Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Xbox again ...

Rumor: Microsoft working on "Cortana" personal assistant ( NeoWin 2013-09-13 )

According to ZDNet.com, using info from unnamed sources, the project is code named "Cortana" and is supposed to be a competitor to features found in Apple's iOS devices (Siri) and products that use Google's Android OS (Google Now).

Jeez, and just a day or two after their favorite lackey, Nokia, was busy accusing Apple of ripping off MicroNokia for multicolored phones. Hypocrisy is just thriving! The transition to MicroApple is clearly well under way now.

This assistant of course does not remind the fanboys of Clippy or the Search Dog for some reason. I wonder why? Well it's because they apparently are using a pretty girl character from an Xbox game. Horny MicroVirgins are naturally thrilled.

Lots of Xbox 360 games go missing from online store due to "technical glitch" ( NeoWin 2013-09-13 )

Gamasutra reports that the number of Xbox Live Indie Games dropped from 2,100 titles to just 949 on Thursday. Microsoft's Xbox Live status page currently shows there are issues with downloading content on the Xbox 360 console as well as from Xbox.com. It also shows that the Windows 8 Xbox SmartGlass app is currently experiencing launching issues.

[...]

Update: The Xbox Live Status page shows everything is OK on the games front but there is apparently a new issue with the Xbox Music service

Another cloudy day in the Microverse but they will never learn. God I really wish they had kept the online DRM requirements in Xbone rather than killing them. That would be a learning experience they would never forget.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Security Issues ...

Wi-Fi Sniffing Like Wiretapping, Court Tells Google ( Tom's Hardware 2013-09-13 )

Tom's Hardware coverage of that court case mentioned yesterday. Unfortunate spin by the author, one of the rare MicroZealots at TH, describing what Google did. Look at this nonsense ...

Let's back up for just a moment. In Google's attempt to map every single street on the big blue globe, the company not only collected street names and the location of public wireless networks, the Street View cars also scooped up 600 GB of information related to private networks in residential homes. This wealth of illegally obtained knowledge included MAC addresses, network SSIDs tied to location information for private wireless networks, and Wi-Fi "payload" data, which included emails, passwords, usernames and website URLs.

No fanboy, what they did was listen to and record what was in the air, and this was done from the street! They did not "go into" anyone's homes and they did not "wiretap" a single communication. This idjit, like the court judges, is equating "listening" with "wiretapping". Talk about missing the point! Especially considering what the government is up to nowadays. This is such a distraction and hugely hypocritical as well. One commenter nails it though ...

This is bad joke to say the least. The same Government that spend millions to intentionally break / circumvent security, is saying collecting open network traffic is wiretapping.

In that case, every person with cell phone that automaticly connects to open networks is now guilty of wiretapping.

The basic lack of knowledge about wireless networks, wireless radios of these judges should invalidate any ruling on the matter.

Don't rule on laws that

A: you dont understand

B: You are (most likely) currently breaking

C: The government you represent is Actively breaking

:

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer publicly defends decision to comply with NSA ( NeoWin 2013-09-13 )

During an onstage interview at TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, the comments came after she was asked which actions Yahoo! are taking to protect users from a tyrannical government.

Mayer says the company normally scrutinizes requests and documents signed and sealed from the NSA. However, she claims they were under increasing pressure from the NSA to comply or risk being labeled a traitor.

The CEO insists government court orders disallow them to disclose anything about them, or even their existence.

"We can't talk about it because it is classified. Releasing classified information is treason, and you are incarcerated. In terms of protecting our users, it makes more sense to work within the system."

So much for the theory that Yahoo! is one of the good guys fighting the good fight. It seems they have a little coward at the helm and the feds capitalized on it by scaring her into submission.

These companies, non-manufacturing businesses that do not require a physical presence anywhere should just move offshore to some South Pacific island chain. Close down silicon valley and open up coconut valley. I know this will be bad for my own country but what possible alternative is there against this kind of coercion? None of these corporate suits has the cojones to fight for the Constitution.

[TELVM]

"... In terms of protecting our a.s.s.e.s, it makes more sense to work within the system."

Fixed.

[jaclaz]

One pretty sensible comment there ... "Since the NSA has a backdoor to your phone, it'll now have your fingerprint, even if you've never been arrested or anything." ... all recent spy revelations considered I think this is a good point. Yes, that security article a few days ago implies that Apple phones have been one product that gives the spooks some trouble. But can we really trust that information? I doubt it. So having said that, why would we voluntarily place our fingerprints into that giant international digital vacuum cleaner they are operating. It is entirely possible that they are actually waiting and hoping for millions of new iPhones to blend into the system and then later launch a wholesale collection of fingerprints. I can't really think of a reason to doubt this anymore.

