And in my experience with again, the Evil AT&T/Cingular mocked elsewhere for their interference in pure GSM, their UMTS phones spend most of their time jamming my iPod Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones when indoors where their UMTS can't reach the phone. Well of course that was before they upgraded their network and now my UMTS phones only operate in GSM (for 30 minutes before the batteries are exhausted).
My Verizon e815 and 7130e though never jam my iPod Bose.
First you have to explain the "Vision" of Vista, that's the easy part.
Windows Vista: It's Mac OS X with out the annoying "You have to buy our shiny cool hardware" attitude.
But then you have to explain why its so late, that is a bit more difficult.
You see inside Vista there is this big pot full of spaghetti called the kernel. Inside this pot full of spaghetti is this really buff hamster trying to keep it's wheel spinning while the spaghetti clings to the wheel and tries to keep it from spinning. The Microsoft beta testers sit around slowly moving around the spaghetti until its all pulling on the wheel. If the hamster can't handle keeping the wheel spinning with all that spaghetti slowing down the wheel, well the poor thing has a heart attack and dies. Then the Microsoft developers have to start over and train a new and better hamster. Only its starting to look like there isn't a hamster alive buff enough to keep that wheel spinning inside all of that spaghetti.
Obviously the solution is for the Japanese government to go to Yahoo, MSN and Google and tell them to censor searches for Suicide and Suicide Club.
As gratifying as the above jibe might be in light of recent stories about all the search engines and ethics...
I read a story in Wired Magazine about Google, I want to say 4 years ago. Anyway, the articles author mentioned that Google had these displays up that showed all the searches flowing through and how they resolved. The author noticed one go by which seemed to be from someone needing suicide counseling. The author said Google was wired to redirect some searches so that the searches returned links to places where they could seek help.
I would hope whomever writes such redirects would get around to Japanese soon.
Is Verizon asking for double tier pricing because they are so incompetent that they can't make money off millions of Internet subscribers or because they are looking to recover costs from other operations ie subsidizing US Government ordered wire taps?
If the US Government wire taps are becoming such a burden, then Uncle Sugar needs to start ponying up.
Which is why I asked if the poster was serious about using WORM or not.
ISO-9660 is not the same as UDF. If you have UDF and ISO-9660 on the same volume it is because some one mastered a hybrid filesystem structure onto the disc. Which was the norm on first generation DVD's.
ISO-9660 contains no optimizations for being a WORM filesystem, there are no linking records in ISO-9660 to allow re-writing of data into new blank spots on the non-rewriteable storage media, UDF supports these linking blocks.
When I wrote a UDF filesystem for Linux I tested it by building the structures into blocks on hard disk storage devices. It can be done but UDF isn't designed as a high performance FS, but rather as a highly interchangeable FS.
Of course you mention several FS' that have no support for WORM so I'm doubtful if you are serious about using WORM media?
UDF is an open international standard that supports writing data to ROM/WORM/WMRM and sequential access only media (tape). It completely optimized to support journaling/versioning through the properties of WORM.
DVD's use a ROM version of UDF.
UDF can also exploit the UDF on DVD's to create a hybrid FS of the DVD's on a UDF encoded WORM media that points to the various files on the UDF DVD disc filesystems and then allows versioning of those files on the WORM storage ie you can make updates to the ROM files via the WORM media.
If you were serious about using WORM you should check it out.
The application of this technology that was working for me was one of the fluorescent twisty bulbs coated with the material. In that case they beat inverse square by having the material directly on the surface of the bulb.
Unfortunately the bulb burned out after only two weeks. I haven't figured out yet if that was a result of the manufacturing of the bulb, or it commenting on the amount of work I was asking it to do in cleaning my indoor environment...
So if being on the surface of the bulb makes it work, I wonder just how much UV you need to have it punch through inverse square and work on a floor or sink or toilet seat? Would one need to hang a sign that read: "Caution: Self cleaning bathroom. Enhanced indoor UV levels present. Please limit exposure to less than 15 minutes to prevent elevated risks of sunburn, skin cancer, dizziness, shortness of breath, de-hydration, breast cancer, colon cancer, painful rectal bleeding..."
