiot is a journalist for the left leaning Guardian newspaper in Britain. He has strong left wing views and sympathies with environmental movements. Until Fukushima, he was a vocal opponent of nuclear power. And after Fukushima, he changed his views in one of the most amazing displays of intellectual honesty I have ever seen: http://www.monbiot.com/2011/03/21/going-critical/ He has continued to be a strong advocate, taking on people from 'green' movements he previously supported and exposing how the movement has misled the world about the dangers of radiation and nuclear power: http://www.monbiot.com/2011/04/04/evidence-meltdown/ He continues to take on the very unscientific, almost irrational opinions in the green movement: http://www.monbiot.com/2011/08/08/the-moral-case-for-nuclear-power/
The point is, he is one of the few who demonstrated the capacity to be rational. I continue to be amazed just how badly misguided and stubborn otherwise intelligent, rational people are about anything related to nuclear power. Very few take the initiative that Monbiot did and closely examine all the information thrown at us by the media, environmentalist movements and the plainly ignorant.
There are many lessons to be learnt from Fukushima, but the world is learning all the wrong ones. It is concerning to see two engineering powerhouses, Germany and Japan abandon nuclear power. With Japan it was quite inevitable after the events, there is a point where the reasoning ability of the general public breaks down, even in a highly educated and technologically advanced nation like Japan. However, it was incredibly disappointing to see Germany pick the cowardly and backward looking option of abandoning nuclear power. Now they are again importing power from France, and the question I wish more had asked is do they really think Germany would be unaffected in the case of a large scale nuclear disaster in France?
The worldwide drive pushing for the acceptance of the validity of the science and evidence supporting the existence of climate change has involved robust debate and repeated re-examination and testing of the science and supporting evidence in a classic application of the scientific method. Recent evidence may be the tipping point and the support for deniers should dwindle relentlessly hereon. A different kind of milestone is the fact that a democracy like Australia voted for a pioneering carbon tax; the vote represents an implicit acceptance of Anthropogenic global warming. However the ultimate goal would be for the idea to be overwhelmingly acknowledged around the world. This may sound optimistic, but then I am sure no one a hundred years ago would have expected the overwhelming agreement on the basic principles of human rights, equal rights for women, racial equality.
And if others had not shone Apple the way, we wouldn't have phones at all, or phones would just be capable of making calls and nothing else. You cannot seriously believe that UI innovations are more important than the fundamental technologies that had been developed by companies other than Apple that Apple built upon? Or do you think the iPhone mysteriously appeared in a vacuum as the direct successor to the analog telephone? You really think Apple would be able to 'revolutionize' things without the work of Palm, Windows CE, Symbian and others that came before it? What if they had all been granted patents on trivial things like 'touching an icon to activate an application'? In a similar way, Apple's patents will stop the next generation of inventors, the next revolution. Or are you one of those who believe that the iPhone is the pinnacle of technology and nothing will match it except Apple's incremental improvements?
just a reminder to us that Microsoft hasn't become any less evil just because apple are pushing the boundaries of evil.
I will buy the droid razr and the next nook color because of this and because they are great devices not made by cowardly companies.
oh and Microsoft, please sue amazon please, that might turn out to be fun.
this is pure extortion 'you violate our patents we can't tell you which ones'. Why don't you pay us a small percentage of your sales to make the problem go away?
Yes and communism should work perfectly.
Seriously, idealism doesn't go far. Ideas to improve the world should keep human nature in mind. So crack down on false claims in advertising. But people do not buy things based on rational informed decisions, and that is NOT going to change. It's better to try to regulate advertising keeping that in mind rather than come up with idealist ideas like the above, which you will carry to your grave as you will never convince enough people about them.
The judgement is based on broad patents that would be violated by any Android touchscreen based phone or tablet in Australia
This goes way beyond the German ruling as it is not based on a design patent. Apple can now ask for a ban on any android device in Australia and it will most likely be granted. You can't blame Samsung for asserting FRAND patents, this ruling has equal anti trust/monopoly implications as it grants Apple a monopoly on tablet devices in Australia and could be used to do the same with smartphones. Apple have refused to license these patents.
Software patents are now hurting consumers directly, beyond the tax we have been paying on devices that goes to play patent trolls and patent lawyers e.g. the $5-10 on every android device that goes to Microsoft. Now they are being used to kill consumer choice.
