Regardless of the EU's decision, M$ will still roll on, doing whatever it pleases. This observation is based upon past events.
2.4 million per day retroactive to Dec 2004 is nothing to M$. This is merely a "cost of doing business" to their accountants. Having a legion of the finest legal swindlers on retainer can have M$ resting and sleeping the sleep of the unaffected.
All this will do is cause M$ to change some minor clauses which are ineffective in the overall and it will continue to steamroll its happy way through whatever
Now, if the EU were to strictly forbid M$ software to be used on the client machines, then there may be some reaction. More bribes; more bribes and more bribes. This is the way of current politics. Hell, this has always been the way of politics.
Can one trust a politician? The answer is obvious by the current ranking on the food-chain list - "0". How come this ranking is a constant all the way back to biblical and pre-biblical days?
The only thing that is consistent and reliable about politicains is their inherent susestibility and acceptance of the infuse of large amounts of lucre.
This will blow over after all parties have been given their condos, Swiss bank accounts and high-priced whores.
Then, there will be a resurgence by the next generation of self-gratifying, supposed do-gooders and the cycle will merely repeat itself.
Sorry for expressing this cynical view, but it really does seem to be a fact of Life. One cannot spank M$ and expect decent results.
Au contraire, M$ is so huge and powerful that it can dictate its own terms
Oh, come on! The Royal Bank, like all banks, has got to be one of the biggest invaders of privacy around. Have you ever applied for a loan, credit card or loan consolidation? After the 3rd degree you are subjected to, you walk out of the bank stooped over with your legs splayed.
Then, if you're unfortunate enough to have to deal with these bloodsuckers again, you realize that they have even more information on you than first revealed by virtue of having agreed to their intrusive enquiries in the first place. You gave them permission to delve even further into your privacy by signing on that dotted line!
As far as concerning Cullen being a neophyte, he is far from that. As a former banking executive who probably worked his way up from minor management through Machiavellian tactics, he is an experienced master of sleaze. Why do you think that Billy & the boys hired him in the first place? They were probably so awed by his disclosure of their own private matters that they figured, "Hey, we gotta have this guy on our team".
I wouldn't doubt if he masterminded this whole WGA plan. The only fault was in not arranging with programming that it merely be made an integral part of the so-called security updates rather than declaring it as an additional new feature! They wouldn't have been caught so soon. By the time it was finally revealed, it would be too late and fluffed over as, "Oh well, another Micro$oft feature to live with."
As far as being in the spotlight is concerned, well, he will make sure that heads will roll because of this and things will be smoothed over. Watch and see if there isn't a scapegoat named for this "programming error". The WGA will be revised and will be much more respectful of the user's privacy. Ugh...puuulease...!
The days of web anonymity are long gone. No matter how much one sends through proxies or through what series of anonymizer sites, if they want to get you , they will.
The network of web server logs is truly amazing and complex and if the resources are there to investigate every little hop and relay, then they will eventually find what they're looking for.
It's not a matter of trying to hide who the author is of some supposed anti government sentiment or merely an opinion of an individual anymore. It's a matter of finding and politically disarming those forces who are enforcing these subversive, undemocratic motions.
Whining and complaining about how one can't say what one feels, even if it's politically incorrect isn't going to help things. Is it safe to say that a majority of the world is politically correct? Sure, it is! Everbody makes fun of everyone else at the other's expense - it goes on all the time.
It's just that it's more discreet nowadays. The in thing for all governments is to give the minority groups their say and legislate things their way - gets the incumbents more votes!
They messed with Ezra Pound; put him in jail; called him a traitor and although there were reports that he had recanted his past opinions, there were other reports that he was still the same, old obnoxious bahstad he always was until he finally died in self-imposed exile in Italy in 1972.
The point being is that who really gives a damn whether or not they find out who wrote what anymore? They can't throw everyone in jail, or shoot them, can they?
You've got to be kidding, right? M$ASW-B is a piece of junk! Just run Netscape's AnitSpyware an it will come up with M$ASW as a questionable. Of course M$ASW is not going to report WGA as spyware. It's all part of the same programme!
This is so very true. No matter how one figures out how to bypass some kind of security protocol, there's always a counter-measure that will thwart those efforts.
These guys are good and have a very fertile imagination. What you may think is an original idea, isn't. They have already thought it up.
Now, resign yourself to the fact that you are being monitored. What is going to be done with that info is another matter. There it lies in some obscure database and the question arises as to who has access to this DB. Who are "THEY" and what are "THEY" going to do with that info?
This is something else to ponder over the morning coffee & toast.
The solution is to dropkick your computer off of the balcony and hie yourself to some anonymous place in the North Country, totally commune with nature, grow your own herbs 'n such and shuck your socks in favour of open-toe sandals.
Maybe, maybe not. It does seem that there's some kind of under-the-table dealing between Lenovo & M$. After undertaking IBM's hardware they've got to be a little strapped for cash. So, by hooking up with the richest software company in the world, this will keep some kind of cash flow coming for a few years. Then, after things have stabilized for them, they'll lighten up on their policies and allow alternative OSs on their machines. It's what Dell did.
They can't ignore The Penguin for long. There's too much development happening and more and more people and organizatrions are starting to seriously consider Linux as the replacement for Windoze. Of course M$'s draconian licencing and fees structure certainly helps in that respect.