It may be a melange but at least it's 8 bit clean baby! Whoo hoo!
XML has to bend over and fall flat on its face to tie its non-existent 8 bit shoe laces. You'd think Microsoft would know better. Oh yeah, I forgot, they can't use NIH Postscript, must develop an all new incompatible melange but remember to use open standards to keep US and EU off our backs.
And people say Microsoft can't learn how to keep doing the same ol' thing they've always done.
Google can do a better job of censoring their private network than China has been able to do so far. The Chinese will be very thankful!:-)
But seriously. Everything I've read says the network will be ad based or subscriber based. If you can't get to what you want, don't buy ads or pay them subscription money. If Google builds their own net it won't be the only game in town. Well unless the Chinese hire them to run their internet for them.:-)
Here in Seattle I've often found my Verizon EVDO is faster than T-Mobile's Starbucks or Border's WiFi hot spots.
And what if I'm on the bus traveling down the street: 3G, WiFi, 2.5G, WiFi...
The decision to switch from 3G to WiFi will have to be made on more complex criteria than simply "Oh look WiFi!!"
Right now my Tablet PC can't even handle going "Hey Wifi!" reliably, although Mac's do it quite well.
And I can't even begin to picture how one would handle a TCP hand off with out using IPv6. RIght now Verizon and CIngular both suck at handing off seamlessly from 3G to 2.5G and back to 3G when running around in a bus on their own networks (where they have control over IP addresses' and routing).
I submit that these issues push things further out than you think to achieve your utopia.
One huge issue I see with software radios is buggy software.
The radio is going to need a very goof proof hardware enforced watch dog that will whip Microsoft's code back into line when it crashes and sits there spewing noise down the antenna.
And even then I wouldn't be comfortable buying one with Microsoft code in it. The last thing I need is to come home to find the FBI waiting for me because my computer has been spewing junk into the VHF satellite rescue band.
In software radio utopia the bitch down the street would have a software radio that would automatically range the boyfriend and select a band that allowed for the most efficient and localized transmission. Which I sincerely doubt would be your precious highly regulated HF band.
In software radio utopia the radios would only invade low bit per second "buggy whip" HF bands when something like a category 5 Hurricane Zelda struck and knocked out the local high bandwidth high frequency ISP nodes.
And even then a UHF or VHF band would be more likely to reach a functioning ISP node. So don't get your HF panties in a bunch.
NASA needs to start thinking outside the 1930-1970 technology box they keep finding themselves trapped in. Both engines are hopelessly obsolete. The current shuttle main engines have a poor reliability track record and have materially increased the cost of the launches by constantly delaying launches or forcing costly orbiter engine replacements. The J2's have nothing like the POH's of the shuttle main engines, so God only knows what their long term reliability is.
For example, whilst NASA dozed off, the military has become very proficient in the applications of U-238.
U-238 would make an excellent replacement for the tissue delicate RCC blocks on the shuttle leading edges, and the CEV's high temperature re-entry components. But instead NASA's "Rocket Scientists" sit around publishing papers about how difficult it is to bond foam to a cryo fuel tank. Hey, if you can't make the foam stick on, why no fix the real issue: the damn RCC is too delicate. Replace the RCC and the shuttle can survive other things than pieces of foam striking it during lift off. We need a shuttle that works like a military duce and a half, not a pimp mobile that blows up on re-entry because a 5lb piece of foam hit it during take off.
NASA could also find lots of available talent for engineering U-238 into rocket nozzles to produce more reliable rockets for primary thrust and orbital adjustments. These engines could be tested on the shuttle fleet. NASA doesn't like to talk about it, but I don't think they have a single shuttle still running on original engines. So keep on swapping out engines.
