CharlotteTheHarlot Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 The Feudal Telecommunication Oligarchy ... IBM claims Twitter is in violation of three patents they own ( TechSpot 2013-11-04 ) IBM has accused microblogging platform Twitter of infringing on three patents they own according to a recent update to Twitters S1 document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. IBM is reportedly open to resolving the violations without getting the legal system involved but it is unclear if Twitter is willing to go down that road. The patents in question are U.S. Patent No. 6,957,224 which deals with efficient retrieval of uniform resource locators, U.S. Patent No. 7,072,849 relating to a method for presenting advertising in an interactive service and U.S. Patent No. 7,099,862 pertaining to programmatic discovery of common contacts. See what they did there? Timing is everything in blackmail and extortion. IPO is coming, now is the time to strike. Patents are the primary weapon in the consolidation of power of existing Big Data companies, it facilitates their hardening into protected fiefdoms, monopolies whose portfolio is a collection of patents rather than fresh ideas. What a wonderful idea mankind has wrought upon itself. Rather than encourage creativity and the improvements and evolution of an idea, they freeze them in place for an arbitrary period, 17 years maybe, but actually forever. It would be so simple to fix the "system". Have patents last one year and then expire into the public domain. And no patents ever granted for future ideas, only for working product. Done. After that we can deal with the lawyers. Equipment Makers Want Telecoms to Upgrade Networks ( Tom's Hardware 2013-11-03 ) ... hardware manufacturers pushing for a dramatic revision to how we organize the Internet. Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent, two companies that help build the physical backbones of the Internet, each think they have just the idea to pitch big ISPs. It's no secret that telecom companies do everything they can to keep customers from using too much data: throttling, packet inspection, global slow-downs, tier pricing and more are all strategies that these companies use to help manage the total bandwidth they have to carry and manage. Huawei's proposal is that instead of the rocky relationship between content providers like YouTube, Amazon Prime and Netflix, the two powers could cooperate for mutual benefit. The company's CTO, Daniel Tang, suggests revenue sharing between the two. Content providers could stream as much HD quality video as they wanted, providing there were people willing to pay for it with ad revenue and subscriptions. In exchange, telecoms would have a bigger incentive to actually build out the requisite networks to support that higher data usage. Some tiered pricing would probably be necessary, but it's certainly a novel approach. Be afraid, be very afraid. Huawei is a Chinese government front and Alcatel-Lucent is like a grandson of AT&T ( making the French half the granddaughter-in-law or something? ). "Hey, let's better organize the Internet! And we'll let government companies and former Baby Bell monopolists build it!" I got a better idea, stop screwing with the Internet, either get the governments out of it or we need a new one completely, this time decentralized with p2p at its core. We just need to figure out a way to eliminate ISP's as the guardians of access. Internet might someday lose its dependency on servers, rely on P2P instead ( TechSpot 2013-11-04 ) It's hard to even imagine the Internet without servers, but researchers at Cambridge University have developed a proof-of-concept for a new server-free Internet architecture. I swear I had no idea that this story was coming, coincidental and fortuitous though! I've never even heard of this concept. When I keep saying decentralized Internet with p2p logic I am kind of hinting at the difference between, say, IDE and SCSI. The former relies upon a central authority to manage almost every transaction between relatively dumb devices but the latter added smart logic to the devices and diminished the authority of the system ( yes this is abstract, nitpickers leave my analogy alone! ). My point is that we are on a clear path to overwhelming centralized control, mostly from governments, but also from the favored class of Big Data companies. It is a perfect feudal model, where the kings have a buffer class of nobility between them and the peasants. Anything pointed in the other direction sounds good to me.
