I don't know, I don't think most people are on private status. And really funny pics or reading someone's status doesn't really give you much insight into a person on Facebook.

I am not happy about the mortgage information online, but if it is public domain there is not much you can do. I would rather someone know that I am taking my dog for a walk or going to the grocery store before they knew how much I paid for a house, what my address is and what my social security number is through a scannable document.

It seems that Facebook is just a quick means of getting the word out about how Gaza feels about a corrupt government and gives them a place to vent. What is really great is that people are actually using Facebook to organize protests against a corrupt government and a President that they obviously do not want. Sounds kind of like bitching about Bush really.

I keep waiting to hear of a buzz word for Facebook like myspace is called "cry space." Seriously, Facebook and Myspace are places to bitch sometimes which is good, people have to get the misery out somehow.

I actually looked it up because I was curious, I didn't think they had children at all. Bill does have three kids. I had no idea. He really fits the profile for a true capitalist despite him trying to give his money away to charities, they are tax write offs anyway probably to offset his huge assets.

He supposedly plans to give each of his three children 10 million a piece when he passes. He said by then he will have given most of his money away. Linus better get in line. Just kidding. I think he has a ton of money too despite being cut of a different ilk than Bill Gates.

I think it is more like putting lipstick on a capitalist.

I don't know, I think the "so called" luster or salad days of Microsoft happened back in the 90's. They will never be amazing again, not that they were that amazing in the 90's when Windows 97 came out, LOL.

Bill's getting old and Melinda doesn't have too many good years left if any at all for a family. I am surprised he doesn't retire and have some babies. I guess he was happy with continuing with making his mark on history as a baby boomer philanthropist which is what I guess he thought would make his image work for this decade. I didn't get that whole deal.

I guess he is happier just working and making Slashdot/Linux people miserable or their source of amusement. He will need someone to carry on his legacy. Usually men with that much power and money want at least one child.

I know this post will probably upset you a bit but in would not be practical for Microsoft to change their business model midstream which I am sure you understand, it is unfortunate that is the what happened with the computer industry in the past twenty years.

Maybe they will ease up and apply a "mixed" approach, but I doubt it. They started closed and will probably remain with a closed source code philosophy.

FOSS models can be commercialized and have been very successful at being open and making a profit. I think the reason Linux is not as popular as it should be is because no one knows about it and also I can't spend the time with it trying my own set up, it just isn't practical for the average user like me.

I would love to have a choice, just like I would love to be able to decide on on paying for only the channels on TV that I want to watch. I would save a ton of money and get rid of all the crap I don't need.

But Microsoft is in the business of making money, and yes screwing the average user over in general, but if you don't know that you are being screwed it really doesn't concern people. LOL

Most computer users are not savvy enough to realize it, or just don't care. Heck maybe there just need to be more companies like Canonical or Mozilla, etc. They will give Microsoft a run for it's money, who knows? Force them to change if the average user migrates to Ubuntu or Redhat in record numbers. That is probably what has to happen.

I just don't think Microsoft will ever change their business model because they don't have to, they are kind of vicious. Unless they are forced by the market to do so really.

I guess the answer is to try and change the market so drastically that they are forced to adopt an open source model. If that happened no one would even choose Microsoft anyway probably. And unless Microsoft grows a conscience (LOL) I doubt that will happen. Maybe Bill Gates will get less greedy and capitalistic in his old age.

-Risk perception has diverged from risk reality.-

"nude" not "new" either way it would not be pretty.

1. Start a rock band. 2. Donate all his money to Linus Torvalds 3. Become a World Series of Poker player and run with the circuit, if we saw him playing on TV, that would really get the word out about Windows 7. 4. Pose new for Playgirl. Yikes! :)

Maybe his staff should run these ideas by him and see what shakes out.

Oops except for Netscape, yeah I forgot that it went under. But I think Excite and Lycos are still around. Either way, the computer industry is volatile and changes so much and too quickly. It is where the user is at now. Trying to get people to migrate to something new is a hard business! I think I am going to put some money in Twitter. I think that is the next big thing. Microsoft and maybe Google is as long term in the tech world as it gets it seems.

I agree. I use Vista everyday and I am fine with it. I haven't had any problems at all and I think it will be remembered as an in between period. Windows 7 will be better and I will probably upgrade when the full version is introduced.

I know I am in the minority on this site, but I don't think Gate's image was that tarnished by Vista. Most of the average computer users think of Microsoft the same, we just got used to it. I know his company was started in the 70's, but seriously no one heard of the guy before the 90's really. At least outside of the computer world.

In the 90's Microsoft was in it's infancy as far as a commercial software, it blew up, in the double 00's it survived, and in the 10's we will see if it survives another round again.

For a software company to survive thirty years fully focusing on just software in general is a pretty damn great accomplishment. And despite what everyone says about Microsoft buying out Yahoo, I thought that would have been a good move for Yahoo and for Microsoft. Look at Netscape? Excite? Lycos? They are all small companies now. Out of the giants of the 90's, Amazon and Yahoo are it. It is kind of sad.

Predicting whether Microsoft will survive another decade, I guess we will see. I think Microsoft will be around for at least another decade or two, probably longer. :)

He is probably not denying his condition he just wants to stay within a sense of normalcy. I think he was being pretty responsible. He left the company and he plans to come back in the summer. Beyond that if it were me, I would keep things as quiet as possible too. Just my two cents.

Me too. :) I am about the same age, it doesn't make me feel old, it makes me laugh. :) Hey I enjoyed all of the hours I spent playing around on the graphics tablet Amigas in the computer "cluster" at school. I don't know if you remember that, in PA in the eighties my junior high called a computer lab a computer cluster. We didn't say hey, I am going to the lab, we said we are going to the cluster.

Now that makes me feel old, they changed the terminology. And the fact that we had like maybe 15 Amigas and another 10 Apple computers probably just from memory for a junior high of 500 kids. It was not that big of a room. LOL

Reading this I just thought about all of the hours I wasted when I was little playing Breakout. I didn't even remember that they sold something like this back in 1984. I remember the Amigas from junior high in the late 80's, I spent some time playing with the graphics tablet, this brings back some deep computer memories I completely forgot. I wasn't even into computers again until I was about 25.

I liked them in my childhood, then I went away for a long time, I barely used a computer except to type up a paper because I had to use them and I found my love again for them 1995, which lasted a good ten years or so or so and then it was ruined again around 2005. I am starting to love computers again now though. That is probably why I will never be a true "geek" or whatever you want to call it, I didn't stick with it consistently.

-"I am a computer's fair weather friend."-

I think it is a bit of both. :) I am happy because it signifies a change, sets the tone for the next four years. Bush was handed a raw deal in the first four years, then kind of snow jobbed us the other four, in general.

I don't think people think Obama is the messiah, that is a bit much. I think most people think he will be a better president than Bush though, but Obama is a politician, and you know he has quite a job ahead of him. Let him have his day though, it is a day of celebration, not to speculate on everything! That will start tomorrow, LOL

If Doug is cutting a deal with Kelly's competition Jean, he is a hustler. Man, that is cut throat. You are right, it would spell doom for the company, that is pretty mercenary. They should stick Doug in CS. LOL

No one wants a hustle working for them unless they are in sales or own their own business. If Doug is that good, he should be in sales or have his own business if he actually went to Kelly's parallel. If Doug hustled this way, I don't think he would be in IT and middle managment, it would be a waste of his hustle talent. :)