Similarly aerogel's could be used to update insulation systems, acoustic heat pumps engineered in for cooling along with modern nano material heat radiation systems and newer higher capacity fuel cells could be employed. Perhaps even employ reformer technology so the fuel cells could be fueled by alchohol/gasoline rather than the much more difficult to handle (and far more dangerous) liquid hydrogen.
NASA is also way behind the times in space suit design. I read this puff piece NASA produced about a women sewing space suit gloves and how she helped sew a better glove for her astronaut Father. Why isn't she using 3D scanning and CAD with NC sewing? Where are the phase change materials? Where are the RTD heater/energy units or enhanced chemistry/nano material battery systems? Where are the MEMS cryocrackers to remove CO2 and crack it back to C and O2?
NASA spin off technology helped develop all kinds of consumer technology back in the 60's and 70's, but what have you done for us lately baby? NASA money into reformers and CO2 crackers would have a large impact on many consumer technologies, including Bush's new program to kick our dependence on oil.
Time to stop living on past achievements and create new ones.
Buy this OS or we shoot the dog
on
Buy Vista or Else
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I installed a fresh copy (no pun intended) of Windows XP SP2 from MSDN on VIrtual PC 7 (after trying Vista and learning you can't install Vista on VIrtual PC on a Mac either...) and did my usual defrag after instal. Only 9,000 files. Can you believe it? I hadn't remembered how little one actually gets from MS for $199.
So yeah, they need to do something like the old magazine cover and print the picture of a dog on the front of the box with a Dirty Harry gun pointed at it. They certainly don't put much inside the box to get you to buy it...
The major problem I see with a XBox portable is that MIcrosoft would insist on syncing it with Windows via Active Sync.
With the added sync responsibilities for saved game data I can just imagine the kinds of new trouble active sync could get into.
You go to restart Halo 4: The Mobile Campaigns and you get "Halo 4 is damaged, would you like to play a nice game of Chess instead?" Or perhaps "I am sorry but you have been deauthorized to play that title."
I still believe that manufacturers ship Active Sync with their Windows Mobile products to increase profits from non-warranty covered repairs... If Microsoft gets into a mobile device they could reap the rewards directly.
Just imagine if the buggy whip people had been this greedy, we'd either still be using horses to get around or we'd have the police checking to make sure we have license, registration, and buggy whip.
The critics need to factor in that in early sightings of the book store, Sony only seems to be stocking hardback priced ebooks. I don't know too many folks whom will only purchase hardback editions at first released hardback prices for their collections.
I just want to remind everyone, before there was the RIAA, there were book publishers. And some of them make the RIAA look like Girl Scouts.
I'll see your copyright lawsuit and raise you a story line patent on your latest blockbuster film.
And I would be just as magnanimous as the MPAA in setting the value of the patent license. They charge $4000, irregardless of the value of the item involved, so they're charging by the wealth of the defendant for a quick settlement value, poverty line is roughly $16,000 so a ratio of 25% is being used so... if the movie firm is making $1,000,000,000 I'll ask $250,000,000.
Having a personal portfolio of such applications could be very useful in defending ones self in today's litigious environment.
The single most important Apple skill: Apple gives good out of box experience. They care and it shows. Their stuff is intuitive and it works. I just brought my 60GB vPod home and you know what? Took me all of 3 minutes to plug it in, bring up preferences and manipulate six very straight forward panels: Music, sync 'em. Video, sync 'em. Photos, just my lovely princess' pictures please, and yes full size too. Contacts, yes. Calendar, yes, but only 4 of my 8 calendars.
Microsoft has never made it that simple. Install Active sync off the CD? Are you insane? Hit the Microsoft web site and get the latest working copy buddy! Is there a configuration tool that guides you through things like "I notice you have a registered Microsoft Reader on this PC. Would you like all your ebooks transfered and the Pocket PC authorized to read them?"
Microsoft can't even leverage the things they control properly.
Out of box experience? They're Microsoft, they don't have to care.
And after the out of box experience... Can I use my Internet enable Pocket PC with Pocket IE to purchase and download a Microsoft Reader format ebook? Can you believe the answer is no? I couldn't either.
