2 Robots

Ballmer’s latest fiasco is to claim that Open Source projects violate “over 235 patents,” and to then threaten lawsuits for any company using Linux or other open source software. Turns out, Steve was quoting a study produced by the Open Source Risk Management Group. However, the author of the study has claimed that Microsoft has it all wrong — the study’s conclusions were that those were only “potential” infringements, and that not a single one of those patents had ever been held up in court. In addition, not all of those patents were even held by Microsoft!

Read on for more enlightening links on Steve Ballmer acting as himself.

A few months ago I installed a dual-boot machine with both Linux and Windows for some friends of mine who were having perpetual spyware issues. I spoke with them recently, and it appears that the Windows install has started to s.l.o.w. down, which is pretty much what happened last time. Unfortunately, they seem to be a little more intimidated that I had thought, and I don’t think they’ve even tried using Linux yet.

The next time I visit at their house, I’ll take a look and see what the problem is with Windows, and if they’re actually using Linux or not.

Previously, I had tried to install Linux on my friends’ computer because even after 2 reinstalls, their Windows PC had gotten so loaded down with viruses and spyware that it was unusable. This had lead me to wonder how many people out there have the same problem, and what can be done about it. Also, it sort of annoys me that a computer can have so much spyware and viruses on it that it just isn’t fast enough to do anything useful anymore.

In an unprecedented move for Microsoft, they appear to be encouraging amateur developers to produce games for the XBOX 360 and Windows XP / Vista. While Microsoft has talked about encouraging amateur developers in the past, it has taken little action to do so until now.

Something too prevalent in the marketplace today is the complete lack of innovation which seems to plague some companies. On the one hand, you have companies like Apple and Nintendo which truly bring something new to the table; from product packaging to human-electronic interfaces. On the other hand, you have companies like Dell and Sony who just keep pushing out more of the same. Yet, the latter seem more likely to hold big press events and tout their “next big thing.” It seems as if they don’t even know that their products are “me too’s” instead of market leaders.

I’m planning a trip to visit my friends for a holiday party. They have a computer which always gets infested so badly with spyware that it takes 10 minutes or more to boot up and is virtually unusable. I’ve reloaded Windows on it twice for them so far, but whatever they’re doing that gets it infected, they can’t seem to stop. So, I’m taking a new tactic.