Jump to content

Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions


JorgeA

Recommended Posts

If I may :unsure:, you are extending the concept of astroturfing a bit too much :w00t:.

The general idea of astroturfing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

is IMHO in three points:

  • deny (or hide) any connection with the product/firm, i.e. appear as "independent" or"super partes"
  • appear as knowledgeable, expert, reliable, honest
  • recommend the product/firm (or tell everyone how great it is, etc.)
A large part of what you address as "astroturfing" fulfills point #1 and #3 but fail on point #2, thus flatly falling in this definition of "fanboyism":

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fanboy&defid=3190045

An astroturfer, in other words, has often spent some time and work in creating it's credibility, in a somewhat perverted way :ph34r: he/she has some more dignity and deserves some more respect than the "pure" fanboy.

Courtesy of: http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/22/understanding-fanboy-ism-an-overused-and-misconstrued-term/

tumblr_mopk04f5ia1qbg80vo1_500.jpg

And now you owe me another monitor ( and I just finished cleaning up the mess from the Toll Booth Jumping video ) :lol:

Tell you what, just send me this one and we'll call it even.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


HP Explains Decision Bring Back Windows 7 PCs ( Maximum PC 2014-01-24 )

HP today posted a blog further explaining its reasoning for bringing back Windows 7.

"The answer is dead simple: Choice. We like giving our customers the option to get the computer that's right for them," HP explains. "For some folks, that's Android. We've got everything from 2-in-1 detachables like the SlateBook x2 to the giant-sized Slate 21 All-in-One."

HP reiterated that it still offers Windows 8.1 systems and emphatically stated in all caps that it has no plans whatsoever of dropping the touch-friendly OS from its lineup. However, "some people still want to run Windows 7 on their computers," hence why the last generation OS is still an option.

HP: 'WE ARE NOT DROPPING WINDOWS 8' ( NeoWin 2014-01-24 )

The blog points out that HP now sells PCs that run Windows 8, Windows 7 and even Android. However, the blog also said HP was committed to selling PCs with Microsoft's newest OS. It stated:

We want people to be happy with our computers whichever option they choose BUT WE ARE NOT DROPPING WINDOWS 8. Let me put this in perspective for you. All the five Windows 7 products we launched are available with Windows 8 as well. And in addition, we have several dozen more laptops and desktops that we only offer with Windows 8.

Yes, there's that word "Choice", a truly alien concept to both Microsoft and all the sycophantic NeoKids. Good explanation by HP.

The only news there to me is that they only have five models with Windows 7. That's not the way they should do it. It should be a selection in a drop-down option box if you ask me.

Apple executive: Convergence of iOS and OS X would be a 'waste of energy' ( NeoWin 2014-01-23 )

Despite rumors and speculation suggesting the contrary, Apple does not have any plans now or for any point in the future to merge OS X with iOS. Apple executives said that doing so would be a "waste of energy" and indirectly poked a bit of fun at Microsoft's strategy to have one OS for both tablets and desktops.

"We don't waste time thinking, 'But it should be one (interface!) How do you make these (operating systems) merge together?' What a waste of energy that would be," Apple's Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller told Macworld in an interview.

"You'll see them be the same where it makes sense, and you'll see them be different in those things that are critical to their essence," added Craig Federighi, Senior VP of Software Engineering.

Very well said. :thumbup: It sounds to me like Apple understands the technology and the market much better than Microsoft, and the reason is that Microsoft is shooting wildly in the dark while playing catch-up.

As you can imagine, this leads to a holy war in the comments as religiously zealous NeoKids climb out of their holes to attack the infidels insulting their prophet. Some of the absolute dumbest things I have ever read are present in this thread ....

marketshare win 8 > OSX. Who is right again?

are you kidding me, apple spend decades trying to sell OSX to the masses and failed every time. [... pointless screed snipped ....]

Selling OSx ( or any Mac OS )? When did that happen?

This crazy stuff is prevalent through the entire thread from NeoKids who describe Microsoft vs Apple as competitors, and Windows vs Mac OS as competing products. The problem is that they have never really been direct competitors in any category until the Surface tablets ( vs iPad ), and soon with MicroNokia phones ( vs iPhone ). These will be apples to apples comparisons and I highly doubt that any of the NeoFools will like to see the result.

