[jaclaz]

On UNrelated news it seems like the good guys at MS made a little techical error thus failing to comply with the EU ruling :
http://www.bloomberg...ser-choice.html
(it is defined as "little" as it seemingly affecs/affected "only" 28 millions OEM PC's )

AND, a similar matter is "in the air" for the new Windows 8:
http://www.bloomberg...munia-says.html

AND the waters are not so calm for the good guys at Google, either:
http://www.guardian....e?newsfeed=true



Be aware that there is a concrete risk (if the trend goes like this) that you can get an EU fine of (say) 15 Euro's because you used the sentence:

Quote

Oww, come on, google for it...

instead of the correct:

Quote

You should access an online search engine and perform a search for that ...

OOT (Off-Off-Topic):
Anyone ever read or heard the sentence :

Quote

Oww, come on, bing for it ....

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

Thanks for the news items, jaclaz. Couldn't be happening to a nicer bunch of folks...

jaclaz, on 21 September 2012 - 12:08 PM, said:

Be aware that there is a concrete risk (if the trend goes like this) that you can get an EU fine of (say) 15 Euro's because you used the sentence:

Quote

Oww, come on, google for it...

instead of the correct:

Quote

You should access an online search engine and perform a search for that ...

Sure, not a problem. I want to distribute this warning to my family and neighbors. I just sneezed, so let me just get a *leenex to blow my nose first, and then I'll ?erox the printout.

The price of enormous success is that your brand becomes part of the language, a new name for the product itself. Should be a cause for satisfaction, not alarm.

jaclaz, on 21 September 2012 - 12:08 PM, said:

OOT (Off-Off-Topic):
Anyone ever read or heard the sentence :

Quote

Oww, come on, bing for it ....

--JorgeA

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

3 different interfaces, 3 clear choices. Which appeals to you? And which appeals to your child?


( Image source: Nokia )

Walking into a hypothetical store that stocks, sells and displays all three, and disregarding contracts with everything else being equal, I would have to say that I would be walking out with the Galaxy. The wife would be grabbing an iPhone no doubt, and the kids would be all over the playskool model. That pretty much sums it up as far as their highly polished appearances. And it probably reflects the gender-demographic divide as well. YMMV.

Of course I would be grabbing the Android just so I could quickly change that horrific dandelion screen to something else ( where I am, they are considered weeds which are just slightly less despised than Poison Ivy ). I would rather poke my eyes out than watch another dandelion blow around.

I think Apple might have missed the boat a little by not sufficiently distinguishing the appearance from their previous two models, both in iOS6 and the handset itself. Looks like they mailed it in this time.

The Windows Phone is just terrible IMHO. If the yellow isn't bad enough, what were they thinking with the text color? That thing is just screaming for black text. Nokia dummies! That is the absolute epitome of horrible theme design. Does it ship with bifocals? I despise the icons also.

What does everyone else think?

EDIT: typo

This post has been edited by CharlotteTheHarlot: 22 September 2012 - 01:21 AM

[JorgeA]

CharlotteTheHarlot, on 21 September 2012 - 06:26 PM, said:

The Windows Phone is just terrible IMHO. If the yellow isn't bad enough, what were they thinking with the text color? That thing is just screaming for black text. Nokia dummies! That is the absolute epitome of horrible theme design. Does it ship with bifocals? I despise the icons also.

What does everyone else think?

Stop ragging on Microsoft. Don't you KNOW that their highly paid Professional Experts have metrics and focus groups and crystal balls to support their design choices?? Shame on you, you hater...

--JorgeA

P.S. I've always kind of liked the look of the iPhone screen, with the icons that appear to be floating in the air. Like a "legacy" Windows desktop.

But then, I'd much rather have "a phone that's just a phone." Life is complicated enough as it is, to have to deal with yet another gadget that needs care and nurturing.

[CoffeeFiend]

CharlotteTheHarlot, on 21 September 2012 - 06:26 PM, said:

What does everyone else think?

The WP8 phone is beyond awful, much like Windows 8 I'd sooner pay more for an Android phone even if out of the 3 I prefer the iPhone.

[bphlpt]

From everything I've seen and heard, the Android phone is comparable to Linux, ie more flexible and powerful but it can get complicated to use so it's a power user phone, while the iPhone is like a Mac, it just works, even your grandmother can learn to operate it. The Windows phone looks like a toy, but it's market share is so small that it really doesn't matter.

