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Comment Re:Make sense (Score 1) 530

by jbsurveyer (#40402253) Attached to: Microsoft To PC and Tablet Makers: You're Not Our Future

This maybe the smartest move microsoft made in the last 15 years

Well that depends on the success of Windows 8 in the Fall. But clearly Microsoft has gone All-in like Google and Apple before on controlling OS+Hardware+Software Apps - see here http://takethe5th.com/wp/2012_06/3-os-vendors-are-all-in-on-consumer-computing-sweepstakes/.

Comment Re:Make sense (Score 1) 530

by jbsurveyer (#40402179) Attached to: Microsoft To PC and Tablet Makers: You're Not Our Future

To claim that there is something inherently evil about corporations is just silly.

Not evil. "Evil" is reserved for human beings. Just totally amoral, in the sense of being unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something. When a corporation does something destructive it is no more "evil" than a piano that falls on top of a child and kills it is being "evil".

So no, the fact that a corporation would happily put mercury into baby formula if it meant additional profit (if it knew it could get away with it) is not "evil".

Believe it or not, but there actually are corporations run by individuals who care about running the business in an ethical manner.

If it's in the Fortune 500, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask for some citation of this. I have no doubt that there are some closely held for-profit corporations that are family run and care about their communities, but those are exceptional. Among publicly-held for-profit corporations, there are no exceptions. They are amoral by definition, which means "lacking a moral sense" which means yes, if they can move the share price up 5 cents by killing grandma, you betcha, by golly, grandma's gonna die, albeit in the most economical way possible.

But the US Supreme Court in the Citizen United case that allows unlimited campaign funding and lobbying by corporations, the Court declared 5-4 that corporations are like persons and have the same freedom of speech rights as individuals. Thus the US Supreme Court believes that corporations can be "evil". Ohhh ... and I know a few "evil" corporations but I wont name any names like Halliburton, Citigroup, and the Bankster Brotherhood....

Submission + - UVB-76 goes offline. (abovetopsecret.com)

Submitted by leathered
leathered writes: Tinfoil hatters around the world are abuzz that UVB-76, the Russian shortwave radio station that has been broadcasting its monotonous tone almost uninterrupted since 1982, has suddenly gone offline. Of course no one knows what the significance of this is, but best brush up on your drills just in case.
Apple

Submission + - The Apple Broadcast Network

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: In 1959 5,749,000 television sets were sold in the US, bringing the cumulative total of sets sold since 1950 to 63,542,128 units. This number supported, through advertising, three national television networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS (a fourth, Dumont, folded in 1956) and numerous local independent stations. Now here are another set of numbers. As of April this year Apple sold 75 million iPhone and iPod touch units, devices capable of delivering video via Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. Add to that figure 2 million iPads and counting. By the end of the year Apple should have about 90 million smart mobile devices in the wild. That makes a proprietary amalgam greater than what the TV networks had in 1959 and one that easily serves as a foundation for a pending broadcast network that will be delivered not through tall radio towers, but through small wireless hubs and the Internet. Call it the Apple Broadcast Network. iAd is how Apple plans to pay for it.

Submission + - Qualcomm Releases And Ships Dual-Core Snapdragon (qualcomm.com)

Submitted by rrossman2
rrossman2 writes: Qualcomm has released a press release revealing they have started shipping their new Dual-Core Snapdragon chipsets. These chipsets run each core at up to 1.2GHz, include a GPU which supports 2D/3D acceleration engines for Open GLES 2.0 and Open VG 1.1, 1080p video encode/decode, dedicated low power audio engine, integrated low power GPS, and support for 24-bit WXGA 1280x800 resolution displays.

These chipsets come in two variants, the MSM8260 for HSPA+ and the MSM8660 for multi-mode HSPA+/CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev B. The press release also lists QSD8672 as a third gen chipset like the two mentioned, but doesn't go into any detail of what it's roll is.

With this announcement they they are shipping, how long until HTC makes a super smart phone?