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Security and Privacy ... badBIOS: The unstoppable malware that infects firmware, jumps 'Airgaps' ( TechSpot 2013-11-04 ) Here are some of the claims Ruiu made about the malware, which he termed "badBIOS", on Google+ and Twitter:It is platform independent. Windows, OSx, BSD systems have been tested positive so far.It can alter system settings, prevent infected systems to boot from CD drives.The malware propagates through any USB memory stick after it is plugged from an infected system into an uninfected system.The infected USB memory stick becomes unusable if ejected unsafely from an infected system. Strangely though, it works fine again when inserted back into the infected system.It contains a hypervisor and uses a software defined radio (SDR) to jump Airgaps.It can use the speakers of an infected machine to transmit data through ultrasonic transmissions that is received by the microphone of another infected machine.It blocks reflashing software websites of Russian origin.The malware renders infected systems useless for further research. Still sounds like a hoax to me. Either that or he has discovered another Stuxnet level malware. Beware! Spooky Apps Can Weaken Your Privacy ( Tom's Hardware 2013-11-04 ) The company cites three categories with the biggest issues:Dating apps such as Scout, Tinder and Flirt share too much personal data, including location, to other users, says Appthority.Children's apps such as Disney Infinity Game Info and Harry Potter Spells (neither authorized by Disney or J.K. Rowling) send information to third-party ad networks and analytic companies.Android apps such as Disneys Princess Wallpapers, Superman HD Wallpapers and Monsters Inc. Wallpapers again, not authorized by the companies holding rights to those characters that also send info to ad networks. Monkey see, Monkey do. Why wouldn't all manner of software developers simply follow the lead of all the big names like Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and the Government spooks. As they show no self-restraint and draw no lines that they will not cross of course the smaller authors will come along and follow in their footsteps. Hey, they also want big houses and limousines and a table at 5-star restaurants. Can you blame them. How fast we have fallen. When Windows XP and Office XP came out there was a lot of fighting over the activation phoning home and arguments over WPA and privacy. 5 years later we tried again to discuss this with Vista DRM but were told to shut up by lackeys like Ed MicroBott who were already assimilated to that over-step and ready for the next one. 7 more years elapse and basically it's game over now. You would be hard-pressed to even locate software that even does Opt-IN. Well done everyone! It's a Brave New World.
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 The Competition ... iPad Air outselling previous models, seems destined to be a hit ( NeoWin 2013-11-04 ) Barely a few days since its launch and the new iPad Air seems to be a massive hit with consumers. Data shows its adoption rate is significantly higher compared to last years iPad 4 and iPad Mini devices. This thread is exactly like Steven ( NeoWin boss ) throwing a juicy slab of red meat into a cage of feral dogs Pavlovian fanboys. Maybe this is what they mean by "Haterz gonna hate"? This was easily predicted though. Microsoft knew when the Apple refresh was coming yet they still did a complete Groundhog's Day repeat of one year ago releasing their own nearly identical product line again, this time merely changing the name of the hardware and OS, and slightly tweaking the specs. They just phoned it in. Head meet brick wall. So now the Surface 2 will at best wind up treading water despite everything they have done. Some days it just sucks to be a fanboy. Three more developers hop on AMD's Mantle API bandwagon ( TechSpot 2013-11-04 ) Eidos and Two Other Developers Vow Support for AMD's Mantle Graphics API ( Maximum PC 2013-11-05 ) Today, AMD announced that three more developers are working on incorporating Mantle into their upcoming games. First up, Square Enix's Eidos-Montréal studio has partnered with AMD for Mantle in future titles, including its upcoming game Thief, which is set for release in February 2014. Cloud Imperium Games, currently working on the crowd-funded Star Citizen, is the second developer to partner with AMD. Chris Roberts, CEO at the studio, said that "Mantle is vitally important for a game like Star Citizen, which is being designed with the need for massive GPU horsepower", indicating that AMD and the studio have modified Crytek's fourth-gen CryEngine to make use of the API in this game. The final developer to join the Mantle bandwagon is Oxide Games, who are currently developing a new 64-bit, multi-platform, multi-core game engine called 'Nitrous'. The engine is in the early stages of development, so on release, it should be optimized fully for Mantle. Microsoft decides Direct-X is legacy ( except for the sole purpose of forcing OS upgrades ) and the industry says screw you. There seems to be competition for Microsoft at every level now, in all the areas they formerly dominated. I guess their dreams of DRM-ridden locked-down consoles and planned obsolescence of Direct-X between operating systems has not gone according to plan. LOTS of Steam OS news is popping up ... Valve to announce Steam Machine partners during CES 2014 ( PC Gamer 2013-11-04 ) Half-Life 3, other future Valve games won't be exclusive to SteamOS ( PC Gamer 2013-11-04 ) Only Valve will make Steam controllers ( PC Gamer 2013-11-04 ) See the first pictures of the Steam Machines prototype ( PC Gamer 2013-11-04 ) Steam client "should allow you to run in Offline Mode for as long as you like" say Valve ( PC Gamer 2013-11-04 ) Take a Look at the Steam Machine. It looks good, real good ( Maximum PC 2013-11-04 ) Valve steps up its game, pushes beyond software ( Seattle Times 2013-11-04 ) We play with the Steam Machine, Valve's game console of the future] ( The Verge 2013-11-04 ) Valve reveals design of prototype Steam Machine ( TechSpot 2013-11-05 ) Valve Wants to Make PC a Better Entertainment Platform ( Tom's Hardware 2013-11-05 ) That last article at PC Gamer is interesting ... The fact that Steam requires you to pop online once every few weeks is a bug rather than intentional design according to an official forum response spotted by Blue's News. "There are many components involved in Offline Mode," writes Valve poster Henryg, "some of them have known issues and bugs which we are continually working to improve. We're aware that it doesn't always work as flawlessly as we want it to, but please keep reporting bugs with Offline Mode. It is not broken 'by design'." Sounds like a dig at the DRM addicted console makes, particularly Microsoft with its on-again off-again daily check-in. It's a bug, not a feature like Microsoft wanted!