Hence they create this crap fantasy about marketshare comparing Apple Computers versus OEM PC's shipped with Windows. Seriously? How is this not the absolute dumbest bit of fanboy logic ever spewed? I am trying but cannot ever remember in over 30 years a time when the Mac OS was for sale, IIRC it is not for sale now and never was, period. Apple does not sell an OS, Microsoft does not sell a PC. Only a retard would try to sandwich these two opposites into one category.

In fact, to be perfectly accurate I would say that while Windows reportedly exists on 90% of all the PC's in existence, Apple's Mac OS is running on 99.99% of the computers it can be run on ( i.e., Apple computers ). Therefore Apple has the highest marketshare. Ha! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CNN social media accounts compromised by SEA (Update) ( NeoWin 2014-01-23 )

How's that Twitter IPO working out I wonder. It appears anyone can do anything they want to their service. They got all this money pumped in from investors, but what are they doing with it? Let me guess, cozy new offices and limo rides to the airport.

Everything You Need to Know About Valve's Steam Machines ( Maximum PC 2014-01-23 )

This is a pretty good summary of what we know thus far in Q&A format. Good for the total n00b who might be wondering what this thing is all about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In privacy news:

Microsoft Backs Out of Sponsoring ‘Anti-RSA’ Conference

The software giant dropped its sponsorship of a conference organized as a protest against the security firm RSA because it is already sponsoring RSA’s conference occurring at the same time, a Microsoft spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal.

Well, then why not back out of sponsoring the NSA RSA conference?

Microsoft “had contractual issues with RSA,” said Alex Stamos, TrustyCon founder and cofounder of iSEC Partners, another cybersecurity firm.

I'm sure if there were a will, there'd be a lawyer to make it happen.

Another interesting tidbit from the article:

The spat illustrates intensifying divisions within the security community as encryption experts debate what role the NSA should play in securing Internet data. At the Suits and Spooks cybersecurity conference in Washington, D.C., this week, a small argument broke out over the matter between security researchers and former U.S. officials present.

The Holes in Microsoft’s Data Protection Pledge

In principle, Smith’s remarks mean a Microsoft user in Germany – where revelations of National Security Agency surveillance efforts have spooked politicians, companies and consumers—can be assured its data would never leave Europe.

But data-policy experts said Microsoft, as a U.S. company, is obligated to turn over data demanded lawfully by the NSA or a U.S. law-enforcement agency, no matter whether Microsoft’s computers are in Seattle, Dubai or Taipei.

“What matters more than where the data is, is where the system administrators are and who can order them to do things,” said Christopher Soghoian, a privacy researcher at the American Civil Liberties Union. “As long as (a company) has a presence, the data is vulnerable.”

This is going to hit U.S. cloud providers badly. For once, I'm rooting for the corporate lobbyists to win on an issue.

Schmidt Says Encryption Will Help Google Penetrate China

Davos, Switzerland – Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said the company is intent on using encryption technologies to penetrate countries with strict censorship rules, such as China and North Korea.

“It is possible, within the next decade, using encryption, we would be able to open up countries that have strict censorship laws … giving people a voice,” Schmidt said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Only if they come up with strong, easy-to-use end-to-end encryption in combination with a Tor-like network that hasn't been contaminated by spy nodes.

--JorgeA

Edited by JorgeA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Microsoft spin news:

Chromebooks Take Other Mobile PCs to School

The inexpensive laptops, which run Google Inc. software but are mostly sold by other companies, accounted for 19% of the K-12 market for mobile computers in the U.S. in 2013, according to a preliminary estimate by Futuresource Consulting. In 2012, Chromebooks represented well below 1% of the market, according to the research firm, whose estimate includes both tablets and notebook PCs but excludes desktop computers.

Mobile computers running Microsoft Windows slid from 47.5% of that market in 2012 to 28% in last year's third quarter, said Futuresource, which isn't yet providing comparisons for all of 2013.