Submission + - MorphOS 2.5 Released, Supports More Old Macs (morphos-team.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The MorphOS Team has released version 2.5 of its PPC computer-only operating system. The new version extends its support of the PPC Mac range to include the eMac, which was the 2002-2006 Mac model consisting of a CRT monitor and computer in a single housing. MorphOS previously and continues to support the PPC Mac mini, as well as the Pegasos and Efika niche computers (all discontinued but available second-hand). MorphOS includes a web-browser and TCP/IP stack and a few traditional baseline OS-associated apps among its features. Further software is available from a range of online repositories. MorphOS 2.5 comes on a bootable 30-minute demo LiveCD ISO which may also be installed. The ISO is available for free download by anyone. The 30 minute limit is removed by online purchase of registration/key-file which is available for a limited period for the sum of 111 euros to celebrate the launch of this version.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Time for Universal Data Plans?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Molly Wood is tired of multiple data plans, artificial caps, and arbitrary monthly usage charges. Not to mention paying the same companies multiple times for the exact same 'service' — data. Between multiple cell phones and their add-ons, high-speed Internet connections, and digital TV subscriptions, most households are paying for data delivery at least three times over, often paying the same provider twice. It's time for a universal data plan, Wood declares: 'I want to pay once for data, I want that data to be unlimited, and I want to be able to use it in any fashion I choose.' Still, she has hopes that the-times-they-will-be-a-changin': 'It's only a matter of time before regulators catch wind of just how many times we're being charged for the exact same thing. Everyone's usage is going to start to increase, and this parsing and nickel-and-dime-ing and 'plus' and 'pro' plans is all just a smoke screen. And, frankly, a rip-off.' Michael Weinberg also notes that we're at an AOL-fork-in-the-road moment, but the jury's still out on whether competition will force a consumer-friendly path to be taken.
Censorship

Submission + - Porn sites pop up in China (skunkpost.com)

Submitted by crimeandpunishment
crimeandpunishment writes: It may only be a temporary glitch, but it's one that's providing some pleasure for internet users in China. Previously blocked websites, including ones with pornography, are suddenly accessible in China. The country has a long history of cracking down on online pornography. One analyst says it's far more likely that this is a glitch, not a change in internet censorship policy.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Cancels Bing Cashback

Submitted by pjfontillas
pjfontillas writes: Yusuf Mehdi, Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Online Audience Business Group, has recently announced:

One of the principles we have here at Bing is to constantly experiment and learn. We do this to ensure we are keeping pace with new social and technology trends, and can continue to deliver great value for our customers and advertisers.

As part of this "test-and-learn" mentality, we will be retiring the Bing cashback feature, which means that the last day you can earn cashback will be July 30, 2010.

From the look of the comments, M$ has at least 35 saddened users.

eWeek does a follow-up attempting to explain the situation in more detail.

Education

Submission + - Does the Internet Make Humanity Smarter or Dumber? (wsj.com)

Submitted by Nemilar
Nemilar writes: The Wall Street Journal is running a pair of articles asking whether the Internet is making humanity smarter or dumber. The argument for "smarter" is that the internet is simply a change in the rules of publishing, and that the bad material is thrown away; the second story critiques the "information overload" aspect of the internet, claiming that we have traded depth of knowledge for velocity and span. What do you think? Does the internet make you stupid?
Security

Submission + - Restraining order on CyberSpy lifted (h-online.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: The Federal Trade Commission has come to an agreement with Florida-based CyberSpy Software that allows it to resume sales of its Remote Spy commercial spyware application. According to the U.S. District Court settlement ( http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/06/cyberspy.shtm ), the company must not provide users with the means to disguise the software as an innocent file or email attachment.

Users must also be advised that doing so may violate US state or federal law. Additionally, all recorded information sent over the internet must be encrypted and older legacy versions of the software must be removed from computers on which it was previously installed.

RemoteSpy is a commercial spyware application that registers keyboard inputs, records instant messages, regularly takes screenshots, logs visited web pages and sends all the data it collects to a server. The users of RemoteSpy can log into the server and retrieve the data collected about the victim from there. RemoteSpy is said to employ rootkit techniques to hide from virus scanners.

H-online: http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Restraining-order-on-CyberSpy-lifted-1015591.html
Space

Submission + - Space X's Falcon 9 appears as UFO in Australia (abc.net.au) 1

Submitted by RobHart
RobHart writes: ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Commission) has reported extensively on a bright spiraling light that was seen in Eastern Australia just before dawn. They have just broadcast a report from an Australian astronomer who has suggested that the light was probably the successful Falcon 9 launch, which would have been over Australia at that time on its launch trajectory.

Submission + - $11 Mistake Costs Couple Slot Machine Jackpot (kdvr.com)

Submitted by ainandil
ainandil writes: Engineering mistakes, while frustrating, seldom definitively alter the end user's life. Not so in Cripple Creek Colorado — MaryAnn and Jim McMahon thought their money troubles were over when they hit an $11 million jackpot at a casino Tuesday. Before paying the jackpot, the Wildwood Casino turned the machine over to the Colorado Gaming Division for inspection. A glitch was found, aha! The Wildwood Casino blamed a slot machine malfunction for the $11 million jackpot. Total actually won by the McMahons? $1627.82. ...and you thought you had a bad day.

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