I don't know if they sold a million, but they definitely sold over 20k. They probably sold over 20k just in Australia, where when they dropped prices to $300, it was impossible to find the tablet in stores.
As far as the device goes, it was mildly competent but in tablet terms it's primitive, any tablet running a phone OS is like that. Samsung have moved on and brought out far better devices and just announced the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which is a completely different story altogether. Meanwhile Lenovo have released me too chunky tablets that noone cares about. Samsung are the ONLY company competing with Apple on their terms, they are also the only ones that scare Apple right now. Lenovo can shut up and go back to the lab and figure out why their tablet is twice as thick and heavy as the competition and so expensive when it's basically mobile phone hardware glued to a larger screen and larger battery.
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Just like all the major manufacturers shipping with Windows pre-installed and charging you a license fee by default should be anti trust if you ever saw it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_refund
Or that the few manufacturers that dare to let you buy laptops without Windows are forced to charge you retail prices for the license like Clevo, Sager -- you have to pay $99 for a Windows license from them, you really think Dell pays Microsoft $99 per windows license?
It is good to hear this from the manufacturers, but I wouldn't take it for granted yet or ever. The manufacturers and Microsoft should be made to feel that they will face massive legal trouble and a repeat of anti trust and monopoly cases if they go ahead. Linux users and anyone else who cares about consumer choice really should make sure this issue doesn't fade away from the news and public debate. I would not be surprised if some time in the future someone sneaks in a machine where it's impossible or unreasonably difficult to install windows.
With the emergence of Apple and all the criticism they receive for some policies, people seem to be forgetting this is Microsoft we are talking about.
- They still bundle Internet Explorer with windows despite it being completely unnecessary. I don't care what components are shared between IE and Windows, I shouldn't be forced to open up Internet Explorer after installing Windows, Windows should ship with other browsers or at least give you the choice to pick a browser to download and install the first time you turn on a laptop or when you install windows - with many consumers, if they open windows and find an icon to IE half the battle is lost, and the amount of time users spend in the browser keep increasing.
- More importantly, almost ALL non Apple laptop brans still ship their laptops with Windows. You still have no choice to ask for a computer with no OS and save on license fees.
- Most laptops still ship with junk like Office starter edition which is a completely useless piece of software with limited functionality solely intended to push users to buy Microsoft Office
This is how Microsoft works, it is fundamental to their business model. People who think this is a non issue should not forget history, or try to buy a Dell or HP laptop without Windows installed.
I have read that you can refuse to accept the Microsoft license agreement for Windows on a laptop and demand a refund on the license price for Windows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_refund
However very few know about this and the process is so convoluted with no guarantees that it's not worth anyone's time to bother except as a matter of principle.
Does anyone seriously put it past Microsoft and the OEMs to implement something similar with SecureBoot? Here's you new laptop with Windows, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office starter edition, if you would like to install Linux, you have to contact your manufacturer, ask them to send you an unlock code by post. Or you know you could just use Windows which you have already paid for..
Depends on how you look at it - the amount of radioactive material released isn't the sole indicator.
No one has died yet from direct exposure to radiation, I remember the reported deaths of two workers but they were killed by the tsunami, not radiation.
However it is estimated that long term there will be a small percentage increase in cancer cases.
There were deaths among hospital patients in the hurried and botched evacuation of the area.
Still, the human impact is absolutely dwarfed by the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami.
I don't think any credible voice has denied the extent of TEPCO's incompetence and failure.
However, if this is the worst case scenario with previous generation reactors, it is rather insignificant compared to the magnitude of the crisis facing humanity in the very near future. I generally despise the far left for their dogged ideological immovability, which is why one person surprised me after Fukushima.
George Monbiot is a journalist for the left leaning Guardian newspaper in Britain. He has strong left wing views and sympathies with environmental movements. Until Fukushima, he was a vocal opponent of nuclear power. And after Fukushima, he changed his views in one of the most amazing displays of intellectual honesty I have ever seen: http://www.monbiot.com/2011/03/21/going-critical/
He has continued to be a strong advocate, taking on people from 'green' movements he previously supported and exposing how the movement has misled the world about the dangers of radiation and nuclear power: http://www.monbiot.com/2011/04/04/evidence-meltdown/
He continues to take on the very unscientific, almost irrational opinions in the green movement: http://www.monbiot.com/2011/08/08/the-moral-case-for-nuclear-power/
The point is, he is one of the few who demonstrated the capacity to be rational. I continue to be amazed just how badly misguided and stubborn otherwise intelligent, rational people are about anything related to nuclear power. Very few take the initiative that Monbiot did and closely examine all the information thrown at us by the media, environmentalist movements and the plainly ignorant.