They're Microsoft, they don't have to care and it shows.
Bill has recently proven he can't negotiate a deal with the Media giants for content. Poor Bill, spent all that money developing DRM for them and when the time came to cash in? They treated him like the "help" and wouldn't even let him dine at the table.:-)
When they passed the seat belt law in Washington State they said they'd never use it to pull people over, it was a "secondary infraction only."
Now of course they routinely pull people over for not appearing to have their seat belts on. Which then leads to things such as "I've pulled you over because you didn't have your seat belt on" "But I do have my seat belt on!" "Sir, you clearly don't have it on right now" "But I took it off when you pulled me over." "Sir, did you realize you don't have the legally required trash bag in the driver compartment?"...
So of course I believe them when they say they won't escalate the usage of this cell phone tracking data, 'cause I'm a Mo-Ron!
The Little Red Hen would have gone to the RIAA and said "Hey, I've got these cute little ovens that bake bread as people take them back home so they have steaming hot fresh from the oven bread when they get home! And the best part is I'm the only one that can load bread dough into them! If you'll license me your bread recipes I'll sell loaves for $$.99 each and you can have $.65 from each loaf and I'll turn a nickel profit on each loaf."
The RIAA scratched and scratched and scratched their heads then just as the Little Red Hen despaired of them ever saying yes they did so and the Little Red Hen sold 100's of millions of loaves of bread and made the RIAA 100's of millions of dollars in pure profits with no advertising or production expenses for the additional loaves sold.
But after only a year the RIAA came back to the Little Red Hen and they complained that $.99 per loaf was too low for a loaf of bread that arrived freshly baked at the consumers home/office. Why if the RIAA was in charge of setting the price they'd charge consumers double! The Little Red Hen simply stated that it thought it's prices were fair to consumers and went on selling ovens and bread re-fills.
A few months later the RIAA came by to collect its latest check and casually asked if it wouldn't be possible for them to start making bread for the ovens themselves "That way we can make $.70 per loaf and you won't have to spend so much money to only make a nickel, you can spend all your money on your line of ovens! And just think, since we'd be selling the bread ourselves we'd be able to set any price we wanted, so we'd never discuss prices with you again!" The Little Red Hen wisely said nothing.
After two years the RIAA got more vocal and started using it's media connections to release "interviews" in which it stated that the Little Red Hen just wasn't being realistic in it's pricing of the various bread recipes. One prominent member stated during one interview that "There are many recipes for bread, not all of them are of equal popularity with the American consumer, why a good rye sells much better than a pumpernickel! The Little Red Hen is going to have to get more flexible in it's pricing!"
In the two years the Little Red Hen had also been industrious in updating the design and also increasing the models of ovens it had for sale. Since the Little Red Hen had refused to turn control of the bread over to them the RIAA was now heard saying things like "You know the Little Red Hen isn't very fair, it makes a good profit on those ovens it sells but even though its our bread recipes that allow the Little Red Hen to sell those ovens it never gives us even a nickel of the profits from them!!!"
Then one day as the Little Red Hen handed over one more FAT check it finally had had enough and as the RIAA stood admiring its check the Little Red Hen stated: You know I've been reading some of y our statements in the paper lately. Did you all give me one dime to develop the ovens? DId you give me one dime to start up my shops to sell your bread recipes with my ovens? Did you spend one dime to market my stores and their products? And haven't you always been to me exactly as you are now at eactly the agreed upon time, never late, to get your check for $.65 out of each $.99 loaf? And haven't I handed over 100's of millions of dollars for you all essentially doing nothing except letting me use your bread recipes? And now I read you want another check for a percentage of my sales of ovens?
I only have one question for you: didn't your parents ever read you tales about fictional barnyard animals to teach you lessons about team work and ethics when you were young?
Slashdot Mirror
And in my experience with again, the Evil AT&T/Cingular mocked elsewhere for their interference in pure GSM, their UMTS phones spend most of their time jamming my iPod Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones when indoors where their UMTS can't reach the phone. Well of course that was before they upgraded their network and now my UMTS phones only operate in GSM (for 30 minutes before the batteries are exhausted).
