Yes. Apparently it's especially annoying when you are demonstrating something to a client and they get to see all the websites you were exploring the night before...
It's depressing to see this rubbish modded as insightful.
You seem to have forgotten that Microsoft is a public company, with shareholders. They can't sit back and live on the interest from their cash stockpile.
Here's something to think about - Microsoft's cash assets have decreased by more than half in four years. Apple's cash assets are increasing rapidly, and are now nearly equal to Microsoft's. Would you care to apply your logic to Apple?
I'm sure it's a common experience to Slashdotters to have a friend/relative show them their PC that they think it has a virus because it runs so slowly, when of course the reason it is running so slowly is all the anti-virus crap installed on it.
In the example she used in the test, all the cells are divided by black lines, the zebra striping is very faint, and the table is narrow. It's not a surprise she didn't see much difference, the experiment looks like it was almost designed to come up with that result.
If she tried it again without the black lines dividing the cells, with less faint stripes and with a wider table, she would have come up with a very different result.
Automatically processing email orders using a plug-in for Outlook is in my opinion a pretty horrible technical solution, and one I would never implement or recommend.
Much better to have an online form that people can fill in when submitting orders, which can then go directly into SAP or whatever. Including the Outlook application in such a solution is, in my opinion, a horrible hack.
Of course currencies and economies are never static, but I never used that word, I used the word "stable". All governments aim for strong, stable currencies. If you get huge fluctuations over relatively short periods of time, then something is very wrong.
It's not healthy. Healthy is a strong, stable economy with a strong, stable currency. The dollar is dropping like a stone. This has lots of negative consequences, which far out-way the benefits.
The fact that European companies find it cheaper to employ people in the USA than other countries is not a good thing. The ability to outsource to other countries where labour is cheaper is a sign of economic strength, not weakness.
Five years ago 100,000 USD was almost 100,000 EUR, which is a big annual income. Two years ago it was 85,000 EUR, still pretty high. Now it is about 64,000 EUR.
When Microsoft falls, it's going to fall big-time, and the size of the crash will take everyone by surprise. Microsoft is still a company with basically two extremely profitable cash cows (OS and Office) which are both under threat. Both of these huge cash flows could disappear fairly quickly. I predict their profits will stay stable or show a slight decline for two or three years, and then suddenly they'll be a huge drop in profits - perhaps a 40% drop, and then everything will go to crap for them over the following few years.
If they play their cards right over the next few years, they could prevent this happening, but unfortunately their current actions suggest they've lost the plot.
Thanks for your considered response. I really seem to have touched a nerve with my original post.
I think what many people from the USA (at least the kind that have responded here) don't appreciate is how alien gun culture is in other first world countries.
I'm nearly 40 and I've never heard of anyone being shot in the street or their home, I've never known anyone get shot, I've never seen a gun pulled in the street (even by police), I've never known anyone who has had a gun pointed at them.
The only criminal violence I've ever come across is people getting beaten up, and that's pretty rare. And I've lived most of my life in the center of various big European cities.
True story-Last year nearby the temp place I was working at a guy robbed a nail salon.He walk in,shoots all 4 girls in the place,then goes over an empties the cash register and the purses.
Here's my true story: last year, nobody I know of got shot. Or the year before that. In fact, I've never known anyone get shot, not even an acquaintance of a friend of a friend.
Oh wait a minute! Several years ago, a friend of my parents had their bag snatched. A guy just grabbed it and ran away. And I do recall that a friend of mine once went into a shop where they gave him change from a 10 rather than a 20, and he didn't realise until after. He was really angry about that.
It's hell living in Europe. We don't have the freedom to carry guns like you do in the USA -- that would make everything sooo much safer.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes. Apparently it's especially annoying when you are demonstrating something to a client and they get to see all the websites you were exploring the night before...
The question is, how did this change occur? Did they put something in his tea?
Joking aside I'd really like to know how this dramatic change came about.
When I said that powerful dark forces will be at work, why did you think I was referring to the Republicans? (Oh, wait...)
There are whole countries that would like to see the Republicans back in power, as well as major global industries.
Actually re-reading your post I'm not sure it's worth my time trying to reason with you. You seem naive beyond belief.
I think you over-estimate the intelligence of the average voter.
"don't change the leader during war time"
"democrats are soft on terrorism"
"we have the experience"
etc etc...
Unfortunately, I think there are going to be powerful dark forces at work to try get the Republicans back in again.
People are easily swayed. Another terrorist attack in the USA I think could sway the elections.
What is the U5? I've done a google search for it and nothing comes up.
Looks like you can just make stuff up and the Slashdot won't notice.
I was being sarcastic about the lawyers on Slashdot.