jaclaz Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 (edited) About Badbios, see here: http://reboot.pro/topic/19111-badbios/ About Windows Phone success in Italy, see here: http://gadget.wired.it/news/cellulari/2013/11/05/windows-phone-ios-italia-643782.html (the actual data is in English) In Germany +6%, in UK +7.2%, in France +5.5%, in Italy +2.9% and it has success in Italy? Please consider that *anyone* in Italy interested in a Smartphone has already one or two of them, and typically 90% will have an iPhone and 9.9% a Samsung and (maybe) 0.1% *something else*. I just faked the above percentages, but really noone here is going to buy a new phone, not in year 2013/first half of 2014, unless the one they already have breaks, the crisis is biting, and, still anecdotal evidence at it's best I have never seen a Nokia Lumia in the hands of someone I know, I have only seen them in the shops and in the hands of "corporate" people and that is the Nokia Lumia 520: http://www.tim.it/prodotti?Marca=NOKIA which is offered at 150 €, whilst an iPhone: http://www.tim.it/prodotti?Marca=APPLE starts at 350 and Samsungs are roughly around that price: http://www.tim.it/prodotti?Marca=SAMSUNG (TIM is the largest mobile carrier in Italy, AFAIK) jaclaz P.S.: Also, for NO apparent reason : http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=lumia%2C%20Windows%20Phone&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=lego#q=iphone%2C%20lumia%2C%20galaxy&geo=IT&cmpt=q Edited November 5, 2013 by jaclaz
JorgeA Posted November 6, 2013 Author Posted November 6, 2013 This comment on Windows 8.1 in PCWorld is a bit of an oldie, but a goodie:So I guess it's either, "Win8 is the most awesome thing ever," or, "Win8 sucks." Both types of comments are pointless.Try this: Win8 was a modest technological upgrade beneath an interface revision which requires a very steep learning curve. It's new successor appears to demonstrate only that its authors have not learned from the market and insist on shoving questionable "innovations" down users' throats.Say what you will about stability, but the market has labeled this OS a turkey, and that's a tough rep to shake, especially when genuinely useful improvements like the ones described by this article are intentionally obscured in the name of a misguided attempt at convergence.If you love Win8, good for you. If you think it sucks, well, fine. All that really matters is that, according to the market, MS is failing with this product, and has stuck their heads in the sand about it. And the new revision appears to do nothing about that fact. Should we be surprised to learn that Android laptops (and even desktops) are starting to appear in system-makers' design chains?So far, Win8 has basically set the stage for Windows becoming the ultimate boutique OS. For those of us who truly rely on it, this cannot be a good thing. My sincere hope is that MS gets the message from the market. But that's hard to imagine when they crank out misguided, half-hearted, condescending hoohah like 8.1.--JorgeA
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 This comment on Windows 8.1 in PCWorld is a bit of an oldie, but a goodie:So I guess it's either, "Win8 is the most awesome thing ever," or, "Win8 sucks." Both types of comments are pointless. Try this: Win8 was a modest technological upgrade beneath an interface revision which requires a very steep learning curve... Agreed with all except for that part. It's almost become doctrine to state that as a kind of hedge to soften the criticism. But I can't see how Metro has any kind of learning curve whatsoever. It's more like un-learning, a reversion to childhood habits of touching everything. It's positively primal ...
ricktendo Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 If you think comparing Windows 8 users to these apes in these photos is an insult, then you have not see this video
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Chimps are smarter than us MetroTards. When monkeys can deduplicate photos on a fistful of flashdrives and camera cards get back to me. In fact, when a human MetroTard can accomplish this get back to me.
