Tag: what i read

On NPR’s Planet Money site, a “multimedia team of reporters tracks down the economists, investors and regular folks who are trying to make sense of the rapidly changing global economy,” there is an interesting series from Alex Blumberg.  He explained on All Things Considered (October 31, 2008) How Credit Default Swaps Spread Financial Rot (as well as Unregulated Credit Default Swaps Led to Weakness) and how these instruments contributed to our tanking economy.

“It’s a fair guess that a couple of months ago, few people outside the financial world had even heard the words “credit default swaps.” But now the obscure and unregulated financial instruments are shouldering much of the blame for destabilizing the global financial system.

“Here’s how it works. Let’s say there’s a guy named Frank and he has a life insurance policy. When he dies, the beneficiary gets a million dollars. Now imagine a whole bunch of other people saying, “I want a million dollars if he dies, too.” And so they take out life insurance policies on Frank.

Now imagine Frank dies, and all those people bought their policies from the same company. That company, more or less, was AIG.” 

Top 50 Women to Watch 2008” Wall Street Journal on WSJ.com – “According to a survey by Catalyst, a New York research group, women hold 15.4% of Fortune 500 corporate-officer jobs — positions of vice president or higher that require board approval. That number has inched down from 16.4% in 2005. One bright spot: More women are in charge of powerful board committees, such as nominating and governance committee chairs. That in turn could mean more women being appointed to key positions down the road.” (Merissa Marr)

Seven things you may not know about Windows 7 | Beyond Binary – A blog by Ina Fried – CNET News (November 10, 2008).  “While Windows 7 has gotten plenty of attention over the past two weeks, there are some features in there that haven’t gotten as much attention. I wrote on Friday about a new programming interface for location-based services. Here are seven more features that caught my eye.

1. Standard approach to mobile broadband
2. Help with public Wi-Fi spots.
3. Windows Troubleshooting
4. New sensor support
5. Improved battery life and playback of DVDs
6. Windows Biometric Framework
7. Enhancements to Windows Media Center

Brain Power Video – CBSNews.com — Thanks to Charlie for a link to this clip from CBS News, “one of the most powerful technology stories ever” http://is.gd/5Iok 

AmEx Gets Access to Bailout Fund – WSJ.com By ROBIN SIDEL and JON HILSENRATH “American Express Co. won fast approval to become a bank-holding company, helping the credit-card giant gain access to a chunk of the $700 billion in federal funds being pumped into financial firms. The move shows how quickly financial-services firms that have long relied on the capital markets are racing to shore up their funding sources as the credit crisis drags on and economic turmoil spreads around the world.”

Did You Get the “Don’t Be A Bandwidth Pig” Letter From Comcast Yet? – Security Watch — Larry Seltzer wites (Nov 6, 2008) that “In their attempts to manage network congestion Comcast has gotten into trouble with the FCC in the past. They tried to pick only on the programs that were the main source of abuse, but that didn’t fly, so they have a new approach and it’s “net neutral:” All users will be limited to a particular (very high) amount of traffic (250 GB) per month. They don’t actively monitor that number, but they look for users who are using very high levels over a period of time. If you hit a particular level, your traffic may be “deprioritized,” meaning it will slow down until your traffic and traffic on the network in general slow down. See a column I wrote a while ago for more details. Comcast has begun sending out letters to users announcing this policy. It comes with a subject line of “Improving Your Online Experience Through Congestion Management”…

News Flash: Google Was Never Yahoo’s Friend – GigaOM — Om Malik reports (November 5, 2008 at 8:59 AM PT) that “Perhaps the managerial bankruptcy at Yahoo was what led the beleaguered Internet company to believe that its biggest competitor, Google, would be its savior. Apparently it bought into Google’s spin about “doing no evil.” Well, today Yahoo is learning a lesson that everyone in the technology world needs to learn fast: Google is nobody’s friend. Just like Microsoft wasn’t a charity, Google, too, is capitalistic venture whose first and only goal is to stuff its coffers with cash — never mind what its leaders say publicly. In a blog post, David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, announced today that the company is withdrawing from the so-called Yahoo-Google advertising partnership, mostly because it was getting too much scrutiny from the federal government.”