There are many lessons to be learnt from Fukushima, but the world is learning all the wrong ones. It is concerning to see two engineering powerhouses, Germany and Japan abandon nuclear power. With Japan it was quite inevitable after the events, there is a point where the reasoning ability of the general public breaks down, even in a highly educated and technologically advanced nation like Japan. However, it was incredibly disappointing to see Germany pick the cowardly and backward looking option of abandoning nuclear power. Now they are again importing power from France, and the question I wish more had asked is do they really think Germany would be unaffected in the case of a large scale nuclear disaster in France?
The worldwide drive pushing for the acceptance of the validity of the science and evidence supporting the existence of climate change has involved robust debate and repeated re-examination and testing of the science and supporting evidence in a classic application of the scientific method. Recent evidence may be the tipping point and the support for deniers should dwindle relentlessly hereon.
A different kind of milestone is the fact that a democracy like Australia voted for a pioneering carbon tax; the vote represents an implicit acceptance of Anthropogenic global warming. However the ultimate goal would be for the idea to be overwhelmingly acknowledged around the world. This may sound optimistic, but then I am sure no one a hundred years ago would have expected the overwhelming agreement on the basic principles of human rights, equal rights for women, racial equality.
There needs to
And if others had not shone Apple the way, we wouldn't have phones at all, or phones would just be capable of making calls and nothing else. You cannot seriously believe that UI innovations are more important than the fundamental technologies that had been developed by companies other than Apple that Apple built upon? Or do you think the iPhone mysteriously appeared in a vacuum as the direct successor to the analog telephone? You really think Apple would be able to 'revolutionize' things without the work of Palm, Windows CE, Symbian and others that came before it? What if they had all been granted patents on trivial things like 'touching an icon to activate an application'? In a similar way, Apple's patents will stop the next generation of inventors, the next revolution. Or are you one of those who believe that the iPhone is the pinnacle of technology and nothing will match it except Apple's incremental improvements?
just a reminder to us that Microsoft hasn't become any less evil just because apple are pushing the boundaries of evil.
I will buy the droid razr and the next nook color because of this and because they are great devices not made by cowardly companies.
oh and Microsoft, please sue amazon please, that might turn out to be fun.
this is pure extortion 'you violate our patents we can't tell you which ones'. Why don't you pay us a small percentage of your sales to make the problem go away?
Yes and communism should work perfectly. Seriously, idealism doesn't go far. Ideas to improve the world should keep human nature in mind. So crack down on false claims in advertising. But people do not buy things based on rational informed decisions, and that is NOT going to change. It's better to try to regulate advertising keeping that in mind rather than come up with idealist ideas like the above, which you will carry to your grave as you will never convince enough people about them.
Much as I dislike Florian Muller, and his anti Google shill rants posing as 'news', he says the same thing: http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-patent-enables-apple-to-shut.html
The judgement is based on broad patents that would be violated by any Android touchscreen based phone or tablet in Australia This goes way beyond the German ruling as it is not based on a design patent. Apple can now ask for a ban on any android device in Australia and it will most likely be granted. You can't blame Samsung for asserting FRAND patents, this ruling has equal anti trust/monopoly implications as it grants Apple a monopoly on tablet devices in Australia and could be used to do the same with smartphones. Apple have refused to license these patents. Software patents are now hurting consumers directly, beyond the tax we have been paying on devices that goes to play patent trolls and patent lawyers e.g. the $5-10 on every android device that goes to Microsoft. Now they are being used to kill consumer choice.
I don't know if they sold a million, but they definitely sold over 20k. They probably sold over 20k just in Australia, where when they dropped prices to $300, it was impossible to find the tablet in stores. As far as the device goes, it was mildly competent but in tablet terms it's primitive, any tablet running a phone OS is like that. Samsung have moved on and brought out far better devices and just announced the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which is a completely different story altogether. Meanwhile Lenovo have released me too chunky tablets that noone cares about. Samsung are the ONLY company competing with Apple on their terms, they are also the only ones that scare Apple right now. Lenovo can shut up and go back to the lab and figure out why their tablet is twice as thick and heavy as the competition and so expensive when it's basically mobile phone hardware glued to a larger screen and larger battery.