The Android vs iPhone comparison has been reinforced to me twice lately. Once was at a dealer where my wife asked which phone they would recommend, and they said the iPhone for ease of use. I asked "What about the Galaxy S III?" The salesman agreed that was the phone he wanted, but he still recommends the iPhone if asked, even though it was lower priced and he got a slightly lower commission because of that. My wife got the iPhone. Then tonight we were talking with a friend of ours who is the IT guy for a small local company and is in charge of supporting the smart phones used by their employees. He personally loves his Galaxy S III and has it unlocked, overclocked, and tweaked like crazy, but he prefers the employees who are not as technical to have an iPhone because they are less likely to "mess it up" so it makes his job easier.

Cheers and Regards

[JorgeA]

It just gets harder and harder to understand how Microsoft expects Windows RT (and Win8) tablets to succeed in the marketplace.

Quote

If, like me, you thought Microsoft would price Windows RT competitively, you were wrong: A leaked slide from Asus says that its Vivo Tab RT, due to be released alongside Windows RT at the end of October, will start at $600. Unbelievably, this is $100 more than the iPad 3, and a full $200 more than the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.

For $600, you would expect some sensational hardware specs — but alas, that’s sadly not the case. The Vivo Tab RT has a low-res 10.1-inch 1366×768 IPS display, quad-core Tegra 3 SoC, 2GB of RAM, NFC, 8-megapixel camera… and that’s about it. Like its Androidesque cousin, the Transformer, the Vivo Tab RT can be plugged into a keyboard/battery dock — but it’ll cost you another $200 for the pleasure. (Curiously, the Transformer’s docking station only costs $150 — go figure.)

Quote

What could possibly be the reason for the Vivo Tab’s extortionate price tag? Windows RT of course. Back in May we reported that OEMs were struggling to produce tablets that competed with the iPad on price, and then in June multiple OEMs said that Microsoft was charging between $80 and $95 for a Windows RT license.

This price is certainly in line with what Microsoft usually charges for an operating system license, but in this case — with Microsoft desperately trying to break into the tablet market — we thought the Redmond company would relax the “Windows Tax.” Unfortunately, Microsoft seems intent on collecting its pound of flesh, even if it results in Windows RT tablets that are completely priced out of the market, and thus failing dismally.

Are they expecting hordes of Microsoft fanatics to line up on October 25, credit cards in hand, for their RT's at the three dozen or so Microsoft Stores on the planet?

--JorgeA

[Win2k3EE]

CharlotteTheHarlot, on 21 September 2012 - 06:26 PM, said:

3 different interfaces, 3 clear choices. Which appeals to you? And which appeals to your child?


( Image source: Nokia )

Walking into a hypothetical store that stocks, sells and displays all three, and disregarding contracts with everything else being equal, I would have to say that I would be walking out with the Galaxy. The wife would be grabbing an iPhone no doubt, and the kids would be all over the playskool model. That pretty much sums it up as far as their highly polished appearances. And it probably reflects the gender-demographic divide as well. YMMV.

Of course I would be grabbing the Android just so I could quickly change that horrific dandelion screen to something else ( where I am, they are considered weeds which are just slightly less despised than Poison Ivy ). I would rather poke my eyes out than watch another dandelion blow around.

I think Apple might have missed the boot a little by not sufficiently distinguishing the appearance from their previous two models, both in iOS6 and the handset itself. Looks like they mailed it in this time.

The Windows Phone is just terrible IMHO. If the yellow isn't bad enough, what were they thinking with the text color? That thing is just screaming for black text. Nokia dummies! That is the absolute epitome of horrible theme design. Does it ship with bifocals? I despise the icons also.

What does everyone else think?

Definitely, Samsung S III. Apple is for kids 8 to 12 and Nokia is for kids 3 to 5 years old.

[Joseph_sw]

if it just Tegra-3-SoC,
the incoming "Ouya" would much cheaper and its promised to be open architecture too.

Review from PC World: http://www.pcworld.c...ickstarter.html
Interview with Engadget: http://www.engadget....o-julie-uhrman/

Though this one not technically a tablet or phone ... I found this better than that $600 RT deals.

[MagicAndre1981]

Win2k3EE, on 22 September 2012 - 12:34 AM, said:

Definitely, Samsung S III. Apple is for kids 8 to 12 and Nokia is for kids 3 to 5 years old.

agree This Metro Design is absolutely ugly

[jaclaz]

JorgeA, on 21 September 2012 - 10:03 PM, said:

Stop ragging on Microsoft. Don't you KNOW that their highly paid Professional Experts have metrics and focus groups and crystal balls to support their design choices?? Shame on you, you hater...

NO, shame on you.
That sentence is highly offending and discriminating towards crystal balls users.

Being one I can assure you that when tuned properly a crystal ball is quite accurate , the issue is that they become VERY easily and VERY often out of tune.

IMHO they could save the money given to their highly paid Professional Experts and should instead invest in research in crystal balls tuning.

On average, crystal ball originated decisions have rates of correctness higher than the roughly 50% rate that MS showed (see the MS OS chess-like game .

