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20 Feb 2009 15:41

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Tech: Missing: One MS prototype phone. Rips off Apple heavily.

  • Windows Mobile 6.5! Stolen! Egads! Sol Trujillo, the CEO of Australian mobile phone company Telstar, was given a phone with the top-secret Microsoft mobile OS on it. He gave that to an executive. And that executive got pick-pocketed during the conference he was at. So some five-fingered dude in Barcelona gets to exclusively see how MS yet again fails at besting Apple at something. Good for them! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

19 Feb 2009 21:53

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Tech: Internet Explorer 8 pays for the sins of Internet Explorers past

  • 2,400 sites look wrong in IE8, including Microsoft’s source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Feb 2009 09:08

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Tech: MS puts up a big bounty to find worm’s authors

  • $250,000 reward offered by Microsoft to find the authors of the Conficker/Downadup worm source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2009 10:32

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U.S.: Microsoft wants to be Apple, have its own retail outlets

  • Putting players in place Yesterday, MS named David Porter, a former Wal-Mart and Dreamworks Animation exec, as vice president of its retail stores. Taking a cue from Apple, the stores would sell computers with Microsoft software on them, as well as non-PC products like Zunes and Xboxes. Since starting their stores, Apple has made out like gangbusters and cut into MS’ market share. source
  • Putting players in place Yesterday, MS named David Porter, a former Wal-Mart and Dreamworks Animation exec, as vice president of its retail stores. Taking a cue from Apple, the stores would sell computers with Microsoft software on them, as well as non-PC products like Zunes and Xboxes. Since starting their stores, Apple has made out like gangbusters and cut into MS’ market share.
  • What we imagine We think this could perhaps be the ninth layer of hell if done wrong. Just imagine – stores with Songsmith karaoke bars, walls lined with numerous versions of Windows, and repeated showings of those terrible Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercials on giant TV screens. And honestly, we’d be afraid of getting locked in the store overnight by a blue screen of death. source
  • Putting players in place Yesterday, MS named David Porter, a former Wal-Mart and Dreamworks Animation exec, as vice president of its retail stores. Taking a cue from Apple, the stores would sell computers with Microsoft software on them, as well as non-PC products like Zunes and Xboxes. Since starting their stores, Apple has made out like gangbusters and cut into MS’ market share.
  • What we imagine We think this could perhaps be the ninth layer of hell if done wrong. Just imagine – stores with Songsmith karaoke bars, walls lined with numerous versions of Windows, and repeated showings of those terrible Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercials on giant TV screens. And honestly, we’d be afraid of getting locked in the store overnight by a blue screen of death.
  • Bad timing? Yeah, nothing against the idea or anything, guys, but you realize we’re in a recession, right? You guys laid off people recently, too, so it’s not exactly like you should be unaware of this fact. And on top of that, one of your biggest retail outlets, Circuit City, bit the big one. Not to tell you not to do this, guys, but is this really the best use of your time? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2009 10:09

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Biz, Tech: Microsoft: People don’t use many apps, so we’ll charge more!

  • 2 number of Windows apps MS claims the average person uses source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2009 21:06

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Offbeat, Tech: Bill Gates + mosquitoes + malaria presentation = WTF?

The ex-Microsoft CEO unleashed a swarm of skeets on a crowd. It went over like a BSOD. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2009 17:00

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Offbeat, Tech: Spies. Intrigue. Espionage. In Redmond. At Microsoft.

  • Microsoft claims someone stole their ideas. MS claims that the CEO of a nearby corporation, Ancora Technologies, lied about being a former employee of Ancora when he was hired at the Windows-and-Xbox-and-Zune-pushing company in 2005. Ancora still existed, and Miki Mullor apparently took confidential documents for his company’s own benefit. Which is probably the coolest thing to ever happen at Microsoft. And that includes Songsmith. (Note: This case was settled in November. Read more here.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

19 Jan 2009 00:33

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Tech: Another attack on Microsoft by the European Union

  • IE’s the focus again The European Union, acting on a key part of Microsoft’s business, sent a statement of objections Microsoft for bundling Internet Explorer in copies of Windows. Sound familiar? It’s the same kind of antitrust fight that the U.S. fought against MS 12 years ago. This time, as opposed to Netscape being the victim of unfair practices, Opera’s making the complaint. source
  • IE’s the focus again The European Union, acting on a key part of Microsoft’s business, sent a statement of objections Microsoft for bundling Internet Explorer in copies of Windows. Sound familiar? It’s the same kind of antitrust fight that the U.S. fought against MS 12 years ago. This time, as opposed to Netscape being the victim of unfair practices, Opera’s making the complaint.
  • An open door for alternatives With this latest case, the quickly-declining market leader could be damaged more, and it’s all thanks to a 2007 EU decision which prevented Microsoft from “tying” its Media Player to Windows. Regulators aim to force the company to offer alternatives in its default installation, such as Opera, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, thereby giving customers a choice. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2009 22:35

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Biz, Tech: IBM has more stuff patented than you do

  • 4,186 patents granted to IBM in ’08 – a record source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2009 20:09

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Music, Offbeat, Tech: The dumbest idea for a software program, ever

  • Microsoft Songsmith sucks Songsmith, which creates music based on your ability to sing, could be a cool idea. But its downfall is the uber-cheeseball MIDI backing music, straight out of a Casiotone circa 1985 (disclosure from the author: I own this keyboard). source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
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