Sue Decker’s Memo to the Yahoo Troops – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com (November 5, 2008, 12:53 pm) by Miguel Helft — “Google decided to end its advertising partnership with Yahoo on Wednesday rather than fight a suit from the Justice Department. Google explained its decision in a blog post penned by David Drummond, its chief legal officer. Meanwhile, Yahoo said it was disappointed with Google’s decision not fight and said it was well positioned to succeed in search and advertising. In a memo to the troops that seeks to put the best face on the unraveling of the deal, President Sue Decker expanded on that idea.The deal with Google, she said, was just one of many efforts to speed up its turnaround strategy.”

Microsoft shows Windows 7 on Eee PC – TechFlash: Seattle’s Technology News Source — “But today at Microsoft’s Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, the company made a point of demonstrating Windows 7 running on an Eee PC, as a result of the improvements made under the hood of the next operating system. The demonstration model had 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of SSD flash storage, and a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom dual-core microprocessor. During the demo, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky and Microsoft’s Mike Angiulo took a picture with a digital camera and plugged it into the machine, bringing up Windows 7’s centralized “Device Stage” device management area.

Microsoft: Windows 7 kicks Vista’s butt – TechFlash: Seattle’s Technology News Source — Todd Bishop covered WinHEC week and wrote of how “Most companies talk about how much better they are than their competitors. Microsoft this morning kicked off its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference by detailing how much better it believes Windows 7 will be than Windows Vista in areas including boot time, battery life, graphics rendering, reliability and performance. “It was an implicit acknowledgement of Windows Vista’s problems. But the company is walking a fine line as it makes the case. On the one hand, it wants to convince PC and device makers that it has its act together this time around. However, with Windows 7 not expected until early 2010, the company also risks hurting Windows Vista’s sales in the meantime if it talks about how much better the successor will be.”

Incremental Blogger » Blog Archive » Ray Ozzie and the myth of the Tablet PC — Loren Heiny covered in his blog the TechFlash interview with Ray Ozzie last week during PDC, where “Ozzie talks about some of the great things he sees in Windows 7 including the forthcoming multi-touch features” “Despite the fact that I agree with much of what he’s saying here–in particular, that the iPhone has convinced people of the value of multi-touch and that its value spreads far beyond one platform, I think Ray Ozzie has been drinking the “Tablet PCs are niche koolaid.” I wish Microsoft executives wouldn’t speak this way by using terms like “niche” to describe the Tablet PC market. Talk about trying to put a ceiling on their own products.”

Apple fanboys vs. Microsofties: A scientist’s verdict | Technically Incorrect – CNET News from October 30, 2008 10:25 PM PDT posted by Chris Matyszczyk — “Since embracing Incorrectness, I have noticed that the passion of those who love either Microsoft or Apple seems even to exceed a Goth’s passion for black eyeshadow. The more I have come to know the two sides, the more their mutual stand-off resembles the kind of love-hate continuum embraced nightly by those two remarkably large-headed souls, Fox’s Bill O’Reilly and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. Now, research led by Professor Semir Zeki of University College London may help to illustrate and explain the inflamed emotions that surround two mere technology brands. It appears that, although love and hate seem to be rather opposing feelings, some of the same nervous circuits in the brain are responsible for both emotions.”

Windows 7 details galore: interface tweaks, netbook builds, Media Center enhancements – Engadget — Microsoft’s Windows 7 announcement earlier today was followed up by an extensive demo of the new features during the PDC keynote, and since then even more info about the new OS has flooded out, so we thought we’d try to wrap up some of the more important bits here for you. Microsoft seems to have done an impressive job at this early pre-beta stage, folding in next-gen interface ideas like multitouch into the same OS that apparently runs fine on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM, but we’ll see how development goes — there’s still a ways to go.