Yes and no (actually no).

The actual point is not-so-slightly different.

Noone and surely not the NSA actually cares about your fingerprints, BUT the real issue in traditional computer forensics has been that of "placing the suspect behind the keyboard".

The use of fingerprint as authentication method (already used since years on high-end laptops and advertised as "enhanced security") nicely solves this problem.

jaclaz

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

One pretty sensible comment there ... "Since the NSA has a backdoor to your phone, it'll now have your fingerprint, even if you've never been arrested or anything." ... all recent spy revelations considered I think this is a good point. Yes, that security article a few days ago implies that Apple phones have been one product that gives the spooks some trouble. But can we really trust that information? I doubt it. So having said that, why would we voluntarily place our fingerprints into that giant international digital vacuum cleaner they are operating. It is entirely possible that they are actually waiting and hoping for millions of new iPhones to blend into the system and then later launch a wholesale collection of fingerprints. I can't really think of a reason to doubt this anymore.

Yes and no (actually no).

The actual point is not-so-slightly different.

Noone and surely not the NSA actually cares about your fingerprints, BUT the real issue in traditional computer forensics has been that of "placing the suspect behind the keyboard".

The use of fingerprint as authentication method (already used since years on high-end laptops and advertised as "enhanced security") nicely solves this problem.

jaclaz

Good point. It kind of moots the whole question of (IP Address) != (Specific Person).

However, letting your fingerprints get digitized and distributed as easy as an email address or music file is dangerous. It wouldn't take much effort to take that digital file and use it for identity theft or even substitute it as their own so that crimes from their computer points back to you. They could even develop a way to 3D print a suitable imitation fingertip to be used to place your print at a physical crime scene too.

On the other hand, perhaps if the digital world gets swamped with fingerprints including counterfeits then the reliability of fingerprinting in general will be questioned. Now that is a very interesting possibility.

Pandora's Box.

[FiveAcres]

There is some speculation as to what Microsoft plans to do with the iPads that are sold for the $200 voucher. In their NEXT promotion, they will give away a gently used iPad with every purchase of a Surface. This will allow people to make a fair comparison between the two products.

(Full disclosure: I love my iPad 2 with an almost unnatural passion.)

[JorgeA]

Here's a suggestive survey:

Reality for Windows developers: Users want Android, iOS apps

A report released today entitled "Entering the Brave New World of Mobile Apps" emphasizes both the demand Windows developers are facing for mobile software as well as the reality that the two platforms most in demand by their users are Google Android and Apple iOS, not Windows platforms, which rank third and fourth in the survey. The report was authored by Dimensional Research and sponsored by software development tools vendor Embarcadero Technologies. Participants included 1,337 persons involved in Windows desktop application development, either as developers, engineers, or development managers.

The survey found that 85 percent of respondents had requests for mobile applications, which involve mobile capabilities for existing applications, new applications altogether, or replacing existing mobile systems. Android was the most requested platform, with 83 percent getting requests for it, followed by iOS (67 percent); Windows Phone (33 percent), Windows RT (13 percent), and RIM BlackBerry (14 percent).

If the figures are anywhere near reflective of the way things are, then all mobile versions of Windows are doomed. Metro and Metro Apps will become the appendix of Windows -- an excrescence with literally no purpose for existence. Unlike the real appendix, though, market evolution will decree its swift disappearance from lack of nourishment (consumer interest).

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

There is some speculation as to what Microsoft plans to do with the iPads that are sold for the $200 voucher. In their NEXT promotion, they will give away a gently used iPad with every purchase of a Surface. This will allow people to make a fair comparison between the two products.

(Full disclosure: I love my iPad 2 with an almost unnatural passion.)

I'm taking bets as to which of the two devices would sit in users' laps, and which one would serve as a protective surface for the wood coffee table.

--JorgeA

[ROTS]

So I finally got Windows 8 ( by force ) inside my home. Without consulting me, the only person who even go inside a computer, or attempts programming, they beought an almost $1000 labtop, on credit.......................................

The Gui itself reminds me of a magazine, or a book. It is extremly simple, flat, boring and 2d. It is everything opposite as we expected it to be. On a short sighted noticed, I would like to point out the many problems we had the last ten years or so, because of hate for things people do not understand. I do not know if the simplistic appearance is something to be proud of. It feels like 1980's all over again ( which means it is like the 1950's all over again ( which means it is like the 1920's all over agan ) ). Maybe their is still some hope for this world maybe, but then again that might be the negative undertones of what these designs might mean. As with "Regans looking back speech".

