Spend $299m on squishing bugs, improving stability and speed. Release a free update to vista. Use the rest of the money to sponsor a few independent studies, a gaming competition or two etc.
The PR will take care of itself.
Oh, and if Bill Gates is going to be involved, show him as the quirky, nerdy, uncool guy that he is... to the extreme. Trying to change his image to something else always fails and makes him look pathetic. Use his real personality, exagerate it and go for the surreal. This kind of guy getting this reach is surreal already.
Nice plan, if it weren't for this part:
"make him use it every day or get a new CEO"
Everywhere I've been so far, the making goes the other way around.
The public servants haven't been such for a long time. If you look at the laws our governments pass, you'll see more power to the corporations, police and big money and less and less protection for the people.
Our countries are being turned in gated communities with all powerful private security force, where 90% of us can't afford to live.
Like your sig. If the goverment can control cigarettes, because they are harmful to its people, then I think the government ought to protect the same people from being robbed of the value of their life/time/money.
Apple is going after the mass markets, people who will not spend $500 on a phone. The early adopters, apple geeks, and phone=status luxury users are already in, and now it's time to sell to the big hump on the bell curve.
And let's remember that with an iPhone comes the necessity to use iTunes, which introduces the users to apple software and makes the transition to Mac computer hardware likely...er.
I cheer for our white hard plastic robotic overlords! Oh, and don't tell me that Wall-e is not a plot to prepare the mass consciousness for their arrival!
You speak as if this is true and not just an opinion. How many such people do you personally know? I see this as a blanket generalization. The government replaced "people with no moral compass" with "terrorists" and created the imaginary monster we've been running from for most of the last decade.
Just because we're scared doesn't mean what we see is real.
So I am in charge and this is freaking everybody out and I gotta do something but there's no quick fix really but hey what a great opportunity to be in charge and do things... so, what is that I can do easily and make noise about it and look good... to my voters? Hey, look at the TV! Grannies against violence in video games... Eureka! gamers don't vote, grannies do. Here I come!
Not to "disable" the vessels -- the sattelites were not disabled/destroyed but "blinded."
Somehow I think that there are tools and procedures in place allowing for "blinding" or "deafening" said vessels whenever needed.
The word Hacker was initially intended to describe a smart tinkerer who finds inventive/ingenious solutions to problems from all areas of life ("hacks" a solution together). At some point big media started using the word to describe malicious programmers who use their abilities to compromise others' systems ("hacks into"...'s computers and steals...).
So here you have a word describing 2 different things.
For the "tinkerer/inventor" part of the Hacker population, finding out how something works, how it is broken, how it may be fixed is a joy -- the journey is the destination. The satisfaction of discovery and the recognition of peers is more than sufficient to feel satisified.
I am expressing my frustration, not trying to change things. Its a frustration with the tolerance to distortion for the sake of grabbing audience's attention. From my perspective it's beyond bias, just bad, cheap writing. So no compassion for the rest of humanity, just pissed off, thank you.
As for the rest of the people "who get indignant" - I can't answer for this stereotype based on your judgement.
"...creating sinkholes that open up under minivans with children inside..."
So does this mean that the holes somehow exercise a choice and only open if a minivan with children inside goes above them?
Or does it mean that someone chooses to use an anecdotal occurance to sensationalize a dull story?
Maybe someone who got a "writing" job by mistake.
</sarcasm>
Reading such lame and manipulated scoops pisses me off.
Imagine CD prices skyrocketing to $75 - $100. Windows Home edition costing $600, MS Office - $2500 and Photoshop - $3000. Halo2 - $300.
Just because the record and software companies suddently feel that these are fair prices they are entitled to.
The iTunes store starts selling songs for $10 a piece.
You are still getting $35-45k/year, still payihng same rent and taxes.
Now, consider your new approach to buying/obtaining software and music.
Congratulations, you now understand how the Russians feel. Companies should stop bitching at a market which doesn't support their insanity and adapt instead. It's ok to find the cheapest place in the world to produce your gizmo but don't be surprised if the people who you pay $3/day don't shake out $15 to give you 1000% profit.
This is arrogance and ignorance at their highest.
