from the deployment of 65,000 smart cards (let's see, at $50 a piece, that comes to....?)
Smart cards are much cheaper than $50 each. For development work I get them (for this device) for under $10 each in quantities of 10 and that's expensive. In large quantities they are available for a few dollars each. I'm sure MS buys them in quantities to ensure some sort of discount is applied.
Wow...125,000 victims, 125 criminals. That's a 1000:1 ratio. You know, that's really sad. Back in the day it would have taken thousands of criminals to bilk that many people. So right off the bat there are a lot of criminals out of work. Factor in the lost revenue to the government (stamps, telephone taxes), and to companies like the phone company, stationery stores, typewriter ribbon manufacturers and it's clear that this whole "computer revolution" has been a "bad thing". And to top it off, lawyers seem to have even more work than ever. It's bizarro world I'm telling you...black is white, up is down...
recycles old LCDs into cool and fun digital picture frames
Aha! A shill! No one uses the term "fun" to describe things like picture frames unless that person is in marketing. Admit it...you work for the company. Either that, or...
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Microsoft clearly achieved [market dominance] and not through anti-competitive practices
The united states government and several states would disagree with you there.
The anti-competitive practice came after market dominance. You aren't be a monopoly until, well, you're a monopoly, i.e. you dominate the market. They did not acheive dominance through the anti-competitive practices because they weren't in a position to, umm, practice those practices until they were dominant.
I don't think I made a lick of sense there, but I'm hitting submit anyway!
9. Spend Time With Your Spouse ...WARNING: These will probably be the longest hours of your life.
Sorry, your spouse is unavailable, for when you've been hooked up to the Internet, I've been hooked up to your wife. You think I'm kidding? You'd be surprised how many wives appreciate a little attention and how much she can get away with right under your nose.
it's satisfying to see some of those fortunes being spent to help create good software for a change.
Just what is "good" software? Quality good? MS makes quality software. Is it guaranteed that all software produced/supported by the FSF will be of high quality?
Morally good? How can software be moral or immoral? It just is. You may not think the method of production is moral (think slave labor in diamond mines) or the use of the product is moral (think use of encryption by drug cartels) or even if it was moral to produce the product in the first place (think TEC-9) but really, those cases are really about the morality of the producer and not the product.
Is Microsoft an immoral organization? What does that mean? If a company has done good and bad which actions determine the character of the company? The standardization of the desktop (Windows) and of basic productivity applications (Office) has certainly accelerated the acceptance of the personal computer, and that appears to be a good thing.
Of course, Microsoft's motive was profit. But is that immoral? Microsoft is a company. Companies seek profit. Even more than that, companies want to dominate their markets. Microsoft clearly achieved that and not through anti-competitive practices. Once upon a time, Wordstar was king, Visicalc was the sole player in the spreadsheet domain, and GEM was the GUI to use on a PC. Microsoft came to dominate those areas through quality software and marketing savvy.
Microsoft was successful at doing what it was supposed to be doing. That's not bad any more than the failure of a company is good. Next time think before you throw out your knee-jerk rhetoric. Consider your position and choose your words to say what you mean.
The problem with you is you can't read. Your message was posted over 2 hours after someone else pointed out the same thing and over 2 hours after I acknowledged my mistake. I do give you credit for not posting AC at least...1 man stands tall among the geeks.
Yeah, but it's Bill that's getting laid. And Bill has a kid...if you're a parent you know that nothing compares to the richness of that - not even a legion of parents'-basement-dwelling, Tolkien-loving, questionable smelling, Matrix-analyzing, kernel compiling, Lego-building, anime-watching...umm...individuals.
Ok, so his wife looks like a cross between Celine Dion and Martha Stewart...he's still got a wife!
Thanks for playing along with the joke. After reviewing the responses I have decided that you get the award for most completely missing the joke. It was wise of you to post AC as whatever reputation you have is now safe. Of course, not backing up your statements with your identity speaks to your reputation as well...
Thanks for playing along with the joke. After reviewing the responses I have decided that you get the award for best straight man. Your mod points are well deserved.
After reading the comments I see no one has taken a pro-SCO viewpoint. I guess I'll have to give it a go:
First, consider the allegation. Copyrighted code is part of the Linux kernel. What if it's true? Shouldn't the copyright holder get its day in court?
