Comment I am dubious at best (Score 1) 443
"It also adds unique tools to help the user make important decisions"
Well as long as we can have the Government and Microsoft helping us make "important decisions" we should be fine.
Reclaiming Oil Rigs As Oceanic Eco-Resorts 124
Mike writes "Here's an innovative reuse for those old abandoned oil rigs littering the ocean — convert them into eco resorts. Morris Architects' Oil Rig Platform Resort and Spa makes use of one of 4,000 oil rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico and transforms it into a beacon of sustainability, re-imagining an iconic source of dirty energy as an eco-haven that generates all of its power from renewable sources."
Submission + - Steve Ballmer pleads for openness to beat Apple (cnet.com) 1
mjasay writes: "At the Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer took aim at Apple's closed iPhone ecosystem with an ironic plea for openness: "Openness is central because it's the foundation of choice." Ballmer has apparently forgotten his company's own efforts to vertically integrate hardware and software (Zune, XBox), vertically integrating software (Tying SharePoint into Office, IE, SQL Server, Active Directory, etc.), as well as years of illegal tying of Windows to Internet Explorer that only the U.S. Justice Department could undo. Indeed, Microsoft's illegal tying in the browser market has pushed Mozilla to get involved in a recent European Commission action against the software giant, with Mozilla's Mitchell Baker recently declaring that "A number of illegal activities were also involved in creating IE's market dominance," now requiring government intervention to open up the browser market to fair competition. Putting aside Microsoft's own tainted reputation in the field of openness, is Ballmer right? Should Apple open up its iPhone platform to outside competition, both in terms of hardware and software? Or does anyone want Windows Mobile running on an iPhone?"
350,000 Linux (Virtual) Desktops Land In Brazil 109
xufem writes "Millions of Brazilian schoolchildren will soon be 'brought up right' running Linux on over 350,000 seats each using PC sharing hardware and software from Userful and KDE. This is world's largest virtual desktop deployment and probably also the world's largest Linux deployment, and seems to have been selected over OLPC by Brazil. Definitely a moment to celebrate — and just in time for Brazilian Carnival which starts tomorrow!"
Couple Funds Honeymoon With Recyclables 38
John and Ann Till, from Petersfield, in Hampshire, spent three months collecting recyclables to pay for their honeymoon flights. The couple earned one reward point, which they converted into BA air miles, for every four items they recycled. In the end, they amassed 36,000 miles. Mr Till, 31, a railways communications manager, said, "We wanted to make our honeymoon special and were trying to think of ways to raise money for it. I saw on the machine that you got a Tesco Clubcard point for every four items you put in. For every 250 points you got 600 British Airways miles. We worked out that it would be possible to turn rubbish into our flights — as long as we had enough."
Comment It is like asking how much Safeway charges itself (Score 3, Interesting) 425
Nobody questions how much the grocery stores charge themselves to put their store brand products on their shelves. This is the exact same situation. If you own the store you don't have to let any product in that you don't want. It isn't so much a dollar amount as it is an opportunity cost. Would they make more by promoting their own product, or by advertising another one?
As for Google being a monopoly in search engine, do a search for "internet search engines". When I did it MSN came up number one after the paid results.
Simple, not really a concern in a free market environment. Now whether that exists or not is fodder for another discussion.
As for Google being a monopoly in search engine, do a search for "internet search engines". When I did it MSN came up number one after the paid results.
Simple, not really a concern in a free market environment. Now whether that exists or not is fodder for another discussion.