jaclaz Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Monkeys do keep their documents users folder on C: , if they don't they cannot upgrade to 8.1:http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_install/sorry-it-looks-like-this-pc-cant-run-windows-81/84310e8a-edd3-48d7-af31-0b09666b0c74Sometimes I wonder what a cyberarcheologist from year 2513 (or *any* alien of a more advanced race) might think of this early computer civilization, if they find about this issue. A solution was given on page 10, by user "TSoftware":http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_install/sorry-it-looks-like-this-pc-cant-run-windows-81/84310e8a-edd3-48d7-af31-0b09666b0c74?page=10And of course Ed Bott's opinion is that MS is correct , because it supports a stupid workaround approach and has determined that the simple, right, logical one (btw elsewhere considered "best practice" is not supported:http://www.zdnet.com/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive-7000022142/jaclaz
bpalone Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Headed out the door, but just saw this: Microsoft Is Making An Astonishing $2 Billion Per Year From Android Patent RoyaltiesThe article is here: http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-earns-2-billion-per-year-from-android-patent-royalties-2013-11bpalone
G8YMW Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Seen in the articleSherlund says that if you back out the Android profits, Microsoft is probably losing $2.5 billion on Skype, Xbox, and Windows Phone. Of that, $2 billion in losses are attributable to the Xbox platform.Skype, WinPhone and Xbox are they loss leaders? Just think of the profits if Xbox was dumped!
TELVM Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 If you think comparing Windows 8 users to these apes in these photos is an insult, then you have not see this video I'd be more impressed if the video showed the chimp using a computer keyboard and mouse .... $2 billion in losses are attributable to the Xbox platform ...For some reason this piece of information reminds me of that joke about the hunter and the bear :"You're not in this for the profit, are you?"
jaclaz Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) I'd be more impressed if the video showed the chimp using a computer keyboard and mouse .OW, comeon, everyone knows that chimps don't use the keyboard, gorillas do :http://www.koko.org/world/kokopix.php?page=837Orangutans are more about the Apple iPad, though:http://redapes.org/multimedia/apps-for-apes/Apps for Apes?Orangutans are highly intelligent creatures who require mental stimulation to keep from growing bored and depressed. Every orangutan is a unique individual with his or her own particular likes and dislikes, and freedom of choice is critical to their well-being. They like to choose everything from their afternoon snack to their daytime companions and sleeping area. What they do each day depends on how they feel, and the more choices they have, the better. Just like humans, orangutans like options. The quality of life of orangutans living in zoos and sanctuaries is dependent on the amount and type of enrichment they receive on a daily basis. With the Apps for Apes project, we propose to introduce Apple iPad technology to orangutans in order to provide them with unlimited enrichment opportunities. The iPad is a perfect device for orangutans, as they have an innate ability to work with touchscreen technology. This has been demonstrated in facilities such as Zoo Atlanta, the Great Ape Trust and the Smithsonian National Zoo. With proper guidance, orangutans will be able to use their devices just like humans do– to spend their time doing things that they enjoy. They will have access to music, musical instruments, cognitive games, art, painting, drawing, photos and videos. Among other things, they will be able to see photos and videos of other orangutans.I don't know why, but I see a Rule #34 hiding somewhere.... jaclaz Edited November 7, 2013 by jaclaz
JorgeA Posted November 7, 2013 Author Posted November 7, 2013 Woody Leonhard strikes again with an irreverent collection of Windows 8.1 warnings and cautions:The hidden fangs of Windows 8.1 -- and how to avoid themLots of people think of Windows 8.1 as the version of Windows 8 that Microsoft should've shipped a year ago. They're not far from wrong. But before you move to Windows 8.1, make sure you understand the limitations and, uh, features on offer. Unpleasant surprises await the unwary.Microsoft wants you to log on to Windows 8.1 with a Microsoft account, so it can offer you all sorts of conveniences, such as automatic logon to SkyDrive and Metro Mail, Calendar and Internet Explorer, saving your Metro settings, and syncing your downloaded Metro apps.At the same time, you have to realize that Microsoft's keeping track of everything you do with the account -- when you log on to Windows, what you're doing with IE, and who knows what else.Next after that slide, he shows you the convoluted, unintuitive way to get around Microsoft channeling you into working within their Matrix account.--JorgeA
TELVM Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 OW, comeon, everyone knows that chimps don't use the keyboard, gorillas do :http://www.koko.org/world/kokopix.php?page=837"... Someday we would like to create a gorilla-centric interface ..."Being written in 2004, that was another extraordinary piece of clarividence .
Recommended Posts