JorgeA Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 But who would buy such a thing, and why? I'll tell you who. You will. Yes, you will and you don't even have a choice. The answer lies in that press release above: "The BigTouch is the ideal product for many customers including educators who are using education software ..." and therein lies the rub. I don't know about how "education" spending is handled abroad, but here in the States it is one of the most corrupt and insidious bottomless pits of waste you can imagine. Homeowners are gouged mercilessly with school taxes that rise year after year, and every attempt to challenge their ridiculous budgets are met with the typical kneejerk response of "for the children" or "investing in the future" which is complete and utter tripe. Companies like Apple and Microsoft ( and this one naturally ) have been bleeding the innocent taxpayers like a stuck pig ever since they inserted themselves into this process in the 1980's. That is what this insanely priced device is after. The golden goose of education spending that flushes money down the toilet with impunity. Adults better wake up!Stop listening to the MetroTards who tell you this new Microsoft Windows 8 and Metro and ReTard and Blew paradigm will not affect you. Besides the obvious Idiocracy dumbing-down of the interface and user base, the consequences will seriously affect you because it represents yet another round of upgrading and increased and new spending in your schools. The adminstrators of these hallowed halls will be lined up to demand all manner of new devices at these exhorbinant prices, and still they will accomplish little or nothing in the way educating the kids. The whole thing is a scam of unprecedented proportions.Another thought on this. Remember how the Metro Start Screen serves as an advertising vehicle for the Windows Store, and some "apps" have ads embedded in them. Now imagine being Steve B. or Julie L.-G. (or the maker of some other app) and thinking of all those young minds being exposed to your advertisement in the natural course of operating this Big Touch in the classroom. Heck, the thought of having just your bright colored tile (not officially an ad) on that 55" screen may be enough to make you salivate.--JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 Education budgets in the UK is the same as over there, just like anything the Government handles is a Supermassive Black Hole.At least there is hope, for 25 Pounds Sterling. Intended to get people programming and experimenting with computers.The Raspberry PICode blue in hospitals, does this mean computing is in cardiac arrest? (well in Redmond at least?)LOL, good one! And as far as the $4999 price tag on this baby, don't worry -- before you know it there will be a study out of some public policy propaganda organization demonstrating that kids lacking access to this equipment in school will be disadvantaged and inevitably end up in prison or on the dole, therefore we can't deny it to them.--JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 (edited) From an e-mail circular promoting the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 15z-b000 Sleekbook:Notice (1) her posture, (2) the way the laptop is balanced on the edge of the table, and, despite this, (3) the extension of her arm to reach out and touch the screen.Now imagine doing that, that way, for 8 hours a day. Or even 2.Actually, it's hard to think of any way to "touch" this machine comfortably for any extended period.Touch on anything other than a toy device? Nuh-uh.--JorgeA Edited March 27, 2013 by JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalloweenDocument12 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Notice (1) her posture, (2) the way the laptop is balanced on the edge of the table, and, despite this, (3) the extension of her arm to reach out and touch the screen.Try as I may, I couldn't focus on any of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Try as I may, I couldn't focus on any of that.We know, you were attracted by the nice looking , colourful icons on the screen. jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalloweenDocument12 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I was worried the disembodied hp logo creeping through the window was going to hurt the poor girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I was worried the disembodied hp logo creeping through the window was going to hurt the poor girl.Great movie reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formfiller Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Truly an epic thread on TechNet:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/3ce738ea-6aa0-4d8a-8e95-5f69dce8e9a7Stand-off between the traditional windows users and the xbox kids (literally). Don't miss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 FBI Pursuing Real-Time Gmail Spying Powers as “Top Priority” for 2013Despite the pervasiveness of law enforcement surveillance of digital communication, the FBI still has a difficult time monitoring Gmail, Google Voice, and Dropbox in real time. But that may change soon, because the bureau says it has made gaining more powers to wiretap all forms of Internet conversation and cloud storage a “top priority” this year.Last week, during a talk for the American Bar Association in Washington, D.C., FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann discussed some of the pressing surveillance and national security issues facing the bureau. He gave a few updates on the FBI’s efforts to address what it calls the “going dark” problem—how the rise in popularity of email and social networks has stifled