53524967
submission
onyxruby writes:
Microsoft is finally going to put Windows RT out to pasture. After ignoring pundits, the public, the press and industry and a staggering $900 writedown the subsequent lack of sales for the second edition of the RT have finally gotten the message through. Hopefully this is a sign that Microsoft is finally starting to listen and reign in their world class arrogance.
52891811
submission
onyxruby writes:
Microsoft has decided to end the war on their own employees and had made the decision to end Stack Ranking. At long last Microsoft employees will be able to focus on the their job and performance instead of everyone else. Stacked Ranking has long been blamed for holding back Microsoft from any number of markets and has arguably cost Microsoft billions of dollars in lost opportunities. This could arguably be even more important for the turnaround of Microsoft than the removal of Steve Ballmer and the recently instituted corporate reorganization.
51481041
submission
onyxruby writes:
The silk road website has finally been taken down and seized by the government. The criminal complaint against 29-year-old owner Ross Ulbricht can be found over at Krebs On Security.
Probably the largest question about the seizure of the Silk Road is what took so long? It can only be assumed that the site was being monitored for a period of time to facilitate additional cases. Other like kind competing sites already offer similar services and of course always lead to the question of, is this a trap?
51479903
submission
onyxruby writes:
Tom Clancy, author of books from Hunt for Red October to the Sum of All Fears has passed away. He was well known for a writing about a commercial aircraft being used to perform a terrorist attack before 9/11.
He wrote 17 number one selling books and was praised for working extensively for working with people for getting technical details about his novels correct. He was well known for works of fiction that often featured technology that could be or some claimed was in use and at points was even interviewed by the FBI or CIA to find out how he knew what he knew.
47673831
submission
onyxruby writes:
A Federal judge has taken the unusual step of re-opening a number of cases in Minnesota that may have also suffered fraud from Prenda lawfirm lawyers Paul Hansmeier, John Steele and Paul Duffy. This is a direct result of the Prenda decision that was handed down in May.
It remains to be seen if they will face further repercussions for seeding their own torrents as they were often the ones who put their films on the Internet to begin with.
47670177
submission
onyxruby writes:
The FAA has been re-examining their Luddite policy against the use of some personal electronic devices (not cell phones) being used on aircraft during takeoff and landing. The policy has been flouted for decades by passengers that have considered it unrealistic. With thousands of flights daily having personal devices left on the evidence against this piece of security theater has long been settled in the public mind. At this point many experts are now also doubting the validity of the decades old policy in the modern world.
47547811
submission
onyxruby writes:
In a move that will remind many of Apple in the 80's Microsoft is going to start dumping Surface RT computers to educational institutions. In a further effort to try to gain mind share for their disastrous Surface RT platform Microsoft is giving away 10,000 Surface RT's to teachers through the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education).
The strategy of flooding the educational market was quite successful for Apple. Unfortunately for Microsoft today's computers require management and the Surface RT presents significant management challenges in terms of the inability to join the computer to a domain or available management tools.
47323319
submission
onyxruby writes:
Sony has had more than it's share of scandals and been rightly vilified by the public for a series of anti-consumer policies. A company that starts to treat their customers as the enemy tends to enter a death spiral (Circuit City etc). Sony has been having financial trouble for some time and needs to turn things around.
Sony appears to be making a sincere and earnest attempt to do exactly this with the latest PS4. The Verge covers how Sony has made the PS4 and crafted policies explicitly to make the PS4 consumer friendly to the public. They make the case that the PS4 will be superior in nearly every way by not requiring an Internet connection, not restricting used games, supporting indie developers and selling for $100 cheaper than the Xbox One.
46507539
submission
onyxruby writes:
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has inserted language into the comprehensive immigration bill that may be used to massively increase the number of H1B visa workers allowed into the United States. In a rare move at actually trying to preserve American jobs a national jobs database will be set up that will be used for posting jobs before allocating them to H1B visa holders.
The database would be operated by the Labor Department and employers would have to list jobs for 30 days prior to filling them with H-1B workers. The requirements for the listings are sparse, requiring only that an employer disclose the positions title, description, location, wages, education, experience needed, name and zip code of the employer the and the process for applying for the job.
The implications of having a jobs database that can be used to help unemployed and underemployed Americans obtain jobs are huge. The implications for having something that could potentially be used to enforce any level of accountability are effectively unprecedented.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has been focusing on adding as many H1B visa holders as possible and adamantly opposing measures that could be used to ensure employers actually make an effort to hire Americans for jobs first. He has also led the fight to limit the power the U.S. Labor Department and other agencies to audit and enforce H1B visas.
45765379
submission
onyxruby writes:
Microsoft is considering slapping the face of the millions demanding the return of the Start Menu in Windows 8. Apparently they are seriously considering using the Start Menu button as nothing more than a shortcut to the metro UI. Microsoft simply doesn't get their customers or understand what they want.
45516111
submission
onyxruby writes:
EA shutdown another round of less profitable games today, including a variation of Sim City. These games could only be accessed by playing online and no offline mode will be made available to players. Real world money that was spent by players on the game for adds on will be lost with only two months left to spend it or lose it.
EA continues to be oblivious as to why online only requirements to play games like Sim City are a significant issue and refuses to change their policy. Perhaps it takes people who are not traditional gamers getting screwed over by the publishers to change an otherwise apathetic public's mind over the issue?
45472575
submission
onyxruby writes:
Rumors have abounded today Microsoft may be trying to salvage Windows 8 and is testing the restoration of the start button and the ability to boot directly to the desktop. Both of these design decisions have been widely criticized with many people openly blaming these choices for the previously unheralded downfall of the desktop market itself. Even Windows Vista had a higher deployment rate than Windows 8 has had and enterprises made very clear that absolutely would not deploy Windows 8 until these issues were resolved. Hopefully Microsoft finally listened to the markets (PC manufacturers, enterprises and consumers) and will never again make such a foolish decision.