My Verizon e815 and 7130e though never jam my iPod Bose.
First you have to explain the "Vision" of Vista, that's the easy part.
Windows Vista: It's Mac OS X with out the annoying "You have to buy our shiny cool hardware" attitude.
But then you have to explain why its so late, that is a bit more difficult.
You see inside Vista there is this big pot full of spaghetti called the kernel. Inside this pot full of spaghetti is this really buff hamster trying to keep it's wheel spinning while the spaghetti clings to the wheel and tries to keep it from spinning. The Microsoft beta testers sit around slowly moving around the spaghetti until its all pulling on the wheel. If the hamster can't handle keeping the wheel spinning with all that spaghetti slowing down the wheel, well the poor thing has a heart attack and dies. Then the Microsoft developers have to start over and train a new and better hamster. Only its starting to look like there isn't a hamster alive buff enough to keep that wheel spinning inside all of that spaghetti.
Obviously the solution is for the Japanese government to go to Yahoo, MSN and Google and tell them to censor searches for Suicide and Suicide Club.
As gratifying as the above jibe might be in light of recent stories about all the search engines and ethics...
I read a story in Wired Magazine about Google, I want to say 4 years ago. Anyway, the articles author mentioned that Google had these displays up that showed all the searches flowing through and how they resolved. The author noticed one go by which seemed to be from someone needing suicide counseling. The author said Google was wired to redirect some searches so that the searches returned links to places where they could seek help.
I would hope whomever writes such redirects would get around to Japanese soon.
Is Verizon asking for double tier pricing because they are so incompetent that they can't make money off millions of Internet subscribers or because they are looking to recover costs from other operations ie subsidizing US Government ordered wire taps?
If the US Government wire taps are becoming such a burden, then Uncle Sugar needs to start ponying up.
Which is why I asked if the poster was serious about using WORM or not.
ISO-9660 is not the same as UDF. If you have UDF and ISO-9660 on the same volume it is because some one mastered a hybrid filesystem structure onto the disc. Which was the norm on first generation DVD's.
ISO-9660 contains no optimizations for being a WORM filesystem, there are no linking records in ISO-9660 to allow re-writing of data into new blank spots on the non-rewriteable storage media, UDF supports these linking blocks.
When I wrote a UDF filesystem for Linux I tested it by building the structures into blocks on hard disk storage devices. It can be done but UDF isn't designed as a high performance FS, but rather as a highly interchangeable FS.
The only WORM optimized FS that I know of is UDF.
Of course you mention several FS' that have no support for WORM so I'm doubtful if you are serious about using WORM media?
UDF is an open international standard that supports writing data to ROM/WORM/WMRM and sequential access only media (tape). It completely optimized to support journaling/versioning through the properties of WORM.
DVD's use a ROM version of UDF.
UDF can also exploit the UDF on DVD's to create a hybrid FS of the DVD's on a UDF encoded WORM media that points to the various files on the UDF DVD disc filesystems and then allows versioning of those files on the WORM storage ie you can make updates to the ROM files via the WORM media.
If you were serious about using WORM you should check it out.
But now they want to chip us like dogs too?
What's next, kibble in the break room vending machines?
The application of this technology that was working for me was one of the fluorescent twisty bulbs coated with the material. In that case they beat inverse square by having the material directly on the surface of the bulb.
Unfortunately the bulb burned out after only two weeks. I haven't figured out yet if that was a result of the manufacturing of the bulb, or it commenting on the amount of work I was asking it to do in cleaning my indoor environment...
So if being on the surface of the bulb makes it work, I wonder just how much UV you need to have it punch through inverse square and work on a floor or sink or toilet seat? Would one need to hang a sign that read: "Caution: Self cleaning bathroom. Enhanced indoor UV levels present. Please limit exposure to less than 15 minutes to prevent elevated risks of sunburn, skin cancer, dizziness, shortness of breath, de-hydration, breast cancer, colon cancer, painful rectal bleeding..."