You might want to acknowledgge that a crystall ball since several hundreds years has as well a touch interface BUT is also 3D......



jaclaz

[JorgeA]

jaclaz, on 22 September 2012 - 03:18 AM, said:

That sentence is highly offending and discriminating towards crystal balls users.

Being one I can assure you that when tuned properly a crystal ball is quite accurate , the issue is that they become VERY easily and VERY often out of tune.

jaclaz, on 22 September 2012 - 03:18 AM, said:

You might want to acknowledgge that a crystall ball since several hundreds years has as well a touch interface BUT is also 3D......

There's the design concept for The Next Big Thing in mobile computing!!

--JorgeA

[JorgeA]

Joseph_sw, on 22 September 2012 - 02:53 AM, said:

if it just Tegra-3-SoC,
the incoming "Ouya" would much cheaper and its promised to be open architecture too.

Review from PC World: http://www.pcworld.c...ickstarter.html
Interview with Engadget: http://www.engadget....o-julie-uhrman/

Though this one not technically a tablet or phone ... I found this better than that $600 RT deals.

Wow, a modestly priced game console that you can maintain yourself -- what a great idea! And the "crowdfunding" model is itself intriguing.

Thanks for the links.

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

JorgeA, on 22 September 2012 - 06:07 AM, said:

There's the design concept for The Next Big Thing in mobile computing!!

Yeah, sure, the issue actual researchers are after is synthetic spider web and artificial moonlight.

This is mis-information:
http://www.themystic...Ball_Gazing.asp
http://www.silverhoofs.com/c-ball.htm
you DO NOT use liquid soap or distilled water with salt to wash a crystl ball

You need cobweb dew (and only that gathered in a full moon night)!

Spoiler

Now, for NO apparent reason and just as an example of the difference between not funny humour and good humour, a couple Lolcats :

Spoiler

Spoiler

jaclaz

[CoffeeFiend]

bphlpt, on 22 September 2012 - 12:05 AM, said:

From everything I've seen and heard, the Android phone is comparable to Linux, ie more flexible and powerful but it can get complicated to use so it's a power user phone, while the iPhone is like a Mac, it just works, even your grandmother can learn to operate it. The Windows phone looks like a toy, but it's market share is so small that it really doesn't matter.

I haven't really compared Android vs iPhone ease of use (both are pretty user friendly), but so far all Android phones I've seen were bought basically because it's cheaper (free with the plan), not based on technical merit in any way. It's basically what you get if you don't want to spend the money to get the iPhone. It's not the user interface that's the main differentiator for me either, and I don't see how some people here think it attracts different age groups or whatever based on that. It mainly needs to be non-horrible unlike the WP8 phone which I can't see anybody buying but the most extreme MS fanboys (and possibly only the blind ones... I mean, no-contrast white on yellow?) Most people would be perfectly happy with the other two.

I've seen some users who had issues with Android phones (performance, spam, malware, etc) that I haven't seen iPhone users experience. Meanwhile, I know that the iPhone has a pretty good program to sync music (with smart playlists and all -- using the same software as our ipods) which is a very big deal for me, it has by far a better app selection (that's where the money is, so that's where the devs go, and the iDevice devs typically value things like user experience more) which is also very important to me (Apple's store is better too), and if you buy an app for your iPhone then it'll also work on your iPod and iPad (everything just works between your devices). I also know for a fact that it works great in an enterprise setup: you can very easily check your emails from exchange server (we replaced our BlackBerries by iPhones). It also has a lot of "premium" features, like Siri and FaceTime, a far better LCD display, arguably a somewhat better OS, the battery life is better than most Android devices, the on screen keyboard typically works better, etc. An iPhone gets iOS updates (if you have a 4S, you're getting iOS 6 now), unlike if I bought some Android 2.x device from my phone company in which case it'll run Android 2.x forever. The hardware is awesome but yes, it's expensive for sure. I just view it as a very good but premium phone (which pretty much just works). If I wanted a great smartphone and that I had the budget, that's what I'd get. And if I basically wanted that and didn't have the money then I'd get an Android phone. As simple as that.

Just my $0.02 (we're pretty off-topic, BTW)

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Image discovered of retail box for Microsoft Plus!, I mean Windows 8 Pro Pack ...

More Windows 8 box art revealed, "Pro Pack" spotted too ( NeoWin 2012-09-22 )

Quote

"Something new contained in these leaked images is the "Pro Pack", whose box art was not previously leaked. We can also now see that the "Pro Pack" will include Media Center but it will only include a serial key, no disc. This package is likely an upgrade only for those who already have Windows 8 and sticks with the announcement by Microsoft that Media Center will be a bolt on application"

What should be a bolt-on application is Metro itself. But I digress.