Slashdot Mirror
Regardless of the EU's decision, M$ will still roll on, doing whatever it pleases. This observation is based upon past events.
2.4 million per day retroactive to Dec 2004 is nothing to M$. This is merely a "cost of doing business" to their accountants. Having a legion of the finest legal swindlers on retainer can have M$ resting and sleeping the sleep of the unaffected.
All this will do is cause M$ to change some minor clauses which are ineffective in the overall and it will continue to steamroll its happy way through whatever
Now, if the EU were to strictly forbid M$ software to be used on the client machines, then there may be some reaction. More bribes; more bribes and more bribes. This is the way of current politics. Hell, this has always been the way of politics.
Can one trust a politician? The answer is obvious by the current ranking on the food-chain list - "0". How come this ranking is a constant all the way back to biblical and pre-biblical days?
The only thing that is consistent and reliable about politicains is their inherent susestibility and acceptance of the infuse of large amounts of lucre.
This will blow over after all parties have been given their condos, Swiss bank accounts and high-priced whores.
Then, there will be a resurgence by the next generation of self-gratifying, supposed do-gooders and the cycle will merely repeat itself.
Sorry for expressing this cynical view, but it really does seem to be a fact of Life. One cannot spank M$ and expect decent results.
Au contraire, M$ is so huge and powerful that it can dictate its own terms
Go Penguin, go!
Oh, come on! The Royal Bank, like all banks, has got to be one of the biggest invaders of privacy around. Have you ever applied for a loan, credit card or loan consolidation? After the 3rd degree you are subjected to, you walk out of the bank stooped over with your legs splayed.
Then, if you're unfortunate enough to have to deal with these bloodsuckers again, you realize that they have even more information on you than first revealed by virtue of having agreed to their intrusive enquiries in the first place. You gave them permission to delve even further into your privacy by signing on that dotted line!
As far as concerning Cullen being a neophyte, he is far from that. As a former banking executive who probably worked his way up from minor management through Machiavellian tactics, he is an experienced master of sleaze. Why do you think that Billy & the boys hired him in the first place? They were probably so awed by his disclosure of their own private matters that they figured, "Hey, we gotta have this guy on our team".
I wouldn't doubt if he masterminded this whole WGA plan. The only fault was in not arranging with programming that it merely be made an integral part of the so-called security updates rather than declaring it as an additional new feature! They wouldn't have been caught so soon. By the time it was finally revealed, it would be too late and fluffed over as, "Oh well, another Micro$oft feature to live with."
As far as being in the spotlight is concerned, well, he will make sure that heads will roll because of this and things will be smoothed over. Watch and see if there isn't a scapegoat named for this "programming error". The WGA will be revised and will be much more respectful of the user's privacy. Ugh...puuulease...!
The days of web anonymity are long gone. No matter how much one sends through proxies or through what series of anonymizer sites, if they want to get you , they will.
The network of web server logs is truly amazing and complex and if the resources are there to investigate every little hop and relay, then they will eventually find what they're looking for.
It's not a matter of trying to hide who the author is of some supposed anti government sentiment or merely an opinion of an individual anymore. It's a matter of finding and politically disarming those forces who are enforcing these subversive, undemocratic motions.
Whining and complaining about how one can't say what one feels, even if it's politically incorrect isn't going to help things. Is it safe to say that a majority of the world is politically correct? Sure, it is! Everbody makes fun of everyone else at the other's expense - it goes on all the time.
It's just that it's more discreet nowadays. The in thing for all governments is to give the minority groups their say and legislate things their way - gets the incumbents more votes!
They messed with Ezra Pound; put him in jail; called him a traitor and although there were reports that he had recanted his past opinions, there were other reports that he was still the same, old obnoxious bahstad he always was until he finally died in self-imposed exile in Italy in 1972.
The point being is that who really gives a damn whether or not they find out who wrote what anymore? They can't throw everyone in jail, or shoot them, can they ?
You've got to be kidding, right? M$ASW-B is a piece of junk! Just run Netscape's AnitSpyware an it will come up with M$ASW as a questionable. Of course M$ASW is not going to report WGA as spyware. It's all part of the same programme!
~A~
This is so very true. No matter how one figures out how to bypass some kind of security protocol, there's always a counter-measure that will thwart those efforts.
These guys are good and have a very fertile imagination. What you may think is an original idea, isn't. They have already thought it up.
Now, resign yourself to the fact that you are being monitored. What is going to be done with that info is another matter. There it lies in some obscure database and the question arises as to who has access to this DB. Who are "THEY" and what are "THEY" going to do with that info?
This is something else to ponder over the morning coffee & toast.
The solution is to dropkick your computer off of the balcony and hie yourself to some anonymous place in the North Country, totally commune with nature, grow your own herbs 'n such and shuck your socks in favour of open-toe sandals.
~A~
Maybe, maybe not. It does seem that there's some kind of under-the-table dealing between Lenovo & M$. After undertaking IBM's hardware they've got to be a little strapped for cash. So, by hooking up with the richest software company in the world, this will keep some kind of cash flow coming for a few years. Then, after things have stabilized for them, they'll lighten up on their policies and allow alternative OSs on their machines. It's what Dell did.
They can't ignore The Penguin for long. There's too much development happening and more and more people and organizatrions are starting to seriously consider Linux as the replacement for Windoze. Of course M$'s draconian licencing and fees structure certainly helps in that respect.