How much UV radiation do I get in my bathroom to activate this with?
Are they expecting me to hang UV Elvis Felt Paintings and install UV lamps?
I predict the bathrooms needing this the worst will be the ones getting the least UV radiation.
It may be a melange but at least it's 8 bit clean baby! Whoo hoo!
XML has to bend over and fall flat on its face to tie its non-existent 8 bit shoe laces. You'd think Microsoft would know better. Oh yeah, I forgot, they can't use NIH Postscript, must develop an all new incompatible melange but remember to use open standards to keep US and EU off our backs.
And people say Microsoft can't learn how to keep doing the same ol' thing they've always done.
Google can do a better job of censoring their private network than China has been able to do so far. The Chinese will be very thankful! :-)
:-)
But seriously. Everything I've read says the network will be ad based or subscriber based. If you can't get to what you want, don't buy ads or pay them subscription money. If Google builds their own net it won't be the only game in town. Well unless the Chinese hire them to run their internet for them.
Here in Seattle I've often found my Verizon EVDO is faster than T-Mobile's Starbucks or Border's WiFi hot spots.
And what if I'm on the bus traveling down the street: 3G, WiFi, 2.5G, WiFi...
The decision to switch from 3G to WiFi will have to be made on more complex criteria than simply "Oh look WiFi!!"
Right now my Tablet PC can't even handle going "Hey Wifi!" reliably, although Mac's do it quite well.
And I can't even begin to picture how one would handle a TCP hand off with out using IPv6. RIght now Verizon and CIngular both suck at handing off seamlessly from 3G to 2.5G and back to 3G when running around in a bus on their own networks (where they have control over IP addresses' and routing).
I submit that these issues push things further out than you think to achieve your utopia.
One huge issue I see with software radios is buggy software.
The radio is going to need a very goof proof hardware enforced watch dog that will whip Microsoft's code back into line when it crashes and sits there spewing noise down the antenna.
And even then I wouldn't be comfortable buying one with Microsoft code in it. The last thing I need is to come home to find the FBI waiting for me because my computer has been spewing junk into the VHF satellite rescue band.
In software radio utopia the bitch down the street would have a software radio that would automatically range the boyfriend and select a band that allowed for the most efficient and localized transmission. Which I sincerely doubt would be your precious highly regulated HF band.
In software radio utopia the radios would only invade low bit per second "buggy whip" HF bands when something like a category 5 Hurricane Zelda struck and knocked out the local high bandwidth high frequency ISP nodes.
And even then a UHF or VHF band would be more likely to reach a functioning ISP node. So don't get your HF panties in a bunch.
NASA needs to start thinking outside the 1930-1970 technology box they keep finding themselves trapped in. Both engines are hopelessly obsolete. The current shuttle main engines have a poor reliability track record and have materially increased the cost of the launches by constantly delaying launches or forcing costly orbiter engine replacements. The J2's have nothing like the POH's of the shuttle main engines, so God only knows what their long term reliability is.
For example, whilst NASA dozed off, the military has become very proficient in the applications of U-238.
U-238 would make an excellent replacement for the tissue delicate RCC blocks on the shuttle leading edges, and the CEV's high temperature re-entry components. But instead NASA's "Rocket Scientists" sit around publishing papers about how difficult it is to bond foam to a cryo fuel tank. Hey, if you can't make the foam stick on, why no fix the real issue: the damn RCC is too delicate. Replace the RCC and the shuttle can survive other things than pieces of foam striking it during lift off. We need a shuttle that works like a military duce and a half, not a pimp mobile that blows up on re-entry because a 5lb piece of foam hit it during take off.
NASA could also find lots of available talent for engineering U-238 into rocket nozzles to produce more reliable rockets for primary thrust and orbital adjustments. These engines could be tested on the shuttle fleet. NASA doesn't like to talk about it, but I don't think they have a single shuttle still running on original engines. So keep on swapping out engines.
