well... knowing the gouvernments worldwide a bit, those 13000 were probably the cost to get the malicious software removal kit certified and getting the permission to run it on oh-so-precious office machines....
Will all these stupid new TLDs even be used? Right now, how often do you go to a legitimate website (non-spam, non-scam, non-malware) that doesn't use.com,.net,.org,.gov or.edu ? I'll bet it's pretty rare.
the cliched, almost obligatory easy-choice symbol a company would choose if they wanted to make themselves appear a (superficially) fun and exciting place to gullible young programmers.
The only thing that can be done about it in the long run is to switch from pay-once licensing model to a subscription based model that includes updates.
Steady revenue for the developers, steady stream of updates for the user.
Anybody with half a brain checks compatibility before doing business upgrades.
Anybody with a quarter knows how to run win 7 with xp mode to run xp apps.
Assuming the client (here: doctor) has an installer for the software and knows how to install and configure it from scratch. That's also an assumption thats taken as a given for for "normal" software, but is not always for speciality software.
I know that because we used to sell software exactly like that. (At first because it depended on specific hardware and specific OS settings, then because customers got used to it and because we didn't have the ressources to pack an installer for a while.)
From my experience, if you have a 100% homogenous workforce (e.g. all male, or all CS absolvents) adding a single "outsider" will have a negative effect on work environment.
The positive effects of diversity will settle in later, if you established something closer to true diversity.
I'm sorry that this is in german, but here is a user posting that explicitly says thet AdWords has great customer support. (compared to the rest of Google that is)
The German government may be going overboard, but they are following the letter of their law.
So far, no gouvernment or other official body is involved here. This is only a consumer organization that wants Google to follow their interpretation of the (slightly confusing) german law.
I think Google has a bunch of lawyers who are getting paid for that Google Germany follows german law as close as neccessary.
Besides that, a law requiring giving even more and better free service just because you give someone a little free service would be quite unreasonable.
Are you telling me that Google doesn't employ any lawyers or people who understand the law?
No. They most likely have those and if they are worth their money then the existing service level should suffice german laws. Giving them quite a big chance to win in court.
Also, once the German courts are done with Google, do you think they won't go after MS to ensure that they are also in compliance with German law?
I'd love to see that. But until the service level required by german law is not exactly defined by the BGH (or EuGH) that's quite a risk.
And that's why I'd recommend (but IANAL) Google to take this to court. Whatever measures they might take to avoid beeing taken to court by that consumer protection society might not be enough in someone elses eyes (or - heaven forbid - anti-competitive by giving even more free support that MS) and they may have to go there anyway.
Consumer protection laws and competition laws are so complicated by now, that that's the only way to know what you're supposed to do in the first place.
It's illegal to provide a service that doesn't do what you say it will.
I'm not completly sure about that.
It's definitly illegal to damage others by doing so, either by charging money for something you claim to do, or by any other action someone could feel damaged that's not reversible by just not using the service that doesn't do what it claims to do.
Quite right - I'm very reluctant to make more use of Google's services than I do because I know that it is practically impossible to get a response from the company if anything goes wrong.
Disclosure: I'm a volunteer, non-paid active user in a Google user support forum, therefore slightly biased pro-google.
But that's the exact reason why even I advise AGAINST using the free Google services for business or anything important. That's the reason why there are GoogleApps, targetting professional users.
From my experience, Google has quite good customer support. But only for their customers!
Customers, remember? That are those people that pay someone for goods or service.... And that service basically is the main selling point for their pro-grade services.
For all others, they offer at least user to user help forums.
While AOSP products CAN have Google Apps installed manually, they technically do not qualify and there's no support for it, and in a sense, they are "pirated" versions.
"technically not qualified" and "no support" don't mean "pirated", just because they have in common that there is no support for pirated versions of software.
Google has allowed Cyanogen to be the sole distributor, however,...
espescially they can't count as pirated when someone is ALLOWED to distribute something.
But the number of connected landlines in an area stays the same, even during big sports events or other mass gatherings of people. No one carries their landline phone when they visit the superbowl....
Slashdot Mirror
well... knowing the gouvernments worldwide a bit, those 13000 were probably the cost to get the malicious software removal kit certified and getting the permission to run it on oh-so-precious office machines....
Will all these stupid new TLDs even be used? Right now, how often do you go to a legitimate website (non-spam, non-scam, non-malware) that doesn't use .com, .net, .org, .gov or .edu ? I'll bet it's pretty rare.
All the time. .de, .it, .uk, .fr.................
Is that that guy who made a few minor improvements to Marconi's inventions? :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi
If the drawings in the IKEA instructions in a given match what you have assembled so far, that's usually not the fault of the intrsuctions...