And consider the lawyer...David Boies. In case you've forgotten what what he's done, check out this Time article. He's no dummy and he's certainly not motivated by money. Hell, he should be a superhero around here - he fought for Gore in the last election (in that little Florida thing), he worked on behalf of Napster (the original one), and he led the charge for the government against Microsoft. Certainly he knows the facts in this case. He doesn't need the money (he's about the hottest lawyer around), he doesn't need fame (he's got that too)...why take on IBM et al just to lose? That would be a sour way to end a distinguished career. Clearly he thinks he can win.
Look at SCO's stock performance over the last year. Do you think the diligent researchers on Wall Street are confused by McBride's proclamations? No, they do research. The upturn in the stock price (from $1 to $14) is a loud vote of confidence for SCO's actions.
Sure, this is an emotional issue here at Slashdot, but control yourselves and consider the facts. I think that when the dust settles you'll see that SCO had some valid points and perhaps the good souls that gave you Linux didn't always behave as ethically as they should.
Ok, my work is done for the day...time for bed. I'll sweep up my crushed karma in the morning.
Have you ever watched Star Wars and been amazed that Human beings could understand what R2D2 is saying?
No, though just today I've been amazed by encountering someone who was amazed at a grown man playing dress up pretending to understand what another man in a domed cylinder was whistling.
Humor and polictical commentary rolled into one brief package. Though you'll likely get modded as a troll I appreciate your near-brilliant effort (and I am apparently on the other side of the political fence from you). Good work.
I'm still waiting for George Clinton to weigh in. You know someone whose website has an intro that reads, "Welcome black, mellow-maggots, fellow-funkateerz, gangsta-tokeheadz and hippyfied-deadheads, to our brand spankin' nu cyber-haven-a-go-go!" is going to have a unique take on SCO.
What the hell? Where did they get a name like that?
"Our use of micromechatronics will help us succeed in our quest", stated project lead Optimus Prime. "We will defeat the decepticons and obtain all minicons", he then went on to say. Megatron was unavailable for comment.
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Please, give examples other than your flawed Java example. Incidentally, MS' handling of Java has certainly not worked out to their benefit.
I wish I had come up with that response. Good job.
from the deployment of 65,000 smart cards (let's see, at $50 a piece, that comes to....?)
Smart cards are much cheaper than $50 each. For development work I get them (for this device) for under $10 each in quantities of 10 and that's expensive. In large quantities they are available for a few dollars each. I'm sure MS buys them in quantities to ensure some sort of discount is applied.
Funny, I thought they said "tlicky". I must have misheard.
Wow...125,000 victims, 125 criminals. That's a 1000:1 ratio. You know, that's really sad. Back in the day it would have taken thousands of criminals to bilk that many people. So right off the bat there are a lot of criminals out of work. Factor in the lost revenue to the government (stamps, telephone taxes), and to companies like the phone company, stationery stores, typewriter ribbon manufacturers and it's clear that this whole "computer revolution" has been a "bad thing". And to top it off, lawyers seem to have even more work than ever. It's bizarro world I'm telling you...black is white, up is down...
recycles old LCDs into cool and fun digital picture frames
Aha! A shill! No one uses the term "fun" to describe things like picture frames unless that person is in marketing. Admit it...you work for the company. Either that, or...
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Score 1, also below my threshhold.
So you rely on others to determine what you should read. Good policy.
Before you send off those interview questions to Matthew Szulik, I think there may be one or two new ones that would be appropriate...
Microsoft clearly achieved [market dominance] and not through anti-competitive practices
The united states government and several states would disagree with you there.
The anti-competitive practice came after market dominance. You aren't be a monopoly until, well, you're a monopoly, i.e. you dominate the market. They did not acheive dominance through the anti-competitive practices because they weren't in a position to, umm, practice those practices until they were dominant.
I don't think I made a lick of sense there, but I'm hitting submit anyway!
Good troll.
Just because you don't agree with all the points doesn't mean it's a troll...
9. Spend Time With Your Spouse
...WARNING: These will probably be the longest hours of your life.
Sorry, your spouse is unavailable, for when you've been hooked up to the Internet, I've been hooked up to your wife. You think I'm kidding? You'd be surprised how many wives appreciate a little attention and how much she can get away with right under your nose.
How does this relate to "good" software?
it's satisfying to see some of those fortunes being spent to help create good software for a change.
Just what is "good" software? Quality good? MS makes quality software. Is it guaranteed that all software produced/supported by the FSF will be of high quality?
