Comment Re:Well done... (Score 1) 133
What are the odds that MS is somehow involved in that?
If by involvement you mean a majority market share, the odds are very high.
Comment Re:Like Dividing By Zero (Score 1) 1127
But we can't get to questions like "Is feature X really worth Y dollars to me?" Because Linux does not cost money to install. It's like dividing by zero. It makes criticism of a missing component difficult because it doesn't cost me anything! How can I criticize it?! You will see people like Steve Ballmer have to dig and dig into imaginary costs of retraining, supporting and maintaining Linux to give it a "hidden cost" so that Windows can even begin to contend with Linux in price (you'll notice these concerns were suspiciously left out of advertisements when discussing the switch from XP to Vista).
These hidden costs are hardly imaginary. The time spent tweaking Linux to work on a given hardware setup might be better spent on more profitable things. I understand that with competent IT or competent users (even better), the transition from an "easier" OS to an open-source one can be made much smoother. However, in a business context, time is money. The time it takes to set up Linux and to retrain the employees to use it efficiently can discourage the more conservatively-minded.
Submission + - Electronic Privacy in Jeopardy, Email Tapping (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: "According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a
dangerous legal precedent has just been set that can potentially unravel existing federal privacy protections for e-mail and Internet usage. The alert from the EFF is not just to sound a general warning, but it also takes the form of an Amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief, filed with the federal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking for the court's legal finding to be overturned. The findings of this case
could become the foundation of a
legal precedent by which other similar cases can subsequently be based upon. If that were to be the case, then the unauthorized retrieving of e-mails from an e-mail server would not be considered a violation of the federal Wiretap Act, which
will then open the door for government-sponsored snooping."
$1,000 Spray Makes Gadgets Waterproof 278
Rio writes "A new $1,000 spray claims to protect notebook computers, iPods, cell phones and other electronic gadgets from liquid, making them completely waterproof, a Local6.com report says. A creator of the technology said it could be used for emergency first-responders, bio-medical devices and historic preservation." This might be a bit of a flashback from last year.
Virgin Galactic Shows the Finished WhiteKnight Two 212
Klaus Schmidt writes "Virgin Galactic today unveiled their WhiteKnight Two mothership, called 'EVE.' It is designed to carry the smaller SpaceShip Two into space.
The rollout represents another major milestone in Virgin Galactic's quest to launch the world's first private, environmentally benign, space access system for people, payload and science.
Christened 'EVE' in honor of Richard Branson's mother — Sir Richard performed the official naming ceremony — WK2 is both visually remarkable and represents ground-breaking aerospace technology. It is the world's largest all carbon composite aircraft and many of its component parts have been built using composite materials for the very first time. At 140 ft, the wing span is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever manufactured."
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COMPASS [for the CDC-6000 series] is the sort of assembler one expects from a corporation whose president codes in octal. -- J.N. Gray
