Would you love Apple quite so much if they forced you to jump through hoops, click buttons and answer survey questions at random intervals while listening to music? How about some banner ads as you browse the music and documents on your computer? No?
See, this is the problem: with our every-day activities slowly centralised and usurped by a handful of multinational juggernauts, we are quite simply at their mercy. If Google decide to turn around one day and shut down their services we have no recompense. If Microsoft shut down their messenger service, what then? What if MSN is your only lifeline to your family or friends on the other side of the world?
We invest a lot of faith into just a few large companies: Apple, Microsoft, Google. A lot of damn faith. And it's misplaced and misguided faith. We trust these vast corporations with our life -- or what constitutes our modern-day life at least: our friends, communication and entertainment.
Why do we trust them? Because we're cheap. Because there's no better alternative to Gmail or iTunes or Windows. Money makes the world go around, ladies and gentlemen. It's the very same impulse that drives us to these free services that will eventually make them unwieldy and useless.
Now that these guys have our attention -- now that we have enough invested that it's too late to back out -- you will begin to see the monetization of their services. First it will just be text-only ads. Then banners. Then full video!
Which brings us neatly onto news of Apple's new patent (PDF). As reported by the New York Times, it seems Apple has an ingenious new system that will plaster unskippable commercials onto your Apple devices at an operating-system level. Enjoying the latest episode of Fringe? WHAM! Advert! Just reaching the zenith of Muse's new album? BLAM! Some banal jingle for hemorrhoid cream.
Ominously titled 'Advertisement in Operating System', you can imagine your own nefarious uses for such an invention. Uses as wide-ranging as Flash ads in 'My Computer' to survey questions you have to stop and answer on your iPod when you go for a run.
Those of you running Firefox on Windows 7 who were excited when taskbar previews landed, get ready for a little disappointment. It looks as though getting Aero features ready in time for the release of Firefox 3.6 is no longer part of the game plan.
It was already known that jump list support won't be arriving until later on. After a lengthy discussion on Bugzilla, the decision was made to disable Firefox 3.6's other Windows 7 integration feature.
The code is still there in 3.6b3pre, so you can still enable thumbnail previews in your about:config. The general feeling is that too many users were still seeing the spinning up circles and not actual thumbnails.
The general perception is that Windows 7 enthusiasts would be OK with simply flipping the switch themselves.
Ultimately, this move is about Firefox devs addressing more critical issues now so that 3.6 can be released. They'll have plenty of time to perfect the feature in future minor updates to 3.6. For now, the priority needs to be on getting 3.6 final out the door.
Microsoft should once again release its next mainstream version of Windows about three years after the last, a roadmap obtained this week reveals. The schedule has the major revision, tentatively titled "Windows 8," launching in 2012 or about three years after Windows 7. It will purportedly keep in step with a rhythm developed by Microsoft that has Microsoft launching major releases four years apart, as Windows Server 2008 is considered a major release where its R2 upgrade and even Windows 7 are both treated as "release updates."
The schedule suggests Microsoft doesn't expect a radical delay in its OS releases and that it intends to resume a regular schedule for releases. Windows Vista's three-year delay from its original 2004 target stemmed from a decision to largely scrap existing work after security and modernization concerns prompted Microsoft to base Vista on Windows Server 2003's code. http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/20/next.windows.again.on.3.year.schedule/Microsoft should once again release its next mainstream version of Windows about three... more
Microsoft is preparing to strike back against competitors in the web browser arena with IE 9.0;contentBody
Microsoft is preparing to strike back against competitors in the web... more
Nasa and Microsoft launched an interactive website that allows web
surfers to become Mars explorers.The “Be a Martian” website invites members of the public to help scientists perform such research tasks as improving maps of the red planet, the US space agency and US software giant said
If there was ever any doubt about Windows 7’s success, today’s remarks from CEO Steve Ballmer will do away with it.If there was ever any doubt about Windows 7’s success, today’s remarks from CEO... more
"The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.
The confirmation of the NSA's role, which began during the development of the software, is a sign of the agency's deepening involvement with the private sector when it comes to building defenses against cyberattacks.
The partnership between the NSA and Microsoft is not new. In fact, the cooperation dates back to at least 2005, when the NSA and other government agencies worked with Microsoft on its Windows XP system and other programs.
The NSA, which is best known for its electronic eavesdropping operations, is charged with protecting the nation's national security computing infrastructure from online assaults.
As these systems become increasingly dependent on private-sector computing products, the NSA has reached out to a growing number of software companies."
Private eyes are watching you; they see your every move."The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve... more
Nasa and Microsoft have launched an interactive website that allows users to explore the planet Mars.
The Be a Martian website allows members of the public to help scientists perform research tasks such as improving maps of the red planet.
"We're at a point in history where everyone can be an explorer," Doug McCuistion, director of Nasa's Mars Exploration Program, said.
"With so much data coming back from Mars missions that are accessible by all, exploring Mars has become a shared human endeavour.
"People worldwide can expand the specialised efforts of a few hundred Mars mission team members and make authentic contributions of their own," he added.
Users can, for example, count craters on Mars, a task Nasa said had posed a challenge in the past because of the vast numbers involved.
"The collaboration of thousands of participants could help scientists produce far better maps," Nasa and Microsoft said in a joint statement.
"There's so much data coming back from Mars. Having a wider crowd look at the data, classify it and help understand its meaning is very important," said Michelle Viotti, director of Mars Public Outreach at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"We're also accomplishing something important for Nasa."Nasa and Microsoft have launched an interactive website that allows users to explore... more
America used to be the vanguard for change and innovation. Apple, Microsoft, Google, just to name a few, were companies that changed the way we do business. Well, innovation is still coming from the U.S. (i.e. GoodB)! Yet progress in "Better World Business" practices is more important than ever since the economic crisis this past year. This week GoodB reports on some innovative endeavors from the other side of the Atlantic...