its ability to monitor communications as they are being transmitted.a 1994 surveillance law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act only allows the government to force Internet providers and phone companies to install surveillance equipment within their networks. But it doesn’t cover email, cloud services, or online chat providers like Skype. Weissmann said that the FBI wants the power to mandate real-time surveillance of everything from Dropbox and online games (“the chat feature in Scrabble”) to Gmail and Google Voice.Still wanna move your digital life to the Cloud with a 64GB Surface? This is the sort of technology that the KGB would have loved to have before citizens of the subjugated republics got together to end the Soviet occupation and then Boris Yeltsin climbed on the tank to bring down the USSR itself. The next time that (in the words of the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence) "it becomes necessary" to "alter or abolish" a government -- will it even be possible?--JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalloweenDocument12 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) Great movie reference I was hoping an Iron Maiden fan would get the reference, even though they aren't on the soundtrack Truly an epic thread on TechNet:Bob's a peach. He doesn't think technology is being released at breakneck speed. When reminded that Windows is now on a yearly release schedule, he wants agree to disagree. Too bad he didn't just say that he forgot about that and was quietly reevaluating his opinions.The other guy who initially said he had "plenty of hiccups" with Windows 8 then forgot he said it was funny, too. "hiccups is not issues." Haha.I know it's a sample size of two, but do fans of Windows 8 have issues hiccups with attention span? Might explain why they like the bright colors and animated tiles so much. </snark> Edited March 28, 2013 by HalloweenDocument12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalloweenDocument12 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) Weissmann said that the FBI wants the power to mandate real-time surveillance of everything from Dropbox and online games (“the chat feature in Scrabble”) to Gmail and Google Voice.I'll eat my nonexistent hat if this happens. I'm sure the FBI knows it won't work, either. However, they may be successful in being able to attach monitoring software the FBI has already created to the accounts of specific suspects whose wiretapping has been approved by a judge. Still a reason for concern, but it would have been in any case. Edited March 28, 2013 by HalloweenDocument12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) Microsoft Cloud Services Locks You Out Of Your Digital Life, Wont Explain WhyMicrosoft wants to be the provider of all of your cloud services, from webmail (Outlook) to storage (SkyDrive), aiming for the same market as cloud services from competitors like Google and Apple. The new product has a lot of fans, including Josh. Well, Josh was a big fan until Microsoft abruptly locked him out of his account and won’t tell him why. Still wanna move your digital life to the Cloud with a 64GB Surface?--JorgeA Edited March 28, 2013 by JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 I know it's a sample size of two, but do fans of Windows 8 have issues hiccups with attention span? Might explain why they like the bright colors and animated tiles so much. </snark> --JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) Truly an epic thread on TechNet:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/3ce738ea-6aa0-4d8a-8e95-5f69dce8e9a7Stand-off between the traditional windows users and the xbox kids (literally). Don't miss!I like the icon avatar that one of them is using ... ... nice I noticed the helpful links provided by one of the more incorrigible Most Valuable Propagandists, but I already beat him to it ( back in Post #1248 ), and I'm guessing he was actually being serious ( ) ...One of the adults in that thread displayed a Windows 8 BSOD ( Blew Screen of Death? ), here's one I designed for Microsoft, but no word back yet whether they will include it in future versions ( ) ...I see that the Kool-Aid drinker displayed a Playskool graphic, literally. I wonder if he realizes the irony at all ( ) ...( Inspiration )P.S. feel free to use these whenever you want.EDIT: typo, updated image URL Edited May 16, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 On a side note, I got curious about the Windows Store and looked for some info about it.As you all surely know, the store is not browsable if not from Windows 8 (or at least I did not find a way ).Which is a good thing, so noone will be able to use the office connection form XP or 7 to download an app that he/she wants to later deploy to his/her home PC and as well prevents old grumpy dinosaurs like myself from seeing what actually is in it and comment on the contents.Imagine how useful is a shop's window (forgive me the pun) that you can only see through if you already have a given make/brand set of special glasses.I mean, let's imagine that I am out shopping for a tablet, maybe my choice could be based not only with the feeling of the thingy in my hands, but also by what Apps there are available for it. Am I the ONLY one finding ironical that if you go here:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-store#1TC=t1you are asked to install Silverlight? But someone had a peek inside :http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/5-reasons-why-the-windows-8-store-is-a-complete-mess/jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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