Morally good? How can software be moral or immoral? It just is. You may not think the method of production is moral (think slave labor in diamond mines) or the use of the product is moral (think use of encryption by drug cartels) or even if it was moral to produce the product in the first place (think TEC-9) but really, those cases are really about the morality of the producer and not the product.
Is Microsoft an immoral organization? What does that mean? If a company has done good and bad which actions determine the character of the company? The standardization of the desktop (Windows) and of basic productivity applications (Office) has certainly accelerated the acceptance of the personal computer, and that appears to be a good thing.
Of course, Microsoft's motive was profit. But is that immoral? Microsoft is a company. Companies seek profit. Even more than that, companies want to dominate their markets. Microsoft clearly achieved that and not through anti-competitive practices. Once upon a time, Wordstar was king, Visicalc was the sole player in the spreadsheet domain, and GEM was the GUI to use on a PC. Microsoft came to dominate those areas through quality software and marketing savvy.
Microsoft was successful at doing what it was supposed to be doing. That's not bad any more than the failure of a company is good. Next time think before you throw out your knee-jerk rhetoric. Consider your position and choose your words to say what you mean.
Everything is a big rip off of microsoft windows
See, that's just wrong. You forgot about the part that was ripped off from Unix.
The problem with you is you can't read. Your message was posted over 2 hours after someone else pointed out the same thing and over 2 hours after I acknowledged my mistake. I do give you credit for not posting AC at least...1 man stands tall among the geeks.
Doh! Ok, well...Melinda is prettier than Tove, and therefore Bill is better than Linus.
Yeah, but it's Bill that's getting laid. And Bill has a kid...if you're a parent you know that nothing compares to the richness of that - not even a legion of parents'-basement-dwelling, Tolkien-loving, questionable smelling, Matrix-analyzing, kernel compiling, Lego-building, anime-watching...umm...individuals.
Ok, so his wife looks like a cross between Celine Dion and Martha Stewart...he's still got a wife!
Thanks for playing along with the joke. After reviewing the responses I have decided that you get the award for most completely missing the joke. It was wise of you to post AC as whatever reputation you have is now safe. Of course, not backing up your statements with your identity speaks to your reputation as well...
Thanks for playing along with the joke. After reviewing the responses I have decided that you get the award for best straight man. Your mod points are well deserved.
After reading the comments I see no one has taken a pro-SCO viewpoint. I guess I'll have to give it a go:
First, consider the allegation. Copyrighted code is part of the Linux kernel. What if it's true? Shouldn't the copyright holder get its day in court?
And consider the lawyer...David Boies. In case you've forgotten what what he's done, check out this Time article. He's no dummy and he's certainly not motivated by money. Hell, he should be a superhero around here - he fought for Gore in the last election (in that little Florida thing), he worked on behalf of Napster (the original one), and he led the charge for the government against Microsoft. Certainly he knows the facts in this case. He doesn't need the money (he's about the hottest lawyer around), he doesn't need fame (he's got that too)...why take on IBM et al just to lose? That would be a sour way to end a distinguished career. Clearly he thinks he can win.
Look at SCO's stock performance over the last year. Do you think the diligent researchers on Wall Street are confused by McBride's proclamations? No, they do research. The upturn in the stock price (from $1 to $14) is a loud vote of confidence for SCO's actions.
Sure, this is an emotional issue here at Slashdot, but control yourselves and consider the facts. I think that when the dust settles you'll see that SCO had some valid points and perhaps the good souls that gave you Linux didn't always behave as ethically as they should.
Ok, my work is done for the day...time for bed. I'll sweep up my crushed karma in the morning.
Ok now, don't push your luck ;)
Have you ever watched Star Wars and been amazed that Human beings could understand what R2D2 is saying?
No, though just today I've been amazed by encountering someone who was amazed at a grown man playing dress up pretending to understand what another man in a domed cylinder was whistling.
Humor and polictical commentary rolled into one brief package. Though you'll likely get modded as a troll I appreciate your near-brilliant effort (and I am apparently on the other side of the political fence from you). Good work.
I'm still waiting for George Clinton to weigh in. You know someone whose website has an intro that reads, "Welcome black, mellow-maggots, fellow-funkateerz, gangsta-tokeheadz and hippyfied-deadheads, to our brand spankin' nu cyber-haven-a-go-go!" is going to have a unique take on SCO.
What the hell? Where did they get a name like that?
"Our use of micromechatronics will help us succeed in our quest", stated project lead Optimus Prime. "We will defeat the decepticons and obtain all minicons", he then went on to say. Megatron was unavailable for comment.