This is interesting from a legal perspective. Would copying one of these be legal for the home user for home use? You have paid for it, after all.
Are any of the many lawyers that read Slashdot able to shed a light on this?
It's depressing to see this rubbish modded as insightful.
You seem to have forgotten that Microsoft is a public company, with shareholders. They can't sit back and live on the interest from their cash stockpile.
Here's something to think about - Microsoft's cash assets have decreased by more than half in four years. Apple's cash assets are increasing rapidly, and are now nearly equal to Microsoft's. Would you care to apply your logic to Apple?
Can someone please explain this to those of us that are not from the USA.
I'm sure it's a common experience to Slashdotters to have a friend/relative show them their PC that they think it has a virus because it runs so slowly, when of course the reason it is running so slowly is all the anti-virus crap installed on it.
Yes, Harrison Ford is as old as my dad, and I think I would be too old to play Indiana Jones.
Well, I would prefer it if they made policy changes that actually changed people lives, like dropping their stupid stance on condoms.
In the example she used in the test, all the cells are divided by black lines, the zebra striping is very faint, and the table is narrow. It's not a surprise she didn't see much difference, the experiment looks like it was almost designed to come up with that result.
If she tried it again without the black lines dividing the cells, with less faint stripes and with a wider table, she would have come up with a very different result.
There you go - different perspectives.
Automatically processing email orders using a plug-in for Outlook is in my opinion a pretty horrible technical solution, and one I would never implement or recommend.
Much better to have an online form that people can fill in when submitting orders, which can then go directly into SAP or whatever. Including the Outlook application in such a solution is, in my opinion, a horrible hack.
Well, perhaps we have different perspectives.
A lot of my clients are fast moving technology companies and they certainly are moving many things onto the web, and that process is accelerating.
Of course big enterprises and smaller companies in slower moving industries will be the last to move. But it is only a matter of time...
Of course currencies and economies are never static, but I never used that word, I used the word "stable". All governments aim for strong, stable currencies. If you get huge fluctuations over relatively short periods of time, then something is very wrong.
Let me guess, you have some kind of vested interest in MS Office...
In case you haven't noticed, the cool developers aren't working on Windows apps any more. There's a new development platform called the web.
Sure, it's easy to laugh at stuff like Google Docs today. But that stuff is the future, and it will be the death of MS Office.
What, exactly, is a serious threat to Office?
The death of Office application suites.
It's not healthy. Healthy is a strong, stable economy with a strong, stable currency. The dollar is dropping like a stone. This has lots of negative consequences, which far out-way the benefits.
The fact that European companies find it cheaper to employ people in the USA than other countries is not a good thing. The ability to outsource to other countries where labour is cheaper is a sign of economic strength, not weakness.
Five years ago 100,000 USD was almost 100,000 EUR, which is a big annual income. Two years ago it was 85,000 EUR, still pretty high. Now it is about 64,000 EUR.
When Microsoft falls, it's going to fall big-time, and the size of the crash will take everyone by surprise. Microsoft is still a company with basically two extremely profitable cash cows (OS and Office) which are both under threat. Both of these huge cash flows could disappear fairly quickly. I predict their profits will stay stable or show a slight decline for two or three years, and then suddenly they'll be a huge drop in profits - perhaps a 40% drop, and then everything will go to crap for them over the following few years.
If they play their cards right over the next few years, they could prevent this happening, but unfortunately their current actions suggest they've lost the plot.
Yes, but $100k is now worth relatively little in proper money.
I was going to make a joke about this but actually its not funny.
Thanks for your considered response. I really seem to have touched a nerve with my original post.
I think what many people from the USA (at least the kind that have responded here) don't appreciate is how alien gun culture is in other first world countries.
I'm nearly 40 and I've never heard of anyone being shot in the street or their home, I've never known anyone get shot, I've never seen a gun pulled in the street (even by police), I've never known anyone who has had a gun pointed at them.
The only criminal violence I've ever come across is people getting beaten up, and that's pretty rare. And I've lived most of my life in the center of various big European cities.
True story-Last year nearby the temp place I was working at a guy robbed a nail salon.He walk in,shoots all 4 girls in the place,then goes over an empties the cash register and the purses.
Here's my true story: last year, nobody I know of got shot. Or the year before that. In fact, I've never known anyone get shot, not even an acquaintance of a friend of a friend.
Oh wait a minute! Several years ago, a friend of my parents had their bag snatched. A guy just grabbed it and ran away. And I do recall that a friend of mine once went into a shop where they gave him change from a 10 rather than a 20, and he didn't realise until after. He was really angry about that.
It's hell living in Europe. We don't have the freedom to carry guns like you do in the USA -- that would make everything sooo much safer.