So, what was the big news at Microsoft in 2012-2013? Why, the launch of Windows 8 and Surface/Surface RT of course. Unless one's prepared to argue that it would have been even worse without Win8, I don't see how this aspect of their business can be seen as anything but a disaster for Microsoft.

For Microsoft, Chromebooks add to the already stiff competition that emerged after the iPad arrived in 2010. IDC said the software company's share of sales to schools and higher education, which hit 77% in 2010, had dwindled to 43% by the 2013 third quarter.

[...]

A spokeswoman for Microsoft said the company is pleased with the momentum that its current Windows 8 software has in schools, stressing the appeal of "fully functioning" desktop PCs, laptops and tablets from a variety of manufacturers. "Google Chrome is limited in both function and device choice, which are the two requirements we hear schools speak of when they talk devices," she said.

[emphasis added]

"Momentum," eh? Well, yes -- an airplane that's run out of fuel will fall toward the, um, surface of the planet at an accelerating rate. You could say that's a kind of momentum. :lol:

--JorgeA

EDIT: typo

Edited by JorgeA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

HP: 'WE ARE NOT DROPPING WINDOWS 8' ( NeoWin 2014-01-24 )

The blog points out that HP now sells PCs that run Windows 8, Windows 7 and even Android. However, the blog also said HP was committed to selling PCs with Microsoft's newest OS. It stated:

We want people to be happy with our computers whichever option they choose BUT WE ARE NOT DROPPING WINDOWS 8. Let me put this in perspective for you. All the five Windows 7 products we launched are available with Windows 8 as well. And in addition, we have several dozen more laptops and desktops that we only offer with Windows 8.

Yes, there's that word "Choice", a truly alien concept to both Microsoft and all the sycophantic NeoKids. Good explanation by HP.

The only news there to me is that they only have five models with Windows 7. That's not the way they should do it. It should be a selection in a drop-down option box if you ask me.

Ed Bott has a table showing the number of Win7 vs. Win8 PC models offered by H-P and Dell on their business sites. No shortage of Win7 choices there, and on the H-P side Windows 7 is king.

The catch is that you kind of have to know where to look.

--JorgeA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a quote in JorgeA's post above:

companies and consumers—can be assured its data would never leave Europe.

Translation: Your data will be reviewed, cataloged and marked as to whether you are a threat (now) or not. But, this will all be done in Europe, so your data never left Europe, just like we said.

Isn't this brave new world a great place? :ph34r:

bpalone

Edited by bpalone
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Microsoft the US-based technology titan reported net income of $6.56 billion on revenue that hit a record high of $24.52 billion in the quarter that ended December 31.

Some quotes from the above article:

Sales of Surface tablets more than doubled from the previous quarter to hit $893 million, and Microsoft sold 7.4 million Xbox videogame consoles, with 3.9 million of those being new-generation Xbox One.

Meanwhile, money made from selling Windows software to computer makers slid by three percent due to continue soft demand by consumers for personal computers, according to Microsoft.

Entire article can read here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jPeCC0PbxNxsInN5ChWP6Zf-0TMg?docId=5f584c3d-3a05-47db-9105-a24813f0cb84&hl=en

Now, is just me or do I smell something cooking? Or, did the Android device market make huge gains and thereby upped Microsoft's income from their Patent Extortion?

I just seem to have flashbacks of Enron.

bpalone

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a quote in JorgeA's post above:

companies and consumers—can be assured its data would never leave Europe.

Translation: Your data will be reviewed, cataloged and marked as to whether you are a threat (now) or not. But, this will all be done in Europe, so your data never left Europe, just like we said.

Isn't this brave new world a great place? :ph34r:

bpalone

You read that like a lawyer... which no doubt is the way Microsoft's lawyers wrote it.

Reminds me of the married lawyer (true story) who would go by himself to conventions and tell prospective dates that he was "separated" from his wife. (Literally true, by a few hundred miles.)

--JorgeA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More welcome bits from Paul Thurrott:

Windows 8.1 Update 1 Preview: More Good News for PC Users

First, courtesy of China, we find that those pinned Metro apps in the taskbar will of course get taskbar previews. No surprise there, but now we know what that will look like.