Europe Saves the Planet
You know all those extra cell phone chargers that you don't know what to do with? Now these useless gadgets can go to the great charger resting place in the sky aka: the dump. Unfortunately, they are not recyclable or biodegradable. Not to mention how costly they become every time we "upgrade" our phones. A waste of money, waste of plastic, and just plain waste!
Well, the environmentally savvy European Union has done it again and come to the rescue! Europe saves dollars and our planet on the plan for a universal cell phone charger. Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, and five other companies struck a deal with the European Union (EU) this year.
The Gold Standard
French-based luxury jeweler Cartier has vowed to buy only "sustainable gold" for their gems. Similar to Fair Trade coffee, Cartier is working with the non-profit PACT to buy gold from smaller miners to improve their economic conditions. Pact's stated mission is to help poorer nations "build empowered communities."
Additionally, Cartier has joined ranks with a consortium of civic-minded gem companies, the Responsible Jewellery Council (RSJ), to promote "responsible ethical, human rights, social and environmental practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the industry from mine to retail."
The Holy Grail of Free Markets: Competition
Antitrust laws in Europe and the U.S. are very clear that competition in the marketplace is a fundamental value of modern business. Much of the criticism surrounding global banking and official bailouts has been centered on the interference with free market competition in the wake of government aid.
Competition is held so sacred that Microsoft was aggressively litigated in the U.S. and Europe for anti-trust infringement. The tech company was forced to pay hundreds of millions in penalties to the EU and the U.S. Simon Johnson, former IMF economist and MIT professor, expressed a persuasive view in The "Quiet Coup" that financial institutions, particularly in the U.S., are monopolies.
A one day annual conference, European Competition Day, was held in early October in Stockholm to encourage European countries and the EU to keep market competition open.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has been diagnosed with cancer, according to a memo sent on Monday to employees of Vulcan, Allen's company.
Allen, who is a survivor of Hodgkin's disease, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to Vulcan CEO Jody Allen, who is also Paul Allen's sister.
CNET lists the ways Microsoft's new OS could be improved through some additions and deletionsCNET lists the ways Microsoft's new OS could be improved through some additions and... more
After five years of waiting for Remedy’s Xbox 360 action/horror/mystery game, Alan Wake, those of you who are getting a little impatient can take heart. UK site MCV has reportedly learned from “a source close to the game” that Microsoft is planning a worldwide release for Alan Wake in May.
Yar, that was fast. Less than a day after Microsoft updated its Windows Marketplace for Mobile with new advanced anti-piracy measure, some apt xda-developers community member has managed to crack the new code -- in under two hours, according to Chainfire's posting. The hack itself won't be posted, but we're sure other astute programmers, many of more nefarious intention, will be able to have their way with it just as easy. Sad for developers who've been wanting something more secure -- better luck next update.
The Big M swung the banhammer fast and hard earlier this week, leaving as many as 1 million modded consoles without Xbox Live access, reports Information Week.
It should be noted that this action comes on the heels of the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, whose multiplayer functionality is expected to strain the online service substantially. The move may have been accelerated by the troubling number of pirated copies floating around the internet prior to its official launch on the 10th.
Apple Fan boys- you can’t get bigger than this. Microsoft’s Partner Group Manager Simon Aldous has said on record in an interview with PCR that Windows 7 is inspired by its arch-rival Apple’s Mac. It was not new to us as Microsoft always tries to follow the footsteps of Apple but saying it openly is suicidal.
UK site MCV has managed to get ahold of some new info on Microsoft’s controller-free gaming peripheral, Project Natal, including a possible release window and price point.
Recently, Microsoft has been trying to encourage more development support for Natal and has been conducting a “behind closed doors” tour for UK publishers to demo the device and outline their 2010 plans. Not surprisingly, the details of those plans did not stay secret for long.
Microsoft’s search engine Bing will soon feature results from the innovative Wolfram|Alpha web service which attempts to compute answers to searchers’ questions, rather than link to web pages.
Bing and Wolfram announced Wednesday that Microsoft would begin using Wolfram Alpha’s service to power certain queries about math, health and nutrition as part of Bing’s attempt to differentiate itself from Google, which still controls 70 percent of the search market.
That’s what Bill Gates is betting after checking out the answers from Wolfram’s computational search engine. Evidently, Gates questioned whether the search engine from math genius Stephen Wolfram could actually do math right, and once satisfied, signed a deal to pay Wolfram|Alpha for answers.
So for instance, Bing users who want to compare the nutritional value of a banana versus an orange will get a computed answer piped in from Wolfram|Alpha. Wolfram|Alpha will also be there for users who want the search box to be a very functional calculator or find some computable health information.
Microsoft’s decision to try out some of Wolfram Alpha’s answers is yet another step in an industry-wide march towards returning more than just links as the answer to most search query. Search engines now routinely blend in maps, music, videos and reviews, in order to give better results to user queries.
Wolfram|Alpha also just released a $50 iPhone app that has proven unexpectedly popular. Microsoft is the first commercial user of the company’s API.
Integration with a major search engine is a smart move for Wolfram|Alpha, given the narrow, but occasionally impressive and useful answers it returns. Don’t be surprised if this leads to an acquisition down the road, if Bing finds that users are drawn to what Epicenter has called a search engine for Rain Man http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/11/microsofts-bing-xwolframalpha-google/Microsoft’s search engine Bing will soon feature results from the innovative... more
Amid concerns of improper use of an open source application, Microsoft has halted a tool designed to assist netbook users with installing 'Windows 7'Amid concerns of improper use of an open source application, Microsoft has halted a... more