In the case of IP-based products whith almost zero duplication/distribution costs, at some point the companies selling them start printing money. After the costs of [initial investment] + [support for x time] + [advertising/distribution] + [media and packaging produced for pennies in china] has been covered, the profit on the software is humongous.
How about a cap on the money-printing part of the profit, at least in places with lower standards of living? Like, making 300% profit instead of 10000%? (made-up numbers)
I believe that if Photoshop cost $60 in Russia, people who use it professionally would be buying it.
Yes, I moved to the US from an eastern block country. Yes, they have no respect for insanely priced IP products there. Yes, I am OK with it.
Sony Executive: You were selected to do the voiceover for the new everquest game. Are you excited? Hollywood celebrity: Are you shitting me? No fscking way I do the voice of a troll! Sony Executive: Look at your contract. You are my bitch. Hollywood Celebrity (looking at contract): Hey, wait a... I know what I'll do! I'll change my name to the symbol "%&$()*&" and you won't own me anymore! Sony Executive: Sorry, this is already taken by Matt Damon. You are starting tomorrow. Hollywood celebrity: arrrrrrgh! Sony Executive: That's the spirit!
A dramatic increase in the userbase will also make the mozilla/firefox platform more attractive for exploit seekers/writers. Such increased level of "real-world testing" will benefit the quality of the browser in a very positive way if handled properly by the developers.
Slashdot Mirror
Seems that they don't want more money. They want full control, strict, enforced laws and then, much, much more money.
They are building a pay-per-play economy (or, see-an-ad-per-play), and we are the lobsters slowly being boiled.
Profit!
Spend $299m on squishing bugs, improving stability and speed. Release a free update to vista. Use the rest of the money to sponsor a few independent studies, a gaming competition or two etc.
The PR will take care of itself.
Oh, and if Bill Gates is going to be involved, show him as the quirky, nerdy, uncool guy that he is... to the extreme. Trying to change his image to something else always fails and makes him look pathetic. Use his real personality, exagerate it and go for the surreal. This kind of guy getting this reach is surreal already.
Nice plan, if it weren't for this part: "make him use it every day or get a new CEO" Everywhere I've been so far, the making goes the other way around.
The public servants haven't been such for a long time. If you look at the laws our governments pass, you'll see more power to the corporations, police and big money and less and less protection for the people.
Our countries are being turned in gated communities with all powerful private security force, where 90% of us can't afford to live.
Hmmm, have we seen this somewhere before?
Start getting used to it, especially in China. In 20-30 years we'll be working in sweatshops for our Chinese overlords.
Like your sig. If the goverment can control cigarettes, because they are harmful to its people, then I think the government ought to protect the same people from being robbed of the value of their life/time/money.
Apple is going after the mass markets, people who will not spend $500 on a phone. The early adopters, apple geeks, and phone=status luxury users are already in, and now it's time to sell to the big hump on the bell curve.
And let's remember that with an iPhone comes the necessity to use iTunes, which introduces the users to apple software and makes the transition to Mac computer hardware likely...er. I cheer for our white hard plastic robotic overlords! Oh, and don't tell me that Wall-e is not a plot to prepare the mass consciousness for their arrival!
You speak as if this is true and not just an opinion. How many such people do you personally know? I see this as a blanket generalization. The government replaced "people with no moral compass" with "terrorists" and created the imaginary monster we've been running from for most of the last decade.
Just because we're scared doesn't mean what we see is real.
So I am in charge and this is freaking everybody out and I gotta do something but there's no quick fix really but hey what a great opportunity to be in charge and do things... so, what is that I can do easily and make noise about it and look good... to my voters? Hey, look at the TV! Grannies against violence in video games... Eureka! gamers don't vote, grannies do. Here I come!
Not to "disable" the vessels -- the sattelites were not disabled/destroyed but "blinded." Somehow I think that there are tools and procedures in place allowing for "blinding" or "deafening" said vessels whenever needed.
Of course not! Unless the unthinkable happens and the streaming servers get slashdo... Oh, well.
Please mod parent up. Just because he's passionate ("Fuck you and your RIAA buddies...") doesn't mean he doesn't make a lot of sense. Thank you.
The word Hacker was initially intended to describe a smart tinkerer who finds inventive/ingenious solutions to problems from all areas of life ("hacks" a solution together). At some point big media started using the word to describe malicious programmers who use their abilities to compromise others' systems ("hacks into" ...'s computers and steals ...).