However that is the one thing positive I have to say about Windows 8 GUI appearance at least. It is freindly, simple, clean, and innocent looking. It makes me feel like a four year old kid all over again, going to McCorrys to buy toys. That is how freindly it feels, like being on some sorta wonder drug that takes you to the land of Oz.

However their is kind of a downer to all of this. From the X-box era Microsoft have the gamers crowd lined up to buy into X-box live. They also have Adobe users because of the OSX switch to Intel. Finally to make things more easier for them, the goverments, schools, and anybody that takes Uncle Sams non-for-profit blood money, are forced into upgrading their hardware, under law. Which in turns force everybody who is not a real programmer, to upgrade just for MS-word. That is the first downer.

As mentioned, the other problem is the security of the OS. I can't "bare" to even think of an break n entering, or home invasion, brought you by Carls Juniors. Because some negative nancy nun had a hard time back in the 1965 when people started to think in the right direction. This second downer.

Windows 8 is a step into the right direction, that we from the late 98 Days have always wanted. Starting with VISTA, and XP, Microsoft has been moving alongside with the whole 3d and 2d life promotion. It is like everybody was high on SIMS, and virtual reality. But Windows 8 shows that programmers ( who are probably my age range right about now ) are connecting with the users on the level of graphic designers at least. That is shorta a good thing.

If you can afford it, have credit, or is a raging person who has barely no disipline, and does not care how things work. Get Windows 8. If you want something that looks like it was made back in 1979, but is really from the book/movie 1984 then get windows 8, I am sure the thought police wont bother you, unless you have something that is precious

Edited September 15, 2013 by ROTS

[jaclaz]

I do not know if the simplistic appearance is something to be proud of. It feels like 1980's all over again ( which means it is like the 1950's all over again ( which means it is like the 1920's all over agan ) ).

Well, we have no more any charleston, nor Josephine Baker, and much less need for moonshine, though.

jaclaz

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

IDF 2013: Intel Distances Itself From Windows 8, Microsoft ( DailyTech 2013-09-12 )

( Someone at TechBroil mentioned this article ) Excellent blog coverage of IDF 2013 highlighting that thing I've also noticed - that Intel seems to be getting comfortable working outside of the Microverse. We're gonna need a new name for the replacement to the old WinTel paradigm. May Intellidroid? Or GoogleTel?

Microsoft pulled videos mocking new iPhones for being 'off the mark' ( NeoWin 2013-09-15 )

More on that most recent MicroBlunder. Everyone is now trying to say that was about Tim Cook, but is that who really comes to mind when you see that photo at the link?

Before sale to Microsoft, Nokia was testing Android on Lumia phones ( TechSpot 2013-09-14 )

Rumor: Nokia tested Android Lumia phones before Microsoft deal ( NeoWin 2013-09-14 )

Microsoft apparently knew about Nokia's testing of Android, although it didn't form any part of discussions between the companies during the acquisition stage. Nokia had arranged a deal with Microsoft in 2011 to solely produce Windows Phones, although the deal expired in 2014, meaning Android Lumia phones might have made it to the market in under a year's time.

If Nokia had produced a Lumia-like device running Android, with features we've come to love such as 41-megapixel PureView cameras, it might have been the death of Windows Phone. Nokia makes almost all the Windows Phone devices currently available, and commands an impressive 87% share of the Windows Phone market; without them, Microsoft's small share of smartphone sales would begin to dwindle.

Nokia has had to face a large amount of criticism for choosing Windows Phone over Android. The Finnish company had a 30% of the smartphone market in 2010, before that dropped away to the 3% it is now. Smartphone buyers have also often wished that Lumia phones would run Android rather than Windows Phone, citing the weak ecosystem as a reason against purchasing their devices.

I was thinking the same thing, and get this, I posted it only a half-hour before the Nokia assimilation was announced ...

Here we see a high-end Android phone with huge photo and video capabilities aimed squarely at Nokia's flagship 1020. Speaking of that particular Nokia phone, has anyone noticed something interesting about the TV commercials they are running? Here's one, and here's another. What is obvious is that the Windows Phone aspect is being hugely downplayed, only appearing briefly at the end for a split second, if at all. Microsoft Tiles is becoming a liability and Nokia knows it better than anybody. I would expect them to build an Android phone soon and that 1020 would be a perfect starting point.

The fanboys at the NeoWin thread aren't thrilled by this rumor at all. Lots of denial with the usual foolish logic that Nokia could not go up against Samsung ( ummm, did they ever imagine Samsung got so successful because there was no Nokia on the playing field? ). One sane commenter at the sad NeoWin thread nails it by explaining ...