HP’s new Mini 1000 and MIE Linux make netbooks fun again – Engadget — “We’ve been struggling to keep awake for the large majority of this year, as netbook after netbook lands in our laps with identical specs, form factors and general shoddiness. No longer. HP is giving the market a shot in the arm with its new “clutch-style” skinny form factors, polished Linux OS and aggressive price points — even if the specs are about as boring as the Mini-Note 2133. As rumored, HP’s new Mini 1000 netbook is ditching VIA and going the Atom route (1.6GHz N270, in case you hadn’t guessed). Also new is an option for a 10.2-inch display, though it’s a mere 1024 x 600 instead of the 1280 x 768 display on the 2133…”

Samsung NC10 reviewed, trumps competition with 7 hour battery life – Engadget — “Thus far word on the street about Samsung’s NC10 has been good, but not exactly enough to distance it from the crowd. Laptop Magazine’s full review of a Korean unit, however, found it to be exemplary, calling it “the most well-rounded 10-inch netbook on the market.” The netbook earned high marks thanks to a bright screen, comfortable keyboard, and amazing battery life of 7:34 with WiFi turned on. (That’s a bit suspect, though, as on a repeated test with screen brightness raised to 100 percent only 4:48 passed before it all went dark — another re-test at 50 percent is promised.) The only real complaints were a somewhat dainty touchpad and mediocre disk performance…”

Tags: articles, what I read, Microsoft, blogs

Here’s a blast from the past (December 2006): What do candy, Microsoft products and Congress have in common?  You can read more about this in the latest news on the subject.  If you thought tracking the machinations of various daylight saving time and time zone changes around the world was tough, Paul Tennant of the Eagle-Tribune reports that in Haverhill (MA), trick-or-treating is Saturday night this (and every) year rather than on Friday, October 31.

“While Halloween is always Oct. 31, in Haverhill trick-or-treating is always the fourth Saturday of October. This year it will be Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m.  City Human Services Director Vincent Ouellette said that the earlier time for trick-or-treating was established several years ago by the mayor and City Council for safety reasons.

“There is a lot less traffic on a Saturday night,” said Ouellette, who supervises the Recreation Department. Also because it is still daylight saving time, having trick-or-treating between 5 and 7 Saturday gives people an extra hour of daylight, he said.”

I revisited another previous post on Halloween activities and found a post just in time for Halloween: how the Anatomy of a Lego Minifig is quite spooky…

“After killing and dissecting an endless amount of Lego minifigs, artist/designer/mad doctor Jason Freeny has created the definitive anatomy map of the iconic figure, showing all the details and naughty bigs that we weren’t able to catch in our exclusive tour to Lego Minifig factory in Denmark. Jason has plenty of experience on cutting apart other species too, like gummy bears and balloon animals…”

Surely my boys have read this post and are preparing to leverage their extensive collection of Pokémon and other “valuable” trading cards to help finance their next major investment, likely a heavily leveraged credit default swap fund or collateralized debt obligations.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

TechBlog: Updated: Want proof that Microsoft is feeling threatened by Apple?:  October 13, 2008 — “Updated: Want proof that Microsoft is feeling threatened by Apple? “In the past, when Apple has been on the eve of releasing new notebooks or desktops, Microsoft has let that event pass. Maybe the company would make a spokesperson available to react to the announcement, but that’s about it.”