That leaked also showed that these pinned Metro apps will "support" a jump list, but don't get too excited by that yet: It's just the basic jump list any pin can get, with launch app, unpin and close options, and there's no customization shown.

[...]

A source told me recently that Microsoft was changing Metro to make it easier for mouse users. So instead of right-clicking and getting a Metro-style app bar, as you do now everywhere in Metro, when you right-click with a mouse, you will get a mouse-friendly context menu, just as you do on the desktop. If you're using Windows 8.1 Update 1 with a touch-based interface, it will work exactly as it does now: You'll get the app bar and its command buttons.

[emnphasis in original]

A kind of UI choice, maybe? It'll be mouse-friendly if you use a mouse, and touch-friendly if you touch the screen?

Oh, and there are now obvious Search and Power buttons on the Start menu. I'd rather see a clock, but that's a nice touch too.

[emnphasis in original]

All well and good. It remains to be seen whether these represent steps on the way to recovery of a fully developed Desktop, or if they are simply concessions to make the OS less unpalatable for retrograde, old-fashioned, unhip Desktop users.

--JorgeA

Edited by JorgeA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Microsoft: 3.9 million Xbox One units sold to retail stores ( NeoWin 2014-01-23 )

Today, as part of its quarterly financial report, Microsoft revealed that it has sold 3.9 million Xbox One consoles during its last quarter to retail stores.

The numbers also include 3.5 million Xbox 360 consoles that were sold to the retail channel, for a total of 7.4 million Xbox devices that were purchased by stores for the last quarter. Remember, these numbers are for console units that are bought by customers like GameStop, Walmart and Target, rather than the sales recorded to consumers.

There's a traditional word for that, it is called "wholesale". So now they're confusing even the fanboys who are stuttering and babbling trying to decode this. I wish I could blame this on NuMicrosoft, but we can't. They have always obfuscated everything in every reporting period, frankly I don't know why people fall for it. But they still do. All I can guess is that they really don't want anyone to know the real numbers, numbers which they most assuredly possess.

Microsoft: Office 365 Home Premium now has 3.5 million subscribers ( NeoWin 2014-01-23 )

Well, once again I have to ask, how exactly is that impressive? That sounds insanely small to me considering the international pool of customers must be well over a billion! They have this discounted price for the full Office suite and maybe 1:300 potential buyers have made the leap?

Microsoft's Surface revenues and unit sales surge up last quarter despite shortages ( NeoWin 2014-01-24 )

Today, as part of its financial report for its last fiscal quarter that ended December 31st, Microsoft said that it generated $893 million in revenues from Surface tablet sales between October and December 2013.

[...]

Microsoft also listed its Surface costs at $932 million for the quarter, which means despite the revenue surge, the division is still losing money.

Wait what? That used to be calculated as Revenue-Costs=Profit. This must be some of that NuMath where a net loss is a actually a gain. What am I missing here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Microsoft: Windows Phone activations doubled during 2013 holiday season ( NeoWin 2014-01-25 )

Brad Sams and lots of NeoKids misinterpreting every shred of news they come upon. It all started with this official Microsoft Tweet ...

Folks who think holiday sales of WP declined are incorrect. :)Activations more than doubled last holidays and increased each holiday month. joebelfiore (@joebelfiore) January 25, 2014

Even Stevie Wonder can see the holes in that carefully worded propaganda. How sad.

Microsoft renames SkyDrive to OneDrive following trademark dispute ( TechSpot 2014-01-27 )

Legal Dispute Prompts Microsoft to Rebrand SkyDrive as OneDrive ( Maximum PC 2014-01-27 )

Microsoft's SkyDrive rebranded as OneDrive ( NeoWin 2014-01-27 )

SkyDrive Becomes OneDrive. OneDrive to rule them all, OneDrive to find them... ( Thurrott 2014-01-27 )

Microsoft has announced it is renaming its SkyDrive cloud service to OneDrive, after losing a trademark dispute with British Sky Broadcasting Group over the "Sky" name in July 2013. The transition will happen in the coming weeks with no interruptions to the service whatsoever. But the company promises that this is more than just a cosmetic change, saying OneDrive is everything you love about SkyDrive and more.