Well Microsoft bought Nokia (the parts that matter) for two reasons alone.

#1) It's no secret that the Lumia line of phones are the only thing keeping Windows Phone relevant.

#2) Nokia's contract was going to end in 2014. Most likely Nokia would have produced an Android phone and Microsoft did not want that.

EDIT: spacing

Edited September 16, 2013 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Microsoft: Loading JPG images with IE11 on Windows 8.1 is 45 percent faster ( NeoWin 2013-09-14 )

Sounds good right? GPU acceleration making JPG images "load" faster right? First of all they are talking milliseconds which itself can be lost to random access of files due to differences from one HDD to another. Secondly, as some commenters point out there is a deception to this claim. Given the same exact online bandwidth throughput, this advancement is meaningless because it only kicks in once the file has already been downloaded to your computer - then MSIE loads it. So if MSIE were running on a local network or Intranet this might be noticeable ( again, assuming HDD random access ms is not high ). In normal use online it is just another normal client side feature operating beyond the narrow clogged end of the pipe.

Epic Privacy Browser Makes Surfing Ultra-Discreet ( Maximum PC 2013-09-15 )

I haven't had time to read up on this but here we have a new browser that appears strong on privacy and anonymity. Does anyone else know anything about it? Is it yet another Chrome spawn? Also see the EpicBrowser.com website.

Microsoft May Be Launching Siri Competitor in 2014 ( Tom's Hardware 2013-09-15 )

What could possibly be wrong with a pretty girl from a video game being your personal clippy?

Even Steve Ballmer hinted to her virtual existence in a strategy memo back in July, saying that the company's family of devices will be powered by "a service-enabled shell" going forward.

"Our UI will be deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world," he said. "Our shell will natively support all of our essential services, and will be great at responding seamlessly to what people ask for, and even anticipating what they need before they ask for it."

"It is more than what we think of as the shell today, and no current label really fits where we are headed," he added. "Neither the desktop nor the social graph describes this new experience, and neither does the search box, the pin board or the file system. The shell will support the experiences layer and broker information among our services to bring them together on our devices in ways that will enable richer and deeper app experiences."

Considering all the spying revelations that have come to light since then this speech was given by Ballmer, well, all those details sure sound creepy now.

[jaclaz]

Is it yet another Chrome spawn? Also see the EpicBrowser.com website.

Not really hidden info:

http://www.epicbrowser.com/FAQ.html

Epic like my current browser (chrome, ie, firefox)?

Yes, but better. Epic is private and probably even faster. Epic is built on Chromium which is the same base as the Google Chrome browser. Since Epic blocks a lot of tracking scripts and other requests, web pages usually load up faster in Epic. Epic is always in a private browsing or incognito mode, and has additional privacy protection to protect others from tracking your browsing and searches.

How does Epic protect my privacy?

Epic does several things to protect your privacy. Epic by default removes all Google services from Chromium so that your browsing does not go through Google’s servers. When you visit a search engine, Epic routes that request through a proxy server so that they can’t track you by your IP address. You can also manually turn on Epic’s built-in proxy anytime (it’s the icon at right in the address bar). Epic removes referer data from the http header of search sites that may leak your search terms. Epic blocks thousands of trackers and widgets from tracking your browsing and searching across the internet.Epic has an encrypted data preference so whenever possible, Epic connects you securely. This protects you from general surveillance and when you’re on a public WiFi network. Epic always blocks third-party cookies and sends a do-not-track me signal. Epic never collects any data about your browsing or searches. Epic services such as auto-fill in the address bar are local so that what you’re typing is never sent to any server. Epic is always in private browsing or incognito mode so that after you close Epic, all your browsing data and data stored on your system by websites are deleted.

jaclaz

Edited September 16, 2013 by jaclaz

[JorgeA]

This Epic Browser is intriguing, but here's a heads-up:

You are in India, that's fine.
But I'm not happy with your choice for a US based proxy server.
We all know by now that American IT companies are forced to act in accordance with the Patriot Act.
In short, all traffic via their servers can and may be tapped.
Maybe pick a proxy server somewhere in a "privacy-safe" country?

What's your opinion about this?

Great point & thanks! We know our partner spotflux and they respect users' privacy, and we do understand there is a lot of concern over US-based services at this point. The US doesn't have data retention laws which is good, but the Patriot Act is a concern.

We would like and are open to offering proxy servers in other countries. We don't have any immediate plans, but we hope to have more options to offer in the future.

Comments?

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Comments?

Guess WHY exactly I underlined the use of the proxy in the quote I posted?

jaclaz