So here you have a word describing 2 different things.
For the "tinkerer/inventor" part of the Hacker population, finding out how something works, how it is broken, how it may be fixed is a joy -- the journey is the destination. The satisfaction of discovery and the recognition of peers is more than sufficient to feel satisified.
No need to be evil to feel successful.
man you just made my day
I am expressing my frustration, not trying to change things. Its a frustration with the tolerance to distortion for the sake of grabbing audience's attention. From my perspective it's beyond bias, just bad, cheap writing. So no compassion for the rest of humanity, just pissed off, thank you.
As for the rest of the people "who get indignant" - I can't answer for this stereotype based on your judgement.
Cheers
-- Andre
"...creating sinkholes that open up under minivans with children inside..."
So does this mean that the holes somehow exercise a choice and only open if a minivan with children inside goes above them?
Or does it mean that someone chooses to use an anecdotal occurance to sensationalize a dull story?
Maybe someone who got a "writing" job by mistake.
</sarcasm>
Reading such lame and manipulated scoops pisses me off.
Imagine CD prices skyrocketing to $75 - $100.
Windows Home edition costing $600, MS Office - $2500 and Photoshop - $3000. Halo2 - $300.
Just because the record and software companies suddently feel that these are fair prices they are entitled to.
The iTunes store starts selling songs for $10 a piece.
You are still getting $35-45k/year, still payihng same rent and taxes.
Now, consider your new approach to buying/obtaining software and music.
Congratulations, you now understand how the Russians feel. Companies should stop bitching at a market which doesn't support their insanity and adapt instead. It's ok to find the cheapest place in the world to produce your gizmo but don't be surprised if the people who you pay $3/day don't shake out $15 to give you 1000% profit.
This is arrogance and ignorance at their highest.
In the case of IP-based products whith almost zero duplication/distribution costs, at some point the companies selling them start printing money. After the costs of [initial investment] + [support for x time] + [advertising/distribution] + [media and packaging produced for pennies in china] has been covered, the profit on the software is humongous.
How about a cap on the money-printing part of the profit, at least in places with lower standards of living? Like, making 300% profit instead of 10000%? (made-up numbers)
I believe that if Photoshop cost $60 in Russia, people who use it professionally would be buying it.
Yes, I moved to the US from an eastern block country. Yes, they have no respect for insanely priced IP products there. Yes, I am OK with it.
Cheers
-- andre
Sony Executive: You were selected to do the voiceover for the new everquest game. Are you excited?
Hollywood celebrity: Are you shitting me? No fscking way I do the voice of a troll!
Sony Executive: Look at your contract. You are my bitch.
Hollywood Celebrity (looking at contract): Hey, wait a... I know what I'll do! I'll change my name to the symbol "%&$()*&" and you won't own me anymore!
Sony Executive: Sorry, this is already taken by Matt Damon. You are starting tomorrow.
Hollywood celebrity: arrrrrrgh!
Sony Executive: That's the spirit!
I see very few movies in the movie theater. These are movies which are stunning visually or ones I enjoy seeing with friends.
For the rest, I wait for the DVD to come out and rent it from Netflix. At approximately 12-14 movies / month, they cost me less than $2.
I buy very few DVDs - only ones which I am absolutely sure I will want to watch more than 3-4 times.
I'd rather rent a DVD again than buy it - $2 vs $10-18.
I reason that there's enough new/unseen stuff to keep me busy and very few things call for seeing over and over again.
Therefore, almost no DVD buying in my situation.
A dramatic increase in the userbase will also make the mozilla/firefox platform more attractive for exploit seekers/writers. Such increased level of "real-world testing" will benefit the quality of the browser in a very positive way if handled properly by the developers.
This is NOT funny...
I wonder what would happen if these 532 file swappers make put up $1000 each and get domeone to represent them for $532000.
I am aware that these are multiple cases, most likely scattered, but still, would something like this be poossible?
Survelliance, yes - but over your OWN country!
Then noone will try to take it down.
It's perfect, just perfect.
Yes, I am buyin a transistor radio and am unplugging my windoze pc from the net as of now.
EMP!