Microsoft General Manager for Consumer Apps and Services Ryan Gavin announced the move in a blog post this morning. Though he admitted changing the name of a product isnt easy, he also played it down making the case for the new name: Why OneDrive? We know that increasingly you will have many devices in your life, but you really want only one place for your most important stuff. One place for all of your photos and videos. One place for all of your documents. One place that is seamlessly connected across all the devices you use.

Well I guess it could have been worse. I still prefer SpyDrive though. :yes: But can you believe they took almost six months to do this!

ADDED: At the Thurrott article two commenters have already suggested two possible naming collisions ...

* http://www.kldenergy.com/onedrive/ ... oneDRIVE

* https://one.ubuntu.com/ ... Ubuntu One

Is it possible they did it yet again?

Speaking of Microsoft cloud storage ...

Kansas man runs into burning building to save beloved Xbox ( NeoWin 2014-01-26 )

Funny thing in the comments starring one of our favorite MicroZealots ...

Last year, when I was evacuated out of my house by the Fire Dept. for a gas leak, I ran to save my Surface tablet, my laptop, and my backup drive.

Another commenter says: "Why is your backup drive at the same location as your primary if it's that important that you risk your life for?" That's a good question. :yes:

Just don't really have access to another location. My drive is usually stored away in a fire proof safe, but on this particular day, I had it out to access. So, despite a Fire Marshall yelling at me to get out now, I grabbed it.

Ummm, what? Dot MetroTard knows full well of all the cloudy connections available to him, especially his beloved SpyDrive, through his beloved Surface, hosted by his beloved Microsoft, which he has evangelized for. Perhaps he figured out the disadvantages to tying up your system with backup processes and your bandwidth with data transfers, not to mention the difficulty of really restoring system drives from backups ( it's one thing to backup stuff and have the software tell you "Congratulations, successful backup complete!" and quite another to put it back as a functioning system drive ). But I admit I am speculating here, it is entirely possible any or all of these concepts are beyond his/her capability. Such is the NuWorld we live in, co-inhabited by MetroTards attracted to the NuWindows GUI, pushing on colored tiles with their fingers which quite possibly is the extent of their skillz.

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Windows 8.1 Update 1 could land on March 11 ( TechSpot 2014-01-25 )

When two MetroTard/Astroturfers have a scripted back and forth discussion ( yep, seen it before ) one TechSpot commenter let's it fly ...

So you want us all to upgrade to Windows 8 because it's boots faster. Just throw out all other factors normally used when comparing operating systems to each other and go with Windows 8 because it boots faster? *click....click....click....KABOOM!!!!!!*

Your second paragraph contains even more bizarre statements than the first. Nothing is stopping Microsoft from competing in the tablets/phones market. But I do agree with part of a statement you made:

"conforming your mobile centric OS to desktop users makes less sense to me."

Conforming either one to the other makes absolutely no sense at all. Why would I want to use a tablet OS on a desktop as you yourself stated that Windows 8 is - a "mobile centric OS"? Why would mobile users want to carry a keyboard/mouse in a gun holster on their hip and a laser printer on their back. So they can look like a modern day ghostbuster who really knows his tech stuff? Uh...I don't think so. If we cant ever get over the fact that mobile devices and desktop devices are "not the same thing" there will never be a solution. You can't solve a problem if you don't understand the problem.

"The further generations were going to drop the desktop all together and run everything through the MUI."

Dumbest statement of your entire post. The definition of desktop needs to be made clear here. It no longer most accurately represents the "size" of the device we are talking about. But what we "do" with that device. The "desktop" will not be going away ever because it represents a virtual place where people go to get serious work done.

When people can spend 8 hours a day editing movies, building websites, entering hundreds of medical/dental records, writing a book, or building the next "Call of Duty" engine on a tablet without a keyboard and a mouse - only using "chimpanzee-like" swipes - then that is the day the desktop will be going away. If you believe for a second that that day is arriving anytime soon, you are living on a planet which I have not yet heard of.

The desktop was kept in Windows 8 operating system because without it nothing could be produced for all you tablet consuming chimps to feast on day after day after day. The day the desktop dies your tablet dies with it.