What is it? Recall from the official Destroying Windows blog this carefully crafted excuse from Windows Destroyer-In-Chief Sinofsky blaming the users, the 'partners' and the decoders themselves for the removal of a ubiquitous compatibility feature from Windows 8 ( ummm, does it still support serial, parallel, floppy, PS/2 and IDE out of the box, just wondering? ) ...

Quote

"In the process of building a robust platform, we’ve also evaluated which in-box media playback experiences we want to provide. The media landscape has changed quite significantly since the release of Windows 7. Our telemetry data and user research shows us that the vast majority of video consumption on the PC and other mobile devices is coming from online sources such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, or any of the other myriad of online and downloadable video services available. In fact, consumption of movies online in the United States will surpass physical video in 2012, according to this recent IHS Screen Digest research.

On the PC, these online sources are growing much faster than DVD & broadcast TV consumption, which are in sharp decline (no matter how you measure—unique users, minutes, percentage of sources, etc.). Globally, DVD sales have declined significantly year over year and Blu-ray on PCs is losing momentum as well. Watching broadcast TV on PCs, while incredibly important for some of you, has also declined steadily. These traditional media playback scenarios, optical media and broadcast TV, require a specialized set of decoders (and hardware) that cost a significant amount in royalties. With these decoders built into most Windows 7 editions, the industry has faced those costs broadly, regardless of whether or not a given device includes an optical drive or TV tuner.

Our partners have shared clear concerns over the costs associated with codec licensing for traditional media playback, especially as Windows 8 enables an unprecedented variety of form factors. Windows has addressed these concerns in the past by limiting availability of these experiences to specialized “media” or “premium” editions. At the same time, we also heard clear feedback from customers and partners that led to our much simplified Windows 8 editions lineup.

Given the changing landscape, the cost of decoder licensing, and the importance of a straight forward edition plan, we’ve decided to make Windows Media Center available to Windows 8 customers via the Add Features to Windows 8 control panel (formerly known as Windows Anytime Upgrade). This ensures that customers who are interested in Media Center have a convenient way to get it. Windows Media Player will continue to be available in all editions, but without DVD playback support. For optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray."

Who didn't see this coming though? They can be remarkably consistent when it comes to charging more money for the illusion of extras. Most of the Plus! packs could have been part of the RTM distribution, and I would say should have been. But this is the first time they remove a common compatibility feature and charged for it. Coming soon, the non-operating operating system, Windows nOS with feature charges à la carte, 'Please check off the features of your system that you would like to enable: PS/2 input, Serial Ports, IDE, Parallel ... Thank you for choosing Windows nOS!"

Spoiler

Microsoft Plus!



Image Sources: 1,2,3,4,5,6

EDIT: updated image URLs, and again

This post has been edited by CharlotteTheHarlot: 06 May 2013 - 07:21 PM

[hoak]

While Windows 9 might be the 'tock' that saves us from the cringe fest that is Windows 8, it seems a safe bet that we're not far from Microsoft taking the old 'hamburger scam' t the next level; 'Hambugers 99¢! (cooked and with bun $5.00)'... Or, god forbid, a 'subscription OS'!

[jaclaz]

hoak, on 22 September 2012 - 07:03 PM, said:

Or, god forbid, a 'subscription OS'!

I guess that this will largely depend on how many morons users will subscribe to the new Office licensing scheme .

This still reminds me of elementary school:

|7|	+	|1|=	| |
  		 	|8|
|6|	+	|2|=	| |

jaclaz

P.S.:
For NO apparent reason a possible explanation of the creative process (re: "new" Windows Logo):

Spoiler

https://plus.google....sts/Y72MoM5ASb2

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 23 September 2012 - 04:42 AM

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

jaclaz, on 23 September 2012 - 02:59 AM, said:

This still reminds me of elementary school:

|7|	+	|1|=	| |
  		 	|8|
|6|	+	|2|=	| |

jaclaz

P.S.:
For NO apparent reason a possible explanation of the creative process (re: "new" Windows Logo):

Spoiler

https://plus.google....sts/Y72MoM5ASb2

Classic!

And thank you for helping me to stay on a regular monitor cleaning schedule.

[jaclaz]

CharlotteTheHarlot, on 23 September 2012 - 06:00 AM, said:

And thank you for helping me to stay on a regular monitor cleaning schedule.

And wait until you will have a touchscreen
Anyway, from time to time you really should clean those monitors from the inside too.


http://www.linein.or...screen-cleaner/
http://www.linein.or...er-cat-version/

Another version more interactive (that requires a Spoiler and changes to xxx) :

Spoiler

hxxxp://links.flashdance.cx/swf/ciagnijcycka.swf

jaclaz