Similarly aerogel's could be used to update insulation systems, acoustic heat pumps engineered in for cooling along with modern nano material heat radiation systems and newer higher capacity fuel cells could be employed. Perhaps even employ reformer technology so the fuel cells could be fueled by alchohol/gasoline rather than the much more difficult to handle (and far more dangerous) liquid hydrogen.
NASA is also way behind the times in space suit design. I read this puff piece NASA produced about a women sewing space suit gloves and how she helped sew a better glove for her astronaut Father. Why isn't she using 3D scanning and CAD with NC sewing? Where are the phase change materials? Where are the RTD heater/energy units or enhanced chemistry/nano material battery systems? Where are the MEMS cryocrackers to remove CO2 and crack it back to C and O2?
NASA spin off technology helped develop all kinds of consumer technology back in the 60's and 70's, but what have you done for us lately baby? NASA money into reformers and CO2 crackers would have a large impact on many consumer technologies, including Bush's new program to kick our dependence on oil.
Time to stop living on past achievements and create new ones.
I installed a fresh copy (no pun intended) of Windows XP SP2 from MSDN on VIrtual PC 7 (after trying Vista and learning you can't install Vista on VIrtual PC on a Mac either...) and did my usual defrag after instal. Only 9,000 files. Can you believe it? I hadn't remembered how little one actually gets from MS for $199.
So yeah, they need to do something like the old magazine cover and print the picture of a dog on the front of the box with a Dirty Harry gun pointed at it. They certainly don't put much inside the box to get you to buy it...
The major problem I see with a XBox portable is that MIcrosoft would insist on syncing it with Windows via Active Sync.
With the added sync responsibilities for saved game data I can just imagine the kinds of new trouble active sync could get into.
You go to restart Halo 4: The Mobile Campaigns and you get "Halo 4 is damaged, would you like to play a nice game of Chess instead?"
Or perhaps "I am sorry but you have been deauthorized to play that title."
I still believe that manufacturers ship Active Sync with their Windows Mobile products to increase profits from non-warranty covered repairs... If Microsoft gets into a mobile device they could reap the rewards directly.
Just imagine if the buggy whip people had been this greedy, we'd either still be using horses to get around or we'd have the police checking to make sure we have license, registration, and buggy whip.
The critics need to factor in that in early sightings of the book store, Sony only seems to be stocking hardback priced ebooks. I don't know too many folks whom will only purchase hardback editions at first released hardback prices for their collections.
I just want to remind everyone, before there was the RIAA, there were book publishers. And some of them make the RIAA look like Girl Scouts.
I'll see your copyright lawsuit and raise you a story line patent on your latest blockbuster film.
And I would be just as magnanimous as the MPAA in setting the value of the patent license. They charge $4000, irregardless of the value of the item involved, so they're charging by the wealth of the defendant for a quick settlement value, poverty line is roughly $16,000 so a ratio of 25% is being used so... if the movie firm is making $1,000,000,000 I'll ask $250,000,000.
Having a personal portfolio of such applications could be very useful in defending ones self in today's litigious environment.
I didn't see anything in there about trimming out the commercials... and the video iPod doesn't have a skip 30 seconds ahead button.
The single most important Apple skill: Apple gives good out of box experience. They care and it shows. Their stuff is intuitive and it works. I just brought my 60GB vPod home and you know what? Took me all of 3 minutes to plug it in, bring up preferences and manipulate six very straight forward panels: Music, sync 'em. Video, sync 'em. Photos, just my lovely princess' pictures please, and yes full size too. Contacts, yes. Calendar, yes, but only 4 of my 8 calendars.
Microsoft has never made it that simple. Install Active sync off the CD? Are you insane? Hit the Microsoft web site and get the latest working copy buddy! Is there a configuration tool that guides you through things like "I notice you have a registered Microsoft Reader on this PC. Would you like all your ebooks transfered and the Pocket PC authorized to read them?"
Microsoft can't even leverage the things they control properly.