Nice shooting soldier. :thumbup: Now leave the gun, take the cannolis :lol:

Microsoft creates a 20 gigapixel photo panorama of Seattle ( NeoWin 2014-01-26 )

Can some other people confirm this ... Two videos about this panorama shown at the above link, and unless I'm mistaken it looks like the good people at Microsoft Research are using Windows XP on the system where they are stitching together this giant file. See the 2nd video ( "part-2" ) at about :59 and at 1:30. Set the YouTube player to HD at 720p and set to full screen and tell me what you think. I could be wrong but it sure looks like it to me.

Samsung and Google team up for new worldwide patent license agreement ( NeoWin 2014-01-26 )

Get a load of the stuttering MicroZealots in the comments barking about Android and copying and stealing and collusion ( say what? ) and other crazy stuff. Their minds are shaped by the universe they inhabit, the Redmond Microverse, where everything revolves around locked-down intellectual property with extortion payments. They cannot imagine an alternate universe that is disconnected from their Microverse and this leads to all manner of loony comments. The 'Tards still see Android as as form of NeoWindows ( pardon the pun ) designed to bleed its OEM system builders of cash like Windows does, rather than exist as a way out of that IP trap and the Microsoft tax.

The NeoTards were so hoping for division and conflict to arise between Google and Samsung that they are caught completely blindsided. This agreement is huge as it cements a solid alternative for at least 10 years into the future ( which is like 100 years in the normal world ). This perfectly sets the stage for many other OEMs and developers to feel welcome as well and to jump onboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surface 2 Grammy's commercial released, uses Paul McCartney song and old commercial bits ( NeoWin 2014-01-24 )

~sigh~ Since the Grammy's were lost long ago to fat cats, payola, hipsters and no-talent retards, this would have been the perfect place for that original Surface dance commercial. Leave it to Microsoft to not just mess it up, but to do it backwards.

( I tried watching it ( the Grammy's ) but couldn't get past that marbled mouth karaoke singer mumbling something about "invisible". There were a few moments that were okay, but IMHO it was largely a CrapFest benchmark to how far music has fallen. As both a musician and an American I apologize to the rest of the world for this embarrassment. They're really just begging for that earthquake out there now. )

Latest Windows 8.1 Update 1 screenshots show changes to Start screen ( NeoWin 2014-01-25 )

Screenshots have appeared that show a traditional context menu when right-clicking on a Metro tile. Hordes of MetroTards immediately have strokes.

And now for something completely different ...

Inside the Mind of a Fanboy ( The Verge 2014-01-21 )

Interesting article, if a bit wordy and unfocused. Probably will spawn a host of comments and similar articles. The topic is kinda lost upon the Tribers at The Verge however, as it would be at NeoWin, and the author does not fully explorer the phenomenon of MetroTards. But, it's a start. Recognition of the problem is the first step toward recovery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Microsoft: Law enforcement inquiry documents stolen in recent phishing attacks ( NeoWin 2014-01-25 )

Microsoft admitted last week, "A social engineering cyberattack method known as phishing resulted in a small number of Microsoft employee social media and email accounts being impacted." While the company has yet to state that the SEA is responsible, Microsoft has now offered more information on these attacks that may show the impact may be bigger than first thought.

In a post on the Trustworthy Computing blog, Microsoft stated:

"While our investigation continues, we have learned that there was unauthorized access to certain employee email accounts, and information contained in those accounts could be disclosed. It appears that documents associated with law enforcement inquiries were stolen. If we find that customer information related to those requests has been compromised, we will take appropriate action. Out of regard for the privacy of our employees and customers as well as the sensitivity of law enforcement inquiries we will not comment on the validity of any stolen emails or documents."

Ruh Roh. Seriously, I don't know what's more weird, the fact that highly sensitive documents can be phished out of Microsoft employees, or that the bad guys have accidentally accomplished what amounts to a successful FOIA request ( Freedom Of Information Act ) obtaining information the government won't release, and that Microsoft allegedly wants to release but cannot due to a gag order. This is getting awfully close to a universe ending paradox. And then you cap it off with that odd quoted statement that raises more questions than answers - "IF we find ... THEN we will take appropriate action". Sounds to me like they need to be taking some action immediately.