The news here is that HTC now breaks that tradition and just offers their cellphone directly to consumers, simlock free. And that does matter.
Ok. It matters. But that is actual NEWS over there??
the cliched, almost obligatory easy-choice symbol a company would choose if they wanted to make themselves appear a (superficially) fun and exciting place to gullible young programmers.
Hmmm... We obviously work in the same company....
The only thing that can be done about it in the long run is to switch from pay-once licensing model to a subscription based model that includes updates.
Steady revenue for the developers, steady stream of updates for the user.
Anybody with half a brain checks compatibility before doing business upgrades.
Anybody with a quarter knows how to run win 7 with xp mode to run xp apps.
Assuming the client (here: doctor) has an installer for the software and knows how to install and configure it from scratch. That's also an assumption thats taken as a given for for "normal" software, but is not always for speciality software.
I know that because we used to sell software exactly like that. (At first because it depended on specific hardware and specific OS settings, then because customers got used to it and because we didn't have the ressources to pack an installer for a while.)
According to German news sources, this IS the fine for accidental collection of personal data.
From my experience, if you have a 100% homogenous workforce (e.g. all male, or all CS absolvents) adding a single "outsider" will have a negative effect on work environment.
The positive effects of diversity will settle in later, if you established something closer to true diversity.
I'm sorry that this is in german, but here is a user posting that explicitly says thet AdWords has great customer support. (compared to the rest of Google that is)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/foren/S-Re-Support-Nur-fuer-zahlende-Kunden/forum-254186/msg-23419861/read/
The German government may be going overboard, but they are following the letter of their law.
So far, no gouvernment or other official body is involved here. This is only a consumer organization that wants Google to follow their interpretation of the (slightly confusing) german law.
I think Google has a bunch of lawyers who are getting paid for that Google Germany follows german law as close as neccessary.
Besides that, a law requiring giving even more and better free service just because you give someone a little free service would be quite unreasonable.
Are you telling me that Google doesn't employ any lawyers or people who understand the law?
No. They most likely have those and if they are worth their money then the existing service level should suffice german laws. Giving them quite a big chance to win in court.
Also, once the German courts are done with Google, do you think they won't go after MS to ensure that they are also in compliance with German law?
I'd love to see that. But until the service level required by german law is not exactly defined by the BGH (or EuGH) that's quite a risk.
Isn't that what Google dashboard is for?
Yes, you're right.
And that's why I'd recommend (but IANAL) Google to take this to court. Whatever measures they might take to avoid beeing taken to court by that consumer protection society might not be enough in someone elses eyes (or - heaven forbid - anti-competitive by giving even more free support that MS) and they may have to go there anyway.
Consumer protection laws and competition laws are so complicated by now, that that's the only way to know what you're supposed to do in the first place.
It's illegal to provide a service that doesn't do what you say it will.
I'm not completly sure about that.
It's definitly illegal to damage others by doing so, either by charging money for something you claim to do, or by any other action someone could feel damaged that's not reversible by just not using the service that doesn't do what it claims to do.
They already offer GoogleApps that includes support.
The annoying entitled freeloaders are simply asking for what they are entitled to under local laws.
A free search engine?
A free email account?
Free online Office software?
Has to be a different europe than the one I know.
Quite right - I'm very reluctant to make more use of Google's services than I do because I know that it is practically impossible to get a response from the company if anything goes wrong.
Disclosure: I'm a volunteer, non-paid active user in a Google user support forum, therefore slightly biased pro-google.
But that's the exact reason why even I advise AGAINST using the free Google services for business or anything important. That's the reason why there are GoogleApps, targetting professional users.
As compared to the US gouvernment doing what companys want them to do?
You should check your social science textbooks once more whose job it is to make laws.
I did:
https://www.google.de/search?q=datenschutzerkl%C3%A4rung+google&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb
First hit:
http://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/
From my experience, Google has quite good customer support. But only for their customers!
Customers, remember? That are those people that pay someone for goods or service....
And that service basically is the main selling point for their pro-grade services.
For all others, they offer at least user to user help forums.
While AOSP products CAN have Google Apps installed manually, they technically do not qualify and there's no support for it, and in a sense, they are "pirated" versions.
"technically not qualified" and "no support" don't mean "pirated", just because they have in common that there is no support for pirated versions of software.
Google has allowed Cyanogen to be the sole distributor, however,...
espescially they can't count as pirated when someone is ALLOWED to distribute something.
Or differ between Springfield and Shelbyville.
But the number of connected landlines in an area stays the same, even during big sports events or other mass gatherings of people. No one carries their landline phone when they visit the superbowl....