Bill Gates’ mysterious new company – TechFlash: Seattle’s Technology News Source — Bill Gates’ mysterious new company By Todd Bishop and Eric Engleman on Oct 22, 2008 at 11:38 AM – “The bgC3 logo.Just months after his Microsoft farewell, Bill Gates is quietly creating a new company — complete with high-tech office space, a cryptic name and even its own trademark. Public documents describe the new Gates entity — bgC3 LLC — as a “think tank.” It’s housed within a Kirkland office that the Microsoft co-founder established on his own after leaving his day-to-day executive role at the company this summer.” Also see BGC3.com, not to be confused with “m3”

Windows 7: A Turning Point for Microsoft? – PC Magazine’s Lance Ulanoff posts that “Microsoft reverses the years-long practice of building everything under the sun into its popular personal computer platform. The now officially named Windows 7 carries the heavy burden of Vista’s disappointments. Consumers, business users, and pundits have foisted such high expectations on the currently in development OS’s back, that it will be a miracle if the final result satisfies anyone. However, lost amid all the hand-wringing is Microsoft’s startling decision to lighten Windows 7’s load. “In a stunning reversal, Microsoft announced that future versions of Windows would no longer feature e-mail, contact management, calendar, photo management, and moviemaking in the initial install. Instead, Microsoft customers will be encouraged to download these apps from Windows Live online services.”

Selling Computers Without Performance Anxiety? – Rob Pegoraro posted (October 20, 2008) that “Something odd is happening in the personal-computer business: While a lot of manufacturers still lead off their ads with the usual blizzard of numbers — processor speed, installed RAM, hard-drive capacity — some new models come with sales pitches that largely ignore those traditional performance metrics.”

“Apple’s new MacBook and MacBook Pro may be the most public example of this — the company’s presentations for each model lead off with a loving description of the new manufacturing process used for each. “But Apple has prominent company in this marketing approach. Dell touts the compact size and environmental appeal of its Studio Hybrid desktop, not how fast it can crunch through an Excel spreadsheet. And this morning, HP announced two new desktops and a monitor, all designed to have a “reduced impact on the environment”; the clock speeds of these PCs’ processors was saved for a footnote in the press release.”

I also saw this past week how some new Apple ads tweaked Microsoft marketers (October 20, 2008 11:09 AM PDT, posted by Tom Krazit).

“Still, negative advertising, while effective in an election year, grows old. And it plays into the sorely outdated fanboy us vs. them mentality that the vast majority of consumers couldn’t care less about; most people in America do not define themselves by the computer that they use, as hard as Apple and Microsoft are trying to make that happen.”

“The new ads will get a chuckle out of most viewers, as the polished comedy team of Hodgman and Justin Long could teach Seinfeld and Gates a thing or two. But God forbid that Apple should ever stumble with the rollout of a new operating system; they’ve taught Microsoft just how to respond.”

Annals of Culture: Late Bloomers: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker — Malcolm Gladwell has an article in the New Yorker (October 20, 2008) and asks “Why do we equate genius with precocity?”

“Thanks to Sabrina for this link. “Genius, in the popular conception, is inextricably tied up with precocity—doing something truly creative, we’re inclined to think, requires the freshness and exuberance and energy of youth. Orson Welles made his masterpiece, “Citizen Kane,” at twenty-five. Herman Melville wrote a book a year through his late twenties, culminating, at age thirty-two, with “Moby-Dick.” Mozart wrote his breakthrough Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-Flat-Major at the age of twenty-one. In some creative forms, like lyric poetry, the importance of precocity has hardened into an iron law.”

Home Server Hacks – always a great resource for Windows Home Server, along with WebGuide: Windows Home Server.

Read Kara Swisher’s article on how “Yahoo Shares Dropped on AOL Non-Deal: Here’s Why and What That Means” from AllThingsD

Vista Wow Starts Now … at Apple – John Paczkowski of AllThingsD reports that “Apple COO Tim Cook demonstrated a new MacBook running Windows and said this of the “dramatic increase in the Mac’s market share… was driven partially by “something we didn’t do: Vista.” “I think it’s fair to say that Vista hasn’t lived up to everything that Microsoft hoped it would,” Cook said. “And consequently, it’s opened doors for a lot of people to consider switching to the Mac. And Apple has been the beneficiary of this.”

Tags: articles, what I read, Microsoft, blogs

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