On Childrens Website, N.S.A. Puts a Furry, Smiley Face on Its Mission ( New York Times 2014-01-24 )

NSA website 'for children' features code breaking cats and dogs ( NeoWin 2014-01-25 )

As the website says: It is never too early to start thinking about what you want to do when you grow up.

To enter the How Can I Work for N.S.A.? section of the site, children click on a picture of a bucktoothed rabbit, who says in his biography that he likes listening to hip-hop and rock. In his free time, the bunny says, he participates in cryptography competitions with other cartoon characters named Decipher Dog and CryptoCat.

As a signals analyst, you will work with cutting edge technology to recover, understand and derive intelligence from a variety of foreign signals found around the world, children are told in the future employment section. You will also attempt to identify the purpose, content, and user of these signals to provide critical intelligence to our nations leaders.

America's Crytopkids, a flash-based website hosted by the NSA, is the place where pre-teens can go to learn about the benefits of the National Security Agency from the likes of "Crypto Cat" and "Decipher Dog," D-dog for short.

While one might wonder if a dog could possibly possess the necessary qualifications to work at a government agency like the NSA, one quick look at his biography reveals that he is an ideal candidate. Asked about his "favorite computer project," D-dog explains how he was able to set up a wireless network for his entire family of seven. The best part? As administrator, D-dog can "check the programs to see which ones are being used, I can figure out which member of my family is using the network." You can't make this stuff up

Well that sure is creepy. :o They are one step away from cultivating a cadre of embedded spies, "government-youth", reminiscent of previous totalitarian examples. All they need now is a bait on the hook so the kids rush to give up information in exchange for something like badges and points. It could evolve into a completely new method to access the homes of the sheeple. Disgusting.

South Korea rules that all smartphone bloatware must be removable ( NeoWin 2014-01-25 )

Well who loves bloatware? Not me. :no: Neither do the fanboys who cheer this ruling. But this is where the sheeple can quickly get themselves sheared, for two separate reasons ...

The most obvious way requires an understanding as to why bloatware even exists in the first place. One of the main drivers is low profit margins on big box OEM systems which is reduced substantially by extra costs such as Microsoft's "Windows Tax". If they sell a $500 computer and pocket just 10% profit, perhaps $50, after paying off all suppliers and labor and still assume all the risk ( warranty for the system and even the angry calls for Microsoft Windows OS annoyances ) then what is the possible incentive to even stay in this business at all? I wouldn't even consider this a sensible line of work. Hence the payola received for bloatware preinstalled which lets them increase their profit margin by a few bucks. Fanboys that cherish this ruling are actually rooting for the demise of Microsoft because without incentives the market considerations will speed the move to a lower cost OS. The fanboys are in all actuality rooting for Linux and they don't even know it. And although this ruling is about phones, it easily ports to all of Microsoft's OS businesses.

The other reason is the one that concerns me most. I'll just quote the one sensible NeoWin commenter as he nails it perfectly ... "Hooray for Governments using force to control UX on devices. Just remember if they can change stuff you agree with they can change stuff you disagree with."

FBI warns of more cyber attacks like Target's ( NeoWin 2014-01-26 )

Arts and crafts retailer Michaels latest victim of credit card data theft ( TechSpot 2014-01-26 )

Krebs noted that multiple sources in the banking industry were tracking a pattern of credit card fraud that was traced back to recent usage at Michaels Stores Inc., the arts and crafts specialty store with more than 1,250 locations nationwide.

The retail chain later said they recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some US payment cards used at their store which suggests they may have been the victim of a data security attack. Michaels noted they are working closely with federal law enforcement and will continue the investigation with the help of third-party data security experts to get everything sorted out.

[...]

Whats more, if the investigation finds they are at fault, Michaels will offer identity protection and credit monitoring services to affected customers at no cost.

Too late. Love that last part though. Is anyone else thinking that these identity protection and credit report services will be a prime target for penetration? How long before that shoe drops?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...