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Businesses

Steve Ballmer: We Won't Be Out-Innovated By Apple Anymore 610

Posted by Soulskill from the innovators-innovators-innovators dept.
An anonymous reader tips an article about comments from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer regarding Microsoft's attitude toward Apple. It seems Microsoft is tired of being behind the curve in most areas of the tech market, and will be trying very hard to prevent Apple and other companies from beating them to the punch in the future. From the article: "In a recent interview, Ballmer explained that the company had ceded innovations in hardware and software to Apple, but that the-times-they-are-a-'changin. 'We are trying to make absolutely clear we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple,' Ballmer explained. 'Not the consumer cloud. Not hardware software innovation. We are not leaving any of that to Apple by itself. Not going to happen. Not on our watch.' ... An admirable goal, but it's fair to argue that attempting to innovate everywhere results in innovation nowhere. A big part of the reason Apple has been so successful is that they devote the bulk of their attention to only a few select market areas. By trying to innovate everywhere, so to speak, Microsoft runs the continued risk of spreading itself too thin and not really having a fundamental impact in any one market."
Earth

Earth Approaching Tipping Point Say Scientists 759

Posted by samzenpus from the let-the-flaming-begin dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The UC Berkeley News Center reports that a prestigious group of 22 internationally known scientists from around the world is warning that population growth, widespread destruction of natural ecosystems, and climate change may be driving Earth toward an irreversible change in the biosphere, a planet-wide tipping point that would have destructive consequences absent adequate preparation and mitigation. 'It really will be a new world, biologically, at that point,' warns lead author Anthony Barnosky. 'The data suggests that there will be a reduction in biodiversity and severe impacts on much of what we depend on to sustain our quality of life, including, for example, fisheries, agriculture, forest products and clean water. This could happen within just a few generations.' The authors note that studies of small-scale ecosystems show that once 50-90 percent of an area has been altered, the entire ecosystem tips irreversibly into a state far different from the original, in terms of the mix of plant and animal species and their interactions. Humans have already converted about 43 percent of the ice-free land surface of the planet to uses like raising crops and livestock and building cities. This situation typically is accompanied by species extinctions and a loss of biodiversity. 'My view is that humanity is at a crossroads now, where we have to make an active choice,' says Barnosky. 'One choice is to acknowledge these issues and potential consequences and try to guide the future (in a way we want to). The other choice is just to throw up our hands and say, 'Let's just go on as usual and see what happens.'"
Facebook

Is Facebook Going To Buy Opera? 226

Posted by timothy from the browser-wars-the-sequel dept.
New submitter x0d writes with this excerpt from the L.A. Times: "The Facebook spending spree may be continuing as a new report says the social networking giant might be looking to buy Norwegian company Opera Software. Now fully under the microscope of Wall Street as well as Main Street investors, Facebook is trying to solve its mobile monetizing problems and has been gobbling up various companies in recent months to increase its presence in the world of smartphones."

Comment Re:Scientific work (Score 1) 192

by Walzmyn (#38209098) Attached to: Typically, I touch N computer keyboards daily:

I thought of this too. My industry uses a lot of computer controllers that are self-contained boxes triggering a few dozen relays, everything is on the front panel of the controller. I play with several of these every day, but I finally decided anything in this genera (and my phone as well) was a keypad. For "Keyboard" I'm going with 1 for my laptop.
There's a couple of other computers in the house, but I don't use them on any regular basis.

Comment Re:Untethered (Score 1) 522

by Walzmyn (#37726268) Attached to: The best computer upgrade I've ever done was:

I was going to say the same - getting a laptop. Lenovo Thinkpad T61. (Which I made better by installing Kubuntu on)
I maxed out the RAM and got the discrete video card of course, but just having it all together, and able to put it in a bag and take it to my folks or the beach or wherever is the awesome.
Still runs apache and plays all the games I want it to as well.
The Almighty Buck

Ask Slashdot: How Do You View the Wall Street Protests? 1799

Posted by Soulskill from the all-about-the-benjamins dept.
__roo writes "The New York Times reports that the Occupy Wall Street movement has inspired hundreds of Facebook pages, Twitter posts, and Meetup events, and that 'blog posts and photographs from all over the country are popping up on the WeArethe99Percent blog on Tumblr from people who see themselves as victims of not just a sagging economy but also economic injustice.' What do Slashdotters think? Do you relate to the 99% stories? Do they make you angry — either at the system, or at the protesters? If it's at the protesters, is it rational or a just-world effect?"
Hardware Hacking

.NET Gadgeteer — Microsoft's Arduino Killer? 241

Posted by Soulskill from the didn't-see-this-in-the-magic-eight-ball dept.
mikejuk writes ".NET Gadgeteer is a new open source platform, from Microsoft Research, based on the use of the .NET Micro Framework. It brings with it lots of hardware modules that are backed by object oriented software. You simply buy the modules you need — switches, GPS, WiFi etc — that you need and plug them together. The software, based on C#, is also open source, and comes with classes that let you use the modules without having to go 'low level.' Is this a competitor for the Arduino?"

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