Out of box experience? They're Microsoft, they don't have to care.
And after the out of box experience... Can I use my Internet enable Pocket PC with Pocket IE to purchase and download a Microsoft Reader format ebook? Can you believe the answer is no? I couldn't either.
They're Microsoft, they don't have to care and it shows.
Bill has recently proven he can't negotiate a deal with the Media giants for content. Poor Bill, spent all that money developing DRM for them and when the time came to cash in? They treated him like the "help" and wouldn't even let him dine at the table. :-)
When they passed the seat belt law in Washington State they said they'd never use it to pull people over, it was a "secondary infraction only."
Now of course they routinely pull people over for not appearing to have their seat belts on. Which then leads to things such as "I've pulled you over because you didn't have your seat belt on" "But I do have my seat belt on!" "Sir, you clearly don't have it on right now" "But I took it off when you pulled me over." "Sir, did you realize you don't have the legally required trash bag in the driver compartment?"...
So of course I believe them when they say they won't escalate the usage of this cell phone tracking data, 'cause I'm a Mo-Ron!
The Little Red Hen would have gone to the RIAA and said "Hey, I've got these cute little ovens that bake bread as people take them back home so they have steaming hot fresh from the oven bread when they get home! And the best part is I'm the only one that can load bread dough into them! If you'll license me your bread recipes I'll sell loaves for $$.99 each and you can have $.65 from each loaf and I'll turn a nickel profit on each loaf."
The RIAA scratched and scratched and scratched their heads then just as the Little Red Hen despaired of them ever saying yes they did so and the Little Red Hen sold 100's of millions of loaves of bread and made the RIAA 100's of millions of dollars in pure profits with no advertising or production expenses for the additional loaves sold.
But after only a year the RIAA came back to the Little Red Hen and they complained that $.99 per loaf was too low for a loaf of bread that arrived freshly baked at the consumers home/office. Why if the RIAA was in charge of setting the price they'd charge consumers double! The Little Red Hen simply stated that it thought it's prices were fair to consumers and went on selling ovens and bread re-fills.
A few months later the RIAA came by to collect its latest check and casually asked if it wouldn't be possible for them to start making bread for the ovens themselves "That way we can make $.70 per loaf and you won't have to spend so much money to only make a nickel, you can spend all your money on your line of ovens! And just think, since we'd be selling the bread ourselves we'd be able to set any price we wanted, so we'd never discuss prices with you again!" The Little Red Hen wisely said nothing.
After two years the RIAA got more vocal and started using it's media connections to release "interviews" in which it stated that the Little Red Hen just wasn't being realistic in it's pricing of the various bread recipes. One prominent member stated during one interview that "There are many recipes for bread, not all of them are of equal popularity with the American consumer, why a good rye sells much better than a pumpernickel! The Little Red Hen is going to have to get more flexible in it's pricing!"
In the two years the Little Red Hen had also been industrious in updating the design and also increasing the models of ovens it had for sale. Since the Little Red Hen had refused to turn control of the bread over to them the RIAA was now heard saying things like "You know the Little Red Hen isn't very fair, it makes a good profit on those ovens it sells but even though its our bread recipes that allow the Little Red Hen to sell those ovens it never gives us even a nickel of the profits from them!!!"
Then one day as the Little Red Hen handed over one more FAT check it finally had had enough and as the RIAA stood admiring its check the Little Red Hen stated: You know I've been reading some of y our statements in the paper lately. Did you all give me one dime to develop the ovens? DId you give me one dime to start up my shops to sell your bread recipes with my ovens? Did you spend one dime to market my stores and their products? And haven't you always been to me exactly as you are now at eactly the agreed upon time, never late, to get your check for $.65 out of each $.99 loaf? And haven't I handed over 100's of millions of dollars for you all essentially doing nothing except letting me use your bread recipes? And now I read you want another check for a percentage of my sales of ovens?
I only have one question for you: didn't your parents ever read you tales about fictional barnyard animals to teach you lessons about team work and ethics when you were young?